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Sample records for aromatic retinoid ro

  1. Ultrastructure and /sup 3/H-TdR autoradiogram in the skin of guinea pigs after topical application of aromatic retinoid (Ro 10-9359)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ueda, K.; Inoue, Y.; Wakabayashi, S.; Kitamura, T. (Kyoto Prefectural Univ. of Medicine (Japan))

    1982-01-01

    The effect of topical application with 0.1% aromatic retinoid ointment for 7 days on quinea pig epidermis were investigated histologically, electron microscopically and autoradiographically. 1. Histological changes of the epidermis after topical application of aromatic retinoid were characterized by acanthosis and thickening of epidermal layer without prolonged rete ridge. Epidermal cells were stained slightly positive with alcian blue. 2. Labelling index in epidermis was 18% high in average rate, and labelled cells distributed in basal layer and 2 to 3 upper basal layers. Labelling index was 3 to 4 times higher than in control skin. 3. Ultrastructural changes were observed in nuclei and cytoplasm of epidermal cells. Nuclei were large in size and irregular in shape, and nucleoli were large in size and increased in number. In the cytoplasm, tonofilament was reduced in number and lots of vacuoles containing less dense material appeared. Mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes were rich in number. In the intercellular spaces, amorphous less dense materials were seen. Desmosomes were kept in figure and were floating in the wide intercellular spaces. 4. Differentiation and proliferation of the epidermis in guinea pig after topical application of aromatic retinoid and retinoic acid were almost same in quality of the reaction, but the reaction was different in quantity between both agents.

  2. Ultrastructure and 3H-TdR autoradiography after topical application of aromatic retinoid in guinea pigs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ueda, Keiichi; Maruo, Mitsuru; Inoue, Yuji; Wakabayashi, Shunji

    1981-01-01

    Histological, autoradiographical and electron microscopical investigations were performed on the epidermis of guinea pigs after topical application of 0.1% aromatic retinoid ointment for 7 days. Histologically, the epidermis exhibited a thickening of granular layer and acanthosis, without a prolonged rete ridge. Labelling indices were 3 to 4 times higher than in the control epidermis. Electron microscopically, the nuclei in the spinous and the basal layer were large in size and nucleoli were increased in number. In the cytoplasm, tonofilaments were reduced in number and lots of vacuoles containing less dense amorphous material appeared. Amorphous material was present in the intercellular spaces of the epidermis. Differentiation and proliferation of the epidermis in guinea pigs after topical application of aromatic retinoid showed almost the same response in quantity to the epidermis after topical application of retinoic acid, while the epidermal alternation was slight in degree than in the epidermis after topical application of retinoic acid. (author)

  3. Ultrastructure and /sup 3/H-TdR autoradiography after topical application of aromatic retinoid in guinea pigs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ueda, K.; Maruo, M.; Inoue, Y.; Wakabayashi, S. (Kyoto Prefectural Univ. of Medicine (Japan))

    1981-12-01

    Histological, autoradiographical and electron microscopical investigations were performed on the epidermis of guinea pigs after topical application of 0.1% aromatic retinoid ointment for 7 days. Histologically, the epidermis exhibited a thickening of granular layer and acanthosis, without a prolonged rete ridge. Labelling indices were 3 to 4 times higher than in the control epidermis. Electron microscopically, the nuclei in the spinous and the basal layer were large in size and nucleoli were increased in number. In the cytoplasm, tonofilaments were reduced in number and lots of vacuoles containing less dense amorphous material appeared. Amorphous material was present in the intercellular spaces of the epidermis. Differentiation and proliferation of the epidermis in guinea pigs after topical application of aromatic retinoid showed almost the same response in quantity to the epidermis after topical application of retinoic acid, while the epidermal alternation was slight in degree than in the epidermis after topical application of retinoic acid.

  4. Therapy of psoriasis with retinoid plus PUVA

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heidbreder, G.; Christophers, E.

    1979-01-01

    In a group of 40 patients suffering from wide-spread psoriasis oral administration of a retinoid (Ro 10-9359) was followed by PUVA therapy. The clearance rate was increased by 30% as compared to PUVA alone. Except for cheilitis no side effects were seen. Histological analysis in 20 patients before, during and after therapy revealed an intensification of psoriatic tissue changes after retinoid treatment. Loss of corneal layers, massive exoserosis, and neutrophil migration were prominent features. Mitotic counts were not increased by the pretreatment. The increased susceptibility of diseased skin to PUVA as produced by this drug appears to be based on several factors related to the tissue changes revealed by histology. (orig.) [de

  5. The retinoids. A review of their clinical pharmacology and therapeutic use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orfanos, C E; Ehlert, R; Gollnick, H

    1987-10-01

    With the introduction of the synthetic retinoids, oral therapy with an acceptable risk/benefit ratio became possible for a variety of skin diseases including severe acne, psoriasis and numerous genodermatoses. This article reviews the clinical pharmacology, mechanisms of action and therapeutic use of the retinoids, particularly isotretinoin (13-cis-retinoic acid) and etretinate. The free aromatic acid of etretinate, etretin, and the new polyaromatic retinoid compounds (arotinoids) are also discussed. Isotretinoin is used clinically for oral therapy of severe acne, but is also recommended for severe Gram-negative folliculitis and rosacea not responding to traditional therapy. The results of several studies have established that acne therapy should be started with 1.0 mg/kg/day for 2 to 3 months after which the daily dosage should be lowered to 0.2 to 0.5 mg/kg/day for another 2 to 3 months. This therapeutic regimen of isotretinoin has proven to be the most successful in preventing relapses. Etretinate is particularly useful for oral therapy of widespread plaque-like, pustular and erythrodermic psoriasis, and of generalised lichen planus, Darier's disease and severe congenital ichthyoses. Whereas pustular forms of psoriasis require a high daily dosage of 1.0 mg/kg/day, erythrodermic psoriasis should be treated with a lower dosage of 0.25 to 0.35 mg/kg/day. In chronic plaque-like psoriasis, a mean daily dosage of 0.5 mg/kg/day over several weeks to months, usually combined with photo(chemo)therapy, tar or dithranol, is recommended. Other indications for oral etretinate therapy are adequately treated with a moderate dosage of 0.4 to 0.75 mg/kg/day. Etretin differs from etretinate in having a much shorter elimination half-life of 2 to 3 days, in contrast to 80 to 100 days after long term administration of etretinate. Moreover, it has not been shown to increase serum cholesterol levels. However, its clinical efficacy is not yet clearly established. Among the arotinoids

  6. Consequences of the natural retinoid/retinoid X receptor ligands action in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell line: Focus on functional proteomics

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Flodrová, Dana; Toporová, L.; Laštovičková, Markéta; Macejová, D.; Hunaková, L.; Brtko, J.; Bobálová, Janette

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 281, NOV (2017), s. 26-34 ISSN 0378-4274 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA15-15479S Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) SAV-15-01 Program:Bilaterální spolupráce Institutional support: RVO:68081715 Keywords : breast cancer * MDA-MB-231 * biomarker * retinoids Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation OBOR OECD: Analytical chemistry Impact factor: 3.858, year: 2016

  7. Photodecomposition and Phototoxicity of Natural Retinoids

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    Peter P. Fu

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Sunlight is a known human carcinogen. Many cosmetics contain retinoid-based compounds, such as retinyl palmitate (RP, either to protect the skin or to stimulate skin responses that will correct skin damaged by sunlight. However, little is known about the photodecomposition of some retinoids and the toxicity of these retinoids and their sunlight-induced photodecomposition products on skin. Thus, studies are required to test whether topical application of retinoids enhances the phototoxicity and photocarcinogenicity of sunlight and UV light. Mechanistic studies are needed to provide insight into the disposition of retinoids in vitro and on the skin, and to test thoroughly whether genotoxic damage by UV-induced radicals may participate in any toxicity of topically applied retinoids in the presence of UV light. This paper reports the update information and our experimental results on photostability, photoreactions, and phototoxicity of the natural retinoids including retinol (ROH, retinal, retinoid acid (RA, retinyl acetate, and RP (Figure 1.

  8. Dose-dependent pharmacokinetics and teratogenic activity of topical retinoids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, R.P.; Willhite, C.C.; Berry, D.L.; Allen, P.V.

    1990-01-01

    Oral retinoid treatment can be teratogenic and topical applications are used to treat acne and smooth wrinkles. A single topical trace (2.5 μg; 191 μCi/kg) or high (1.3 mg; 195 μCi/kg) dose of all-trans-[10, 11- 3 H 2 ] retinoic acid (RA) dissolved in acetone was applied to 4 cm 2 shaved dorsal hamster skin. Peak plasma radioactivity (C max ) occurred at 12 and 36 hr and mean t1/2 values for parent PA absorption were 48 min and 2.8 hr, for trace and high dose, respectively. The dermal RA C max values were only 2% of that after an equivalent oral dose, but plasma AUC after dermal treatment was 63% of the oral value. The mean t1/2 for rapid elimination was shorter for the high (57 min) than for the trace (6.9 hr) dose, but t1/2 values for slow elimination were comparable (t1/2 high = 51.2 hr; t1/2 trace = 36.8 hr). Single topical application of 10-30 mg/kg RA or 5 mg/kg etretinate (Ro 10-9359) to pregnant hamsters (day 8) caused local hyperkeratosis, but failed to induce terata. Similar application of 10-1000 μg/kg arotinoid Ro 13-6298 caused dose-dependent terata, being twice as embryolethal by parenteral as enteric dosing. Skin toxicity and attenuated maternal blood levels limit the amount of retinoids that can reach the embryo

  9. HPMA copolymer-based polymer conjugates for the delivery and controlled release of retinoids

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Lidický, Ondřej; Šírová, Milada; Etrych, Tomáš

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 65, Suppl. 2 (2016), S233-S241 ISSN 0862-8408 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LQ1604 Institutional support: RVO:61389013 ; RVO:61388971 Keywords : polymer conjugate * retinoid * HPMA Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology; EA - Cell Biology (MBU-M) Impact factor: 1.461, year: 2016 http://www.biomed.cas.cz/physiolres/pdf/65%20Suppl%202/65_S233.pdf

  10. Quantitation of biological retinoids by high-pressure liquid chromatography: primary internal standardization using tritiated retinoids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cullum, M.E.; Zile, M.H.

    1986-01-01

    A single method is described for quantitation of 14 retinoids found in biological material. The method consists of reversed-phase HPLC, internal standardization, and carrier extraction procedures with three synthetic retinoids. Primary standardization of HPLC uv detector is achieved using tritiated all-trans-retinoic acid, all-trans-retinol, all-trans-retinyl palmitate, and all-trans-retinyl acetate. Extraction methods are standardized by correlating the uv absorbance of retinoids at 340 nm with radioactivity of tritiated retinoids of known specific activity. Quantitation of 10 pg of tritiated or 5 ng of nonradioactive retinoid per 0.1 g sample in a polarity range from 4-oxo-retinoic acid to retinyl stearate can be achieved in a single, 50-min chromatographic run. A single HPLC pump, a C 18 reversed-phased analytical column, a multistep three-solvent gradient, and inexpensive solvents based on methanol, water, and chloroform comprise this cost-effective chromatographic system. Our primary standardization method allows investigators employing different procedures to compare results between laboratories by standardizing the HPLC uv detector with commercially available tritiated retinoids. With this method we were able to quantitate nanomolar amounts of endogenous retinoic acids and retinyl esters, that HPLC uv only conditions usually would not detect in the circulation and liver of rats under physiological conditions

  11. Retinoid Signaling in Pancreatic Cancer, Injury and Regeneration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colvin, Emily K.; Susanto, Johana M.; Kench, James G.; Ong, Vivienna N.; Mawson, Amanda; Pinese, Mark; Chang, David K.; Rooman, Ilse; O'Toole, Sandra A.; Segara, Davendra; Musgrove, Elizabeth A.; Sutherland, Robert L.; Apte, Minoti V.; Scarlett, Christopher J.; Biankin, Andrew V.

    2011-01-01

    Background Activation of embryonic signaling pathways quiescent in the adult pancreas is a feature of pancreatic cancer (PC). These discoveries have led to the development of novel inhibitors of pathways such as Notch and Hedgehog signaling that are currently in early phase clinical trials in the treatment of several cancer types. Retinoid signaling is also essential for pancreatic development, and retinoid therapy is used successfully in other malignancies such as leukemia, but little is known concerning retinoid signaling in PC. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the role of retinoid signaling in vitro and in vivo in normal pancreas, pancreatic injury, regeneration and cancer. Retinoid signaling is active in occasional cells in the adult pancreas but is markedly augmented throughout the parenchyma during injury and regeneration. Both chemically induced and genetically engineered mouse models of PC exhibit a lack of retinoid signaling activity compared to normal pancreas. As a consequence, we investigated Cellular Retinoid Binding Protein 1 (CRBP1), a key regulator of retinoid signaling known to play a role in breast cancer development, as a potential therapeutic target. Loss, or significant downregulation of CRBP1 was present in 70% of human PC, and was evident in the very earliest precursor lesions (PanIN-1A). However, in vitro gain and loss of function studies and CRBP1 knockout mice suggested that loss of CRBP1 expression alone was not sufficient to induce carcinogenesis or to alter PC sensitivity to retinoid based therapies. Conclusions/Significance In conclusion, retinoid signalling appears to play a role in pancreatic regeneration and carcinogenesis, but unlike breast cancer, it is not mediated directly by CRBP1. PMID:22220202

  12. Retinoid signaling in pancreatic cancer, injury and regeneration.

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    Emily K Colvin

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Activation of embryonic signaling pathways quiescent in the adult pancreas is a feature of pancreatic cancer (PC. These discoveries have led to the development of novel inhibitors of pathways such as Notch and Hedgehog signaling that are currently in early phase clinical trials in the treatment of several cancer types. Retinoid signaling is also essential for pancreatic development, and retinoid therapy is used successfully in other malignancies such as leukemia, but little is known concerning retinoid signaling in PC. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We investigated the role of retinoid signaling in vitro and in vivo in normal pancreas, pancreatic injury, regeneration and cancer. Retinoid signaling is active in occasional cells in the adult pancreas but is markedly augmented throughout the parenchyma during injury and regeneration. Both chemically induced and genetically engineered mouse models of PC exhibit a lack of retinoid signaling activity compared to normal pancreas. As a consequence, we investigated Cellular Retinoid Binding Protein 1 (CRBP1, a key regulator of retinoid signaling known to play a role in breast cancer development, as a potential therapeutic target. Loss, or significant downregulation of CRBP1 was present in 70% of human PC, and was evident in the very earliest precursor lesions (PanIN-1A. However, in vitro gain and loss of function studies and CRBP1 knockout mice suggested that loss of CRBP1 expression alone was not sufficient to induce carcinogenesis or to alter PC sensitivity to retinoid based therapies. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In conclusion, retinoid signalling appears to play a role in pancreatic regeneration and carcinogenesis, but unlike breast cancer, it is not mediated directly by CRBP1.

  13. High-throughput screening (HTS) and modeling of the retinoid ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    Presentation at the Retinoids Review 2nd workshop in Brussels, Belgium on the application of high throughput screening and model to the retinoid system Presentation at the Retinoids Review 2nd workshop in Brussels, Belgium on the application of high throughput screening and model to the retinoid system

  14. Ku-pa-ro en las tablillas de Cnoso

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    José L. Melena

    1974-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper is intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the evidence of ku-pa-ro in the Knossos Linear B tablets. Its main purpose is to set up the importance of such aromatic plant in the Mycenaean economy at Knossos and to identify what kind of sedge was concealed under the name ku-pa-ro and what part of the plant was used and for what purposes. What it is stressed is the usage of the Cyperus rotundus L. (i. e. the ku-pa-ro in the industry of perfumes and as a food additive as well. What is inferred from the discussion on the evidence of ku-pa-ro issues a series of valuable data concerning the localization of certain place-names in the map of Crete, and concerning the explanation of ideogram *171. The high qualities of ku-pa-ro preserved in the tablets lead the author to assume that such a plant was cultivated in Crete and was one of the main aromatic plants used by the Mycenaeans in the making of perfumes.

  15. Signalling with retinoids in the human lung: validation of new tools for the expression study of retinoid receptors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poulain, Stéphane; Lacomme, Stéphanie; Battaglia-Hsu, Shyue-Fang; Manoir, Stanislas du; Brochin, Lydia; Vignaud, Jean-Michel; Martinet, Nadine

    2009-01-01

    Retinoid Receptors are involved in development and cell homeostasis. Alterations of their expressions have been observed in lung cancer. However, retinoid chemoprevention trials in populations at risk to develop such tumors have failed. Therefore, the pertinence of new clinical trials using second generation retinoid requires prior better understanding of retinoid signalling. This is our aim when validating extensively research tools, focused on Retinoic Acid Receptor beta, whose major role in lung cancer is documented. Biocomputing was used to assess the genomic organization of RAR beta. Its putative RAR-beta1' promoter features were investigated experimentally. Specific measures realized, with qRT-PCR Syber Green assays and a triplex of Taqman probes, were extensively validated to establish Retinoid Receptors mRNAs reference values for in vivo normal human bronchial cells, lung tumors and cell lines. Finally, a pan-RAR-beta antibody was generated and extensively validated by western-blot and immunoprecipitation. No promoter-like activity was found for RAR-beta1'. RAR-beta2 mRNAs increase signs the normal differentiation of the human bronchial epithelium while a decrease is observed in most lung cancer cell lines. Accordingly, it is also, along with RXR beta, down-regulated in lung tumors. When using nuclear extracts of BEAS-2B and normal lung cells, only the RAR-beta2 long protein isoform was recognized by our antibody. Rigorous samples processing and extensive biocomputing, were the key factors for this study. mRNA reference values and validated tools can now be used to advance researches on retinoid signalling in the lung

  16. Isolation of key retinoid signalling and metabolic modules in invertebrates

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    Ana André

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Retinoids are a class of molecules related to vitamin A (Retinol that are required for regulation of critical chordate ndocrine-mediated process, such as embryonic development, reproduction, and vision. To maintain such physiological process, chordates have a complex mechanism to regulate the spatial and temporal distribution of retinoids that includes metabolic and signalling modules. Initially, retinoid modules were seen as a chordate novelty. However, emerging biochemical and genomic evidences have challenged this view, clearly pointing to a more basal ancestry than previously thought. However, for the majority of non-chordate invertebrate lineages a clearly characterization of the main enzymatic/molecular players is still missing. Despite limited, the available evidence supports the presence of biologically active retinoid pathways in invertebrates. In order to enhance our insights on retinoid biology, evolution, and its putative disruption by environmental chemicals, the isolation and functional characterization of key retinoid metabolic players in marine invertebrates has been carried out.

  17. Retinoid quantification by HPLC/MS(n)

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCaffery, Peter; Evans, James; Koul, Omanand; Volpert, Amy; Reid, Kevin; Ullman, M. David

    2002-01-01

    Retinoic acid (RA) mediates most of the biological effects of vitamin A that are essential for vertebrate survival. It acts through binding to receptors that belong to the nuclear receptor transcription factor superfamily (Mangelsdorf et al. 1994). It is also a highly potent vertebrate teratogen. To determine the function and effects of endogenous and exogenous RA, it is important to have a highly specific, sensitive, accurate, and precise analytical procedure. Current analyses of RA and other retinoids are labor intensive, of poor sensitivity, have limited specificity, or require compatibility with RA reporter cell lines (Chen et al. 1995. BIOCHEM: Pharmacol. 50: 1257-1264; Creech Kraft et al. 1994. BIOCHEM: J. 301: 111-119; Lanvers et al. 1996. J. Chromatogr. B Biomed. Appl. 685: 233-240; Maden et al. 1998. DEVELOPMENT: 125: 4133-4144; Wagner et al. 1992. DEVELOPMENT: 116: 55-66). This paper describes an HPLC/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry product ion scan (HPLC/MS(n)) procedure for the analysis of retinoids that employs atmospheric pressure chemical ionization MS. The retinoids are separated by normal-phase column chromatography with a linear hexane-isopropanol-dioxane gradient. Each retinoid is detected by a unique series of MS(n) functions set at optimal collision-induced dissociation energy (30% to 32%) for all MS(n) steps. The scan events are divided into three segments, based on HPLC elution order, to maximize the mass spectrometer duty cycle. The all-trans, 9-cis, and 13-cis RA isomers are separated, if desired, by an isocratic hexane-dioxane-isopropanol mobile phase. This paper describes an HPLC/MS(n) procedure possessing high sensitivity and specificity for retinoids.

  18. Mefloquine use, psychosis, and violence: a retinoid toxicity hypothesis.

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    Mawson, Anthony

    2013-07-15

    Mefloquine use has been linked to severe gastrointestinal and neuropsychiatric adverse effects, including cognitive disturbances, anxiety, depression, psychosis, and violence. The adverse effects of the drug are thought to result from the secondary consequences of hepatocellular injury; in fact, mefloquine is known to cause a transient, anicteric chemical hepatitis. However, the mechanism of mefloquine-associated liver damage and the associated neuropsychiatric and behavioral effects of the drug are not well understood. Mefloquine and other 8-amino-quinolines are the only antimalarial drugs that target the liver-stage malaria parasites, which selectively absorb vitamin A from the host. Vitamin A is also stored mainly in the liver, in potentially poisonous concentrations. These observations suggest that both the therapeutic effectiveness of mefloquine and its adverse effects are related to the ability of the 8-aminoquinolines to alter the metabolism of retinoids (vitamin A and its congeners). Several lines of evidence support the hypothesis that mefloquine neurotoxicity and other adverse effects reflect an endogenous form of hypervitaminosis A due to a process involving: mefloquine-induced dehydrogenase inhibition; the accumulation of retinoids in the liver; retinoid-induced hepatocellular damage; the spillage of stored retinoids into the circulation; and the transport of these compounds to the gut and brain in toxic concentrations. The retinoid hypothesis could be tested clinically by comparing cases of mefloquine toxicity and untreated controls in terms of retinoid profiles (retinol, retinyl esters, percent retinyl esters, and retinoic acid). Subject to such tests, retinoid profiling could provide an indicator for assessing mefloquine-associated adverse effects.

  19. Breastfeeding, retinoids, and postpartum depression: a new theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Anthony R; Xueyuan, Wang

    2013-09-25

    Postpartum depression (PPD) is an international public health problem affecting at least 1 in 8 mothers. Known risk factors include: giving birth to a preterm or low birth weight infant, babies with greater symptoms of illness at age 4-6 weeks, formula feeding, younger maternal age, smoking, and fatigue. Prolonged breastfeeding is associated with a reduced risk of PPD but the mechanisms are not well understood. Interventions for PPD focusing on psychosocial risk factors have been largely unsuccessful, suggesting that the condition has a mainly biological basis. The hypothesis proposed for consideration is that breastfeeding protects against PPD by maintaining endogenous retinoids (vitamin A-related compounds) below a threshold concentration. In fact, breast milk is rich in retinoids; pregnant women accumulate retinoids in liver and breast in preparation for lactation; there is increasing evidence that retinoids in higher concentration are associated with cognitive disturbances and mood disorders, including depression and suicide; and prolonged lactation reduces maternal stores of retinoids. Consistent with this hypothesis, it is estimated that an amount of vitamin A is transferred from mother to infant during the first six months of exclusive breastfeeding equivalent to 76% of a dose known to cause acute vitamin A poisoning in an adult. Breastfeeding may thus have evolutionary-adaptive functions for both mother and infant, transferring vital nutrients to an infant unable to feed itself, yet at the same time providing a natural means of reducing potentially toxic concentrations of retinoids in the mother. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Retinoid receptor signaling and autophagy in acute promyelocytic leukemia.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Orfali, Nina

    2014-05-15

    Retinoids are a family of signaling molecules derived from vitamin A with well established roles in cellular differentiation. Physiologically active retinoids mediate transcriptional effects on cells through interactions with retinoic acid (RARs) and retinoid-X (RXR) receptors. Chromosomal translocations involving the RARα gene, which lead to impaired retinoid signaling, are implicated in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), alone and in combination with arsenic trioxide (ATO), restores differentiation in APL cells and promotes degradation of the abnormal oncogenic fusion protein through several proteolytic mechanisms. RARα fusion-protein elimination is emerging as critical to obtaining sustained remission and long-term cure in APL. Autophagy is a degradative cellular pathway involved in protein turnover. Both ATRA and ATO also induce autophagy in APL cells. Enhancing autophagy may therefore be of therapeutic benefit in resistant APL and could broaden the application of differentiation therapy to other cancers. Here we discuss retinoid signaling in hematopoiesis, leukemogenesis, and APL treatment. We highlight autophagy as a potential important regulator in anti-leukemic strategies.

  1. Off-label uses of retinoids in dermatology

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    Wei Li

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Retinoids has been used widely in the topical and systemic treatments of various dermatoses: psoriasis, disorders of keratinization (DOK, keratotic genodermatosis, and severe acne. Moreover, it is also used in the treatment and/or chemoprevention of skin cancer and other neoplasms. Retinoids display key regulatory functions and most dermatologists are familiar with the FDA-approved indication of this medication. Retinoic acid is a potent signaling molecule that is essential for many biological processes, and its levels are tightly regulated by mechanisms that are only partially understood. This article will review these recent findings and attempt to synthesize their meaning to provide a view into the off-label uses of retinoids in dermatology with an emphasis on oral isotretinoin and acitrein.

  2. Alcohol and retinoids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crabb, D.W.; Pinairs, J.; Hasanadka, R.

    2001-01-01

    , M. Fang, and David W. Crabb; (2) Alcohol, vitamin A, and beta-carotene: Adverse interactions, by M. A. Leo and Charles S. Lieber; (3) Retinoic acid, hepatic stellate cells, and Kupffer cells, by Hidekazu Tsukamoto, K. Motomura, T. Miyahara, and M. Ohata; (4) Retinoid storage and metabolism in liver...

  3. Retinoid receptor signaling and autophagy in acute promyelocytic leukemia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orfali, Nina; McKenna, Sharon L.; Cahill, Mary R.; Gudas, Lorraine J.; Mongan, Nigel P.

    2014-01-01

    Retinoids are a family of signaling molecules derived from vitamin A with well established roles in cellular differentiation. Physiologically active retinoids mediate transcriptional effects on cells through interactions with retinoic acid (RARs) and retinoid-X (RXR) receptors. Chromosomal translocations involving the RARα gene, which lead to impaired retinoid signaling, are implicated in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), alone and in combination with arsenic trioxide (ATO), restores differentiation in APL cells and promotes degradation of the abnormal oncogenic fusion protein through several proteolytic mechanisms. RARα fusion-protein elimination is emerging as critical to obtaining sustained remission and long-term cure in APL. Autophagy is a degradative cellular pathway involved in protein turnover. Both ATRA and ATO also induce autophagy in APL cells. Enhancing autophagy may therefore be of therapeutic benefit in resistant APL and could broaden the application of differentiation therapy to other cancers. Here we discuss retinoid signaling in hematopoiesis, leukemogenesis, and APL treatment. We highlight autophagy as a potential important regulator in anti-leukemic strategies. - Highlights: • Normal and aberrant retinoid signaling in hematopoiesis and leukemia is reviewed. • We suggest a novel role for RARα in the development of X-RARα gene fusions in APL. • ATRA therapy in APL activates transcription and promotes onco-protein degradation. • Autophagy may be involved in both onco-protein degradation and differentiation. • Pharmacologic autophagy induction may potentiate ATRA's therapeutic effects

  4. Retinoid receptor signaling and autophagy in acute promyelocytic leukemia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Orfali, Nina [Cork Cancer Research Center, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA. (United States); McKenna, Sharon L. [Cork Cancer Research Center, University College Cork, Cork (Ireland); Cahill, Mary R. [Department of Hematology, Cork University Hospital, Cork (Ireland); Gudas, Lorraine J., E-mail: ljgudas@med.cornell.edu [Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA. (United States); Mongan, Nigel P., E-mail: nigel.mongan@nottingham.ac.uk [Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, LE12 5RD (United Kingdom); Department of Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA. (United States)

    2014-05-15

    Retinoids are a family of signaling molecules derived from vitamin A with well established roles in cellular differentiation. Physiologically active retinoids mediate transcriptional effects on cells through interactions with retinoic acid (RARs) and retinoid-X (RXR) receptors. Chromosomal translocations involving the RARα gene, which lead to impaired retinoid signaling, are implicated in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), alone and in combination with arsenic trioxide (ATO), restores differentiation in APL cells and promotes degradation of the abnormal oncogenic fusion protein through several proteolytic mechanisms. RARα fusion-protein elimination is emerging as critical to obtaining sustained remission and long-term cure in APL. Autophagy is a degradative cellular pathway involved in protein turnover. Both ATRA and ATO also induce autophagy in APL cells. Enhancing autophagy may therefore be of therapeutic benefit in resistant APL and could broaden the application of differentiation therapy to other cancers. Here we discuss retinoid signaling in hematopoiesis, leukemogenesis, and APL treatment. We highlight autophagy as a potential important regulator in anti-leukemic strategies. - Highlights: • Normal and aberrant retinoid signaling in hematopoiesis and leukemia is reviewed. • We suggest a novel role for RARα in the development of X-RARα gene fusions in APL. • ATRA therapy in APL activates transcription and promotes onco-protein degradation. • Autophagy may be involved in both onco-protein degradation and differentiation. • Pharmacologic autophagy induction may potentiate ATRA's therapeutic effects.

  5. Chromatographic analysis of endogenous retinoids in tissues and serum

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schmidt, C.K.; Brouwer, A.; Nau, H.

    2003-01-01

    We present a reliable, highly sensitive, and versatile method for the simultaneous determination of endogenous polar (acidic) and apolar (retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters) retinoids in various biological matrices. Following a single liquid extraction of retinoids from tissues or plasma with

  6. Retinoid-binding proteins: similar protein architectures bind similar ligands via completely different ways.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yu-Ru Zhang

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Retinoids are a class of compounds that are chemically related to vitamin A, which is an essential nutrient that plays a key role in vision, cell growth and differentiation. In vivo, retinoids must bind with specific proteins to perform their necessary functions. Plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP and epididymal retinoic acid binding protein (ERABP carry retinoids in bodily fluids, while cellular retinol-binding proteins (CRBPs and cellular retinoic acid-binding proteins (CRABPs carry retinoids within cells. Interestingly, although all of these transport proteins possess similar structures, the modes of binding for the different retinoid ligands with their carrier proteins are different. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this work, we analyzed the various retinoid transport mechanisms using structure and sequence comparisons, binding site analyses and molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that in the same family of proteins and subcellular location, the orientation of a retinoid molecule within a binding protein is same, whereas when different families of proteins are considered, the orientation of the bound retinoid is completely different. In addition, none of the amino acid residues involved in ligand binding is conserved between the transport proteins. However, for each specific binding protein, the amino acids involved in the ligand binding are conserved. The results of this study allow us to propose a possible transport model for retinoids. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results reveal the differences in the binding modes between the different retinoid-binding proteins.

  7. Potential role of retinoids in ovarian physiology and pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Yanwen; Li, Chunjin; Chen, Lu; Wang, Fengge; Zhou, Xu

    2017-06-01

    Retinoids (retinol and its derivatives) are required for maintaining vision, immunity, barrier function, reproduction, embryogenesis, cell proliferation and differentiation. Furthermore, retinoid signaling plays a key role in initiating meiosis of germ cells of the mammalian fetal ovary. Recently, studies indicated that precise retinoid level regulation in the ovary provides a molecular control of ovarian development, steroidogenesis and oocyte maturation. Besides, abnormal retinoid signaling may be involved in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common ovarian endocrinopathies in reproductive-aged women worldwide. This review primarily summarizes recent advancements made in investigating the action of retinoid signaling in ovarian physiology as well as the abnormal retinoid signaling in PCOS. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  8. Acyclic retinoid in chemoprevention of hepatocellular carcinoma: Targeting phosphorylated retinoid X receptor-α for prevention of liver carcinogenesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masahito Shimizu

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the key features of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC is the high rate of intrahepatic recurrence that correlates with poor prognosis. Therefore, in order to improve the clinical outcome for patients with HCC, development of a chemopreventive agent that can decrease or delay the incidence of recurrence is a critical issue for urgent investigation. Acyclic retinoid (ACR, a synthetic retinoid, successfully improves HCC patient survival by preventing recurrence and the formation of secondary tumors. A malfunction of the retinoid X receptor-α (RXRα due to phosphorylation by the Ras-MAPK signaling pathway plays a critical role in liver carcinogenesis, and ACR exerts chemopreventive effects on HCC development by inhibiting RXRα phosphorylation. Here, we review the relationship between retinoid signaling abnormalities and liver disease, the mechanisms of how RXRα phosphorylation contributes to liver carcinogenesis, and the detailed effects of ACR on preventing HCC development, especially based on the results of our basic and clinical research. We also outline the concept of "clonal deletion and inhibition" therapy, which is defined as the removal and inhibition of latent malignant clones from the liver before they expand into clinically detectable HCC, because ACR prevents the development of HCC by implementing this concept. Looking toward the future, we discuss "combination chemoprevention" using ACR as a key drug since it can generate a synergistic effect, and may thus be an effective new strategy for the prevention of HCC.

  9. Effects of retinoids on ultraviolet-induced carcinogenesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Epstein, J.H.

    1981-01-01

    The evidence for effects of the retinoids on UV-induced carcinogenesis is sparse. Clinical observations indicate that topical RA can cause significant regression of premalignant actinic keratoses. Also there is some evidence that this agent can cause dissolution of some basal cell epitheliomas. However this latter effect does not appear to be of therapeutic value. Systemic retinoids are of little value in the treatment of premalignant and malignant cutaneous lesions though 13-cis-retinoic acid might be of use in the basal cell nevus syndrome. Examination of the influence of the retinoids on photocarcinogenesis essentially has been confined to RA and animal experimentation. RA in nontoxic concentrations can both stimulate and inhibit photocarcinogenesis depending upon the circumstances of the study. The mechanisms of these responses are not clear. Influences on DNA synthesis directly and/or indirectly or on immune responses may be involved in both effects. Preliminary studies with oral 13-cis-retinoic acid have not demonstrated any effects to date on UV-induced skin cancer formation

  10. Side effects of retinoid therapy on the quality of vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bergler-Czop Beata

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Retinoids are compounds chemically related to vitamin A, which are frequently used in dermatological practice (1. They are characterized by numerous mechanisms of action leading to normalization of keratinocyte proliferation and maturation. They have anti-seborrhoeic, immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects (1, 2. A number of side effects to retinoid treatment have been recorded; one group of such side effects relates to eyes and vision. Dry eye syndrome and blepharoconjunctivitis are the most common side effects, appearing in 20-50 % of patients treated with retinoids. They often contribute to the occurrence of other side-effects such as eye discomfort and contact lens intolerance. Due to the widespread use in clinical practice, the adverse effects, including ocular side effects, should be studied. To confirm the variety of adverse effects of retinoids, several case reports of rare side-effects are presented.

  11. Retinoid production using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli with a two-phase culture system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Hui-Jeong; Yoon, Sang-Hwal; Ryu, Hee-Kyung; Kim, Jung-Hun; Wang, Chong-Long; Kim, Jae-Yean; Oh, Deok-Kun; Kim, Seon-Won

    2011-07-29

    Retinoids are lipophilic isoprenoids composed of a cyclic group and a linear chain with a hydrophilic end group. These compounds include retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, retinyl esters, and various derivatives of these structures. Retinoids are used as cosmetic agents and effective pharmaceuticals for skin diseases. Retinal, an immediate precursor of retinoids, is derived by β-carotene 15,15'-mono(di)oxygenase (BCM(D)O) from β-carotene, which is synthesized from the isoprenoid building blocks isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). Retinoids are chemically unstable and biologically degraded via retinoic acid. Although extensive studies have been performed on the microbial production of carotenoids, retinoid production using microbial metabolic engineering has not been reported. Here, we report retinoid production using engineered Escherichia coli that express exogenous BCM(D)O and the mevalonate (MVA) pathway for the building blocks synthesis in combination with a two-phase culture system using a dodecane overlay. Among the BCM(D)O tested in E. coli, the synthetic retinoid synthesis protein (SR), based on bacteriorhodopsin-related protein-like homolog (Blh) of the uncultured marine bacteria 66A03, showed the highest β-carotene cleavage activity with no residual intracellular β-carotene. By introducing the exogenous MVA pathway, 8.7 mg/L of retinal was produced, which is 4-fold higher production than that of augmenting the MEP pathway (dxs overexpression). There was a large gap between retinal production and β-carotene consumption using the exogenous MVA pathway; therefore, the retinal derivatives were analyzed. The derivatives, except for retinoic acid, that formed were identified, and the levels of retinal, retinol, and retinyl acetate were measured. Amounts as high as 95 mg/L retinoids were obtained from engineered E. coli DH5α harboring the synthetic SR gene and the exogenous MVA pathway in addition to dxs overexpression, which

  12. Organochlorine contaminant and retinoid levels in blubber of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) off northwestern Spain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tornero, Victoria; Borrell, Assumpcio; Aguilar, Alex; Forcada, Jaume; Lockyer, Christina

    2006-01-01

    The effect of age, sex, nutritive condition and organochlorine concentration on blubber retinoid concentrations was examined in 74 common dolphins incidentally caught off northwestern Spain. Age and blubber lipid content were strong determinants of the retinoid concentrations in males, while these variables did not account for the variation found in females. Retinoids were positively correlated with organochlorines in males and negatively in females. However, pollution levels were moderate and likely to be below threshold levels above that a toxicological response is to be expected. Thus, a cause-effect relationship between organochlorine and retinoid concentrations could not be properly established, and the observed correlation may be the result of an independent association of the two variables with age. Further research on the influence of the best predictor variables on retinoid dynamics is required to implement the use of retinoids as biomarkers of pollutant exposure in cetaceans. - Organochlorine contaminants and retinoids in common dolphins

  13. Retinoids, race and the pathogenesis of dengue hemorrhagic fever.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Anthony R

    2013-12-01

    Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is the most significant mosquito-borne viral disease worldwide in terms of illness, mortality and economic cost, but the pathogenesis of DHF is not well understood and there is no specific treatment or vaccine. Based on evidence of liver involvement, it is proposed that dengue virus and retinoids interact to cause cholestatic liver damage, resulting in the spillage of stored retinoids into the circulation and in an endogenous form of hypervitaminosisis A manifested by the signs and symptoms of the disease, including: fever, severe joint and bone pain, capillary leakage, thrombocytopenia, headache, and gastrointestinal symptoms. While retinoids in low concentration are essential for numerous biological functions, they are prooxidant, cytotoxic, mutagenic and teratogenic in higher concentration, especially when unbound to protein, and an endogenous form of vitamin A intoxication is recognized in cholestasis. The model tentatively explains the observations that 1) repeat infections are more severe than initial dengue virus infections; 2) the incidence of denue has increased dramatically worldwide in recent decades; 3) DHF is less prevalent in people of African ancestry than those of other racial backgrounds; and 4) infants are protected from dengue. The retinoid toxicity hypothesis of DHF predicts the co-existence of low serum concentrations of retinol coupled with high concentrations of retinoic acid and an increased percentage of retinyl esters to total vitamin A. Subject to such tests, it may be possible to treat DHF effectively using drugs that target the metabolism and expression of retinoids. Copyright © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  14. A possible contribution of retinoids to regulation of fetal B lymphopoiesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xinrong; Welner, Robert S; Kincade, Paul W

    2009-09-01

    We recently found that all trans retinoic acid (ATRA) accelerated B lymphocyte formation. In the current study, we address the question whether retinoids account for the rapid lymphopoiesis that is characteristic of fetal progenitors. Surprisingly, addition of ATRA to fetal liver cultures actually reduced B lymphopoiesis. A pan-retinoid receptor antagonist selectively suppressed lymphocyte formation from fetal and adult progenitors, suggesting some normal contribution of retinoids to this process. Consistent with this role, B lymphopoiesis was compromised in the marrow of mice with prolonged vitamin A deficiency. Recently identified B1 progenitors from adult marrow were similar to adult B2 progenitors in that their differentiation was stimulated by ATRA. The inhibitory response observed with fetal cells was seen when adult progenitors were exposed to high doses in culture or when adult mice were treated with ATRA for 2 wk. In addition to explosive lymphocyte generation, fetal progenitors tend to be less IL-7 dependent than their adult counterparts, but ATRA did not make fetal progenitors IL-7 independent. We conclude that all known categories of B lineage progenitors are responsive to retinoids and probably regulated by these compounds under physiological conditions. Retinoids may account in part for rapid differentiation in fetal life, but not all unique features of fetal progenitors.

  15. Changes in the skeleton after long-term treatment with retinoids

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Montag, M.; Reiser, M.; Hamm, H.; Traupe, H.; Vogt, H.J.

    1988-07-01

    The synthetic retinoids, the vitamin-A-derivatives ethretinate and isotretinoin, have substantially enlarged the therapeutic arsenal in dermatology. They are primarily used in severe cases of acne and cornification disorders. In the majority of cases, long-term treatment is necessary. Certain side effects in the skeletal system can occur, e.g., osteoporosis, premature epiphyseal closure, and changes similar to DISH (diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis). We discuss the reports in the literature and our own observations in 31 patients treated at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Muenster, as well as at the Technical University in Munich. In 3 out of 31 patients treated by retinoids on a long-term basis, skeletal changes were found radiologically as a result of the retinoid medication.

  16. Retinoids in the treatment of glioma: a new perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mawson AR

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Anthony R MawsonDepartment of Health Policy and Management, School of Health Sciences, College of Public Service, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS, USAAbstract: Primary brain tumors are among the top ten causes of cancer-related deaths in the US. Malignant gliomas account for approximately 70% of the 22,500 new cases of malignant primary brain tumors diagnosed in adults each year and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Despite optimal treatment, the prognosis for patients with gliomas remains poor. The use of retinoids (vitamin A and its congeners in the treatment of certain tumors was originally based on the assumption that these conditions were associated with an underlying deficiency of vitamin A and that supplementation with pharmacological doses would correct the deficiency. Yet the results of retinoid treatment have been only modestly beneficial and usually short-lived. Studies also indicate that vitamin A excess and supplementation have pro-oxidant effects and are associated with increased risks of mortality from cancer and other diseases. The therapeutic role of vitamin A in cancer thus remains uncertain and a new perspective on the facts is needed. The modest and temporary benefits of retinoid treatment could result from a process of feedback inhibition, whereby exogenous retinoid temporarily inhibits the endogenous synthesis of these compounds. In fact, repeated and/or excessive exposure of the tissues to endogenous retinoic acid may contribute to carcinogenesis. Gliomas, in particular, may result from an imbalance in retinoid receptor expression initiated by environmental factors that increase the endogenous production of retinoic acid in glia. At the receptor level, it is proposed that this imbalance is characterized by excessive expression of retinoic acid receptor-α(RARα and reduced expression of retinoic acid receptor-β (RARβ. This suggests a potential new treatment strategy for gliomas, possibly even at a

  17. Evolution of Retinoid and Steroid Signaling: Vertebrate Diversification from an Amphioxus Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albalat, Ricard; Brunet, Frédéric; Laudet, Vincent; Schubert, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Although the physiological relevance of retinoids and steroids in vertebrates is very well established, the origin and evolution of the genetic machineries implicated in their metabolic pathways is still very poorly understood. We investigated the evolution of these genetic networks by conducting an exhaustive survey of components of the retinoid and steroid pathways in the genome of the invertebrate chordate amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae). Due to its phylogenetic position at the base of chordates, amphioxus is a very useful model to identify and study chordate versus vertebrate innovations, both on a morphological and a genomic level. We have characterized more than 220 amphioxus genes evolutionarily related to vertebrate components of the retinoid and steroid pathways and found that, globally, amphioxus has orthologs of most of the vertebrate components of these two pathways, with some very important exceptions. For example, we failed to identify a vertebrate-like machinery for retinoid storage, transport, and delivery in amphioxus and were also unable to characterize components of the adrenal steroid pathway in this invertebrate chordate. The absence of these genes from the amphioxus genome suggests that both an elaboration and a refinement of the retinoid and steroid pathways took place at the base of the vertebrate lineage. In stark contrast, we also identified massive amplifications in some amphioxus gene families, most extensively in the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily, which, based on phylogenetic and genomic linkage analyses, were likely the result of duplications specific to the amphioxus lineage. In sum, this detailed characterization of genes implicated in retinoid and steroid signaling in amphioxus allows us not only to reconstruct an outline of these pathways in the ancestral chordate but also to discuss functional innovations in retinoid homeostasis and steroid-dependent regulation in both cephalochordate and vertebrate evolution

  18. Uptake and processing of [3H]retinoids in rat liver studied by electron microscopic autoradiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hendriks, H.F.; Elhanany, E.; Brouwer, A.; de Leeuw, A.M.; Knook, D.L.

    1988-01-01

    The role of rat liver cell organelles in retinoid uptake and processing was studied by electron microscopic autoradiography. [ 3 H]Retinoids were administered either orally, to make an inventory of the cell organelles involved, or intravenously as chylomicron remnant constituents to study retinoid processing by the liver with time. No qualitative differences were observed between the two routes of administration. Time-related changes in the distribution of grains were studied using chylomicron remnant [ 3 H]retinoids. The percentages of grains observed over cells and the space of Disse at 5 and 30 min after administration were, respectively: parenchymal cells, 72.6 and 70.4%; fat-storing cells, 5.0 and 18.1%, and the space of Disse, 14.4 and 8.9%. Low numbers of grains were observed over endothelial and Kupffer cells. The percentages of grains observed over parenchymal cell organelles were, respectively: sinusoidal area, 59.6 and 34.4%; smooth endoplasmic reticulum associated with glycogen, 13.8 and 13.4%; mitochondria, 5.4 and 13.6%; rough endoplasmic reticulum, 4.2 and 7.3%, and rough endoplasmic reticulum associated with mitochondria, 3.7 and 6.5%. It is concluded that chylomicron remnant [ 3 H]retinoids in combination with electron microscopic autoradiography provide a good system to study the liver processing of retinoids in vivo. These results, obtained in the intact liver under physiological conditions, further substantiate that retinoids are processed through parenchymal cells before storage occurs in fat-storing cell lipid droplets, that retinoid uptake is not mediated through lysosomes and that the endoplasmic reticulum is a major organelle in retinoid processing

  19. Liposomal Formulation of Retinoids Designed for Enzyme Triggered Release

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Palle Jacob; Adolph, Sidsel Kramshøj; Subramanian, Arun Kumar

    2010-01-01

    The design of retinoid phospholipid prodrugs is described based on molecular dynamics simulations and cytotoxicity studies of synthetic retinoid esters. The prodrugs are degradable by secretory phospholipase A(2) IIA and have potential in liposomal drug delivery targeting tumors. We have synthesi...... displayed IC50 values in the range of 3-19 mu M toward HT-29 and Colo205 colon cancer cells in the presence of phospholipase A(2), while no significant cell death was observed in the absence of the enzyme....

  20. Cumulative irritation potential of topical retinoid formulations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leyden, James J; Grossman, Rachel; Nighland, Marge

    2008-08-01

    Localized irritation can limit treatment success with topical retinoids such as tretinoin and adapalene. The factors that influence irritant reactions have been shown to include individual skin sensitivity, the particular retinoid and concentration used, and the vehicle formulation. To compare the cutaneous tolerability of tretinoin 0.04% microsphere gel (TMG) with that of adapalene 0.3% gel and a standard tretinoin 0.025% cream. The results of 2 randomized, investigator-blinded studies of 2 to 3 weeks' duration, which utilized a split-face method to compare cumulative irritation scores induced by topical retinoids in subjects with healthy skin, were combined. Study 1 compared TMG 0.04% with adapalene 0.3% gel over 2 weeks, while study 2 compared TMG 0.04% with tretinoin 0.025% cream over 3 weeks. In study 1, TMG 0.04% was associated with significantly lower cumulative scores for erythema, dryness, and burning/stinging than adapalene 0.3% gel. However, in study 2, there were no significant differences in cumulative irritation scores between TMG 0.04% and tretinoin 0.025% cream. Measurements of erythema by a chromameter showed no significant differences between the test formulations in either study. Cutaneous tolerance of TMG 0.04% on the face was superior to that of adapalene 0.3% gel and similar to that of a standard tretinoin cream containing a lower concentration of the drug (0.025%).

  1. Retinoids in the treatment of glioma: a new perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Anthony R

    2012-01-01

    Primary brain tumors are among the top ten causes of cancer-related deaths in the US. Malignant gliomas account for approximately 70% of the 22,500 new cases of malignant primary brain tumors diagnosed in adults each year and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Despite optimal treatment, the prognosis for patients with gliomas remains poor. The use of retinoids (vitamin A and its congeners) in the treatment of certain tumors was originally based on the assumption that these conditions were associated with an underlying deficiency of vitamin A and that supplementation with pharmacological doses would correct the deficiency. Yet the results of retinoid treatment have been only modestly beneficial and usually short-lived. Studies also indicate that vitamin A excess and supplementation have pro-oxidant effects and are associated with increased risks of mortality from cancer and other diseases. The therapeutic role of vitamin A in cancer thus remains uncertain and a new perspective on the facts is needed. The modest and temporary benefits of retinoid treatment could result from a process of feedback inhibition, whereby exogenous retinoid temporarily inhibits the endogenous synthesis of these compounds. In fact, repeated and/or excessive exposure of the tissues to endogenous retinoic acid may contribute to carcinogenesis. Gliomas, in particular, may result from an imbalance in retinoid receptor expression initiated by environmental factors that increase the endogenous production of retinoic acid in glia. At the receptor level, it is proposed that this imbalance is characterized by excessive expression of retinoic acid receptor-α (RARα) and reduced expression of retinoic acid receptor-β (RARβ). This suggests a potential new treatment strategy for gliomas, possibly even at a late stage of the disease, ie, to combine the use of a RARα antagonist and a RARβ agonist. According to this hypothesis, the RARα antagonist would be expected to inhibit RAR

  2. Retinoids in the treatment of glioma: a new perspective

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mawson, Anthony R

    2012-01-01

    Primary brain tumors are among the top ten causes of cancer-related deaths in the US. Malignant gliomas account for approximately 70% of the 22,500 new cases of malignant primary brain tumors diagnosed in adults each year and are associated with high morbidity and mortality. Despite optimal treatment, the prognosis for patients with gliomas remains poor. The use of retinoids (vitamin A and its congeners) in the treatment of certain tumors was originally based on the assumption that these conditions were associated with an underlying deficiency of vitamin A and that supplementation with pharmacological doses would correct the deficiency. Yet the results of retinoid treatment have been only modestly beneficial and usually short-lived. Studies also indicate that vitamin A excess and supplementation have pro-oxidant effects and are associated with increased risks of mortality from cancer and other diseases. The therapeutic role of vitamin A in cancer thus remains uncertain and a new perspective on the facts is needed. The modest and temporary benefits of retinoid treatment could result from a process of feedback inhibition, whereby exogenous retinoid temporarily inhibits the endogenous synthesis of these compounds. In fact, repeated and/or excessive exposure of the tissues to endogenous retinoic acid may contribute to carcinogenesis. Gliomas, in particular, may result from an imbalance in retinoid receptor expression initiated by environmental factors that increase the endogenous production of retinoic acid in glia. At the receptor level, it is proposed that this imbalance is characterized by excessive expression of retinoic acid receptor-α (RARα) and reduced expression of retinoic acid receptor-β (RARβ). This suggests a potential new treatment strategy for gliomas, possibly even at a late stage of the disease, ie, to combine the use of a RARα antagonist and a RARβ agonist. According to this hypothesis, the RARα antagonist would be expected to inhibit RAR

  3. Abnormal retinoid and TrkB signaling in the prefrontal cortex in mood disorders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Qi, Xin-Rui; Zhao, Juan; Liu, Ji; Fang, Hui; Swaab, Dick F; Zhou, Jiang-Ning

    The prefrontal cortex shows structural and functional alterations in mood disorders. Retinoid signaling, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and its receptor TrkB are reported to be involved in depression. Here, we found that mRNA levels of key elements of retinoid signaling were significantly

  4. Retinoid inhibition of in vitro invasion of human amnion basement membrane by human tumor cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fazely, F.; Ledinko, N.; Smith, D.J.

    1986-01-01

    The biological activity of retinoids was assayed in an in vitro quantitative assay of human tumor cell invasion using human amnion basement membrane (BM). The effects measured were the inhibition of tumor cell migration through the BM and tumor cell degradative enzyme activity on 14 C-proline labeled collagenous and noncollagenous components of the BM. The human lung carcinoma A549 or the human Ewing's sarcoma TC-106 cell lines treated with retinoids for two days were incubated on the BM in the absence of retinoids. A dose-dependent inhibition of cell invasion was produced by retinoids. Among the retinoids tested, the most powerful was retinol acetate which inhibited invasion by 50% of A549 cells at a concentration of 0.009 μg/mL, and of TC-106 cells at 0.07 μg/mL. Retinol acetate inhibited A549 and TC-106 cell growth by approximately 50% at levels over 100-fold higher than those needed for antiinvasive activity. Retinol acetate was about 20 times more potent than retinoic acid and 30 times more potent than retinol palmitate. The model system will be useful for investigating antiinvasive activity of other retinoids as well as other compounds

  5. Identification of Novel Retinoid Targets in Prostate Cancer

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Piedrafita, F. J

    2006-01-01

    .... However except for the efficient treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia and certain skin disorders most natural and synthetic retinoids have failed in clinical trials because of toxicity and limited activity...

  6. highroad Is a Carboxypetidase Induced by Retinoids to Clear Mutant Rhodopsin-1 in Drosophila Retinitis Pigmentosa Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huai-Wei Huang

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Rhodopsins require retinoid chromophores for their function. In vertebrates, retinoids also serve as signaling molecules, but whether these molecules similarly regulate gene expression in Drosophila remains unclear. Here, we report the identification of a retinoid-inducible gene in Drosophila, highroad, which is required for photoreceptors to clear folding-defective mutant Rhodopsin-1 proteins. Specifically, knockdown or genetic deletion of highroad blocks the degradation of folding-defective Rhodopsin-1 mutant, ninaEG69D. Moreover, loss of highroad accelerates the age-related retinal degeneration phenotype of ninaEG69D mutants. Elevated highroad transcript levels are detected in ninaEG69D flies, and interestingly, deprivation of retinoids in the fly diet blocks this effect. Consistently, mutations in the retinoid transporter, santa maria, impairs the induction of highroad in ninaEG69D flies. In cultured S2 cells, highroad expression is induced by retinoic acid treatment. These results indicate that cellular quality-control mechanisms against misfolded Rhodopsin-1 involve regulation of gene expression by retinoids.

  7. Cis-retinoids and the chemistry of vision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cascella, Michele; Bärfuss, Simon; Stocker, Achim

    2013-11-15

    We discuss here principal biochemical transformations of retinoid molecules in the visual cycle. We focus our analysis on the accumulating evidence of alternate pathways and functional redundancies in the cycle. The efficiency of the visual cycle depends, on one hand, on fast regeneration of the photo-bleached chromophores. On the other hand, it is crucial that the cyclic process should be highly selective to avoid accumulation of byproducts. The state-of-the-art knowledge indicates that single enzymatically active components of the cycle are not strictly selective and may require chaperones to enhance their rates. It appears that protein-protein interactions significantly improve the biological stability of the visual cycle. In particular, synthesis of thermodynamically less stable 11-cis-retinoid conformers is favored by physical interactions of the isomerases present in the retina with cellular retinaldehyde binding protein. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Aromatic-Aromatic Interaction in Isolated Capped Dipeptides

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gloaguen, E.; Valdés, H.; Pagliarulo, F.; Pollet, R.; Tardivel, B.; Hobza, Pavel; Piuzzi, F.; Mons, M.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 114, č. 9 (2010), s. 2973-2982 ISSN 1089-5639 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC512 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40550506 Keywords : aromatic residues interactions * Ac-Phe-Phe-NH2 dipeptides * Ac-Phe-D-Phe-NH2 dipeptides * correlated ab initio calculations Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.732, year: 2010

  9. Bovine cumulus-granulosa cells contain biologically active retinoid receptors that can respond to retinoic acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Malayer Jerry

    2003-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Retinoids, a class of compounds that include retinol and its metabolite, retinoic acid, are absolutely essential for ovarian steroid production, oocyte maturation, and early embryogenesis. Previous studies have detected high concentrations of retinol in bovine large follicles. Further, administration of retinol in vivo and supplementation of retinoic acid during in vitro maturation results in enhanced embryonic development. In the present study, we hypothesized that retinoids administered either in vivo previously or in vitro can exert receptor-mediated effects in cumulus-granulosa cells. Total RNA extracted from in vitro cultured cumulus-granulosa cells was subjected to reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR and mRNA expression for retinol binding protein (RBP, retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARalpha, retinoic acid receptor beta (RARbeta, retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARgamma, retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRalpha, retinoid X receptor beta (RXRbeta, retinaldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (RALDH-2, and peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma. Transcripts were detected for RBP, RARalpha, RARgamma, RXRalpha, RXRbeta, RALDH-2, and PPARgamma. Expression of RARbeta was not detected in cumulus-granulosa cells. Using western blotting, immunoreactive RARalpha, and RXRbeta protein was also detected in bovine cumulus-granulosa cells. The biological activity of these endogenous retinoid receptors was tested using a transient reporter assay using the pAAV-MCS-betaRARE-Luc vector. Addition of 0.5 and 1 micro molar all-trans retinoic acid significantly (P trans retinol stimulated a mild increase in reporter activity, however, the increase was not statistically significant. Based on these results we conclude that cumulus cells contain endogenously active retinoid receptors and may also be competent to synthesize retinoic acid using the precursor, retinol. These results also indirectly provide evidence that retinoids

  10. Retinoids induce integrin-independent lymphocyte adhesion through RAR-α nuclear receptor activity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whelan, Jarrett T.; Wang, Lei; Chen, Jianming; Metts, Meagan E.; Nasser, Taj A.; McGoldrick, Liam J.; Bridges, Lance C.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Transcription and translation are required for retinoid-induced lymphocyte adhesion. • RAR activation is sufficient to induced lymphocyte cell adhesion. • Vitamin D derivatives inhibit RAR-prompted lymphocyte adhesion. • Adhesion occurs through a novel binding site within ADAM disintegrin domains. • RARα is a key nuclear receptor for retinoid-dependent lymphocyte cell adhesion. - Abstract: Oxidative metabolites of vitamin A, in particular all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA), have emerged as key factors in immunity by specifying the localization of immune cells to the gut. Although it is appreciated that isomers of retinoic acid activate the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) family of nuclear receptors to elicit cellular changes, the molecular details of retinoic acid action remain poorly defined in immune processes. Here we employ a battery of agonists and antagonists to delineate the specific nuclear receptors utilized by retinoids to evoke lymphocyte cell adhesion to ADAM (adisintegrin and metalloprotease) protein family members. We report that RAR agonism is sufficient to promote immune cell adhesion in both immortal and primary immune cells. Interestingly, adhesion occurs independent of integrin function, and mutant studies demonstrate that atRA-induced adhesion to ADAM members required a distinct binding interface(s) as compared to integrin recognition. Anti-inflammatory corticosteroids as well as 1,25-(OH) 2 D 3 , a vitamin D metabolite that prompts immune cell trafficking to the skin, potently inhibited the observed adhesion. Finally, our data establish that induced adhesion was specifically attributable to the RAR-α receptor isotype. The current study provides novel molecular resolution as to which nuclear receptors transduce retinoid exposure into immune cell adhesion

  11. Retinoids induce integrin-independent lymphocyte adhesion through RAR-α nuclear receptor activity

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whelan, Jarrett T.; Wang, Lei; Chen, Jianming; Metts, Meagan E.; Nasser, Taj A.; McGoldrick, Liam J. [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834 (United States); Bridges, Lance C., E-mail: bridgesl@ecu.edu [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834 (United States); East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, The Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834 (United States)

    2014-11-28

    Highlights: • Transcription and translation are required for retinoid-induced lymphocyte adhesion. • RAR activation is sufficient to induced lymphocyte cell adhesion. • Vitamin D derivatives inhibit RAR-prompted lymphocyte adhesion. • Adhesion occurs through a novel binding site within ADAM disintegrin domains. • RARα is a key nuclear receptor for retinoid-dependent lymphocyte cell adhesion. - Abstract: Oxidative metabolites of vitamin A, in particular all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA), have emerged as key factors in immunity by specifying the localization of immune cells to the gut. Although it is appreciated that isomers of retinoic acid activate the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) and retinoid X receptor (RXR) family of nuclear receptors to elicit cellular changes, the molecular details of retinoic acid action remain poorly defined in immune processes. Here we employ a battery of agonists and antagonists to delineate the specific nuclear receptors utilized by retinoids to evoke lymphocyte cell adhesion to ADAM (adisintegrin and metalloprotease) protein family members. We report that RAR agonism is sufficient to promote immune cell adhesion in both immortal and primary immune cells. Interestingly, adhesion occurs independent of integrin function, and mutant studies demonstrate that atRA-induced adhesion to ADAM members required a distinct binding interface(s) as compared to integrin recognition. Anti-inflammatory corticosteroids as well as 1,25-(OH){sub 2}D{sub 3}, a vitamin D metabolite that prompts immune cell trafficking to the skin, potently inhibited the observed adhesion. Finally, our data establish that induced adhesion was specifically attributable to the RAR-α receptor isotype. The current study provides novel molecular resolution as to which nuclear receptors transduce retinoid exposure into immune cell adhesion.

  12. Aromatic cytokinins in micropropagated potato plants

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Baroja, F. E.; Aguirreolea, J.; Martínková, Hana; Hanuš, Jan; Strnad, Miroslav

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 40, č. 3 (2002), s. 217-224 ISSN 0981-9428 R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC 844.10; GA ČR GA301/02/0475 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5038910 Keywords : Acclimatization * Aromatic cytokinins * Micropropagation Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry Impact factor: 1.582, year: 2002

  13. Exploring (novel) gene expression during retinoid-induced maturation and cell death of acute promyelocytic leukemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benoit, G R; Tong, J H; Balajthy, Z; Lanotte, M

    2001-01-01

    During recent years, reports have shown that biological responses of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells to retinoids are more complex than initially envisioned. PML-RARalpha chimeric protein disturbs various biological processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. The distinct biological programs that regulate these processes stem from specific transcriptional activation of distinct (but overlapping) sets of genes. These programs are sometimes mutually exclusive and depend on whether the signals are delivered by RAR or RXR agonists. Furthermore, evidence that retinoid nuclear signaling by retinoid, on its own, is not enough to trigger these cellular responses is rapidly accumulating. Indeed, work with NB4 cells show that the fate of APL cells treated by retinoid depends on complex signaling cross-talk. Elucidation of the sequence of events and cascades of transcriptional regulation necessary for APL cell maturation will be an additional tool with which to further improve therapy by retinoids. In this task, the classical techniques used to analyze gene expression have proved time consuming, and their yield has been limited. Global analyses of the APL cell transcriptome are needed. We review the technical approaches currently available (differential display, complementary DNA microarrays), to identify novel genes involved in the determination of cell fate.

  14. Transformations of aromatic hydrocarbons over zeolites

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Voláková, Martina; Žilková, Naděžda; Čejka, Jiří

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 34, 5-7 (2008), s. 439-454 ISSN 0922-6168 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA203/05/0197; GA AV ČR 1QS400400560; GA AV ČR KJB4040402 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : aromatic hydrocarbons * zeolites * alkylation Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.514, year: 2008

  15. Retinoids: literature review and suggested algorithm for use prior to facial resurfacing procedures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick J Buchanan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Vitamin A-containing products have been used topically since the early 1940s to treat various skin conditions. To date, there are four generations of retinoids, a family of Vitamin A-containing compounds. Tretinoin, all-trans-retinoic acid, is a first-generation, naturally occurring, retinoid. It is available, commercially, as a gel or cream. The authors conducted a complete review of all studies, clinical- and basic science-based studies, within the literature involving tretinoin treatment recommendations for impending facial procedures. The literature currently lacks definitive recommendations for the use of tretinoin-containing products prior to undergoing facial procedures. Tretinoin pretreatment regimens vary greatly in terms of the strength of retinoid used, the length of the pre-procedure treatment, and the ideal time to stop treatment before the procedure. Based on the current literature and personal experience, the authors set forth a set of guidelines for the use of tretinoin prior to various facial procedures.

  16. A new class of synthetic retinoid antibiotics effective against bacterial persisters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Wooseong; Zhu, Wenpeng; Hendricks, Gabriel Lambert; Van Tyne, Daria; Steele, Andrew D; Keohane, Colleen E; Fricke, Nico; Conery, Annie L; Shen, Steven; Pan, Wen; Lee, Kiho; Rajamuthiah, Rajmohan; Fuchs, Beth Burgwyn; Vlahovska, Petia M; Wuest, William M; Gilmore, Michael S; Gao, Huajian; Ausubel, Frederick M; Mylonakis, Eleftherios

    2018-04-05

    A challenge in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections is the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains and the formation of non-growing, dormant 'persister' subpopulations that exhibit high levels of tolerance to antibiotics and have a role in chronic or recurrent infections. As conventional antibiotics are not effective in the treatment of infections caused by such bacteria, novel antibacterial therapeutics are urgently required. Here we used a Caenorhabditis elegans-MRSA infection screen to identify two synthetic retinoids, CD437 and CD1530, which kill both growing and persister MRSA cells by disrupting lipid bilayers. CD437 and CD1530 exhibit high killing rates, synergism with gentamicin, and a low probability of resistance selection. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that the ability of retinoids to penetrate and embed in lipid bilayers correlates with their bactericidal ability. An analogue of CD437 was found to retain anti-persister activity and show an improved cytotoxicity profile. Both CD437 and this analogue, alone or in combination with gentamicin, exhibit considerable efficacy in a mouse model of chronic MRSA infection. With further development and optimization, synthetic retinoids have the potential to become a new class of antimicrobials for the treatment of Gram-positive bacterial infections that are currently difficult to cure.

  17. A new class of synthetic retinoid antibiotics effective against bacterial persisters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Wooseong; Zhu, Wenpeng; Hendricks, Gabriel Lambert; van Tyne, Daria; Steele, Andrew D.; Keohane, Colleen E.; Fricke, Nico; Conery, Annie L.; Shen, Steven; Pan, Wen; Lee, Kiho; Rajamuthiah, Rajmohan; Fuchs, Beth Burgwyn; Vlahovska, Petia M.; Wuest, William M.; Gilmore, Michael S.; Gao, Huajian; Ausubel, Frederick M.; Mylonakis, Eleftherios

    2018-04-01

    A challenge in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections is the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) strains and the formation of non-growing, dormant ‘persister’ subpopulations that exhibit high levels of tolerance to antibiotics and have a role in chronic or recurrent infections. As conventional antibiotics are not effective in the treatment of infections caused by such bacteria, novel antibacterial therapeutics are urgently required. Here we used a Caenorhabditis elegans–MRSA infection screen to identify two synthetic retinoids, CD437 and CD1530, which kill both growing and persister MRSA cells by disrupting lipid bilayers. CD437 and CD1530 exhibit high killing rates, synergism with gentamicin, and a low probability of resistance selection. All-atom molecular dynamics simulations demonstrated that the ability of retinoids to penetrate and embed in lipid bilayers correlates with their bactericidal ability. An analogue of CD437 was found to retain anti-persister activity and show an improved cytotoxicity profile. Both CD437 and this analogue, alone or in combination with gentamicin, exhibit considerable efficacy in a mouse model of chronic MRSA infection. With further development and optimization, synthetic retinoids have the potential to become a new class of antimicrobials for the treatment of Gram-positive bacterial infections that are currently difficult to cure.

  18. Retinoid-induced expression and activity of an immediate early tumor suppressor gene in vascular smooth muscle cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey W Streb

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Retinoids are used clinically to treat a number of hyper-proliferative disorders and have been shown in experimental animals to attenuate vascular occlusive diseases, presumably through nuclear receptors bound to retinoic acid response elements (RARE located in target genes. Here, we show that natural or synthetic retinoids rapidly induce mRNA and protein expression of a specific isoform of A-Kinase Anchoring Protein 12 (AKAP12β in cultured smooth muscle cells (SMC as well as the intact vessel wall. Expression kinetics and actinomycin D studies indicate Akap12β is a retinoid-induced, immediate-early gene. Akap12β promoter analyses reveal a conserved RARE mildly induced with atRA in a region that exhibits hyper-acetylation. Immunofluorescence microscopy and protein kinase A (PKA regulatory subunit overlay assays in SMC suggest a physical association between AKAP12β and PKA following retinoid treatment. Consistent with its designation as a tumor suppressor, inducible expression of AKAP12β attenuates SMC growth in vitro. Further, immunohistochemistry studies establish marked decreases in AKAP12 expression in experimentally-injured vessels of mice as well as atheromatous lesions in humans. Collectively, these results demonstrate a novel role for retinoids in the induction of an AKAP tumor suppressor that blocks vascular SMC growth thus providing new molecular insight into how retiniods may exert their anti-proliferative effects in the injured vessel wall.

