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Sample records for h-beta line profiles

  1. Characterization of stimulus-secretion coupling in the human pancreatic EndoC-βH1 beta cell line.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lotta E Andersson

    Full Text Available Studies on beta cell metabolism are often conducted in rodent beta cell lines due to the lack of stable human beta cell lines. Recently, a human cell line, EndoC-βH1, was generated. Here we investigate stimulus-secretion coupling in this cell line, and compare it with that in the rat beta cell line, INS-1 832/13, and human islets.Cells were exposed to glucose and pyruvate. Insulin secretion and content (radioimmunoassay, gene expression (Gene Chip array, metabolite levels (GC/MS, respiration (Seahorse XF24 Extracellular Flux Analyzer, glucose utilization (radiometric, lactate release (enzymatic colorimetric, ATP levels (enzymatic bioluminescence and plasma membrane potential and cytoplasmic Ca2+ responses (microfluorometry were measured. Metabolite levels, respiration and insulin secretion were examined in human islets.Glucose increased insulin release, glucose utilization, raised ATP production and respiratory rates in both lines, and pyruvate increased insulin secretion and respiration. EndoC-βH1 cells exhibited higher insulin secretion, while plasma membrane depolarization was attenuated, and neither glucose nor pyruvate induced oscillations in intracellular calcium concentration or plasma membrane potential. Metabolite profiling revealed that glycolytic and TCA-cycle intermediate levels increased in response to glucose in both cell lines, but responses were weaker in EndoC-βH1 cells, similar to those observed in human islets. Respiration in EndoC-βH1 cells was more similar to that in human islets than in INS-1 832/13 cells.Functions associated with early stimulus-secretion coupling, with the exception of plasma membrane potential and Ca2+ oscillations, were similar in the two cell lines; insulin secretion, respiration and metabolite responses were similar in EndoC-βH1 cells and human islets. While both cell lines are suitable in vitro models, with the caveat of replicating key findings in isolated islets, EndoC-βH1 cells have the

  2. Linear polarization measurements at H. beta. of early-type emission line stars

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    Clarke, D; McLean, I S [Glasgow Univ. (UK)

    1976-02-01

    Linear polarization measurements across the H..beta.. emission lines of the stars ..gamma.. Cas, zeta Tau and 48 Per are presented. For the first two stars there is a marked reduction of the polarization at the centre of the line and for ..gamma.. Cas, this varies from night to night. During the H..beta.. observations of zeta Tau, a change of polarization over tens of minutes was indicated in a monitor channel tuned to the continuum on the blue side of H..beta... For the fainter star, 48 Per, the uncertainties of the polarimetry were increased in relation to ..gamma.. Cas and zeta Tau by a factor of about two and at this precision, no differential effects across the line were recorded. Observations of ..cap alpha.. Cyg are also given to demonstrate the reliability of the polarimeter.

  3. H α and H β Raman scattering line profiles of the symbiotic star AG Pegasi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seong-Jae; Hyung, Siek

    2018-04-01

    The H α and H β line profiles of the symbiotic star AG Pegasi, observed in 1998 September (phase ϕ = 10.24), display top narrow double Gaussian components and bottom broad components (FWHM = 200-400 km s-1). The photoionization model indicates that the ionized zone, responsible for the hydrogen Balmer and Lyman lines, is radiation-bounded, with a hydrogen gas number density of nH ˜ 109.85 cm-3 and a gas temperature of Te = 12 000-15 000 K. We have carried out Monte Carlo simulations to fit the Raman scattering broad wings, assuming that the hydrogen Ly β and Ly γ lines emitted within the radiation-bounded H II zone around a white dwarf have the same double Gaussian line profile shape as the hydrogen Balmer lines. The simulation shows that the scattering H I zones are attached to (or located just outside) the inner H II shells. The best fit to the observed broad H I line profiles indicates that the column density of the scattering neutral zone is NH ≃ 3-5 × 1019 cm-2. We have examined whether the geometrical structure responsible for the observed H α and H β line profiles is a bipolar conical shell structure, consisting of the radiation-bounded ionized zone and the outer material bounded neutral zone. The expanding bipolar structure might be two opposite regions of the common envelope or the outer shell of the Roche lobe around the hot white dwarf, formed through the mass inflows from the giant star and pushed out by the fast winds from the hot white dwarf.

  4. Line profile studies of hydrodynamical models of cometary compact H II regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, Feng-Yao; Zhu, Qing-Feng

    2015-01-01

    We simulate the evolution of cometary H II regions based on several champagne flow models and bow shock models, and calculate the profiles of the [Ne II] fine-structure line at 12.81 μm, the H30α recombination line and the [Ne III] fine-structure line at 15.55 μm for these models at different inclinations of 0°, 30° and 60°. We find that the profiles in the bow shock models are generally different from those in the champagne flow models, but the profiles in the bow shock models with lower stellar velocity (≤ 5 km s −1 ) are similar to those in the champagne flow models. In champagne flow models, both the velocity of peak flux and the flux weighted central velocities of all three lines point outward from molecular clouds. In bow shock models, the directions of these velocities depend on the speed of stars. The central velocities of these lines are consistent with the stellar motion in the high stellar speed cases, but they are opposite directions from the stellar motion in the low speed cases. We notice that the line profiles from the slit along the symmetrical axis of the projected 2D image of these models are useful for distinguishing bow shock models from champagne flow models. It is also confirmed by the calculation that the flux weighted central velocity and the line luminosity of the [Ne III] line can be estimated from the [Ne II] line and the H30α line. (paper)

  5. Spectral Ly{alpha}, Ly{beta}, and H{alpha} line shapes for the H atom in the presence of a magnetic field in a plasma; Profils des raies spectrales Ly{alpha}, Ly{beta}, et H{alpha} de l'atome H en presence d'un champ magnetique dans un plasma

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen, H; Herman, L [Laboratoire de Recherches Physiques, Faculte des sciences, 9 Quai Saint Bernard, 75 - Paris (France); Drawin, H W [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Fontenay-aux-Roses (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1967-02-15

    This report contains numerical data of the line shapes of Ly{alpha}, Ly{beta}, and H{alpha} for the following parameters: 1. 10{sup 2} {<=} H [gauss] {<=} 1.2. 10{sup 5} 1. 10{sup 15}{<=} N [cm{sup -3}] {<=} 1. 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} 1. 10{sup 4} {<=} T [deg. K] {<=} 4. 10{sup 4} where H = magnetic field strength, K = density of plasma ions, T = electron temperature. (authors) [French] Dans ce rapport, on donne les valeurs numeriques des contours des raies spectrales Ly{alpha}, Ly{beta}, et H{alpha} pour les valeurs suivantes des parametres H, N et T 1. 10{sup 2} {<=} H [gauss] {<=} 1.2. 10{sup 5} 1. 10{sup 15}{<=} N [cm{sup -3}] {<=} 1. 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} 1. 10{sup 4} {<=} T [deg. K] {<=} 4. 10{sup 4} ou H intensite du champ magnetique, N = densite des ions, T = temperature electronique. (auteurs)

  6. Synthesis and characterization of human recombinant thyrotropin (rec-hTSH) with a chimeric {beta}-subunit (rec-hTSH{beta}-CTPE hCG{beta}); Sintese e caracterizacao do hormonio tireotrofico humano recombinante (rec-hTSH) contendo uma subunidade {beta} quimerica (rec-hTSH{beta}-CTPE hCG{beta})

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murata, Yoko

    1995-12-31

    Recombinant hTSH is now successfully being used in clinical studies of thyroid cancer. Because of its therapeutic potential, we have constructed a longer acting analog of hTSH by fusing the carboxy terminal extension peptide (CTEP) of hCG{beta} onto hTSH{beta}. When coexpressed either with {alpha}-subunit complementary DNA or {alpha}-minigene in African green monkey (Cos-7) and human embryonic kidney (293) cells, the chimera was fully bioactive in vitro and exhibited enhanced in vivo potency associated with a prolonged plasma half-life. The addition of 29 amino acids with 4 O-linked oligosaccharide chains did not affect the assembly and secretion of chimeric TSH. Wild type (WT) and chimeric hTSH secreted by Cos-7 and 293 cells displayed wide differences in their plasma half-lives, presumably due to the difference in the terminal sialic acid and sulfate of their oligosaccharide chains. Chimeric and WT hTSH secreted by both cell lines demonstrated similar bioactivity in cAMP production, with some differences in [{sup 3} H]-thymidine incorporation. Chimeric hTSH secreted by Cos-7 appears to be more active than that secreted by 293 cells, as judged by growth assay. Cos-7 produced chimeric hTSH showed the maximum increase in half-life, indicating the importance of sialic acid in prolonging half-life and in vivo potency. Sulfation of both subunits, predominantly {beta} and to a lesser extent {alpha}, appears to be responsible, at least in part, for the increased metabolic clearance of WT and chimeric TSH secreted by 293 cells. Apart from its therapeutic potential, chimeric TSH produced in various cell lines can be used as a tool to delineate the roles of sulfate and sialic acid in the in vivo clearance and, thereby in the in vivo bioactivity. (author). 104 refs., 23 figs., 3 tabs.

  7. Assessment of affinities of beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP for monoamine transporters permanently expressed in cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okada, Tomoya; Fujita, Masahiro; Shimada, Shoichi; Sato, Kohji; Schloss, Patrick; Watanabe, Yoshiyuki; Itoh, Yasushi; Tohyama, Masaya; Nishimura, Tsunehiko

    1998-01-01

    We investigated the effects of three cocaine analogs, beta-CIT (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-tropane), beta-CIT-FE (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(2-fluoroethyl)-nortropane), and beta-CIT-FP (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3-beta-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)-nortropane), on the uptake of [ 3 H]dopamine(DA), serotonin(5-HT), and 1-norepinephrine (NE) using cell lines permanently expressing DA, 5-HT, and NE transporters, respectively, to determine their affinities for these three transporters. We generated cell lines stably expressing DA, 5-HT, and NE transporters, respectively, by the Chen-Okayama method, and then tested the abilities of (-)cocaine, beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, beta-CIT-FP, and clomipramine to inhibit the uptake of [ 3 H]DA, 5-HT, and 1-NE. Ki values of beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP for [ 3 H]DA, 5-HT, 1-NE uptake were 6, 29, and 33 nM, 91, 133, and 130 nM, and 28, 113 and 70 nM, respectively, whereas those of cocaine and clomipramine were 316, 581, and 176 nM and > 10,000, 437, and 851 nM, respectively. Beta-CIT, beta-CIT-FE, and beta-CIT-FP were shown to be potent DA, 5-HT, and NE uptake inhibitors. Beta-CIT and beta-CIT-FP were highly potent and selective dopamine uptake inhibitors, and therefore might be useful for imaging of DA transporter with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) or positron emission tomography (PET)

  8. Ionization profile of beta radiation from radioactive cloud; Jonizacioni profil beta zracenja radioaktivnog oblaka

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vujovic, M [Boris Kidric Institute of nuclear sciences, Vinca, Belgrade (Yugoslavia); Vojvodic, V [VTI Belgrade (Yugoslavia)

    1978-07-01

    A method for calculation of the ionization profile induced by beta radiation from a radioactive cloud is given. The procedure can be applied for high altitudes of the could (H 75 km) as well as for lower ones, when the thickness of the cloud must be taken into account. The final result is given in the analytical form. (author)

  9. A human beta cell line with drug inducible excision of immortalizing transgenes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benazra, Marion; Lecomte, Marie-José; Colace, Claire; Müller, Andreas; Machado, Cécile; Pechberty, Severine; Bricout-Neveu, Emilie; Grenier-Godard, Maud; Solimena, Michele; Scharfmann, Raphaël; Czernichow, Paul; Ravassard, Philippe

    2015-01-01

    Objectives Access to immortalized human pancreatic beta cell lines that are phenotypically close to genuine adult beta cells, represent a major tool to better understand human beta cell physiology and develop new therapeutics for Diabetes. Here we derived a new conditionally immortalized human beta cell line, EndoC-βH3 in which immortalizing transgene can be efficiently removed by simple addition of tamoxifen. Methods We used lentiviral mediated gene transfer to stably integrate a tamoxifen inducible form of CRE (CRE-ERT2) into the recently developed conditionally immortalized EndoC βH2 line. The resulting EndoC-βH3 line was characterized before and after tamoxifen treatment for cell proliferation, insulin content and insulin secretion. Results We showed that EndoC-βH3 expressing CRE-ERT2 can be massively amplified in culture. We established an optimized tamoxifen treatment to efficiently excise the immortalizing transgenes resulting in proliferation arrest. In addition, insulin expression raised by 12 fold and insulin content increased by 23 fold reaching 2 μg of insulin per million cells. Such massive increase was accompanied by enhanced insulin secretion upon glucose stimulation. We further observed that tamoxifen treated cells maintained a stable function for 5 weeks in culture. Conclusions EndoC βH3 cell line represents a powerful tool that allows, using a simple and efficient procedure, the massive production of functional non-proliferative human beta cells. Such cells are close to genuine human beta cells and maintain a stable phenotype for 5 weeks in culture. PMID:26909308

  10. Radio recombination lines from H II regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silverglate, P.R.

    1978-01-01

    Radio recombination lines have been observed from forty-six H II regions. The Arecibo 1000-foot radio telescope was used to provide high sensitivity and high angular resolution at 1400 MHz (gain approx. 7.7 0 K/Jy, HPBW = 3:2) and 2372 MHZ (gain approx. 6.3 0 K/Jy, HPBW = 2'). Observations were made at 1400 MHz in the frequency switching mode, and at 2372 MHz in the total power mode. Gaussians were fit to be observed lines to derive velocities, line widths, and line temperatures. From the velocities kinematic distances were derived. For eleven sources H I absorption measurements were also made. The absorption spectra enabled the kinematic distance ambiguity to be resolved for some sources. The absorption spectra themselves were found to have extremely sharp, non-gaussian edges. One explanation for these is a model where the interstellar medium contains many H I cloudlets with T/sub s/less than or equal to 100 0 K and turbulent velocities less than or equal to 3 km/s. The H I absorption spectrum is then a superposition of many narrow gaussian profiles. It was also found from a comparison of H I absorption velocities with radio recombination line velocities that peculiar motions exist in the interstellar medium with velocities of up to 10 km/s. Using the measured line temperatures and continuum temperatures, estimates were desired of emission measures, electron temperatures, and electron densities, using a non-LTE analysis. Non-LTE effects were important only for the hottest and densest H II regions. The non-LTE calculations were checked through a comparison derivation of electron temperatures using hydrogen beta lines

  11. THE PHOTOMETRIC AND KINEMATIC STRUCTURE OF FACE-ON DISK GALAXIES. II. INTEGRATED LINE PROFILE CHARACTERIZATION AND THE ORIGIN OF LINE PROFILE ASYMMETRY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andersen, David R.; Bershady, Matthew A.

    2009-01-01

    We perform a moments analysis of H I and H II global line profiles for 33 nearly face-on disk galaxies for the threefold purpose of rationalizing and interpreting line profile indices in the literature, presenting robust moment definitions with analytic error functions calibrated against Monte Carlo simulation, and probing the physical origin of line profile asymmetries. The first four profile moments serve as viable surrogates for the recession velocity, line width, asymmetry, and profile shape, respectively. The first three moments are superior, by a factor of ∼2 in precision, to related quantities defined in the literature. First and third profile moments are related; skew can be used to calculate more accurate recession velocities from global profiles. Second and fourth profile moments are linked, corresponding to the known trend that narrow (but well resolved) line widths tend to be more Gaussian. Hα kurtosis also appears correlated with the spatially resolved line width of the ionized gas. No systematics appear between various measures of line width and true rotation speed other than the wide range of normalizations, which we calibrate. This conclusion and calibration, however, is highly sample dependent. The ratio of H II to H I widths is consistent with unity, even at low projected line width. There may be a trend toward a decrease in the ratio of H II to H I widths consistent with previous studies, but we also observe greater scatter. While there is good agreement between H I and H II first, second, and fourth moments, we find no positive correlation between skew measured from H I and H II profiles. Detailed analysis of the spatially resolved Hα distribution demonstrates that H II global profile asymmetries are dominated by differences in the gas distribution, not kinematic asymmetries.

  12. High-resolution H-band spectroscopy of Be stars with SDSS-III/apogee. I. New Be stars, line identifications, and line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chojnowski, S. Drew; Majewski, Steven R.; Hall, Matthew; Beaton, Rachael; Burton, Adam; Damke, Guillermo; Wilson, John; Whelan, David G.; Wisniewski, John P.; Shetrone, Matthew; Eikenberry, Steve; Hasselquist, Sten; Holtzman, Jon A.; Brewington, Howard; Brinkmann, J.; Mészáros, Szabolcs; Nidever, David; Schneider, Donald P.; Zasowski, Gail; Bizyaev, Dmitry

    2015-01-01

    The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) has amassed the largest ever collection of multi-epoch, high-resolution (R∼22,500), H-band spectra for B-type emission line (Be) stars. These stars were targeted by APOGEE as telluric standard stars and subsequently identified via visual inspection as Be stars based on H i Brackett series emission or shell absorption in addition to otherwise smooth continua and occasionally non-hydrogen emission features. The 128/238 APOGEE Be stars for which emission had never previously been reported serve to increase the total number of known Be stars by ∼6%. Because the H band is relatively unexplored compared to other wavelength regimes, we focus here on identification of the H-band lines and analysis of the emission peak velocity separations (Δv p ) and emission peak intensity ratios (V/R) of the usually double-peaked H i and non-hydrogen emission lines. H i Br11 emission is found to preferentially form in the circumstellar disks at an average distance of ∼2.2 stellar radii. Increasing Δv p toward the weaker Br12–Br20 lines suggests these lines are formed interior to Br11. By contrast, the observed IR Fe ii emission lines present evidence of having significantly larger formation radii; distinctive phase lags between IR Fe ii and H i Brackett emission lines further supports that these species arise from different radii in Be disks. Several emission lines have been identified for the first time including C i 16895, a prominent feature in the spectra for almost a fifth of the sample and, as inferred from relatively large Δv p compared to the Br11–Br20, a tracer of the inner regions of Be disks. Emission lines at 15760 Å and 16781 Å remain unidentified, but usually appear along with and always have similar line profile morphology to Fe ii 16878. Unlike the typical metallic lines observed for Be stars in the optical, the H-band metallic lines, such as Fe ii 16878, never exhibit any evidence of

  13. [3H]-beta-endorphin binding in rat brain

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Houghten, R.A.; Johnson, N.; Pasternak, G.W.

    1984-01-01

    The binding of [ 3 H]-beta-endorphin to rat brain homogenates is complex. Although Scatchard analysis of saturation studies yields a straight line, detailed competition studies are multiphasic, suggesting that even at low concentrations of the compound, the 3 H-ligand is binding to more than one class of site. A portion of [ 3 H]-beta-endorphin binding is sensitive to low concentrations of morphine or D-Ala2-Leu5-enkephalin (less than 5 nM). The inhibition observed with each compound alone (5 nM) is the same as that seen with both together (each at 5 nM). Thus, the binding remaining in the presence of both morphine and the enkephalin does not correspond to either mu or delta sites. The portion of [ 3 H]-beta-endorphin binding that is inhibited under these conditions appears to be equally sensitive to both morphine and the enkephalin and may correspond to mu1 sites. Treating membrane homogenates with naloxonazine, a mu1 selective antagonist, lowers [ 3 H]-beta-endorphin binding to the same degree as morphine and D-Ala2-Leu5-enkephalin alone or together. This possible binding of [ 3 H]-beta-endorphin to mu1 sites is consistent with the role of mu1 sites in beta-endorphin analgesia and catalepsy in vivo

  14. (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin binding in rat brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Houghten, R.A.; Johnson, N.; Pasternak, G.W.

    1984-10-01

    The binding of (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin to rat brain homogenates is complex. Although Scatchard analysis of saturation studies yields a straight line, detailed competition studies are multiphasic, suggesting that even at low concentrations of the compound, the /sup 3/H-ligand is binding to more than one class of site. A portion of (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin binding is sensitive to low concentrations of morphine or D-Ala2-Leu5-enkephalin (less than 5 nM). The inhibition observed with each compound alone (5 nM) is the same as that seen with both together (each at 5 nM). Thus, the binding remaining in the presence of both morphine and the enkephalin does not correspond to either mu or delta sites. The portion of (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin binding that is inhibited under these conditions appears to be equally sensitive to both morphine and the enkephalin and may correspond to mu1 sites. Treating membrane homogenates with naloxonazine, a mu1 selective antagonist, lowers (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin binding to the same degree as morphine and D-Ala2-Leu5-enkephalin alone or together. This possible binding of (/sup 3/H)-beta-endorphin to mu1 sites is consistent with the role of mu1 sites in beta-endorphin analgesia and catalepsy in vivo.

  15. Ionization profile of beta radiation from radioactive cloud

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vujovic, M.; Vojvodic, V.

    1978-01-01

    A method for calculation of the ionization profile induced by beta radiation from a radioactive cloud is given. The procedure can be applied for high altitudes of the could (H 75 km) as well as for lower ones, when the thickness of the cloud must be taken into account. The final result is given in the analytical form. (author)

  16. Expression of transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) receptors and expression of TGF beta 1, TGF beta 2 and TGF beta 3 in human small cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Damstrup, L; Rygaard, K; Spang-Thomsen, M

    1993-01-01

    A panel of 21 small cell lung cancer cell (SCLC) lines were examined for the presence of Transforming growth factor beta receptors (TGF beta-r) and the expression of TGF beta mRNAs. By the radioreceptor assay we found high affinity receptors to be expressed in six cell lines. scatchard analysis......(r) = 65,000 and 90,000 and the betaglycan (type III) with M(r) = 280,000. Northern blotting showed expression of TGF beta 1 mRNA in ten, TGF beta 2 mRNA in two and TGF beta 3 mRNA in seven cell lines. Our results provide, for the first time, evidence that a large proportion of a broad panel of SCLC cell...... lines express TGF beta-receptors and also produce TGF beta mRNAs....

  17. The device for the poloidal profile measurement of H sub(α)-line emission by photodiode and its calibration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miura, Yukitoshi; Kasai, Satoshi; Tamai, Hiroshi; Hasegawa, Koichi

    1985-11-01

    The device for the poloidal profile measurement of H sub(α)-line emission has been equipped by photodiode (S1225-5BQ by HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.) and operational amplifier. The absolute efficiency was calibrated by using He-Ne laser. The device is constructed by 44 channels. The fast type of 8 channels is for the monitor of pellet abration profile. The slow type of 36 channels is for the poloidal profile measurement of H sub(α)-line emission from JFT-2M plasma. The rise time of the fast type and the slow type is about 2.8 μsec and about 350 μsec, respectively. The absolute efficiency of the fast type and the slow type is 72.7 V/mW and 18.2 V/μW, respectively. (author)

  18. Equilibrium of high beta plasma in closed magnetic line system (MBT)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gesso, H.; Shiina, S.; Saito, K.; Nogi, Y.; Osaniai, Y.; Yoshimura, H.; Todoroki, J.; Hamada, S.; Nihon Univ., Tokyo. Atomic Energy Research Inst.)

    1985-01-01

    The beta effects on the plasma equilibrium in Modified Bumpy Torus (MBT) sector, which is an asymmetric closed line system with l = 0 and fairly large l = +- 1 field distortions, are studied. For this purpose, the equilibrium of high beta plasma produced by theta-pinch is compared with that of betaless plasma numerically calculated from the measured magnetic field profiles in device. The equilibrium condition depends weakly on beta value, but the plasma cross-section is vertically elongated as the beta value increases. The m = 1 long wavelength MHD instability is not observed during the observation time of approx. 15 μs. These experimental results are compared with MHD theory based on the new ordering taking the finiteness of l = +- 1 field distortion (deltasub(+-1) > or approx. 1) into account, which suggests significant stabilizing effects due to self formation of magnetic well and also due to the conducting wall. (author)

  19. Atmospheric structure deduced from disturbed line profiles application to Ca II lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mein, N.; Mein, P.; Malherbe, J.-M.; Dame, L.; Dumont, S.; CNRS, Laboratoire de Physique Stellaire et Planetaire, Verrieres-le-Buisson, France; College de France, Paris)

    1985-01-01

    A new method is described in order to derive physical quantities (temperature, pressure, radial velocities) from the observation of disturbed line profiles. A method of Fourier analysis is suggested with double profiles and a nonlinear expansion of the coefficient of the Fourier terms. An application to a sequence of H-Ca II lines is attempted. The method is a powerful tool allowing for the simultaneous determination of at least four physical quantities. 9 references

  20. Hydrogen Balmer alpha intensity distributions and line profiles from multiple scattering theory using realistic geocoronal models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, D. E., Jr.; Meier, R. R.; Hodges, R. R., Jr.; Tinsley, B. A.

    1987-01-01

    The H Balmer alpha nightglow is investigated by using Monte Carlo models of asymmetric geocoronal atomic hydrogen distributions as input to a radiative transfer model of solar Lyman-beta radiation in the thermosphere and atmosphere. It is shown that it is essential to include multiple scattering of Lyman-beta radiation in the interpretation of Balmer alpha airglow data. Observations of diurnal variation in the Balmer alpha airglow showing slightly greater intensities in the morning relative to evening are consistent with theory. No evidence is found for anything other than a single sinusoidal diurnal variation of exobase density. Dramatic changes in effective temperature derived from the observed Balmer alpha line profiles are expected on the basis of changing illumination conditions in the thermosphere and exosphere as different regions of the sky are scanned.

  1. SPECTRAL OPTICAL MONITORING OF THE NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 GALAXY Ark 564

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shapovalova, A. I.; Burenkov, A. N. [Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian AS, Nizhnij Arkhyz, Karachaevo-Cherkesia 369167 (Russian Federation); Popovic, L. C.; Kovacevic, J. [Astronomical Observatory, Volgina 7, 11160 Belgrade 74 (Serbia); Chavushyan, V. H.; Valdes, J. R.; Torrealba, J.; Carrasco, L. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofisica, Optica y Electronica, Apartado Postal 51-216, 72000 Puebla (Mexico); Ilic, D.; Kovacevic, A. [Isaac Newton Institute of Chile, Yugoslavia Branch, Belgrade (Serbia); Kollatschny, W. [Institut fuer Astrophysik, Georg-August-Universitaet, Goettingen (Germany); Bochkarev, N. G. [Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow (Russian Federation); Leon-Tavares, J. [Aalto University Metsaehovi Radio Observatory, Metsaehovintie 114, FIN-02540 Kylmaelae (Finland); Mercado, A. [Universidad Politecnica de Baja California, Av. de la Industria 291, 21010 Mexicali, B.C. (Mexico); Benitez, E.; Dultzin, D. [Instituto de Astronomia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Apartado Postal 70-264, Mexico, D.F. 04510 (Mexico); De la Fuente, E., E-mail: ashap@sao.ru [Instituto de Astronomia y Meteorologia, Dpto. de Fisica CUCEI, Universidad de Guadalajara, Av. Vallarta 2602, 44130 Guadalajara, Jalisco (Mexico)

    2012-09-15

    We present the results of a long-term (1999-2010) spectral optical monitoring campaign of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) Ark 564, which shows a strong Fe II line emission in the optical. This AGN is a narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy, a group of AGNs with specific spectral characteristics. We analyze the light curves of the permitted H{alpha}, H{beta}, optical Fe II line fluxes, and the continuum flux in order to search for a time lag between them. Additionally, in order to estimate the contribution of iron lines from different multiplets, we fit the H{beta} and Fe II lines with a sum of Gaussian components. We find that during the monitoring period the spectral variation (F{sub max}/F{sub min}) of Ark 564 is between 1.5 for H{alpha} and 1.8 for the Fe II lines. The correlation between the Fe II and H{beta} flux variations is of higher significance than that of H{alpha} and H{beta} (whose correlation is almost absent). The permitted-line profiles are Lorentzian-like and do not change shape during the monitoring period. We investigate, in detail, the optical Fe II emission and find different degrees of correlation between the Fe II emission arising from different spectral multiplets and the continuum flux. The relatively weak and different degrees of correlations between permitted lines and continuum fluxes indicate a rather complex source of ionization of the broad-line emission region.

  2. Foodborne cereulide causes beta-cell dysfunction and apoptosis.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roman Vangoitsenhoven

    Full Text Available To study the effects of cereulide, a food toxin often found at low concentrations in take-away meals, on beta-cell survival and function.Cell death was quantified by Hoechst/Propidium Iodide in mouse (MIN6 and rat (INS-1E beta-cell lines, whole mouse islets and control cell lines (HepG2 and COS-1. Beta-cell function was studied by glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS. Mechanisms of toxicity were evaluated in MIN6 cells by mRNA profiling, electron microscopy and mitochondrial function tests.24 h exposure to 5 ng/ml cereulide rendered almost all MIN6, INS-1E and pancreatic islets apoptotic, whereas cell death did not increase in the control cell lines. In MIN6 cells and murine islets, GSIS capacity was lost following 24 h exposure to 0.5 ng/ml cereulide (P<0.05. Cereulide exposure induced markers of mitochondrial stress including Puma (p53 up-regulated modulator of apoptosis, P<0.05 and general pro-apoptotic signals as Chop (CCAAT/-enhancer-binding protein homologous protein. Mitochondria appeared swollen upon transmission electron microscopy, basal respiration rate was reduced by 52% (P<0.05 and reactive oxygen species increased by more than twofold (P<0.05 following 24 h exposure to 0.25 and 0.50 ng/ml cereulide, respectively.Cereulide causes apoptotic beta-cell death at low concentrations and impairs beta-cell function at even lower concentrations, with mitochondrial dysfunction underlying these defects. Thus, exposure to cereulide even at concentrations too low to cause systemic effects appears deleterious to the beta-cell.

  3. Discovery of olodaterol, a novel inhaled beta2-adrenoceptor agonist with a 24 h bronchodilatory efficacy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouyssou, Thierry; Hoenke, Christoph; Rudolf, Klaus; Lustenberger, Philipp; Pestel, Sabine; Sieger, Peter; Lotz, Ralf; Heine, Claudia; Büttner, Frank H; Schnapp, Andreas; Konetzki, Ingo

    2010-02-15

    Compound 4p was identified from a series of 6-hydroxy-4H-benzo[1,4]oxazin-3-ones as potent agonist of the human beta2-adrenoceptor with a high beta1/beta2-selectivity. A complete reversal of acetylcholine-induced bronchoconstriction which lasted over the whole study period of 5h was demonstrated for 4p in a guinea pig in vivo model without any signs of cardiovascular effects up to 10-fold above the first dose reaching 100% bronchoprotection. The enantiomerically pure (R)-form of 4p exerted a bronchodilatory efficacy over 24 h in dogs and guinea pigs in the absence of systemic pharmacodynamic effects. Formoterol which was tested as comparator in the same in vivo models of acetylcholine-induced bronchoconstriction did not retain efficacy after 24 h. In summary, the preclinical profile of compound (R)-4p (olodaterol, also known as BI 1744 CL) suggests a potential for once-daily dosing in man accompanied with an improved safety profile. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. The EndoC-βH1 cell line is a valid model of human beta cells and applicable for screenings to identify novel drug target candidates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsonkova, Violeta Georgieva; Sand, Fredrik Wolfhagen; Wolf, Xenia Asbæk; Grunnet, Lars Groth; Kirstine Ringgaard, Anna; Ingvorsen, Camilla; Winkel, Louise; Kalisz, Mark; Dalgaard, Kevin; Bruun, Christine; Fels, Johannes Josef; Helgstrand, Charlotte; Hastrup, Sven; Öberg, Fredrik Kryh; Vernet, Erik; Sandrini, Michael Paolo Bastner; Shaw, Allan Christian; Jessen, Carsten; Grønborg, Mads; Hald, Jacob; Willenbrock, Hanni; Madsen, Dennis; Wernersson, Rasmus; Hansson, Lena; Jensen, Jan Nygaard; Plesner, Annette; Alanentalo, Tomas; Petersen, Maja Borup Kjær; Grapin-Botton, Anne; Honoré, Christian; Ahnfelt-Rønne, Jonas; Hecksher-Sørensen, Jacob; Ravassard, Philippe; Madsen, Ole D; Rescan, Claude; Frogne, Thomas

    2018-02-01

    To characterize the EndoC-βH1 cell line as a model for human beta cells and evaluate its beta cell functionality, focusing on insulin secretion, proliferation, apoptosis and ER stress, with the objective to assess its potential as a screening platform for identification of novel anti-diabetic drug candidates. EndoC-βH1 was transplanted into mice for validation of in vivo functionality. Insulin secretion was evaluated in cells cultured as monolayer and as pseudoislets, as well as in diabetic mice. Cytokine induced apoptosis, glucolipotoxicity, and ER stress responses were assessed. Beta cell relevant mRNA and protein expression were investigated by qPCR and antibody staining. Hundreds of proteins or peptides were tested for their effect on insulin secretion and proliferation. Transplantation of EndoC-βH1 cells restored normoglycemia in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice. Both in vitro and in vivo, we observed a clear insulin response to glucose, and, in vitro, we found a significant increase in insulin secretion from EndoC-βH1 pseudoislets compared to monolayer cultures for both glucose and incretins. Apoptosis and ER stress were inducible in the cells and caspase 3/7 activity was elevated in response to cytokines, but not affected by the saturated fatty acid palmitate. By screening of various proteins and peptides, we found Bombesin (BB) receptor agonists and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptides (PACAP) to significantly induce insulin secretion and the proteins SerpinA6, STC1, and APOH to significantly stimulate proliferation. ER stress was readily induced by Tunicamycin and resulted in a reduction of insulin mRNA. Somatostatin (SST) was found to be expressed by 1% of the cells and manipulation of the SST receptors was found to significantly affect insulin secretion. Overall, the EndoC-βH1 cells strongly resemble human islet beta cells in terms of glucose and incretin stimulated insulin secretion capabilities. The cell line has an active

  5. The EndoC-βH1 cell line is a valid model of human beta cells and applicable for screenings to identify novel drug target candidates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Violeta Georgieva Tsonkova

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To characterize the EndoC-βH1 cell line as a model for human beta cells and evaluate its beta cell functionality, focusing on insulin secretion, proliferation, apoptosis and ER stress, with the objective to assess its potential as a screening platform for identification of novel anti-diabetic drug candidates. Methods: EndoC-βH1 was transplanted into mice for validation of in vivo functionality. Insulin secretion was evaluated in cells cultured as monolayer and as pseudoislets, as well as in diabetic mice. Cytokine induced apoptosis, glucolipotoxicity, and ER stress responses were assessed. Beta cell relevant mRNA and protein expression were investigated by qPCR and antibody staining. Hundreds of proteins or peptides were tested for their effect on insulin secretion and proliferation. Results: Transplantation of EndoC-βH1 cells restored normoglycemia in streptozotocin induced diabetic mice. Both in vitro and in vivo, we observed a clear insulin response to glucose, and, in vitro, we found a significant increase in insulin secretion from EndoC-βH1 pseudoislets compared to monolayer cultures for both glucose and incretins.Apoptosis and ER stress were inducible in the cells and caspase 3/7 activity was elevated in response to cytokines, but not affected by the saturated fatty acid palmitate.By screening of various proteins and peptides, we found Bombesin (BB receptor agonists and Pituitary Adenylate Cyclase-Activating Polypeptides (PACAP to significantly induce insulin secretion and the proteins SerpinA6, STC1, and APOH to significantly stimulate proliferation.ER stress was readily induced by Tunicamycin and resulted in a reduction of insulin mRNA. Somatostatin (SST was found to be expressed by 1% of the cells and manipulation of the SST receptors was found to significantly affect insulin secretion. Conclusions: Overall, the EndoC-βH1 cells strongly resemble human islet beta cells in terms of glucose and incretin stimulated

  6. Antibiotic resistance profile and phenotypic detection of beta ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract. Background: Cockroaches are carriers of numerous microorganisms. However, there is paucity of information on their role as potential reservoir for beta-lactamase producers. Objectives: This research determined the antibiotics susceptibility profile of Beta-lactamase producing Gram-negative bacteria isolated from ...

