Enhanced renal image contrast by ethanol fixation in phase‐contrast X‐ray computed tomography

Phase‐contrast X‐ray imaging using a crystal X‐ray interferometer can depict the fine structures of biological objects without the use of a contrast agent. To obtain higher image contrast, fixation techniques have been examined with 100% ethanol and the commonly used 10% formalin, since ethanol causes increased density differences against background due to its physical properties and greater dehydration of soft tissue. Histological comparison was also performed. A phase‐contrast X‐ray system was used, fitted with a two‐crystal X‐ray interferometer at 35 keV X‐ray energy. Fine structures, including cortex, tubules in the medulla, and the vessels of ethanol‐fixed kidney could be visualized more clearly than that of formalin‐fixed tissues. In the optical microscopic images, shrinkage of soft tissue and decreased luminal space were observed in ethanol‐fixed kidney; and this change was significantly shown in the cortex and outer stripe of the outer medulla. The ethanol fixation technique enhances image contrast by approximately 2.7–3.2 times in the cortex and the outer stripe of the outer medulla; the effect of shrinkage and the physical effect of ethanol cause an increment of approximately 78% and 22%, respectively. Thus, the ethanol‐fixation technique enables the image contrast to be enhanced in phase‐contrast X‐ray imaging.     

Electroreflectance spectra of Ag(111) electrodes

Electroreflectance (ER) spectra of Ag(111) evaporated electrodes on mica in aqueous electrolytes were measured within the wavelength range of 500 to 200 nm for p- and s-polarized light as a function of the angle of incidence, bias potential and surface roughness. These spectra show structures which were not seen in previously obtained ER spectra on slightly rough, polycrystalline Ag electrodes. The effect of volume and surface plasma excitation on the spectra is clearly indicated. The experimental results cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by any currently employed theoretical model which takes only free electron effects into account. The influence of the electric field on the bound electrons in the surface layer obviously cannot be neglected. It is demonstrated that the surface plasma resonance is shifted in energy by the applied electric field.     

How Strain Affects the Reactivity of Surface Metal Oxide Catalysts

Highly dispersed molybdenum oxide supported on mesoporous silica SBA‐15 has been prepared by anion exchange resulting in a series of catalysts with changing Mo densities (0.2–2.5 Mo atoms nm^?2). X‐ray absorption, UV/Vis, Raman, and IR spectroscopy indicate that doubly anchored tetrahedral dioxo MoO₄ units are the major surface species at all loadings. Higher reducibility at loadings close to the monolayer measured by temperature‐programmed reduction and a steep increase in the catalytic activity observed in metathesis of propene and oxidative dehydrogenation of propane at 8 % of Mo loading are attributed to frustration of Mo oxide surface species and lateral interactions. Based on DFT calculations, NEXAFS spectra at the O‐K‐edge at high Mo loadings are explained by distorted MoO₄ complexes. Limited availability of anchor silanol groups at high loadings forces the MoO₄ groups to form more strained configurations. The occurrence of strain is linked to the increase in reactivity.     

Is Poisson-Boltzmann theory insufficient for protein folding simulations?

The Poisson-Boltzmann theory has been widely used in the studies of energetics and conformations of biological macromolecules. Recently, introduction of the efficient generalized Born approximation has greatly extended its applicability to areas such as protein folding simulations where highly efficient computation is crucial. However, limitations have been found in the folding simulations of a well-studied beta hairpin with several generalized Born implementations and different force fields. These studies have raised the question whether the underlining Poisson-Boltzmann theory, on which the generalized Born model is calibrated, is adequate in the treatment of polar interactions for the challenging protein folding simulations. To address the question whether the Poisson-Boltzmann theory in the current formalism might be insufficient, we directly tested our efficient numerical Poisson-Boltzmann implementation in the beta-hairpin folding simulation. Good agreement between simulation and experiment was found for the beta-hairpin equilibrium structures when the numerical Poisson-Boltzmann solvent and a recently improved generalized Born solvent were used. In addition simulated thermodynamic properties also agree well with experiment in both solvents. Finally, an overall agreement on the beta-hairpin folding mechanism was found between the current and previous studies. Thus, our simulations indicate that previously observed limitations are most likely due to imperfect calibration in previous generalized Born models but not due to the limitation of the Poisson-Boltzmann theory.     

