Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Photometry”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,261 records · Page 70Linked to original sources

Describing the signal-transfer characteristics of asymmetrical radiographic screen-film systems.

The measurement of modulation transfer function for radiographic screen-film systems depends critically upon a proper linearization of the measured line spread function. This is normally done by photographic photometry (i.e., using the measured density versus log exposure relationship to transform the density line spread function into an exposure line spread function). It has been long appreciated that this procedure may fail for asymmetrical dual screen systems that use film with emulsion coated on both sides of the support. The advent of asymmetrical and near-zero crossover films that can be used with highly asymmetric screen pairs has prompted a reinvestigation of these concerns about the definition and measurement of modulation transfer function. For such cases, it is useful to define the contrast transfer function, which is a function of exposure and spatial frequency. When normalized by its zero frequency value the contrast transfer function can serve as the "effective MTF" for low-contrast input signals in such systems. In the limit of symmetrical systems this quantity approaches the conventionally measured MTF. The utility of this approach is demonstrated by applying it to a commercially available asymmetrical screen-film combination.

Emulsions↗

Submillimeter evidence for the coeval growth of massive black holes and galaxy bulges.

The correlation, found in nearby galaxies, between black hole mass and stellar bulge mass implies that the formation of these two components must be related. Here we report submillimeter photometry of eight x-ray-absorbed active galactic nuclei that have luminosities and redshifts characteristic of the sources that produce the bulk of the accretion luminosity in the universe. The four sources with the highest redshifts are detected at 850 micrometers, with flux densities between 5.9 and 10.1 millijanskies, and hence are ultraluminous infrared galaxies. If the emission is from dust heated by starbursts, then the majority of stars in spheroids were formed at the same time as their central black holes built up most of their mass by accretion. This would account for the observed demography of massive black holes in the local universe. The skewed rate of submillimeter detection with redshift is consistent with a high redshift epoch of star formation in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei, similar to that seen in radio galaxies.

Journal Article↗

Limulus rhodopsin: rapid return of transient intermediates to the thermally stable state.

Spectral transitions of rhodopsin in single cells of the Limulus ventral eye were observed both with flash photometry and by measuring the early receptor potential. Even with repetitive stimulus flashes the rhodopsin did not bleach; after each flash the spectral intermediates decayed rapidly to the initial thermally stable state. The pigment returns to the stable state in a time comparable with the duration of the late receptor potential.

Animals↗

ROSAT X-ray detection of a young brown dwarf in the chamaeleon I dark cloud

Photometry and spectroscopy of the object Cha Halpha 1, located in the Chamaeleon I star-forming cloud, show that it is a approximately 10(6)-year-old brown dwarf with spectral type M7.5 to M8 and 0.04 +/- 0.01 solar masses. Quiescent x-ray emission was detected in a 36-kilosecond observation with 31.4 +/- 7.7 x-ray photons, obtained with the Rontgen Satellite (ROSAT), with 9final sigma detection significance. This corresponds to an x-ray luminosity of 2.57 x 10(28) ergs per second and an x-ray to bolometric luminosity ratio of 10(-3.44). These are typical values for late M-type stars. Because the interior of brown dwarfs may be similar to that of convective late-type stars, which are well-known x-ray sources, x-ray emission from brown dwarfs may indicate magnetic activity.

Journal Article↗

Discovery of a low-mass brown dwarf companion of the young nearby star G 196-3

A substellar-mass object in orbit at about 300 astronomical units from the young low-mass star G 196-3 was detected by direct imaging. Optical and infrared photometry and low- and intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the faint companion, hereafter referred to as G 196-3B, confirm its cool atmosphere and allow its mass to be estimated at 25-10+15 Jupiter masses. The separation between the objects and their mass ratio suggest the fragmentation of a collapsing cloud as the most likely origin for G 196-3B, but alternatively it could have originated from a protoplanetary disc that has been dissipated. Whatever the formation process was, the young age of the primary star (about 100 million years) demonstrates that substellar companions can form on short time scales.