  7. The effect of an homogeneous magnetic field on the line profiles of hydrogen; Effet d'un champ magnetique uniforme sur les profils des raies de l'hydrogene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen, H; Herman, L [Universite de Paris Sorbonne, Lab. de Recherche Physique, 75 - Paris (France); Drawin, H W [Association Euratom-CEA, Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires de Fontenay-aux-Roses, 92 (France)

    1966-07-01

    The profiles of the hydrogen lines have been calculated taking into account the intermolecular electric field, the electronic collisions, and an external homogeneous magnetic field in which the plasma is imbedded. We considered electron densities N within the range 10{sup 15} {<=} N {<=} 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} and magnetic field strengths < 1,2 10{sup 5} gauss. These values cover practically most of the experimental conditions in which one is interested in the present state of research. In the present paper we only present the numerical results for the lines Ly-{alpha}, Ly-{beta} and H-{alpha}. For very small magnetic fields our calculated line profiles coincide with the pure Stark profiles recently calculated by GRIEM, KOLB and SHEN (1960). With increasing magnetic fields, important deviations appear. The essential parameters for these deviations are, firstly: the direction of observation with regard to the direction of the magnetic field, and secondly: the ratio between the Zeeman splitting in a magnetic field only and the Stark splitting due to the mean intermolecular electric field. Experimental line profiles have been obtained using a linear discharge tube surrounded by an induction coil, the comparison of tie theoretical profiles with the experimental ones shows a satisfying agreement. The results for the lines originating from higher principal quantum numbers are actually exploited and will be communicated soon. (author) [French] Les profils des raies de l'hydrogene ont ete calcules en tenant compte des collisions electroniques, du champ electrique intermoleculaire et d'un champ magnetique uniforme exterieur. Nous avons considere des concentrations electroniques comprises entre 10{sup 15} cm{sup -3} et 10{sup 18} cm{sup -3} et des champs magnetiques inferieurs ou egaux a 1,2 10{sup 5} gauss. Ces valeurs couvrent pratiquement toutes les conditions experimentales qui ont un interet a l'heure actuelle. Dans le present travail, nous ne donnons que des resultats

  8. Observations of far-infrared line profiles in the Orion-KL region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crawford, M.K.; Lugten, J.B.; Fitelson, W.; Genzel, R.; Melnick, G.; Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA)

    1986-01-01

    Measurements of several far-infrared emission line profiles in the Orion-KL region are reported. The emission from the CO, OH, and forbidden O I emission lines toward the BN-KL and H2 peak 1 positions probably comes from dense, hot molecular gas in the Orion-KL shock. The CO and forbidden O I lines have similar profiles, suggesting that the high-velocity forbidden O I emission also arises in magnetohydrodynamic cloud shocks. The velocity centroids of the lines are somewhat blueshifted. The far-infrared data thus support the interpretation that the blue asymmetry of the H2 2 micron lines is not mainly due to differential dust extinction, but rather to the kinematics and geometry of the shocked gas in the Orion-KL outflow. The forbidden O I and CO lines, however, have significantly less extreme blueshifted emission than the H2 lines. Both the forbidden O I 63 micron and forbidden C II 158 micron lines have features strongly supporting a common origin near the surface of the Orion molecular cloud. 28 references

  9. Beta-cell lines derived from transgenic mice expressing a hybrid insulin gene-oncogene

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Efrat, S; Linde, S; Kofod, Hans

    1988-01-01

    Three pancreatic beta-cell lines have been established from insulinomas derived from transgenic mice carrying a hybrid insulin-promoted simian virus 40 tumor antigen gene. The beta tumor cell (beta TC) lines maintain the features of differentiated beta cells for about 50 passages in culture. The ...... both to immortalize a rare cell type and to provide a selection for the maintenance of its differentiated phenotype....

  10. OPTICAL MONITORING OF THE BROAD-LINE RADIO GALAXY 3C 390.3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dietrich, Matthias; Peterson, Bradley M.; Grier, Catherine J.; Bentz, Misty C.; Eastman, Jason; Frank, Stephan; Gonzalez, Raymond; Marshall, Jennifer L.; DePoy, Darren L.; Prieto, Jose L., E-mail: dietrich@astronomy.ohio-state.edu [Department of Astronomy, Ohio State University, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)

    2012-09-20

    We have undertaken a new ground-based monitoring campaign on the broad-line radio galaxy 3C 390.3 to improve the measurement of the size of the broad emission-line region and to estimate the black hole mass. Optical spectra and g-band images were observed in late 2005 for three months using the 2.4 m telescope at MDM Observatory. Integrated emission-line flux variations were measured for the hydrogen Balmer lines H{alpha}, H{beta}, H{gamma}, and for the helium line He II{lambda}4686, as well as g-band fluxes and the optical active galactic nucleus (AGN) continuum at {lambda} = 5100 A. The g-band fluxes and the optical AGN continuum vary simultaneously within the uncertainties, {tau}{sub cent} (0.2 {+-} 1.1) days. We find that the emission-line variations are delayed with respect to the variable g-band continuum by {tau}(H{alpha}) 56.3{sup +2.4}{sub -6.6} days, {tau}(H{beta}) = 44.3{sup +3.0}{sub -3.3} days, {tau}(H{gamma}) = 58.1{sup +4.3}{sub -6.1} days, and {tau}(He II 4686) = 22.3{sup +6.5}{sub -3.8} days. The blue and red peaks in the double-peaked line profiles, as well as the blue and red outer profile wings, vary simultaneously within {+-}3 days. This provides strong support for gravitationally bound orbital motion of the dominant part of the line-emitting gas. Combining the time delay of the strong Balmer emission lines of H{alpha} and H{beta} and the separation of the blue and red peaks in the broad double-peaked profiles in their rms spectra, we determine M {sup vir}{sub bh} = 1.77{sup +0.29}{sub -0.31} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} M{sub Sun} and using {sigma}{sub line} of the rms spectra M {sup vir}{sub bh} 2.60{sup +0.23}{sub -0.31} Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 8} M{sub Sun} for the central black hole of 3C 390.3, respectively. Using the inclination angle of the line-emitting region which is measured from superluminal motion detected in the radio range, accretion disk models to fit the optical double-peaked emission-line profiles, and X-ray observations

  11. Water in star-forming regions with Herschel (WISH) : IV. A survey of low-J H2O line profiles toward high-mass protostars

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Tak, F. F. S.; Chavarria, L.; Herpin, F.; Wyrowski, F.; Walmsley, C. M.; van Dishoeck, E. F.; Benz, A. O.; Bergin, E. A.; Caselli, P.; Hogerheijde, M. R.; Johnstone, D.; Kristensen, L. E.; Liseau, R.; Nisini, B.; Tafalla, M.

    Context. Water is a key constituent of star-forming matter, but the origin of its line emission and absorption during high-mass star formation is not well understood. Aims. We study the velocity profiles of low-excitation H2O lines toward 19 high-mass star-forming regions and search for trends with

  12. Plasma Membrane Protein Profiling in Beta-Amyloid-Treated Microglia Cell Line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Correani, Virginia; Di Francesco, Laura; Mignogna, Giuseppina; Fabrizi, Cinzia; Leone, Stefano; Giorgi, Alessandra; Passeri, Alessia; Casata, Roberto; Fumagalli, Lorenzo; Maras, Bruno; Schininà, M Eugenia

    2017-09-01

    In the responsiveness of microglia to toxic stimuli, plasma membrane proteins play a key role. In this study we treated with a synthetic beta amyloid peptide murine microglial cells metabolically differently labelled with stable isotope amino acids (SILAC). The plasma membrane was selectively enriched by a multi-stage aqueous two-phase partition system. We were able to identify by 1D-LC-MS/MS analyses 1577 proteins, most of them are plasma membrane proteins according to the Gene Ontology annotation. An unchanged level of amyloid receptors in this data set suggests that microglia preserve their responsiveness capability to the environment even after 24-h challenge with amyloid peptides. On the other hand, 14 proteins were observed to change their plasma membrane abundance to a statistically significant extent. Among these, we proposed as reliable biomarkers of the inflammatory microglia phenotype in AD damaged tissues MAP/microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 3 (MARK3), Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3), Annexins A5 and A7 (ANXA5, ANXA7) and Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), all proteins known to be involved in the inflammation processes and in microtubule network assembly rate. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  13. Global regulator SATB1 recruits beta-catenin and regulates T(H2 differentiation in Wnt-dependent manner.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dimple Notani

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available In vertebrates, the conserved Wnt signalling cascade promotes the stabilization and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin, which then associates with the lymphoid enhancer factor/T cell factor proteins (LEF/TCFs to activate target genes. Wnt/beta -catenin signalling is essential for T cell development and differentiation. Here we show that special AT-rich binding protein 1 (SATB1, the T lineage-enriched chromatin organizer and global regulator, interacts with beta-catenin and recruits it to SATB1's genomic binding sites. Gene expression profiling revealed that the genes repressed by SATB1 are upregulated upon Wnt signalling. Competition between SATB1 and TCF affects the transcription of TCF-regulated genes upon beta-catenin signalling. GATA-3 is a T helper type 2 (T(H2 specific transcription factor that regulates production of T(H2 cytokines and functions as T(H2 lineage determinant. SATB1 positively regulated GATA-3 and siRNA-mediated knockdown of SATB1 downregulated GATA-3 expression in differentiating human CD4(+ T cells, suggesting that SATB1 influences T(H2 lineage commitment by reprogramming gene expression. In the presence of Dickkopf 1 (Dkk1, an inhibitor of Wnt signalling, GATA-3 is downregulated and the expression of signature T(H2 cytokines such as IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 is reduced, indicating that Wnt signalling is essential for T(H2 differentiation. Knockdown of beta-catenin also produced similar results, confirming the role of Wnt/beta-catenin signalling in T(H2 differentiation. Furthermore, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed that SATB1 recruits beta-catenin and p300 acetyltransferase on GATA-3 promoter in differentiating T(H2 cells in a Wnt-dependent manner. SATB1 coordinates T(H2 lineage commitment by reprogramming gene expression. The SATB1:beta-catenin complex activates a number of SATB1 regulated genes, and hence this study has potential to find novel Wnt responsive genes. These results demonstrate that SATB1

  14. Revised Line Profile Function for Hydrogenic Species

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sapar A.

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Analytical series expansions for the hydrogenic spectral line profile functions are derived starting from the three single expressions, obtained by integrating twice the convolution of the Holtsmark, Lorentz and Doppler line profile functions. We get well converging series expansions for the line wings and centers by reducing the number of arguments in the profile function by one, introducing the module of the Holtsmark and Lorentz profiles as a new argument. In the intermediate part of the line, the parabolic cylinder functions expressed via the confluent hypergeometric series, are used. The multi-component Stark splitting of the hydrogenic spectral lines and the modeled stochastic electron transitions in the electric field of the adjacent ions generate wide Doppler plateaux at the line centers, with the characteristic widths estimated from the fit to the characteristic width of the Holtsmark profile. This additional Doppler broadening of the line profile function removes the central dip typical to the Holtsmark profile.

  15. Dependence of the DIII-D beta limit on the current profile

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Strait, E.J.; Chu, M.S.; Ferron, J.R.; Lao, L.L.; Osborne, T.H.; Taylor, T.S.; Turnbull, A.D. (General Atomics, San Diego, CA (United States)); Lazarus, E.A. (Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States))

    1991-01-01

    The maximum beta values achieved in DIII-D are not fully described by the simple scaling law [beta][sub max][proportional to]I/aB. There is, in addition, a dependence on the form of the current profile as parameterized by the safety factor q and internal inductance l[sub i]. The maximum experimentally achieved value of normalized beta [beta][sub N] = [beta]/(I/aB) varies from 3.5 at low safety factor q (q[sub 95]<3) to 5 at higher values of q. At low q, discharges are terminated by disruptions at high [beta][sub N] and at both the low and high l[sub i] boundaries of the stable range. These disruptions are attributed to external and global kink modes. At higher q, such disruptions are much less frequent, and beta is limited by slowly growing resistive modes, fishbones, and possibly by ballooning modes. At each value of q, the maximum beta tends to increase with internal inductance l[sub i]. A numerical study of kink mode stability has shown a similar trend for optimized pressure profiles. These observations have suggested a new scaling law for the operational beta limit: [beta][sub max]=4l[sub i](I/aB), which fits the DIII-D data well. (author) 13 refs., 4 figs.

  16. High resolution measurements and modeling of auroral hydrogen emission line profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. S. Lanchester

    Full Text Available Measurements in the visible wavelength range at high spectral resolution (1.3 Å have been made at Longyearbyen, Svalbard (15.8 E,78.2 N during an interval of intense proton precipitation. The shape and Doppler shift of hydrogen Balmer beta line profiles have been compared with model line profiles, using as input ion energy spectra from almost coincident passes of the FAST and DMSP spacecraft. The comparison shows that the simulation contains the important physical processes that produce the profiles, and confirms that measured changes in the shape and peak wave-length of the hydrogen profiles are the result of changing energy input. This combination of high resolution measurements with modeling provides a method of estimating the incoming energy and changes in flux of precipitating protons over Svalbard, for given energy and pitch-angle distributions. Whereas for electron precipitation, information on the incident particles is derived from brightness and brightness ratios which require at least two spectral windows, for proton precipitation the Doppler profile of resulting hydrogen emission is directly related to the energy and energy flux of the incident energetic protons and can be used to gather information about the source region. As well as the expected Doppler shift to shorter wavelengths, the measured profiles have a significant red-shifted component, the result of upward flowing emitting hydrogen atoms.

    Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; particle precipitation – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena

  17. High resolution measurements and modeling of auroral hydrogen emission line profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. S. Lanchester

    2003-07-01

    Full Text Available Measurements in the visible wavelength range at high spectral resolution (1.3 Å have been made at Longyearbyen, Svalbard (15.8 E,78.2 N during an interval of intense proton precipitation. The shape and Doppler shift of hydrogen Balmer beta line profiles have been compared with model line profiles, using as input ion energy spectra from almost coincident passes of the FAST and DMSP spacecraft. The comparison shows that the simulation contains the important physical processes that produce the profiles, and confirms that measured changes in the shape and peak wave-length of the hydrogen profiles are the result of changing energy input. This combination of high resolution measurements with modeling provides a method of estimating the incoming energy and changes in flux of precipitating protons over Svalbard, for given energy and pitch-angle distributions. Whereas for electron precipitation, information on the incident particles is derived from brightness and brightness ratios which require at least two spectral windows, for proton precipitation the Doppler profile of resulting hydrogen emission is directly related to the energy and energy flux of the incident energetic protons and can be used to gather information about the source region. As well as the expected Doppler shift to shorter wavelengths, the measured profiles have a significant red-shifted component, the result of upward flowing emitting hydrogen atoms.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; particle precipitation – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena

  18. Electron density profile measurements from hydrogen line intensity ratio method in Versatile Experimental Spherical Torus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, YooSung; Shi, Yue-Jiang, E-mail: yjshi@snu.ac.kr; Yang, Jeong-hun; Kim, SeongCheol; Kim, Young-Gi; Dang, Jeong-Jeung; Yang, Seongmoo; Jo, Jungmin; Chung, Kyoung-Jae [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Oh, Soo-Ghee [Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 442-749 (Korea, Republic of); Hwang, Y. S. [Department of Nuclear Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of); Center for Advanced Research in Fusion Reactor Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744 (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    Electron density profiles of versatile experiment spherical torus plasmas are measured by using a hydrogen line intensity ratio method. A fast-frame visible camera with appropriate bandpass filters is used to detect images of Balmer line intensities. The unique optical system makes it possible to take images of H{sub α} and H{sub β} radiation simultaneously, with only one camera. The frame rate is 1000 fps and the spatial resolution of the system is about 0.5 cm. One-dimensional local emissivity profiles have been obtained from the toroidal line of sight with viewing dumps. An initial result for the electron density profile is presented and is in reasonable agreement with values measured by a triple Langmuir probe.

  19. THE EXTRAGALACTIC DISTANCE DATABASE: ALL DIGITAL H I PROFILE CATALOG

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Courtois, Helene M.; Bonhomme, Nicolas; Tully, R. Brent; Zavodny, Maximilian; Barnes, Austin; Fisher, J. Richard

    2009-01-01

    An important component of the Extragalactic Distance Database is a group of catalogs related to the measurement of H I line profile parameters. One of these is the All Digital H I catalog which contains an amalgam of information from new data and old. The new data result from observations with Arecibo and Parkes Telescopes and with the Green Bank Telescope, including continuing input since the award of the NRAO Cosmic Flows Large Program. The old data have been collected from archives, wherever available, particularly the Cornell University Digital H I Archive, the Nancay Telescope extragalactic H I archive, and the Australia Telescope H I archive. The catalog currently contains information on ∼15, 000 profiles relating to ∼13, 000 galaxies. The channel-flux per channel files, from whatever source, is carried through a common pipeline. The derived parameter of greatest interest is W m50 , the profile width at 50% of the mean flux. After appropriate adjustment, the parameter W mx is derived, the line width that statistically approximates the peak-to-peak maximum rotation velocity before correction for inclination, 2V max sini.

  20. Measurement of high-beta tokamak pressure profiles with multipoint Thomson scattering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Levinton, F.M.

    1983-01-01

    A multipoint Thomson-scattering system has been developed to obtain pressure profiles along the major radius of Torus II, a high-beta tokamak. The profiles obtained during the 20 to 25 μs lifetime of the discharge indicates that the plasma has a peak temperature of 80 eV and density of 1.0 x 10 15 cm - 3 . The profiles remain fairly constant during this time until the equilibrium is lost, after which the temperature and density decays to 10 eV and 10 14 cm - 3 very quickly (approx. 1 μs). Experimental results show Torus II has a high-beta ( approx. 10%) equilibrium, with a strong shift of the peak of the pressure profile towards the outside. Numerical results from a 2-D free boundary MHD equilibrium code have obtained equilibria which closely approximate the experimentally measured profiles

  1. Photoelectron spectra of N2+: Rotational line profiles studied with HeI-excited angle-resolved spectroscopy and with synchrotron radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohrwall, G.; Baltzer, P.; Bozek, J.

    2004-01-01

    We have recorded angle-resolved He I photoelectron spectra of the three outer most valence states in N+2, with high enough resolution to observe rotational line profiles. For the two Sigma states, the X 2 Sigma +g and the B 2 Sigma +u, we found that the rotational branches corresponding to different changes in rotational quantum number can differ dramatically in beta value. The well-known difference in beta value for the nu=0 and nu =1 vibrations of the X 2 Sigma +g state was found to be due to different rotational branching ratios and also different beta values of the rotational branches. For the nu=0-2 vibrations of the A 2 Pi u state, the beta value difference between rotational branches is much less pronounced than in the X and B states. We have also recorded synchrotron-radiation-excited photoelectron spectra of the nu=0 vibrational peaks of the X 2 Sigma +g and B 2 Sigma +u states where rotational line profiles are resolved. The intensities of the rotational branches were studied as function of photon energy, the X state between 23 and 65 eV, and We have recorded angle-resolved He I photoelectron spectra of the three outermost valence states in N+2, with high enough resolution to observe rotational line profiles. For the two Sigma states, the X 2 Sigma +g and the B 2 Sigma +u, we found that the rotational branches corresponding to different changes in rotational quantum number can differ dramatically in beta value. The well-known difference in beta value for the nu=0 and nu=1 vibrations of the X 2 Sigma +g state was found to be due to different rotational branching ratios and also different beta values of the rotational branches. For the nu=0-2 vibrations of the A 2 Pi u state, the beta value difference between rotational branches is much less pronounced than in the X and B states. We have also recorded synchrotron-radiation-excited photoelectron spectra of the nu=0 vibrational peaks of the X 2 Sigma +g and B 2 Sigma +u states where rotational line profiles a

  2. Regulation of laminin beta2 chain gene expression in human cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Durkin, M E; Nielsen, F C; Loechel, F

    2001-01-01

    of the human laminin beta2 chain gene generates two isoforms of the 5' untranslated region of the beta2 chain mRNA. The translational efficiencies of the two laminin beta2 chain leaders did not differ significantly, when assayed by polysome profile analysis of endogenous clone A cell beta2 chain m......RNA, transient transfection of chimeric beta2 chain leader/luciferase expression plasmids in clone A cells, and translation of in vitro synthesized RNAs in rabbit reticulocyte lysates....

  3. Acquired TGF beta 1 sensitivity and TGF beta 1 expression in cell lines established from a single small cell lung cancer patient during clinical progression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, P; Damstrup, L; Rygaard, K

    1996-01-01

    Three small cell lung cancer cell lines established from a single patient during longitudinal follow-up were examined for in vitro expression of TGF beta and TGF beta receptors, i.e. the components of an autocrine loop. GLC 14 was established prior to treatment, GLC 16 on relapse after chemotherapy...... was found in GLC 16 and GLC 19. These cell lines were also growth inhibited by exogenously administrated TGF beta 1. TGF beta 1 mRNA and protein in its latent form was only expressed in the radiotherapy-resistant cell line, GLC 19. The results indicate that disease progression in this patient was paralleled...... II receptor gene, as examined by Southern blotting. Also, the type I receptor could not be detected by ligand binding assay in this cell line, despite expression of mRNA for this receptor. This agrees with previous findings that type I receptor cannot bind TGF beta 1 without co-expression of the type...

  4. A beta2-microglobulin cleavage variant fibrillates at near-physiological pH

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Corlin, Dorthe B; Johnsen, Christina K; Nissen, Mogens H

    2009-01-01

    Beta2-microglobulin (beta2m) deposits as amyloid in dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA), predominantly in joints. The molecular mechanisms underlying the amyloidogenicity of beta2m are still largely unknown. In vitro, acidic conditions, pH ... several days. Here, we show that amyloid fibrils are generated in less than an hour when a cleavage variant of beta2m--found in the circulation of many dialysis patients--is exposed to pH levels (pH 6.6) occurring in joints during inflammation. Aggregation and fibrillation, including seeding effects...... with intact, native beta2m were studied by Thioflavin T fluorescence spectroscopy, turbidimetry, capillary electrophoresis, and electron microscopy. We conclude that a biologically relevant variant of beta2m is amyloidogenic at slightly acidic pH. Also, only a very small amount of preformed fibrils...

  5. Expression and autoregulation of transforming growth factor beta receptor mRNA in small-cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, P; Spang-Thomsen, M; Poulsen, H S

    1996-01-01

    In small-cell lung cancer cell lines resistance to growth inhibition by transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1, was previously shown to correlate with lack of TGF-beta receptor I (RI) and II (RII) proteins. To further investigate the role of these receptors, the expression of mRNA for RI, RII...... and beta-glycan (RIII) was examined. The results showed that loss of RII mRNA correlated with TGF-beta 1 resistance. In contrast, RI-and beta-glycan mRNA was expressed by all cell lines, including those lacking expression of these proteins. According to Southern blot analysis, the loss of type II m......RNA was not due to gross structural changes in the gene. The effect of TGF-beta 1 on expression of TGF-beta receptor mRNA (receptor autoregulation) was examined by quantitative Northern blotting in four cell lines with different expression of TGF-beta receptor proteins. In two cell lines expressing all three TGF...

  6. Line profile variations in selected Seyfert galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kollatschny, W; Zetzl, M; Ulbrich, K

    2010-01-01

    Continua as well as the broad emission lines in Seyfert 1 galaxies vary in different galaxies with different amplitudes on typical timescales of days to years. We present the results of two independent variability campaigns taken with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. We studied in detail the integrated line and continuum variations in the optical spectra of the narrow-line Seyfert galaxy Mrk 110 and the very broad-line Seyfert galaxy Mrk 926. The broad-line emitting region in Mrk 110 has radii of four to 33 light-days as a function of the ionization degree of the emission lines. The line-profile variations are matched by Keplerian disk models with some accretion disk wind. The broad-line region in Mrk 926 is very small showing an extension of two to three light-days only. We could detect a structure in the rms line-profiles as well as in the response of the line profile segments of Mrk 926 indicating the BLR is structured.

  7. Radioisotopic Study of Methanol Transformation over H- and Fe-Beta Zeolites; Influence of Si/Al Ratio on Distribution of Products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarkadi-Priboczki, E.; Kovacs, Z.; Kumar, N.; Murzin, D.Yu.

    2006-01-01

    Complete text of publication follows. The acid-basic properties of Beta zeolite can be modified by dealumination and/or ionexchange. The wide-pore H-Beta zeolite has strong Bronsted acid sites and other chemical environment which govern adsorption and conversion of methanol to dimethyl ether and hydrocarbons during catalysis [1-2]. Partly Fe-ion-exchanged Beta i.e. Fe-H-Beta zeolite keeps this behavior to a certain extent; however, the presence of Fe ions can modify the reaction pathway. In the present work, the methanol conversion was studied over H- and Fe-Beta zeolites at two different Si/Al ratios. 11 C-methanol was used to follow-up adsorption as well as desorption of methanol and its derivates. Therefore, a radioactivity detector was integrated to the gas chromatograph for exact identification of the labelled methanol and its derivates. H-Beta and Fe-Beta zeolites were applied at two different Si/Al ratios i.e. H-Beta(25) and H-Beta(300) and Fe-H-Beta(25) and Fe- H-Beta (300), respectively. A glass tube fixed-bed reactor was used as a closed static reactor. The 11 C-radioisotope (T 1/2 =20.4 min) was produced in 11 C-labelled carbon dioxide form by cyclotron. The 11 C-methanol tracer was produced by radiochemical process [3]. The mixture of 11 C-methanol and non-radioactive methanol was then introduced into zeolite by He gas flow. The volatile products of catalytic conversion of 11 C-methanol were analyzed by radio-gas chromatography (gas chromatograph with flame ionization detector (FID) coupled on-line with a radioactivity detector). The methanol conversion rate and product selectivities to dimethyl ether, hydrocarbons (methane, C 2 -C 6 olefins and paraffins), formaldehyde and carbon-oxides were measured and calculated over H- and Fe-Beta zeolites at two different Si/Al ratios at 250 and 350 deg C. Over H-Beta(25) C 2 -C 6 hydrocarbons (mostly as alkanes) with high conversion rate and some dimethyl ether were detected due to presence of strong Bronsted

  8. Variety of Polarized Line Profiles in Interacting Supernovae

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffman, Jennifer L.; Huk, L. N.; Peters, C. L.

    2013-01-01

    The dense circumstellar material that creates strong emission lines in the spectra of interacting supernovae also gives rise to complex line polarization behavior. Viewed in polarized light, the emission line profiles of these supernovae encode information about the geometrical and optical characteristics of their surrounding circumstellar material (CSM) that is inaccessible by other observational techniques. To facilitate quantitative interpretation of these spectropolarimetric signatures, we have created a large grid of model polarized line profiles using a three-dimensional radiative transfer code that simulates polarization via electron and resonant/fluorescent line scattering. The simulated polarized lines take on an array of profile shapes that vary with viewing angle and CSM properties. We present the major results from the grid and investigate the dependence of polarized line profiles on CSM characteristics including temperature, optical depth, and geometry. These results will allow more straightforward interpretation of polarized line profiles in interacting supernovae than has previously been possible. This research is supported by the National Science Foundation through the AAG program and the XSEDE collaboration, and uses the resources of the Texas Advanced Computing Center.

  9. Stellar model chromospheres. X. High-resolution, absolute flux profiles of the Ca II H and K lines in stars of sepctral types FO--M2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Linsky, J.L.; Worden, S.P.; McClintock, V.; Robertson, R.M.

    1979-01-01

    We present 120 mA resolution spectra of the cores and wings of the Ca II H and K lines in 43 stars covering a wide range of spectral type and luminosity class. These spectra were obtained with the KPNO 4 m echelle spectrograph and blue image tube, and are calibrated in absolute suface flux units using Willstrop's narrow-band photometry and the Barnes and Evans relations for stellar angular diameters. We estimate an uncertainty of +- 15% in our flux scales. We derive chromospheric radiative loss rates in H and K lines, and discuss trenfs in these loss rates with effective temperature for dwarfs, giants and supergiants. We compare these loss rates with similar rates for the Mg II h and k lines, and discuss the doublet line ratios for H and K. The monochromatic surface fluxes for different features in the H and K lines are presented. From the surface fluxes at K 1 we derived the radiation temperature T/sub R/(K 1 ). The T/sub R/(K 1 )/T/sub eff/ ratio is lower in giants than in dwarfs, as predicted by partial redistribution calculations, and this ratio appears to be an empirical age indicator among dwarfs. Asymmetries in the K line profile provide evidence for a solar-type supergranulation flow pattern in F5--K5 dwarfs and perhaps aslo in G and early K supergiants. Measurements of line widths at H 1 , K 1 , and K 2 are presented, together with FWHM data for the H and K lines. We find rough agreement between the measured K 1 widths and the gravity and chromospheric heating rate dependences in the scaling law proposed by Ayeres. Finally, we present data on emission lines in the wings of H and K, and discuss chromospheric radiative loss rates in the Hepsilon line compared with loss rates in the H and K lines

  10. Non-LTE hydrogen-line formation in moving prominences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinzel, P.; Rompolt, B.

    1986-01-01

    The behavior of hydrogen-line brightness variations, depending on the prominence-velocity changes were investigated. By solving the NON-Local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) problem for hydrogen researchers determine quantitatively the effect of Doppler brightening and/or Doppler dimming (DBE, DDE) in the lines of Lyman and Balmer series. It is demonstrated that in low-density prominence plasmas, DBE in H alpha and H beta lines can reach a factor of three for velocities around 160 km/sec, while the L alpha line exhibits typical DDE. L beta brightness variations follow from a combined DBE in the H alpha and DDE in L alpha and L beta itself, providing that all relevant multilevel interlocking processes are taken into account.

  11. Beta limits in H-modes and VH-modes in JET

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smeulders, P; Hender, T C; Huysmans, G; Marcus, F; Ali-Arshad, S; Alper, B; Balet, B; Bures, M; Deliyanakis, N; Esch, H de; Fshpool, G; Jarvis, O N; Jones, T T.C.; Ketner, W; Koenig, R; Lawson, K; Lomas, P; O` Brien, D; Sadler, G; Stok, D; Stubberfield, P; Thomas, P; Thomen, K; Wesson, J [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Nave, M F [Universidade Tecnica, Lisbon (Portugal). Inst. Superior Tecnico

    1994-07-01

    In Hot-ion H- and VH-modes, the highest achieved beta was about 10% below the Troyon value in the best case of discharge 26087. The operational space of the high beta discharges obtained before March 1992 has been explored as function of the parameters H{sub ITER89P}, {beta}{sub n}, q{sub 95}, I{sub p}. Also, a limiting envelope on the fusion reactivity as a function of the average plasma pressure and beta has been observed with R{sub DD} related to {beta}{sub {phi}}{sup 2}.B{sub {phi}}{sup 4}. MHD stability analysis shows that the JET VH modes at the edge are in the second region for ballooning mode stability. The dependence of ballooning stability and the n=1 external kink on the edge current density is analyzed. (authors). 6 figs., 6 refs.

  12. H-mode profile parametrization for extrapolation and control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imre, K.; Riedel, K.S.; Schissel, D.P.; Schunke, B.

    1996-01-01

    A steady-state ELMy H-mode profile data set of 68 DIII-D discharges and 74 JET discharges is fitted with an error of 7-8%. The advantages of a parametrization of the plasma profiles in terms of a semi-parametric representation, T(ρ, I p , n-bar, B t , P L , R), are described. The shape of the temperature profile depends almost exclusively upon the size, R and q 95 , with a secondary dependence on the heating power. The density profile depends primarily upon q95 with a secondary dependence on n-bar. The line-average temperature T-bar e scales as n-bar -0.31 instead of T-bar∼''n-bar'' -1.0 . The predicted ITER temperature is T-bar = 17.1 keV. (Author)

  13. Arachidonic Acid-Induced Expression of the Organic Solute and Steroid Transporter-beta (Ost-beta) in a Cartilaginous Fish Cell Line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Jae-Ho; Parton, Angela; Czechanski, Anne; Ballatori, Nazzareno; Barnes, David

    2008-01-01

    The organic solute and steroid transporter (OST/Ost) is a unique membrane transport protein heterodimer composed of subunits designated alpha and beta, that transports conjugated steroids and prostaglandin E2 across the plasma membrane. Ost was first identified in the liver of the cartilaginous fish Leucoraja erinacea, the little skate, and subsequently was found in many other species, including humans and rodents. The present study describes the isolation of a new cell line, LEE-1, derived from an early embryo of L. erinacea, and characterizes the expression of Ost in these cells. The mRNA size and amino acid sequence of Ost-beta in LEE-1 was identical to that previously reported for Ost-beta from skate liver, and the primary structure was identical to that of the spiny dogfish shark (Squalus acanthias) with the exception of a single amino acid. Ost-beta was found both on the plasma membrane and intracellularly in LEE-1 cells, consistent with its localization in other cell types. Interestingly, arachidonic acid, the precursor to eiconsanoids, strongly induced Ost-beta expression in LEE-1 cells and a lipid mixture containing arachidonic acid also induced Ost-alpha. Overall, the present study describes the isolation of a novel marine cell line, and shows that this cell line expresses relatively high levels of Ost when cultured in the presence of arachidonic acid. Although the function of this transport protein in embryo-derived cells is unknown, it may play a role in the disposition of eicosanoids or steroid-derived molecules. PMID:18407792

  14. Origin of the various beta dependences of ELMy H-mode confinement properties

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takizuka, T; Urano, H; Takenaga, H; Oyama, N

    2006-01-01

    Dependence of the energy confinement in ELMy H-mode tokamak on the beta has been investigated for a long time, but a common conclusion has not been obtained so far. Recent non-dimensional transport experiments in JT-60U demonstrated clearly the beta degradation. A database for JT-60U ELMy H-mode confinement was assembled. Analysis of this database is carried out, and the strong beta degradation consistent with the above experiments is confirmed. Two subsets of ASDEX Upgrade and JET data in the ITPA H-mode confinement database are analysed to find the origin of the various beta dependences. The shaping of the plasma cross section, as well as the fuelling condition, affects the confinement performance. The beta dependence is not identical for different devices and conditions. The shaping effect, as well as the fuelling effect, is a possible candidate for causing the variation of beta dependence

  15. Optical spectrophotometry of Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner and emission profiles of H2O+

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strauss, M. A.; Mccarthy, P. J.; Spinrad, H.

    1986-01-01

    Two-dimensional CCD spectrograms were obtained of Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner (1984e) on five occasions between July and October 1985. Spatial emission profiles of H2O+ were extracted at 6198 angstroms (the strongest ionic line in the visible spectrum). This emission line traces the extent of the ion, or plasma, tail. The spectrographic slit was placed approximately along the trajectory of the ICE spacecraft on September 11, 1985; the resulting H2O+ profile has a full-width-half-maximum of about 5700 km, about three times that of the plasma density profile measured by ICE, and has a full-width-zero-intensity of about 30,000 km, very similar to the ICE values. H2O production rates for the comet are derived and compared with those of Comet P/Halley (1982i).

  16. Synthetic peptides corresponding to human follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH)-beta-(1-15) and hFSH-beta-(51-65) induce uptake of 45Ca++ by liposomes: evidence for calcium-conducting transmembrane channel formation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grasso, P.; Santa-Coloma, T.A.; Reichert, L.E. Jr. (Department of Biochemistry, Albany Medical College, New York, NY (USA))

    1991-06-01

    We have previously described FSH receptor-mediated influx of 45Ca++ in cultured Sertoli cells from immature rats and receptor-enriched proteoliposomes via activation of voltage-sensitive and voltage-independent calcium channels. We have further shown that this effect of FSH does not require cholera toxin- or pertussis toxin-sensitive guanine nucleotide binding protein or activation of adenylate cyclase. In the present study, we have identified regions of human FSH-beta-subunit which appear to be involved in mediating calcium influx. We screened 11 overlapping peptide amides representing the entire primary structure of hFSH-beta-subunit for their effects on 45Ca++ flux in FSH receptor-enriched proteoliposomes. hFSH-beta-(1-15) and hFSH-beta-(51-65) induced uptake of 45Ca++ in a concentration-related manner. This effect of hFSH-beta-(1-15) and hFSH-beta-(51-65) was also observed in liposomes lacking incorporated FSH receptor. Reducing membrane fluidity by incubating liposomes (containing no receptor) with hFSH-beta-(1-15) or hFSH-beta-(51-65) at temperatures lower than the transition temperatures of their constituent phospholipids resulted in no significant (P greater than 0.05) difference in 45Ca++ uptake. The effectiveness of the calcium ionophore A23187, however, was abolished. Ruthenium red, a voltage-independent calcium channel antagonist, was able to completely block uptake of 45Ca++ induced by hFSH-beta-(1-15) and hFSH-beta-(51-65) whereas nifedipine, a calcium channel blocker specific for L-type voltage-sensitive calcium channels, was without effect. These results suggest that in addition to its effect on voltage-sensitive calcium channel activity, interaction of FSH with its receptor may induce formation of transmembrane aqueous channels which also facilitate influx of extracellular calcium.

  17. Fludarabine plus alemtuzumab (FA) front-line treatment in young patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and an adverse biologic profile.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mauro, Francesca R; Molica, Stefano; Laurenti, Luca; Cortelezzi, Agostino; Carella, Angelo M; Zaja, Francesco; Chiarenza, Annalisa; Angrilli, Francesco; Nobile, Francesco; Marasca, Roberto; Musolino, Caterina; Brugiatelli, Maura; Piciocchi, Alfonso; Vignetti, Marco; Fazi, Paola; Gentile, Giuseppe; De Propris, Maria S; Della Starza, Irene; Marinelli, Marilisa; Chiaretti, Sabina; Del Giudice, Ilaria; Nanni, Mauro; Albano, Francesco; Cuneo, Antonio; Guarini, Anna; Foà, Robin

    2014-02-01

    In 45, ≤ 60 years old patients with CLL and an adverse biologic profile, a front-line treatment with Fludarabine and Campath (Alemtuzumab(®)) was given. The overall response rate was 75.5%, the complete response rate (CR) 24.4% with the lowest CR rates, 16.7% and 8.3%, in 11q and 17p deleted cases. The 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival were 42.5% and 79.9%, respectively. PFS was significantly influenced by CLL duration, beta2-microglobulin, and improved by post-remissional stem cell transplantation. Front-line fludarabine and alemtuzumab showed a manageable safety profile and evidence of a benefit in a small series of CLL patients with adverse biologic features. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Anti-Proliferative and Apoptotic Effects of Beta-Ionone in Human Leukemia Cell Line K562

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zohreh Faezizadeh

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Background Beta-ionone is an aroma compound found in the Rosaceae family. Some evidence supported that beta-ionone has a great potential for cancer prevention. To date, the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of beta-ionone in human leukemia cell line K562 were not studied. Objectives Hence, we investigated whether beta-ionone could inhibit cell growth and induce apoptosis in the K562 cells. Materials and Methods In this experimental study, human leukemia cell line K562 was cultured and anti-proliferation effect of beta-ionone with different doses (25 - 400 µm at different times (24 - 96 hours on treated cells was evaluated by the MTT assay. To determine apoptosis rate, the Hoechst 33342 staining and flow cytometry was performed. Results The MTT assay showed that beta-ionone inhibited proliferation of K562 cells in a dose-dependent manner significantly (P = 0.0008. Moreover, the increased apoptotic rate was found after incubation of K562 cells with 200 µm beta-ionone. The Hoechst staining and flow cytometry analysis indicated that beta-ionone could increase apoptosis of K562 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusions The results demonstrated that beta-ionone has anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on K562 cells, and in the future may be used in the treatment of some leukemia sub-types.

