The pore structure of volcanic clasts is examined using measurements of porosity, permeability, and electrical properties. Permeability varies by several orders of magnitude among volcanic clasts and does not depend solely upon porosity. Electrical property measurements of saturated volcanic samples illustrate the influence of pathway tortuosity and pore shape on permeability. For equivalent eruption conditions, silicic samples show higher tortuosities, smaller vesicle sizes, and lower permeabilities than mafic samples. These differences are largely due to variations in vesiculation and crystallization history. Differences between explosive and effusive samples reflect the relative ability of bubbles to form and maintain connected pathways during bubble expansion and collapse. Isotropic sa...
The aim of this study is to determine the effects of silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP) on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β)-induced vascular permeability, and...Full Text Available
Drosophila melanogaster is a model organism rich in genetic tools to manipulate and identify neural circuits involved in specific behaviors. Here we present a technique for two-photon calcium imaging in the central brain of head-fixed Drosophila walking on an air-supported ball. The ball's motion is tracked at high resolution and can be treated as a proxy for the fly's own movements. We used the genetically encoded calcium sensor, GCaMP3.0, to record from important elements of the motion-processing pathway, the horizontal-system lobula plate tangential cells (LPTCs) in the fly optic lobe. We presented motion stimuli to the tethered fly and found that calcium transients in horizontal-system neurons correlated with robust optomotor behavior during walking. Our technique allows both behavior ...
1. From a 150 mM-NH4 salicylate medium salicylate enters human red cells with a rate constant of 1.9 min-1 at 0 degrees C. 2. Salicylate increases the red cell permeability for Ca2+ (and Mg2+). There...Full Text Available
This paper discussed the lithological characteristics of tight gas reservoirs, including the diagenetic characteristics, diagenetic environment and diagenetic sequence. The link between porosity, the sedimentary environment, lithology, diagenesis and basin tectonics was examined in order to determine how tight reservoirs were formed. The study focused on the Changbei gas field located in Yishan Slope of the Ordos Basin in China. The main pay zone reservoir is the Upper Paleozoic Lower Permian Shanxi sandstone which lies at a depth of 2700-2950 m. This low porosity, low permeability tight gas reservoir was deposited in a coal bearing acid environment which controlled the diagenesis sequence. The early carbonate cement was not well developed because the original pore water was acidic with non saturated calcium carbonate. However, compaction has significantly reduced the original pore and pore volume. The acidic environment caused large amounts of ...
Several examples of agonist-directed trafficking of receptor signalling at 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors have been reported that involve independent downstream transduction pathways. We now report the functional selectivity of a series of chemically diverse agonists at human (h)5-HT2A, h5-HT2B and h5-HT2C-VSV by examining two related responses, the upstream activation of Gq/11 proteins in comparison with its associated cascade of calcium mobilisation. At the h5-HT2A receptor, d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and the antiparkinsonian agents lisuride, bromocriptine and pergolide exhibit a higher potency for Gq/11 activation than calcium release in contrast with all the other tested ligands such as 5-HT, mCPP and BW723C86, that show an opposite preference of signalling pathway. Comparable observations are made at h5-HT2B and h5-HT2C-VSV receptors, suggesting a similar mechanism of functional selectivity ...
The present study was undertaken to determine the involvement of calcium-protein kinase C pathway in the mechanism of action of Escherichia coli heat stable enterotoxin (STa) apart from STa-induced activation of guanylate cyclase in human colonic carcinoma cell line COLO-205, which was used as a model cultured cell line to study the mechanism of action of E. coli STa. In response to E. coli STa, protein kinase C (PKC) activity was increased in a time-dependent manner with its physical translocation from cytosol to membrane. Inhibition of the PKC activity in membrane fraction and inhibition of its physical translocation in response to IP_3-mediated calcium release inhibitor dantrolene suggested the involvement of intracellular store depletion in the regulation of PKC activity. Among different PKC isoforms, predominant involvement of calcium-dependent protein kinase C (PKC#alpha#) was specified using ...
The aim of the thesis is to validate concepts used in hydrocarbon generation and migration models; the model considered is the Temispack model developed by IFP, and the validation is based on the investigation of the thermal and hydraulic evolution in various sedimentary basins. It is shown that, in general, the thermal history of sediments is influenced by external processes (sedimentation rates, lithology, climate changes, regional-scale groundwater circulations) which frequently overprint internal processes (variations of crustal/mantle heat flow). It is found that external processes can frequently explain past thermal events that were erroneously attributed to internal causes (tectonic-thermal events). The origin of over-pressures in young basins with high sedimentation rates is shown to be generally related to compaction disequilibrium. Shale permeability values calibrated against overpressure profiles are consistent with experimental constraints. Compaction ...
Because of the environmental hazard of organic solvents such as chlorinated or aromatic hydrocarbons, water soluble and biodegradable substitutes have come into use. It should be assessed how they affect soil and aquifer when spilled in leaks or accidents. This was simulated in a model system using methanol and percolation columns, one filled with material from the unsaturated subsurface and two with different materials from aquifers. The results reveal that a spill of the substitutes can also cause problems. In homogeneous soils and at long retention times until the substance reaches the aquifer, sorption and biological degradation are most likely to prevent contamination of the groundwater. When oxygen supply in the subsurface is insufficient, reducing conditions occur and sulphide is formed. The data show that much more methanol was eliminated than reflected by the consumption of electron acceptors. This indicates that sorption and anabolic turnover of the microorganisms play an ...
Recent studies suggest that calcium influx via L-type calcium channels is necessary for psychostimulant-induced behavioral sensitization. In addition, chronic amphetamine upregulates subtype...Full Text Available
Vascular permeability factor (VPF) is an Mr 40-kD protein that has been purified from the conditioned medium of guinea pig line 10 tumor cells grown in vitro, and increases fluid permeability from blood...Full Text Available
Studies have shown that CCl_4 administration to rats inhibits endoplasmic reticulum calcium pump activity and reduces the amount of calcium associated with subsequently isolated microsomal subcellular fractions. This report confirms that exposure of isolated hepatocytes to CCl_4 rapidly produces these effects in isolated parenchymal cells and demonstrates that when isolated hepacytes are exposed to CCl_4 calcium is rapidly released from cells. This release can be detected with a calcium ion-selective electrode when cells are incubated in a medium with low extracellular calcium. Calcium released from an intracellular pool(s) may initiate hepatotoxic changes in liver. (author).
MAGNETIC FORMING .............. MAGNETIC INDUCTION ............ MAGNETIC MATERIALS ............ MAGNETIC MEASUREMENT .......... MAGNETIC PERMEABILITY . ...
Cellular calcium transient alternans are beat-to-beat alternations in the peak cytosolic calcium concentration exhibited by cardiac cells during rapid electrical stimulation or under pathological conditions....Full Text Available
Taste cells use multiple signaling mechanisms to generate appropriate cellular responses to discrete taste stimuli. Some taste stimuli activate G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) that cause calcium...Full Text Available
A number of studies have indicated that plasma membrane calcium ATPases (PMCAs) are expressed in the brain and spinal cord and could play important roles not only in the maintenance of cellular calcium...Full Text Available
Background:The cardiac sodium–calcium exchanger (NCX1) is a key sarcolemmal protein for the maintenance of calcium homeostasis in the heart. Since heart failure...Full Text Available
Background and objectives: Higher urinary calcium is a risk factor for nephrolithiasis. This study delineated associations between demographic, dietary, and urinary factors and 24-h urinary calcium.Design,...Full Text Available
Calcium requirements of North American adolescents were set at 1300 mg/day based on data from white girls. Calcium requirements for Asian-American adolescents have not been studied. Using metabolic...Full Text Available
Calcium and phosphorus were mainly responsible for reducing the gastrointestinal absorption of lead in human subjects. The effect of calcium was greater than phosphorus, and their combined effect was more than additive. Increasing weights of calcium and phosphorus progressively reduced lead absorption. The relationship between absorption and increasing weights could be described by two negative exponentials. These effects could be explained if lead competed with calcium and phosphorus for common transport mechanisms in the gut. Milk was also found to reduce lead absorption. Adding milk to the diet of people with low dietary calcium intake could reduce the possibility of increased absorption of ingested lead.
Within the cardiac cell, the movements of calcium ions are tightly regulated by a number of regulatory proteins including pumps, and channels. The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is in large part...Full Text Available
AbstractWe propose a mechanism for the formation of membrane oscillations and traveling waves, which arise due to the coupling between the actin cytoskeleton and the calcium flux through...Full Text Available
Statements about the dynamic processes of uptake, transport, and deposition of Ca and Mg in norway spruce and Scots pine are made in this paper. Concerning the storage of these elements it is shown that there are great differences in their functional importance in cell metabolism. There is evidence that the role of Mg in enzyme and protein metabolism is of far greater significance for the understanding of Mg-deficiency symptoms than its function as the central atom of the chlorophyll complexes. In regard to the transport and especially to the incorporation of Ca into the needles differences between species were evident, expressing the special status of pine among the gymnosperms. With increasing needle age an accumulation of Ca-oxalate crystals, which are physiologically inert, could be proved for the studied conifers. This was interpreted as a 'detoxication' from surplus Ca to hold constant the level of the physiologically active fraction. Accordingly, the low Ca-contents of yellowed ...
The neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor {alpha}7 subunit is a member of a family of ligand-gated ion channels, and is the only subunit know to bind {alpha}-bungarotoxin in mammalian brain. {alpha}-Bungarotoxin binding sites are known to be more abundant in the hippocampus of mouse strains that are particularly sensitive to nicotine-induced seizures. The {alpha}7 receptor is highly permeable to calcium, which could suggest a role in synaptic plasticity in the nervous system. Auditory gating deficiency, an abnormal response to a second auditory stimulus, is characteristic of schizophrenia. Mouse strains that exhibit a similar gating deficit have reduced hippocampal expression of the {alpha}7 subunit. We have cloned and sequenced the full length cDNA for the mouse {alpha}7 gene (Acra-7) and characterized its gene structure. The murine {alpha}7 shares amino acid identity of 99% and 93% with the rat and human {alpha}7 subunits, respectively. ...
This paper describes the derivation of a new equation that can be used to model the permeability behavior of a fractured, sorptive-elastic media, such as coal, under variable stress conditions commonly used during measurement of permeability data in the laboratory. The model is derived for cubic geometry under biaxial or hydrostatic confining pressures. The model is also designed to handle changes in permeability caused by adsorption and desorption of gases from the matrix blocks. The model equations can be used to calculate permeability changes caused by the production of methane from coal as well as the injection of gases, such as carbon dioxide, for sequestration in coal. Sensitivity analysis of the model found that each of the input variables can have a significant impact on the outcome of the permeability forecast as a function of changing pore pressure; thus, accurate input ...
In superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons calcium-induced calcium release (CICR), mediated by ryanodine receptors (RyRs), contributes to stimulation-evoked intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i)...Full Text Available
To apply the CO{sub 2} absorber at about 1000{sup o}C for integrated coal gasification combined cycle (IGCC) furnace, the reactions of calcium oxide and CO{sub 2} at high temperatures was examined. Calcium carbonate reacts with sodium hydrogen carbonate below 200{sup o}C and forms sodium-calcium complex carbonate. The sodium-calcium complex carbonate melts at 813{sup o}C, and the carbon dioxide absorption and discharge reversible reactions of calcium-oxide takes place via liquid at around 1000{sup o}C. Sintering of calcium oxide at high temperature has been successfully avoided by the addition of sodium.
The water permeability of tissues was investigated by measuring the efflux of 3HHO from previously loaded (in darkness) etiolated bean buds (Phaseolus vulgaris L. var. Red...Full Text Available
Measurement of intrathylakoid aqueous volumes by electron spin resonance spectroscopy was used to study ionic permeability properties of thylakoid membranes isolated from Beta vulgaris...Full Text Available
SummaryThe Hippo tumor-suppressor pathway controls tissue growth in Drosophila and mammals by regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis. The Hippo pathway includes...Full Text Available
While autophagy has been shown to act as an anti-viral defense, the Picornaviridae avoid and, in many cases, subvert this pathway to promote their own replication. Evidence indicates...Full Text Available
The importance of cancer metabolism has been appreciated for many years, but the intricacies of how metabolic pathways interconnect with oncogenic signaling are not fully understood. With a clear understanding...Full Text Available
The hypothesis that intracellular Ca/sup 2 +/ is an essential component of the intracellular mechanism of insulin action in the adipocyte was evaluated. Cells were loaded with the Ca/sup 2 +/ chelator quin-2, by preincubating them with quin-2 AM, the tetrakis(acetoxymethyl) ester of quin-2. Quin-2 loading inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose transport without affecting basal activity. The ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake in quin-2-loaded cells could be partially restored by preincubating cells with buffer supplemented with 1.2 mM CaCl/sub 2/ and the Ca/sup 2 +/ ionophore A23187. These conditions had no effect on basal activity and omission of CaCl/sub 2/ from the buffer prevented the restoration of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by A23187. Quin-2 loading also inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation and the ability of insulin to inhibit cAMP-stimulated lipolysis without affecting their basal activities. Incubation of cells with 100 ..mu..M quin-2 or quin-2 AM had ...
The hypothesis that intracellular Ca"2"+ is an essential component of the intracellular mechanism of insulin action in the adipocyte was evaluated. Cells were loaded with the Ca"2"+ chelator quin-2, by preincubating them with quin-2 AM, the tetrakis(acetoxymethyl) ester of quin-2. Quin-2 loading inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose transport without affecting basal activity. The ability of insulin to stimulate glucose uptake in quin-2-loaded cells could be partially restored by preincubating cells with buffer supplemented with 1.2 mM CaCl_2 and the Ca"2"+ ionophore A23187. These conditions had no effect on basal activity and omission of CaCl_2 from the buffer prevented the restoration of insulin-stimulated glucose uptake by A23187. Quin-2 loading also inhibited insulin-stimulated glucose oxidation and the ability of insulin to inhibit cAMP-stimulated lipolysis without affecting their basal activities. Incubation of cells with 100 #mu#M quin-2 or quin-2 AM had no effect on intracellular ...
SummaryPermeable pavement functions as a porous infrastructure interface allowing the infiltration and evaporation of rainfall-runoff while functioning as a relatively smooth load-bearing surface for vehicular transport. Hydraulic conductivity (k) of permeable pavement is an important hydraulic property and is a function of the pore structure. This study examines k for a cementitious permeable pavement (CPP) through a series of pore-structure models. Measurements utilized include hydraulic head as well as total porosity, (t), effective porosity (e), tortuosity (Le/L) and pore size distribution (PSD) indices generated through X-ray tomography (XRT). XRT results indicate that the permeable pavement pore matrix is hetero-disperse, with high tortuosity and t!=e. Power law models of k-t and k-e...
Four-enzyme section of the shikimate pathway (Aro B, D, E, and K) of Streptococcus pneumoniae has been studied. Kinetic properties of the individual enzymes and three- and four-enzyme linked reactions have been characterized in vitro. On the basis of the data measured in spectrophotometric and LC-MS experiments, kinetic mechanisms of the enzymes have been suggested and all kinetic parameters have been identified. Kinetic models for these three- and four-enzyme sections of the shikimate pathway have been constructed and validated. The model of the four-enzyme section of shikimate pathway has been employed to design an inhibition-sensitive reconstituted pathway for a high-throughput screening effort on the shikimate pathway. It was demonstrated that using the model it was possible to optimize this reconstituted pathway in such a way to provide equal sensitivity of ...
Verapamil administered before treatment, but not after treatment, had a beneficial effect on a 90-minute warm ischemia-reperfusion rat liver injury model. The possible activation of proteases converting...Full Text Available
Skeletal muscle uses calcium as a second messenger to respond and adapt to environmental stimuli. Elevations in intracellular calcium levels activate calcineurin, a serine/threonine phosphatase, resulting...Full Text Available
The homologous sequences observed for many calcium binding proteins such as parvalbumin, troponin C, the myosin light chains, and calmodulin has lead to the hypothesis that these proteins have homologous...Full Text Available
BackgroundCalcium signaling plays an important role in B lymphocyte survival and activation, and is critically dependent on the inositol-1,4,5-tris-phosphate-induced...Full Text Available
An optical flow gradient algorithm was applied to spontaneously forming networks of neurons and glia in culture imaged by fluorescence optical microscopy in order to map functional calcium signaling...Full Text Available
BackgroundCalcium homeostasis is a known target of several environmental toxicants including lead and mercury.ObjectiveOur goal was to determine...Full Text Available
Improving the anti-demineralizing/remineralizing and mechanical properties of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) composites has been the focus of our recent research. In this study, an ethoxylated...Full Text Available
Objectives To assess the effectiveness of calcium supplementation for improving bone mineral density in healthy children and to determine if any effect is modified by other factors and...Full Text Available
Large-conductance voltage- and calcium-activated potassium (BK) channels have been shown to play a role in detrusor overactivity (DO). The goal of this study was to determine whether bladder outlet...Full Text Available
Calcium, vitamin D, exposure to sunshine, and vitamin D receptor (VDR) genotypes have been associated rectal cancer. We used data from 750 rectal tumors and 1,205 population-based...Full Text Available
Assessment of the regulation of plant metabolism by the calcium ion requires a knowledge of its intracellular levels and dynamics. Technical problems have prevented direct measurement of the concentration...Full Text Available
T-type calcium channels are responsible for generating low-threshold spikes that facilitate burst firing and neurotransmitter release in neurons. GnRH neurons exhibit burst firing, but the underlying...Full Text Available
... interactive surfaces and interfaces, and 3) the more complex a ... carbonate or calcium phosphate with a thin interface ... diameter) for nerve prosthesis. ...
This patent describes a preflush fluid for preventing lost circulation during the cementing of a well, the fluid consisting essentially of: (a) water; (b) about 10 to about 30 percent by weight of water (% BWOW) cement; (c) about 5 to about 30% BWOW calcium sulfate selected from the group consisting of calcium sulfate hemihydrate, calcium sulfate dihydrate, and mixtures thereof; and (d) an alkali metal-containing quick-hardening accelerator.
Gas contaminated with at least one noxious component, such as SO/sub 2/, HF or NOx, is scrubbed with a clear, calcium-containing, initially-basic washing liquid which also comprises the anion of a strong inorganic acid, that of a polybasic carboxylic acid and, optionally, that of a monobasic carboxylic acid. Apparatus is provided for scrubbing the gas, oxidizing produced calcium bisulfite to calcium sulfate, separating out and removing solids, and recirculating clarified liquid for scrubbing contaminated gas.
A technique has been developed for joining a large calcium fluoride crystal to a stainless-steel flange by means of a silver transition ring. The process involves both vacuum brazing using a copper-silver alloy and air brazing using silver chloride. This paper describes the procedure used in fabricating a high-vacuum leak-tight calcium fluoride window assembly.
A porous tooling system was selected for the processing of Graphite/PMR-15 Polyimide laminates in thickness up to 3.2 mm. (0.125 inch). This tool system must have a reasonable strength, permeability dimensional stability, and thermal conductivity to accomplish curing at 600 F and 200 psi and 200 psi autoclave temperature and pressure. A permeability measuring apparatus was constructed and permeability vs. casting water level determined to produce tools at three different permeability levels. On these tools, laminates of 5, 11, and 22 plies (.027, .060, and 0.121 inch) were produced and evaluated by ultrasonic, mechanical, and thermal tests to determine the effect of the tool permeability on the cured laminates. All tools produced acceptable laminates at 5 and 11 plies but only the highest permeability produced acceptable clear ultrasonic C-Scans. Recommendations ...
Sealants for radon-resistant foundation construction must seal the gap between concrete sections. Modern sealants have such low permeability that seal performance depends only on the permeability of the material that contacts the sealant. The surface permeability of concrete walls and floors was measured by a specially designed permeameter, which measures the airflow induced by a pressure difference across a temporary test seal applied to the surface. The permeability of bulk concrete is about 10"-"1"5 m"2. Areas free of surface defects had surface permeability ranging from 10"-"1"4 to 10"-"1"6 m"2. However, surface defects are common on concrete wall surfaces, which increase the permeability to >10"-"1"2 m"2, too high for standard seal designs to be adequate as the only method of soil gas and radon exclusion. Radon-resistant seals require either extended ...
In reservoir fluid flow, the situation described by an increase in nonwetting phase saturation followed by an increase in wetting phase saturation causes a relative permeability hysteresis effect that is well known. This paper presents a method which allows the calculation of imbibition relative permeability starting at any saturation. The data required are the drainage curve, the historical maximum non wetting saturation, and a minimum of one additional point on some corresponding experimental imbibition curve. In this development, all imbibition curves are shown to be parallel. Also significant is the fact that the residual nonwetting phase saturation can be calculated without a complete experimental specification of the imbibition curve. 5 refs.
Theoretical analysis, modeling, and simulation are used to provide insight into the development of permeability during thermal damage of the high explosive PBX 9501. In a recently published article, Terrones et al. [1] conclude that samples of PBX 9501 thermally damaged at 186 degreeC are not permeable to gas flow in a manner consistent with Darcys Law. We disagree with their conclusion. We show that they have misreported data from the literature, and that their argument depends on a fluid flow model that is physically incorrect and is applied with inappropriate physical parameters.
X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and particle size analysis were used to characterize the product of the thiosulfate process. It was found to consist of a mixture of a solid solution of calcium sulfate in calcium sulfite hemihydrate, calcium sulfate dihydrate, and calcium carbonate. Reactions taking place on heating the byproduct were identified in oxidizing and reducing atmospheres. Pure calcium sulfite hemihydrate as well as solid solutions of CaSO[sub 4] in CaSO[sub 3] [center dot] (1/2)H[sub 2]O with different sulfate concentrations were synthesized in the laboratory. Thermal analyses of pure solid solutions proved that the higher the sulfate content, the higher is the dehydration temperature. Accordingly, taking SO[sub 4][sup 2[minus
This article discusses three largely unrecognized aspects related to fluid movement in ocular tissues; namely, a) the dynamic changes in water permeability observed in corneal and conjunctival...Full Text Available
The surface permeability of concrete walls and floors in houses was measured with a specially designed permeameter, based on measuring the air-flow induced by a pressure difference across a temporary test seal applied to a surface. The permeability of bulk concrete is 10"-"1"6 m"2. Areas free of surface defects had permeability ranging from 10"-"1"4 to 10-"1"6 m"2. However, surface defects are common on concrete wall surfaces, which increase the permeability to >10"-"1"2 m"2. This is too high for standard seal designs to be adequate as the only method of soil gas and radon exclusion. Satisfactory seals require either extended contact width or mechanical removal of the surface layer. (orig.). (2 figs., 1 tab.).
The effects of reservoir layering and gravity segregation on nonisothermal injection and falloff tests are investigated. Results show that layering does not affect injection or falloff data if all the layers are permeable and accept fluids from the wellbore. In such cases, the average permeability, skin factor, and distance to the thermal front can be calculated using the techniques developed for homogeneous reservoirs. Special considerations have to be taken for cases where several layers are impermeable or are permeable but do not accept fluids of the well face. In the first case (impermeable layers), knowledge of the total thickness of the permeable layers is required for the existing techniques to be applied successfully. In the second case, the existing techniques cannot be applied, but characteristic responses from injection and falloff test are seen; therefore, this case can be identified easily. ...
