On the Initial‐Boundary‐Value Problem for the Linearized Equations of Magnetohydrodynamics

We study the initial‐boundary‐value problem for the linearized equations of ideal magnetohydrodynamics defined on a bounded domain whose boundary is a regular magnetic surface. We show that it is well‐posed in and that the loss of regularity of solutions always occurs for some initial data in (Accepted October 23, 1997)     

Nanolayer characterization through wavelength multiplexing of a microsphere resonator

We optically characterize nanolayer (<150 nm) formation in situ on a silica microsphere in an aqueous environment by simultaneously following the shifts of whispering-gallery modes at two wavelengths. This approach was inspired by layer perturbation theory, which indicates that these two measurements can be used to determine independently both the thickness and the optical dielectric constant. The theory is verified for extreme cases and used to characterize a biophysically relevant hydrogel nanolayer with an extremely small excess refractive index of 0.0012.     

Behavior of Ultrafine Particles generated from organic vapors by corona ionizers

This paper reports an experimental study on the stability, coagulation and diffusion of molecular clusters and ultrafine particles generated from organic vapors by corona ionizers. Upon leaving the ionizer, particles are made to flow within several types of vessels: depending on the specific geometry of the flow system, clusters either coagulate into large particles or are deposited on the walls. Particles larger than 4nm and molecular clusters penetrate through a wire-screen type diffusion battery, but particles in the size range between 2 and 4nm are collected. Among the organic compounds tested (aromatics, alcohols, ketones and others), only aromatic compounds appear to yield unstable clusters which grow into detectable particles (>2nm) through Brownian coagulation. The other compounds either do not undergo the gas-to-particle conversion process or are too small to be detected. Furthermore, the presence of moisture seems to be of fundamental importance in the particle generation phenomenon. The addition of alcohols to the vapor mixture inhibits particle formation.     

Analysis of the peptides (Prp106-126, MSI-78A,and Oxaldie 1) with the same biological activity by discrete Fourier transform: toward a selection rule in ligand-receptor interaction

Here, we first report a novel method in which the "desired cross-spectrum" of the peptides Prp106-126, MSI-78A, and oxaldie 1 with the same biological activities is obtained by the multiplication of two cross-spectra derived from the RNA sequence and from the cognate amino acid sequence by discrete Fourier transform (DFT), respectively. Based on a well-known method reported previously, we investigated the cross-spectrum by the multiplication of two of three desired cross-spectra. As a result, we found that one prominent peak occurring in the three cross-spectra showed the same frequency when a binary scale was used as a parameter of nucleotide or amino acid in the analysis. Moreover, we examined the relationship between a binary scale and other physicochemical ones. Almost the same results could be reproduced when the absolute electronegativity scale (or the absolute hardness one) was used, but not in the case of the hydrophobic or electron-ion interacting potential scale reported previously. This indicates that either the absolute electronegativity scale (or the absolute hardness one) or a binary scale, or both is very useful in extracting the information desired for various proteins by the present method from the amino acid and the RNA sequence.     

High-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescent assay of catechol-O-methyltransferase activity in rat brain

A method to measure catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) activity using high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection with norepinephrine (NE) as a natural substrate was optimized for both soluble (S-) and membrane-bound (MB-) COMT activities in rat brain areas, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, hippocampus, brain stem, hypophysis, and hypothalamus. The highest S-COMT activity in Sprague-Dawley rat brain was found in hippocampus. MB-COMT activities in all brain areas were about 3-8 times lower than S-COMT activities. However, considering Vmax/ Km values, specificity constants for NE to S- and MB-COMT contributes mainly to the metabolism of NE in cerebral cortex and cerebellum.     

Preparation of [Arg-Gly-Asp]-[amino-poly(ethylene glycol)] hybrids and their inhibitory effect on experimental metastasis.

Hybrids of a fibronectin-related tripeptide (Arg-Gly-Asp) and amino-poly(ethylene glycol) were prepared and their inhibitory effect on experimental metastasis in mice was examined. The hybrids exhibited a potent inhibitory effect on the metastasis of B16 melanoma BL6.