ALS-associated mutant SOD1<Superscript>G93A</Superscript> causes mitochondrial vacuolation by expansion of the intermembrane space and by involvement of SOD1 aggregation and peroxisomes

Background  

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an age-dependent neurodegenerative disease that causes motor neuron degeneration, paralysis and death. Mutations in Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) are one cause for the familial form of this disease. Transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1 develop age-dependent motor neuron degeneration, skeletal muscle weakness, paralysis and death similar to humans. The mechanism whereby mutant SOD1 induces motor neuron degeneration is not understood but widespread mitochondrial vacuolation has been observed during early phases of motor neuron degeneration. How this vacuolation develops is not clear, but could involve autophagic vacuolation, mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) or uncharacterized mechanisms. To determine which of these possibilities are true, we examined the vacuolar patterns in detail in transgenic mice expressing mutant SOD1^G93A.     

Dichlorocarbene Addition to

In contrast to the terminal phosphinidene complex PhPW(CO)(5) (2), which adds to [5]metacyclophane (1) in a 1,4-fashion, dichlorocarbene preferentially adds in a 1,2-fashion to the formal "anti-Bredt" type double bond of the aromatic ring of 1 to afford the norcaradiene 11b, which immediately rearranges to the bridged cycloheptatriene 12b and further by a [1,5] sigmatropic chlorine migration to the isomeric 13b as the first observable product. More slowly, the latter isomerizes via a dissociative mechanism to give 15b. A computational study supports the notion that the [1,5] chlorine migration in the rearrangement 12b --> 13b, for which an activation barrier of 70.2 kJ mol(-)(1) was calculated, is essentially concerted with minor charge separation. In contrast, the analogous [1,5] chlorine migration in the flat model compound 7,7-dichlorocycloheptatriene (12a) displays features of a dissociative pathway.     

Clustering in ternary III–V semiconductors2

The difference between the bond probability between identical cations (anions) in a quasi-chemical and random solid solution is used as a quantitative measure of the tendency for clustering to occur in ternary III–V semiconductors. GaAlAs, GaAsP, InGaAs and InGaP are examined in some detail and the antimonides, InGaSb, InAsSb and GaAsSb, are discussed briefly. It is shown that the tendency to cluster increases more rapidly with increasing mole fraction than it does with decreasing temperature. It is also suggested that the segregation effects observed in GaAlAs in GaAs/GaAlAs quantum well structures is due to kinetic, as opposed to thermodynamic, effects.     

Viscoelastic properties of 1,2-polybutadiene—comparison with natural rubber and other elastomers

Viscoelastic properties of uncrosslinked 1,2-polybutadiene (91.5% vinyl, 7.0% cis, 1.5% trans, number-average molecular weight 99,000) were studied by dynamic shear measurements between 0.15 and 600 cps (torsion pendulum and Fitzgerald transducer) and shear creep measurements over time periods up to 3.7 × 10⁴ sec., in the temperature rang from 5 to 50°C. More limited dynamic measurements were made on a sample of unvulcanized natural rubber with number-average molecular weight 350,000 at frequencies from 0.4 to 400 cps and temperatures from 13 to 48°C. All data were reduced to 25°C. by shift factors calculated from equations of the WLF form with the following coefficients: 1,2-polybutadiene, c₁ = 6.23, c₂ = 72.5; natural rubber, c₁ = 5.94, c₂ = 151.6. In the transition zone, the relative positions of the loss tangent curves on the logarithmic frequency scale for these and other rubbers (1,4-polybutadiene with 50% trans configuration; styrene–butadiene rubber with 23.5% styrene content; and polyisobutylene) provided relative measures of local segment mobility. At 25°C., these ranged over a factor of 3700 with 1,2-polybutadiene and polyisobutylene the lowest and 1,4-polybutadiene the highest. When the frequency scale of each rubber was reduced to a temperature 100°C. above its glass transition temperature, however, the loss tangent curves for all except polyisobutylene were nearly coincident; the latter still showed a lower mobility by a factor of about 1/800. The terminal relaxation time and steady-state compliance for the 1,2-polybutadiene calculated from the Rouse theory were larger than those observed experimentally. The level of compliance corresponding to the entanglement network of 1,2-polybutadiene, J_eN, was calculated by integration over the loss compliance, J″, to be 1.62 × 10^?7 cm.²/dyne; integration over G″ to obtain the corresponding modulus gave reasonable agreement. From such J_eN, values, the average number of chain atoms between entanglement points, jZ_e, was estimated as follows: 1,2-polybutadiene, 132; natural rubber, 360; 1,4-polybutadiene, 110; styrene–butadiene rubber, 186; polyisobutylene, 320. Values of jZ_e were also estimated from the minimum in the loss tangent and compared with those reported from the molecular weight dependence of viscosity. The three sources were in generally good agreement.     

Dynamic mechanical properties of two copolymers of styrene and n-hexyl methacrylate

The storage (J′) and loss (J″) shear compliances have been measured for two random copolymers of styrene and n-hexyl methacrylate with styrene contents of 18% and 30% (by weight) in the frequency range 45–4400 Hz and the temperature range 31–107°C. The data at different temperatures were combined by the method of reduced variables, and the WLF coefficients were calculated from the temperature shift factors by the method of Pierson and Kovacs. The data were compared with earlier data for the two homopolymers. The thermal expansion coefficient of the fractional free volume, and the free volume at the glass transition temperature, varied monotonically with composition, but the fractional free volume at a reference temperature of 100°C appeared to pass through a maximum as a function of concentration. Comparison of isothermal plots of J′ at 100°C, plots of the relaxation spectrum at 100°C, the monomer friction coefficient and its temperature dependence, and isochronal plots of the storage shear moduls at 100 radians/see all show that the properties of poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) are very slightly affected by incorporation of 18% styrene and only moderately affected by 30% styrene. By contrast, comparison of styrene–butadiene rubber with 1,4-polybutadiene shows a very large effect of incorporation of 23.5% styrene. These differences may be associated with local packing relations of the comonomer residues and suggest that copolymer properties cannot be readily predicted from those of the component homopolymers.     

Molecular friction coefficients in polymers and their temperature dependence

Colloid and Polymer Science - Analysis of the temperature dependence of viscoelastic and dielectric relaxation processes in several individual polymers by the equation of Williams, Landel, and...     

Strategic views of accreditation

This paper summarises the experience we gained while going through an accreditation process in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025 Standard. We propose in this paper an initial path finding study stage to evaluate the laboratory's predisposition for, and the benefits of, accreditation. We also present a conceptual framework as part of the path finding study stage to identify and classify different groups of activities in a laboratory into separate business domains. The objective of the study is to assess, for each business domain, the approach, the benefits, costs and implications of working with a systematic QA and then design a priori appropriate working systems tailored to the real needs of each business. Such a study should naturally lead to an appropriate definition of accreditation scope.

---

Einselection in action: decoherence and pointer states in open quantum dots

Recent work on the role of decoherence has suggested that the decay of quantum effects is governed by a discrete set of pointer states, which affect the quantum to classical correspondence. We show that the conductance oscillations exhibited by open quantum dots are governed by a discrete set of stable quantum states which have the properties of the pointer states, and which are closely related to trapped classical orbits in the open dot.