Reinjection of spent geothermal brine is a common means of disposing of geothermal effluents and maintaining reservoir pressures. Contrary to the predictions of two-fluid models (two-viscosity) of nonisothermal injection, an increase of injectivity, with continued injection, is often observed. Injectivity enhancement and thermally-affected pressure transients are particularly apparent in short-term injection tests at the Los Azufres Geothermal Field, Mexico. During an injection test, it is not uncommon to observe that after an initial pressure increase, the pressure decreases with time. As this typically occurs far below the pressure at which hydraulic fracturing is expected, some other mechanism for increasing the near-bore permeability must explain the observed behavior. This paper focuses on calculating the magnitude of the near-bore permeability changes observed in several nonisothermal injection tests conducted at the Los Azufres ...
Summary: The KEGG PATHWAY database provides a widely used service for metabolic and nonmetabolic pathways. It contains manually drawn pathway maps with information about the genes, reactions and relations contained therein. To store these pathways, KEGG uses KGML, a proprietary XML-format. Parsers and translators are needed to process the pathway maps for usage in other applications and algorithms. We have developed KEGGtranslator, an easy-to-use stand-alone application that can visualize and convert KGML formatted XML-files into multiple output formats. Unlike other translators, KEGGtranslator supports a plethora of output formats, is able to augment the information in translated documents (e.g. MIRIAM annotations) beyond the scope of the KGML document, and amends missing components to fr...
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a complete set of environmental pathways for disposal options and conditions that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) may analyze for a low-level radioactive waste (LLW) license application. The regulations pertaining In the past, shallow-land burial has been used for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste. However, with the advent of the State Compact system of LLW disposal, many alternative technologies may be used. The alternative LLW disposal facilities include below- ground vault, tumulus, above-ground vault, shaft, and mine disposal This paper will form the foundation of an update of the previously developed Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)/NRC LLW performance assessment methodology. Based on the pathway assessment for alternative disposal methods, a determination will be made about whether the current methodology can satisfactorily analyze the pathways and phenomena ...
The phosphatidylinositol pathway is implicated in the regulation of numerous cellular functions and responses to extracellular signals. An important branching point in the pathway is the phosphorylation...Full Text Available
Inhibiting insulin/IGF-1 signalling extends lifespan and delays age-related disease in species throughout the animal kingdom. This life-extension pathway, the first to be defined, was discovered through...Full Text Available
Six species having characteristics of plants with the C4 dicarboxylic photosynthetic pathway, Echinochloa utilis L. Ohwi et Yabuno (Japanese millet), Cynodon dactylon...Full Text Available
Six genes involved in the heparan sulfate and heparin metabolism pathway, DSEL (dermatan sulfate epimerase-like), EXTL1 (exostoses (multiple)-like 1), HS6ST1...Full Text Available
Background & Aimsβ-catenin signaling within the canonical Wnt pathway is essential for pancreas development. However, the pathway is normally down-regulated...Full Text Available
The specific white matter location of all the spinal pathways conveying penile input to the rostral medulla is not known. Our previous studies using rats demonstrated the loss of low but not high threshold...Full Text Available
In this study we compared the molecular signalling elicited by rexinoids, selective retinoid X receptor (RXR)-activators, in several organs (i.e. liver, kidney,...Full Text Available
Purpose:The goal of this study was to use two separate databases to evaluate the clinical outcomes and the economic impact of adherence to Level I Pathways, an evidence-based oncology...Full Text Available
The insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) pathway is a conserved regulator of longevity, development, and metabolism. In Caenorhabditis elegans IIS involves activation of DAF-2 (insulin/IGF-1...Full Text Available
Hematopoiesis is the cumulative result of intricately regulated signaling pathways that are mediated by cytokines and their receptors. Studies conducted over the past 10 to 15 years have revealed that...Full Text Available
Chlorazole fast pink 2BL inhibited the classical complement pathway in rat serum both in vivo and in vitro. The in vitro potency of chlorazole fast pink against the alternative pathway could not be...Full Text Available
AIM: To investigate atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion from gastric mucosa and the relationship between the ANP/natriuretic peptide receptor type A (NPR-A) pathway and diabetic gastroparesis.METHODS:...Full Text Available
This report summarizes preliminary 2-D reactive-transport simulations on the injection, storage and transport of supercritical CO{sub 2} in dolostone formations in the Ordos Basin in China. The purpose of the simulations was to evaluate the role that basin heterogeneity, permeability, CO{sub 2} flux, and geochemical reactions between the carbonate geology and the CO{sub 2} equilibrated brines have on the evolution of porosity and permeability in the storage reservoir. The 2-D simulation of CO{sub 2} injection at 10{sup 3} ton/year corresponds to CO{sub 2} injection at a rate of 3 x 10{sup 5} ton/year in a 3-D, low permeable rock. An average permeability of 10 md was used in the simulation and reflects the upper range of permeability reported for the Ordos Basin Majiagou Group. Transport and distribution of CO{sub 2} between in the gas, aqueous, and solid phases were followed during ...
Interaction of drilling fluids with a geothermal reservoir formation can result in significant permeability impairment and therefore reduced well productivity. This interaction is studied under simulated in situ geothermal conditions of overburden stress, pore fluid pressure, temperature, and pore fluid chemistry. Permeability impairment of an East Mesa KGRA reservoir material is evaluated as a function of stagnation time, drilling fluid, and temperature. Results indicate that all of these parameters contribute significantly to the magnitude and the reversibility of the impairment.
The concept of relative permeability is the key concept in extending Darcy's law for single phase flow through porous media to the two-phase flow regime. Relative permeability functions are needed for simulation studies of two-phase geothermal reservoirs. These are poorly known inspite of considerable theoretical and experimental investigations during the last decade. Since no conclusive results exist, many investigators use ad hoc parametrization, or adopt results obtined from flow of oil and gas (Corey, 1954). It has been shown by Reda and Eaton (1980) that this can lead to serious deficiencies. Sensitivity of the relative permeability curves for prediction of mass flow rate and flowing enthalpy into geothermal wells has been studied by many investigators (e.g. Eaton and Reda (1980), Bodvarsson et al (1980), Sun and Ershagi (1979) etc.). It can be concluded from these studies that the beehavior of a two-phase ...
North Slope of Alaska has huge oil deposits in heavy oil reservoirs such as Ugnu, West Sak and Shrader Bluff etc. The viscosity of the last two reservoir oils vary from {approx}30 cp to {approx}3000 cp and the amount in the range of 10-20 billion barrels. High oil viscosity and low formation strength impose problems to high recovery and well productivity. Water-alternate-gas injection processes can be effective for the lower viscosity end of these deposits in West Sak and Shrader Bluff. Several gas streams are available in the North Slope containing NGL and CO{sub 2} (a greenhouse gas). The goal of this research is to develop tools to find optimum solvent, injection schedule and well-architecture for a WAG process in North Slope shallow sand viscous oil reservoirs. In the last quarter, we have developed streamline generation and convection subroutines for miscible gas injection. The WAG injection algorithms are being developed. We formulated a four-phase relative ...
The goal of this work was to develop a process flow diagram to economically produce a clean-burning fuel from fine Illinois coal. To accomplish this, the process of pelletizing fine coal with calcium hydroxide, a sulfur capturing sorbent, was investigated. Carbonation, which is the reaction of calcium hydroxide with carbon dioxide (in the presence of moisture) to produce a bonding matrix of calcium carbonate, was investigated as a method for improving pellet quality and reducing binder costs. Proper moisture level is critical to allow the reaction to occur. If too much moisture is present in a pellet, the pore spaces are filled and carbon dioxide must diffuse through the water to reach the calcium hydroxide and react. This severely slows or stops the reaction. The ideal situation is when there is just enough moisture to coat the calcium hydroxide allowing for the reaction to ...
A method of treating final products from a flue gas desulfurization. The flue gas desulfurization is carried out by the absorption of sulfur oxide in a spray dryer with a suspension which contains lime, or in a reactor with a dry, fine-grained, absorbent which contains lime. Prior to desulfurization, the fly ash carried along by the flue gas which is to be desulfurized is separated entirely, partially, or not at all from the flue gas, and the final products from the flue gas desulfurization, prior to any further treatment thereof, amount to 1-99% by weight, preferably 1-70% by weight, of fly ash, and 1-99% by weight, preferably 30-99% by weight, of the sum of the desulfurization products, preferably calcium sulfite hemihydrate, and/or calcium sulfite, and/or calcium sulfate dyhydrate, and/or calcium sulfate hemihydrate, and/or calcium sulfate, as well as residue of the absorbent. ...
Wet limestone scrubbing is once again becoming a popular technology for removal of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) from power plant emissions. Critical to the operation of wet limestone flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems is accurate chemical analysis of scrubber solids. The analytical technique of thermogravimetry is ideal for this application, as the instrument can give precise readings of the principal scrubber solids components, calcium sulfite/sulfate hemihydrate, calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum), and unused calcium carbonate. The data provides plant chemists, engineers, and operators with information needed to fine-tune scrubber operation and detect process upsets. (orig.)
Abstract The Hippo pathway is an evolutionally conserved protein kinase cascade involved in regulating organ size in vivo and cell contact inhibition in vitro by governing cell proliferation and apoptosis. Deregulation of the Hippo pathway is linked to cancer development. Its first core kinase Warts was identified in Drosophila more than 15 years ago, but it gained much attention when other core components of the pathway were identified 8 years later. Major discoveries of the pathway were made during past several years. The core kinase components Hippo, Salvador, Warts, and Mats in the fly and Mst1/2, WW45, Lats1/2, and Mob1 in mammals phosphorylate and inactivate downstream transcriptional co-activators Yorkie in the fly, Yes-associated protein (YAP) and transcriptional co-activator with ...
Intervertebral disc (IVD) cell apoptosis has been suggested to play an important role in promoting the degeneration process. It has been demonstrated that IVD cell apoptosis occurs through either death receptor, mitochondrial or endoplasmic reticulum (ER) pathway. Our study aimed to explore the relationship among these three pathways and grade of IVD degeneration (IVDD). IVDs were collected from patients with lumbar fracture, vertebral tumor, disc herniation or spondylolisthesis. IVDs were distinguished by MRI and histomorphological examination, cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining. Biomarkers of these three apoptosis pathways were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot. Furthermore, the correlation between apoptosis pathways biomarkers and disc pathology were analyzed. Nucleus pulpo...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been developing a nuclear waste disposal facility, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), located approximately 42 km east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP is designed to demonstrate the safe disposal of transuranic wastes produced by the defense nuclear-weapons program. Pefiormance assessment analyses (U.S. DOE, 1996) indicate that human intrusion by inadvertent and intermittent drilling for resources provide the only credible mechanisms for significant releases of radionuclides horn the disposal system. These releases may occur by five mechanisms: (1) cuttings, (2) cavings, (3) spallings, (4) direct brine releases, and (5) long- term brine releases. The first four mechanisms could result in immediate release of contaminant to the accessible environment. For the last mechanisq migration pathways through the permeable layers of rock above the Salado are important, and major emphasis is placed on the ...
Vitamin D is now known to be of physiological importance outside of bone health and calcium homeostasis, and there is mounting evidence that it plays a beneficial role in the prevention and/or treatment...Full Text Available
A filamentous fungus, Cunninghamella blakesleeana AS 3.153, was used as a microbial model of mammalian metabolism to transform verapamil, a calcium channel antagonist. The metabolites...Full Text Available
The spontaneous precipitation of calcium sulfate in supersaturated solutions over the temperature range between 25.0 and 80.0 C was investigated by monitoring the solution specific conductivity during desupersaturation. From measurements of the induction times preceding the onset of precipitation the surface energy of the forming solid, identified as gypsum, was found between ca. 12 and 25 mJ/m{sup 2} for the temperature range between 80.0 and 25.0 C, respectively. Kinetics analysis showed that over 50 C it is possible that anhydrous calcium sulfate is forming as a transient phase converting into the more stable calcium sulfate dihydrate. The linear dependence of the rates of precipitation on the relative solution supersaturation suggested a mechanism according to which the growth units are integrated into the active sites of the supercritical nuclei by surface diffusion. According to the morphological examination of the ...
Abstract Although photosynthetic thermotolerance has been investigated extensively in cotton leaves, reports on the biochemical influence of the pistil in promoting fertilization thermostability are limited. To evaluate the effect of temperature, genotype, and exogenous calcium application on fertilization and pistil biochemistry in cotton, thermosensitive (cv. ST4554 B2RF) and thermotolerant (cv. VH260) plants were grown under control (30/20-C) or high-temperature (38/20-C) conditions during flowering, and exogenous CaCl2 was applied to flowers 1-day prior to anthesis. Measured pistil parameters included fertilization efficiency; protein concentration; glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and NADPH oxidase activities; and ATP and calcium levels. Exogenous calcium had no effec...
Direct radiological measurements of the mineral content of femoral bone were performed in 13 patients on maintenance dialysis. They were found to be sufficiently sensitive to be used for monitoring,...Full Text Available
We have investigated the effect of manganese (Mn) doping on properties of nanosized biphasic calcium phosphate powders and their dense bodies. Manganese levels of 0.6, 1.3, 1.9, 4.3, 7.0 and 11.9at.% were successfully incorporated into biphasic calcium phosphate via a sol-gel route. The prepared powders were calcined at temperatures of 500-1200^oC. The X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that a mix phase comprising of hydroxyapatite and @b-tricalcium phosphate were present, however the content of each phases in the structure was affected by the Mn content. The studies found that the largest portion of @b-tricalcium phosphate was detected at 4.3at.% Mn doping. The incorporation of Mn has also greatly increased the crystallinity of the biphasic calcium phosphate powder due to progressive den...
As part of studies into the siting of a deep repository for nuclear waste, Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (SKB) has commissioned the Alternative Models Project (AMP). The AMP is a comparison of three alternative modeling approaches for geosphere performance assessment for a single hypothetical site. The hypothetical site, arbitrarily named Aberg is based on parameters from the Aespoe Hard Rock Laboratory in southern Sweden. The Aberg model domain, boundary conditions and canister locations are defined as a common reference case to facilitate comparisons between approaches. This report presents the results of a discrete fracture pathways analysis of the Aberg site, within the context of the SR 97 performance assessment exercise. The Aberg discrete fracture network (DFN) site model is based on consensus Aberg parameters related to the Aespoe HRL site. Discrete fracture pathways are identified from canister locations in a ...
The objective of this paper is to present a theoretical evaluation of soil and house related factors that may affect the transport of radon from the soil into houses. A two-dimensional mathematical model was used to simulate the diffusive and convective transport of radon into the house through idealized openings in the understructure. With the help of model predictions we tried to find out whether diffusion or convection predominates and under which circumstances. Radon transport through cracks in the house understructure is influenced mainly by the soil permeability, radon concentration at the soil-crack interface, the total area of cracks and the pressure difference across cracks. Because of its large range of variability, the soil permeability appears to have the greatest effect on the radon transport through cracks. At permeabilities below 1x10"-"1"2 m"2 diffusive transport predominates and is almost invariable with ...
A control group of geese (Anser anser) on a normal calcium diet for egg laying poultry was compared to egg laying geese on a calcium deficient diet. The ultimate compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of femoral cortical bone from each group were determined by compressing right circular cylinders which were 2.4 mm in height and 0.8 mm in diameter. The bending strength and bending modulus of elasticity of tibial cortical bone were determined by three point bend tests on rectangular prisms which were approximately 25 mm by 0.8 mm by 0.8 mm. Bone calcium content and eggshell calcium content were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Blood samples were analyzed for free calcium ion concentration. Histological observations included studies of cross-sectional microradiographs, examinations of cross sections stained by a modified Masson's technique, and a determination ...
Natural fractures and in situ stresses commonly dictate subsurface reservoir permeability and permeability anisotropy, as well as the effectiveness of stimulation techniques in low-permeability, natural gas reservoirs. This paper offers an initial prediction for the orientations of the fracture and stress systems in the tight gas reservoirs of the Frontier Formation, in the Green River basin of southwestern Wyoming. It builds on a previous report that addressed fractures and stresses in the western part of the basin and on ideas developed for the rest of the basin, using the principle that thrust faults are capable of affecting the stress magnitudes and orientations in little-deformed strata several hundreds of kilometers in front of a thrust. The prediction of subsurface stresses and natural fracture orientations is an undertaking that requires the willingness to revise models as definitive data are acquired during ...
Mobility reduction induced by the growth and metabolism of bacteria in high-permeability layers of heterogeneous reservoirs is an economically attractive technique to improve sweep efficiency. This paper describes an experimental study conducted in sandpacks using an injected bacterium to investigate the strength and stability of microbial plugs in porous media. Successful convective transport of bacteria is important for achieving sufficient initial bacteria distribution. The chemotactic and diffusive fluxes are probably not significant even under static conditions. Mobility reduction depends upon the initial cell concentrations and increase in cell mass. For single or multiple static or dynamic growth techniques, permeability reduction was approximately 70% of the original permeability. The stability of these microbial plugs to increases in pressure gradient and changes in cell physiology in a nutrient-depleted ...
This study discusses and compares, from a practical point of view, three different approaches for permeability determination from logs. These are empirical, statistical, and the recently introduced virtual measurement methods. They respectively make use of empirically determined models, multiple variable regression, and artificial neural networks. All three methods are applied to well log data from a heterogeneous formation and the results are compared with core permeability, which is considered to be the standard. In this first part of the paper we present only the model development phase in which we are testing the capability of each method to match the presented data. Based on this, the best two methods are to be analyzed in terms of prediction performance in the second part of this paper.
A model is developed to represent mechanical strain, stress-enhanced dissolution, and shear dilation as innately hysteretic and interlinked processes in rough contacting fractures. The model is incorporated into a numerical simulator designed to examine permeability change and thermal exchange in chemically active and deformable fractured reservoirs. A candidate engineered geothermal reservoir system (EGS) is targeted. The mechanistic model is able to distinguish differences between the evolution of fluid transmission characteristics of (1) small scale, closely spaced fractures, and (2) large-scale, more widely spaced fractures. Alternate realizations of fracture frequency and scale, exhibiting identical initial bulk permeability, lead to significantly different conclusions regarding perme...
New technologies are needed to reduce the current high rate of well abandonment. Improved sweep efficiency, reservoir conformance, and permeability modification can have a significant impact on oil recovery processes. Microorganisms can be used to selectively plug high-permeability zones to improve sweep efficiency and impart conformance control. Studies of a promising microbial system for polymer production were conducted to evaluate reservoir conditions in which this system would be effective. Factors which can affect microbial growth and polymer production include salinity, pH, temperature, divalent ions, presence of residual oil, and rock matrix. Flask tests and coreflooding experiments were conducted to optimize and evaluate the effectiveness of this system. Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (NMRI) was used to visualize microbial polymer production in porous media. Changes in fluid distribution within the pore system of the core were ...
Inhibition of large conductance calcium-activated potassium (BKCa) channels mediates, in part, oxygen sensing by carotid body type I cells. However, BKCa channels remain active...Full Text Available
Brushite (CaHPO4·2H2O) was considered to govern the formation of renal calculus of calcium phosphate origin. The degree of saturation of urine with respect to this phase...Full Text Available
Earlier studies have indicated that xylitol may increase the absorption and urinary excretion of dietary oxalate. It has also been indicated that xylitol increases the absorption of calcium. Intestinal absorption of lead, a divalent contaminant in the diet, is in many respects similar to that of calcium. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of xylitol on the intestinal absorption of lead using two different approaches: the in situ ligated intestinal loop technique in cockerels and gastric gavage in mice.
The role played by calcium sulfite in the flue gas desulfurization of lime/limestone scrubbers makes it desirable to work out its thermodynamic properties. A thermogravimetric apparatus was used to study the equilibria between calcium sulfite hemihydrate and calcium sulfite anhydrite under different conditions. Efforts were made to analyze the difficulties encountered in the dynamic approach to equilibration after calcium sulfate dihydrate failed in calibration of the apparatus. Finally, the kinetics and thermodynamics for the dissociation of calcium sulfite hemihydrate were examined. The confirmation of Engel-Brewer's correlation between the electronic configuration and crystal structure in metallic systems has long been pursued in this group by studying the Lewis-acid-base interactions. Tantalum-iridium alloys of different compositions were brought into equilibrium with ...
Human complement protein C9 is shown to be a metalloprotein that binds 1 mol of Ca"2"+/mol of C9 with a dissociation constant of 3 #mu#m as measured by equilibrium dialysis. Incubation with EDTA removes the bound calcium, resulting in a apoprotein with decreased thermal stability. This loss in stability leads to aggregation and, therefore, to loss of hemolytic activity upon heating to a few degrees above the physiological temperature. Heat-induced aggregation of apoC9 can be prevented by salts that stabilize proteins according to the Hofmeister series of lyotropic ions, suggesting that the ion in native C9 may ligand with more than one structural element of domain of the protein. Ligand blotting indicates that the calcium binding site is located in the amino-terminal half of the protein. Removal of calcium by inclusion of EDTA in assay mixtures has no effect on the hemolytic activity of C9, and its capacity to bind to C8 in ...
1. The short duration cerebrovascular perfusion method for measuring permeability of the blood-brain barrier has been adapted to measuring transport into the retina. 2. The method has been characterized...Full Text Available
1. The proteolytic enzyme pronase, which degrades the endothelial cell glycocalyx, was perfused through single capillaries of frog mesentery. Hydraulic conductivity (Lp) of each vessel was determined...Full Text Available
Low membrane permeability is one of the major obstacles to the successful cryopreservation of zebrafish embryos. The aim of the present study was to explore if this could be overcome by yolk...Full Text Available
BackgroundRetinitis pigmentosa (RP) is characterized by progressive night blindness, visual field loss, altered vascular permeability and loss of central vision. Currently there...Full Text Available
Some vapor-dominated geothermal reservoirs and low-permeability gas reservoirs exhibit anomalous behavior that may be caused by surface adsorption. For example, geothermal reservoirs in the Larderello area of Italy and reservoirs in the Geysers Geothermal...
The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance has created a need for the development of novel antibiotic classes with non-classical cellular targets. Unfortunately, target-based drug discovery against...Full Text Available
Ependymal cells line the cerebral ventricles forming the interface that separates the cerebrospinal (CSF) and interstitial fluids (ISF). Extracellular molecules move between ependymal cells, whereas lipid soluble molecules pass both between and through cells. We measured the transfer of tritiated water (TOH) from CSF to blood across the ependymal and capillary interfaces by ventriculocisternal (VC) steady-state tissue clearance. Adult cats anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium underwent VC perfusion with the extracellular marker (/sup 14/C)sucrose and TOH added to the artificial CSF. Brain tissue was analyzed for depth of penetration of the isotopes into periventricular gray matter. We found that TOH distribution space was lower than expected from water content measurements, whereas sucrose space was normal. Using VC steady-state equations we calculated an ependymal permeability that was similar to the permeability of the cerebral capillary. ...
