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PubMed2006

Mechanistic investigations on the heterogeneous solid-state reaction of magnesium amides and lithium hydrides.

Isothermal and non-isothermal kinetic measurements on the chemical reaction between Mg(NH2)(2) and LiH, as well as the thermal decomposition of Mg(NH(2))(2), give apparent activation energies of 88.1 and 130 kJ/mol, respectively, which reveal that the thermal decomposition of Mg(NH2)(2) is unlikely to be an elementary step in the chemical reaction of Mg(NH2)(2) and 2LiH. The H-D exchange between H(delta+) in Mg(NH2)(2) and D(delta-) in LiD gives evidence for the coordinated interaction between amide and hydride. The observed linear and nonlinear kinetic growth in the reaction of Mg(NH2)(2)-2LiH indicates that the reaction rate is controlled by the interface reaction in the early stage of the reaction and by mass transport through the imide layer in the later stage. Both particle size and degree of mixing of the reacting species affect the overall kinetics of the reactions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1959

[Development and structure of proplastids].

In this study the proplastid development in embryonic cells is described for the apical meristem of Elodea canadensis, embryo sacs from Lilies, and Begonia leaf buds. The formation of these cell organelles originates with submicroscopical particles which consist of a homogeneous stroma with a surrounding double membrane. When these proplastids reach an average size of 1 micro, the inner layer of the membrane begins to invaginate into the stroma. This process is comparable to tubuli formation in mitochondria. Under growth conditions with sufficient exposure to light, the development of the grana and stroma lamellae proceeds without interruption. If the plants are kept in the dark, small vesicles are formed which accumulate in the prolamellar body of the proplastids. After illumination these elementary vesicles merge to form membranes which evolve into grana and stroma lamellae. The structural similarity of the early proplastid stages with the mitochondria seems to indicate that there exists some phylogenetic relationship between the two cell organelles.

Light↗
PubMed2006

Ultrasonic characterization of proteins and blood cells.

Ultrasound changes its intensity and speed when propagating through a liquid or a suspension containing particles. In addition it generates a weak electric signal by altering the motion of ions and charged particles. Hence acoustic and electroacoustic measurements provide information about the properties of suspended particles and molecules. Here we present both acoustic and electroacoustic results on blood suspensions and protein solutions, relevant to life sciences. For blood cells a strong increase in acoustic attenuation with volume fraction is found, from which the speed of sound in an erythrocyte is found to be about 1900 m/s, assuming the attenuation is due to scattering only. A similar value of 1700 m/s is found from the increase in sound speed of the dispersion with concentration. Electroacoustic measurements on bovine serum albumin (BSA) yield a charge of about seven elementary charges per BSA molecule. These results show the power and usefulness of acoustic and electroacoustic measurement techniques for biological systems.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1995

[Focus on the role of ventilation and ultraviolet rays in preventing nosocomial transmission of tuberculosis in health care facilities. Groupe de travail sur la prévention de la transmission nosocomiale de la tuberculose (Direction Générale de la Santé)].

Recent episodes of nosocomial tuberculosis, sometimes due to multiresistant strains, in HIV infected patients in the USA has led to the need for new prevention measures against the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in health care facilities. Tuberculosis is transmitted in Pflügge droplets generated when contagious persons cough. After drying, the droplets become aerosolized solid particles which are rapidly dispersed by air flow within the patient's room. People exposed to the same air are thus at high risk of being contaminated. If the air pressure in the patient's room is higher than the rest of the facility, the air coming form the room may contaminate personnel and other patients elsewhere in the facility. Infecting particles can be eliminated rapidly if the room air is ventilated outdoors. If the ventilation is strong enough so that air constantly circulates from the corridor into the room, infecting particles can no longer diffuse to the rest of the ward. It is also possible to use ultraviolet C light to disinfect the air, either within the room or within the ventilation system. These two basically simple systems are the fundamental environmental and prevention measures needed to limit tuberculosis spread in health care facilities. These methods are however technically complex, costly and require constant evaluation and maintenance by specialized personnel. In addition the potential side effects of ultraviolet waves could considerably reduce their application. These environmental methods, which are complementary methods, only have a meaning if the elementary measures for preventing the transmission of tuberculosis are correctly applied.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1995

Deviation of immune response to Chlamydia psittaci outer membrane protein in lipopolysaccharide-hyporesponsive mice.