  19. Structure of the T cell receptor in a Ti alpha V beta 2, alpha V beta 8-positive T cell line

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hou, X; Dietrich, J; Kuhlmann, J

    1994-01-01

    not known; however, it has been suggested that each TcR contains two Ti dimers. To gain insight into the structure of the TcR we constructed a Ti alpha V beta 2, alpha V beta 8-positive T cell line which expressed the endogenous human TiV beta 8 and the transfected mouse TiV beta 2 both in association......The T cell receptor (TcR) is composed of at least six different polypeptide chains consisting of the clonotypic Ti heterodimer (Ti alpha beta or Ti gamma delta) and the noncovalently associated CD3 chains (CD3 gamma delta epsilon zeta). The exact number of subunits constituting the TcR is still...... with the endogenous Ti alpha and CD3 chains at the cell surface. Preclearing experiments with radioiodinated cell lysate prepared with digitonin lysis buffer demonstrated that depleting the lysate of Ti alpha V beta 8 by immunoprecipitation with anti V beta 8 monoclonal antibody (mAb) did not reduce the amount of Ti...

  20. Coexistence of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors in the rabbit heart: quantitative analysis of the regional distribution by (-)-/sup 3/H-dihydroalprenolol binding

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brodde, O.E.; Leifert, F.J.; Krehl, H.J.

    1982-01-01

    We determined the amount of beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors in right and left atria and ventricles of rabbits. For this purpose inhibition of specific (-)-/sup 3/H-dihydroalprenolol ((-)-/sup 3/H-DHA) binding (5 nM) by beta 1-selective (practolol, metoprolol) and beta 2-selective (zinterol, IPS 339) adrenergic drugs was determined and analyzed by pseudo-Scatchard (Hofstee) plots. For both atria, inhibition of binding by the four selective beta-adrenergic drugs resulted in non-linear Hofstee plots, suggesting the coexistence of both beta-adrenoceptor subtypes. From these plots we calculated a beta 1:beta 2-adrenoceptor ratio of 72:28 for the right atrium and of 82:18 for the left. In contrast, only a very small amount of beta 2-adrenoceptors (approximately 5-7% of the total beta-adrenoceptor population) could be detected in the ventricles. For comparison we analyzed the inhibition of specific (-)-/sup 3/H-DHA binding in tissues with homogeneous population of beta-adrenoceptors (beta 1:guinea pig left ventricle; beta 2: cerebellum of mature rats). For both tissues the four selective beta-adrenergic drugs showed linear Hofstee plots, demonstrating that in tissues with homogeneous beta-receptor population interaction of each drug with the receptor followed simple mass-action kinetics. We conclude that beta 1- and beta 2-adrenoceptors coexist in rabbit atria while the ventricles are predominantly endowed the beta 1-adrenoceptors.

  1. THE Lyα LINE PROFILES OF ULTRALUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES: FAST WINDS AND LYMAN CONTINUUM LEAKAGE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin, Crystal L.; Wong, Joseph [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106 (United States); Dijkstra, Mark [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, Postboks 1029, 0858 Oslo (Norway); Henry, Alaina [Astrophysics Science Division, Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 665, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Soto, Kurt T. [Institute for Astronomy, Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich (Switzerland); Danforth, Charles W., E-mail: cmartin@physics.ucsb.edu [CASA, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 389-UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309 (United States)

    2015-04-10

    We present new Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph far-ultraviolet (far-UV) spectroscopy and Keck Echellete optical spectroscopy of 11 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), a rare population of local galaxies experiencing massive gas inflows, extreme starbursts, and prominent outflows. We detect Lyα emission from eight ULIRGs and the companion to IRAS09583+4714. In contrast to the P Cygni profiles often seen in galaxy spectra, the Lyα profiles exhibit prominent, blueshifted emission out to Doppler shifts exceeding −1000 km s{sup −1} in three H ii-dominated and two AGN-dominated ULIRGs. To better understand the role of resonance scattering in shaping the Lyα line profiles, we directly compare them to non-resonant emission lines in optical spectra. We find that the line wings are already present in the intrinsic nebular spectra, and scattering merely enhances the wings relative to the line core. The Lyα attenuation (as measured in the COS aperture) ranges from that of the far-UV continuum to over 100 times more. A simple radiative transfer model suggests the Lyα photons escape through cavities which have low column densities of neutral hydrogen and become optically thin to the Lyman continuum in the most advanced mergers. We show that the properties of the highly blueshifted line wings on the Lyα and optical emission-line profiles are consistent with emission from clumps of gas condensing out of a fast, hot wind. The luminosity of the Lyα emission increases nonlinearly with the ULIRG bolometric luminosity and represents about 0.1–1% of the radiative cooling from the hot winds in the H ii-dominated ULIRGs.

  2. Deconvolution of spectral line profile by FTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lego, J.

    1977-01-01

    The possibility is studied of determining the components of the spectral line profile using Fourier transformation. The different types of the spectral line profiles are described and the conditions for their generation discussed. The main result is the discovery of the possibility to obtain the parameters of the different components directly from the interferogram without using the Fourier transformation. The method under discussion strongly simplifies evaluation while preserving or increasing accuracy. (author)

  3. A REVERBERATION LAG FOR THE HIGH-IONIZATION COMPONENT OF THE BROAD-LINE REGION IN THE NARROW-LINE SEYFERT 1 Mrk 335

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grier, C. J.; Peterson, B. M.; Pogge, R. W.; Martini, Paul; Zu, Y.; Kochanek, C. S.; Shappee, B. J.; Stanek, K. Z.; Araya Salvo, C.; Beatty, T. G.; Bird, J. C. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 W 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Denney, K. D. [Dark Cosmology Centre, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries Vej 30, DK-2100 Copenhagen (Denmark); Bentz, M. C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Astronomy Offices, One Park Place South SE, Suite 700, Atlanta, GA 30303 (United States); Sergeev, S. G.; Borman, G. A. [Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, P/O Nauchny Crimea 98409 (Ukraine); Kaspi, S. [School of Physics and Astronomy, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978 (Israel); Bord, D. J. [Department of Natural Sciences, The University of Michigan-Dearborn, 4901 Evergreen Rd, Dearborn, MI 48128 (United States); Che, X. [Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 41809 (United States); Chen, C.; Cohen, S. A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, 6127 Wilder Laboratory, Hanover, NH 03755 (United States); and others

    2012-01-15

    We present the first results from a detailed analysis of photometric and spectrophotometric data on the narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 335, collected over a 120 day span in the fall of 2010. From these data we measure the lag in the He II {lambda}4686 broad emission line relative to the optical continuum to be 2.7 {+-} 0.6 days and the lag in the H{beta}{lambda}4861 broad emission line to be 13.9 {+-} 0.9 days. Combined with the line width, the He II lag yields a black hole mass M{sub BH} = (2.6 {+-} 0.8) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 7} M{sub Sun }. This measurement is consistent with measurements made using the H{beta}{lambda}4861 line, suggesting that the He II emission originates in the same structure as H{beta}, but at a much smaller radius. This constitutes the first robust lag measurement for a high-ionization line in an NLS1 galaxy and supports a scenario in which the He II emission originates from gas in virial motion rather than outflow.

  4. Metabolomic and proteomic analysis of a clonal insulin-producing beta-cell line (INS-1 832/13).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernandez, Céline; Fransson, Ulrika; Hallgard, Elna; Spégel, Peter; Holm, Cecilia; Krogh, Morten; Wårell, Kristofer; James, Peter; Mulder, Hindrik

    2008-01-01

    Metabolites generated from fuel metabolism in pancreatic beta-cells control exocytosis of insulin, a process which fails in type 2 diabetes. To identify and quantify these metabolites, global and unbiased analysis of cellular metabolism is required. To this end, polar metabolites, extracted from the clonal 832/13 beta-cell line cultured at 2.8 and 16.7 mM glucose for 48 h, were derivatized followed by identification and quantification, using gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrometry (MS). After culture at 16.7 mM glucose for 48 h, 832/13 beta-cells exhibited a phenotype reminiscent of glucotoxicity with decreased content and secretion of insulin. The metabolomic analysis revealed alterations in the levels of 7 metabolites derived from glycolysis, the TCA cycle and pentose phosphate shunt, and 4 amino acids. Principal component analysis of the metabolite data showed two clusters, corresponding to the cells cultured at 2.8 and 16.7 mM glucose, respectively. Concurrent changes in protein expression were analyzed by 2-D gel electrophoresis followed by LC-MS/MS. The identities of 86 spots corresponding to 75 unique proteins that were significantly different in 832/13 beta-cells cultured at 16.7 mM glucose were established. Only 5 of these were found to be metabolic enzymes that could be involved in the metabolomic alterations observed. Anticipated changes in metabolite levels in cells exposed to increased glucose were observed, while changes in enzyme levels were much less profound. This suggests that substrate availability, allosteric regulation, and/or post-translational modifications are more important determinants of metabolite levels than enzyme expression at the protein level.

  5. Analysis of interleukin (IL)-1 beta and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta-induced signal transduction pathways in IL-2 and TGF-beta secretion and proliferation in the thymoma cell line EL4.NOB-1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siese, A; Jaros, P P; Willig, A

    1999-02-01

    In the present study we investigated the interleukin (IL)-1beta and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)-mediated proliferation, and production of IL-2 and TGF-beta, in the murine T-cell line, EL4.NOB-1. This cell line is resistant to TGF-beta concerning growth arrest but not autoinduction or suppression of IL-1-induced IL-2 production. When cocultured with IL-1beta, TGF-beta showed growth-promoting activity that could be antagonized by adding the phosphatidyl choline-dependent phospholipase C (PC-PLC) inhibitor, D609. Using specific enzyme inhibitors of protein kinases (PK) C and A, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), phosphatidylinositol-dependent (PI)-PLC and PC-PLC, we showed that IL-1beta-induced IL-2 synthesis was dependent on all investigated kinases and phospholipases, except PC-PLC. TGF-beta1 was able to inhibit IL-2 synthesis by the activation of PKA and MAPK. The same kinases are involved in TGF-beta autoinduction that is accompanied by a secretion of the active but not the latent growth factor and is antagonized by IL-1beta. Addition of the PI-PLC inhibitor, ET 18OCH3, or the PLA2 inhibitor (quinacrine) alone, resulted in secretion of latent TGF-beta and, in the case of ET 18OCH3, active TGF-beta. These data implicate a role for PI-PLC and PLA2 in the control of latency and secretion. Analysis of specific tyrosine activity and c-Fos expression showed synergistic but no antagonistic effects. These events are therefore not involved in IL- and TGF-beta-regulated IL-2 and TGF-beta production, but might participate in IL-1/TGF-beta-induced growth promotion.

  6. Time Variations of Observed H α Line Profiles and Precipitation Depths of Nonthermal Electrons in a Solar Flare

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Falewicz, Robert; Radziszewski, Krzysztof; Rudawy, Paweł; Berlicki, Arkadiusz, E-mail: falewicz@astro.uni.wroc.pl, E-mail: radziszewski@astro.uni.wroc.pl, E-mail: rudawy@astro.uni.wroc.pl, E-mail: berlicki@astro.uni.wroc.pl [Astronomical Institute, University of Wrocław, 51-622 Wrocław, ul. Kopernika 11 (Poland)

    2017-10-01

    We compare time variations of the H α and X-ray emissions observed during the pre-impulsive and impulsive phases of the C1.1-class solar flare on 2013 June 21 with those of plasma parameters and synthesized X-ray emission from a 1D hydrodynamic numerical model of the flare. The numerical model was calculated assuming that the external energy is delivered to the flaring loop by nonthermal electrons (NTEs). The H α spectra and images were obtained using the Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass spectrograph with a time resolution of 50 ms. The X-ray fluxes and spectra were recorded by RHESSI . Pre-flare geometric and thermodynamic parameters of the model and the delivered energy were estimated using RHESSI data. The time variations of the X-ray light curves in various energy bands and those of the H α intensities and line profiles were well correlated. The timescales of the observed variations agree with the calculated variations of the plasma parameters in the flaring loop footpoints, reflecting the time variations of the vertical extent of the energy deposition layer. Our result shows that the fast time variations of the H α emission of the flaring kernels can be explained by momentary changes of the deposited energy flux and the variations of the penetration depths of the NTEs.

  7. Solar line Lsub(α) profile and an interstellar wind dynamics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burgin, M.S.

    1978-01-01

    Analytical theory of interstellar hydrogen atom motion into the region of solar Lsub(α)-radiation is given. Hydrogen distribution in the Solar system is calculated with an account of the Lsub(α) solar line profile difference from a flat one. The effect of the profile form on the scattered radiation intensity is estimated. Calculation errors of the scattered radiation intensity, connected with the difference between a line profile and a flat one, do not exceed 5% for the real Lsub(α) solar line profile

  8. Resonance line-profiles in galactic disk UV-bright stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carrasco, L.; Costero, R.

    1987-01-01

    We have made a comparative analysis of UV resonance line-profiles in O-type stars members of young clusters and OB associations, with those of hot stars located away from sites of recent star formation (including ''runaway'' stars). The resonance line-profiles are found to be generally dominated by stellar winds that appear to depend mainly on the surface gravity and temperature of the star, and not on its mass. We also present the C IV, Si IV and N V resonance line-profiles for eleven stars not published in the previous two papers. The use of only the largest stellar wind velocity detectable in the resonance lines as a stellar population indicator, is disputed. (author)

  9. Two approaches to the reactor-relevant high-beta plasmas with profile control in the Large Helical Device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohdachi, S.; Watanabe, K.Y.; Sakakibara, S.

    2008-10-01

    From detailed optimization of configuration, volume averaged beta ∼ 5% has been achieved in the Large Helical Device(LHD). While the heating efficiency was the main point to be optimized in this approach, to form a more peaked pressure profile is another promising approach towards the high beta regime. A higher electron density profile with a steeper pressure gradient has been formed by pellet injection. From the MHD stability analysis, this peaked pressure profile is stable against the ideal MHD modes. By both approaches, the central plasma β 0 reaches about 10%. (author)

  10. The influence of Stark shift and plasma inhomogeneity on half width of self-absorbed line profiles in the plasma emission spectrum

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Catsalap, K.Yu.; Ershov-Pavlov, E.A.

    2005-01-01

    Emission spectral line profiles are commonly used for the evaluation of local plasma parameters. The plasma parameters and local line profiles are related in a rather simple way: e.g. at quadratic Stark broadening, the local line half widths and shifts are proportional to the electron density. For homogeneous optically thin plasmas, there is no difference in the line profiles of plasma emission and emissivity spectra. However for inhomogeneous source, the profiles are different due to spatial dependence of electron density and plasma temperature: profiles in the plasma emission are a superposition of different local ones. A transition from the recorded to local profiles is usually performed by tomography techniques. As the result, the measurement procedure is getting slower and additional errors occurs. For transparent plasmas, an approach was developed to evaluate local profiles from as recorded spectra using relations found by modeling. However, for semi-transparent plasmas the relation between the recorded and local profiles is more complicated one. With the optical thickness t increase, profile half width Δλ in the plasma emission spectrum changes much comparing to the profile half width Δλ 0 in the spectrum of optically thin plasma. The ratio t h =Δλ/Δλ 0 on τ for dispersion profile and homogeneous plasma can be written as t h =(-1-τ/ln((1+e -τ )/2)) 1/2 . When Δλ and τ are known, the function allows obtaining Δλ 0 , i. e. reducing the problem to the transparent plasma diagnostics. However, the plasma is nearly always inhomogeneous and the value t depends significantly on plasma inhomogeneity and on Stark parameters ratio d/w. Here, the dependence t(τ) for plasmas of different inhomogeneity rates has been obtained by the numerical simulation. The radiation transfer equation has been solved to calculate the spectral line profiles for LTE-plasma of known composition and distribution of temperature along the observation line. The temperature

  11. GSK3 beta forms a tetrameric complex with endogenous PS1-CTF/NTF and beta-catenin. Effects of the D257/D385A and FAD-linked mutations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tesco, G; Tanzi, R E

    2000-01-01

    We have previously shown that the endogenous C-terminal fragment of presenilin 1 co-immunoprecipitates with endogenous beta-catenin. Since PS1 has been suggested to be involved in beta-catenin stabilization, we further investigated whether GSK3 beta, responsible for beta-catenin phosphorylation and degradation, is part of the PS1/beta-catenin complex. In naïve H4 and CHO cells, PS1 co-immunoprecipitated with both endogenous beta-catenin and GSK3 beta. In addition, GSK3 beta endogenously binds to the PS1-CTF/NTF complex and beta-catenin in naïve CHO cells. GSK3 beta also co-immunoprecipitated with PS1 full length in CHO cell lines overexpressing PS1 wild type. Given that it has been recently shown that PS1 mutations of aspartate 257 or 385 result in prevention of PS1 endoproteolysis and inhibition of gamma-secretase activity, we also tested whether PS1 endoproteolysis is required for beta-catenin/GSK3 beta/PS1 binding and whether PS1 FAD-linked mutations affect GSK3 beta recruitment in the PS1/beta-catenin complex. GSK3 beta was detected in PS1 immunoprecipitates from H4 cell lines overexpressing PS1 wild type, delta E10, A286E, L246V and in CHO cell lines overexpressing aspartate or M146L mutations. The latter data show that the absence of PS1 endoproteolysis (D257A/D385A and delta E10) or the presence of PS1-FAD mutations does not interfere with beta-catenin/GSK3 beta/PS1 complex formation.

  12. Active core profile and transport modification by application of ion Bernstein wave power in the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification

    Science.gov (United States)

    LeBlanc, B.; Batha, S.; Bell, R.; Bernabei, S.; Blush, L.; de la Luna, E.; Doerner, R.; Dunlap, J.; England, A.; Garcia, I.; Ignat, D.; Isler, R.; Jones, S.; Kaita, R.; Kaye, S.; Kugel, H.; Levinton, F.; Luckhardt, S.; Mutoh, T.; Okabayashi, M.; Ono, M.; Paoletti, F.; Paul, S.; Petravich, G.; Post-Zwicker, A.; Sauthoff, N.; Schmitz, L.; Sesnic, S.; Takahashi, H.; Talvard, M.; Tighe, W.; Tynan, G.; von Goeler, S.; Woskov, P.; Zolfaghari, A.

    1995-03-01

    Application of Ion Bernstein Wave Heating (IBWH) into the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification (PBX-M) [Phys. Fluids B 2, 1271 (1990)] tokamak stabilizes sawtooth oscillations and generates peaked density profiles. A transport barrier, spatially correlated with the IBWH power deposition profile, is observed in the core of IBWH-assisted neutral beam injection (NBI) discharges. A precursor to the fully developed barrier is seen in the soft x-ray data during edge localized mode (ELM) activity. Sustained IBWH operation is conducive to a regime where the barrier supports large ∇ne, ∇Te, ∇νφ, and ∇Ti, delimiting the confinement zone. This regime is reminiscent of the H(high) mode, but with a confinement zone moved inward. The core region has better than H-mode confinement while the peripheral region is L(low)-mode-like. The peaked profile enhances NBI core deposition and increases nuclear reactivity. An increase in central Ti results from χi reduction (compared to the H mode) and better beam penetration. Bootstrap current fractions of up to 0.32-0.35 locally and 0.28 overall were obtained when an additional NBI burst is applied to this plasma.

  13. Active core profile and transport modification by application of ion Bernstein wave power in the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    LeBlanc, B.; Batha, S.; Bell, R.; Bernabei, S.; Blush, L.; de la Luna, E.; Doerner, R.; Dunlap, J.; England, A.; Garcia, I.; Ignat, D.; Isler, R.; Jones, S.; Kaita, R.; Kaye, S.; Kugel, H.; Levinton, F.; Luckhardt, S.; Mutoh, T.; Okabayashi, M.; Ono, M.; Paoletti, F.; Paul, S.; Petravich, G.; Post-Zwicker, A.; Sauthoff, N.; Schmitz, L.; Sesnic, S.; Takahashi, H.; Talvard, M.; Tighe, W.; Tynan, G.; von Goeler, S.; Woskov, P.; Zolfaghari, A.

    1995-01-01

    Application of Ion Bernstein Wave Heating (IBWH) into the Princeton Beta Experiment-Modification (PBX-M) [Phys. Fluids B 2, 1271 (1990)] tokamak stabilizes sawtooth oscillations and generates peaked density profiles. A transport barrier, spatially correlated with the IBWH power deposition profile, is observed in the core of IBWH-assisted neutral beam injection (NBI) discharges. A precursor to the fully developed barrier is seen in the soft x-ray data during edge localized mode (ELM) activity. Sustained IBWH operation is conducive to a regime where the barrier supports large ∇n e , ∇T e , ∇ν φ , and ∇T i , delimiting the confinement zone. This regime is reminiscent of the H(high) mode, but with a confinement zone moved inward. The core region has better than H-mode confinement while the peripheral region is L(low)-mode-like. The peaked profile enhances NBI core deposition and increases nuclear reactivity. An increase in central T i results from χ i reduction (compared to the H mode) and better beam penetration. Bootstrap current fractions of up to 0.32--0.35 locally and 0.28 overall were obtained when an additional NBI burst is applied to this plasma

  14. Effects of transforming growth factor-beta on growth and differentiation of the continuous rat thyroid follicular cell line, FRTL-5

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morris, J.C. III; Ranganathan, G.; Hay, I.D.; Nelson, R.E.; Jiang, N.S.

    1988-01-01

    Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) has been shown to influence the growth and differentiation of many widely varied cell types in vitro, including some that are endocrinologically active. We have investigated the previously unknown effects of this unique growth factor in the differentiated rat thyroid follicular cell line FRTL-5. The cells demonstrated specific, high affinity binding of TGF beta, and as with other epithelial cells, the growth of these thyroid follicular cells was potently inhibited by addition of TGF beta to the culture medium. TGF beta caused a significant reduction in TSH-sensitive adenylate cyclase activity in the cells. The addition of (Bu)2cAMP along with the growth factor to cultures partially reversed the characteristic morphological changes seen with TGF beta, but did not reverse the growth inhibition. To further investigate the possible mechanisms of the effects of TGF beta on the cells, we measured the influence of the growth factor on [125I]TSH binding. TGF beta did not compete for specific TSH-binding sites; however, exposure of the cells to TGF beta for 12 or more h resulted in a dose-dependent down-regulation of TSH receptors that was fully reversible. While cellular proliferation was potently inhibited by TGF beta, differentiated function, as manifest by iodine-trapping ability, was stimulated by the growth factor. This stimulation of iodine uptake was independent of, and additive to, the stimulatory effects of TSH. Finally, FRTL-5 cells in serum-free medium and in response to TSH were shown to secrete TGF beta-like activity that competed for [125I]TGF beta in a RRA. These studies suggest that TGF beta may represent an autocrine mechanism of controlling the growth response to TSH in thyroid follicular cells, while allowing the continuance of differentiated function

  15. GSK-3beta inhibition enhances sorafenib-induced apoptosis in melanoma cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panka, David J; Cho, Daniel C; Atkins, Michael B; Mier, James W

    2008-01-11

    Glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) can participate in the induction of apoptosis or, alternatively, provide a survival signal that minimizes cellular injury. We previously demonstrated that the multikinase inhibitor sorafenib induces apoptosis in melanoma cell lines. In this report, we show that sorafenib activates GSK-3beta in multiple subcellular compartments and that this activation undermines the lethality of the drug. Pharmacologic inhibition and/or down-modulation of the kinase enhances sorafenib-induced apoptosis as determined by propidium iodide staining and by assessing the mitochondrial release of apoptosis-inducing factor and Smac/DIABLO. Conversely, the forced expression of a constitutively active form of the enzyme (GSK-3beta(S9A)) protects the cells from the apoptotic effects of the drug. This protective effect is associated with a marked increase in basal levels of Bcl-2, Bcl-x(L), and survivin and a diminution in the degree to which these anti-apoptotic proteins are down-modulated by sorafenib exposure. Sorafenib down-modulates the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family member Noxa in cells with high constitutive GSK-3beta activity. Pharmacologic inhibition of GSK-3beta prevents the disappearance of Noxa induced by sorafenib and enhances the down-modulation of Mcl-1. Down-modulation of Noxa largely eliminates the enhancing effect of GSK-3 inhibition on sorafenib-induced apoptosis. These data provide a strong rationale for the use of GSK-3beta inhibitors as adjuncts to sorafenib treatment and suggest that preservation of Noxa may contribute to their efficacy.

  16. Expression of inwardly rectifying potassium channels (GIRKs) and beta-adrenergic regulation of breast cancer cell lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plummer, Howard K III; Yu, Qiang; Cakir, Yavuz; Schuller, Hildegard M

    2004-01-01

    Previous research has indicated that at various organ sites there is a subset of adenocarcinomas that is regulated by beta-adrenergic and arachidonic acid-mediated signal transduction pathways. We wished to determine if this regulation exists in breast adenocarcinomas. Expression of mRNA that encodes a G-protein coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channel (GIRK1) has been shown in tissue samples from approximately 40% of primary human breast cancers. Previously, GIRK channels have been associated with beta-adrenergic signaling. Breast cancer cell lines were screened for GIRK channels by RT-PCR. Cell cultures of breast cancer cells were treated with beta-adrenergic agonists and antagonists, and changes in gene expression were determined by both relative competitive and real time PCR. Potassium flux was determined by flow cytometry and cell signaling was determined by western blotting. Breast cancer cell lines MCF-7, MDA-MB-361 MDA-MB 453, and ZR-75-1 expressed mRNA for the GIRK1 channel, while MDA-MB-468 and MDA-MB-435S did not. GIRK4 was expressed in all six breast cancer cell lines, and GIRK2 was expressed in all but ZR-75-1 and MDA-MB-435. Exposure of MDA-MB-453 cells for 6 days to the beta-blocker propranolol (1 μM) increased the GIRK1 mRNA levels and decreased beta 2 -adrenergic mRNA levels, while treatment for 30 minutes daily for 7 days had no effect. Exposure to a beta-adrenergic agonist and antagonist for 24 hours had no effect on gene expression. The beta adrenergic agonist, formoterol hemifumarate, led to increases in K + flux into MDA-MB-453 cells, and this increase was inhibited by the GIRK channel inhibitor clozapine. The tobacco carcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), a high affinity agonist for beta-adrenergic receptors stimulated activation of Erk 1/2 in MDA-MB-453 cells. Our data suggests β-adrenergic receptors and GIRK channels may play a role in breast cancer

  17. A stable route to high-{beta}{sub p} plasmas with non-monotonic q-profiles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Soeldner, F X; Baranov, Y; Bhatnagar, V P; Bickley, A J; Challis, C D; Fischer, B; Gormezano, C; Huysmans, G T.A.; Kerner, W; Rimini, F; Sips, A C.C.; Springmann, R; Taroni, A [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Goedbloed, J P; Holties, H A [Institute for Plasmas Physics, Nieuwegein (Netherlands); Parail, V V; Pereverzev, G V [Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    1994-07-01

    Steady-state operation of tokamak reactors seems feasible in so-called Advanced Scenarios with high bootstrap current in high-beta{sub p} operation. The stabilization of such discharges with noninductive profile control will be attempted on JET in pursuit of previous high bootstrap current studies. Results of modelling studies of full noninductive current drive scenarios in JET and ITER are presented. Fast Waves (FW), Lower Hybrid (LH) Waves and Neutral Beam Injection (NBI) are used for heating and current drive, alternatively or in combination. A stable route to nonmonotonic q-profiles has been found with a specific ramp-up scenario which combines LH-current drive (LHCD) and a fast Ohmic ramp-up. A hollow current profile with deep shear reversal over the whole central region is thereby formed in an early low-beta phase and frozen in by additional heating. (authors). 5 refs., 4 figs.

  18. First on-line $\\beta$-NMR on oriented nuclei magnetic dipole moments of the $\

    CERN Document Server

    Giles, T; Stone, N J; Van Esbroeck, K; White, G; Wöhr, A; Veskovic, M; Towner, I S; Mantica, P F; Prisciandaro, J I; Morrissey, D J; Fedosseev, V; Mishin, V I; Köster, U; Walters, W B

    2000-01-01

    The first fully on-line use of the angular distribution of $\\beta$ - emission in detection of NMR of nuclei oriented at low temperatures is reported. The magnetic moments of the single valence particle, intermediate mass, isotopes $^{67}$Ni($\

  19. High non-specific binding of the {beta}{sub 1}-selective radioligand 2-{sup 125}I-ICI-H

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riemann, B. [Muenster Univ. (Germany). Department of Nuclear Medicine; Law, M.P. [Muenster Univ. (Germany). Department of Nuclear Medicine; Hammersmith Hospital, London (United Kingdom). MRC Clinical Sciences Centre; Kopka, K. [Muenster Univ. (DE). Department of Nuclear Medicine] [and others

    2003-08-01

    Aim: As results of cardiac biopsies suggest, myocardial {beta}{sub 1}-adrenoceptor density is reduced in patients with chronic heart failure. However, changes in cardiac {beta}{sub 2}-adrenoceptors vary. With suitable radiopharmaceuticals single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) offer the opportunity to assess {beta}-adrenoceptors non-invasively. Among the novel racemic analogues of the established {beta}{sub 1}-selective adrenoceptor antagonist ICI 89.406 the iodinated 2-I-ICI-H showed high affinity and selectivity to {beta}{sub 1}-adrenoceptors in murine ventricular membranes. The aim of this study was its evaluation as a putative subtype selective {beta}{sub 1}-adrenergic radioligand in cardiac imaging. Methods: Competition studies in vitro and in vivo were used to investigate the kinetics of 2-I-ICI-H binding to cardiac {beta}-adrenoceptors in mice and rats. In addition, the radiosynthesis of 2-{sup 125}I-ICI-H from the silylated precursor 2-SiMe{sub 3}-ICI-H was established. The specific activity was 80 GBq/{mu}mol, the radiochemical yield ranged from 70 to 80%. Results: The unlabelled compound 2-I-ICI-H showed high {beta}{sub 1}-selectivity and -affinity in the in vitro competition studies. In vivo biodistribution studies apparently showed low affinity to cardiac {beta}-adrenoceptors. The radiolabelled counterpart 2-{sup 125}I-ICI-H showed a high degree of non-specific binding in vitro and no specific binding to cardiac {beta}{sub 1}-adrenoceptors in vivo. Conclusion: Because of its high non-specific binding 2-{sup 125}I-ICI-H is no suitable radiotracer for imaging in vivo. (orig.)

  20. Analyais of solar X-ray emission line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burek, A.J.; Marrus, D.M.; Blake, R.L.; Fenimore, E.E.

    1981-01-01

    We report results of the analysis of the X-ray emission line profiles for the Ne X La and Fe XVII 4d 1 P 1 lines produced in an active region that was undergoing a radio and X-ray gradual rise and fall (GRF) in intensity. The spectra were obtained with collimated Bragg spectrometers launched on a rocket from White Sands Missile Range on 1976 March 26. Using a crystal of ammonium acid phthalate, we have fully resolved the Ne X La and Fe XVII 4d 1 P 1 lines, permitting an accurate determinination of the Ne X La intensity and allowing Doppler broadened profiles for lines formed from ions having greatly different atomic mass and charge to be measured. An isothermal model derived from the Ne IX/Ne X resonance line intensity ratio gives an electron temperature of 3.4 x 10 6 K. An isothermal model, however, fails to account for the intensities of all lines and continuum observed. All multitemperature models that do reproduce the observed relative line intensities require the presence of a hot plasma component with an electron temperature in excess of 5 x 10 6 K. The presence of a high temperature component is also suggested by the measured line to continuum ratio of 3.6 in the 12--15 A wavelength interval. Interpretation of the line profiles in terms of a multitemperature model requires an rms turbulence velocity of 48 +- 15 km s -1 for Fe XVII 1 P 1 and 74 +- 54 km s - 2exclamation for Ne X La at the 95% confidence level. Collimated scans across the active region show the presence of a compact source of intense X-ray emission close to the magnetic neutral line, which is very probably the GRF plasma

  1. Dual fluorescence of N-phenylanthranilic acid: Effect of solvents, pH and beta-cyclodextrin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajendiran, N; Balasubramanian, T

    2007-11-01

    Spectral characteristics of N-phenylanthranilic acid (NPAA) have been studied in different solvents, pH and beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) and compared with anthranilic acid (2-aminobenzoic acid, 2ABA). In all solvents a dual fluorescence is observed in NPAA, whereas 2ABA gives single emission. Combining the results observed in the absorption, fluorescence emission and fluorescence excitation spectra, it is found that strong intramolecular hydrogen bonding (IHB) interactions present in NPAA molecule. The inclusion complex of NPAA with beta-CD is analysed by UV-vis, fluorimetry, FT-IR, (1)H NMR, scanning electron microscope and AM 1 method. The above spectral studies show that NPAA forms a 1:1 inclusion complex with beta-CD and COOH group present in the beta-CD cavity. A mechanism is proposed to explain the inclusion process.

  2. LipSpin: A New Bioinformatics Tool for Quantitative 1H NMR Lipid Profiling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrilero, Rubén; Gil, Miriam; Amigó, Núria; Dias, Cintia B; Wood, Lisa G; Garg, Manohar L; Ribalta, Josep; Heras, Mercedes; Vinaixa, Maria; Correig, Xavier

    2018-02-06

    The structural similarity among lipid species and the low sensitivity and spectral resolution of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have traditionally hampered the routine use of 1 H NMR lipid profiling of complex biological samples in metabolomics, which remains mostly manual and lacks freely available bioinformatics tools. However, 1 H NMR lipid profiling provides fast quantitative screening of major lipid classes (fatty acids, glycerolipids, phospholipids, and sterols) and some individual species and has been used in several clinical and nutritional studies, leading to improved risk prediction models. In this Article, we present LipSpin, a free and open-source bioinformatics tool for quantitative 1 H NMR lipid profiling. LipSpin implements a constrained line shape fitting algorithm based on voigt profiles and spectral templates from spectra of lipid standards, which automates the analysis of severely overlapped spectral regions and lipid signals with complex coupling patterns. LipSpin provides the most detailed quantification of fatty acid families and choline phospholipids in serum lipid samples by 1 H NMR to date. Moreover, analytical and clinical results using LipSpin quantifications conform with other techniques commonly used for lipid analysis.

  3. Circadian rhythms, Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and PPAR alpha/gamma profiles in diseases with primary or secondary cardiac dysfunction

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yves eLecarpentier

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Circadian clock mechanisms are far-from-equilibrium dissipative structures. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR alpha, beta/delta and gamma play a key role in metabolic regulatory processes, particularly in heart muscle. Links between circadian rhythms (CRs and PPARs have been established. Mammalian CRs involve at least two critical transcription factors, CLOCK and BMAL1 (Gekakis et al., 1998; Hogenesch et al., 1998. PPAR gamma plays a major role in both glucose and lipid metabolisms and presents circadian properties which coordinate the interplay between metabolism and CRs. PPAR gamma is a major component of the vascular clock. Vascular PPAR gamma is a peripheral regulator of cardiovascular rhythms controlling circadian variations in blood pressure and heart rate through BMAL1. We focused our review on diseases with abnormalities of CRs and with primary or secondary cardiac dysfunction. Moreover, these diseases presented changes in the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and PPARs, according to two opposed profiles. Profile 1 was defined as follows: inactivation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway with increased expression of PPAR gamma. Profile 2 was defined as follows: activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway with decreased expression of PPAR gamma. A typical profile 1 disease is arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a genetic cardiac disease which presents mutations of the desmosomal proteins and is mainly characterized by fatty acid accumulation in adult cardiomyocytes mainly in the right ventricle. The link between PPAR gamma dysfunction and desmosomal genetic mutations occurs via inactivation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway presenting oscillatory properties. A typical profile 2 disease is type 2 diabetes, with activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway and decreased expression of PPAR gamma. CRs abnormalities are present in numerous pathologies such as cardiovascular diseases, sympathetic/parasympathetic dysfunction

  4. ExoMol molecular line lists - XXVII: spectra of C2H4

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mant, Barry P.; Yachmenev, Andrey; Yurchenko, Jonathan Tennyson Sergei N.