Computer programs have been developed for modelling impedance and transmit-receive eddy current probes in two-dimensional axis-symmetric configurations. These programs, which are based on analytic equations, simulate bobbin probes in infinitely long tubes and surface probes on plates. They calculate probe signal due to uniform variations in conductor thickness, resistivity and permeability. These signals depend on probe design and frequency. A finite element numerical program has been procured to calculate magnetic permeability in non-linear ferromagnetic materials. Permeability values from these calculations can be incorporated into the above analytic programs to predict signals from eddy current probes with permanent magnets in ferromagnetic tubes. These programs were used to test various probe designs for new testing applications. Measurements of magnetic permeability in magnetically biased ...
The structural features of 25mm combustible cartridge cases, manufactured for this program and having nitrocellulose/resin/fiber ratios of 85/10/5, 80/15/5, 75/20/5 and 75/10/15, were characterized through permeability measurements, respectively, about 10...
This patent describes a delayed acrylamide containing polymer crosslinker having stability in an aqueous solution at high temperatures. It comprises: a combination of an aldehyde and a salicylic acid derivative selected from salicylamide and acetysalicylic acid.
Methods of acidizing a subterranean well formation, acidizing compositions, and sequestering additives for preventing the precipitation of metal compounds in the formation are described. Use of the methods and chemicals described should lead to improved formation permeability as compared to use of previous methods and chemicals. 12 claims.
This report documents the activities by Rogers and Associates Engineering Corporation personnel in the second year of a grant from the Office of Health and Environmental Research at the US Department of Energy. The project objective is to integrate theories of all significant radon generation and transport mechanisms into a unified, self-consistent theory. During the second year of the project, the following activities were performed. Several field permeabilities were measured to develop a soils data base for a simple permeability correlation. Simple soil gas permeability and radon diffusion coefficient correlations were developed from the RAE data base. A methodology was developed to characterize the air permeabilities and radon diffusion coefficients of soils in general, and the Soil Conservation Service soil classifications in particular. The RAETRAN code was benchmarked against two different sets of ...
A novel acidizing process is used to increase the permeability of carbonate rock cores in the laboratory and to remove drilling fluid damage from cores and wafers. Field results show the benefits of the technology as applied both to injector and producer wells.
Several enzymes of the metabolic pathways responsible for metabolism of cytosolic ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides are located in mitochondria. Studies described in this paper suggest dysfunction of the mitochondria to affect these metabolic pathways and limit the available levels of cytosolic ribonucleotides and deoxyribonucleotides, which in turn can result in aberrant RNA and DNA synthesis. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to genomic instability, and it is possible that the limiting effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on the levels of nucleotides and resulting aberrant RNA and DNA synthesis in part can be responsible for this link. This paper summarizes the parts of the metabolic pathways responsible for nucleotide metabolism that can be affected by mitochondrial dysfunction.
SUMMARYTestosterone and estrogen are essential for male behaviors in vertebrates. How these two signaling pathways interact to control masculinization of the brain and behavior...Full Text Available
Political leaders in numerous nations argue for an upper limit of the global average surface temperature of 2 K above the pre-industrial level, in order to attempt to avoid the most serious impacts of climate change. This paper analyzes what this limit implies in terms of radiative forcing, emissions pathways and abatement costs, for a range of assumptions on rate of ocean heat uptake and climate sensitivity. The primary aim is to analyze the importance of ocean heat uptake for radiative forcing pathways that temporarily overshoot the long-run stabilization forcing, yet keep the temperature increase at or below the 2 K limit. In order to generate such pathways, an integrated climate-economy model, MiMiC, is used, in which the emissions pathways generated represent the least-cost solution o...
Myriad genetic and epigenetic alterations are required to drive normal cells toward malignant transformation. These somatic events commandeer many signaling pathways that cooperate to endow aspiring...Full Text Available
This manuscript discusses the physiology of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The following topics are presented: regulation of activity; efferent pathways; sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions;...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe monolignol biosynthetic pathway interconnects with the biosynthesis of other secondary phenolic metabolites, such as cinnamic acid derivatives, flavonoids and condensed...Full Text Available
Pathway analyses are regarded by National Plant Protection Organizations as a very efficient way to address the risks posed by invasive alien species. Data on import of aquatic plants was obtained from 10 EPPO countries (Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Latvia, Switzerland and Turkey) and aggregated in order to consider whether invasive or potentially invasive alien plants could be introduced in the EPPO region through this pathway. This study highlights that this pathway mainly consists of the import of tropical plants for use in aquaria, and which do not represent a risk due to their climatic requirements. However, a few species require thorough attention owing to the threats they cause. Of the 247 species recorded as imported, only 10 are curr...
Ethane oxidation was studied in ethane-grown resting cells (mycelia) of an Acremonium sp. and in cell-free preparations of such mycelia. From resting cell experiments evidence was found for a pathway...Full Text Available
The Liver Carcinogenesis Section uses the modern technologies of molecular biology, cell biology, protein chemistry and genetics to investigate the biochemical and genetic pathways involved in human liver cancer.
In animal models, single-gene mutations in genes involved in insulin/IGF and target of rapamycin signalling pathways extend lifespan to a considerable extent. The genetic, genomic and epigenetic influences...Full Text Available
The SHARP cannon. Hydrogen is compressed in the tube on top, the gun barrel is on bottom. When Jules Verne wrote in 1865 "From Earth to the Moon" he ...
Turbine Afterword The SHARP cannon. Hydrogen is compressed in the tube on top, the gun barrel is on bottom. When Jules Verne wrote in 1865 "From Earth to the Moon" he envisioned...
Substances cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by a variety of mechanisms. These include transmembrane diffusion, saturable transporters, adsorptive endocytosis, and the extracellular pathways. Here,...Full Text Available
Pathways of salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis and metabolism in tobacco have been recently identified. SA, an endogenous regulator of disease resistance, is a product of phenylpropanoid metabolism formed...Full Text Available
The ability of a number of mycobacteria and some of their components to activate complement was examined. Mycobacterium bovis BCG (Glaxo strain), Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium lepraemurium, and...Full Text Available
Calcium-activated chloride channels (CaCCs) are widely expressed in mammalian tissues, including intestinal epithelia, where they facilitate fluid secretion. Potent, selective CaCC inhibitors have not been available. We established a high-throughput screen for identification of inhibitors of a human intestinal CaCC based on inhibition of ATP/carbachol-stimulated iodide influx in HT-29 cells after lentiviral infection with the yellow fluorescent halide-sensing protein YFP-H148Q/I152L. Screening of 50,000 diverse, drug-like compounds yielded six classes of putative CaCC inhibitors, two of which, 3-acyl-2-aminothiophenes and 5-aryl-2-aminothiazoles, inhibited by >95% iodide influx in HT-29 cells in response to multiple calcium-elevating agonists, including thapsigargin, without inhibition of calcium elevation, calcium-calmodulin kinase II activation, or cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance ...
The mechanism of lead transport is presented, and especially the particular similarities or dissimilarities between lead and calcium in this process. The absorption of these metals was determined cockerels, raised on a commercial diet or on a specified diet, using in vivo ligated loop procedure. The dose administered into the loop contained 0.5 #mu#Ci "2"0"3Pb (and/or 0.1 #mu#Ci "4"7Ca), and 0.01 mM lead acetate (and/or mM CaCl_2) in 0.5 ml 0.15 M NaCl,pH 6.5. It was shown that lead is rapidly taken up by the mucosal tissue, and slowly transferred into the body, whereas less calcium is retained by the tissue and the transfer of calcium is many times as effective as that for lead. They appear to respond in a similar manner to a low calcium intake and vitamin D treatment. Increasing luminal stable lead concentration significantly reduced the percentage of radiolead significantly reduced the percentage of ...
A series of #alpha#-sialon (#alpha#') compositions containing mixed stabilising cations were prepared, by introducing additional CaO to a basic Sm #alpha#-sialon compositions. The thermal stability of these Sm-Ca-containing #alpha#-sialon phases was investigated using XRD, SEM and EDXS techniques. It was found that the addition of calcium into the Sm #alpha#-sialon systems greatly improved the stability of the #alpha#-sialon phases. Calcium was found to be incorporated into the #alpha#-sialon structure, coexistent with the samarium, and partitioning of the calcium and samarium was observed between the #alpha#' phase and grain boundary phases. This indicates a technique which may be used to improve the thermal stability of the #alpha#' phase while maintaining good refractory phases at the sialon grain boundaries.
Endogenous opioid peptides (EOP) are molecules affecting many biological functions influencing productive and reproductive performance. They increase in stress conditions and interact with specific opioidergic receptors (OR): delta, kappa and mu. Several studies in other animal species suggest that they can also affect sperm cell motility. In fish the ionic external environment modulates the increase of intracellular calcium ion that is required to activate sperm motility after spawning. In mammals OR are functionally associated to calcium channels and in fishes calcium is highly required for fish sperm activation. In this study the presence of OR on spermatozoa of two Perciform fish, the sharpsnout seabream (Diplodus puntazzo, family Sparidae) and the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labr...
A study was made on extraction of a series of lithium and calcium salts by monopodands L with common formula R-C_6H_4-O-(CH_2CH_2O)_n-C_6H_4-R, where R - CH_2P(O)Ph_2, n 1-3. Extraction-chromatographic separation of lithium and calcium isotopes in systems of metal aquacomplex-solvatocomplex with L in organic phase was conducted. It was established that separation coefficients of "6Li/"7Li isotopes ranged between 1.003 #+-#0.001 and 1.017 #+-#0.002 at the maximal separation degree equal to 1.60. Separation of "4"0Ca/"4"4Ca isotopes was not fixed. 12 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab.
This is a process for producing calcium sulfate dihydrate during desulfurization of stack gases from power station boilers, where the stack gases are introduced into a washing tower and are treated with a washing water suspension containing lime in the washing tower, where oxygen in the form of air or of air enriched in oxygen is also blown into the washing tower, and where the washing water suspension drawn off from the washing tower is fed back to the washing tower at a temperature of 45 to 50/sup 0/C in the circuit and at least part of the flow goes via a thickener and where calcium sulfate dihydrate slurry is drawn off from the thickener.
The objective of materials research is the development of economical, safe and efficient synthesis routes that lead to the formation of a photocatalyst which is able to overcome performance problems related to particle size, crystallinity, or low surface area. Here, we report high-quality functional nanoparticles of calcium bismuth mixed oxide with 15nm nominal size corresponding to a specific surface area of 41m^2/g which were produced by single-step flame spray synthesis (FSS). The high temperature of the flame afforded creation of oxygen vacancies which were quantified by near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectra. These two parameters, developed active surface area and created in the flame oxygen vacancies, allowed to enhance the photocatalytic activity of calcium bismu...
Mineral carbonation is based on the reaction of carbon dioxide with metal-oxide bearing minerals, usually containing magnesium or calcium silicate, to form hardly soluble carbonates and other solid byproducts. The concept is based on acceleration of the naturally occurring rock weathering process. In the present work the calcium silicate is present in the mineral, wollastonite. To accelerate the process and make it potentially useful for practical applications, mineral carbonation is conducted here using an indirect two-step route in which the reactive component (Ca^2^+ ions in considered case) is first extracted from the mineral matrix and afterwards carbonated. Two solid byproducts are formed in this process: silica in the extraction step and calcium carbonate in the carbonation step. In...
The preparation and luminescence properties of crystal phosphors based on alkali metal iodide and calcium oxide substrates were studied. The highest luminescence intensities were achieved with iodide substrates at 200/sup 0/ and with the calcium oxide substrate at 800/sup 0/. The calibration graphs were linear in the thallium concentration ranges 0.03-5.0 and 0.1-2.0 mu g using sodium and potassium oxides, respectively, and in the range 0.05-5 mu g using cesium iodide and calcium oxide. A method is proposed for the determination of down to 3 x 10/sup -4/% thallium in rocks, using a crystal phosphor with sodium iodide substrate.
To examine the hormonal regulation of the ATP-dependent Ca{sup 2+} pump in the kidneys, the ATP-dependent Ca{sup 2+} uptake by the basolateral membrane vesicles in the renal cortex was measured using radioactive calcium ({sup 45}Ca{sup 2+}) in rats with vitamin D deficiency or rats undergoing thyroparathyroidectomy. The V{sub max} of the Ca{sup 2+} pump activity was increased not only by administering calcitriol, but also by normalizing the serum calcium level in vitamin D-deficient rats. PTH suppressed the Ca{sup 2+} pump activity in normocalcemic vitamin D-deficient rats. Thyroparathyroidectomy did not affect the Ca{sup 2+} pump activity in the kidneys of normal rats. It was concluded that the ATP-dependent Ca{sup 2+} pump activity was depressed by secondary hyperparathyroidism in vitamin D-deficient rats. (author).
To examine the hormonal regulation of the ATP-dependent Ca"2"+ pump in the kidneys, the ATP-dependent Ca"2"+ uptake by the basolateral membrane vesicles in the renal cortex was measured using radioactive calcium ("4"5Ca"2"+) in rats with vitamin D deficiency or rats undergoing thyroparathyroidectomy. The V_m_a_x of the Ca"2"+ pump activity was increased not only by administering calcitriol, but also by normalizing the serum calcium level in vitamin D-deficient rats. PTH suppressed the Ca"2"+ pump activity in normocalcemic vitamin D-deficient rats. Thyroparathyroidectomy did not affect the Ca"2"+ pump activity in the kidneys of normal rats. It was concluded that the ATP-dependent Ca"2"+ pump activity was depressed by secondary hyperparathyroidism in vitamin D-deficient rats. (author).
This paper describes stable strontium as composed of four stable isotopes ( Sr 88, Sr 87, Sr 86, and Sr 84), of which Sr 88 contributes more than 82% to its composition. Strontium exists in three crystalline, plymorphic forms; face-centered cubic alpha form, hexagonal beta form and body-centered cubic gamma form. Strontium occupies in many physicochemical aspects an intermediate position between calcium and barium, as does the solubility of strontium salts. As a result of its oxidation potential, strontium readily forms oxides, halides, and sulfide. The author proposes that the slight discrimination against strontium incorporation into bony tissues may be due to the difference in ionic potential (14%) between strontium and calcium. Ionic potential is an indicator of the strength of ionic bonds: strontium has a smaller ratio of ionic charge to ionic radius when compared with calcium.
Glucose metabolism through glycolysis and hexosamine pathway has been shown to be altered in type 2 diabetes. However, its fate through the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) is currently unclear....Full Text Available
The rates of synthesis of a class of both secreted and intracellular degradative enzymes in Bacillus subtilis are controlled by a signal transduction pathway defined by at least four regulatory genes:...Full Text Available
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) promotes the accumulation of tryptophan-derived indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) in carrot cell cultures during callus proliferation by a biosynthetic pathway that is...Full Text Available
Immune challenge induces behavioral changes including reduced ingestion of palatable food. Multiple pathways likely contribute to this effect, including viscerosensory pathways controlling hypothalamic...Full Text Available
The insulin signaling pathway, involving protein kinase B (PKB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), mediates the biological response to insulin and several growth factors and cytokines. To investigate the correlation between glucose transporter (Glut) biosynthesis and the insulin signaling pathway activated by novel compounds of Liriope platyphylla (LP9M80-H), alterations in Glut and key protein expression in the insulin signaling pathway were analyzed in the liver and brain of ICR mice treated with LP9M80-H. An in vitro assay showed that the highest level of insulin concentration was observed in the LP9M80-H-treated group, followed by the LP-H, LP-M, LP-E, and LP9M80-C-treated groups. Therefore, LP9M80-H was selected for use in studying the detailed mechanism of the insulin signaling pathway in animal systems. In an in vivo experiment, LP9M80-H induced a significant increase in glucose levels ...
A multiple comparison approach using whole genome transcriptional arrays was used to identify genes and pathways involved in calorie restriction/dietary restriction (DR) life span extension in Drosophila....Full Text Available
Six species having characteristics of plants with the C(4) dicarboxylic photosynthetic pathway, Echinochloa utilis L. Ohwi et Yabuno (Japanese millet), Cynodon dactylon L. (Bermuda grass), Kyllinga brevifolia Rottb., Amaranthus tricolor L. cv. Early splendour, Kochia childsii Hort., and Portulaca grandiflora Hook (rose moss), responded decisively to 0.1 milliequivalent per liter NaCl supplied to their culture solutions initially containing less than 0.08 microequivalent per liter Na. Chlorosis and necrosis occurred in leaves of plants not receiving sodium. Portulaca failed to set flower in the sodium-deficient cultures. Under similar conditions Poa pratensis L. (Kentucky blue grass) having characteristics of the C(3) photosynthetic pathway made normal growth and did not respond to the addition of sodium. It is concluded from these results and previously reported work that sodium is generally essential for species having the C(4) ...
Six species having characteristics of plants with the C4 dicarboxylic photosynthetic pathway, Echinochloa utilis L. Ohwi et Yabuno (Japanese millet), Cynodon dactylon L. (Bermuda grass), Kyllinga brevifolia Rottb., Amaranthus tricolor L. cv. Early splendour, Kochia childsii Hort., and Portulaca grandiflora Hook (rose moss), responded decisively to 0.1 milliequivalent per liter NaCl supplied to their culture solutions initially containing less than 0.08 microequivalent per liter Na. Chlorosis and necrosis occurred in leaves of plants not receiving sodium. Portulaca failed to set flower in the sodium-deficient cultures. Under similar conditions Poa pratensis L. (Kentucky blue grass) having characteristics of the C3 photosynthetic pathway made normal growth and did not respond to the addition of sodium. It is concluded from these results and previously reported work that sodium is generally essential for species having the C4 ...
BackgroundChanges in ionic concentration have a fundamental effect on numerous physiological processes. For example, IP3-gated thapsigargin sensitive intracellular calcium...Full Text Available
Transformed Drosophila Kc cell lines, resistant to methotrexate, an inhibitor of de novo purine and pyrimidine synthesis, have been obtained by calcium phosphate transfection of plasmids containing...Full Text Available
SUMMARYIn voltage-gated sodium, potassium, and calcium channels the functions of ion conduction and voltage sensing are performed by two distinct structural units: the pore domain...Full Text Available
The crystallization of calcium sulfate from aqueous solutions with NaCl is both geological and industrial interest because NaCl is the dominant solute in natural brines and many industrial fluids. Induction periods for the nucleation of calcium sulfate dihydrate were experimentally determined as a function of supersaturation in NaCl solutions from 0 to 6 m at 25 C and in 3.0-m NaCl solutions at temperatures from 25 to 90 C. Using classic nucleation theory, the interfacial tension between gypsum and 3.0-m NaCl solution was estimated to be about 39 mJ/m[sup 2] at 25 C and increases with increasing temperature (to 63 mJ/m[sup 2] at 90 C). It was observed that the induction period decreases with increasing NaCl concentrations up to 3 m and then starts to increase slightly at a given temperature and saturation state. The electrolyte effect on nucleation was proportional to the enhanced solubility of calcium sulfate dihydrate in ...
Dominant mutations in sarcomere protein genes cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an inherited human disorder with increased ventricular wall thickness, myocyte hypertrophy, and disarray. To understand...Full Text Available
A method is reported which permits selective suppression of absorption of radioactive strontium from ingested food material, permitting the calcium to be available to the body. Studies were carried...Full Text Available
Secondary caries and restoration fracture remain the two most common problems in restorative dentistry. Release of fluoride ions (F) could be a substantial benefit because F could enrich neighboring...Full Text Available
Vitamin D deficiency is a well-known comorbidity of obesity that can be exacerbated after bariatric surgery and can predispose the patient for hypocalcemia. Vitamin D and calcium doses to prevent and...Full Text Available
The transport of serine into tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. var. Xanthi) cells grown in liquid medium was studied. Serine transport was maximal below pH 4.0. A time-dependent stimulation...Full Text Available
The resistance to destruction of spores of Bacillus subtilis var. niger occluded in crystals of calcium carbonate and exposed to ethylene oxide and moist and dry heat...Full Text Available
The H+-translocating inorganic pyrophosphatase (H+-PPase) associated with vesicles of the vacuolar membrane (tonoplast) isolated from beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is...Full Text Available
Measurements were made of 45Ca influx into isolated internodal cells of Chara corallina and also into internodal cells of intact plants. 45Ca influx was closely...Full Text Available
Feedback controls of estrogen in LHRH-1 neurons play a pivotal role in reproductive function. However, the mechanism of estrogen action in LHRH-1 neurons is still unclear. In the present study, the...Full Text Available
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis was used for the determination of iron, calcium, potassium, copper, manganese and zinc in waste water from the production process of citric acid.
Radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis was used for the determination of iron, calcium, potassium, copper, manganese and zinc in waste water from the production process of citric acid. (author).
In the framework of the feasibility study of radioactive waste disposal in deep geologic formations, a clay formation (named 'argilite de l'Est') has been selected in the Meuse-Haute Marne region (France) for the construction of an underground laboratory. The percolation of alkaline solutions through the argilite has been studied using column experiments with short residence times (30 min). These experiments simulate the leaching of a cement which could be used in the building materials of the laboratory. The alkaline solutions used are mono-cationic solutions of calcium, sodium and strontium. The behaviour of calcium is differentiated from the other cations. For all alkaline solutions (NaOH, Ca(OH){sub 2} or Sr(OH){sub 2}) chemical reactions consuming both hydroxide ions and their associated cations have been evidenced. These reactions are heterogenous reactions of surface adsorption by site ionization. The ...
A process is given for the removal of sulfur oxides from exhaust gases by absorbing with a slurry of red mud containing calcium ion which comprises the steps of: (1) contacting an exhaust gas containing sulfur oxides of not higher than about 100/sup 0/ C with a slurry of red mud containing calcium ion led from the next step (2) to take up sulfur oxides in the gas until ph of the slurry becomes in the range of 4.3 to less than 6 while maintaining the molar fraction of SO/sub 4/-- to total SO/sub 2/ in the slurry within the said pH range at 0.05 to 0.7; and then, (2) contacting the treated gas with a fresh slurry of red mud containing calcium ion to further take up sulfur oxides in the gas while maintaining the concentration of NaHSO/sub 3/ in the slurry at not more than about 8 g/l.
Edema factor (EF) and CyaA are calmodulin (CaM)-activated adenylyl cyclase exotoxins involved in the pathogenesis of anthrax and whooping cough, respectively. Using spectroscopic, enzyme kinetic and...Full Text Available
Some laboratory experiments have suggested that power-frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMF) may be capable of influencing calcium efflux from cell membranes, pineal function, and circadian rhythms....Full Text Available
Segments of the chick basilar papilla were isolated and maintained in culture medium. The sensory hair bundle of individual hair cells was observed with light microscopy and stimulated with a water...Full Text Available
Epifluorescence images of Ca2+ transients elicited by electrical stimulation of single skeletal muscle fibers were studied with fast imaging techniques that take advantage of the large fluorescence...Full Text Available
The proprotein convertases (PCs) are calcium-dependent proteases responsible for processing precursor proteins into their active forms in eukariotes. The PC1/3 is a pivotal enzyme of this family that...Full Text Available
Taiheiyo coal deashed using acid treatment and loaded with potassium or calcium was hydro-cracked under gaseous phase to discuss effects of these metals on liquefaction reaction. In addition, the loaded coal was added with red mud catalyst to examine effects of the addition. The loaded potassium has a softening power, and particularly the potassium adsorbed into surface and micropores in the coal decomposes selectively HI-BS and BI-PS and generates gas and HS. On the other hand, potassium deposited on coal surface promotes direct gas production from the coal. Irrespective of its loading modes, calcium has a catalytic nature to produce HI-BS selectively. Calcium also acts to impede decomposition of HI-BS into HS. Adding red mud catalyst to potassium loaded coal increases the inversion rate and the liquefaction yield, and most of the increase is accounted for by HI -BS, and BI-PS. When red mud catalyst is added to ...