Journal Article↗

Spectroscopic limits on the distance and energy release of GRB 990123

An optical spectrum of the afterglow from the unusually bright gamma-ray burst GRB 990123 obtained on 24.25 January 1999 universal time showed an absorption system at a redshift of z = 1.600. The absence of a hydrogen Lyman alpha forest sets an upper limit of z < 2.17, whereas ultraviolet photometry indicates an upper limit of z < 2.05. The probability of intersecting an absorption system as strong as the one observed along a random line of sight out to this z is at most a few percent, implying that GRB 990123 was probably at z = 1. 600. Currently favored cosmological parameters imply that an isotropic energy release equivalent to the rest mass of 1.8 neutron stars (4.5 x 10(54) erg) was emitted in gamma rays. Nonisotropic emission, such as intrinsic beaming, may resolve this energy problem.

Journal Article↗

A new method to determine postantibiotic effect and effects of subinhibitory antibiotic concentrations.

It has been shown that bacteria in a postantibiotic (PA) phase exposed to subinhibitory concentrations (sub-MICs) of antibiotics show a long delay before regrowth. This effect has been named the PA sub-MIC effect (PA SME). In the present study, we have used a new method to demonstrate this phenomenon. A computerized incubator for bacteria, Bioscreen C (Lab Systems, Helsinki, Finland), which incubates the bacteria, measures growth continuously by vertical photometry, processes the data, and provides a printout of the results was used. With this method, one may easily test several antibiotics against different bacteria for PA effects (PAEs), PA SMEs, and SMEs. In this study, the effects of benzylpenicillin against beta-hemolytic streptococci and pneumococci were examined. The bacteria were exposed to 2, 10, or 50x MIC for 2 h, washed and diluted, incubated in the Bioscreen C incubator, and then exposed to 0.1 to 0.9x MIC. The regrowth was monitored for 20 h. The PAE was calculated as the difference in the time required for the exposed and unexposed bacteria to grow to a defined point (A50) on the absorbance curve. A50 was defined as 50% of the maximum absorbance for the control cultures. The PA SMEs were calculated as the difference in the time required for the reexposed cultures and the unexposed controls to reach A50. The PAEs ranged between 0.6 and 3.2 h and varied little with the concentration used for the induction of the PAEs. At 0.2x MIC, the PA SMEs were 2 to 3 h longer than the PAEs. Higher sub-MICs increased this delay before regrowth. Most cultures exposed to sub-MICs alone were only slightly affected compared with the controls.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

Effects of saxitoxin (STX) and veratridine on bacterial Na+ -K+ fluxes: a prokaryote-based STX bioassay.

Saxitoxin (STX) is a potent natural sodium channel blocker and represents a significant health concern worldwide. We describe here the antagonistic effects of STX and veratridine (VTD), an Na+ channel activator, on three gram-negative bacteria and their application to an STX bioassay. STX reduced the total cellular levels of both Na+ and K+, as measured by flame photometry, whereas VTD increased the cellular concentrations relative to control ion fluxes in the cyanobacterium Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii AWT205. Endogenous STX production in toxic cyanobacterial strains of C. raciborskii and Anabaena circinalis prevented cell lysis induced by VTD stress. Microscopic cell counts showed that non-STX producing cyanobacteria displayed complete cell lysis and trichome fragmentation 5 to 8 h after addition of VTD and vanadate (VAN), an inhibitor of sodium pumps. The addition of STX, or its analogue neoSTX, prior to treatment with VTD plus VAN prevented complete lysis in non-STX-producing cyanobacteria. VTD also affected cyanobacterial metabolism, and the presence of exogenous STX in the sample also ameliorated this decrease in metabolic activity, as measured by the cellular conversion of tetrazolium into formazan. Reduced primary metabolism was also recorded as a decrease in the light emissions of Vibrio fischeri exposed to VTD. Addition of STX prior to VTD resulted in a rapid and dose-dependent response to the presence of the channel blocker, with samples exhibiting resistance to the VTD effect. Our findings demonstrate that STX and VTD influence bacterial Na+ and K+ fluxes in opposite ways, and these principles can be applied to the development of a prokaryote-based STX bioassay.

