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At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Helium meter correction equations for oxygen and nitrous oxide.

Helium detectors utilizing thermal conductivity are sensitive to the presence of nitrous oxide (N2O) and oxygen (O2). Measurement of the level of these gases within the spirometer may be used to obtain the true helium concentration for use in the calculation of functional residual capacity (FRC). Linear relationships were obtained relating the change (delta) in reading of the helium meter by nitrous oxide and oxygen. The regression equations are: delta O2 = 0.027 (%O2) - 0.513; delta N2O = -0.276 (%N2O). Failure to correct the helium reading for N2O will overestimate lung volume; elevations of O2 above 21% will underestimate the lung volume.

Helium↗
PubMed2002

Experiments testing the abatement of radiation damage in D-xylose isomerase crystals with cryogenic helium.

Helium is a more efficient cryogen than nitrogen, and for macromolecular data collection at high-flux beamlines will deliver lower temperatures. An open-flow helium cryostat developed at the University of Toledo (the Pinkerton Device) has been used for macromolecular data collection. This device differs from standard commercial He cryostats by having a much narrower aperture providing a high velocity stream of He around the crystal that maximizes convective and conductive heat exchange between the crystal and the cryogen. This paper details a series of experiments conducted at the IMCA-CAT 17ID beamline using one crystal for each experimental condition to examine whether helium at 16 K provided better radiation-damage abatement compared with nitrogen at 100 K. These studies used matched high-quality crystals (0.94 A diffraction resolution) of D-xylose isomerase derived from the commercial material Gensweet SGI. Comparisons show that helium indeed abates the indicators of radiation damage, in this case resulting in longer crystal diffractive lifetimes. The overall trend suggests that crystals maintain order and that high-resolution data are less affected by increased radiation load when crystals are cooled with He rather than N(2). This is probably the result of a lower effective temperature at the crystal with concomitant reduction in free-radical diffusion. Other features, such as an apparent phase transition in macromolecular crystals at lower temperatures, require investigation to broaden the utility of He use.

Aldose-Ketose Isomerases↗
PubMed1983

Quantitative effects of respired helium and oxygen mixtures on gas flow using conventional oxygen masks.

A model lung system with a variable artificial constriction was used to quantify the changes in flow produced by the addition of helium to the gas mixture in the system. The tracheal concentration of helium obtained when administering 79% helium/21% oxygen to the system via conventional, disposable face masks was determined using a resuscitation dummy. The greatest proportion of the increase in flow through the orifice occurred at concentrations of helium up to 40%. A tracheal concentration of 40% helium could be obtained with all oxygen masks at fresh gas flow rates greater than 8 litres/minute. These findings will help to rationalise the administration of 79% helium/21% oxygen to patients with upper respiratory tract obstruction.

Airway Obstruction↗
PubMed1972

Possible mechanism for the antiarrhythmic effect of helium in anesthetized dogs.

Breathing a mixture of 75 percent helium and 25 percent oxygen instead of 75 percent nitrogen and 25 percent oxygen reduced the occurrence of dangerous cardiac arrhythmias after ligation of the circumflex coronary artery in open-chest dogs anesthetized with pentobarbital. In dogs not subjected to circumflex ligation, the sensitivity of blood pressure, heart rate, and extrasystoles to epinephrine injected intravenously was not altered by the substitution of helium for nitrogen; however, helium did reduce the baseline heart rate and the concentration of endogenous plasma catecholamines. The antiarrhythmic effect of helium may thus be mediated by changes in sympathetic activity.

Anesthesia, General↗
PubMed1996

The helium mass fraction in Jupiter's atmosphere.

On 7 December 1995, the NASA Galileo probe provided in situ measurements of the helium abundance in the atmosphere of Jupiter. A Jamin interferometer measured the refractive index of the jovian atmosphere in the pressure region from 2 to 14 bars. These measurements indicate that the atmospheric helium mole fraction is 0.136 +/- 0.004. The corresponding helium mass fraction is slightly below the presolar value, which suggests that separation of helium from hydrogen in Jupiter's interior is only in its early stages.

Atmosphere↗
PubMed1974

Effect of helium gas at elevated pressure on iron transport and growth of Escherichia coli.

