Polypeptide composition of an adenovirus type 5 used in cancer gene therapy.

For cancer gene therapy, a recombinant adenovirus serotype 5 named RPR/INGN201 has been constructed by susbtitution of the E1 region with human tumor suppressor gene p53. The protein components of RPR/INGN201 virions were separated by reversed-phase HPLC and were individually identified by electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometry and N-terminal sequencing, both on intact proteins and on their proteolytic fragments after trypsin digestion. Twenty-five peptide components of the proteome (including fiber) with greater than 0.25-0.5% contribution to the protein content of the virus were identified and characterized. Fiber was confirmed to be partially glycosylated (both the non-glycosylated and the monoglycosylated states were identified), and two proteins were isolated and identified as phosphorylation derivatives, namely protein V (non-phosphorylated and monophosphorylated) and protein IIIa (mono- and diphosphorylated). This new analytical tool proved to be very useful not only for refining our current knowledge of the polypeptide repertoire of purified infectious virions but also for monitoring and very rapidly identifying structural modifications resulting from changes in the manufacturing process. It was also used successfully for the characterization of various adenoviral constructs.     

Automatic determination of the number of targets present when using the time reversal operator

Acoustical time reversal mirrors have been shown to provide a highly accurate means of studying and focusing on acoustical sources. The DORT method is a derivation of the time reversal process, which allows for focusing on multiple targets. An important step in this process is the determination of the number of targets or sources present. This is achieved by examining the eigenvalues of the time reversal operator (TRO). The number of significant eigenvalues is then chosen as the number of sources present. However, as mentioned in [N. Mordant, C. Prada, and M. Fink, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 105, 2634-2642 (1999) and C. Prada, M. Tanter, and M. Fink, in Proceedings of the IEEE Symposium, 1997, pp. 679-683], factors such as low signal to noise ratio (SNR), small data sample, array configuration and the target location may result in the eigenvalues corresponding to the targets no longer being distinguishable from the background noise eigenvalues. This paper proposes a robust method of automatically determining the number of targets even in the presence of a small number of snapshots. For white Gaussian noise, the profile of the ordered eigenvalues is seen to fit an exponential law. The observed eigenvalues are then compared to this model and a mismatch is detected between the observed profile and the noise-only model. The index of the mismatch gives the number of scatterers present.     

Characterisation of ethoxylated fatty chains of anionic surfactants and determination of residual ethoxylated fatty alcohols

Bachus et al. [1] recently described a new derivatisation method using 2-furoyl chloride for the characterisation of mixtures of polyethoxylated alcohols and their corresponding sulfates. This paper deals with the control of the derivatisation steps; hydrolysis and extraction conditions were optimised. The method is extended to the characterisation of alkyl sulfosuccinates, alkyl sulfoacetates and alkyl phosphates and to the analysis of residual polyethoxylated alcohols in surfactants. Extraction of non-ionic compounds using solid-phase extraction cartridges was performed before derivatisation. Residual amounts of alcohol were determined in five commercial anionic surfactants. Moreover, direct derivatisation without preliminary SPE in the same anionic surfactants proved to be efficient for dry samples.     

Chaotic behavior analysis based on sliding bifurcations

In this paper, a mathematical analysis of a possible way to chaos for bounded piecewise smooth systems of dimension 3 submitted to one of its specific bifurcations, namely the sliding ones, is proposed. This study is based on period doubling method applied to the relied Poincaré maps.     

Collisions of Particles in Locally AdS Spacetimes II Moduli of Globally Hyperbolic Spaces

We investigate globally hyperbolic 3-dimensional AdS manifolds containing “particles”, i.e., cone singularities of angles less than 2π along a time-like graph Γ. To each such space (equipped with a time-like vector field satisfying some additional properties) we associate a graph and a finite family of pairs of hyperbolic surfaces with cone singularities. We show that this data is sufficient to recover the space locally (i.e., in the neighborhood of a fixed metric). This is a partial extension of a result of Mess for non-singular globally hyperbolic AdS manifolds.     

An expedient synthesis of diversified pyrrolizines and indolizines

A general and rapid synthesis of new families of pyrrolizines and indolizines in good overall yields via an intramolecular [3+2] cycloaddition reaction is described. Diversity of substitutions can be achieved by the appropriate choice of readily available starting materials. The experimental procedures are straightforward and are performed under neutral conditions. New syntheses are also described for the preparation of N-propargylic 2-amino-benzaldehydes and S-propargylic 2-thiobenzaldehydes.     

Etude de la fixation du groupe tertiaire gem-diméthylpropynyle HCCC(CH3)2 par voie organométallique; applications

Organometallics (CH₃)₂C=C=CHM (M = MgBr, Al Br, ZnBr) are easily prepared from the tertiary bromide (CH₃)₂C(Br)CCH. They often react to give only acetylenic products but, with some reagents, a mixture of acetylenic and allenic compounds is obtained.     

Influence of fire retardants on the combustibility of decorative resins based on butadiene-styrene and butadiene rubber combination

The results of investigations of the influence of fire retardants on the combustibility and elastic-strength properties of light-colored resins based on a combination of butadiene-styrene and butadiene rubber are presented. The amounts of fire retardants required for production of decorative self-extinguishing resin of light color based on a combination of butadiene-styrene and butadiene rubber were established. The influence of the ratio of rubbers on the temperature limit of brittleness of the self-extinguishing resin samples was studied.