Bacteriolysis↗

Modulation of lysosomal protease-esterase and lysozyme in Kupffer cells and peritoneal macrophages infected with Nocardia asteroides.

Virulent Nocardia asteroides reduces lysosomal acid phosphatase activity in murine macrophages. A computer-assisted imaging photometry system was used to quantitate lysozyme and nonspecific esterase-neutral protease levels within individual macrophages following ingestion of nocardiae. In contrast to acid phosphatase, lysozyme and esterase-neutral protease activity was either unchanged or increased following infection by increasing numbers of nocardial cells.

Acid Phosphatase↗

Variance of ploidy in Candida albicans.

Determination of ploidy was performed on isolates of Candida albicans from clinical sources by measuring nuclear DNA content with fluorescent microscope photometry. By this criterion and UV irradiation survival experiments, haploid, diploid, and tetraploid strains were identified in this organism. The dimensions of nucleus-associated organelles (equivalent to spindle pole bodies) in these strains increased as a function of ploidy number.

Candida albicans↗

Rapid semiautomated screening and processing of urine specimens.

A rapid urine culture procedure was evaluated in which positive urines were detected by using light-scatter photometry (Autobac). Specimens were analyzed at 3, 5, and 6 h. Specimens detected as positive at 3 h were then further evaluated by a direct 3-h susceptibility procedure (Autobac) and by a 4-h identification procedure (Micro-ID). Of 949 specimens, 175 had >10(5) colony-forming units per ml by colony count. Of these latter specimens, 75.4% had been detected by 3 h, and 95.4% were detected by 6 h. Of specimens positive by Autobac at 3 h, 96% (95.7%) had >10(5) colony-forming units per ml. If pure by Gram stain, those positive specimens were inoculated to direct susceptibility and identification systems. When direct Autobac susceptibilities were compared with the standard Autobac method done from the plate the following day, discrepancy rates were 1.3% very major, 2.1% major, and 7.4% total. The direct identifications were 94% (94.2%) correct when using the Micro-ID manual and a collection of octal patterns unique to this system, in which urine/broth culture inoculum was employed instead of the usual organism colony suspension. Those urine specimens negative after screening at 3 h were evaluated at 5 and 6 h, and an additional 126 specimens were detected as positive. These were then processed by routine plate inoculation, due to the limitations of the work day. By 6 h, 95.4% of specimens with >10(5) colony-forming units per ml were detected. The 4.6% false-negative results consisted of patients on antibiotics, or slowly growing bacteria suspected of being distal urethral contaminants. Thus, 83.5% of the urine cultures received by 9:00 a.m. (10.6% 3-h positives and 72.9% negative at 6 h) could be evaluated and reported within one 8-h work day.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

The influence of "nonmyoplasmic" sodium on the measured value of the sodium efflux from barnacle muscle.

In single striated muscle cells of the giant barnacle Balanus nubilus, the sodium content of the myoplasm was measured with an intracellular microelectrode, and the total sodium content of the cell was measured by flame photometry, during immersion of the cells in sodium-free solution. The sodium content of the myoplasm declined slowly but steadily from ca. 10 mmol/kg water to ca. 4 mmol/kg water during immersions lasting up to 16 h. The "nonmyoplasmic" sodium content of the cells, defined as the sodium content after subtraction of the sodium in the extracellular (sorbitol) space and in the myoplasm, declined rapidly from ca. 15 mmol/kg water to ca. 3 mmol/kg water during the first 30 min of immersion in sodium-free solution, but remained constant thereafter. The rapidly lost portion of the nonmyoplasmic sodium (ca. 123 mmol/kg water) was ascribed to the extracellular space but the location of the inexchangeable portion was not discovered. The behavior of the efflux of 22Na which was loaded into the myoplasm by microinjection was consistent with this interpretation. It was concluded that the nonmyoplasmic sodium does not have an appreciable influence on the measured value of the sodium efflux from the myoplasm of barnacle muscle cells.

Animals↗

Sodium tracer kinetics and transmembrane flux in tissue-cultured chick heart cells.

