Synthetic aperture fourier holographic optical microscopy

We report a new synthetic aperture optical microscopy in which high-resolution, wide-field amplitude and phase images are synthesized from a set of Fourier holograms. Each hologram records a region of the complex two-dimensional spatial frequency spectrum of an object, determined by the illumination field's spatial and spectral properties and the collection angle and solid angle. We demonstrate synthetic microscopic imaging in which spatial frequencies that are well outside the modulation transfer function of the collection optical system are recorded while maintaining the long working distance and wide field of view.     

Spatial Statistics of Stochastic Fiber Networks

From the known statistics of fiber-fiber contacts in random fiber networks, an analytic estimate is obtained for the variance of local porosity in random fiber suspensions and evolving filtrate networks. The variance of local porosity, and hence the distribution of projected areal density, seem to depend on fiber geometry only through the cube of mean diameter. Also, the coefficient of variation of local flow rate perpendicular to the plane of the pad is, to a first approximation, independent of the mode of flow. Analytic estimates are obtained also for the effect of fiber clumping on the variance of local porosity of pads for small inspection zones.     

Rotational distributions following van der Waals molecule dissociation: comparison between experiment and theory for benzene-Ar

The translational energy release distribution for dissociation of benzene-Ar has been measured and, in combination with the 6(1)(0) rotational contour of the benzene product observed in emission, used to determine the rotational J,K distribution of 0(0) benzene products formed during dissociation from 6(1). Significant angular momentum is transferred to benzene on dissociation. The 0(0) rotational distribution peaks at J=31 and is skewed to low K:Javerage=27, (K)average=10.3. The average angle between the total angular momentum vector and the unique rotational axis is determined to be 68 degrees. This indicates that benzene is formed tumbling about in-plane axes rather than in a frisbeelike motion, consistent with Ar "pushing off" benzene from an off-center position above or below the plane. The J distribution is very well reproduced by angular momentum model calculations based on an equivalent rotor approach [A. J. McCaffery, M. A. Osborne, R. J. Marsh, W. D. Lawrance, and E. R. Waclawik, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 1694 (2004)], indicating that angular momentum constraints control the partitioning of energy between translation and rotation. Calculations for p-difluorobenzene-Ar suggest that the equivalent rotor model can provide a reasonable prediction of both J and K distributions in prolate (or near prolate) tops when dissociation leads to excitation about the unique, in-plane axis. Calculations for s-tetrazine-Ar require a small maximum impact parameter to reproduce the comparatively low J values seen for the s-tetrazine product. The three sets of calculations show that the maximum impact parameter is not necessarily equal to the bond length of the equivalent rotor and must be treated as a variable parameter. The success of the equivalent rotor calculations argues that angular momentum constraints control the partitioning between rotation and translation of the products.     

ELEMENTAL SELENIUM GENERATED BY THE PHOTOBLEACHING OF SELENOMEROCYANINE PHOTOSENSITIZERS FORMS CONJUGATES WITH SERUM MACROMOLECULES THAT ARE TOXIC TO TUMOR CELLS

Elemental selenium generated by the photobleaching of selenomerocyanine dyes forms conjugates with serum albumin and serum lipoproteins that are toxic to leukemia and selected solid tumor cells but well tolerated by normal CD34-positive hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. Serum albumin and lipoproteins act as Trojan horses that deliver the cytotoxic entity (elemental selenium) to tumor cells as part of a physiological process. They exploit the fact that many tumors have an increased demand for albumin and/or low-density lipoprotein. Se(0)-protein conjugates are more toxic than selenium dioxide, sodium selenite, selenomethionine, or selenocystine. They are only minimally affected by drug resistance mechanism, and they potentiate the cytotoxic effect of ionizing radiation and several standard chemotherapeutic agents. The cytotoxic mechanism of Se(0)-protein conjugates is not yet fully understood. Currently available data are consistent with the notion that Se(0)-protein conjugates act as air oxidation catalysts that cause a rapid depletion of intracellular glutathione and induce apoptosis. Drugs modeled after our Se(0)-protein conjugates may prove useful for the local and/or systemic therapy of cancer.     