    2018-05-01

    A new line list for ethylene, 12C21H4 is presented. The line list is based on high level ab initiopotential energy and dipole moment surfaces. The potential energy surface is refined by fitting to experimental energies. The line list covers the range up to 7000 cm-1(1.43 μm) with all ro-vibrational transitions (50 billion) with the lower state below 5000 cm-1included and thus should be applicable for temperatures up to 700 K. A technique for computing molecular opacities from vibrational band intensities is proposed and used to provide temperature dependent cross sections of ethylene for shorter wavelength and higher temperatures. When combined with realistic band profiles (such as the proposed three-band model), the vibrational intensity technique offers a cheap but reasonably accurate alternative to the full ro-vibrational calculations at high temperatures and should be reliable for representing molecular opacities. The C2H4 line list, which is called MaYTY, is rmade available in electronic form from the CDS (http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr) and ExoMol (www.exomol.com) databases.

  5. On the analysis of line profile variations: A statistical approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCandliss, S.R.

    1988-01-01

    This study is concerned with the empirical characterization of the line profile variations (LPV), which occur in many of and Wolf-Rayet stars. The goal of the analysis is to gain insight into the physical mechanisms producing the variations. The analytic approach uses a statistical method to quantify the significance of the LPV and to identify those regions in the line profile which are undergoing statistically significant variations. Line positions and flux variations are then measured and subject to temporal and correlative analysis. Previous studies of LPV have for the most part been restricted to observations of a single line. Important information concerning the range and amplitude of the physical mechanisms involved can be obtained by simultaneously observing spectral features formed over a range of depths in the extended mass losing atmospheres of massive, luminous stars. Time series of a Wolf-Rayet and two of stars with nearly complete spectral coverage from 3940 angstrom to 6610 angstrom and with spectral resolution of R = 10,000 are analyzed here. These three stars exhibit a wide range of both spectral and temporal line profile variations. The HeII Pickering lines of HD 191765 show a monotonic increase in the peak rms variation amplitude with lines formed at progressively larger radii in the Wolf-Rayet star wind. Two times scales of variation have been identified in this star: a less than one day variation associated with small scale flickering in the peaks of the line profiles and a greater than one day variation associated with large scale asymmetric changes in the overall line profile shapes. However, no convincing period phenomena are evident at those periods which are well sampled in this time series

  6. Numerical Evaluation of Parameter Correlation in the Hartmann-Tran Line Profile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adkins, Erin M.; Reed, Zachary; Hodges, Joseph T.

    2017-06-01

    The partially correlated quadratic, speed-dependent hard-collision profile (pCqSDHCP), for simplicity referred to as the Hartmann-Tran profile (HTP), has been recommended as a generalized lineshape for high resolution spectroscopy. The HTP parameterizes complex collisional effects such as Dicke narrowing, speed dependent narrowing, and correlations between velocity-changing and dephasing collisions, while also simplifying to simpler profiles that are widely used, such as the Voigt profile. As advanced lineshape profiles are adopted by more researchers, it is important to understand the limitations that data quality has on the ability to retrieve physically meaningful parameters using sophisticated lineshapes that are fit to spectra of finite signal-to-noise ratio. In this work, spectra were simulated using the HITRAN Application Programming Interface (HAPI) across a full range of line parameters. Simulated spectra were evaluated to quantify the precision with which fitted lineshape parameters can be determined at a given signal-to-noise ratio, focusing on the numerical correlation between the retrieved Dicke narrowing frequency and the velocity-changing and dephasing collisions correlation parameter. Tran, H., N. Ngo, and J.-M. Hartmann, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 2013. 129: p. 89-100. Tennyson, et al., Pure Appl. Chem. 2014, 86: p. 1931-1943. Kochanov, R.V., et al., Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 2016. 177: p. 15-30. Tran, H., N. Ngo, and J.-M. Hartmann, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 2013. 129: p. 199-203.

  7. HuH-7 reference genome profile: complex karyotype composed of massive loss of heterozygosity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasai, Fumio; Hirayama, Noriko; Ozawa, Midori; Satoh, Motonobu; Kohara, Arihiro

    2018-05-17

    Human cell lines represent a valuable resource as in vitro experimental models. A hepatoma cell line, HuH-7 (JCRB0403), has been used extensively in various research fields and a number of studies using this line have been published continuously since it was established in 1982. However, an accurate genome profile, which can be served as a reliable reference, has not been available. In this study, we performed M-FISH, SNP microarray and amplicon sequencing to characterize the cell line. Single cell analysis of metaphases revealed a high level of heterogeneity with a mode of 60 chromosomes. Cytogenetic results demonstrated chromosome abnormalities involving every chromosome in addition to a massive loss of heterozygosity, which accounts for 55.3% of the genome, consistent with the homozygous variants seen in the sequence analysis. We provide empirical data that the HuH-7 cell line is composed of highly heterogeneous cell populations, suggesting that besides cell line authentication, the quality of cell lines needs to be taken into consideration in the future use of tumor cell lines.

  8. Assessment and association of two useful tumour markers: alpha feto protein and human chornionic gonodotropin (beta hCG) hormone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Subhan, F.; Tahir, F.; Sultan, S.; Subhan, K.

    2008-01-01

    This study was designed to determine serum Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and beta-h Chornionic Gonodotropin hormone (beta-hCG) levels among adult Pakistani population, and to observe their correlation. Serum AFP and beta-hCG levels were evaluated, using Micro-particle Enzyme Immuno Assay (MEIA) technology of M/s Abbott Laboratories. Data were compared using students t-test and correlation was computed. In the patients advised serum AFP assessment, 52% had normal AFP levels. comprising 37% male and 63% female subjects. For patients having a non-pathological picture, AFP levels varied non-significantly (p>0.05) between the Genders however, age varied highly significantly (p 0.05) and highly significant (p 0.05). Comparison of the population in the same age groups of both genders revealed significant (p 0.05), due to a large standard error. Although the differences in beta-hCG levels were highly significant (p 0.05). Among the studied cases, 67% patients had normal and 33% patients had raised beta-hCG levels. Beta-hCG levels show a decreasing trend with increasing age and beta-hCG levels were statistically significant (p<0.05) when patients under 50 years of age were compared with patients above 50 years. The coefficient of correlation between serum AFP and beta- hCG levels was 0.996454, which indicated a very strong. Significant positive correlation between the two tumour markers. The study showed that both serum AFP and beta-hCG are useful tumour markers and had a very strong positive correlation. (author)

  9. Alkali pH directly activates ATP-sensitive K+ channels and inhibits insulin secretion in beta-cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Manning Fox, Jocelyn E; Karaman, Gunce; Wheeler, Michael B

    2006-11-17

    Glucose stimulation of pancreatic beta-cells is reported to lead to sustained alkalization, while extracellular application of weak bases is reported to inhibit electrical activity and decrease insulin secretion. We hypothesize that beta-cell K(ATP) channel activity is modulated by alkaline pH. Using the excised patch-clamp technique, we demonstrate a direct stimulatory action of alkali pH on recombinant SUR1/Kir6.2 channels due to increased open probability. Bath application of alkali pH similarly activates native islet beta-cell K(ATP) channels, leading to an inhibition of action potentials, and hyperpolarization of membrane potential. In situ pancreatic perfusion confirms that these cellular effects of alkali pH are observable at a functional level, resulting in decreases in both phase 1 and phase 2 glucose-stimulated insulin secretion. Our data are the first to report a stimulatory effect of a range of alkali pH on K(ATP) channel activity and link this to downstream effects on islet beta-cell function.

  10. Suppressed Gastric Mucosal TGF-beta1 Increases Susceptibility to H. pylori-Induced Gastric Inflammation and Ulceration: A Stupid Host Defense Response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jo, Yunjeong; Han, Sang Uk; Kim, Yoon Jae; Kim, Ju Hyeon; Kim, Shin Tae; Kim, Seong-Jin; Hahm, Ki-Baik

    2010-03-01

    Loss of transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) exhibits a similar pathology to that seen in a subset of individuals infected with Helicobacter pylori, including propagated gastric inflammation, oxidative stress, and autoimmune features. We thus hypothesized that gastric mucosal TGF-beta1 levels could be used to determine the outcome after H. pylori infection. Northern blot for the TGF-beta1 transcript, staining of TGF-beta1 expression, luciferase reporter assay, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for TGF-beta1 levels were performed at different times after H. pylori infection. The TGF-beta1 level was markedly lower in patients with H. pylori-induced gastritis than in patients with a similar degree of gastritis induced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. There was a significant negative correlation between the severity of inflammation and gastric mucosal TGF-beta1 levels. SNU-16 cells showing intact TGF-beta signaling exhibited a marked decrease in TGF-beta1 expression, whereas SNU-638 cells defective in TGF-beta signaling exhibited no such decrease after H. pylori infection. The decreased expressions of TGF-beta1 in SNU-16 cells recovered to normal after 24 hr of H. pylori infection, but lasted very spatial times, suggesting that attenuated expression of TGF-beta1 is a host defense mechanism to avoid attachment of H. pylori. H. pylori infection was associated with depressed gastric mucosal TGF-beta1 for up to 24 hr, but this apparent strategy for rescuing cells from H. pylori attachment exacerbated the gastric inflammation.

  11. A novel dual-color reporter for identifying insulin-producing beta-cells and classifying heterogeneity of insulinoma cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nan Sook Lee

    Full Text Available Many research studies use immortalized cell lines as surrogates for primary beta- cells. We describe the production and use of a novel "indirect" dual-fluorescent reporter system that leads to mutually exclusive expression of EGFP in insulin-producing (INS(+ beta-cells or mCherry in non-beta-cells. Our system uses the human insulin promoter to initiate a Cre-mediated shift in reporter color within a single transgene construct and is useful for FACS selection of cells from single cultures for further analysis. Application of our reporter to presumably clonal HIT-T15 insulinoma cells, as well as other presumably clonal lines, indicates that these cultures are in fact heterogeneous with respect to INS(+ phenotype. Our strategy could be easily applied to other cell- or tissue-specific promoters. We anticipate its utility for FACS purification of INS(+ and glucose-responsive beta-like-cells from primary human islet cell isolates or in vitro differentiated pluripotent stem cells.

  12. Co-culture of clonal beta cells with GLP-1 and glucagon-secreting cell line impacts on beta cell insulin secretion, proliferation and susceptibility to cytotoxins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Alastair D; Vasu, Srividya; Moffett, R Charlotte; Flatt, Peter R

    2016-06-01

    We investigated the direct effects on insulin releasing MIN6 cells of chronic exposure to GLP-1, glucagon or a combination of both peptides secreted from GLUTag L-cell and αTC1.9 alpha-cell lines in co-culture. MIN6, GLUTag and αTC1.9 cell lines exhibited high cellular hormone content and release of insulin, GLP-1 and glucagon, respectively. Co-culture of MIN6 cells with GLUTag cells significantly increased cellular insulin content, beta-cell proliferation, insulin secretory responses to a range of established secretogogues and afforded protection against exposure cytotoxic concentrations of glucose, lipid, streptozotocin or cytokines. Benefits of co-culture of MIN6 cells with αTC1.9 alphacells were limited to enhanced beta-cell proliferation with marginal positive actions on both insulin secretion and cellular protection. In contrast, co-culture of MIN6 with GLUTag cells plus αTC1.9 cells, markedly enhanced both insulin secretory responses and protection against beta-cell toxins compared with co-culture with GLUTag cells alone. These data indicate important long-term effects of conjoint GLP-1 and glucagon exposure on beta-cell function. This illustrates the possible functional significance of alpha-cell GLP-1 production as well as direct beneficial effects of dual agonism at beta-cell GLP-1 and glucagon receptors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. and Société française de biochimie et biologie Moléculaire (SFBBM). All rights reserved.

  13. Interferon-beta treatment associated with a biochemical profile suggestive of acromegaly. A case report of a patient treated for multiple sclerosis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andreassen, Mikkel; Frystyk, Jan; Miller, K.K.

    2010-01-01

    We describe a 34-year-old female treated with IFN-beta for 8 years with a biochemical profile suggestive of acromegaly. The patient presented with elevated serum insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and insufficient suppression of growth hormone (GH) during oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT......). There were no clinical features of acromegaly. A 5-day profile showed higher GH levels on the 3 days following IFN-beta injections. Total and bioactive IGF-I were also elevated but did not fluctuate. Four weeks off IFN-beta normalized suppression of GH during OGTT but did not reduce serum IGF-I or bioactive...... IGF-I. In conclusion, IFN-beta treatment mimicked acromegaly biochemically. The changes were partially reversible...

  14. Beta-Lactams combinations with Vancomycin provide synergy against VSSA, hVISA, and VISA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Kieu-Nhi; Rybak, Michael J

    2018-03-19

    Background: Increasing utilization of vancomycin due to the high prevalence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections has lead to the emergence of vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA) and heterogeneous VISA (hVISA). In vitro data suggest the potential for potent synergy between several beta-lactams and vancomycin. The objective of this study is to evaluate the synergy between beta-lactams and vancomycin against MRSA that is vancomycin susceptible, vancomycin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (VSSA), hVISA, and VISA. Methods: Fifty randomly selected clinical MRSA strains with varying susceptibility to vancomycin were evaluated for vancomycin alone and vancomycin in combination with varying concentrations of cefazolin (CFZ), cefepime (FEP), ceftaroline (CPT), and nafcillin (NAF) minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The potential for synergy was assessed by 24h time-kills. Results: Beta-lactams reduced vancomycin MIC values against all strains (4-16 fold reduction). In time-kill studies against MRSA, CFZ, FEP, CPT, and NAF all demonstrated a similar extent of killing at 24h, and all showed synergistic activity with vancomycin against VSSA, hVISA, and VISA. Each of these combinations was also superior to any single agent against isolates of all three phenotypes, and each was bactericidal (P synergy of vancomycin against these Staphylococcus strains. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  15. High value of the radiobiological parameter Dq correlates to expression of the transforming growth factor beta type II receptor in a panel of small cell lung cancer cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hougaard, S; Krarup, M; Nørgaard, P

    1998-01-01

    Our panel of SCLC cell lines have previously been examined for their radiobiological characteristics and sensitivity to treatment with TGF beta 1. In this study we examined the possible correlations between radiobiological parameters and the expression of the TGF beta type II receptor (TGF beta......-rII). We have, in other studies, shown that the presence of TGF beta-rII was mandatory for transmitting the growth inhibitory effect of TGF beta. The results showed a statistically significant difference in Dq, i.e. the shoulder width of the survival curve, between cell lines expressing TGF beta......-rII and cell lines which did not express the receptor (P = 0.01). Cell lines expressing TGF beta-rII had a high Dq-value. TGF beta-rII expression did not correlate with any other radiobiological parameters. We suggest that an intact growth inhibitory pathway mediated by the TGF beta-rII may have a significant...

  16. Non-LTE profiles of the Al I autoionization lines. [for solar model atmospheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finn, G. D.; Jefferies, J. T.

    1974-01-01

    A non-LTE formulation is given for the transfer of radiation in the autoionizing lines of neutral aluminum at 1932 and 1936 A through both the Bilderberg and Harvard-Smithsonian model atmospheres. Numerical solutions for the common source function of these lines and their theoretical line profiles are calculated and compared with the corresponding LTE profiles. The results show that the non-LTE profiles provide a better match with the observations. They also indicate that the continuous opacity of the standard solar models should be increased in this wavelength region if the center-limb variations of observed and theoretical profiles of these lines are to be in reasonable agreement.

  17. THE LICK AGN MONITORING PROJECT: RECALIBRATING SINGLE-EPOCH VIRIAL BLACK HOLE MASS ESTIMATES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Daeseong; Woo, Jong-Hak [Astronomy Program, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Treu, Tommaso; Bennert, Vardha N. [Department of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (United States); Barth, Aaron J.; Walsh, Jonelle [Department of Physics and Astronomy, 4129 Frederick Reines Hall, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-4575 (United States); Bentz, Misty C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 (United States); Canalizo, Gabriela [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521 (United States); Filippenko, Alexei V. [Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States); Gates, Elinor [Lick Observatory, P.O. Box 85, Mount Hamilton, CA 95140 (United States); Greene, Jenny E. [Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States); Malkan, Matthew A., E-mail: woo@astro.snu.ac.kr [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (United States)

    2012-03-01

    We investigate the calibration and uncertainties of black hole (BH) mass estimates based on the single-epoch (SE) method, using homogeneous and high-quality multi-epoch spectra obtained by the Lick Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) Monitoring Project for nine local Seyfert 1 galaxies with BH masses <10{sup 8} M{sub Sun }. By decomposing the spectra into their AGNs and stellar components, we study the variability of the SE H{beta} line width (full width at half-maximum intensity, FWHM{sub H{beta}} or dispersion, {sigma}{sub H{beta}}) and of the AGN continuum luminosity at 5100 A (L{sub 5100}). From the distribution of the 'virial products' ({proportional_to} FWHM{sub H{beta}}{sup 2} L{sup 0.5}{sub 5100} or {sigma}{sub H{beta}}{sup 2} L{sup 0.5}{sub 5100}) measured from SE spectra, we estimate the uncertainty due to the combined variability as {approx}0.05 dex (12%). This is subdominant with respect to the total uncertainty in SE mass estimates, which is dominated by uncertainties in the size-luminosity relation and virial coefficient, and is estimated to be {approx}0.46 dex (factor of {approx}3). By comparing the H{beta} line profile of the SE, mean, and root-mean-square (rms) spectra, we find that the H{beta} line is broader in the mean (and SE) spectra than in the rms spectra by {approx}0.1 dex (25%) for our sample with FWHM{sub H{beta}} <3000 km s{sup -1}. This result is at variance with larger mass BHs where the difference is typically found to be much less than 0.1 dex. To correct for this systematic difference of the H{beta} line profile, we introduce a line-width dependent virial factor, resulting in a recalibration of SE BH mass estimators for low-mass AGNs.

  18. Theoretical description of spectral line profiles of parent molecules in cometary comae

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hu, Hong-Yao; Larson, H.P.; Hsieh, K.C.

    1991-01-01

    The present overview of cometary spectral-line profiles obtainable through advancements in high-resolution spectroscopic studies, which allow the retrieval of coma kinematic properties from velocity-resolved spectral-line profiles, incorporates the most important gas dynamic processes into an outflow model which is tailored to the interpretation of spectroscopic observations of parent molecules. The model is then used to study the influence on parent-molecule spectral line profile formation of the field-of-view, the expansion velocity, the kinetic temperature, and the anisotropic outflow distributions. 31 refs

  19. A NEW RADIO RECOMBINATION LINE MASER OBJECT TOWARD THE MonR2 H II REGION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jimenez-Serra, I.; Zhang, Q.; Dierickx, M.; Patel, N. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Baez-Rubio, A.; Rivilla, V. M.; Martin-Pintado, J., E-mail: ijimenez-serra@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: qzhang@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: mdierickx@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: npatel@cfa.harvard.edu, E-mail: ryvendel@gmail.com, E-mail: jmartin@cab.inta-csic.es, E-mail: baezra@cab.inta-csic.es [Centro de Astrobiologia (CSIC/INTA), Ctra. de Torrejon a Ajalvir km 4, E-28850 Torrejon de Ardoz, Madrid (Spain)

    2013-02-10

    We report the detection of a new radio recombination line (RRL) maser object toward the IRS2 source in the MonR2 ultracompact H II region. The continuum emission at 1.3 mm and 0.85 mm and the H30{alpha} and H26{alpha} lines were observed with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at angular resolutions of {approx}0.''5-3''. The SMA observations show that the MonR2-IRS2 source is very compact and remains unresolved at spatial scales {<=}400 AU. Its continuum power spectrum at millimeter wavelengths is almost flat ({alpha} = -0.16, with S{sub {nu}}{proportional_to}{nu}{sup {alpha}}), indicating that this source is dominated by optically thin free-free emission. The H30{alpha} and H26{alpha} RRL emission is also compact and peaks toward the position of the MonR2-IRS2 source. The measured RRL profiles are double peaked with the H26{alpha} line showing a clear asymmetry in its spectrum. Since the derived line-to-continuum flux ratios ({approx}80 and 180 km s{sup -1} for H30{alpha} and H26{alpha}, respectively) exceed the LTE predictions, the RRLs toward MonR2-IRS2 are affected by maser amplification. The amplification factors are, however, smaller than those found toward the emission-line star MWC349A, indicating that MonR2-IRS2 is a weakly amplified maser. Radiative transfer modeling of the RRL emission toward this source shows that the RRL masers arise from a dense and collimated jet embedded in a cylindrical ionized wind, oriented nearly along the direction of the line of sight. High-angular resolution observations at submillimeter wavelengths are needed to unveil weakly amplified RRL masers in very young massive stars.

  20. Beta3 subunits promote expression and nicotine-induced up-regulation of human nicotinic alpha6* nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed in transfected cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tumkosit, Prem; Kuryatov, Alexander; Luo, Jie; Lindstrom, Jon

    2006-10-01

    Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) containing alpha6 subunits are typically found at aminergic nerve endings where they play important roles in nicotine addiction and Parkinson's disease. alpha6* AChRs usually contain beta3 subunits. beta3 subunits are presumed to assemble only in the accessory subunit position within AChRs where they do not participate in forming acetylcholine binding sites. Assembly of subunits in the accessory position may be a critical final step in assembly of mature AChRs. Human alpha6 AChRs subtypes were permanently transfected into human tsA201 human embryonic kidney (HEK) cell lines. alpha6beta2beta3 and alpha6beta4beta3 cell lines were found to express much larger amounts of AChRs and were more sensitive to nicotine-induced increase in the amount of AChRs than were alpha6beta2 or alpha6beta4 cell lines. The increased sensitivity to nicotine-induced up-regulation was due not to a beta3-induced increase in affinity for nicotine but probably to a direct effect on assembly of AChR subunits. HEK cells express only a small amount of mature alpha6beta2 AChRs, but many of these subunits are on the cell surface. This contrasts with Xenopus laevis oocytes, which express a large amount of incorrectly assembled alpha6beta2 subunits that bind cholinergic ligands but form large amorphous intracellular aggregates. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were made to the alpha6 and beta3 subunits to aid in the characterization of these AChRs. The alpha6 mAbs bind to epitopes C-terminal of the extracellular domain. These data demonstrate that both cell type and the accessory subunit beta3 can play important roles in alpha6* AChR expression, stability, and up-regulation by nicotine.

  1. DNA methylation profiles of ovarian epithelial carcinoma tumors and cell lines.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sahar Houshdaran

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Epithelial ovarian carcinoma is a significant cause of cancer mortality in women worldwide and in the United States. Epithelial ovarian cancer comprises several histological subtypes, each with distinct clinical and molecular characteristics. The natural history of this heterogeneous disease, including the cell types of origin, is poorly understood. This study applied recently developed methods for high-throughput DNA methylation profiling to characterize ovarian cancer cell lines and tumors, including representatives of three major histologies.We obtained DNA methylation profiles of 1,505 CpG sites (808 genes in 27 primary epithelial ovarian tumors and 15 ovarian cancer cell lines. We found that the DNA methylation profiles of ovarian cancer cell lines were markedly different from those of primary ovarian tumors. Aggregate DNA methylation levels of the assayed CpG sites tended to be higher in ovarian cancer cell lines relative to ovarian tumors. Within the primary tumors, those of the same histological type were more alike in their methylation profiles than those of different subtypes. Supervised analyses identified 90 CpG sites (68 genes that exhibited 'subtype-specific' DNA methylation patterns (FDR<1% among the tumors. In ovarian cancer cell lines, we estimated that for at least 27% of analyzed autosomal CpG sites, increases in methylation were accompanied by decreases in transcription of the associated gene.The significant difference in DNA methylation profiles between ovarian cancer cell lines and tumors underscores the need to be cautious in using cell lines as tumor models for molecular studies of ovarian cancer and other cancers. Similarly, the distinct methylation profiles of the different histological types of ovarian tumors reinforces the need to treat the different histologies of ovarian cancer as different diseases, both clinically and in biomarker studies. These data provide a useful resource for future studies, including those of

  2. Time-dependent narrow emission-line profiles of quasars and active galactic nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Capriotti, E.R.; Foltz, C.B.

    1982-01-01

    The narrow-line emitting regions of quasars and active nuclei of galaxies are assumed to consist of material undergoing gravitational infall due to acceleration by centrally located mass concentrations. Two cases are considered. In one, the material is assumed to be in the form of optically thick, similar clouds which emit line radiation monochromatically, isotropically and in inverse proportion to the square of the distance from the center of the system. In the other case, the material is assumed to be homogeneous, isothermal and to have the same ionization structure everywhere. The material is assumed to be excited by an ionizing continuum created ty a supernova-like outburst of radiation. Line profiles are computed for various combinations of epoch after outburst, continuum decay times, and spectral resolution. The computed profiles are clearly asymmetric to the blue of the profile peak and for certain combinations of epoch and decay time, clearly asymmetric to the blue of line center. The computed profiles compare well with many observed [O III] profiles

  3. HIFI Spectroscopy of H2O Submillimeter Lines in Nuclei of Actively Star-forming Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, L.; Weiß, A.; Perez-Beaupuits, J. P.; Güsten, R.; Liu, D.; Gao, Y.; Menten, K. M.; van der Werf, P.; Israel, F. P.; Harris, A.; Martin-Pintado, J.; Requena-Torres, M. A.; Stutzki, J.

    2017-09-01

    We present a systematic survey of multiple velocity-resolved H2O spectra using Herschel/Heterodyne Instrument for the Far Infrared (HIFI) toward nine nearby actively star-forming galaxies. The ground-state and low-excitation lines (E up ≤ 130 K) show profiles with emission and absorption blended together, while absorption-free medium-excitation lines (130 K ≤ E up ≤ 350 K) typically display line shapes similar to CO. We analyze the HIFI observation together with archival SPIRE/PACS H2O data using a state-of-the-art 3D radiative transfer code that includes the interaction between continuum and line emission. The water excitation models are combined with information on the dust and CO spectral line energy distribution to determine the physical structure of the interstellar medium (ISM). We identify two ISM components that are common to all galaxies: a warm ({T}{dust}˜ 40{--}70 K), dense (n({{H}})˜ {10}5{--}{10}6 {{cm}}-3) phase that dominates the emission of medium-excitation H2O lines. This gas phase also dominates the far-IR emission and the CO intensities for {J}{up}> 8. In addition, a cold ({T}{dust}˜ 20{--}30 K), dense (n({{H}})˜ {10}4{--}{10}5 {{cm}}-3), more extended phase is present. It outputs the emission in the low-excitation H2O lines and typically also produces the prominent line absorption features. For the two ULIRGs in our sample (Arp 220 and Mrk 231) an even hotter and more compact (R s ≤ 100 pc) region is present, which is possibly linked to AGN activity. We find that collisions dominate the water excitation in the cold gas and for lines with {E}{up}≤slant 300 K and {E}{up}≤slant 800 K in the warm and hot component, respectively. Higher-energy levels are mainly excited by IR pumping.

  4. Beta limits for ETF

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Helton, F.J.; Miller, R.L.

    1982-01-01

    ETF (Engineering Test Facility) one-dimensional transport simulations indicate that a volume-average beta of 4% is required for ignition. It is therefore important that theoretical beta limits, determined by requiring equilibria to be stable to all ideal modes, exceed 4%. This paper documents an ideal MHD analysis wherein it is shown that, with appropriate plasma cross-sectional shape and current profile optimization, operation near 5% is possible. The critical beta value, however, depends on the functional form used for ff', which suggests that higher critical betas could be achieved by directly optimizing the safety factor profile. (author)

  5. NKX6.1 induced pluripotent stem cell reporter lines for isolation and analysis of functionally relevant neuronal and pancreas populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shailesh Kumar Gupta

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies have reported significant advances in the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells to clinically relevant cell types such as the insulin producing beta-like cells and motor neurons. However, many of the current differentiation protocols lead to heterogeneous cell cultures containing cell types other than the targeted cell fate. Genetically modified human pluripotent stem cells reporting the expression of specific genes are of great value for differentiation protocol optimization and for the purification of relevant cell populations from heterogeneous cell cultures. Here we present the generation of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC lines with a GFP reporter inserted in the endogenous NKX6.1 locus. Characterization of the reporter lines demonstrated faithful GFP labelling of NKX6.1 expression during pancreas and motor neuron differentiation. Cell sorting and gene expression profiling by RNA sequencing revealed that NKX6.1-positive cells from pancreatic differentiations closely resemble human beta cells. Furthermore, functional characterization of the isolated cells demonstrated that glucose-stimulated insulin secretion is mainly confined to the NKX6.1-positive cells. We expect that the NKX6.1-GFP iPSC lines and the results presented here will contribute to the further refinement of differentiation protocols and characterization of hPSC-derived beta cells and motor neurons for disease modelling and cell replacement therapies. Keywords: Human induced pluripotent stem cells, NKX6.1, Reporter cell line, Directed differentiation, hiPSC-derived beta cells

  6. On the influence of the finite thickness of sources on the internal conversion lines observed in beta spectrometer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pecequilo, B.R.S.

    1976-01-01

    Electron lines are simulated by a Monte Carlo method in a digital computer in order to obtain an analytical formula to calculate the energy and the relative intensity of electron conversion lines when observed by beta spectrometry. The electrons come from the own thickness of the source. Computer program that simulate these lines is presented. In order to test the method, a direct comparison of the K-line of Hg-198 with the same line as simulated by the computer, is done [pt

  7. Expression profiling of genes regulated by TGF-beta: Differential regulation in normal and tumour cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takahashi Takashi

    2007-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background TGF-beta is one of the key cytokines implicated in various disease processes including cancer. TGF-beta inhibits growth and promotes apoptosis in normal epithelial cells and in contrast, acts as a pro-tumour cytokine by promoting tumour angiogenesis, immune-escape and metastasis. It is not clear if various actions of TGF-beta on normal and tumour cells are due to differential gene regulations. Hence we studied the regulation of gene expression by TGF-beta in normal and cancer cells. Results Using human 19 K cDNA microarrays, we show that 1757 genes are exclusively regulated by TGF-beta in A549 cells in contrast to 733 genes exclusively regulated in HPL1D cells. In addition, 267 genes are commonly regulated in both the cell-lines. Semi-quantitative and real-time qRT-PCR analysis of some genes agrees with the microarray data. In order to identify the signalling pathways that influence TGF-beta mediated gene regulation, we used specific inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase, ERK kinase, JNK kinase and integrin signalling pathways. The data suggest that regulation of majority of the selected genes is dependent on at least one of these pathways and this dependence is cell-type specific. Interestingly, an integrin pathway inhibitor, RGD peptide, significantly affected TGF-beta regulation of Thrombospondin 1 in A549 cells. Conclusion These data suggest major differences with respect to TGF-beta mediated gene regulation in normal and transformed cells and significant role of non-canonical TGF-beta pathways in the regulation of many genes by TGF-beta.

  8. SN 1987A gamma-ray line profiles and fluxes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bussard, R.W.; Burrows, A.; The, L.S.

    1989-01-01

    Results for the time dependence of the line profiles and integrated fluxes for the 0.847 and 1.238 MeV gamma rays from the decay of cobalt to excited states of iron are presented for several models of the ejectum of SN 1987A. The relatively early detection of these lines has led several workers to propose that some degree of mixing has brought the cobalt closer to the electron-scattering photosphere than standard models predict. Constraints on the amount of mixing from recent observations are discussed using calculations of the energy-integrated line fluxes as a function of time since the explosion. Implications for the line profiles at various times are considered, and it is found that they show strong time dependences and are quite sensitive to the degree of mixing. The two primary effects are Doppler broadening due to the presence of radioactive material at higher velocities and a strong blueshift at early times resulting from optical depth effects. These results have important implications for gamma-ray observations, especially with high-resolution germanium instruments. Finally, the consequences of the fragmentation of the debris for the early emergence of the gamma-ray lines are considered. 32 refs

  9. Non-LTE profiles of strong solar lines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneeberger, T. J.; Beebe, H. A.

    1976-01-01

    The complete linearization method is applied to the formation of strong lines in the solar atmosphere. Transitions in Na(I), Mg(I), Ca(I), Mg(II), and Ca(II) are computed with a standard atmosphere and microturbulent velocity model. The computed profiles are compared to observations at disk center.

  10. Lyman series profiles: From laser-plasmas to white dwarf stars

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kielkopf, J.F. [University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292 (United States); Allard, N.F. [Observatoire de Paris-Meudon, France and Institut d Astrophysique, Paris (France)

    1999-04-01

    The low energy interactions of neutral and ionized hydrogen atoms are fundamental processes which also have important applications to the diagnostics of laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. Satellites in the far wings of Lyman {alpha} and Lyman {beta} have been identified as ultraviolet absorption features in the spectra of white dwarf and {lambda} Bootis stars, and they are seen in the emission spectra of plasmas produced when a pulsed laser excites a target H{sub 2} gas. The observed Lyman series profiles agree with unified line shape theory which includes variation of the dipole transition moment during the radiative collision. {copyright} {ital 1999 American Institute of Physics.}

  11. PRESSURE SHIFT AND GRAVITATIONAL REDSHIFT OF BALMER LINES IN WHITE DWARFS: REDISCUSSION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Halenka, Jacek; Olchawa, Wieslaw [Institute of Physics, University of Opole, ul. Oleska 48, 45-052, Opole (Poland); Madej, Jerzy [Astronomical Observatory, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, 00-478 Warszawa (Poland); Grabowski, Boleslaw, E-mail: halenka@uni.opole.pl, E-mail: wolch@uni.opole.pl, E-mail: jm@astrouw.edu.pl, E-mail: bgrab@uni.opole.pl [Wroclaw School of Information Technology WWSIS “Horyzont,” ul. Wejherowska 28, 54-239 Wroclaw (Poland)

    2015-08-01

    The Stark-induced shift and asymmetry, the so-called pressure shift (PS) of H{sub α} and H{sub β} Balmer lines in spectra of DA white dwarfs (WDs), have been examined in detail as masking effects in measurements of the gravitational redshift in WDs. The results are compared with our earlier ones from a quarter of a century ago. In these earlier papers, the standard, symmetrical Stark line profiles, as a dominant constituent of the Balmer line profiles but shifted as a whole by the PS effect, were applied to all spectrally active layers of the WD atmosphere. At present, in each of the WD layers, the Stark line profiles (especially of H{sub β}) are inherently asymmetrical and shifted due to the effects of strong inhomogeneity of the perturbing fields in plasma. To calculate the Stark line profiles in successive layers of the WD atmosphere we used the modified Full Computer Simulation Method, able to take adequately into account the complexity of local elementary quantum processes in plasma. In the case of the H{sub α} line, the present value of Stark-induced shift of the synthetic H{sub α} line profile is about half the previous one and it is negligible in comparison with the gravitational redshift. In the case of the H{sub β} line, the present value of Stark-induced shift of the synthetic H{sub β} line profile is about twice the previous one. The source of this extra shift is the asymmetry of H{sub β} peaks.

  12. Effects of triangularity on confinement, density limit and profile stiffness of H-modes on ASDEX upgrade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stober, J.; Gruber, O.; Kallenbach, A.; Mertens, V.; Ryter, F.; Staebler, A.; Suttrop, W.; Treutterer, W.

    2000-01-01

    At ASDEX Upgrade the influence of triangularity on the H-mode performance has been studied intensively. It has been found that confinement increases with δ for a fixed line-averaged density. Though confinement decreases with increasing density for all analysed values of δ, H-factors (ITERH-98P) at the Greenwald density could be raised to 1 for the highest δ values achieved so far. The H-mode density limit could be increased by approx. 20%. There is a scatter of about 30% on the confinement data, which is anti-correlated to the average density in the scrape-off layer or the neutral fluxes outside the plasma. For nearly all discharges analysed so far, the temperature profiles are self-similar. This indication of profile stiffness could be verified by changing the heat-flux profile by changing the beam-voltage of the neutral-beam injection (NBI) at high density. At low density, first results indicate a deviation from this stiff behaviour. (author)

  13. First line shape analysis and spectroscopic parameters for the ν11 band of 12C2H4

    KAUST Repository

    Es-sebbar, Et-touhami

    2016-08-11

    An accurate knowledge of line intensities, collisional broadening coefficients and narrowing parameters is necessary for the interpretation of high-resolution infrared spectra of the Earth and other planetary atmospheres. One of the most promising spectral domains for (C2H4)-C-12 monitoring in such environments is located near the 336 gm window, through its v(11) C-H stretching mode. In this paper, we report an extensive study in which we precisely determine spectroscopic parameters of (C2H4)-C-12 v(11) band at 297 +/- 1 K, using a narrow Difference-Frequency-Generation (DFG) laser with 10(-4) cm(-1) resolution. Absorption measurements were performed in the 2975-2980 cm(-1) spectral window to investigate 32 lines corresponding to where, J\\'ka\\',kc\\'<- Jka,kc, 5 <= J <= 7; 0.5 <= K-a <= 6 and 1 <= K-c <= 14. Spectroscopic parameters are retrieved using either Voigt or appropriate Galatry profile to simulate the measured (C2H4)-C-12 line shape. Line intensities along with self-broadening coefficients are reported for all lines. Narrowing coefficients for each isolated line are also derived. To our knowledge, the current study reports the first extensive spectroscopic parameter measurements of the (C2H4)-C-12 v(11) band in the 2975-2980 cm(-1) range. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. First line shape analysis and spectroscopic parameters for the ν11 band of 12C2H4

    KAUST Repository

    Es-sebbar, Et-touhami; Mantzaras, John; Benilan, Yves; Farooq, Aamir

    2016-01-01

    An accurate knowledge of line intensities, collisional broadening coefficients and narrowing parameters is necessary for the interpretation of high-resolution infrared spectra of the Earth and other planetary atmospheres. One of the most promising spectral domains for (C2H4)-C-12 monitoring in such environments is located near the 336 gm window, through its v(11) C-H stretching mode. In this paper, we report an extensive study in which we precisely determine spectroscopic parameters of (C2H4)-C-12 v(11) band at 297 +/- 1 K, using a narrow Difference-Frequency-Generation (DFG) laser with 10(-4) cm(-1) resolution. Absorption measurements were performed in the 2975-2980 cm(-1) spectral window to investigate 32 lines corresponding to where, J'ka',kc'<- Jka,kc, 5 <= J <= 7; 0.5 <= K-a <= 6 and 1 <= K-c <= 14. Spectroscopic parameters are retrieved using either Voigt or appropriate Galatry profile to simulate the measured (C2H4)-C-12 line shape. Line intensities along with self-broadening coefficients are reported for all lines. Narrowing coefficients for each isolated line are also derived. To our knowledge, the current study reports the first extensive spectroscopic parameter measurements of the (C2H4)-C-12 v(11) band in the 2975-2980 cm(-1) range. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Line C17: alpha and medium-level beta-gamma laboratory pilot facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Calor, J.N.; Mauborgne, B.; Montuir, M.