Osteoblastic cell response on magnesium-incorporated apatite coatings

Magnesium is one of the most important bivalent ions associated with biological apatite. A series of magnesium-substituted calcium apatite coatings (Ca_10−xMg_x)(PO₄)₆(OH)₂, where x = 0, 0.50, 1.00, 1.50 and 2.00, are synthesized onto Ti6Al4V substrate by sol-gel dip-coating method to determine how magnesium influences the synthesis and the resulting structural and biological properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that the incorporation of magnesium helps formation of Mg-containing β-TCP (β-TCMP) phase. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to study the chemical composition and the results show that the apatite structure can only host magnesium less than ∼2.4 wt.% beyond which magnesium aggregates on the surfaces. The incorporation of magnesium slows down the dissolution of Ca²⁺ from the coating. The in vitro behavior of the coatings is evaluated with human osteosarcoma MG63 cells for cell morphology and proliferation. Similar cell morphologies are observed on all coatings. The cell proliferation results show that the incorporation of magnesium up to x = 2 has no adverse effect on cell growth.     

Empirical Bayes approach to multiparameter estimation: with special reference to multinomial distribution

Empirical Bayes approach to estimation of many parameters is considered. Special features of the techniques discussed are: (i) the handling of unequal sample sizes at various stages of an Empirical Bayes sampling scheme and (ii) a general iterative procedure for estimating the parameters of a parametric prior distribution based on the likelihood approach. Linear empirical Bayes estimation is also considered. Application of the general techniques is demonstrated with special reference to a multinomial data distribution.     

The ammonia dimer equilibrium dissociation energy: convergence to the basis set limit at the correlated level

The low-energy region of the intermolecular potential energy hypersurface (PES) of the ammonia dimer was studied at the level of second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2) using a very large basis set. Individual minima were located on the PES employing the counterpoise (CP) correction to account for the basis set superposition error (BSSE). Apart from these canonical MP2 calculations local MP2 (LMP2) calculations were performed. For the latter the BSSE at the correlated level is inherently absent by virtue of the local truncation of the virtual space. Results from canonical and local MP2 calculations are compared and the reliability of the LMP2 method for intermolecular complexes and clusters is discussed. The canonical MP2 calculations predicted five minimum structures, the four most stable ones lying energetically very close. For these four structures single point MP2 energy calculations with a further extended basis set (1024 functions for the ammonia dimer) were performed. The equilibrium dissociation energies so obtained are close to the one-particle basis set limit, as illustrated by a remaining BSSE of less than 0.2 kJ mol^?1. The geometry optimizations at the LMP2 level, using the three most stable canonical MP2 structures as initial geometries, all collapsed to a single minimum corresponding to an asymmetric structural arrangement. A canonical MP2 single point calculation, at that geometry, revealed that the LMP2 minimum structure is virtually as stable as the lowest minima on the canonical MP2 PES. Based on these calculations the global minimum of the ammonia dimer was assigned to a part of the PES represented by an asymmetric structure with an equilibrium dissociation energy of 13.5±0.3 kJ mol^?1     

High temperature adsorption of carbon dioxide on Cu–Al hydrotalcite-derived mixed oxides: kinetics and equilibria by thermogravimetry

The effect of Cu/Al molar ratio on the high-temperature adsorption characteristics of CO₂ on the mixed oxides of Cu–Al hydrotalcite skeletal structure has been studied by thermogravimetry. The Cu/Al molar ratio of the hydrotalcites synthesized was varied between 1.0 and 3.0, and the adsorption temperature ranged from ambient to 600 °C. The hydrotalcite with Cu/Al molar ratio of 2.0 was found to be the most suitable adsorbent for high-temperature CO₂ adsorption, in both the capacity and the rate of adsorption. The activation energy values suggested that the physical adsorption dominates at low temperatures (<400 °C) and the chemisorption dominates at high temperatures (>400 °C).     

First experimental result with fluorescent X‐ray CT based on sheet‐beam geometry

Fluorescent X‐ray computed tomography (FXCT) enables us to reveal the cross‐sectional distribution of very low concentration of specific elements, e.g. I, Gd, or Au, in biomedical samples at a spatial resolution of several hundred micrometers, and it has been used to evaluate the states of cerebral perfusion and fatty acid metabolic function of small animals in vivo and ex vivo. However, since the current system employs the data‐acquisition scheme of the first‐generation type of CT, it requires a huge amount of time to obtain a whole set of projections. In order to overcome the problem, we propose a novel imaging geometry using a sheet incident beam. We performed a proof‐of‐concept experiment using a preliminary imaging system constructed at beam line BLNE‐5A, KEK. The efficacy of the proposed method is demonstrated by the reconstructed images of a physical phantom containing various concentrations of iodine solution and a mouse brain that is extracted after intravenous injection of ¹²⁷I‐IMP for observing the cerebral perfusion and then fixed with formalin. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.