Age related changes in the thermal transition of Turkey leg flexor tendon collagen

A differential scanning calorimetric, thermogravimetric and electron microscopic investigation has been carried out on the uncalcified areas of turkey leg flexor tendon as a function of age. Rehydrated samples exhibit an increase of thermal stability with age. The H_D values drop from about 11 cal·g^–1 in the first weeks of life down to 7 cal·g^–1 after the 11th week.At about 11 weeks, the collagen fibril diameter distribution passes from unimodal to multimodal. The DSC curves as well as the TG-DTG curves recorded from dried samples do not show any appreciable difference with ageing. The variations in thermal behaviour of rehydrated samples and fibril diameter distribution could be related to modifications in water binding with ageing.The Authors are grateful to Dr. G. Fabris for discussion and help in the selection of the samples. They also wish to thank Mr. G. Pizzuto for excellent technical assistance. The financial support by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche is gratefully acknowledged.     

Surface forces in foam films from ABA block copolymer: a dynamic method study

The thinning of foam films from aqueous solutions of an ABA triblock copolymer of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide (average molecular weight 14,000 g/mol) is studied experimentally. The dependence of the surface forces on film thickness is obtained by the dynamic method of Scheludko and Exerowa.The total surface force measured in foam films (radius 60–70 m) from 10^–5 M (0.014 wt%) polymer solution with 0.1 M NaCl is positive at thicknesses from about 800 down to 460 . The electrostatic repulsion is negligible while the contribution of van der Waals attraction is small (within 15%). Therefore a positive surface force component predominates. Most probably it arises from steric interactions between the hydrophilic polyethylene oxide tails of the polymer. The dynamic method appears to be a suitable technique for exploring the stabilization of foam films from ABA copolymers.     

辣根过氧化物酶活性膜结构及生物电催化性能

通过分子沉积法研究了在聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯（PET）表面及金电极表面组装辣根过氧化物酶（HRP）/聚对苯乙烯磺酸钠（PSS）多层生物活性膜，用原子力显微镜(AFM)研究了组装膜的表面形貌，并研究了组装膜的形貌、粗糙度和活性关系.应用循环伏安法（CV）研究了组装HRP膜后电极对H2O2的电化学催化还原作用.实验发现，采用亚甲基蓝（MB）溶液为介质，在H2O2浓度为0.2～5.0 mmol•L－1时，其响应电流对H2O2浓度变化基本呈线性.     

Strained Structure in Ho0.5Sr0.5MnO3

The Ho_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ perovskite, synthesized in air, has been studied by combining neutron powder and electron diffraction techniques. The Pnma-type structure exhibits a strong tilting of the MnO₆ octahedra. This octahedra tilting and microtwinning involve a complex strained structure. No structural transition is observed down to 1.4 K, but short-range A-type antiferromagnetism running over only a few perovskite subcells is evidenced below ≈90 K. The different behavior of this perovskite compared to other Ln_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ perovskites is discussed in terms of A-site cationic mismatch.     

LIGHT-SCATTERING STUDY OF POLYELECTROLYTE HOLLOW CAPSULES

Silver halide (AgX) microcrystal was used as template to synthesize hollow polyelectrolyte capsules. These hollow capsules were characterized by laser light scattering (LLS) used to measure the size of the capsules in solution. The ratio of hydrodynamic radius (Rh) from dynamic LLS to the radius of gyration (Rg) from static LLS is almost unity, revealing that the entities are hollow in solution. The results suggest that the LLS method can be regarded as a good complement to the confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) method for the characterization of small hollow capsules, and it possesses the advantage of not needing fluorescence labeling.     

Voltage-Height Spectroscopy in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ex Situ</Emphasis> Configuration of a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

Basic regularities of electrochemical processes in the gap of an ex situ scanning tunneling microscope in conditions of condensation of air moisture at the sample surface are considered on a qualitative level. A layer of condensed moisture is viewed as an electrolyte in a two-electrode cell. The depolarizers present in this layer may experience electrochemical conversions on the tip and in an area of the sample surface near the tip. As a result, the recorded “tunneling” current includes electrochemical constituents. Depending on the electrochemical processes in the gap, various dependences of the tip-sample distance on the current and applied voltage can be expected. For preliminary diagnostics of processes in the gap it is suggested to use voltage-height spectra, whose shape and characteristic heights are sensitive to the nature and location of redox active species. Experimental data for various films on conducting supports (quasi-two-dimensional adsorbed layers of hemin and peroxidase, electrodeposited nonstoichiometric tungsten oxides, doped tin dioxide, solid electrolyte with ionic conduction) are presented as an examples.__________Translated from Elektrokhimiya, Vol. 41, No. 5, 2005, pp. 583–595.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Yusipovich, Vassiliev.     

Relativistic atomic natural orbital type basis sets for the alkaline and alkaline-earth atoms applied to the ground-state potentials for the corresponding dimers

New basis sets of the atomic natural orbital (ANO) type have been developed for the atoms Li–Fr and Be–Ra. The ANOs have been obtained from the average density matrix of the ground states and the lowest excited states of the atom, the positive ion, and the dimer at its equilibirium geometry. Scalar realtivisitc effects are included through the use of a Douglas–Kroll Hamiltonian. Multiconfigurational wave functions have been used with dynamic correlation included using second-order perturbation theory (CASSCF/CASPT2). The basis sets are applied in calculations of the ground-state potentials for the dimers. Computed bond energies are accurate to within 0.05 eV for the alkaline dimers and 0.02 eV for the alkaline-earth dimers (except for Be₂).Acknowledgments.ensp;B.O.R. would like to express his gratitude to Prof. Jacopo Tomasi for all the inspiration that his scientific work has given him through the years and continues to do in particular through the work on solvent effects on molecular properties. This work has been supported by a grant from the Swedish Science Research Council, VR.Contribution to the Jacopo Tomasi Honorary Issue     

Dynamic imaging of single DNA-protein interactions using atomic force microscopy

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging of static DNA-protein complexes, in air and in liquid, can be used to directly obtain quantitative and qualitative information on the structure of different complexes. For example, DNA length, the location of preferential binding sites for proteins and bending of DNA as a result of the complexation can all be measured. Recording consecutive AFM images of DNA and protein molecules under conditions that they are still able to move and interact, or dynamic AFM imaging, however, can reveal information on the dynamic aspects of the interactions between these molecules. Here, an overview is given of the technical challenges that need to be considered for successful dynamic AFM imaging studies of individual DNA-protein interactions. Necessary technical improvements to the AFM set-up and the development of new sample preparation methods are described in this paper.