    2000-01-01

    The Process Development Laboratory (LDP) uses the ATALANTE C17 line for integral testing in order to develop and validate spent fuel reprocessing methods and for overall qualification of calculation codes. Line C 17 comprises shielded cells and glove boxes, equipped with centrifugal extractors and laboratory-scale mixer-settlers to test liquid-liquid extraction processes in an alpha and medium-level beta-gamma environment. The high reliability and precision of the process instrumentation and control system allow full control of operating parameters and comprehensive operating data recording, meeting the experimentation quality requirements necessary for qualifying calculation codes. Direct online spectrophotometric analysis at various points in the process provides real-time concentration data for vital elements, some of which are difficult to analyze offline because of their poor chemical stability. Online analyses, supplemented when necessary by gamma spectrometry, provide valuable process control input for reaching stabilized operating conditions. Fifteen radioactive test campaigns have been successfully completed since line C 17 was commissioned in June 1995. (authors)

  16. Overexpression of UbcH10 alternates the cell cycle profile and accelerate the tumor proliferation in colon cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatoh Shinji

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background UbcH10 participates in proper metaphase to anaphase transition, and abrogation of UbcH10 results in the premature separation of sister chromatids. To assess the potential role of UbcH10 in colon cancer progression, we analyzed the clinicopathological relevance of UbcH10 in colon cancer. Methods We firstly screened the expression profile of UbcH10 in various types of cancer tissues as well as cell lines. Thereafter, using the colon cancer cells line, we manipulated the expression of UbcH10 and evaluated the cell cycle profile and cellular proliferations. Furthermore, the clinicopathological significance of UbcH10 was immunohistologically evaluated in patients with colon cancer. Statistical analysis was performed using the student's t-test and Chi-square test. Results Using the colon cancer cells, depletion of UbcH10 resulted in suppression of cellular growth whereas overexpression of UbcH10 promoted the cellular growth and oncogenic cellular growth. Mitotic population was markedly alternated by the manipulation of UbcH10 expression. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that UbcH10 was significantly higher in colon cancer tissue compared with normal colon epithelia. Furthermore, the clinicopathological evaluation revealed that UbcH10 was associated with high-grade histological tumors. Conclusion The results show the clinicopathological significance of UbcH10 in the progression of colon cancer. Thus UbcH10 may act as a novel biomarker in patients with colon cancer.

  17. Permissivity of the NCI-60 cancer cell lines to oncolytic Vaccinia Virus GLV-1h68

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ascierto, Maria Libera; Bedognetti, Davide; Uccellini, Lorenzo; Rossano, Fabio; Ascierto, Paolo A; Stroncek, David F; Restifo, Nicholas P; Wang, Ena; Szalay, Aladar A; Marincola, Francesco M; Worschech, Andrea; Yu, Zhiya; Adams, Sharon; Reinboth, Jennifer; Chen, Nanhai G; Pos, Zoltan; Roychoudhuri, Rahul; Di Pasquale, Giovanni

    2011-01-01

    Oncolytic viral therapy represents an alternative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of cancer. We previously described GLV-1h68, a modified Vaccinia Virus with exclusive tropism for tumor cells, and we observed a cell line-specific relationship between the ability of GLV-1h68 to replicate in vitro and its ability to colonize and eliminate tumor in vivo. In the current study we surveyed the in vitro permissivity to GLV-1h68 replication of the NCI-60 panel of cell lines. Selected cell lines were also tested for permissivity to another Vaccinia Virus and a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) strain. In order to identify correlates of permissity to viral infection, we measured transcriptional profiles of the cell lines prior infection. We observed highly heterogeneous permissivity to VACV infection amongst the cell lines. The heterogeneity of permissivity was independent of tissue with the exception of B cell derivation. Cell lines were also tested for permissivity to another Vaccinia Virus and a vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) strain and a significant correlation was found suggesting a common permissive phenotype. While no clear transcriptional pattern could be identified as predictor of permissivity to infection, some associations were observed suggesting multifactorial basis permissivity to viral infection. Our findings have implications for the design of oncolytic therapies for cancer and offer insights into the nature of permissivity of tumor cells to viral infection

  18. Role of noise in the diode-laser spectroscopy of the spectral line profile

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nadezhdinskii, Aleksandr I; Plotnichenko, V V; Ponurovskii, Ya Ya; Spiridonov, Maksim V

    2000-01-01

    Questions concerning precise measurements of the spectral-line-profile parameters by diode-laser spectroscopic methods were examined. The instrumental function of a distributed-feedback diode laser (λ =1.53 μm), consisting of the additive contributions of the noise due to spontaneous emission, frequency fluctuations, and intensity fluctuations, was investigated. An analytical formula was obtained for the spectrum of the diode-laser field formed by frequency fluctuations. The spectral density g 0 of the frequency fluctuations, determining the width of the central part of the emission line profile of a diode laser, was found by two independent methods (by fitting to a Doppler-broadened absorption line profile and by finding the intensity of the residual radiation and the saturated-absorption line width). The parameters Ω and Γ of the spectral density of the frequency fluctuations, coupled to the relaxation oscillations and determining the wing of the diode-laser emission line profile, were determined experimentally. By taking into account the instrumental function of the diode laser, involving successive convolution with the recorded emission spectra, it was possible to reproduce correctly the spectral line profile and to solve accurately the problem of the 'optical zero'. The role of the correlation between the intensity noise and the diode-laser frequency was considered. (laser applications and other topics in quantum electronics)

  19. Fibronectin regulates the activation of THP-1 cells by TGF-beta1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, A C; Fu, L

    2001-03-01

    To determine how fibronectin regulates the immunomodulatory effects of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta on THP-1 cells. THP-1 monocytic cell line. THP-1 cells were primed for 48 h in the presence or absence of 250 pM TGF-beta1. Assays or assessments carried out, together with statistical test applied. We found that adherence to fibronectin dramatically modulates the effects of TGF-beta1 on the human monocytic cell line THP-1. TGF-beta did not significantly affect constitutive interleukin (IL)-8 secretion or IL-1beta-induced IL-8 secretion from suspended cells. In contrast, TGF-beta stimulated IL-8 secretion as well as augmented IL-1beta-induced IL-8 secretion from adherent cells. The differential effects of TGF-beta1 on IL-8 secretion from suspended and adherent cells could not be explained by differences in IL-1 receptor antagonist production. The effects of fibronectin on TGF-beta1 induced IL-8 secretion from THP-1 cells were mimicked by adhesion to immobilized anti-a4beta1 integrin antibody and to a fibronectin fragment containing the CS-1 domain. These results indicate that alpha4beta1-mediated adhesion to fibronectin may play a key role during inflammation by profoundly influencing the effects of TGF-beta1 on monocytes.

  20. 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...

  1. THE EVOLUTION OF MOLECULAR LINE PROFILES INDUCED BY THE PROPAGATION OF C-SHOCK WAVES

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jimenez-Serra, I.; Caselli, P.; Martin-Pintado, J.; RodrIguez-Franco, A.; Viti, S.

    2009-01-01

    We present the first results of the expected variations of the molecular line emission arising from material recently affected by C-shocks (shock precursors). Our parametric model of the structure of C-shocks has been coupled with a radiative transfer code to calculate the molecular excitation and line profiles of shock tracers such as SiO, and of ion and neutral molecules such as H 13 CO + and HN 13 C, as the shock propagates through the unperturbed medium. Our results show that the SiO emission arising from the early stage of the magnetic precursor typically has very narrow line profiles slightly shifted in velocity with respect to the ambient cloud. This narrow emission is generated in the region where the bulk of the ion fluid has already slipped to larger velocities in the precursor as observed toward the young L1448-mm outflow. This strongly suggests that the detection of narrow SiO emission, and of an ion enhancement in young shocks, is produced by the magnetic precursor of C-shocks. In addition, our model shows that the different velocity components observed toward this outflow can be explained by the coexistence of different shocks at different evolutionary stages, within the same beam of the single-dish observations.

  2. Studies of the variability of the hepatocyte nuclear factor-1beta (HNF-1beta / TCF2) and the dimerization cofactor of HNF-1 (DcoH / PCBD) genes in relation to type 2 diabetes mellitus and beta-cell function

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ek, J; Grarup, N; Urhammer, S A

    2001-01-01

    Mutations in the homeodomain-containing transcription factor hepatocyte nuclear factor-1beta (HNF-1beta) are known to cause a rare subtype of maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY5), which is associated with early-onset progressive non-diabetic renal dysfunction. To investigate whether...... mutations in HNF-1 are implicated in the pathogenesis of MODY or late-onset diabetes with and without nephropathy in Danish Caucasians we examined the HNF-1beta (TCF2) and the dimerization cofactor of HNF-1 (DCoH, PCBD) genes for mutations in 11 MODY probands, 28 type 2 diabetic patients with nephropathy...... comprising the DCoH gene revealed a previously described A-->G polymorphism located in the 3' untranslated region, which was not investigated further. In conclusion, mutations in HNF-1beta and DCoH are not a major cause of MODY or late onset type 2 diabetes in Danish Caucasian subjects....

  3. The effect of TGF-beta2 on MMP-2 production and activity in highly metastatic human bladder carcinoma cell line 5637.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dehnavi, Ehsan; Soheili, Zahra-Soheila; Samiei, Shahram; Ataei, Zahra; Aryan, Hajar

    2009-06-01

    Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily regulates matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), which intrinsically regulate various cell behaviors leading to metastasis. We investigated the effect of TGF-beta(2) on MMP-2 regulation in human bladder carcinoma cell line 5637. Zymography, ELISA, and real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that TGF-beta(2) stimulated MMP-2 production, but the transcription of its gene remained unchanged. Wortmannin could not inhibit MMP-2 secretion and activity and conversely the amount of the protein and its enzymatic activity were increased. These data suggest that TGF-beta(2) increased MMP-2 at the posttranscriptional level and this upregulation was independent of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling pathway.

  4. Line broadening analysis of implosion core conditions at Z using argon K-shell spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burris-Mog, T.J. [Department of Physics, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557 (United States)]. E-mail: burris@physics.unr.edu; Mancini, R.C. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Bailey, J.E. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Chandler, G.A. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Rochau, G. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Dunham, G. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Lake, P.W. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Peterson, K. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Slutz, S.A. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Mehlhorn, T.A. [Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 (United States); Golovkin, I.E. [Prism Computational Sciences, Madison, WI 53703 (United States); MacFarlane, J.J. [Prism Computational Sciences, Madison, WI 53703 (United States)

    2006-05-15

    We report on spectral line broadening analysis of Ar K-shell lines from argon-doped implosion cores driven by a dynamic hohlraum z-pinch. The observed Ar spectra include emissions from the resonance series in H- and He-like Ar ions, i.e., Ly{alpha}, Ly{beta} and Ly{gamma}, and He{alpha}, He{beta}, He{gamma} and He{delta} lines, respectively. The analysis accounts for opacity and Stark broadening to determine electron density, N{sub e}, and areal-density, N{delta}R, values for the ground state populations of H- and He-like Ar ions. Furthermore, these results are combined with the ratio of H- and He-like ground state populations to extract the electron temperature, T{sub e}.

  5. In vitro and ex vivo distribution of [3H]harmane, an endogenous beta-carboline, in rat brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Neil J; Tyacke, Robin J; Husbands, Stephen M; Nutt, David J; Hudson, Alan L; Robinson, Emma S J

    2006-03-01

    The endogenous beta-carboline, harmane, has been shown to bind to monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) and a separate, high affinity, non-MAO site. Research in our laboratory has shown that harmane is an active component of clonidine-displacing substance (CDS), the proposed endogenous ligand for imidazoline binding sites (IBS). In the present study we have investigated the distribution of [3H]harmane in rat brain, and related the binding profile to the distribution of the MAO-A selective ligand [3H]Ro41-1049 and the I2BS ligand [3H]2-BFI. The in vivo distribution of [3H]harmane following intravenous administration was also investigated. Receptor autoradiography revealed a highly significant correlation for the distribution of [3H]harmane and [3H]Ro41-1049, and a significant correlation for [3H]harmane and the I2BS ligand [3H]2-BFI. The in vivo distribution of [3H]harmane suggests that the ligand accumulates in the adrenal gland and throughout the brain with the primary route of excretion occurring via the duodenum. In conclusion, these studies have shown that [3H]harmane labels a population of binding sites that reflect the distribution of MAO-A. Further evidence for a non-MAO, IBS [3H]harmane population has not been shown but the high level of expression of the MAO-A site is likely to have masked the much smaller population of I2BS.

  6. H2O2 recycling during oxidation of the arylglycerol beta-aryl ether lignin structure by lignin peroxidase and glyoxal oxidase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammel, K E; Mozuch, M D; Jensen, K A; Kersten, P J

    1994-11-15

    Oxidative C alpha-C beta cleavage of the arylglycerol beta-aryl ether lignin model 1-(3,4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-2-phenoxypropane-1,3-diol (I) by Phanerochaete chrysosporium lignin peroxidase in the presence of limiting H2O2 was enhanced 4-5-fold by glyoxal oxidase from the same fungus. Further investigation showed that each C alpha-C beta cleavage reaction released 0.8-0.9 equiv of glycolaldehyde, a glyoxal oxidase substrate. The identification of glycolaldehyde was based on 13C NMR spectrometry of reaction product obtained from beta-, gamma-, and beta,gamma-13C-substituted I, and quantitation was based on an enzymatic NADH-linked assay. The oxidation of glycolaldehyde by glyoxal oxidase yielded 0.9 oxalate and 2.8 H2O2 per reaction, as shown by quantitation of oxalate as 2,3-dihydroxyquinoxaline after derivatization with 1,2-diaminobenzene and by quantitation of H2O2 in coupled spectrophotometric assays with veratryl alcohol and lignin peroxidase. These results suggest that the C alpha-C beta cleavage of I by lignin peroxidase in the presence of glyoxal oxidase should regenerate as many as 3 H2O2. Calculations based on the observed enhancement of LiP-catalyzed C alpha-C beta cleavage by glyoxal oxidase showed that approximately 2 H2O2 were actually regenerated per cleavage of I when both enzymes were present. The cleavage of arylglycerol beta-aryl ether structures by ligninolytic enzymes thus recycles H2O2 to support subsequent cleavage reactions.

  7. A proportional chamber to measure the screening potential in sup 3 H beta decay

    CERN Document Server

    Paterson, D J; Batkin, I S

    1999-01-01

    A gas proportional chamber has been assembled to make precise observations of the low-energy region of the sup 3 H beta spectrum. Backgrounds have been measured and understood, and are maintained at approx 2% of the data rate. Wall effects have been simulated for this chamber and are predicted at <0.5% of events. Systematic effects which may introduce errors into the observed spectrum have been carefully measured at a level below approx 10 sup - sup 4 per ADC channel. This apparatus will be used to make precise measurements of the effects of screening of the nuclear charge by orbital electrons on the beta spectrum of sup 3 H, and to attempt to observe the effect of a hypothesized admixture of heavy neutrinos in the sup 3 H spectrum.

  8. Theoretical profiles of the spectral lines of the hydrogen atom; Profils theoriques des raies spectrales de l'atome d'hydrogene

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen, H; Herman, L [Universite de la Sorbonne, Lab. de Recherche Physique, 75 - Paris (France); Drawin, H W [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Fontenay-aux-Roses, Association Euratom-CEA, Groupe de Recherches sur la Fusion Controlee (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1965-07-01

    The line-broadening problem of the hydrogen lines has been formulated in the quasistatic approximation as far as the ions are concerned, and in the classical path approximation as far as the broadening due to collisions with electrons is concerned. These electrons interfere in different numerical results only by the self-correlation function of the fluctuating electrical field strength created at each point in the plasma. The Lewis correction has been applied, but using the whole velocity distribution function of the electrons. The formula which represents the usual impact profile, valid only for frequencies much smaller than the plasma frequency, has been extended using another formula which will be valid up to the neighbourhood of that spectral region where the quasi-static approximation begins to be valid also for the electrons. As an example, the line profile of Ly {alpha} is given by some graphs for T = 10{sup 4} deg. K and electron densities N = 10{sup 17} cm{sup -3} and N = 10{sup 18}cm{sup -3}. (authors) [French] Le probleme d'elargissement des raies de l'atome H est formule dans l'approximation quasi-statique en ce qui concerne les ions et dans l'approximation du chemin classique en ce qui concerne les electrons. Ceux-ci interviennent dans differents resultats uniquement par la fonction auto-correlation du champ electrique fluctuant qu'ils creent en chaque point du plasma. La correction de Lewis a ete appliquee mais en tenant compte de la distribution des vitesses electroniques. La formule donnant les profils d'impact habituels, valable seulement pour des frequences tres inferieures a la frequence du plasma, est ainsi prolongee de maniere continue par une autre formule, valable jusqu'au voisinage de la region spectrale ou l'approximation quasistatique commence a etre egalement justifiee pour les electrons. A titre d'illustration on represente graphiquement le profil de la raie Ly {alpha} pour T = 10{sup 4} deg. K et des densites electroniques de N = 10{sup

  9. Perfil de beta talassemia heterozigota obtido a partir de análise data mining em banco de dados The profile of beta thalassemia obtained by data mining analysis in a database

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana L. B. Domingos

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Variations in the phenotypic expression of heterozygous beta thalassemia reflect the formation of different populations. To better understand the profile of heterozygous beta-thalassemia of the Brazilian population, we aimed at establishing parameters to direct the diagnosis of carriers and calculate the frequency from information stored in an electronic database. Using a Data Mining tool, we evaluated information on 10,960 blood samples deposited in a relational database. Over the years, improved diagnostic technology has facilitated the elucidation of suspected beta thalassemia heterozygote cases with an average frequency of 3.5% of referred cases. We also found that the Brazilian beta thalassemia trait has classic increases of Hb A2 and Hb F (60%, mainly caused by mutations in beta zero thalassemia, especially in the southeast of the country.

  10. On the atomic line profiles in high pressure plasmas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janssen, J. F. J.; Gnybida, M.; Rijke, A. J.; Dijk, J. van [Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven (Netherlands); Suijker, J. L. G. [Philips Lighting R and D Category Professional Lamps, P.O. Box 80020, 5600 JM Eindhoven (Netherlands)

    2013-11-14

    In a previous contribution to this journal [H. P. Stormberg, J. Appl. Phys. 51(4), 1963 (1980)], Stormberg presented an analytical expression for the convolution of Lorentz and Levy line profiles, which models atomic radiative transitions in high pressure plasmas. Unfortunately, the derivations are flawed with errors and the final expression, while correct, is accompanied by misguiding comments about the meaning of the symbols used therein, in particular the “complex error function.” In this paper, we discuss the broadening mechanisms that give rise to Stormberg's model and present a correct derivation of his final result. We will also provide an alternative expression, based on the Faddeeva function, which has decisive computational advantages and emphasizes the real-valuedness of the result. The MATLAB/Octave scripts of our implementation have been made available on the publisher's website for future reference.

  11. Techniques for obtaining velocity distributions of atoms or ions from Doppler-broadened spectral line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moran, T.G.

    1986-12-01

    Analysis of the doppler-broadened profiles of spectral lines radiated by atoms or ions in plasmas yields information about their velocity distributions. Researchers have analysed profiles of lines radiated by atoms in isotropic velocity distributions in several ways, one being the inversion of the integral equation which relates the velocity distribution to the line profile. This inversion formula was derived for a separate application and was given to within an arbitrary multiplicative constant. This paper presents a new derivation which obtains the inversion exactly, using a method which is easily generalized for determination of anisotropic velocity distribution functions. The technique to obtain an anisotropic velocity distribution function from line profiles measured at different angles is outlined

  12. H2 profiles of C-type bow shocks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, M.D.; Brand, P.W.J.L.

    1990-01-01

    We present emission-line profiles of molecular hydrogen from curved C-shocks within molecular clouds. Shock configurations arising from the supersonic motion of jets and bullets within a dense cloud are chosen. Bow shock speeds in the range υ w = 40-200 km s -1 are investigated. Breakdown through dissociation and self-ionization restricts the C-shock section to the bow tail. We find that profiles are essentially single-peaked and narrow with full widths (at 10 per cent maximum intensity, deconvolved) of up to about 50, 40 and 30 km s -1 for cones, hemispherical caps and paraboloids, respectively. Exceptional field alignments can produce lines as wide as 75 km s -1 in the conical shock model. (author)

  13. Oxidative Metabolism Genes Are Not Responsive to Oxidative Stress in Rodent Beta Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faer Morrison

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Altered expression of oxidative metabolism genes has been described in the skeletal muscle of individuals with type 2 diabetes. Pancreatic beta cells contain low levels of antioxidant enzymes and are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress. In this study, we explored the effect of hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress on a panel of oxidative metabolism genes in a rodent beta cell line. We exposed INS-1 rodent beta cells to low (5.6 mmol/L, ambient (11 mmol/L, and high (28 mmol/L glucose conditions for 48 hours. Increases in oxidative stress were measured using the fluorescent probe dihydrorhodamine 123. We then measured the expression levels of a panel of 90 oxidative metabolism genes by real-time PCR. Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS production was evident in INS-1 cells after 48 hours (P<0.05. TLDA analysis revealed a significant (P<0.05 upregulation of 16 of the 90 genes under hyperglycemic conditions, although these expression differences did not reflect differences in ROS. We conclude that although altered glycemia may influence the expression of some oxidative metabolism genes, this effect is probably not mediated by increased ROS production. The alterations to the expression of oxidative metabolism genes previously observed in human diabetic skeletal muscle do not appear to be mirrored in rodent pancreatic beta cells.

  14. Depth profiles of H and O in thin films of a-Si:H

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sie, S.H.; Ryan, C.J.

    1985-01-01

    Detailed depth profiles of hydrogen and oxygen were measured, in thin film samples of a-Si:H produced under varying conditions, using the reaction 1 H( 19 F,α γ) 16 O in the vicinity of the resonance at E( 19 F) = 6.417 MeV to profile hydrogen, and resonant elastic α scattering near the resonance at Eα = 3.0359 MeV to profile oxygen. Contrasting results reflecting the different fabrication conditions were obtained and these were correlated with the measured electrical properties

  15. High LET Radiation Can Enhance TGF(Beta) Induced EMT and Cross-Talk with ATM Pathways

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Minli; Hada, Megumi; Huff, Janice; Pluth, Janice M.; Anderson, Janniffer; ONeill, Peter; Cucinotta, Francis A.

    2010-01-01

    The TGF(Beta) pathway has been shown to regulate or directly interact with the ATM pathway in the response to radiation in mammary epithelial cells. We investigated possible interactions between the TGF(Beta) and ATM pathways following simulated space radiation using hTERT immortalized human esophageal epithelial cells (EPC-hTERT), mink lung epithelial cells (Mv1lu), and several human fibroblast cell lines. TGF(Beta) is a key modulator of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT), important in cancer progression and metastasis. The implication of EMT by radiation also has several lines of developing evidence, however is poorly understood. The identification of TGF(Beta) induced EMT can be shown in changes to morphology, related gene over expression or down regulation, which can be detected by RT-PCR, and immunostaining and western blotting. In this study, we have observed morphologic and molecular alternations consistent with EMT after Mv1lu cells were treated with TGF(Beta) High LET radiation enhanced TGF(Beta) mediated EMT with a dose as low as 0.1Gy. In order to consider the TGF(Beta) interaction with ATM we used a potent ATM inhibitor Ku55933 and investigated gene expression changes and Smad signaling kinetics. Ku559933 was observed to reverse TGF(Beta) induced EMT, while this was not observed in dual treated cells (radiation+TGF(Beta)). In EPC-hTERT cells, TGF(Beta) alone was not able to induce EMT after 3 days of application. A combined treatment with high LET, however, significantly caused the alteration of EMT markers. To study the function of p53 in the process of EMT, we knocked down P53 through RNA interference. Morphology changes associated with EMT were observed in epithelial cells with silenced p53. Our study indicates: high LET radiation can enhance TGF(Beta) induced EMT; while ATM is triggering the process of TGF(Beta)-induced EMT, p53 might be an essential repressor for EMT phenotypes.

  16. Emission - line theoretical profiles for Wolf- Rayet stars with low-mass companions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Antokhin, I.I.

    1986-01-01

    Profiles of the resonant line λ 765 A and the subordinate line λ 4058 of N4 have been calculated for a binary system medel consisting of the Wolf-Rayet star and the low-mass companion (possibly, a relativistic object) by means of Sobolev approximation. The equations of statistical equilibrium have been solved for the first 32 levels of N4. Two cases have been considered: 1) detached zone of N5 surrounding the Wolf-Rayet star and the companion; 2) common zone of N5. The criteria for detection of presence of a companion in line profile observations have been formulated

  17. Optimized profiles for improved confinement and stability in the Dill-D tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, T.S.; St John, H.; Turnbull, A.D.

    1994-01-01

    Simultaneous achievement of high energy confinement, τ E , and high plasma beta, β, leads to an economically attractive compact tokamak fusion reactor. High confinement enhancement, H τ E /τ E -ITER89P 4, and high normalized beta β N β/(I/aB) = 6%-m-T/MA. have been obtained in DIII-D experimental discharges. These improved confinement and/or improved stability limits are observed in several DIII-D high performance operational regimes: VH-mode, high l i H-mode, second stable core, and high beta poloidal. We have identified several important features of the improved performance in these discharges: details of the plasma shape, toroidal rotation or ExB flow profile, q profile and current density profile, and pressure profile. From our improved physics understanding of these enhanced performance regimes, we have developed operational scenarios which maintain the essential features of the improved confinement and which increase the stability limits using localized current profile control. The stability limit is increased by modifying the interior safety factor profile to be nonmonotonic with high central q, while maintaining the edge current density consistent with the improved transport regimes and the high edge bootstrap current. We have calculated high beta equilibria with β N 6.5, stable to ideal n=1 kinks and stable to ideal ballooning modes. The safety factor at the 95% flux surface is 6, the central q value is 3.9 and the minimum in q is 2.6. The current density profile is maintained by the natural profile of the bootstrap current, and a modest amount of electron cyclotron current drive. (Author)

  18. Optimized profiles for improved confinement and stability in the DIII-D tokamak

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taylor, T.S.; St. John, H.; Turnbull, A.D.

    1995-02-01

    Simultaneous achievement of high energy confinement, τ E , and high plasma beta, β, leads to an economically attractive compact tokamak fusion reactor. High confinement enhancement, H = τ E /τ E-ITER89P = 4, and high normalized beta β N = β/(I/aB) = 6%-m-T/MA, have been obtained in DIII-D experimental discharges. These improved confinement and/or improved stability limits are observed in several DIII-D high performance operational regimes: VH-mode, high ell i H-mode, second stable core, and high beta poloidal. The authors have identified several important features of the improved performance in these discharges: details of the plasma shape, toroidal rotation or ExB flow profile, q profile and current density profile, and pressure profile. From the improved physics understanding of these enhanced performance regimes, they have developed operational scenarios which maintain the essential features of the improved confinement and which increase the stability limits using localized current profile control. The stability limit is increased by modifying the interior safety factor profile to be nonmonotonic with high central q, while maintaining the edge current density consistent with the improved transport regimes and the high edge bootstrap current. They have calculated high beta equilibria with β N = 6.5, stable to ideal n = 1 kinks and stable to ideal ballooning modes. The safety factor at the 95% flux surface is 6, the central q value is 3.9 and the minimum in q is 2.6. The current density profile is maintained by the natural profile of the bootstrap current, and a modest amount of electron cyclotron current drive

  19. Effects of Wind Velocity Driven by Alfven Waves on the Line Profiles for 32 CYG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kyung-Mee Kim

    1996-06-01

    Full Text Available We calculate the theoretical line profiles for 32 Cyg in order to investigate the influence of various velocity fields. Line profiles are calculated with wind accelerations driven by Alfven waves and described by velocity parameters. The results for Alfvenic wave model show weakened line profiles. For the orbital phases ¥÷=0.78 and ¥÷=0.06 the Alfvenic models show strong absorption part due to very low densities at the surface of the supergiant. Hence, we conclude the velocity gradient of the wind near the supergiant could influence on the theoretical line formation.

  20. The study of the properties of nuclei far from the beta stability line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lizurej, H.I.

    1980-01-01

    A complex of setups for measuring the lifetime of excited states of nuclei by the method of delayed electron-gamma and gamma-gamma coincidences in the range 10 -10 -10 -6 s is presented. The methods allowing for a substantial increase in the accuracy and efficiency of obtaining experimental data are developed. The procedures of measuring and analysing the multicomponent beta spectra with taking into account the instrumental effect which distorts the measured spectra are developed. Results of investigating the positron decay and determining the mass difference Qsub(B)+ for nuclei with Tsub(1/2)>20 min by the method of measuring the positron end-point energy are presented. The nano- and subnanosecond isomers for short-lived isotopes far from the beta stability line have been investigated. Probabilities of the electromagnetic transitions which depopulate the low-lying excited states in 151 Tb, 153 Dy, 160 Tm, sup(157,159,161)Er have been determined and analysed. (author)

  1. Suppression of cancer growth in mice by adeno-associated virus vector-mediated IFN-beta expression driven by hTERT promoter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Ling Feng; Wang, Yi Gang; Xiao, Tian; Zhang, Kang Jiang; Li, Gong Chu; Gu, Jin Fa; Chu, Liang; Tang, Wen Hao; Tan, Wen-Song; Liu, Xin Yuan

    2009-12-28

    Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has rapidly become a promising gene delivery vehicle for its excellent advantages of non-immunogenic, low pathogenicity and long-term gene expression in vivo. However, a major obstacle in development of effective AAV vector is the lack of tissue specificity, which caused low efficiency of AAV transfer to target cells. The application of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) promoter is a prior targeting strategy for AAV in cancer gene therapy as hTERT activity is transcriptionally upregulated in most cancer cells. In the present work, we investigated whether AAV-mediated human interferon beta (IFN-beta) gene driven by hTERT promoter could specifically express in tumor cells and suppress tumor cell growth. Our data demonstrated that hTERT promoter-driven IFN-beta expression was the tumor-specific, decreased the cell viability of tumor cells but not normal cells, and induced tumor cell apoptosis via activation of caspase pathway and release of cytochrome c. AAV-mediated IFN-beta expression driven by hTERT promoter significantly suppressed the growth of colorectal cancer and lung cancer xenograft in mice and resulted in tumor cells death in vivo. These data suggested that AAVs in combination with hTERT-mediated IFN-beta expression could exert potential antitumor activity and provide a novel targeting approach to clinical gene therapy of varieties of cancers.

  2. Diagnostics of red-shifted H-alpha line emission from a C-class flare with full non-LTE radiative and hydrodynamic approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Druett, M. K.; Zharkova, V. V.; Scullion, E.; Zharkov, S.; Matthews, S. A.

    2016-12-01

    We analyse H-alpha line profiles with strong redshifts during the C1.8 flare on 1st July 2012 obtained from the Swedish Solar Telescope (SST) closely resembling the previous observations (Wuelser and Marti, 1989). The flare has a magnetic field configuration with two levels of loop structures. The kernels with red shifts are observed in one of the H-alpha ribbons in the south-west location formed after the main impulse recorded in the north-east. The locations of H-alpha kernels with red shifts reveal close temporal and spatial correlation with weaker HXR signatures and coincide with the locations of coronal jets observed with AIA/SDO. For interpretation we apply a revised 1D hydrodynamic and non-LTE (NLTE) radiative model for 5 level plus continuum model hydrogen atom (Druett & Zharkova, 2016) considering radiative, thermal and non-thermal excitation and ionisation by beam electrons with the updated beam densities (Zharkova & Dobranskis, 2016) and analytical excitation/ionisation rates (Zharkova& Kobylinskijj, 1993). We find the simultaneous solutions of steady state and radiative transfer equations in all optically-thick lines and continua. The electron and ion temperatures, ambient density and macrovelocity of the ambient plasma are derived from a 1D hydrodynamic model with initial condition of the pre-flaring photosphere for the two fluid ambient plasma heated by beam electrons (Zharkova & Zharkov, 2007). We simulate distributions over precipitation depth of ionisation and departure coefficients for all the hydrogen atom transitions including the deviation of ionisation from Saha equation affected by non-thermal electron beams. We show that in the very first seconds after the beam onset Balmer line profiles are sensitive to the effect of beam electrons. The combination of the additional ionisation caused by beam electrons leading to a very strong Stark effect in Balmer lines with the hydrodynamic heating and formation of a low temperature shock in the

  3. High-resolution profiles of sodium and potassium lines in alpha Orionis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldberg, L.; Ramsey, L.; Testerman, L.; Carbon, D.

    1975-01-01

    Profiles of the K i resonance line at 7698.98 A and of the D 1 and D 2 lines of Na i in the spectrum of α Ori have been rocorded photoelectrically using the main beam of the McMath solar telescope at KPNO. The Na lines were observed in the fourth order of the spectrograph and the K i line in the third order, providing a resolving power of approximately 50 mA. The observed profiles are consistent with a model in which radiation from the stellar photosphere is scattered and reemitted by an expanding envelope or envelopes of radius large compared with that of the photosphere. Each blueshifted absorption core appears to consist of two components of approximately the same intensity. The first has a heliocentric radial velocity of +11-13 km s -1 , which agrees very well with measurements of other resonance lines by other observers, whereas the second is in the range +4-6 km s -1 and appears not to have been detected previously

  4. Interleukins 1alpha and 1beta secreted by some melanoma cell lines strongly reduce expression of MITF-M and melanocyte differentiation antigens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kholmanskikh, Olga; van Baren, Nicolas; Brasseur, Francis; Ottaviani, Sabrina; Vanacker, Julie; Arts, Nathalie; van der Bruggen, Pierre; Coulie, Pierre; De Plaen, Etienne

    2010-10-01

    We report that melanoma cell lines expressing the interleukin-1 receptor exhibit 4- to 10-fold lower levels of mRNA of microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF-M) when treated with interleukin-1beta. This effect is NF-kappaB and JNK-dependent. MITF-M regulates the expression of melanocyte differentiation genes such as MLANA, tyrosinase and gp100, which encode antigens recognized on melanoma cells by autologous cytolytic T lymphocytes. Accordingly, treating some melanoma cells with IL-1beta reduced by 40-100% their ability to activate such antimelanoma cytolytic T lymphocytes. Finally, we observed large amounts of biologically active IL-1alpha or IL-1beta secreted by two melanoma cell lines that did not express MITF-M, suggesting an autocrine MITF-M downregulation. We estimate that approximately 13% of melanoma cell lines are MITF-M-negative and secrete IL-1 cytokines. These results indicate that the repression of melanocyte-differentiation genes by IL-1 produced by stromal cells or by tumor cells themselves may represent an additional mechanism of melanoma immune escape.

  5. Rapid measurement of 3J(H N-H alpha) and 3J(N-H beta) coupling constants in polypeptides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barnwal, Ravi Pratap; Rout, Ashok K; Chary, Kandala V R; Atreya, Hanudatta S

    2007-12-01

    We present two NMR experiments, (3,2)D HNHA and (3,2)D HNHB, for rapid and accurate measurement of 3J(H N-H alpha) and 3J(N-H beta) coupling constants in polypeptides based on the principle of G-matrix Fourier transform NMR spectroscopy and quantitative J-correlation. These experiments, which facilitate fast acquisition of three-dimensional data with high spectral/digital resolution and chemical shift dispersion, will provide renewed opportunities to utilize them for sequence specific resonance assignments, estimation/characterization of secondary structure with/without prior knowledge of resonance assignments, stereospecific assignment of prochiral groups and 3D structure determination, refinement and validation. Taken together, these experiments have a wide range of applications from structural genomics projects to studying structure and folding in polypeptides.