  19. Retinoid inhibition of in vitro invasion of human amnion basement membrane by human tumor cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fazely, F.

    1988-01-01

    The effects measured were the inhibition of tumor cell migration through the basement membrane (BM) and tumor cell degradative enzyme activity on 3 H-proline labeled collagenous and non collagenous components of the BM. The human lung carcinoma A549 or the human Ewing's sarcoma TC-106 cell lines treated with retinoids for two days were incubated on the BM in the absence of retinoids. A dose-dependent inhibition of cell invasion was produced by retinoids. Among the retinoids tested the most powerful was retinol acetate which inhibited invasion by 50% of A549 cells at a concentration of 0.09 μg/ml, and TC-106 cells at 0.08 μg/ml. Retinol acetate inhibited A549 and TC-106 cell growth by approximately 50% at levels almost 100-fold higher than those needed for antiinvasive activity. Retinol acetate was about 20 times more potent than retinoic acid and 30 times more than retinol palmitate. Furthermore, A549 cells treated with retinol acetate, under conditions whereby an anti-invasive state was induced,showed an increase in the number of cellular retinoic acid binding proteins (CRABP), a decrease in the activity of type IV collagenase and ectosialyltransferase, and no change in the activity of transglutaminase

  20. Extremely long aromatics: diastereomerically pure [19]helicene

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Nejedlý, Jindřich; Rybáček, Jiří; Stará, Irena G.; Starý, Ivo

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 2 (2016), s. 78-79 ISSN 2336-7202. [Mezioborové setkání mladých biologů, biochemiků a chemiků /16./. 10.05.2016-13.05.2016, Milovy] R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-08294S Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : long helicene * long aromatics * chiral molecules Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry

  1. CASTING A BROAD NETWORK: FISHING FOR MECHANISMS OF RETINOID TERATOGENICITY

    Science.gov (United States)

    This is a short essay that serves to introduce a featured paper for an issue of Toxicological Sciences. The paper being introduced describes a study of mechanisms of retinoid induced abnormal limb development in mice. The paper was notable because the authors used gene expressi...

  2. The neurobehavioral teratology of retinoids: a 50-year history.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adams, Jane

    2010-10-01

    This review of the central nervous system (CNS) and behavioral teratology of the retinoids over the last 50 years is a commemorative retrospective organized by decade to show the prominent research focus within each period and the most salient findings. In the 1960s, research focused on the gross CNS malformations associated with exposure and the delineation of dose-response and stage-specific responses in rodent models. Relevant scientific events before and during the 1960s are also discussed to provide the zeitgeist in which the field of neurobehavioral teratology emerged in the 1970s. During this period, studies demonstrated that adverse effects on postnatal behavior could be produced in animals exposed to doses of vitamin A lower than those that were teratogenic or impacted growth. Work during the 1980s showed an overrepresentation of behavioral studies focused on the reliability of screening methods, while the marked effects of human exposure were illustrated in children born to women treated with isotretinoin during pregnancy. The human catastrophe invigorated research during the 1990s, a period when technological advances allowed more elegant examinations of the developing CNS, of biochemical, cellular, and molecular developmental events and regulatory actions, and of the effects of direct genetic manipulations. Likewise, research in the 1990s reflected a reinvigoration of research in neurobehavioral teratology evinced in studies that used animal models to try to better understand human vulnerability. These foci continued in the 2000-2010 period while examinations of the role of retinoids in brain development and lifelong functioning became increasingly sophisticated and broader in scope. This review of the work on retinoids also provides a lens on the more general ontogeny of the field of neurobehavioral teratology. Birth Defects Research (Part A), 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  3. Capacity Analysis of Ro-Ro Terminals by Using Simulation Modeling Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emin Deniz Özkan

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In Ro-Ro terminals, terminal capacity is more needed than other types of marine terminals since Ro-Ro cargoes cannot be stacked. In this sense, the variables affecting capacity of a Ro-Ro terminal can be listed as follows; number of vehicles arrived to a terminal, distance between terminals, ship capacity, terminal gates, customs control units, terminal traffic and local traffic, security check, bunkering services etc. In this study, a model generated intended for making capacity analysis in Ro-Ro terminals by using simulation modeling method. Effect of three variables to terminal capacity was investigated while generating the scenarios; ‘number of trucks arriving to terminals’, ‘distance between terminals’ and ‘Ro-Ro ship capacity’. The results show that the variable which affect terminal capacity mostly is ‘number of trucks arriving to terminals’. As a consequence of this situation, it is thought that a Ro-Ro terminal operator must prioritize the demand factor and make an effective demand forecasting in determination of the terminal area.

  4. Chromosomal locations and modes of action of genes of the retinoid (vitamin A) system support their involvement in the etiology of schizophrenia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goodman, A.B. [Columbia Univ. School of Public Health, New York, NY (United States)

    1995-08-14

    Vitamin A (retinoid), an essential nutrient for fetal and subsequent mammalian development, is involved in gene expression, cell differentiation, proliferation, migration, and death. Retinoic acid (RA) the morphogenic derivative of vitamin A is highly teratogenic. In humans retinoid excess or deficit can result in brain anomalies and psychosis. This review discusses chromosomal loci of genes that control the retinoid cascade in relation to some candidate genes in schizophrenia. The paper relates the knowledge about the transport, delivery, and action of retinoids to what is presently known about the pathology of schizophrenia, with particular reference to the dopamine hypothesis, neurotransmitters, the glutamate hypothesis, neurotransmitters, the glutamate hypothesis, retinitis pigmentosa, dermatologic disorders, and craniofacial anomalies. 201 refs., 1 tab.

  5. Electron Reorganization in Allowed and Forbidden Reactions: Multicenter Bond Indices as a Measure of Aromaticity and/or Anti-aromaticity in Transition States of Pericyclic Electrocyclizations

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Mandado, M.; Ponec, Robert

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 22, č. 12 (2009), s. 1225-1232 ISSN 0894-3230 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA203/09/0118 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : pericycli reactions * aromaticity * multicenter bond indices Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 1.602, year: 2009

  6. Geochemical distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils and sediments of El-Tabbin, Egypt

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Havelcová, Martina; Melegy, A.; Rapant, S.

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 95, JAN (2014), s. 63-74 ISSN 0045-6535 Institutional support: RVO:67985891 Keywords : polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * soils * sediment * contamination Subject RIV: DD - Geochemistry Impact factor: 3.340, year: 2014

  7. Solubilities of oxygenated aromatic solids in pressurized hot water

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Karásek, Pavel; Planeta, Josef; Roth, Michal

    2009-01-01

    Roč. 54, č. 5 (2009), s. 1457-1461 ISSN 0021-9568 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA203/07/0886; GA ČR GA203/08/1536 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40310501 Keywords : oxygenated aromatics * solubility * pressurized hot water Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation Impact factor: 1.695, year: 2009

  8. Identifying the receptor subtype selectivity of retinoid X and retinoic acid receptors via quantum mechanics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsuji, Motonori; Shudo, Koichi; Kagechika, Hiroyuki

    2017-03-01

    Understanding and identifying the receptor subtype selectivity of a ligand is an important issue in the field of drug discovery. Using a combination of classical molecular mechanics and quantum mechanical calculations, this report assesses the receptor subtype selectivity for the human retinoid X receptor (hRXR) and retinoic acid receptor (hRAR) ligand-binding domains (LBDs) complexed with retinoid ligands. The calculated energies show good correlation with the experimentally reported binding affinities. The technique proposed here is a promising method as it reveals the origin of the receptor subtype selectivity of selective ligands.

  9. Topical retinoids in the management of photodamaged skin: from theory to evidence-based practical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darlenski, R; Surber, C; Fluhr, J W

    2010-12-01

    Skin, being exposed directly to the environment, represents a unique model for demonstrating the synergistic effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on the ageing process. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is the major factor among exogenous stressors responsible for premature skin ageing. The problem of skin ageing has captured public attention and has an important social impact. Different therapeutic approaches have been developed to treat cutaneous ageing and to diminish or prevent the negative effects of UVR. Topical retinoids represent an important and powerful class of molecules in the dermatologist's hands for the treatment of photodamaged skin. Since their introduction more than 20 years ago, topical retinoids have shown beneficial efficacy and good safety profiles in the management of photodamaged skin, and as therapeutic anti-ageing agents. This review provides a brief retrospective of the development of topical retinoids in the treatment of photodamaged skin, elucidates their mechanism of action, delineates their use and addresses clinical, pharmaceutical and regulatory issues in connection with their intended use. © 2010 The Authors. BJD © 2010 British Association of Dermatologists.

  10. Application Side Casing on Open Deck RoRo to Improve Ship Stability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasanudin; K. A. P Utama, I.; Chen, Jeng-Horng

    2018-03-01

    RoRo is a vessel that can transport passengers, cargo, container and cars. Open Car Deck is favourite RoRo Vessel in developing countries due to its small GT, small tax and spacious car deck, but it has poor survival of stability. Many accident involve Open Car Deck RoRo which cause fatalities and victim. In order to ensure the safety of the ship, IMO had applied intact stability criteria IS Code 2008 which adapted from Rahola’s Research, but since 2008 IMO improved criteria become probabilistic damage stability SOLAS 2009. The RoRo type Open Car Deck has wide Breadth (B), small Draft (D) and small freeboard. It has difficulties to satisfy the ship’s stability criteria. Side Casings which has been applied in some RoRo have be known reduce freeboard or improve ship’s safety. In this paper investigated the effect side casings to survival of intact dan damage ship’s stability. Calculation has been conducted for four ships without, existing and full side casings. The investigation results shows that defect stability of Open Deck RoRo can be reduce with fitting side casing.

  11. Role of aromaticity in humic substances degradation kinetics using non-arrhenius temperature functions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kislinger, J.; Novák, František; Kučerík, J.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 102, č. 15 (2008), s1086-s1088 ISSN 0009-2770 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60660521 Keywords : aromaticity * humic substances degradation kinetics * non-arrhenius temperature Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.593, year: 2008

  12. Aromatization of alkanes over Pt promoted conventional and mesoporous gallosilicates of MEL zeolite

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Akhtar, M. N.; Al-Yassir, N.; Al-Khattaf, S.; Čejka, Jiří

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 179, č. 1 (2012), s. 61-72 ISSN 0920-5861 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40400503 Keywords : alkane aromatization * ZSM-11 * GaHZSM-11 Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.980, year: 2012

  13. Singlet Oxygen and Free Radical Reactions of Retinoids and Carotenoids—A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truscott, T. George

    2018-01-01

    We report on studies of reactions of singlet oxygen with carotenoids and retinoids and a range of free radical studies on carotenoids and retinoids with emphasis on recent work, dietary carotenoids and the role of oxygen in biological processes. Many previous reviews are cited and updated together with new data not previously reviewed. The review does not deal with computational studies but the emphasis is on laboratory-based results. We contrast the ease of study of both singlet oxygen and polyene radical cations compared to neutral radicals. Of particular interest is the switch from anti- to pro-oxidant behavior of a carotenoid with change of oxygen concentration: results for lycopene in a cellular model system show total protection of the human cells studied at zero oxygen concentration, but zero protection at 100% oxygen concentration. PMID:29301252

  14. Aromaticity in Linear Polyacenes: Generalize Population Analysis and Molecular Quantum Similarity Approach.

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Bultinck, P.; Ponec, Robert; Carbó-Dorca, R.

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 28, 1 (2007) , s. 152-160 ISSN 0192-8651 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA4072403 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : polyacenes * aromaticity * density function Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.297, year: 2007

  15. Estrogenic activity of environmental polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in uterus of immature Wistar rats

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kummer, V.; Mašková, J.; Zralý, Z.; Neča, J.; Šimečková, P.; Vondráček, Jan; Machala, M.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 180, č. 3 (2008), s. 212-221 ISSN 0378-4274 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50040507; CEZ:AV0Z50040702 Keywords : polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * rat immature uterothrophic assay * estrogen receptor Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 3.249, year: 2008

  16. Generalized Polansky Index as an Aromacity Measure in Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Bultinck, P.; Ponec, Robert; Gallegos, A.; Fias, S.; Van Damme, S.; Carbó-Dorca, R.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 79, č. 3 (2006), s. 363-371 ISSN 0011-1643 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA4072403 Grant - others:MCT(BE) BQU2003/7420/C05/01 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : polansky index * quantum similarity * aromaticity Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.778, year: 2006

  17. Prevention of UV irradiation induced suppression of monocyte functions by retinoids and carotenoids in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schoen, D.J.; Watson, R.R.

    1988-01-01

    The effects of stimulation of human peripheral blood monocytes in vitro with retinoids and carotenoids, and subsequent exposure to ultraviolet light of the B wavelength were measured. The compounds were applied to the monocytes in culture for 24 h, and the washed cells were then exposed to UVB light up to 220 J/m 2 . The compounds tested protected the monocyte from UVB induced damage to phagocytic activity. This protection may be due to the antioxidant or UVB energy-quenching properties of these compounds. Monocyte cytotoxicity against a melanoma cell line was stimulated by exposure to the retinoids or carotenoids, but a protective effect in vitro against UVB damage was not seen for this cell function. (author)

  18. Polymorphisms in DNA repair genes, traffic-related polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and breast cancer incidence

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Mordukhovich, I.; Beyea, J.; Herring, A. H.; Hatch, M.; Stellman, S. D.; Teitelbaum, S. L.; Richardson, D.B.; Millikan, R. C.; Engel, L.S.; Shantakumar, S.; Steck, S.E.; Neugut, A. I.; Rössner ml., Pavel; Santella, R. M.; Gammon, M. D.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 139, č. 2 (2016), s. 310-321 ISSN 0020-7136 Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : traffic * DNA repair * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * breast cancer Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 6.513, year: 2016

  19. Probabilistic Analysis of Collision Damages with Application to ro-Ro Passenger Vessels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Preben Terndrup; Hansen, Peter Friis; Nielsen, Lars Peter

    1997-01-01

    To quantify the risks involved in Ro-ro passenger vessel traffic, rational criteria for prediction and evaluation of collision accidents have to be developed. This implies that probabilities as well as the inherent consequences have to be analyzed and assessed.The present report outlines a method...... for evaluation of the probability of a Ro-Ro passenger vessel on a given route being struck by another ship. Given a collision has taken place the spatial distribution of the collision damages is calculated. Results are presented in terms of probability distributions, for indentation depth, length and height...... of the holes and for the vertical location. The main benefit of the formulated procedure is that it allows comparisons of various navigation routes by assessing the relative frequencies of collisions. The derived procedure is applied to two typical Ro-Ro passenger vessel routes....

  20. Environmental Performance Evaluation of Ro-Ro Passenger Ferry Transportation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Hans Otto Holmegaard; Hagemeister, Constantin

    2012-01-01

    /or emissions per transport unit, is related to the same unit for the different transport forms. For Ro-Ro passenger ferries it can be difficult to find a suitable common transport unit, as they often transport a mix of cargo, such as passengers, passenger cars, trucks, lorries, busses and other rolling...

  1. Hepatic retinoid levels in seven fish species (teleosts) from a tropical coastal lagoon receiving effluents from iron-ore mining and processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pereira, Adriana A; van Hattum, Bert; Brouwer, Abraham

    2012-02-01

    The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible effects of Fe and trace element exposure on hepatic levels of retinoids in seven fish species. Concentrations of retinoids were measured in fish collected from a coastal lagoon in Brazil that receives effluents from an iron-ore mining and processing plant. Fish from nearby coastal lagoons were also included to assess possible differences related to chemical exposure. Results indicated considerable differences in hepatic retinoid composition among the various species investigated. The most striking differences were in retinol and derivative-specific profiles and in didehydro retinol and derivative-specific profiles. The Perciformes species Geophagus brasiliensis, Tilapia rendalli, Mugil liza, and Cichla ocellaris and the Characiforme Hoplias malabaricus were characterized as retinol and derivative-specific, while the Siluriformes species Hoplosternum littorale and Rhamdia quelen were didehydro retinol and derivative-specific fish species. A negative association was observed between Al, Pb, As, and Cd and hepatic didehydro retinoid levels. Fish with higher levels of hepatic Fe, Cu, and Zn showed unexpectedly significant positive correlations with increased hepatic retinol levels. This finding, associated with the positive relationships between retinol and retinyl palmitate with lipid peroxidation, may suggest that vitamin A is mobilized from other tissues to increase hepatic antioxidant levels for protection against oxidative damage. These data show significant but dissimilar associations between trace element exposure and hepatic retinoid levels in fish species exposed to iron-ore mining and processing effluents, without apparent major impacts on fish health and condition. Copyright © 2011 SETAC.

  2. Synergistic Effects of PPARγ Ligands and Retinoids in Cancer Treatment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masahito Shimizu

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. The activation of PPARs by their specific ligands is regarded as one of the promising strategies to inhibit cancer cell growth. However, recent clinical trials targeting several common cancers showed no beneficial effect when PPAR ligands are used as a monotherapy. Retinoid X receptors (RXRs, which play a critical role in normal cell proliferation as a master regulator for nuclear receptors, preferentially form heterodimers with PPARs. A malfunction of RXRα due to phosphorylation by the Ras/MAPK signaling pathway is associated with the development of certain types of human malignancies. The activation of PPARγ/RXR heterodimer by their respective ligands synergistically inhibits cell growth, while inducing apoptosis in human colon cancer cells when the phosphorylation of RXRα was inhibited. We herein review the synergistic antitumor effects produced by the combination of the PPAR, especially PPARγ, ligands plus other agents, especially retinoids, in a variety of human cancers. We also focus on the phosphorylation of RXRα because the inhibition of RXRα phosphorylation and the restoration of its physiological function may activate PPAR/RXR heterodimer and, therefore, be a potentially effective and critical strategy for the inhibition of cancer cell growth.

  3. Acidic and Catalytic Properties of Mo-MCM-22 in Methane Aromatization: An FTIR Study

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Sobalík, Zdeněk; Tvarůžková, Zdenka; Wichterlová, Blanka; Fíla, V.; Špatenka, Š.

    2003-01-01

    Roč. 253, - (2003), s. 271-282 ISSN 0926-860X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA104/99/0432 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z4040901 Keywords : methane aromatization * FTIR technique * MCM-22 Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.825, year: 2003

  4. N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine is the preferred retinoid substrate for the photoreceptor-specific ABC transporter ABCA4 (ABCR).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beharry, Seelochan; Zhong, Ming; Molday, Robert S

    2004-12-24

    ABCA4, a member of the family of ATP binding cassette (ABC) proteins found in rod and cone photoreceptors, has been implicated in the transport of retinoid compounds across the outer segment disk membrane following the photoactivation of rhodopsin. Mutations in the ABCA4 gene are responsible for Stargardt macular dystrophy and related retinal degenerative diseases that cause a loss in vision. To identify the retinoid substrate that interacts with ABCA4, we have isolated ABCA4 from rod outer segment disk membranes on an immunoaffinity matrix and analyzed retinoid compounds that bind to ABCA4 using high performance liquid chromatography and radiolabeling methods. When all-trans-retinal was added to ABCA4 in the presence of phosphatidylethanolamine, approximately 0.9 mol of N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine and 0.3 mol of all-trans-retinal were bound per mol of ABCA4 with an apparent K(d) of 2-5 microm. ATP and GTP released these retinoids from ABCA4, whereas ADP, GDP, and nonhydrolyzable derivatives, adenosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate and guanosine 5'-(beta,gamma-imido)triphosphate, were ineffective. One mole of N-retinyl-phosphatidylethanolamine, the reduced form of N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine, bound per mol of ABCA4, whereas 0.3 mol of all-trans-retinal were bound in the absence of phosphatidylethanolamine. No binding of all-trans-retinol to ABCA4 was observed. Our results indicate that ABCA4 preferentially binds N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine with high affinity in the absence of ATP. Our studies further suggest that ATP binding and hydrolysis induces a protein conformational change that causes N-retinylidene-phosphatidylethanolamine to dissociate from ABCA4.

  5. Vibrational Structure in Magnetic Circular Dichroism Spectra of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kaminský, Jakub; Chalupský, Jakub; Štěpánek, P.; Kříž, Jan; Bouř, Petr

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 121, č. 47 (2017), s. 9064-9073 ISSN 1089-5639 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA15-19143S; GA ČR(CZ) GA16-05935S; GA ČR(CZ) GA16-00270S Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : magnetic circular dichroism * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * DFT Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry OBOR OECD: Physical chemistry Impact factor: 2.847, year: 2016

  6. [2++2+2] Cycloisomerisation of Aromatic Cyanodiynes in the Synthesis of Pyridohelicenes and Their Analogues

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Klívar, Jiří; Jančařík, Andrej; Šaman, David; Pohl, Radek; Fiedler, Pavel; Bednárová, Lucie; Starý, Ivo; Stará, Irena G.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 22, č. 40 (2016), s. 14401-14405 ISSN 0947-6539 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-29667S Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : aromatic compounds * chiral ity * helical structures * helicenes * heterocycles Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry Impact factor: 5.317, year: 2016

  7. Distinct populations of hepatic stellate cells in the mouse liver have different capacities for retinoid and lipid storage.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana N D'Ambrosio

    Full Text Available Hepatic stellate cell (HSC lipid droplets are specialized organelles for the storage of retinoid, accounting for 50-60% of all retinoid present in the body. When HSCs activate, retinyl ester levels progressively decrease and the lipid droplets are lost. The objective of this study was to determine if the HSC population in a healthy, uninjured liver demonstrates heterogeneity in its capacity for retinoid and lipid storage in lipid droplets. To this end, we utilized two methods of HSC isolation, which leverage distinct properties of these cells, including their vitamin A content and collagen expression. HSCs were isolated either from wild type (WT mice in the C57BL/6 genetic background by flotation in a Nycodenz density gradient, followed by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS based on vitamin A autofluorescence, or from collagen-green fluorescent protein (GFP mice by FACS based on GFP expression from a GFP transgene driven by the collagen I promoter. We show that GFP-HSCs have: (i increased expression of typical markers of HSC activation; (ii decreased retinyl ester levels, accompanied by reduced expression of the enzyme needed for hepatic retinyl ester synthesis (LRAT; (iii decreased triglyceride levels; (iv increased expression of genes associated with lipid catabolism; and (v an increase in expression of the retinoid-catabolizing cytochrome, CYP2S1.Our observations suggest that the HSC population in a healthy, uninjured liver is heterogeneous. One subset of the total HSC population, which expresses early markers of HSC activation, may be "primed" and ready for rapid response to acute liver injury.

  8. Synthesis and Antiradical Activity of Isoquercitrin Esters with Aromatic Acids and Their Homologues

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Heřmánková-Vavříková, Eva; Křenková, Alena; Petrásková, Lucie; Chambers, Christopher S.; Zápal, Jakub; Kuzma, Marek; Valentová, Kateřina; Křen, Vladimír

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 18, č. 5 (2017), s. 1-14, č. článku 1074. E-ISSN 1422-0067 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GP14-14373P; GA MŠk(CZ) LD15082 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : isoquercitrin * aromatic acid * gallic acid Subject RIV: CE - Biochemistry OBOR OECD: Microbiology Impact factor: 3.226, year: 2016

  9. RETINOID RECEPTORS IN BONE AND THEIR ROLE IN BONE REMODELING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petra eHenning

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Vitamin A (retinol is a necessary and important constituent of the body which is provided by food intake of retinyl esters and carotenoids. Vitamin A is known best for being important for vision, but in addition to the eye, vitamin A is necessary in numerous other organs in the body, including the skeleton. Vitamin A is converted to an active compound, all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA, which is responsible for most of its biological actions. ATRA binds to intracellular nuclear receptors called retinoic acid receptors (RAR, RAR, RAR. RARs and closely related retinoid X receptors (RXR, RXR, RXR form heterodimers which bind to DNA and function as ligand activated transcription factors. It has been known for many years that hypervitaminosis A promotes skeleton fragility by increasing osteoclast formation and decreasing cortical bone mass. Some epidemiological studies have suggested that increased intake of vitamin A and increased serum levels of retinoids may decrease bone mineral density and increase fracture rate, but the literature on this is not conclusive. The current review summarizes how vitamin A is taken up by the intestine, metabolized, stored in the liver and processed to ATRA. ATRA’s effects on formation and activity of osteoclasts and osteoblasts are outlined, and a summary of clinical data pertaining to vitamin A and bone is presented.

  10. The Assessment of the Ultimate Hull Girder Strength of RO-RO Ship after Damages

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zubair Muis Alie, Muhammad; Sitepu, Ganding; Izaak Latumahin, Samuel

    2018-03-01

    Many accidents of Ro-Ro ships happen in Indonesia such as collision and grounding. When the collision or grounding takes place on the Ro-Ro ship, the ultimate strength of hull structure after damage becomes decrease. Car and passenger decks are critical location since collision and/or grounding occur. In the present study, the assessment of the ultimate hull girder strength is conducted. The cross section of Ro-Ro ship is taken to be analyzed. The collision and grounding damages are assumed to be palced on the side and bottom area, respectively. The damages are created by removing the element from the side shell and bottom part. Finally, the result obtained is compared with one another.

  11. Single crystal X-ray structural features of aromatic compounds having a pentafluorosulfuranyl (SF5) functional group

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Du, J.; Hua, G.; Beier, Petr; Slawin, A. M. Z.; Woollins, J. D.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 28, č. 3 (2017), s. 723-733 ISSN 1040-0400 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : pentafluorosulfuranyl (SF5) group * aromatic compounds * single crystal X-ray structure * intramolecular interactions * intermolecular interactions Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry OBOR OECD: Organic chemistry Impact factor: 1.582, year: 2016

  12. Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN): could retinoids play a causative role?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Anthony R; Eriator, Ike; Karre, Sridhar

    2015-01-12

    Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) are overlapping manifestations on a spectrum of acute drug-induced conditions associated with severe blistering, skin peeling, and multi-organ damage. TEN is an eruption resembling severe scalding, with ≥30% skin detachment. SJS is a mild form of TEN, characterized histologically by epidermal keratinocyte apoptosis with dermo-epidermal separation and extensive small blisters with <10% body surface skin detachment. The syndrome can be induced by numerous medications and typically occurs 1-4 weeks after the initiation of therapy. Granulysin is found in the lesions of patients with SJS/TEN and plays a significant pathogenic role in the condition, but the overall mechanisms linking medications, granulysin, and disease manifestations remain obscure. This paper reviews evidence suggesting that the different medications implicated in SJS/TEN have the common property of interacting and synergizing with endogenous retinoids (vitamin A and its congeners), in many instances causing the latter to accumulate in and damage the liver, the main storage organ for vitamin A. It is hypothesized that liver damage leads to the spillage of toxic retinoid compounds into the circulation, resulting in an endogenous form of hypervitaminosis A and cytotoxicity with widespread apoptosis, mediated by granulysin and recognized as SJS/TEN. Subject to testing, the model suggests that symptom worsening could be arrested at onset by lowering the concentration of circulating retinoids and/or granulysin via phlebotomy or plasmapheresis or by pharmacological measures to limit their expression.

  13. Peretinoin, an Acyclic Retinoid, Inhibits Hepatitis B Virus Replication by Suppressing Sphingosine Metabolic Pathway In Vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuhisa Murai

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC frequently develops from hepatitis C virus (HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV infection. We previously reported that peretinoin, an acyclic retinoid, inhibits HCV replication. This study aimed to examine the influence of peretinoin on the HBV lifecycle. HBV-DNA and covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA were evaluated by a qPCR method in HepG2.2.15 cells. Peretinoin significantly reduced the levels of intracellular HBV-DNA, nuclear cccDNA, and HBV transcript at a concentration that did not induce cytotoxicity. Conversely, other retinoids, such as 9-cis, 13-cis retinoic acid (RA, and all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA, had no effect or rather increased HBV replication. Mechanistically, although peretinoin increased the expression of HBV-related transcription factors, as observed for other retinoids, peretinoin enhanced the binding of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1 to cccDNA in the nucleus and negatively regulated HBV transcription. Moreover, peretinoin significantly inhibited the expression of SPHK1, a potential inhibitor of HDAC activity, and might be involved in hepatic inflammation, fibrosis, and HCC. SPHK1 overexpression in cells cancelled the inhibition of HBV replication induced by peretinoin. This indicates that peretinoin activates HDAC1 and thereby suppresses HBV replication by inhibiting the sphingosine metabolic pathway. Therefore, peretinoin may be a novel therapeutic agent for HBV replication and chemoprevention against HCC.

  14. Phenols and aromatic amines as thermal stabilizers in polyolefin processing

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Pospíšil, Jan; Habicher, W. D.; Al-Malaika, S.; Zweifel, H.; Nešpůrek, Stanislav

    2001-01-01

    Roč. 176, - (2001), s. 55-63 ISSN 1022-1360. [International Conference on Polymer Modification, Degradation and Stabilization /1./. Palermo , 03.09.2000-07.09.2000] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1050901; GA MŠk ME 184; GA MŠk ME 372; GA AV ČR KSK4050111 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z4050913 Keywords : thermal stabilizers * phenols * aromatic amines Subject RIV: CD - Macromolecular Chemistry Impact factor: 0.634, year: 2001

  15. Influence of the bioaccessible fraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the ecotoxicity of historically contaminated soils

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Čvančarová, Monika; Křesinová, Zdena; Cajthaml, Tomáš

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 254, JUN 15 (2013), s. 116-124 ISSN 0304-3894 R&D Projects: GA TA ČR TE01020218; GA TA ČR TA01020106 Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : Bioavailability * Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * Ecotoxicity Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 4.331, year: 2013

  16. Evaluation of retinoids for induction of the redundant gene ABCD2 as an alternative treatment option in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Franziska D Weber

    Full Text Available X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD, the most common peroxisomal disorder, is a clinically heterogeneous disease that can manifest as devastating inflammatory cerebral demyelination (CALD leading to death of affected males. Currently, the only curative treatment is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT. However, HSCT is only effective when performed at an early stage because the inflammation may progress for eighteen months after HSCT. Thus, alternative treatment options able to immediately halt the progression are urgently needed. X-ALD is caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene, encoding the peroxisomal membrane protein ABCD1, resulting in impaired very long-chain fatty acid metabolism. The related ABCD2 protein is able to functionally compensate for ABCD1-deficiency both in vitro and in vivo. Recently, we demonstrated that of the cell types derived from CD34+ stem cells, predominantly monocytes but not lymphocytes are metabolically impaired in X-ALD. As ABCD2 is virtually not expressed in these cells, we hypothesize that a pharmacological up-regulation of ABCD2 should compensate metabolically and halt the inflammation in CALD. Retinoids are anti-inflammatory compounds known to act on ABCD2. Here, we investigated the capacity of selected retinoids for ABCD2 induction in human monocytes/macrophages. In THP-1 cells, 13-cis-retinoic acid reached the highest, fivefold, increase in ABCD2 expression. To test the efficacy of retinoids in vivo, we analyzed ABCD2 mRNA levels in blood cells isolated from acne patients receiving 13-cis-retinoic acid therapy. In treated acne patients, ABCD2 mRNA levels were comparable to pre-treatment levels in monocytes and lymphocytes. Nevertheless, when primary monocytes were in vitro differentiated into macrophages and treated with 13-cis-retinoic acid, we observed a fourfold induction of ABCD2. However, the level of ABCD2 induction obtained by retinoids alone is probably not of therapeutic relevance

  17. ps-ro Fuzzy Open(Closed Functions and ps-ro Fuzzy Semi-Homeomorphism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Chettri

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to introduce and characterize some new class of functions in a fuzzy topological space termed as ps-ro fuzzy open(closed functions, ps-ro fuzzy pre semiopen functions and ps-ro fuzzy semi-homeomorphism. The interrelation among these concepts and also their relations with the parallel existing concepts are established. It is also shown with the help of examples that these newly introduced concepts are independent of the well known existing allied concepts.

  18. Assessment of the efficacy and safety of a combination of 2 topical retinoids (RetinSphere) in maintaining post-treatment response of acne to oral isotretinoin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Truchuelo, M T; Jiménez, N; Mavura, D; Jaén, P

    2015-03-01

    The high rate of relapse of acne lesions following oral isotretinoin treatment is a common problem which remains unsolved. To avoid or minimize relapses, topical retinoids have been used for many years as maintenance treatment. However, adverse effects frequently occur. To determine the efficacy and safety of a new retinoid combination (Retinsphere technology) in maintaining post-treatment response to oral isotretinoin. Prospective, randomized, double-blind and vehicle-controlled study of 30 patients with acne previously treated with isotretinoin. Treatment with the retinoid combination was applied to one side of the face and vehicle was applied to the other, once daily, for 3 months. Standardized photographs were taken using RBX technology at baseline, 1.5 months and 3 months. The primary efficacy endpoint was the appearance of relapse on the treated side compared to the vehicle-treated side. Other endpoints included lesion count, investigator-reported improvement, patient-reported improvement, impact on quality-of-life, and side effects. Although the majority of patients did not reach the total target dose of oral isotretinoin, the relapse rate was significantly lower on the retinoid-treated side compared to the vehicle-treated side. Likewise, improved lesion count and excellent tolerance were observed. This new retinoid combination (Retinsphere technology) were effective and safe as maintenance therapy after post-treatment response to oral isotretinoin in patients with acne. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and AEDV. All rights reserved.

  19. Synthesis and nucleophilic aromatic substitution of 3-fluoro-5-nitro-1-(pentafluorosulfanyl)benzene

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Ajenjo, Javier; Greenhall, M.; Zarantonello, C.; Beier, Petr

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 12, Feb 3 (2016), s. 192-197 ISSN 1860-5397 EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 607787 - FLUOR21 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : direct fluorination * fluorine * nucleophilic aromatic substitution * pentafluorosulfanyl group * vicarious nucleophilic substitution Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry Impact factor: 2.337, year: 2016 http://www.beilstein-journals.org/bjoc/single/articleFullText.htm?publicId=1860-5397-12-21

  20. The action of a dietary retinoid on gene expression and cancer induction in electron-irradiated rat skin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burns, F.J.; Chen, S.; Xu, G.; Wu, F.; Tang, M.S.

    2002-01-01

    Current models of radiation carcinogenesis generally assume that the DNA is damaged in a variety of ways by the radiation and that subsequent cell divisions contribute to the conversion of the damage to heritable mutations. Cancer may seem complex and intractable, but its complexity provides multiple opportunities for preventive interventions. Mitotic inhibitors are among the strongest cancer preventive agents, not only slowing the growth rate of preneoplasias but also increasing the fidelity of DNA repair processes. Ionizing radiation, including electrons, is a strong inducer of cancer in rat skin, and dietary retinoids have shown potent cancer preventive activity in the same system. A non-toxic dietary dose of retinyl acetate altered gene expression levels 24 hours after electron irradiation of rat skin. Of the 8740 genes on an Affymetrix rat expression array, the radiation significantly (5 fold or higher) altered 188, while the retinoid altered 231, including 16 radiation-altered genes that were reversely altered. While radiation strongly affected the expression of stress response, immune/inflammation and nucleic acid metabolism genes, the retinoid most strongly affected proliferation-related genes, including some significant reversals, such as, keratin 14, retinol binding protein, and calcium binding proteins. These results point to reversal of proliferation-relevant genes as a likely basis for the anti-radiogenic effects of dietary retinyl acetate. (author)

  1. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation and microbial community shifts during co-composting of creosote-treated wood

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Covino, Stefano; Fabiánová, Tereza; Křesinová, Zdena; Čvančarová, Monika; Burianová, Eva; Filipová, Alena; Voříšková, Jana; Baldrian, Petr; Cajthaml, Tomáš

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 301, JAN 15 (2016), s. 17-26 ISSN 0304-3894 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) EE2.3.30.0003; GA TA ČR TE01020218; GA ČR GA13-28283S Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : Compost ing * Bioremediation * Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 6.065, year: 2016

  2. Preclinical Evaluation of 18F-RO6958948, 11C-RO6931643, and 11C-RO6924963 as Novel PET Radiotracers for Imaging Tau Aggregates in Alzheimer Disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honer, Michael; Gobbi, Luca; Knust, Henner; Kuwabara, Hiroto; Muri, Dieter; Koerner, Matthias; Valentine, Heather; Dannals, Robert F; Wong, Dean F; Borroni, Edilio

    2018-04-01

    Tau aggregates and amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques are key histopathologic features in Alzheimer disease (AD) and are considered targets for therapeutic intervention as well as biomarkers for diagnostic in vivo imaging agents. This article describes the preclinical in vitro and in vivo characterization of 3 novel compounds-RO6958948, RO6931643, and RO6924963-that bind specifically to tau aggregates and have the potential to become PET tracers for future human use. Methods: RO6958948, RO6931643, and RO6924963 were identified as high-affinity competitors at the 3 H-T808 binding site on native tau aggregates in human late-stage AD brain tissue. Binding of tritiated compounds to brain tissue sections of AD patients and healthy controls was analyzed by macro- and microautoradiography and by costaining of tau aggregates and Aβ plaques on the same tissue section using specific antibodies. All 3 tracer candidates were radiolabeled with a PET nuclide and tested in vivo in tau-naïve baboons to assess brain uptake, distribution, clearance, and metabolism. Results: 3 H-RO6958948, 3 H-RO6931643, and 3 H-RO6924963 bound with high affinity and specificity to tau aggregates, clearly lacking affinity for concomitant Aβ plaques in human AD Braak V tissue sections. The specificity of all 3 radioligands for tau aggregates was supported, first, by binding patterns in AD sections comparable to the tau-specific radioligand 3 H-T808; second, by very low nonspecific binding in brain tissue devoid of tau pathology, excluding significant radioligand binding to any other central nervous system target; and third, by macroscopic and microscopic colocalization and quantitative correlation of radioligand binding and tau antibody staining on the same tissue section. RO6958948, RO6931643, and RO6924963 were successfully radiolabeled with a PET nuclide at high specific activity, radiochemical purity, and yield. After intravenous administration of 18 F-RO6958948, 11 C-RO6931643, and 11 C-RO6924963 to

  3. Lecithin:Retinol Acyltransferase: A Key Enzyme Involved in the Retinoid (visual) Cycle

    OpenAIRE

    Sears, Avery E.; Palczewski, Krzysztof

    2016-01-01

    Lecithin:retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) catalyzes the acyl transfer from the sn-1 position of phosphatidylcholine (PC) to all-trans-retinol, creating fatty acid retinyl esters (palmitoyl, stearoyl, and some unsaturated derivatives). In the eye, these retinyl esters are substrates for the 65 kDa retinoid isomerase (RPE65). LRAT is well characterized biochemically, and recent structural data from closely related family members of the NlpC/P60 superfamily and a chimeric protein have established ...

  4. Liver X receptors balance lipid stores in hepatic stellate cells through Rab18, a retinoid responsive lipid droplet protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Mahony, Fiona; Wroblewski, Kevin; O'Byrne, Sheila M; Jiang, Hongfeng; Clerkin, Kara; Benhammou, Jihane; Blaner, William S; Beaven, Simon W

    2015-08-01

    Liver X receptors (LXRs) are determinants of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis. Freshly isolated HSCs from Lxrαβ(-/-) mice have increased lipid droplet (LD) size, but the functional consequences of this are unknown. Our aim was to determine whether LXRs link cholesterol to retinoid storage in HSCs and how this impacts activation. Primary HSCs from Lxrαβ(-/-) and wild-type mice were profiled by gene array during in vitro activation. Lipid content was quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy. Primary HSCs were treated with nuclear receptor ligands, transfected with small interfering RNA and plasmid constructs, and analyzed by immunocytochemistry. Lxrαβ(-/-) HSCs have increased cholesterol and retinyl esters. The retinoid increase drives intrinsic retinoic acid receptor signaling, and activation occurs more rapidly in Lxrαβ(-/-) HSCs. We identify Rab18 as a novel retinoic acid-responsive, LD-associated protein that helps mediate stellate cell activation. Rab18 mRNA, protein, and membrane insertion increase during activation. Both Rab18 guanosine triphosphatase activity and isoprenylation are required for stellate cell LD loss and induction of activation markers. These phenomena are accelerated in Lxrαβ(-/-) HSCs, where there is greater retinoic acid flux. Conversely, Rab18 knockdown retards LD loss in culture and blocks activation, just like the functional mutants. Rab18 is also induced with acute liver injury in vivo. Retinoid and cholesterol metabolism are linked in stellate cells by the LD-associated protein Rab18. Retinoid overload helps explain the profibrotic phenotype of Lxrαβ(-/-) mice, and we establish a pivotal role for Rab18 GTPase activity and membrane insertion in wild-type stellate cell activation. Interference with Rab18 may have significant therapeutic benefit in ameliorating liver fibrosis. © 2015 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

  5. Liver X Receptors Balance Lipid Stores in Hepatic Stellate Cells via Rab18, a Retinoid Responsive Lipid Droplet Protein

    Science.gov (United States)

    O’Mahony, Fiona; Wroblewski, Kevin; O’Byrne, Sheila M.; Jiang, Hongfeng; Clerkin, Kara; Benhammou, Jihane; Blaner, William S.; Beaven, Simon W.

    2014-01-01

    Liver X receptors (LXRs) are determinants of hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and liver fibrosis. Freshly isolated HSCs from Lxrαβ−/− mice have increased lipid droplet (LD) size but the functional consequences of this are unknown. Our aim was to determine whether LXRs link cholesterol to retinoid storage in HSCs and how this impacts activation. Primary HSCs from Lxrαβ−/− and wild-type (WT) mice were profiled by gene array during in vitro activation. Lipid content was quantified by HPLC and mass spectroscopy. Primary HSCs were treated with nuclear receptor ligands, transfected with siRNA and plasmid constructs, and analyzed by immunocytochemistry. Lxrαβ−/− HSCs have increased cholesterol and retinyl esters (CEs & REs). The retinoid increase drives intrinsic retinoic acid receptor (RAR) signaling and activation occurs more rapidly in Lxrαβ−/− HSCs. We identify Rab18 as a novel retinoic acid responsive, lipid droplet associated protein that helps mediate stellate cell activation. Rab18 mRNA, protein, and membrane insertion increase during activation. Both Rab18 GTPase activity and isoprenylation are required for stellate cell lipid droplet loss and induction of activation markers. These phenomena are accelerated in the Lxrαβ−/− HSCs, where there is greater retinoic acid flux. Conversely, Rab18 knockdown retards lipid droplet loss in culture and blocks activation, just like the functional mutants. Rab18 is also induced with acute liver injury in vivo. Conclusion Retinoid and cholesterol metabolism are linked in stellate cells by the LD associated protein, Rab18. Retinoid overload helps explain the pro-fibrotic phenotype of Lxrαβ−/− mice and we establish a pivotal role for Rab18 GTPase activity and membrane insertion in wild-type stellate cell activation. Interference with Rab18 may have significant therapeutic benefit in ameliorating liver fibrosis. PMID:25482505

  6. Carotenoids and retinoids in Finnish foods: dairy products and eggs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ollilainen, V; Heinonen, M; Linkola, E; Varo, P; Koivistoinen, P

    1989-09-01

    As part of an overall composition study of Finnish foods, the carotenoid and retinoid content of 20 dairy product samples and eggs were determined by HPLC. The total beta-carotene (all-trans beta-carotene plus 15-cis beta-carotene) was quantitated for dairy products. For egg and egg yolk, lutein content was also determined. Only traces of lycopene, cryptoxanthin, and alpha-carotene were present. All-trans retinol and 13-cis retinol were the major retinoids in dairy products. Small amounts of 9-cis, 11-cis, and 9,11-cis retinols were found. High values of both retinol and beta-carotene were found in full fat cheeses and whipping cream: from 179.0 (cheese, Edam-type) to 318.7 micrograms/100 g (whipping cream) and from 86.7 (cheese, Edam-type) to 186.5 micrograms/100 g (whipping cream) for all-trans retinol and total beta-carotene, respectively. The retinol content averaged 16.3, 32.6, and 52.2 and that of beta-carotene 9.6, 16.7, and 3.0 micrograms/100 g in milk (1.9% fat), milk (3.9% fat), and human milk, respectively. The major pigment in eggs and egg yolk was lutein, 619.5 micrograms/100 g in eggs and 1575.8 micrograms/100 g in egg yolk. According to this study, at the present level of consumption in Finland, milk, milk products (excluding butter), and eggs result in a daily intake of about 350 retinol equivalents, and consequently, are a major source of vitamin A.

  7. Cell proliferation in lichen planus of the buccal mucosa with special regard to a therapy with an aromatic retinoid (RO 10-9359). Proliferationsverhalten des oralen lichen planus unter besonderer Beruecksichtigung einer Therapie mit aromatischem Retinoid (RO 10-9359)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bauer, G.

    1982-01-01

    The proliferative activity of buccal mucosa epithelium in 16 patients suffering from oral lichen planus was studied by using (/sup 3/H)-thymidine labelling technique in vitro and histometric methods. Autoradiographic sections of two groups of lesions (12 with atrophic and 4 with acanthotic epithelium) were compared with the buccal mucosa of 19 healthy controls investigated in the same way. Determinations comprised separate and combined labelling indices of the basal and suprabasal progenitor compartment (LIsub(bas), LIsub(sbas), LIsub(total)) in relation to basal cells as well as to surface of the epithelium. The following results were obtained. The values of LIsub(total) per 100 basal cells were increased in both groups of lesions, whereby the relation of LIsub(bas):LIsub(sbas) shifted markedly to LIsub(bas), in particular in the atrophic lesions. When relating the total of labelled nuclei to surface length, however, an increase could be confirmed only in acanthotic lesions, whereas most atrophic lesions showed a decrease. This indicates an impaired capacity of the atrophic epithelium to maintain regenerative steady state. This imbalance could also be confirmed by counting the total of basal cells per surface length, which were significantly lowered in atrophic lesions as compared with acanthotic ones as well as normal mucosa. From the results it can be concluded that the renewal activity of the epithelium in atrophic lesions of lichen planus mucosae becomes virtually deficient, though determination of LIsub(total) referred to basal cells simulates a slight increase. Thus, for detecting intrinsic imbalances in the proliferative equilibrium of squamous epithelium, correlation of progenitor compartment labelling to external surface as the site of continuous cell loss is required.

  8. Characterization and biotoxicity assessment of dissolved organic matter in RO concentrate from a municipal wastewater reclamation reverse osmosis system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Ying-Xue; Gao, Yue; Hu, Hong-Ying; Tang, Fang; Yang, Zhe

    2014-12-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate from municipal wastewater reclamation reverse osmosis (mWRRO) system containing organic compounds may associate with toxic risk, and its discharge might pose an environmental risk. To identify a basis for the selection of feasible technology in treating RO concentrates, the characteristics and biotoxicity of different fractions of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in RO concentrates from an mWRRO system were investigated. The results indicated that the hydrophilic neutrals (HIN), hydrophobic acids (HOA) and hydrophobic bases (HOB) accounted for 96% of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) of the total DOM in the RO concentrate. According to the SEC chromatograph detected at 254 nm wavelength of UV, the DOM with molecular weight (MW) 1-3 kDa accounted for the majority of the basic and neutral fractions. The fluorescence spectra of the excitation emission matrix (EEM) indicated that most aromatic proteins, humic/fulvic acid-like and soluble microbial by-product-like substances existed in the fractions HOA and hydrophobic neutrals (HON). The genotoxicity and anti-estrogenic activity of the RO concentrate were 1795.6 ± 57.2 μg 4-NQOL(-1) and 2.19 ± 0.05 mg TAM L(-1), respectively. The HIN, HOA, and HOB contributed to the genotoxicity of the RO concentrate, and the HIN was with the highest genotoxic level of 1007.9 ± 94.8 μg 4-NQOL(-1). The HOA, HON, and HIN lead to the total anti-estrogenic activity of the RO concentrate, and HOA occupied approximately 60% of the total, which was 1.3 ± 0.17 mg TAM L(-1). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Decision Making Model for Ro-Ro Short Sea Shipping Operations in Archipelagic Southeast Asia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aminuddin Md Arof

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to develop a decision-making model for determining the potential of interstate Ro-Ro Short Sea Shipping (SSS operations in Archipelagic Southeast Asia (ASEA. It is expected to assist SSS authorities, private investors and financial institutions focus their limited resources on several key factors that could ensure the success of their undertakings. This study will begin with identifying the relevant factors that have contributed towards successful SSS operations through a process of literature review. Subsequently, a Delphi survey was conducted with sub-regional experts to identify any new determinants and assess their opinions on the relative importance of all the determinants involved. Finally the weightages of the determinants were ascertained through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP. Twenty expert respondents from Brunei Darussalam. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines were involved in the Delphi survey while 18 expert respondents continue to participate in the AHP survey. This study concludes with the development of a decision-making model that was tested on three interstate Ro-Ro SSS routes within the ASEA sub-region. Keywords: Archipelagic Southeast Asia, Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP, ASEAN, Delphi, Ro-Ro, Short Sea Shipping (SSS

  10. Effect of addition of a second metal in Mo/ZSM-5 catalyst for methane aromatization reaction under elevated pressures

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Fíla, V.; Bernauer, Milan; Bernauer, B.; Sobalík, Zdeněk

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 256, č. 2 (2015), s. 269-275 ISSN 0920-5861 Grant - others:EU 7th Framework Program(XE) NMP3-LA-2009-229183 Institutional support: RVO:61388955 Keywords : methane * aromatization * metal dopants Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 4.312, year: 2015

  11. Cell-mediated immunity against human retinal extract, S-antigen, and interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein in onchocercal chorioretinopathy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Lelij, A.; Rothova, A.; Stilma, J. S.; Hoekzema, R.; Kijlstra, A.

    1990-01-01

    Autoimmune mechanisms are thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of onchocercal chorioretinopathy. Cell-mediated immune responses to human retinal S-antigen, interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP), and crude retinal extract were investigated in patients with onchocerciasis from

  12. Retinoid Expression in Onchocercal Skin Disease: Pilot Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mawson, Anthony R; Makunde, Williams H; Penman, Alan D; Hernandez Morales, Veronica de Los Angeles; Kalinga, Akili K; Francis, Filbert; Rubinchik, Semyon; Kibweja, Addow

    2017-01-01

    Based on the observation that the parasite Onchocerca volvulus selectively absorbs vitamin A from the host, and the known toxicity of vitamin A in higher concentration, it was hypothesized that dying microfilariae (mf) release their stores of vitamin A (retinoids) into the host circulation in toxic concentrations, inducing the signs and symptoms of onchocerciasis. We conducted a pilot study to test the hypothesis in Songea communities in Southern Tanzania, where mass drug administration with ivermectin had not been implemented by the time of the survey. The specific aim was to evaluate the correlation between the diagnosis of onchocerciasis and increased levels of retinoic acid at infection sites. The analysis was performed by determining copy numbers of a genome of O volvulus present in skin snip samples of persons with onchocerciacis, and correlating these numbers with expression levels of retinoic acid receptor-α (RAR-α), which is inducible by retinoic acid. Total DNA and RNA were extracted from each of 25 mf-positive and 25 mf-negative skin samples and evaluated using quantitative polymerase chain reaction with appropriate negative controls. Analysis of the samples, adjusted with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene levels, revealed that most samples with detectable RAR-α transcripts had higher levels of RAR-α expression than the assay control. However, the quality and number of samples were insufficient for statistical analysis. Fold data on the expression levels of both O volvulus DNA and RAR RNA suggested a possible trend toward higher relative RAR-α expression in samples with higher levels of O volvulus DNA ( r 2  = 0.25, P  = .079). Evidence of a contribution of vitamin A to the pathology of onchocerciasis thus remains elusive. Future studies on the role of retinoids in onchocerciasis will require larger groups of participants as well as careful monitoring of the cold chain and tissue storage procedures in view of the sensitivity of

  13. Duration of oral tetracycline-class antibiotic therapy and use of topical retinoids for the treatment of acne among general practitioners (GP): A retrospective cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbieri, John S; Hoffstad, Ole; Margolis, David J

    2016-12-01

    Guidelines recommend limiting the duration of oral antibiotic therapy in acne to 3 to 6 months and prescribing concomitant topical retinoids for all patients. We sought to evaluate the duration of therapy with oral tetracyclines and the use of topical retinoids among patients with acne treated primarily by general practitioners in the United Kingdom. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Health Improvement Network database. The mean duration of therapy was 175.1 days. Of antibiotic courses, 62% were not associated with a topical retinoid; 29% exceeded 6 months in duration. If all regions were to achieve uses similar to the region with the shortest mean duration of therapy, approximately 3.3 million antibiotic days per year could be avoided in the United Kingdom. The Health Improvement Network does not include information on acne severity and clinical outcomes. Prescribing behavior for oral antibiotics in the treatment of acne among general practitioners is not aligned with current guideline recommendations. Increasing the use of topical retinoids and considering alternative agents to oral antibiotics when appropriate represent opportunities to reduce antibiotic exposure and associated complications such as antibiotic resistance and to improve outcomes in patients treated for acne. Copyright © 2016 American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Comparison of the Concentration Profiles of 12 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Different Sources with Monitoring Data from Prague Using a Similarity Measure

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Tydlitát, Vratislav; Kotlík, B.; Punčochář, Miroslav; Mikešová, M.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 30, č. 4 (2010), s. 208-221 ISSN 1040-6638 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40720504 Keywords : car exhausts * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) * urban atmosphere Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 0.982, year: 2010

  15. Allergen-Induced Dermatitis Causes Alterations in Cutaneous Retinoid-Mediated Signaling in Mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gericke, Janine; Ittensohn, Jan; Mihály, Johanna; Dubrac, Sandrine; Rühl, Ralph

    2013-01-01

    Nuclear receptor-mediated signaling via RARs and PPARδ is involved in the regulation of skin homeostasis. Moreover, activation of both RAR and PPARδ was shown to alter skin inflammation. Endogenous all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) can activate both receptors depending on specific transport proteins: Fabp5 initiates PPARδ signaling whereas Crabp2 promotes RAR signaling. Repetitive topical applications of ovalbumin (OVA) in combination with intraperitoneal injections of OVA or only intraperitoneal OVA applications were used to induce allergic dermatitis. In our mouse model, expression of IL-4, and Hbegf increased whereas expression of involucrin, Abca12 and Spink5 decreased in inflamed skin, demonstrating altered immune response and epidermal barrier homeostasis. Comprehensive gene expression analysis showed alterations of the cutaneous retinoid metabolism and retinoid-mediated signaling in allergic skin immune response. Notably, ATRA synthesis was increased as indicated by the elevated expression of retinaldehyde dehydrogenases and increased levels of ATRA. Consequently, the expression pattern of genes downstream to RAR was altered. Furthermore, the increased ratio of Fabp5 vs. Crabp2 may indicate an up-regulation of the PPARδ pathway in allergen-induced dermatitis in addition to the altered RAR signaling. Thus, our findings suggest that ATRA levels, RAR-mediated signaling and signaling involved in PPARδ pathways are mainly increased in allergen-induced dermatitis and may contribute to the development and/or maintenance of allergic skin diseases. PMID:23977003

  16. Gestational exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin alters retinoid homeostasis in maternal and perinatal tissues of the Holtzman rat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kransler, Kevin M.; Tonucci, David A.; McGarrigle, Barbara P.; Napoli, Joseph L.; Olson, James R.

    2007-01-01

    2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), one of the most widely studied environmental contaminants, causes a variety of adverse health effects including teratogenesis and altered development which may be related to disruptions in retinoid homeostasis. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that gestational administration of TCDD has on retinoid homeostasis in both pregnant Holtzman rats and developing fetuses and neonates. A single oral dose of TCDD (0, 1.5, 3, or 6 μg/kg) was administered to pregnant rats on gestation day 10, with fetuses analyzed on gestation days 17 and 20, and neonates analyzed on post natal day 7. Exposure to TCDD generally produced decreases in the concentrations of retinyl esters, such as retinyl palmitate, and retinol in maternal and perinatal liver and lung, while increasing levels in the maternal kidney. Additionally, perinatal hepatic retinol binding protein 1-dependent retinyl ester hydrolysis was also decrease by TCDD. Sensitivity of the developing perinates to TCDD appeared to have an age-related component demonstrated by an increased rate of mortality and significant alterations to body weight and length on post natal day 7 relative to that observed at gestation day 20. A unique observation made in this study was a significant decrease in lung weight observed in the perinates exposed to TCDD. Taken together, these data demonstrate that TCDD significantly alters retinoid homeostasis in tissues of the developing fetus and neonate, suggesting that their unique sensitivity to TCDD may at least be in part the result of altered retinoid homeostasis

  17. Maternal retinoids control type 3 innate lymphoid cells and set the offspring immunity

    Science.gov (United States)

    van de Pavert, Serge A.; Ferreira, Manuela; Domingues, Rita G.; Ribeiro, Hélder; Molenaar, Rosalie; Moreira-Santos, Lara; Almeida, Francisca F.; Ibiza, Sales; Barbosa, Inês; Goverse, Gera; Labão-Almeida, Carlos; Godinho-Silva, Cristina; Konijn, Tanja; Schooneman, Dennis; O'Toole, Tom; Mizee, Mark R.; Habani, Yasmin; Haak, Esther; Santori, Fabio R.; Littman, Dan R.; Schulte-Merker, Stefan; Dzierzak, Elaine; Simas, J. Pedro; Mebius, Reina E.; Veiga-Fernandes, Henrique

    2014-04-01

    The impact of nutritional status during fetal life on the overall health of adults has been recognized; however, dietary effects on the developing immune system are largely unknown. Development of secondary lymphoid organs occurs during embryogenesis and is considered to be developmentally programmed. Secondary lymphoid organ formation depends on a subset of type 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) named lymphoid tissue inducer (LTi) cells. Here we show that mouse fetal ILC3s are controlled by cell-autonomous retinoic acid (RA) signalling in utero, which pre-sets the immune fitness in adulthood. We found that embryonic lymphoid organs contain ILC progenitors that differentiate locally into mature LTi cells. Local LTi cell differentiation was controlled by maternal retinoid intake and fetal RA signalling acting in a haematopoietic cell-autonomous manner. RA controlled LTi cell maturation upstream of the transcription factor RORγt. Accordingly, enforced expression of Rorgt restored maturation of LTi cells with impaired RA signalling, whereas RA receptors directly regulated the Rorgt locus. Finally, we established that maternal levels of dietary retinoids control the size of secondary lymphoid organs and the efficiency of immune responses in the adult offspring. Our results reveal a molecular link between maternal nutrients and the formation of immune structures required for resistance to infection in the offspring.

  18. Synthesis of retinoid vitamin A-vitamin B6 conjugate analogues for antiviral chemotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kesel, Andreas J.

    2003-01-01

    The synthesis of retinoid vitamin A-vitamin B 6 conjugate analogues from a vitamin B 6 coenzyme analogue and putative HIV-1 trans-activating transcriptional regulatory protein Tat antagonist (Z)-5 ' -O-phosphono-pyridoxylidenerhodanine (B6PR) monosodium salt hemiheptadecahydrate [(Z)-B6PRNa8.5H 2 O] is discussed here. All-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is coupled to B6PR by a modified Stork enamine acylation. It results in a product library of more than eight compounds, each with at least one intact all-trans or 13-cis vitamin A double bond system. This yellow oily concentrate mixture was subjected to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-ToF) mass spectrometry (MS), UV/VIS-spectrophotometry, and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H-NMR). The chemical structures of six components of the concentrate mixture could be established by combination of these analytical methods. The two main components are 65% 2 ' C,3O-(all-trans-retinylidyne)B6PT (B6RA) and 25% 2 ' C-(all-trans-retinoyl)B6PT, chemically derived from (5RS)-5-(5 ' -O-phosphono-pyridoxyl)-2,4-thiazolidinedione (B6PT). This new retinoid selection could be of further interest in antiviral applications, especially treating conditions caused by RNA viruses like HIV

  19. The effect of the antipsoriatic drug metabolite etretin (Ro 10-1670) on UVB irradiation induced changes in the metabolism of arachidonic acid in human keratinocytes in culture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Punnonen, Kari; Jansen, C.T.; Puustinen, Tapio

    1986-01-01

    [ 14 C]Arachidonic acid was avidly incorporated into human keratinocytes in culture and following exposure to UVB irradiation of 9 mJ/cm 2 (erythemally effective, EE) substantial amounts of 14 C-radiolabel were released from the cells. The release of radiolabel was accompanied by a decrease in the labelling of phosphatidylethanolamine whereas the labelling of triacylglycerols and cholesteryl esters was increased. Keratinocytes produced significant amounts of prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) and following UVB irradiation of 9 mJ/cm 2 (EE) the formation of prostaglandin E 2 was increased. Etretin (Ro 10-1670), the active metabolite of the antipsoriatic drug etretinate (Ro 10-9359), affected significantly neither the total release of radiolabel induced by UVB nor the formation of prostaglandin E 2 . However, in the presence of etretin the UVB irradiation induced transfer of [ 14 C]arachidonic acid into triacylglycerols and cholesteryl esters was not increased as much as in the corresponding experiments without etretin. On the basis of the present study it appears that etretin dose not interfere with the release of arachidonic acid in amounts which could be related to the therapeutic effects of the combination of retinoids with UVB irradiation (Re-UVB) in the treatment of psoriasis. (author)

  20. Argument ÜRO vastu / Joshua Muravchik

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Muravchik, Joshua

    2004-01-01

    ÜRO rollist Somaalias, Rwandas ja Bosnias, Iisraeli eristaatusest. ÜRO silmakirjalikkusest inimõiguste alal, terrorismi legaliseerimisest, Kofi Annani juhtimisstiilist. Maailmas on pärast 1945. aastat valitsenud suhteline rahu mitte tänu ÜRO-le, vaid peamiselt USA tegevusele, leiab autor

  1. Effects of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons on vitamin A catabolism and the regulation of vitamin A homeostasis in rats

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bank, P.A.

    1989-01-01

    Polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAH) are known to adversely affect vitamin A status resulting in the hepatic depletion and enhanced excretion of vitamin A. Increased renal and serum vitamin A content occurs subsequent to these PHAH-related alterations. Vitamin A, a highly regulated system, appears to undergo rapid compensatory changes to maintain homeostasis in response to nutritional, metabolic, or toxicologic conditions. The present study was undertaken in order to elucidate the mechanism(s) responsible for these PHAH-related effects on vitamin A homeostasis. To this end, the toxin prototype of the PHAH class 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and the 3,4,5,3',4',5'-hexabromo- or hexachloro-biphenyls were used in this study. Results presented in this study indirectly showed that PHAH caused enhanced hepatic and extrahepatic catabolism of intravenously administered 3 H-retinol-retinol binding protein-transthyretin as evidenced by increased inactive polar retinoids in liver, kidney, bile, and excreta. These polar retinoids were isolated from tissues and bile and are thought to represent oxidized and/or glucuronidated, elimination metabolites of vitamin A. PHAH increased the microsomal activity of cytochrome P-450 MFO and UDP-glucuronosyl transferase toward retinoic acid (RA), enzyme systems that are also known to be coordinately induced by PHAH. Increased serum and kidney vitamin A is likely a homeostatic response to PHAH-related increased target tissue catabolism. For serum, this was shown directly by the finding that PHAH caused decreased liver esterification of retinol recycled from the extrahepatic tissues and indirectly by the administration of the active target tissue metabolite, RA. After RA, both control and PHAH-treated rats lowered their serum vitamin A

  2. Elements of Risk Analysis for Collision and Grounding of a RoRo Passenger Ferry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Otto, S.; Pedersen, Preben Terndrup; Samuelidis, M.

    2002-01-01

    Newly developed software was applied to study the effects of damages due to collision and grounding. The annual risk of collision and grounding was computed for an example RoRo passenger ferry. Collision frequency was evaluated for a specified route taking into account traffic data. Grounding...

  3. Putrescine treatment reverses α-tocopherol-induced desynchronization of polyamine and retinoid metabolism during rat liver regeneration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lourdes Sánchez-Sevilla

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The pre-treatment with α-tocopherol inhibits progression of rat liver proliferation induced by partial hepatectomy (PH, by decreasing and/or desynchronizing cyclin D1 expression and activation into the nucleus, activation and nuclear translocation of STAT-1 and -3 proteins and altering retinoid metabolism. Interactions between retinoic acid and polyamines have been reported in the PH-induced rat liver regeneration. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of low dosage of α-tocopherol on PH-induced changes in polyamine metabolism. Methods This study evaluated the participation of polyamine synthesis and metabolism during α-tocopherol-induced inhibition of rat liver regeneration. In PH-rats (Wistar treated with α-tocopherol and putrescine, parameters indicative of cell proliferation, lipid peroxidation, ornithine decarboxylase expression (ODC, and polyamine levels, were determined. Results Pre-treatment with α-tocopherol to PH-animals exerted an antioxidant effect, shifting earlier the increased ODC activity and expression, temporally affecting polyamine synthesis and ornithine metabolism. Whereas administration of putrescine induced minor changes in PH-rats, the concomitant treatment actually counteracted most of adverse actions exerted by α-tocopherol on the remnant liver, restituting its proliferative potential, without changing its antioxidant effect. Putrescine administration to these rats was also associated with lower ODC expression and activity in the proliferating liver, but the temporally shifting in the amount of liver polyamines induced by α-tocopherol, was also “synchronized” by the putrescine administration. The latter is supported by the fact that a close relationship was observed between fluctuations of polyamines and retinoids. Conclusions Putrescine counteracted most adverse actions exerted by α-tocopherol on rat liver regeneration, restoring liver proliferative potential and restituting the decreased

  4. Aromatic hydrocarbons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roder, M.

    1985-01-01

    Papers dealing with radiolysis of aromatic hydrocarbons of different composition (from benzene to terphenyls and hydrocarbons with condensed rings) as well as their mixtures (with alkanes, alkenes, other aromatic hydrocarbons) are reviewed. High radiation stability of aromatic hydrocarbons in condensed phases associated with peculiarities of molecular structure of compounds is underlined. Mechanisms of radiolytic processes, vaues of product yields are considered

  5. Synthesis of zirconia-immobilized copper chelates for catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide and the oxidation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Baldrian, Petr; Merhautová, Věra; Cajthaml, Tomáš; Nerud, František; Stopka, Pavel; Gorbacheva, O.; Hrubý, Martin; Beneš, Milan J.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 72, č. 11 (2008), s. 1721-1726 ISSN 0045-6535 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IBS5020306 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510; CEZ:AV0Z40320502; CEZ:AV0Z40500505 Keywords : degradation * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * hydrogen peroxide Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 3.054, year: 2008

  6. SU-E-T-218: The IHE-RO Helper Tool: Demonstrating the Connectivity Issues Solved by IHE-RO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kapoor, Rishabh; Yeung, Daniel; Kumar, Sabari Ajay; Alex, Daley; Kapur, Priyanka; Palta, Jatinder

    2012-06-01

    To develop a Web-based application (IHE-RO Helper) to allow comprehensive review of the interconnectivity and interoperability of various radiotherapy devices established through testing sanctioned by the Integrating Healthcare Enterprise-Radiation Oncology (IHE-RO). IHE-RO is an initiative sponsored by ASTRO to improve the way computer based systems in radiation oncology share information using well-defined data exchange standards (DICOM / HL7). At the IHE-RO Connectathon events over the last 4 years, 11 vendors with 14 different products have successfully tested and identified solutions to connectivity problems in treatment planning, simulation and delivery. Because the test results are highly technical, the interconnectivity issues amongst the RT devices may get overlooked by the end users. The IHE-RO helper tool is designed to operate in simple clinical terms with queries and presentations organized based on treatment techniques and clinical features that are familiar to the practitioners. For example, if you are planning to purchase a treatment planning system capable of generating plans (e.g. Stereotactic treatments) and are concerned whether the TPS can successfully transfer such data to your treatment management system (TMS) and subsequently to your treatment delivery system (TDS), the IHE-RO Helper can identify the connectivity requirements and list vendors that have successfully passed an IHE-RO Connectathon and validated their solution to the specific requirements. The IHE-RO helper tool provides a graphical and textual user interface to effectively demonstrate the solved interconnectivity problems between TPS, TMS and TDS. A report is also provided that explains the interconnectivity problems and its solutions. The IHE-RO helper is an effective tool to clearly identify vendor products that are IHE-RO compliant, thereby encourages vendor participation in testing and validation. Such a tool will be invaluable in procurement of new equipment to ensure a

  7. Cell proliferation in lichen planus of the buccal mucosa with special regard to a therapy with an aromatic retinoid (RO 10-9359)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, G.