INTRODUCTION:Gynura procumbens has been shown to decrease blood pressure via inhibition of the angiotensin‐converting enzyme. However, other mechanisms that...Full Text Available
The amount of phosphorus contained in food as food additives is currently increasing and a high intake of phosphorus can cause various diseases. To determine the effects of a prolonged high phosphorus...Full Text Available
The objective of this experiment was to determine the effect of dietary grain on calcium homeostasis. Six rumen-fistulated dairy cows with 3 or more previous lactations and no history of parturient...Full Text Available
Human Factor VIII/von Willebrand factor, purified by calcium citrate-cellulose chromatography and 4% agarose gel filtration was subjected to sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis on gels containing...Full Text Available
A novel therapeutic compound was found to induce bladder tumors in male rats. Given the location of the tumors and the increased amounts of calcium- and magnesium-containing solids found in the urine...Full Text Available
Plants respond to a large variety of environmental signals, including changes in the gravity vector (gravistimulation). In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings, gravistimulation...Full Text Available
Citrate is an important naturally occurring inhibitor of calcium stone formation in urine. Urinary citrate excretion was examined in 43 consecutive patients with recurrent idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis and in 50 normal controls by a specific enzymatic technique. Hypocitraturia (<1.6 mmol/24h) was found in 14 (33%) stone formers compared to 6 (12%) normal controls (p = 0.03). Citrate excretion expressed as citrate-creatinine ratio in 24 hour urine samples was significantly lower in the stone formers than in the healthy controls (p = 0.03), and significantly lower in healthy men, compared to healthy females (p = 0.006). There was a great variability in urinary citrate levels in both groups, and a considerable overlap in the urinary citrate excretion between normal subjects and stone formers. Factors other than urinary citrate excretion must therefore be of importance in the pathophysiology of calcium stone formation. ...
Laboratory testing at Combustion Engineering has indicated promise in controlling simulated steam generator tube denting through chemical neutralization. Testing was limited to on-line treatment, and two neutralizers have been evaluated: calcium hydroxide and boric acid. On-line treatment with calcium hydroxide successfully halted active denting whenever the bulk calcium concentration (in ppm) equaled or exceeded the bulk chloride concentration (in ppm). Calcium hydroxide also was effective as an alternative to ammonia as a pH controlling agent in two tests conducted without ingress of chloride. On-line treatment with boric acid consisted of a four-day soak at simulated low (approximately 30 percent) power with 50 ppm B followed by one month full-power operation with 10 ppm B. This treatment also halted denting. Nondestructive and destructive examination of test boilers gave no indication of adverse ...
PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate 3.5 years-cumulative survival rate of implants placed on augmented sinus using Osteon, a bone graft material, and to assess the height...Full Text Available
Benzodiazepine withdrawal anxiety is associated with potentiation of α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate receptor (AMPAR) currents in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal...Full Text Available
1. Digital imaging and photometry were used in conjunction with the fluorescent Ca2+ indicator, Fura-2, to examine intracellular Ca2+ signals produced by depolarization of single adrenal chromaffin...Full Text Available
Stomatal movements depend on both ion influx and efflux; attainment of steady state apertures reflects modulation of either or both processes. The role of Ca2+ in those two processes was...Full Text Available
E-cadherins belong to a family of membrane-bound, cellular adhesion proteins. Their adhesive properties mainly involve the two N-terminal extracellular domains (EC1 and EC2). The junctions between these...Full Text Available
Amyloid proteins constitute a chemically heterogeneous group of proteins, which share some biophysical and biological characteristics, the principal of which are the high propensity to acquire an incorrect...Full Text Available
Calcium ions represent universal second messengers within neuronal cells integrating multiple cellular functions, such as release of neurotransmitters, gene expression, proliferation, excitability,...Full Text Available
Realization of Pharmacological Tests, Development of the Specifications and Technical Documentation and Registration in the Russian Federation of Medical Products as Soluble Tablets of Acetylsalicylic Acid/Calcium Carbonate in Two Dosages Intended for use as Medical Products Smoothing, Febrifugal and Antiaggregation Action and Development of Technology of Tableting the Above-Stated Preparations
Although previous intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) radiofrequency-based analysis data showed acceptable reproducibility for plaque composition, measurements are not easily obtained, particularly that...Full Text Available
The aim of the present study was to test a mathematical model of the biochemical processes in the parathyroid glands responsible for the secretion of parathyroid hormone resulting from extracellular calcium reduction. A double exponential curve described the parathyroid hormone secretion induced by rapid lowering of blood-ionized calcium in humans with normal as well as abnormal parathyroid tissue. Our data show that it was possible to establish a simple mathematical model of the parathyroid hormone response to blood-ionized calcium lowering, sufficient to fit experimental data obtained from patients with abnormal and normal parathyroid tissue. The fitted parameters showed no significant differences between patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and controls. In primary hyperparathyroidism, the parathyroid hormone production and steady-state transport across the cell membrane were increased, probably due to the ...
Corticostriatal synapse plasticity of medium spiny neurons is regulated by glutamate input from the cortex and dopamine input from the substantia nigra. While cortical stimulation alone results in long-term...Full Text Available
isotherme, dans un courant d'azote ou sous vide entretenu. I t. Comptes Rendus Scientific Academy, Paris, Vol. 265 pyrolyse du carbonate de calcium, ...
During secondary oil recovery, water is injected into the formation to sweep out the residual oil. The injected water, however, follows the path of least resistance through the high-permeability zones, leaving oil in the low-permeability zones. Selective plugging of these their zones would divert the waterflood to the residual oil and thus increase the life of the well. Bacteria have been suggested as an alternative plugging agent to the current method of polymer injection. Starved bacteria can penetrate deeply into rock formations where they attach to the rock surfaces, and given the right nutrients can grow and produce exo-polymer, reducing the permeability of these zones. The application of microbial enhanced oil recovery has only been applied to shallow, cool, onshore fields to date. This study has focused on the ability of bacteria to enhance oil recovery offshore in the North Sea, where the environment can be ...
This research is to provide improved strategies for enhanced oil recovery from the Tensleep Sandstone oil reservoirs in the Bighorn and Wind River basins, Wyoming. Because of the great range of API gravities of the oils produced from these reservoirs, the proposed study concentrates on understanding the spatial variation and anisotropy of relative permeability within the Tensleep Sandstone. This research will associate those spatial distributions and anisotropies with the depositional subfacies and zones of diagenetic alteration found within the sandstone. The associations of the above with pore geometry will link relative permeability with the dimensions of lithofacies and authigenic mineral facies. Hence, the study is to provide criteria for scaling this parameter on a range of scales, from the laboratory to the basin-wide scale of subfacies distribution. Effects of depositional processes and burial diagenesis will be investigated. Image ...
Significant progress has been achieved recently in the growth of Yttrium Calcium Oxyborate (YCOB) crystals. Boules have been grown capable of producing large aperture nonlinear crystal plates suitable for high average power frequency conversion or optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA). With a large aperture (5.5 cm x 8.5 cm) YCOB crystal we have demonstrated a record 227 W of 523.5nm light (22.7 J/pulse, 10 Hz, 14 ns). We have also demonstrated the applicability of YCOB for 1053 nm OPCPA.
The parathyroid endocrine glands, usually four in number and about the size of a split pea, lie on either side of the posterior aspect of the thyroid gland. Occasionally one or more of these structures are found in an aberrant position in the neck or even in the superior mediastinum. The parathyroid secretion, parathormone, regulates the level of serum calcium within sharply defined limits. Lack of parathormone, with lowering of the serum calcium, results in hyper-irritability of skeletal muscle, the clinical condition known as tetany. This is encountered following inadvertent removal or bruising of the parathyroid glands at thyroidectomy. PMID:21488463
Multi-cation #alpha#-Sialon ceramics were prepared using mixtures of samarium with calcium, magnesium, yttrium and ytterbium, and compared with a pure Sm-Sialon of equivalent total stabilising cation composition. A ratio of 80eq% samarium to 20eq% of the second stabilising additive was used. Samples were fired at 1820 deg C and subsequently heat treated at 1450 deg C. XRD phase analysis showed that all additives resulted in greater #alpha#-Sialon stability, and that calcium was the most effective additive for the stabilisation of the #alpha#-Sialon phase. Copyright (1998) Australasian Ceramic Society
Air pollution constraints continue to intensify, resulting in solid waste volume increases. An example of this is coal burning power plant flue gas desulfurization by scrubbing. The aqueous suspensions of calcium sulfate hemihydrate or calcium sulfate dihydrate will exceed 200 million tons annually by the year 2000. Disposal of these wastes can have massive environmental effects, due to physical instability and leaching to groundwater. One alternate disposal technique is sulfopozzolanic fixation, converting the FGD waste by addition of fine coal ash and an alkaline earth additive, into a monolithic mass. 6 refs., 17 figs., 3 tabs.
A new coumarin-based sensor molecule (L1) has been synthesized and this was found to bind calcium and magnesium ions more effectively as compared to other alkali/alkaline earth/lanthanide and certain transition metal ions. A significant enhancement in fluorescence intensity was observed on binding to Ca2+ and Mg2+ ions; while a minor quenching was observed for weakly bound Hg2+, Ni2+, Fe3+, and Co2+ ions. PET process, coupled with the ICT process, is proposed to explain the observed spectral response.
Calcium sulfate dihydrate in large crystal form is produced by maintaining the circulation of the lime containing scrubbing solution in the desulfurization scrubbing of flue gases from a power plant boiler so that it has a residence time of 5 to 25 hours, preferably 15 hours. The crystals are moved by passing a portion of the recirculation through a thinner in which a sludge containing crystals with a mean particle size of which 90% is in excess of 100 microns is removed. This product can be dewatered and treated with sulfuric acid and steam to convert it to the alpha semihydrate and is free from sulfite.
The influence of microalloying vanadium or titanium on improving the corrosion resistance of mild steel in saturated calcium hydroxide solution was investigated. Potential-time, potentiodynamic polarization, and impedance measurement techniques were employed. The corrosion products have been examined by infrared and X-ray diffraction analysis and by scanning electron microscopy. It has been shown that the grain refining, due to microalloying, plays an important role in enhancing the corrosion resistance of steel. Scales of calcite and iron oxides on top of a protective oxide are formed on the investigated steels.
A heat storage compostion comprises sodium sulfate decahydrate as main component, a supercooling inhibitor, and a solid-liquid separation inhibitor. The composition is characterized in that hydraulic calcium sulfate and/or calcium sulfate dihydrate is contained as the solid-liquid separation inhibitor in an amount of 2-15 wt% base on the whole weight of the composition, whereby the solid-liquid separation, i.e. the sedimentation of the anhydrous sodium sulfate during the phase transition, is effectively prevented and the long-term stability is improved. The long-term stabilty of the composition can be more improved by addition of a silcia series of thickener.
This paper describes an exact solution to the problem of absorbing nitrogen dioxide into aqueous solution, in which case the nitrogen dioxide concentration is allowed to vary over a wide range. The authors have worked on the rate of calcium sulfate dihydrate scale formation on the reverse osmosis membrane and find this phenomena can be treated by the crystallization theory. The authors performed long-term experiments using calcium sulfate dihydrate solution with addition of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) and commercially available organophosphates and investigated the mechanism of the inhibitor's action quantitatively.
Six illitized samples from drillhole OL-KR12 in Olkiluoto were analyzed by helium gas methods for their diffusion coefficient, permeability and porosity. The diffusion coefficients measured varied in the range 2.1 x 10-10 - 3.5 x 10-8 m2/s, permeabilities in the range 6 x 10-21 - 5.8 x 10-16 m2, and porosities in the range 0.2 6.2%. Variations observed in these quantities were concluded to arise from the heterogeneous structure of the sample rock. A 4 mm x 4 mm x 4 mm subsample was sawed from each of the six samples for structural analysis by x-ray microtomography. The three-dimensional structure of tomographic reconstructions, and thereby that of the samples themselves, was analyzed visually, which confirmed their heterogeneity. Samples represent altered rock whose structure and thereby transport properties vary significantly depending on the local alteration history of the rock. (orig.)
The results of the laboratory studies performed by CIEMAT with the FEBEX bentonite in the context of WP3.2 of the NF-PRO Project and of the Agreement ENRESA-CIEMAT Anexo V are presented and analysed in this report. They refer to the effect of the hydraulic gradient on the permeability of bentonite, the effect of the thermal gradient on the hydration kinetics of bentonite, and the repercussion of temperature on the hydro-mechanical properties of bentonite (swelling, permeability and water retention capacity). In all the cases the bentonite has been used compacted to densities expected in the engineered barrier of a high-level radioactive waste repository. The existence of threshold and critical hydraulic gradients has been observed, both of them dependent on bentonite density and water pressures. After more than seven years of hydration, the 40-cm high bentonite columns are far from full saturation, the thermal gradient additionally delaying the ...
The results of the laboratory studies performed by CIEMAT with the FEBEX bentonite in the context of WP3.2 of the NF-PRO Project and of the Agreement ENRESA-CIEMAT Anexo V are presented and analysed in this report. They refer to the effect of the hydraulic gradient on the permeability of bentonite, the effect of the thermal gradient on the hydration kinetics of bentonite, and the repercussion of temperature on the hydro-mechanical properties of bentonite (swelling, permeability and water retention capacity). In all the cases the bentonite has been used compacted to densities expected in the engineered barrier of a high-level radioactive waste repository. The existence of threshold and critical hydraulic gradients has been observed, both of them dependent on bentonite density and water pressures. After more than seven years of hydration, the 40-cm high bentonite columns are far from full saturation, the thermal gradient additionally delaying the ...
A permeable reactive mixture has been developed using low cost, readily available materials that is capable of providing effective, long-term phosphorous treatment in areas impacted by on-land wastewater disposal. The reactive mixture creates a geochemical environment suitable for P-attenuation by both adsorption and precipitation reactions. Potential benefits include significant reductions in phosphorous loading to receiving groundwater and surface water systems, and the accumulation of P-mass in a finite and accessible volume of material. The mixture may be applied as a component within surface treatment systems or in subsurface applications such as horizontal or vertical permeable reactive walls. The mixture averaged > 90% treatment efficiency over 3.6 years of continuous-flow laboratory column experiments. The mixture was further evaluated at the pilot-scale to treat municipal wastewater, and the field-scale to treat a well-characterized ...
In drug development, Caco-2 cells are often employed to study the influence of membrane transporters on drug permeability. The aim of the current study was to characterize permeability and kinetic parameters of selected organic anionic compounds in Caco-2 cells, and to investigate whether the Caco-2 cell line may be used as an overall model to predict interactions on multiple membrane transporters in the intestine. Taurocholic acid (TCA) and estrone-3-sulfate (E(1) S) were used as model substrates. Possible inhibitors studied were TCA, E(1) S, taurolithocholic acid, fluvastatin, and glipizide. The effects of these compounds on initial uptake, apparent permeability, and intracellular end-point accumulations of the probe substrates were studied. Both interactions on apical and basolateral influx transporters were observed. These interactions were proposed to be mediated mainly by the apical sodium-dependent bile acid ...
M-type hexagonal ferrite composition, Ba(1-x)SrxFe12O19 (x=0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0), was prepared by a two route ceramic method. Complex permittivity (?'-j?'') and complex permeability (?'-j?'') have been measured using a network analyzer from 8.2 to 12.4 GHz X-ray diffraction confirmed the M-type hexagonal structure and a scanned electron micrograph was used to analyze the grain size distribution of ferrite. Substitution of Sr2+ ions causes an increase in porosity that deteriorates the electromagnetic and microstructural properties in the doped samples. Both dielectric constant and dielectric loss are enhanced in comparison to the permeability and magnetic loss over the entire frequency region. This is due to a resistivity variation and the formation of Fe2+ ions, which increases the hopping mechanism between Fe2+ and Fe3+ ions.
Mineral deposition or alteration is commonly found at fracture-block interfaces is fissured, geothermal reservoirs. In response to pressure reduction in the fissures such mineralization, if less permeable than the matrix rock, will retard the flow of fluid from the blocks to the fissures and is termed fracture skin in this paper. The problem of fluid flow to a production well in a double-porosity reservoir with fracture skin was analyzed theoretically. One of the findings of the analysis was that fully transient block-to-fissure flow can be approximated by pseudo-steady state flow if fracture skin permeability is sufficiently low. Type curves generated by numerical inversion of Laplace transform solutions are used to cooroborate the results of a finite-difference model of steam transport to a well in a naturally fissured, geothermal reservoir with fracture skin.
A study was made of the uncoupling action of polychlorinated biphenyls (Kanechlor-400) on oxidative phosphorylation in rat liver mitochondria. Kanechlor-400 (KC-400) at 20 ..mu..g/ml stimulated state 4 respiration of rat liver mitochondria more than 4-fold with ..cap alpha..-ketoglutarate/malate as a substrate, and released the oligomycin-inhibited state 3 respiration. KC-400 also dissipated the membrane potential across the mitochondrial membranes; thus, it acts as an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation in rat liver mitochondria. KC-400 altered the permeability properties of mitochondrial membranes as evidenced by the release of endogenous K/sup +/ and the oxidation of exogenously supplied NADH. It is concluded that KC-400 produces a nonspecific increase in mitochondrial ion permeability, thereby dissipating membrane potential, which leads to the uncoupling.
A novel thin-film composite polyamide nanofiltration membrane was prepared through interfacial polymerization of polymeric polyamine polyvinylamine (PVAm) with isophthaloyl chloride (IPC) on a polysulfone supporting film. The composite membranes were prepared under different conditions and characterized in terms of chemical and morphological structures, surface zeta potential, pure water permeability, and rejection to different solutes including electrolytes and sucrose. The results showed that the membrane performance was significantly affected by the content of amine units of PVAm and the concentrations of PVAm and IPC. The increase of the content of amine units of PVAm and the concentration of IPC resulted in an augment in salt rejection and a decrease in permeability, while the increas...
Abstract A series of polypropylene carbonate (PPC)/ZnO nanocomposite films with different ZnO contents were prepared via a solution blending method. The morphological structures, thermal properties, oxygen permeability, water sorption, and antibacterial properties of the films were investigated as a function of ZnO concentration. While all of the composite films with less than 5 wt % ZnO exhibited good dispersion of ZnO in the PPC matrix, FTIR and SEM results revealed that solution blending did not lead to a strong interaction between PPC and unmodified ZnO. As such, poor dispersion was induced in the composite films with a high ZnO content. By incorporating inorganic ZnO filler nanoparticles, the diffusion coefficient, water uptake in equilibrium, and oxygen permeability decreased as the ...
Research was performed to assess the feasibility of barrier membrane substances, for use within mining or associated high risk environments, in restricting the diffusion transport of radon gas quantities. Specific tests were conducted to determine permeability parameters of a variety of membrane materials with reference to radon flow capabilities. Tests were conducted both within laboratory and in-situ emanation environments where concentrations and diffusion flows of radon gas were known to exist. Equilibrium radon gas concentrations were monitored in initially radon-free chambers adjacent to gas sources, but separated by specified membrane substances. Membrane barrier effectiveness was demonstrated to result in reduced emanation concentrations of radon gas within the sampling chamber atmosphere. Minimum gas concentrations were evidenced where the barrier membrane material was shown to exhibit lowest radon permeability characteristics.
Traditional methane drainage methods, including conventional ventilation and boreholes drilled in the coal seam, are widely used in modern coal mining operation in China. However, it is often noted that the gas drainage presents low efficiency in most coal mines due to low permeability of the coal seam, which not only affects the safety, but also the productivity of the coal mine. This paper describes the development and application of the waterjet cutting system, which is used to create artificial fractures and increase the permeability of coal seam for the improvement of methane drainage in underground coal mines in China. According to underground monitoring, a significant improvement of methane drainage efficiency of up to 3 to 6 times over the traditional methods has been achieved. (author)
This report summarizes the results of a research programme which involves the development of a laboratory experimental facility for the simulation and study of hydro-thermo-mechanical processes in saturated geomaterials with low permeability. The experimentation involves a synthetic cement based porous material made of cement grout which possesses permeabilities in the range of dense unfractured sandstones or shale. Specially manufactured pore-pressure transducers were installed within the cylindrical block at locations adjacent to a plane free boundary. The block was saturated with the periodic application of a vacuum. In its saturated state the plane boundary of the block was subjected to heating via a circular heater the temperature of which was maintained constant. The resulting pore pressure generation along with temperature at these locations was monitored continuously. The results of a series of experiments are documented and further ...
Experiments have been performed to study the usefulness of several types of plastic foils as filter to separate radon and thoron. Time-integrated alpha-activity measurements have been carried out by using the so-called ''can-technique'' equipped with both LR-115 and CR-39 track detectors. The track density observed on the detectors, taken as a measure of radon activity concentration, has been determined as a function of the thickness of filter foils. The radon permeability and the thoron separation factors have been determined. It is shown that various plastic foils exhibit considerable differences in radon diffusion coefficient owing to their different chemical structures. Among the plastic foils investigated the polyethylene proved to have the highest gas diffusion coefficient.
This project seeks to produce sufficient information on the physical and chemical nature of Coolside waste to design and construct physically stable and environmentally safe landfills. Unconfined compressive strength and permeability tests are reported on samples remolded near 90, 95, and 100% of low energy, standard, and modified dry densities. Unconfined compressive strength tests were also performed on some of the samples after permeability tests were completed. Swell tests were initiated on samples from Coolside pilot plant run {number_sign}2 and on a FBC hydrated ash remolded near 95% of standard density and optimum moisture content.
Summary Analyses of event runoff coefficients provide essential insight on catchment response, particularly if a range of catchments and a range of events are compared by a single indicator. In this study we examine the effect of climate, geology, land use, flood types and initial soil moisture conditions on the distribution functions of the event runoff coefficients for a set of 14 mountainous catchments located in the eastern Italian Alps, ranging in size from 7.3 to 608.4km2. Runoff coefficients were computed from hourly precipitation, runoff data and estimates of snowmelt. A total of 535 events were analysed over the period 1989-2004. We classified each basin using a "permeability index" which was inferred from a geologic map and ranged from "low" to "high permeability". A continuous s...
Within the framework of the cluster approach and the semiempirical SCF MO LCAO method in the CNDO/BW valence approximation, possible pathways have been compared for the dehydroxylation of aluminosilicate systems. It has been shown that dehydroxylation as a result of splitting of a water molecule from an acidic bridge hydroxyl group and a more basic terminal group Al-OH is the most energyfavorable. Apparently, such a dehydroxylation pathway is primarily characteristic for amorphous aluminosilicates. Typical of crystalline aluminosilicates at moderate heat-treating temperature is dehydroxylation through splitting of a water molecule from an acidic bridge hydroxyl group and a neutral Si-OH group; at higher temperatures, there is a possible pathway of dehydroxylation of highsilica zeolites as a result of condensation of two acidic surface hydroxyls.