  6. Hydrogen diffusion in a one domain. beta. -V sub 2 H single crystal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richter, D.; Mahling-Ennaoui, S. (Institut Max von Laue - Paul Langevin, 38 - Grenoble (France)); Hempelmann, R. (Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH (Germany, F.R.). Inst. fuer Festkoerperforschung)

    1989-01-01

    The authors present first quasielastic neutron scattering experiments on hydrogen diffusion in a one-domain crystal of the ordered metal hydride {beta}-V{sub 2}H. The experiments led to a detailed evaluation of the microscopic jump geometries. At temperatures at which the structure is still intact the main diffusion channel leads across antistructural sites situated in empty layers in between occupied H-sheets. (orig.).

  7. Theoretical profiles of the spectral lines of the hydrogen atom

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nguyen, H.; Herman, L.; Drawin, H.W.

    1965-01-01

    The line-broadening problem of the hydrogen lines has been formulated in the quasistatic approximation as far as the ions are concerned, and in the classical path approximation as far as the broadening due to collisions with electrons is concerned. These electrons interfere in different numerical results only by the self-correlation function of the fluctuating electrical field strength created at each point in the plasma. The Lewis correction has been applied, but using the whole velocity distribution function of the electrons. The formula which represents the usual impact profile, valid only for frequencies much smaller than the plasma frequency, has been extended using another formula which will be valid up to the neighbourhood of that spectral region where the quasi-static approximation begins to be valid also for the electrons. As an example, the line profile of Ly α is given by some graphs for T = 10 4 deg. K and electron densities N = 10 17 cm -3 and N = 10 18 cm -3 . (authors) [fr

  8. Human myometrial adrenergic receptors: identification of the beta-adrenergic receptor by [3H]dihydroalprenolol binding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hayashida, D.N.; Leung, R.; Goldfien, A.; Roberts, J.M.

    1982-01-01

    The radioactive beta-adrenergic antagonist [ 3 H] dihydroalprenolol (DHA) binds to particulate preparations of human myometrium in a manner compatible with binding to the beta-adrenergic receptor. The binding of DHA is rapid (attaining equilibrium in 12 minutes), readily reversible (half time = 16 minutes), high affinity (K/sub D/ = 0.50 nM), low capacity (Bmax = 70 fmoles/mg of protein), and stereoselective ([-]-propranolol is 100 times as potent as [+] -propranolol in inhibiting DHA binding). Adrenergic agonists competed for DHA binding sites in a manner compatible with beta-adrenergic interactions and mirrored β 2 pharmacologic potencies: isoproterenol > epinephrine >> norepinephrine. Studies in which zinterol, a β 2 -adrenergic agonist, competed for DHA binding sites in human myometrial particulate indicated that at least 87% of the beta-adrenergic receptors present are β 2 -adrenergic receptors. Binding of DHA to human myometrial beta-adrenergic receptors provides a tool which may be used in the examination of gonadal hormonal modification of adrenergic response in human uterus as well as in the analysis of beta-adrenergic agents as potentially useful tocolytic agents

  9. The synthesis of [[sup 2]H],[[sup 3]H], and [[sup 14]C]-labeled 8[beta]-[(methylthio)methyl]-6-propylergoline mesylate (pergolide mesylate), a potent, long-acting dopamine agonist

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wheeler, W.J.; Kau, D.L.K.; Bach, N.J. (Lilly (Eli) and Co., Indianapolis, IN (United States). Lilly Research Labs.)

    1990-03-01

    The [[sup 3]H]- and two[[sup 14]C]-isopomers of 8[beta]-[(methylthio)methyl]-6-propylergoline mesylate (pergolide mesylate) have been synthesized. The [[sup 3]H]-derivative was synthesized by the palladium catalyzed tritiation of the corresponding 6-allyl derivative. Reaction of 8[beta]-[(methylthio)methyl]-ergoline with 1-[[sup 14]C]-1-propyl bromide yielded pergolide labeled in the 6-propyl group. Alternatively, reaction of 8[beta]-mesyloxy-6-propylergoline with [[sup 14]C]-sodium cyanide, followed by base hydrolysis, yielded 8 [beta]-carboxy-6-propylergoline-[[sup 14]C], which was subsequently converted to pergolide mesylate radiolabeled in the 17-position via a four step sequence. (Author).

  10. Far-ultraviolet and optical spectrophotometry of X-ray selected Seyfert galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clarke, J.T.; Bowyer, S.; Grewing, M.; California Univ., Berkeley; Tuebingen Universitaet, West Germany)

    1986-01-01

    Five X-ray selected Seyfert galaxies were examined via near-simultaneous far-ultraviolet and optical spectrophotometry in an effort to test models for excitation of emission lines by X-ray and ultraviolet continuum photoionization. The observed Ly-alpha/H-beta ratio in the present sample averages 22, with an increase found toward the high-velocity wings of the H lines in the spectrum of at least one of the Seyfert I nuclei. It is suggested that Seyfert galaxies with the most high-velocity gas exhibit the highest Ly-alpha/H-beta ratios at all velocities in the line profiles, and that sometimes this ratio may be highest for the highest velocity material in the broad-line clouds. Since broad-lined objects are least affected by Ly-alpha trapping effects, they have Ly-alpha/H-beta ratios much closer to those predicted by early photoionization calculations. 21 references

  11. The ability of current micro-velocity models to represent center-limb line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, J.C.; Testerman, L.

    1975-01-01

    Results are presented on the ability of microturbulences, LTE line formation and a homogeneous thermal model to realistically represent the center-limb variation of temporally and spacially averaged solar line profiles. Three somewhat similar semi-empirical thermal models have been used in combination with five current microturbulence models which cover the gamut of homogeneous-isotropic to nonhomogeneous-anisotropic. From high resolution photoelectric data for (lambdalambda 5000-6000 at five μ-values(1,0.63,0.4,0.25,0.16) obtained at KPNO, were selected 17 Fe I and 5 Fe II line profiles to be unblended and symmetrized for study. An iterative scheme has been developed to calculate theoretical profiles for the various combination of models and compare them to the observed profile using the abundance at each limb position and the magnitude of the pressure broadening at the center of the disc as parameters. It was found that a microturbulence model, for which the radial and tangential components increase into deeper layers with xisub(tan)>xisub(rad), produces a reasonable good center-limb fit for lines less than 100mA. However for lines stronger than 140mA, microturbulence models with no depth dependence produce the best match between theory and observation. Thus there is reason to question the uniqueness of the microturbulence concept. (Auth.)

  12. Data-driven robust control of the plasma rotational transform profile and normalized beta dynamics for advanced tokamak scenarios in DIII-D

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shi, W.; Wehner, W.P.; Barton, J.E.; Boyer, M.D. [Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015 (United States); Schuster, E., E-mail: schuster@lehigh.edu [Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015 (United States); Moreau, D. [CEA, IRFM, F-13018 St Paul lez Durance (France); Walker, M.L.; Ferron, J.R.; Luce, T.C.; Humphreys, D.A.; Penaflor, B.G.; Johnson, R.D. [General Atomics, San Diego, CA 92121 (United States)

    2017-04-15

    A control-oriented, two-timescale, linear, dynamic, response model of the rotational transform ι profile and the normalized beta β{sub N} is proposed based on experimental data from the DIII-D tokamak. Dedicated system-identification experiments without feedback control have been carried out to generate data for the development of this model. The data-driven dynamic model, which is both device-specific and scenario-specific, represents the response of the ι profile and β{sub N} to the electric field due to induction as well as to the heating and current drive (H&CD) systems during the flat-top phase of an H-mode discharge in DIII-D. The control goal is to use both induction and the H&CD systems to locally regulate the plasma ι profile and β{sub N} around particular target values close to the reference state used for system identification. A singular value decomposition (SVD) of the plasma model at steady state is carried out to decouple the system and identify the most relevant control channels. A mixed-sensitivity robust control design problem is formulated based on the dynamic model to synthesize a stabilizing feedback controller without input constraints that minimizes the reference tracking error and rejects external disturbances with minimal control energy. The feedback controller is then augmented with an anti-windup compensator, which keeps the given controller well-behaved in the presence of magnitude constraints in the actuators and leaves the nominal closed-loop system unmodified when no saturation is present. The proposed controller represents one of the first feedback profile controllers integrating magnetic and kinetic variables ever implemented and experimentally tested in DIII-D. The preliminary experimental results presented in this work, although limited in number and constrained by actuator problems and design limitations, as it will be reported, show good progress towards routine current profile control in DIII-D and leave valuable lessons

  13. Conformational intermediate of the amyloidogenic protein beta 2-microglobulin at neutral pH

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heegaard, N H; Sen, J W; Kaarsholm, N C

    2001-01-01

    electrophoresis that two conformers spontaneously exist in aqueous buffers at neutral pH. Upon treatment of wild-type beta(2)-microglobulin with acetonitrile or trifluoroethanol, two conformations were also observed. These conformations were in equilibrium dependent on the sample temperature and the percentage...

  14. Clusters of conserved beta cell marker genes for assessment of beta cell phenotype

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martens, Geert A; Jiang, Lei; Hellemans, Karine H

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish a gene expression blueprint of pancreatic beta cells conserved from rodents to humans and to evaluate its applicability to assess shifts in the beta cell differentiated state. Genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of isolated beta cells were compared to those...... of a large panel of other tissue and cell types, and transcripts with beta cell-abundant and -selective expression were identified. Iteration of this analysis in mouse, rat and human tissues generated a panel of conserved beta cell biomarkers. This panel was then used to compare isolated versus laser capture...... microdissected beta cells, monitor adaptations of the beta cell phenotype to fasting, and retrieve possible conserved transcriptional regulators....

  15. Profiles of the Hα line by means of the analogical television system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andrillat, Y.; Fehrenbach, Ch.

    1981-01-01

    High resolution profiles of the Hα line are derived for about thirty Be stars and several bright stars by means of the analogical television system. The profiles obtained with this method fairly agree with the theoretical ones (α Lyrae). (Auth.)

  16. H-Ras activation promotes cytoplasmic accumulation and phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase association of beta-catenin in epidermal keratinocytes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Espada, J; Pérez-Moreno, M; Braga, V M

    1999-01-01

    The mechanisms underlying downregulation of the cadherin/catenin complexes and beta-catenin signaling during tumor progression are not fully understood. We have analyzed the effect of oncogenic H-Ras on E-cadherin/catenin complex formation/stabilization and beta-catenin distribution in epidermal ...

  17. PROBING THE FLARE ATMOSPHERES OF M DWARFS USING INFRARED EMISSION LINES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schmidt, Sarah J.; Kowalski, Adam F.; Hawley, Suzanne L.; Hilton, Eric J.; Wisniewski, John P.; Tofflemire, Benjamin M., E-mail: sjschmidt@astro.washington.edu [Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council of Canada (Canada)

    2012-01-20

    We present the results of a campaign to monitor active M dwarfs using infrared spectroscopy, supplemented with optical photometry and spectroscopy. We detected 16 flares during nearly 50 hr of observations on EV Lac, AD Leo, YZ CMi, and VB 8. The three most energetic flares also showed infrared emission, including the first reported detections of P{beta}, P{gamma}, He I {lambda}10830, and Br{gamma} during an M dwarf flare. The strongest flare ({Delta}u = 4.02 on EV Lac) showed emission from H{gamma}, H{delta}, He I {lambda}4471, and Ca II K in the UV/blue and P{beta}, P{gamma}, P{delta}, Br{gamma}, and He I {lambda}10830 in the infrared. The weaker flares ({Delta}u = 1.68 on EV Lac and {Delta}U = 1.38 on YZ CMi) were only observed with photometry and infrared spectroscopy; both showed emission from P{beta}, P{gamma}, and He I {lambda}10830. The strongest infrared emission line, P{beta}, occurred in the active mid-M dwarfs with a duty cycle of {approx}3%-4%. To examine the most energetic flare, we used the static NLTE radiative transfer code RH to produce model spectra based on a suite of one-dimensional model atmospheres. Using a hotter chromosphere than previous one-dimensional atmospheric models, we obtain line ratios that match most of the observed emission lines.

  18. Radio recombination lines from diffuse interstellar gas in the Galaxy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cersosimo, J.C.; Onello, J.S.

    1991-01-01

    The paper reports the detection of the H159-alpha and H200-beta radio recombination lines at 1.62 GHz at l = 30.5 deg and 31.0 deg in the Galactic plane. Using the new observations obtained with the NRAO 43 m telescope a non-LTE analysis is presented to show that the observed LTE intensity ratio for these lines can arise from an inhomogeneous ionized nebula with a low-density component. 16 refs

  19. Clusters of conserved beta cell marker genes for assessment of beta cell phenotype

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Martens, Geert A; Jiang, Lei; Hellemans, Karine H

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish a gene expression blueprint of pancreatic beta cells conserved from rodents to humans and to evaluate its applicability to assess shifts in the beta cell differentiated state. Genome-wide mRNA expression profiles of isolated beta cells were compared to those...... of a large panel of other tissue and cell types, and transcripts with beta cell-abundant and -selective expression were identified. Iteration of this analysis in mouse, rat and human tissues generated a panel of conserved beta cell biomarkers. This panel was then used to compare isolated versus laser capture...

  20. Line profiles of hydrogenic ions from high-temperature and high-density plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hou Qing; Li Jianming

    1991-01-01

    Applying the Hooper's first-order theory, the authors calculate the static micro-electric field distributions in plasmas containing various multiply-charged ions. The influences of the impurity concentrations on the micro electric field distributions and on the Lyman profiles (n→1) from hydrogenic ions are analysed. Based on the optical-thin line profiles, the radiation transfer equation in sphere plasmas with various optical depths is solved. The results confirm that the opacity-broadening of the line profiles has almost no effect on the separation of Lyman β splitted peaks. Such separation is determined by electric field at which the static micro-electric field distribution has a maximum. The separation can be utilized for spatially resolved and temporally resolved density diagnostic of fusion plasmas

  1. Genetic aspects of auto-immune profiles of healthy chickens.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parmentier, Henk K; van der Vaart, Priscilla S; Nieuwland, Mike G B; Savelkoul, Huub F J

    2017-09-01

    Auto-antibody profiles binding liver antigens differed between chicken lines divergently selected for specific antibody responses to SRBC, and were affected by ageing suggesting both genetic and environmental effects. Presence and levels of IgM and IgG antibodies binding chicken liver cell lysate (CLL) fragments in plasma at 5 weeks of age from 10 individual full sibs and their parents from 5 H srbc and 5 L srbc line families was studied to reveal genetic relations. Non-genetic maternal effects were studied by comparing auto-antibody profiles of 36 weeks old hens from 2 other unrelated lines with the profiles from their chicks at hatch. IgM and IgG antibodies from parents and progeny from both H srbc and L srbc lines bound CLL fragments. Significant line and generation differences and their interactions were found for both isotypes. Higher staining of CLL fragments was usually found for H srbc line birds. Lines were clustered by auto-antibody profiles, but staining by birds of both lines in both generations was very individual for IgG and IgM. The current data with full sibs therefore not supported a genetic basis for auto-antibody profiles. IgG but not IgM auto-antibody profiles of chicks correlated with maternal auto-antibody profiles. The results suggest that the auto-antibody repertoire of healthy chickens is largely stochastically initiated and may be affected by environmental challenges during ageing, but genetic mechanisms may underlie staining intensity of individual bound CLL fragments. The present results suggest that identification of fragments or profiles to be used at early age for genetic selection for health traits is not feasible yet. Secondly, the IgM profile of neonatal chickens seems non-organised independent of the maternal profile, but the neonatal IgG profile is much more related with the maternal profile. Consequences of these findings for disease susceptibility or breeding for optimal health are discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All

  2. Bright emission lines in new Seyfert galaxies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Afanasev, V.L.; Denisiuk, E.K.; Lipovetskii, V.A.; Shapovalova, A.I.

    1983-01-01

    Observational data are given on bright emission lines (H-alpha, H-beta, and forbidden N II, S II, and O III) for 14 recently discovered Seyfert galaxies. The investigated objects can be divided into three groups, which correspond approximately to the first (5 objects), the intermediate (4 objects), and the second (4 objects) Seyfert types. Attention is drawn to the properties of the galaxy Markaryan 1018, which has features of both the first and the second type and is distinguished by the weakness of its emission lines, which is probably due to a gas deficit. 7 references

  3. Adaptive regulation of taurine and beta-alanine uptake in a human kidney cell line from the proximal tubule

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jessen, H; Jacobsen, Christian

    1997-01-01

    1. The underlying mechanisms involved in the adaptive regulation of beta-amino acid uptake in the human proximal tubule were examined by use of an immortalized human embryonic kidney epithelial cell line (IHKE). 2. The results indicated that the adaptive response to maintain whole-body taurine...

  4. 9-{beta}-arabinofuranosyladenine preferentially sensitizes radioresistant squamous cell carcinoma cell lines to x-rays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Heaton, D. [Rush Univ. Medical Center, Chicago, IL (United States). Therapeutic Radiology; Mustafi, R. [Chicago Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology; Schwartz, J.L. [Chicago Univ., IL (United States). Dept. of Radiation and Cellular Oncology]|[Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

    1992-06-01

    The effect of 9-{beta}-arabinofuranosyladenine (ara-A) on sensitivity to the deleterious effects of x-rays was studied in six squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Three lines were relatively radioresistant, having D{sub 0} values of 2.31 to 2.89 Gy, and the other three lines were relatively radiosensitive, having D{sub 0} values of between 1.07 and 1.45 Gy. Ara-A (50 or 500 {mu}M) was added to cultures 30 min prior to irradiation and removed 30 min after irradiation, and sensitivity was measured in terms of cell survival. The radiosensitizing effect of ara-A was very dependent on the inherent radiosensitivity of the tumor cell line. Fifty micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized only the two most radioresistant lines, SCC-12B.2 and JSQ-3. Five hundred micromolar concentrations of ara-A sensitized the more sensitive cell lines, SQ-20B and SQ-9G, but failed to have any effect on the radiation response of the two most sensitive cell lines, SQ-38 and SCC-61. Concentrations of ara-A as low as 10 {mu}M were equally efficient in inhibiting DNA synthesis in all six cell lines. These results suggest that the target for the radiosensitizing effect of ara-A is probably related to the factor controlling the inherent radiosensitivity of human tumor cells. Therefore, ara-A might be useful in overcoming radiation resistance in vivo.

  5. Rapid method of identification of {beta}-ray emitters and of {beta}-radioactive impurity dosage (1961); Methode rapide d'identification des emetteurs-{beta} et de dosage d'impuretes radioactives-{beta} (1961)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Le Gallic, Y; Legrand, J; Grinberg, B [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1961-07-01

    We describe a simple method of radioactive analysis, which allows an accurate determination of maximal energies of {beta}-emitters, and detection and titration of radioactive impurities in radionuclides as well. The method described, which uses a plastic scintillator, is based on the fact that the curve obtained by plotting the number of pulses measured against the threshold is a straight line, in the case of pure {beta}-emitters. We then derive a simple relation between the data of this straight line and the maximal energy of the {beta}-spectrum of the radionuclide under consideration. (authors) [French] Description d'une methode simple d'analyse radioactive, permettant de determiner avec precision l'energie maximum des emetteurs-{beta}, ainsi que de deceler et de doser les impuretes radioactives dans un radionuclide. La technique decrite utilise un scintillateur plastique. On exploite le fait que la courbe du nombre d'impulsions mesurees, en fonction du seuil de discrimination, est une droite, pour un emetteur-{beta} pur. Une relation simple entre les caracteristiques de cette droite et l'energie maximum du spectre-{beta} du radionuclide, correspondant, a ete etablie. (auteurs)

  6. STRONG FIELD EFFECTS ON EMISSION LINE PROFILES: KERR BLACK HOLES AND WARPED ACCRETION DISKS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Yan; Li Xiangdong

    2012-01-01

    If an accretion disk around a black hole is illuminated by hard X-rays from non-thermal coronae, fluorescent iron lines will be emitted from the inner region of the accretion disk. The emission line profiles will show a variety of strong field effects, which may be used as a probe of the spin parameter of the black hole and the structure of the accretion disk. In this paper, we generalize the previous relativistic line profile models by including both the black hole spinning effects and the non-axisymmetries of warped accretion disks. Our results show different features from the conventional calculations for either a flat disk around a Kerr black hole or a warped disk around a Schwarzschild black hole by presenting, at the same time, multiple peaks, rather long red tails, and time variations of line profiles with the precession of the disk. We show disk images as seen by a distant observer, which are distorted by the strong gravity. Although we are primarily concerned with the iron K-shell lines in this paper, the calculation is general and is valid for any emission lines produced from a warped accretion disk around a black hole.

  7. Mycophenolate mofetil modulates adhesion receptors of the beta1 integrin family on tumor cells: impact on tumor recurrence and malignancy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Engl, Tobias; Makarević, Jasmina; Relja, Borna; Natsheh, Iyad; Müller, Iris; Beecken, Wolf-Dietrich; Jonas, Dietger; Blaheta, Roman A

    2005-01-01

    Tumor development remains one of the major obstacles following organ transplantation. Immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus directly contribute to enhanced malignancy, whereas the influence of the novel compound mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) on tumor cell dissemination has not been explored. We therefore investigated the adhesion capacity of colon, pancreas, prostate and kidney carcinoma cell lines to endothelium, as well as their beta1 integrin expression profile before and after MMF treatment. Tumor cell adhesion to endothelial cell monolayers was evaluated in the presence of 0.1 and 1 μM MMF and compared to unstimulated controls. beta1 integrin analysis included alpha1beta1 (CD49a), alpha2beta1 (CD49b), alpha3beta1 (CD49c), alpha4beta1 (CD49d), alpha5beta1 (CD49e), and alpha6beta1 (CD49f) receptors, and was carried out by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Adhesion of the colon carcinoma cell line HT-29 was strongly reduced in the presence of 0.1 μM MMF. This effect was accompanied by down-regulation of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 surface expression and of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 coding mRNA. Adhesion of the prostate tumor cell line DU-145 was blocked dose-dependently by MMF. In contrast to MMF's effects on HT-29 cells, MMF dose-dependently up-regulated alpha1beta1, alpha2beta1, alpha3beta1, and alpha5beta1 on DU-145 tumor cell membranes. We conclude that MMF possesses distinct anti-tumoral properties, particularly in colon and prostate carcinoma cells. Adhesion blockage of HT-29 cells was due to the loss of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 surface expression, which might contribute to a reduced invasive behaviour of this tumor entity. The enhancement of integrin beta1 subtypes observed in DU-145 cells possibly causes re-differentiation towards a low-invasive phenotype

  8. NEBULAR ATTENUATION IN H{alpha}-SELECTED STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT z = 0.8 FROM THE NewH{alpha} SURVEY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Momcheva, Ivelina G. [Astronomy Department, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 (United States); Lee, Janice C.; Ouchi, Masami [Carnegie Observatories, Pasadena, CA 91101 (United States); Ly, Chun [Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States); Salim, Samir [Astronomy Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 (United States); Dale, Daniel A. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071 (United States); Finn, Rose [Physics Department, Siena College, Loudonville, NY 12211 (United States); Ono, Yoshiaki, E-mail: ivelina.momcheva@yale.edu [Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

    2013-02-01

    We present measurements of the dust attenuation of H{alpha}-selected emission-line galaxies at z = 0.8 from the NewH{alpha} narrowband survey. The analysis is based on deep follow-up spectroscopy with Magellan/IMACS, which captures the strong rest-frame optical emission lines from [O II] {lambda}3727 to [O III] {lambda}5007. The spectroscopic sample used in this analysis consists of 341 confirmed H{alpha} emitters. We place constraints on the active galactic nucleus (AGN) fraction using diagnostics that can be applied at intermediate redshift. We find that at least 5% of the objects in our spectroscopic sample can be classified as AGNs and 2% are composite, i.e., powered by a combination of star formation and AGN activity. We measure the dust attenuation for individual objects from the ratios of the higher order Balmer lines. The H{beta} and H{gamma} pair of lines is detected with S/N > 5 in 55 individual objects and the H{beta} and H{delta} pair is detected in 50 individual objects. We also create stacked spectra to probe the attenuation in objects without individual detections. The median attenuation at H{alpha} based on the objects with individually detected lines is A(H{alpha}) = 0.9 {+-} 1.0 mag, in good agreement with the attenuation found in local samples of star-forming galaxies. We find that the z = 0.8 galaxies occupy a similar locus of attenuation as a function of magnitude, mass, and star formation rate (SFR) as a comparison sample drawn from the SDSS DR4. Both the results from the individual z = 0.8 galaxies and from the stacked spectra show consistency with the mass-attenuation and SFR-attenuation relations found in the local universe, indicating that these relations are also applicable at intermediate redshift.

  9. Isotope Effects in the Bonds of beta-CrOOH and beta-CrOOD

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørlund Christensen, A.; Hansen, P.; Lehmann, M. S.

    1976-01-01

    Samples of orthorhombic chromium oxide hydroxide, beta -CrOOH, and the deuterated compound, beta -CrOOD, were prepared hydrothermally. The crystal structures were determined by powder profile refinement technique using neutron diffraction data. Unit cells are: beta -CrOOH: a equals 4. 862(2) A, b...... equals 4. 298(a) A, c equals 2. 995(1) A; beta -CrOOD: a equals 4. 873(5) A, b equals 4. 332(7) A, c equals 2. 963(2) A, with Z equals 2. The space group is P2//1nm or Pnnm....

  10. Rat beta-LPH, gamma-LPH and beta-endorphin biosynthesized by isolated cells of pars intermedia and pars distalis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gianoulakis, C.; Seidah, N.G.; Routhier, R.; Chretien, M.

    1980-01-01

    Rats pars intermedia cells were incubated for 3 h with the following amino-acids: a) 35 S-methionine and 3 H-phenylalamine; b) 3 H-valine; and c) 3 H-valine and 3 H-lysine. Radioactive gamma-lipotropin, beta-lipotropin and beta-endorphin were purified on carboxy- methyl-cellulose and characterized by polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis af pH 4.5, molecular weight estimation and microsequencing. Rat gamma-lipotropin was shown to differ slightly from ovine gamma-lipotropin in its NH 2 -terminal amino acid sequence, in containing no methionine and having phenylalanine at position 6, valine at positions 13 and 27, and lysine at position 20. The same variations were observed in the sequence of rat beta-lipotropin, while rat beta-endorphin was shown to be identical to the ovine beta-endorphin. Following a 3-h pulse of rat pars distalis, the cells were extracted with care to avoid beta-lipotropin degradation by proteolytic enzymes. A peptide was purified and identified to be rat beta-endorphin, thus demonstrating that beta-endorphin is biosynthesized in pars distalis and is not an extraction artifact. (author)

  11. Radiation Changes the Metabolic Profiling of Melanoma Cell Line B16.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lige Wu

    Full Text Available Radiation therapy can be an effective way to kill cancer cells using ionizing radiation, but some tumors are resistant to radiation therapy and the underlying mechanism still remains elusive. It is therefore necessary to establish an appropriate working model to study and monitor radiation-mediated cancer therapy. In response to cellular stress, the metabolome is the integrated profiling of changes in all metabolites in cells, which can be used to investigate radiation tolerance mechanisms and identify targets for cancer radiation sensibilization. In this study, using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance for untargeted metabolic profiling in radiation-tolerant mouse melanoma cell line B16, we comprehensively investigated changes in metabolites and metabolic network in B16 cells in response to radiation. Principal component analysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis indicated the difference in cellular metabolites between the untreated cells and X-ray radiated cells. In radiated cells, the content of alanine, glutamate, glycine and choline was increased, while the content of leucine, lactate, creatine and creatine phosphate was decreased. Enrichment analysis of metabolic pathway showed that the changes in metabolites were related to multiple metabolic pathways including the metabolism of glycine, arginine, taurine, glycolysis, and gluconeogenesis. Taken together, with cellular metabolome study followed by bioinformatic analysis to profile specific metabolic pathways in response to radiation, we deepened our understanding of radiation-resistant mechanisms and radiation sensibilization in cancer, which may further provide a theoretical and practical basis for personalized cancer therapy.

  12. Impurity profiling of liothyronine sodium by means of reversed phase HPLC, high resolution mass spectrometry, on-line H/D exchange and UV/Vis absorption.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruggenthaler, M; Grass, J; Schuh, W; Huber, C G; Reischl, R J

    2017-09-05

    For the first time, a comprehensive investigation of the impurity profile of the synthetic thyroid API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) liothyronine sodium (LT 3 Na) was performed by using reversed phase HPLC and advanced structural elucidation techniques including high resolution tandem mass spectrometry (HRMS/MS) and on-line hydrogen-deuterium (H/D) exchange. Overall, 39 compounds were characterized and 25 of these related substances were previously unknown to literature. The impurity classification system recently developed for the closely related API levothyroxine sodium (LT 4 Na) could be applied to the newly characterized liothyronine sodium impurities resulting in a wholistic thyroid API impurity classification system. Furthermore, the mass-spectrometric CID-fragmentation of specific related substances was discussed and rationalized by detailed fragmentation pathways. Moreover, the UV/Vis absorption characteristics of the API and selected impurities were investigated to corroborate chemical structure assignments derived from MS data. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Repetitive display system of line profiles for Doppler broadening measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohri, A.; Narihara, K.; Haba, K.

    1982-10-01

    Line profiles of impurities in visible and ultraviolet regions are repetitively displayed on a CRT with an interval of 250 mu s or 500 mu s, using a system composed of a Czerny-Turner monochromator with 1 m F.L., a self-resonant optical scanner, a photomultiplier shielded against hard X-rays and electronic circuits. The profile resolution is 0.035 nm FWHM. This system can be used in the environment of strong hard X-rays. (author)

  14. Diffusion of Hydrogen in the beta-Phase of Pd-H Studied by Small Energy Transfer Neutron Scattering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelin, G; Skoeld, K

    1974-07-01

    The diffusion of hydrogen in beta-PdH has been studied by quasielastic neutron scattering. It is shown that the diffusion occurs through jumps between adjacent octahedral interstitial sites. The observed integrated quasielastic intensities cannot be described by a simple Debye-Waller factor. The phase transition from the beta-phase to the alpha-phase has also been studied. No dramatic changes in the scattering patterns were observed. It is concluded that the diffusion mechanism is remarkably similar between the low concentration alpha-phase and the high concentration beta-phase

  15. The species origin of the cellular microenvironment influences markers of beta cell fate and function in EndoC-βH1 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeffery, N; Richardson, S; Beall, C; Harries, L W

    2017-12-15

    Interaction between islet cell subtypes and the extracellular matrix influences beta-cell function in mammals. The tissue architecture of rodent islets is very different to that of human islets; cell-to-cell communication and interaction with the extracellular matrix may vary between species. In this work, we have compared the responses of the human EndoC-βH1 cell line to non-human and human-derived growth matrices in terms of growth morphology, gene expression and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). EndoC-βH1 cells demonstrated a greater tendency to form cell clusters when cultured in a human microenvironment and exhibited reduced alpha cell markers at the mRNA level; mean expression difference - 0.23 and - 0.51; p = 0.009 and 0.002 for the Aristaless-related homeobox (ARX) and Glucagon (GCG) genes respectively. No differences were noted in the protein expression of mature beta cell markers such as Pdx1 and NeuroD1 were noted in EndoC-βH1 cells grown in a human microenvironment but cells were however more sensitive to glucose (4.3-fold increase in insulin secretion following glucose challenge compared with a 1.9-fold increase in cells grown in a non-human microenvironment; p = 0.0003). Our data suggests that the tissue origin of the cellular microenvironment has effects on the function of EndoC-βH1 cells in vitro, and the use of a more human-like culture microenvironment may bring benefits in terms of increased physiological relevance. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Oxytocin receptors expressed and coupled to Ca2+ signalling in a human vascular smooth muscle cell line.

    OpenAIRE

    Yazawa, H.; Hirasawa, A.; Horie, K.; Saita, Y.; Iida, E.; Honda, K.; Tsujimoto, G.

    1996-01-01

    1. In a human vascular smooth muscle cell line (HVSMC), binding experiments with [3H]-arginine8-vasopressin (AVP) have shown the existence of a homogeneous population of binding sites with affinity (Kd value) of 0.65 nM and a maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) of 122 fmol mg-1 protein. 2. Nonlabelled compounds compete for [3H]-AVP binding in the HVSMC membrane with an order of potency of oxytocin > lyspressin > or = AVP > Thr4, Gly7-oxytocin > (beta-mercapto-beta-beta-cyclopentamethylenep...

  17. INFRARED ABSORPTION LINES TOWARD NGC 7538 IRS 1: ABUNDANCES OF H{sub 2}, H{sub 3}{sup +}, AND CO

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goto, Miwa [Universitäts-Sternwarte München, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich (Germany); Geballe, T. R. [Gemini Observatory, 670 North A‘ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States); Usuda, Tomonori, E-mail: mgoto@usm.lmu.de, E-mail: tgeballe@gemini.edu, E-mail: usuda@naoj.org [Subaru Telescope, 650 North A‘ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720 (United States)

    2015-06-10

    We report high-resolution near-infrared absorption spectroscopy of H{sub 2}, H{sub 3}{sup +}, and CO toward the young high mass object NGC 7538 IRS 1. The v = 1–0 H{sub 2} S(0) line and lines in the CO v = 2–0 band were detected; the v = 1–0 H{sub 2} S(1) line and the v = 1–0 H{sub 3}{sup +} lines [R(1, 1){sup l}, R(1, 0), R(1, 1){sup u}] were not detected. The line of sight traverses two clouds, with temperatures 45 and 259 K and with roughly equal column densities of CO. Assuming that H{sub 2} is at the same temperature as CO and that the two species are uniformly mixed, [H{sub 2}]/[CO] = 3600 ± 1200. NGC 7538 is the most distant object from the Galactic center for which [H{sub 2}]/[CO] has been directly measured using infrared absorption spectroscopy.

  18. Synthesis, Characterization, In Vitro Evaluation, and Preclinical Profiling of beta-Cyclodextrin Polyrotaxane Families for Use As Potential Niemann-Pick Type C Therapeutics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Christopher J.

    Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPC) is a rare, autosomal recessive genetic disorder featuring a loss of proteins responsible for unesterified cholesterol (UC) trafficking through the late endosomes/lysosomes (LE/LY) of every cell of the body. Disruption of this pathway leads to abnormal accumulation and storage of UC and other lipids. A broad range of visceral and neurological symptoms result from this accumulation exhibiting a variable age of onset and a disease progression that is ultimately fatal. The disease has an incidence of approximately 1 in 120,000 live births and has no known effective treatment. beta-Cyclodextrin (beta-CD) are natural small molecules macrocycles composed of glucose units with a hydrophobic inner cavity and hydrophilic outer rims. beta-CD derivatives have recently been shown to be effective therapeutics for NPC in cellular and animal models. In the mouse model of the disease, beta-CD therapy increases overall lifetime by as much as 50% and slows the progression of neurodegeneration. The progress has led to the initiation of a National Institutes of Health phase I clinical trial. A main drawback of beta-CD administration is the poor pharmacokinetic profile characterized by rapid renal clearance of the drug through the urine. Libraries of beta-CD derivative carrying high molecular weight polyrotaxane (PR) systems have been designed to prevent glomerular filtration of the injected beta-CD dose. An initial family of unmodified beta-CD PRs was synthesized, characterized, and their therapeutic efficacy was tested in NPC fibroblasts. This was followed by screening of PRs consisting of mixed beta-CD derivative threading featuring charged sulfobutylether beta-CD. Finally, we sought to define PR structure-property effects on in vivo pharmacokinetics, biodistribution, toxicity, immunogenicity, and protein hard corona composition. This was accomplished using a family of gadolinium carrying PRs composed of triblock Pluronic co-polymers of varying

  19. Divergent expression of 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 11beta-hydroxylase genes between male morphs in the central nervous system, sonic muscle and testis of a vocal fish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arterbery, Adam S; Deitcher, David L; Bass, Andrew H

    2010-05-15

    The vocalizing midshipman fish, Porichthys notatus, has two male morphs that exhibit alternative mating tactics. Only territorial males acoustically court females with long duration (minutes to >1h) calls, whereas sneaker males attempt to steal fertilizations. During the breeding season, morph-specific tactics are paralleled by a divergence in relative testis and vocal muscle size, plasma levels of the androgen 11-ketotestosterone (11KT) and the glucocorticoid cortisol, and mRNA expression levels in the central nervous system (CNS) of the steroid-synthesizing enzyme aromatase (estrogen synthase). Here, we tested the hypothesis that the midshipman's two male morphs would further differ in the CNS, as well as in the testis and vocal muscle, in mRNA abundance for the enzymes 11beta-hydroxylase (11betaH) and 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11betaHSD) that directly regulate both 11KT and cortisol synthesis. Quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated male morph-specific profiles for both enzymes. Territorial males had higher 11betaH and 11betaHSD mRNA levels in testis and vocal muscle. By contrast, sneaker males had the higher CNS expression, especially for 11betaHSD, in the region containing an expansive vocal pacemaker circuit that directly determines the temporal attributes of natural calls. We propose for territorial males that higher enzyme expression in testis underlies its greater plasma 11KT levels, which in vocal muscle provides both gluconeogenic and androgenic support for its long duration calling. We further propose for sneaker males that higher enzyme expression in the vocal CNS contributes to known cortisol-specific effects on its vocal physiology. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. New information on the $\\beta$-decay of $^{11}$Li from Doppler broadened $\\gamma$-lines

    CERN Document Server

    Fynbo, H O U; Cederkäll, J; Courtin, S; Dessagne, P; Jonson, B; Le Scornet, G; Nilsson, T; Nyman, G H; Poirier, E; Riisager, K; Tengblad, O; Wilhelmsen, K

    2004-01-01

    The $\\gamma$-ray spectrum following $\\beta$-decay of $^{11}$Li has been remeasured at the ISOLDE facility at CERN. Two new transitions were observed through the use of large Ge-detectors. Most $\\gamma$-decays will follow P-delayed neutron emission. Information on the energy of the neutron is derived from analysis of the $\\gamma$-line-shape and used to construct a partial decay scheme for $^{11}$Li. Lifetime values for the 1$^{-}$ and 2$^{-}$ levels in $^{10}$Be are also derived. A new partial decay scheme is presented. (43 refs).

