The detection of UV-induced membrane damages by a combination of two biosensor techniques

Ketoprofen is an important anti-inflammatory drug, but its dermal application is limited because of the photosensitizing properties causing phototoxic reactions of the skin when exposed to UV light. We have recently investigated the peroxide formation of ketoprofen in solutions of linoleic acid during UV irradiation. To continue these studies and focus on UV-induced changes in membrane integrity and barrier function we established an in vitro model using two biosensor techniques simultaneously. Support-fixed bilayers were irradiated with different doses of UV-B up to damaging intensities with or without ketoprofen. Cyclic voltammetry was carried out to detect alterations in membrane permeability; quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) measurements were helpful in analyzing whether a permeability increase was caused by depletion of membrane components. In absence of ketoprofen, increasing UV-B doses induce membrane permeabilities of both unsaturated and saturated bilayers. QCM measurements could not reveal a significant loss of membrane components as a reason for the permeability. In contrast, 0.3 mM ketoprofen induced a dose-dependent increase in membrane permeability. QCM results indicated a mass loss. Although this model does not explain all molecular mechanisms of membrane damage by ketoprofen, the combined application of both QCM and CV is a novel and powerful tool to investigate functional mechanisms of UV-induced membrane damages.     

Fluoro-ketones VI. Synthesis of perfluoro di- and tetra-ketones from 1,1-dichlorobenzyllithium and perfluoroesters

The reaction of C₆H₅CCl₂Li with perfluorinated mono and diesters yields fluorochloroketones in high yield. Hydrolysis of such compounds produces alpha-beta fluorinated di- and tetra-ketones, respectively. Various hydrates of the fluorinated ketones have been identified.     

Free energy calculations using flexible-constrained, hard-constrained and non-constrained molecular dynamics simulations.

A comparison of different treatments of bond-stretching interactions in molecular dynamics simulation is presented. Relative free energies from simulations using rigid bonds maintained with the SHAKE algorithm, using partially rigid bonds maintained with a recently introduced flexible constraints algorithm, and using fully flexible bonds are compared in a multi-configurational thermodynamic integration calculation of changing liquid water into liquid methanol. The formula for the free energy change due to a changing flexible constraint in a flexible constraint simulation is derived. To allow for a more direct comparison between these three methods, three different pairs of models for water and methanol were used: a flexible model (simulated without constraints and with flexible constraints), a rigid model (simulated with standard hard constraints), and an alternative flexible model (simulated with flexible constraints and standard hard constraints) in which the ideal or constrained bond lengths correspond to the average bond lengths obtained from a short simulation of the unconstrained flexible model. The particular treatment of the bonds induces differences of up to 2 % in the liquid densities, whereas (excess) free energy differences of up to 5.7 (4.3) kJ mol(-1) are observed. These values are smaller than the differences observed between the three different pairs of methanol/water models: up to 5 % in density and up to 8.5 kJ mol(-1) in (excess) free energy.     

Ein elektronisches Kurvenlineal

Zusammenfassung Das elektronische Kurvenlineal ist eine einfache Methode zum Zeichnen geglätteter Kurven mit Hilfe eines Computers. Die Kurven werden durch Ueberlagerung quadratischer Funktionen berechnet. Im Vergleich zur üblichen Glättung mit SPLINE-Funktionen bringt die Methode einige Vorteile. Die Wahl der Parameter ist weniger kritisch und der. Computer kommt mit einem kleineren Speicher aus.

---

Summary A simple method of plotting smoothed curves by a computer is described. The curves are calculated by superposition of quadratic functions. Compared to the usual SPLINE-smoothing, the method has some advantages. The choice of the parameters is less critical and computers with smaller memory may be used.

     

Radiofrequency-induced cross-over resonances

A new kind of Doppler-free cross-over resonances has been studied experimentally and theoretically. When counter-propagating fields interact with two overlapping absorption transitions at frequencies ₁ and ₂, a rf induced cross-over resonance (RICOR) appears near (₁+₂)/2 when an rf field couples two of the levels involved in the main transitions. This Doppler-free signal splits into two symmetrical components when the rf Rabi flopping frequency increases either through rf field strength or detuning. Experimental results have been checked against a theory in which the susceptibility of the molecule dressed by the rf field is calculated by a perturbation expansion with respect to infrared couplings.     

On the\bar \partial equation in weightedL 2 norms in ℂ1equation in weightedL 2 norms in ℂ1

For a large class of subharmonicφ, the equation is studied in . Pointwise upper bounds are derived for the distribution kernels of the canonical solution operator and of the orthogonal projection onto the space of entire functions inH. Existence theorems inL ^p norms are derived as a corollary. A class of counterexamples, related to the failure of to be analytic-hypoelliptic on certain CR manifolds, is discussed. Communicated by Steven Krantz     

A priori bounds and weak solutions for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation in Sobolev spaces of negative order

Solutions to the Cauchy problem for the one-dimensional cubic nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the real line are studied in Sobolev spaces Hs, for s negative but close to 0. For smooth solutions there is an a priori upper bound for the Hs norm of the solution, in terms of the Hs norm of the datum, for arbitrarily large data, for sufficiently short time. Weak solutions are constructed for arbitrary initial data in Hs.     

WKB and Spectral Analysis¶of One-Dimensional Schrödinger Operators¶with Slowly Varying Potentials

Consider a Schr?dinger operator on L ² of the line, or of a half line with appropriate boundary conditions. If the potential tends to zero and is a finite sum of terms, each of which has a derivative of some order in L ¹+L ^p for some exponent p<2, then an essential support of the the absolutely continuous spectrum equals ℝ⁺. Almost every generalized eigenfunction is bounded, and satisfies certain WKB-type asymptotics at infinity. If moreover these derivatives belong to L ^p with respect to a weight |x|^γ with γ >0, then the Hausdorff dimension of the singular component of the spectral measure is strictly less than one. Received: 27 July 2000 / Accepted: 23 October 2000     

Investigation of titanium nitride coating by broadband laser ultrasonic spectroscopy

We present a laser ultrasonic method to investigate a titanium nitride(TiN) coating specimen.The technique is based on the principle of surface acoustic wave (SAW) dispersion during acoustic propagation on a half-space with the presence of a thin layer.Due to the high efficiency of laser line-source excitation,we have been able to generate and detect a SAW with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio in a wide frequency band.An inverse fitting algorithm was employed to extract simultaneously the thickness and the elastic parameters of the TiN coating from the experimental SAW velocity dispersion curve.