Purpose - The article discusses how care programmes and integrated care pathways can be linked, finding ways to improve healthcare process professional and logistical quality from a supply chain and a network point-of-view. Design/methodology/approach - The authors argue that owing to cost containment goals and increasing healthcare demand, healthcare services systems are challenged to improve service quality, whilst at the same time finding ways to improve delivery processes. It explores if the combination of two instruments, care programmes and integrated care pathways, can meet both goals. This combination is illustrated by an example from the Institute of Mental Health Care Eindhoven en de Kempen. Findings - Analysis suggests that care programmes can be combined with integrated care pa...
The cyclic voltammetry indicated that the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) proceeded by the four-electron pathway mechanism on larger Ag particles (174 nm), and that the ORR proceeded by the four-electron pathway and the two-electron pathway mechanisms on finer Ag particles (4.1 nm), simultaneously. The kinetics towards ORR was measured at a rotating disk electrode (RDE) with Ag/C electrode. The number of exchanged electrons for the ORR was found to be close to four on larger Ag particles (174 nm) and close to three on finer Ag particles (4.1 nm). The zinc-air battery with Ag/C catalysts (25.9 nm) was fabricated and examined. (author)
Growing evidence suggests the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins and their associated signaling pathways, linked to development, are recapitulated during wound repair and regeneration events. However,...Full Text Available
The central nervous system regulates peripheral immune responses via the vagus nerve, the primary neural component of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Electrical stimulation of the...Full Text Available
Forward and reverse genetic experiments have both played important roles in revealing critical aspects of mammalian signal transduction pathways in cell culture experiments. Only recently have we begun...Full Text Available
Subcellular-fractionation techniques were used to characterize the endocytic pathway followed by ricin in rat liver in vivo and tentatively identify the site(s) at which the ricin interchain disulphide...Full Text Available
The lesion bypass pathway, which is regulated by monoubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), is essential for resolving replication stalling due to DNA lesions. This process is...Full Text Available
While it has been established that microRNAs (miRNAs) play key roles throughout development and are dysregulated in many human pathologies, the specific processes and pathways regulated by individual...Full Text Available
Temperature sensing is crucial for homeotherms, including human beings, to maintain a stable body core temperature and respond to the ambient environment. A group of exquisitely temperature-sensitive...Full Text Available
Purpose of ReviewThe vertebrate cap’n’collar family transcription factor Nrf2 and its invertebrate homologs SKN-1 (in worms) and CncC (in flies) function...Full Text Available
FRAXA is one of a number of fragile sites in human chromosomes that are induced by agents like fluorodeoxyuridine (FdU) that affect intracellular thymidylate levels. FRAXA coincides with a >200...Full Text Available
p53 is one of the most mutated tumor suppressors in human cancers and as such has been intensively studied for a long time. p53 is a major orchestrator of the cellular response to a broad array...Full Text Available
SummaryIn vivo tumor cell migration through integrin-dependent pathways is key to the metastatic behavior of malignant cells. Using quantitative in vivo...Full Text Available
The target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway regulates cell growth and aging in various organisms. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, silent information regulator 2 (Sir2) modulates cellular senescence. Moreover,...Full Text Available
BackgroundThermogenic brown adipose tissue has never been described in birds or other non-mammalian vertebrates. Brown adipocytes in mammals are distinguished from the more common...Full Text Available
The canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays a pivotal role in regulating embryogenesis and tumorigenesis by promoting cell proliferation. BAMBI (BMP and activin membrane-bound inhibitor) has...Full Text Available
In honor of the 50th anniversary of the “organizational hypothesis,” this paper reviews work on sexual differentiation of the spinal cord and peripheral nervous system....Full Text Available
The p53 tumour suppressor plays a pivotal role in the prevention of oncogenic transformation. Cancers frequently evade the potent antitumour surveillance mechanisms of p53 through mutation of the TP53...Full Text Available
Syndrome X is a combination or co-occurrence of several known cardiovascular risk factors (including central obesity, dyslipidemias, fatty liver disease, hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance,...Full Text Available
Dal82p binds to the UISALL sites of allophanate-induced genes of the allantoin-degradative pathway and functions synergistically with the GATA family Gln3p and Gat1p transcriptional...Full Text Available
Understanding the mechanisms whereby information encoded within patterns of action potentials is deciphered by neurons is central to cognitive psychology. The multiprotein complexes formed by...Full Text Available
Cysticercosis is an infection with larval cysts of the cestode Taenia solium. Through pathways that are incompletely understood, dying parasites initiate a granulomatous reaction that,...Full Text Available
Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is the developmental restructuring of somatic cells towards the embryogenic pathway and forms the basis of cellular totipotency in angiosperms. With the availability of full-length...Full Text Available
Photosynthetic (Ps) electron transport pathways often contain multiple electron carriers with overlapping functions. Here we focus on two c-type cytochromes (cyt) in facultative phototrophic...Full Text Available
French scientists think they have discovered one of the key steps in the methanol-to-gasoline reaction pathway and their British counterparts have learned a new way of converting methanol into acetic acid without carbon monoxide.
The prevalence of obesity among children, adolescents and adults has been dramatically increasing worldwide during the last several decades. The obesity epidemic has been recognized as one of...Full Text Available
The ubiquitin–proteasome pathway is the principal system for extralysosomal protein degradation in eukaryotic cells, and is essential for the regulation and maintenance of basic cellular processes,...Full Text Available
SUMMARYSmall bowel epithelium is at the frontline of intestinal barrier function. Restitution is considered to be the major determinant of epithelial repair as function recovers...Full Text Available
Rapamycin inhibits the mTOR (target of rapamycin) pathway and extends lifespan in multiple species. The tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) protein is a negative regulator of mTOR. In humans, loss of the...Full Text Available
Previous studies in several different trigeminal nerve injury/inflammation models indicated that the hyperexcitability of primary afferent neurons contributes to the pain pathway underlying mechanical...Full Text Available
Human longevity is in part genetically determined, and the insulin/IGF-1 signal transduction (IIS) pathway has consistently been implicated. In humans, type 2 diabetes is a frequent disease that results...Full Text Available
... Weiss, S., D. Kobiler, H. Levy, H. Marcus, A. Pass, N. Rothschild, and Z ... of Bacillus anthracis spores conferred by a protective antigen-based vaccine in rabbits ...
Three homeologous genes encoding a sucrose (Suc) transporter (SUT) in hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum), TaSUT1A, 1B, and 1D, were...Full Text Available
BackgroundIn Saccharomyces cerevisiae galactose is initially metabolized through the Leloir pathway after which glucose 6-phosphate enters glycolysis. Galactose...Full Text Available
While specific signalling cascades involved in aging, such as the insulin/IGF-1 pathway, are well-described, the actual metabolic changes they elicit to prolong lifespan remain obscure. Nevertheless,...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE—Identification of arterial genes and pathways altered in obesity and diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—Aortic gene expression profiles of...Full Text Available
considers a wide range of pathways to advance the nation's current capabilities. The present ... opment of new energy sources, aging infrastruc- ture and ... and manufacturing TA strategic roadmap as brief- ..... pellant storage and transport. ...
...this pathway study the following two focus modules (in addition to the six core modules) and carry out a research investigation within this theme: Agricultural Production Systems Considers the type of farming systems that have evolved globally in relation to the prevailing agro-climatic zones, the influences of economic factors ...
Microorganisms in the environment can often adapt to use xenobiotic chemicals as novel growth and energy substrates. Specialized enzyme systems and metabolic pathways for the degradation of man-made...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe zebrafish is recognized as a versatile cancer and drug screening model. However, it is not known whether the estrogen-responsive genes and signaling pathways that are...Full Text Available
BackgroundIsopentenyl diphosphate (IPP), a common biosynthetic precursor to the labdane diterpene forskolin, has been biosynthesised via a non-mevalonate pathway. Geranylgeranyl...Full Text Available
As part of the study of cytokinin metabolic pathways, an enzyme, adenosine phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.-), which catalyzed the ribosylation of N6-(Δ2-isopentenyl)adenine,...Full Text Available
Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers, and its incidence is increasing. These tumors derive from the melanocyte lineage and remain incurable after metastasis. Here we report that SONIC HEDGEHOG...Full Text Available
Spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), a form of Hebbian plasticity, is inherently stabilizing. Whether and how GABAergic inhibition influences STDP is not well understood. Using a model neuron driven...Full Text Available
The identification of predictive biomarkers is at the core of modern toxicology. So far, a number of approaches have been proposed. These rely on statistical inference of toxicity response from either...Full Text Available
Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) expansion is regulated by intrinsic signaling pathways activated by cytokines. The intracellular kinase JAK2 plays an essential role in cytokine signaling,...Full Text Available
Blindness leads to a major reorganization of neural pathways associated with touch. Because incoming somatosensory information influences motor output, it is plausible that motor plasticity occurs in...Full Text Available
Dysregulation of the alternative pathway of complement activation, caused by mutations or polymorphisms in the genes encoding factor H, membrane co-factor protein, factor I or factor B, is associated...Full Text Available
BackgroundSerine proteinase inhibitors (Serpins) are a large superfamily of structurally related, but functionally diverse proteins that control essential proteolytic pathways in...Full Text Available
Summary.? It is widely believed that hepatocellular cancer (HCC), especially HBV associated HCC, is highly resistant to chemotherapy. To investigate the molecular influence of HBx protein on multidrug resistance (MDR) in HCC and the potential role of the NF-?B pathway in this process. We established HBx-expressing cells by liposome-mediated transfection of the HBx into the HepG2 cell line. We found that HBx expression in HCC cells induces drug resistance against multiple drugs, a significantly lower apoptosis ratio in HepG2-HBx and HepG2.2.15 cells, compared with HepG2 and HepG2-3.1 cells (P?HCC cells were downregulated by IMD-0354 treatment, which is the NF-?B pathway inhibitor. Taken together, these results suggest that HBx protein might be one of the causes for the occurrence of MDR in HCC, and the NF-?B pathway might be involved in this change. PMID:21914061
All molybdenum enzymes except nitrogenase contain a common molybdenum cofactor, whose organic moiety is a novel pterin called molybdopterin (MPT). To assist in elucidating the biosynthetic pathway of...Full Text Available
Salicylic acid (SA) is an important component of systemic-acquired resistance in plants. It is synthesized from benzoic acid (BA) as part of the phenylpropanoid pathway. Benzaldehyde (BD), a potential...Full Text Available
To define the import pathway for apoiso-1-cytochrome c in vivo, the coding region for bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) or yeast copper metallothionein (CuMT) was fused to the carboxy...Full Text Available
The intramembrane aspartyl protease γ-secretase plays a fundamental role in several signaling pathways involved in cellular differentiation and has been linked with a variety of human diseases,...Full Text Available
During a study on the mTor pathway in the rat kidney we observed a striking increase of the phosphorylation of the S6 kinase in mitosis. In cryostat sections of perfusion-fixed tissue mitotic cells...Full Text Available
Auxin modulates diverse plant developmental pathways through direct transcriptional regulation and cooperative signaling with other plant hormones. Genetic and biochemical approaches have clarified...Full Text Available
The compromised abilities to localize sounds and to understand speech are two hallmark deficits in aged individuals. The auditory cortex is necessary for these processes, yet we know little...Full Text Available
The supramammillary nucleus (SuM) provides substantial projections to the hippocampal formation. This hypothalamic structure is involved in the regulation of hippocampal theta rhythm and therefore...Full Text Available
Chronic colonization of the human stomach by Helicobacter pylori, a Gram-negative bacterium, is the major cause of chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Recent...Full Text Available
Purpose of reviewSevere congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a primary immunodeficiency in which lack of neutrophils causes inadequate innate immune host response to bacterial...Full Text Available
Exteriorized phosphatidylserine (PS) residues in apoptotic cells trigger rapid phagocytosis by macrophage scavenger receptor pathways. Mimicking apoptosis with liposomes containing PS may represent...Full Text Available
All eukaryotes require mitochondria for survival and growth. The origin of mitochondria can be traced down to a single endosymbiotic event between two probably prokaryotic organisms. Subsequent evolution...Full Text Available
A prevailing theory proposes that the brain's two visual pathways, the ventral and dorsal, lead to differing visual processing and world representations for conscious perception than those for action....Full Text Available
BackgroundNeurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common monogenic tumor-predisposition disorder that arises secondary to mutations in the tumor suppressor gene NF1....Full Text Available
The aromas of fruits, vegetables, and flowers are mixtures of volatile metabolites, often present in parts per billion levels or less. We show here that tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum...Full Text Available
Glioblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor, is among the most lethal and difficult cancers to treat. Although epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations are frequent in glioblastoma,...Full Text Available
Acetaminophen (APAP), a widely used analgesic and antipyretic that is considered to be relatively safe at recommended doses, is the leading cause of drug-induced liver failure in the United States....Full Text Available
The p21-activated kinases (PAKs), immediate downstream effectors of the small G-proteins of the Rac/cdc42 family, are critical mediators of signaling pathways regulating cellular behaviors and...Full Text Available
mRNA is sequestered and turned over in cytoplasmic processing bodies (PBs), which are induced by various cellular stresses. Unexpectedly, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mutants of the...Full Text Available
It has previously been established that muscles become active in response to deviations from a threshold (referent) position of the body or its segments, and that intentional motor actions result from...Full Text Available
BackgroundMammalian antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are effectors of the innate immune response. A multitude of signals coming from pathways of mammalian pathogen/pattern recognition...Full Text Available
Carbohydrate/citrate cometabolism in Lactococcus lactis results in the formation of the flavor compound acetoin. Resting cells of strain IL1403(pFL3) rapidly consumed citrate while...Full Text Available
The mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway plays a key role in mediating estrogen actions in the brain and neuronal sensitization during inflammation....Full Text Available
Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is a ubiquitous Ca2+ influx pathway involved in control of multiple cellular and physiological processes including cell proliferation. Recent evidence...Full Text Available
Klebsiella pneumoniae is able to grow anaerobically with citrate as a sole carbon and energy source by a fermentative pathway involving the Na+-dependent citrate...Full Text Available
BackgroundAs the first pathway-specific enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis, phytoene synthase (PSY) is a prime regulatory target. This includes a number of biotechnological approaches...Full Text Available
Recently, CID755673 was reported to act as a highly selective inhibitor of protein kinase D (PKD). In the course of experiments using CID755673, we noticed that it exerted unexpected stimulatory...Full Text Available
In most insect species, juvenile hormones regulate critical physiological processes such as metamorphosis and reproduction. In insects, these sesquiterpenoids are synthesized by retrocerebral endocrine...Full Text Available
Tyrosinase or polyphenol oxidase (EC 1.14.18.1) is the key enzyme in melanin biosynthesis and in the enzymatic browning of fruits and vegetables. The role of tyrosinase in the secondary metabolism of...Full Text Available
BackgroundNetwork visualization would serve as a useful first step for analysis. However, current graph layout algorithms for biological pathways are insensitive to biologically...Full Text Available
Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved degradative pathway that has been implicated in a number of physiological events important for human health. This process was originally identified as a response...Full Text Available
IntroductionBRAF (v raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homologue B1) is a serine-threonine kinase involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway, known...Full Text Available
Muscarinic cholinergic receptors modulate dopaminergic function in brain pathways thought to mediate cocaine's abuse-related effects. Here, we sought to confirm and ...Full Text Available
Lovatt et al. (1979 Plant Physiol 64: 562-569) have previously demonstrated that end-product inhibition functions as a mechanism regulating the activity of the orotic acid pathway in...Full Text Available
We used tryptophan auxotrophs of the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana (wall cress) to determine whether tryptophan has the capacity to serve as a precursor to the auxin, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Quantitative...Full Text Available
Anxiety may cause adverse outcomes through physiologic pathways in patients with cardiac disease. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate anxiety and its correlates in persons with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and heart failure (HF). The ...
The chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics of mesophyll and bundle-sheath thylakoids from plant species with the C4 dicarboxylic acid pathway of photosynthesis were investigated using flow cytometry....Full Text Available
Physical system conceptual models are developed to illustrate the various interconnecting pathways of metal flow. Economic use of mercury and cadmium, as representative toxic heavy metals, is inventoried,...Full Text Available
BackgroundGenomics has substantially changed our approach to cancer research. Gene expression profiling, for example, has been utilized to delineate subtypes of cancer, and facilitated...Full Text Available
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory process leading to enhanced cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and vasa vasorum (VV) neovascularization. While both diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypercholesterolemia...Full Text Available
A remarkable discovery of recent years is that, despite the complexity of ageing, simple genetic interventions can increase lifespan and improve health during ageing in laboratory animals. The pathways...Full Text Available
Twenty-four patients with infective endocarditis (IE) are described, fourteen with Staph. aureus and ten with other organisms. Despite the acute nature of the infection, ten of the fourteen with Staph....Full Text Available
Normal urinary bladder function requires contraction and relaxation of the detrusor smooth muscle (DSM). The DSM undergoes compensatory hypertrophy in response to partial bladder outlet obstruction...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe pH is an important parameter controlling many metabolic and signalling pathways in living cells. Recombinant fluorescent pH indicators (pHluorins) have come into vogue...Full Text Available
In addition to inducing new transcriptional activities that lead within a few hours to the accumulation of heat shock proteins (Hsps), heat shock activates within minutes the major signaling transduction...Full Text Available
High performance sorbents for flue gas desulfurization can be synthesized by hydration of coal fly ash, calcium sulfate, and calcium oxide. In general, higher desulfurization activity correlates with higher sorbent surface area. Consequently, a major aim in sorbent synthesis is to maximize the sorbent surface area by optimizing the hydration conditions. This work presents an integrated modeling and optimization approach to sorbent synthesis based on statistical experimental design and two artificial intelligence techniques: neural network and genetic algorithm. In the first step of the approach, the main and interactive effects of three hydration variables on sorbent surface area were evaluated using a full factorial design. The hydration variables of interest to this study were hydration time, amount of coal fly ash, and amount of calcium sulfate and the levels investigated were 4-32 h, 5-15 g, and 0-12 g, respectively. In ...
The present study was designed to investigate, in more detail, the mechanism of lead transport by the gastrointestinal tract and particularly the similarities or dissimilarities between lead and calcium in this process. The absorption of these metals was determined in 3-week-old white Leghorn cockerels, raised on a commercial diet or special diets, using an in vivo ligated loop procedure. The dose administered into the loop usually contained 0.5 ..mu..Ci /sup 203/Pb (and/or 0.1 ..mu..Ci /sup 47/Ca), 0.01 mM lead acetate (and/or 1 mM CaCl/sub 2/) in 0.5 ml of 0.15 M NaCl, pH 6.5. It was shown that lead is rapidly taken up by the intestinal tissue, and only slowly transferred into the circulation whereas calcium, also accumulated rapidly by the tissue, is rapidly released from the tissue in the serosal direction. The absorption processes of these cations show similar responses to various experimental conditions (low calcium ...
Red light stimulates germination in the spores of Onoclea sensibilis L. Phytochrome is confirmed to be the photoreceptor pigment in the germination response by demonstrating red-far-red photoreversibility. External Ca/sup 2 +/ is required for this response with a threshold at a submicromolar concentration. Red light stimulates an increase in the total concentration of intracellular calcium in the spores as determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Subsequent exposure to far-red light inhibits the red light-induced increase in intracellular calcium. The majority of the increase occurs 5 minutes after the onset of irradiation. The calcium-antagonist, La/sup 3 +/ inhibits both germination and the red light-induced increase in intracellular calcium. Using /sup 31/P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the author tested the hypothesis that a sustained increase in intracellular pH contributes to the ...
Redd1, a recently discovered stress-response gene, is regulated by hypoxia via hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and by DNA damage via p53/p63; however, the signaling pathway by which its expression is induced by hypoxia has not been elucidated. We demonstrated that the up-regulation of Redd1 transcription by hypoxia and high cell density (HCD) depends on cooperation between Sp1 and HIF-1#alpha# downstream of the PI3K/Akt pathway.
Schemata for modelling combustion processes do not yet include reaction rates for oxygenated fuels like methylal (DMM) which is considered as an additive or replacement for diesel due to its low sooting propensity. Density functional theory (DFT) studies of the possible reaction pathways for different dissociation steps of methylal are presented. Cleavage of a hydrogen bond to the methoxy group or the central carbon atom were simulated at the BLYP/6-311++G{sup **} level of theory. The results are compared to the experiment when dissociating and/or ionising DMM with femtosecond pulses. (author) 1 fig., 1 tab., 1 ref.
Macroautophagy is a multistep, vacuolar, degradation pathway terminating in the lysosomal compartment, and it is of fundamental importance in tissue homeostasis. In this review, we consider macroautophagy in the light of recent advances in our understanding of the formation of autophagosomes, which are double-membrane-bound vacuoles that sequester cytoplasmic cargos and deliver them to lysosomes. In most cases, this final step is preceded by a maturation step during which autophagosomes interact with the endocytic pathway. The discovery of AuTophaGy-related genes has greatly increased our knowledge about the mechanism responsible for autophagosome formation, and there has also been progress in the understanding of molecular aspects of autophagosome maturation. Finally, the regulation of au...
A theoretical analysis of two-dimensional unsteady flow in a porous medium bounded by a horizontal wall is presented as a perturbation on a basic flow. It is assumed that the perturbation is occasioned by a sudden suction at the wall. Even for a highly permeable medium the characteristic Reynolds number in porous media flow is usually small and asymptotic solutions are developed by the Laplace transform technique. It is observed that the perturbed shear stress at the wall decays exponentially with time. (author). 5 refs.
Mixed-conducting ceramic oxides have potential uses in high-temperature electrochemical applications such as solid oxide fuel cells, advanced batteries, sensors, and oxygen-permeable membranes. The Sr-Fe-Co-O system combines high electronic/ionic conductivity with appreciable oxygen permeability at elevated temperatures. Dense ceramic membranes made of this material can be used to separate high-purity oxygen from air without the need for external electrical circuitry, or to partially oxidize methane to produce syngas. Samples of Sr{sub 2}Fe{sub 3{minus}x}Co{sub x}O{sub y} (with x = 0, 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4) were prepared by solid-state reaction in atmospheres with various oxygen partial pressures (pO{sub 2}) and were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and electrical conductivity measurements. Phase components of the samples are dependent on cobalt concentration and synthesis pO{sub 2}. Total conductivity increases ...
Structural relaxation, crystallization and optimisation processes in soft magnetic amorphous alloys based on iron are examined by applying different experimental techniques: X-ray diffraction analysis, high-resolution electron microscopy, measurements of magnetic and electric properties (permeability, after-effect resistivity). The presented results are discussed in terms of annealing out of microvoids, formation of nanocrystalline phase and changes of effective magnetostriction constant. (author)
This report discusses the following: (1) improving models of vapor-dominated geothermal fields: the effects of adsorption; (2) adsorption characteristics of rocks from vapor-dominated geothermal reservoir at the Geysers, CA; (3) optimizing reinjection strategy at Palinpinon, Philippines based on chloride data; (4) optimization of water injection into vapor-dominated geothermal reservoirs; and (5) steam-water relative permeability.