  1. Immune activation in multiple sclerosis and interferon-beta therapy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Krakauer, Martin

    2007-01-01

    The PhD dissertation emanated from the Danish MS Research Centre, Rigshosptalet, Copenhagen. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the CNS. Inflammatory responses by T helper (Th)-lymphocytes are characterised by distinct cytokine expression profiles. In MS, activated Th1...... of inflammation or secondary lymphatic organs. Chemokine receptors are differentially expressed in T cells in blood and cerebrospinal fluid, indicating their role for in T-cell-recruitment to the CNS. Interferon (IFN)-beta is a first-line treatment for MS. The mechanism of action is unclear, but probably includes...... changes in lymphocyte activation, cytokine secretion, and trafficking. The aim of the studies was to shed more light on T-cell immunology in MS and IFN-beta treatment, as well as identifying putative biomarkers of treatment response and/or disease activity. In one study we identified a Th-cell subset...

  2. Prediction of late failure after medical abortion from serial beta-hCG measurements and ultrasonography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rørbye, C; Nørgaard, M; Nilas, Lisbeth

    2004-01-01

    on day 15 were greater among late failures than successes. Used as a predictive test, the positive predictive values of these variables were low. CONCLUSION: Neither beta-hCG nor endometrial thickness can be used clinically as diagnostic tests in predicting late failure after medical abortion.......BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of failed medical abortion may be performed several weeks after initiation of the abortion. There are no recognized methods for early identification of these late failures. We assessed the prognostic values of beta-hCG and ultrasonography in predicting late failure...... thickness by ultrasonography was performed on day 15 after induction of medical abortion. Failures diagnosed after day 15 and within 15 weeks were identified and classified as late failures. All interventions in this group were due to bleeding problems. The predictive values of different absolute...

  3. Growth suppression by transforming growth factor beta 1 of human small-cell lung cancer cell lines is associated with expression of the type II receptor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, P; Damstrup, L; Rygaard, K

    1994-01-01

    was observed in two cell lines expressing only type III receptor and in TGF-beta-r negative cell lines. In two cell lines expressing all three receptor types, growth suppression was accompanied by morphological changes. To evaluate the possible involvement of the retinoblastoma protein (pRb) in mediating...

  4. Determination of transverse phase-space and momentum error from size measurements along the 50-MeV H- RCS injection line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Y.; Crosbie, E.A.; Takeda, H.

    1981-01-01

    The 50-MeV H - injection line for the RCS at Argonne National Laboratory has 16 quadrupole and eight bending magnets. Horizontal and vertical profiles can be obtained at 12 wire scanner positions. Size information from these profiles can be used to determine the three ellipses parameters in each plane required to describe the transverse phase space. These locations that have dispersion permit the momentum error to be used as a fourth fitting parameter. The assumed accuracy of the size measurements provides an error matrix that predicts the rms errors of the fitted parameters

  5. Characterization of Beta-leptinotarsin-h and the Effects of Calcium Flux Antagonists on its Activity

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Crosland, Richard D; Fitch, Richard W; Hines, Harry B

    2005-01-01

    ...+ influx through presynaptic Ca2+ channels. Analysis of partial amino acid sequences revealed that beta-leptinotarsin-h is a unique protein with significant similarity to only one other protein, the juvenile hormone esterase of Leptinotarsa...

  6. MGN V RSS LINE OF SIGHT ACCELERATION PROFILES V1.0

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Line of Sight Acceleration Profile Data Records (LOSAPDR) consist of data from Doppler tracking of the orbiting spacecraft. The relative motion of the spacecraft and...

  7. Comparison of iodine-123 labelled 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)tropane and 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)nortropane for imaging of the dopamine transporter in the living human brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuikka, J.T. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Bergstroem, K.A. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Ahonen, A. [Dept. of Clinical Chemistry, Oulu Univ. Central Hospital (Finland); Hiltunen, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Haukka, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Laensimies, E. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Wang Shaoyin [Research Biochemicals International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States); Neumeyer, J.L. [Research Biochemicals International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States)

    1995-04-01

    Several cocaine congeners are of potential for imaging the dopamine transporter (DAT). Previous studies have shown that iodine-123 labelled 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)tropane ([{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT) is a promising radiotracer for imaging the serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) transporters in the living human brain with single-photon emission tomography (SPET). [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT was found to be not very practical for 1-day DAT imaging protocols since peak DAT uptake occurs later than 8 h. Here we report a pilot comparison of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT and 2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)-N-(3-fluoropropyl)nortropane ([{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP), using SPET imaging in four healthy male subjects. Peak uptake of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP into the basal ganglia occurred earlier (3-4 h after injection of tracer) than that of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT (>8 h). However, the specific DAT binding of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP in the basal ganglia was somewhat less (0.813{+-}0.047) than that of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT (0.922{+-}0.004). Imaging quality is excellent with both tracers and they are potentially of value for brain imaging in various neuropsychiatric disorders. (orig.)

  8. Analysis of strain field around. beta. -hydride in Nb-H by Electron Channeling

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akune, K; Bulhoes, I A.M.

    1985-06-01

    The strain field in Nb-H system generated by the precipitation of ..beta..-hydride has been evaluated quantitatively by Electron Channeling experiment. The results were analyzed in terms of the effective deformation of the Levi-Mises solid by making use of an elasto-plastic model of the strain field around the misfitting cylindrical precipitate.

  9. Spectroscopic study of turbulent heating in the high beta tokamak - Torus II

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Georgiou, G.E.

    1979-01-01

    Visible spectroscopy, involving line profile and line intensity measurements, was used to study the turbulent heating of the rectangular cross-section high-beta tokamak Torus II. The spectroscopy was done in the visible wave-length region using a six channel polychrometer having 0.2 A resolution, which is capable of radial scans of the plasma. The plasma, obtained by ionizing helium, is heated by poloidal skin currents, induced by a rapid (tau/sub R/ approx. = 1.7 μsec) change of the toroidal magnetic field either parallel or anti-parallel to the initial toroidal bias magnetic field, which converts a cold toroidal Z-pinch plasma into a hot tokamak plasma

  10. Affinity crosslinking of /sup 125/I-human beta-endorphin to cell lines possessing either mu or delta type opioid binding sites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Keren, O.; Gioannini, T.L.; Hiller, J.M.; Simon, E.J.

    1986-01-01

    Affinity crosslinking of human /sup 125/I-beta-Endorphin to cell lines possessing either mu or delta binding sites was carried out. Autoradiography of SDS-PAGE gels from these crosslinked cell lines revealed that these two sites contain major peptide subunits that differ in molecular size. This confirms our earlier finding in mammalian brain which demonstrated separate and distinct subunits for mu and delta opioid receptors.

  11. Observed and model N(h) profiles for the Bulgarian region

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pasheva, Ts.; Samardziev, D.

    1984-01-01

    In this paper, combined bottom- and topside ionospheric N(h)-profiles are presented for the Bulgarian region. The profiles were constructed using ground (ionospheric observatories Sofia and Michurin) and satellite (Interkosmos-19) observations. The observatories make quarter-hourly observations in order to connect bottom and upper parts of the N(h) profile, satellite orbits passing rather near to the observatory (zenith distance less than 100 km) are selected. Thus the time difference between ground station and satellite measurement was never more than 7.5 min

  12. MICROLENSING OF QUASAR BROAD EMISSION LINES: CONSTRAINTS ON BROAD LINE REGION SIZE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guerras, E.; Mediavilla, E. [Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Via Lactea S/N, La Laguna E-38200, Tenerife (Spain); Jimenez-Vicente, J. [Departamento de Fisica Teorica y del Cosmos, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, E-18071 Granada (Spain); Kochanek, C. S. [Department of Astronomy and the Center for Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, The Ohio State University, 4055 McPherson Lab, 140 West 18th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43221 (United States); Munoz, J. A. [Departamento de Astronomia y Astrofisica, Universidad de Valencia, E-46100 Burjassot, Valencia (Spain); Falco, E. [Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Motta, V. [Departamento de Fisica y Astronomia, Universidad de Valparaiso, Avda. Gran Bretana 1111, Valparaiso (Chile)

    2013-02-20

    We measure the differential microlensing of the broad emission lines between 18 quasar image pairs in 16 gravitational lenses. We find that the broad emission lines are in general weakly microlensed. The results show, at a modest level of confidence (1.8{sigma}), that high ionization lines such as C IV are more strongly microlensed than low ionization lines such as H{beta}, indicating that the high ionization line emission regions are more compact. If we statistically model the distribution of microlensing magnifications, we obtain estimates for the broad line region size of r{sub s} = 24{sup +22} {sub -15} and r{sub s} = 55{sup +150} {sub -35} lt-day (90% confidence) for the high and low ionization lines, respectively. When the samples are divided into higher and lower luminosity quasars, we find that the line emission regions of more luminous quasars are larger, with a slope consistent with the expected scaling from photoionization models. Our estimates also agree well with the results from local reveberation mapping studies.

  13. Procedure for analyzing the x-ray line profiles of disordered carbons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Henry, L.G.; Bragg, R.H.; Bose, S.

    1981-12-01

    A systematic procedure to correct for various distortions in the broad x-ray line profiles of glass-like carbons (GC) is described. The profile is first corrected for distortions due to low specimen absorption, secondly for incoherent (Compton) scattering, and then strong small angle scattering. The resulting profile is then multiplied by the appropriate trigonometric (Lorentz and polarization) factors. Finally, correction is made for the variation of the atomic scattering factor across the broad peaks. Two examples of the GC heat treatment at 1000 0 C and 2700 0 C have been used to illustrate the outcome of the corrections. 8 figures

  14. line profile variability of seven southern Be stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mennickent, R.E.

    1991-01-01

    The results of spectroscopic observations of six B0-B4e and one B7e stars at the Manuel Foster Observatory (Chile) during 1984-87 are reported. By means of photographic spectroscopy (20 A/mm), equivalent widths, peak separations and V/R ratios were obtained for a total of 106 Hβ and 7 Hγ line profiles. Emission episodes in Hβ were detected in 27 CMa and λ Pav, lasting at least 5 months and 18 days respectively. Significant variations in the equivalent width of the Hβ emission line W β in time scales of months were found in κ CMa, PP Car and QY Car

  15. Detection method of proximal caries using line profile in digital intra-oral radiography

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, Yong Suk; Kim, Gyu Tae; Hwang, Eui Hwan; Lee, Min Ja; Choi, Sam Jin; Park, Hun Kuk [Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dentistry and Institute of Oral Biology, Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Jeong Hoon [Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2009-12-15

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how to detect proximal caries using line profile and validate linear measurements of proximal caries lesions by basic digital manipulation of radiographic images. The X-ray images of control group (15) and caries teeth (15) from patients were used. For each image, the line profile at the proximal caries-susceptible zone was calculated. To evaluate the contrast as a function of line profile to detect proximal caries, a difference coefficient (D) that indicates the relative difference between caries and sound dentin or intact enamel was measured. Mean values of D were 0.0354 {+-} 0.0155 in non-caries and 0.2632 {+-} 0.0982 in caries (p<0.001). The mean values of caries group were higher than non-caries group and there was correlation between proximal dental caries and D. It is demonstrated that the mean value of D from caries group was higher than that of control group. From the result, values of D possess great potentiality as a new detection parameter for proximal dental caries.

  16. Detection method of proximal caries using line profile in digital intra-oral radiography

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Yong Suk; Kim, Gyu Tae; Hwang, Eui Hwan; Lee, Min Ja; Choi, Sam Jin; Park, Hun Kuk; Park, Jeong Hoon

    2009-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to investigate how to detect proximal caries using line profile and validate linear measurements of proximal caries lesions by basic digital manipulation of radiographic images. The X-ray images of control group (15) and caries teeth (15) from patients were used. For each image, the line profile at the proximal caries-susceptible zone was calculated. To evaluate the contrast as a function of line profile to detect proximal caries, a difference coefficient (D) that indicates the relative difference between caries and sound dentin or intact enamel was measured. Mean values of D were 0.0354 ± 0.0155 in non-caries and 0.2632 ± 0.0982 in caries (p<0.001). The mean values of caries group were higher than non-caries group and there was correlation between proximal dental caries and D. It is demonstrated that the mean value of D from caries group was higher than that of control group. From the result, values of D possess great potentiality as a new detection parameter for proximal dental caries.

  17. Mycophenolate mofetil modulates adhesion receptors of the beta1 integrin family on tumor cells: impact on tumor recurrence and malignancy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beecken Wolf-Dietrich

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Tumor development remains one of the major obstacles following organ transplantation. Immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporine and tacrolimus directly contribute to enhanced malignancy, whereas the influence of the novel compound mycophenolate mofetil (MMF on tumor cell dissemination has not been explored. We therefore investigated the adhesion capacity of colon, pancreas, prostate and kidney carcinoma cell lines to endothelium, as well as their beta1 integrin expression profile before and after MMF treatment. Methods Tumor cell adhesion to endothelial cell monolayers was evaluated in the presence of 0.1 and 1 μM MMF and compared to unstimulated controls. beta1 integrin analysis included alpha1beta1 (CD49a, alpha2beta1 (CD49b, alpha3beta1 (CD49c, alpha4beta1 (CD49d, alpha5beta1 (CD49e, and alpha6beta1 (CD49f receptors, and was carried out by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, confocal microscopy and flow cytometry. Results Adhesion of the colon carcinoma cell line HT-29 was strongly reduced in the presence of 0.1 μM MMF. This effect was accompanied by down-regulation of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 surface expression and of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 coding mRNA. Adhesion of the prostate tumor cell line DU-145 was blocked dose-dependently by MMF. In contrast to MMF's effects on HT-29 cells, MMF dose-dependently up-regulated alpha1beta1, alpha2beta1, alpha3beta1, and alpha5beta1 on DU-145 tumor cell membranes. Conclusion We conclude that MMF possesses distinct anti-tumoral properties, particularly in colon and prostate carcinoma cells. Adhesion blockage of HT-29 cells was due to the loss of alpha3beta1 and alpha6beta1 surface expression, which might contribute to a reduced invasive behaviour of this tumor entity. The enhancement of integrin beta1 subtypes observed in DU-145 cells possibly causes re-differentiation towards a low-invasive phenotype.

  18. THE FORMATION OF IRIS DIAGNOSTICS. II. THE FORMATION OF THE Mg II h and k LINES IN THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leenaarts, J.; Pereira, T. M. D.; Carlsson, M.; De Pontieu, B. [Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); Uitenbroek, H., E-mail: jorritl@astro.uio.no, E-mail: tiago.pereira@astro.uio.no, E-mail: mats.carlsson@astro.uio.no, E-mail: bdp@lmsal.com, E-mail: huitenbroek@nso.edu [NSO/Sacramento Peak P.O. Box 62 Sunspot, NM 88349-0062 (United States)

    2013-08-01

    NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) small explorer mission will study how the solar atmosphere is energized. IRIS contains an imaging spectrograph that covers the Mg II h and k lines as well as a slit-jaw imager centered at Mg II k. Understanding the observations requires forward modeling of Mg II h and k line formation from three-dimensional (3D) radiation-magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) models. This paper is the second in a series where we undertake this modeling. We compute the vertically emergent h and k intensity from a snapshot of a dynamic 3D RMHD model of the solar atmosphere, and investigate which diagnostic information about the atmosphere is contained in the synthetic line profiles. We find that the Doppler shift of the central line depression correlates strongly with the vertical velocity at optical depth unity, which is typically located less than 200 km below the transition region (TR). By combining the Doppler shifts of the h and k lines we can retrieve the sign of the velocity gradient just below the TR. The intensity in the central line depression is anti-correlated with the formation height, especially in subfields of a few square Mm. This intensity could thus be used to measure the spatial variation of the height of the TR. The intensity in the line-core emission peaks correlates with the temperature at its formation height, especially for strong emission peaks. The peaks can thus be exploited as a temperature diagnostic. The wavelength difference between the blue and red peaks provides a diagnostic of the velocity gradients in the upper chromosphere. The intensity ratio of the blue and red peaks correlates strongly with the average velocity in the upper chromosphere. We conclude that the Mg II h and k lines are excellent probes of the very upper chromosphere just below the TR, a height regime that is impossible to probe with other spectral lines. They also provide decent temperature and velocity diagnostics of the middle

  19. Quantitative radioimmunoassay for membranous and soluble H-Y antigen typing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Casanova-Bettane, M.; Latron, F.; Jakob, H.; Fellous, M.

    1981-01-01

    Two sensitive and quantitative methods for membranous or soluble H-Y antigen typing using rat anti-H-Y immune sera and /sup 125/I labelled protein A were carried out. These techniques were used to study H-Y antigen expression in human cell lines, and to refine the hypothesis that ..beta../sub 2/m serves as an anchorage point for H-Y antigen.

  20. Binding of human beta 2-microglobulin to murine EL4 thymoma cells upregulates MHC class I heavy-chain epitopes, inhibits IL-2 secretion and induces resistance to killing by natural killer cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Claësson, M H; Nissen, Mogens Holst

    1994-01-01

    line (ABLS-8), X63 B-lymphoma cells and YAC cells did not bind h beta 2m. In two of the T lymphomas, EL4 and BW5147, binding of h beta 2m led to an increase in major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) heavy-chain epitope expression as measured by anti-H-2K/D antibody binding and FACS analysis....... EL4 cells which had bound h beta 2m decreased their rate of constitutive IL-2 secretion and became resistant to activated natural killer (NK) cell killing. The present data suggest the binding of h beta 2m to mouse T cells leads to conformational changes of MHC-I heavy chains which influence both...

  1. The potential role of SOCS-3 in the interleukin-1beta-induced desensitization of insulin signaling in pancreatic beta-cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Emanuelli, Brice; Glondu, Murielle; Filloux, Chantal

    2004-01-01

    insulin signaling is required for the optimal beta-cell function, we assessed the effect of IL-1beta on the insulin pathway in a rat pancreatic beta-cell line. We show that IL-1beta decreases insulin-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate (IRS...

  2. A signature of the intermittency of interstellar turbulence - The wings of molecular line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Falgarone, E.; Phillips, T.G.

    1990-01-01

    Ensembles of line profiles of molecular clouds are presented, and it is shown that most of the profiles can be fitted by a strong and narrow Gaussian plus a weak and broad Gaussian. The remarkably self-similar scaling of the wing widths to that of the cores is shown and the available information on the density and velocity structure of the fast gas is discussed. It is shown that the line wings can be used as tracers of the probability distribution of the projected velocity field within the cloud volume sampled by the profile. The statistical properties of this distribution are compared with that of the velocity in atmospheric turbulence and recent duct flow measurements. 62 refs

  3. An Intrinsic Baldwin Effect in the H Beta Broad Emission Line in the Spectrum of NGC 5548

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Karoline M.; Peterson, Bradley M.

    2003-01-01

    We investigate the possibility of an intrinsic Baldwin effect (i.e., nonlinear emission-line response to continuum variations) in the broad HP emission line of the active galaxy NGC 5548 using crosscorrelation techniques to remove light-travel time effects from the data. We find a nonlinear relationship between the HP emission line and continuum fluxes that is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. We suggest that similar analysis of multiple lines might provide a useful diagnostic of physical conditions in the broad-line region.

  4. Comparative proteome analysis of drought-sensitive and drought-tolerant rapeseed roots and their hybrid F1 line under drought stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammadi, Payam Pour; Moieni, Ahmad; Komatsu, Setsuko

    2012-11-01

    Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), which is the third leading source of vegetable oil, is sensitive to drought stress during the early vegetative growth stage. To investigate the initial response of rapeseed to drought stress, changes in the protein expression profiles of drought-sensitive (RGS-003) and drought-tolerant lines (SLM-003), and their F1 hybrid, were analyzed using a proteomics approach. Seven-day-old rapeseed seedlings were treated with drought stress by restricting water for 7 days, and proteins were extracted from roots and separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the sensitive rapeseed line, 35 protein spots were differentially expressed under drought stress, and proteins related to metabolism, energy, disease/defense, and transport were decreased. In the tolerant line, 32 protein spots were differentially expressed under drought stress, and proteins involved in metabolism, disease/defense, and transport were increased, while energy-related proteins were decreased. Six protein spots in F1 hybrid were common among expressed proteins in the drought-sensitive and -tolerant lines. Notably, tubulin beta-2 and heat shock protein 70 were decreased in the drought-sensitive line and hybrid F1 plants, while jasmonate-inducible protein and 20S proteasome subunit PAF1 were increased in the F1 hybrids and drought-tolerant line. These results indicate that (1) V-type H(+) ATPase, plasma-membrane associated cation-binding protein, HSP 90, and elongation factor EF-2 have a role in the drought tolerance of rapeseed; (2) The decreased levels of heat shock protein 70 and tubulin beta-2 in the drought-sensitive and hybrid F1 lines might explain the reduced growth of these lines in drought conditions.

  5. Beta-agonists and animal welfare

    Science.gov (United States)

    The use of beta-agonists in animal feed is a high profile topic within the U.S. as consumers and activist groups continue to question its safety. The only beta-agonist currently available for use in swine is ractopamine hydrochloride (RAC). This is available as Paylean™ (Elanco Animal Health – FDA a...

  6. High resolution study of MSiH4 (M=28, 29, 30) in the Dyad Region: Analysis of line positions, intensities and half-widths

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulenikov, O. N.; Gromova, O. V.; Bekhtereva, E. S.; Raspopova, N. I.; Kashirina, N. V.; Fomchenko, A. L.; Sydow, C.; Bauerecker, S.

    2017-12-01

    The infrared spectra of SiH4 in natural abundance (92.23% of 28SiH4, 4.68% of 29SiH4, and 3.09% of 30SiH4) were measured in the region of 600-1200 cm-1 with a Bruker IFS 120HR Fourier transform spectrometer, analyzed and compared with the results available in the literature. More than 3500 transitions with Jmax. = 27 were assigned to the dyad bands ν4 and ν2 of 28SiH4 (the band ν2 is allowed in Raman, but forbidden in absorption spectra for symmetry reasons, and its transitions appear in absorption spectra only because of strong Coriolis interaction with the ν4 band). Rotational, centrifugal distortion, tetrahedral splitting, and interaction parameters for the ground, (0100) and (0001) vibrational states were determined from the fit of experimental line positions. The obtained set of parameters reproduces the initial experimental data with accuracy close to experimental uncertainties. The results of the analogous analyses of the 29SiH4 and 30SiH4 isotopologues are also presented (the numbers of the assigned transitions are here more than 1360 and 1120). An further analysis of about 790 experimental ro-vibrational lines in the dyad region of 28SiH4 was performed using the Voigt profile to simulate the measured line shape and to determine experimental line intensities. A set of 4 effective dipole moment parameters for the dyad of 28SiH4 was obtained on that basis from the weighted fit, which reproduce the initial experimental intensities of about 790 lines with the drms = 5.6 % . Analogous analyses were made for the two other isotopic species, 29SiH4, and 30SiH4. A detailed line list of transitions in the region of 750-1150 cm-1 is generated. The half-widths of 40 ro-vibrational lines (Jup.max. = 16) are studied from the multi-spectrum analysis, and self-pressure broadening coefficients are determined.

  7. On the effects of rotation on interstellar molecular line profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Adelson, L.M.; Chunming Leung

    1988-01-01

    Theoretical models are constructed to study the effects of systematic gas rotation on the emergent profiles of interstellar molecular lines, in particular the effects of optical depth and different velocity laws. Both rotational and radial motions (expansion or contraction) may produce similar asymmetric profiles, but the behaviour of the velocity centroid of the emergent profile over the whole cloud (iso-centroid maps) can be used to distinguish between these motions. Iso-centroid maps can also be used to determine the location and orientation of the rotation axis and of the equatorial axis. For clouds undergoing both radial and rotational motion, the component of the centroid due to the rotational motion can be separated from that due to the radial motion. Information on the form of the rotational velocity law can also be derived. (author)

  8. Asymmetries of the solar Ca II lines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Heasley, J.N.

    1975-01-01

    A theoretical study of the influence of propagating acoustic pulses in the solar chromosphere upon the line profiles of the Ca II resonance and infrared triplet lines has been made. The major objective has been to explain the observed asymmetries seen in the cores of the H and K lines and to predict the temporal behavior of the infrared lines caused by passing acoustic or shock pulses. The velocities in the pulses, calculated from weak shock theory, have been included consistently in the non-LTE calculations. The results of the calculations show that these lines are very sensitive to perturbations in the background atmosphere caused by the pulses. Only minor changes in the line shapes result from including the velocities consistently in the line source function calculations. The qualitative changes in the line profiles vary markedly with the strength of the shock pulses. The observed differences in the K line profiles seen on the quiet Sun can be explained in terms of a spectrum of pulses with different wavelengths and initial amplitudes in the photosphere. (Auth.)

  9. Prediction of late failure after medical abortion from serial beta-hCG measurements and ultrasonography

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rørbye, C; Nørgaard, M; Nilas, Lisbeth

    2004-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Surgical treatment of failed medical abortion may be performed several weeks after initiation of the abortion. There are no recognized methods for early identification of these late failures. We assessed the prognostic values of beta-hCG and ultrasonography in predicting late failure ...

  10. Evidence of redshifts in the average solar line profiles of C IV and Si IV from OSO-8 observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roussel-Dupre, D.; Shine, R. A.

    1982-01-01

    Line profiles of C IV and Si V obtained by the Colorado spectrometer on OSO-8 are presented. It is shown that the mean profiles are redshifted with a magnitude varying from 6-20 km/s, and with a mean of 12 km/s. An apparent average downflow of material in the 50,000-100,000 K temperature range is measured. The redshifts are observed in the line center positions of spatially and temporally averaged profiles and are measured either relative to chromospheric Si I lines or from a comparison of sun center and limb profiles. The observations of 6-20 km/s redshifts place constraints on the mechanisms that dominate EUV line emission since it requires a strong weighting of the emission in regions of downward moving material, and since there is little evidence for corresponding upward moving materials in these lines.

  11. Evaluation of partial beta-adrenoceptor agonist activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipworth, B J; Grove, A

    1997-01-01

    A partial beta-adrenoceptor (beta-AR) agonist will exhibit opposite agonist and antagonist activity depending on the prevailing degree of adrenergic tone or the presence of a beta-AR agonist with higher intrinsic activity. In vivo partial beta-AR agonist activity will be evident at rest with low endogenous adrenergic tone, as for example with chronotropicity (beta 1/beta 2), inotropicity (beta 1) or peripheral vasodilatation and finger tremor (beta 2). beta-AR blocking drugs which have partial agonist activity may exhibit a better therapeutic profile when used for hypertension because of maintained cardiac output without increased systemic vascular resistance, along with an improved lipid profile. In the presence of raised endogenous adrenergic tone such as exercise or an exogenous full agonist, beta-AR subtype antagonist activity will become evident in terms of effects on exercise induced heart rate (beta 1) and potassium (beta 2) responses. Reduction of exercise heart rate will occur to a lesser degree in the case of a beta-adrenoceptor blocker with partial beta 1-AR agonist activity compared with a beta-adrenoceptor blocker devoid of partial agonist activity. This may result in reduced therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of angina on effort when using beta-AR blocking drugs with partial beta 1-AR agonist activity. Effects on exercise hyperkalaemia are determined by the balance between beta 2-AR partial agonist activity and endogenous adrenergic activity. For predominantly beta 2-AR agonist such as salmeterol and salbutamol, potentiation of exercise hyperkalaemia occurs. For predominantly beta 2-AR antagonists such as carteolol, either potentiation or attenuation of exercise hyperkalaemia occurs at low and high doses respectively. beta 2-AR partial agonist activity may also be expressed as antagonism in the presence of an exogenous full agonist, as for example attenuation of fenoterol induced responses by salmeterol. Studies are required to investigate whether

  12. Field profile tailoring in a-Si:H radiation detectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujieda, I.; Cho, G.; Conti, M.; Drewery, J.; Kaplan, S.N.; Perez-Mendez, V.; Quershi, S.; Wildermuth, D.; Street, R.A.

    1990-03-01

    The capability of tailoring the field profile in reverse-biased a-Si:H diodes by doping and/or manipulating electrode shapes opens a way to many interesting device structures. Charge collection in a-Si:H radiation detectors is improved for high LET particle detection by inserting thin doped layers into the i-layer of the usual p-i-n diode. This buried p-i-n structure enables us to apply higher reverse-bias and the electric field is enhanced in the mid i-layer. Field profiles of the new structures are calculated and the improved charge collection process is discussed. Also discussed is the possibility of field profile tailoring by utilizing the fixed space charges in i-layers and/or manipulating electrode shapes of the reverse-biased p-i-n diodes. 10 refs., 7 figs

  13. Distinct spatio-temporal profiles of beta-oscillations within visual and sensorimotor areas during action recognition as revealed by MEG.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlidou, Anastasia; Schnitzler, Alfons; Lange, Joachim

    2014-05-01

    The neural correlates of action recognition have been widely studied in visual and sensorimotor areas of the human brain. However, the role of neuronal oscillations involved during the process of action recognition remains unclear. Here, we were interested in how the plausibility of an action modulates neuronal oscillations in visual and sensorimotor areas. Subjects viewed point-light displays (PLDs) of biomechanically plausible and implausible versions of the same actions. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), we examined dynamic changes of oscillatory activity during these action recognition processes. While both actions elicited oscillatory activity in visual and sensorimotor areas in several frequency bands, a significant difference was confined to the beta-band (∼20 Hz). An increase of power for plausible actions was observed in left temporal, parieto-occipital and sensorimotor areas of the brain, in the beta-band in successive order between 1650 and 2650 msec. These distinct spatio-temporal beta-band profiles suggest that the action recognition process is modulated by the degree of biomechanical plausibility of the action, and that spectral power in the beta-band may provide a functional interaction between visual and sensorimotor areas in humans. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Micro-Raman depth profile investigations of beveled Al+-ion implanted 6H-SiC samples

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zuk, J.; Romanek, J.; Skorupa, W.

    2009-01-01

    6H-SiC single crystals were implanted with 450 keV Al + -ions to a fluence of 3.4 x 10 15 cm -2 , and in a separate experiment subjected to multiple Al + implantations with the four energies: 450, 240, 115 and 50 keV and different fluences to obtain rectangular-like depth distributions of Al in SiC. The implantations were performed along [0 0 0 1] channeling and non-channeling ('random') directions. Subsequently, the samples were annealed for 10 min at 1650 deg. C in an argon atmosphere. The depth profiles of the implanted Al atoms were obtained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Following implantation and annealing, the samples were beveled by mechanical polishing. Confocal micro-Raman spectroscopic investigations were performed with a 532 nm wavelength laser beam of a 1 μm focus diameter. The technique was used to determine precisely the depth profiles of TO and LO phonon lines intensity in the beveled samples to a depth of about 2000 nm. Micro-Raman spectroscopy was also found to be useful in monitoring very low levels of disorder remaining in the Al + implanted and annealed 6H-SiC samples. The micro-Raman technique combined with sample beveling also made it possible the determination of optical absorption coefficient profiles in implanted subsurface layers.

  15. Measurement of the profile and intensity of the solar He I lambda 584-A resonance line

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maloy, J. O.; Hartmann, U. G.; Judge, D. L.; Carlson, R. W.

    1978-01-01

    The intensity and profile of the helium resonance line at 584 A from the entire disk of the sun was investigated by using a rocket-borne helium-filled spectrometer and a curve-of-growth technique. The line profile was found to be accurately represented by a Gaussian profile with full width at half maximum of 122 + or - 10 mA, while the integrated intensity was measured to be 2.6 + or - 1.3 billion photons/s per sq cm at solar activity levels of F(10.7) = 90.8 x 10 to the -22nd per sq m/Hz and Rz = 27. The measured line width is in good agreement with previous spectrographic measurements, but the integrated intensity is larger than most previous photoelectric measurements. However, the derived line center flux of 20 + or - 10 billion photons/s per sq cm/A is in good agreement with values inferred from airglow measurements.

  16. Determination of transverse phase-space and momentum error from size measurements along the 50-MeV H/sup -/ RCS injection line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cho, Y.; Crosbie, E.A.; Takeda, H.

    1981-01-01

    The 50-Mev H/sup -/ injection line for the RCS at Argonne National Laboratory has 16 quadrupole and eight bending magnets. Horizontal and vertical profiles can be obtained at 12 wire scanner positions. Size information from these profiles can be used to determine the three ellipses parameters in each plane required to describe the transverse phase space. Those locations that have dispersion permit the momentum error to be used as a fourth fitting parameter. The assumed accuracy of the size measurements provides an error matrix that predicts the rms errors of the fitted parameters. 3 refs

  17. Characterization of beta-turn and Asx-turns mimicry in a model peptide: stabilization via C--H . . . O interaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thakur, A K; Kishore, R

    2006-04-15

    The chemical synthesis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of a model peptide, Boc-Thr-Thr-NH2 (1) comprised of proteinogenic residues bearing an amphiphilic Cbeta -stereogenic center, has been described. Interestingly, the analysis of its molecular structure revealed the existence of a distinct conformation that mimics a typical beta-turn and Asx-turns, i.e., the two Thr residues occupy the left- and right-corner positions. The main-chain torsion angles of the N- and C-terminal residues i.e., semiextended: phi = -68.9 degrees , psi = 128.6 degrees ; semifolded: phi = -138.1 degrees , psi = 2.5 degrees conformations, respectively, in conjunction with a gauche- disposition of the obligatory C-terminus Thr CgammaH3 group, characterize the occurrence of the newly described beta-turn- and Asx-turns-like topology. The preferred molecular structure is suggested to be stabilized by an effective nonconventional main-chain to side-chain Ci=O . . . H--Cgamma(i+2)-type intraturn hydrogen bond. Noteworthy, the observed topology of the resulting 10-membered hydrogen-bonded ring is essentially similar to the one perceived for a classical beta-turn and the Asx-turns, stabilized by a conventional intraturn hydrogen bond. Considering the signs as well as magnitudes of the backbone torsion angles and the orientation of the central peptide bond, the overall mimicked topology resembles the type II beta-turn or type II Asx-turns. An analysis of Xaa-Thr sequences in high-resolution X-ray elucidated protein structures revealed the novel topology prevalence in functional proteins (unpublished). In view of indubitable structural as well as functional importance of nonconventional interactions in bioorganic and biomacromolecules, we intend to highlight the participation of Thr CgammaH in the creation of a short-range C=O . . . H--Cgamma -type interaction in peptides and proteins. Copyright 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Development of beta reference radiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wan Zhaoyong; Cai Shanyu; Li Yanbo; Yin Wei; Feng Jiamin; Sun Yuhua; Li Yongqiang

    1997-09-01

    A system of beta reference radiation has been developed, that is composed of 740 MBq 147 Pm beta source, 74 MBq and 740 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y β sources, compensation filters, a source handling tool, a source jig, spacing bars, a shutter, a control unit and a beta dose meter calibration stand. For 740 MBq 147 Pm and 74 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y beta reference radiations with compensation filters and 740 MBq 90 Sr + 90 Y beta reference radiation without compensation filter, at 20 cm, 30 cm and 30 cm distance separately; the residual energy of maximum is 0.14 MeV, 1.98 MeV and 2.18 MeV separately; the absorbed dose to tissue D (0.07) is 1.547 mGy/h (1996-05-20), 5.037 mGy/h (1996-05-10) and 93.57 mGy/h (1996-05-15) separately; the total uncertainty is 3.0%, 1.7% and 1.7% separately. For the first and the second beta reference radiation, the dose rate variability in the area of 18 cm diameter in the plane perpendicular to the beta-ray beam axis is within +-6% and +-3% separately. (3 refs., 2 tabs., 8 figs.)

