Forward-backward multiplicity correlations in σ+ p,K + p andpp collisions at 250 GeV/c

Forward-backward multiplicity correlations in σ⁺,K ⁺ p andpp collisions at 250 GeV/c ( \(\sqrt s \) =22 GeV) are given for all charges and for the different charge combinations. The correlations are found to be caused predominantly by centrally produced particles. It is demonstrated that this result is an agreement with observations at the ISR and the CERNp \(\bar p\) -Collider. The results are compared to expectations from LUND, DPM and FRITIOF Monte Carlo models and a geometrical picture relating correlations in hadron-hadron collisions toe ⁺ e ^? data in terms of impact parameters is tested.     

Determination of impurities in uranium oxide by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) by the matrix matching method

An analytical procedure was developed to determine the concentration of some elements regarded as trace impurities in nuclear fuel using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) associated to the matrix matching method. The assessment of this approach was carried out using a set of certified reference materials produced by the New Brunswick Laboratory (NBL). Eighteen out of the twenty-four elements in the reference materials could be easily determined. It was found that the mean values for reproducibility and accuracy were 5.0% and 15.0%. The remaining six elements provided mean values of 11.0% and 37.0%, respectively. They could not be adequately determined due to the effects of analyte signal suppression and spectral interference.     

Electron transport in corona charged 12 μm teflon FEP with saturable deep traps

Surface-potential measurements carried out in negatively corona charged 12 m samples of fluorethylenepropylene (Teflon FEP) showed the following characteristics: 1) with a constant charging current, the potential initially rises linearly, and then sublinearly; 2) the potential saturates irrespectively of the charging process and 3) practically no potential decay is observed after switching off the corona. These results have been interpreted in terms of an usual model (field-independent trapping time) for charge transport in insulators, with saturable deep traps in both surface and bulk of the sample and a relatively high electron mobility in order to prevent free-space charge accumulation. The partial differential equations derived from the model are numerically solved and it was found that only the product of the mobility with the trapping time is relevant to the fitting of experimental results, provided that >10^–8 cm²/Vs. A field-dependent trapping time model leads to poorer fittings.     

Cooperative effects in phospholipid monolayers induced by a peptide from HIV-1 capsid protein

The study of interactions between biological molecules and model membranes is essential for the understanding of a number of physiological mechanisms involved in viral infections and dissemination. In this paper, the analysis of the interaction between a peptide from the p24 protein of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) and a phospholipid monolayer has pointed to a cooperative response in which very small amounts of peptide p24-1 (e.g. 0.05 mol%) can lead to measurable effects. Monolayer surface pressure and surface potential isotherms were affected for peptide concentrations as low as 0.05 mol%, with saturation at 0.5 mol%. The expansion effect from p24-1 is confirmed by changes in morphology of the monolayers using Brewster angle microscopy. Even though p24-1 is disordered in aqueous solutions, the interaction with dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) causes it to adopt an alpha-helix structure, as shown by circular dichroism (CD) data for multilamellar vesicles (MLV). The expansion of the phospholipid monolayer in a cooperative way may imply that p24-1 has potential antiviral activity, by participating in the cell rupture, with no need of specific receptors in the membrane.     

Phase separation of p53 precedes aggregation and is affected by oncogenic mutations and ligands

Mutant p53 tends to form aggregates with amyloid properties, especially amyloid oligomers inside the nucleus, which are believed to cause oncogenic gain-of-function (GoF). The mechanism of the formation of the aggregates in the nucleus remains uncertain. The present study demonstrated that the DNA-binding domain of p53 (p53C) underwent phase separation (PS) on the pathway to aggregation under various conditions. p53C phase separated in the presence of the crowding agent polyethylene glycol (PEG). Similarly, mutant p53C (M237I and R249S) underwent PS; however, the process evolved to a solid-like phase transition faster than that in the case of wild-type p53C. The data obtained by microscopy of live cells indicated that transfection of mutant full-length p53 into the cells tended to result in PS and phase transition (PT) in the nuclear compartments, which are likely the cause of the GoF effects. Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) experiments revealed liquid characteristics of the condensates in the nucleus. Mutant p53 tended to undergo gel- and solid-like phase transitions in the nucleus and in nuclear bodies demonstrated by slow and incomplete recovery of fluorescence after photobleaching. Polyanions, such as heparin and RNA, were able to modulate PS and PT in vitro. Heparin apparently stabilized the condensates in a gel-like state, and RNA apparently induced a solid-like state of the protein even in the absence of PEG. Conditions that destabilize p53C into a molten globule conformation also produced liquid droplets in the absence of crowding. The disordered transactivation domain (TAD) modulated both phase separation and amyloid aggregation. In summary, our data provide mechanistic insight into the formation of p53 condensates and conditions that may result in the formation of aggregated structures, such as mutant amyloid oligomers, in cancer. The pathway of mutant p53 from liquid droplets to gel-like and solid-like (amyloid) species may be a suitable target for anticancer therapy.

Mutant p53 tends to form aggregates with amyloid properties, especially amyloid oligomers inside the nucleus, which are believed to cause oncogenic gain-of-function (GoF).     

