Fluorimetric determination of the levels of urinary neopterin and serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in the nonagenarians

Twelve self-sustaining nonagenarians, 10 women and two men, aged 94+/-3 years, and eight institutionalised nonagenarians, eight women, aged 91+/-1 year as well as 11 control subjects, seven women and four men, aged 84+/-5 years entered the study. Urinary neopterin, an indicator of systemic immune activation, and serum thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), a marker of lipoperoxidation, were determined initially, and collection of the blood and urine samples was repeated at 3-month interval. Neopterin was measured in the urine specimens by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. A C(18) reversed-phase column 3.3x150 mm, 5 mum-diameter packing Separon SGX was used. Potassium phosphate buffer (15 mmol l(-1), pH 6.4) at flow rate of 0.8 ml min(-1) was used as mobile phase. After centrifugation (5 min, 1300xg) and diluting 100 mul of urine specimens with 1.0 ml of mobile phase containing 2 g of disodium-EDTA per litre, a 20 mul sample was injected on a column. Neopterin was identified by its native fluorescence (353 nm excitation, 438 nm emission). Creatinine was determined by Jaffé kinetic reaction after dilution of sample 1:50 (v/v). The concentration of neopterin in urine was expressed as neopterin/creatinine ratio (mumol mol(-1) creatinine). TBARS were determined spectrofluorometrically using LS-5 spectrofluorimeter (excitation wavelength 528 nm, emission wavelength 558 nm) after extraction with n-butanol treatment with thiobarbituric acid. The significance of differences between nonagenarians and control group was examined by ANOVA-Kruskal-Wallis tests, using statistical software NCSS 6.0.21 (Kaysville, UT, 1996). The decision on significance was based on P=0.05. Urinary neopterin was significantly higher in institutionalised compared to self-sustaining subjects and controls (625+/-565 vs. 203+/-63 mumol mol(-1) creatinine, and 198+/-128 mumol mol(-1) creatinine, respectively, P=0.006). The serum TBARS were higher in both groups of nonagenarians (3.23+/-1.16 mumol l(-1) and 2.69+/-0.39 vs. 2.12+/-0.83 mumol l(-1) for the self-sustaining, institutionalised and controls, respectively, P=0.023). We conclude that the fluorimetric determinations of urinary neopterin and serum TBARS can be useful for the monitoring health status in the elderly patients.     

XRR and GISAXS study of silicon oxynitride films

Thin films of silicon oxynitride have largely replaced pure silicon oxide films as gate and tunnel oxide films in modern technology due to their superior properties in terms of efficiency as boron barrier, resistance to electrical stress and high dielectric strength. A single chamber system for plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition was employed to deposit different films of SiO_xN_yH_z with 0.85 < x < 1.91. All films were previously characterized by Rutherford back-scattering and infrared spectroscopy to determine the stoichiometry and the presence of various bonding configurations of constituent atoms. We used X-ray reflectivity to determine the electron density profile across the depth, and we showed that the top layer is densified. Moreover, grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering was used to study inhomogeneities (clustering) in the films, and it is shown that plate-like inhomogeneities exist in the top and sphere-like particles at the bottom part of the film. Their shape and size depend on the stoichiometry of the films.     

Investigation of the lability of furan and its derivatives in nucleophilic substitution reactions by the mindo/3 method

The a complexes of furan, thiophene, pyrrole, pyridine, and benzene with the hydride ion were calculated by the MINDO/3 method. The affinities of the indicated aromatic rings and a number of substituted furans for the H^– ion were estimated. It is shown that the relative magnitude of the affinity correlates qualitatively with the experimental data on the relative rates of the reaction of the examined compounds with nucleophilic reagents. The following order of increasing reactivities of unsubstituted aromatic rings was obtained: pyrrole相似文献   

Collisional population of the 23 ∏ g state inK 2

We have measured the effect of potassium vapour pressure within the heat-pipe oven on the shape of the 2³ ∏ _g ?1³∑ _u ⁺ fluorescence induced by collision energy transfer from theC ¹∏ _u state which was optically excited by the 457.9 nm argon-ion laser line. The estimated cross section of that process is 300 Ų. The simulation of the diffuse band shape indicates a non-thermalised vibrational distribution in the 2³ ∏ _g state.     