The outcome of infection is determined by both the quantity and the quality of an induced immune response. In particular, it has been demonstrated for selected pathogens that induction of TH1 or TH2 type helper T-cell subsets determines whether an immune response gives rise to protective immunity or disease-associated immunopathology. The nature of the antigen and the type of antigen-presenting cells recruited in the induction of a response are critical factors that influence the quality of the immune response. Of particular interest in this respect is the immune response to bacterial particles and the impact of cell wall-associated lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on that response. Nonspecific activation of macrophages and B lymphocytes by LPS could skew the phenotype of activated antigen-presenting cells and selectively alter the immunoglobulin isotypes and helper T-cell subsets that are induced following infection. In an initial attempt to detect immune deviation associated with LPS stimulation, we have compared the immunoglobulin isotypes of antibodies specific for the cysteine-rich outer membrane protein Omp2 induced in normal and LPS-hyporesponsive mice following immunization with Chlamydia psittaci strain guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis whole elementary bodies. We report that there is a dramatic shift of Omp2-specific antibody from predominantly immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) isotype in LPS-hyporesponsive mice to high levels of IgG1 isotype in LPS-responder strains. The dependence of the IgG1 isotype shift on the LPS responder status is linked to the structure of the antigen and its natural processing pathway since LPS-hyporesponsive mice are not, in general, deficient in IgG1 antibody production. In particular, the antibody response to purified recombinant Omp2 is predominantly of the IgG1 isotype even in LPS-hyporesponsive mice.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions from non-catalysed, in-use four-stroke scooters.

The emissions of particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were evaluated in the exhaust of four (two EURO-0 and two EURO-1) four-stroke engine, in-use scooters with displacement of 150 cc, which were not equipped with catalytic converters. Non-catalysed motorcycles still represent a large proportion of circulating two-wheelers in Italy and, possibly, also in other countries. Tests were performed on a dynamometer bench, using the ECE-40 test cycle procedure. Particulate matter into the exhaust emissions was collected both during the "hot" phase of the ECE-40 driving cycle and including the first two elementary cycles of engine warming-up heating (whole cycle). Fourteen PAHs were quantified and total PAH emission factors (Sigma PAH) ranged from 7 to 169 microg km(-1). Expressed in benzo(a)pyrene equivalent (BaP(eq)), emission factors ranged from 0.6 to 18 microg km(-1). Results from the tested scooters show that despite their small engine size, non-catalysed motorcycles can emit amounts of particulate PAHs that can be comparable or even higher than emissions reported elsewhere from gasoline- and diesel-powered passenger cars and light- and heavy-duty vehicles. In countries where a large number of non-catalysed motorcycles are circulating, PAH emissions in urban areas from this class of vehicles might be of the same order of magnitude of emissions from diesel passenger cars.

Catalysis↗
PubMed1977

The developmental cycle of Chlamydia trachomatis in McCoy cells treated with cytochalasin B.

The growth of a genital trachoma-inclusion conjunctivitis agent strain of Chlamydia trachomatis in McCoy cells treated with cytochalasin B was studied by quantitative infectivity estimations and by light and electron microscopy. Provided that infection of the monolayer was initiated by centrifuging the infectious particles on to the cells before incubation, this chlamydial strain grew as fast and to as high a titre [approximately 10(7) inclusion-forming units (i.f.u.) per culture] as those chlamydiae which infect cell cultures in vitro without centrifugation. Each i.f.u. inoculated yielded approximately 600 i.f.u., and extracellular infectivity was detected soon after intracellular infectivity appeared. Inclusions were recognized by fluorescent antibody staining techniques early in the developmental cycle when cultures were not infectious and when only reticulate bodies were seen by electron microscopy. Inclusions were recognized in Giemsa-stained preparations examined by dark ground microscopy only when elementary bodies appeared in the inclusions. Iodine staining was not a reliable indicator either of the number of inclusions present or of their infectivity.

Cell Line↗
PubMed1999

Microtubule-dependent plus- and minus end-directed motilities are competing processes for nuclear targeting of adenovirus.

