Prostaglandin D2 synthase and its post-translational modifications in neurological disorders

Prostaglandin D2 synthase (PGDS) (beta-trace protein) is a highly abundant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glycoprotein. A number of studies have been performed to determine the potential value of this protein for the diagnosis of various neurological disorders. The measurement of total PGDS levels in CSF has proved marginally useful for this purpose, but promising results were obtained while investigating changes in the posttranslational modifications (PTM) pattern. Using 2-DE analysis, we previously showed that PGDS is differentially expressed in ante- and post mortem CSF samples. In the present study, we examined whether the PGDS isoforms may help to distinguish stroke and neurodegenerative disease patients from healthy subjects. The pattern of PGDS PTM was analyzed in CSF from patients with various neurological disorders (n = 44) using IEF/immunoblotting techniques. Strong alterations of this pattern were detected in patients with different forms of degenerative dementia. These findings are consistent with PGDS being altered in some neurological diseases and provide new opportunities for clinical applications.     

Multiple polypeptide forms observed in two-dimensional gels of Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) polypeptides are generated during the separation procedure

We have examined two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel maps of polypeptides from the Gram-negative bacterium Methylococcus capsulatus (Bath) and found the same widespread trains of spots as often reported in 2-DE gels of polypeptides of other Gram-negative bacteria. Some of the trains of polypeptides, both from the outer membrane and soluble protein fraction, were shown to be generated during the separation procedure of 2-DE, and not by covalent post-translational modifications. The trains were found to be regenerated when rerunning individual polypeptide spots. The polypeptides analysed giving this type of trains were all found to be classified as stable polypeptides according to the instability index of Guruprasad et al. (Protein Eng. 1990, 4, 155-161). The phenomenon most likely reflects conformational equilibria of polypeptides arising from the experimental conditions used, and is a clear drawback of the standard 2-DE procedure, making the gel picture unnecessarily complex to analyse.     

Impact of post-injection strategy on the physicochemical properties and reactivity of diesel in-cylinder soot

Post injection has significant benefit in the reduction of diesel soot emissions. Therefore, there is a need to understand the effect of post-injection strategy on soot physicochemical properties and reactivity because they play an important role in soot oxidation process that governs the final soot emissions. This work focuses on the impact of post injection on the physicochemical properties and reactivity of diesel in-cylinder soot using a main plus post injection (M*P) and a single injection (M) strategy. The soot was sampled by a developed total cylinder sampling system, and the dividing points of soot formation-dominant and oxidation-dominant phases were used for studying the impacts of post injection on the characteristics of in-cylinder soot. The physicochemical properties of the soot samples, including primary particle size, nanostructure, carbon chemical state and surface functional groups, were characterized. The soot reactivity was evaluated in terms of peak temperature, burnout temperature and apparent activation energy. In the oxidation-dominant phase, the M*P soot initially possesses smaller primary particle size, shorter fringe length, larger tortuosity, lower sp²/sp³ hybridization ratio of carbon atoms and higher content of aliphatic CH groups than the M soot. The beneficial influence of physicochemical properties on soot reactivity when using post injection is validated by the thermogravimetric data, which shows that the M*P soot is more reactive than the M soot at the onset of the oxidation-dominant phase. In the M*P case, the soot generated from the main-injection combustion has lower reactivity than the soot from the post-injection combustion after they experience the soot formation-dominant phase. The results indicate that the use of post injection leads to in-cylinder soot with physicochemical properties that favor reactivity. The enhancement of reactivity means that the soot will be more readily oxidized in the subsequent combustion process, and consequently contributes to a reduction in final soot emissions.     

盐酸倍他司汀对鲁米诺-高碘酸钾体系后发光作用机理的探讨及其快速测定

实验发现盐酸倍他司汀对鲁米诺-高碘酸钾发光体系具有后化学发光作用，并对其作用机理进行了探讨。结合流动注射技术，优化了反应条件，并建立了测定盐酸倍他司汀的新方法。该方法简便、快速、准确，线性范围为2.0×10^-7－4.0×10^-4mol／L（r=0.9975），检出限为1.0×10^-7mol／L；对4.0×10^-5mol／L的盐酸倍他司汀进行了11次平行测定，相对标准偏差为2.9％。方法成功地用于盐酸倍他司汀片中盐酸倍他司汀的测定。     

Next‐to‐next‐to‐leading order post‐Newtonian spin(1)‐spin(2) Hamiltonian for self‐gravitating binaries

We present the next‐to‐next‐to‐leading order post‐Newtonian (PN) spin(1)‐spin(2) Hamiltonian for two self‐gravitating spinning compact objects. If both objects are rapidly rotating, then the corresponding interaction is comparable in strength to a 4PN effect. The Hamiltonian is checked via the global Poincaré algebra with the center‐of‐mass vector uniquely determined by an ansatz.     

Field emission characteristics of screen-printed carbon nanotubes cold cathode by hydrogen plasma treatment

Selective plasma etching and hydrogen plasma treatment were introduced in turn to improve field emission characteristics of screen-printed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) cold cathode, which was prepared by using slurry of mixture of multi-wall CNTs, organic vehicles and inorganic binder, i.e. silicon dioxide sol. The results show that selective plasma etching process could effectively remove parts of surface inorganic vehicle (SiO₂) layer and expose more smooth and clean CNTs on cathode surface, which could significantly decrease the operating field of CNTs cathode. There are some nanoparticles emerging on the out of CNTs wall after hydrogen plasma treatment, which are equivalent to increase field emission point of cathode. At the same time, these nanoparticles can increase the local electric field of CNTs, which can decrease operating voltage of CNTs cathode and improve uniformity field emission.     

Photopolymerization of Cyclohexene Oxide Initiated with Iron-arene Complex

Two iron-arene complex photoinitiators with different substituents in arene ligands were synthesized, their activities in initiating photopolymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO) were compared with that of IRGACURE 261, a commercialized photoinitiator from Ciba-Geigy. A higher activity was found when the arene ligand was substituted with a stronger electron donating group. For the system initiated by IRGACURE 261 the concentration of active centers in CHO polymerization was determined and it was found that the concentration is maximum at around 35℃. The post (dark) polymerization was significant, the polymerization yield decreased with the increase of irradiation temperature and increased with the increase of post polymerization temperature. The results are interpreted based on the mechanism proposed by Lohse, et al..     

Boundary-value problems and the validity of the Post constraint in modern electromagnetism

When a (frequency-domain) boundary-value problem involving a homogeneous linear material is solved to assess the validity of the Post constraint, a conflict arises between the fundamental differential equations of electromagnetism in the chosen material and a naïve application of the usual boundary conditions. It is shown here that the conflict vanishes when the boundary conditions are properly derived from the fundamental equations, and the validity of the Post constraint in modern macroscopic electromagnetism is thereby reaffirmed.