α7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (α7-nAChR) form Ca2+-permeable homopentameric channels modulating cortical network activity and cognitive processing....Full Text Available
Infiltration of radon from the ground is usually the primary source of indoor radon pollution. A uniform method for radon risk classification of foundation soils based on soil-gas radon concentration measurements and on the determination of soil porosity, permeability and structure was proposed in 1990. Results of assessment of some areas in Czechoslovakia, containing more than 5000 radon concentration measurements, demonstrate the utility of the technique and confirm the link between geology and radon potential of the soil. (author)
Radon concentration measurement in the ground can be used for the prospecting for uranium and earthquake prediction. Some results of radon concentration measurement in the soil are presented here. The moisture condensation at the detector surface can affect on the detection efficiency. Due to this problem we tested a few filter papers on water permeability. The ratio of track densities on solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) in the open and the closed diffusion chamber is also determined. (author)
The coalbed methane (CBM) geology, resource and production potential in the Weibei Coalfield, southeastern Ordos Basin are studied based on geological surveys and laboratory measurements. The results showed that coal rank varies both laterally and vertically and changes from volatile bituminous coals in the margin to anthracites towards the basin (1.6-2.5% R{sub o}). Coals are composed of 60-85% vitrinite, 15-40% inertinite and a trace amount of minerals. Methane isothermal adsorption measurements of 20 coal samples revealed that the maximum adsorption capacity (on a dry and ash-free basis) of coals, which are affected by coal rank, coal maceral, coal lithotype and especially to the moisture content, varies from 13.91 to 29.54 m{sup 3}/t. Estimated gas contents range from 0 to 15 m{sup 3}/t. These data yield an estimated in-place CBM resource of 2.5 x 10{sup 11} m{sup 3} for the Weibei Coalfield. In combination with the geological information, the data indicated that the tectonic ...
In the present paper the progress of optimization of soft magnetic properties have been studied by applying different experimental techniques (magnetic measurements, electric measurements, X-ray analysis, and high-resolution electron microscopy observation). It has been shown that an increase in magnetic permeability after optimization annealing can be mainly attributed to annealing out of microvoids. (author)
Non-destructive methods for measuring the remaining anticorrosive or antioxidative ability of coatings are investigated. For anticorrosive chromium coatings the increasing ferromagnetism caused by loss of chromium is measured by a permeability probe. Measured values on blades after operation are correlated with the progress of corrosion as determined by metallographic methods. For antioxidative aluminum coatings the diminishing layer thickness is taken as indication for the exhaustion of their protection ability. The layer thickness is measured eddy current probes, especially developed for this application.
The production of water from a subterranean formation is reduced by contacting the formation with a water dispersible hydrophilic organic polymer having a molecular weight greater than 100,000 and containing carboxyl functionality and a crosslinking composition comprising water, a zirconium compound having a value of 4+, an alpha-hydroxy acid and an amine compound.
A high voltage oil-impregnated electrical cable with fully polymer taped insulation operable to 765 kV. Biaxially oriented, specially processed, polyethylene, polybutene or polypropylene tape with an embossed pattern is wound in multiple layers over a conductive core with a permeable screen around the insulation. Conventional oil which closely matches the dielectric constant of the tape is used, and the cable can be impregnated after field installation because of its excellent impregnation characteristics.
Inhibition of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is an appealing method for decreasing the immunoresistance and augmenting T cell-mediated immunotherapy. A major impediment to this strategy is the impact of conventional PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitors on T cell function. In particular, rapamycin, is a well-known immunosuppressant that can decrease the activity of the PI3K/mTOR pathway in tumor cells, but also has a profound inhibitory effect on T cells. Here we show that Honokiol, a natural dietary product isolated from an extract of seed cones from Magnolia grandiflora, can decrease PI3K/mTOR pathway-mediated immunoresistance of glioma, breast and prostate cancer cell lines, without affecting critical proinflammatory T cell functions. Specifically, we show that at doses sufficient to down-regulate levels of phospho-S6 and the negative immune regulator B7-H1 ...
Organic materials released from energy-related activities could affect human health and the environment. To better assess possible impacts, we developed a model to predict the fate of spills or discharges of pollutants into flowing or static bodies of fresh water. A computer code, Aquatic Pathways Model (APM), was written to implement the model. The computer programs use compartmental analysis to simulate aquatic ecosystems. The APM estimates the concentrations of chemicals in fish tissue, water and sediment, and is therefore useful for assessing exposure to humans through aquatic pathways. The APM will consider any aquatic pathway for which the user has transport data. Additionally, APM will estimate transport rates from physical and chemical properties of chemicals between several key compartments. The major pathways considered are biodegradation, fish and sediment uptake, photolysis, and evaporation. ...
The kinetics of calcium sulfate crystal growth is of importance in various fields, such as geochemistry, desalination technology, petroleum industry, and water and wastewater treatment. The seeded crystal growth rate of calcium sulfate dihydrate was measured as a function of supersaturation in NaCl electrolyte solutions from 0 to 6 m at temperatures of 25, 50, 70, and 90 C. The growth followed a second-order parabolic rate law with activation energies greater than 53 kJ/mol which suggested the surface reaction as the rate-limiting step. It was observed that the rate constant and the activation energy are solution composition dependent. The rate constant increases with NaCl concentration up to 3 molal and then begins to fall slightly. The activation energy dropped from 61 kJ/mol in the pure Ca-SO[sub 4]H[sub 2]O system to 53 kJ/mol in 3.0 m NaCl solutions. The electrolyte effect was similar to the crystal solubility behavior in aqueous ...
The paper gives results of a study to identify active sites and surface functional groups that may contribute to the absorption of elemental mercury (Hg) by relatively inexpensive calcium (Ca)-based sorbents. The study investigated the formation of chlorine (Cl) sites in CA-based sorbents as well as their role and reactivity in the absorption of Hg. HCl-exposed calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum) exhibited a superior Hg sorption capability. Crystalline water molecules on the surface of the gypsum were confirmed to contribute indirectly to Hg uptake. These surface molecules may have absorbed HC1 through hydrogen bond formation between an oxygen atom of a crystalline water molecule and a hydrogen atom of an HCl molecule. Two adjacent, physically absorbed HCl molecules could then trap an Hg molecule through formation of a mercuric-chloride-like molecule. Significant correlations between Cl and Hg uptake by gypsum were noted.
The paper gives results of a study to identify active sites and surface functional groups that may contribute to the absorption of elemental mercury (Hg) by relatively inexpensive calcium (Ca)-based sorbents. The study investigated the formation of chlorine (Cl) sites in CA-based sorbents as well as their role and reactivity in the absorption of Hg. HCl-exposed calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum) exhibited a superior Hg sorption capability. Crystalline water molecules on the surface of the gypsum were confirmed to contribute indirectly to Hg uptake. These surface molecules may have absorbed HC1 through hydrogen bond formation between an oxygen atom of a crystalline water molecule and a hydrogen atom of an HCl molecule. Two adjacent, physically absorbed HCl molecules could then trap an Hg molecule through formation of a mercuric-chloride-like molecule. Significant correlations between Cl and Hg uptake by gypsum were noted.
In vivo effects of toxaphene on calcium pump activity in rat brain synaptosomes was studied. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed with toxaphene at 0,25,50, and 100 mg/kg/day for 3 days and sacrificed 24 h after last dose. Ca/sup 2 +/-ATPase activity and /sup 45/Ca uptake were determined in brain P/sub 2/ fraction. Toxaphene inhibited both Ca/sup 2 +/-ATPase activity and /sup 45/Ca/sup 2 +/ uptake and the inhibition was dose dependent. Both substrate and Ca/sup 2 +/ activation kinetics of Ca/sup 2 +/-ATPase indicated non-competitive type of inhibition as evidenced by decreased catalytic velocity but not enzyme-substrate affinity. The inhibited Ca/sup 2 +/-ATPase activity and Ca/sup 2 +/ uptake were restored to normal level by exogenously added calmodulin which increased both velocity and affinity. The inhibition of Ca/sup 2 +/-ATPase activity and Ca/sup 2 +/ uptake and restoration by calmodulin suggests that toxaphene may impair active calcium ...
In vivo effects of toxaphene on calcium pump activity in rat brain synaptosomes was studied. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed with toxaphene at 0,25,50, and 100 mg/kg/day for 3 days and sacrificed 24 h after last dose. Ca"2"+-ATPase activity and "4"5Ca uptake were determined in brain P_2 fraction. Toxaphene inhibited both Ca"2"+-ATPase activity and "4"5Ca"2"+ uptake and the inhibition was dose dependent. Both substrate and Ca"2"+ activation kinetics of Ca"2"+-ATPase indicated non-competitive type of inhibition as evidenced by decreased catalytic velocity but not enzyme-substrate affinity. The inhibited Ca"2"+-ATPase activity and Ca"2"+ uptake were restored to normal level by exogenously added calmodulin which increased both velocity and affinity. The inhibition of Ca"2"+-ATPase activity and Ca"2"+ uptake and restoration by calmodulin suggests that toxaphene may impair active calcium transport mechanisms by decreasing regulator protein ...
Denting studies have been undertaken in order to assess the influence of the most important parameters which could initiate corrosion of the carbon steel occurring in the tube-tube support plate crevices of some PWR steam generators. Tests have been carried out in model boilers where feedwater was polluted with sea or river water. Specific effects of chloride or sulfate and influence of oxygen content, magnetite addition and pH value were investigated. In magnetite prepacked crevices, denting is obtained within 1000 hrs for seawater pollution of 0.3 ppm chloride at the blowdown. In neutral chloride or in river water, denting is observed only with oxygen addition. Denting prevention is effective in the case of an on-line addition of phosphate, boric acid, or calcium hydroxide. For denting stopping, boric acid or calcium hydroxide is efficient even with a high seawater pollution. Soaks cannot stop denting if they are not followed by an on-line ...
Denting studies have been undertaken in order to assess the influence of the most important parameters which could initiate corrosion of the carbon-steel occurring in the tube-tube support plate crevices of some PWR steam generators. Tests have been carried out in model boilers, feedwater being polluted with sea or river water. Specific effect of chloride or sulfate and influence of oxygen content, magnetite addition and pH value were investigated. In magnetite prepacked crevices, denting is obtained within 1000 hours for sea-water pollution of 0.3 ppm chloride at the blowdown. In neutral chloride or in river water denting is observed only with oxygen addition. Denting prevention is effective in the case of an on-line addition of phosphate, boric acid or calcium hydroxide. For denting stopping, boric acid or calcium hydroxide is efficient even with a high sea-water pollution. Soaks cannot stop denting if they are not followed by an on-line ...
The present paper deals with the fouling process of calcium sulfate dehydrate on heat-transfer surfaces. The crystallization of calcium sulfate showed typical asymptotic fouling curves, the asymptotic value of which was greatly influenced by the surface temperature and fluid velocity. The fouling mechanism was discussed with a generalized fouling model and proved to be surface process controlled, where the activation energy was 6.2 {times} 10{sup 4} J/mol. The availability of mechanical cleaning against the formed scale was quantitatively evaluated by applying the particle abrasion method. The removal test verified that the removing rate per unit particle concentration decreased in an inverse proportion to the overall particle load, to the power of 0.8, and that it was affected by the fluid velocity. The observed final residual fouling resistance decreased asymptotically with an increase in particle concentration. The suitable concentration of ...
This project is part of PETC`s Advanced Power Systems Program, whose mission is to accelerate the commercialization of affordable, high- efficiency, low emission, coal-fueled electric generating technologies. A process concept - Clear Liquor Scrubbing with Anhydrite Production - was proposed and accepted by PETC as a Phase I project in its Mega-PRDA program. the project integrated three process operations - chloride control upstream of the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system, a clear liquor process for enhanced SO{sub 2} removal performance, and production of anhydrite (anhydrous calcium sulfate) rather than calcium sulfite or gypsum (calcium sulfate dihydrate). The first step in the project was to perform batch and flow-through experiments in the laboratory to confirm theoretical calculations and preliminary laboratory results concerning anhydrite formation, these laboratory experiments were designed to prove that ...
The authors observed euhedral crystals in Manatee soil in a citrus grove in St. Lucie County, Florida. The material was identified as gypsum (CaSO/sub 4/ /times/ 2H/sub 2/O) using x-ray diffraction and infrared spectra. Photomicrography and scanning electron microscopy revealed that gypsum accumulated both in old root channels and within citrus root tissue of the Btg horizon. The subsurface horizons had elevated sulfate levels, a low initial pH, a drop (0.5 unit) in pH upon air-drying. Electrical conductivity paralleled the concentration of water-soluble sulfate. High levels of calcium and sulfate occurred for horizons above the water table. This accumulation is attributed to groundwater bearing these ions and subsequently discharging them to the overlying soil. Dead citrus roots appear to act as wicks to aid water transfer from lower to higher horizons. The roots and their empty channels provide spaces in which the gypsum can precipitate if the concentrations of ...
A method and an instrument for determining the total water content in a hydrocarbon fuel using an indicator composition, which includes calcium hydride and phenolphthaleyn, are developed. The essence of the method is fixing the presence of water with its interaction with the calcium hydride and subsequent indication of the formed Ca(OH)2 using the phenolphthallen. To make the indicator composition, a hygroscopic cotton, prewashed by rectified alcohol and dried for 30 minutes at 105 degrees, is impregnated by a 1 percent alcohol solution of phenolphthaleyn and is dried in the same conditions. Then the cotton is processed by a powder form calcium hydride (a layer thickness of 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters, and a granule size of less than or equal to 80 micromters). The indicator composition is placed in a glass tube (a diameter of 4 to 7 millimeters and a length of 80 to 100 millimeters), whose ends are sealed or filled with ...
The aim of this paper is to investigate the possible displacement of natural gypsum (CaSO{sub 4}2H{sub 2}O) in cement with an alternative setting retarder, such as the industrial by-product derived from flue gas desulfurization process called FGD gypsum. These calcium-sulfate-bearing materials (CSBM), alone or in mixtures, were ground with clinker both in laboratory and industrial scale to examine their influence on the physical and mechanical properties of cement, as well as on the industrial production line of cement. From the present work, it is extracted that the use of mixtures of sulfate-bearing materials with gypsum seems to be advantageous for the actual control of setting time. The addition of FGD gypsum increases setting time without affecting compressive strength profile. During the industrial trial, the formation of hemihydrate form of calcium sulfate dihydrate has a profound regulatory effect on the setting and strength performance ...
Purified protein kinase C (C-kinase) from guinea pig pancreas and rat brain stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in purified rat adipocyte membranes. Cyclase stimulation occurred over 100 to 1000 mU/ml of C-kinase activity, required greater than 10 ..mu..M calcium, proceeded without a lag, was not readily reversible, and required no exogenous phospholipid. Moreover, C-kinase inhibitors, such as chlorpromazine and palmitoyl carnitine, inhibited selectively adenylate cyclase which was activated by C-kinase and calcium. Depending on assay conditions, 10 nM 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) either enhanced or was required for kinase action on cyclase. Also, TPA plus calcium promoted the quantitative association of C-kinase with membranes. Adenylate cyclase activation by C-kinase was seen both in the presence and absence of exogenous GTP, indicating that the kinase effect does not result from an action on the ...
A brief description is given of the physico-chemical parameters characterized a hot water geothermal reservoir and of its exploitation by means of single or coupled (doublet) wells. The technical aspects of geothermal heat to the users is then discussed, beginning with corrosion of materials caused by seven main agents: oxygen, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, hydrogen, sulphates and chlorides. A brief mention is made of scaling due to calcium carbonate, silica and calcium sulphates. The basic components of a geothermal plant for non-electric uses are then discussed: production pumps, surface pipelines, heat exchangers, heat pumps and reinjection pumps. The advantages and disadvantages of the different equipment and materials used in the geothermal sector are also presented. A list is also given of the criteria used in the energy and economic balance of a geothermal operation. (author). 24 refs, 13 figs, 2 tabs.
This study describes the chemical composition of the essential oil of Artemisia maritima (Am.Oil) and the pharmacological basis for its medicinal use in gut and airways disorders. Twenty five compounds, composing 93.7% of the oil, were identified; among these, chrysanthenyl propionate and elixene were identified for the first time from any Artemisia species. The Am.Oil (0.3?1.0 mg/mL) suppressed spontaneous and high K+ (80 mM)-induced contractions in isolated rabbit jejunum, suggestive of an antispasmodic effect mediated possibly through calcium channel blockade. The calcium channel blockade activity was confirmed when pre-treatment of the tissue with Am.Oil (0.01?0.03 mg/mL) shifted the Ca++ concentration-response curves to the right, similar to verapamil and papaverine. In isolated trach...
ObjectiveTo study a method of chemical sterilization and its efficacy in adult male stray dogs.MethodsSterilization was performed 45 days after a single bilateral intratesticular injection of calcium chloride (CaCl2) at the doses of 5, 10, 15 or 20 mg per testis per kg body weight.ResultsHistomorphological measures of testes showed total necrosis of testicular tissue at 45 days after an injection of either 10 or 15 or 20 mg CaCl2 along with fibrosis and hyalinization in seminiferous tubules and interstitial spaces. Infiltration of leucocytes was also observed with the 10- or 15-mg dose. Disintegration of germ cell arrangement in seminiferous tubules and washing out of germ cells from the tubules were noted with the 5-mg dose. Relative organ weight, epididymal sperm count, plasma and intrat...
Various chemical, physical, and mechanical methods to prevent unwanted deposition of mineral scale are described. The suitability of the different methods, which largely depends on the specific features and requirements of the system involved, is discussed. Special emphasis is placed upon the threshold treatment, where the growth process is retarded by the addition of trace amounts of growth inhibitors. Growth experiments have been performed on barium sulfate and calcium sulfate dihydrate seed crystals, suspended in a supersaturated solution with and without organic bisphosphonates as inhibitors. Two methods are selected for the analysis of the growth data. A degree of inhibition is defined to obtain a quantitative description of the influence of a growth inhibitor on the growth rate of the crystals. In addition the influence of the molecular structure of various bisphosphonates with different substituents is shown. The effect of a bisphosphonate on the geometry of ...
ObjectivesTo determine the reaction rate of slag during curing and factors affecting reactivity.~%~~%~To measure the rates of chloride ingress into concrete and the extent of chloride binding.~%~~%~To determine conditions for pitting corrosion and the nature of corrosion products.~%~~%~To characterise the reactions in slag-calcium alumina cement hydration and the nature of the products.~%~DescriptionBlast-furnace slag has latent hydraulic properties, giving considerable potential for commercial use in addition to its widespread use as a partial replacement for Portland cement, notably in alkali-activated slag (AAS) and slag-calcium alumina cement (CAC) concretes. Use of AAS concretes is already well-established in China and the former USSR, but their further application is hindered by lack of research into setting, hydration and durability, Slag/CAC blends are new materials whose chemistr ...
Chars prepared from potassium-exchanged carboxy methyl cellulose at several heat treatment temperatures (HTTs) were gasified in air isothermally at selected gasification temperatures (GTs) in the range 633-893 K to investigate the catalytic effectiveness of potassium species. The chars displayed a noticeable jump in gasification rate at a particular gasification temperature (called jump temperature, T{sub j}). The magnitude of jump was much less than that reported for copper and nickel catalysis, but comparable with that for calcium catalysis. Increase in HTT caused a decrease in the jump temperature of chars in contrast with the increase observed in copper, nickel and calcium catalysis; also the magnitude of jump did not decrease, but remained unaltered, on increasing HTT. The different behavior of potassium catalysis is correlated to a change in the chemical state of potassium at higher HTT. The results reveal the dependence of jump ...
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Controlling vascular tone involves K+ efflux through endothelial cell small- and intermediate-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (KCa2.3 and KCa3.1, respectively). We investigated the expression of these channels in astrocytes and the possibility that, by a similar mechanism, they might contribute to neurovascular coupling. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH Transgenic mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) in astrocytes were used to assess KCa2.3 and KCa3.1 expression by immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. KCa currents in eGFP-positive astrocytes were determined in situ using whole-cell patch clamp electrophysiology. The contribution of KCa3.1 to neurovascular coupling was investigated in pharmacological experiments using electrical field stimulatio...
We present the effect of P2O5 addition on barium calcium aluminum borosilicate BCABS glasses of composition (mol %) 35BaO-15CaO-5Al2O3-(37-x)SiO2-8B2O3-xP2O5 (0?x?5). The incorporation of P2O5 increased network polymerization and crystallization tendency. However, addition of P2O5 leads to the formation of Cr2O3 at the interface, saturating it in the ions of the metal. This improves glass-to-metal bonding. (author)
A method is described for determination of aluminium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, manganese, nickel, lead, strontium, zinc, titanium and vanadium in iron ore. After dissolution, a 1 gram sample of iron ore is applied to a column of AGI-X8 anion exchange resin (chloride form), in 100 ml of 7M HCl. Aluminium, chromium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, manganese, nickel, lead, strontium, titanium and vanadium are eluted with 7M HCl; iron, copper and cobalt are eluted with 0.5M HCl; cadmium and zinc are eluted with 2M HNO_3. Iron is subsequently removed from copper and cobalt by a solvent extraction with methyl isobutyl ketone. The elements are determined in the eluates by atomic absorption spectrometry, except for titanium and vanadium, which are determined spectrophotometrically.
The formation of a porous coating is the decisive feature for the bio-compatibility of silica-free calcium phosphate glass ceramics on alloy surfaces like the #beta#-Ti structured Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr used in this work. The ceramic composition is highly important: 50CaO-40P_2O_5-7Na_2O-3TiO_2 glass powder produces a pore-free coating unable to bind hydroxyapatite, whereas 60CaO-30P_2O_5-7Na_2O-3TiO_2 glass incorporates pores from which a crystalline hydroxyapatite phase can grow over the surface from simulated body fluid (see Figure). (Abstract Copyright [2003], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)
The combined Lewis and Broensted acidities were measured of 13X (sodium) zeolite and of its 84.2% calcium-exchanged, 86.0% lanthanum-exchanged, and 69.2% protonated forms, calcined at 400/sup 0/C. The butylamine titrations were performed to visible color changes of Hammett indicators. The H/sub 0/ acidities were 0 for the sodium X zeolite, and 0.2, 0.98, and 0.75 for the calcium, lanthanum, and hydrogen zeolites, respectively. These acidities compared well with trends reported in literature for zeolites pretreated under different conditions. Titration of Broensted sites with arylmethanol indicators did not give satisfactory visible endpoints.
The aim of this study was to observe both the clinical signs and symptoms of wounds at risk of infection, that is critically colonised (biofilm infected) and antimicrobial-performance of an ionic silver alginate/carboxymethylcellulose (SACMC) dressing, in comparison with a non silver calcium alginate fibre (AF) dressing, on chronic venous leg and pressure ulcers. Thirty-six patients with venous or pressure ulcers, considered clinically to be critically colonised (biofilm infected), were randomly chosen to receive either an SACMC dressing or a non silver calcium AF dressing. The efficacy of each wound dressing was evaluated over a 4-week period. The primary study endpoints were prevention of infection and progression to wound healing. The SACMC group showed a statistically significant (P = ...
The use of europium as a local structural probe allows the various phases appearing in the NaCaPO_4-Na_3Eu(PO_4)_2 and NaSrPO_4-Na_3Eu(PO_4)_2 systems to be detected. The broadening of the europium emission lines in going from the calcium to the strontium phases illustrates the ease of displacement of the PO_4 groups. (Auth.).