Helium at an ambient pressure of 68 at m with 0.2 atm of O(2) shortened by 1 to 1.5 h the lag phase for growth of Escherichia coli in minimal medium supplemented with 2 muliters of cell-free culture filtrate (CFF) per ml or with 1 muM 2,3-dihydroxybenzoylserine (DHBS), an iron chelator. The lag phase of cultures not exposed to helium could be shortened by use of supplements, but higher concentrations were required-10 to 30 muliters of CFF per ml or 10 to 50 muM DHBS. Strain AN 193 of E. coli, which requires the DHBS precursor 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA), grew well in media with 10 muM DHBA when exposed to helium at 68 atm, whereas 100 muM DHBA was required for growth in unexposed cultures. In the presence of 100 muM DHBA plus 1.0 muM ethylenediaminetetraactic acid, growth was inhibited at 1 and 68 atm. Growth was restored, however, by the addition of 0.1 muM FeSO(4) at 68 atm and 1.0 muM FeSO(4) at 1 atm, but lag times were invariably shorter in the pressurized cultures. Hydrostatic pressures of 68 atm did not reduce the lag phase in the presence of CFF, DHBS, or DHBA. Our results suggest that 68 atm of helium pressure, but not hydrostatic pressure, elicited a more rapid transport of iron into the cells.

Benzoates↗
PubMed1996

Augmented hyperventilation via normoxic helium breathing does not prevent exercise-induced hypoxemia.

The purpose of this study was to determine if augmented hyperventilation produced via normoxic helium breathing would reduce exercise-induced hypoxemia (EIH). Seven highly trained endurance athletes with a mean maximum oxygen uptake of 65 ml.kg-1.min-1, performed two cycle ergometer tests to volitional exhaustion. During one of the tests the subjects breathed ambient air, while during the other they breathed normoxic helium (21% O2, 79% He). Mean maximum expired ventilation significantly (p < .05) increased from 139 L.min-1 during the ambient trial to 168 L.min-1 while breathing normoxic helium. Mean arterial oxygen saturation obtained at maximum exercise, however, was not significantly different for the two trials (ambient = 90%, helium = 89%). These results suggest that significantly augmenting exercise hyperventilation by 21% essentially had no effect on EIH in endurance athletes. Thus, the data do not support the hypothesis that inadequate hyperventilation is an important mechanism for arterial oxygen desaturation during graded exercise to exhaustion in highly trained individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Continuous intracellular recording from mammalian neurons exposed to hyperbaric helium, oxygen, or air.

We developed a hyperbaric chamber for intracellular recording in rat brain stem slices during continuous compression and decompression of the tissue bath with the inert gas helium. Air, rather than helium, was also used as the compression medium in some cases to increase tissue nitrogen levels. An important feature is the chamber door, which opens or closes rapidly at 1 atmosphere absolute (ATA) for increased accessibility of the microelectrode. The door also closes and seals smoothly without disrupting the intracellular recording. Hyperbaric oxygen was administered during helium compression using a separate pressure cylinder filled with perfusate equilibrated with 2. 3-3.3 ATA oxygen. Measurements of tissue/bath PO(2) and pH confirmed that the effects of compression using helium or air could be differentiated from those due to increased PO(2). One hundred and thirteen neurons were studied during 375 compression cycles ranging from 1 to 20 ATA (mode 3.0 ATA). We conclude that it is technically feasible to record intracellularly from the same mammalian neuron while changing ambient pressure over a physiologically important range. These techniques will be useful for studying how various hyperbaric environments affect neurophysiological mechanisms.

Air Pressure↗
PubMed2002

Introduction of poly-L-lactic acid microspheres into the skin using supersonic flow: effects of helium gas pressure, particle size and microparticle dose on the amount introduced into hairless rat skin.

A microparticulate bombardment system loaded with DNA- and RNA-coated gold and tungsten microparticles (diameter 1-3 microm; density about 19 g cm(-3)), the Helios gene gun system (Helios gun system), has been used to deliver a gene into cells by accelerating the microparticles to high velocity using a supersonic flow of helium gas. To investigate whether drug-loaded microspheres, > 20 microm in diameter and about 1.0 g cm(-3) in density, could be delivered in powder form quantitatively into the skin using the Helios gun system equipped with a cartridge container fitted with a rupture membrane, we investigated the effect of the helium gas pressure in accelerating indometacin-loaded poly-L-lactic acid (PLA) microspheres, as well as the particle size and the bombardment dose on delivery into the skin. Introduction of indometacin (i.e. indometacin-loaded PLA microspheres) after bombardment, with 3.0 mg indometacin-loaded PLA microspheres of a particle size of 20-38, 44-53 and 75-100 microm at a helium pressure of 100, 200 and 300 psi, of the abdomen of hairless rats increased in parallel with the helium pressure and it was also affected by the particle size, being highest at a diameter of 75-100 microm. However, introduction of higher amounts of PLA microspheres resulted in more severe skin erythema (skin damage) as monitored by the Draize score. Using lower bombardment doses (0.5 and 1.0 mg), the efficiency of introduction was improved and the skin damage markedly reduced. Moreover, discrete bombardment with a low dose provided a more efficient introduction of indometacin and less skin damage. These results suggest that bombardment injection of drug-loaded microspheres in a powdered form by the Helios gun system appears to be a very useful tool for the quantitative delivery of a variety of drugs and an alternative to parenteral injection by needle, especially for delivering water-soluble macromolecules.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