    1982-01-01

    The proliferative activity of buccal mucosa epithelium in 16 patients suffering from oral lichen planus was studied by using [ 3 H]-thymidine labelling technique in vitro and histometric methods. Autoradiographic sections of two groups of lesions (12 with atrophic and 4 with acanthotic epithelium) were compared with the buccal mucosa of 19 healthy controls investigated in the same way. Determinations comprised separate and combined labelling indices of the basal and suprabasal progenitor compartment (LIsub(bas), LIsub(sbas), LIsub(total)) in relation to basal cells as well as to surface of the epithelium. The following results were obtained. The values of LIsub(total) per 100 basal cells were increased in both groups of lesions, whereby the relation of LIsub(bas):LIsub(sbas) shifted markedly to LIsub(bas), in particular in the atrophic lesions. When relating the total of labelled nuclei to surface length, however, an increase could be confirmed only in acanthotic lesions, whereas most atrophic lesions showed a decrease. This indicates an impaired capacity of the atrophic epithelium to maintain regenerative steady state. This imbalance could also be confirmed by counting the total of basal cells per surface length, which were significantly lowered in atrophic lesions as compared with acanthotic ones as well as normal mucosa. From the results it can be concluded that the renewal activity of the epithelium in atrophic lesions of lichen planus mucosae becomes virtually deficient, though determination of LIsub(total) referred to basal cells simulates a slight increase. Thus, for detecting intrinsic imbalances in the proliferative equilibrium of squamous epithelium, correlation of progenitor compartment labelling to external surface as the site of continuous cell loss is required. (orig.)

  8. Premier numéro bilingue

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esther Cloutier

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available Nous sommes heureux de vous présenter ce nouveau numéro bilingue de la revue PISTES. Nous espérons ainsi faire connaître les travaux francophones sur la santé au travail dans le monde anglo-saxon. Nous vous rappelons que la traduction de ce numéro a été rendu possible grâce à une subvention du CRSH (Conseil de la recherche en sciences humaines du Canada ainsi qu’à la contribution de certains auteurs que nous tenons à remercier. Ce numéro aborde plusieurs thèmes de recherche reliés au travail...

  9. Spectroscopic Diagnosis of Excited-State Aromaticity: Capturing Electronic Structures and Conformations upon Aromaticity Reversal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Juwon; Sung, Young Mo; Hong, Yongseok; Kim, Dongho

    2018-03-06

    Aromaticity, the special energetic stability derived from cyclic [4 n + 2]π-conjugated electronic structures, has been the topic of intense interest in chemistry because it plays a critical role in rationalizing molecular stability, reactivity, and physical/chemical properties. Recently, the pioneering work by Colin Baird on aromaticity reversal, postulating that aromatic (antiaromatic) character in the ground state reverses to antiaromatic (aromatic) character in the lowest excited triplet state, has attracted much scientific attention. The completely reversed aromaticity in the excited state provides direct insight into understanding the photophysical/chemical properties of photoactive materials. In turn, the application of aromatic molecules to photoactive materials has led to numerous studies revealing this aromaticity reversal. However, most studies of excited-state aromaticity have been based on the theoretical point of view. The experimental evaluation of aromaticity in the excited state is still challenging and strenuous because the assessment of (anti)aromaticity with conventional magnetic, energetic, and geometric indices is difficult in the excited state, which practically restricts the extension and application of the concept of excited-state aromaticity. Time-resolved optical spectroscopies can provide a new and alternative avenue to evaluate excited-state aromaticity experimentally while observing changes in the molecular features in the excited states. Time-resolved optical spectroscopies take advantage of ultrafast laser pulses to achieve high time resolution, making them suitable for monitoring ultrafast changes in the excited states of molecular systems. This can provide valuable information for understanding the aromaticity reversal. This Account presents recent breakthroughs in the experimental assessment of excited-state aromaticity and the verification of aromaticity reversal with time-resolved optical spectroscopic measurements. To

  10. Keratoacanthoma centrifugum marginatum: unresponsive to oral retinoid and successfully treated with wide local excision.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kapildev Das

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available We describe a case of a 65-year-old male presenting with a large plaque with a rolled-out interrupted margin, atrophic center, and island of normal skin over the left arm. It grew peripherally with central healing, and there was a history of recurrence after inadequate excision. Investigations ruled out other clin­ical mimickers; namely, squamous cell carcinoma, lupus vulgaris, botryomycosis, and blastomycosis-like pyoderma. Histopathological sections showed irregularly shaped craters filled with keratin and epithelial pearl but no evidence of granuloma or cellular atypia. Clinico­pathological correlation proved the lesion to be keratoacanthoma centrifugum marginatum (KCM, a rare variant of keratoacanthoma, which spreads centrifugally, attains a huge size, and never involutes spontaneously. Treatment of KCM has been a problem always and, in our case, systemic retinoid (acitretin for three months proved ineffective. The patient also had a history of recurrence following surgical intervention previously, necessitating wide excision to achieve complete clearance of tumor cells. Hence, after failure of retinoid therapy, the decision of excision with a 1-centimeter margin was taken and the large defect was closed by a split thickness skin graft. The graft uptake was satisfactory, and the patient is being followed-up presently and shows no signs of recurrence after six months, highlighting wide local excision as a useful treatment option.

  11. [Immunosuppresive agents, retinoids and new trends in the therapy of psoriasis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Svozil, M

    2002-11-01

    Some psoriasis forms can be successfully treated with topical medicaments; serious and extensive forms cannot be cured without systemic treatment with retinoids (etretinate, acitretin, tazarotene) or with immunosuppressives (methotrexate, cyclosporine A, tacrolimus, SDZ 281-240). Immunotherapy and nucleotide analogues are being newly introduced, a number of potentially effective substances interfering with pathogenetic mechanisms participating in the emergence and self-prolongation of psoriasis are in the stage of research and clinical trials, and gene therapy possibilities are being investigated. The development and testing of drugs serving therapy for psoriasis correlates with the development of knowledge about the origins of the disease and the mechanisms of how antipsoriatics in current use as well as the new potential ones work.

  12. Combination Superficial Peels With Salicylic Acid and Post-Peel Retinoids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kligman, Douglas E; Draelos, Zoe D

    2016-04-01

    Salicylic acid (SA) and retinoids, tretinoin (all-trans retinoic acid [ATRA]), and retinol (all-trans retinol) are widely used as topical agents for the improvement of photodamage and acne vulgaris. They can be used in daily take-home products or as part of an in-office procedure, combining the benefits of a keratolytic (SA) and a retinoid. The objective of this research was to compare the efficacy for ameliorating photodamage of topical tretinoin (0.25%) and retinol (0.25%) to baseline and with each other when applied after a 30% salicylic acid peel on human facial skin. Twenty female subjects received a full face 30% SA peel followed by the overnight application of tretinoin to a 1 randomized half-face and retinol to the opposite side (split-face study). The identical procedure was repeated at week 2. Double-blinded subject and investigator assessments of the results were captured at weeks 2 and 4. By investigator evaluation, both peeling regimens were effective in improving photodamage parameters compared to baseline. (ATRA P-values at week 4 were: P=.00008 texture, P=.00013 roughness, P=.00221 pores, P=.00098 dryness, P=.02770 erythema, and P=.00008 overall appearance. Retinol P-values at week 4 were: P=.00019 texture, P=.00053 roughness, P=.00221 pores, P=.00147 dryness, P=.02770 erythema, and P=.0043 overall appearance.) By subject self-assessment compared with baseline, both tretinoin and retinol were effective in improving overall appearance (ATRA P=.0229 and retinol P=.0190). By investigator evaluation comparing tretinoin with retinol, tretinoin was slightly better than retinol at week 4 in improving texture P=.00506, roughness P=.01171, and overall appearance P=.00506. By subject self-assessment comparing tretinoin with retinol, there was no difference in overall appearance (ATRA P=.2367 and retinol P=.3613). Either topical tretinoin (0.25%) or retinol (0.25%) can be used safely and effectively when applied in office immediately after SA peeling to

  13. Find selv fred og ro

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Juelskjær, Malou

    2010-01-01

    I klasseværelset er det lærerens ansvar at skabe ro. Men i de nye skolebygninger er det den enkelte elevs ansvar at finde frem til fredfyldte steder.......I klasseværelset er det lærerens ansvar at skabe ro. Men i de nye skolebygninger er det den enkelte elevs ansvar at finde frem til fredfyldte steder....

  14. IgV peptide mapping of native Ro60 autoantibody proteomes in primary Sjögren's syndrome reveals molecular markers of Ro/La diversification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jing J; Al Kindi, Mahmood A; Colella, Alex D; Dykes, Lukah; Jackson, Michael W; Chataway, Tim K; Reed, Joanne H; Gordon, Tom P

    2016-12-01

    We have used high-resolution mass spectrometry to sequence precipitating anti-Ro60 proteomes from sera of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome and compare immunoglobulin variable-region (IgV) peptide signatures in Ro/La autoantibody subsets. Anti-Ro60 were purified by elution from native Ro60-coated ELISA plates and subjected to combined de novo amino acid sequencing and database matching. Monospecific anti-Ro60 Igs comprised dominant public and minor private sets of IgG1 kappa and lambda restricted heavy and light chains. Specific IgV amino acid substitutions stratified anti-Ro60 from anti-Ro60/La responses, providing a molecular fingerprint of Ro60/La determinant spreading and suggesting that different forms of Ro60 antigen drive these responses. Sequencing of linked anti-Ro52 proteomes from individual patients and comparison with their anti-Ro60 partners revealed sharing of a dominant IGHV3-23/IGKV3-20 paired clonotype but with divergent IgV mutational signatures. In summary, anti-Ro60 IgV peptide mapping provides insights into Ro/La autoantibody diversification and reveals serum-based molecular markers of humoral Ro60 autoimmunity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. Systematic review of the use of the lymphocyte cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay to measure DNA damage induced by exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šrám, Radim; Švecová, Vlasta; Rössnerová, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 770, oct - dec (2016), s. 162-169 ISSN 1383-5742 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA13-13458S Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : cytokinesis blocked micronuclei * peripheral blood lymphocytes * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 5.500, year: 2016

  16. Adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the air-water interface: Molecular dynamics simulations and experimental atmospheric observations

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vácha, Robert; Jungwirth, Pavel; Chen, J.; Valsaraj, K.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 8, č. 38 (2006), s. 4461-4467 ISSN 1463-9076 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LC512; GA MŠk(CZ) ME 644 Grant - others:NSF(US) CHE0431312; NSF(US) CHE0209719; NSF(US) ATM-0355291 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z40550506 Keywords : polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * water surface * molecular dynamics simulations * heterogeneous atmospheric chemistry Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 2.892, year: 2006

  17. Mobilizing agents enhance fungal degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and affect diversity of indigenous bacteria in soil

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Leonardi, V.; Giubilei, M. A.; Federici, E.; Spaccapelo, R.; Šašek, Václav; Novotný, Čeněk; Petruccioli, M.; D'Annibale, A.

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 101, č. 2 (2008), s. 273-285 ISSN 0006-3592 Grant - others:AV ČR(CZ) Bilaterální projekt CNR (Itálie)/AV ČR „Bioremediace kontaminované půdy a dřeva pomocí ligninolytických hub" (2007-2009). Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : mycoremediation * polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * biodegradation Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 2.936, year: 2008

  18. 3D visualization of the internal nanostructure of polyamide thin films in RO membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Pacheco Oreamuno, Federico

    2015-11-02

    The front and back surfaces of fully aromatic polyamide thin films isolated from reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were characterized by TEM, SEM and AFM. The front surfaces were relatively rough showing polyamide protuberances of different sizes and shapes; the back surfaces were all consistently smoother with very similar granular textures formed by polyamide nodules of 20–50 nm. Occasional pore openings of approximately the same size as the nodules were observed on the back surfaces. Because traditional microscopic imaging techniques provide limited information about the internal morphology of the thin films, TEM tomography was used to create detailed 3D visualizations that allowed the examination of any section of the thin film volume. These tomograms confirmed the existence of numerous voids within the thin films and revealed structural characteristics that support the water permeance difference between brackish water (BWRO) and seawater (SWRO) RO membranes. Consistent with a higher water permeance, the thin film of the BWRO membrane ESPA3 contained relatively more voids and thinner sections of polyamide than the SWRO membrane SWC3. According to the tomograms, most voids originate near the back surface and many extend all the way to the front surface shaping the polyamide protuberances. Although it is possible for the internal voids to be connected to the outside through the pore openings on the back surface, it was verified that some of these voids comprise nanobubbles that are completely encapsulated by polyamide. TEM tomography is a powerful technique for investigating the internal nanostructure of polyamide thin films. A comprehensive knowledge of the nanostructural distribution of voids and polyamide sections within the thin film may lead to a better understanding of mass transport and rejection mechanisms in RO membranes.

  19. 3D visualization of the internal nanostructure of polyamide thin films in RO membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Pacheco Oreamuno, Federico; Sougrat, Rachid; Reinhard, Martin; Leckie, James O.; Pinnau, Ingo

    2015-01-01

    The front and back surfaces of fully aromatic polyamide thin films isolated from reverse osmosis (RO) membranes were characterized by TEM, SEM and AFM. The front surfaces were relatively rough showing polyamide protuberances of different sizes and shapes; the back surfaces were all consistently smoother with very similar granular textures formed by polyamide nodules of 20–50 nm. Occasional pore openings of approximately the same size as the nodules were observed on the back surfaces. Because traditional microscopic imaging techniques provide limited information about the internal morphology of the thin films, TEM tomography was used to create detailed 3D visualizations that allowed the examination of any section of the thin film volume. These tomograms confirmed the existence of numerous voids within the thin films and revealed structural characteristics that support the water permeance difference between brackish water (BWRO) and seawater (SWRO) RO membranes. Consistent with a higher water permeance, the thin film of the BWRO membrane ESPA3 contained relatively more voids and thinner sections of polyamide than the SWRO membrane SWC3. According to the tomograms, most voids originate near the back surface and many extend all the way to the front surface shaping the polyamide protuberances. Although it is possible for the internal voids to be connected to the outside through the pore openings on the back surface, it was verified that some of these voids comprise nanobubbles that are completely encapsulated by polyamide. TEM tomography is a powerful technique for investigating the internal nanostructure of polyamide thin films. A comprehensive knowledge of the nanostructural distribution of voids and polyamide sections within the thin film may lead to a better understanding of mass transport and rejection mechanisms in RO membranes.

  20. Flavonoid 4 '-O-Methylkuwanon E from Morus alba Induces the Differentiation of THP-1 Human Leukemia Cells

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kollár, P.; Bárta, T.; Keltosova, S.; Trnová, P.; Závalová, V.; Smejkal, K.; Hošek, J.; Fedr, Radek; Souček, Karel; Hampl, A.

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 2015, č. 2015 (2015) ISSN 1741-427X Institutional support: RVO:68081707 Keywords : ACTIVATED PROTEIN-KINASE * RETINOIDS * INHIBITION Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 1.931, year: 2015

  1. Aromatic chemical feedstocks from coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collin, G

    1982-06-01

    Liquid byproducts of coal carbonization meet some 25% of the world demand for aromatic chemicals, currently at approx. 30 million t/a, in particular 15% of the demand for benzene and over 95% of the demand for condensed aromatics and heteroaromatics. Industrial processing of the aromatic byproducts of coal pressure gasification is carried out to only a minor extent. Other methods that may be employed in future to obtain carbochemical aromatic compounds are solvolysis and supercritical gas extraction, the catalytic liquid-phase hydrogenation and hydropyrolysis of coal, which also permit recovery of benzene and homologues, phenols, and condensed and partially hydrogenated aromatics, and the synthesis of aromatics using methanol as the key compound. As with the present means of obtaining aromatic chemicals from coal, the processes that may in the future be applied on an industrial scale to obtain pure aromatics will only be economically feasible if linked with the manufacture of other mass products and combined with the present production of carbochemical aromatics.

  2. Aromatic raw materials from coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Collin, G

    1982-06-01

    Liquid byproducts of coal carbonization meet some 25% of the world demand for aromatic chemicals, currently at approx. 30 million t/a, in particular 15% of the demand for benzene and over 95% of the demand for condensed aromatics and heteroaromatics. Industrial processing of the aromatic byproducts of coal pressure gasification is carried out to only a minor extent. Other methods that may be employed in future to obtain carbochemical aromatic compounds are solvolysis and supercritical gas extraction, the catalytic liquid-phase hydrogenation and hydropyrolysis of coal, which also permit recovery of benzene and homologues, phenols, and condensed and partially hydrogenated aromatics, and the synthesis of aromatics using methanol as the key compound. As with the present means of obtaining aromatic chemicals from coal, the processes that may in future be applied on an industrial scale to obtain pure aromatics will only be economically feasible if linked with the manufacture of other mass products and combined with the present production of carbochemical aromatics. (In German)

  3. RoMo

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pedersen, Esben Warming; Hornbæk, Kasper

    2011-01-01

    In TUIs, physical/digital conflicts can occur when the digital model does not match the model implied by the spatial lay- out of tangibles. We show how tangible tabletop interfaces (TTI) can be modified to allow robot movement of tangi- bles, thereby avoiding conflicts. We present RoMo, an open...... source Java library that allow existing TTI applications to perform robot movement, and demonstrate its functionality with three applications....

  4. Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons/aromatics, BDNF and child development

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perera, Frederica; Phillips, David H.; Wang, Ya; Roen, Emily; Herbstman, Julie; Rauh, Virginia; Wang, Shuang; Tang, Deliang

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: Within a New York City (NYC) birth cohort, we assessed the associations between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and other aromatic DNA adducts and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations in umbilical cord blood, and neurodevelopment at age 2 years and whether BDNF is a mediator of the associations between PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts and neurodevelopment. Methods: PAH/aromatic-DNA adduct concentrations in cord blood were measured in 505 children born to nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women residing in NYC, and a subset was assessed for neurodevelopment at 2 years using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Development Index (MDI). A spectrum of PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts was measured using the 32 P-postlabeling assay; DNA adducts formed by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a representative PAH, were measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/fluorescence. BDNF mature protein in cord blood plasma was quantified by an ELISA. Multivariate regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders, was conducted. Results: PAH/aromatic-DNA adduct concentration measured by postlabeling was inversely associated with BDNF concentration (p=0.02) and with MDI scores at 2 years (p=0.04). BDNF level was positively associated with MDI scores (p=0.003). Restricting to subjects having all three measures (PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts by postlabeling, MDI, and BDNF), results were similar but attenuated (p=0.13, p=0.05, p=0.01, respectively). Associations between B[a]P-DNA adducts and BDNF and B[a]P-DNA adducts and MDI at age 2 years were not significant. At age 3 years, the positive association of BDNF with MDI was not observed. Conclusions: The results at age 2 suggest that prenatal exposure to a spectrum of PAH/aromatic pollutants may adversely affect early neurodevelopment, in part by reducing BDNF levels during the fetal period. However, the same relationship was not seen at age 3. - Highlights: • Cord blood Polycyclic Aromatic

  5. Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons/aromatics, BDNF and child development

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perera, Frederica, E-mail: fpp1@columbia.edu [Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Phillips, David H. [Analytical and Environmental Sciences Division, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, King' s College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, London SE1 9NH (United Kingdom); Wang, Ya [Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Roen, Emily; Herbstman, Julie [Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Rauh, Virginia [Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); The Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health, Columbia University, 60 Haven Avenue, New York, NY 10032 (United States); Wang, Shuang [Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Tang, Deliang [Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States); Columbia Center for Children' s Environmental Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., New York, NY 10032 (United States)

    2015-10-15

    Objectives: Within a New York City (NYC) birth cohort, we assessed the associations between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and other aromatic DNA adducts and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentrations in umbilical cord blood, and neurodevelopment at age 2 years and whether BDNF is a mediator of the associations between PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts and neurodevelopment. Methods: PAH/aromatic-DNA adduct concentrations in cord blood were measured in 505 children born to nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women residing in NYC, and a subset was assessed for neurodevelopment at 2 years using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development Mental Development Index (MDI). A spectrum of PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts was measured using the {sup 32}P-postlabeling assay; DNA adducts formed by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a representative PAH, were measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)/fluorescence. BDNF mature protein in cord blood plasma was quantified by an ELISA. Multivariate regression analysis, adjusting for potential confounders, was conducted. Results: PAH/aromatic-DNA adduct concentration measured by postlabeling was inversely associated with BDNF concentration (p=0.02) and with MDI scores at 2 years (p=0.04). BDNF level was positively associated with MDI scores (p=0.003). Restricting to subjects having all three measures (PAH/aromatic-DNA adducts by postlabeling, MDI, and BDNF), results were similar but attenuated (p=0.13, p=0.05, p=0.01, respectively). Associations between B[a]P-DNA adducts and BDNF and B[a]P-DNA adducts and MDI at age 2 years were not significant. At age 3 years, the positive association of BDNF with MDI was not observed. Conclusions: The results at age 2 suggest that prenatal exposure to a spectrum of PAH/aromatic pollutants may adversely affect early neurodevelopment, in part by reducing BDNF levels during the fetal period. However, the same relationship was not seen at age 3. - Highlights: • Cord blood Polycyclic

  6. Substrate specific hydrolysis of aromatic and aromatic-aliphatic esters in orchid tissue cultures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnieszka Mironowicz

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available We found that tissue cultures of higher plants were able, similarly as microorganisms, to transform low-molecular-weight chemical compounds. In tissue cultures of orchids (Cymbidium 'Saint Pierre' and Dendrobium phalaenopsis acetates of phenols and aromatic-aliphatic alcohols were hydrolyzed, whereas methyl esters of aromatic and aromatic-aliphatic acids did not undergo this reaction. Acetates of racemic aromatic-aliphatic alcohols were hydrolyzed with distinct enantiospecificity.

  7. A STUDY OF RO-VIBRATIONAL OH EMISSION FROM HERBIG Ae/Be STARS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brittain, Sean D.; Reynolds, Nickalas [Department of Physics and Astronomy, 118 Kinard Laboratory, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0978 (United States); Najita, Joan R. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 N. Cherry Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Carr, John S. [Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7211, Washington, DC 20375 (United States); Ádámkovics, Máté, E-mail: sbritt@clemson.edu [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)

    2016-10-20

    We present a study of ro-vibrational OH and CO emission from 21 disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars. We find that the OH and CO luminosities are proportional over a wide range of stellar ultraviolet luminosities. The OH and CO line profiles are also similar, indicating that they arise from roughly the same radial region of the disk. The CO and OH emission are both correlated with the far-ultraviolet luminosity of the stars, while the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) luminosity is correlated with the longer wavelength ultraviolet luminosity of the stars. Although disk flaring affects the PAH luminosity, it is not a factor in the luminosity of the OH and CO emission. These properties are consistent with models of UV-irradiated disk atmospheres. We also find that the transition disks in our sample, which have large optically thin inner regions, have lower OH and CO luminosities than non-transition disk sources with similar ultraviolet luminosities. This result, while tentative given the small sample size, is consistent with the interpretation that transition disks lack a gaseous disk close to the star.

  8. Secondary eclipses in the CoRoT light curves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Belmonte Juan Antonio

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available We identify and characterize secondary eclipses in the original light curves of published CoRoT planets using uniform detection and evaluation criteria. Our analysis is based on a Bayesian statistics: the eclipse search is carried out using Bayesian model selection, and the characterization of the plausible eclipse candidates using Bayesian parameter estimation. We discover statistically significant eclipse events for two planets, CoRoT-6b and CoRoT-11b, and for one brown dwarf, CoRoT-15b. We also find marginally significant eclipse events passing our plausibility criteria for CoRoT-3b, 13b, 18b, and 21b, and confirm the previously published CoRoT-1b and CoRoT-2b eclipses.

  9. Parsing of the free energy of aromatic-aromatic stacking interactions in solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kostjukov, Viktor V.; Khomytova, Nina M. [Department of Physics, Sevastopol National Technical University, Sevastopol 99053, Crimea (Ukraine); Hernandez Santiago, Adrian A.; Tavera, Anna-Maria Cervantes; Alvarado, Julieta Salas [Faculty of Chemical Sciences, Autonomous University of Puebla, Puebla (Mexico); Evstigneev, Maxim P., E-mail: max_evstigneev@mail.ru [Department of Physics, Sevastopol National Technical University, Sevastopol 99053, Crimea (Ukraine)

    2011-10-15

    Graphical abstract: Highlights: > A protocol for decomposition of the free energy of aromatic stacking is developed. > The factors stabilizing/destabilizing stacking of aromatic molecules are defined. > Hydrophobic contribution is found to be dominant. - Abstract: We report an analysis of the energetics of aromatic-aromatic stacking interactions for 39 non-covalent reactions of self- and hetero-association of 12 aromatic molecules with different structures and charge states. A protocol for computation of the contributions to the total energy from various energetic terms has been developed and the results are consistent with experiment in 92% of all the systems studied. It is found that the contributions from hydrogen bonds and entropic factors are always unfavorable, whereas contributions from van-der-Waals, electrostatic and/or hydrophobic effects may lead to stabilizing or destabilizing factors depending on the system studied. The analysis carried out in this work provides an answer to the questions 'What forces stabilize/destabilize the stacking of aromatic molecules in aqueous-salt solution and what are their relative importance?'

  10. Parsing of the free energy of aromatic-aromatic stacking interactions in solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kostjukov, Viktor V.; Khomytova, Nina M.; Hernandez Santiago, Adrian A.; Tavera, Anna-Maria Cervantes; Alvarado, Julieta Salas; Evstigneev, Maxim P.

    2011-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Highlights: → A protocol for decomposition of the free energy of aromatic stacking is developed. → The factors stabilizing/destabilizing stacking of aromatic molecules are defined. → Hydrophobic contribution is found to be dominant. - Abstract: We report an analysis of the energetics of aromatic-aromatic stacking interactions for 39 non-covalent reactions of self- and hetero-association of 12 aromatic molecules with different structures and charge states. A protocol for computation of the contributions to the total energy from various energetic terms has been developed and the results are consistent with experiment in 92% of all the systems studied. It is found that the contributions from hydrogen bonds and entropic factors are always unfavorable, whereas contributions from van-der-Waals, electrostatic and/or hydrophobic effects may lead to stabilizing or destabilizing factors depending on the system studied. The analysis carried out in this work provides an answer to the questions 'What forces stabilize/destabilize the stacking of aromatic molecules in aqueous-salt solution and what are their relative importance?'

  11. Engineering Aromatic-Aromatic Interactions To Nucleate Folding in Intrinsically Disordered Regions of Proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balakrishnan, Swati; Sarma, Siddhartha P

    2017-08-22

    Aromatic interactions are an important force in protein folding as they combine the stability of a hydrophobic interaction with the selectivity of a hydrogen bond. Much of our understanding of aromatic interactions comes from "bioinformatics" based analyses of protein structures and from the contribution of these interactions to stabilizing secondary structure motifs in model peptides. In this study, the structural consequences of aromatic interactions on protein folding have been explored in engineered mutants of the molten globule protein apo-cytochrome b 5 . Structural changes from disorder to order due to aromatic interactions in two variants of the protein, viz., WF-cytb5 and FF-cytb5, result in significant long-range secondary and tertiary structure. The results show that 54 and 52% of the residues in WF-cytb5 and FF-cytb5, respectively, occupy ordered regions versus 26% in apo-cytochrome b 5 . The interactions between the aromatic groups are offset-stacked and edge-to-face for the Trp-Phe and Phe-Phe mutants, respectively. Urea denaturation studies indicate that both mutants have a C m higher than that of apo-cytochrome b 5 and are more stable to chaotropic agents than apo-cytochrome b 5 . The introduction of these aromatic residues also results in "trimer" interactions with existing aromatic groups, reaffirming the selectivity of the aromatic interactions. These studies provide insights into the aromatic interactions that drive disorder-to-order transitions in intrinsically disordered regions of proteins and will aid in de novo protein design beyond small peptide scaffolds.

  12. Pro-aromatic and anti-aromatic π-conjugated molecules: an irresistible wish to be diradicals

    KAUST Repository

    Zeng, Zebing

    2015-01-01

    © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry. Aromaticity is an important concept to understand the stability and physical properties of π-conjugated molecules. Recent studies on pro-aromatic and anti-aromatic molecules revealed their irresistible tendency to become diradicals in the ground state. Diradical character thus becomes another very important concept and it is fundamentally correlated to the physical (optical, electronic and magnetic) properties and chemical reactivity of most of the organic optoelectronic materials. Molecules with distinctive diradical character show unique properties which are very different from those of traditional closed-shell π-conjugated systems, and thus they have many potential applications in organic electronics, spintronics, non-linear optics and energy storage. This critical review first introduces the fundamental electronic structure of Kekulé diradicals within the concepts of anti-aromaticity and pro-aromaticity in the context of Hückel aromaticity and diradical character. Then recent research studies on various stable/persistent diradicaloids based on pro-aromatic and anti-aromatic compounds are summarized and discussed with regard to their synthetic chemistry, physical properties, structure-property relationships and potential material applications. A summary and personal perspective is given at the end.

  13. Loss of function of the retinoid-related nuclear receptor (RORB) gene and epilepsy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rudolf, Gabrielle; Lesca, Gaetan; Mehrjouy, Mana M

    2016-01-01

    nuclear receptor (RORβ), in four affected family members. In addition, two de novo variants (c.218T>C/p.(Leu73Pro); c.1249_1251delACG/p.(Thr417del)) were identified in sporadic patients by trio-based exome sequencing. We also found two de novo deletions in patients with behavioral and cognitive impairment...... in various types of epilepsies in the past few years. In the present study, we performed whole-exome sequencing in a family with GGE consistent with the diagnosis of eyelid myoclonia with absences. We found a nonsense variant (c.196C>T/p.(Arg66*)) in RORB, which encodes the beta retinoid-related orphan...

  14. Modulation of estrogen receptor-dependent reporter construct activation and G0/G1-S-phase transition by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cells

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vondráček, Jan; Kozubík, Alois; Machala, M.

    2002-01-01

    Roč. 70, č. 2 (2002), s. 193-201 ISSN 1096-6080 R&D Projects: GA ČR GP525/01/D076; GA MZe QC0194 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z5004920 Keywords : polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * estrogenicity * proliferation Subject RIV: BO - Biophysics Impact factor: 3.367, year: 2002

  15. Removal of organic micro-pollutants (phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene) via forward osmosis (FO) process: Evaluation of FO as an alternative method to reverse osmosis (RO)

    KAUST Repository

    Cui, Yue

    2016-01-05

    In this study, we have explored and compared the effectiveness of using (1) lab-fabricated forward osmosis (FO) membranes under both FO and reverse osmosis (RO) modes and (2) commercially available RO membranes under the RO mode for the removal of organic micro-pollutants. The lab-fabricated FO membranes are thin film composite (TFC) membranes consisting of a polyamide layer and a porous substrate cast from three different materials; namely, Matrimid, polyethersulfone (PESU) and sulfonated polyphenylene sulfone (sPPSU). The results show that the FO mode is superior to the RO mode in the removal of phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene from wastewater. The rejections of all three TFC membranes to all the three organic micro-pollutants under the FO processes are higher than 72% and can be even higher than 90% for aniline when a 1000 ppm aromatic aqueous solution and 1 M NaCl are employed as feeds. These performances outperform the results obtained from themselves and commercially available RO membranes under the RO mode. In addition, the rejection can be maintained even when treating a more concentrated feed solution (2000 ppm). The removal performance can be further enhanced by using a more concentrated draw solution (2 M). The water flux is almost doubled, and the rejection increment can reach up to 17%. Moreover, it was observed that annealing as a post-treatment would help compact the membrane selective layer and further enhance the separating efficiency. The obtained organic micro-pollutant rejections and water fluxes under various feasible operating conditions indicate that the FO process has potential to be a viable treatment for wastewater containing organic micro-pollutants.

  16. The relevance of monitoring of antibodies against the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and PAH-DNA adducts in serum in relation to lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Pauk, N.; Klimešová, Š.; Kára, J.; Topinka, Jan; Lábaj, J.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 60, č. 2 (2013), s. 182-187 ISSN 0028-2685 R&D Projects: GA MŠk 2B06150 Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * anti-PAH antibodies * DNA adducts Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 1.642, year: 2013

  17. Bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Kumar Arora

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Aromatic amines are an important group of industrial chemicals, which are widely used for manufacturing of dyes, pesticides, drugs, pigments, and other industrial products. These compounds have been considered highly toxic to human beings due to their carcinogenic nature. Three groups of aromatic amines have been recognized: monocyclic, polycyclic and heterocyclic aromatic amines. Bacterial degradation of several monocyclic aromatic compounds has been studied in a variety of bacteria, which utilizes monocyclic aromatic amines as their sole source of carbon and energy. Several degradation pathways have been proposed and the related enzymes and genes have also been characterized. Many reviews have been reviewed toxicity of monocyclic aromatic amines; however, there is lack of review on biodegradation of monocyclic aromatic amines. The aim of this review is to summarize bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines. This review will increase our current understanding of biochemical and molecular basis of bacterial degradation of monocyclic aromatic amines.

  18. The CoRoT Exoplanet program: status & results

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moutou C.

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The CoRoT satellite is the first instrument hunting for planets from space. We will review the status of the CoRoT/Exoplanet program. We will then present the CoRoT exoplanetary systems and how they widen the range of properties of the close-in population and contribute to our understanding of the properties of planets.

  19. A novel strategy for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon monohydroxylated metabolites in urine using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Lanková, D.; Urbancová, K.; Šrám, Radim; Hajslová, J.; Pulkrabová, J.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 408, č. 10 (2016), s. 2515-2525 ISSN 1618-2642 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA13-13458S Institutional support: RVO:68378041 Keywords : monohydroxylated metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons * SRM 3673 * tandem mass spectrometry * ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography * urine Subject RIV: DN - Health Impact of the Environment Quality Impact factor: 3.431, year: 2016

  20. Haitilased süüdistavad kooleras ÜRO rahuvalvajaid

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2010-01-01

    Paljud kohalikud elanikud on veendunud, et Haiti kooleraepideemia vallandamises on süüdi ÜRO stabilisatsioonimission MINUSTAH. Riigis on puhkenud ÜRO-vastased rahutused. ÜRO arvates on protestilaine algatatud presidendivalimisi nurjata soovivate poliitiliste liikumiste poolt

  1. Inhibition of estrogen-responsive gene activation by the retinoid X receptor beta: evidence for multiple inhibitory pathways.

    OpenAIRE

    Segars, J H; Marks, M S; Hirschfeld, S; Driggers, P H; Martinez, E; Grippo, J F; Brown, M; Wahli, W; Ozato, K

    1993-01-01

    The retinoid X receptor beta (RXR beta; H-2RIIBP) forms heterodimers with various nuclear hormone receptors and binds multiple hormone response elements, including the estrogen response element (ERE). In this report, we show that endogenous RXR beta contributes to ERE binding activity in nuclear extracts of the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. To define a possible regulatory role of RXR beta regarding estrogen-responsive transcription in breast cancer cells, RXR beta and a reporter gene d...

  2. Theoretical studies of the structures and local aromaticity of conjugated polycyclic hydrocarbons using three aromatic indices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakai, Shogo; Kita, Yuki

    2013-07-01

    The structures and local aromaticity of some conjugated polycyclic hydrocarbons (from the butadienoid, acene, and phenylene series) are studied using ab initio MO and density functional methods. The aromaticities of the molecules are estimated using three indices: the nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS), the harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA), and the index of deviation from aromaticity (IDA). Assessment of the relationships between the structures and the aromatic indices shows that the IDA values correspond best to the characteristics of the conjugated polycyclic hydrocarbon structures.

  3. Removal of organic micro-pollutants (phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene) via forward osmosis (FO) process: Evaluation of FO as an alternative method to reverse osmosis (RO).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yue; Liu, Xiang-Yang; Chung, Tai-Shung; Weber, Martin; Staudt, Claudia; Maletzko, Christian

    2016-03-15

    In this study, we have explored and compared the effectiveness of using (1) lab-fabricated forward osmosis (FO) membranes under both FO and reverse osmosis (RO) modes and (2) commercially available RO membranes under the RO mode for the removal of organic micro-pollutants. The lab-fabricated FO membranes are thin film composite (TFC) membranes consisting of a polyamide layer and a porous substrate cast from three different materials; namely, Matrimid, polyethersulfone (PESU) and sulfonated polyphenylene sulfone (sPPSU). The results show that the FO mode is superior to the RO mode in the removal of phenol, aniline and nitrobenzene from wastewater. The rejections of all three TFC membranes to all the three organic micro-pollutants under the FO processes are higher than 72% and can be even higher than 90% for aniline when a 1000 ppm aromatic aqueous solution and 1 M NaCl are employed as feeds. These performances outperform the results obtained from themselves and commercially available RO membranes under the RO mode. In addition, the rejection can be maintained even when treating a more concentrated feed solution (2000 ppm). The removal performance can be further enhanced by using a more concentrated draw solution (2 M). The water flux is almost doubled, and the rejection increment can reach up to 17%. Moreover, it was observed that annealing as a post-treatment would help compact the membrane selective layer and further enhance the separating efficiency. The obtained organic micro-pollutant rejections and water fluxes under various feasible operating conditions indicate that the FO process has potential to be a viable treatment for wastewater containing organic micro-pollutants. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Cyano-containing ionic liquids for the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from an aromatic/aliphatic mixture

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meindersma, G.W.; Haan, de A.B.

    2012-01-01

    Ionic liquids can replace conventional solvents in aromatic/aliphatic extractions, if they have higher aromatic distribution coefficients and higher or similar aromatic/aliphatic selectivities. Also physical properties, such as density and viscosity, must be taken into account if a solvent is

  5. Short Review on Predicting Fouling in RO Desalination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alejandro Ruiz-García

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Reverse Osmosis (RO membrane fouling is one of the main challenges that membrane manufactures, the scientific community and industry professionals have to deal with. The consequences of this inevitable phenomenon have a negative effect on the performance of the desalination system. Predicting fouling in RO systems is key to evaluating the long-term operating conditions and costs. Much research has been done on fouling indices, methods, techniques and prediction models to estimate the influence of fouling on the performance of RO systems. This paper offers a short review evaluating the state of industry knowledge in the development of fouling indices and models in membrane systems for desalination in terms of use and applicability. Despite major efforts in this field, there are gaps in terms of effective methods and models for the estimation of fouling in full-scale RO desalination plants. In existing models applied to full-scale RO desalination plants, neither the spacer geometry of membranes, nor the efficiency and frequency of chemical cleanings are considered.

  6. Bacterial Degradation of Aromatic Compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qing X. Li

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Aromatic compounds are among the most prevalent and persistent pollutants in the environment. Petroleum-contaminated soil and sediment commonly contain a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs and heterocyclic aromatics. Aromatics derived from industrial activities often have functional groups such as alkyls, halogens and nitro groups. Biodegradation is a major mechanism of removal of organic pollutants from a contaminated site. This review focuses on bacterial degradation pathways of selected aromatic compounds. Catabolic pathways of naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene, pyrene, and benzo[a]pyrene are described in detail. Bacterial catabolism of the heterocycles dibenzofuran, carbazole, dibenzothiophene, and dibenzodioxin is discussed. Bacterial catabolism of alkylated PAHs is summarized, followed by a brief discussion of proteomics and metabolomics as powerful tools for elucidation of biodegradation mechanisms.

  7. Aromater i drikkevand

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nyeland, B. A.; Hansen, A. B.

    DMU har den 10. Juni 1997 afholdt en præstationsprøvning: Aromater i drikkevand. Der deltog 21 laboratorier i præstationsprøvningen. Prøvningen omfattede 6 vandige prøver og 6 ampuller indeholdende 6 aromater. Laboratorierne spikede de tilsendte vandprøver med indholdet fra ampullerne...

  8. Fluorescence method for enzyme analysis which couples aromatic amines with aromatic aldehydes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, R.E.; Dolbeare, F.A.

    1980-10-21

    Analysis of proteinases is accomplished using conventional amino acid containing aromatic amine substrates. Aromatic amines such as 4-methoxy-2-naphthylamine (4M2NA), 2-naphthylamine, aminoisophthalic acid dimethyl ester, p-nitroaniline, 4-methoxy-1-aminofluorene and coumarin derivatives resulting from enzymatic hydrolysis of the substrate couples with aromatic aldehydes such as 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde (5-NSA), benzaldehyde and p-nitrobenzaldehyde to produce Schiff-base complexes which are water insoluble. Certain Schiff-base complexes produce a shift from blue to orange-red (visible) fluorescence. Such complexes are useful in the assay of enzymes. No Drawings

  9. The implications of the new sulphur limits on the European Ro-Ro sector

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zis, Thalis; Psaraftis, Harilaos N.

    -based alternatives. The exact repercussions of the new sulphur limits are difficult to identify in the wake of significant recent reductions of the fuel prices for both low-sulphur and heavy fuel oil. This paper presents a modal split model that estimates modal shifts vis-a-vis competing maritime and land......In an effort to reduce the environmental impacts of maritime transportation, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) designated special Sulphur Emission ControlAreas (SECAs) where ships are required to use low-sulphur fuel. In January 2015, the sulphur limit within SECAs was lowered to 0.......1%, which can only be achieved if vessels are using pricier ultra-low sulphur fuel, or invest in abatement technologies. The increased operating costs borne by Ro-Ro operators in SECAs due to the stricter limits can result in the shutting down of some routes and a redistribution of cargo flows with land...

  10. RO-PRO desalination: An integrated low-energy approach to seawater desalination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prante, Jeri L.; Ruskowitz, Jeffrey A.; Childress, Amy E.; Achilli, Andrea

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • In the novel RO-PRO system, the energy produced by PRO is utilized to offset the energy consumed by the RO. • The specific energy consumption of a RO-PRO system was modeled for the first time. • A novel module-based PRO model for full-scale applications was developed. • The minimum net specific energy consumption of the modeled RO-PRO system was 1.2 kW h/m 3 at 50% RO recovery. • A sensitivity analysis showed a min RO-PRO specific energy consumption of 1.0 kW h/m 3 and a max power density of 10 W/m 2 . - Abstract: Although reverse osmosis (RO) is currently the most energy efficient desalination technology, it still requires a great deal of energy to create the high pressures necessary to desalinate seawater. An opposite process of RO, called pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), utilizes the salinity gradient between a relatively fresh impaired water source and seawater to produce pressure and hence, energy. In this paper, PRO is evaluated in conjunction with RO, in a system called RO-PRO desalination, to reduce the energy requirement of seawater RO desalination. RO-PRO specific energy consumption was modeled using RO conditions at the thermodynamic restriction and a newly developed module-based PRO model. Using a well-characterized cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane, the minimum net specific energy consumption of the system was found to be approximately 40% lower than state-of-the-art seawater RO. A sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the effects of membrane characteristics on the specific energy production of the PRO process in the RO-PRO system. The sensitivity analysis showed that the minimum specific energy consumption using virtual membranes is approximately 1.0 kW h per m 3 of RO permeate at 50% RO recovery and that a maximum power density of approximately 10 W/m 2 could be achieved

  11. A comparison of carotenoids, retinoids, and tocopherols in the serum and buccal mucosa of chronic cigarette smokers versus nonsmokers.

    OpenAIRE

    Gabriel, Helen E.; Liu, Zhenhua; Crott, Jimmy W.; Choi, Sang-Woon; Song, Byeng Chun; Mason, Joel B.; Johnson, Elizabeth J.

    2006-01-01

    Biomarker: micronucleiDiet, food or substance: carotenoids, retinoids, and tocopherols. Study type: humans Study design: case-control studyStudy size: 35 smokers and 21 nonsmokers Tissue/biological material/sample size: Buccal Mucosa Cells (BMC); blood. Method of analysis: freshly prepared BMC suspension were smeared on a microscope slide and scored for the presence of micronuclei. Impact on outcome (including dose-response): General linear regression with adjustments for dietary intake showe...

  12. Hydrogen management in the MiRO refinery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Neumann, G. [Mineraloelraffinerie Oberrhein GmbH und Co. KG, Karlsruhe (Germany)

    2010-12-30

    The importance of hydrogen in refineries has increased over the last 20 years as new regulations affecting gasoline and diesel composition have been implemented throughout Europe and in an environment of increasingly stringent clean fuel regulations, decreasing heavy fuel oil demand and increasing heavy more sour crude supply. In Germany, the introduction of sulphur free gasoline and diesel with less than 10ppm sulphur(Auto Oil Program) and light home fuel oil with less than 50ppm this year were the last link in a long chain of environmental regulations, which had a considerable effect on the hydrogen demand in refineries. In the complex MiRO-refinery with a large FCC- and Coker-Unit for atmospheric residue conversion and a total throughput of more than 15 Mio.T/ a and more than 14 Mio.T/a crude oils of different origin from high sulphur, bituminous crudes to medium, low sulphur crudes for calcinate-production from green coke the only source of hydrogen for a long time was catalytic reforming. The only chance of balancing the hydrogen production and consumption was to improve the existing catalytic reforming and the optimisation of hydrogen recovery from waste or purge streams and the hydrogen network of the refinery. In 2007 a new hydrogen plant via steam reforming of natural gas went on stream. The main reason for this step was the shrinking market for gasoline in the last ten years and the blending of bio-ethanol into the gasoline pool, which released reforming capacities and the demand for octane. Another important issue is the production planning taking into account the potentials of hydrogen production via catalytic and steam reforming and the hydrogen consumption via desulphurisation and the saturation of olefins and (poly-)aromatics of the main product streams, gasoline, diesel and light home fuel oil. (orig.)

  13. Fatty acid transport protein 1 regulates retinoid metabolism and photoreceptor development in mouse retina.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurélie Cubizolle

    Full Text Available In retinal pigment epithelium (RPE, RPE65 catalyzes the isomerization of all-trans-retinyl fatty acid esters to 11-cis-retinol in the visual cycle and controls the rhodopsin regeneration rate. However, the mechanisms by which these processes are regulated are still unclear. Fatty Acid Transport Protein 1 (FATP1 is involved in fatty acid uptake and lipid metabolism in a variety of cell types. FATP1 co-localizes with RPE65 in RPE and inhibits its isomerase activity in vitro. Here, we further investigated the role of FATP1 in the visual cycle using transgenic mice that overexpress human FATP1 specifically in the RPE (hFATP1TG mice. The mice displayed no delay in the kinetics of regeneration of the visual chromophore 11-cis-retinal after photobleaching and had no defects in light sensitivity. However, the total retinoid content was higher in the hFATP1TG mice than in wild type mice, and the transgenic mice also displayed an age-related accumulation (up to 40% of all-trans-retinal and retinyl esters that was not observed in control mice. Consistent with these results, hFATP1TG mice were more susceptible to light-induced photoreceptor degeneration. hFATP1 overexpression also induced an ~3.5-fold increase in retinosome autofluorescence, as measured by two-photon microscopy. Interestingly, hFATP1TG retina contained ~25% more photoreceptor cells and ~35% longer outer segments than wild type mice, revealing a non-cell-autonomous effect of hFATP1 expressed in the RPE. These data are the first to show that FATP1-mediated fatty acid uptake in the RPE controls both retinoid metabolism in the outer retina and photoreceptor development.

  14. SS-A/Ro52 promotes apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2 production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jauharoh, Siti Nur Aisyah [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Faculty of Medicine and Health Science, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta 15412 (Indonesia); Saegusa, Jun; Sugimoto, Takeshi [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Ardianto, Bambang [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Department of Child Health, Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta 55282 (Indonesia); Kasagi, Shimpei; Sugiyama, Daisuke; Kurimoto, Chiyo [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Tokuno, Osamu; Nakamachi, Yuji [Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kobe University Hospital, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Kumagai, Shunichi [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Kawano, Seiji, E-mail: sjkawano@med.kobe-u.ac.jp [Department of Clinical Pathology and Immunology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan); Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kobe University Hospital, Hyogo 650-0017 (Japan)

    2012-01-06

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ro52{sup low} HeLa cells are resistant to apoptosis upon various stimulations. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ro52 is upregulated by IFN-{alpha}, etoposide, or IFN-{gamma} and anti-Fas Ab. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ro52-mediated apoptosis is independent of p53. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Ro52 selectively regulates Bcl-2 expression. -- Abstract: SS-A/Ro52 (Ro52), an autoantigen in systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjoegren's syndrome, has E3 ligase activity to ubiquitinate proteins that protect against viral infection. To investigate Ro52's role during stress, we transiently knocked it down in HeLa cells by siRo52 transfection. We found that Ro52{sup low} HeLa cells were significantly more resistant to apoptosis than wild-type HeLa cells when stimulated by H{sub 2}O{sub 2}- or diamide-induced oxidative stress, IFN-{alpha}, IFN-{gamma} and anti-Fas antibody, etoposide, or {gamma}-irradiation. Furthermore, Ro52-mediated apoptosis was not influenced by p53 protein level in HeLa cells. Depleting Ro52 in HeLa cells caused Bcl-2, but not other Bcl-2 family molecules, to be upregulated. Taken together, our data showed that Ro52 is a universal proapoptotic molecule, and that its proapoptotic effect does not depend on p53, but is exerted through negative regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. These findings shed light on a new physiological role for Ro52 that is important to intracellular immunity.

  15. SS-A/Ro52 promotes apoptosis by regulating Bcl-2 production

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jauharoh, Siti Nur Aisyah; Saegusa, Jun; Sugimoto, Takeshi; Ardianto, Bambang; Kasagi, Shimpei; Sugiyama, Daisuke; Kurimoto, Chiyo; Tokuno, Osamu; Nakamachi, Yuji; Kumagai, Shunichi; Kawano, Seiji

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Ro52 low HeLa cells are resistant to apoptosis upon various stimulations. ► Ro52 is upregulated by IFN-α, etoposide, or IFN-γ and anti-Fas Ab. ► Ro52-mediated apoptosis is independent of p53. ► Ro52 selectively regulates Bcl-2 expression. -- Abstract: SS-A/Ro52 (Ro52), an autoantigen in systemic autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren’s syndrome, has E3 ligase activity to ubiquitinate proteins that protect against viral infection. To investigate Ro52’s role during stress, we transiently knocked it down in HeLa cells by siRo52 transfection. We found that Ro52 low HeLa cells were significantly more resistant to apoptosis than wild-type HeLa cells when stimulated by H 2 O 2 - or diamide-induced oxidative stress, IFN-α, IFN-γ and anti-Fas antibody, etoposide, or γ-irradiation. Furthermore, Ro52-mediated apoptosis was not influenced by p53 protein level in HeLa cells. Depleting Ro52 in HeLa cells caused Bcl-2, but not other Bcl-2 family molecules, to be upregulated. Taken together, our data showed that Ro52 is a universal proapoptotic molecule, and that its proapoptotic effect does not depend on p53, but is exerted through negative regulation of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. These findings shed light on a new physiological role for Ro52 that is important to intracellular immunity.

  16. Selective ligand activity at Nur/retinoid X receptor complexes revealed by dimer-specific bioluminescence resonance energy transfer-based sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giner, Xavier C; Cotnoir-White, David; Mader, Sylvie; Lévesque, Daniel

    2017-01-01

    Retinoid X receptors (RXR) play a role as master regulators due to their capacity to form heterodimers with other nuclear receptors. Accordingly, retinoid signaling is involved in multiple biological processes, including development, cell differentiation, metabolism and cell death. However, the role and functions of RXR in different heterodimer complexes remain unsolved, mainly because most RXR drugs (called rexinoids) are not selective to specific heterodimer complexes. This also strongly limits the use of rexinoids for specific therapeutic approaches. In order to better characterize rexinoids at specific nuclear receptor complexes, we have developed and optimized luciferase protein complementation-based Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) assays, which can directly measure recruitment of a co-activator motif fused to yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) by specific nuclear receptor dimers. To validate the assays, we compared rexinoid modulation of co-activator recruitment by RXR homodimer, and heterodimers Nur77/RXR and Nurr1/RXR. Results reveal that some rexinoids display selective co-activator recruitment activities with homo- or hetero-dimer complexes. In particular, SR11237 (BMS649) has increased potency for recruitment of co-activator motif and transcriptional activity with the Nur77/RXR heterodimer compared to other complexes. This technology should prove useful to identify new compounds with specificity for individual dimeric species formed by nuclear receptors. PMID:26148973

  17. Noncomparative scaling of aromaticity through electron itinerancy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Paul, Satadal; Goswami, Tamal; Misra, Anirban

    2015-01-01

    Aromaticity is a multidimensional concept and not a directly observable. These facts have always stood in the way of developing an appropriate theoretical framework for scaling of aromaticity. In the present work, a quantitative account of aromaticity is developed on the basis of cyclic delocalization of π-electrons, which is the phenomenon leading to unique features of aromatic molecules. The stabilization in molecular energy, caused by delocalization of π-electrons is obtained as a second order perturbation energy for archetypal aromatic systems. The final expression parameterizes the aromatic stabilization energy in terms of atom to atom charge transfer integral, onsite repulsion energy and the population of spin orbitals at each site in the delocalized π-electrons. An appropriate computational platform is framed to compute each and individual parameter in the derived equation. The numerical values of aromatic stabilization energies obtained for various aromatic molecules are found to be in close agreement with available theoretical and experimental reports. Thus the reliable estimate of aromaticity through the proposed formalism renders it as a useful tool for the direct assessment of aromaticity, which has been a long standing problem in chemistry

  18. Three-dimensional aromatic networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyota, Shinji; Iwanaga, Tetsuo

    2014-01-01

    Three-dimensional (3D) networks consisting of aromatic units and linkers are reviewed from various aspects. To understand principles for the construction of such compounds, we generalize the roles of building units, the synthetic approaches, and the classification of networks. As fundamental compounds, cyclophanes with large aromatic units and aromatic macrocycles with linear acetylene linkers are highlighted in terms of transannular interactions between aromatic units, conformational preference, and resolution of chiral derivatives. Polycyclic cage compounds are constructed from building units by linkages via covalent bonds, metal-coordination bonds, or hydrogen bonds. Large cage networks often include a wide range of guest species in their cavity to afford novel inclusion compounds. Topological isomers consisting of two or more macrocycles are formed by cyclization of preorganized species. Some complicated topological networks are constructed by self-assembly of simple building units.

  19. CoRoT’s first seven planets: An overview*

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barge P.

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The up to 150 day uninterrupted high-precision photometry of about 100000 stars – provided so far by the exoplanet channel of the CoRoT space telescope – gave a new perspective on the planet population of our galactic neighbourhood. The seven planets with very accurate parameters widen the range of known planet properties in almost any respect. Giant planets have been detected at low metallicity, rapidly rotating and active, spotted stars. CoRoT-3 populated the brown dwarf desert and closed the gap of measured physical properties between standard giant planets and very low mass stars. CoRoT extended the known range of planet masses down-to 5 Earth masses and up to 21 Jupiter masses, the radii to less than 2 Earth radii and up to the most inflated hot Jupiter found so far, and the periods of planets discovered by transits to 9 days. Two CoRoT planets have host stars with the lowest content of heavy elements known to show a transit hinting towards a different planet-host-star-metallicity relation then the one found by radial-velocity search programs. Finally the properties of the CoRoT-7b prove that terrestrial planets with a density close to Earth exist outside the Solar System. The detection of the secondary transit of CoRoT-1 at the 10−5-level and the very clear detection of the 1.7 Earth radii of CoRoT-7b at 3.5 10−4 relative flux are promising evidence of CoRoT being able to detect even smaller, Earth sized planets.

  20. Techno-economic investigation of alternative propulsion plants for Ferries and RoRo ships

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Livanos, George A.; Theotokatos, Gerasimos; Pagonis, Dimitrios-Nikolaos

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Alternative Diesel and Gas engine propulsion plants of Ferries and RoRos were studied. • Special focus on marine Natural Gas burning engines and ship waste heat recovery systems. • Significant savings in annual operating costs were predicted in the case of Natural Gas engines. • Environmental and economic optimum propulsion plant alternative was proposed in a specific case study. - Abstract: In this paper, the main alternative propulsion plants based on reciprocating internal combustion engines of a ferry or RoRo ship operating in routes that include Emission Control Areas (ECAs) are comparatively assessed. Specifically, a dual fuel engine propulsion plant is compared with a conventional Diesel engine plant. For both cases, the installation of a waste heat recovery system, which covers a part of the ship electric energy demand, is also considered. The ship main DF engines are assumed to operate using LNG and a small amount of MDO for initiating combustion, whereas low sulphur MDO was regarded as the fuel for the case of the Diesel engine plant. The installation of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) after-treatment unit for reducing the NOx emissions for the case of Diesel engines plant is also taken into account. The propulsion plants were modelled under steady state conditions, and the simulation results were analysed in order to compare the alternative configurations. Furthermore, the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) values were calculated and the two examined propulsion system cases were compared on EEDI basis. Finally, the Life Cycle Cost for each alternative propulsion plant was calculated and used for completing an economic evaluation of the Dual fuel propulsion plant versus the conventional designs applied in ferries

  1. The reversible N-oxidation of the nitroimidazole radiosensitizer Ro 03-8799

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walton, M.I.; Bleehen, N.M.; Workman, P.; Cambridge Univ.

    1985-01-01

    The nitroimidazole radiosensitizer Ro 03-8799 and the N-oxide Ro 31-0313 were dissolved in buffered solution and given i.v. to inbred male mice. Drug concentrations in whole blood, blood plasma and urine were determined by MPLC. Ro 03 8799 is rapidly cleared and extensively metabolised. Ro 31-0313 is reduced back to Ro 03-8799 by whole blood. The pharmacological and toxicological consequences of this are unknown. (UK)

  2. The feasibility of nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR)+reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation: Comparison with ultrafiltration membrane bioreactor (UF-MBR)+RO process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tay, Ming Feng; Liu, Chang; Cornelissen, Emile R; Wu, Bing; Chong, Tzyy Haur

    2018-02-01

    This study examines the feasibility of a novel nanofiltration membrane bioreactor (NF-MBR) followed by reverse osmosis (RO) process for water reclamation at 90% recovery and using an ultrafiltration MBR (UF-MBR)+RO as baseline for comparison. Both MBRs adopted the same external hollow fiber membrane configurations and operating conditions. The collected permeates of the MBRs were subsequently fed to the respective RO systems. The results showed that the NF-MBR (operated at a constant flux of 10 L/m 2 h) achieved superior MBR permeate quality due to enhanced biodegradation and high rejection capacity of the NF membrane, leading to lower RO fouling rates (∼3.3 times) as compared to the UF-MBR. Further analysis indicated that the cake layer fouling that caused the cake-enhanced osmotic pressure (CEOP) effect contributed predominantly to the transmembrane pressure (TMP) increase in the NF-MBR, while irreversible pore fouling was the major reason for UF membrane fouling. Furthermore, it was found that the biopolymers (i.e., organics with MW > 10 kDa) were the main components present in the foulants of the NF/UF membranes and RO membranes. The analysis indicated that the NF-MBR + RO system at recovery of 90% has comparable energy consumption as the UF-MBR + RO system at recovery of 75%. Our findings proved the feasibility of the NF-MBR + RO for water reclamation at a high recovery rate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Cloning retinoid and peroxisome proliferator-activated nuclear receptors of the Pacific oyster and in silico binding to environmental chemicals.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Susanne Vogeler

    Full Text Available Disruption of nuclear receptors, a transcription factor superfamily regulating gene expression in animals, is one proposed mechanism through which pollution causes effects in aquatic invertebrates. Environmental pollutants have the ability to interfere with the receptor's functions through direct binding and inducing incorrect signals. Limited knowledge of invertebrate endocrinology and molecular regulatory mechanisms, however, impede the understanding of endocrine disruptive effects in many aquatic invertebrate species. Here, we isolated three nuclear receptors of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas: two isoforms of the retinoid X receptor, CgRXR-1 and CgRXR-2, a retinoic acid receptor ortholog CgRAR, and a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ortholog CgPPAR. Computer modelling of the receptors based on 3D crystal structures of human proteins was used to predict each receptor's ability to bind to different ligands in silico. CgRXR showed high potential to bind and be activated by 9-cis retinoic acid and the organotin tributyltin (TBT. Computer modelling of CgRAR revealed six residues in the ligand binding domain, which prevent the successful interaction with natural and synthetic retinoid ligands. This supports an existing theory of loss of retinoid binding in molluscan RARs. Modelling of CgPPAR was less reliable due to high discrepancies in sequence to its human ortholog. Yet, there are suggestions of binding to TBT, but not to rosiglitazone. The effect of potential receptor ligands on early oyster development was assessed after 24h of chemical exposure. TBT oxide (0.2μg/l, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA (0.06 mg/L and perfluorooctanoic acid (20 mg/L showed high effects on development (>74% abnormal developed D-shelled larvae, while rosiglitazone (40 mg/L showed no effect. The results are discussed in relation to a putative direct (TBT disruption effect on nuclear receptors. The inability of direct binding of ATRA to CgRAR suggests

  4. Strong CH/O interactions between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and water: Influence of aromatic system size.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veljković, Dušan Ž

    2018-03-01

    Energies of CH/O interactions between water molecule and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with a different number of aromatic rings were calculated using ab initio calculations at MP2/cc-PVTZ level. Results show that an additional aromatic ring in structure of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons significantly strengthens CH/O interactions. Calculated interaction energies in optimized structures of the most stable tetracene/water complex is -2.27 kcal/mol, anthracene/water is -2.13 kcal/mol and naphthalene/water is -1.97 kcal/mol. These interactions are stronger than CH/O contacts in benzene/water complex (-1.44 kcal/mol) while CH/O contacts in tetracene/water complex are even stronger than CH/O contacts in pyridine/water complexes (-2.21 kcal/mol). Electrostatic potential maps for different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were calculated and used to explain trends in the energies of interactions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Effects of retinoic acid isomers on proteomic pattern in human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Flodrová, Dana; Benkovská, Dagmar; Macejová, D.; Bialešová, L.; Bobálová, Janette; Brtko, J.

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 47, č. 4 (2013), s. 205-209 ISSN 1210-0668 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) 7AMB12SK151 Institutional support: RVO:68081715 Keywords : retinoic acid isomers * retinoid * breast cancer * malignant cells * proteomic analysis Subject RIV: CB - Analytical Chemistry, Separation

  6. AstRoMap European Astrobiology Roadmap.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horneck, Gerda; Walter, Nicolas; Westall, Frances; Grenfell, John Lee; Martin, William F; Gomez, Felipe; Leuko, Stefan; Lee, Natuschka; Onofri, Silvano; Tsiganis, Kleomenis; Saladino, Raffaele; Pilat-Lohinger, Elke; Palomba, Ernesto; Harrison, Jesse; Rull, Fernando; Muller, Christian; Strazzulla, Giovanni; Brucato, John R; Rettberg, Petra; Capria, Maria Teresa

    2016-03-01

    The European AstRoMap project (supported by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme) surveyed the state of the art of astrobiology in Europe and beyond and produced the first European roadmap for astrobiology research. In the context of this roadmap, astrobiology is understood as the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the context of cosmic evolution; this includes habitability in the Solar System and beyond. The AstRoMap Roadmap identifies five research topics, specifies several key scientific objectives for each topic, and suggests ways to achieve all the objectives. The five AstRoMap Research Topics are • Research Topic 1: Origin and Evolution of Planetary Systems • Research Topic 2: Origins of Organic Compounds in Space • Research Topic 3: Rock-Water-Carbon Interactions, Organic Synthesis on Earth, and Steps to Life • Research Topic 4: Life and Habitability • Research Topic 5: Biosignatures as Facilitating Life Detection It is strongly recommended that steps be taken towards the definition and implementation of a European Astrobiology Platform (or Institute) to streamline and optimize the scientific return by using a coordinated infrastructure and funding system.

  7. Konstruiranje ročaja hidravličnih klešč

    OpenAIRE

    Žižek, Tomaž

    2015-01-01

    V diplomskem delu je opisan potek konstruiranja ročaja hidravličnih klešč za odstranjevanje ločnega podporja v Premogovniku Velenje. Predstavljeni so vsi pomembnejši koraki, in sicer modeliranje klešč, modeliranje ročaja, numerični rezultati, izbira najustreznejše oblike ročaja ter predstavitev rezultatov ustreznega modela. Diplomsko delo zajema tudi izbiro ustreznega materiala, postopek izdelave ter podatke za pravilno varjenje ročaja na ohišje klešč. Numerični preračuni so opravljeni v pro...

  8. Detection of small-size planetary candidates with CoRoT data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moutou C.

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available With the discovery of CoRoT-7b, the first transiting super-Earth, the CoRoT space mission has shown the capability to detect short-period rocky planets around solar-like stars. By performing a blind test with real CoRoT light curves, we want to establish the detection threshold of small-size planets in CoRoT data. We investigate the main obstacles to the detection of transiting super-Earths in CoRoT data, notably the presence of short-time scale variability and hot pixels.

  9. USA uus ÜRO saadik alustas pealetungi / Neeme Raud

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Raud, Neeme, 1969-

    2005-01-01

    Ameerika Ühendriikide uus ÜRO suursaadik John Bolton nõuab 190 liikmesriigile saadetud kirjas ÜRO reformikavades suurte ja oluliste muudatuste tegemist: reformikavast peaks USA arvates kustutama vähemalt 400 paragrahvi

  10. Effect of Am-80, A Novel Retinoid Derivative, On Contact Hypersensitivity Caused by Repeated Applications of Hapten in Mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Satoru Niwa

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available Some retinoids show an anti-inflammatory action through regulation of transcription of various genes. In the present study, the inhibitory effect of 4-((5,6,7,8- tetrahydro-5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-2-naphthyl carbamoyl benzoic acid (Am-80, a synthetic retinoid, on mouse contact hypersensitivity provoked by repeated applications of 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB to the ear was investigated. Five-fold applications of DNFB on ears once per week elicited severe contact dermatitis with marked infiltration of inflammatory cells and elevation of anti-dinitrophenyl (DNP-IgE antibody in the serum. The Am-80 significantly inhibited ear swelling in a dose-dependent manner. In the histopathologic study, infiltration of inflammatory cells was clearly decreased by Am-80. However, Am-80 did not affect the production of DNP-specific IgE antibody both at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. The effects of Am-80 on the transcriptional level of cytokines, interferon (IFN-γ, interleukin (IL-1 and IL-4 in cervical lymph nodes were investigated. Marked elevation of mRNA for all cytokines was observed and Am-80 potently inhibited the expression of IFN-γ mRNA, but not IL-1 and IL-4 mRNA. These findings indicated that Am-80 may inhibit the contact dermatitis at the post-sensitization phase by inhibiting IFN-γ production at the transcriptional level in mice.

  11. Pulse shape discrimination in non-aromatic plastics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Paul Martinez, H.; Pawelczak, Iwona; Glenn, Andrew M.; Leslie Carman, M.; Zaitseva, Natalia; Payne, Stephen

    2015-01-21

    Recently it has been demonstrated that plastic scintillators have the ability to distinguish neutrons from gamma rays by way of pulse shape discrimination (PSD). This discovery has lead to new materials and new capabilities. Here we report our work with the effects of aromatic, non-aromatic, and mixed aromatic/non-aromatic matrices have on the performance of PSD plastic scintillators.

  12. Ilves osaleb ÜRO Peaassamblee 62. istungjärgul

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2007-01-01

    President Toomas Hendrik Ilves osaleb New Yorgis ÜRO peaassamblee 62. istungjärgu töös. Eesti riigipea osaleb ka ÜRO korraldatud kliimamuutuste konverentsil, kohtub ÜRO peasekretäri ja Makedoonia, Slovakkia ning Bosnia ja Hertsegoviina presidendiga, samuti filantroop George Sorosega ning osaleb Baltimaade riigipeade kohtumisel. T.H. Ilves külastab ka Columbia Ülikooli ning osaleb New Yorgi Eesti haridusseltsi korraldatud vastuvõtul New Yorgi Eesti Majas. Vabariigi President töövisiidil Ameerika Ühendriikides 20.-26.09.2007

  13. Cheilitis in acne vulgaris patients with no previous use of systemic retinoid products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balighi, Kamran; Daneshpazhooh, Maryam; Lajevardi, Vahideh; Talebi, Shahin; Azizpour, Arghavan

    2017-08-01

    Isotretinoin is commonly used in the treatment of acne vulgaris. While one of the more common side-effects is cheilitis, we have observed an increased incidence of cheilitis prior to the commencement of systemic isotretinoin. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of cheilitis among acne vulgaris patients. A non-interventional cross-sectional study of patients with acne vulgaris. Patients with previous use of systemic retinoids were excluded. The patients were examined for signs and symptoms of cheilitis. Of a total of 400 patients, 134 (34%) had evidence of cheilitis at initial presentation. Two-thirds (63%) were female (P acne excorie, compared with only 8% of patients with no signs of cheilitis. Our findings suggest that cheilitis is quite common among acne vulgaris patients even before treatment with isotretinoin. © 2016 The Australasian College of Dermatologists.