The separation, concentration, and determination of trace elements in iron ores are described. After the sample has been dissolved, the iron is separated by liquid-liquid extraction with a liquid cation-exchanger, di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid. The trace elements aluminium, cadmium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, magnesium, manganese, mercury, potassium, sodium, vanadium, and zinc are determined in the aqueous phase by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry.
The aim of the current investigation was to study the effects of sevelamer hydrochloride (RenaGel) on serum phosphate, intact parathyroid hormone levels (iPTH), and lipid profiles in stable hemodialysis patients. Hemodialysis patients maintained on calcium containing phosphate binders were enrolled in this study. Following two weeks of washout of the phosphate binders, serum phosphate rose from 6.4 +/- 0.6 to 10.5 +/- 0.7 mg/dl (p <0.001). After 8 weeks of titration with sevelamer hydrochloride, serum phosphate fell by 4.5 +/- 0.3 to 6.3 +/- 0.7 mg/dl (p <0.0001). Serum calcium levels fell during washout (9.8 +/- 0.4 to 8.9 +/- 0.3 mg/dl, p <0.004) and were unaffected by sevelamer hydrochloride. Sevelamer hydrochloride administration was associated with a 23.0 +/- 3.1% fall in total cholesterol, a 35.9 +/- 3.0% fall in LDL cholesterol, and a 35.2 +/- 5.3% fall in the LDL:HDL cholesterol ratio (p <0.001). There was no change in HDL ...
SUMMARYWe recorded Ca2+ current and intracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in isolated adult rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons at 20 and...Full Text Available
The investigations of lignite hydroliquefaction were aimed at improving reaction control in order to minimize residue and gas portion and hence increase the oil yield. To reach this goal, the process parameters were optimized and various catalysts tested for use in sump phase hydrogenation. Detailed investigations were also carried out on the problem of calcium carbonate agglomeration and the maceral decomposition behaviour of different lignite samples under hydrogenation conditions.
The differing susceptibility of individuals to the toxic effects of chronic lead exposure has never been fully understood. As the major intake of lead in the human is from food and beverages, any variation between individuals of the quantity of lead absorbed from the gut, and of the distribution and excretion of this lead, may account for the differences in individual susceptibility. The food and beverages themselves may have an influence, and to investigate their effects on absorption, distribution and excretion of lead, experiments were performed on normal subjects using a short lived radionuclide of lead, "2"0"3Pb, and instruments generally available in Nuclear Medicine. Lead absorption between different individuals showed a wide variation when "2"0"3Pb was taken as a single dose between meals. Minerals were found to be mainly responsible for affecting absorption when one subject ingested "2"0"3Pb in control meals from which one dietary constituent at a time was omitted. ...
1. We studied the effects of flash photolysis on the novel enantiomeric cardiac inotropes EMD 57033 (a calcium sensitizer) and EMD 57439 (a phosphodiesterase III inhibitor) in rat isolated ventricular...Full Text Available
We have isolated a 4.785 Da protein from the nacreous layer of the sea snail Haliotis laevigata (greenlip abalone) shell after demineralization with acetic acid. The sequence of 41...Full Text Available
Urinary acidification, bone metabolism and urinary excretion of calcium and citrate were evaluated in 10 recurrent stone formers with incomplete renal tubular acidosis (iRTA), 10 recurrent stone formers with normal urinary acidification (NUA) and 10 normal controls (NC). Patients with iRTA had lower plasma standard bicarbonate after fasting (P <0.01) and lower urinary excretion of titratable acid (P <0.05) and citrate (P <0.01) compared with NUA patients and NC, and higher urinary excretion of ammonia (P <0.05) compared with NC (P <0.05). Hypercalciuria was found in 6 of 10 patients with iRTA compared with 3 of 10 with NUA, and 0 of 10 NC. The citrate/calcium ratio in urine was significantly reduced in iRTA compared with the value in NUA (P <0.01), and in NUA compared with NC (P <0.05). Biochemical markers of bone formation (serum osteocalcin) and bone resorption (urinary hydroxyproline) were significantly increased in iRTA ...
Vacuolar ion channels in guard cells play important roles during stomatal movement and are regulated by many factors including Ca2+, calmodulin, protein kinases, and phosphatases....Full Text Available
Objective:? Primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT) is characterised by autonomous secretion of PTH from enlarged parathyroid glands leading, in most patients, to asymptomatic hypercalcaemia. Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcaemia (FHH) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by inactivating mutations in the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR) gene; it is characterised by lifelong and usually asymptomatic hypercalcaemia. Establishing the correct diagnosis is important because surgery can be curative in HPT, but ineffective in FHH. There is overlap in the diagnostic criteria for the two disorders and some patients carrying inactivating mutations in the CaSR gene, which is suggestive of FHH, also have HPT with hyperplastic parathyroid glands or adenomas. Design and Patients:? CaSR gene mutations were analyzed and clinical and biochemical parameters evaluated in 139 consecutive out-patients presenting with hypercalcaemia and suspected of having HPT. Results:? Six different ...
The role of dietary calcium and phosphorus in modifying the intestinal absorption of lead and also the effect of lead ingestion on the metabolism of cholecalciferol were studied in chicks. The efficiency of absorption of /sup 203/Pb and /sup 47/Ca was increased when the animals were fed a low calcium diet and treated with cholecalciferol. The synthesis of the vitamin D-induced calcium-binding protein (CaBP) was correspondingly increased. When the chicks were depleted of vitamin D and repleted with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (1,25(OH)/sub 2/D/sub 3/) as their only source of the vitamin, the absorption of both /sup 47/Ca and /sup 203/Pb was unaffected by dietary calcium levels, and no change in CaBP levels occurred. Low dietary intake of phosphorus resulted in an increase in /sup 47/Ca and /sup 203/Pb absorption and in CaBP synthesis when the animals were treated with cholecalciferol. However, when the ...
The role of dietary calcium and phosphorus in modifying the intestinal absorption of lead and also the effect of lead ingestion on the metabolism of cholecalciferol were studied in chicks. The efficiency of absorption of "2"0"3Pb and "4"7Ca was increased when the animals were fed a low calcium diet and treated with cholecalciferol. The synthesis of the vitamin D-induced calcium-binding protein (CaBP) was correspondingly increased. When the chicks were depleted of vitamin D and repleted with 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol [1,25(OH)_2D_3] as their only source of the vitamin, the absorption of both "4"7Ca and "2"0"3Pb was unaffected by dietary calcium levels, and no change in CaBP levels occurred. Low dietary intake of phosphorus resulted in an increase in "4"7Ca and "2"0"3Pb absorption and in CaBP synthesis when the animals were treated with cholecalciferol. However, when the birds were repleted with ...
Gamma interferon plays an important role in regulating the functional properties of mononuclear phagocytes. In the present study, the role of activated protein kinases in the mechanism of action of...Full Text Available
The present work mainly involves bench scale studies to investigate partitioning of mercury in pulverized fuel co-combustion at 1000 and 1300{sup o}C. High volatile bituminous coal is used as a reference case and chicken manure, olive residue, and B quality (demolition) wood are used as secondary fuels with 10 and 20% thermal shares. The combustion experiments are carried out in an entrained flow reactor with a fuel input of 7-8 kWth. Elemental and total gaseous mercury concentrations in the flue gas of the reactor are measured on-line, and ash is analyzed for particulate mercury along with other elemental and surface properties. Animal waste like chicken manure behaves very differently from plant waste. The higher chlorine contents of chicken manure cause higher ionic mercury concentrations whereas even with high unburnt carbon, particulate mercury reduces with increase in the chicken manure share. This might be a problem due to coarse fuel particles, low surface area, and iron ...
Background: Diet plays a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but little is known about the contributions of specific nutrients in populations in which dietary patterns...Full Text Available
T-cell activation requires the influx of extracellular calcium, although mechanistic details regarding such activation are not fully defined. Here, we show that P2X7 receptors play a key...Full Text Available
In order to conserve vaccines in hot countries a solar refrigerator has been made by a French university. It is a photothermal refrigerator without batteries. It uses two gases: ammonia and calcium chloride. The refrigerator is autonomous and can work eleven days without sun. (N.C.)
Nutrient elements contained in litter fall flux, that of uptake flux and turnover rate had generally tended to increase with the increase in the Warmth Index, while the amount of nutrient in the A[sub 0] horizon and nutrient use efficiency did not. However, it is suggested that topographic and climatic aridity, and the amount of available and exchangeable phosphorus, calcium and magnesium greatly affect the nutrient dynamics in a each forest ecosystem as the Warmth Index increases. (J.P.N.).
A laser spectrometer for the ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid (EDTA) titration of magnesium or calcium ions that is designed around a handheld laser pointer as the source and a photoresistor as the detector is developed. Findings show that the use of the spectrometer reduces the degree of uncertainty and error in one part of the EDTA titrations, however overall standard deviations depend on the skill of the student and their willingness to be careful and precise.
Low-permeability reservoirs are currently being propped with sand, resin-coated sand, intermediate-density proppants, and bauxite. This wide range of proppant cost and performance has resulted in the proliferation of proppant selection models. Initially, a rather vague relationship between well depth and proppant strength dictated the choice of proppant. More recently, computerized models of varying complexity that use net-present-value (NPV) calculations have become available. The input is based on the operator's performance goals for each well and specific reservoir properties. Simpler, noncomputerized approaches include cost/performance comparisons and nomographs. Each type of model, including several of the computerized models, is examined here. By use of these models and NPV calculations, optimum fracturing treatment designs have been developed for such low-permeability reservoirs as the Prue in Oklahoma. Typical well conditions ...
A number of preparations of residual non-living brewery yeast were examined for their ability to remove lead from solution. Those preparations included washed and un-washed intact yeast and washed and un-washed homogenates of the yeast cells. Using biosorption isotherm analysis it was found that the washed and un-washed preparations of intact, non-living yeast exhibited maximum biosorption capacities for lead of 127 and 99 mg/g dry weight biomass, respectively. The washed and un-washed cell homogenates exhibited maximum biosorption capacities of 38 and 139 mg lead/g dry weight biomass, respectively. Since it had previously been shown that these preparations of biomass were capable of removing uranium from solution by combined biosorption and precipitation processes, it was decided to examine removal of lead from solution using a form of equilibrium dialysis in which the biomass was retained within a semi-permeable membrane during contact reactions. The results ...
Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes with various degrees of sulfonation (DS) have been prepared as a potential membrane material for proton exchange membrane by sulfonation process using mixtures of (15-30% concentration) fuming sulfuric acid and (95-98%) concentrated sulfuric acid as the sulfonating agent. The sulfonation process was conducted at room temperature by varying the acid ratio and reaction time. The produced membranes were then characterized by evaluating the ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, thermal stability, proton conductivity and methanol permeability as a function of degree of sulfonation. The proton conductivity of the sulfonated PEEK membranes with various DS was within the magnitude of 10"-"3 and 10"-"2 S cm"-"1 at room temperature and the methanol permeability was in the range of 3.45 x 10"-"7 to 2.73 x 10"-"6 cm"2 s"-"1. The overall membrane performance of the SPEEK membrane with 80% DS was six ...
Heat losses in duct flow and heat transfer enhancement are investigated through an analysis of natural convection about a horizontal cylinder with a porous or fibrous coating. The porous substrate may be used for two purposes. According to its properties, it may be employed as an insulating material or as a means to surface augmentation. An optimization study is then carried out in order to find the best conditions that allow good thermal insulation or heat transfer rate improvement. The flow motion and heat transfer coefficient are predicted for various conditions. The results show that an efficient insulation which means less than 10% in heat losses is obtained for a porous layer thickness of 0.8x tube diameter and a permeability corresponding to Da #<=# 10"-"7. Nevertheless, there is a Darcy number limit above which convection must be accounted for. Porous or fibrous materials may also be used as a heat transfer augmentation technique. To achieve this goal, ...
A lightweight, low permeability liner for graphite epoxy composite compressed gas storage vessels. The liner is composed of polymers that may or may not be coated with a thin layer of a low permeability material, such as silver, gold, or aluminum, deposited on a thin polymeric layer or substrate which is formed into a closed bladder using torispherical or near torispherical end caps, with or without bosses therein, about which a high strength to weight material, such as graphite epoxy composite shell, is formed to withstand the storage pressure forces. The polymeric substrate may be laminated on one or both sides with additional layers of polymeric film. The liner may be formed to a desired configuration using a dissolvable mandrel or by inflation techniques and the edges of the film seamed by heat sealing. The liner may be utilized in most any type of gas storage system, and is particularly applicable for hydrogen, gas mixtures, and oxygen ...
A lightweight, low permeability liner for graphite epoxy composite compressed gas storage vessels. The liner is composed of polymers that may or may not be coated with a thin layer of a low permeability material, such as silver, gold, or aluminum, deposited on a thin polymeric layer or substrate which is formed into a closed bladder using torispherical or near torispherical end caps, with or without bosses therein, about which a high strength to weight material, such as graphite epoxy composite shell, is formed to withstand the storage pressure forces. The polymeric substrate may be laminated on one or both sides with additional layers of polymeric film. The liner may be formed to a desired configuration using a dissolvable mandrel or by inflation techniques and the edges of the film seamed by heat sealing. The liner may be utilized in most any type of gas storage system, and is particularly applicable for hydrogen, gas mixtures, and oxygen ...
Mechanisms that govern transport, accumulation and toxicity of persistent pollutants at interfaces in aquatic ecosystems were the foci of this thesis. Specific attention was paid to humic substances, their occurrence, composition, and role in exchange processes across interfaces. It was concluded that: The composition of humic substances in aquatic surface microlayers is different from that of the subsurface water and terrestrial humic matter. Levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the aquatic surface microlayer reflect the DOC levels in the subsurface water. While the levels and enrichment of DOC in the microlayer generally show small variations, the levels and enrichment of particulate organic carbon (POC) vary to a great extent. Similarities exist between aquatic surface films, artificial semi-permeable and biological membranes regarding their structure and functioning. Acidification and liming of freshwater ecosystems affect DOC:POC ratio and humic ...
This study examined the oxygen permeation behavior of Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-d (Gadolinium-Doped Ceria, GDC)/Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-d (BSCF) composite membranes fabricated using a conventional sintering technique. GDC/BSCF composite membranes with a relative density >95% could be obtained when a green compact of BSCF and GDC was sintered at 1150^oC for 5h. It appears that GDC serves as a grain growth inhibitor because the average grain size of the composite decreased with increasing GDC content. The oxygen permeability of the BSCF and GDC/BSCF composite membranes strongly depends on the grain size and membrane thickness. The addition of GDC to BSCF resulted in a small grain size, low thermal expansion coefficient and high hardness. However, it is believed that oxygen permeation was blocked by GDC, a...
This report describes the design of a well test to determine two-phase hydraulic properties of a low permeability, low porosity formation. Estimation of gas-related parameters in such formations is difficult using standard pumping tests mainly because of the strong fluctuations in the pressure and flow rate data which are a consequence of gas bubbles evolving in the test interval. Even more important is the fact that the data do not allow distinguishing among alternative conceptual models. The estimated parameters are therefore uncertain, highly correlated, and ambiguous. In this study we examine a test sequence that could be appended to a standard hydraulic testing program. It is shown that performing a series of water and gas injection tests significantly reduces parameter correlations, thus decreasing the estimation error. Moreover, the extended test sequence makes possible the identification of the model that describes relative ...
Radiation necrosis of normal CNS tissue represents one of the main risk factors of brain irradiation, occurring more frequently and earlier at higher total doses and higher doses per fraction. At present, it is believed that the necrosis results due to increasing capillary permeability caused by cytokine release leading to extracellular edema. This process is sustained by endothelial dysfunction, tissue hypoxia, and subsequent necrosis. Consequently, blocking the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) at an early stage could be an option to reduce the development of radiation necrosis by decreasing the vascular permeability. This might help to reverse the pathological mechanisms, improve the symptoms and prevent further progression. A patient with radiation-induced necrosis was treated with an anti-VEGF antibody (bevacizumab), in whom neurologic signs and symptoms improved in accordance with a decrease in T1-weighted fluid-attenuated ...
High-resolution sequence stratigraphy taking base-level cycles as interface of reference was developed rapidly in recent years. Its greatest predominance lies in that it can be applied to multi-controled continental sedimentary basins and can effectively improve accuracy and distinguishability of sequence stratigraphy analysis. Principles of base-level cycles can also be applied to the research and practice of the exploration and exploitation of sandstone-type uranium deposits as they control the spatial distribution, porosity, the permeability and the sealing ability of sandstone and mudstone, and stacking patterns of strata configuration. Taking Dongsheng uranium deposits as an example, the application of base-level cycles to exploration and exploitation of sandstone uranium deposits was analyzed. It is suggested that favorable strata framework of sandstone and mudstone was developed very well in the fluctuation of base-level cycles. Sand bodies were provided ...
The design of high level radioactive waste (HLW) repositories in deep geological media in which bentonite clay is proposed as a sealing material leads to the need of further studying the behaviour of highly compacted expansive soils when subjected to mechanical, hydraulic and thermal changes. Laboratory tests may help to understand the processes that take place in the clay barrier under simple and controlled conditions and to develop the governing equations. The laboratory tests enable to isolate the different processes, making their interpretation easier, and provide with fundamental data concerning the parameters to be used in the models. The extremely low permeability of these materials, their avidity for water (high suction) and their high swelling capacity make necessary the modification of the conventional laboratory techniques and procedures to determine basic physical parameters. The main hydraulic properties of the barrier to be considered are the ...
High salinity is one of the main factors limiting cotton growth and productivity. The genes that regulate salt stress in TM-1 upland cotton were monitored using microarray and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) with samples taken from roots. Microarray analysis showed that 1503 probe sets were up-regulated and 1490 probe sets were down-regulated in plants exposed for 3h to 100mM NaCl, and RT-PCR analysis validated 42 relevant/related genes. The distribution of enriched gene ontology terms showed such important processes as the response to water stress and pathways of hormone metabolism and signal transduction were induced by the NaCl treatment. Some key regulatory gene families involved in abiotic and biotic sources of stress such as WRKY, ERF, and JAZ were differentially expressed. Our transcriptome analysis might provide some useful insights into salt-mediated signal transduction pathways in cotton and offer a number of candidate genes as potential ...
A statistical method is developed to determine the locations of major pollutant sources affecting a distant downwind receptor, provided that air trajectories can be estimated. Probability density functions are estimated which indicate the overall residence time of air parcels over a given geographic region as they travel toward a receptor and residence time for the case of high pollutant concentrations at the receptor. These functions are used to estimate a conditional probability function which indicates the potential for a source region to contribute to high air pollution concentrations. Finally, a source contribution function is formulated to indicate the relative contribution of different source regions to high concentrations at the receptor. The method is tested using data collected at Grand Canyon National Park in 1980. The dominant pathway for air masses arriving at Grand Canyon during this period was southern California. A lesser ...
Results of an evaluation of 18 different products that can be used as waterstops in hydraulic dams to minimize or eliminate leaks at construction joints, were discussed. The materials were tested for permeability and adherence at 23, 15 and 5 degrees C. A two-component polyurethane resin product was found to be the one that best fulfilled the evaluation criteria. It was also found that the successful injection of a borehole depends not only on selecting the product with the best performance characteristics, but also on the technique used. Hence the preparation of the resin and the pressure at which it is injected are important performance criteria. 5 refs., 6 photos, 4 figs.
The depositional environments of the Mesaverde Group of the Piceance Creek basin in northwestern Colorado have determined the basic morphology and characteristics of the tight gas sands reservoirs in the three Multi-Well Experiment wells. The three morphologies, in ascending stratigraphic order, are a blanket type of reservoir (marine to shoreline environment), a lenticular type of reservoir (the paludal and coastal zones of the lower and upper delta plain), and an irregular tabular/elongate reservoir produced by meandering fluvial systems. Internal reservoir discontinuities vary among these types of reservoirs, but consist primarily of permeability barriers and conduits caused by shale breaks and fractures. 10 references, 5 figures.
The authors report a novel configuration for a zinc-particle, packed-bed anode in which an open structure of high hydraulic permeability is maintained indefinitely in a cell with closely spaced walls by the formation of particle bridges and associated gaps. The configuration minimizes electrolyte pumping costs, allows rapid refueling and partial recharge, and provides for 100% zinc consumption. This approach benefits zinc/air fuel batteries by allowing nearly continuous operation and fuel recycle without commercial infrastructure; it benefits Zn/[Fe(CN){sub 6}]{sup {minus}3} batteries by eliminating shape-change and polarization problems found with planar anodes.
The introduction of large blast furnaces, oxygen-enriched blast and natural gas firing means that the coke rate is determined mainly by the ability of the coke charge to loosen up the burden and ensure a high level of permeability. Coke strength is now of great importance to the steelmaker, alongside ash and sulphur contents. The article suggests that moisture still offers a useful negotiating base for furnace operators and suppliers. It is important to know the moisture content and a sampling procedure is recommended for determining the moisture desorption time. Such tests also indicate any relationship between different quenching plants and the product.
This review of methods and designs of transducers for nondestructive determination of the magnitude and nature of the anisotropy of magnetic properties (permeability, induction, coercive force, energy loss due to magnetization reversal) in local portions of ferromagnetic sheet and, in some cases, in individual parts of products. The need to measure the anisotropy is considered for two angles: for the case when the anisotropy is due to the crystallographic texture and determines the main operating characteristics of widely used sheet such as electrical steel and automobile body sheet, and for crystallographically isotropic materials, in which the anisotropy of magnetic properties as a result of mechanical stresses is a measure for determining the internal stresses.
Visceral hypersensitivity is currently considered a key pathophysiological mechanism involved in pain perception in large subgroups of patients with functional gastrointestinal disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). In IBS, visceral hypersensitivity has been described in 20%?90% of patients. The contribution of the central nervous system and psychological factors to visceral hypersensitivity in patients with IBS may be significant, although still debated. Peripheral factors have gained increasing attention following the recognition that infectious enteritis may trigger the development of persistent IBS symptoms, and the identification of mucosal immune, neural, endocrine, microbiological, and intestinal permeability abnormalities. Growing evidence suggests that these factors ...
The susceptibility to intergranular corrosion of different heats of Alloy 800 was evaluated by three different methods: the ASTM A 262 Practice E (or modified Strauss test), the Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation method, and by magnetic-susceptibility measurements. Reasonably good agreement was found between the sensitization areas as defined by the three methods in the TTS diagrams. In some cases the area defined by the Strauss test was slightly smaller than that determined by the other two tests. The differences might be explained by the fact that the methods present different sensitivities to the chromium concentration at the grain boundaries. 27 references, 11 figures, 3 tables.
Axially symmetric waveguides, resonators, and scatterers of arbitrary cross section and anisotropy in the cross section can be modeled rigorously with use of 2-D Cartesian-grid based codes by means of mere redefinition of material permittivity and permeability profiles. The method is illustrated by the frequencydomain simulations of resonant modes in a circular-cylinder cavity with perfectly conducting walls, a shielded uniaxial anisotropic dielectric cylinder, and an open dielectric sphere for which, after proper implementation of the perfectly matched layer boundary conditions, the radiation quality factor is also determined.
