DEMONSTRATION THAT PHOSPHORESCENT 6-BROMO-2-NAPHTHYL SULFATE CAN BE USED TO PROBE HEME ACCESSIBILITY IN HEME PROTEINS

The phosphorescence properties of 6-bromo-2-naphthyl sulfate (BNS) in aqueous solution were studied. The phosphorescence lifetime is several hundred microseconds and is self-quenched. Although a fluorescent photoproduct is formed from BNS, it does not interfere with the decay properties of triplet-state BNS and its utility as a probe of the accessibility of the heme group in heme proteins. Quenching of BNS phosphorescence does not occur for the non-heme protein lysozyme and apomyoglobin but occurs by a dynamic mechanism with a quenching constant of 1-2 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 for cytochrome c and myoglobin and with a quenching constant of 6.2 x 10(9) M-1 s-1 for protoporphyrin IX. The phosphorescence of an inclusion complex of 1-bromonaphthalene and beta-cyclodextrin is not quenched by heme-containing proteins. The temperature and viscosity dependencies of the rate with which BNS phosphorescence is quenched by microperoxidase-11 are consistent with unit quenching efficiency. These results indicate that quenching of BNS phosphorescence occurs only upon contact with the quencher, and the quenching constant can be used to assess the degree of accessibility of the heme group.     

Quantitative imaging of equivalence ratios in a natural gas SI engine flow bench using acetone fluorescence

Although compressed natural gas (CNG) is a gaseous fuel, the mixing process is quite different from air-liquid fuel mixing. The aim of this work is to understand the effect of the fuel feeding system on mixture homogeneity. Planar laser-induced fluorescence has been used to produce quantitative equivalence ratio maps in the intake manifold. Fluorescence results from excitation of doped acetone in natural gas. Its emission is proportional to the fuel mass. Collected images were post processed to obtain the equivalence ratio. This work shows the difference between continuous injection at low speed and sequential injection. In the first part, we present the behaviour of the injection jet in the intake manifold. The second part displays a smaller section of the duct upstream of the intake valve. The study shows clearly the stratification effect obtained with continuous injection at low speed. A very homogenous mixture is observed for sequential injection with fuel trapped for a cycle and aspirated in the next cycle.     

Destabilisation of a compressed vortex by a round jet

This paper presents data and analysis related to the compression and the breakdown of a tumbling motion after radial disruption in a simple geometry of the compression chamber of a model engine with large optical access. The disruption is a round jet injection perpendicular to the vorticity tube. Two configurations of injection are selected. They correspond respectively to a straight jet that competes with the tumble and an inclined jet that adds angular momentum to the large-scale rotating motion. The ratio between the angular momentum brought by the spray and the initial angular momentum of the tumble is of the order of 30% and is representative of the direct-injection engine situation at moderate rotation rate. The injection is performed at bottom dead centre (BDC) in a well-defined and well-known tumbling motion. The data are obtained in the symmetry plane of a square chamber by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) and planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF). A calibration is made in order to take account of acetone fluorescence yield during compression. The analysis of the injection phase at BDC shows that the mean topology of the flow after both injections differs significantly and that the vorticity tube is significantly distorted only in the vicinity of the injection plane. Strong transverse mean flows are detected by analysing the divergence of the mean velocity field. Although a mean rotation is still observed after injection during the compression phase, the authors show that no strong vortex core is evident. An important consequence of this finding, confirmed by the evolution of the global in-plane mean and fluctuating kinetic energy in the symmetry plane is that no vortex breakdown occurs during the compression after the injection event. Therefore, the global fluctuating kinetic energy at the end of the compression is much lower after an injection. During the first half of the compression, an inhomogeneous distribution of the jet fluid in the chamber is detected by the PLIF measurements. The transport of the jet fluid clearly results from both in-plane and out-of-plane motions triggered by the injection jet. This spatial repartition depends strongly on the injection strategy and can be very difficult to control accurately from cycle to cycle. The mixture is more homogeneous at top dead centre (TDC) with a low value of the spatial variance of the mean concentration field.     