Adenovirus (Ad) enters target cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis, escapes to the cytosol, and then delivers its DNA genome into the nucleus. Here we analyzed the trafficking of fluorophore-tagged viruses in HeLa and TC7 cells by time-lapse microscopy. Our results show that native or taxol-stabilized microtubules (MTs) support alternating minus- and plus end-directed movements of cytosolic virus with elementary speeds up to 2.6 micrometer/s. No directed movement was observed in nocodazole-treated cells. Switching between plus- and minus end-directed elementary speeds at frequencies up to 1 Hz was observed in the periphery and near the MT organizing center (MTOC) after recovery from nocodazole treatment. MT-dependent motilities allowed virus accumulation near the MTOC at population speeds of 1-10 micrometer/min, depending on the cell type. Overexpression of p50/dynamitin, which is known to affect dynein-dependent minus end-directed vesicular transport, significantly reduced the extent and the frequency of minus end-directed migration of cytosolic virus, and increased the frequency, but not the extent of plus end-directed motility. The data imply that a single cytosolic Ad particle engages with two types of MT-dependent motor activities, the minus end- directed cytoplasmic dynein and an unknown plus end- directed activity.

Adenoviruses, Human↗
PubMed1994

[Studies of structure-determined biological aggressiveness of chrysotile asbestos. I. Model of chrysotile crystalline structure].

Chrysotile is built out of two kinds of layers placed alternately, namely tridymite (silico-oxygenic) and brucite. A tridymite layer is composed of silico-oxygenic tetrahedrons laid planary in the pseudohexagonal order, while magnesium ions coordinated octahedrally in hydroxyl groups produce a brucite layer. Two layers are bound in a chrysotile molecule through substitution of a part of hydroxine groups of the basis of the brucite layer by oxygen ions from the vertex of the tridymite layer tetrahendrons. The size of an elementary chrysotile cell is as follows: a = 5.3A, b = 9.2A, c = 7.3A, beta = 93 Positions (x, y, z) of all atoms in the elementary chrysotile cell were calculated. In calculations hydrogen atoms were neglected because of small atomic dissipation factor (contribution to the structure) and difficulties in their precise location in the elementary cell. The elementary chrysotile cell is composed of two molecules Mg3 [Si2O5] (OH)4. Crystallographic axes of chrysotile structure were directed in relation to the fibre axis. The values of the elementary chrysotile fibre radii are as follows: R = 208A (starting value) and r = 18.2A (minimum value) A theoretic chrysotile pulverulent diffraction pattern was calculated and drawn. The theoretical pulverulent diffraction pattern of chrysotile was compared with chrysotile diffraction pattern in the card JC PDS21-543. A great similarity between the two diffraction patterns was found.

Asbestos, Serpentine↗
PubMed2004

[Preliminary study of human calicivirus infection in Guangzhou].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate of human calicivirus (HuCV) infection in the children of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province at China, and conduct preliminary study of the prevalence of the virus. METHODS: Serum specimens from 266 children of different ages were tested by an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for specific IgG against recombinant Norwalk virus particles (rNV), recombinant Mexico virus partides(rMX) and recombinat 387 Virus particles(r387), respectively, and fecal specimens were collected for detection of HuCV RNA using reverse transcriptional (RT)-PCR assisted by sequence analysis on the basis of comparison of the amplified product with the sequence entries in GenBank. RESULTS: The seroprevalence was 68.0% for rNV, 51.5% for rMX and 71.1% for r387 in the cohort of children enrolled in this study. Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) were detected in 4 out of the 100 fecal specimens collected from cases of nonbacterial gastroenteritis during the peak season of diarrhea, and also in 3 of the 10 fecal specimens collected during the outbreak of diarrhea in an elementary school. CONCLUSIONS: Sporadic and fulminant NLV infections are present in Guangzhou. The children have the infection in their infancy, and the infection rate increases sharply with age.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMed2006

Double-layer phenomena in electrochemistry: controversial views on some fundamental notions related to electrified interfaces.