Considerable difficulty has been encountered in defining the physiological significance of sodium tracer kinetic measurements in cardiac muscle. In this study, 24Na+ efflux experiments were performed by directly monitoring tissue radioactivity during the superfusion of growth-oriented embryonic chick heart cells in tissue cultured. The cellular 24Na+ efflux from contractile preparations exhibited at least two exponential components whereas noncontractile, fibroblastlike preparations had a single efflux component similar in rate to the slower component of the contractile preparations. We concluded that the slow component represents efflux from nonmuscle cells, whereas the faster component reflects the muscle cell compartment. The mean Na+ efflux rate constants for contractile preparations (beating 150 min-1) were 3.1 and 0.35 min-1. Intracellular Na+ concentrations, as determined by isotope uptake and by flame photometry, were 18 and 16 mM for contractile and nonmuscle preparations, respectively. The steady-state, transmembrane fluxes are 98 and 5 pmol . cm-2 . s-1 for muscle and nonmuscle cells, respectively. The Na+ efflux kinetics in 10(-4) M ouabain were reduced by approximately 16% from the control value. These findings indicate that the greater part of the steady-state Na+ efflux in cultured heart cells is due to mechanisms other than the Na+-K+ pump.

Animals↗

High-resolution 23Na-NMR studies of human erythrocytes: use of aqueous shift reagents.

Aqueous shift reagents were used to clearly distinguish intra-and extracellular 23Na-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals in samples consisting of whole blood or suspensions of washed human erythrocytes (both fresh and outdated). The lanthanide chelates Dy(PPP)2(7-) and Tm( TTHA )3- were used to shift the extracellular signals upfield, and Dy( TTHA )3- and Tm(PPP)2(7-) were similarly used to shift extracellular resonances downfield. The absolute intensities of the signals were used along with the measured hematocrit to simultaneously determine the intra- and extracellular Na+ concentrations. The results were generally within 5% of the values determined by more time-consuming centrifugation-flame emission photometry measurements on the same samples. Thus the 23Na-NMR signals from both intra- and extracellular cations suffer no NMR invisibility within experimental error. The lower level of intracellular Na+ in fresh erythrocytes (less than 12 mM) is easily distinguished from the higher level (approximately 30 mM) in erythrocytes that have been stored (in the cold) outside the body for some weeks.

Blood Specimen Collection↗

Lithium movements in resting and chemotactic factor-activated human neutrophils.

The ability of the chemotactic factor-activated Na+-H+ exchange system of human neutrophils to bind and transport other cations of the alkali metal series was investigated. After exposure of cells to the tripeptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), the influx of Li+ was measured by flame photometry and correlated with changes in intracellular pH (pHi) derived from the equilibrium distribution of 5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione. In Na+-depleted cells, Li+ (Km approximately equal to 14 mM) could substitute effectively for Na+ (Km approximately equal to 23 mM) at the external translocation site of the carrier, though the maximal transport rate for Li+ (approximately 8 meq.l-1.min-1) was roughly half that for Na+ (approximately 15 meq.l-1.min-1). On the other hand, the carrier lacked appreciable affinity for K+, Rb+, and Cs+. The influx of Li+ from the external solution was accompanied by an equivalent counterefflux of H+ from the internal milieu. The H+ efflux thus induced led to an intracellular alkalinization of approximately 0.7 units, the pHi rising from approximately 7.20 to approximately 7.90. The influx of Li+, as well as the increase in pHi in 140 mM Li+ medium, was competitively inhibited by amiloride (Ki approximately equal to 9 microM). Extracellular H+ also behaved as a competitive inhibitor of Li+ with a Ki of approximately 30 nM (pK'a approximately 7.50). These studies indicate that the FMLP-activated alkali metal cation-H+ exchange mechanism of neutrophils shares a number of features in common with those of Na+-H+ exchangers in a variety of different cells.

Amiloride↗

Regulation of intracellular pH by cultured opossum kidney cells.