  14. Vitamin D receptor–retinoid X receptor heterodimer signaling regulates oligodendrocyte progenitor cell differentiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    de la Fuente, Alerie Guzman; Errea, Oihana; van Wijngaarden, Peter; Gonzalez, Ginez A.; Kerninon, Christophe; Jarjour, Andrew A.; Lewis, Hilary J.; Jones, Clare A.; Nait-Oumesmar, Brahim; Zhao, Chao; Huang, Jeffrey K.; ffrench-Constant, Charles

    2015-01-01

    The mechanisms regulating differentiation of oligodendrocyte (OLG) progenitor cells (OPCs) into mature OLGs are key to understanding myelination and remyelination. Signaling via the retinoid X receptor γ (RXR-γ) has been shown to be a positive regulator of OPC differentiation. However, the nuclear receptor (NR) binding partner of RXR-γ has not been established. In this study we show that RXR-γ binds to several NRs in OPCs and OLGs, one of which is vitamin D receptor (VDR). Using pharmacological and knockdown approaches we show that RXR–VDR signaling induces OPC differentiation and that VDR agonist vitamin D enhances OPC differentiation. We also show expression of VDR in OLG lineage cells in multiple sclerosis. Our data reveal a role for vitamin D in the regenerative component of demyelinating disease and identify a new target for remyelination medicines. PMID:26644513

  15. Aromatic-Aromatic Interactions in Biological System: Structure Activity Relationships

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rajagopal, Appavu; Deepa, Mohan; Govindaraju, Munisamy

    2016-01-01

    While, intramolecular hydrogen bonds have attracted the greatest attention in studies of peptide conformations, the recognition that several other weakly polar interactions may be important determinants of folded structure has been growing. Burley and Petsko provided a comprehensive overview of the importance of weakly polar interactions, in shaping protein structures. The interactions between aromatic rings, which are spatially approximate, have attracted special attention. A survey of the proximal aromatic residue pairs in proteins, allowed Burley and Petsko to suggest that, “phenyl ring centroids are separated by a preferential distance of between 4.5 and 7 Å, and dihedral angles approximately 90° are most common”

  16. Aromatic-Aromatic Interactions in Biological System: Structure Activity Relationships

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rajagopal, Appavu; Deepa, Mohan [Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Sciences-Bangalore, Karnataka (India); Govindaraju, Munisamy [Bio-Spatial Technology Research Unit, Department of Environmental Biotechnology, School of Environmental Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2016-02-26

    While, intramolecular hydrogen bonds have attracted the greatest attention in studies of peptide conformations, the recognition that several other weakly polar interactions may be important determinants of folded structure has been growing. Burley and Petsko provided a comprehensive overview of the importance of weakly polar interactions, in shaping protein structures. The interactions between aromatic rings, which are spatially approximate, have attracted special attention. A survey of the proximal aromatic residue pairs in proteins, allowed Burley and Petsko to suggest that, “phenyl ring centroids are separated by a preferential distance of between 4.5 and 7 Å, and dihedral angles approximately 90° are most common”.

  17. The Dushak–Erekdag Survey of roAp Stars

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2016-01-27

    Jan 27, 2016 ... The search of roAp stars at Mt. Dushak–Erekdag Observatory was started in 1992 using the 0.8m Odessa telescope equipped with a two-star high-speed photometer. We have observed more than a dozen stars so far and discovered HD 99563 as roAp star while BD+8087 is suspected to have rapid ...

  18. NADPH-d activity in rat thymus after the application of retinoid acid

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F. Dorko

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this work was to determine the localization of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase (NADPH-d activity as the marker for synthesis of nitric oxide synthase (NOS in the rat thymus after the application of retinoid acid (RA on 1st, 7th, 14th and 21st days of gestation. The given results can build the basis for understanding of the role of NOS in rat thymus. NADPH-d positive cells were represented with dark-blue color and were localized on corticomedullar junction of the thymus. These cells were of different intensity of coloring and were shaped in oval, circle or irregular forms. NADPH-d positive nerve fibers were observed in perivascular topography. They were marked more strongly in the case of control group. The result of application of RA to gravid rats was that the birth weights of newborn rats and their thymuses were smaller, but without statistically significance.

  19. Radiosensitization of mouse spermatogenic stem cells by Ro-07-0582

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzuki, N.; Withers, R.; Hunter, N.

    1977-01-01

    The hypoxic character of the spermatogenic stem cells of the mouse testis was investigated by measuring the effect on radiosensitivity of treatment with the hypoxic cell radiosensitizer, Ro-07-0582 or hyperbaric oxygen (30 psi). The D 0 values obtained were 181 (161-207) rad for irradiation alone, 140 (133-148) rad for irradiation after treatment with Ro-07-0582, and about 100 rad for irradiation in the presence of hyperbaric oxygen. Ro-07-0582 alone was slightly cytotoxic. The results demonstrate that mouse spermatogenic stem cells are radiosensitized by Ro-07-0582 or hyperbaric oxygen and are not as well oxygenated as other normal tissues

  20. Advances towards aromatic oligoamide foldamers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hjelmgaard, Thomas; Plesner, Malene; Dissing, Mette Marie

    2014-01-01

    We have efficiently synthesized 36 arylopeptoid dimers with ortho-, meta-, and para-substituted aromatic backbones and tert-butyl or phenyl side chains. The dimers were synthesized by using a "submonomer method" on solid phase, by applying a simplified common set of reaction conditions. X......-ray crystallographic analysis of two of these dimers disclosed that the tert-butyl side chain invokes a cis amide conformation with a comparatively more closely packed structure of the surrounding aromatic backbone while the phenyl side chain results in a trans amide conformation with a more open, extended structure...... of the surrounding aromatic backbone. Investigation of the X-ray structures of two arylopeptoid dimers disclosed that the tert-butyl side chain invokes a cis amide conformation with a closely packed structure of the surrounding aromatic backbone while the phenyl side chain results in a trans amide conformation...

  1. Effects of a synthetic retinoid on skin structure, matrix metalloproteinases, and procollagen in healthy and high-risk subjects with diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Wei; Tahrani, Abd; Shakher, Jayadave; Varani, James; Hughes, Sharon; Dubb, Kiran; Stevens, Martin J

    2011-01-01

    In diabetes, foot ulceration may result from increased skin fragility. Retinoids can reverse some diabetes-induced deficits of skin structure and function, but their clinical utility is limited by skin irritation. The effects of diabetes and MDI 301, a nonirritating synthetic retinoid, and retinoic acid have been evaluated on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), procollagen expression, and skin structure in skin biopsies from nondiabetic volunteers and diabetic subjects at risk of foot ulceration using organ culture techniques. Zymography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were utilized for analysis of MMP-1, -2, and -9 and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) and immunohistochemistry for type I procollagen protein abundance. Collagen structure parameters were assessed in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections. The % of active MMP-1 and -9 was higher and TIMP-1 abundance was lower in subjects with diabetes. Type 1 procollagen abundance was reduced and skin structural deficits were increased in diabetes. Three μM MDI 301 reduced active MMP-1 and -9 abundance by 29% (P structural deficit scores. Two μM retinoic acid reduced MMP-1 but did not significantly affect skin structure. These data indicate that diabetic patients at risk of foot ulceration have deficits of skin structure and function. MDI 301 offers potential for repairing this skin damage complicating diabetes. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. RoMPS concept review automatic control of space robot

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    The Robot operated Material Processing in Space (RoMPS) experiment is being performed to explore the marriage of two emerging space commercialization technologies: materials processing in microgravity and robotics. This concept review presents engineering drawings and limited technical descriptions of the RoMPS programs' electrical and software systems.

  3. Converting lignin to aromatics: step by step

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Strassberger, Z.I.

    2014-01-01

    Lignin, the glue that holds trees together, is the most abundant natural resource of aromatics. In that respect, it is a far more advanced resource than crude oil. This is because lignin already contains the aromatic functional groups. Thus, catalytic conversion of lignin to high-value aromatics is

  4. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. VIII. CoRoT-7b: the first super-Earth with measured radius

    Science.gov (United States)

    Léger, A.; Rouan, D.; Schneider, J.; Barge, P.; Fridlund, M.; Samuel, B.; Ollivier, M.; Guenther, E.; Deleuil, M.; Deeg, H. J.; Auvergne, M.; Alonso, R.; Aigrain, S.; Alapini, A.; Almenara, J. M.; Baglin, A.; Barbieri, M.; Bruntt, H.; Bordé, P.; Bouchy, F.; Cabrera, J.; Catala, C.; Carone, L.; Carpano, S.; Csizmadia, Sz.; Dvorak, R.; Erikson, A.; Ferraz-Mello, S.; Foing, B.; Fressin, F.; Gandolfi, D.; Gillon, M.; Gondoin, Ph.; Grasset, O.; Guillot, T.; Hatzes, A.; Hébrard, G.; Jorda, L.; Lammer, H.; Llebaria, A.; Loeillet, B.; Mayor, M.; Mazeh, T.; Moutou, C.; Pätzold, M.; Pont, F.; Queloz, D.; Rauer, H.; Renner, S.; Samadi, R.; Shporer, A.; Sotin, Ch.; Tingley, B.; Wuchterl, G.; Adda, M.; Agogu, P.; Appourchaux, T.; Ballans, H.; Baron, P.; Beaufort, T.; Bellenger, R.; Berlin, R.; Bernardi, P.; Blouin, D.; Baudin, F.; Bodin, P.; Boisnard, L.; Boit, L.; Bonneau, F.; Borzeix, S.; Briet, R.; Buey, J.-T.; Butler, B.; Cailleau, D.; Cautain, R.; Chabaud, P.-Y.; Chaintreuil, S.; Chiavassa, F.; Costes, V.; Cuna Parrho, V.; de Oliveira Fialho, F.; Decaudin, M.; Defise, J.-M.; Djalal, S.; Epstein, G.; Exil, G.-E.; Fauré, C.; Fenouillet, T.; Gaboriaud, A.; Gallic, A.; Gamet, P.; Gavalda, P.; Grolleau, E.; Gruneisen, R.; Gueguen, L.; Guis, V.; Guivarc'h, V.; Guterman, P.; Hallouard, D.; Hasiba, J.; Heuripeau, F.; Huntzinger, G.; Hustaix, H.; Imad, C.; Imbert, C.; Johlander, B.; Jouret, M.; Journoud, P.; Karioty, F.; Kerjean, L.; Lafaille, V.; Lafond, L.; Lam-Trong, T.; Landiech, P.; Lapeyrere, V.; Larqué, T.; Laudet, P.; Lautier, N.; Lecann, H.; Lefevre, L.; Leruyet, B.; Levacher, P.; Magnan, A.; Mazy, E.; Mertens, F.; Mesnager, J.-M.; Meunier, J.-C.; Michel, J.-P.; Monjoin, W.; Naudet, D.; Nguyen-Kim, K.; Orcesi, J.-L.; Ottacher, H.; Perez, R.; Peter, G.; Plasson, P.; Plesseria, J.-Y.; Pontet, B.; Pradines, A.; Quentin, C.; Reynaud, J.-L.; Rolland, G.; Rollenhagen, F.; Romagnan, R.; Russ, N.; Schmidt, R.; Schwartz, N.; Sebbag, I.; Sedes, G.; Smit, H.; Steller, M. B.; Sunter, W.; Surace, C.; Tello, M.; Tiphène, D.; Toulouse, P.; Ulmer, B.; Vandermarcq, O.; Vergnault, E.; Vuillemin, A.; Zanatta, P.

    2009-10-01

    Aims: We report the discovery of very shallow (Δ F/F ≈ 3.4× 10-4), periodic dips in the light curve of an active V = 11.7 G9V star observed by the CoRoT satellite, which we interpret as caused by a transiting companion. We describe the 3-colour CoRoT data and complementary ground-based observations that support the planetary nature of the companion. Methods: We used CoRoT colours information, good angular resolution ground-based photometric observations in- and out- of transit, adaptive optics imaging, near-infrared spectroscopy, and preliminary results from radial velocity measurements, to test the diluted eclipsing binary scenarios. The parameters of the host star were derived from optical spectra, which were then combined with the CoRoT light curve to derive parameters of the companion. Results: We examined all conceivable cases of false positives carefully, and all the tests support the planetary hypothesis. Blends with separation >0.40´´or triple systems are almost excluded with a 8 × 10-4 risk left. We conclude that, inasmuch we have been exhaustive, we have discovered a planetary companion, named CoRoT-7b, for which we derive a period of 0.853 59 ± 3 × 10-5 day and a radius of Rp = 1.68 ± 0.09 R_Earth. Analysis of preliminary radial velocity data yields an upper limit of 21 M_Earth for the companion mass, supporting the finding. Conclusions: CoRoT-7b is very likely the first Super-Earth with a measured radius. This object illustrates what will probably become a common situation with missions such as Kepler, namely the need to establish the planetary origin of transits in the absence of a firm radial velocity detection and mass measurement. The composition of CoRoT-7b remains loosely constrained without a precise mass. A very high surface temperature on its irradiated face, ≈1800-2600 K at the substellar point, and a very low one, ≈50 K, on its dark face assuming no atmosphere, have been derived. The CoRoT space mission, launched on 27

  5. The clinical impact of vehicle technology using a patented formulation of benzoyl peroxide 5%/clindamycin 1% gel: comparative assessments of skin tolerability and evaluation of combination use with a topical retinoid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Rosso, James Q; Tanghetti, Emil

    2006-02-01

    A major challenge encountered in clinical practice in patients with acne vulgaris is irritation related to topical medications used for treatment. Advances in vehicle technology have improved formulations containing active ingredients known to produce irritation in some patients, such as benzoyl peroxide (BP) and topical retinoids. Clinical studies, including combination therapy studies have demonstrated that certain additives, such as silicates and specific humectants, reduce irritation by maintaining barrier integrity. A patented gel formulation of BP 5%/clindamycin phosphate 1% (clindamycin) containing dimethicone and glycerin has been studied both as a monotherapy and in combination with topical retinoid use. This article evaluates specific vehicle additives included in this gel formulation and explains their role in reducing irritation. Data from clinical trials utilizing this technology in acne management are also reviewed.

  6. News Agency Website Agenda on Religion. Comparative Analysis on Mediafax.ro and Agerpres.ro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurelia Ana Vasile

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available According to the “Global Index of Religiosity and Atheism” (WIN-Gallup International, 27 July 2012, retrieved 24 August 2012, which was a global 2012 poll, the reports label 59% of the world's population as “religious” and 36% as not religious, including 13% who are atheists, with a 9% decrease in religious belief from 2005. Thereto, religion is an important issue of inherent influence in the media nowadays. Despite the ongoing secularization process that we are facing these days, humans still feel the need to refer to religion within their attempt to construct one’s own outlook on life, and to make some sense out of existence in general (Max Weber, 19202. A comparative content analysis on Mediafax.ro and Agerpres.ro, performed for an almost nine-and-a-half-month time span (1st January to 13th October 2015, showed interesting facts on how press agency journalists relate to religion as a media topic, both in terms of quality (key words and key topics and in terms of quantity. A comparison between the Orthodox religion of the majority of the Romanians, and other denominations, also accounted for intriguing research findings.

  7. Modification of PSf/SPSf Blended Porous Support for Improving the Reverse Osmosis Performance of Aromatic Polyamide Thin Film Composite Membranes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li-Fen Liu

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available In this study, modification of polysulfone (PSf/sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf blended porous ultrafiltration (UF support membranes was proposed to improve the reverse osmosis (RO performance of aromatic polyamide thin film composite (TFC membranes. The synergistic effects of solvent, polymer concentration, and SPSf doping content in the casting solution were investigated systematically on the properties of both porous supports and RO membranes. SEM and AFM were combined to characterize the physical properties of the membranes, including surface pore natures (porosity, mean pore radius, surface morphology, and section structure. A contact angle meter was used to analyze the membrane surface hydrophilicity. Permeate experiments were carried out to evaluate the separation performances of the membranes. The results showed that the PSf/SPSf blended porous support modified with 6 wt % SPSf in the presence of DMF and 14 wt % PSf had higher porosity, bigger pore diameter, and a rougher and more hydrophilic surface, which was more beneficial for fabrication of a polyamide TFC membrane with favorable reverse osmosis performance. This modified PSf/SPSf support endowed the RO membrane with a more hydrophilic surface, higher water flux (about 1.2 times, as well as a slight increase in salt rejection than the nascent PSf support. In a word, this work provides a new facile method to improve the separation performance of polyamide TFC RO membranes via the modification of conventional PSf porous support with SPSf.

  8. High atmosphere–ocean exchange of semivolatile aromatic hydrocarbons

    KAUST Repository

    González-Gaya, Belén

    2016-05-16

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other semivolatile aromatic-like compounds, are an important and ubiquitous fraction of organic matter in the environment. The occurrence of semivolatile aromatic hydrocarbons is due to anthropogenic sources such as incomplete combustion of fossil fuels or oil spills, and other biogenic sources. However, their global transport, fate and relevance for the carbon cycle have been poorly assessed, especially in terms of fluxes. Here we report a global assessment of the occurrence and atmosphere-ocean fluxes of 64 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons analysed in paired atmospheric and seawater samples from the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The global atmospheric input of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to the global ocean is estimated at 0.09 Tg per month, four times greater than the input from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Moreover, the environmental concentrations of total semivolatile aromatic-like compounds were 10 2 -10 3 times higher than those of the targeted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with a relevant contribution of an aromatic unresolved complex mixture. These concentrations drive a large global deposition of carbon, estimated at 400 Tg C yr -1, around 15% of the oceanic CO2 uptake. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Limited.

  9. Arginine-aromatic interactions and their effects on arginine-induced solubilization of aromatic solutes and suppression of protein aggregation

    KAUST Repository

    Shah, Dhawal

    2011-09-21

    We examine the interaction of aromatic residues of proteins with arginine, an additive commonly used to suppress protein aggregation, using experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. An aromatic-rich peptide, FFYTP (a segment of insulin), and lysozyme and insulin are used as model systems. Mass spectrometry shows that arginine increases the solubility of FFYTP by binding to the peptide, with the simulations revealing the predominant association of arginine to be with the aromatic residues. The calculations further show a positive preferential interaction coefficient, Γ XP, contrary to conventional thinking that positive Γ XP\\'s indicate aggregation rather than suppression of aggregation. Simulations with lysozyme and insulin also show arginine\\'s preference for aromatic residues, in addition to acidic residues. We use these observations and earlier results reported by us and others to discuss the possible implications of arginine\\'s interactions with aromatic residues on the solubilization of aromatic moieties and proteins. Our results also highlight the fact that explanations based purely on Γ XP, which measures average affinity of an additive to a protein, could obscure or misinterpret the underlying molecular mechanisms behind additive-induced suppression of protein aggregation. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

  10. Arginine-aromatic interactions and their effects on arginine-induced solubilization of aromatic solutes and suppression of protein aggregation

    KAUST Repository

    Shah, Dhawal; Li, Jianguo; Shaikh, Abdul Rajjak; Rajagopalan, Raj

    2011-01-01

    We examine the interaction of aromatic residues of proteins with arginine, an additive commonly used to suppress protein aggregation, using experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. An aromatic-rich peptide, FFYTP (a segment of insulin), and lysozyme and insulin are used as model systems. Mass spectrometry shows that arginine increases the solubility of FFYTP by binding to the peptide, with the simulations revealing the predominant association of arginine to be with the aromatic residues. The calculations further show a positive preferential interaction coefficient, Γ XP, contrary to conventional thinking that positive Γ XP's indicate aggregation rather than suppression of aggregation. Simulations with lysozyme and insulin also show arginine's preference for aromatic residues, in addition to acidic residues. We use these observations and earlier results reported by us and others to discuss the possible implications of arginine's interactions with aromatic residues on the solubilization of aromatic moieties and proteins. Our results also highlight the fact that explanations based purely on Γ XP, which measures average affinity of an additive to a protein, could obscure or misinterpret the underlying molecular mechanisms behind additive-induced suppression of protein aggregation. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).

  11. Evaluation of RO modules for the SSP ETC/LSS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasionowski, W. J.; Bambenek, R. A.

    1973-01-01

    During the past eight years the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center has supported the development of an Integrated Water and Waste Management System for use in the Space Station Prototype (SSP) Environmental Thermal Control/Life-Support System (ETC/LSS). This system includes the reverse osmosis (RO) process for recycling wash water and the compression distillation process for recovering useable water from urine, urinal flush water, humidity condensate, commode flush water and the wash water concentrated by RO. This paper summarizes the experimental work performed during the past four years to select the best commercially available RO module for this system and to also define which surfactants and germicides are most compatible with the selected module.

  12. Planetary transit candidates in CoRoT LRa01 field

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carone, L.; Gandolfi, D.; Cabrera, J.

    2012-01-01

    We present the list of planetary transit candidates from the CoRoT LRa01 star field in the Monoceros constellation toward the Galactic anti-center direction. The CoRoT observations of LRa01 lasted from 24 October 2007 to 3 March 2008. We acquired and analyzed 7470 chromatic and 3938 monochromatic...... lightcurves. Instrumental noise and stellar variability were treated with several filtering tools by different teams from the CoRoT community. Different transit search algorithms were applied to the lightcurves. (2 data files)....

  13. Validation of Robotic Surgery Simulator (RoSS).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kesavadas, Thenkurussi; Stegemann, Andrew; Sathyaseelan, Gughan; Chowriappa, Ashirwad; Srimathveeravalli, Govindarajan; Seixas-Mikelus, Stéfanie; Chandrasekhar, Rameella; Wilding, Gregory; Guru, Khurshid

    2011-01-01

    Recent growth of daVinci Robotic Surgical System as a minimally invasive surgery tool has led to a call for better training of future surgeons. In this paper, a new virtual reality simulator, called RoSS is presented. Initial results from two studies - face and content validity, are very encouraging. 90% of the cohort of expert robotic surgeons felt that the simulator was excellent or somewhat close to the touch and feel of the daVinci console. Content validity of the simulator received 90% approval in some cases. These studies demonstrate that RoSS has the potential of becoming an important training tool for the daVinci surgical robot.

  14. Cuentos ashaninka del r??o Peren??

    OpenAIRE

    Plasencia Soto, Rommel; S??nchez V??squez, Melisa

    2009-01-01

    La memoria ind??gena de los pueblos amaz??nicos del Per?? de hoy, es mostrada en cuatro relatos registrados en la comunidad de Mariscal C??ceres en el valle del r??o Peren?? de la selva central peruana.

  15. Benzo-thia-fused [n]Thienoacenequinodimethanes with Small to Moderate Diradical Characters: The Role of Pro-aromaticity versus Anti-aromaticity

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Xueliang

    2016-01-19

    Open-shell singlet diradicaloids recently have received much attention due to their unique optical, electronic and magnetic properties and promising applications in materials science. Among various diradicaloids, quinoidal π-conjugated molecules have become the prevailing designs. However, there still lacks fundamental understanding on how the fusion mode and pro-aromaticity/anti-aromaticity affect their diradical character and physical properties. In this work, a series of pro-aromatic benzo-thia-fused [n]thienoacenequinodimethanes (Thn-TIPS (n=1-3) and BDTh-TIPS) were synthesized and compared with the previously reported anti-aromatic bisindeno-[n]thienoacenes (Sn-TIPS, n=1-4). The ground-state geometric and electronic structures of these new quinoidal molecules were systematically investigated by X-ray crystallographic analysis, variable temperature NMR, ESR, SQUID, Raman, and electronic absorption spectroscopy, assisted by DFT calculations. It was found that the diradical character index (y0) increased from nearly zero for Th1-TIPS to 2.4% for Th2-TIPS, 18.2% for Th3-TIPS, and 38.2% for BDTh-TIPS, due to the enhanced aromatic stabilization. Consequently, with the extension of molecular size, the one-photon absorption spectra are gradually red-shifted, the two-photon absorption (TPA) cross section values increase, and the singlet excited state lifetimes decrease. By comparison with the corresponding anti-aromatic analogues Sn-TIPS (n=1-3), the pro-aromatic Thn-TIPS (n=1-3) exhibit larger diradical character, longer singlet excited state lifetime and larger TPA cross section value. At the same time, they display distinctively different electronic absorption spectra and improved electrochemical amphotericity. Spectroelectrochemical studies revealed a good linear relationship between the optical energy gaps and the molecular length in the neutral, radical cationic and dicationic forms. Our research work disclosed the significant difference between the pro-aromatic

  16. Benzo-thia-fused [n]Thienoacenequinodimethanes with Small to Moderate Diradical Characters: The Role of Pro-aromaticity versus Anti-aromaticity

    KAUST Repository

    Shi, Xueliang; Quintero, EstefanÍ a; Lee, Sangsu; Jing, Linzhi; Herng, Tun Seng; Zheng, Bin; Huang, Kuo-Wei; Ló pez Navarrete, Juan T.; Ding, Jun; Kim, Dongho; Casado, Juan; Chi, Chunyan

    2016-01-01

    Open-shell singlet diradicaloids recently have received much attention due to their unique optical, electronic and magnetic properties and promising applications in materials science. Among various diradicaloids, quinoidal π-conjugated molecules have become the prevailing designs. However, there still lacks fundamental understanding on how the fusion mode and pro-aromaticity/anti-aromaticity affect their diradical character and physical properties. In this work, a series of pro-aromatic benzo-thia-fused [n]thienoacenequinodimethanes (Thn-TIPS (n=1-3) and BDTh-TIPS) were synthesized and compared with the previously reported anti-aromatic bisindeno-[n]thienoacenes (Sn-TIPS, n=1-4). The ground-state geometric and electronic structures of these new quinoidal molecules were systematically investigated by X-ray crystallographic analysis, variable temperature NMR, ESR, SQUID, Raman, and electronic absorption spectroscopy, assisted by DFT calculations. It was found that the diradical character index (y0) increased from nearly zero for Th1-TIPS to 2.4% for Th2-TIPS, 18.2% for Th3-TIPS, and 38.2% for BDTh-TIPS, due to the enhanced aromatic stabilization. Consequently, with the extension of molecular size, the one-photon absorption spectra are gradually red-shifted, the two-photon absorption (TPA) cross section values increase, and the singlet excited state lifetimes decrease. By comparison with the corresponding anti-aromatic analogues Sn-TIPS (n=1-3), the pro-aromatic Thn-TIPS (n=1-3) exhibit larger diradical character, longer singlet excited state lifetime and larger TPA cross section value. At the same time, they display distinctively different electronic absorption spectra and improved electrochemical amphotericity. Spectroelectrochemical studies revealed a good linear relationship between the optical energy gaps and the molecular length in the neutral, radical cationic and dicationic forms. Our research work disclosed the significant difference between the pro-aromatic

  17. Coupling of RO-MSF hybrid desalination plants with nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Al-Sulaiman, Khalil; Al-Mutaz, Ibrahim S.

    1999-01-01

    Full text.Reverse osmosis (RO) and multistage flash (MSF) desalination are the most widely commercial available processes. MSF utilizes stream in the brine heater as a primary source of energy. RO is derived mainly by electricity that pumps the feed water against the mambranes. Steam and electricity and be produced easily by nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors may be coupled with deslination plants (MSF, RO or combined (hybrid) RO/MSF configuration). This integrated plant will be capable of producing power and water at reasonable cost. The capital and operating cost will be reduced and the excess power can be efficiently utilized. Maintenance and operating cost will drop significantly. In this paper, a techno-economic study of hybrid reverses osmosis /multistage flash desalination will be carried. The proposed configuration (hybrid RO/MSF) coupled with nuclear reactor is considered the most appropriate candidate system for the application of dual-purpose nuclear desalination plants. the design parameters for such a desalination hybrid system will be the applied pressure and recovery for reverse osmosis plant and the number of stages and the heat transfer areas for multistage flash plant

  18. Diagnostic and prognostic significance of measuring antibodies to alpha-fodrin compared to anti-Ro-52, anti-Ro-60, and anti-La in primary Sjogren's syndrome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pelck, R.; Manthorpe, R.; Locht, Henning

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To compare sensitivity and specificity of autoantibodies to alpha-fodrin with conventional anti-Ro and anti-La antibodies in patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS). Data on internal organ manifestations were correlated with presence of autoantibodies. METHODS: We collected...... clinical and laboratory data from 321 patients with pSS (Copenhagen criteria), of which 205 fulfilled the new American-European 2002 consensus criteria. Sera were tested for autoantibodies against alpha-fodrin and recombinant Ro-52, Ro-60, and La proteins. RESULTS: Antibodies to alpha-fodrin were...

  19. Retinoid X Receptor α-Dependent HBV Minichromosome Remodeling and Viral Replication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yan; He, Song; Guo, Jin-Jun; Peng, Hong; Fan, Jia-Hao; Li, Qing-Ling

    2017-01-01

    The HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) is organized into a minichromosome in the nuclei of infected hepatocytes through interactions with histone and nonhistone proteins. Retinoid X receptor α (RXRα), a liver-enriched nuclear receptor, participates in regulation of HBV replication and transcription through modulation of HBV enhancer 1 and core promoter activity. This study investigated RXRα involvement in HBV cccDNA epigenetic modifications. Quantitative cccDNA chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) was applied to study the recruitment of RXRα, histones, and chromatin-modifying enzymes to HBV minichromosome in HepG2 cells after transfection of the linear HBV genome. RXRα Was found to directly bind to HBV cccDNA; recruitment of RXRα to HBV mini-chromosome paralleled HBV replication, histone recruitment, and histone acetylation in HBVcccDNA. Moreover, RXRα overexpression or knock-down significantly increased or impaired the recruitment of the p300 acetyltransferase to cccDNAminichromosome. Our results confirmed the regulation of RXRα on HBV replication in vitro and demonstrated the modulation of RXRα on HBV cccDNA epigenetics. These findings provide a profound theoretical and experimental basis for late-model antiviral treatment acting on the HBV cccDNA and minichromosome.

  20. Douglas R.O. Morrison

    CERN Multimedia

    2001-01-01

    Douglas R.O. Morrison 1929 - 2001 Douglas' friends and colleagues are warmly invited to join in a memorial gathering on Friday, 23 March 2001 at 16.00 hours in the CERN Main Auditorium Some colleagues will pay tribute to Douglas' scientific achievements and to his role in leading the collaborations:   Welcome, short CV The 'hadron times' The 'neutrino times' Recent activities Collaborations The 'social environment' A book of condolence will be available. The gathering will conclude with refreshments in the Salle des Pas Perdus.

  1. Sõjaraport õõnestab ÜRO usaldusväärsust / Jürgen Tamme

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Tamme, Jürgen

    2011-01-01

    ÜRO Gaza sõda puudutavas raportis kritiseeritakse nii Iisraeli kui ka Palestiina islamistlikku äärmusrühmitust Hamas. ÜRO inimõiguste uurija Richard Goldstone leiab, et raport on siiski puudulik, kuna praegu omab ÜRO juba rohkem infot Gaza sõja kohta

  2. Waterborne cadmium and nickel impact oxidative stress responses and retinoid metabolism in yellow perch

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Defo, Michel A.; Bernatchez, Louis; Campbell, Peter G.C.; Couture, Patrice

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Cd and Ni affected indicators of retinoid metabolism and oxidative stress in fish. • Liver rdh-2 transcription levels increase in fish exposed to waterborne Cd. • Liver REH and LdRAT activities increase with increasing kidney Cd concentration. • Changes at molecular levels do not always mean changes at the functional levels. • Multi-level biological approaches are needed when assessing fish metal toxicology. - Abstract: In this experiment, we studied the transcriptional and functional (enzymatic) responses of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) to metal stress, with a focus on oxidative stress and vitamin A metabolism. Juvenile yellow perch were exposed to two environmentally relevant concentrations of waterborne cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) for a period of 6 weeks. Kidney Cd and Ni bioaccumulation significantly increased with increasing metal exposure. The major retinoid metabolites analyzed in liver and muscle decreased with metal exposure except at high Cd exposure where no variation was reported in liver. A decrease in free plasma dehydroretinol was also observed with metal exposure. In the liver of Cd-exposed fish, both epidermal retinol dehydrogenase 2 transcription level and corresponding enzyme activities retinyl ester hydrolase and lecithin dehydroretinyl acyl transferase increased. In contrast, muscle epidermal retinol dehydrogenase 2 transcription level decreased with Cd exposure. Among antioxidant defences, liver transcription levels of catalase, microsomal glutathione-S-transferase-3 and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were generally enhanced in Cd-exposed fish and this up-regulation was accompanied by an increase in the activities of corresponding enzymes, except for microsomal glutathione-S-transferase. No consistent pattern in antioxidant defence responses was observed between molecular and biochemical response when fish were exposed to Ni, suggesting a non-synchronous response of antioxidant defence in fish exposed to

  3. Waterborne cadmium and nickel impact oxidative stress responses and retinoid metabolism in yellow perch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Defo, Michel A. [Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre Eau Terre Environnement, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, Québec G1K 9A9 (Canada); Bernatchez, Louis [Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Québec, Québec G1V 0A6 (Canada); Campbell, Peter G.C. [Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre Eau Terre Environnement, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, Québec G1K 9A9 (Canada); Couture, Patrice, E-mail: patrice.couture@ete.inrs.ca [Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), Centre Eau Terre Environnement, 490 de la Couronne, Québec, Québec G1K 9A9 (Canada)

    2014-09-15

    Highlights: • Cd and Ni affected indicators of retinoid metabolism and oxidative stress in fish. • Liver rdh-2 transcription levels increase in fish exposed to waterborne Cd. • Liver REH and LdRAT activities increase with increasing kidney Cd concentration. • Changes at molecular levels do not always mean changes at the functional levels. • Multi-level biological approaches are needed when assessing fish metal toxicology. - Abstract: In this experiment, we studied the transcriptional and functional (enzymatic) responses of yellow perch (Perca flavescens) to metal stress, with a focus on oxidative stress and vitamin A metabolism. Juvenile yellow perch were exposed to two environmentally relevant concentrations of waterborne cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) for a period of 6 weeks. Kidney Cd and Ni bioaccumulation significantly increased with increasing metal exposure. The major retinoid metabolites analyzed in liver and muscle decreased with metal exposure except at high Cd exposure where no variation was reported in liver. A decrease in free plasma dehydroretinol was also observed with metal exposure. In the liver of Cd-exposed fish, both epidermal retinol dehydrogenase 2 transcription level and corresponding enzyme activities retinyl ester hydrolase and lecithin dehydroretinyl acyl transferase increased. In contrast, muscle epidermal retinol dehydrogenase 2 transcription level decreased with Cd exposure. Among antioxidant defences, liver transcription levels of catalase, microsomal glutathione-S-transferase-3 and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were generally enhanced in Cd-exposed fish and this up-regulation was accompanied by an increase in the activities of corresponding enzymes, except for microsomal glutathione-S-transferase. No consistent pattern in antioxidant defence responses was observed between molecular and biochemical response when fish were exposed to Ni, suggesting a non-synchronous response of antioxidant defence in fish exposed to

  4. Focal epithelial hyperplasia by human papillomavirus (HPV)-32 misdiagnosed as HPV-16 and treated with combination of retinoids, imiquimod and quadrivalent HPV vaccine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gemigniani, Franco; Hernández-Losa, Javier; Ferrer, Berta; García-Patos, Vicente

    2015-12-01

    Focal epithelial hyperplasia (FEH) or Heck's disease is a rare, benign and asymptomatic mucosal proliferation associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, mainly with genotypes 13 and 32. We report a florid case of FEH in an 11-year-old Haitian girl with systemic lupus erythematosus receiving immunosuppressive therapy. Cryotherapy was previously performed on numerous occasions with no results. We decided to prescribe a non-invasive and more comfortable treatment. A combination of topical retinoid and imiquimod cream was well tolerated and led to an important improvement. The evidence of infection by HPV-16 detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, prompted us to prescribe the quadrivalent HPV vaccine (types 6, 11,16 and 18). Subsequent PCR sequencing with generic primers GP5-GP6 and further BLAST comparative analysis confirmed that genomic viral sequence in our case truly corresponded with HPV-32. This molecular misdiagnosis can be explained by the similarity between genomic sequences of both HPV-16 and -32 genotypes. At the 1-year follow up, we observed total clinical improvement and no recurrences of the disease. Complete healing in this case may correspond to a potential action of topical retinoid, imiquimod and the cross-protection mechanism of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine. © 2015 Japanese Dermatological Association.

  5. Survey of benzene and aromatics in Canadian Gasoline - 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tushingham, M.

    1996-01-01

    A comprehensive database of the benzene and aromatics levels of gasoline produced in or imported into Canada during 1994, was presented. Environment Canada conducted a survey that requested refineries and importers to report quarterly on benzene and aromatics levels in gasoline. Benzene, which has been declared toxic by the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, is found in gasoline and is formed during the combustion of the aromatic components of gasoline. It was shown that benzene and aromatics levels differ regionally and seasonally. There are also variations in benzene levels between batches of gasoline produced at any one refinery. This report listed the responses to the benzene/aromatics survey. It also described the analytical procedures used to measure benzene and aromatics levels in gasoline, and provided guidelines for reporting gasoline benzene and total aromatics data. 7 tabs., 21 figs

  6. Independent Activation of Hepatitis B Virus Biosynthesis by Retinoids, Peroxisome Proliferators, and Bile Acids

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reese, Vanessa C.; Oropeza, Claudia E.

    2013-01-01

    In the human hepatoma cell line HepG2, retinoic acid, clofibric acid, and bile acid treatment can only modestly increase hepatitis B virus (HBV) biosynthesis. Utilizing the human embryonic kidney cell line 293T, it was possible to demonstrate that the retinoid X receptor α (RXRα) plus its ligand can support viral biosynthesis independently of additional nuclear receptors. In addition, RXRα/peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor α (PPARα) and RXRα/farnesoid X receptor α (FXRα) heterodimeric nuclear receptors can also mediate ligand-dependent HBV transcription and replication when activated by clofibric acid and bile acid, respectively, independently of a requirement for the ligand-dependent activation of RXRα. These observations indicate that there are at least three possible modes of ligand-mediated activation of HBV transcription and replication existing within hepatocytes, suggesting that multiple independent mechanisms control viral production in the livers of infected individuals. PMID:23135717

  7. Fellow's Apéro

    CERN Multimedia

    Staff Association

    2017-01-01

    Let's get together, meet each other, exchange experiences and ideas, and share useful information on CERN and the Staff Association. Join us for Fellow's Apéro, organised by the Staff Association on Tuesday 21 February at 16.30 in Restaurant 1. There will be drinks and snacks for everybody! We look forward to seeing you there! Please confirm your participation on Doodle http://doodle.com/poll/skvm7ucm2z78i6bt or alternatively on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/1862757017340069/. Your delegates in the Staff Association, Barbora & Jiri

  8. Bicyclic Baird-type aromaticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cha, Won-Young; Kim, Taeyeon; Ghosh, Arindam; Zhang, Zhan; Ke, Xian-Sheng; Ali, Rashid; Lynch, Vincent M.; Jung, Jieun; Kim, Woojae; Lee, Sangsu; Fukuzumi, Shunichi; Park, Jung Su; Sessler, Jonathan L.; Chandrashekar, Tavarekere K.; Kim, Dongho

    2017-12-01

    Classic formulations of aromaticity have long been associated with topologically planar conjugated macrocyclic systems. The theoretical possibility of so-called bicycloaromaticity was noted early on. However, it has yet to be demonstrated by experiment in a simple synthetic organic molecule. Conjugated organic systems are attractive for studying the effect of structure on electronic features. This is because, in principle, they can be modified readily through dedicated synthesis. As such, they can provide useful frameworks for testing by experiment with fundamental insights provided by theory. Here we detail the synthesis and characterization of two purely organic non-planar dithienothiophene-bridged [34]octaphyrins that permit access to two different aromatic forms as a function of the oxidation state. In their neutral forms, these congeneric systems contain competing 26 and 34 π-electronic circuits. When subject to two-electron oxidation, electronically mixed [4n+1]/[4n+1] triplet biradical species in the ground state are obtained that display global aromaticity in accord with Baird's rule.

  9. Clinical and Pathological Roles of Ro/SSA Autoantibody System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ryusuke Yoshimi

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Anti-Ro/SSA antibodies are among the most frequently detected autoantibodies against extractable nuclear antigens and have been associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE and Sjögren's syndrome (SS. Although the presence of these autoantibodies is one of the criteria for the diagnosis and classification of SS, they are also sometimes seen in other systemic autoimmune diseases. In the last few decades, the knowledge of the prevalence of anti-Ro/SSA antibodies in various autoimmune diseases and symptoms has been expanded, and the clinical importance of these antibodies is increasing. Nonetheless, the pathological role of the antibodies is still poorly understood. In this paper, we summarize the milestones of the anti-Ro/SSA autoantibody system and provide new insights into the association between the autoantibodies and the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases.

  10. Transgenic reporter mice with promoter region of murine LRAT specifically marks lens and meiosis spermatocytes

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Průková, Dana; Ileninová, Zuzana; Antošová, Barbora; Kašpárek, Petr; Gregor, Martin; Sedláček, Radislav

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 64, č. 2 (2015), s. 247-254 ISSN 0862-8408 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP305/10/2143; GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0109 Institutional support: RVO:68378050 Keywords : retinoid metabolism * retinyl esters * spermatogenesis * EGFP Subject RIV: EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology Impact factor: 1.643, year: 2015

  11. Expression of BAFF receptors in muscle tissue of myositis patients with anti-Jo-1 or anti-Ro52/anti-Ro60 autoantibodies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kryštůfková, Olga; Barbasso Helmers, Sevim; Venalis, Paulius; Malmström, Vivianne; Lindroos, Eva; Vencovský, Jiří; Lundberg, Ingrid E

    2014-10-10

    Anti-Jo-1 and anti-Ro52 autoantibodies are common in patients with myositis, but the mechanisms behind their production are not known. Survival of autoantibody-producing cells is dependent on B-cell-activating factor of the tumour necrosis factor family (BAFF). BAFF levels are elevated in serum of anti-Jo-1-positive myositis patients and are influenced by type-I interferon (IFN). IFN-producing cells and BAFF mRNA expression are present in myositis muscle. We investigated expression of the receptors for BAFF in muscle tissue in relation to anti-Jo-1 and anti-Ro52/anti-Ro60 autoantibodies and type-I IFN markers. Muscle biopsies from 23 patients with myositis selected based on autoantibody profile and 7 healthy controls were investigated for expression of BAFF receptor (BAFF-R), B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) and transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI). Nineteen samples were assessed for plasma (CD138) and B-cell (CD19) markers. The numbers of positive cells per area were compared with the expression of plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) marker blood dendritic cell antigen-2 (BDCA-2) and IFNα/β-inducible myxovirus resistance-1 protein (MX-1). BAFF-R, BCMA and TACI were expressed in five, seven and seven patients, respectively, and more frequently in anti-Jo-1-positive and/or anti-Ro52/anti-Ro60-positive patients compared to controls and to patients without these autoantibodies (P = BAFF-R: 0.007, BCMA: 0.03 and TACI: 0.07). A local association of receptors with B and plasma cells was confirmed by confocal microscopy. The numbers of CD138-positive and BCMA-positive cells were correlated (r = 0.79; P = 0.001). Expression of BDCA-2 correlated with numbers of CD138-positive cells and marginally with BCMA-positive cells (r = 0.54 and 0.42, respectively; P = 0.04 and 0.06, respectively). There was a borderline correlation between the numbers of positively stained TACI cells and MX-1 areas (r = 0.38, P = 0.08). The expression

  12. Volatilisation of aromatic hydrocarbons from soil

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lindhardt, B.; Christensen, T.H.

    1996-01-01

    The non-steady-state fluxes of aromatic hydrocarbons were measured in the laboratory from the surface of soils contaminated with coal tar Four soil samples from a former gasworks site were used for the experiments. The fluxes were quantified for 11 selected compounds, 4 mono- and 7 polycyclic...... aromatic hydrocarbons, for a period of up to 8 or 16 days. The concentrations of the selected compounds in the soils were between 0.2 and 3,100 mu g/g. The study included the experimental determination of the distribution coefficient of the aromatic hydrocarbons between the sorbed phase and the water under...... saturated conditions. The determined distribution coefficients showed that the aromatic hydrocarbons were more strongly sorbed to the total organic carbon including the coal tar pitch - by a factor of 8 to 25 - than expected for natural organic matter. The fluxes were also estimated using an analytical...

  13. Bioassay of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Van Kirk, E.A.

    1980-08-01

    A positive relationship was found between the photodynamic activity of 24 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons versus published results on the mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and initiation of unscheduled DNA synthesis. Metabolic activation of benzo(a)pyrene resulted in detection of increased mutagenesis in Paramecium tetraurelia as found also in the Ames Salmonella assay. The utility of P. tetraurelia as a biological detector of hazardous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is discussed.

  14. Impact of RO-desalted water on distribution water qualities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, J; Dietz, J; Randall, A; Hong, S

    2005-01-01

    A large-scale pilot distribution study was conducted to investigate the impacts of blending different source waters on distribution water qualities, with an emphasis on metal release (i.e. corrosion). The principal source waters investigated were conventionally treated ground water (G1), surface water processed by enhanced treatment (S1), and desalted seawater by reverse osmosis membranes (RO). Due to the nature of raw water quality and associated treatment processes, G1 water had high alkalinity, while S1 and RO sources were characterized as high sulfate and high chloride waters, respectively. The blending ratio of different treated waters determined the quality of finished waters. Iron release from aged cast iron pipes increased significantly when exposed to RO and S1 waters: that is, the greater iron release was experienced with alkalinity reduced below the background of G1 water. Copper release to drinking water, however, increased with increasing alkalinity and decreasing pH. Lead release, on the other hand, increased with increasing chloride and decreasing sulfate. The effect of pH and alkalinity on lead release was not clearly observed from pilot blending study. The flat and compact corrosion scales observed for lead surface exposed to S1 water may be attributable to lead concentration less than that of RO water blends.

  15. Disposition and biotransformation of the acetylenic retinoid tazarotene in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Attar, Mayssa; Yu, Dale; Ni, Jinsong; Yu, Zhiling; Ling, Kah-Hiing John; Tang-Liu, Diane D-S

    2005-10-01

    Oral tazarotene, an acetylenic retinoid, is in clinical development for the treatment of psoriasis. The disposition and biotransformation of tazarotene were investigated in six healthy male volunteers, following a single oral administration of a 6 mg (100 microCi) dose of [14C]tazarotene, in a gelatin capsule. Blood levels of radioactivity peaked 2 h postdose and then rapidly declined. Total recovery of radioactivity was 89.2+/-8.0% of the administered dose, with 26.1+/-4.2% in urine and 63.0+/-7.0% in feces, within 7 days of dosing. Only tazarotenic acid, the principle active metabolite formed via esterase hydrolysis of tazarotene, was detected in blood. One major urinary oxidative metabolite, tazarotenic acid sulfoxide, accounted for 19.2+/-3.0% of the dose. The majority of radioactivity recovered in the feces was attributed to tazarotenic acid representing 46.9+/-9.9% of the dose and only 5.82+/-3.84% of dose was excreted as unchanged tazarotene. Thus following oral administration, tazarotene was rapidly absorbed and underwent extensive hydrolysis to tazarotenic acid, the major circulating species in the blood that was then excreted unchanged in feces. A smaller fraction of tazarotenic acid was further metabolized to an inactive sulfoxide that was excreted in the urine. Copyright (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association

  16. Retinoides (RARβ y CRBP1 en carcinoma de pulmón a células no pequeñas Retinoid expression (RARβ and CRBP1 in non-small-cell lung carcinoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Laura V. Mauro

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Aunque los pacientes con cáncer de pulmón a células no pequeñas en estadios tempranos (NSCLC tienen buen pronóstico, el 20-30% recae, siendo relevante la identificación de biomarcadores pronósticos. Los retinoides regulan crecimiento y diferenciación, y pueden antagonizar la progresión tumoral. Su efecto depende del transporte citosólico mediado por moléculas como CRBP1, y de la unión a receptores específicos (RARβ. Alteraciones en esta vía se asociaron con cáncer. Nuestro objetivo fue estudiar la expresión, mediante inmunohistoquímica, de RARβ y CRBP1 en el tejido tumoral de 49 pacientes NSCLC Estadio I/II, obtenido durante la cirugía. La supervivencia se analizó mediante los test Log Rank y multivariado de Cox. El 44.9% de los tumores fueron positivos para RARβ con expresión a nivel citoplasmático, mientras que el 34.7% lo expresó a nivel nuclear. La tinción para CRBP1 se observó en el 61.2% de los tumores. No se encontró asociación entre la expresión de ambas moléculas y las características clinicopatológicas (sexo, tamaño tumoral, nódulos línfáticos comprometidos, histopatología y p53. Tampoco se encontró asociación con el hábito de fu-mar. La presencia de células tumorales en el lavado pleural se asoció significativamente con la expresión de CRBP1. Por otro lado, se demostró asociación entre la expresión elevada de RARβ citoplasmático y menor supervivencia global (LR 4.17, p=0.0412. El análisis multivariado no mostró asociación con otras variables de pronóstico en NSCLC. En conclusión, en este grupo de pacientes NSCLC Estadio I/II, RARβ pareciera predecir la supervivencia global en forma independiente.Although early-stage non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC patients have a relative by favorable prognosis, the risk of a bad outcome remains substantial. Identification of reliable prognostic markers for disease recurrence and death has meaningful clinical application. Retinoids are

  17. How non-conventional feedstocks will affect aromatics technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Koehler, E. [Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH, Muenchen (Germany)

    2013-11-01

    The abundance of non-conventional feedstocks such as coal and shale gas has begun to affect the availability of traditional base chemicals such as propylene and BTX aromatics. Although this trend is primarily fueled by the fast growing shale gas economy in the US and the abundance of coal in China, it will cause the global supply and demand situation to equilibrate across the regions. Lower demand for gasoline and consequently less aromatics rich reformate from refineries will further tighten the aromatics markets that are expected to grow at healthy rates, however. Refiners can benefit from this trend by abandoning their traditional fuel-oriented business model and becoming producers of petrochemical intermediates, with special focus on paraxylene (PX). Cheap gas from coal (via gasification) or shale reserves is an advantaged feedstock that offers a great platform to make aromatics in a cost-competitive manner, especially in regions where naphtha is in short supply. Gas condensates (LPG and naphtha) are good feedstocks for paraffin aromatization, and methanol from coal or (shale) gas can be directly converted to BTX aromatics (MTA) or alkylated with benzene or toluene to make paraxylene. Most of today's technologies for the production and upgrading of BTX aromatics and their derivatives make use of the unique properties of zeolites. (orig.)

  18. Integrating protein structures and precomputed genealogies in the Magnum database: Examples with cellular retinoid binding proteins

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bradley Michael E

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background When accurate models for the divergent evolution of protein sequences are integrated with complementary biological information, such as folded protein structures, analyses of the combined data often lead to new hypotheses about molecular physiology. This represents an excellent example of how bioinformatics can be used to guide experimental research. However, progress in this direction has been slowed by the lack of a publicly available resource suitable for general use. Results The precomputed Magnum database offers a solution to this problem for ca. 1,800 full-length protein families with at least one crystal structure. The Magnum deliverables include 1 multiple sequence alignments, 2 mapping of alignment sites to crystal structure sites, 3 phylogenetic trees, 4 inferred ancestral sequences at internal tree nodes, and 5 amino acid replacements along tree branches. Comprehensive evaluations revealed that the automated procedures used to construct Magnum produced accurate models of how proteins divergently evolve, or genealogies, and correctly integrated these with the structural data. To demonstrate Magnum's capabilities, we asked for amino acid replacements requiring three nucleotide substitutions, located at internal protein structure sites, and occurring on short phylogenetic tree branches. In the cellular retinoid binding protein family a site that potentially modulates ligand binding affinity was discovered. Recruitment of cellular retinol binding protein to function as a lens crystallin in the diurnal gecko afforded another opportunity to showcase the predictive value of a browsable database containing branch replacement patterns integrated with protein structures. Conclusion We integrated two areas of protein science, evolution and structure, on a large scale and created a precomputed database, known as Magnum, which is the first freely available resource of its kind. Magnum provides evolutionary and structural

  19. ÜRO rahuvalvemissiooni juhtinud brasiillane leiti Haiti hotellist surnult / Heiki Suurkask

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Suurkask, Heiki, 1972-

    2006-01-01

    ÜRO Haiti rahuvalvemissiooni juht Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar sooritas enesetapu. ÜRO rahuvalvemissioon MINUSTAH on Haitil 2005. aastast pärast nelja-aastast eemalolekut, samas jätkub seal vägivald

  20. The Dushak–Erekdag Survey of roAp Stars Tatyana Dorokhova ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    South-African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). Details of the discovery and further studies are given in Kurtz (1990) and Kurtz & Martinez (2000). Some roAp stars have multiple modes of pulsations and they are valuable for asteroseismological studies. Out of the 32 known roAp stars so far, about 84% were discovered in ...

  1. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission . VI. CoRoT-Exo-3b: the first secure inhabitant of the brown-dwarf desert

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deleuil, M.; Deeg, H. J.; Alonso, R.; Bouchy, F.; Rouan, D.; Auvergne, M.; Baglin, A.; Aigrain, S.; Almenara, J. M.; Barbieri, M.; Barge, P.; Bruntt, H.; Bordé, P.; Collier Cameron, A.; Csizmadia, Sz.; de La Reza, R.; Dvorak, R.; Erikson, A.; Fridlund, M.; Gandolfi, D.; Gillon, M.; Guenther, E.; Guillot, T.; Hatzes, A.; Hébrard, G.; Jorda, L.; Lammer, H.; Léger, A.; Llebaria, A.; Loeillet, B.; Mayor, M.; Mazeh, T.; Moutou, C.; Ollivier, M.; Pätzold, M.; Pont, F.; Queloz, D.; Rauer, H.; Schneider, J.; Shporer, A.; Wuchterl, G.; Zucker, S.

    2008-12-01

    Context: The CoRoT space mission routinely provides high-precision photometric measurements of thousands of stars that have been continuously observed for months. Aims: The discovery and characterization of the first very massive transiting planetary companion with a short orbital period is reported. Methods: A series of 34 transits was detected in the CoRoT light curve of an F3V star, observed from May to October 2007 for 152 days. The radius was accurately determined and the mass derived for this new transiting, thanks to the combined analysis of the light curve and complementary ground-based observations: high-precision radial-velocity measurements, on-off photometry, and high signal-to-noise spectroscopic observations. Results: CoRoT-Exo-3b has a radius of 1.01 ± 0.07 R_Jup and transits around its F3-type primary every 4.26 days in a synchronous orbit. Its mass of 21.66 ± 1.0 M_Jup, density of 26.4 ± 5.6 g cm-3, and surface gravity of logg = 4.72 clearly distinguish it from the regular close-in planet population, making it the most intriguing transiting substellar object discovered so far. Conclusions: With the current data, the nature of CoRoT-Exo-3b is ambiguous, as it could either be a low-mass brown-dwarf or a member of a new class of “superplanets”. Its discovery may help constrain the evolution of close-in planets and brown-dwarfs better. Finally, CoRoT-Exo-3b confirms the trend that massive transiting giant planets (M ≥ 4 M_Jup) are found preferentially around more massive stars than the Sun. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operating by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brasil, ESA, Germany and Spain. The first CoRoT data will be available to the public in February 2009 from the CoRoT archive: http://idoc-corot.ias.u-psud.fr/ Table of the COROT photometry is only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http

  2. High-efficient full-duplex WDM-RoF system with sub-central station

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Anliang; Yin, Hongxi; Wu, Bin

    2018-05-01

    With an additional sub-central station (S-CS), a high-efficient full-duplex radio-over-fiber (RoF) system compatible with the wavelength-division-multiplexing technology is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. To improve the dispersion tolerance of the RoF system, the baseband data format for the downlink and an all-optical down-conversion approach for the uplink are employed. In addition, this RoF system can not only make full use of the fiber link resources but also realize the upstream transmission without any local light sources at remote base stations (BSs). A 10-GHz RoF experimental system with a 1.25-Gb/s rate bidirectional transmission is established based on the S-CS structure. The feasibility and reliability of this RoF system are verified through eye diagrams and bit error rate (BER) curves experimentally obtained.

  3. Metabolism and Biomarkers of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines in Molecular Epidemiology Studies: Lessons Learned from Aromatic Amines

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Aromatic amines and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are structurally related classes of carcinogens that are formed during the combustion of tobacco or during the high-temperature cooking of meats. Both classes of procarcinogens undergo metabolic activation by N-hydroxylation of the exocyclic amine group, to produce a common proposed intermediate, the arylnitrenium ion, which is the critical metabolite implicated in toxicity and DNA damage. However, the biochemistry and chemical properties of these compounds are distinct and different biomarkers of aromatic amines and HAAs have been developed for human biomonitoring studies. Hemoglobin adducts have been extensively used as biomarkers to monitor occupational and environmental exposures to a number of aromatic amines; however, HAAs do not form hemoglobin adducts at appreciable levels and other biomarkers have been sought. A number of epidemiologic studies that have investigated dietary consumption of well-done meat in relation to various tumor sites reported a positive association between cancer risk and well-done meat consumption, although some studies have shown no associations between well-done meat and cancer risk. A major limiting factor in most epidemiological studies is the uncertainty in quantitative estimates of chronic exposure to HAAs and, thus, the association of HAAs formed in cooked meat and cancer risk has been difficult to establish. There is a critical need to establish long-term biomarkers of HAAs that can be implemented in molecular epidemioIogy studies. In this review article, we highlight and contrast the biochemistry of several prototypical carcinogenic aromatic amines and HAAs to which humans are chronically exposed. The biochemical properties and the impact of polymorphisms of the major xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes on the biological effects of these chemicals are examined. Lastly, the analytical approaches that have been successfully employed to biomonitor aromatic amines and HAAs, and

  4. [Expression and clinical significance of CD45RO in laryngeal carcinoma tissue].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Manyi; Liu, Jishengi; Zhou, Hui; Wu, Wenying; Xiao, Gensheng; Yu, Yafeng; Guo, Lingchuan

    2014-03-01

    To investigate the role and significance of CD45RO in occurance and development in laryngeal squamous carcinoma, and to provide some valuable clues for searching new approaches to assess prognosis and theoretical basis for tumor biotherapy. The expression of CD45RO protein in 50 cases of laryngeal squamous carcinoma and 10 cases normal mucos was detected by immunohistochemical S-P method. The positive rate of CD45RO was 30% and 86% respectively in normal tissue and laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma tissue. The expresion of CD45RO was significantly and negatively associated with local metastatic of lymph nodes 0.713, P < 0.05) and tumor sites (r = -0.750, P < 0.05), but it have no notable difference with pathology differentiation, age, infiltrating depth and clinical stages in 50 cases of laryngeal squamous cell cancer. (1) The expresion of CD45RO in laryngeal squamous cell cancer is more than that in normal tissue. (2) It is possible that overexpresion of CD45RO in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma cut local metastatic lymph nodes. (3) It is probable that overexpresion of CD45RO in laryngeal squamous cell cancer made for prognosis of patients. (4) Other than UICC-TNM stage, pathology differentiation, it provide valuable clues for searching new approaches to assess prognosis of laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

  5. Aromatization of n-octane over Pd/C catalysts

    KAUST Repository

    Yin, Mengchen; Natelson, Robert H.; Campos, Andrew A.; Kolar, Praveen; Roberts, William L.

    2013-01-01

    Gas-phase aromatization of n-octane was investigated using Pd/C catalyst. The objectives were to: (1) determine the effects of temperature (400-600 °C), weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) (0.8-∞), and hydrogen to hydrocarbon molar ratio (MR) (0-6) on conversion, selectivity, and yield (2) compare the activity of Pd/C with Pt/C and Pt/KL catalysts and (3) test the suitability of Pd/C for aromatization of different alkanes including n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-octane. Pd/C exhibited the best aromatization performance, including 54.4% conversion and 31.5% aromatics yield at 500 °C, WHSV = 2 h-1, and a MR of 2. The Pd/C catalyst had higher selectivity towards the preferred aromatics including ethylbenzene and xylenes, whereas Pt/KL had higher selectivity towards benzene and toluene. The results were somewhat consistent with adsorbed n-octane cyclization proceeding mainly through the six-membered ring closure mechanism. In addition, Pd/C was also capable of catalyzing aromatization of n-hexane and n-heptane. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Proximate Composition, Mineral Content and Fatty Acids Analyses of Aromatic and Non-Aromatic Indian Rice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deepak Kumar Verma

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Awareness on nutritive value and health benefits of rice is of vital importance in order to increase the consumption of rice in daily diet of the human beings. In this study, a total of six aromatic and two non-aromatic rice accessions grown in India were analysed for their nutritional quality attributes including proximate composition, mineral contents and fatty acids. Data with three replications were used to measure Pearson's simple correlation co-efficient in order to establish the relationship among various nutritional quality attributes. The result on proximate composition showed that Govind Bhog had the highest moisture (13.57% and fat (0.92% content, which signifies its tasty attribute. Badshah Bhog exhibited the highest fibre content (0.85%, carbohydrate content (82.70% and food energy (365.23 kCal per 100 g. Among the minerals, the higher Ca (98.75 mg/kg, Zn (17.00 mg/kg and Fe (31.50 mg/kg were in Gopal Bhog, whereas the highest Na (68.85 mg/kg was in Badshah Bhog, the highest K (500.00 mg/kg was in Swetganga, Khushboo and Sarbati. The highest contents of unsaturated fatty acids viz. oleic acid (49.14%, linoleic acid (46.99% and linolenic acid (1.27% were found in Sarbati, whereas the highest content of saturated fatty acids viz. myristic acid (4.60% and palmitic acid (31.91% were found in Govind Bhog and stearic acid (6.47% in Todal. The identified aromatic rice accessions Gopal Bhog, Govind Bhog and Badshah Bhog and non-aromatic rice accession Sarbati were found nutritionally superior among all eight tested accessions. The nutritional quality oriented attributes in this study were competent with recognized prominent aromatic and non-aromatic rice accessions as an index of their nutritional worth and recommend to farmers and consumers which may be graded as export quality rice with good unique nutritional values in international market.

  7. ÜRO asesekretäri kriitika USA suunal ajas viimase marru / Liise Lehtsalu

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Lehtsalu, Liise

    2006-01-01

    ÜRO asesekretär Malloch Brown kritiseeris oma kõnes USA tahtmatust teavitada ameeriklasi ÜRO osast USA välispoliitikas. USA ÜRO-suursaadiku John Boltoni reageering Browni märkustele. Lisa: Rikaste ja vaeste riikide vastuolud

  8. RoHS Compliance - Is the Global Electronics Industry Ready?

    OpenAIRE

    Head, Marieke; Hróarsson, Hallur

    2006-01-01

    RoHS is an EU directive that was proposed along with the WEEE Directive in 2002 as a part of a plan to promote extended producer responsibility within the electronics industry. Together, these two directives seek to make electrical and electronic equipment easier to manage both in terms of environmental impacts and recycling. The RoHS Directive seeks to remove lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium and two brominated flame retardants from all consumer electrical equipment. This paper dea...

  9. AN AROMATIC INVENTORY OF THE LOCAL VOLUME

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marble, A. R.; Engelbracht, C. W.; Block, M.; Van Zee, L.; Dale, D. A.; Cohen, S. A.; Schuster, M. D.; Smith, J. D. T.; Gordon, K. D.; Wu, Y.; Lee, J. C.; Kennicutt, R. C.; Skillman, E. D.; Johnson, L. C.; Calzetti, D.; Lee, H.

    2010-01-01

    Using infrared photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope, we perform the first inventory of aromatic feature emission (also commonly referred to as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission) for a statistically complete sample of star-forming galaxies in the local volume. The photometric methodology involved is calibrated and demonstrated to recover the aromatic fraction of the Infrared Array Camera 8 μm flux with a standard deviation of 6% for a training set of 40 SINGS galaxies (ranging from stellar to dust dominated) with both suitable mid-infrared Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectra and equivalent photometry. A potential factor of 2 improvement could be realized with suitable 5.5 μm and 10 μm photometry, such as what may be provided in the future by the James Webb Space Telescope. The resulting technique is then applied to mid-infrared photometry for the 258 galaxies from the Local Volume Legacy (LVL) survey, a large sample dominated in number by low-luminosity dwarf galaxies for which obtaining comparable mid-infrared spectroscopy is not feasible. We find the total LVL luminosity due to five strong aromatic features in the 8 μm complex to be 2.47 x 10 10 L sun with a mean volume density of 8.8 x 10 6 L sun Mpc -3 . Twenty-four of the LVL galaxies, corresponding to a luminosity cut at M B = -18.22, account for 90% of the aromatic luminosity. Using oxygen abundances compiled from the literature for 129 of the 258 LVL galaxies, we find a correlation between metallicity and the aromatic-to-total infrared emission ratio but not the aromatic-to-total 8 μm dust emission ratio. A possible explanation is that metallicity plays a role in the abundance of aromatic molecules relative to the total dust content, but other factors, such as star formation and/or the local radiation field, affect the excitation of those molecules.

  10. Planetary transit candidates in the CoRoT-SRc01 field

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Erikson, A.; Santerne, A.; Renner, S.

    2012-01-01

    Context. CoRoT is a pioneering space mission whose primary goals are stellar seismology and extrasolar planets search. Its surveys of large stellar fields generate numerous planetary candidates whose lightcurves have transit-like features. An extensive analytical and observational follow-up effort...... is undertaken to classify these candidates. Aims. We present the list of planetary transit candidates from the CoRoT LRa01 star field in the Monoceros constellation toward the Galactic anti-center direction. The CoRoT observations of LRa01 lasted from 24 October 2007 to 3 March 2008. Methods. We acquired...... and analyzed 7470 chromatic and 3938 monochromatic lightcurves. Instrumental noise and stellar variability were treated with several filtering tools by different teams from the CoRoT community. Different transit search algorithms were applied to the lightcurves. Results. Fifty-one stars were classified...

  11. Roles of Retinoids and Retinoic Acid Receptors in the Regulation of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Louise E. Purton

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available Multipotent hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs sustain blood cell production throughout an individual's lifespan through complex processes ultimately leading to fates of self-renewal, differentiation or cell death decisions. A fine balance between these decisions in vivo allows for the size of the HSC pool to be maintained. While many key factors involved in regulating HSC/progenitor cell differentiation and cell death are known, the critical regulators of HSC self-renewal are largely unknown. In recent years, however, a number of studies describing methods of increasing or decreasing the numbers of HSCs in a given population have emerged. Of major interest here are the emerging roles of retinoids in the regulation of HSCs.

  12. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. IV. CoRoT-Exo-4b: a transiting planet in a 9.2 day synchronous orbit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aigrain, S.; Collier Cameron, A.; Ollivier, M.; Pont, F.; Jorda, L.; Almenara, J. M.; Alonso, R.; Barge, P.; Bordé, P.; Bouchy, F.; Deeg, H.; de La Reza, R.; Deleuil, M.; Dvorak, R.; Erikson, A.; Fridlund, M.; Gondoin, P.; Gillon, M.; Guillot, T.; Hatzes, A.; Lammer, H.; Lanza, A. F.; Léger, A.; Llebaria, A.; Magain, P.; Mazeh, T.; Moutou, C.; Paetzold, M.; Pinte, C.; Queloz, D.; Rauer, H.; Rouan, D.; Schneider, J.; Wuchter, G.; Zucker, S.

    2008-09-01

    CoRoT, the first space-based transit search, provides ultra-high-precision light curves with continuous time-sampling over periods of up to 5 months. This allows the detection of transiting planets with relatively long periods, and the simultaneous study of the host star's photometric variability. In this Letter, we report the discovery of the transiting giant planet CoRoT-Exo-4b and use the CoRoT light curve to perform a detailed analysis of the transit and determine the stellar rotation period. The CoRoT light curve was pre-processed to remove outliers and correct for orbital residuals and artefacts due to hot pixels on the detector. After removing stellar variability about each transit, the transit light curve was analysed to determine the transit parameters. A discrete autocorrelation function method was used to derive the rotation period of the star from the out-of-transit light curve. We determine the periods of the planetary orbit and star's rotation of 9.20205 ± 0.00037 and 8.87 ± 1.12 days respectively, which is consistent with this being a synchronised system. We also derive the inclination, i = 90.00_-0.085+0.000 in degrees, the ratio of the orbital distance to the stellar radius, a/Rs = 17.36-0.25+0.05, and the planet-to-star radius ratio R_p/R_s=0.1047-0.0022+0.0041. We discuss briefly the coincidence between the orbital period of the planet and the stellar rotation period and its possible implications for the system's migration and star-planet interaction history. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA, Germany, and Spain. The first CoRoT data will be available to the public in February 2009 from the CoRoT archive: http://idoc-corot.ias.u-psud.fr/ Figures 1, 4 and 5 are only available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  13. Fused aromatic thienopyrazines: structure, properties and function

    KAUST Repository

    Mondal, Rajib; Ko, Sangwon; Bao, Zhenan

    2010-01-01

    Recent development of a fused aromatic thieno[3.4-b]pyrazine system and their application in optoelectronic devices are reviewed. Introduction of a fused aromatic unit followed by side chain engineering, dramatically enhanced the charge carrier

  14. MO-AB-204-01: IHE RO Overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hadley, S.

    2016-01-01

    You’ve experienced the frustration: vendor A’s device claims to work with vendor B’s device, but the practice doesn’t match the promise. Getting devices working together is the hidden art that Radiology and Radiation Oncology staff have to master. To assist with that difficult process, the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) effort was established in 1998, with the coordination of the Radiological Society of North America. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) is a consortium of healthcare professionals and industry partners focused on improving the way computer systems interconnect and exchange information. This is done by coordinating the use of published standards like DICOM and HL7. Several clinical and operational IHE domains exist in the healthcare arena, including Radiology and Radiation Oncology. The ASTRO-sponsored IHE Radiation Oncology (IHE-RO) domain focuses on radiation oncology specific information exchange. This session will explore the IHE Radiology and IHE RO process for; IHE solicitation process for new profiles. Improving the way computer systems interconnect and exchange information in the healthcare enterprise Supporting interconnectivity descriptions and proof of adherence by vendors Testing and assuring the vendor solutions to connectivity problems. Including IHE profiles in RFPs for future software and hardware purchases. Learning Objectives: Understand IHE role in improving interoperability in health care. Understand process of profile development and implantation. Understand how vendors prove adherence to IHE RO profiles. S. Hadley, ASTRO Supported Activity

  15. Radial velocity follow-up of CoRoT transiting exoplanets

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deleuil M.