The problem of the distinction between the so-called free charge and the thermodynamic (total) charge of electrodes was discussed in the light of the relevant IUPAC definitions calling attention to the strict relationships existing between charge and mass balances during the formation of a double layer at electrodes or/and particles. It is demonstrated that the origins of controversial views concerning partial charge transfer and electrosorption valency, notions widely used nowadays in the electrochemical literature, could be ascribed to confusion of the free and thermodynamic charges. Although there are, even if sporadic, evidences and theoretical considerations in the literature proving that electrosorption valency as usually defined is an extrathermodynamic and self-contradictory concept, it is widely used by many authors for the interpretation of electrosorption phenomena. One of the most important aims of the present work was to demonstrate that independent of the thermodynamic considerations, the concept of electrosorption valency cannot be reconciled with elementary laws of electrochemistry. On the basis of analysis of real processes occurring in the interfacial layer of electrodes it was urged to avoid the treatment of some double-layer phenomena in terms of electrosorption valency in order to eliminate far-reaching misinterpretations leading to serious contradictions.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Low density lipoprotein aged in plasma forms clusters resembling subendothelial droplets: aggregation via surface sites.

In early phases of atherogenesis, droplets and vesicles accumulate in the subendothelial extracellular space of arterial intima. There is much evidence to suggest that these droplets, ranging between 100 and 400 nm, derive from modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL). In investigations of the formation mechanism of these droplets, LDL fusion was previously induced in vitro by proteolysis, lipolysis, oxidation, and vigorous shaking, but all treatments failed to reproduce the size distribution range of in vivo droplets, mostly resulting, instead, in particles with a diameter intermediate between that of one and two LDL. Our approach was meant to mimic LDL aging in plasma. LDL isolated from plasma that was incubated overnight at 37 degrees C is slightly modified in the secondary structure of its protein component and is primed to form very large aggregates according to a reaction-limited mechanism. This mechanism requires interactions between selected surface sites, whereas massive fusion is ruled out. In the frame of the general theory for colloids, the aggregation of LDL aged in plasma fulfills all the requirements of the reaction-limited mechanism, encompassing 1), exponential growth; 2), fractal structure, with the dimension of elementary constituent still consistent with a single LDL; and 3), extreme polydispersity of aggregates, with shape and dimension very close to that of droplets observed in vivo.

Circular Dichroism↗
PubMed2006

Mechanism of nanoparticle formation in self-assembled colloidal templates: population balance model and Monte Carlo simulation.

Modeling the nanoparticle formation mechanism in water-in-oil microemulsion, a self-assembled colloidal template, has been addressed in this paper by two formalisms: the deterministic population balance equation (PBE) model and stochastic Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. These are based on time-scale analysis of elementary events consisting of reactant mass transport, solid solubilization, reaction, coalescence-exchange of drops, and finally nucleation and growth of nanoparticles. For the first time in such a PBE model, realistic binomial redistribution of molecules in the daughter drops (after coalescence-exchange of two drops) has been explicitly implemented. This has resulted in a very general model, applicable to processes with arbitrary relative rates of coalescence-exchange and nucleation. Both the deterministic and stochastic routes could account for the inherent randomness in the elementary events and successfully explained temporal evolution of mean and variance of nanoparticle size distribution. This has been illustrated by comparison with different yet broadly similar experiments, operating either under coalescence (lime carbonation to make CaCO(3) nanoparticles) or nucleation (hydride hydrolysis to make Ca(OH)(2) nanoparticles) dominant regimes. Our calculations are robust in being able to predict for very diverse process operation times: up to 26 min and 5 h for carbonation and hydrolysis experiments, respectively. Model predictions show that an increase in the external reactant addition rate to microemulsion solution is beneficial under certain general conditions, increasing the nanoparticle production rate significantly without any undesirable and perceptible change in particle size.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Probing single-cell micromechanics in vivo: the microrheology of C. elegans developing embryos.

Cells are not directly accessible in vivo and therefore their mechanical properties cannot be measured by methods that require a direct contact between probe and cell. Here, we introduce a novel in vivo assay based on particle tracking microrheology whereby the extent and time-lag dependence of the mean squared displacements of thermally excited nanoparticles embedded within the cytoplasm of developing embryos reflect local viscoelastic properties. As a proof of principle, we probe local viscoelastic properties of the cytoplasm of developing Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. Our results indicate that unlike differentiated cells, the cytoplasm of these embryos does not exhibit measurable elasticity, but is highly viscous. Furthermore, the viscosity of the cytoplasm does not vary along the anterior-posterior axis of the embryo during the first cell division. These results support the hypothesis that the asymmetric positioning of the mitotic spindle stems from an asymmetric distribution of elementary force generators as opposed to asymmetric viscosity of the cytoplasm.