Opossum kidney (OK) cells (an epithelial cell line) were examined by flame photometry of cellular Na+ and K+ and by microfluorometric measurements of the intracellular pH (pHi) of single cells loaded with 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5,6-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). The work concentrates on defining resting pHi values under different experimental conditions and examines factors that contribute to the maintenance of resting pHi. To use nigericin to calibrate the intracellular response of BCECF, cellular K+ levels were measured by a null point analysis, and the stability and magnitude of cellular Na+ and K+ levels were determined vs. time. Resting pHi in medium without added CO2 was high when measured by null point analysis of the population (pHi 7.6) and from measurements of single cells that have recovered from an acid load caused by NH4 prepulse (pHi 7.76 +/- 0.03, n = 20 cells). In single-cell measurements, addition of CO2-HCO3- to the medium results in cellular acidification of the steady-state pHi by 0.35 +/- 0.04 pH units. In medium equilibrated with room air, the resting pHi is shown to be a dynamic steady state composed of net flux due to apical Na(+)-dependent transport (Na(+)H+ exchange) plus acidifying processes. It is concluded that although 5-[N-ethyl-N-isopropyl]amiloride (EIPA) inhibits the forward reaction of Na(+)-H+ exchange, EIPA is either ineffective as an inhibitor of the reverse reaction of Na(+)-H+ exchange or Na(+)-H+ exchange does not reverse measurably in the OK cells.

Amiloride↗

Caffeine- and ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ stores of canine cerebrum and cerebellum neurons.

[3H]ryanodine binding to and Ca2+ release from microsomal fractions derived from canine cerebrum (CBR) and cerebellum (CBL) were investigated. High-affinity ryanodine binding sites were detected in both cerebrum and cerebellum microsomes [CBR: maximal binding capacity (Bmax) = 446 fmol/mg protein, dissociation constant (Kd) = 9 nM, Hill coefficient (n) = 0.95; CBL: Bmax = 650, Kd = 12, n = 1.8]. Ryanodine binding in both fractions was increased by millimolar concentrations of ATP [or its nonhydrolyzable analogue beta, gamma-methyleneadenosine 5'-triphosphate (AMP-PCP)] and micromolar concentrations of Ca2+ but was decreased by micromolar concentrations of ruthenium red, similar to that found in sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of striated muscle. The addition of caffeine or the sudden elevation of extravesicular Ca2+ induced a rapid La(3+)-sensitive Ca2+ release from both CBR and CBL microsomal fractions with rate constants of approximately 100 s-1, as determined by stopped-flow photometry of the Ca2+ indicator arsenazo III. The release of Ca2+ was activated by either millimolar ATP or AMP-PCP, blocked by micromolar concentrations of La3+, and significantly inhibited by 50 microM ryanodine. Mg2+ and ruthenium red in millimolar and micromolar concentrations, respectively, caused only a slight inhibition of Ca2+ release. These results indicate that rapid Ca2+ release occurs from caffeine-, Ca2+- and ryanodine-sensitive Ca2+ stores in both CBR and CBL microsomal fractions.

Animals↗

Rapid effects of insulin on in vitro translational activity of specific mRNA in diabetic rat heart.

We studied the time course of response of specific cardiac mRNA after administration of insulin to diabetic rats. The primary aim was to identify specific cardiac mRNA, which show a rapid response to insulin administration. Diabetic rats were injected with 2 U of regular insulin intravenously, and total cardiac RNA was prepared 0.5, 1.5, 3, 5, 12, and 24 h later. RNA was translated in vitro in the presence of [35S]methionine and the translational products separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and quantitated by digital matrix photometry. A rapid change in the translational activity of five specific mRNA species was observed within 0.5 h after administration of insulin to the diabetic animal. One translational product exhibits a more delayed response at 1.5 h. The predominance of three of these products was increased, while that of three was decreased. Two specific mRNA coding for translation products designated as spots 97 and 106 show the most significant change, with a dramatic decrease of 15-fold and 6.5-fold, respectively, within 0.5 h after insulin administration. The change in levels of these specific mRNA species could result from effects of insulin at various sites of mRNA synthesis or degradation. However, the rapidity of the response is compatible with a direct effect of insulin on gene expression. The very quick response of these specific mRNA species to insulin could thus serve as a useful model system to examine the molecular mechanisms of insulin action in the heart.

Animals↗