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available We report on the results from the radial-velocity follow-up program performed to establish the planetary nature and to characterize the transiting candidates discovered by the space mission CoRoT. We use the SOPHIE at OHP, HARPS at ESO and the HIRES at Keck spectrographs to collect spectra and high-precision radial velocity (RV measurements for several dozens different candidates from CoRoT. We have measured the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of several confirmed planets, especially CoRoT-1b which revealed that it is another highly inclined system. Such high-precision RV data are necessary for the discovery of new transiting planets. Furthermore, several low mass planet candidates have emerged from our Keck and HARPS data.

  16. WE-B-Exhibit Hall-01: Ask the RO-ILS Experts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ezzell, G [Mayo Clinic Arizona, Phoenix, AZ (United States); Sanscrainte, E [Clarity PSO, Chicago, IL (United States); Tomlinson, C [ASTRO, Fairfax, VA (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Have a question about RO-ILS: Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System™, or interested in learning more? Sponsored by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) and AAPM, RO-ILS is the only medical specialty society-sponsored incident learning system for radiation oncology. It facilitates safer and higher quality care in radiation oncology by providing a mechanism for shared learning in a secure and non-punitive environment. Please join our RO-ILS experts for a question and answer session on Wednesday, July 15th at 8:30 in the Partners in Solutions Room in Exhibit Hall C. Our experts include: Gary Ezzell, PhD, Mayo Clinic Arizona, [Brett Miller, Phillip Beron, and Derek Brown], Emily Sanscrainte from Clarity PSO and Cindy Tomlinson, MPP, ASTRO.

  17. ÜRO teatel peavad toidukriisi eest vastutama rikkad riigid / Liisi Poll

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Poll, Liisi, 1980-

    2008-01-01

    ÜRO peasekretär Ban Ki-Moon kutsus ÜRO põllumajandus- ja toiduorganisatsiooni erakorralisel toidukriisi-teemalisel tippkohtumisel Roomas riike üles vähendama ekspordipiiranguid ja imporditariife, et toiduvarude nappust vähendada. Vt. samas: Kohtumise poliitilised häbiplekid

  18. Thematic trip: "Save Roşia MontanÄă"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eugenia, Marcu

    2015-04-01

    The name Roşia Montană, situated in Transylvania, became well known after a Romanian-Canadian company, Roşia Montană Gold Company (RMGC), obtained the concession license on exploitation for gold and silver minerals in the Roşia Montană area. The project consists of opening the largest surface gold mines in Europe using cyanide, which will include four open pits and a processing plant for gold and silver in The Roşia Valley and a tailings facility with an area of 367 hectares in the Corna Valley. One of the main fears is related to a possible ecological accident like the one in Baia Mare in 2000, when a tailing facility dam break led to cyanide pollution of Tisa and Danube rivers that resulted in the death of 1,200 tons of fish and contamination of water resources for 2 million people. This thematic trip is important for the scientific preparation of students and an opportunity to educate them in the spirit of environmental protection. The training and education of students will require assimilation and understanding, actively and consciously, using the knowledge acquired during the compulsory curriculum and training skills. REASON: The continuous degradation of the environment is a major crisis due to human intervention in nature, and the proposed Roşia Montană mining project will continue this trend. The company proposes to extract gold from mines by using the gold separation technique using cyanide, a process that involves destroying a total area of 16 km² which includes 5 mountains, 7 churches, 11 cemeteries and the ruins of Alburnus Maior Citadel, as well as creating pollution that would last for hundreds of years. The extraction of gold from low-grade ores using cyanide processes was estimated to result in a worldwide emission of 45,300 tons of hydrogen cyanide. Environmental education for a healthy life has children as target group, because they are the trustees and beneficiaries of tomorrow's natural resources and can influence the attitudes of

  19. A method of refining aromatic hydrocarbons from coal chemical production

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zieborak, K.; Koprowski, A.; Ratajczak, W.

    1979-10-01

    A method is disclosed for refining aromatic hydrocarbons of coal chemical production by contact of liquid aromatic hydrocarbons and their mixtures with a strongly acid macroporous sulfocationite in the H-form at atmospheric pressure and high temperature. The method is distinguished in that the aromatic hydrocarbons and their mixtures, from which alkali compounds have already been removed, are supplied for refinement with the sulfocationite with simultaneous addition of olefin derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons, followed by separation of pure hydrocarbons by rectification. Styrene or alpha-methylstyrene is used as the olefin derivatives of the aromatic hydrocarbons. The method is performed in several stages with addition of olefin derivatives of aromatic hydrocarbons at each stage.

  20. International congress on aromatic and medicinal plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    Full Text : In Morocco, medicinal and aromatic plants occupy an important place in the traditional care system of a large number of local people. They are also economically strong potential, but unfortunately they are not valued enough. Indeed, Morocco by its privileged geographical position in the Mediterranean basin and its floristic diversity (with a total of over 4,200 species and subspecies of which over 500 are recognized as medicinal and aromatic plants), is a leading provider of traditional global market. In this context and given the back label of the natural global, group research and studies on Aromatic and Medicinal Plants (GREPAM), the Faculty of Semlalia and University Cadi Ayyad, organize: the International Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants CIPAM 2009. The organization of this conference is part of scientific research developed by the GREPAM. [fr

  1. Human Ro60 (SSA2) genomic organization and sequence alterations, examined in cutaneous lupus erythematosus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Millard, T P; Ashton, G H S; Kondeatis, E; Vaughan, R W; Hughes, G R V; Khamashta, M A; Hawk, J L M; McGregor, J M; McGrath, J A

    2002-02-01

    The Ro 60 kDa protein (Ro60 or SSA2) is the major component of the Ro ribonucleoprotein (Ro RNP) complex, to which an immune response is a specific feature of several autoimmune diseases. The genomic organization and any sequence variation within the DNA encoding Ro60 are unknown. To characterize the Ro60 gene structure and to assess whether any sequence alterations might be associated with serum anti-Ro antibody in subacute cutaneous lupus erythematosus (SCLE), thus potentially providing new insight into disease pathogenesis. The cDNA sequence for Ro60 was obtained from the NCBI database and used for a BLAST search for a clone containing the entire genomic sequence. The intron-exon borders were confirmed by designing intronic primer pairs to flank each exon, which were then used to amplify genomic DNA for automated sequencing from 36 caucasian patients with SCLE (anti-Ro positive) and 49 with discoid LE (DLE, anti-Ro negative), in addition to 36 healthy caucasian controls. Heteroduplex analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products from patients and controls spanning all Ro60 exons (1-8) revealed a common bandshift in the PCR products spanning exon 7. Sequencing of the corresponding PCR products demonstrated an A > G substitution at nucleotide position 1318-7, within the consensus acceptor splice site of exon 7 (GenBank XM001901). The allele frequencies were major allele A (0.71) and minor allele G (0.29) in 72 control chromosomes, with no significant differences found between SCLE patients, DLE patients and controls. The genomic organization of the DNA encoding the Ro60 protein is described, including a common polymorphism within the consensus acceptor splice site of exon 7. Our delineation of a strategy for the genomic amplification of Ro60 forms a basis for further examination of the pathological functions of the Ro RNP in autoimmune disease.

  2. Hexacoordinate bonding and aromaticity in silicon phthalocyanine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Yang

    2010-12-23

    Si-E bondings in hexacoordinate silicon phthalocyanine were analyzed using bond order (BO), energy partition, atoms in molecules (AIM), electron localization function (ELF), and localized orbital locator (LOL). Bond models were proposed to explain differences between hexacoordinate and tetracoordinate Si-E bondings. Aromaticity of silicon phthalocyanine was investigated using nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS), harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA), conceptual density functional theory (DFT), ring critical point (RCP) descriptors, and delocalization index (DI). Structure, energy, bonding, and aromaticity of tetracoordinate silicon phthalocyanine were studied and compared with hexacoordinate one.

  3. 40 CFR 721.5762 - Aromatic aldehyde phenolic resin (generic).

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 30 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Aromatic aldehyde phenolic resin... Specific Chemical Substances § 721.5762 Aromatic aldehyde phenolic resin (generic). (a) Chemical substance... aromatic aldehyde phenolic resin (PMN P-01-573) is subject to reporting under this section for the...

  4. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission . XIX. CoRoT-23b: a dense hot Jupiter on an eccentric orbit

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rouan, D.; Parviainen, H.; Moutou, C.

    2012-01-01

    We report the detection of CoRoT-23b, a hot Jupiter transiting in front of its host star with a period of 3.6314 ± 0.0001 days. This planet was discovered thanks to photometric data secured with the CoRoT satellite, combined with spectroscopic radial velocity (RV) measurements. A photometric search...... to be 7 Gyr, not far from the transition to subgiant, in agreement with the rather large stellar radius. The two features of a significant eccentricity of the orbit and of a fairly high density are fairly uncommon for a hot Jupiter. The high density is, however, consistent with a model of contraction...... is more than a few 105, a value that is the lower bound of the usually expected range. Even if CoRoT-23b  features a density and an eccentricity that are atypical of a hot Jupiter, it is thus not an enigmatic object....

  5. Experimental Study of Advanced Treatment of Coking Wastewater Using MBR-RO Combined Process

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lei; Hwang, Jiannyang; Leng, Ting; Xue, Gaifeng; Chang, Hongbing

    A membrane bioreactor-reverse osmosis (MBR-RO) combined process was used for advanced treatment of coking wastewater from secondary biological treatment. MBR and RO units' treatment efficiency for the pollution removal were conducted, and effects of raw water conductivity and trans-membrane pressure on water yield and desalination rate in RO unit were investigated in detail. The experimental results proved that MBR-RO combined process ran steadily with good treatment effect, which could obtain stable effluent water quality and met the requirement of "Design Criterion of the Industrial Circulating Cooling Water Treatment" (GB 50050-2007).

  6. Aromatic VOCs global influence in the ozone production

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabrera-Perez, David; Pozzer, Andrea

    2016-04-01

    Aromatic hydrocarbons are a subgroup of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) of special interest in the atmosphere of urban and semi-urban areas. Aromatics form a high fraction of VOCs, are highly reactive and upon oxidation they are an important source of ozone. These group of VOCs are released to the atmosphere by processes related to biomass burning and fossil fuel consumption, while they are removed from the atmosphere primarily by OH reaction and by dry deposition. In addition, a branch of aromatics (ortho-nitrophenols) produce HONO upon photolysis, which is responsible of certain amount of the OH recycling. Despite their importance in the atmosphere in anthropogenic polluted areas, the influence of aromatics in the ozone production remains largely unknown. This is of particular relevance, being ozone a pollutant with severe side effects on air quality, health and climate. In this work the atmospheric impacts at global scale of the most emitted aromatic VOCs in the gas phase (benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene, styrene, phenol, benzaldehyde and trimethylbenzenes) are analysed and assessed. Specifically, the impact on ozone due to aromatic oxidation is estimated, as this is of great interest in large urban areas and can be helpful for developing air pollution control strategies. Further targets are the quantification of the NOx loss and the OH recycling due to aromatic oxidation. In order to investigate these processes, two simulations were performed with the numerical chemistry and climate simulation ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model. The simulations compare two cases, one with ozone concentrations when aromatics are present or the second one when they are missing. Finally, model simulated ozone is compared against a global set of observations in order to better constrain the model accuracy.

  7. Recent Advances in Microbial Production of Aromatic Chemicals and Derivatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noda, Shuhei; Kondo, Akihiko

    2017-08-01

    Along with the development of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology tools, various microbes are being used to produce aromatic chemicals. In microbes, aromatics are mainly produced via a common important precursor, chorismate, in the shikimate pathway. Natural or non-natural aromatics have been produced by engineering metabolic pathways involving chorismate. In the past decade, novel approaches have appeared to produce various aromatics or to increase their productivity, whereas previously, the targets were mainly aromatic amino acids and the strategy was deregulating feedback inhibition. In this review, we summarize recent studies of microbial production of aromatics based on metabolic engineering approaches. In addition, future perspectives and challenges in this research area are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Analogs of solid nanoparticles as precursors of aromatic hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadallah, K. A. K.; Mutschke, H.; Jäger, C.

    2013-06-01

    Context. Aromatic =CH and C=C vibrational bands have been observed within shocked interstellar regions, indicating the presence of aromatic emission carriers such as PAHs, which may have been created from adjacent molecular cloud material by interaction with a shock front. Aims: We investigate the evolution of the aromatic =CH and C=C vibrational modes at 3.3 and 6.2 μm wavelength in heated HAC materials, PAHs and mixed PAHs and HACs, respectively, aiming at an explanation of the evolution of carbonaceous dust grains in the shocked regions. Methods: Materials used in these analogs (HAC and PAH materials) were prepared by the laser ablation and the laser pyrolysis methods, respectively. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in high-resolution mode was used as an analytical technique to characterize the aromatic layers in HACs. Spectroscopic analysis was prformed in the mid-IR range. Results: A remarkable destruction of aliphatic structures in HACs has been observed with the thermal processing, while aromatic structures become dominating by increasing the diameters of the graphene layers. The aromatic bands at 3.3 and 6.2 μm, observed in the laboratory spectra of PAHs and of the combination of the PAHs and HAC materials, are also clearly observed in the spectrum of the heated HACs. These bands agree with those of aromatic bands observed in astronomical observations. Conclusions: Aromatization of HACs could be a pre-stage in the decomposition process of hydrocarbons that form PAH-clusters in such hot interstellar medium.

  9. Sensitization by SR-2508 plus Ro 03-8799

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stone, H.B.; Luu, Y.H.; Lam, K.N.

    1986-01-01

    The primary toxicity of Ro 03-8799 is a central nervous system toxicity, whereas that of SR-2508 is a peripheral neuropathy. The feasibility of reducing overall toxicity while maintaining maximal radiosensitization by using the two sensitizers together was tested. The LD50/2 of Ro 03-8799 was 0.68 mg/g body wt (mg/gbw) after intravenous (i.v.) administration, and that of SR-2508 was 4.4 mg/gbw after i.v. administration. When both drugs were given together in equitoxic proportions, the LD50/2 was 0.45 mg of Ro 03-8799 plus 2.9 mg of SR-2508/gbw. These doses are 66% of the respective LD50/2 values of the drugs when given separately. Radiosensitization was evaluated using in vivo-in vitro assays with EMT6/SF tumors in BALB/c mice. At drug doses between 10 and 60% of the LD50/2, sensitization was generally maximal and similar to that from misonidazole, but there was less sensitization below this dose, both with the drugs given separately and together. If chronic toxicities of these drugs overlap as do the acute toxicities there will be little or no additional benefit from using these drugs in combination, compared to using them separately

  10. Detection of chlorinated aromatic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ekechukwu, A.A.

    1996-02-06

    A method for making a composition for measuring the concentration of chlorinated aromatic compounds in aqueous fluids, and an optical probe for use with the method are disclosed. The composition comprises a hydrophobic polymer matrix, preferably polyamide, with a fluorescent indicator uniformly dispersed therein. The indicator fluoresces in the presence of the chlorinated aromatic compounds with an intensity dependent on the concentration of these compounds in the fluid of interest, such as 8-amino-2-naphthalene sulfonate. The probe includes a hollow cylindrical housing that contains the composition in its distal end. The probe admits an aqueous fluid to the probe interior for exposure to the composition. An optical fiber transmits excitation light from a remote source to the composition while the indicator reacts with chlorinated aromatic compounds present in the fluid. The resulting fluorescence light signal is reflected to a second optical fiber that transmits the light to a spectrophotometer for analysis. 5 figs.

  11. Peretinoin, an acyclic retinoid, improves the hepatic gene signature of chronic hepatitis C following curative therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Honda, Masao; Yamashita, Taro; Yamashita, Tatsuya; Arai, Kuniaki; Sakai, Yoshio; Sakai, Akito; Nakamura, Mikiko; Mizukoshi, Eishiro; Kaneko, Shuichi

    2013-01-01

    The acyclic retinoid, peretinoin, has been shown to be effective for suppressing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after definitive treatment in a small-scale randomized clinical trial. However, little has been documented about the mechanism by which peretinoin exerts its inhibitory effects against recurrent HCC in humans in vivo. Twelve hepatitis C virus-positive patients whose HCC had been eradicated through curative resection or ablation underwent liver biopsy at baseline and week 8 of treatment with either a daily dose of 300 or 600 mg peretinoin. RNA isolated from biopsy samples was subjected to gene expression profile analysis. Peretinoin treatment elevated the expression levels of IGFBP6, RBP1, PRB4, CEBPA, G0S2, TGM2, GPRC5A, CYP26B1, and many other retinoid target genes. Elevated expression was also observed for interferon-, Wnt-, and tumor suppressor-related genes. By contrast, decreased expression levels were found for mTOR- and tumor progression-related genes. Interestingly, gene expression profiles for week 8 of peretinoin treatment could be classified into two groups of recurrence and non-recurrence with a prediction accuracy rate of 79.6% (P<0.05). In the liver of patients with non-recurrence, expression of PDGFC and other angiogenesis genes, cancer stem cell marker genes, and genes related to tumor progression was down-regulated, while expression of genes related to hepatocyte differentiation, tumor suppression genes, and other genes related to apoptosis induction was up-regulated. Gene expression profiling at week 8 of peretinoin treatment could successfully predict HCC recurrence within 2 years. This study is the first to show the effect of peretinoin in suppressing HCC recurrence in vivo based on gene expression profiles and provides a molecular basis for understanding the efficacy of peretinoin

  12. Protonation sites of aromatic compounds in (+) atmospheric pressure photoionization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Sung Hwan; Ahmed, Arif [Dept. of Chemistry, Kyungpoo k National University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-02-15

    Reaction enthalpy of hydrogen transfer reactions of aromatic compounds has been observed to be greatly affected by the exact location of the protonation site. Therefore, to clearly identify the protonation location, each candidate protonation site for 43 aromatic compounds were theoretically determined and their location was compared with that determined based on experimental MS data. Only the basic nitrogen atom is favorable as a protonation site for pyridine-type aromatic compounds, whereas carbon atoms are preferable for the protonation of pyrrole-type compounds. The most favorable protonation sites for aniline or methylated aniline-type aromatic compounds are either the nitrogen atom in the amine group or the carbon atom at the para-position to the amine group. Like pyrrole-type compounds, aromatic compounds with amine groups also favor protonation at the carbon atom instead of at the nitrogen atom. In addition, hydrocarbons having an anthracene structural motif without heteroatoms produced higher or equal percentages of protonated ions compared to that achieved with molecular ions. The results of this study can be used to improve the analyses of aromatic compounds.

  13. Geografická výročí

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Martínek, Jiří

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 36, č. 2 (2017), s. 69-72 ISSN 1213-1075 Institutional support: RVO:67985963 Keywords : Czech geography * personalities * anniversaries Subject RIV: AB - History OBOR OECD: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

  14. The mutagenic potential of high flash aromatic naphtha.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schreiner, C A; Edwards, D A; McKee, R H; Swanson, M; Wong, Z A; Schmitt, S; Beatty, P

    1989-06-01

    Catalytic reforming is a refining process that converts naphthenes to aromatics by dehydrogenation to make higher octane gasoline blending components. A portion of this wide boiling range hydrocarbon stream can be separated by distillation and used for other purposes. One such application is a mixture of predominantly 9-carbon aromatic molecules (C9 aromatics, primarily isomers of ethyltoluene and trimethylbenzene), which is removed and used as a solvent--high-flash aromatic naphtha. A program was initiated to assess the toxicological properties of high-flash aromatic naphtha since there may be human exposure through inhalation or external body contact. The current study was conducted partly to assess the potential for mutagenic activity and also to assist in an assessment of carcinogenic potential. The specific tests utilized included the Salmonella/mammalian microsome mutagenicity assay, the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) forward mutation assay in CHO cells, in vitro chromosome aberration and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) assays in CHO cells, and an in vivo chromosome aberration assay in rat bone marrow.

  15. Effects of halogenated aromatics/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics on estimating the persistence of future pharmaceutical compounds using a modified QSAR model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Seung Joo; Fox, Peter

    2014-02-01

    The effects of halogenated aromatics/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics on estimating the persistence of future pharmaceutical compounds were investigated using a modified half life equation. The potential future pharmaceutical compounds investigated were approximately 2000 pharmaceutical drugs currently undergoing the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) testing. EPI Suite (BIOWIN) model estimates the fates of compounds based on the biodegradability under aerobic conditions. While BIOWIN considered the biodegradability of a compound only, the half life equation used in this study was modified by biodegradability, sorption and cometabolic oxidation. It was possible that the potential future pharmaceutical compounds were more accurately estimated using the modified half life equation. The modified half life equation considered sorption and cometabolic oxidation of halogenated aromatic/aliphatics and nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics in the sub-surface, while EPI Suite (BIOWIN) did not. Halogenated aliphatics in chemicals were more persistent than halogenated aromatics in the sub-surface. In addition, in the sub-surface environment, the fates of organic chemicals were much more affected by halogenation in chemicals than by nitrogen(N)-heterocyclic aromatics. © 2013.

  16. Bio-Based Aromatic Epoxy Monomers for Thermoset Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feifei Ng

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The synthesis of polymers from renewable resources is a burning issue that is actively investigated. Polyepoxide networks constitute a major class of thermosetting polymers and are extensively used as coatings, electronic materials, adhesives. Owing to their outstanding mechanical and electrical properties, chemical resistance, adhesion, and minimal shrinkage after curing, they are used in structural applications as well. Most of these thermosets are industrially manufactured from bisphenol A (BPA, a substance that was initially synthesized as a chemical estrogen. The awareness on BPA toxicity combined with the limited availability and volatile cost of fossil resources and the non-recyclability of thermosets implies necessary changes in the field of epoxy networks. Thus, substitution of BPA has witnessed an increasing number of studies both from the academic and industrial sides. This review proposes to give an overview of the reported aromatic multifunctional epoxide building blocks synthesized from biomass or from molecules that could be obtained from transformed biomass. After a reminder of the main glycidylation routes and mechanisms and the recent knowledge on BPA toxicity and legal issues, this review will provide a brief description of the main natural sources of aromatic molecules. The different epoxy prepolymers will then be organized from simple, mono-aromatic di-epoxy, to mono-aromatic poly-epoxy, to di-aromatic di-epoxy compounds, and finally to derivatives possessing numerous aromatic rings and epoxy groups.

  17. Med-Ro Hybrid desalination as option to supply fresh water in BABEL Islands Province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siti Alimah; Sudi Ariyanto; June Mellawati; Budiarto

    2011-01-01

    Med-Ro hybrid desalination systems are combining both thermal (Med) and membrane (Ro) desalination processes with power generation systems. This configuration has more economical and operational benefits in comparison with single desalination plant. Hybrid configurations are characterized by flexibility in operation, specific energy consumption (33.50 kWh/m 3 ) is lower than Med (36.54 kWh/m 3 ) and high plant availability. The objective of study is to analyze the Med-Ro hybrid desalination as an option to add supply fresh water in Babel Islands Province, in terms of technology and economy aspects. The result of study showed that adopting nuclear power plants as dual-purpose for power generation and producing fresh water is has economic competitiveness than fossil-fired generation plants. Med-Ro hybrid configuration, with feed Ro from heat rejection of Med system is suitable as fresh water supply add option because increase of Ro feed temperature will increase flux. Economic analysis of water cost are performed using the Deep-3.2. Water cost of hybrid Med-Ro desalination with energy of NPP (0.581 $/m ) is lower than that of Med water cost (0.752 $/m ) . Water cost of hybrid Med-Ro with energy of NPP (0.581 $/m ) is lower than that of water cost of energy with fossil-fired generation plants (0.720 $/m 3 ). (author)

  18. Aromatic Plants as a Source of Bioactive Compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Panagiota Florou-Paneri

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Aromatic plants, also known as herbs and spices, have been used since antiquity as folk medicine and as preservatives in foods. The best known aromatic plants, such as oregano, rosemary, sage, anise, basil, etc., originate from the Mediterranean area. They contain many biologically active compounds, mainly polyphenolics, which have been found to possess antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antiprotozoal, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory properties. Currently, the demand for these plants and their derivatives has increased because they are natural, eco-friendly and generally recognized as safe products. Therefore, aromatic plants and their extracts have the potential to become new generation substances for human and animal nutrition and health. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the literature surrounding the in vivo and in vitro use of aromatic plants.

  19. VizieR Online Data Catalog: CoRoT observation log (N2-4.4) (CoRoT, 2009-2016)

    Science.gov (United States)

    COROT Team

    2014-03-01

    CoRoT is a space astronomy mission devoted to the study of the variability with time of stars brightness, with an extremely high accuracy (100 times better than from the ground), on very long durations (up to 150 days) and a very high duty cycle (more than 90%). The mission was led by CNES in association with four french laboratories, and 7 participating countries and agencies (Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Spain, and the ESA Science Programme). The satellite is composed of a PROTEUS platform (the 3rd in the serie), and a unique instrument: a stellar photometer. It has been launched on December 27th 2006 by a Soyuz Rocket, from Baikonour. The mission has lasted almost 6 years (the nominal 3 years duration and a 3 years extension) and has observed more than 160 000 stars. It stopped to send data suddenly on November 2nd 2012. CoRoT is performing Ultra High Precision Photomery of Stars to detect and characterise the variability of their luminosity with two main directions: - variability of the object itself: oscillations, rotation, magnetic activity - variability due to external causes as bodies in orbit around the star: planets and stars The original scientific objectives were focussed on the study of stellar pulsations (asteroseismology) to probe the internal structure of stars, and the detection of small exoplanets through their "transit in front of their host star, and the measurement of their size. This lead to introduce two modes of observations, working simultaneously: - The bright star mode dedicated to very precise seismology of a small sample of bright and closeby stars (data presented in file momentarily named "astero.dat", but should change in the near future to to "bright star.dat") - The faint star mode, observing a very large number of stars at the same time, to detect transits, which are rare events, as they imply the alignment of the star, the planet and the observer (data presented in momentarily named "exo.dat" but should change in the near

  20. The formation of aromatics and PAH's in laminar flames

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marinov, N M; Pitz, W J; Westbrook, C K

    1999-01-01

    The formation of aromatics and PAH's is an important problem in combustion. These compounds are believed to contribute to the formation of soot whose emission from diesel engines is regulated widely throughout the industrial world. Additionally, the United States Environmental Protection Agency regulates the emission of many aromatics and PAH species from stationary industrial burners, under the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The above emission regulations have created much interest in understanding how these species are formed in combustion systems. Much previous work has been done on aromatics and PAH's. The work is too extensive to review here, but is reviewed in Reference 1. A few recent developments are highlighted here. McEnally, Pfefferle and coworkers have studied aromatic, PAH and soot formation in a variety of non-premixed flames with hydrocarbon additives[2-4]. They found additives that contain a C5 ring increase the concentration of aromatics and soot[4]. Howard and coworkers have studied the formation of aromatic and PAH's in low pressure, premixed, laminar hydrocarbon flames. They found the cyclopentadienyl radical to be a key species in naphthalene formation in a fuel-rich, benzene/Ar/O2 flame[5

  1. Biochemistry and structural studies of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase reveal allosteric inhibition by Ro 61-8048.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Jingjing; Yao, Licheng; Xia, Tingting; Liao, Xuebin; Zhu, Deyu; Xiang, Ye

    2018-04-01

    The human kynurenine 3-monooxygenase (hKMO) is a potential therapeutic target for neurodegenerative and neurologic disorders. Inhibition of KMO by Ro 61-8048, a potent, selective, and the most widely used inhibitor of KMO, was shown effective in various models of neurodegenerative or neurologic disorders. However, the molecular basis of hKMO inhibition by Ro 61-8048 is not clearly understood. Here, we report biochemistry studies on hKMO and crystal structures of an hKMO homolog, pfKMO from Pseudomonas fluorescens, in complex with the substrate l-kynurenine and Ro 61-8048. We found that the C-terminal ∼110 aa are essential for the enzymatic activity of hKMO and the homologous C-terminal region of pfKMO folds into a distinct, all-α-helical domain, which associates with the N-terminal catalytic domain to form a unique tunnel in proximity to the substrate-binding pocket. The tunnel binds the Ro 61-8048 molecule, which fills most of the tunnel, and Ro 61-8048 is hydrogen bonded with several completely conserved residues, including an essential catalytic residue. Modification of Ro 61-8048 and biochemical studies of the modified Ro 61-8048 derivatives suggested that Ro 61-8048 inhibits the enzyme in an allosteric manner by affecting the conformation of the essential catalytic residue and by blocking entry of the substrate or product release. The unique binding sites distinguish Ro 61-8048 as a noncompetitive and highly selective inhibitor from other competitive inhibitors, which should facilitate further optimization of Ro 61-8048 and the development of new inhibitory drugs to hKMO.-Gao, J., Yao, L., Xia, T., Liao, X., Zhu, D., Xiang, Y. Biochemistry and structural studies of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase reveal allosteric inhibition by Ro 61-8048.

  2. Aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in sediments of Placentia Bay, Newfoundland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiceniuk, J.W.

    1992-01-01

    A study was conducted to examine the potential for contamination of recent sediments with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons due to tanker and refinery activity in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, an area without large local anthropogenic sources of aromatics. Sediment samples were taken from the vicinity of the Come By Chance refinery, Woody Island, Wild Cove, and Port Royal Arm, all in the north end of the bay. The samples were extracted by two methods, dichloromethane extraction of dried sediment for determination of total aromatic hydrocarbon content and hexane extraction of wet sediment for estimation of the bioavailability of hydrocarbons and determination of more volatile compounds. Class analysis of aromatic hydrocarbons was conducted on a NH 2 column with detection at 255 nm. Total concentrations of di-tricyclic aromatics were highest at the Woody Island site (0.6 μg/g). The sediments from the Come By Chance site, Wild Cove, and Port Royal Arm sediments contained 0.3, 0.1, and 0.2 μg/g respectively. The hexane extracts from Come By Chance were lowest in di-tricyclic aromatics (0.007 μg/g), with the other sites being equal in concentration (0.01 μg/g). It is evident from the study that aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in Placentia Bay are elevated in some parts of the bay in the absence of local combustion sources, and that the most likely source is petroleum. 12 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

  3. Fused aromatic thienopyrazines: structure, properties and function

    KAUST Repository

    Mondal, Rajib

    2010-01-01

    Recent development of a fused aromatic thieno[3.4-b]pyrazine system and their application in optoelectronic devices are reviewed. Introduction of a fused aromatic unit followed by side chain engineering, dramatically enhanced the charge carrier mobility in thin film transistor devices and mobilities up to 0.2 cm2/Vs were achieved. The optoelectronic properties of these fused aromatic thienopyrazine polymers (Eg = 1.3 to 1.6 eV, HOMO = -4.9 to -5.2 V) were tuned by introduction of various fused aromatic rings within thienopyrazine. By balancing the fundamental properties of these polymers, both high charge carrier mobilities and moderate PCEs in solar cells were achieved. Further, effects of copolymerizing units are discussed. Low band gap semiconducting polymer (Eg ∼ 1 eV) with high field effect mobility (0.044 cm2/Vs) was obtained using cyclopentadithiophene as copolymerizing unit. Finally, a molecular design approach to enhance the absorption coefficients is discussed, which resulted in improved power conversion efficiency in bulk heterojunction solar cells. © 2010 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

  4. RO-75, Reverse Osmosis Plant Design Optimization and Cost Optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glueckstern, P.; Reed, S.A.; Wilson, J.V.

    1999-01-01

    1 - Description of problem or function: RO75 is a program for the optimization of the design and economics of one- or two-stage seawater reverse osmosis plants. 2 - Method of solution: RO75 evaluates the performance of the applied membrane module (productivity and salt rejection) at assumed operating conditions. These conditions include the site parameters - seawater salinity and temperature, the membrane module operating parameters - pressure and product recovery, and the membrane module predicted long-term performance parameters - lifetime and long flux decline. RO75 calculates the number of first and second stage (if applied) membrane modules needed to obtain the required product capacity and quality and evaluates the required pumping units and the power recovery turbine (if applied). 3 - Restrictions on the complexity of the problem: The program does not optimize or design the membrane properties and the internal structure and flow characteristics of the membrane modules; it assumes operating characteristics defined by the membrane manufacturers

  5. Simple, Accurate, Low-cost RO Science with the Iridium-NEXT Satellite Constellation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meehan, T.; Mannucci, A. J.

    2011-12-01

    Over the last decade, a disparate collection of GNSS-RO instruments have been measuring the refractivity of the Earth's ionosphere and atmosphere. These measurements have proven to be robust and precise data sets for operational weather, climate and geospace sciences. Future GNSS-RO weather and science will most benefit from a large number of profiles (10000+/day), with lower latency and greater accuracy in the lowest 5 km altitude. For weather, latencies below 90 minutes are required, 30 minutes desired. Space weather latency requirements are more stringent, with 15 minutes being a long sought goal. Climate studies benefit from averaging measurements uniformly distributed over the Earth, acquired over decades, with local time sampling errors minimized by dense coverage or well designed orbits. There's much more of course, because space GNSS science is still nascent but with gathering momentum among the international community. Although individual GNSS-RO instruments are relatively cheap as space hardware goes, growing the measurement density can be costly when a dozen or more are required for a single program. In this presentation, we propose a novel technique for greatly reducing the cost of a constellation of GNSS-RO instruments and discuss the science trade-offs of this approach versus the more traditional GNSS-RO designs.

  6. An ethnopharmacological study of aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants in Xinjiang, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Lu; Tian, Shuge; Wen, E; Upur, Halmuart

    2017-12-01

    An ethnobotanical survey was completed in a remote village and surrounding country of Xinjiang, where most Uyghur medicinal plants could be collected. This work clarifies and increases ethnobotanical data. We surveyed and organized aromatic medicinal plants that are commonly used in clinical settings to provide a significant reference for studying new medical activities. In the survey, informants who have traditional knowledge on aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants were interviewed between March 2014 and September 2014. Aromatic medicinal plant species and pertinent information were collected. Some therapeutic methods and modes of preparation of traditional aromatic medicinal plants were found. A total of 86 aromatic medicinal plant species belonging to 36 families were included in our study. We identified 34 plant species introduced from different regions such as Europe, India and Mediterranean areas. Fruits and whole plants were the most commonly used parts of plant, and most aromatic medicinal plants could be applied as medicine and food. We assigned the medicinal plants a use value (UV). Knowing the UV of species is useful in determining the use reliability and pharmacological features of related plants. Xinjiang is an area in which indigenous aromatic medicinal plants are diversely used and has therefore established a sound dimensional medical healthcare treatment system. Some aromatic Uyghur medicinal plants are on the verge of extinction. Hence, further strategies for the conservation of these aromatic medicinal plants should be prioritized.

  7. Spectrofluorimetric study of the aromatic carbohydrates of Noriisk petroleum

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alekseeva, T.A.; Lekveishvili, E.G.; Melikadze, L.D.; Teplitskaia, T.A.; Tevdorashvili, M.N.

    1979-01-01

    Investigation was made of the specimens of aromatic hydrocarbons which were produced by photochemical decomposition of the products of photocondensation with maleicanhydride of narrow aromatic fractions separated by a system of methods from a high temperature part of Noriisk petroleum. Use was made of a standard spectrofluorimeter of low resolution. A series of aromatic hydrocarbons, naphthalene, benzofluorene, phenantrene, chrizene, pyrene, tetraphene, and 3,4-benzophenantrene were installed in the machine.

  8. Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin Project management. Technical quarterly progress report, April 1, 1996--June 30, 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McLachlan, J.; Ide, C.F.; O`Connor, S.

    1996-08-01

    This quarterly report summarizes accomplishments for the Project examining hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Among the many research areas summarized are the following: assessment of mechanisms of metal-induced reproductive toxicity in aquatic species as a biomarker of exposure; hazardous wastes in aquatic environment;ecological sentinels of aquatic contamination in the lower Mississippi River System; remediation of selected contaminants; rapid on-site immunassay for heavy metal contamination; molecular mechanisms of developmental toxicity induced by retinoids and retinoid-like molecules; resuseable synthetic membranes for the removal of aromatic and halogenated organic pollutants from waste water; Effects of steroid receptor activation in neurendocrine cell of the mammalian hypothalamus; modeling and assessment of environmental quality of louisiana bayous and swamps; enhancement of environmental education. The report also contains a summary of publications resulting from this project and an appendix with analytical core protocals and target compounds and metals.

  9. RO5: proposal of a relevant facility in nuclear fusion research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pouzo, J.

    1987-01-01

    The RO5 project is a proposal of an experiment in nuclear fusion research based in a plasma focus device. The main research scopes of the experiment, with respect to the scaling law foundations and the identification of the main nuclear reaction mechanisms, are discussed. A practical aim of the experiment is to reach 10 14 - 10 15 neutrons/pulse from D-D reactions in the plasma focus using a 3 MJ capacitor bank. It represents an energy efficience of around a 5% when D-T mixture is used as filling gas in the reactor (RO5 = Reactor of 5% in energy efficience). A first RO5 design obtained with a 2D snowplow model and taken into account the operation limits recently found, is presented. (author) [pt

  10. Extraction of aromatics from naphtha with ionic liquids

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meindersma, G.W.

    2005-01-01

    The objective of this study was the development of a separation technology for the selective recovery and purification of aromatic compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) from liquid ethylene cracker feeds. Most ethylene cracker feeds contain 10 ¿ 25% of aromatic components,

  11. Critical point measurement of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nikitin, Eugene D.; Popov, Alexander P.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Critical properties of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured. • These hydrocarbons decompose at near-critical temperatures. • Pulse-heating method with short residence times was used. - Abstract: The critical temperatures and the critical pressures of five polycyclic aromatic compounds, namely, acenaphthene, fluorene, anthracene, phenanthrene, and pyrene have been measured. All the compounds studied decompose at near-critical temperatures. A pulse-heating technique applicable to measuring the critical properties of thermally unstable compounds has been used. The times from the beginning of a heating pulse to the moment of reaching the critical temperature were from (0.06 to 0.85) ms. The short residence times provide little degradation of the substances in the course of the experiments. The experimental critical parameters of the polycyclic aromatic compounds have been compared with those estimated by five predictive methods. The acentric factors of polycyclic aromatic compounds studied have been calculated

  12. Self-assembled electrical materials from contorted aromatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Shengxiong

    This thesis describes the design, synthesis, self-assembly and electrical properties of new types of contorted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These topologically interesting contorted aromatics show promising transistor characteristics as new building blocks for organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) at different length scales. In chapter 2, a class of pentacenes that are substituted along their long edges with aromatic rings were synthesized. Their solid-state assemblies were studied by X-ray crystallography. Their performance as thin film transistors (TFTs) and single crystal field effect transistors (SCFETs) were systematically evaluated. A structure-property relationship between these highly phenylated pentacenes was found. Chapter 3 explores the new concept of whether a non-planar aromatic core could yield efficacious electronic materials, as the ultimate success in the organic electronics will require a holistic approach to creating new building blocks. Synthesis, functionalization and assembly of a new type of contorted hexabenzocoronene (HBC) whose aromatic core is heavily distorted away from planarity due to the steric congestion around its proximal carbons were discussed. Structural studies by X-ray crystallography showed that these HBC molecules stack into columnar structures in the solid state, which are ideal for conduction. Chapter 4 describes that microscale liquid crystalline thin film OFETs of tetradodecyloxy HBC showed the best transistor properties of all discotic columnar materials. Chapter 5 details the fabrication and characterization of nanoscale single crystalline fiber OFETs of octadodecyloxyl HBC. In Chapter 6 we show that a molecular scale monolayer of HBC acid chlorides could be self-assembled on SiO2 insulating layer and could be organized laterally between the ends of 2 nm carbon nanotube gaps to form high quality FETs that act as environmental and chemical sensors. Chapter 7 details the enforced one-dimensional photoconductivity

  13. Vabariigi President esines ÜRO Peaassambleel

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2007-01-01

    ÜRO Peaassamblee 62. istungjärgul kõneles president Toomas Hendrik Ilves kliimamuutuse, küberjulgeoleku, kriiside reguleerimise ja rahvusvaheliste organisatsioonide koostöö teemadel. Ilmunud ka: Koit 29. sept. 2007, lk. 6; Eesti Elu 28. sept. 2007, lk. 2; ingl. k. Vaba Eesti Sõna 4. okt. 2007, lk. 12, pealk.: The President of the Republic Spoke to the UN General Assembly. Vabariigi President töövisiidil Ameerika Ühendriikides 20.-26.09.2007

  14. Identification of interacting proteins of retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma in HepG2 cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ze-Min Huang1,#, Jun Wu2,#, Zheng-Cai Jia1, Yi Tian1, Jun Tang3, Yan Tang1, Ying Wang2, Yu-Zhang Wu1,* & Bing Ni1,*

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The retinoid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma (RORγplays critical roles in regulation of development, immunity andmetabolism. As transcription factor usually forms a proteincomplex to function, thus capturing and dissecting of theRORγ protein complex will be helpful for exploring themechanisms underlying those functions. After construction ofthe recombinant tandem affinity purification (TAP plasmid,pMSCVpuro RORγ-CTAP(SG, the nuclear localization ofRORγ-CTAP(SG fusion protein was verified. Followingisolation of RORγ protein complex by TAP strategy, sevencandidate interacting proteins were identified. Finally, the heatshock protein 90 (HSP90 and receptor-interacting protein 140(RIP140 were confirmed to interplay with RORγ byco-immunoprecipitation. Interference of HSP90 or/and RIP140genes resulted in dramatically decreased expression ofCYP2C8 gene, the RORγ target gene. Data from this studydemonstrate that HSP90 and RIP140 proteins interact withRORγ protein in a complex format and function asco-activators in the RORγ-mediated regulatory processes ofHepG2 cells.

  15. Anaerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds: a genetic and genomic view.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmona, Manuel; Zamarro, María Teresa; Blázquez, Blas; Durante-Rodríguez, Gonzalo; Juárez, Javier F; Valderrama, J Andrés; Barragán, María J L; García, José Luis; Díaz, Eduardo

    2009-03-01

    Aromatic compounds belong to one of the most widely distributed classes of organic compounds in nature, and a significant number of xenobiotics belong to this family of compounds. Since many habitats containing large amounts of aromatic compounds are often anoxic, the anaerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds by microorganisms becomes crucial in biogeochemical cycles and in the sustainable development of the biosphere. The mineralization of aromatic compounds by facultative or obligate anaerobic bacteria can be coupled to anaerobic respiration with a variety of electron acceptors as well as to fermentation and anoxygenic photosynthesis. Since the redox potential of the electron-accepting system dictates the degradative strategy, there is wide biochemical diversity among anaerobic aromatic degraders. However, the genetic determinants of all these processes and the mechanisms involved in their regulation are much less studied. This review focuses on the recent findings that standard molecular biology approaches together with new high-throughput technologies (e.g., genome sequencing, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metagenomics) have provided regarding the genetics, regulation, ecophysiology, and evolution of anaerobic aromatic degradation pathways. These studies revealed that the anaerobic catabolism of aromatic compounds is more diverse and widespread than previously thought, and the complex metabolic and stress programs associated with the use of aromatic compounds under anaerobic conditions are starting to be unraveled. Anaerobic biotransformation processes based on unprecedented enzymes and pathways with novel metabolic capabilities, as well as the design of novel regulatory circuits and catabolic networks of great biotechnological potential in synthetic biology, are now feasible to approach.

  16. A Case of AML Characterized by a Novel t(4;15(q31;q22 Translocation That Confers a Growth-Stimulatory Response to Retinoid-Based Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Justin M. Watts

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Here we report the case of a 30-year-old woman with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia (AML who was treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA as part of investigational therapy (NCT02273102. The patient died from rapid disease progression following eight days of continuous treatment with ATRA. Karyotype analysis and RNA-Seq revealed the presence of a novel t(4;15(q31;q22 reciprocal translocation involving the TMEM154 and RASGRF1 genes. Analysis of primary cells from the patient revealed the expression of TMEM154-RASGRF1 mRNA and the resulting fusion protein, but no expression of the reciprocal RASGRF1-TMEM154 fusion. Consistent with the response of the patient to ATRA therapy, we observed a rapid proliferation of t(4;15 primary cells following ATRA treatment ex vivo. Preliminary characterization of the retinoid response of t(4;15 AML revealed that in stark contrast to non-t(4;15 AML, these cells proliferate in response to specific agonists of RARα and RARγ. Furthermore, we observed an increase in the levels of nuclear RARγ upon ATRA treatment. In summary, the identification of the novel t(4;15(q31;q22 reciprocal translocation opens new avenues in the study of retinoid resistance and provides potential for a new biomarker for therapy of AML.

  17. Separation of aromatics by vapor permeation through solvent swollen membrane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ito, A.; Adachi, K.; Feng, Y. [Niigata University, Niigata (Japan)

    1995-12-20

    A vapor permeation process for aromatics separation from a hydrocarbon mixture was studied by means of the simultaneous permeation of dimethylsulfoxide vapor as an agent for membrane swelling and preferential permeation of aromatics. The separation performance of the process was demonstrated by a polyvinylalcohol membrane for mixed vapors of benzene/cyclohexane, xylene/octane and a model gasoline. The aromatic vapors preferentially permeated from these mixed vapor feeds. The separation factor was over 10. The separation mechanism of the process mainly depends on the relative salability of the vapors between aromatics and other hydrocarbons in dimethylsulfoxide. 14 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.

  18. Does the concept of Clar's aromatic sextet work for dicationic forms of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons?--testing the model against charged systems in singlet and triplet states.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dominikowska, Justyna; Palusiak, Marcin

    2011-07-07

    The concept of Clar's π-electron aromatic sextet was tested against a set of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in neutral and doubly charged forms. Systems containing different types of rings (in the context of Clar's concept) were chosen, including benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, phenanthrene and triphenylene. In the case of dicationic structures both singlet and triplet states were considered. It was found that for singlet state dicationic structures the concept of aromatic sextet could be applied and the local aromaticity could be discussed in the context of that model, whereas in the case of triplet state dicationic structures Clar's model rather failed. Different aromaticity indices based on various properties of molecular systems were applied for the purpose of the studies. The discussion about the interdependence between the values of different aromaticity indices applied to neutral and charged systems in singlet and triplet states is also included. This journal is © the Owner Societies 2011

  19. Deuteration of benzen derivatives and condensed aromatics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, Masaru.

    1970-01-01

    A process for the deuteration of aromatic compounds (benzene derivatives having one or more cyano, halogeno, nitro or other electron attractive groups, and condensed ring aromatics) is provided. The process comprises reducing said aromatic compound with an alkali metal (preferably K, Rb or Cs) in a solvent (dimethoxyethane, tetrahydrofuran, etc.) to provide an electron-acceptor-donor complex, which is followed by introducing gaseous deuterium into the solution. The deuteration takes place selectively at the position of highest electron density in accordance with nature of the substituent, regardless of steric hindrance. The process is applicable to a wide variety of aromatics to give deuterated compounds in high yields. In one example, 5x10 -3 mole of anthracene (An) was reacted with 2g of metallic potassium in 80cc of dimethoxyethane in a N 2 atmosphere. Into the resulting solution of An=2K + was introduced D 2 gas (30 cmHg) at 25 0 C. After decomposition with air and washing with alcohol, the precipitate was recrystallized from benzene. Yield of recovered AN: more than 90%. Yield of deuteration: 100%. Position of deuteration: 9 and 10 (revealed by NMR and mass spectroscopy). (Kaichi, S.)

  20. Synthesis and bioelectrochemical behavior of aromatic amines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shabbir, Muhammad; Akhter, Zareen; Ahmad, Iqbal; Ahmed, Safeer; Bolte, Michael; McKee, Vickie

    2017-12-01

    Four aromatic amines 1-amino-4-phenoxybenzene (A 1 ), 4-(4-aminophenyloxy) biphenyl (A 2 ), 1-(4-aminophenoxy) naphthalene (A 3 ) and 2-(4-aminophenoxy) naphthalene (A 4 ) were synthesized and characterized by elemental, spectroscopic (FTIR, NMR), mass spectrometric and single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. The compounds crystallized in monoclinic crystal system with space group P2 1 . Intermolecular hydrogen bonds were observed between the amine group and amine/ether acceptors of neighboring molecules. Electrochemical investigations were done using cyclic voltammetry (CV), square wave voltammetry (SWV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV). CV studies showed that oxidation of aromatic amines takes place at about 0.9 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) and the electron transfer (ET) process has irreversible nature. After first scan reactive intermediate were generated electrochemically and some other cathodic and anodic peaks also appeared in the succeeding scans. DPV study revealed that ET process is accompanied by one electron. DNA binding study of aromatic amines was performed by CV and UV-visible spectroscopy. These investigations revealed groove binding mode of interaction of aromatic amines with DNA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Oxidative decomposition of aromatic hydrocarbons by electron beam irradiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Do-Hung; Stuchinskaya, Tatiana; Won, Yang-Soo; Park, Wan-Sik; Lim, Jae-Kyong

    2003-05-01

    Decomposition of aromatic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) under electron beam irradiation was studied in order to examine the kinetics of the process, to characterize the reaction product distribution and to develop a process of waste gas control technology. Toluene, ethylbenzene, o-, m-, p-xylenes and chlorobenzene were used as target materials. The experiments were carried out at doses ranging from 0.5 to 10 kGy, using a flow reactor utilized under electron beam irradiation. Maximum degrees of decomposition carried out at 10 kGy in air environment were 55-65% for “non-chlorinated” aromatic VOC and 85% for chlorobenzene. It was found that a combination of aromatic pollutants with chlorobenzene would considerably increase the degradation value up to nearly 50% compared to the same compounds in the absence of chlorine groups. Based on our experimental observation, the degradation mechanism of the aromatic compounds combined with chloro-compound suggests that a chlorine radical, formed from EB irradiation, induces a chain reaction, resulting in an accelerating oxidative destruction of aromatic VOCs.

  2. Zonal NePhRO scoring system: a superior renal tumor complexity classification model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hakky, Tariq S; Baumgarten, Adam S; Allen, Bryan; Lin, Hui-Yi; Ercole, Cesar E; Sexton, Wade J; Spiess, Philippe E

    2014-02-01

    Since the advent of the first standardized renal tumor complexity system, many subsequent scoring systems have been introduced, many of which are complicated and can make it difficult to accurately measure data end points. In light of these limitations, we introduce the new zonal NePhRO scoring system. The zonal NePhRO score is based on 4 anatomical components that are assigned a score of 1, 2, or 3, and their sum is used to classify renal tumors. The zonal NePhRO scoring system is made up of the (Ne)arness to collecting system, (Ph)ysical location of the tumor in the kidney, (R)adius of the tumor, and (O)rganization of the tumor. In this retrospective study, we evaluated patients exhibiting clinical stage T1a or T1b who underwent open partial nephrectomy performed by 2 genitourinary surgeons. Each renal unit was assigned both a zonal NePhRO score and a RENAL (radius, exophytic/endophytic properties, nearness of tumor to the collecting system or sinus in millimeters, anterior/posterior, location relative to polar lines) score, and a blinded reviewer used the same preoperative imaging study to obtain both scores. Additional data points gathered included age, clamp time, complication rate, urine leak rate, intraoperative blood loss, and pathologic tumor size. One hundred sixty-six patients underwent open partial nephrectomy. There were 37 perioperative complications quantitated using the validated Clavien-Dindo system; their occurrence was predicted by the NePhRO score on both univariate and multivariate analyses (P = .0008). Clinical stage, intraoperative blood loss, and tumor diameter were all correlated with the zonal NePhRO score on univariate analysis only. The zonal NePhRO scoring system is a simpler tool that accurately predicts the surgical complexity of a renal lesion. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Microbial degradation of aliphatic and aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Aamer Ali; Kato, Satoshi; Shintani, Noboru; Kamini, Numbi Ramudu; Nakajima-Kambe, Toshiaki

    2014-04-01

    Biodegradable plastics (BPs) have attracted much attention since more than a decade because they can easily be degraded by microorganisms in the environment. The development of aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters has combined excellent mechanical properties with biodegradability and an ideal replacement for the conventional nondegradable thermoplastics. The microorganisms degrading these polyesters are widely distributed in various environments. Although various aliphatic, aromatic, and aliphatic-aromatic co-polyester-degrading microorganisms and their enzymes have been studied and characterized, there are still many groups of microorganisms and enzymes with varying properties awaiting various applications. In this review, we have reported some new microorganisms and their enzymes which could degrade various aliphatic, aromatic, as well as aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters like poly(butylene succinate) (PBS), poly(butylene succinate)-co-(butylene adipate) (PBSA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(ethylene succinate) (PES), poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA), poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(3-hydoxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalterate) (PHB/PHBV), poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT), poly(butylene succinate-co-terephthalate) (PBST), and poly(butylene succinate/terephthalate/isophthalate)-co-(lactate) (PBSTIL). The mechanism of degradation of aliphatic as well as aliphatic-aromatic co-polyesters has also been discussed. The degradation ability of microorganisms against various polyesters might be useful for the treatment and recycling of biodegradable wastes or bioremediation of the polyester-contaminated environments.

  4. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission. XVII. The hot Jupiter CoRoT-17b: a very old planet

    Science.gov (United States)

    Csizmadia, Sz.; Moutou, C.; Deleuil, M.; Cabrera, J.; Fridlund, M.; Gandolfi, D.; Aigrain, S.; Alonso, R.; Almenara, J.-M.; Auvergne, M.; Baglin, A.; Barge, P.; Bonomo, A. S.; Bordé, P.; Bouchy, F.; Bruntt, H.; Carone, L.; Carpano, S.; Cavarroc, C.; Cochran, W.; Deeg, H. J.; Díaz, R. F.; Dvorak, R.; Endl, M.; Erikson, A.; Ferraz-Mello, S.; Fruth, Th.; Gazzano, J.-C.; Gillon, M.; Guenther, E. W.; Guillot, T.; Hatzes, A.; Havel, M.; Hébrard, G.; Jehin, E.; Jorda, L.; Léger, A.; Llebaria, A.; Lammer, H.; Lovis, C.; MacQueen, P. J.; Mazeh, T.; Ollivier, M.; Pätzold, M.; Queloz, D.; Rauer, H.; Rouan, D.; Santerne, A.; Schneider, J.; Tingley, B.; Titz-Weider, R.; Wuchterl, G.

    2011-07-01

    We report on the discovery of a hot Jupiter-type exoplanet, CoRoT-17b, detected by the CoRoT satellite. It has a mass of 2.43 ± 0.30 MJup and a radius of 1.02 ± 0.07 RJup, while its mean density is 2.82 ± 0.38 g/cm3. CoRoT-17b is in a circular orbit with a period of 3.7681 ± 0.0003 days. The host star is an old (10.7 ± 1.0 Gyr) main-sequence star, which makes it an intriguing object for planetary evolution studies. The planet's internal composition is not well constrained and can range from pure H/He to one that can contain ~380 earth masses of heavier elements. The CoRoT space mission, launched on December 27th 2006, has been developed and is operated by CNES, with the contribution of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, ESA (RSSD and Science Programme), Germany and Spain. Part of the observations were obtained at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) which is operated by the National Research Council of Canada, the Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France, and the University of Hawaii. Based on observations made with HARPS spectrograph on the 3.6-m European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere telescope at La Silla Observatory, Chile (ESO program 184.C-0639). Based on observations made with the IAC80 telescope operated on the island of Tenerife by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in the Spanish Observatorio del Teide. Part of the data presented herein were obtained at the W.M. Keck Observatory, which is operated as a scientific partnership among the California Institute of Technology, the University of California and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The Observatory was made possible by the generous financial support of the W.M. Keck Foundation.

  5. Functional bone marrow scintigraphy in psoriatics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Munz, D.; Altmeyer, P.; Chilf, G.; Schlesinger, G.; Holzmann, H.; Hoer, G.

    1982-01-01

    24 psoriatics as well as 24 normal healthy adults were studied by functional bone marrow scintigraphy using Tc-99m-labeled human serum albumin millimicrospheres (Tc-99m-HSA-MM). Functional bone marrow scintigraphy is an in vivo test system for the assessment of various functional properties of fixed macrophages. 58% of psoriatics who had no systemic drug treatment demonstrated peripheral extension of the bone marrow space indicating hyperplasia of bone marrow macrophages. This phenomenon could be observed only in one normal subject who was a high-performance sportsman. 83% (n=6) of psoriatics with cirrhosis of liver demonstrated bone marrow extension. The 'capacity' of bone marrow macrophages to engulf Tc-99m-HSA-MM ('uptake ratio') was diminished in 42% of non-treated as well as 66% of psoriatics treated with aromatic retinoid. The phagocytic and proteolytic turnover of Tc-99m-HSA-MM in bone marrow, spleen, and liver was found to be accelerated in 66% of non-treated psoriatics, normal, accelerated or delayed in psoriatics treated with aromatic retinoid as well as considerably delayed in all of the psoriatics with cirrhosis of liver. Functional bone marrow scintigraphy proved to be an appropriate in vivo test system to reveal abnormalities of fixed macrophages in psoriatics. Furthermore, theratpeutic effects as well as influences of pre-existing disorders on different macrophage populations can be assessed. (Author)

  6. Distributions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Aromatic Ketones, Carboxylic Acids, and Trace Metals in Arctic Aerosols: Long-Range Atmospheric Transport, Photochemical Degradation/Production at Polar Sunrise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Dharmendra Kumar; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Yanase, Ayako; Barrie, Leonard A

    2017-08-15

    The distributions, correlations, and source apportionment of aromatic acids, aromatic ketones, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and trace metals were studied in Canadian high Arctic aerosols. Nineteen PAHs including minor sulfur-containing heterocyclic PAH (dibenzothiophene) and major 6 carcinogenic PAHs were detected with a high proportion of fluoranthene followed by benzo[k]fluoranthene, pyrene, and chrysene. However, in the sunlit period of spring, their concentrations significantly declined likely due to photochemical decomposition. During the polar sunrise from mid-March to mid-April, benzo[a]pyrene to benzo[e]pyrene ratios significantly dropped, and the ratios diminished further from late April to May onward. These results suggest that PAHs transported over the Arctic are subjected to strong photochemical degradation at polar sunrise. Although aromatic ketones decreased in spring, concentrations of some aromatic acids such as benzoic and phthalic acids increased during the course of polar sunrise, suggesting that aromatic hydrocarbons are oxidized to result in aromatic acids. However, PAHs do not act as the major source for low molecular weight (LMW) diacids such as oxalic acid that are largely formed at polar sunrise in the arctic atmosphere because PAHs are 1 to 2 orders of magnitude less abundant than LMW diacids. Correlations of trace metals with organics, their sources, and the possible role of trace transition metals are explained.

  7. Aromatic graphene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Das, D. K., E-mail: gour.netai@gmail.com [Department of Metallurgical and Material Science Engineering, National Institute of Technology Durgapur-713209, West Bengal (India); Sahoo, S., E-mail: sukadevsahoo@yahoo.com [Department of Physics, National Institute of Technology Durgapur-713209, West Bengal (India)

    2016-04-13

    In recent years graphene attracts the scientific and engineering communities due to its outstanding electronic, thermal, mechanical and optical properties and many potential applications. Recently, Popov et al. [1] have studied the properties of graphene and proved that it is aromatic but without fragrance. In this paper, we present a theory to prepare graphene with fragrance. This can be used as scented pencils, perfumes, room and car fresheners, cosmetics and many other useful household substances.

  8. Aromatic graphene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Das, D. K.; Sahoo, S.

    2016-01-01

    In recent years graphene attracts the scientific and engineering communities due to its outstanding electronic, thermal, mechanical and optical properties and many potential applications. Recently, Popov et al. [1] have studied the properties of graphene and proved that it is aromatic but without fragrance. In this paper, we present a theory to prepare graphene with fragrance. This can be used as scented pencils, perfumes, room and car fresheners, cosmetics and many other useful household substances.

  9. Retinoids repress Ah receptor CYP1A1 induction pathway through the SMRT corepressor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fallone, Frederique; Villard, Pierre-Henri; Seree, Eric; Rimet, Odile; Nguyen, Quock Binh; Bourgarel-Rey, Veronique; Fouchier, Francis; Barra, Yves; Durand, Alain; Lacarelle, Bruno

    2004-01-01

    CYP1A1 isoform is mainly regulated by the transcription factor AhR and to a lesser extent by the nuclear receptor RAR. The effect of a coexposure with 3MC, a AhR ligand, and RA, a RAR ligand, which are, respectively, strong and weak CYP1A1 inducers, is poorly known. We showed in Caco-2 cells that addition of RA significantly decreased 3MC-induced CYP1A1 expression by -55% for mRNA level and -30% for promoter and enzymatic activities. We further showed that RA decreased AhR protein level. Moreover, a physical interaction between AhR and the RAR-corepressor SMRT has been described in vitro. Using the corepressor inhibitor TSA, transfected-cells with SMRT cDNA, and coimmunoprecipitation experiments, we demonstrated that RA addition repressed AhR function through a marked AhR/SMRT physical interaction. This interaction explains the decrease of 3MC-induced CYP1A1 expression. This new mechanism involving the repression of AhR-induced CYP1A1 expression by retinoids allows better knowledge of the CYP1A1 regulation

  10. Multiple star systems observed with CoRoT and Kepler

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Southworth John

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The CoRoT and Kepler satellites were the first space platforms designed to perform high-precision photometry for a large number of stars. Multiple systems display a wide variety of photometric variability, making them natural benefactors of these missions. I review the work arising from CoRoT and Kepler observations of multiple systems, with particular emphasis on eclipsing binaries containing giant stars, pulsators, triple eclipses and/or low-mass stars. Many more results remain untapped in the data archives of these missions, and the future holds the promise of K2, TESS and PLATO.

  11. Global simulation of aromatic volatile organic compounds in the atmosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cabrera Perez, David; Taraborrelli, Domenico; Pozzer, Andrea

    2015-04-01

    Among the large number of chemical compounds in the atmosphere, the organic group plays a key role in the tropospheric chemistry. Specifically the subgroup called aromatics is of great interest. Aromatics are the predominant trace gases in urban areas due to high emissions, primarily by vehicle exhausts and fuel evaporation. They are also present in areas where biofuel is used (i.e residential wood burning). Emissions of aromatic compounds are a substantial fraction of the total emissions of the volatile organic compounds (VOC). Impact of aromatics on human health is very important, as they do not only contribute to the ozone formation in the urban environment, but they are also highly toxic themselves, especially in the case of benzene which is able to trigger a range of illness under long exposure, and of nitro-phenols which cause detrimental for humans and vegetation even at very low concentrations. The aim of this work is to assess the atmospheric impacts of aromatic compounds on the global scale. The main goals are: lifetime and budget estimation, mixing ratios distribution, net effect on ozone production and OH loss for the most emitted aromatic compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, ethylbenzene, styrene and trimethylbenzenes). For this purpose, we use the numerical chemistry and climate simulation ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model to build the global atmospheric budget for the most emitted and predominant aromatic compounds in the atmosphere. A set of emissions was prepared in order to include biomass burning, vegetation and anthropogenic sources of aromatics into the model. A chemical mechanism based on the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM) was developed to describe the chemical oxidation in the gas phase of these aromatic compounds. MCM have been reduced in terms of number of chemical equation and species in order to make it affordable in a 3D model. Additionally other features have been added, for instance the production of HONO via ortho

  12. Global aromatics supply. Today and tomorrow

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bender, M. [BASF SE, Ludwigshafen (Germany)

    2013-11-01

    Aromatics are the essential building blocks for some of the largest petrochemical products in today's use. To the vast majority they are consumed to produce intermediates for polymer products and, hence, contribute to our modern lifestyle. Their growth rates are expected to be in line with GDP growth in future. This contrasts the significantly lower growth rates of the primary sources for aromatics - fuel processing and steam cracking of naphtha fractions. A supply gap can be expected to open up in future for which creative solutions will be required. (orig.)

  13. Silicone elastomers with aromatic voltage stabilizers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    A Razak, Aliff Hisyam; Skov, Anne Ladegaard

    of electron-trapping by aromatic compounds grafted to silicone backbones in a crosslinked PDMS is illustrated in Fig. 1. The electrical breakdown strength, the storage modulus and the loss modulus of the elastomer were investigated, as well as the excitation energy from the collision between electron carriers...... and benzene rings in PDMS-PPMS copolymer was measured by UV-vis spectroscopy. The developed elastomers were inherently soft with enhanced electrical breakdown strength due to delocalized pi-electrons of aromatic rings attached to the silicone backbone. The dielectric relative permittivity of PDMS...

  14. Application of indirect immunofluorescent test with an improved HEp-2 substrate tranfected with human Ro60/SSA autoantigens

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lv Liangjing; Chen Shunle; Gu Yueying; Shen Nan; Bao Chunde; Wang Yuan; Xue Feng; Ye Peng; Yu Chongzhao

    2006-01-01

    To develop an improved substrate for indirect immunofluorescent test (IIF) to detect anti-Ro/SSA autoantibodies, the human 60-kDa Ro/SSA autoantigens (Ro60) cDNAs were obtained from placental cDNA library using PCR and were cloned into the mammalian expression vectorpEGFP-C1. Then the recombinant plasmids were transfected into HEp-2 cells. We con- firmed the overexpression, localization and antigenicity of fusion proteins in transfected cells by means of fluorescence microscopy, immunoblotting and IIF. HEp-2 and HEp-Ro60 was analyzed by IIF using a panel of 10 precipitinpositive anti-Ro human sera simultaneously. Stable expression of Ro60-GFP (green fluorescent protein) fusion proteins maintained ten more generations. And Ro60-GFP kept the antigenicity of Ro and had its own characteristic immunofluorescent pattern in HEp-Ro60 cells. The transfectants dramatically increased the sensitivity of IIF testing (a mean increase of 6.7-fold in endpoint titer, P<0.01). Eight (8/10) positive an- ti-Ro sera showed characteristic immunofluorescent pattern on HEp-Ro60, including two sera which were antinuclear antibodies (ANA) negative on untransfected HEp-2. IIF-ANA in all healthy sera were negative on HEp-Ro60. As a kind of new substrate of IIF, the Ro60 transfectants can be used to detect anti-Ro antibodies. In addition, transfected HEp-2 cells kept the immunofluorescent property of HEp-2 cells in IIF-ANA tests and could be employed as substrate for the routine IIF-ANA detection. The method improved the sensitivity of IIF-ANA. (authors)

  15. Genome-Wide Profiling of Liver X Receptor, Retinoid X Receptor, and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor α in Mouse Liver Reveals Extensive Sharing of Binding Sites

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boergesen, Michael; Pedersen, Thomas Åskov; Gross, Barbara

    2012-01-01

    and correlate with an LXR-dependent hepatic induction of lipogenic genes. To further investigate the roles of RXR and LXR in the regulation of hepatic gene expression, we have mapped the ligand-regulated genome-wide binding of these factors in mouse liver. We find that the RXR agonist bexarotene primarily......The liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that form permissive heterodimers with retinoid X receptor (RXR) and are important regulators of lipid metabolism in the liver. We have recently shown that RXR agonist-induced hypertriglyceridemia and hepatic steatosis in mice are dependent on LXRs...