The volume of isoflow and increase in maximal flow at 50 percent of forced vital capacity during helium-oxygen breathing as tests of small airway dysfunction.

The purpose of this report is to review the role of helium in the early detection of obstructive pulmonary disease. The underlying physiologic mechanisms of the volume of isoflow (the volume at which flow was the same with the subject breathing air and breathing a mixture of 80 percent helium and 20 percent oxygen) and increases in maximal flow at 50 percent of vital capacity (Vmax50) after breathing helium are reviewed. These tests are able to detect physiologic abnormalities in asymptomatic subjects when the results of other tests are normal; and following cessation of smoking, abnormal results may be reversible. The volume of isoflow is increased when maximal flow is reduced because of loss of elastic recoil or increase in upstream resistance. The increase in Vmax50 after breathing helium appears to be relatively specific for the caliber of the small airways, being uninfluenced by loss of elastic recoil; it can further help to localize the major site of obstruction to either small or large airways. At present, random screening for early unsuspected disease is not warranted, and these tests remain an investigative tool.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗
PubMed2000

Helium-neon laser preirradiation induces protection against UVC radiation in wild-type E. coli strain K12AB1157.

We have observed that preirradiation with a helium-neon laser (632.8 nm) induces protection against UVC radiation in wild-type E. coli strain K12AB1157. The magnitude of protection was found to depend on the helium-neon laser irradiance, exposure time, and period of incubation between helium-neon laser exposure and subsequent UVC irradiation. The optimum values for dose, irradiance and interval between the two exposures were found to be 7 kJ/m(2), 100 W/m(2) and 1 h, respectively. The possible involvement of singlet oxygen in the helium-neon laser-induced protection is also discussed.

Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation↗
PubMed1975

Measurement of helium elimination from man during decompression breathing air or oxygen.

Air breathing was compared with oxygen breathing during decompression from an 80-20% helium-oxygen dive to a depth equivalent to 120 fsw (4.6 ATA) in a dry chamber to see which was the most efficient gas for helium elimination. Helium elimination was measured in a closed circuit system for 90 min at the 40-fsw (2.2 ATA) stop. No significant difference was found in the efficiency of helium elimination breathing either air or oxygen in the five subjects tested.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Lens opacity in mice exposed to helium ions with energy of 4 GeV/nuclon and gamma-irradiation with Co-60].

The cataractogenic effect of helium ions with the energy 4 GeV/nuclon and 60Co gamma-radiation was examined. In response to helium irradiation the cataract incidence and maturation rate was higher than in response to gamma-irradiation at the same doses. The RBE coefficients of helium ions were calculated from the equally effective doses of reference and helium irradiations. They depended on the exposure duration and amounted to 1.2 +/- 0.1, 2.2 +/- 0.1, and 2.6 +/- 0.1 by post-irradiation weeks 20, 30, and 40, respectively.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

[Changes in the air-blood barrier of the lungs during the breathing of helium-oxygen gas mixtures].

The changes in the pulmonary air-blood barrier (ABB), occurring under the influence of helium-oxygen gaseous mixtures containing 11, 21 and 40% O2 in helium were studied in rats of two age groups (adult animals and 2-week-old cubs). The mean arithmetic and harmonic thickness of the ABB increased and its ultrastructure changed. It is suggested that helium exerts an indirect effect on the pulmonary ABB and that this effect does not depend on the O2 concentration in a gaseous mixture or on the animals' age. The electron microscopy data have demonstrated the endothelium of lung capillaries to be the most sensitive structural component as regards the action of helium-oxygen gaseous mixtures.

Animals↗
PubMed2003

High internal resistance to CO(2) uptake by submerged macrophytes that use HCO(3) (-): measurements in air, nitrogen and helium.