Effect of solvent composition on dispersing ability of reaction sialon suspensions

This work focuses on the optimization of the rheological behavior of suspensions considering different solvent compositions. The effects of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)/ethanol (E) solvent mixtures on reaction sialon suspensions were investigated by measuring sedimentation behavior, adsorption of dispersant, and flow behavior. It was shown that both the flow behavior and the sedimentation behavior strongly depended on selection of solvent composition. Using 3 wt% KD1 as dispersant, well-dispersed colloidal suspensions could be obtained in MEK-rich solvents. The suspensions with 60 vol% MEK/40 vol% E as solvent could be fitted to the Bingham model with very low yield stress, while suspensions with pure MEK or ethanol-rich mixtures as solvent showed pseudo plastic behavior with relatively high yield stress values. A model was proposed to explain the different flow behaviors of suspensions considering the different configurations of dispersant at particles' surfaces.     

Behavior of Humic Acid as a Micellar Phase in Micellar Electrokinetic Chromatography (MEKC)

The possibility of humic acids acting as micellar phase in micellar electrokinetic chromatography was evaluated. We investigated the separation of naphthalene in capillary electrophoresis using various samples of humic acids as micellar phase under different pH conditions, concentrations of humic acid, and temperature. The humic acid samples studied were from different origins including peat, vermicompost and a commercial sample acquired from Aldrich. Methanol was used as a marker for the electroosmotic flow. The results indicate that the formation of micelle depends on the number and nature of the hydrophobic association sites in an aqueous humic acid solution and on the origin and concentration of the humic acid at a defined pH. At lower pH values, the possibility of the humic acid molecule forming pseudomicelles increases due to a combination of neutralized and dissociated charged sites.     

Evaluation and application of bismuth as an internal standard for the determination of lead in wines by simultaneous electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the direct determination of Pb in wines by simultaneous multi-element atomic absorption spectrometry (SIMAAS) using a transversely heated graphite atomizer, Zeeman-effect background corrector and internal standardization is proposed. Bismuth was used as an internal standard and Pd(NO3)2 plus Mg(NO3)2 as chemical modifier to stabilize both the analyte and the internal standard. The implementation of two pyrolysis steps avoided any build-up of carbonaceous residues on the graphite platform. All diluted samples (1 + 1 v/v) in 0.2% v/v HNO3 and reference solutions (5.0-50 microg l(-1) Pb in 0.2% v/v HNO3) were spiked with 25 microg l(-1) Bi. For a 20 microl aliquot dispensed into the graphite tube, a good correlation (r = 0.9997) was obtained between the ratio of the analyte signal to the internal standard signal and the analyte concentration of the reference solutions. The electrothermal behaviour of Pb and Bi in red, white and rosé wines were compared. In addition, absorbance variations due to changes in experimental conditions, such as atomizer temperature, integration time, injected sample volume, radiation beam intensity, graphite tube surface, dilution and sample composition, were minimized by using Bi as internal standard. Relative standard deviations of measurements based on integrated absorbance varied from 0.1 to 3.4% and from 0.5 to 7.3% (n = 12) with and without internal standard correction, respectively. Good recoveries (91-104%) for Pb spikes were obtained. The characteristic mass was 45 pg Pb and the limit of detection based on integrated absorbance was 0.9 microg l(-1) Pb. Internal standardization increased the lifetime of the tube by 25%. Direct determinations of Pb in wines with and without internal standardization approaches were in agreement at the 95% confidence level. The repeatability and the tube lifetime were improved when using Bi as internal standard. The improvement in accuracy using an internal standard was only observed when the analytical results were affected by errors.     

Interaction of aryldiazonium salts with some schiff-base complexes of cobalt and ruthenium

The interaction of aryldiazonium ions with some Schiff-base complexes of cobalt and ruthenium have been studied. With cobalt, one-electron oxidation of [Co(II)Salen] occurred; with [Co(I)Salen] the corresponding Co(III)-aryl complexes were isolated. In the case of ruthenium oxidation also occurs, [Ru(Salen)(CO)py] gave the corresponding monocation. The results, especially for ruthenium, are in contrast to the stabilisation of both nitrosyl and aryldiazonium adducts in analogous porphyrin complexes.     

Fluorescence quenching of anthropogenic fulvic acids by Cu(II), Fe(III) and UO(2)(2+)

The quenching of the fluorescence of three anthropogenic fulvic acids (FA) provoked by Cu(II) (pH 6.0), Fe(III) (pH 4.0) and UO₂²⁺ (pH 3.5), was analyzed by a non-linear method and by Stern-Volmer plots. The FA samples were extracted from composted sewage sludges (csFA), composted municipal wastes (mwFA) and composted livestock wastes (lsFA). Synchronous-scan fluorescence (SyF) spectra were collected as a function of metal ion concentration. Spectral data were treated by a self-modeling mixture analysis method (SIMPLISMA) to detect the SyF spectral band with the strongest quenching and to calculate the corresponding quenching profile. The analysis of these profiles by a non-linear method allowed the estimation of conditional stability constants (K) and of the percentage of non-complexing fluorophores. The same quantitative information was obtained by the modified Stern-Volmer equation taking into account the existence of fluorophores that do not participate in the complexation. Good agreement was found between the results of the two procedures. The log K calculated by the non-linear method were (standard deviation in parenthesis): csFA, Cu(II), 4.22 (5); Fe(III), 5.0 (1); UO₂²⁺, 5.2 (2); mwFA, Cu(II), 4.21 (3); Fe(III), 5.6 (2); UO₂²⁺, 4.7 (3); lsFA, Cu(II), 4.51 (8); Fe(III), 5.5 (2); UO₂²⁺, 3.6 (2).