Stability measurements on cored cables in normal and superfluid helium

The relative stability of LHC type cables has been measured by the direct heating of one of the individual strands with a short duration current pulse. The minimum energy required to initiate a quench has been determined for a number of cables which have a central core to increase the effective inter-strand cross-over resistance. Experiments were performed in both normal helium at 4.4 K and superfluid at 1.9 K. Conductors in general are less stable at the lower temperature when measured at the same fraction of critical current. Results show that the cored-cables, even when partially filled with solder or with a ‘porous-metal' filler exhibit a relatively low stability at currents close to the critical current. It is speculated that the high inter-strand electrical and thermal resistance inherent in these cables may affect the stability at high currents.     

Interplay of ionic and structural heterogeneity on functional action potential duration gradients: Implications for arrhythmogenesis

Action potential duration (APD) dispersion in the heart is governed by the underlying cellular architecture and the spatial distribution of the membrane properties. Understanding the contribution of each factor is important in designing more effective methods for the control of arrhythmias. Recent experimental studies have shown that the insertion of structural barriers in ionically heterogeneous tissue facilitates the formation of unidirectional block and discordant alternans. In this work, computational modeling is used to examine the effect of internal obstacles on the formation of functional APD gradients in ionically heterogeneous tissue. Intrinsic APD differences are introduced by assigning two discrete cell types to each half of a square domain. The combined effect of structural and ionic heterogeneities is shown to produce gradients in APD that are oblique to both the intrinsic gradients in APD and the physical boundary. Simulation results are presented that show that the magnitude and spatial extent of the subsequent APD gradients are modulated by the size and orientation of the obstacle, the degree of anisotropy, and the location of the pacing site. Long, thin internal obstacles are found to produce the greatest dispersion in APD. The combination of internal obstacles and ionic heterogeneities is shown to produce a substrate for re-entrant excitation following a pair of near threshold point stimuli. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Identification and profiling of targeted oxidized linoleic acid metabolites in rat plasma by quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Linoleic acid (LA) and LA‐esters are the precursors of LA hydroperoxides, which are readily converted to 9‐ and 13‐hydroxy‐?octadecadienoic acid (HODE) and 9‐ and 13‐oxo‐?octadecadienoic acid (oxo ODE) metabolites in vivo. These four oxidized LA metabolites (OXLAMs) have been implicated in a variety of pathological conditions. Therefore, their accurate measurement may provide mechanistic insights into disease pathogenesis. Here we present a novel quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (Q‐TOFMS) method for quantitation and identification of target OXLAMs in rat plasma. In this method, the esterified OXLAMs were base‐hydrolyzed and followed by liquid–liquid extraction. Quantitative analyses were based on one‐point standard addition with isotope dilution. The Q‐TOFMS data of target metabolites were acquired and multiple reaction monitoring extracted‐ion chromatograms were generated post‐acquisition with a 10 ppm extraction window. The limit of quantitation was 9.7–35.9 nmol/L depending on the metabolite. The method was reproducible with a coefficient of variation of <18.5%. Mean concentrations of target metabolites in rat plasma were 57.8, 123.2, 218.1 and 57.8 nmol/L for 9‐HODE, 13‐HODE, 9‐oxoODE and 13‐oxoODE, respectively. Plasma levels of total OXLAMs were 456.9 nmol/L, which correlated well with published concentrations obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The concentrations were also obtained utilizing a standard addition curve approach. The calibration curves were linear with correlation coefficients of >0.991. Concentrations of 9‐HODE, 13‐HODE, 9‐oxoODE and 13‐oxoODE were 84.0, 138.6, 263.0 and 69.5 nmol/L, respectively, which were consistent with the results obtained from one‐point standard addition. Target metabolites were simultaneously characterized based on the accurate Q‐TOFMS data. This is the first study of secondary LA metabolites using Q‐TOFMS. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.     

Streamlined process for the chemical synthesis of RNA using 2'-O-thionocarbamate-protected nucleoside phosphoramidites in the solid phase

An improved method for the chemical synthesis of RNA was developed utilizing a streamlined method for the preparation of phosphoramidite monomers and a single-step deprotection of the resulting oligoribonucleotide product using 1,2-diamines under anhydrous conditions. The process is compatible with most standard heterobase protection and employs a 2'-O-(1,1-dioxo-1λ(6)-thiomorpholine-4-carbothioate) as a unique 2'-hydroxyl protective group. Using this approach, it was demonstrated that the chemical synthesis of RNA can be as simple and robust as the chemical synthesis of DNA.