  16. Equilibrium studies of the adsorption of aromatic disulfonates by Mg-Al oxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kameda, Tomohito; Umetsu, Mami; Kumagai, Shogo; Yoshioka, Toshiaki

    2018-03-01

    The removal of m-benzenedisulfonate (BDS2-) and 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonate (NDS2-) anions by Mg-Al oxide was investigated. Langmuir model best describes the adsorption of both aromatic disulfonate anions, with the maximum amount of uptake higher for BDS2-. Mg-Al oxide reacts easier with the aromatic disulfonate anion with higher charge density, a trend that is the opposite of that observed in aromatic sulfonate anions. After increasing the charge from -1 to -2, the removal of aromatic disulfonates by Mg-Al oxide is controlled by electrostatic interactions, instead of hydrophobic interactions that are dominant for aromatic sulfonate anions.

  17. Ion beam irradiation effects on aromatic polymers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shukushima, Satoshi; Ueno, Keiji

    1995-01-01

    We studied the optical and thermal properties of aromatic polymer films which had been irradiated with 1 MeV H + , H 2 + and He + ions. The examined aromatic polymers were polyetherether ketone(PEEK), polyetherimide(PEI), polyether sulfon(PES), polysulfon(PSF), and polyphenylene sulfide(PPS). The optical densities at 300nm of PES and PSF greatly increased after the irradiation. The optical densities at 400nm of all the examined polymer lineally increased with the irradiation dose. The PEEK film which had been irradiated with 1 MeV H + was not deformed above melting point. This demonstrates that cross-linking occurs in PEEK films by ion beam irradiation. As for the effects, depending on the mass of the irradiated ions, it was found that the ions with a high mass induced larger effects on the aromatic polymers for the same absorption energy. (author)

  18. Determination of aromatic and PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) content of oily wastewaters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lysyj, I.; Russell, E.C.

    1978-08-01

    An analytical scheme was developed for determining the total organic content and hydrocarbon concentration from a one-liter portion of a wastewater sample, and determining the volatile, suspended, and water-soluble fractions from a second, two-liter portion. Analyses of untreated and treated bilge wastewater from the U.S. Army Fort Eustis, Va., facility showed 10-300 ppm suspended organics and 10-300 ppm dissolved organics in the untreated bilge, and no suspended matter, but 700-2000 ppm dissolved organics, in the treated bilge wastewaters. Of the dissolved organics in untreated and treated wastewater, 70 and 10%, respectively, were extracted with chloroform; the organics in the treated water were probably biologically derived from petroleum degradation. Gas chromatographic/mass spectroscopic and high-pressure liquid chromatographic analyses of the chloroform extracts showed about equal parts of phenolic compounds and aromatic hydrocarbons, small amounts of heterocyclics, and traces of polycyclic aromatics in the untreated wastewater, and mainly phenolics in the treated water.

  19. Infrared Spectroscopy of Matrix-Isolated Polycyclic Aromatic Nitrogen Heterocycles (PANHs)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattioda, A. L.; Hudgins, D. M.; Bauschlicher, C. W.; Allamandola, L. J.; Biemesderfer, C. D.; Rosi, M.

    2002-01-01

    The mid-infrared spectra of the nitrogen-containing heterocyclic polycyclic aromatic compounds 1-azabenz[a]-anthracene; 2-azabenz[a]anthracene; 1-azachrysene; 2-azachrysene; 4-azachrysene; 2-azapyrene, and 7,8 benzoquinoline in their neutral and cation forms were investigated. The spectra of these species isolated in an argon matrix have been measured. Band frequencies and intensities were tabulated and these data compared with spectra computed using density functional theory at the B3LYP level. The overall agreement between experiment and theory is quite good, in keeping with earlier results on homonuclear polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The differences between the spectral properties of nitrogen bearing aromatics and non-substituted, neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons will be discussed.

  20. SEDIMENT-ASSOCIATED REACTIONS OF AROMATIC AMINES. 2. QSAR DEVELOPMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    The fate of aromatic amines in soils and sediments is dominated by irreversible binding through nucleophilic addition and oxidative radical coupling. Despite the common occurrence of the aromatic amine functional group in organic chemicals, the molecular properties useful for pr...

  1. RO unit for canned coffee drink processing line. Shipped to Tone Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Ltd., Ibaraki plant; Coffee line yo RO sochi. Tone Coca-Cola Bottling (kabu) Ibaraki kojo nonyu

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakajima, K. [Ebara Corp., Tokyo (Japan)

    1996-01-20

    The paper introduces an RO unit (reverse osmotic membrane equipment) for producing water holding for the canned coffee drink processing line introduced to the Ibaraki plant of Tone Coca-Cola Bottling Co. The unit aims at reducing hardness components from city water and producing water holding for the coffee drink processing line. The capacity of the unit is 25m{sup 3}/h and the recovery rate is 80%. The unit is composed of a sand filter, an heat exchanger, a pre-filter, RO modules, a treated water tank, chemicals storage tanks, and an RO cleaning unit, which are all for pretreatment. The treated water, into which chlorine is injected, is sent through the existing activated carbon tower and micro filter to the processing line. The RO unit can remove at the same time ion and trihalomethane, pathogens, organic matters which are substances other than hardness components. The continued water bottling is possible with no need for the usual reproduction process, and the maintenance is easy. Because of the high hardness of the supplied raw water, acid is injected at the primary side of the unit for pH regulation to prevent scale deposition in the RO modules. The quality of the treated water well met the specifications. 2 figs., 2 tabs.

  2. A comparative study of Ro 03-8799: racemic mixture and enantiomers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Newman, H.F.V.; Bleehen, N.M.; Workman, P.; Dunphy, E.P.; Dische, S.; Saunders, M.I.; Des Rochers, C.; Lenox-Smith, I.; Smithen, C.E.

    1986-01-01

    The maximum single dose of the 2-nitroimidazole hypoxic cell radiosensitiser Ro 03-8799 is limited to 1 g/m 2 by the occurrence of a well characterised acute syndrome of sweating, nausea and mental changes. In an attempt to increase the tolerable dose, the clinical toxicity of the racemic mixture was compared with that of the R- and S-enantiomers of Ro 03-8799. Twelve patients received escalating alternate doses of racemic mixture and R- or S-enantiomer, the dose levels being 0.25 g/m 2 , 0.5 g/m 2 , 0.75 g/m 2 and 1.0 g/m 2 . Careful monitoring of the acute syndrome failed to demonstrate any consistent differences between racemic mixture and either enantiomer. This would suggest that the toxicity is not mediated via any specific central nervous system receptor. It is concluded that separation of Ro 03-8799 into its enantiomers will not enable a clinically useful increase in dosage. (author)

  3. Aromatic products from reaction of lignin model compounds with UV-alkaline peroxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sun, Y.P.; Wallis, A.F.A.; Nguyen, K.L.

    1997-01-01

    A series of guaiacyl and syringyl lignin model compounds and their methylated analogues were reacted with alkaline hydrogen peroxide while irradiating with UV light at 254 nm. The aromatic products obtained were investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Guaiacol, syringol and veratrol gave no detectable aromatic products. However, syringol methyl ether gave small amounts of aromatic products, resulting from ring substitution and methoxyl displacement by hydroxyl radicals. Reaction of vanillin and syringaldehyde gave the Dakin reaction products, methoxy-1,4-hydroquinones, while reaction of their methyl ethers yielded benzoic acids. Acetoguaiacone, acetosyringone and their methyl ethers afforded several hydroxylated aromatic products, but no aromatic products were identified in the reaction mixtures from guaiacylpropane and syringylpropane. In contrast, veratrylpropane gave a mixture from which 17 aromatic hydroxylated compounds were identified. It is concluded that for phenolic lignin model compounds, particularly those possessing electrondonating aromatic ring substituents, ring-cleavage reactions involving superoxide radical anions are dominant, whereas for non-phenolic lignin models, hydroxylation reactions through attack of hydroxyl radicals prevail

  4. Exploration of the brown dwarf regime around solar-like stars by CoRoT

    OpenAIRE

    Csizmadia, Szilárd

    2016-01-01

    Aims. A summary of the CoRoT brown dwarf investigations are presented. Methods. Transiting brown dwarfs around solar like stars were studied by using the photometric time-series of CoRoT, and ground based radial velocity measurements. Results. CoRoT detected three transiting brown dwarfs around F and G dwarf stars. The occurence rate of brown dwarfs was found to be 0.20 +/- 0.15% around solar-like stars which is compatible with the value obtained by Kepler-data.

  5. A Review of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    A Review of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metal Contamination of Fish from Fish Farms. ... Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management ... Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals contribute to pollutants in aquaculture facilities and thus need to be further investigated.

  6. Metal Triflates for the Production of Aromatics from Lignin

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Deuss, Peter J.; Lahive, Ciaran W.; Lancefield, Christopher S.; Westwood, Nicholas J.; Kamer, Paul C. J.; Barta, Katalin; de Vries, Johannes G.

    2016-01-01

    The depolymerization of lignin into valuable aromatic chemicals is one of the key goals towards establishing economically viable biorefineries. In this contribution we present a simple approach for converting lignin to aromatic monomers in high yields under mild reaction conditions. The methodology

  7. Reduction of Aromatic and Heterocyclic Aromatic N-Hydroxylamines by Human Cytochrome P450 2S1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Kai; Guengerich, F. Peter

    2013-01-01

    Many aromatic amines and heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are known carcinogens for animals and there is also strong evidence for some in human cancer. The activation of these compounds, including some arylamine drugs, involves N-hydroxylation, usually by cytochrome P450 enzymes (P450) in Family 1 (1A2, 1A1, and 1B1). We previously demonstrated that the bioactivation product of the anti-cancer agent 2-(4-amino-3-methylphenyl)-5-fluorobenzothiazole (5F 203), an N-hydroxylamine, can be reduced by P450 2S1 to its amine precursor under anaerobic conditions and, to a lesser extent, under aerobic conditions (Wang, K., and Guengerich, F. P. (2012) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 25, 1740–1751). In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that P450 2S1 is involved in the reductive biotransformation of known carcinogenic aromatic amines and HAAs. The N-hydroxylamines of 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP), 2-naphthylamine (2-NA), and 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) were synthesized and found to be reduced by P450 2S1 under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. The formation of amines due to P450 2S1 reduction also occurred under aerobic conditions but was less apparent because the competitive disproportionation reactions (of the N-hydroxylamines) also yielded amines. Further, some nitroso and nitro derivatives of the arylamines could also be reduced by P450 2S1. None of the amines tested were oxidized by P450 2S1. These results suggest that P450 2S1 may be involved in the reductive detoxication of several of the activated products of carcinogenic aromatic amines and HAAs. PMID:23682735

  8. Global atmospheric budget of simple monocyclic aromatic compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Cabrera-Perez

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The global atmospheric budget and distribution of monocyclic aromatic compounds is estimated, using an atmospheric chemistry general circulation model. Simulation results are evaluated with an ensemble of surface and aircraft observations with the goal of understanding emission, production and removal of these compounds.Anthropogenic emissions provided by the RCP database represent the largest source of aromatics in the model (≃ 23 TgC year−1 and biomass burning from the GFAS inventory the second largest (≃ 5 TgC year−1. The simulated chemical production of aromatics accounts for  ≃ 5 TgC year−1. The atmospheric burden of aromatics sums up to 0.3 TgC. The main removal process of aromatics is photochemical decomposition (≃ 27 TgC  year−1, while wet and dry deposition are responsible for a removal of  ≃ 4 TgC year−1.Simulated mixing ratios at the surface and elsewhere in the troposphere show good spatial and temporal agreement with the observations for benzene, although the model generally underestimates mixing ratios. Toluene is generally well reproduced by the model at the surface, but mixing ratios in the free troposphere are underestimated. Finally, larger discrepancies are found for xylenes: surface mixing ratios are not only overestimated but also a low temporal correlation is found with respect to in situ observations.

  9. Biodegradation of Various Aromatic Compounds by Enriched Bacterial Cultures: Part A-Monocyclic and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oberoi, Akashdeep Singh; Philip, Ligy; Bhallamudi, S Murty

    2015-08-01

    Present study focused on the screening of bacterial consortium for biodegradation of monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (MAH) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Target compounds in the present study were naphthalene, acenaphthene, phenanthrene (PAHs), and benzene (MAH). Microbial consortia enriched with the above target compounds were used in screening experiments. Naphthalene-enriched consortium was found to be the most efficient consortium, based on its substrate degradation rate and its ability to degrade other aromatic pollutants with significantly high efficiency. Substrate degradation rate with naphthalene-enriched culture followed the order benzene > naphthalene > acenaphthene > phenanthrene. Chryseobacterium and Rhodobacter were discerned as the predominant species in naphthalene-enriched culture. They are closely associated to the type strain Chryseobacterium arthrosphaerae and Rhodobacter maris, respectively. Single substrate biodegradation studies with naphthalene (PAH) and benzene (MAH) were carried out using naphthalene-enriched microbial consortium (NAPH). Phenol and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde were identified as the predominant intermediates during benzene and naphthalene degradation, respectively. Biodegradation of toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene, phenol, and indole by NAPH was also investigated. Monod inhibition model was able to simulate biodegradation kinetics for benzene, whereas multiple substrate biodegradation model was able to simulate biodegradation kinetics for naphthalene.

  10. The Modified Fouling Index Ultrafiltration constant flux for assessing particulate/colloidal fouling of RO systems

    KAUST Repository

    Salinas-Rodriguez, Sergio G.

    2015-02-18

    Reliable methods for measuring and predicting the fouling potential of reverse osmosis (RO) feed water are important in preventing and diagnosing fouling at the design stage, and for monitoring pre-treatment performance during plant operation. The Modified Fouling Index Ultrafiltration (MFI-UF) constant flux is a significant development with respect to assessing the fouling potential of RO feed water. This research investigates (1) the variables influencing the MFI-UF test at constant flux filtration (membrane pore size, membrane material, flux rate); and (2) the application of MFI-UF into pre-treatment assessment and RO fouling estimation. The dependency of MFI on flux, means that to assess accurately particulate fouling in RO systems, the MFI should be measured at a flux similar to a RO system (close to 20 L/m2/h) or extrapolated from higher fluxes. The two studied membrane materials showed reproducible results; 10% for PES membranes and 6.3% for RC membranes. Deposition factors (amount of particles that remain on the surface of membrane) were measured in a full-scale plant ranging between 0.2 and 0.5. The concept of “safe MFI” is presented as a guideline for assessing pre-treatment for RO systems.

  11. Aromatics saturation, opening and cleavage technology for middle distillates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oballa, M.C.; Simanzhenkov, V.; Kim, G. [NOVA Chemicals Corp., Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2009-07-01

    In order to address environmental concerns, there is a need to develop technologies to reformulate or adjust the quality of transportation fuels. The purpose is to reduce the concentration of the compounds which negatively affect the air that people breathe. One of those targeted is the aromatics content of diesel, because high aromatics content results in low cetane number of diesel, as well as higher emission of particulate matter. Less conventional sources of hydrocarbon feedstock such as oil from oil sands and/or shale oil are being exploited in Alberta. These feeds contain multiple fused aromatic ring compounds. NOVA Chemicals would like to use these potentially abundant liquids as feed, but they must first be transformed into a more user friendly state. This paper discussed the development of a process technology that could saturate the aromatic rings, open up the saturated rings and cleave them to get smaller paraffinic molecules. The products then comprised of lower paraffins are suitable as feed to steam crackers for the production of ethylene and propylene, higher paraffins suitable for blending into gasoline and mono aromatic ring compounds which may be further treated through alkylation of benzene to ethylbenzene and dealkylation to styrene. The paper discussed the process steps and highlighted the catalysts. Research results were also shown. It was concluded that the critical technology gaps, as well as solutions, which would enable overcoming the challenges related to handling of aromatic bitumen feedstock, entail the development of two different catalysts, which are on two different technology platforms. 7 refs., 3 tabs., 5 figs.

  12. Present status of and subjects on the industrial utilization of polymer separation membranes. Japan`s first largest sea water desalination plant by RO; Kobunshi bunrimaku no sangyo riyo no genjo to kadai. Zosui bun`ya ni okeru maku riyo

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Furuichi, M. [Kurita Water Industries Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

    1998-07-05

    The utilization in Japan and abroad is discussed of desalination methods using evaporation, reverse osmosis (RO) membranes, and electrodialysis membranes, out of various desalination techniques for seawater and others containing more salt. A new seawater desalination plant built in Okinawa, Japan, is outlined, and the future trend of Japan`s efforts for desalination is predicted. The said plant in Okinawa is the largest ever built in this country, and occupies 4th or 5th place in terms of capacity among similar facilities across the world. It was completed in April, 1997, and produces pure water at a rate of 40,000m{sup 3}/day. This plant, operating on RO, comprises eight RO membrane units each capable of 5131{sup 3}/day. The membranes are of the spiral type, consisting of Toray`s crosslinked aramid-base composite membranes and Nitto Denko`s membranes composed totally of crosslinked aromatic polyamide. The greatest of the pending tasks is to reduce the desalination cost. As for the operating cost of the desalination facility at the current stage, it costs 120-130 yen/m{sup 3} on the 40,000m{sup 3}/day scale, and the power cost occupies approximately 60% of the total operating cost. It is concluded that the consumption of electric power and chemicals per pure water produced have to be reduced. 8 refs., 5 figs., 5 tabs.

  13. Rožňava ore field - geophysical works

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Géczy Július

    1998-12-01

    Full Text Available The article prowides a review of geophysical works in the ore field Rožňava conducted up to date. Magnetometric and geoelectric methods and gravimetric measurements have been used. Geophysical works were focused to the solving regional problems whose contribution to the prospecting of vein deposits is not essential.

  14. Application of aromatization catalyst in synthesis of carbon nanotubes

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    In a typical chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process for synthesizing carbon nanotubes (CNTs), it was found that the aromatization catalysts could promote effectively the formation of CNT. The essence of this phenomenon was attributed to the fact that the aromatization catalyst can accelerate the ...

  15. Alkylation of organic aromatic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Jr., Lawrence A.

    1989-01-01

    Aromatic compounds are alkylated in a catalytic distillation, wherein the catalyst structure also serves as a distillation component by contacting the aromatic compound with a C.sub.2 to C.sub.10 olefin in the catalyst bed under 0.25 to 50 atmospheres of pressure and at temperatures in the range of 80.degree. C. to 500.degree. C., using as the catalyst a mole sieve characterized as acidic or an acidic cation exchange resin. For example, ethyl benzene is produced by feeding ethylene below the catalyst bed while benzene is conveniently added through the reflux in molar excess to that required to react with ethylene, thereby reacting substantially all of the ethylene and recovering benzene as the principal overhead and ethyl benzene in the bottoms.

  16. Alkylation of organic aromatic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, L.A. Jr.

    1989-07-18

    Aromatic compounds are alkylated in a catalytic distillation, wherein the catalyst structure also serves as a distillation component by contacting the aromatic compound with a C[sub 2] to C[sub 10] olefin in the catalyst bed under 0.25 to 50 atmospheres of pressure and at temperatures in the range of 80 C to 500 C, using as the catalyst a mole sieve characterized as acidic or an acidic cation exchange resin. For example, ethyl benzene is produced by feeding ethylene below the catalyst bed while benzene is conveniently added through the reflux in molar excess to that required to react with ethylene, thereby reacting substantially all of the ethylene and recovering benzene as the principal overhead and ethyl benzene in the bottoms. 1 fig.

  17. Substituted Phthalic Anhydrides from Biobased Furanics : A New Approach to Renewable Aromatics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Thiyagarajan, Shanmugam; Genuino, Homer C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/371571685; Sliwa, Michal; van der Waal, Jan C.; de Jong, Ed; van Haveren, Jacco; Weckhuysen, Bert M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/285484397; Bruijnincx, Pieter C. A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/33799529X; van Es, Daan S.

    2015-01-01

    A novel route for the production of renewable aromatic chemicals, particularly substituted phthalic acid anhydrides, is presented. The classical two-step approach to furanics-derived aromatics via Diels-Alder (DA) aromatization has been modified into a three-step procedure to address the general

  18. Cation Radical Accelerated Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution via Organic Photoredox Catalysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tay, Nicholas E S; Nicewicz, David A

    2017-11-15

    Nucleophilic aromatic substitution (S N Ar) is a direct method for arene functionalization; however, it can be hampered by low reactivity of arene substrates and their availability. Herein we describe a cation radical-accelerated nucleophilic aromatic substitution using methoxy- and benzyloxy-groups as nucleofuges. In particular, lignin-derived aromatics containing guaiacol and veratrole motifs were competent substrates for functionalization. We also demonstrate an example of site-selective substitutive oxygenation with trifluoroethanol to afford the desired trifluoromethylaryl ether.

  19. Catalytic oxidation of o-aminophenols and aromatic amines by mushroom tyrosinase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz-Muñoz, Jose Luis; Garcia-Molina, Francisco; Garcia-Ruiz, Pedro Antonio; Varon, Ramon; Tudela, Jose; Rodriguez-Lopez, Jose N; Garcia-Canovas, Francisco

    2011-12-01

    The kinetics of tyrosinase acting on o-aminophenols and aromatic amines as substrates was studied. The catalytic constants of aromatic monoamines and o-diamines were both low, these results are consistent with our previous mechanism in which the slow step is the transfer of a proton by a hydroxyl to the peroxide in oxy-tyrosinase (Fenoll et al., Biochem. J. 380 (2004) 643-650). In the case of o-aminophenols, the hydroxyl group indirectly cooperates in the transfer of the proton and consequently the catalytic constants in the action of tyrosinase on these compounds are higher. In the case of aromatic monoamines, the Michaelis constants are of the same order of magnitude than for monophenols, which suggests that the monophenols bind better (higher binding constant) to the enzyme to facilitate the π-π interactions between the aromatic ring and a possible histidine of the active site. In the case of aromatic o-diamines, both the catalytic and Michaelis constants are low, the values of the catalytic constants being lower than those of the corresponding o-diphenols. The values of the Michaelis constants of the aromatic o-diamines are slightly lower than those of their corresponding o-diphenols, confirming that the aromatic o-diamines bind less well (lower binding constant) to the enzyme. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. MO-AB-204-01: IHE RO Overview [Health Care

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hadley, S. [The University of Michigan (United States)

    2016-06-15

    You’ve experienced the frustration: vendor A’s device claims to work with vendor B’s device, but the practice doesn’t match the promise. Getting devices working together is the hidden art that Radiology and Radiation Oncology staff have to master. To assist with that difficult process, the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) effort was established in 1998, with the coordination of the Radiological Society of North America. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) is a consortium of healthcare professionals and industry partners focused on improving the way computer systems interconnect and exchange information. This is done by coordinating the use of published standards like DICOM and HL7. Several clinical and operational IHE domains exist in the healthcare arena, including Radiology and Radiation Oncology. The ASTRO-sponsored IHE Radiation Oncology (IHE-RO) domain focuses on radiation oncology specific information exchange. This session will explore the IHE Radiology and IHE RO process for; IHE solicitation process for new profiles. Improving the way computer systems interconnect and exchange information in the healthcare enterprise Supporting interconnectivity descriptions and proof of adherence by vendors Testing and assuring the vendor solutions to connectivity problems. Including IHE profiles in RFPs for future software and hardware purchases. Learning Objectives: Understand IHE role in improving interoperability in health care. Understand process of profile development and implantation. Understand how vendors prove adherence to IHE RO profiles. S. Hadley, ASTRO Supported Activity.

  1. ÜRO - tõeliselt üleilmne foorum / Tiina Intelmann

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Intelmann, Tiina, 1963-

    2007-01-01

    Eesti Vabariigi alaline esindaja ÜRO juures tutvustab maailmaorganisatsiooni põhikirjalisi eesmärke, globaliseerumise mõjusid tegevusele, raskusi rahvusvaheliste kokkulepete täitmisel, rahuvalve ja kohtupidamisega seotud küsimusi ning igapäevatööd

  2. Apoptosis and Redistribution of the Ro Autoantigen in Balb/c Mouse Like in Subacute Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Herrera-Esparza

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available In subacute cutaneous lupus eryhematosus (SCLE the cutaneous antigens constitute the main source of Ro and La autoantigens. The aim of this investigation was to demonstrate if UV light increases the availability of Ro autoantigen in the skin, also the blocking effect of Ac-DEVD-CMK a caspase inhibitor was assessed. For this purpose newborn Balb/c mice were UVB irradiated (5–30 mJ/cm2 equivalent to a moderate to severe sunburn. Animals were injected with monoclonal anti-Ro antibodies from SCLE patients. Apoptosis was also induced by anti-Fas antibody injection. Skin samples were examined by direct immunofluoresence, by TUNEL, and the expression of caspase 3 by RT-PCR. Major findings of present studies were: 1. UVB irradiation and anti-Fas induced apoptosis of keratinocytes. 2. Apoptosis redistribute the Ro antigen on cell surface and is better triggered by Ro antibody. 3. The caspase 3 inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CMK decreases the availability of Ro autoantigen in epidermis and prevents deposition of anti-Ro. In conclusion, the caspase pathway would be blocked to avoid anti-Ro deposition along skin; this finding would be a prospect in the treatment of SCLE patients.

  3. Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ollivier, M.; Gillon, M.; Santerne, A.

    2012-01-01

    Aims. We report the discovery of CoRoT-16b, a low density hot jupiter that orbits a faint G5V star (mV = 15.63) in 5.3523 ± 0.0002 days with slight eccentricity. A fit of the data with no a priori assumptions on the orbit leads to an eccentricity of 0.33 ± 0.1. We discuss this value and also derive......RoT-16b is a 0.535 −0.083/+0.085 MJ, 1.17 −0.14/+0.16 RJ hot Jupiter with a density of 0.44 −0.14/+0.21 g cm-3. Despite its short orbital distance (0.0618 ± 0.0015 AU) and the age of the parent star (6.73 ± 2.8 Gyr), the planet orbit exhibits significantly non-zero eccentricity. This is very uncommon...

  4. Palladium-catalysed electrophilic aromatic C-H fluorination

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Kumiko; Li, Jiakun; Garber, Jeffrey A. O.; Rolfes, Julian D.; Boursalian, Gregory B.; Borghs, Jannik C.; Genicot, Christophe; Jacq, Jérôme; van Gastel, Maurice; Neese, Frank; Ritter, Tobias

    2018-02-01

    Aryl fluorides are widely used in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries, and recent advances have enabled their synthesis through the conversion of various functional groups. However, there is a lack of general methods for direct aromatic carbon-hydrogen (C-H) fluorination. Conventional methods require the use of either strong fluorinating reagents, which are often unselective and difficult to handle, such as elemental fluorine, or less reactive reagents that attack only the most activated arenes, which reduces the substrate scope. A method for the direct fluorination of aromatic C-H bonds could facilitate access to fluorinated derivatives of functional molecules that would otherwise be difficult to produce. For example, drug candidates with improved properties, such as increased metabolic stability or better blood-brain-barrier penetration, may become available. Here we describe an approach to catalysis and the resulting development of an undirected, palladium-catalysed method for aromatic C-H fluorination using mild electrophilic fluorinating reagents. The reaction involves a mode of catalysis that is unusual in aromatic C-H functionalization because no organometallic intermediate is formed; instead, a reactive transition-metal-fluoride electrophile is generated catalytically for the fluorination of arenes that do not otherwise react with mild fluorinating reagents. The scope and functional-group tolerance of this reaction could provide access to functional fluorinated molecules in pharmaceutical and agrochemical development that would otherwise not be readily accessible.

  5. On-line dosing of Ammonium Biflouride for reduction of silica scaling on RO membranes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ehab A. Rashed

    2016-08-01

    The primary goal of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of using Ammonium Biflouride (ABF as an anti-scaling agent in improving the performance of the RO membranes. ABF was used as on-line dosing with different doses for mitigation of scaling caused by silica (SiO2 on RO membranes. To study the efficiency of the anti-scaling agent, Scanning Electron Microscopy & Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM–EDS were performed for all phases before and after using the anti-scaling agent on the used RO membrane surface. The main parameters measured were: silica, TDS. Flux loss was observed for the cross-flow RO membrane after filtration. ABF doses used were: 2, 4, and 6 mg/l at constant pH = 6 and the optimum dose was found to be 4 mg/l.

  6. Extraction of Aromatics from Heavy Naphtha Using Different Solvents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    EI-Bassuoni, A.A.; Esmael, K.K.

    2004-01-01

    Aromatic hydrocarbons are very important to the petrochemical industry. Among these are benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX), which are basic raw materials for the production of a number of important petrochemicals. There are many processes used to separate aromatic from non aromatic such as fractionation, azeotropic distillation and liquid I liquid extraction, etc. Liquid - liquid extraction is unique, efficiently used for heat sensitive, close boiling components and for separation of components not possible by other unit operations and it could be done at ambient temperature makes it more energy efficient. The choice of solvent depends on the properties and boiling range of the feedstock. Through the years, a lot of selective solvents has been proposed and selected for the physical separation of aromatics in liquid liquid extraction. Among the selection criteria are the stability,. chemical compatibility, availability, environmental hazards and price of the solvent. But the basic solvent properties that make it efficient are selectivity and capacity

  7. Large Intergenic Non-coding RNA-RoR Inhibits Aerobic Glycolysis of Glioblastoma Cells via Akt Pathway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yong; He, Zhi-Cheng; Liu, Qing; Zhou, Kai; Shi, Yu; Yao, Xiao-Hong; Zhang, Xia; Kung, Hsiang-Fu; Ping, Yi-Fang; Bian, Xiu-Wu

    2018-01-01

    Reprogramming energy metabolism is a hallmark of malignant tumors, including glioblastoma (GBM). Aerobic glycolysis is often utilized by tumor cells to maintain survival and proliferation. However, the underlying mechanisms of aerobic glycolysis in GBM remain elusive. Herein, we demonstrated that large intergenic non-coding RNA-RoR (LincRNA-RoR) functioned as a critical suppressor to inhibit the aerobic glycolysis and viability of GBM cells. We found that LincRNA-RoR was markedly reduced in GBM tissues compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues from 10 cases of GBM patients. Consistently, LincRNA-RoR expression in GBM cells was significantly lower than that in normal glial cells. The aerobic glycolysis of GBM cells, as determined by the measurement of glucose uptake and lactate production, was impaired by LincRNA-RoR overexpression. Mechanistically, LincRNA-RoR inhibited the expression of Rictor, the key component of mTORC2 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2), to suppress the activity of Akt pathway and impair the expression of glycolytic effectors, including Glut1, HK2, PKM2 and LDHA. Finally, enforced expression of LincRNA-RoR reduced the proliferation of GBM cells in vitro, restrained tumor growth in vivo, and repressed the expression of glycolytic molecules in GBM xenografts. Collectively, our results underscore LincRNA-RoR as a new suppressor of GBM aerobic glycolysis with therapeutic potential. PMID:29581766

  8. Transformations of Aromatic Compounds by Nitrosomonas europaea

    OpenAIRE

    Keener, William K.; Arp, Daniel J.

    1994-01-01

    Benzene and a variety of substituted benzenes inhibited ammonia oxidation by intact cells of Nitrosomonas europaea. In most cases, the inhibition was accompanied by transformation of the aromatic compound to a more oxidized product or products. All products detected were aromatic, and substituents were often oxidized but were not separated from the benzene ring. Most transformations were enhanced by (NH4)2SO4 (12.5 mM) and were prevented by C2H2, a mechanism-based inactivator of ammonia monoo...

  9. The direct aromatization of methane

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marcelin, G.; Oukaci, R.; Migone, R.A.; Kazi, A.M. [Altamira Instruments, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

    1995-12-31

    The thermal decomposition of methane shows significant potential as a process for the production of higher unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons when the extent of the reaction is limited. Thermodynamic calculations have shown that when the reaction is limited to the formation of C{sub 2} to C{sub 10} products, yields of aromatics can exceed 40% at temperatures of 1200{degrees}C. Preliminary experiments have shown that when the reaction is limited to the formation of C{sub 2} to C{sub 10} products, yields of aromatics can exceed 40% at temperatures of 1200{degrees}C. Preliminary experiments have shown that cooling the product and reacting gases as the reaction proceeds can significantly reduce or eliminate the formation of solid carbon and heavier (C{sub 10+}) materials. Much work remains to be done in optimizing the quenching process and this is one of the goals of this program. Means to lower the temperature of the reaction are being studied as this result in a more feasible commercial process due to savings realized in energy and material of construction costs. The use of free-radical generators and catalysts will be investigated as a means of lowering the reaction temperature thus allowing faster quenching. It is highly likely that such studies will lead to a successful direct methane to higher hydrocarbon process.

  10. Alkyne Benzannulation Reactions for the Synthesis of Novel Aromatic Architectures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hein, Samuel J; Lehnherr, Dan; Arslan, Hasan; J Uribe-Romo, Fernando; Dichtel, William R

    2017-11-21

    Aromatic compounds and polymers are integrated into organic field effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, photovoltaic devices, and redox-flow batteries. These compounds and materials feature increasingly complex designs, and substituents influence energy levels, bandgaps, solution conformation, and crystal packing, all of which impact performance. However, many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of interest are difficult to prepare because their substitution patterns lie outside the scope of current synthetic methods, as strategies for functionalizing benzene are often unselective when applied to naphthalene or larger systems. For example, cross-coupling and nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions rely on prefunctionalized arenes, and even directed metalation methods most often modify positions near Lewis basic sites. Similarly, electrophilic aromatic substitutions access single regioisomers under substrate control. Cycloadditions provide a convergent route to densely functionalized aromatic compounds that compliment the above methods. After surveying cycloaddition reactions that might be used to modify the conjugated backbone of poly(phenylene ethynylene)s, we discovered that the Asao-Yamamoto benzannulation reaction is notably efficient. Although this reaction had been reported a decade earlier, its scope and usefulness for synthesizing complex aromatic systems had been under-recognized. This benzannulation reaction combines substituted 2-(phenylethynyl)benzaldehydes and substituted alkynes to form 2,3-substituted naphthalenes. The reaction tolerates a variety of sterically congested alkynes, making it well-suited for accessing poly- and oligo(ortho-arylene)s and contorted hexabenzocoronenes. In many cases in which asymmetric benzaldehyde and alkyne cycloaddition partners are used, the reaction is regiospecific based on the electronic character of the alkyne substrate. Recognizing these desirable features, we broadened the substrate scope to include silyl

  11. STUDY OF FACTORS AFFECTING DEVELOPMENT OF FOOD AROMATIZATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Н.Ye. Dubova

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The specific understanding of food philosophy according to the facts of development of cooking technologies and growth rate of food range is given. As it has been proven by historical stages of production of flavorings, aroma is one of the important organoleptic ingredients for food developers. A review of food production based on development of nanotechnologies, as well as promising and cautioning publications on nanotechnologies in the food sector is presented. On the basis of the literary analysis, the future impact of nanotechnologies on the evolution of the aromatization process of food products is predicted. It has been determined that the peculiarity of the development mentioned above lies in the use of plant enzymes and / or flavor precursors in the nanoscale range. The example of enzymatic breakdown of polyunsaturated fatty acids of plant cell membranes as one of the ways of creating fresh flavor of many fruits, namely C6-C9 aldehydes and alcohols, is considered. It is noted that green fresh aromatic ingredients are needed to improve the organoleptic profile of foods from heat-treated vegetables, melons and gourds. The following factors affecting the development of food aromatization are defined: the decreased differentiation of principles of healthy nutrition and fast food, repetition of natural processes of aroma formation, application of wild green leafy vegetables, and evolution of medical nutrition. The information on food aromatization by packing with autonomous mixing and their approximate assortment is given. The innovations in food aromatization are aimed at quality nutrition, time saving, recreation and entertainment, meeting specific needs (vegetarian dishes, restrictive diets.

  12. ÜRO peakorterile otsitakse naabrit / Maria-Kristiina Soomre

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Soomre, Maria-Kristiina, 1978-

    2001-01-01

    New Yorki, ÜRO peakorterist lõunasse hakatakse ehitama uut hoonet. Arhitektuurikonkursist on kutsutud osalema: David Childs, Richard Meier ja Peter Eisenmann; Schuman Lichtenstein Claman Efron ja HOK arhitektid; Kohn Pederson Fox, Davis Brody Bond, Toyo Ito ja Rem Koolhaas; Henry Cobb, James Ingo Freed ja Machado & Silvetti Associates; Christian de Portzamparc ja Gary Edward Handel & Associates

  13. A New Method for Detecting and Monitoring Atmospheric Natural Hazards with GPS RO

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biondi, R.; Steiner, A. K.; Rieckh, T. M.; Kirchengast, G.

    2014-12-01

    Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) allows measurements in any meteorological condition, with global coverage, high vertical resolution, and high accuracy. With more than 13 years of data availability, RO also became a fundamental tool for studying climate change. We present here the application of RO for detecting and monitoring tropical cyclones (TCs), deep convective systems (CSs) and volcanic ash clouds (ACs).Deep CSs and TCs play a fundamental role in atmospheric circulation producing vertical transport, redistributing water vapor and trace gases, changing the thermal structure of the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) and affecting climate through overshooting into the stratosphere. Explosive volcanic eruptions produce large ACs dangerous for the aviation and they can impact climate when the ash is injected into the UTLS.The detection of cloud top height, the determination of cloud extent, the discrimination of ACs from CSs clouds and the detection of overshooting are main challenges for atmospheric natural hazards study. We created a reference atmosphere with a resolution of 5° in latitude and longitude, sampled on a 1° x 1° grid, and a vertical sampling of 100 m. We then compared RO profiles acquired during TCs, CSs and ACs to the reference atmosphere and computed anomaly profiles.CSs, TCs and the ACs leave a clear signature in the atmosphere which can be detected by RO. Using RO temperature and bending angle profiles we gain insight into the vertical thermal structure and developed a new method for detecting the cloud top altitude with high accuracy.We have characterized the TCs by ocean basins and intensities, showing that they have a different thermal structure and reach to different altitudes according to the basin. We provide statistics on overshooting frequency, achieving results consistent with patterns found in the literature and demonstrating that RO is well suited for this kind of study. We have analyzed the

  14. CoRoT 101186644 : A transiting low-mass dense M-dwarf on an eccentric 20.7-day period orbit around a late F-star. Discovered in the CoRoT lightcurves

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tal-Or, L.; Mazeh, T.; Alonso, R.; Bouchy, F.; Cabrera, J.; Deeg, H.; Deleuil, M.; Faigler, S.; Fridlund, M.; Hébrard, G.; Moutou, C.; Santerne, A.; Tingley, B.

    2013-01-01

    We present the study of the CoRoT transiting planet candidate 101186644, also named LRc01_E1_4780. Analysis of the CoRoT lightcurve and the HARPS spectroscopic follow-up observations of this faint (m$_V$ = 16) candidate revealed an eclipsing binary composed of a late F-type primary (T$_{eff}$ = 6090

  15. Ambient aromatic hydrocarbon measurements at Welgegund, South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaars, K.; Beukes, J. P.; van Zyl, P. G.; Venter, A. D.; Josipovic, M.; Pienaar, J. J.; Vakkari, V.; Aaltonen, H.; Laakso, H.; Kulmala, M.; Tiitta, P.; Guenther, A.; Hellén, H.; Laakso, L.; Hakola, H.

    2014-07-01

    Aromatic hydrocarbons are associated with direct adverse human health effects and can have negative impacts on ecosystems due to their toxicity, as well as indirect negative effects through the formation of tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol, which affect human health, crop production and regional climate. Measurements of aromatic hydrocarbons were conducted at the Welgegund measurement station (South Africa), which is considered to be a regionally representative background site. However, the site is occasionally impacted by plumes from major anthropogenic source regions in the interior of South Africa, which include the western Bushveld Igneous Complex (e.g. platinum, base metal and ferrochrome smelters), the eastern Bushveld Igneous Complex (platinum and ferrochrome smelters), the Johannesburg-Pretoria metropolitan conurbation (> 10 million people), the Vaal Triangle (e.g. petrochemical and pyrometallurgical industries), the Mpumalanga Highveld (e.g. coal-fired power plants and petrochemical industry) and also a region of anticyclonic recirculation of air mass over the interior of South Africa. The aromatic hydrocarbon measurements were conducted with an automated sampler on Tenax-TA and Carbopack-B adsorbent tubes with heated inlet for 1 year. Samples were collected twice a week for 2 h during daytime and 2 h during night-time. A thermal desorption unit, connected to a gas chromatograph and a mass selective detector was used for sample preparation and analysis. Results indicated that the monthly median (mean) total aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations ranged between 0.01 (0.011) and 3.1 (3.2) ppb. Benzene levels did not exceed the local air quality standard limit, i.e. annual mean of 1.6 ppb. Toluene was the most abundant compound, with an annual median (mean) concentration of 0.63 (0.89) ppb. No statistically significant differences in the concentrations measured during daytime and night-time were found, and no distinct seasonal patterns were

  16. Applications of electrochemically-modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC): Separations of aromatic amino acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deng, Li [Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)

    1998-03-27

    The research in this thesis explores the separation capabilities of a new technique termed electrochemically-modulated liquid chromatography (EMLC). The thesis begins with a general introduction section which provides a literature review of this technique as well as a brief background discussion of the two research projects in each of the next two chapters. The two papers which follow investigate the application of EMLC to the separation of a mixture of aromatic amino acids and of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The last section presents general conclusions and summarizes the thesis. References are compiled in the reference section of each chapter. The two papers have been removed for separate processing.

  17. CoRoT and Kepler results: Solar-like oscillators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hekker, S.

    2013-01-01

    The space-borne observatories CoRoT (Convection Rotation and planetary Transits) and Kepler have provided photometric time series data of unprecedented precision for large numbers of stars. These data have revolutionized the fields of transiting exoplanets and asteroseismology. In this review some

  18. EXO-DAT: AN INFORMATION SYSTEM IN SUPPORT OF THE CoRoT/EXOPLANET SCIENCE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deleuil, M.; Meunier, J. C.; Moutou, C.; Surace, C.; Barbieri, M.; Agneray, F.; Granet, Y.; Guterman, P.; Deeg, H. J.; Almenara, J. M.; Debosscher, J.; Hodgkin, S.

    2009-01-01

    Exo-Dat is a database and an information system created primarily in support of the exoplanet program of the COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits (CoRoT) mission. In the directions of CoRoT pointings, it provides a united interface to several sets of data: stellar published catalogs, photometric and spectroscopic data obtained during the mission preparation, results from the mission and from follow-up observations, and several mission-specific technical parameters. The new photometric data constitute the subcatalog Exo-Cat, and give consistent 4-color photometry of 14.0 million stars with a completeness to 19th magnitude in the r-filter. It covers several zones in the galactic plane around CoRoT pointings, with a total area of 209 deg 2 . This Exo-Dat information system provides essential technical support to the ongoing CoRoT light-curve analyses and ground-based follow-up by supplying additional complementary information such as the prior knowledge of the star's fundamental parameters or its contamination level inside the large CoRoT photometric mask. The database is fully interfaced with VO tools and thus benefits from existing visualization and analysis tools like TOPCAT or ALADIN. It is accessible to the CoRoT community through the Web, and will be gradually opened to the public. It is the ideal tool to prepare the foreseen statistical studies of the properties of the exoplanetary systems. As a VO-compliant system, such analyses could thus benefit from the most up-to-date classifier tools.

  19. A beta skin dose monitor using an Eberline RO-2 ion chamber

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jester, W.A.; Levine, S.H.; Lin, T.J.; Hock, R.

    1994-01-01

    The authors have developed a portable beta skin dose monitor that uses an Eberline RO-2trademark ion chamber. The development was based, in part, upon the previous development of a beta skin dose monitor employing silicon detectors. In this current work, the two entrance windows of the RO-2 were replaced by windows having a total mass thickness of 1.74 mg/cm 2 . A two section source-detector holder was constructed. One section fastens to the RO-2 and holds the detector at the right position to determine the contact skin dose from beta emitters located on surfaces. A second section attaches to the first, and provides fixed counting geometry for radioactive samples such as hot particles. The first section also contains a slide mechanism that allows the placement of absorbers of zero (0), 8.38, and 1000 mg/cm 2 between the detector window and the beta source. The detector response to these absorbers allows for the determination of beta skin dose. The system was modeled using a Monte Carlo beta attenuation code computing the beta skin dose to RO-2 detector response as a function of absorber thickness, average beta energy, source diameter and source position. Using the RO-2 reading from each of the three absorber configurations allows the calculation of beta skin dose and the average beta energy. The results of these calculations were confirmed through the use of three massless radioactive beta sources, traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and several utility-supplied hot particles having well-established contact skin doses. An extrapolation chamber was also used to confirm the results obtained from this monitor. This system is now use at the Pennsylvania Power and Light (PP and L) Company, the project sponsor. ((orig.))

  20. Effect of Watertight Subdivision on Subdivision Index for Medium Size Ro–Ro Passenger Ferries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Pawlowski

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Ro-pax vessels should fulfil the requirements of the current harmonised SOLAS Convention. The study analyses the effect of various ro-pax vessel subdivision arrangements on the subdivision index. A Polish ferry was chosen as a generic ship to perform the study. For illustration of damage survivability, the attained subdivision index A was calculated for a number of modified configurations. The arrangements included single and double sides above and below the car deck, with and without a double buoyant car deck. The conclusions of the study can be used in the design of new ro-pax vessels.

  1. Volatile Compounds in Dry Dog Foods and Their Influence on Sensory Aromatic Profile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Koushik Adhikari

    2013-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine volatile compounds in dry dog foods and their possible influence on sensory aromatic profile. Grain-free dry dog foods were compared to dry dog foods manufactured with grain, but also with different protein sources for their aromatic volatiles. Solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was used to determine the aromatic compounds present in the headspace of these samples. Partial Least Squares regression was performed to correlate the instrumental aromatic data with the descriptive aroma analysis data. A total of 54 aromatic compounds were tentatively identified in the dry dog food samples, with aldehydes and ketones being the most represented organic volatiles group. Grain-added products were on the average higher in total volatiles than grain-free products. Partial Least Squares regression analysis indicated possible connections with sensory aromatic profile and grain-added samples, such as rancid aroma and aldehydes, especially hexanal. The results of this study showed that dry dog foods are products with complex odor characteristics and that grain-free products are less aromatic.

  2. The Effect of n vs. iso Isomerization on the Thermophysical Properties of Aromatic and Non-aromatic Ionic Liquids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodrigues, Ana S M C; Almeida, Hugo F D; Freire, Mara G; Lopes-da-Silva, José A; Coutinho, João A P; Santos, Luís M N B F

    2016-09-15

    This work explores the n vs. iso isomerization effects on the physicochemical properties of different families of ionic liquids (ILs) with variable aromaticity and ring size. This study comprises the experimental measurements, in a wide temperature range, of the ILs' thermal behavior, heat capacities, densities, refractive indices, surface tensions, and viscosities. The results here reported show that the presence of the iso -alkyl group leads to an increase of the temperature of the glass transition, T g . The iso- pyrrolidinium (5 atoms ring cation core) and iso -piperidinium (6 atoms ring cation core) ILs present a strong differentiation in the enthalpy and entropy of melting. Non-aromatic ILs have higher molar heat capacities due to the increase of the atomic contribution, whereas it was not found any significant differentiation between the n and iso -alkyl isomers. A small increase of the surface tension was observed for the non-aromatic ILs, which could be related to their higher cohesive energy of the bulk, while the lower surface entropy observed for the iso isomers indicates a structural resemblance between the IL bulk and surface. The significant differentiation between ILs with a 5 and 6 atoms ring cation in the n -alkyl series (where 5 atoms ring cations have higher surface entropy) is an indication of a more efficient arrangement of the non-polar region at the surface in ILs with smaller cation cores. The ILs constituted by non-aromatic piperidinium cation, and iso -alkyl isomers were found to be the most viscous among the studied ILs due to their higher energy barriers for shear stress.

  3. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in exhaust emissions from diesel engines powered by rapeseed oil methylester and heated non-esterified rapeseed oil

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vojtisek-Lom, Michal; Czerwinski, Jan; Leníček, Jan; Sekyra, Milan; Topinka, Jan

    2012-12-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of exhaust emissions were studied in four direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engines, with power ratings of 90-136 kW. The engines were operated on biodiesel (B-100), a blend of 30% biodiesel in diesel fuel (B-30), and heated rapeseed oil (RO) in two independent laboratories. Diesel particle filters (DPF) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems were used with B-30 and B-100. Concentrations of individual PAHs sampled in different substrates (quartz, borosilicate fiber and fluorocarbon membrane filters, polyurethane foam) were analyzed using different methods. Benzo[a]pyrene toxic equivalents (BaP TEQ) were calculated using different sets of toxic equivalency factors (TEF). Operation on B-100 without aftertreatment devices, compared to diesel fuel, yielded a mean reduction in PAHs of 73%, consistent across engines and among TEF used. A lower PAH reduction was obtained using B-30. The BaP TEQ reductions on DPF were 91-99% using B-100, for one non-catalyzed DPF, and over 99% in all other cases. The BaP TEQ for heated RO were higher than those for B-100 and one half lower to over twice as high as that of diesel fuel. B-100 and RO samples featured, compared to diesel fuel, a relatively high share of higher molecular weight PAH and a relatively low share of lighter PAHs. Using different sets of TEF or different detection methods did not consistently affect the observed effect of fuels on BaP TEQ. The compilation of multiple tests was helpful for discerning emerging patterns. The collection of milligrams of particulate matter per sample was generally needed for quantification of all individual PAHs.

  4. Classification of Malaysia aromatic rice using multivariate statistical analysis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Abdullah, A. H.; Adom, A. H.; Shakaff, A. Y. Md; Masnan, M. J.; Zakaria, A.; Rahim, N. A. [School of Mechatronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kampus Pauh Putra, 02600 Arau, Perlis (Malaysia); Omar, O. [Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Persiaran MARDI-UPM, 43400 Serdang, Selangor (Malaysia)

    2015-05-15

    Aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) is considered as the best quality premium rice. The varieties are preferred by consumers because of its preference criteria such as shape, colour, distinctive aroma and flavour. The price of aromatic rice is higher than ordinary rice due to its special needed growth condition for instance specific climate and soil. Presently, the aromatic rice quality is identified by using its key elements and isotopic variables. The rice can also be classified via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) or human sensory panels. However, the uses of human sensory panels have significant drawbacks such as lengthy training time, and prone to fatigue as the number of sample increased and inconsistent. The GC–MS analysis techniques on the other hand, require detailed procedures, lengthy analysis and quite costly. This paper presents the application of in-house developed Electronic Nose (e-nose) to classify new aromatic rice varieties. The e-nose is used to classify the variety of aromatic rice based on the samples odour. The samples were taken from the variety of rice. The instrument utilizes multivariate statistical data analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) to classify the unknown rice samples. The Leave-One-Out (LOO) validation approach is applied to evaluate the ability of KNN to perform recognition and classification of the unspecified samples. The visual observation of the PCA and LDA plots of the rice proves that the instrument was able to separate the samples into different clusters accordingly. The results of LDA and KNN with low misclassification error support the above findings and we may conclude that the e-nose is successfully applied to the classification of the aromatic rice varieties.

  5. Classification of Malaysia aromatic rice using multivariate statistical analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdullah, A. H.; Adom, A. H.; Shakaff, A. Y. Md; Masnan, M. J.; Zakaria, A.; Rahim, N. A.; Omar, O.

    2015-05-01

    Aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) is considered as the best quality premium rice. The varieties are preferred by consumers because of its preference criteria such as shape, colour, distinctive aroma and flavour. The price of aromatic rice is higher than ordinary rice due to its special needed growth condition for instance specific climate and soil. Presently, the aromatic rice quality is identified by using its key elements and isotopic variables. The rice can also be classified via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) or human sensory panels. However, the uses of human sensory panels have significant drawbacks such as lengthy training time, and prone to fatigue as the number of sample increased and inconsistent. The GC-MS analysis techniques on the other hand, require detailed procedures, lengthy analysis and quite costly. This paper presents the application of in-house developed Electronic Nose (e-nose) to classify new aromatic rice varieties. The e-nose is used to classify the variety of aromatic rice based on the samples odour. The samples were taken from the variety of rice. The instrument utilizes multivariate statistical data analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) to classify the unknown rice samples. The Leave-One-Out (LOO) validation approach is applied to evaluate the ability of KNN to perform recognition and classification of the unspecified samples. The visual observation of the PCA and LDA plots of the rice proves that the instrument was able to separate the samples into different clusters accordingly. The results of LDA and KNN with low misclassification error support the above findings and we may conclude that the e-nose is successfully applied to the classification of the aromatic rice varieties.

  6. Classification of Malaysia aromatic rice using multivariate statistical analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abdullah, A. H.; Adom, A. H.; Shakaff, A. Y. Md; Masnan, M. J.; Zakaria, A.; Rahim, N. A.; Omar, O.

    2015-01-01

    Aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) is considered as the best quality premium rice. The varieties are preferred by consumers because of its preference criteria such as shape, colour, distinctive aroma and flavour. The price of aromatic rice is higher than ordinary rice due to its special needed growth condition for instance specific climate and soil. Presently, the aromatic rice quality is identified by using its key elements and isotopic variables. The rice can also be classified via Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) or human sensory panels. However, the uses of human sensory panels have significant drawbacks such as lengthy training time, and prone to fatigue as the number of sample increased and inconsistent. The GC–MS analysis techniques on the other hand, require detailed procedures, lengthy analysis and quite costly. This paper presents the application of in-house developed Electronic Nose (e-nose) to classify new aromatic rice varieties. The e-nose is used to classify the variety of aromatic rice based on the samples odour. The samples were taken from the variety of rice. The instrument utilizes multivariate statistical data analysis, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) and K-Nearest Neighbours (KNN) to classify the unknown rice samples. The Leave-One-Out (LOO) validation approach is applied to evaluate the ability of KNN to perform recognition and classification of the unspecified samples. The visual observation of the PCA and LDA plots of the rice proves that the instrument was able to separate the samples into different clusters accordingly. The results of LDA and KNN with low misclassification error support the above findings and we may conclude that the e-nose is successfully applied to the classification of the aromatic rice varieties

  7. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons as Plausible Prebiotic Membrane Components

    Science.gov (United States)

    Groen, Joost; Deamer, David W.; Kros, Alexander; Ehrenfreund, Pascale

    2012-08-01

    Aromatic molecules delivered to the young Earth during the heavy bombardment phase in the early history of our solar system were likely to be among the most abundant and stable organic compounds available. The Aromatic World hypothesis suggests that aromatic molecules might function as container elements, energy transduction elements and templating genetic components for early life forms. To investigate the possible role of aromatic molecules as container elements, we incorporated different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the membranes of fatty acid vesicles. The goal was to determine whether PAH could function as a stabilizing agent, similar to the role that cholesterol plays in membranes today. We studied vesicle size distribution, critical vesicle concentration and permeability of the bilayers using C6-C10 fatty acids mixed with amphiphilic PAH derivatives such as 1-hydroxypyrene, 9-anthracene carboxylic acid and 1,4 chrysene quinone. Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) spectroscopy was used to measure the size distribution of vesicles and incorporation of PAH species was established by phase-contrast and epifluorescence microscopy. We employed conductimetric titration to determine the minimal concentration at which fatty acids could form stable vesicles in the presence of PAHs. We found that oxidized PAH derivatives can be incorporated into decanoic acid (DA) vesicle bilayers in mole ratios up to 1:10 (PAH:DA). Vesicle size distribution and critical vesicle concentration were largely unaffected by PAH incorporation, but 1-hydroxypyrene and 9-anthracene carboxylic acid lowered the permeability of fatty acid bilayers to small solutes up to 4-fold. These data represent the first indication of a cholesterol-like stabilizing effect of oxidized PAH derivatives in a simulated prebiotic membrane.

  8. Aromatic claw: A new fold with high aromatic content that evades structural prediction: Aromatic Claw

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sachleben, Joseph R. [Biomolecular NMR Core Facility, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Adhikari, Aashish N. [Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Gawlak, Grzegorz [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Hoey, Robert J. [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Liu, Gaohua [Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG), Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway New Jersey; Joachimiak, Andrzej [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Biological Sciences Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne Illinois; Montelione, Gaetano T. [Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG), Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway New Jersey; Sosnick, Tobin R. [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Koide, Shohei [Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago Illinois; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and the Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University School of Medicine, New York New York

    2016-11-10

    We determined the NMR structure of a highly aromatic (13%) protein of unknown function, Aq1974 from Aquifex aeolicus (PDB ID: 5SYQ). The unusual sequence of this protein has a tryptophan content five times the normal (six tryptophan residues of 114 or 5.2% while the average tryptophan content is 1.0%) with the tryptophans occurring in a WXW motif. It has no detectable sequence homology with known protein structures. Although its NMR spectrum suggested that the protein was rich in β-sheet, upon resonance assignment and solution structure determination, the protein was found to be primarily α-helical with a small two-stranded β-sheet with a novel fold that we have termed an Aromatic Claw. As this fold was previously unknown and the sequence unique, we submitted the sequence to CASP10 as a target for blind structural prediction. At the end of the competition, the sequence was classified a hard template based model; the structural relationship between the template and the experimental structure was small and the predictions all failed to predict the structure. CSRosetta was found to predict the secondary structure and its packing; however, it was found that there was little correlation between CSRosetta score and the RMSD between the CSRosetta structure and the NMR determined one. This work demonstrates that even in relatively small proteins, we do not yet have the capacity to accurately predict the fold for all primary sequences. The experimental discovery of new folds helps guide the improvement of structural prediction methods.

  9. Metal Triflates for the Production of Aromatics from Lignin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deuss, Peter J; Lahive, Ciaran W; Lancefield, Christopher S; Westwood, Nicholas J; Kamer, Paul C J; Barta, Katalin; de Vries, Johannes G

    2016-10-20

    The depolymerization of lignin into valuable aromatic chemicals is one of the key goals towards establishing economically viable biorefineries. In this contribution we present a simple approach for converting lignin to aromatic monomers in high yields under mild reaction conditions. The methodology relies on the use of catalytic amounts of easy-to-handle metal triflates (M(OTf) x ). Initially, we evaluated the reactivity of a broad range of metal triflates using simple lignin model compounds. More advanced lignin model compounds were also used to study the reactivity of different lignin linkages. The product aromatic monomers were either phenolic C2-acetals obtained by stabilization of the aldehyde cleavage products by reaction with ethylene glycol or methyl aromatics obtained by catalytic decarbonylation. Notably, when the method was ultimately tested on lignin, especially Fe(OTf) 3 proved very effective and the phenolic C2-acetal products were obtained in an excellent, 19.3±3.2 wt % yield. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. A neurotoxicity assessment of high flash aromatic naphtha.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Douglas, J F; McKee, R H; Cagen, S Z; Schmitt, S L; Beatty, P W; Swanson, M S; Schreiner, C A; Ulrich, C E; Cockrell, B Y

    1993-01-01

    Catalytic reforming is a refining process that converts naphthenes to aromatics by dehydrogenation to make higher octane gasoline blending components. A portion of this wide-boiling range hydrocarbon stream can be separated by distillation and used for other purposes. One such application is a mixture of predominantly 9-carbon aromatic molecules (C9 Aromatics, primarily isomers of ethyltoluene and trimethylbenzene), which is removed and used as a solvent also known as High Flash Aromatic Naphtha (HFAN). A program was initiated to assess the toxicological properties of HFAN since there may be human exposure, especially in the workplace. The current study was conducted to assess the potential for neurotoxicity in the rat. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats of approximately 300 grams body weight, in groups of twenty, were exposed by inhalation to HFAN for 90 days at concentrations of 0, 100, 500, and 1500 ppm. During this period the animals were tested monthly for motor activity and in a functional observation battery. After three months of exposure, for 6 hours/day, 5 days/week, 10 animals/group/sex were sacrificed and selected nervous system tissue was examined histopathologically. No signs of neurotoxicity were seen in any of the evaluated parameters, nor was there evidence of pathologic changes in any of the examined tissues.

  11. Activity relationships for aromatic crown ethers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilson, Mark James

    1998-01-01

    This thesis involves an investigation of aromatic crown ethers and a study of their binding constants for alkali metals. The study was motivated by the current needs of the semiconductor industry to improve the scavenging of mobile ions from fabricated circuits. A number of aromatic crown ethers have been sulphonated in an attempt to improve their water solubility and cation binding activity. These materials have been extensively studied and their binding activity determined. In collaboration with a molecular modelling study, the effect of ionisable sulphonate groups on the macrocycles' behaviour has been investigated. The broader issue of the effect of substituents in aromatic crown ethers has also been studied with the preparation of a wide range of substituted crown ethers. The cation binding activity of these materials has been found to bear a simple relationship to the electron withdrawing nature of the aromatic substituents. This relationship can be accurately monitored using electronic charge densities from molecular modelling and this rational has been applied to the study of proton ionisable and lariating crown ethers. The incorporation of crown ethers into polyamic acid and polyimide frameworks has also been investigated, where the resulting materials have been found to exhibit unusual cation binding and uptake properties. These results imply that the combination of the crown ethers' macrocycle and adjacent carboxylic acid residues, from the polyamic acids, are conducive to effective cationic binding. NMR measurements, in conjunction with molecular modelling, have been used to explore the geometry changes encountered as the crown ether goes from it's uncomplexed to its complexed state. The energy requirement for these geometry changes has subsequently been used to examine the cation selectivity of these materials. The electronic charge changes associated with the complexation have also been investigated and correlated with the theoretical results. (author)

  12. Silicone elastomers with covalently incorporated aromatic voltage stabilisers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    A Razak, Aliff Hisyam; Skov, Anne Ladegaard

    2017-01-01

    to the incorporationof an aromatic voltage stabiliser, were prepared by cross-linking synthesised polydimethylsiloxane–polyphenylmethylsiloxane (PDMS–PPMS) copolymers. PPMS possesses voltage stabilisation capabilitiesbut is immiscible in PDMS, and thus the copolymerisation of the two components was necessary...... forhomogeneity. Concentrations of the voltage stabiliser were varied by changing the molecular weights ofthe PPMS in the copolymer. The developed elastomers were inherently soft with enhanced electricalbreakdown strengths, due to delocalisedp-electrons of the aromatic constituent. An optimumconcentration...

  13. Limits to the presence of transiting circumbinary planets in CoRoT Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klagyivik, P.; Deeg, H. J.; Cabrera, J.; Csizmadia, Sz.; Almenara, J. M.

    2017-06-01

    Aims: During its flight phase, from 2007-2012, the CoRoT mission delivered light curves for over 2000 eclipsing binaries. Data from the Kepler mission have proven the existence of several transiting circumbinary planets. While light curves from CoRoT typically have lower precision and shorter coverage, the number of CoRoT targets is similar to that of Kepler and some of the known circumbinary planets could potentially be detected in CoRoT data as well. The aim of this work was to reanalyse the entire CoRoT Data set to search for the presence of circumbinary planets and to derive limits on the abundances of such planets. Methods: We developed a code that removes the signatures of eclipsing binaries from the light curves, and searches for quasi-periodic, transit-like features in the light curves after removal of binary eclipses and instrumental features. The code requires little information on sample systems and can also be used for other space missions, such as Kepler, K2, TESS, and PLATO. The code is broad in the requirements leading to detections, but was tuned to deliver an amount of detections that are manageable in a subsequent, mainly visual, assessment of their origin. Results: We identified three planet candidates in the CoRoT sample whose transits would have arisen from a single pass across the central binary; however, no candidates with transit events from multiple planetary orbits remained. We calculated the upper limits for the number of Jupiter, Saturn-, and Neptune-sized planets in co-planar orbits for different orbital period ranges. We found that there are much fewer giant planets in short periodic orbits around close binary systems than around single stars. Full Table 1 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (http://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/602/A117

  14. Characterization of the nociceptin receptor (ORL-1) agonist, Ro64-6198, in tests of anxiety across multiple species.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varty, G B; Hyde, L A; Hodgson, R A; Lu, S X; McCool, M F; Kazdoba, T M; Del Vecchio, R A; Guthrie, D H; Pond, A J; Grzelak, M E; Xu, X; Korfmacher, W A; Tulshian, D; Parker, E M; Higgins, G A

    2005-10-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated behaviors indicative of anxiolysis in rats pretreated with the nociceptin receptor (opioid receptor like-1, ORL-1) agonist, Ro64-6198. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Ro64-6198 in anxiety models across three species: rat, guinea pig, and mouse. In addition, the receptor specificity of Ro64-6198 was studied, using the ORL-1 receptor antagonist, J-113397, and ORL-1 receptor knockout (KO) mice. Finally, neurological studies examined potential side effects of Ro64-6198 in the rat and mouse. Ro64-6198 (3-10 mg/kg) increased punished responding in a rat conditioned lick suppression test similarly to chlordiazepoxide (6 mg/kg). This effect of Ro64-6198 was attenuated by J-113397 (10 mg/kg), but not the mu opioid antagonist, naltrexone (3 mg/kg). In addition, Ro64-6198 (1-3 mg/kg) reduced isolation-induced vocalizations in rat and guinea pig pups. Ro64-6198 (3 mg/kg) increased the proportion of punished responding in a mouse Geller-Seifter test in wild-type (WT) but not ORL-1 KO mice, whereas diazepam (1-5.6 mg/kg) was effective in both genotypes. In rats, Ro64-6198 reduced locomotor activity (LMA) and body temperature and impaired rotarod, beam walking, and fixed-ratio (FR) performance at doses of 10-30 mg/kg, i.e., three to ten times higher than an anxiolytic dose. In WT mice, Ro64-6198 (3-10 mg/kg) reduced LMA and rotarod performance, body temperature, and FR responding, but these same measures were unaffected in ORL-1 KO mice. Haloperidol (0.3-3 mg/kg) reduced these measures to a similar extent in both genotypes. These studies confirm the potent, ORL-1 receptor-mediated, anxiolytic-like effects of Ro64-6198, extending the findings across three species. Ro64-6198 has target-based side effects, although the magnitude of these effects varies across species.

  15. Aliphatic-aromatic separation using deep eutectic solvents as extracting agents

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rodriguez Rodriguez, Nerea; Fernandez Requejo, Patricia; Kroon, Maaike

    2015-01-01

    The separation of aliphatic and aromatic compounds is a great challenge for chemical engineers. There is no efficient separation process for mixtures with compositions lower than 20 wt % in aromatics. In this work, the feasibility of two different deep eutectic solvents (DESs) as novel extracting

  16. Natural and synthetic retinoids afford therapeutic effects on intracerebral hemorrhage in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsushita, Hideaki; Hijioka, Masanori; Hisatsune, Akinori; Isohama, Yoichiro; Shudo, Koichi; Katsuki, Hiroshi

    2012-05-15

    We have recently proposed that retinoic acid receptor (NR1B) is a promising target of neuroprotective therapy for intracerebral hemorrhage, since pretreatment of mice with an NR1B1/NR1B2 agonist Am80 attenuated various pathological and neurological abnormalities associated with the disease. In the present study we further addressed the effects of retinoids as potential therapeutic drugs, using a collagenase-induced model of intracerebral hemorrhage. Daily oral administration of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA; 5 and 15 mg/kg), a naturally occurring NR1B agonist, from 1 day before collagenase injection significantly inhibited loss of neurons within the hematoma. ATRA in the same treatment regimen also decreased the number of activated microglia/macrophages around the hematoma but did not affect the hematoma volume. ATRA (15 mg/kg) as well as Am80 (5mg/kg) rescued neurons in the central region of hematoma, even when drug administration was started from 6h after induction of intracerebral hemorrhage. However, in this post-treatment regimen, only Am80 significantly decreased the number of activated microglia/macrophages. With regard to neurological deficits, both ATRA (15 mg/kg) and Am80 (5mg/kg) given in the post-treatment regimen improved performance of mice in the beam-walking test and the modified limb-placing test. ATRA and Am80 also significantly attenuated damage of axon tracts as revealed by amyloid precursor protein immunohistochemistry. These results underscore potential therapeutic values of NR1B agonists for intracerebral hemorrhage. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Degradation of aromatic compounds in plants grown under aseptic conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mithaishvili, T.; Ugrekhelidze, D.; Tsereteli, B.; Sadunishvili, T.; Kvesitadze, G. [Durmishidze Inst. of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Academy of Sciences of Georgia, Tbilisi (Georgia); Scalla, R. [Lab. des Xenobiotiques, INRA, Toulouse (France)

    2005-02-01

    The aim of the work is to investigate the ability of higher plants to absorb and detoxify environmental pollutants - aromatic compounds via aromatic ring cleavage. Transformation of {sup 14}C specifically labelled benzene derivatives, [1-6-{sup 14}C]-nitrobenzene, [1-6-{sup 14}C]-aniline, [1-{sup 14}C]- and [7-{sup 14}C]-benzoic acid, in axenic seedlings of maize (Zea mays L.), kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), pea (Pisum sativum L.) and pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo L.) were studied. After penetration in plants, the above xenobiotics are transformed by oxidative or reductive reactions, conjugation with cell endogenous compounds, and binding to biopolymers. The initial stage of oxidative degradation consists in hydroxylation reactions. The aromatic ring can then be cleaved and degraded into organic acids of the Krebs cycle. Ring cleavage is accompanied by {sup 14}CO{sub 2} evolution. Aromatic ring cleavage in plants has thus been demonstrated for different xenobiotics carrying different substitutions on their benzene ring. Conjugation with low molecular peptides is the main pathway of aromatic xenobiotics detoxification. Peptide conjugates are formed both by the initial xenobiotics (except nitrobenzene) and by intermediate transformation products. The chemical nature of the radioactive fragment and the amino acid composition of peptides participating in conjugation were identified. (orig.)