Cross section for the photochemical formation of the NaZn (22Π) excimer

We studied the conditions for the photochemical formation of the NaZn excimer in the excited 2²Π state using Na₂(2¹Π _u )+Zn→NaZn(2²Π)+Na reaction. The Na-Zn vapor mixture was prepared in the heat-pipe oven with the well defined column density and temperature. The Na and Zn atom densities in the vapor mixture were controlled by the preparation of the alloy with different mole fraction ratios of the relevant components in the solid phase. The Na densities were determined from the total absorption coefficient at Na₂ X-B and X-A bands. The cross section for photochemical formation of the NaZn in the 2²Π state is estimated to be 17·10^?16 cm² for the laser excitation at 308 nm, measured relative to the cross section of 470·10^?16 cm² for collisional energy transfer Na₂(2¹Π _u )+Na→Na₂(2³Π _g )+Na published by Mehdizadeh et al. [2].     

Sol-Gel Fabrication and Properties of Silica Cores of Optical Fibers Doped with Yb3+, Er3+, Al2 O3 or TiO2

Optical cores of preforms for drawing optical fibers doped with Er3+ and Yb3+ were fabricated by the sol-gel method with the aim of increasing the thickness of glass layers coated in a single coating cycle and to determine the relation between the preparation conditions and optical properties of the fibers. Al2O3-P2O5-SiO2 and TiO2-P2O5-SiO2 glasses have been studied as matrices for entrapping the rare-earth elements. Input sols have been prepared from silicon and titanium alkoxides, AlCl3, ErCl3, YbCl3, POCl3, water and a modifier under acidic catalysis of HCl. The sols were coated on the inner wall of a silica substrate tube and the gel layers were sintered at high temperatures up to 2000°C after which the tube was collapsed into the preform. Continuous and homogenous glass films with the maximum thickness of about 8 m were fabricated. The influence of high-temperature heat treatment of the layers on their composition and optical attenuation was observed. The amplified stimulated emission of Er3+ around 1.55 m was measured under the excitation of the fibers by an Nd : YAG laser at 1.064 m.     

Critical behaviour of the compressible magnet with exchange anisotropy

Then-component magnet with exchange anisotropy on a compressible lattice, with isotropic elastic properties, is studied. The renormalization group method is applied ind =4 — dimensions. The fixed points and the stability regions are explored to the order ², and the analysis is concentrated upon the casen<4—2 +O( ²). Investigation of the fixed points reveals various crossover phenomena which are not present in the corresponding rigid model. Renormalization of the anisotropy crossover exponent is demonstrated. It is shown that macroscopic instabilities, leading to the first order phase transition, may appear.     

Observations and spectral simulations of the7Li2 21 Σ u + →X 1 Σ g + transition

The⁷Li₂ 2¹ Σ _u ⁺ →X ¹ Σ _g ⁺ electronic transition has a bound-bound and a bound-free part due to the double minimum nature of the upper 2¹ Σ _u ⁺ state. We have studied this transition both experimentally and by performing spectral simulations. When inner well was excited the bound-free part at 4525 Å was observed due to the collisions between Li ₂ ^* and argon. We found that when levels above the barrier are excited the bound-free emission is strongly affected by collisional relaxation of Li ₂ ^* by Li atoms. Conditions for the observation of the bound-free part are discussed.     

Isothermal Degradation of PVC/MBS Blends

The process of thermal degradation of poly(vinyl chloride)/poly(methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene) (PVC/MBS) blends was investigated by means of isothermal thermogravimetry in nitrogen. The total mass loss was determined after 120 min. The kinetic parameters of the degradation process were determined by applying two kinetic models: the model which assumes autocatalytic degradation (Prout-Tompkins) and the model of two-dimensional diffusion. It was established that the thermal degradation at lower degrees of conversion (α<0.20) was well described by the former model, but the latter model was applicable at higher degrees of conversion. The thermal stability of blends at a certain temperature of isothermal degradation depends on the blend composition and the shell/core ratio in MBS, and on the adhesion in the boundary layer in PVC/MBS blends. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Determination of137Cs and134Cs in air samples collected near Belgrade /Yugoslavia/ following the Chernobyl accident

This paper presents the results of measurements of¹³⁷Cs and¹³⁴Cs content in air sampled during May 1986. Maximum concentrations:¹³⁷Cs 2.94±0.01 Bq m^–3 and¹³⁴Cs 1.38±0.01 Bq m^–3 were registered on May 3. Several other long lived radionuclides having -energies in the region 33 keV to 1365 keV were registered in the same samples two years later. The results of measurements of the total -activity in air for the same period are also presented.