TYROSINE-SENSITIZED PHOTODIMERIZATION OF THYMINE IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION

Abstract. Photodimerization of thymine in aqueous solution in the presence of tyrosine was studied with monochromatic UV irradiation. The total dimer formation was sensitized in the presence of tyrosine. The action spectrum of sensitized total dimer formation has a peak near 280 nm corresponding to the absorption maximum of tyrosine. Triplet quenchers reduced the sensitization substantially. It seems probable that tyrosine-sensitized photodimerization of thymine occurred via triplet-triplet energy transfer from tyrosine to thymine.     

Spatially variant regularization of lateral displacement measurement using variance

The purpose of this work is to confirm the effectiveness of our proposed spatially variant displacement component-dependent regularization for our previously developed ultrasonic two-dimensional (2D) displacement vector measurement methods, i.e., 2D cross-spectrum phase gradient method (CSPGM), 2D autocorrelation method (AM), and 2D Doppler method (DM). Generally, the measurement accuracy of lateral displacement spatially varies and the accuracy is lower than that of axial displacement that is accurate enough. This inaccurate measurement causes an instability in a 2D shear modulus reconstruction. Thus, the spatially variant lateral displacement regularization using the lateral displacement variance will be effective in obtaining an accurate lateral strain measurement and a stable shear modulus reconstruction than a conventional spatially uniform regularization. The effectiveness is verified through agar phantom experiments. The agar phantom [60 mm (height) × 100 mm (lateral width) × 40 mm (elevational width)] that has, at a depth of 10 mm, a circular cylindrical inclusion (dia. = 10 mm) of a higher shear modulus (2.95 and 1.43 × 10⁶ N/m², i.e., relative shear modulus, 2.06) is compressed in the axial direction from the upper surface of the phantom using a commercial linear array type transducer that has a nominal frequency of 7.5-MHz. Because a contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) expresses the detectability of the inhomogeneous region in the lateral strain image and further has almost the same sense as that of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for strain measurement, the obtained results show that the proposed spatially variant lateral displacement regularization yields a more accurate lateral strain measurement as well as a higher detectability in the lateral strain image (e.g., CNRs and SNRs for 2D CSPGM, 2.36 vs 2.27 and 1.74 vs 1.71, respectively). Furthermore, the spatially variant lateral displacement regularization yields a more stable and more accurate 2D shear modulus reconstruction than the uniform regularization (however, for the regularized relative shear modulus reconstructions, slightly accurate, e.g., for 2D CSPGM, 1.51 vs 1.50). These results indicate that the spatially variant displacement component-dependent regularization will enable the 2D shear modulus reconstruction to be used as practical diagnostic and monitoring tools for the effectiveness of various noninvasive therapy techniques of soft tissue diseases (e.g., breast, liver cancers). Application of the regularization to the elevational displacement will also increase the stability of a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction.     

Ab initio mo study on base stacking: Adenine-adenine interaction in single-stranded polyadenylic acid (Poly A)

The interaction energy for base stacking in single-stranded poly A is calculated by an ab initio MO method. The calculated value agrees well with the observed stacking enthalpy. Dispersion and charge transfer interactions are the main factors stabilizing the polynucleotide; the contribution of the former is dominant.     

Liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis revealing preferential occurrence of non‐arachidonate‐containing phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate species in nuclei and changes in their levels during cell cycle

Phosphatidylinositol phosphates (PtdInsPs) are present within the nucleus, as well as in the membrane. In this mass spectrometry study, different acyl‐containing species of endonuclear PtdInsPs were analyzed in order to clearly understand the role of individual molecular species. A (34:1) acyl‐containing phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate [PtdInsP₂(34:1)] and PtdInsP₂(36:1) were preferentially detected in envelope‐less nuclei prepared from various cultured human cells, while PtdInsP₂(38:4) was not a major component within these nuclei. A significant amount of PtdInsP₂(34:0) was detected in the HeLa cell nucleus, but not in the A431 and THP‐1 cell nuclei. During the cell cycle in HeLa cells, PtdInsP₂(34:0) levels increased in the early G1 phase, and then gradually decreased through S phase, while PtdInsP₂(34:1) levels tended to decrease only in late G1 phase and PtdInsP₂(38:4) did not change significantly. Thus, individual PtdInsP₂ species apparently play different roles in nuclear events based on individual regulation of endonuclear levels. The non‐arachidonate‐containing species were also detected in normal human blood and fluids, suggesting that these minor species may have unique functions in the human body. The techniques used in this study will be applied to clinical studies on a PtdInsPs metabolism. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the dissipation inequality in equilibrium shocks

