Intraventricular dispersion and temporal delay of early left ventricular filling after acute myocardial infarction. Assessment by magnetic resonance velocity mapping

This article aims to describe early left ventricular diastolic inflow using magnetic resonance velocity mapping in patients with recent acute myocardial infarction and in normal volunteers. Magnetic resonance velocity mapping was performed in a long axis plane through the hearts of 46 patients with recent, first time acute myocardial infarction and 43 age-matched normal volunteers. The peak velocities at six levels of the early diastolic inflow stream were recorded. A velocity index was calculated as the peak velocity in each position relative to the peak velocity at the mitral leaflet tips. Also, the temporal delay of velocity propagation was computed. Velocity index 4 cm downstream of mitral leaflet tips was lower in the acute myocardial infarction group (0.42 (0.17)) (mean (SD)) compared to controls (0.59 (0.25)) (p < 0.001). Temporal delay in the same position was longer in the acute myocardial infarction group (62 (67) ms) than in controls (32 (39) ms) (p < 0.02). Blood flow patterns in patients after acute myocardial infarction were characterized by increased dispersion of velocities and increased temporal delay of velocity propagation, probably reflecting impaired active left ventricular relaxation. Intraventricular flow measurements constitute a promising new technique for non-invasive assessment of left ventricular diastolic function.     

Interpretation of nuclear resonant vibrational spectra of rubredoxin using a combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics approach

Nuclear resonant vibrational spectra of the reduced and oxidized form of a mutant of rubredoxin from Pyrococcus abyssii were measured and are compared with simulated spectra that were calculated by a combined quantum mechanics (QM) and molecular mechanics (MM) method. Density functional theory was used for the QM level. Calculations were performed for different models of rubredoxin. Realistic spectra were simulated with reduced models that include at least the iron center, the four cysteins coordinating it, and the residues connected to the cysteins together with a QM layer that comprises the first two coordination shells of the iron center. Larger QM layers did not lead to significant changes of the simulated spectra.     

Exonucleolytic degradation of high-density labeled DNA studied by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

The exonucleolytic degradation of high-density labeled DNA by exonuclease III was monitored using two-color fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS). One strand of the double stranded template DNA was labeled on either one or two base types and additionally at one end via a 5' Cy5 tagged primer. Exonucleolytic degradation was followed via the diffusion time, the brightness of the remaining DNA as well as the concentration of released labeled bases. We found a hydrolyzation rate of about 11 to 17 nucleotides per minute per enzyme (nt/min/enzyme) for high-density labeled DNA, which is by a factor of about 4 slower than for unlabeled DNA. The exonucleolytic degradation of a 488 base pair long double stranded DNA resulted in a short double stranded DNA segment of 112 ± 40 base pairs (bp) length with two single-stranded tails.     

Finding vibrations of inclined cable structures by approximately solving governing equations for exterior matrix

In this paper, how to compute the eigenfrequencies of the structures composed of a series of inclined cables is shown. The physics of an inclined cable can be complicated, so solving the differential equations even approximately is difficult. However, rather than solving the system of 4 first-order equations governing the dynamics of each cable, the governing equations are instead converted to a set of equations that the exterior matrix satisfies. Therefore, the exterior matrix method (EMM) is used without solving the original governing equations. Even though this produces a system of 6 first-order equations, the simple asymptotic techniques to find the first three terms of the perturbative solution can be used. The solutions can then be assembled to produce a 6 × 6 exterior matrix for a cable section. The matrices for each cable in the structure are multiplied together, along with the exterior matrices for each joint. The roots of the product give us the eigenfrequencies of the system.     

NMR study and quantum mechanical calculations on the 2-[(2-aminoethyl)amino]-ethanol-H2O-CO2 system

13C and 1H NMR spectra were obtained for AEEA (2-[(2-aminoethyl)amino]-ethanol)-H2O-CO2 systems and quantum mechanical calculations were carried out for the different AEEA species. The results suggest that the main AEEA species under the conditions studied are free amine, primary carbamate, and secondary carbamate. There is also some indication that a dicarbamate species is formed, this species does however only appear to be formed in small amounts. Comparison between experimental data and quantum mechanical calculations suggest that most AEEA species take on conforms with some degree of intramolecular hydrogen bonding.     

A Model for Approximately Stretched-Exponential Relaxation with Continuously Varying Stretching Exponents

Journal of Statistical Physics - Relaxation in glasses is often approximated by a stretched-exponential form: $$f(t) = A \exp [-(t/\tau )^{\beta }]$$ . Here, we show that the relaxation in a model...     

Predicting the product specificity and coupling of cytochrome P450cam

Summary We present an analysis of several molecular dynamics trajectories of substrate-bound cytochrome P450cam. Trajectories were calculated for the native substrate, camphor, as well as for the alternative substrates, norcamphor and thiocamphor. The system modeled consisted of the crystallographically resolved amino acids, the heme group with a single oxygen atom as the distal ligand, the bound substrate, and the crystallographic waters. These trajectories of the presumptive ferryl oxygen intermediate were used to predict regiospecificity of hydroxylation and coupling between NADH consumption and product formation. Simple geometric criteria in combination with electronic considerations were used to calculate the probability of hydroxylation at specific sites on the substrate. We found that for all the cases examined, the predicted product ratios were in good agreement with the experimentally observed values. We also determined that these simple geometric criteria can be used to predict the degree of coupling between NADH consumption and product formation for a given substrate, which was in good agreement with the experimental values.     

Determination of trace amounts of polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil

Summary A method is described for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in natural soil. The soil is dried and extracted by ultrasonic agitation with dichloromethane. The extract is purified by liquid-liquid partitioning with dimethylformamide, water and hexane followed by high performance liquid chromatography on a silica column. Quantitative analysis of the purified extract is carried out by combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The method yields reliable results at the ng/g level.

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Bestimmung von Spuren polycyclischer aromatischer Kohlenwasserstoffe in Boden