  18. The future role of aromatics in refining and petrochemistry. Proceedings of the DGMK-Conference (Authors' manuscripts)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Emig, G.; Rupp, M.; Weitkamp, J. [eds.

    1999-07-01

    Topic of this conference has been the furure role of aromatics in the refinign industry. The articles deal with the following topics: Refining; legal aspects in the aromatics market; transportation fuels; dearomatization; catalytic reforming and aromatics; separation processes for aromatics; oxidation and ammoxidation of aromatics; electrophilic substitution of aromatics; hydrogenation of benzene; zeolites. (orig./sr)

  19. Dispersion and nonlinear effects in OFDM-RoF system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alhasson, Bader H.; Bloul, Albe M.; Matin, M.

    2010-08-01

    The radio-over-fiber (RoF) network has been a proven technology to be the best candidate for the wireless-access technology, and the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique has been established as the core technology in the physical layer of next generation wireless communication system, as a result OFDM-RoF has drawn attentions worldwide and raised many new research topics recently. At the present time, the trend of information industry is towards mobile, wireless, digital and broadband. The next generation network (NGN) has motivated researchers to study higher-speed wider-band multimedia communication to transmit (voice, data, and all sorts of media such as video) at a higher speed. The NGN would offer services that would necessitate broadband networks with bandwidth higher than 2Mbit/s per radio channel. Many new services emerged, such as Internet Protocol TV (IPTV), High Definition TV (HDTV), mobile multimedia and video stream media. Both speed and capacity have been the key objectives in transmission. In the meantime, the demand for transmission bandwidth increased at a very quick pace. The coming of 4G and 5G era will provide faster data transmission and higher bit rate and bandwidth. Taking advantages of both optical communication and wireless communication, OFDM Radio over Fiber (OFDM-RoF) system is characterized by its high speed, large capacity and high spectral efficiency. However, up to the present there are some problems to be solved, such as dispersion and nonlinearity effects. In this paper we will study the dispersion and nonlinearity effects and their elimination in OFDM-radio-over-fiber system.

  20. Ambient aromatic hydrocarbon measurements at Welgegund, South Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaars, K.; Beukes, J. P.; van Zyl, P. G.; Venter, A. D.; Josipovic, M.; Pienaar, J. J.; Vakkari, Ville; Aaltonen, H.; Laakso, H.; Kulmala, M.; Tiitta, P.; Guenther, Alex B.; Hellen, H.; Laakso, L.; Hakola, H.

    2014-07-11

    Aromatic hydrocarbons are associated with direct adverse human health effects and can have negative impacts on ecosystems due to their toxicity, as well as indirect negative effects through the formation of tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol that affect human health, crop production and regional climate. Measurements were conducted at the Welgegund measurement station (South Africa) that is considered to be a regionally representative background site. However, the site is occasionally impacted by plumes from major anthropogenic source regions in the interior of South Africa, which include the western Bushveld Igneous Complex (e.g. platinum, base metal and ferrochrome smelters), the eastern Bushveld Igneous Complex (platinum and ferrochrome smelters), the Johannesburg-Pretoria metropolitan conurbation (>10 million people), the Vaal Triangle (e.g. petrochemical and industries), the Mpumalanga Highveld (e.g. coal-fired power plants and petrochemical industry) and also a region of anti-cyclonic recirculation of air mass over the interior of South Africa. The aromatic hydrocarbon measurements were conducted with an automated sampler on Tenax-TA and Carbopack-B adsorbent tubes with heated inlet for one year. Samples were collected twice a week for two hours during daytime and two hours 1 during night-time. A thermal desorption unit, connected to a gas chromatograph and a mass 2 selective detector was used for sample preparation and analysis. Results indicated that the 3 monthly median total aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations ranged between 0.01 to 3.1 ppb. 4 Benzene levels did not exceed local air quality standards. Toluene was the most abundant 5 species, with an annual median concentration of 0.63 ppb. No statistically significant 6 differences in the concentrations measured during daytime and night-time were found and no distinct seasonal patterns were observed. Air mass back trajectory analysis proved that the lack of seasonal cycles could be

  1. Possible role of anti-SSA/Ro antibodies in the pathogenesis of pulmonary hypertension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelsey Guerreso

    2016-01-01

    Conclusion: It is known that pulmonary hypertension has association with autoimmune diseases, however no clear markers yet exist. Anti-SSA/Ro antibodies have been rarely described in cases of pulmonary disease, and less so in pulmonary hypertension. This case describes a unique association between isolated pulmonary hypertension and anti-SSA/Ro antibody, thereby illustrating the need to investigate this autoantibody and others in the pathogenesis of autoimmune pulmonary hypertension.

  2. A Bacterial Biosensor for Oxidative Stress Using the Constitutively Expressed Redox-Sensitive Protein roGFP2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carlos R. Arias-Barreiro

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available A highly specific, high throughput-amenable bacterial biosensor for chemically induced cellular oxidation was developed using constitutively expressed redox-sensitive green fluorescent protein roGFP2 in E. coli (E. coli-roGFP2. Disulfide formation between two key cysteine residues of roGFP2 was assessed using a double-wavelength ratiometric approach. This study demonstrates that only a few minutes were required to detect oxidation using E. coli-roGFP2, in contrast to conventional bacterial oxidative stress sensors. Cellular oxidation induced by hydrogen peroxide, menadione, sodium selenite, zinc pyrithione, triphenyltin and naphthalene became detectable after 10 seconds and reached the maxima between 80 to 210 seconds, contrary to Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and sodium arsenite, which induced the oxidation maximum immediately. The lowest observable effect concentrations (in ppm were determined as 1.0 x 10−7 (arsenite, 1.0 x 10−4 (naphthalene, 1.0 x 10−4 (Cu2+, 3.8 x 10−4 (H2O2, 1.0 x 10−3 (Cd2+, 1.0 x 10−3 (Zn2+, 1.0 x 10−2 (menadione, 1.0 (triphenyltin, 1.56 (zinc pyrithione, 3.1 (selenite and 6.3 (Pb2+, respectively. Heavy metal-induced oxidation showed unclear response patterns, whereas concentration-dependent sigmoid curves were observed for other compounds. In vivo GSH content and in vitro roGFP2 oxidation assays together with E. coli-roGFP2 results suggest that roGFP2 is sensitive to redox potential change and thiol modification induced by environmental stressors. Based on redox-sensitive technology, E. coli-roGFP2 provides a fast comprehensive detection system for toxicants that induce cellular oxidation.

  3. Application of monochloramine for wastewater reuse: Effect on biostability during transport and biofouling in RO membranes

    KAUST Repository

    Farhat, Nadia

    2018-02-23

    The rising demand for clean and safe water has increased the interest in advanced wastewater treatment and reuse. Reverse osmosis (RO) can provide reliable and high-quality water from treated wastewater. Biofouling inevitably occurs, certainly with wastewater effluents, resulting in RO performance decline and operational problems. Chlorination of feed water has been commonly applied to limit biological growth. However, chlorine use may lead to a loss of membrane integrity of RO systems. In this study the potential of monochloramine as an alternative for chlorine was studied by (i) evaluating the biological stability of a full-scale wastewater membrane bioreactor (MBR) effluent during transport over 13 km to a full-scale RO plant and (ii) assessing the biofouling control potential in membrane fouling simulator (MFS) and pilot-scale RO installation. Microbial water analysis was performed on samples taken at several locations in the full-scale water reuse system (MBR effluent, during transport, and at the RO inlet and outlet) using a suite of tools including heterotrophic plate counts (HPC), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), flow cytometry (FCM), and 16 S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Growth potential tests were used to evaluate the effect of monochloramine presence and absence on bacterial growth. Results showed limited changes in the microbial water quality in the presence of monochloramine. MFS studies showed that membrane biofouling could be effectively repressed by monochloramine over prolonged time periods. The normalized salt passage in a pilot RO system with monochloramine dosage was constant over a one year period (data of last 130 days presented), demonstrating that no membrane damage occurred. From this study, it can be concluded that monochloramine dosage in wastewater applications is effective in controlling biofouling in RO systems and maintaining a monochloramine residual during water transport provides biologically stable water.

  4. TU-CD-BRD-00: Incident Learning / RO-ILS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2015-01-01

    It has long been standard practice in radiation oncology to report internally when a patient’s treatment has not gone as planned and to report events to regulatory agencies when legally required. Most potential errors are caught early and never affect the patient. Quality assurance steps routinely prevent errors from reaching the patient, and these “near misses” are much more frequent than treatment errors. A growing number of radiation oncology facilities have implemented incident learning systems to report and analyze both errors and near misses. Using the term “incident learning” instead of “event reporting” emphasizes the need to use these experiences to change the practice and make future errors less likely and promote an educational, non-punitive environment. There are challenges in making such a system practical and effective. Speakers from institutions of different sizes and practice environments will share their experiences on how to make such a system work and what benefits their clinics have accrued. Questions that will be addressed include: How to create a system that is easy for front line staff to access How to motivate staff to report How to promote the system as positive and educational and not punitive or demeaning How to organize the team for reviewing and responding to reports How to prioritize which reports to discuss in depth How not to dismiss the rest How to identify underlying causes How to design corrective actions and implement change How to develop useful statistics and analysis tools How to coordinate a departmental system with a larger risk management system How to do this without a dedicated quality manager Some speakers’ experience is with in-house systems and some will share experience with the AAPM/ASTRO national Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System (RO-ILS). Reports intended to be of value nationally need to be comprehensible to outsiders; examples of useful reports will be shown. There will be ample time set

  5. TU-CD-BRD-00: Incident Learning / RO-ILS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2015-06-15

    It has long been standard practice in radiation oncology to report internally when a patient’s treatment has not gone as planned and to report events to regulatory agencies when legally required. Most potential errors are caught early and never affect the patient. Quality assurance steps routinely prevent errors from reaching the patient, and these “near misses” are much more frequent than treatment errors. A growing number of radiation oncology facilities have implemented incident learning systems to report and analyze both errors and near misses. Using the term “incident learning” instead of “event reporting” emphasizes the need to use these experiences to change the practice and make future errors less likely and promote an educational, non-punitive environment. There are challenges in making such a system practical and effective. Speakers from institutions of different sizes and practice environments will share their experiences on how to make such a system work and what benefits their clinics have accrued. Questions that will be addressed include: How to create a system that is easy for front line staff to access How to motivate staff to report How to promote the system as positive and educational and not punitive or demeaning How to organize the team for reviewing and responding to reports How to prioritize which reports to discuss in depth How not to dismiss the rest How to identify underlying causes How to design corrective actions and implement change How to develop useful statistics and analysis tools How to coordinate a departmental system with a larger risk management system How to do this without a dedicated quality manager Some speakers’ experience is with in-house systems and some will share experience with the AAPM/ASTRO national Radiation Oncology Incident Learning System (RO-ILS). Reports intended to be of value nationally need to be comprehensible to outsiders; examples of useful reports will be shown. There will be ample time set

  6. Continuous Flow Nucleophilic Aromatic Substitution with Dimethylamine Generated in Situ by Decomposition of DMF

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Petersen, Trine P; Larsen, Anders Foller; Ritzén, Andreas

    2013-01-01

    A safe, practical, and scalable continuous flow protocol for the in situ generation of dimethylamine from DMF followed by nucleophilic aromatic substitution of a broad range of aromatic and heteroaromatic halides is reported.......A safe, practical, and scalable continuous flow protocol for the in situ generation of dimethylamine from DMF followed by nucleophilic aromatic substitution of a broad range of aromatic and heteroaromatic halides is reported....

  7. Intra-molecular selectivity of muonium towards chlorinated aromatic compounds

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Venkateswaran, K.; Stadlbauer, J.M.; Laing, M.E.; Klugkist, J.; Chong, D.P.; Porter, G.B.; Walker, D.C.

    1994-01-01

    Muon resonance studies show that muonium atoms (Mu) in ethanol add selectively to certain C-sites of aromatic compounds containing -Cl and -OH substituents. The sites chosen seem to be those carrying the lowest electron density. This helps to characterize Mu as a nucleophile in addition reactions and, in this respect, Mu differs from ordinary H-atoms. The study shows no apparent inter-molecular selectivity between a pair of aromatic solutes in an equimolar mixture, but strong intra-molecular selectivity in an ether composed of those two aromatic rings. This difference between intra- and inter-molecular selectivity is interpreted as kinetic in origin - arising from the 'caging effect' of the solvent and peculiar to reactions close to the diffusion-controlled limit. (orig.)

  8. Photocatalytic oxidation of aromatic amines using MnO2@g ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    An efficient and direct oxidation of aromatic amines to aromatic azo-compounds has been achieved using a MnO2@g-C3N4 catalyst under visible light as a source of energy at room temperature Prepared for submission to the journal, Advanced Materials Letters.

  9. A Simple Alternative Method for the Synthesis of Aromatic Dialdehydes

    OpenAIRE

    KOZ, Gamze; ASTLEY, Demet; ASTLEY, Stephen

    2011-01-01

    Aromatic dialdehydes were synthesized from 5-t-butylsalicylaldehyde and o-vanilline in good yields using paraformaldehyde, hydrobromic acid and catalytic amounts of sulfuric acid in one step which was previously unavailable with present methods. Key Words: aromatic dialdehydes, bromomethylation, 5-t-butylsalicylaldehyde, o-vanilline. 

  10. A Simple Alternative Method for the Synthesis of Aromatic Dialdehydes

    OpenAIRE

    KOZ, Gamze; ASTLEY, Demet; ASTLEY, Stephen Thomas

    2012-01-01

    Aromatic dialdehydes were synthesized from 5-t-butylsalicylaldehyde and o-vanilline in good yields using paraformaldehyde, hydrobromic acid and catalytic amounts of sulfuric acid in one step which was previously unavailable with present methods. Key Words: aromatic dialdehydes, bromomethylation, 5-t-butylsalicylaldehyde, o-vanilline. 

  11. Toxicity of Aromatic Ketone to Yeast Cell and Improvement of the Asymmetric Reduction of Aromatic Ketone Catalyzed by Yeast Cell with the Introduction of Resin Adsorption

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhong-Hua Yang

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Asymmetric reduction of the prochiral aromatic ketone catalyzed by yeast cells is one of the most promising routes to produce its corresponding enantiopure aromatic alcohol, but the space-time yield does not meet people’s expectations. Therefore, the toxicity of aromatic ketone and aromatic alcohol to the yeast cell is investigated in this work. It has been found that the aromatic compounds are poisonous to the yeast cell. The activity of yeast cell decreases steeply when the concentration of acetophenone (ACP is higher than 30.0 mmol/L. Asymmetric reduction of acetophenone to chiral S-α-phenylethyl alcohol (PEA catalyzed by the yeast cell was chosen as the model reaction to study in detail the promotion effect of the introduction of the resin adsorption on the asymmetric reduction reaction. The resin acts as the substrate reservoir and product extraction agent in situ. It has been shown that this reaction could be remarkably improved with this technique when the appropriate kind of resin is applied. The enantioselectivity and yield are acceptable even though the initial ACP concentration reaches 72.2 mmol/L.

  12. Adsorption of aromatic hydrocarbons and ozone at environmental aqueous surfaces.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vácha, Robert; Cwiklik, Lukasz; Rezác, Jan; Hobza, Pavel; Jungwirth, Pavel; Valsaraj, Kalliat; Bahr, Stephan; Kempter, Volker

    2008-06-05

    Adsorption of environmentally important aromatic molecules on a water surface is studied by means of classical and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and by reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy. Both techniques show strong activity and orientational preference of these molecules at the surface. Benzene and naphthalene, which bind weakly to water surface with a significant contribution of dispersion interactions, prefer to lie flat on water but retain a large degree of orientational flexibility. Pyridine is more rigid at the surface. It is tilted with the nitrogen end having strong hydrogen bonding interactions with water molecules. The degree of adsorption and orientation of aromatic molecules on aqueous droplets has atmospheric implications for heterogeneous ozonolysis, for which the Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetics mechanism is discussed. At higher coverages of aromatic molecules the incoming ozone almost does not come into contact with the underlying aqueous phase. This may rationalize the experimental insensitivity of the ozonolysis on the chemical nature of the substrate on which the aromatic molecules adsorb.

  13. Production of alkyl-aromatics from light oxygenates over zeolite catalysts for bio-oil refining

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoang, Trung Q.

    Upgrading of light oxygenates derived from biomass conversion, such as propanal and glycerol, to more valuable aromatics for biofuels has been demonstrated on zeolite catalysts. Aromatics with a high ratio of C 9/(C8+C7) and little benzene are produced at much higher yield from oxygenates than from olefins at mild conditions over HZSM-5. It is proposed that C9 aromatics are predominantly produced via acid-catalyzed aldol condensation. This reaction pathway is different from the pathway of propylene and other hydrocarbon aromatization that occurs via a hydrocarbon pool at more severe conditions with major aromatic products C6 and C7. In fact, investigation on the effect of crystallite size HZSM-5 has shown a higher ratio of C9/(C8+C 7) aromatics on small crystallite. This is due to faster removal of products from the shorter diffusion path length. As a result, a longer catalyst lifetime, less isomerization, and less cracking were observed on small crystallites. Beside crystallite size, pore geometry of zeolites was also found to significantly affect aromatic production for both conversion of propanal and glycerol. It is shown that the structure of the HZSM-22, with a one-dimensional and narrower channel system, restricts the formation of aromatics. In contrast, a higher yield of aromatic products is observed over HZSM-5 with its three-dimensional channel system. By increasing channel dimension and connectivity of the channels, increasing catalyst activity was also observed due to more accessible acid sites. It was also found that glycerol is highly active for dehydration on zeolites to produce high yields of acrolein (propenal), a high value chemical. To maximize aromatics from glycerol conversion, HZSM-5 and HY were found to be effective. A two-bed reactor of Pd/ZnO and HZSM-5 was used to first deoxygenate/hydrogenate glycerol over Pd/ZnO to intermediate oxygenates that can further aromatize on HZSM-5. The end results are very promising with significant improvement

  14. Development of a yeast cell factory for production of aromatic products

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rodriguez Prado, Edith Angelica; Kildegaard, Kanchana Rueksomtawin; Li, Mingji

    2014-01-01

    There is much interest in aromatic chemicals in the chemical industry as these can be used for production of dyes, anti-oxidants, nutraceuticals and food ingredients. Yeast is a widely used cell factory and it is particularly well suited for production of aromatic chemicals via complex biosynthetic...... routes involving P450 enzymes. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae the fluxes towards aromatic acids (L-tryptophan, L-tyrosine and L-phenylalanine) are strictly controlled on transcriptional and kinetic levels and therefore are difficult to manipulate. We engineered S. cerevisiae for increased production...... of aromatic compounds by eliminating degradation, up-regulating the key enzyme encoding genes, and removing feed-back inhibition in the pathway. In order to test the strain performance we overexpressed heterologous pathway for coumaric acid production. We obtained 4-fold higher concentrations of coumaric acid...

  15. Organic superalkalis with closed-shell structure and aromaticity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srivastava, Ambrish Kumar

    2018-06-01

    Benzene (C6H6) and polycyclic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene (C10H8), anthracene (C14H10) and coronene (C24H12) are well known aromatic organic compounds. We study the substitution of Li replacing all H-atoms in these hydrocarbons using density functional method. The vertical ionisation energy of such lithiated species, i.e. C6Li6, C10Li8, C14Li10 and C24Li12 ranges 4.24-4.50 eV, which is lower than the ionisation energy (IE) of Li atom. Thus, these species may behave as superalkalis due to their lower IE than alkali metal. However, these lithiated species possess planar and closed-shell structure, unlike typical superalkalis. Furthermore, all Li-substituted species are aromatic although their degree of aromaticity is reduced as compared to corresponding hydrocarbon analogues. We have further explored the structure of C6Li6 as star-like, unlike its inorganic analogue B3N3Li6, which appears as fan-like structure. We have also demonstrated that the interaction of C6Li6 with a superhalogen (such as BF4) is similar to that of a typical superalkali (such as OLi3). This may further suggest that the proposed lithiated species may form a new class of closed-shell organic superalkalis with aromaticity.

  16. Solar fired combined RO/MED desalination plant integrated with electrical power grid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alrobaei, H.

    2006-01-01

    Currently, there is a strong demand for efficient seawater desalination plants, which can meet the tougher environment regulation and energy saving requirements. From this standpoint the present work was undertaken to include proposed scheme (solar Fired Combined Reverse Osmosis (ROY Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) Seawater desalination Plant (SCDP) integrated with electrical power grid (EPG)) for repowering and modification of the conventional grid connected RO desalination plants. The model of SCDP during sunny periods may be applied to the following modes operation: *Full solar desalination (i.e. solar thermal and electrical power generation in solar plant is elivered to the desalination process and the surplus electricity is fed into EPG). *Hybrid solar desalination (I.e. a small share of the electrical power consumption for desalination process compensated by EPG). During cloudly periods and at night the SCDP operates as a conventional RO desalination plant. To establish the range, in which solar energy for seawater desalination would be competitive to fossil energy and investigates the potential effect of the proposed scheme on the repowering effectiveness, mathematical model has been developed. The repowered effectiveness, mathematical model has been developed.The repowered effectiveness in optaimizing model was characterized by the condition of attaining maximum fuel saving in the EPG. The study result shows the effectiveness of proposed scheme for modification and repowering the RO plant. For the case study. (SCDP with maual share of solar electrical power generation 67.4%) the economical effect amount 138.9 ton fuel/year for each MW design thermal energy of parabolic solar collectors array and the corresponding decrease in exhaust gases emission (Nitrogen oxides (NO x ) 0.55 ton/year.MW, carbon dioxides (CO2) 434.9 ton/year.MW). Moreover, implementation of combined RO/MED design for repowering and modification of conventional grid connected RO plant will

  17. Efficient and Selective Reduction of Aromatic Nitro Compounds to Aromatic Amines by NbCl{sub 5}/Indium System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoo, Byung Woo; Kim, Duckil; Kim, Hyung Min; Kang, Sung Ho [Korea Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-09-15

    Aromatic amines find applicability in diverse fields including dyes, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and photographic materials. To date, there are a variety of methods, which can be used to convert aromatic nitro compounds to their corresponding amines. Some of them include Cp{sub 2}TiCl{sub 2}/In, Al/NH{sub 4}Cl, (NH{sub 4}){sub 2}SO{sub 4}/NaBH{sub 4}, NiCl{sub 2}6H{sub 2}O/In, HI, Sm/I{sub 2}, In/NH{sub 4}Cl, B{sub 4}H{sub 10}/Pd/C, Co{sub 2}(CO){sub 8}/H{sub 2}O and In/HCl. However, most methods still lack the desired chemo-selectivity when other reducible functional groups are present in the nitroarene and often require long reaction times, or harsh reaction conditions. Consequently, efficient and selective methods for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds continue to be developed. It has been reported that NbCl{sub 5}/Zn system is used as a reagent for reducing sulfoxides, epoxides, and amine N-oxides.12 Because of the close resemblance of indium to zinc in several respects, including first ionization potential, we considered that NbCl{sub 5}/In system can be an efficient reducing agent for the conversion of aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding amines. Recently, indium metal has attracted much attention for its unique properties such as low toxicity and high stability in water and air compared with other metals. In continuation of our interest in exploring the utility of metal-metal salt system in organic synthesis, we would like to report an efficient and chemo-selective method for the reduction of various aromatic nitro compounds to the corresponding amines by treatment with NbCl{sub 5}/In system (eq. 1). The new reduction system was generated by the addition of indium powder to a stirred solution of niobium(V) chloride in THF under sonication. The generation of low-valent niobium species was examined at room temperature with an excess of indium metal. The observations suggest that this procedure can be applied for the chemo

  18. The driving mechanism of roAp stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dupret, M-A [Observatoire de Paris, LESIA, CNRS UMR 8109, 5 place J. Janssen, 92195 Meudon (France); Theado, S; Noels, A [Institut d' Astrophysique et Geophysique, Universite de Liege (Belgium)], E-mail: MA.dupret@obspm.fr

    2008-10-15

    We analyse in detail the driving mechanism of roAp stars and present the theoretical instability strip predicted by our models with solar metallicity. A particular attention is given to the interpretation of the role played by the different eigenfunctions in the stabilization of the modes at the red edge of the instability strip. The gradient of temperature in the H{sub I} opacity bump appears to play a major role in this context. We also consider the particular and complex role played by the shape of the eigenfunctions (location of the nodes, ...)

  19. The driving mechanism of roAp stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dupret, M-A; Theado, S; Noels, A

    2008-01-01

    We analyse in detail the driving mechanism of roAp stars and present the theoretical instability strip predicted by our models with solar metallicity. A particular attention is given to the interpretation of the role played by the different eigenfunctions in the stabilization of the modes at the red edge of the instability strip. The gradient of temperature in the H I opacity bump appears to play a major role in this context. We also consider the particular and complex role played by the shape of the eigenfunctions (location of the nodes, ...).

  20. Retinoid X receptor gene expression and protein content in tissues of the rock shell Thais clavigera

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Horiguchi, Toshihiro [Research Center for Environmental Risk, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan)], E-mail: thorigu@nies.go.jp; Nishikawa, Tomohiro [Research Center for Environmental Risk, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan); Ohta, Yasuhiko [Department of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyamacho-Minami, Tottori 680-8553 (Japan); Shiraishi, Hiroaki; Morita, Masatoshi [Research Center for Environmental Risk, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8506 (Japan)

    2007-10-15

    To elucidate the role of retinoid X receptor (RXR) in the development of imposex caused by organotin compounds in gastropod molluscs, we investigated RXR gene expression and RXR protein content in various tissues of male and female wild rock shells (Thais clavigera). Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and immunohistochemistry with a commercial antibody against human RXR {alpha} revealed that RXR gene expression was significantly higher in the penises of males and imposex-exhibiting females than in the penis-forming areas of normal females (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). Western blotting demonstrated that the antibody could detect rock shell RXR and showed that the male penis had the highest content of RXR protein among the analyzed tissues of males and normal females. Immunohistochemical staining revealed nuclear localization of RXR protein in the epithelial and smooth muscle cells of the vas deferens and in the interstitial or connective tissues and epidermis of the penis in males and imposex-exhibiting females. RXR could be involved in the mechanism of induction of male-type genitalia (penis and vas deferens) by organotin compounds in female rock shells.

  1. Design and screening of ASIC inhibitors based on aromatic diamidines for combating neurological disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xuanmao; Orser, Beverley A; MacDonald, John F

    2010-12-01

    Acid sensing ion channels (ASICs) are implicated in various brain functions including learning and memory and are involved in a number of neurological disorders such as pain, ischemic stroke, depression, and multiple sclerosis. We have recently defined ASICs as one of receptor targets of aromatic diamidines in neurons. Aromatic diamidines are DNA-binding agents and have long been used in the treatment of leishmaniasis, trypanosomiasis, pneumocystis pneumonia and babesiosis. Moreover, some aromatic diamidines are used as skin-care and baby products and others have potential to suppress tumor growth or to combat malaria. A large number of aromatic diamidines or analogs have been synthesized. Many efforts are being made to optimize the therapeutic spectrum of aromatic diamidines, i.e. to reduce toxicity, increase oral bioavailability and enhance their penetration of the blood-brain barrier. Aromatic diamidines therefore provide a shortcut of screening for selective ASIC inhibitors with therapeutic potential. Intriguingly nafamostat, a protease inhibitor for treating acute pancreatitis, also inhibits ASIC activities. Aromatic diamidines and nafamostat have many similarities although they belong to distinct classes of medicinal agents for curing different diseases. Here we delineate background, clinical application and drug development of aromatic diamidines that could facilitate the screening for selective ASIC inhibitors for research purposes. Further studies may lead to a drug with therapeutic value and extend the therapeutic scope of aromatic diamidines to combat neurological diseases. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Presence and potential significance of aromatic-ketone groups in aquatic humic substances

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leenheer, J.A.; Wilson, M.A.; Malcolm, R.L.

    1987-01-01

    Aquatic humic- and fulvic-acid standards of the International Humic Substances Society were characterized, with emphasis on carbonyl-group nature and content, by carbon-13 nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy, proton nuclear-magnetic-resonance spectroscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. After comparing spectral results of underivatized humic and fulvic acids with spectral results of chemically modified derivatives, that allow improved observation of the carbonyl group, the data clearly indicated that aromatic ketone groups comprised the majority of the carbonyl-group content. About one ketone group per monocyclic aromatic ring was determined for both humic and fulvic acids. Aromatic-ketone groups were hypothesized to form by photolytic rearrangements and oxidation of phenolic ester and hydrocarbon precursors; these groups have potential significance regarding haloform formation in water, reactivity resulting from active hydrogen of the methyl and methylene adjacent to the ketone groups, and formation of hemiketal and lactol structures. Aromatic-ketone groups also may be the point of attachment between aliphatic and aromatic moieties of aquatic humic-substance structure. ?? 1987.

  3. Dinâmica evolutiva em roças de caboclos amazônicos

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paulo Sodero Martins

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available AS ROÇAS DE CABOCLOS são unidades de agricultura de derruba e queima de populações tradicionais nas terras firmes dos trópicos brasileiros, geralmente associados com florestas. Elas são derivadas de sistemas indígenas com algumas modificações introduzidas pelos africanos e portugueses. Neste trabalho, analisamos a estrutura de comunidade dessas roças e o papel dos fatores biológicos e culturais em manter e aumentar a variabilidade genética na mais importante espécie plantada nas roças, a mandioca (Manihot esculenta. Há um alto grau de diversidade nas roças e muitas espécies que estão normalmente presentes, como mandioca, batata-doce, inhame, ariá, araruta, cupá, amendoim, apresentam o que tem sido chamado de habilidade de combinação ecológica, o que significa que elas otimizam o uso dos fatores ambientais e recursos, minimizando a sobreposição de suas arquiteturas. A variabilidade de mandioca é ampliada pelo banco de sementes em ��reas previamente ocupadas, cruzamentos interespecíficos e intervarietais, facilitada pelo arranjo das plantações escolhido pelos caboclos. Depois de criada, a variabilidade é fixada através de clonagem vegetativa, o método de reprodução comum não apenas da mandioca, mas também de outras espécies da roça, a maioria perene e apresentando "disjunção agronômica", ou seja, reprodução e produção efetivada por diferentes órgãos da planta.THE "ROÇAS DE CABOCLOS" are the slash-and-burn agricultural units of traditional populations dwelling in the lowlands of the Brazilian Tropics, generally in association with forests. They are derived from the indigenous system with some modifications introduced by the Africans and Portuguese. In this paper we analyse the community structure of the "roças" and the role of biological and cultural factors in maintaining and augmenting the genetic variability in the most important species planted in roças, the cassava (Manihot esculenta. There

  4. Results of a customer-based, post-market surveillance survey of the HeRO access device.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fusselman, Maureen

    2010-08-01

    In order to supplement post-market surveillance data on the HeRO vascular access device, a non-scientific customer survey was conducted to obtain quantitative data from dialysis providers caring for patients implanted with the device. Dialysis nurses involved in the care of HeRO patients were contacted in order to obtain post-implant device performance information for 10% of patients implanted with the device at the time of the survey. Thirty-eight dialysis units with a total of 65 HeRO patients participated in the survey. The total duration of HeRO device use was 348.4 months with an average use of 5.4 months. Thirty-eight of the 65 HeRO patients (58.5%) were reported to not have experienced any performance issues. There were 28 device performance incidents reported for the remaining 27 patients included in the survey. Occlusion was the single most commonly reported device-related performance issue with 18 patients (27.7%) experiencing 25 occlusive episodes. The majority of the patients who had an occlusion (66.7%) only experienced one occlusive event. Infections occurred in 4 patients (6.2%) with an overall infection rate of 0.38 per 1,000 patient days. Post-market clinical experience during the first 18 months of commercialization of the HeRO device were in line with expectations based on the results from initial clinical studies with the device. Device occlusion remains the most commonly reported performance issue with the reported rate in this survey less than that which was reported in earlier published studies with the device.

  5. Identification and quantification of seven fused aromatic rings C26H14 peri-condensed benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a complex mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal tar.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oña-Ruales, Jorge O; Ruiz-Morales, Yosadara; Wise, Stephen A

    2016-04-15

    A methodology for the characterization of groups of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using a combination of normal phase liquid chromatography with ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (NPLC/UV-vis) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used for the identification and quantification of seven fused aromatic rings C26H14 peri-condensed benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, in standard reference material (SRM) 1597a, complex mixture of PAHs from coal tar. The NPLC/UV-vis isolated the fractions based on the number of aromatic carbons and the GC/MS allowed the identification and quantification of five of the nine C26H14 PAH isomers; naphtho[1,2,3,4-ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,pqr]perylene, naphtho[8,1,2-bcd]perylene, and dibenzo[cd,lm]perylene using a retention time comparison with authentic reference standards. For the other four benzenoid isomers with no available reference standards the following two approaches were used. First, the annellation theory was used to achieve the potential identification of benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene, and second, the elution distribution in the GC fractions was used to support the potential identification of benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene and to reach the tentative identifications of dibenzo[a,ghi]perylene, naphtho[7,8,1,2,3-pqrst]pentaphene, and anthra[2,1,9,8-opqra]naphthacene. It is the first time that naphtho[1,2,3,4-ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,ghi]perylene, dibenzo[b,pqr]perylene, naphtho[8,1,2-bcd]perylene, and dibenzo[cd,lm]perylene are quantified, and the first time that benzo[qr]naphtho[3,2,1,8-defg]chrysene is potentially identified, in any sample, in any context. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Vitamin D Receptor, Retinoid X Receptor, Ki-67, Survivin, and Ezrin Expression in Canine Osteosarcoma

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John Davies

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Canine osteosarcoma (OS is an aggressive malignant bone tumor. Prognosis is primarily determined by clinical parameters. Vitamin D has been postulated as a novel therapeutic option for many malignancies. Upon activation, vitamin D receptors (VDRs combine with retinoid receptor (RXR forming a heterodimer initiating a cascade of events. Vitamin D's antineoplastic activity and its mechanism of action in OS remain to be clearly established. Expression of VDR, RXR, Ki-67, survivin, and ezrin was studied in 33 archived, canine OS specimens. VDR, RXR, survivin, and ezrin were expressed in the majority of cases. There was no statistically significant difference in VDR expression in relationship with tumor grade, type, or locations or animal breed, age, and/or sex. No significant association (p=0.316 between tumor grade and Ki-67 expression was found; in particular, no difference in Ki-67 expression between grades 2 and 3 OSs was found, while a negative correlation was noted between Ki-67 and VDR expression (ρ=−0.466, a positive correlation between survivin and RXR expression was found (p=0.374. A significant relationship exists between VDR and RXR expression in OSs and proliferative/apoptosis markers. These results establish a foundation for elucidating mechanisms by which vitamin D induces antineoplastic activity in OS.

  7. Effects of sulfur and aromatic contents in gasoline on motorcycle emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Yung-Chen; Tsai, Jiun-Horng; Chang, An-Lin; Jeng, Fu-Tien

    By investigating the effect of sulfur and aromatic contents in gasoline on the criteria pollutant emissions [CO, total hydrocarbons (THCs), and NO x] and on air toxics in the exhaust from a non-catalyst four-stroke motorcycle engine, inferences can be made concerning the effect of fuel composition on motorcycle emissions. The fuels were blended with different contents of sulfur (40 and 150 ppmw) and aromatics (20 and 30 vol%). The data indicate that the sulfur content does not correlate with the emissions of the criteria pollutants from the catalyst free engine. Instead, lowering aromatic content in gasoline reduced the THC emission by over 30%, especially in the cruising test. The NO x emission, however, showed an inverse correlation with the aromatic content in gasoline. While a reduction of aromatic content in gasoline may decrease emissions of benzene and toluene, it will increase the emission of aldehyde. Since the percentage changes of emission factor of THC and air toxics in the motorcycle were larger than those in passenger cars, the benefit of emission reduction due to fuel composition changes in motorcycles may have significant impacts in health risk analysis.

  8. Development of aromatic giant-embryo rice by molecular marker-assisted selection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ZHU Yingdong

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Aromatic rice is loved for its distinctive aroma when cooking and eating.In this research,aromatic normal-embryo rice and non-aromatic giant-embryo rice,"Shangshida No.5",both bred by our laboratory,were selected as the parents for the hybridization.We used conventional breeding techniques as well as fragrance gene marker-assisted selection to derive new aromatic giant-embryo rice "Shangshida No.8".By comparing the agronomic and yield characters of "Shangshida No.5" and "Shangshida No.8",the average of filled grains per panicle of "Shangshida No.5" exceeds "Shangshida No.8" very significantly,while the average of effective panicles of "Shangshida No.8" is slightly more than "Shangshida No.5".Also,in the weight of thousand grains "Shangshida No.8" is slightly heavier than "Shangshida No.5".Thus,their grain weights per plant are close,29.10 g and 28.92 g respectively.By comparing the traits of rice embryo,there is no significant difference in embryo weight and volume.Also,there is no significant difference in weight ratio and volume ratio of embryo.This research has laid a solid foundation for further market development and application of aromatic giant-embryo rice.

  9. Aromatic Amino Acids-Guanidinium Complexes through Cation-π Interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Trujillo

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Continuing with our interest in the guanidinium group and the different interactions than can establish, we have carried out a theoretical study of the complexes formed by this cation and the aromatic amino acids (phenylalanine, histidine, tryptophan and tyrosine using DFT methods and PCM-water solvation. Both hydrogen bonds and cation-π interactions have been found upon complexation. These interactions have been characterized by means of the analysis of the molecular electron density using the Atoms-in-Molecules approach as well as the orbital interactions using the Natural Bond Orbital methodology. Finally, the effect that the cation-π and hydrogen bond interactions exert on the aromaticity of the corresponding amino acids has been evaluated by calculating the theoretical NICS values, finding that the aromatic character was not heavily modified upon complexation.

  10. Computer Simulations Reveal Multiple Functions for Aromatic Residues in Cellulase Enzymes (Fact Sheet)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2012-07-01

    NREL researchers use high-performance computing to demonstrate fundamental roles of aromatic residues in cellulase enzyme tunnels. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) computer simulations of a key industrial enzyme, the Trichoderma reesei Family 6 cellulase (Cel6A), predict that aromatic residues near the enzyme's active site and at the entrance and exit tunnel perform different functions in substrate binding and catalysis, depending on their location in the enzyme. These results suggest that nature employs aromatic-carbohydrate interactions with a wide variety of binding affinities for diverse functions. Outcomes also suggest that protein engineering strategies in which mutations are made around the binding sites may require tailoring specific to the enzyme family. Cellulase enzymes ubiquitously exhibit tunnels or clefts lined with aromatic residues for processing carbohydrate polymers to monomers, but the molecular-level role of these aromatic residues remains unknown. In silico mutation of the aromatic residues near the catalytic site of Cel6A has little impact on the binding affinity, but simulation suggests that these residues play a major role in the glucopyranose ring distortion necessary for cleaving glycosidic bonds to produce fermentable sugars. Removal of aromatic residues at the entrance and exit of the cellulase tunnel, however, dramatically impacts the binding affinity. This suggests that these residues play a role in acquiring cellulose chains from the cellulose crystal and stabilizing the reaction product, respectively. These results illustrate that the role of aromatic-carbohydrate interactions varies dramatically depending on the position in the enzyme tunnel. As aromatic-carbohydrate interactions are present in all carbohydrate-active enzymes, the results have implications for understanding protein structure-function relationships in carbohydrate metabolism and recognition, carbon turnover in nature, and protein engineering

  11. Accelerated simulations of aromatic polymers: application to polyether ether ketone (PEEK)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broadbent, Richard J.; Spencer, James S.; Mostofi, Arash A.; Sutton, Adrian P.

    2014-10-01

    For aromatic polymers, the out-of-plane oscillations of aromatic groups limit the maximum accessible time step in a molecular dynamics simulation. We present a systematic approach to removing such high-frequency oscillations from planar groups along aromatic polymer backbones, while preserving the dynamical properties of the system. We consider, as an example, the industrially important polymer, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), and show that this coarse graining technique maintains excellent agreement with the fully flexible all-atom and all-atom rigid bond models whilst allowing the time step to increase fivefold to 5 fs.

  12. Biodegradation Rates of Aromatic Contaminants in Biofilm Reactors

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arcangeli, Jean-Pierre; Arvin, Erik

    1995-01-01

    This study has shown that microorganisms can adapt to degrade mixtures of aromatic pollutants at relatively high rates in the μg/l concentration range. The biodegradation rates of the following compounds were investigated in biofilm systems: aromatic hydrocarbons, phenol, methylphenols......-reducing conditions, toluene was easily biodegraded. The xylenes and ethylbenzene were degraded cometabolically if toluene was used as a primary carbon source; their removal was influenced by competitive inhibition with toluene. These interaction phenomena are discussed in this paper and a kinetic model taking...

  13. Cost analysis of the Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft compared to the tunneled dialysis catheter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al Shakarchi, Julien; Inston, Nicholas; Jones, Robert G; Maclaine, Grant; Hollinworth, David

    2016-04-01

    In end-stage renal disease patients with central venous obstruction, who have limited vascular access options, the Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) Graft is a new alternative with a lower incidence of complications and longer effective device life compared to tunneled dialysis catheters (TDCs). We undertook an economic analysis of introducing the HeRO Graft in the UK. A 1-year cost-consequence decision analytic model was developed comparing management with the HeRO Graft to TDCs from the perspective of the National Health Service in England. The model comprises four 3-month cycles during which the vascular access option either remains functional for hemodialysis or fails, patients can experience access-related infection and device thrombosis, and they can also accrue associated costs. Clinical input data were sourced from published studies and unit cost data from National Health Service 2014-15 Reference Costs. In the base case, a 100-patient cohort managed with the HeRO Graft experienced 6 fewer failed devices, 53 fewer access-related infections, and 67 fewer device thromboses compared to patients managed with TDCs. Although the initial device and placement costs for the HeRO Graft are greater than those for TDCs, savings from the lower incidence of device complications and longer effective device patency reduces these costs. Overall net annual costs are £2600 for each HeRO Graft-managed patient compared to TDC-managed patients. If the National Health Service were to reimburse hemodialysis at a uniform rate regardless of the type of vascular access, net 1-year savings of £1200 per patient are estimated for individuals managed with the HeRO Graft. The base case results showed a marginal net positive cost associated with vascular access with the HeRO Graft compared with TDCs for the incremental clinical benefit of reductions in patency failures, device-related thrombosis, and access-related infection events in a patient population with limited options for

  14. Zirconacyclopentadiene-annulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kiel, Gavin R.; Ziegler, Micah S.; Tilley, T. Don

    2017-01-01

    Syntheses of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and graphene nanostructures demand methods that are capable of selectively and efficiently fusing large numbers of aromatic rings, yet such methods remain scarce. Herein, we report a new approach that is based on the quantitative intramolecular reductive cyclization of an oligo(diyne) with a low-valent zirconocene reagent, which gives a PAH with one or more annulated zirconacyclopentadienes (ZrPAHs). The efficiency of this process is demonstrated by a high-yielding fivefold intramolecular coupling to form a helical ZrPAH with 16 fused rings (from a precursor with no fused rings). Several other PAH topologies are also reported. Protodemetalation of the ZrPAHs allowed full characterization (including by X-ray crystallography) of PAHs containing one or more appended dienes with the ortho-quinodimethane (o-QDM) structure, which are usually too reactive for isolation and are potentially valuable for the fusion of additional rings by Diels-Alder reactions. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  15. Zirconacyclopentadiene-annulated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kiel, Gavin R.; Ziegler, Micah S.; Tilley, T. Don [Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2017-04-18

    Syntheses of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and graphene nanostructures demand methods that are capable of selectively and efficiently fusing large numbers of aromatic rings, yet such methods remain scarce. Herein, we report a new approach that is based on the quantitative intramolecular reductive cyclization of an oligo(diyne) with a low-valent zirconocene reagent, which gives a PAH with one or more annulated zirconacyclopentadienes (ZrPAHs). The efficiency of this process is demonstrated by a high-yielding fivefold intramolecular coupling to form a helical ZrPAH with 16 fused rings (from a precursor with no fused rings). Several other PAH topologies are also reported. Protodemetalation of the ZrPAHs allowed full characterization (including by X-ray crystallography) of PAHs containing one or more appended dienes with the ortho-quinodimethane (o-QDM) structure, which are usually too reactive for isolation and are potentially valuable for the fusion of additional rings by Diels-Alder reactions. (copyright 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  16. Birds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albers, P.H.

    2006-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are present throughout the global environment and are produced naturally and by activities of humans. Effects of PAH on birds have been determined by studies employing egg injection, egg immersion, egg shell application, single and multiple oral doses, subcutaneous injection, and chemical analysis of field-collected eggs and tissue. The four-to six-ring aromatic compounds are the most toxic to embryos, young birds, and adult birds. For embryos, effects include death, developmental abnormalities, and a variety of cellular and biochemical responses. For adult and young birds, effects include reduced egg production and hatching, increased clutch or brood abandonment, reduced growth, increased organweights, and a variety of biochemical responses. Trophic level accumulation is unlikely. Environmental exposure to PAH in areas of high human population or habitats affected by recent petroleum spills might be sufficient to adversely affect reproduction. Evidence of long-term effects of elevated concentrations of environmental PAH on bird populations is very limited and the mechanisms of effect are unclear.

  17. Production of aromatics from di- and polyoxygenates

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beck, Taylor; Blank, Brian; Jones, Casey; Woods, Elizabeth; Cortright, Randy

    2017-07-04

    Methods, catalysts, and reactor systems for producing in high yield aromatic chemicals and liquid fuels from a mixture of oxygenates comprising di- and polyoxygenates are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods, catalysts, and reactor systems for producing aromatic chemicals and liquid fuels from oxygenated hydrocarbons such as carbohydrates, sugars, sugar alcohols, sugar degradation products, and the like; and methods, catalysts, and reactor systems for producing the mixture of oxygenates from oxygenated hydrocarbons such as carbohydrates, sugars, sugar alcohols, sugar degradation products, and the like. The disclosed catalysts for preparing the mixture of oxygenates comprise a Ni.sub.nSn.sub.m alloy and a crystalline alumina support.

  18. Redox shuttles having an aromatic ring fused to a 1,1,4,4-tetrasubstituted cyclohexane ring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weng, Wei; Zhang, Zhengcheng; Amine, Khalil

    2015-12-01

    An electrolyte includes an alkali metal salt; an aprotic solvent; and a redox shuttle additive including an aromatic compound having at least one aromatic ring fused with at least one non-aromatic ring, the aromatic ring having two or more oxygen or phosphorus-containing substituents.

  19. Aromaticity of benzene in condensed phases. A case of a benzene-water system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zborowski, Krzysztof K.

    2014-05-01

    A theoretical Density Functional Theory study was performed for a benzene molecule in water cages. Two DFT functionals (B3LYP and BLYP) were employed. The optimized geometries of the studied clusters were used to calculate the aromaticity of benzene in a condensed phase using the aromaticity indices: HOMA, NICS, PDI, and H. The results were compared with aromaticity of a single benzene molecule in the gas phase and in the solvent environment provided by the PCM continuum model. It is argued that high aromaticity of benzene in the gas phase is retained in the water environment.

  20. Adsorption and Oxidation of Aromatic Amines on Metal(II Hexacyanocobaltate(III Complexes: Implication for Oligomerization of Exotic Aromatic Compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachana Sharma

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Based on the hypothesis on the presence of double metal cyanides in the primordial oceans, a series of nano-sized metal(II hexacyanocobaltate(III (MHCCo with the general formula: M3[Co(CN6]2•xH2O (where M = Zn, Fe, Ni and Mn has been synthesized. Surface interaction of aromatic amines, namely aniline, 4-chloroaniline, 4-methylaniline and 4-methoxyaniline with MHCCo particles has been carried out at the concentration range of 100–400 μM at pH~7.0. The percentage binding of aromatic amines on MHCCo surface was found to be in the range of 84%–44%. The trend in adsorption was in accordance to the relative basicity of the studied amines. At the experimental pH, amines reacted rapidly with the surface of the iron(II hexacyanocobaltate, producing colored products that were analyzed by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS. GC-MS analysis of the colored products demonstrated the formation of dimers of the studied aromatic amines. Surface interaction of aromatic amines with MHCCo was studied by Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR spectroscopy and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM. The change in amine characteristic frequencies, as observed by FT-IR, suggests that interaction took place through the NH2 group on amines with metal ions of hexacyanocobaltate complexes. FE-SEM studies revealed the adherence of 4-methoxyaniline on zinc hexacyanocobaltate particles surface. We proposed that MHCCo might have been formed under the conditions on primitive Earth and may be regarded as an important candidate for concentrating organic molecules through the adsorption process.

  1. Radioluminescence of aromatic molecule solutions in atactic and isotactic polystyrene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lisovskaya, I.A.; Alfimov, M.V.; Milinchuk, V.K.; Skvortsov, V.G.

    1975-01-01

    The generation of excited states of naphthalene-d 8 and carbazole molecules in polystyrene (PS) under X-ray illumination was investigated using luminescence method. A comparison of the concentration dependences of radioluminescence of the aromatic additives to solid PS and to toluene as well as the pattern of concentration versus photoluminescence of naphthalene-d 8 in PS demonstrates that unlike toluene there is no singlet-triplet conversion in PS owing to the formation of excimers. It is shown that the excited ststes of the aromatic additives in PS are populated under radiolysis via an energy transfer from singlet to triplet molecules of the matrix. Under the radiolysis the excited states of PS molecules may generate upon charge recombination. A comparison of radio luminescence spectra of the corresponding aromatic additives in two isomeric PS structures (atacting and isotactic) shows different processes with charge participation. The difference detected in the radioluminescence spectra of aromatic additives in the atactic and isotactic PS explained by the greater number of defects in atactic PS competing with the polymer molecule ion for charge capture

  2. Tuning aromaticity in trigonal alkaline earth metal clusters and their alkali metal salts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiménez-Halla, J Oscar C; Matito, Eduard; Blancafort, Lluís; Robles, Juvencio; Solà, Miquel

    2009-12-01

    In this work, we analyze the geometry and electronic structure of the [X(n)M(3)](n-2) species (M = Be, Mg, and Ca; X = Li, Na, and K; n = 0, 1, and 2), with special emphasis on the electron delocalization properties and aromaticity of the cyclo-[M(3)](2-) unit. The cyclo-[M(3)](2-) ring is held together through a three-center two-electron bond of sigma-character. Interestingly, the interaction of these small clusters with alkali metals stabilizes the cyclo-[M(3)](2-) ring and leads to a change from sigma-aromaticity in the bound state of the cyclo-[M(3)](2-) to pi-aromaticity in the XM(3) (-) and X(2)M(3) metallic clusters. Our results also show that the aromaticity of the cyclo-[M(3)](2-) unit in the X(2)M(3) metallic clusters depends on the nature of X and M. Moreover, we explored the possibility for tuning the aromaticity by simply moving X perpendicularly to the center of the M(3) ring. The Na(2)Mg(3), Li(2)Mg(3), and X(2)Ca(3) clusters undergo drastic aromaticity alterations when changing the distance from X to the center of the M(3) ring, whereas X(2)Be(3) and K(2)Mg(3) keep its aromaticity relatively constant along this process. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Prediction of environmental parameters of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with COSMO-RS

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schröder, B.; Santos, L.M.N.B.F.; Alves da Rocha, M.A.; Oliveira, M.B.; Marrucho, I.M.; Coutinho, J.A.P.

    2010-01-01

    The methodology for the prediction of properties of environmental relevance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons based on the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS/COSMOtherm) is presented and evaluated, with a special focus on the aqueous solubility of polycyclic aromatic

  4. The effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the immune system of fish: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reynaud, S.; Deschaux, P.

    2006-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are an important class of environmental pollutants that are known to be carcinogenic and immunotoxic. This review summarizes the diverse literature on the effects of these pollutants on innate and acquired immunity in fish and the mechanism of PAH-induced immunotoxicity. Among innate immune parameters, many authors have focused on macrophage activities in fish exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Macrophage respiratory burst appears especially sensitive to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Among acquired immune parameters, lymphocyte proliferation appears highly sensitive to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure. However, the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on both specific and non-specific immunity are contradictory and depend on the mode of exposure, the dose used or the species studied. In contrast to mammals, fewer studies have been done in fish to determine the mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced toxicity. This phenomenon seems to implicate different intracellular mechanisms such as metabolism by cytochrome P4501A, binding to the Ah-receptor, or increased intracellular calcium. Advances in basic knowledge of fish immunity should lead to improvements in monitoring fish health and predicting the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on fish populations, which is a fundamental ecotoxicological goal

  5. The effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the immune system of fish: A review

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reynaud, S. [Laboratoire d' Ecologie Alpine. UMR CNRS 5553. Universite Joseph Fourier. BP 53. 38041 Grenoble cedex 9 (France) and Laboratory of General and Comparative Immunophysiology, Science Teaching and Research Unit, 123, av. Albert Thomas, 87060 Limoges (France)]. E-mail: stephane.reynaud@ujf-grenoble.fr; Deschaux, P. [Laboratory of General and Comparative Immunophysiology, Science Teaching and Research Unit, 123, av. Albert Thomas, 87060 Limoges (France)

    2006-05-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are an important class of environmental pollutants that are known to be carcinogenic and immunotoxic. This review summarizes the diverse literature on the effects of these pollutants on innate and acquired immunity in fish and the mechanism of PAH-induced immunotoxicity. Among innate immune parameters, many authors have focused on macrophage activities in fish exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Macrophage respiratory burst appears especially sensitive to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Among acquired immune parameters, lymphocyte proliferation appears highly sensitive to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure. However, the effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on both specific and non-specific immunity are contradictory and depend on the mode of exposure, the dose used or the species studied. In contrast to mammals, fewer studies have been done in fish to determine the mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced toxicity. This phenomenon seems to implicate different intracellular mechanisms such as metabolism by cytochrome P4501A, binding to the Ah-receptor, or increased intracellular calcium. Advances in basic knowledge of fish immunity should lead to improvements in monitoring fish health and predicting the impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on fish populations, which is a fundamental ecotoxicological goal.

  6. Impact of using fishing boat fuel with high poly aromatic content on the emission of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the diesel engine

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Yuan-Chung; Lee, Wen-Jhy; Li, Hsing-Wang; Chen, Chung-Ban; Fang, Guor-Cheng; Tsai, Perng-Jy

    Because of the fishery subsidy policy, the fishing boat fuel oil (FBFO) exemption from commodity taxes, business taxes and air pollution control fees, resulted in the price of FBFO was ˜50% lower than premium diesel fuel (PDF) in Taiwan. It is estimated that ˜650,000 kL FBFO was illegally used by traveling diesel-vehicles (TDVs) with a heavy-duty diesel engine (HDDE), which accounted for ˜16.3% of the total diesel fuel consumed by TDVs. In this study, sulfur, poly aromatic and total-aromatic contents in both FBFO and PDF were measured and compared. Exhaust emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their carcinogenic potencies (BaP eq) from a HDDE under transient cycle testing for both FBFO and PDF were compared and discussed. Finally, the impact caused by the illegal use of FBFO on the air quality was examined. Results show that the mean sulfur-, poly aromatic and aromatic-contents in FBFO were 43.0, 3.89 and 1.04 times higher than that of PDF, respectively. Emission factors of total-PAHs and total-BaP eq obtained by utilizing FBFO were 51.5 and 0.235 mg L -1-Fuel, which were 3.41 and 5.82 times in magnitude higher than obtained by PDF, respectively. The estimated annual emissions of total-PAHs and total-BaP eq to the ambient environment due to the illegally used FBFO were 23.6 and 0.126 metric tons, respectively, which resulted in a 17.9% and a 25.0% increment of annual emissions from all mobile sources, respectively. These results indicated that the FBFO used illegally by TDVs had a significant impact on PAH emissions to the ambient environment.

  7. Physicochemical Mechanisms of Synergistic Biological Action of Combinations of Aromatic Heterocyclic Compounds

    OpenAIRE

    Evstigneev, Maxim P.

    2013-01-01

    The mechanisms of synergistic biological effects observed in the simultaneous use of aromatic heterocyclic compounds in combination are reviewed, and the specific biological role of heteroassociation of aromatic molecules is discussed.

  8. Magna Carta Libertatum – osmisté výročí

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Blahož, Josef

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 154, č. 6 (2015), s. 449-464 ISSN 0231-6625 Institutional support: RVO:68378122 Keywords : Magna Carta Libertatum * development of constitutionalism * rule of law Subject RIV: AG - Legal Sciences

  9. Irradiated aromatic polysulphones of increased flow resistance and molecular weight

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Staniland, P.A.; Jarrett, W.G.

    1976-01-01

    Aromatic polymers of increased resistance to flow and molecular weight are obtained by irradiation using β-rays or γ-rays at temperatures up to 400 0 C of an aromatic polymer whose molecular chains comprise benzenoid groups and bivalent linking groups, and where irradiation is γ-rays by heating subsequent to irradiation at 200 to 400 0 C

  10. Unleaded gasoline with reduction in benzene and aromatics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmed, I.

    2003-01-01

    The trend today is towards making gasoline more environment and human friendly or in other words making gasoline a really clean fuel. This paper covers the ill effects of benzene and aromatics and the driving force behind their reduction in gasoline worldwide. It addresses health concerns specifically, and the theme is unleaded gasoline without simultaneously addressing reduction in benzene and aromatics is more harmful. The paper cites worldwide case studies, and also the World Bank (WB), Government of Pakistan (GoP), and United Nations (UN) efforts in this area in Pakistan. (author)

  11. An information preserving method for producing full coverage CoRoT light curves

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pascual-Granado J.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Invalid flux measurements, caused mainly by the South Atlantic Anomaly crossing of the CoRoT satellite, introduce aliases in the periodogram and wrong amplitudes. It has been demonstrated that replacing such invalid data with a linear interpolation is not harmless. On the other side, using power spectrum estimators for unevenly sampled time series is not only less computationally efficient but it leads to difficulties in the interpretation of the results. Therefore, even when the gaps are rather small and the duty cycle is high enough the use of gap-filling methods is a gain in frequency analysis. However, the method must preserve the information contained in the time series. In this work we give a short description of an information preserving method (MIARMA and show some results when applying it to CoRoT seismo light curves. The method is implemented as the second step of a pipeline for CoRoT data analysis.

  12. Chronic ethanol administration increases the binding of 3H Ro-15-4513 in primary cultured spinal cord neurons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mlatre, M.; Ticku, M.K.

    1989-01-01

    Ro 15-4513 (ethyl-8-azido-5, 6-dihydro-5-methyl-6-oxo-4H-imidazo [1,5α], [1,4] benzodiazepine-3-carboxylate) is reported to be a selective ethanol antagonist in biochemical and behavioral studies. The effect of chronic ethanol treatment on the binding of [ 3 H]Ro 15-4513 was investigated in cultured spinal cord neurons, which are shown to possess all the elements of GABA benzodiazepine receptor complex. Chronic ethanol treatment (50 mM for 6 hr, 12 hr, 18 hr, 3 days, and 5 3 days) produced an increase in the specific binding of [ 3 H]Ro 15-4513. The increase in binding in these neurons was due to an increase in the number (B max ) of receptor sites. This effect was specific for Ro 15-4513, since identical ethanol treatment did not alter the binding of benzodiazepine antagonist [ 3 H]Ro 15-1788 or agonist [ 3 H]flunitrazepam or inverse agonist [ 3 H]methyl-β-carboline-3-carboxylate. Similar results have been reported following chronic ethanol treatment to rats. These results suggest that the Ro 15-4513 binding sites on the oligomeric GABA receptor complex are altered following chronic ethanol administration, and support the notion of a unique role of Ro 15-4513 as an ethanol antagonist

  13. Reconstruction-of-difference (RoD) imaging for cone-beam CT neuro-angiography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, P.; Stayman, J. W.; Mow, M.; Zbijewski, W.; Sisniega, A.; Aygun, N.; Stevens, R.; Foos, D.; Wang, X.; Siewerdsen, J. H.

    2018-06-01

    Timely evaluation of neurovasculature via CT angiography (CTA) is critical to the detection of pathology such as ischemic stroke. Cone-beam CTA (CBCT-A) systems provide potential advantages in the timely use at the point-of-care, although challenges of a relatively slow gantry rotation speed introduce tradeoffs among image quality, data consistency and data sparsity. This work describes and evaluates a new reconstruction-of-difference (RoD) approach that is robust to such challenges. A fast digital simulation framework was developed to test the performance of the RoD over standard reference reconstruction methods such as filtered back-projection (FBP) and penalized likelihood (PL) over a broad range of imaging conditions, grouped into three scenarios to test the trade-off between data consistency, data sparsity and peak contrast. Two experiments were also conducted using a CBCT prototype and an anthropomorphic neurovascular phantom to test the simulation findings in real data. Performance was evaluated primarily in terms of normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) in comparison to truth, with reconstruction parameters chosen to optimize performance in each case to ensure fair comparison. The RoD approach reduced NRMSE in reconstructed images by up to 50%–53% compared to FBP and up to 29%–31% compared to PL for each scenario. Scan protocols well suited to the RoD approach were identified that balance tradeoffs among data consistency, sparsity and peak contrast—for example, a CBCT-A scan with 128 projections acquired in 8.5 s over a 180°  +  fan angle half-scan for a time attenuation curve with ~8.5 s time-to-peak and 600 HU peak contrast. With imaging conditions such as the simulation scenarios of fixed data sparsity (i.e. varying levels of data consistency and peak contrast), the experiments confirmed the reduction of NRMSE by 34% and 17% compared to FBP and PL, respectively. The RoD approach demonstrated superior performance in 3D angiography

  14. Adsorption of polar, nonpolar, and substituted aromatics to colloidal graphene oxide nanoparticles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wang, Fang; Haftka, Joris J H; Sinnige, Theo L.; Hermens, Joop L M; Chen, Wei

    2014-01-01

    We conducted batch adsorption experiments to understand the adsorptive properties of colloidal graphene oxide nanoparticles (GONPs) for a range of environmentally relevant aromatics and substituted aromatics, including model nonpolar compounds (pyrene, phenanthrene, naphthalene, and

  15. Cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitor RO 48-8071 suppresses growth of hormone-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liang Y

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Yayun Liang,1 Benford Mafuvadze,1 Johannes D Aebi,2 Salman M Hyder1 1Dalton Cardiovascular Research Center and Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA; 2Medicinal Chemistry, Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED, Roche Innovation Center Basel, F Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Basel, Switzerland Abstract: Standard treatment for primary prostate cancer includes systemic exposure to chemotherapeutic drugs that target androgen receptor or antihormone therapy (chemical castration; however, drug-resistant cancer cells generally emerge during treatment, limiting the continued use of systemic chemotherapy. Patients are then treated with more toxic standard therapies. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel and more effective treatments for prostate cancer. The cholesterol biosynthetic pathway is an attractive therapeutic target for treating endocrine-dependent cancers because cholesterol is an essential structural and functional component of cell membranes as well as the metabolic precursor of endogenous steroid hormones. In this study, we have examined the effects of RO 48-8071 (4'-[6-(allylmethylaminohexyloxy]-4-bromo-2'-fluorobenzophenone fumarate; Roche Pharmaceuticals internal reference: RO0488071 (RO, which is an inhibitor of 2, 3-oxidosqualene cyclase (a key enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, on prostate cancer cells. Exposure of both hormone-dependent and castration-resistant human prostate cancer cells to RO reduced prostate cancer cell viability and induced apoptosis in vitro. RO treatment reduced androgen receptor protein expression in hormone-dependent prostate cancer cells and increased estrogen receptor β (ERβ protein expression in both hormone-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer cell lines. Combining RO with an ERβ agonist increased its ability to reduce castration-resistant prostate cancer cell viability. In addition, RO effectively suppressed the

  16. Assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution in soil of suburban areas in Tianjin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, Jungang; Shi, Rongguang; Cai, Yanming; Liu, Yong

    2010-07-01

    Soil contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is an increasing problem and has aroused more and more concern in many countries, including China. In this study, representative soil samples (n = 87) of suburban areas in Tianjin (Xiqing, Dongli, Jinnan, Beichen) were evaluated for 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Surface soil samples were air-dried and sieved. Microwave assisted extraction was used for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons preparation prior to analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The total concentrations of tested polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Xiqing, Dongli, Jinnan, Beichen ranged in 58.5-2,748.3, 36.1-6,734.7, 58.5-4,502.5, 29.7-852.5 ng/g and the averages of total concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were 600.5, 933.6, 640.8, 257.3 ng/g, respectively. Spatial variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil was illustrated; Pollution status and comparison to other cities were also investigated. Serious polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons soil pollution was found in Dongli district, on the contrary, Bap in most sites in Beichen did not exceed relative standards and most sites in Beichen should be classified as non-contaminated soil. Principal component analysis was used to identify the possible sources of different districts. It turned out that coal combustion still was the most important sources in three districts except Beichen. Coking, traffic, cooking, biomass combustion also accounted for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons pollution to certain extent in different districts. These data can be further used to assess the health risk associated with soils polluted with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and help local government find proper way to reduce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons pollution in soils.

  17. Metal-free hydration of aromatic haloalkynes to α-halomethyl ketones

    KAUST Repository

    Ye, Min

    2016-10-01

    A highly regioselective and efficient metal-free hydration of aromatic haloalkynes to alpha-halomethyl ketones using cheap tetrafluoroboric acid as catalyst is described. The protocol is conducted under convenient conditions and affords products in good to excellent yields, with broad substrate scope, including a variety of aromatic alkynyl chlorides, alkynyl bromides, and alkynyl iodides. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Metal-free hydration of aromatic haloalkynes to α-halomethyl ketones

    KAUST Repository

    Ye, Min; Wen, Yuelu; Li, Huifang; Fu, Yejuan; Wang, Qinghao

    2016-01-01

    A highly regioselective and efficient metal-free hydration of aromatic haloalkynes to alpha-halomethyl ketones using cheap tetrafluoroboric acid as catalyst is described. The protocol is conducted under convenient conditions and affords products in good to excellent yields, with broad substrate scope, including a variety of aromatic alkynyl chlorides, alkynyl bromides, and alkynyl iodides. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Side Chain Cyclized Aromatic Amino Acids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Van der Poorten, Olivier; Knuhtsen, Astrid; Sejer Pedersen, Daniel

    2016-01-01

    Constraining the conformation of flexible peptides is a proven strategy to increase potency, selectivity, and metabolic stability. The focus has mostly been on constraining the backbone dihedral angles; however, the correct orientation of the amino acid side chains (χ-space) that constitute...... the peptide pharmacophore is equally important. Control of χ-space utilizes conformationally constrained amino acids that favor, disfavor, or exclude the gauche (-), the gauche (+), or the trans conformation. In this review we focus on cyclic aromatic amino acids in which the side chain is connected...... to the peptide backbone to provide control of χ(1)- and χ(2)-space. The manifold applications for cyclized analogues of the aromatic amino acids Phe, Tyr, Trp, and His within peptide medicinal chemistry are showcased herein with examples of enzyme inhibitors and ligands for G protein-coupled receptors....

  20. Plantio direto de alface americana sobre plantas de cobertura dessecadas ou roçadas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andréia Cristina Silva Hirata

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o plantio direto de alface americana no verão sobre plantas de cobertura dessecadas ou roçadas em cultivos sucessivos. O trabalho foi desenvolvido no município de Álvares Machado, São Paulo, Brasil. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso, dispostos em parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. O fator da parcela principal foram dois manejos das plantas de cobertura (dessecadas com herbicida ou roçadas e as subparcelas, seis espécies de plantas de cobertura (Cajanus cajan cv. IAPAR 43, Crotalaria spectabilis, Crotalaria juncea, Mucuna pruriens, Pennisetum glaucum e vegetação natural, além da testemunha sem plantas de cobertura. O manejo roçado apresentou desempenho inferior no primeiro cultivo da alface, todavia não diferiu do manejo químico no segundo cultivo. A cobertura do solo com mucuna apresentou maior produtividade da alface no primeiro cultivo devido ao excesso de palha das demais coberturas, o qual prejudicou o estabelecimento da alface. No segundo cultivo não houve diferenças entre as coberturas. A roçagem de plantas de cobertura é uma opção viável para plantio direto de alface sem herbicidas.

