Upregulation of extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) and gelatinases in human atherosclerosis infected with Chlamydia pneumoniae: the potential role of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in the progression of atherosclerosis

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection implicated as an important etiologic factor of atherosclerosis, especially in coronary artery disease (CAD), was found in vitro to be associated with the induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). An extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN)/ membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) system which induces and activates MMPs, is suggested to be functional and were upregulated in the failing myocardium. However, the upstream regulation of MMPs by C. pneumoniae within atheroma itself remains unclear. We evaluated the seroepidemiologic study of C. pneumoniae infection in CAD patients (n= 391) and controls (n=97) and performed histopathological and in vitro analysis in atherosclerotic vascular tissues obtained from patients with seropositive to C. pneumoniae (n=20), by using immunochemistry for C. pneumoniae, EMMPRIN/MT1-MMP, MMP-2, and MMP-9. The seropositive rates of both anti-C. pneumoniae IgG and IgA were 56.7% in CAD group and 43.3% in control group (P=0.033). Seropositive rate was increased in subgroups of CAD patients without conventional coronary risk factors compared to those with conventional risk factors. Immunoreactivities of EMMPRIN, MT1-MMP, MMP-2, and MMP-9 were increased in the atheromatous plaque itself, predominantly in immunoreactive macrophages/mononuclear cells to C. pneumoniae. Furthermore, Western blot analysis showed that EMMPRIN and MMP-2 were detected more prominently in atherosclerotic tissues infected with C. pneumoniae compared to control tissues. Zymographic analysis revealed that activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were more increased in atherosclerotic tissues infected with C. pneumoniae compared to control tissues. The present study demonstrated upstream regulation of MMPs can be induced by C. pneumoniae within atheromatous plaque itself. These findings help to understand the potential role of C. pneumoniae in the progression of atherosclerosis.     

Nanoscale molecular superfluidity of hydrogen

We present a microscopic quantum theoretical analysis of the nanoscale superfluid properties of solvating clusters of para-H2 around the linear OCS molecule. Path-integral calculations with N=17 para-H2 molecules, constituting a full solvation shell, show the appearance of a significant superfluid response to rotation around the molecular axis at T=0.15 K. This low-temperature superfluid response is highly anisotropic and drops sharply as the temperature increases to T approximately 0.3 K. These calculations provide definitive theoretical evidence that an anisotropic superfluid state exists for molecular hydrogen in this microscopic solvation layer.     

Low tropospheric wind measurement with Mie Doppler Lidar

A double edge Mie Doppler lidar at 1064 nm was developed in Hefei, China in 2005 for low tropospheric wind measurement. Intercomparison experiments with a wind profiler and a wiresonde were held. Intercomparisons of concurrent lidar and other instrument observations show good agreement with expected measurement accuracy. The examples of validated lidar wind profiles obtained during these experiments as well as an example of continuous wind observations are presented. The instrument has demonstrated the capability of atmospheric wind field measurement from 0.2 to 5 km altitude, achieving below 2 m/s accuracy with 1 min averaging and 21.2 m vertical resolution.     

Synthesis and characterization of diphenylaminodiphenyl stryl based alternating copolymers

Diphenylaminobiphenylated stryl based alternating copolymers with phenyl or fluorene, which were expected to have a terphenylene vinylene backbone containing an (N,N‐diphenylamino)biphenyl pendant and a phenyl/fluorene/phenylene vinylene backbone containing an (N,N‐diphenylamino)biphenyl pendant, were synthesized by a Suzuki coupling reaction. The obtained copolymers were confirmed with various types of spectroscopy. The alternating copolymers showed good hole‐injection properties because of their low oxidation potential and good solubility and high thermal stability with a high glass‐transition temperature. The alternating copolymers showed blue emissions because of the adjusted conjugation lengths; the maximum wavelength was 460 nm for poly{4,4′‐biphenylene‐α‐[4″‐(N,N′‐diphenylamino)diphenyl]vinylene‐alt‐5‐(2′‐ethylhexyloxy)‐2‐methoxybenzene} and 487 nm for poly{4,4′‐biphenylene‐α‐[4″‐(N,N′‐diphenylamino)diphenyl] vinylene‐alt‐9,9‐dihexylfluorene}. The maximum brightness of indium tin oxide/poly(3,4‐ethylene dioxythiophene)/polymer/LiF/Al devices with poly{4,4′‐biphenylene‐α‐[4″‐(N,N′‐diphenylamino)diphenyl]vinylene‐alt‐5‐(2′‐ethylhexyloxy)‐2‐methoxybenzene} or poly{4,4′‐biphenylene‐α‐[4″‐(N,N′‐diphenylamino)diphenyl]vinylene‐alt‐9,9‐dihexylfluorene} as the emitting layer was 250 or 1000 cd/m², respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 341–347, 2007     

Proton transfer of excited 7-azaindole in reverse-micellar methanol nanopools: even faster than in bulk methanol

The methanol-catalyzed double-proton transfer of photoexcited 7-azaindole in the free cores of solvation-restricted reverse micelles takes place on the time scale of 90 ps, even shorter than in bulk methanol. This anomalous rate increase with a large kinetic isotope effect of 5 experimentally proves the widely discussed two-step model for the overall reaction of solvent-mediated proton transfer. On the other hand, the molecules in the bound layers and in the headgroup layers relax in 900 and 6000 ps, respectively, without going through proton transfer. The tautomerization and the relaxation of excited 7-azaindole can be exploited to probe the nanopools of methanol reverse micelles.     

Onset of superfluidity in small CO2(4He)N clusters

We provide definitive theoretical evidence for the onset of superfluidity in small helium clusters doped with molecules at less than one solvation shell, with quantitative analysis of spectroscopic constants for CO2 in (4)He(N) in terms of nonclassical rotational inertia and helium superfluidity calculated by path integral methods. We find a significant superfluid response for N>/=5, with essentially unit response to rotations around the CO2 axis and partial response to rotations about an axis perpendicular to the CO2 axis for N>/=6. This anisotropic superfluid response is shown to be responsible for the N dependence of measured CO2 rotational spectra in (4)He(N).     

Optical properties of singly charged conjugated oligomers: a coupled-cluster equation of motion study

We have implemented a coupled-cluster equation of motion approach combined with the intermediate neglect of differential overlap parametrization and applied it to study the excited states and optical absorptions in positively and negatively charged conjugated oligomers. The method is found to be both reliable and efficient. The theoretical results are in very good agreement with experiments and confirm that there appear two subgap absorption peaks upon polaron formation. Interestingly, the relative intensities of the polaron-induced subgap absorptions can be related to the extent of the lattice geometry relaxations.     

Vibration characteristics of piezoelectric torsional transducers

The vibrational characteristics of Langevin-type torsional transducers, which consist of two piezoelectric torsional disks and two elastic blocks, are studied theoretically and experimentally in this paper. The differential equations of piezoelectric torsional motions are derived in terms of the circumferential displacement and the electric potential. Solutions of the boundary-value problem yield the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the transducers, and the natural frequencies are verified by comparing the numerical results with the experimental ones. The theoretical results enable one to quantitatively predict the effect of the elastic blocks on the reduction of the natural frequencies of a Langevin-type torsional transducer.     

A novel hybrid of Bi-based high-Tc superconductor and molecular complex

Molecular complex HgI2Py2 (Py=pyridine) was intercalated into the Bi-based high-Tc cuprate by intercalative complexation. The intercalation method adopted in this work is based on the new concept, where a neutral ligating agent is diffused into the preintercalated HgI2 layer leading to a charge transfer-type complex formation between the Bi2O2 double layers of Bi2Sr2CaCu2Oy.