This paper presents expressions for the dissipation inequality corresponding to an equilibrium shock. These expressions are independent of the orientation of the shock. A sufficient condition on the constitutive equations for positive dissipation is given in the case of anti-plane deformations.     

The effect of stress induced anisotropy on shear band formation

Summary This paper describes the effect of non-coaxiality arising from material anisotropy on bifurcation phenomena such as shear band formation. The elasto-plastic model originally proposed by Sekiguchi and Ohta [7] is one of the typical models which include anisotropy and it is used to examine the effect of anisotropy on shear band formation. First, we shall extend this elasto-plastic model for infinitesimal strain to a model for finite strain and discuss the mathematical structure of this model. The stress induced anisotropy is found to bring about a vertex-like effect, such as the non-coaxiality between the Cauchy stress tensor and a plastic stretching tensor, into the constitutive relation. Then, we shall examine the effect of this non-coaxiality on bifurcation conditions in relation to the material rigidity which changes with the angle of simple shear. Finally, it will be concluded that this non-coaxiality arising from the anisotropy does not contribute much to triggering instability by localization of the deformations which result in shear band formation, while on the other hand, the non-coaxiality due to the yield vertex effect is rather inclined towards instability by localization of the deformations.

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Der Einfluß spannungsinduzierter Anisotropie auf die Scherzonenbildung

Übersicht Beschrieben wird der Einfluß anisotropie-bedingt verschiedener Achsen von Spannung und Deformationsgeschwindigkeit auf Verzweigungsphänomene wie die Scherzonenbildung. Das elastisch-plastische Modell von Sekiguchi und Ohta wird als typisch anisotropes Modell zur Untersuchung des Einflusses der Anisotropie auf die Scherzonenbildung benutzt. Zunächst wird es zu einem Modell für endliche Deformationen erweitert und seine mathematische Struktur erörtert. Es zeigt sich, daß die spannungsinduzierte Anisotropie einen Effekt ähnlich einer Fließortspitze erzeugt wie z. B. verschiedene Achsen von Cauchy-Spannungstensor und plastischem Strecktensor. Danach wird in Zusammenhang mit der Materialsteifigkeit, die vom Winkel der einfachen Scherung abhängt, der Einfluß verschiedener Achsen auf Verzweigungsbedingungen untersucht. Es wird gefolgert, daß anisotropie-bedingt verschiedene Achsen wenig zur Auslösung der Instabilität durch lokalisierte Deformation beitragen, andererseits verschiedene Achsen infolge einer Fließortspitze die Neigung zur lokalisierten Deformation unterstützen.

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Presented at the workshop on Numerical Methods for Localization and Bifurcation of Granular Bodies, held at the Technical University of Gadansk (Poland), September 25–30, 1989     

An ab initio MO study on the thiol—disulphide exchange reaction

The characteristics of the thiol—disulphide exchange reaction are examined by an ab initio MO method. It is shown that this exchange reaction proceeds via one transition state, with almost no conformational distortion.     

Infinitesimal elastic stability of homogeneous deformations and the zero moment condition

We investigate the relationships between the infinitesimal elastic stability of homogeneous deformations and the zero moment condition. Under dead loading, for physically reasonable constitutive assumptions, we find that if the infinitesimal deformation satisfies the zero moment condition, it is stable under a very weak condition, one which includes an all-round compressive state. We show further that for a given stretching D the deformation L with the zero moment condition is the minimum (maximum) stable deformation in the state 53-1. Here 53-2 and t _a, a=1, 2, 3, are the principal Biot and Cauchy stresses, respectively. Finally, we examine stability when the prescribed traction rate is controlled such that the zero moment condition is satisfied for any deformation.