We propose unsteady-state reverse osmosis cell modelling in two dimensions. The convection-diffusion equation describing the concentration of the relevant chemical species is solved by a finite difference technique, while the velocity field is described by empirical expressions for spiral-wound membrane cells. A non-constant permeability is introduced to take into account the effects of membrane compaction at high operating pressures. The role of concentration polarization is discussed for different values of the parameters describing the global process. Finally, the model is applied to predict the effects of a pulsating flow where a cyclic pressure feed is adopted to enhance the permeate flux. In this context, an experimental validation of the model is proposed.
The objectives of this project was to: (1) quantify the pore scale mechanisms that determine the wettability state of a reservoir, (2) study the effect of crude oil, brine and mineral compositions in the establishment of mixed wet states, (3) clarify the effect of mixed - wettability on oil displacement efficiency in waterfloods, (4) develop a new tracer technique to measure wettability, fluid distributions, residual saturation's and relative permeabilities, and (5) develop methods for properly incorporating wettability in up-scaling from pore to core to reservoir scales.
The foils of various materials were irradiated with "6"0Co with an activity of 11,538 TBq. The minimum radiation dose was 25 kGy. Changes in chemico-physical properties were evaluated by infrared spectroscopy and were not detected after irradiation with 25 kGy. Packing foils were subjected to the following tests: mechanical tests, tests of weld strength, tests of impact resistance, free fall tests, permeability tests for water vapour and microbiological tests. The results of all tests were tabulated. The tests showed that the foils are impermeable for microorganisms and provided the welds are airtight the packed products remain sterile. (J.P.).
Operations at the Savannah River Site (SRS) result in releases of small amounts of radioactive materials to the atmosphere and to the Savannah River. For regulatory compliance purposes, potential offsite radiological doses are estimated annually using computer models that follow U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Regulatory Guides. Within the regulatory guides, default values are provided for many of the dose model parameters but the use of site-specific values by the applicant is encouraged. A detailed survey of land and water use parameters was conducted in 1991 and is being updated here. These parameters include local characteristics of meat, milk and vegetable production; river recreational activities; and meat, milk and vegetable consumption rates as well as other human usage parameters required in the SRS dosimetry models. In addition, the preferred elemental bioaccumulation factors and transfer factors to be used in human health exposure calculations at SRS are documented. ...
The C isotopic composition of CH4 emissions are strongly influenced by the pathway of CH4 formation. Contrary to data from other freshwater systems, soil gas and surface flux measurements made in the tropical rain forests of Puerto Rico strongly suggest that CH4 produced in these environments was derived from CO2 reduction, rather than from acetate consumption. This study explored the effects of bacterial competition for acetate, pH, and soil structure on the pathways of CH4 formation in tropical rain forest soils. Our goal was to test two principal hypotheses: (1) ferric iron-reducing bacteria out-competed methanogens for acetate, resulting in greater CO2 reduction rather than aceticlastic methanogenesis, and (2) the low pH of tropical rain forest soils favors CO2 reduction rather than aceticlastic methanogenesis. In addition, this study also investigated the effect of destroying soil aggregate structure on the pathways ...
A scaled physical model was operated to simulate steam drive operations in five-spot patterns with reservoir and operational parameters similar to those encountered in California reservoirs. The goal of this study was to elucidate the role of two important controllable parameters, viz., steam injection rate and steam quality and to explore the role of two important factors, oil viscosity and reservoir permeability on the performance of the steam drive. In addition, the influence of bottom water and a basal permeable layer were investigated. The experiments demonstrated that there is an optimum injection rate; that in the vicinity of this optimum an increased quantity results in improved oil steam ratios; that the viscosity of the oil at steam temperature, raised to a fractional power, 0.5, appears to correlate with oil production; that permeabilities in the darcy range have little effect on performance, but an increasing ...
Simulation and experimental results on the transport of microbes and nutrients in one-dimensional cores are presented, and the development of a three-dimensional, three-phase, multiple-component numerical model to describe the microbial transport and oil recovery in porous media is described. The change of rock's wettability and associated relative permeability values after microbial treatments were accounted for in the model for additional oil recovery. Porosity and permeability reductions due to cell clogging have been considered and the production of gas by microbial metabolism has been incorporated. Governing equations for microbial and nutrient transport are coupled with continuity and flow equations under conditions appropriate for a black oil reservoir. The computer simulator has been used to determine the effects of various transport parameters on microbial transport phenomena. The model can accurately describe the observed ...
Simulation and experimental results on the transport of microbes and nutrients in one-dimensional cores are presented, and the development of a three-dimensional, three-phase, multiple-component numerical model to describe the microbial transport and oil recovery in porous media is described. The change of rock`s wettability and associated relative permeability values after microbial treatments were accounted for in the model for additional oil recovery. Porosity and permeability reductions due to cell clogging have been considered and the production of gas by microbial metabolism has been incorporated. Governing equations for microbial and nutrient transport are coupled with continuity and flow equations under conditions appropriate for a black oil reservoir. The computer simulator has been used to determine the effects of various transport parameters on microbial transport phenomena. The model can accurately describe the observed transport of ...
A number of properties in steel components are detrimentally influenced when exposed to hydrogen environments. Under these conditions, atomic hydrogen is adsorbed on the steel surface, then absorbed and preferentially transported towards tri-dimensional stressed regions in the crystal lattice and into defects such as interfaces or dislocations. The hydrogen embrittlement susceptibility is strongly influenced by various microstructural parameters including the type of inclusions, steel composition and heat treating conditions. One of the alternatives employed in minimizing hydrogen embrittlement is the use of surface barriers for hydrogen permeation. In particular, the presence of surface nitride layers in steels can be considered as an effective barrier. Nitride steel surface layers can be produced by plasma nitriding with the concomitant benefits of improved surface hardness, as well as superior wear and fatigue resistance. Accordingly, in this work, the role of surface nitriding on ...
Photosynthetic carbohydrates from the leaves are exported through the phloem to growing tips, roots, flowers and fruits. If sucrose labelled with {sup 14}C is applied to the leaves of bean plants, the pathway for sugar movement may be readily observed by autoradiography. Students apply the labelled sucrose during class time and return the next day to press their plants. During the next class, the pressed and dried plants are placed against X-ray film and left in the dark for four weeks. the film is then developed, examined for presence of label and compared to the pressed plants. Source to sink movement is clearly illustrated and information about the mechanism of phloem transport and loading is gained through experimental treatments, which include blocking the phloem pathway and inhibiting energy production.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of the elderly accounting for the vast majority of dementia. Recently, many studies have implicated the role of inflammatory response, especially neuroinflammatory response in the development and progression of AD. However, the underlying mechanism of how inflammatory response induces AD is unknown. Kynurenine pathway is a major route of the amino acid tryptophan catabolism, resulting in the production of nicotine adenine dinucleotide and other neuroactive intermediates: quinolinic acid (QA) and kynurenic acid (KA). QA exerts different toxic effects, including over-activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and excitotoxicity, synaptic dysfunction and neuronal death. On the other hand, KA is identified as the only...
Background and purpose: The aims of this study were to investigate the anti-cancer activity of SZ-685C, an anthracycline analogue isolated from marine-derived mangrove endophytic fungi, and to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying such activity. Experimental approach: The effect of SZ-685C on the viability of cancer cell lines was investigated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. SZ-685C-induced apoptosis was assessed by Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labelling assay and analysis of caspase activation. The effect of SZ-685C on the Akt/FOXO pathway was studied using Western blotting analysis, and the in vivo anti-tumour efficacy was examined in ...
This issue of Carbon Market Perspectives on 'Pathways for implementing REDD+: Experience from carbon markets and communities' discusses the role of carbon markets in scaling up investments for REDD+ in developing countries. Nine articles authored by experienced negotiators on REDD+, carbon market actors, project developers and other leading experts share experiences and make suggestions on the key elements of a future international REDD+ regime: Architecture and underlying principles, measuring, reporting and verification (MRV), private-sector involvement, the rights of indigenous people and local communities, biodiversity conservation and environmental integrity. The articles are grouped under three main topics: the lessons of existing REDD+ projects; the future REDD+ regime and the role of carbon markets; and experiences and ideas about the involvement of indigenous people and local communities. (LN)
This paper reviews the molecular biology of the renin-angiotensin system. The renin gene structure is analyzed in detail, including an examination of the putative regulatory regions. The combined action of these regulatory sequences would result in the complex, tissue-specific expression and regulation observed in vivo. The expression of the tissue renin-angiotensin systems, which may have important physiological functions, is also described. In addition, the pathway of renin biosynthesis and secretion is reviewed. This includes speculation on the fate of circulating prorenin and the physiological role of multiple renin forms and secretory pathways. The molecular approaches described in this paper have greatly advanced our knowledge of the biology of the renin-angiotensin system. Future studies using these and other approaches should provide further insight into this complex system.
Current studies in plants suggest that the content of the coenzyme NAD is variable and potentially important in determining cell fate. In cases that implicate NAD consumption, re-synthesis must occur to maintain dinucleotide pools. Despite information on the pathways involved in NAD synthesis in plants, the existence of a mitochondrial nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase (NMNAT) activity which catalyses NAD synthesis from nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and ATP has not been reported. To verify the latter assumed pathway, experiments with purified and bioenergetically active mitochondria prepared from tubers of Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus L.) were performed. To determine whether NAD biosynthesis might occur, NMN was added to Jerusalem artichoke mitochondria (JAM)...
Many existing agents for diabetes therapy are unable to restore or maintain normal glucose homeostasis or prevent the eventual emergence of hyperglycemia-related complication. Therefore, agents based on novel mechanisms are sought to complement and extend the current therapeutic approaches. Based on the initial paper research, we focused on active STAT3 as an attractive pharmacological target for type 2 diabetes. The subsequent text mining with a unique query to identify suppressors but not activators of STAT3 revealed the ERK2/STAT3 pathway as a novel diabetes target. The description of ERK2 inhibitors as diabetes target had not been found in our text mining research at present. The mechanism-based peptide inhibitor for ERK2 was identified using the knowledge of the KIM sequence, which ha...
In three calves experimentally infected with Trypanosoma congolense the amounts of IgG1 and IgG2 were little changed and similar to those of normal animals. IgM increased in amount early in the infection and the amount of the increase appeared related to the parasite burden. The amounts of IgA and IgE were both much decreased and this also appeared related to the numbers of parasites in the blood. There was a decrease in the amounts of total haemolytic complement and complement components C1, C1q and C3 in the infected calves. Furthermore the amounts of properdin fluctuated with the cyclical changes in numbers of T. congolense parasites in the individual calves. No significant change in the amount of C8 was observed. It is considered that activation of both the alternative and the classical complement pathways occurs in trypanosome infected animals but that neither pathway goes to its terminal stages.
2-methylpropan-1-ol (isobutanol) is a leading candidate biofuel for the replacement or supplementation of current fossil fuels. Recent work has demonstrated glucose to isobutanol conversion through a modified amino acid pathway in a recombinant organism. Although anaerobic conditions are required for an economically competitive process, only aerobic isobutanol production has been feasible due to an imbalance in cofactor utilization. Two of the pathway enzymes, ketol-acid reductoisomerase and alcohol dehydrogenase, require nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH); glycolysis, however, produces only nicotinamide dinucleotide (NADH). Here, we compare two solutions to this imbalance problem: (1) over-expression of pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase PntAB and (2) construction of an NADH-de...
It is uncertain if downregulation of ?-adrenoceptor signaling pathway is promoted by an enhanced adrenergic tone at an early stage of cardiac disease, or it develops secondary to detrimental local myocardial changes in advanced heart failure. We examined the integrity of ?-adrenoceptor signaling pathway upon chronic infusion of isoproterenol, a ?-adrenoceptor agonist, at a dose producing no structural left ventricular (LV) remodeling and systolic dysfunction. Subcutaneous isoproterenol infusion (400??g?kg?1?h?1 over 16?days) to guinea pigs using osmotic minipumps produced no change in cardiac weights, LV internal dimensions, myocyte cross-sectional area, extent of interstitial fibrosis, and basal contractile function. Isolated, perfused heart preparations from isoproterenol-treated guinea ...
Summary Background Sorafenib is an oral multikinase inhibitor that blocks cell proliferation via the ERK pathway and angiogenesis via the VEGF pathway. This phase II trial was conducted to determine the efficacy and tolerability of sorafenib for the treatment of patients with metastatic urothelial cancer (UC) who had not had prior chemotherapy for advanced disease. Patients and Methods Seventeen chemo-na?ve UC patients with adequate performance status and organ function were treated with sorafenib 400?mg twice daily on a continuous basis until progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was objective tumor response rate as measured by RECIST criteria. Secondary endpoints included rate of prolonged stable disease (>3?months), time to progression, median and 1?yr survival and ...
Objective: To establish a computer program for rapid calculation of internal committed effective close through inhalation and ingestion pathways under radiological emergency. Methods: Visual Basic 6.0 is used to compile the generic procedures of internal committed effective dose by inhalation and ingestion in IAEA-TECDOC-1162, Generic Procedures for Assessment and Response during a Radiological Emergency. Results: The assessment methodology of internal committed effective dose by inhalation and ingestion under radiological emergency in the report IAEA-TECDOC-1162 can be coded into a computer program. Conclusions: This research provides a rapid method of assessment for internal committed effective dose by inhalation and ingestion under radiological emergency, and it may provide needed dosimetry data for treatment under emergency response. (authors)
A range of 6-substituted imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines were synthesized using a multicomponent coupling reaction. Most of these compounds were found to exhibit excellent activity against the colon cancer cell lines HT-29 and Caco-2, whilst not showing significant toxicity against white blood cells. Our studies have shown that the proteolytic phase of apoptosis was initiated 2 h after treatment with these imidazo-[1,2-a]pyridines. The data suggests that the imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-induced cell death in HT-29 and Caco-2 cells is mediated via pathway(s) that include the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria to the cytosol and the activation of caspase 3 and caspase 8.
This investigation presents scale-up of a detailed heterogeneous geostatistical model to a full field reservoir simulation model, considering both single and two-phase flow properties. The model represents a typical low permeability Danish North Sea chalk reservoir and includes capillary pressure and saturation end-point variations. Two new up-scaling methods has been investigated, all based on fine scale simulation on a cross section of the geomodel. The first methods assumes piston style behaviour and a coupled viscosity is introduced into the basic Darcy`s equations. The second method is a modification of the JBN method traditionally applied in analysing results from core flooding experiments, which emerged as the most successful and therefore also the recommended method. 1. In addition to the up scaling work we review the Equivalent Radius Method for capillary pressure normalisation with explicit derivation of type functions for Maastrichtian and Danian chalk ...
c-Jun N-terminal kinase 2 (JNK2) isoforms are transcribed from the jnk2 gene and are highly homologous with jnk1 and jnk3 transcriptional products....Full Text Available
Studies of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (RuBP) carboxylase from taxonomically diverse plants show that the enzyme from C3 and crassulacean acid metabolism pathway species exhibits lower Km(CO2)...Full Text Available
DescriptionThis new research programme activity on Urban Atmospheric Science will deliver aspects of the NERC strategy: Next Generation Science for Planet Earth. It has been developed as part of the Environment, Pollution & Human Health theme. Research in the Environment, Pollution & Human Health theme is directed at elucidating key environmental processes that form part of a causal pathway between an environmental hazard and disease outcome, and providing a predictive capability of the risk to human heal [continued...
We tested the hypothesis that the basal release of nitric oxide (NO) from endothelial cells modulates contractile activity in the corpus cavernosum (CC) via inhibition of the RhoA/Rho-kinase signaling...Full Text Available
BackgroundBiodiesel or ethanol derived from lipids or starch produced by microalgae may overcome many of the sustainability challenges previously ascribed to petroleum-based fuels and first generation plant-based biofuels. The paucity of microalgae genome sequences, however, limits gene-based biofuel feedstock optimization studies. Here we describe the sequencing and de novo transcriptome assembly for the non-model microalgae species, Dunaliella tertiolecta, and identify pathways and genes of importance related to biofuel production.ResultsNext generation DNA pyrosequencing technology applied to D. tertiolecta transcripts produced 1,363,336 high quality reads with an average length of 400 bases. Following quality and size trimming, ~ 45% of the high quality reads were assembled into 33,307 isotigs with a 31-fold coverage and 376,482 singletons. Assembled sequences and singletons were subjected to BLAST similarity searches and annotated with Gene Ontology (GO) and ...
The presence of a high number of activated T cells in the bloodstream and spontaneous proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro are striking characteristics of human T-cell leukemia...Full Text Available
Several early genes of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) encode proteins that mediate immune evasion by interference with the major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) pathway of antigen presentation...Full Text Available
The aim of this work is to suggest steps and policies to increase the introduction of cost-effective energy in conservation measures in Brazil. This report first addresses the motivations for a policy of energy efficiency and summarizes experiences in Brazil. It then considers the roles and perspectives of the diverse agents and review the instruments of policy. It concludes with an overview of strategic needs and lines of action.
We present evidence that the role of tryptophan and other potential intermediates in the pathways that could lead to indole derivatives needs to be reexamined. Two lines of Lemna gibba...Full Text Available
BackgroundWhen eukaryotic cells are deprived of amino acids, uncharged tRNAs accumulate and activate the conserved GCN2 protein kinase. Activated Gcn2p up-regulates the general amino...Full Text Available
The Wnt signaling pathway is a robust regulator of skeletal homeostasis. Gain-of-function mutations promote high bone mass, whereas loss of Lrp5 or Lrp6 co-receptors decrease bone mass. Similarly, mutations...Full Text Available
DescriptionThe recent sequencing of the complete genomes of several streptomycete species revealed the presence of a large number of cryptic' secondary metabolic gene clusters, and led to the realisation that these organisms have the ability to produce many more natural products than had previously been recognised. One of the aims of our work is to identify the physiological signals and regulatory mechanisms responsible for the activation of these 'cryptic' pathways, thus unleashing the full biosynthetic p [continued...
This study examined the life histories of a group of emerging scholars in the field of mathematics education who identify themselves as having a particular interest in and concern for issues of equity and diversity. Experiences of being the "other," "bearing witness" to "othering experiences," and "orienting experiences" in relation to issues of equity proved to be prominent themes in participants' life histories. These experiences were then linked to the positionality that these scholars now have in relation to their research in mathematics education.
The clinicopathologic features of 472 ovarian epithelial clear cell neoplasms (4 adenofibromas [AFs], 41 atypical proliferative [borderline] tumors [APTs], and 427 carcinomas [CAs]) were studied in...Full Text Available
The initiation and progression of several forms of retinal degenerations involve excessive, repetitive, and/or sustained oxidative stress that, in turn, mediate photoreceptor cell damage and...Full Text Available
Hyperthermia (HT) is a strong adjuvant treatment with radiotherapy and chemotherapy because it causes tumor reoxygenation. However, the detailed molecular mechanisms of how HT enhances tumor oxygenation...Full Text Available
The yeast phosphatidylinositol transfer protein (Sec14p) is required for biogenesis of Golgi-derived transport vesicles and cell viability, and this essential Sec14p requirement is abrogated by inactivation...Full Text Available
Despite intensive efforts, the intracellular signaling pathways that mediate apoptosis remain unclear. The human B lymphoma cell line, B104, possesses characteristics that make it an attractive model...Full Text Available
Stem-boring insects and methyl jasmonate (MeJA) are thought to induce similar complex chemical and anatomical defenses in conifers. To compare insect- and MeJA-induced terpenoid responses, we analyzed...Full Text Available
The food ingestion consequences due to radioactive particulates of an accidental release, scenario 1-RD-3, are evaluated for Savannah River Technology Center. The sizes of land areas requiring the protective action of food interdiction are calculated. The consequences of the particulate portion of the release are evaluated with the HOTSPOT model and an EXCEL spreadsheet for particulates.
BackgroundThe Ras and Notch signaling pathways are frequently activated during development to control many diverse cellular processes and are often dysregulated during tumorigenesis....Full Text Available
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are known to modulate intracellular effectors involved in cardiac function. We recently reported homocysteine (Hcy)-induced ERK-phosphorylation was suppressed...Full Text Available
Given the possibility of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza arriving in North America and monitoring programs that have been established to detect and track it, we review intercontinental movements...Full Text Available
Growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9), an oocyte-secreted member of the transforming growth factor β superfamily, progesterone receptor, cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox2; Ptgs2), and the EP2 prostaglandin...Full Text Available
African bovine trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma sp., is a major constraint on cattle productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Some African Bos taurus breeds are highly tolerant of infection, but the potentially more productive Bos indicus zebu breeds are much more susceptible. Zebu cattle are well adapted for plowing and haulage, and increasing their tolerance of trypanosomiasis could have a major impact on crop cultivation as well as dairy and beef production. We used three strategies to obtain short lists of candidate genes within QTL that were previously shown to regulate response to infection. We analyzed the transcriptomes of trypanotolerant N'Dama and susceptible Boran cattle after infection with Trypanosoma congolense. We sequenced EST libraries from these two breeds to identify polymorphisms that might underlie previously identified quantitative trait loci (QTL), and we assessed QTL regions and candidate loci for evidence of selective sweeps. The scan of the EST sequences ...
The expression status of the estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and that of the epidermal growth factor receptor Her-2/neu frequently correlate inversely in breast cancers. While ERα-dependent...Full Text Available
Rice, the world's major staple crop, is a poor source of essential micronutrients, including folates (vitamin B9). We report folate biofortification of rice seeds achieved by overexpressing two Arabidopsis thaliana genes of the pterin and para-aminobenzoate branches of the folate biosynthetic pathway from a single locus. We obtained a maximal enhancement as high as 100 times above wild type, with 100 g of polished raw grains containing up to four times the adult daily folate requirement.
Synthesis of the Streptococcus pneumoniae type 3 capsule requires the pathway glucose-6-phosphate (Glc-6-P) → Glc-1-P → UDP-Glc → UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA)...Full Text Available
DescriptionThe importance of inorganic nitrate for the nutrition and growth of marine and freshwater autotrophic phytoplankton has long been recognised, in particularly because of the 'blooms' formed in nitrate and phosphate polluted water and their possible roles as carbon dioxide sinks. By contrast, the utilisation of nitrate by heterotrophic bacteria has historically received less attention. Up until now, the primary role of heterotrophic bacteria has classically been considered to be the decomposition [continued...
Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 1 (CDK1) is the major M-phase kinase known also as the M-phase Promoting Factor or MPF. Studies performed during the last decade have shown many details of how CDK1 is regulated...Full Text Available
In Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the Lyme disease spirochete, the alternative σ factor σ54 (RpoN) directly activates transcription of another alternative σ...Full Text Available
Surveys of the antigenic properties of a wide range of variants of the H3N2 (Hong Kong) influenza virus subtype have revealed complex patterns of variants cocirculating during each of the main epidemic...Full Text Available
Extracellular ATP has been proposed as a paracrine signal in rodent islets, but it is unclear what role ATP plays in human islets. We now show the presence of an ATP signaling pathway that enhances...Full Text Available
Arsenic trioxide (As2O3), used to treat promyelocytic leukemia, triggers cell death via unknown mechanisms. To further our understanding of As2O3-induced...Full Text Available
Ethylene (C2H4) is a unique plant-signaling molecule that regulates numerous developmental processes. The key enzyme in the two-step biosynthetic pathway of ethylene is 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate...Full Text Available