  1. Role of Dehalogenases in Aerobic Bacterial Degradation of Chlorinated Aromatic Compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pankaj Kumar Arora

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This review was conducted to provide an overview of dehalogenases involved in aerobic biodegradation of chlorinated aromatic compounds. Additionally, biochemical and molecular characterization of hydrolytic, reductive, and oxygenolytic dehalogenases was reviewed. This review will increase our understanding of the process of dehalogenation of chlorinated aromatic compounds.

  2. A Multistep Synthesis Incorporating a Green Bromination of an Aromatic Ring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardinal, Pascal; Greer, Brandon; Luong, Horace; Tyagunova, Yevgeniya

    2012-01-01

    Electrophilic aromatic substitution is a fundamental topic taught in the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum. A multistep synthesis that includes a safer and greener method for the bromination of an aromatic ring than traditional bromination methods is described. This experiment is multifaceted and can be used to teach students about…

  3. Influence of trace aromatics on the chemical growth mechanisms of Titan aerosol analogues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gautier, Thomas; Sebree, Joshua A.; Li, Xiang; Pinnick, Veronica T.; Grubisic, Andrej; Loeffler, Mark J.; Getty, Stephanie A.; Trainer, Melissa G.; Brinckerhoff, William B.

    2017-06-01

    The chemical structure and formation pathways of Titan aerosols remain largely unknown. In this work, we studied the effect of trace aromatics on the chemical composition and formation pathways of laboratory analogues of Titan's organic aerosols. The aerosol analogues were produced using four different trace aromatic molecules, comprised of one or two aromatic rings, each with or without a nitrogen heteroatom. Samples were then analyzed by laser desorption/ionization Mass Spectrometry (LDMS), revealing a high variability in the sample composition depending on the trace aromatic used. Our work reveals that the final chemical structure of the aerosols depends strongly on the number of aromatic rings in the trace molecule, leading either to a polymeric or to a random co-polymeric growth of the sample. These different chemical structures can affect the physical properties of the aerosol. Future analysis of Titan's aerosols using better resolution could potentially determine whether either of the growth hypotheses are preferred.

  4. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Critical Review of Environmental Occurrence and Bioremediation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alegbeleye, Oluwadara Oluwaseun; Opeolu, Beatrice Oluwatoyin; Jackson, Vanessa Angela

    2017-10-01

    The degree of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination of environmental matrices has increased over the last several years due to increase in industrial activities. Interest has surrounded the occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for many decades because they pose a serious threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. The importance of the need for sustainable abatement strategies to alleviate contamination therefore cannot be overemphasised, as daily human activities continue to create pollution from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and impact the natural environment. Globally, attempts have been made to design treatment schemes for the remediation and restoration of contaminated sites. Several techniques and technologies have been proposed and tested over time, the majority of which have significant limitations. This has necessitated research into environmentally friendly and cost-effective clean-up techniques. Bioremediation is an appealing option that has been extensively researched and adopted as it has been proven to be relatively cost-effective, environmentally friendly and is publicly accepted. In this review, the physicochemical properties of some priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as the pathways and mechanisms through which they enter the soil, river systems, drinking water, groundwater and food are succinctly examined. Their effects on human health, other living organisms, the aquatic ecosystem, as well as soil microbiota are also elucidated. The persistence and bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are discussed as well, as they are important factors that influence the rate, efficiency and overall success of remediation. Bioremediation (aerobic and anaerobic), use of biosurfactants and bioreactors, as well as the roles of biofilms in the biological treatment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also explored.

  5. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: A Critical Review of Environmental Occurrence and Bioremediation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alegbeleye, Oluwadara Oluwaseun; Opeolu, Beatrice Oluwatoyin; Jackson, Vanessa Angela

    2017-10-01

    The degree of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination of environmental matrices has increased over the last several years due to increase in industrial activities. Interest has surrounded the occurrence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for many decades because they pose a serious threat to the health of humans and ecosystems. The importance of the need for sustainable abatement strategies to alleviate contamination therefore cannot be overemphasised, as daily human activities continue to create pollution from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and impact the natural environment. Globally, attempts have been made to design treatment schemes for the remediation and restoration of contaminated sites. Several techniques and technologies have been proposed and tested over time, the majority of which have significant limitations. This has necessitated research into environmentally friendly and cost-effective clean-up techniques. Bioremediation is an appealing option that has been extensively researched and adopted as it has been proven to be relatively cost-effective, environmentally friendly and is publicly accepted. In this review, the physicochemical properties of some priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as the pathways and mechanisms through which they enter the soil, river systems, drinking water, groundwater and food are succinctly examined. Their effects on human health, other living organisms, the aquatic ecosystem, as well as soil microbiota are also elucidated. The persistence and bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are discussed as well, as they are important factors that influence the rate, efficiency and overall success of remediation. Bioremediation (aerobic and anaerobic), use of biosurfactants and bioreactors, as well as the roles of biofilms in the biological treatment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are also explored.

  6. The formation of quasi-alicyclic rings in alkyl-aromatic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straka, Pavel; Buryan, Petr; Bičáková, Olga

    2018-02-01

    The alkyl side chains of n-alkyl phenols, n-alkyl benzenes and n-alkyl naphthalenes are cyclised, as demonstrated by GC measurements, FTIR spectroscopy and molecular mechanics calculations. Cyclisation occurs due to the intramolecular interaction between an aromatic ring (-δ) and a hydrogen of the terminal methyl group (+δ) of an alkyl chain. In fact, conventional molecules are not aliphatic-aromatic, but quasi-alicyclic-aromatic. With the aromatic molecules formed with a quasi-alicyclic ring, the effect of van der Waals attractive forces increases not only intramolecularly but also intermolecularly. This effect is strong in molecules with propyl and higher alkyl substituents. The increase of intermolecular van der Waals attractive forces results in bi-linearity in the GC retention time of the compounds in question, observed in the dependence of the logarithm of the relative retention time on the number of carbons in a molecule in both polar and nonpolar stationary phases with both capillary and packed columns. The role of van der Waals forces has been demonstrated using the potential energies of covalent and noncovalent interactions for 2-n-alkyl phenols, n-alkyl benzenes and 1-n-alkyl- and 2-n-alkyl naphthalenes.

  7. Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) device in end-stage dialysis access: a decision analysis model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dageforde, Leigh Anne; Bream, Peter R; Moore, Derek E

    2012-09-01

    The Hemodialysis Reliable Outflow (HeRO) dialysis access device is a permanent tunneled dialysis graft connected to a central venous catheter and is used in patients with end-stage dialysis access (ESDA) issues secondary to central venous stenosis. The safety and effectiveness of the HeRO device has previously been proven, but no study thus far has compared the cost of its use with tunneled dialysis catheters (TDCs) and thigh grafts in patients with ESDA. A decision analytic model was developed to simulate outcomes for patients with ESDA undergoing placement of a HeRO dialysis access device, TDC, or thigh graft. Outcomes of interest were infection, thrombosis, and ischemic events. Baseline values, ranges, and costs were determined from a systematic review of the literature. Total costs were based on 1 year of post-procedure outcomes. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to test model strength. The HeRO dialysis access device is the least costly dialysis access with an average 1-year cost of $6521. The 1-year cost for a TDC was $8477. A thigh graft accounted for $9567 in a 1-year time period. The HeRO dialysis access device is the least costly method of ESDA. The primary determinants of cost in this model are infection in TDCs and leg ischemia necessitating amputation in thigh grafts. Further study is necessary to incorporate patient preference and quality of life into the model. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Abnormal clinical pharmacokinetics of the developmental radiosensitizers pimonidazole (Ro 03-8799) and etanidazole (SR 2508)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maughan, T.S.; Newman, H.F.; Bleehen, N.M.; Ward, R.; Workman, P.

    1990-01-01

    The hypoxic cell radiosensitizers Ro 03-8799 (pimonidazole) and SR 2508 (etanidazole) are under evaluation as single agents (Phase III) and in combination (Phase I). Ro 03-8799 produces an acute, transient central nervous system syndrome, whereas SR 2508 causes cumulative, peripheral neurotoxicity; both effects are dose-limiting. Pharmacokinetic studies have shown the importance of area under the plasma drug concentration versus time curve (AUC) in predicting the risk of peripheral neuropathy. Most patients have very similar pharmacokinetic parameters. This study reports 2/25 patients receiving 0.75 g/m2 Ro 03-8799 plus 2.0 g/m2 SR 2508 who showed significant discrepancies in drug handling. One patient exhibited a markedly elevated AUC and prolonged t1/2 beta for SR 2508 and this was associated with an unusually rapid onset of peripheral neuropathy. A second patient showed normal handling of SR 2508 but prolonged values for both t1/2 alpha and t1/2 beta for Ro 03-8799 and unusually low levels of its N-oxide metabolite. In addition a low peak Ro 03-8799 concentration combined with a very high volume of distribution was found in this patient, leading to a normal AUC value and toxicity profile. Both patients exhibited a relatively low creatinine clearance. The mechanisms which may underlie these findings are discussed, and the importance of pharmacokinetic monitoring in the use of these agents is emphasized

  9. Manufacture of aromatic hydrocarbons from coal hydrogenation products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    A.S. Maloletnev; M.A. Gyul' malieva [Institute for Fossil Fuels, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2007-08-15

    The manufacture of aromatic hydrocarbons from coal distillates was experimentally studied. A flow chart for the production of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, and xylenes was designed, which comprised the hydrogen treatment of the total wide-cut (or preliminarily dephenolized) fraction with FBP 425{sup o}C; fractional distillation of the hydrotreated products into IBP-60, 60-180, 180-300, and 300-425{sup o}C fractions; the hydro-cracking of middle fractions for increasing the yield of gasoline fractions whenever necessary; the catalytic reform of the fractions with bp up to 180{sup o}C; and the extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons.

  10. Structural and functional characterization of solute binding proteins for aromatic compounds derived from lignin: p-coumaric acid and related aromatic acids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Kemin; Chang, Changsoo; Cuff, Marianne; Osipiuk, Jerzy; Landorf, Elizabeth; Mack, Jamey C; Zerbs, Sarah; Joachimiak, Andrzej; Collart, Frank R

    2013-10-01

    Lignin comprises 15-25% of plant biomass and represents a major environmental carbon source for utilization by soil microorganisms. Access to this energy resource requires the action of fungal and bacterial enzymes to break down the lignin polymer into a complex assortment of aromatic compounds that can be transported into the cells. To improve our understanding of the utilization of lignin by microorganisms, we characterized the molecular properties of solute binding proteins of ATP-binding cassette transporter proteins that interact with these compounds. A combination of functional screens and structural studies characterized the binding specificity of the solute binding proteins for aromatic compounds derived from lignin such as p-coumarate, 3-phenylpropionic acid and compounds with more complex ring substitutions. A ligand screen based on thermal stabilization identified several binding protein clusters that exhibit preferences based on the size or number of aromatic ring substituents. Multiple X-ray crystal structures of protein-ligand complexes for these clusters identified the molecular basis of the binding specificity for the lignin-derived aromatic compounds. The screens and structural data provide new functional assignments for these solute-binding proteins which can be used to infer their transport specificity. This knowledge of the functional roles and molecular binding specificity of these proteins will support the identification of the specific enzymes and regulatory proteins of peripheral pathways that funnel these compounds to central metabolic pathways and will improve the predictive power of sequence-based functional annotation methods for this family of proteins. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. The Roles of Tidal Evolution and Evaporative Mass Loss in the Origin of CoRoT-7 b

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Brian; Miller, Neil; Barnes, Rory; Raymond, Sean N.; Fortney, Jonathan J.; Greenberg, Richard

    2010-01-01

    CoRoT-7 b is the first confirmed rocky exoplanet, but, with an orbital semimajor axis of 0.0172 au, its origins may be unlike any rocky planet in our Solar System. In this study, we consider the roles of tidal evolution and evaporative mass loss in CoRoT-7 b's history, which together have modified the planet's mass and orbit. If CoRoT-7 b has always been a rocky body, evaporation may have driven off almost half its original mass, but the mass loss may depend sensitively on the extent of tidal decay of its orbit. As tides caused CoRoT-7 b's orbit to decay, they brought the planet closer to its host star, thereby enhancing the mass loss rate. Such a large mass loss also suggests the possibility that CoRoT-7 b began as a gas giant planet and had its original atmosphere completely evaporated. In this case, we find that CoRoT-7 b's original mass probably did not exceed 200 Earth masses (about two-third of a Jupiter mass). Tides raised on the host star by the planet may have significantly reduced the orbital semimajor axis, perhaps causing the planet to migrate through mean-motion resonances with the other planet in the system, CoRoT-7 c. The coupling between tidal evolution and mass loss may be important not only for CoRoT-7 b but also for other close-in exoplanets, and future studies of mass loss and orbital evolution may provide insight into the origin and fate of close-in planets, both rocky and gaseous.

  12. Immune response against the coiled coil domain of Sjögren's syndrome associated autoantigen Ro52 induces salivary gland dysfunction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sroka, Magdalena; Bagavant, Harini; Biswas, Indranil; Ballard, Abigail; Deshmukh, Umesh S

    2018-01-31

    The structural domains of Ro52, termed the RING, B-box, coiled coil (CC) and B30.2/SPRY are targets of anti-Ro52 in multiple autoimmune disorders. In Sjögren's syndrome patients, the presence of anti-Ro52 is associated with higher disease severity, and in mice, they induce salivary gland hypofunction. This study was undertaken to investigate whether immune responses against different domains of Ro52, influences salivary gland disease in mice. Female NZM2758 mice were immunised with Ro52 domains expressed as recombinant fusion proteins with maltose binding protein (MBP) [MBP-RING-B-box, MBP-CC, MBP-CC(ΔC19), MBP-B30.2/SPRY]. Sera from immunised mice were studied for IgG antibodies to Ro52 by immunoprecipitation, and to salivary gland cells by immunofluorescence. Pilocarpine-induced saliva production was measured to evaluate salivary gland function. Submandibular glands were investigated by histopathology for inflammation and by immune-histochemistry for IgG deposition. Mice immunised with different Ro52-domains had comparable reactivity to Ro52 and to salivary gland cells. However, only mice immunised with the CC domain and its C-terminal truncated version CC(ΔC19) showed a significant drop in saliva production. None of the mice developed severe salivary gland inflammation. The salivary gland hypofunction significantly correlated with increased intra-lobar IgG deposits in the submandibular salivary glands. Our data demonstrate that epitope specificity of anti-Ro52 antibodies plays a critical role in the induction of glandular dysfunction. Clearly, screening Sjögren's syndrome patients for relative levels of Ro52 domain specific antibodies will be more informative for associating anti-Ro52 with clinical measures of the disorder.

  13. Optimization and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biochar-based fertilizers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Ping; Zhou, Hui; Gan, Jay; Sun, Mingxing; Shang, Guofeng; Liu, Liang; Shen, Guoqing

    2015-03-01

    The agronomic benefit of biochar has attracted widespread attention to biochar-based fertilizers. However, the inevitable presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biochar is a matter of concern because of the health and ecological risks of these compounds. The strong adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to biochar complicates their analysis and extraction from biochar-based fertilizers. In this study, we optimized and validated a method for determining the 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biochar-based fertilizers. Results showed that accelerated solvent extraction exhibited high extraction efficiency. Based on a Box-Behnken design with a triplicate central point, accelerated solvent extraction was used under the following optimal operational conditions: extraction temperature of 78°C, extraction time of 17 min, and two static cycles. The optimized method was validated by assessing the linearity of analysis, limit of detection, limit of quantification, recovery, and application to real samples. The results showed that the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exhibited good linearity, with a correlation coefficient of 0.996. The limits of detection varied between 0.001 (phenanthrene) and 0.021 mg/g (benzo[ghi]perylene), and the limits of quantification varied between 0.004 (phenanthrene) and 0.069 mg/g (benzo[ghi]perylene). The relative recoveries of the 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were 70.26-102.99%. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. Economical feasibility of zeolite membranes for industrial scale separations of aromatic hydrocarbons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meindersma, G.W.; de Haan, A.B.

    2002-01-01

    Naphtha cracker feedstocks contain 10–25 wt% aromatic hydrocarbons, which are not converted into the desired products ethylene and propylene. The conventional processes for the separation of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons are extraction, extractive distillation and azeotropic distillation.

  15. Abscisic-acid-induced cellular apoptosis and differentiation in glioma via the retinoid acid signaling pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Nan; Yao, Yu; Ye, Hongxing; Zhu, Wei; Chen, Liang; Mao, Ying

    2016-04-15

    Retinoid acid (RA) plays critical roles in regulating differentiation and apoptosis in a variety of cancer cells. Abscisic acid (ABA) and RA are direct derivatives of carotenoids and share structural similarities. Here we proposed that ABA may also play a role in cellular differentiation and apoptosis by sharing a similar signaling pathway with RA that may be involved in glioma pathogenesis. We reported for the first time that the ABA levels were twofold higher in low-grade gliomas compared with high-grade gliomas. In glioma tissues, there was a positive correlation between the ABA levels and the transcription of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2 (CRABP2) and a negative correlation between the ABA levels and transcription of fatty acid-binding protein 5 (FABP5). ABA treatment induced a significant increase in the expression of CRABP2 and a decrease in the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) in glioblastoma cells. Remarkably, both cellular apoptosis and differentiation were increased in the glioblastoma cells after ABA treatment. ABA-induced cellular apoptosis and differentiation were significantly reduced by selectively silencing RAR-α, while RAR-α overexpression exaggerated the ABA-induced effects. These results suggest that ABA may play a role in the pathogenesis of glioma by promoting cellular apoptosis and differentiation through the RA signaling pathway. © 2015 UICC.

  16. Aromatic metabolism of filamentous fungi in relation to the presence of aromatic compounds in plant biomass

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mäkelä, Miia R; Marinović, Mila; Nousiainen, Paula; Liwanag, April J M; Benoit, Isabelle; Sipilä, Jussi; Hatakka, Annele; de Vries, Ronald P; Hildén, Kristiina S

    2015-01-01

    The biological conversion of plant lignocellulose plays an essential role not only in carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems but also is an important part of the production of second generation biofuels and biochemicals. The presence of the recalcitrant aromatic polymer lignin is one of the major

  17. E. S. R. study of free radicals formed in the irradiated DNA-Ro 7-0582 complex

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Washino, K; Kuwabara, M; Yoshii, G [Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo (Japan)

    1979-01-01

    The effect of Ro 7-0582 (1-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxypropyl)-2-nitro-imidazole) on the formation of free radicals in ..gamma..-irradiated dry DNA has been investigated. Dry samples of DNA-Ro 7-0582 and DNA nucleotide-Ro 7-0582 were prepared, and e.s.r. spectra observed at 77 K immediately after gamma-irradiation. The samples were then warmed to 297 K for 30 min, and the spectra again observed at 77 K. The sensitizer brought about an increase of 30 to 40% in radical formation in DNA. The results indicated that Ro 7-0582 acts as an efficient electron scavenger on the TMP and dAMP moieties, increasing the incidence of sugar damage. Since TMP and dAMP form a complementary pair in the DNA double helix, the increase in double strand breaks induced by electron-affinic compounds seems to be responsible for the molecular mechanism of radiosensitization in living cells.

  18. Characterization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's) present in sampled cooked food

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palm Naa-Dedei, L.M.

    2010-07-01

    The study was conducted to determine the levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the following traditionally prepared food: smoked and grilled Scomba japonicus, grilled meat (khebab) and bread sampled from some Ghanaian markets. By way of preparation of traditional food, some food comes into direct contact with smoke or extremely high temperature which are potential sources of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon generation. Levels of 20 individual Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons including acenaphthene, acenaphtyelene, anthanthrene, anthracene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(a)pyrene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(e)pyrene, benzo(ghi)perylene, benzo(j)fluoranthene, benzo(k)fluoranthene, chrysene, cyclopenta(cd)pyrene, dibenzo(ah)anthracene, fluoranthene, fluorene, indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene were determined in 11 smoked and 5 grilled fish, 4 grilled pieces of meat and 3 loaves of baked bread using gas chromatographic techniques with flame ionization detector. Benzo(a)pyrene, which is one of the few PAH for which a legal limit exists in different types of food matrices and other high molecular weight PAHs suspected to be carcinogenic have been detected in high concentrations in most samples. Bread samples gave mean polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations of up to 20.39 μg/kg while khebab samples gave mean polycyclicaromatic hydrocarbon concentrations of up to 67.61 μg/kg. There was positive correlation of 0.987 between levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentrations in khebab samples from locations Osu and Atomic down. There was a positive correlation in the concentrations of the high molecular weight PAHs in all smoked fishes from four locations with values between 0.954 and 0.999 for the correlation between any two groups. The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration determined in smoked fish samples deceased in terms of location according to the order Winneba > Madina > Chorkor > Ada.

  19. Aromatization of propane over MFI-gallosilicates

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bayense, C.R.; vd Pol, A.J.H.P.; Hooff, van J.H.C.

    1991-01-01

    The results of propane aromatization over gallium containing HZSM-5 zeolites are described. Highly dispersed gallium in the zeolite (framework or extra-framework) was found to possess dehydrogenation activity, especially in the presence of strong Brønsted acid sites. The extra-framework gallium was

  20. Metagenomic screening for aromatic compound-responsive transcriptional regulators.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Taku Uchiyama

    Full Text Available We applied a metagenomics approach to screen for transcriptional regulators that sense aromatic compounds. The library was constructed by cloning environmental DNA fragments into a promoter-less vector containing green fluorescence protein. Fluorescence-based screening was then performed in the presence of various aromatic compounds. A total of 12 clones were isolated that fluoresced in response to salicylate, 3-methyl catechol, 4-chlorocatechol and chlorohydroquinone. Sequence analysis revealed at least 1 putative transcriptional regulator, excluding 1 clone (CHLO8F. Deletion analysis identified compound-specific transcriptional regulators; namely, 8 LysR-types, 2 two-component-types and 1 AraC-type. Of these, 9 representative clones were selected and their reaction specificities to 18 aromatic compounds were investigated. Overall, our transcriptional regulators were functionally diverse in terms of both specificity and induction rates. LysR- and AraC- type regulators had relatively narrow specificities with high induction rates (5-50 fold, whereas two-component-types had wide specificities with low induction rates (3 fold. Numerous transcriptional regulators have been deposited in sequence databases, but their functions remain largely unknown. Thus, our results add valuable information regarding the sequence-function relationship of transcriptional regulators.

  1. Vasodilatory effect of the stable vasoactive intestinal peptide analog RO 25-1553 in murine and rat lungs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Yin

    Full Text Available Stable analogs of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP have been proposed as novel line of therapy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD based on their bronchodilatory and anti-inflammatory effects. We speculated that VIP analogs may provide additional benefits in that they exert vasodilatory properties in the lung, and tested this hypothesis in both ex vivo and in vivo models.In isolated perfused mouse lungs and in an in vivo rat model, pulmonary blood vessels were preconstricted by hypoxia and hemodynamic changes in response to systemic (ex vivo or inhaled (in vivo administration of the cyclic VIP analog RO 25-1553 were determined.In mouse lungs, RO 25-1553 reduced intrinsic vascular resistance at normoxia, and attenuated the increase in pulmonary artery pressure in response to acute hypoxia. Consistently, inhalation of RO 25-1553 (1 mg · mL(-1 for 3 min caused an extensive and sustained (> 60 min inhibition of the pulmonary arterial pressure increase in response to hypoxia in vivo that was comparable to the effects of inhaled sildenafil. This effect was not attributable to systemic cardiovascular effects of RO 25-1553, but to a lung specific reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance, while cardiac output and systemic arterial hemodynamics remained unaffected. No adverse effects of RO 25-1553 inhalation on pulmonary gas exchange, ventilation-perfusion matching, or lung fluid content were detected.Our findings demonstrate that inhaled delivery of the stable VIP analog RO 25-1553 induces a potent and sustained vasodilatory effect in the pulmonary circulation with no detectable adverse effects. Therapeutic inhalation of RO 25-1553 may provide vascular benefits in addition to its reported anti-inflammatory and bronchodilatory effects in COPD, yet caution is warranted given the overall poor results of vasodilator therapies for pulmonary hypertension secondary to COPD in a series of recent clinical trials.

  2. Development of a new spectrophotometric method to determine the total aromatic contents in kerosene

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harfoush, A.; shlewit, H.

    1996-12-01

    This developed spectrophotometric method is helpful to determine and control the total aromatic contents in kerosene, during the treatment process of kerosene with conc. H sup 2 SO sup 4 and P sup 2 O sup 5 to remove aromatics, which have negative effect on the solvent extraction coefficient KD of uranium from the Syrian phosphoric acid, where kerosene is used as diluent. this method is rapid according to others, and simply, using the standard curve prepared by the separated aromatics from the Syrian kerosene, A =f (C) at 272 nm, we can calculate the aromatic contents in the known samples. (author). 24 Refs., 5 Figs

  3. Evaluation of a Conceptual Model for Gas-Particle Partitioning of\

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Shahpoury, P.; Lammel, G.; Albinet, A.; Sofuoğlu, A.; Dumanoğlu, Y.; Sofuoğlu, S.C.; Ždímal, Vladimír; Wagner, Zdeněk

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 50, č. 22 (2016), s. 12312-12319 ISSN 0013-936X Grant - others:IITSCRF(TR) 2013-IYTE-14 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 Keywords : dimethyl sulfoxide * aromatic hydrocarbon * aromatic compounds Subject RIV: CF - Physical ; Theoretical Chemistry Impact factor: 6.198, year: 2016

  4. Re/HZSM-5: a new catalyst for ethane aromatization with improved stability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krogh, Anne; Hansen, Thomas W.; Christensen, Claus Hviid

    2003-01-01

    Rhenium-impregnated HZSM-5 is found to be a promising catalyst for ethane aromatization. The Re–HZSM-5 catalyst deactivates significantly slower than well-known ethane aromatization Zn–HZSM-5 catalyst. Product selectivities for the two catalysts are similar, indicating that the shape selectivity...

  5. What CoRoT tells us about δ Scuti stars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michel Eric

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Inspired by the so appealing example of red giants, where going from a handful of stars to thousands revealed the structure of the eigenspectrum, we inspected a large homogeneous set of around 1860 δ Scuti stars observed with CoRoT. This unique data set reveals a common regular pattern which appears to be in agreement with island modes featured by theoretical non-perturbative treatments of fast rotation. The comparison of these data with models and linear stability calculations suggests that spectra can be fruitfully characterized to first order by a few parameters which might play the role of seismic indices for δ Scuti stars, as Δv and vmax do for red giants. The existence of this pattern offers an observational support for guiding further theoretical works on fast rotation. It also provides a framework for further investigation of the observational material collected by CoRoT ([1] and Kepler ([2]. Finally, it sketches out the perspective of using δ Scuti stars pulsations for ensemble asteroseismology

  6. Stimulation of topoisomerase II mediated DNA cleavage at specific sequence elements by the 2-nitroimidazole Ro 15-0216

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sorensen, B.S.; Jensen, P.S.; Andersen, A.H.; Christiansen, K.; Alsner, J.; Thomsen, B.; Westergaard, O.

    1990-01-01

    The effect of the 2-nitroimidazole Ro 15-0216 upon the interaction between purified topoisomerase II and its DNA substrate was investigated. The cleavage reaction in the presence of this DNA-nonintercalative drug took place with the hallmarks of a regular topoisomerase II mediated cleavage reaction, including covalent linkage of the enzyme to the cleaved DNA. In the presence of Ro 15-0216, topoisomerase II mediated cleavage was extensively stimulated at major cleavage sites of which only one existed in the 4363 base pair pBR322 molecule. The sites stimulated by Ro 15-0216 shared a pronounced sequence homology, indicating that a specific nucleotide sequence is crucial for the action of this drug. The effect of Ro 15-0216 thus differs from that of the clinically important topoisomerase II targeted agents such as mAMSA, VM26, and VP16, which enhance enzyme-mediated cleavage at a multiple number of sites. In contrast to the previous described drugs, Ro 15-0216 did not exert any inhibitory effect on the enzyme's catalytic activity. This observation might be ascribed to the low stability of the cleavage complexes formed in the presence of Ro 15-0216 as compared to the stability of the ones formed in the presence of traditional topoisomerase II targeted drugs

  7. Mycotoxicogenic fungal inhibition by innovative cheese cover with aromatic plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moro, Armando; Librán, Celia M; Berruga, M Isabel; Zalacain, Amaya; Carmona, Manuel

    2013-03-30

    The use of aromatic plants and their extracts with antimicrobial properties may be compromised in the case of cheese, as some type of fungal starter is needed during its production. Penicillium verrucosum is considered a common cheese spoiler. The aim of this study was to evaluate the innovative use of certain aromatic plants as natural cheese covers in order to prevent mycotoxicogenic fungal growth (P. verrucosum). A collection of 12 essential oils (EOs) was obtained from various aromatic plants by solvent-free microwave extraction technology, and volatile characterisation of the EOs was carried out by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. The most effective EOs against P. verrucosum were obtained from Anethum graveolens, Hyssopus officinalis and Chamaemelum nobile, yielding 50% inhibition of fungal growth at concentration values lower than 0.02 µL mL⁻¹. All EOs showed high volatile heterogeneity, with α-phellandrene, pinocamphone, isopinocamphone, α-pinene, camphene, 1,8-cineole, carvacrol and trans-anethole being found to be statistically significant in the antifungal model. The use of these aromatic plants as natural covers on cheese can satisfactorily inhibit the growth of some mycotoxicogenic fungal spoilers. Among the volatile compounds present, α- and β-phellandrene were confirmed as the most relevant in the inhibition. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry.

  8. Aromatic organosulfates in atmospheric aerosols: synthesis, characterization, and abundance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staudt, Sean; Kundu, Shuvashish; Lehmler, Hans-Joachim; He, Xianran; Cui, Tianqu; Lin, Ying-Hsuan; Kristensen, Kasper; Glasius, Marianne; Zhang, Xiaolu; Weber, Rodney J; Surratt, Jason D; Stone1, Elizabeth A

    2014-09-01

    Aromatic organosulfates are identified and quantified in fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) from Lahore, Pakistan, Godavari, Nepal, and Pasadena, California. To support detection and quantification, authentic standards of phenyl sulfate, benzyl sulfate, 3-and 4-methylphenyl sulfate and 2-, 3-, and 4-methylbenzyl sulfate were synthesized. Authentic standards and aerosol samples were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) coupled to negative electrospray ionization (ESI) quadrupole time-of-flight (ToF) mass spectrometry. Benzyl sulfate was present in all three locations at concentrations ranging from 4 - 90 pg m -3 . Phenyl sulfate, methylphenyl sulfates and methylbenzyl sulfates were observed intermittently with abundances of 4 pg m -3 , 2-31 pg m -3 , 109 pg m -3 , respectively. Characteristic fragment ions of aromatic organosulfates include the sulfite radical ( • SO 3 - , m/z 80) and the sulfate radical ( • SO 4 - , m/z 96). Instrumental response factors of phenyl and benzyl sulfates varied by a factor of 4.3, indicating that structurally-similar organosulfates may have significantly different instrumental responses and highlighting the need to develop authentic standards for absolute quantitation organosulfates. In an effort to better understand the sources of aromatic organosulfates to the atmosphere, chamber experiments with the precursor toluene were conducted under conditions that form biogenic organosulfates. Aromatic organosulfates were not detected in the chamber samples, suggesting that they form through different pathways, have different precursors (e.g. naphthalene or methylnaphthalene), or are emitted from primary sources.

  9. Synthesis and Properties of Some polyurethane/ Partially Aromatic Polyester Casting Samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sadek, E.M.; Mazroua, A.M.; Emam, A.S.; Motawie, A.M.

    2005-01-01

    A series of partially aromatic terephthalate polyesters were synthesized by melt transesterification of dimethyl terephthalate with various types of aliphatic diol compounds in 1:1.1 molar ratio. Ethylene-, di-, tri-, tetra ethylene glycol and polyethylene glycol with different molecular weights 1000, 4000, 6000 as well as the prepared dihydroxy natural rubber were used. Another series of partially aromatic adipate and sebacate polyesters based on the prepared bisphenol A and its tetrabromo derivative were also synthesized by direct polycondensation esterification with adipic and sebacic acid. Polyurethane with NCO/OH ratio equal 4 was prepared from the reaction of 2,4 toluene diisocyanate with polyethylene glycol 1000. The prepared polyurethane was mixed with different weight percentages (2, 4, 6, 8, 10 or 12 % w/w) of the prepared partially aromatic polyesters to give polyurethane/polyester compositions. Mechanical and electrical properties as well as water and chemical resistance of the prepared film samples with thickness 3-4 mm were determined and compared with those of polyurethane film sample without polyester. The data indicate that 10 % w/w of the added partially aromatic polyester increases polyurethane tensile strength, improves its insulation properties and hydrolytic stability as well as its chemical resistance. Film samples based on bisphenol A impart excellent properties as compared with those based on aliphatic glycol species and dihydroxy natural rubber. Keywords: Partially aromatic polyesters, Dimethyl terephthalate, Glycols, Bisphenol A, Tetrabromo bisphenol A, Natural rubber, Adipic acid, Sebacic acid, Polyurethane, Casting

  10. Process for removing halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds from petroleum products

    Science.gov (United States)

    Googin, J.M.; Napier, J.M.; Travaglini, M.A.

    1983-09-20

    A process is described for removing halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds, e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls, from petroleum products by solvent extraction. The halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds are extracted from a petroleum product into a polar solvent by contacting the petroleum product with the polar solvent. The polar solvent is characterized by a high solubility for the extracted halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds, a low solubility for the petroleum product and considerable solvent power for polyhydroxy compound. The preferred polar solvent is dimethylformamide. A miscible compound, such as, water or a polyhydroxy compound, is added to the polar extraction solvent to increase the polarity of the polar extraction solvent. The halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds are extracted from the highly-polarized mixture of water or polyhydroxy compound and polar extraction solvent into a low polar or nonpolar solvent by contacting the water or polyhydroxy compound-polar solvent mixture with the low polar or nonpolar solvent. The halogenated aliphatic and aromatic compounds and the low polar or nonpolar solvent are separated by physical means, e.g., vacuum evaporation. The polar and nonpolar solvents are recovered from recycling. The process can easily be designed for continuous operation. Advantages of the process include that the polar solvent and a major portion of the nonpolar solvent can be recycled, the petroleum products are reclaimable and the cost for disposing of waste containing polychlorinated biphenyls is significantly reduced. 1 fig.

  11. Development of silica RO membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikeda, Ayumi; Kawamoto, Takashi; Matsuyama, Emi; Utsumi, Keisuke; Nomura, Mikihiro; Sugimoto, Masaki; Yoshikawa, Masato

    2012-01-01

    Silica based membranes have been developed by using a counter diffusion CVD method. Effects of alkyl groups in the silica precursors and deposition temperatures had investigated in order to control pore sizes of the silica membranes. In this study, this type of a silica membrane was applied for RO separation. Effects of silica sources, deposition temperatures and post treatments had been investigated. Tetramethoxysilane (TMOS), Ethyltrimethoxysilane (ETMOS) and Phenyltrimethoxysilane (PhTMOS) were used as silica precursors. A counter diffusion CVD method was carried out for 90 min at 270 - 600degC on γ-alumina capillary substrates (effective length: 50 mm, φ: 4 nm: NOK Co.). O 3 or O 2 was introduced into the inside of the substrate at the O 2 rate of 0.2 L min -1 . Ion beam irradiation was carried out for a post treatment using Os at 490 MeV for 1.0 x 10 10 ions cm -2 or 3.0 x 10 10 ions cm -2 . Single gas permeance was measured by using H 2 , N 2 and SF 6 . RO tests were employed at 3.0 or 5.4 MPa for 100 mg L -1 of feed NaCl solution. First, effects of the silica sources were investigated. The total fluxes increased by increasing N 2 permeance through the silica membrane deposited by ETMOS. The maximum NaCl rejection was 28.2% at 12.2 kg m -2 h -1 of the total flux through the membrane deposited at 270degC. N 2 permeance was 9.6 x 10 -9 mol m -2 s -1 Pa -1 . While, total fluxes through the membrane deposited by using PhTMOS were smaller than those through the ETMOS membranes. The phenyl groups for the PhTMOS membrane must be important for the hydrophobic properties through the membrane. Next, effects of ion beam irradiation were tested for the TMOS membranes. Water is difficult to permeate through the TMOS membranes due to the low N 2 permeance through the membrane (3.1 x 10 -11 mol m -2 s -1 Pa -1 ). N 2 permeance increased to 7.3 x 10 -9 mol m -2 s -1 Pa -1 by the irradiation. Irradiation amounts had little effects on N 2 permeance. However, NaCl rejections

  12. Spectroscopic and theoretical studies on the aromaticity of pyrrol-2-yl-carbonyl conformers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubis, Alina T.; Wojtulewski, Sławomir; Filipkowski, Karol

    2013-06-01

    The aromaticity of s-cis and s-trans pyrrol-2-yl carbonyl conformers was studied by FT-IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level of theory. The Harmonic Oscillator Model of Aromaticity (HOMA) and Nucleus Independent Chemical Shift (NICS) indices were calculated to estimate π-electron delocalization in the pyrrole ring. The usefulness of infrared spectroscopy in the evaluation of the aromaticity of the homogeneous set of pyrroles is discussed. The influence of 2-substitution on different aspects of aromaticity and stability of the pyrrol-2-yl carbonyl conformers is also discussed. It is concluded that the substitution effect of the title pyrrole derivatives can be explained on the basis of theoretical and experimental measurements of π-electron delocalization, including IR data.

  13. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in air samples of meat smokehouses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Åse Marie; Olsen, I L; Poulsen, O M

    1992-01-01

    In a screening programme nine Danish meat smokehouses were randomly selected for measurements on concentration of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). A total of 23 stationary air samples were collected during the entire working period of the kiln either above the kiln doors or approx......In a screening programme nine Danish meat smokehouses were randomly selected for measurements on concentration of airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). A total of 23 stationary air samples were collected during the entire working period of the kiln either above the kiln doors...

  14. Composition of volatile aromatic compounds and minerals of tarhana enriched with cherry laurel (Laurocerasus officinalis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Temiz, Hasan; Tarakçı, Zekai

    2017-03-01

    Different concentrations of cherry laurel pulp (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%) were used to produce tarhana samples. Volatile aromatic compounds and minor mineral content were investigated. Volatile aromatic compounds were analyzed by using GC-MS with SPME fiber and minor mineral values were evaluated with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer. The statistical analysis showed that addition of pulp affected volatile aromatic compounds and minor mineral content significantly. Thirty five volatile aromatic compounds were found in tarhana samples. The octanoic acid from acids, benzaldehyde (CAS) phenylmethanal from aldehydes, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one from ketones, octadecane (CAS) n -octadecane form terpenes, ethyl caprylate from esters and benzenemethanol (CAS) benzyl alcohol from alcohols had the highest percentage of volatile aromatic compounds. Tarhana samples were rich source of Mn, Cu and Fe content.

  15. Novel antidepressant candidate RO-05 modulated glucocorticoid receptors activation and FKBP5 expression in chronic mild stress model in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xing, Y; Hou, J; Meng, Q; Yang, M; Kurihara, H; Tian, J

    2015-04-02

    In this study, a novel TRI (triple reuptake inhibitors) antidepressant candidate RO-05 (4-[1-[1-(benzoyloxy)cyclohexyl]-2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]-phenyl benzoate) was investigated in TST (tail suspension test), FST (forced swimming test) and CMS (chronic mild stress) model. Results showed RO-05 significantly decreased the immobility time in FST and TST at 4.5-, 9-, 18-mg/kg in rats and 9-, 18-, 36-mg/kg in mice. Chronic administration of 18-mg/kg RO-05 improved the behavioral index, anhedonia and normalized the hyperactivity of HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) of CMS rats. We further investigated the possible mechanisms of RO-05 in the CMS model. Eighteen milligrams per kilogram of RO-05 chronic administration significantly reversed the increase of mRNA and protein expression of FKBP5 in the CMS rat hippocampus, which facilitated the activation of GR- (glucocorticoid receptor) and GR-responsive gene Foxo1 expression. RO-05 also elevated the expression of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) in CMS rat hippocampus. In summary, our results indicated that RO-05 is a promising antidepressant candidate. The possible antidepressant mechanisms of RO-05 were the modulation of FKBP5 expression, GR activation, corresponding inhibition of HPA axis hyperactivity, and the increase of BDNF expression. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Radiation chemistry of aromatic dimer radical cations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okamoto, Kazumasa; Tagawa, Seiichi

    2009-01-01

    π-π Interactions of aromatic molecules are paid attention much in many fields, especially biology, chemistry, and applied physics, represented as protein, DNA, electron donor-accepter complexes, charge transfers, and self assembly molecules. Aromatic molecules including benzene rings are the simplest case to study the π-π interactions. To interpret the charge resonance (CR) structure in the dimer radical cations, spectroscopic and ESR methods have been carried out. The spectroscopic study on the dimer radical ion of molecules with two chromophores would be profitable to identify the electronic and configurational properties. In this article, dynamics of the dimer radical cation of benzenes, polystyrenes, and resist polymers is described on the basis of direct observation of CR band by the nanosecond pulse radiolysis and low temperature γ-radiolysis methods. (author)

  17. Isolation and identification of aromatic hydrocarbon degrading yeasts present in gasoline tanks of urbans vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nathalia Catalina Delgadillo-Ordoñez

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Yeast isolates were obtained from fuel tanks of vehicles in order to assess their potential use in the degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Growth assays were performed in minimum mineral medium using different aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, naphthalene, phenanthrene, and pyrene as the sole carbon source. Isolates that showed growth in any of the tested polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were identified by Sanger sequencing of the ITS1 and ITS2 rDNA molecular markers. A total of 16 yeasts strains were isolated, and three showed remarkable growth in media with aromatic hydrocarbons as the sole carbon source. These strains belong to the genus Rhodotorula, and correspond to the species Rhodotorula calyptogenae (99,8% identity and Rhodotorula dairenensis (99,8% identity.  These strains grew in benzene, toluene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene. This study demonstrates for the first time that yeasts of the genus Rhodotorula inhabit pipelines and fuel tanks of vehicles and that remove   aromatic hydrocarbons that are environmental pollutants. Our results suggest that these yeasts are potential candidates for aromatic hydrocarbon degradation as part of bioremediation strategies.

  18. Microbial transformation of chlorinated aromatics in sediments

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beurskens, J.E.M.

    1995-01-01

    Numerous contaminants like heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), chlorinated benzenes (CBs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated furans (PCDFs) are detected in the major rivers in the

  19. Formation of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Nitrogen Containing Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds in Titan's Atmosphere, the Interstellar Medium and Combustion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Landera, Alexander

    2013-12-01

    Several different mechanisms leading to the formation of (substituted) naphthalene and azanaphthalenes were examined using theoretical quantum chemical calculations. As a result, a series of novel synthetic routes to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Nitrogen Containing Polycyclic Aromatic Compounds (N-PACs) have been proposed. On Earth, these aromatic compounds originate from incomplete combustion and are released into our environment, where they are known to be major pollutants, often with carcinogenic properties. In the atmosphere of a Saturn's moon Titan, these PAH and N-PACs are believed to play a critical role in organic haze formation, as well as acting as chemical precursors to biologically relevant molecules. The theoretical calculations were performed by employing the ab initio G3(MP2,CC)/B3LYP/6-311G** method to effectively probe the Potential Energy Surfaces (PES) relevant to the PAH and N-PAC formation. Following the construction of the PES, Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Markus (RRKM) theory was used to evaluate all unimolecular rate constants as a function of collision energy under single-collision conditions. Branching ratios were then evaluated by solving phenomenological rate expressions for the various product concentrations. The most viable pathways to PAH and N-PAC formation were found to be those where the initial attack by the ethynyl (C2H) or cyano (CN) radical toward a unsaturated hydrocarbon molecule led to the formation of an intermediate which could not effectively lose a hydrogen atom. It is not until ring cyclization has occurred, that hydrogen elimination leads to a closed shell product. By quenching the possibility of the initial hydrogen atom elimination, one of the most competitive processes preventing the PAH or N-PAC formation was avoided, and the PAH or N-PAC formation was allowed to proceed. It is concluded that these considerations should be taken into account when attempting to explore any other potential routes towards

  20. Fusing porphyrins with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heterocycles for optoelectronic applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Mark E.; Diev, Viacheslav; Hanson, Kenneth; Forrest, Stephen R.

    2015-08-18

    A compound that can be used as a donor material in organic photovoltaic devices comprising a non-activated porphyrin fused with one or more non-activated polycyclic aromatic rings or one or more non-activated heterocyclic rings can be obtained by a thermal fusion process. The compounds can include structures of Formula I: ##STR00001## By heating the reaction mixture of non-activated porphyrins with non-activated polycyclic aromatic rings or heterocyclic rings to a fusion temperature and holding for a predetermined time, fusion of one or more polycyclic rings or heterocyclic rings to the non-activated porphyrin core in meso,.beta. fashion is achieved resulting in hybrid structures containing a distorted porphyrin ring with annulated aromatic rings. The porphyrin core can be olygoporphyrins.

  1. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in particulates emitted by motorcycles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pham, Chau Thuy; Kameda, Takayuki; Toriba, Akira; Hayakawa, Kazuichi

    2013-01-01

    We determined eleven PAHs and four NPAHs in particulates and regulated pollutants (CO, CO 2 , HC, NO x , PM) exhausted from motorcycles to figure out the characteristics of motorcycle exhausts. Fluoranthene and pyrene accounted for more than 50% of the total detected PAHs. Among four detected NPAHs, 6-nitrochrysene and 7-nitrobenz[a]anthracene were the predominant NPAHs and were highly correlated relationship with their parent PAHs (R = 0.93 and 0.97, respectively). The PM and HC emissions tended to be close to the PAH emissions. NO x and NPAHs were negatively correlated. Despite their small engine size, motorcycles emitted much more PM and PAHs, showed stronger PAH-related carcinogenicity and indirect-acting mutagenicity, but weaker NPAH-related direct-acting mutagenic potency than automobiles. This is the first study to analyze both PAHs and NPAHs emitted by motorcycles, which could provide useful information to design the emission regulations and standards for motorcycles such as PM. -- Highlights: ► We characterized PAHs and NPAHs distribution in motorcycle exhausts. ► NPAHs concentrations were about three orders of magnitude lower than those of PAHs. ► We found larger amounts of PM and PAHs in exhaust of motorcycles than of automobiles. ► Motorcycles showed stronger PAH-related toxicity than automobiles. ► Motorcycles showed weaker NPAH-related direct-acting mutagenicity than automobiles. -- Control polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitropolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in particulates emitted by motorcycles due to their toxic potency

  2. Efficiently Combining Water Reuse and Desalination through Forward Osmosis-Reverse Osmosis (FO-RO) Hybrids: A Critical Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blandin, Gaetan; Verliefde, Arne R D; Comas, Joaquim; Rodriguez-Roda, Ignasi; Le-Clech, Pierre

    2016-07-01

    Forward osmosis (FO) is a promising membrane technology to combine seawater desalination and water reuse. More specifically, in a FO-reverse osmosis (RO) hybrid process, high quality water recovered from the wastewater stream is used to dilute seawater before RO treatment. As such, lower desalination energy needs and/or water augmentation can be obtained while delivering safe water for direct potable reuse thanks to the double dense membrane barrier protection. Typically, FO-RO hybrid can be a credible alternative to new desalination facilities or to implementation of stand-alone water reuse schemes. However, apart from the societal (public perception of water reuse for potable application) and water management challenges (proximity of wastewater and desalination plants), FO-RO hybrid has to overcome technical limitation such as low FO permeation flux to become economically attractive. Recent developments (i.e., improved FO membranes, use of pressure assisted osmosis, PAO) demonstrated significant improvement in water flux. However, flux improvement is associated with drawbacks, such as increased fouling behaviour, lower rejection of trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in PAO operation, and limitation in FO membrane mechanical resistance, which need to be better considered. To support successful implementation of FO-RO hybrid in the industry, further work is required regarding up-scaling to apprehend full-scale challenges in term of mass transfer limitation, pressure drop, fouling and cleaning strategies on a module scale. In addition, refined economics assessment is expected to integrate fouling and other maintenance costs/savings of the FO/PAO-RO hybrid systems, as well as cost savings from any treatment step avoided in the water recycling.

  3. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) degradation by laccase ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    PRECIOUS

    2009-11-02

    Nov 2, 2009 ... Full Length Research Paper. Polycyclic aromatic ... production of paper, feeds, chemicals and fuels there is ... microbes with the production of lignin-modifying enzymes ... enable white rot fungi to degrade a variety of toxic.

  4. [Macromolecular aromatic network characteristics of Chinese power coal analyzed by synchronous fluorescence and X-ray diffraction].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Cui-Ping; Feng, Jie; Li, Wen-Ying

    2012-07-01

    Coal structure, especially the macromolecular aromatic skeleton structure, has a strong influence on coke reactivity and coal gasification, so it is the key to grasp the macromolecular aromatic skeleton coal structure for getting the reasonable high efficiency utilization of coal. However, it is difficult to acquire their information due to the complex compositions and structure of coal. It has been found that the macromolecular aromatic network coal structure would be most isolated if small molecular of coal was first extracted. Then the macromolecular aromatic skeleton coal structure would be clearly analyzed by instruments, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), fluorescence spectroscopy with synchronous mode (Syn-F), Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) etc. Based on the previous results, according to the stepwise fractional liquid extraction, two Chinese typical power coals, PS and HDG, were extracted by silica gel as stationary phase and acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran (THF), pyridine and 1-methyl-2-pyrollidinone (NMP) as a solvent group for sequential elution. GPC, Syn-F and XRD were applied to investigate molecular mass distribution, condensed aromatic structure and crystal characteristics. The results showed that the size of aromatic layers (La) is small (3-3.95 nm) and the stacking heights (Lc) are 0.8-1.2 nm. The molecular mass distribution of the macromolecular aromatic network structure is between 400 and 1 130 amu, with condensed aromatic numbers of 3-7 in the structure units.

  5. A new strategy for aromatic ring alkylation in cylindrocyclophane biosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakamura, Hitomi; Schultz, Erica E; Balskus, Emily P

    2017-08-01

    Alkylation of aromatic rings with alkyl halides is an important transformation in organic synthesis, yet an enzymatic equivalent is unknown. Here, we report that cylindrocyclophane biosynthesis in Cylindrospermum licheniforme ATCC 29412 involves chlorination of an unactivated carbon center by a novel halogenase, followed by a previously uncharacterized enzymatic dimerization reaction featuring sequential, stereospecific alkylations of resorcinol aromatic rings. Discovery of the enzymatic machinery underlying this unique biosynthetic carbon-carbon bond formation has implications for biocatalysis and metabolic engineering.

  6. Formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules from aromatic compounds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molteni, Ugo; Bianchi, Federico; Klein, Felix; El Haddad, Imad; Frege, Carla; Rossi, Michel J.; Dommen, Josef; Baltensperger, Urs

    2018-02-01

    Anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) often dominate the urban atmosphere and consist to a large degree of aromatic hydrocarbons (ArHCs), such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, and trimethylbenzenes, e.g., from the handling and combustion of fuels. These compounds are important precursors for the formation of secondary organic aerosol. Here we show that the oxidation of aromatics with OH leads to a subsequent autoxidation chain reaction forming highly oxygenated molecules (HOMs) with an O : C ratio of up to 1.09. This is exemplified for five single-ring ArHCs (benzene, toluene, o-/m-/p-xylene, mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) and ethylbenzene), as well as two conjugated polycyclic ArHCs (naphthalene and biphenyl). We report the elemental composition of the HOMs and show the differences in the oxidation patterns of these ArHCs. A potential pathway for the formation of these HOMs from aromatics is presented and discussed. We hypothesize that AVOCs may contribute substantially to new particle formation events that have been detected in urban areas.

  7. Formation of highly oxygenated organic molecules from aromatic compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    U. Molteni

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs often dominate the urban atmosphere and consist to a large degree of aromatic hydrocarbons (ArHCs, such as benzene, toluene, xylenes, and trimethylbenzenes, e.g., from the handling and combustion of fuels. These compounds are important precursors for the formation of secondary organic aerosol. Here we show that the oxidation of aromatics with OH leads to a subsequent autoxidation chain reaction forming highly oxygenated molecules (HOMs with an O : C ratio of up to 1.09. This is exemplified for five single-ring ArHCs (benzene, toluene, o-/m-/p-xylene, mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and ethylbenzene, as well as two conjugated polycyclic ArHCs (naphthalene and biphenyl. We report the elemental composition of the HOMs and show the differences in the oxidation patterns of these ArHCs. A potential pathway for the formation of these HOMs from aromatics is presented and discussed. We hypothesize that AVOCs may contribute substantially to new particle formation events that have been detected in urban areas.

  8. On the synthesis of 11C-labelled aromatic amino acids

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halldin, C.

    1984-01-01

    The use of 11 C-labelled aromatic amino acids in positron emission tomography (PET) and their importance in physiological studies, especially cerebral protein synthesis or their role as precursors of neurotransmitters, is discussed. The synthesis of 11 -C-labelled aromatic amino acids by various routes is presented and new 11 C-labelled precursors, aromatic and aliphatic 11 C-aldehydes, are reported. The 11 C-aldehydes were obtained in 60-95% radiochemical yield and reaction times were of the order of 5 min. The 11 C-aldehydes have been used in condensation reactions with 2-aryl-5-oxazolones in the presence of a tertiary amine, diazabicyclooctane (DABCO), to produce the corresponding [α- 11 C]-4-arylene-2-aryl-5-oxazolones. Ring opening, hydrogenation and removal of protecting groups were carried out in one step to produce the racemic [3- 11 C]-labelled aromatic amino acids in 8-30% radiochemical yield. The total reaction time was 52-60 min. L-[3- 11 C]Phenylalanine was obtained by a seven-step synthesis in 80% e.e. (enantiomeric excess) and 60% e.e., respectively, in 10-15% radiochemical yield within 60 min, by use of the chiral rhodium complex of (R)-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane ((R)-PROPHOS) or (+)-2,3-isopropylidene-2,3-dihydroxy-1,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)butane ((+)-DIOP) in the hydrogenation reaction. Racemic [2- 11 C]-labelled aromatic amino acids were produced by a high-pressure, high-temperature modification of the Buechere-Strecker synthesis. [2- 11 C]Phenylglycine was obtained in 20% radiochemical yield within 50 min. [3- 11 C]Phenylpyruvic acid was prepared via the aldehyde-oxyzolone condensation reaction in 40% radiochemical yield within 40 min (not including LC separation). Its use in the synthesis of [3- 11 C]-phenylalanine by enzymatic transamination is also discussed. With 32 refs.(Author)

  9. Genetic Diversity of Aromatic Rice Germplasm Revealed By SSR Markers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saba Jasim Aljumaili

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Aromatic rice cultivars constitute a small but special group of rice and are considered the best in terms of quality and aroma. Aroma is one of the most significant quality traits of rice, and variety with aroma has a higher price in the market. This research was carried out to study the genetic diversity among the 50 aromatic rice accessions from three regions (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak with 3 released varieties as a control using the 32 simple sequence repeat (SSR markers. The objectives of this research were to quantify the genetic divergence of aromatic rice accessions using SSR markers and to identify the potential accessions for introgression into the existing rice breeding program. Genetic diversity index among the three populations such as Shannon information index (I ranged from 0.25 in control to 0.98 in Sabah population. The mean numbers of effective alleles and Shannon’s information index were 0.36 and 64.90%, respectively. Similarly, the allelic diversity was very high with mean expected heterozygosity (He of 0.60 and mean Nei’s gene diversity index of 0.36. The dendrogram based on UPGMA and Nei’s genetic distance classified the 53 rice accessions into 10 clusters. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA revealed that 89% of the total variation observed in this germplasm came from within the populations, while 11% of the variation emanated among the populations. These results reflect the high genetic differentiation existing in this aromatic rice germplasm. Using all these criteria and indices, seven accessions (Acc9993, Acc6288, Acc6893, Acc7580, Acc6009, Acc9956, and Acc11816 from three populations have been identified and selected for further evaluation before introgression into the existing breeding program and for future aromatic rice varietal development.

  10. Genetic Diversity of Aromatic Rice Germplasm Revealed By SSR Markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasim Aljumaili, Saba; Rafii, M Y; Latif, M A; Sakimin, Siti Zaharah; Arolu, Ibrahim Wasiu; Miah, Gous

    2018-01-01

    Aromatic rice cultivars constitute a small but special group of rice and are considered the best in terms of quality and aroma. Aroma is one of the most significant quality traits of rice, and variety with aroma has a higher price in the market. This research was carried out to study the genetic diversity among the 50 aromatic rice accessions from three regions (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak) with 3 released varieties as a control using the 32 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The objectives of this research were to quantify the genetic divergence of aromatic rice accessions using SSR markers and to identify the potential accessions for introgression into the existing rice breeding program. Genetic diversity index among the three populations such as Shannon information index ( I ) ranged from 0.25 in control to 0.98 in Sabah population. The mean numbers of effective alleles and Shannon's information index were 0.36 and 64.90%, respectively. Similarly, the allelic diversity was very high with mean expected heterozygosity ( H e ) of 0.60 and mean Nei's gene diversity index of 0.36. The dendrogram based on UPGMA and Nei's genetic distance classified the 53 rice accessions into 10 clusters. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 89% of the total variation observed in this germplasm came from within the populations, while 11% of the variation emanated among the populations. These results reflect the high genetic differentiation existing in this aromatic rice germplasm. Using all these criteria and indices, seven accessions (Acc9993, Acc6288, Acc6893, Acc7580, Acc6009, Acc9956, and Acc11816) from three populations have been identified and selected for further evaluation before introgression into the existing breeding program and for future aromatic rice varietal development.

  11. Genetic Diversity of Aromatic Rice Germplasm Revealed By SSR Markers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jasim Aljumaili, Saba; Sakimin, Siti Zaharah; Arolu, Ibrahim Wasiu; Miah, Gous

    2018-01-01

    Aromatic rice cultivars constitute a small but special group of rice and are considered the best in terms of quality and aroma. Aroma is one of the most significant quality traits of rice, and variety with aroma has a higher price in the market. This research was carried out to study the genetic diversity among the 50 aromatic rice accessions from three regions (Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, and Sarawak) with 3 released varieties as a control using the 32 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The objectives of this research were to quantify the genetic divergence of aromatic rice accessions using SSR markers and to identify the potential accessions for introgression into the existing rice breeding program. Genetic diversity index among the three populations such as Shannon information index (I) ranged from 0.25 in control to 0.98 in Sabah population. The mean numbers of effective alleles and Shannon's information index were 0.36 and 64.90%, respectively. Similarly, the allelic diversity was very high with mean expected heterozygosity (He) of 0.60 and mean Nei's gene diversity index of 0.36. The dendrogram based on UPGMA and Nei's genetic distance classified the 53 rice accessions into 10 clusters. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that 89% of the total variation observed in this germplasm came from within the populations, while 11% of the variation emanated among the populations. These results reflect the high genetic differentiation existing in this aromatic rice germplasm. Using all these criteria and indices, seven accessions (Acc9993, Acc6288, Acc6893, Acc7580, Acc6009, Acc9956, and Acc11816) from three populations have been identified and selected for further evaluation before introgression into the existing breeding program and for future aromatic rice varietal development. PMID:29736396

  12. Mechanistic studies on the OH-initiated atmospheric oxidation of selected aromatic hydrocarbons

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nehr, Sascha

    2012-07-01

    Benzene, toluene, the xylenes, and the trimethylbenzenes are among the most abundant aromatic trace constituents of the atmosphere mainly originating from anthropogenic sources. The OH-initiated atmospheric photo-oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons is the predominant removal process resulting in the formation of O{sub 3} and secondary organic aerosol. Therefore, aromatics are important trace constituents regarding air pollution in urban environments. Our understanding of aromatic photo-oxidation processes is far from being complete. This work presents novel approaches for the investigation of OH-initiated atmospheric degradation mechanisms of aromatic hydrocarbons. Firstly, pulsed kinetic studies were performed to investigate the prompt HO{sub 2} formation from OH+ aromatic hydrocarbon reactions under ambient conditions. For these studies, the existing OH reactivity instrument, based on the flash photolysis/laser-induced fluorescence (FP/LIF) technique, was extended to the detection of HO{sub 2} radicals. The experimental design allows for the determination of HO{sub 2} formation yields and kinetics. Results of the pulsed kinetic experiments complement previous product studies and help to reduce uncertainties regarding the primary oxidation steps. Secondly, experiments with aromatic hydrocarbons were performed under atmospheric conditions in the outdoor atmosphere simulation chamber SAPHIR (Simulation of Atmospheric PHotochemistry In a large Reaction chamber) located at Forschungszentrum Juelich. The experiments were aimed at the evaluation of up-to-date aromatic degradation schemes of the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCMv3.2). The unique combination of analytical instruments operated at SAPHIR allows for a detailed investigation of HO{sub x} and NO{sub x} budgets and for the determination of primary phenolic oxidation product yields. MCMv3.2 deficiencies were identified and most likely originate from shortcomings in the mechanistic representation of ring

  13. A conversion of aromatic thiocyanates into sulfothioates: new synthetic route to aromatic Bunte salts

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Jansa, Petr; Čechová, Lucie; Dračínský, Martin; Janeba, Zlatko

    2013-01-01

    Roč. 3, č. 8 (2013), s. 2650-2654 ISSN 2046-2069 R&D Projects: GA MV VG20102015046 Institutional support: RVO:61388963 Keywords : functionalized gold nanoparticles * self -assembled monolayers * thiosulfates * disulfides Subject RIV: CC - Organic Chemistry Impact factor: 3.708, year: 2013

  14. Pengaruh Kepuasan Dan Kepercayaan Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Ulang Pada Depot Air Minum Tris Water Reverse Osmosis System (Ro)

    OpenAIRE

    Fitria, Ika

    2011-01-01

    Kind of this survey is asociative survey which watch influence of customer satisfaction and trust to re-purchase decision on Depot Air Minum Tris Water Reverse Osmosis System (RO) and test of hypothesis use Multiple Linear Regression Analysist on α=5%. This survey used SPSS 16.00 version for windows. Research population is consumers of Depot Air Minum Tris Water Reverse Osmosis System (RO). Sample was used in this survey from customers of Depot Air Minum Tris Water Reverse Osmosis System (RO)...

  15. The autoantigen Ro52 is an E3 ligase resident in the cytoplasm but enters the nucleus upon cellular exposure to nitric oxide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Espinosa, Alexander; Oke, Vilija; Elfving, Ase; Nyberg, Filippa; Covacu, Ruxandra; Wahren-Herlenius, Marie

    2008-01-01

    Patients with the systemic autoimmune diseases Sjoegrens's syndrome and systemic lupus erythematosus often have autoantibodies against the intracellular protein Ro52. Ro52 is an E3 ligase dependent on the ubiquitin conjugation enzymes UBE2D1 and UBE2E1. While Ro52 and UBE2D1 are cytoplasmic proteins, UBE2E1 is localized to the nucleus. Here, we investigate how domains of human Ro52 regulate its intracellular localization. By expressing fluorescently labeled Ro52 and Ro52 mutants in HeLa cells, an intact coiled-coil domain was found to be necessary for the cytoplasmic localization of Ro52. The amino acids 381-470 of the B30.2 region were essential for translocation into the nucleus. Furthermore, after exposure of HeLa cells to the inflammatory mediator nitric oxide (NO), Ro52 translocated to the nucleus. A nuclear localization of Ro52 in inflamed tissue expressing inducible NO synthetase (iNOS) from cutaneous lupus patients was observed by immunohistochemistry and verified in NO-treated cultures of patient-derived primary keratinocytes. Our results show that the localization of Ro52 is regulated by endogenous sequences, and that nuclear translocation is induced by an inflammatory mediator. This suggests that Ro52 has both cytoplasmic and nuclear substrates, and that Ro52 mediates ubiquitination through UBE2D1 in the cytoplasm and through UBE2E1 in the nucleus

  16. Formic-acid-induced depolymerization of oxidized lignin to aromatics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahimi, Alireza; Ulbrich, Arne; Coon, Joshua J.; Stahl, Shannon S.

    2014-11-01

    Lignin is a heterogeneous aromatic biopolymer that accounts for nearly 30% of the organic carbon on Earth and is one of the few renewable sources of aromatic chemicals. As the most recalcitrant of the three components of lignocellulosic biomass (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin), lignin has been treated as a waste product in the pulp and paper industry, where it is burned to supply energy and recover pulping chemicals in the operation of paper mills. Extraction of higher value from lignin is increasingly recognized as being crucial to the economic viability of integrated biorefineries. Depolymerization is an important starting point for many lignin valorization strategies, because it could generate valuable aromatic chemicals and/or provide a source of low-molecular-mass feedstocks suitable for downstream processing. Commercial precedents show that certain types of lignin (lignosulphonates) may be converted into vanillin and other marketable products, but new technologies are needed to enhance the lignin value chain. The complex, irregular structure of lignin complicates chemical conversion efforts, and known depolymerization methods typically afford ill-defined products in low yields (that is, less than 10-20wt%). Here we describe a method for the depolymerization of oxidized lignin under mild conditions in aqueous formic acid that results in more than 60wt% yield of low-molecular-mass aromatics. We present the discovery of this facile C-O cleavage method, its application to aspen lignin depolymerization, and mechanistic insights into the reaction. The broader implications of these results for lignin conversion and biomass refining are also considered.

  17. Degradation of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons by two strains of Pseudomonas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nwinyi, Obinna C; Ajayi, Oluseyi O; Amund, Olukayode O

    2016-01-01

    The goal of this investigation was to isolate competent polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons degraders that can utilize polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons of former industrial sites at McDoel Switchyard in Bloomington, Indiana. Using conventional enrichment method based on soil slurry, we isolated, screened and purified two bacterial species strains PB1 and PB2. Applying the ribotyping technique using the 16S rRNA gene analysis, the strains were assigned to the genus Pseudomonas (Pseudomonas plecoglossicida strain PB1 and Pseudomonas sp. PB2). Both isolates showed promising metabolic capacity on pyrene sprayed MS agar plates during the preliminary investigations. Using time course studies in the liquid cultures at calculated concentrations 123, 64, 97 and 94ppm for naphthalene, chrysene, fluroanthene and pyrene, P. plecoglossicida strain PB1 and Pseudomonas sp. PB2 showed partial utilization of the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Naphthalene was degraded between 26% and 40%, chrysene 14% and 16%, fluroanthene 5% and 7%; pyrene 8% and 13% by P. plecoglossicida strain PB1 and Pseudomonas sp. PB2 respectively. Based on their growth profile, we developed a model R(2)=1 to predict the degradation rate of slow polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon-degraders where all the necessary parameters are constant. From this investigation, we confirm that the former industrial site soil microbial communities may be explored for the biorestoration of the industrial site. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda.

  18. Discovering Chemical Aromaticity Using Fragrant Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, Tanya L.

    2010-01-01

    Introductory organic chemistry is often perceived as inaccessible by students. This article describes a method used to link organic chemistry to everyday experience, asking students to explore whether fragrant molecules are also aromatic in the chemical sense. Students were engaged in this activity, excited about their results, and performed well…

  19. Determination of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Log in or Register to get access to full text downloads. ... collected from the most polluted part of Bangsai river at Saver industrial zone was analyzed for the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, anthracene, by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). A ... EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT

  20. Jojoba Oil Soft Colloidal Nanocarrier of a Synthetic Retinoid: Preparation, Characterization and Clinical Efficacy in Psoriatic Patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nasr, Maha; Abdel-Hamid, Sameh; Moftah, Noha H; Fadel, Maha; Alyoussef, Abdullah A

    2017-01-01

    Nanotechnology has provided substantial benefits in drug delivery, especially in the treatment of dermatological diseases. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease in which topical delivery of antipsoriatic agents is considered the first line treatment. To investigate whether the encapsulation of the synthetic retinoid tazarotene in a nanocarrier based on jojoba oil would decrease its irritation potential and clinically improve its therapeutic outcome in psoriatic patients. A microemulsion system based on jojoba wax and labrasol/plurol isostearique was prepared and characterized. The selected formula displayed spherical morphology, particle size of 15.49±2.41 nm, polydispersity index of 0.20 ±0.08, negative charge and low viscosity. The microemulsion provided two folds increase in skin deposition of tazarotene, correlating with higher reduction in psoriatic patients PASI scores after treatment (68% reduction in PASI scores versus 8.96% reduction with the marketed gel). No irritation was encountered in patients using microemulsion, with redness and inflammation reported with the marketed gel-treated patients. Jojoba oil microemulsion proved to be advantageous in reducing the irritancy of tazarotene, enhancing its skin deposition and achieving better therapeutic outcome in psoriatic patients. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.