FPIV study of gas entrainment by a hollow cone spray submitted to variable density

The gas entrainment in a hollow cone spray submitted to variable density is studied experimentally in order to better understand the effect on mixture formation. Particle image velocimetry on fluorescent tracers, associated with a specific processing of the instantaneous velocity fields have been applied to obtain measurement in the close vicinity of the spray edge. In the “quasi-steady” region of the spray, important effect of the ambient density on the mass flow rate of entrained gas have been pointed out. The axial evolution of is in good agreement with an integral model that takes the momentum exchange between phases into account.     

Measurements of concentration per size class in a dense polydispersed jet using planar laser-induced fluorescence and phase Doppler techniques

In dense two-phase flows, it is well known that phase Doppler anemometry is not well suited for the measurement of concentration and mass flux. Laser diagnostics based on fluorescence can provide the dispersed phase concentration but without discrimination between size classes. We present a new method of coupling the two techniques, in order to extract the local value of concentration and flux per size class. The method is applied to an axisymmetric turbulent jet, laden with polydispersed droplets 1–90 μm. Droplet concentration profiles are obtained in the development zone (x/d ₀ < 20) of the dense jet and are used to study droplet dispersion. The results are then introduced into the momentum transport equations to analyze the influence of droplets on the carrier phase. We show that the local decrease of the rate of variation of mean momentum with mass loading is due both to an increase in interfacial transfer rate and to a decrease in turbulent diffusion effects. Received: 20 November 2000 / Accepted: 3 April 2001     

Synthèse de dérivés O-substitués du (dihydroxy-3′,4′ phényl)-2 indole par utilisation de groupes protecteurs sulfonylés

O-Substituted derivatives of 2-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)indole have been synthesized from acetovanillone by various methods using hydroxyl protective groups such as benzene sulfonyl and methylsulfonyl. Thus these groups facilitate Fischer and Bischler indole synthesis. Moreover, selective O-demethylation and O-alkylation reactions are allowed. Finally, the already quoted protective groups may be easily removed to yield back the 2-(4-hydroxy-3-alkyloxyphenyl)indoles.     

Crystallization of DNA‐Capped Gold Nanoparticles in High‐Concentration,Divalent Salt Environments

The multiparametric nature of nanoparticle self‐assembly makes it challenging to circumvent the instabilities that lead to aggregation and achieve crystallization under extreme conditions. By using non‐base‐pairing DNA as a model ligand instead of the typical base‐pairing design for programmability, long‐range 2D DNA–gold nanoparticle crystals can be obtained at extremely high salt concentrations and in a divalent salt environment. The interparticle spacings in these 2D nanoparticle crystals can be engineered and further tuned based on an empirical model incorporating the parameters of ligand length and ionic strength.     

An Insight into the Mechanism of Holamine- and Funtumine-Induced Cell Death in Cancer Cells

Holamine and funtumine, steroidal alkaloids with strong and diverse pharmacological activities are commonly found in the Apocynaceae family of Holarrhena. The selective anti-proliferative and cell cycle arrest effects of holamine and funtumine on cancer cells have been previously reported. The present study evaluated the anti-proliferative mechanism of action of these two steroidal alkaloids on cancer cell lines (HT-29, MCF-7 and HeLa) by exploring the mitochondrial depolarization effects, reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction, apoptosis, F-actin perturbation, and inhibition of topoisomerase-I. The apoptosis-inducing effects of the compounds were studied by flow cytometry using the APOPercentage^TM dye and Caspase-3/7 Glo assay kit. The two compounds showed a significantly greater cytotoxicity in cancer cells compared to non-cancer (normal) fibroblasts. The observed antiproliferative effects of the two alkaloids presumably are facilitated through the stimulation of apoptosis. The apoptotic effect was elicited through the modulation of mitochondrial function, elevated ROS production, and caspase-3/7 activation. Both compounds also induced F-actin disorganization and inhibited topoisomerase-I activity. Although holamine and funtumine appear to have translational potential for the development of novel anticancer agents, further mechanistic and molecular studies are recommended to fully understand their anticancer effects.