Previous studies have shown that in water the affinity of submerged macrophytes for CO(2) is higher for species restricted to CO(2) than for species with an additional ability to use bicarbonate. We measured slopes of CO(2) uptake versus CO(2) concentration in the gas phase in air, nitrogen and helium for pairs of species, having or lacking the ability to use bicarbonate, but with similar leaf morphology. For species restricted to CO(2), the slope in nitrogen and helium was 1.5 times and 3.2 times greater than in air. The increased slope in nitrogen results from a suppression of photorespiration. The further increase in helium reflects the increased rate of diffusion of CO(2) and shows that, even in gas, external diffusion through the boundary layer is a significant hindrance to CO(2) uptake. In contrast, in species able to use bicarbonate, the uptake slope was not affected by gas composition, suggesting that photorespiration is absent or photorespired CO(2) is efficiently trapped and that internal resistance is high relative to external resistance. Elodea canadensis specimens grown under high concentrations of CO(2) de-regulated their ability to use bicarbonate, and slopes of CO(2) uptake in helium were significantly greater than in air or nitrogen. Overall, these results are consistent with the notion that while a high affinity for CO(2) will maximise carbon uptake in species restricted to CO(2), for species able to use bicarbonate, a high internal resistance would reduce loss of CO(2) and help maintain high concentrations of CO(2) at the site of fixation.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Accurate ab initio pair potentials between helium and the heavier group 2 elements.

Interactions between the heavier Group 2 metals (Ca, Sr, and Ba) and helium were studied using the well-tempered model core potential method. Accurate pair potentials, calculated at the coupled-cluster level of theory with very large basis sets, were used in bound state calculations. Three bound rovibrational states were found for each complex. The pair-potential parameters were used to predict how each of the metal atoms would be solvated by a helium nanodroplet. The Ca atom is not fully solvated by the droplet and the interaction between the helium and the metal decreases from Ca to Ba. This agrees with the experimental observation that the spectra of these atoms in a nanodroplet are intermediate between the spectra of the free atoms and the spectra in liquid helium.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Rotational excitations of N2O in small helium clusters and the role of Bose permutation symmetry.

We present a detailed study of the energetics, structures, and Bose properties of small clusters of (4)He containing a single nitrous oxide (N(2)O) molecule, from N=1 (4)He up to sizes corresponding to completion of the first solvation shell around N(2)O (N=16 (4)He). Ground state properties are calculated using the importance-sampled rigid-body diffusion Monte Carlo method, rotational excited state calculations are made with the projection operator imaginary time spectral evolution method, and Bose permutation exchange and associated superfluid properties are calculated with the finite temperature path integral method. For N< or =5 the helium atoms are seen to form an equatorial ring around the molecular axis, at N=6 helium density starts to occupy the second (local) minimum of the N(2)O-He interaction at the oxygen side of the molecule, and N=9 is the critical size at which there is onset of helium solvation all along the molecular axis. For N> or =8 six (4)He atoms are distributed in a symmetric, quasirigid ring around N(2)O. Path integral calculations show essentially complete superfluid response to rotation about the molecular axis for N> or =5, and a rise of the perpendicular superfluid response from zero to appreciable values for N> or =8. Rotational excited states are computed for three values of the total angular momentum, J=1-3, and the energy levels fitted to obtain effective spectroscopic constants that show excellent agreement with the experimentally observed N dependence of the effective rotational constant B(eff). The non-monotonic behavior of the rotational constant is seen to be due to the onset of long (4)He permutation exchanges and associated perpendicular superfluid response of the clusters for N> or =8. We provide a detailed analysis of the role of the helium solvation structure and superfluid properties in determining the effective rotational constants.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2004

Fine structure of the (S(1)<--S(0)) band origins of phthalocyanine molecules in helium droplets.

The laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) excitation spectra of free base phthalocyanine (Pc), Mg-Pc, and Zn-Pc molecules in superfluid helium droplets at T=0.38 K have been studied. The spectra reveal the rich vibronic structure of the S(1)<--S(0) electronic transitions. The band origins of the transitions consist of zero phonon lines accompanied by phonon wings, which originate from simultaneous electronic excitation of the molecule and excitation of the collective modes of the helium surrounding it. The phonon wings have discrete structures suggesting localization of some helium atoms in the neighborhood of the molecules. Zero phonon lines of Mg-Pc and Zn-Pc molecules are split into three components, which are separated by 0.2-0.4 cm(-1). Possible mechanism of splitting involves static or dynamic Jahn-Teller interaction of metal-phthalocyanine molecules in the twofold degenerate S(1)((1)E(u)) state with the helium shell.

Journal Article↗