Animals↗
PubMed1973

Electron microscope observations on the effects of polymixin B sulfate on cell walls of Chlamydia psittaci.

The effects of polymixin B sulfate on cell walls of mature elementary body (EB) and of immature developmental reticulate body (RB) of Chlamydia psittaci were investigated. When purified EB were treated with polymixin (10(4) units per ml or more) at 37 C for 60 min, about 70% of EB was found to be covered with a number of projections. Further incubation did not increase the percentage affected. The infectivity after treatment as assayed by the inclusion counting technique was reduced by 70% of the original titer. These results suggest that EB with the projections are no longer infective. The projections had obscure outlines and were 20 to 40 nm in diameter when seen in thin sections. In the negatively stained preparations, the projections were composed of aggregations of fine particles 4 to 5 nm in diameter. Treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate at the same concentration used for cell wall isolation removed the projections completely, and the cell walls were converted to rather ragged forms apparently composed of outside and inside layers. When RB cell walls prepared from infected cells at 18 hr after infection were treated with polymixin at the same concentration, the projections having the same morphology with those seen on treated EB cell walls were observed only on the inside surface of cell wall.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Complex source description of focal regions.

Closed-form solutions of the two-dimensional homogeneous wave equation are presented that provide focal-region descriptions corresponding to a converging bundle of rays. The solutions do have evanescent wave content and can be described as a source-sink pair or particle-antiparticle pair, collocated in complex space, with the complex location being critical in the determination of beam shape and focal region size. The wave solutions are not plagued by singularities, have a finite energy, and have a limitation on how small the focal size can get, with a penalty for limiting small spot sizes in the form of impractically high associated reactive energy. The electric-field-defined spot-size limiting value is 0.35lambda x 0.35lambda, which is about 38% of the Poynting-vector-defined minimum spot size (0.8lambda x 0.4lambda) and corresponds to a condition related to the maximum possible beam angle. A multiple set of solutions is introduced, and the elementary solutions are used to produce new solutions via superposition, resulting in fields with chiral character or with increased depth of focus. We do not claim generality, as the size of focal regions exhibited by the closed-form solutions has a lower bound and hence is not able to account for Pendry's "ideal lens" scenario.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1995

The nonequilibrium Lorentz gas.

We study the conductivity of a Lorentz gas system, composed of a regular array of fixed scatterers and a point-like moving particle, as a function of the strength of an applied external field. In order to obtain a nonequilibrium stationary state, the speed of the point particle is fixed by the action of a Gaussian thermostat. For small fields the system is ergodic and the diffusion coefficient is well defined. We show that in this range the Periodic Orbit Expansion can be successfully applied to compute the values of the thermodynamic variables. At larger values of the field we observe a variety of possible dynamics, including the breakdown of ergodic behavior, and later the existence of a single stable trajectory for the largest fields. We also study the behavior of the system as a function of the orientation of the array of scatterers with respect to the external field. Finally, we present a detailed dynamical study of the transitions in the bifurcation sequence in both the elementary cell and the fundamental domain. The consequences of this behavior for the ergodicity of the system are explored. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Granular flow in the marginal ice zone.

The region of sea ice near the edge of the sea ice pack is known as the marginal ice zone (MIZ), and its dynamics are complicated by ocean wave interaction with the ice cover, strong gradients in the atmosphere and ocean and variations in sea ice rheology. This paper focuses on the role of sea ice rheology in determining the dynamics of the MIZ. Here, sea ice is treated as a granular material with a composite rheology describing collisional ice floe interaction and plastic interaction. The collisional component of sea ice rheology depends upon the granular temperature, a measure of the kinetic energy of flow fluctuations. A simplified model of the MIZ is introduced consisting of the along and across momentum balance of the sea ice and the balance equation of fluctuation kinetic energy. The steady solution of these equations is found to leading order using elementary methods. This reveals a concentrated region of rapid ice flow parallel to the ice edge, which is in accordance with field observations, and previously called the ice jet. Previous explanations of the ice jet relied upon the existence of ocean currents beneath the ice cover. We show that an ice jet results as a natural consequence of the granular nature of sea ice.

Complex Mixtures↗