  19. Expression of modified tocopherol content and profile in sunflower tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Moral, Lidia; Fernández-Martínez, José M; Pérez-Vich, Begoña; Velasco, Leonardo

    2012-01-30

    Alpha-tocopherol is the predominant tocopherol form in sunflower seeds. Sunflower lines that accumulate increased levels of beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol in seeds as well as lines with reduced and increased total seed tocopherol content have been developed. The objective of this research was to evaluate whether the modified tocopherol levels are expressed in plant tissues other than seeds. Lines with increased levels of beta-, gamma- and delta-tocopherol in seeds also possessed increased levels of these tocopherols in leaves, roots and pollen. Correlation coefficients for the proportion of individual tocopherols in different plant tissues were significantly positive in all cases, ranging from 0.68 to 0.97. A line with reduced tocopherol content in seeds also showed reduced content in roots and pollen. Genetic modifications producing altered seed tocopherol profiles in sunflower are also expressed in leaves, roots and pollen. Reduced total seed tocopherol content is mainly expressed at the root and pollen level. The expression of tocopherol mutations in other plant tissues will enable further studies on the physiological role of tocopherols and could be of interest for early selection for these traits in breeding programmes. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

  20. Geocoronal Balmer α line profile observations and forward-model analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mierkiewicz, E. J.; Bishop, J.; Roesler, F. L.; Nossal, S. M.

    2006-05-01

    High spectral resolution geocoronal Balmer α line profile observations from Pine Bluff Observatory (PBO) are presented in the context of forward-model analysis. Because Balmer series column emissions depend significantly on multiple scattering, retrieval of hydrogen parameters of general aeronomic interest from these observations (e.g., the hydrogen column abundance) currently requires a forward modeling approach. This capability is provided by the resonance radiative transfer code LYAO_RT. We have recently developed a parametric data-model comparison search procedure employing an extensive grid of radiative transport model input parameters (defining a 6-dimensional parameter space) to map-out bounds for feasible forward model retrieved atomic hydrogen density distributions. We applied this technique to same-night (March, 2000) ground-based Balmer α data from PBO and geocoronal Lyman β measurements from the Espectrógrafo Ultravioleta extremo para la Radiación Difusa (EURD) instrument on the Spanish satellite MINISAT-1 (provided by J.F. Gómez and C. Morales of the Laboratorio de Astrofisica Espacial y Física Fundamental, INTA, Madrid, Spain) in order to investigate the modeling constraints imposed by two sets of independent geocoronal intensity measurements, both of which rely on astronomical calibration methods. In this poster we explore extending this analysis to the line profile information also contained in the March 2000 PBO Balmer α data set. In general, a decrease in the Doppler width of the Balmer α emission with shadow altitude is a persistent feature in every night of PBO observations in which a wide range of shadow altitudes are observed. Preliminary applications of the LYAO_RT code, which includes the ability to output Doppler line profiles for both the singly and multiply scattered contributions to the Balmer α emission line, displays good qualitative agreement with regard to geocoronal Doppler width trends observed from PBO. Model-data Balmer

  1. Cross-class resistance to non-beta-lactam antimicrobials in extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Procop, Gary W; Tuohy, Marion J; Wilson, Deborah A; Williams, Delisa; Hadziyannis, Emilia; Hall, Gerri S

    2003-08-01

    Extended spectrum beta-lactamases are modified beta-lactamase enzymes that impart resistance to third-generation cephalosporins and make all beta-lactam antibiotics and cephalosporins useless for therapy. We compared the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing and non-ESBL-producing isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The ESBL producers had significantly diminished susceptibility compared with the non-ESBL producers for gentamicin (P < .001), tobramycin (P < .001), amikacin (P < .005), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (P < .01), ciprofloxacin (P < .001), and nitrofurantoin (P < .001). All isolates were susceptible to imipenem. ESBL-producing K pneumoniae may also be resistant to non-beta-lactam antibiotics. Therefore, susceptibility testing of these isolates is critical for guiding therapy.

  2. Beta-limiting MHD instabilities in improved performance NSTX spherical torus plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Menard, J.E.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.E.

    2003-01-01

    Global magnetohydrodynamic stability limits in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have increased significantly recently due to a combination of device and operational improvements. First, more routine H-mode operation with broadened pressure profiles allows access to higher normalized beta and lower internal inductance. Second, the correction of a poloidal field coil induced error-field has largely eliminated locked tearing modes during nor- mal operation and increased the maximum achievable beta. As a result of these improvements, peak beta values have reached (not simultaneously) β t = 35%, β N 6.5, N > = 4.5, β / l i =10, and β= 1.4. High β P operation with reduced tearing activity has allowed a doubling of discharge pulse-length to just over 1 second with sustained periods of β N ∼ 6. Details of the β limit scalings and β-limiting instabilities in various operating regimes are described. (author)

  3. Serum prolactin profiles of normal human conception cycles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Adejuwon, C A [Ibadan Univ. (Nigeria). Coll. of Medicine; Faundes, Anibal [Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Brazil). Faculdade de Medicina; Segal, S J [Rockefeller Foundation, New York (USA); Alvarez-Sanchez, Francisco [Hospital Moscoso Puello, Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic). Dept. of Obstet. and Gynaecol.

    1984-06-01

    Commencing on day 10 of the menstrual cycle through onset of subsequent menses, or confirmation of pregnancy, daily sera collected from 15 women planning pregnancy were analyzed by radioimmunoassays (RIA) for prolactin (hPRL), estradiol-17..beta.. and luteinizing hormone (hLH). Two of the observed subjects became pregnant in the single cycles studied. The profiles of these hormones during the early gestation following spontaneous ovulation were established. No distinct midcycle peaks of hPEL were observed in either subject. Enormous spikes were observed in daily prolactin values, with wide variations between subjects.

  4. Lines profile variations and binarity in Wolf-Rayet stars

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bisiacchi, G.F.; Firmani, C.; Lara, E. de

    1982-01-01

    Recently, HD50896, a WN5 star, for a long time considered as isolated, has been demonstrated to be a binary. This star shows very small displacement of the lines due to orbital motion and no evidence of the secondary spectrum. Is HD50896 a rare system in which the profile variations are peculiarly strong and easy to be detected, or are there many of these undetected binaries for which the analysis of the profile variation may be a powerful method to determine the periodicity. With this problem in mind the authors have observed a sample of 17 WR stars during a week to analyze both profile and radial velocity variations. This sample includes all the WR stars with Msub(v) 0 0 except for five stars that are binaries with determined period. All the spectra have been taken with a dispersion of 1.1 A channel -1 using a SIT television camera and a low dispersion spectrograph attached to the 2-meter telescope of the Observatorio Astronomico Nacional in San Pedro Martir, Baja California (Mexico). (Auth.)

  5. The Ca II resonance lines in M dwarf stars without H-alpha emission

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giampapa, M.S.; Cram, L.E.; Wild, W.J. (National Solar Observatory, Tucson, AZ (USA) Sydney Univ. (Australia) Arizona Univ., Tucson (USA))

    1989-10-01

    Spectra of the Ca II H and K lines in a sample of 31 M dwarf stars without H-alpha emission are used to calculate chromospheric K line radiative losses, F(k), and to study the joint response of Ca II K and H-alpha to chromospheric heating in dwarf M stars. It is suggested that the poor correlation found in the equivalent width - log F(K) diagram may be due either to radial segregation of the H-alpha and K line forming regions or to lateral inhomogeneities in the chromospheres. The results confirm the existence of dM stars with weak H-alpha absorption and K line emission only slightly weaker than that of the dMe stars, and show that dM stars with weak H-alpha but kinematics and metallicities representative of the young disk population belong to a class characterized by a comparatively high degree of chromospheric activity. 32 refs.

  6. First trimester maternal serum PAPP-A, beta-hCG and ADAM12 in prediction of small-for-gestational-age fetuses

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pihl, Kasper; Larsen, Torben; Krebs, Lone

    2008-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To examine the ability of predicting fetuses being small-for-gestational-age (SGA) at delivery with the maternal serum markers pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A), beta-human chorionic gonadotrophin (beta-hCG) and A disintegrin and metalloprotease 12 (ADAM12) in first...... trimester. METHODS: In all,36 cases being SGA (birth weight gestational age...

  7. Simultaneous measure of a spectral line profile and the apparatus function of a Fabry-Perot spectrometer when continuous background is present

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moreno, J.M.; Quintanilla, M.; Mar, S.

    1978-01-01

    A deconvolution method of registered profile on a Fabry-Perot spectrometer is developed, when the actual profile of the source is a Voigt pattern together with a continuous background. The reliability and accuracy of the method is tested with theoreticaly simulated profiles. The method is applied both to measure the real line profiles and to find the Fabry-Perot parameters, as a test of its validity on studies of experimental profiles. Both measure types -source profile and apparatus function- are made simultaneously by means of analysis of the variations of registered profile, at 6438.5A Cd line and 6328A He-Ne laser line, varying the optical path between interferometer mirrors. (author) [es

  8. Proteomic profiling of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells upon TGF-beta stimulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Daojing; Park, Jennifer S.; Chu, Julia S.F.; Ari, Krakowski; Luo, Kunxin; Chen, David J.; Li, Song

    2004-08-08

    Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into different types of cells, and have tremendous potential for cell therapy and tissue engineering. Transforming growth factor {beta}1 (TGF-{beta}) plays an important role in cell differentiation and vascular remodeling. We showed that TGF-{beta} induced cell morphology change and an increase in actin fibers in MSCs. To determine the global effects of TGF-{beta} on MSCs, we employed a proteomic strategy to analyze the effect of TGF-{beta} on the human MSC proteome. By using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and electrospray ionization coupled to Quadrupole/time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometers, we have generated a proteome reference map of MSCs, and identified {approx}30 proteins with an increase or decrease in expression or phosphorylation in response to TGF-{beta}. The proteins regulated by TGF-{beta} included cytoskeletal proteins, matrix synthesis proteins, membrane proteins, metabolic enzymes, etc. TGF-{beta} increased the expression of smooth muscle (SM) {alpha}-actin and decreased the expression of gelsolin. Over-expression of gelsolin inhibited TGF-{beta}-induced assembly of SM {alpha}-actin; on the other hand, knocking down gelsolin expression enhanced the assembly of {alpha}-actin and actin filaments without significantly affecting {alpha}-actin expression. These results suggest that TGF-{beta} coordinates the increase of {alpha}-actin and the decrease of gelsolin to promote MSC differentiation. This study demonstrates that proteomic tools are valuable in studying stem cell differentiation and elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms.

  9. Precision measurements in nuclear {beta}-decay with LPCTrap

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ban, Gilles; Durand, Dominique; Flechard, Xavier; Lienard, Etienne [LPC Caen, ENSICAEN, Universite de Caen, CNRS/IN2P3, Caen (France); Naviliat-Cuncic, Oscar [NSCL and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East-Lansing, MI (United States)

    2013-09-15

    The experimental achievements and the current program with the LPCTrap device installed at the LIRAT beam line of the SPIRAL1-GANIL facility are presented. The device is dedicated to the study of the weak interaction at low energy by means of precise measurements of the {beta}-{nu} angular correlation parameter. Technical aspects as well as the main results are reviewed. The future program with new available beams is briefly discussed. (copyright 2013 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  10. Beta limit of crescent and bean shaped tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naitou, H.; Yamazaki, K.

    1988-01-01

    The maximum attainable beta values which can be expected in tokamaks with crescent (BEAN 1) and rounded (BEAN 2) bean shaped cross-sections are obtained numerically by using the linear ideal MHD stability analysis code ERATO. The current profiles are optimized with a fixed pressure profile for high values of beta, keeping Mercier, high-n ballooning and n=1 kink modes stable. The poloidal plasma cross-sections are inscribed in a rectangle with an aspect ratio of three and an ellipticity of two. A confocal wall, the distance of which from the plasma surface is equal to the horizontal minor plasma radius, is present to stabilize against the kink mode. Depending on the shape and triangularity (indentation), a beta value of 10 to 17% is obtained. It is also shown that the coefficient of the Troyon-type beta scaling increases for an indented plasma. In the case of small indentation, the BEAN 1 type tokamaks show higher beta values than the BEAN 2 type. For strong indentation, the BEAN 2 type gives the highest beta value. (author). 29 refs, 15 figs

  11. Radiosensitivity of mesothelioma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haekkinen, A.M. [Dept. of Oncology, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland); Laasonen, A. [Dept. of Pathology, Central Hospital of Etelae-Pohjanmaa, Seinaejoki (Finland); Linnainmaa, K. [Dept. of Industrial Hygiene and Toxicology, Inst. of Occupational Health, Helsinki (Finland); Mattson, K. [Dept. Pulmonary Medicine, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland); Pyrhoenen, S. [Dept. of Oncology, Univ. Central Hospital, Helsinki (Finland)

    1996-10-01

    The present study was carried out in order to examine the radiosensitivity of malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines. Cell kinetics, radiation-induced delay of the cell cycle and DNA ploidy of the cell lines were also determined. For comparison an HeLa and a human foetal fibroblast cell line were simultaneously explored. Six previously cytogenetically and histologically characterized mesothelioma tumor cell lines were applied. A rapid tiazolyl blue microtiter (MTT) assay was used to analyze radiosensitivity and cell kinetics and DNA ploidy of the cultured cells were determined by flow cytometry. The survival fraction after a dose of 2 Gy (SF2), parameters {alpha} and {beta} of the linear quadratic model (LQ-model) and mean inactivation dose (D{sub MID}) were also estimated. The DNA index of four cell lines equaled 1.0 and two cell lines equaled 1.5 and 1.6. Different mesothelioma cell lines showed a great variation in radiosensitivity. Mean survival fraction after a radiation dose of 2 Gy (SF2) was 0.60 and ranged from 0.36 to 0.81 and mean {alpha} value was 0.26 (range 0.48-0.083). The SF2 of the most sensitive diploid mesothelioma cell line was 0.36: Less than that of the foetal fibroblast cell line (0.49). The survival fractions (0.81 and 0.74) of the two most resistant cell lines, which also were aneuploid, were equal to that of the HeLa cell line (0.78). The {alpha}/{beta} ratios of the most sensitive cell lines were almost an order of magnitude greater than those of the two most resistant cell lines. Radiation-induced delay of the most resistant aneuploid cell line was similar to that of HeLa cells but in the most sensitive (diploid cells) there was practically no entry into the G1 phase following the 2 Gy radiation dose during 36 h. (orig.).

  12. Beta decay of Cu-56

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Borcea, R; Aysto, J; Caurier, E; Dendooven, P; Doring, J; Gierlik, M; Gorska, M; Grawe, H; Hellstrom, M; Janas, Z; Jokinen, A; Karny, M; Kirchner, R; La Commara, M; Langanke, K; Martinez-Pinedo, G; Mayet, P; Nieminen, A; Nowacki, F; Penttila, H; Plochocki, A; Rejmund, M; Roeckl, E; Schlegel, C; Schmidt, K; Schwengner, R; Sawicka, M

    2001-01-01

    The proton-rich isotope Cu-56 was produced at the GSI On-Line Mass Separator by means of the Si-28(S-32, p3n) fusion-evaporation reaction. Its beta -decay properties were studied by detecting beta -delayed gamma rays and protons. A half-Life of 93 +/- 3 ms was determined for Cu-56. Compared to the

  13. Stability Limits of High-Beta Plasmas in DIII-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strait, E.J.

    2005-01-01

    Stability at high beta is an important requirement for a compact, economically attractive fusion reactor. DIII-D experiments have shown that ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory is an accurate predictor of the ultimate stability limits for tokamaks, and the Troyon scaling law has provided a useful approximation of ideal stability limits for discharges with 'conventional' profiles. However, variation of the discharge shape, pressure profile, and current density profile can lead to ideal MHD beta limits that differ significantly from simple Troyon scaling. The need for profiles consistent with steady-state operation places an important additional constraint on plasma stability. Nonideal effects can also be important and must be taken into account. For example, neoclassical tearing modes (NTMs), resulting from plasma resistivity and the nonlinear effects of the bootstrap current, can become unstable at beta values well below the ideal MHD limit. DIII-D experiments are now entering a new era of unprecedented control over plasma stability, including suppression of NTMs by localized current drive at the island location, and direct feedback stabilization of kink modes with a resistive wall. The continuing development of physics understanding and control tools holds the potential for stable, steady-state fusion plasmas at high beta

  14. On the core-halo structure of NGC 604

    CERN Document Server

    Melnick, Yu M

    1980-01-01

    A detailed study is presented of the core-halo structure of the largest H II region in M 33, NGC 604, using newly obtained multi- aperture H/sub beta / photometry and Fabry-Perot interferometry, in conjunction with published radio continuum observations. Based on a comparison between the radio continuum and H/sub beta / luminosities of NGC 604, a dust density of rho /sub d/=6 10/sup -25/ g cm/sup -3/ is derived for the nebular core, in good agreement with published far- infrared results. By contrast, the halo of NGC 604 appears to contain virtually no dust. It is also shown that the turbulent component of the H/sub alpha /-line profile width of the halo of NGC 604 is significantly lower than that of the nebular core. This result is found to be inconsistent with models in which the highly supersonic velocities implied by the observed emission line profile widths in both nebular components are interpreted in terms of expansion motions. (14 refs).

  15. Investigation of MHD instabilities and control in KSTAR preparing for high beta operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Y. S.; Sabbagh, S. A.; Bialek, J. M.; Berkery, J. W.; Lee, S. G.; Ko, W. H.; Bak, J. G.; Jeon, Y. M.; Park, J. K.; Kim, J.; Hahn, S. H.; Ahn, J.-W.; Yoon, S. W.; Lee, K. D.; Choi, M. J.; Yun, G. S.; Park, H. K.; You, K.-I.; Bae, Y. S.; Oh, Y. K.; Kim, W.-C.; Kwak, J. G.

    2013-08-01

    Initial H-mode operation of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) is expanded to higher normalized beta and lower plasma internal inductance moving towards design target operation. As a key supporting device for ITER, an important goal for KSTAR is to produce physics understanding of MHD instabilities at long pulse with steady-state profiles, at high normalized beta, and over a wide range of plasma rotation profiles. An advance from initial plasma operation is a significant increase in plasma stored energy and normalized beta, with Wtot = 340 kJ, βN = 1.9, which is 75% of the level required to reach the computed ideal n = 1 no-wall stability limit. The internal inductance was lowered to 0.9 at sustained H-mode duration up to 5 s. In ohmically heated plasmas, the plasma current reached 1 MA with prolonged pulse length up to 12 s. Rotating MHD modes are observed in the device with perturbations having tearing rather than ideal parity. Modes with m/n = 3/2 are triggered during the H-mode phase but are relatively weak and do not substantially reduce Wtot. In contrast, 2/1 modes to date only appear when the plasma rotation profiles are lowered after H-L back-transition. Subsequent 2/1 mode locking creates a repetitive collapse of βN by more than 50%. Onset behaviour suggests the 3/2 mode is close to being neoclassically unstable. A correlation between the 2/1 mode amplitude and local rotation shear from an x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer suggests that the rotation shear at the mode rational surface is stabilizing. As a method to access the ITER-relevant low plasma rotation regime, plasma rotation alteration by n = 1, 2 applied fields and associated neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) induced torque is presently investigated. The net rotation profile change measured by a charge exchange recombination diagnostic with proper compensation of plasma boundary movement shows initial evidence of non-resonant rotation damping by the n = 1, 2 applied

  16. THE SDSS-III APOGEE SPECTRAL LINE LIST FOR H-BAND SPECTROSCOPY

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shetrone, M. [University of Texas at Austin, McDonald Observatory (United States); Bizyaev, D.; Chojnowski, D. [Apache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM, 88349-0059 (United States); Lawler, J. E. [Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706 (United States); Prieto, C. Allende; Zamora, O.; García-Hernández, D. A.; Souto, D. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Calle Vía Lactea s/n, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain); Johnson, J. A. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Smith, V. V. [National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719 (United States); Cunha, K. [Observatório Nacional, Rua General Jose Cristino, 77, 20921-400 São Cristóvão, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Holtzman, J. [Department of Astronomy, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003 (United States); Pérez, A. E. García; Sobeck, J.; Majewski, S. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States); Mészáros, Sz. [ELTE Gothard Astrophysical Observatory, H-9704 Szombathely, Szent Imre herceg st. 112 (Hungary); Koesterke, L. [The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Advanced Computing Center (United States); Zasowski, G. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)

    2015-12-15

    We present the H-band spectral line lists adopted by the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE). The APOGEE line lists comprise astrophysical, theoretical, and laboratory sources from the literature, as well as newly evaluated astrophysical oscillator strengths and damping parameters. We discuss the construction of the APOGEE line list, which is one of the critical inputs for the APOGEE Stellar Parameters and Chemical Abundances Pipeline, and present three different versions that have been used at various stages of the project. The methodology for the newly calculated astrophysical line lists is reviewed. The largest of these three line lists contains 134,457 molecular and atomic transitions. In addition to the format adopted to store the data, the line lists are available in MOOG, Synspec, and Turbospectrum formats. The limitations of the line lists along with guidance for its use on different spectral types are discussed. We also present a list of H-band spectral features that are either poorly represented or completely missing in our line list. This list is based on the average of a large number of spectral fit residuals for APOGEE observations spanning a wide range of stellar parameters.

  17. CANDIDATE WATER VAPOR LINES TO LOCATE THE H{sub 2}O SNOWLINE THROUGH HIGH-DISPERSION SPECTROSCOPIC OBSERVATIONS. I. THE CASE OF A T TAURI STAR

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Notsu, Shota; Ishimoto, Daiki [Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kitashirakawa-Oiwake-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502 (Japan); Nomura, Hideko [Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan); Walsh, Catherine [Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands); Honda, Mitsuhiko [Department of Physics, School of Medicine, Kurume University, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-0011 (Japan); Hirota, Tomoya [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Millar, T. J., E-mail: snotsu@kusastro.kyoto-u.ac.jp [Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)

    2016-08-20

    Inside the H{sub 2}O snowline of protoplanetary disks, water evaporates from the dust-grain surface into the gas phase, whereas it is frozen out onto the dust in the cold region beyond the snowline. H{sub 2}O ice enhances the solid material in the cold outer part of a disk, which promotes the formation of gas-giant planet cores. We can regard the H{sub 2}O snowline as the surface that divides the regions between rocky and gaseous giant planet formation. Thus observationally measuring the location of the H{sub 2}O snowline is crucial for understanding the planetesimal and planet formation processes, and the origin of water on Earth. In this paper, we find candidate water lines to locate the H{sub 2}O snowline through future high-dispersion spectroscopic observations. First, we calculate the chemical composition of the disk and investigate the abundance distributions of H{sub 2}O gas and ice, and the position of the H{sub 2}O snowline. We confirm that the abundance of H{sub 2}O gas is high not only in the hot midplane region inside the H{sub 2}O snowline but also in the hot surface layer of the outer disk. Second, we calculate the H{sub 2}O line profiles and identify those H{sub 2}O lines that are promising for locating the H{sub 2}O snowline: the identified lines are those that have small Einstein A coefficients and high upper state energies. The wavelengths of the candidate H{sub 2}O lines range from mid-infrared to sub-millimeter, and they overlap with the regions accessible to the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array and future mid-infrared high-dispersion spectrographs (e.g., TMT/MICHI, SPICA).

  18. Progress toward fully noninductive, high beta conditions in DIII-D

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murakami, M.; Wade, M.R.; Greenfield, C.M.; Luce, T.C.; Ferron, J.R.; St John, H.E.; DeBoo, J.C.; Osborne, T.H.; Petty, C.C.; Politzer, P.A.; Burrell, K.H.; Gohil, P.; Gorelov, I.A.; Groebner, R.J.; Hyatt, A.W.; Kajiwara, K.; La Haye, R.J.; Lao, L.L.; Leonard, A.W.; Lohr, J.

    2006-01-01

    The DIII-D Advanced Tokamak (AT) program in the DIII-D tokamak [J. L. Luxon, Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion Research, 1986, Vol. I (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), p. 159] is aimed at developing a scientific basis for steady-state, high-performance operation in future devices. This requires simultaneously achieving 100% noninductive operation with high self-driven bootstrap current fraction and toroidal beta. Recent progress in this area includes demonstration of 100% noninductive conditions with toroidal beta, β T =3.6%, normalized beta, β N =3.5, and confinement factor, H 89 =2.4 with the plasma current driven completely by bootstrap, neutral beam current drive, and electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD). The equilibrium reconstructions indicate that the noninductive current profile is well aligned, with little inductively driven current remaining anywhere in the plasma. The current balance calculation improved with beam ion redistribution that was supported by recent fast ion diagnostic measurements. The duration of this state is limited by pressure profile evolution, leading to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities after about 1 s or half of a current relaxation time (τ CR ). Stationary conditions are maintained in similar discharges (∼90% noninductive), limited only by the 2 s duration (1τ CR ) of the present ECCD systems. By discussing parametric scans in a global parameter and profile databases, the need for low density and high beta are identified to achieve full noninductive operation and good current drive alignment. These experiments achieve the necessary fusion performance and bootstrap fraction to extrapolate to the fusion gain, Q=5 steady-state scenario in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) [R. Aymar et al., Fusion Energy Conference on Controlled Fusion and Plasma Physics, Sorrento, Italy (International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1987), paper IAEA-CN-77/OV-1]. The modeling tools that have

  19. Ideal-MHD beta limits: scaling laws and comparison with Doublet III high-beta plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bernard, L.C.; Bhadra, D.K.; Helton, F.J.; Lao, L.L.; Todd, T.N.

    1983-06-01

    Doublet III (DIII) recently has achieved a value for #betta#, the ratio of volume averaged plasma to magnetic pressure, of 4.5%. This #betta# value is in the range required for an economically attractive tokamak reactor, and also close to the relevant limit predicted by ideal-MHD theory. It is therefore of great interest to assess the validity of the theory by comparison with experiment and thus to have a basis for the prediction of future reactor performance. A large variety of plasma shapes have been obtained in DIII. These shapes can be divided into two classes: (1) limiter discharges, and (2) diverted discharges, which are of great interest because of their good confinement in the H-mode operation. We derive simple scaling laws from the variation of optimized ideal-MHD beta limits (#betta#/sub c/) with plasma shape parameters. The current profile is optimized for fixed plasma shapes, separately for the high-n (ballooning) and the low-n (kink) modes. Results are presented in the form of suitability normalized curves of #betta# versus poloidal beta, #betta#/sub p/, for both ballooning and kink modes in order to simultaneously compare all the DIII experimental data

  20. Spectral and Temporal Properties of the Alpha and Beta Subunits and (alpha Beta) Monomer Isolated from Nostoc SP. Using Picosecond Laser Spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dagen, Aaron J.

    1985-12-01

    The fluorescence decay profiles, relative quantum yield and transmission of the (alpha), (beta) and ((alpha)(beta)) complexes from phycoerythrin isolated from the photosynthetic antenna system of Nostoc sp. and measured by single picosecond laser spectroscopic techniques is studied. The fluorescence decay profiles of all three complexes are found to be intensity independent for the intensity range investigated ((TURN)4 x 10('13) to (TURN)4 x 10('15) photons-cm('-2) per pulse). The apparent decrease in the relative quantum yield of all three complexes as intensity increases is offset by a corresponding increase in the relative transmission. This evidence, along with the intensity independent fluorescence kinetics, suggests that exciton annihilation is absent in these complexes. The decay profiles are fit to models assuming energy transfer amongst fluorescing chromophores. The intraprotein transfer rate is found to be 100 ps in the (alpha) subunit, 666 ps in the (beta) subunit. Constraining these rates to be identical in the monomer results in explaining the monomer kinetics by an increase in the nonradiative rate of the f(,(beta)) chromophore, an apparent result of aggregation effects.

  1. Beta-limiting MHD Instabilities in Improved-performance NSTX Spherical Torus Plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    J.E. Menard; M.G. Bell; R.E. Bell; E.D. Fredrickson D.A. Gates: S.M. Kaye; B.P. LeBlanc; R. Maingi; D. Mueller; S.A. Sabbagh; D. Stutman; C.E. Bush; D.W. Johnson; R. Kaita; H.W. Kugel; R.J. Maqueda; F. Paoletti; S.F Paul; M. Ono; Y.-K.M. Peng; C.H. Skinner; E.J. Synakowski; the NSTX Research Team

    2003-01-01

    Global magnetohydrodynamic stability limits in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) have increased significantly recently due to a combination of device and operational improvements. First, more routine H-mode operation with broadened pressure profiles allows access to higher normalized beta and lower internal inductance. Second, the correction of a poloidal field coil induced error-field has largely eliminated locked tearing modes during normal operation and increased the maximum achievable beta. As a result of these improvements, peak beta values have reached (not simultaneously) β t = 35%, β N = 6.4, N > = 4.5, β N /l i = 10, and β P = 1.4. High β P operation with reduced tearing activity has allowed a doubling of discharge pulse-length to just over 1 second with sustained periods of β N ∼ 6 above the ideal no-wall limit and near the with-wall limit. Details of the β limit scalings and β-limiting instabilities in various operating regimes are described

  2. High-resolution H -band Spectroscopy of Be Stars with SDSS-III/APOGEE. II. Line Profile and Radial Velocity Variability

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chojnowski, S. Drew; Holtzman, Jon A. [Apache Point Observatory and New Mexico State University, P.O. Box 59, Sunspot, NM, 88349-0059 (United States); Wisniewski, John P. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Oklahoma, 440 W. Brooks Street, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Whelan, David G. [Department of Physics, Austin College, 900 N. Grand Avenue, Sherman, TX 75090 (United States); Labadie-Bartz, Jonathan; Pepper, Joshua [Department of Physics, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015 (United States); Fernandes, Marcelo Borges [Observatório Nacional, Rua General José Cristino 77, 20921-400, São Cristovão, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Lin, Chien-Cheng [Key Laboratory for Research in Galaxies and Cosmology, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 80 Nandan Road Shanghai 200030 (China); Majewski, Steven R. [Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, P.O. Box 400325, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4325 (United States); Stringfellow, Guy S. [Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences, University of Colorado, 389 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0389 (United States); Mennickent, Ronald E.; Tang, Baitian [Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción (Chile); Roman-Lopes, Alexandre [Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de La Serena, Cisternas 1200, La Serena (Chile); Hearty, Fred R. [Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802 (United States); Zasowski, Gail [Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21218 (United States)

    2017-04-01

    We report on the H -band spectral variability of classical Be stars observed over the course of the Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), one of four subsurveys comprising SDSS-III. As described in the first paper of this series, the APOGEE B-type emission-line (ABE) star sample was culled from the large number of blue stars observed as telluric standards during APOGEE observations. In this paper, we explore the multi-epoch ABE sample, consisting of 1100 spectra for 213 stars. These “snapshots” of the circumstellar disk activity have revealed a wealth of temporal variability including, but not limited to, gradual disappearance of the line emission and vice versa over both short and long timescales. Other forms of variability include variation in emission strength, emission peak intensity ratios, and emission peak separations. We also analyze radial velocities (RVs) of the emission lines for a subsample of 162 stars with sufficiently strong features, and we discuss on a case-by-case basis whether the RV variability exhibited by some stars is caused by binary motion versus dynamical processes in the circumstellar disks. Ten systems are identified as convincing candidates for binary Be stars with as of yet undetected companions.

  3. High-resolution H -band Spectroscopy of Be Stars with SDSS-III/APOGEE. II. Line Profile and Radial Velocity Variability

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chojnowski, S. Drew; Holtzman, Jon A.; Wisniewski, John P.; Whelan, David G.; Labadie-Bartz, Jonathan; Pepper, Joshua; Fernandes, Marcelo Borges; Lin, Chien-Cheng; Majewski, Steven R.; Stringfellow, Guy S.; Mennickent, Ronald E.; Tang, Baitian; Roman-Lopes, Alexandre; Hearty, Fred R.; Zasowski, Gail

    2017-01-01

    We report on the H -band spectral variability of classical Be stars observed over the course of the Apache Point Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), one of four subsurveys comprising SDSS-III. As described in the first paper of this series, the APOGEE B-type emission-line (ABE) star sample was culled from the large number of blue stars observed as telluric standards during APOGEE observations. In this paper, we explore the multi-epoch ABE sample, consisting of 1100 spectra for 213 stars. These “snapshots” of the circumstellar disk activity have revealed a wealth of temporal variability including, but not limited to, gradual disappearance of the line emission and vice versa over both short and long timescales. Other forms of variability include variation in emission strength, emission peak intensity ratios, and emission peak separations. We also analyze radial velocities (RVs) of the emission lines for a subsample of 162 stars with sufficiently strong features, and we discuss on a case-by-case basis whether the RV variability exhibited by some stars is caused by binary motion versus dynamical processes in the circumstellar disks. Ten systems are identified as convincing candidates for binary Be stars with as of yet undetected companions.

  4. Development of an in vitro skin sensitization test using human cell lines; human Cell Line Activation Test (h-CLAT). II. An inter-laboratory study of the h-CLAT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakaguchi, H; Ashikaga, T; Miyazawa, M; Yoshida, Y; Ito, Y; Yoneyama, K; Hirota, M; Itagaki, H; Toyoda, H; Suzuki, H

    2006-08-01

    Recent regulatory changes have placed a major emphasis on in vitro safety testing and alternative models. In regard to skin sensitization tests, dendritic cells (DCs) derived from human peripheral blood have been considered in the development of new in vitro alternatives. Human cell lines have been also reported recently. In our previous study, we suggested that measuring CD86 and/or CD54 expression on THP-1 cells (human monocytic leukemia cell line) could be used as an in vitro skin sensitization method. An inter-laboratory study among two laboratories was undertaken in Japan in order to further develop an in vitro skin sensitization model. In the present study, we used two human cell lines: THP-1 and U-937 (human histiocytic lymphoma cell line). First we optimized our test protocol (refer to the related paper entitled "optimization of the h-CLAT protocol" within this journal) and then we did an inter-laboratory validation with nine chemicals using the optimized protocol. We measured the expression of CD86 and CD54 on the above cells using flow cytometry after a 24h and 48h exposure to six known allergens (e.g., DNCB, pPD, NiSO(4)) and three non-allergens (e.g., SLS, tween 80). For the sample test concentration, four doses (0.1x, 0.5x, 1x, and 2x of the 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50))) were evaluated. IC(50) was calculated using MTT assay. We found that allergens/non-allergens were better predicted using THP-1 cells compared to U-937 cells following a 24 h and a 48 h exposure. We also found that the 24h treatment time tended to have a better accuracy than the 48 h treatment time for THP-1 cells. Expression of CD86 and CD54 were good predictive markers for THP-1 cells, but for U-937 cells, expression of CD86 was a better predictor than CD54, at the 24h and the 48 h treatment time. The accuracy also improved when both markers (CD86 and CD54) were used as compared with a single marker for THP-1 cells. Both laboratories gave a good prediction of allergen

  5. Purification and Properties of a Novel Thermostable Galacto-Oligosaccharide-Producing (beta)-Galactosidase from Sterigmatomyces elviae CBS8119

    OpenAIRE

    Onishi, N.; Tanaka, T.

    1996-01-01

    Volume 61, no. 11, p. 4028, column 1, line 37: "p-nitrophenyl-(beta)-d-galactopyranoside" should read "p-nitrophenyl-(beta)-d-glucopyranoside." Page 4028, column 1, line 38: "p-nitrophenyl-(beta)-l-arabinopyranoside" should read "p-nitrophenyl-(alpha)-l-arabinopyranoside." Page 4028, column 2, Table 2, last line: "PNP-(beta)-l-arabinopyranoside" should read "PNP-(alpha)-l-arabinopyranoside." Page 4028, column 2, Table 2, footnote a, line 4: "PNP-(alpha)-l-arabinopyranoside" should read "PNP-(...

  6. Line Profile Measurements of the Lunar Exospheric Sodium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliversen, Ronald J.; Mierkiewicz, Edwin J.; Line, Michael R.; Roesler, Fred L.; Lupie, Olivia L.

    2012-01-01

    We report ongoing results of a program to measure the lunar sodium exospheric line profile from near the lunar limb out to two lunar radii (approx 3500 km). These observations are conducted from the National Solar Observatory McMath-Pierce telescope using a dual-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer with a resolving power of 180,600 (1.7 km/s) to measure line widths and velocity shifts of the Na D2 (5889 950 A) emission line in equatorial and polar regions at different lunar phases. The typical field of view (FOV) is 3 arcmin (approx 360 km) with an occasional smaller 1 arcmin FOV used right at the limb edge. The first data were obtained from full Moon to 3 days following full Moon (waning phase) in March 2009 as part of a demonstration run aimed at establishing techniques for a thorough study of temperatures and velocity variations in the lunar sodium exosphere. These data indicate velocity displacements from different locations off the lunar limb range between 150 and 600 m/s from the lunar rest velocity with a precision of +/- 20 to +/- 50 m/s depending on brightness. The measured Doppler line widths for observations within 10.5 arcmin of the east and south lunar limbs for observations between 5 deg and 40 deg lunar phase imply temperatures ranging decreasing from 3250 +/- 260K to 1175 +/- 150K. Additional data is now being collected on a quarterly basis since March 2011 and preliminary results will be reported.

  7. Poloidal rotation and the evolution of H-mode and VH-mode profiles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hinton, F.L.; Staebler, G.M.; Kim, Y.B.

    1993-12-01

    The physics which determines poloidal rotation, and its role in the development of profiles during H- and VH-modes, is discussed. A simple phenomenological transport model, which incorporates the rvec E x rvec B flow shear suppression of turbulence, is shown to predict profile evolution similar to that observed experimentally during H-mode and VH-mode

  8. Chaperones ameliorate beta cell dysfunction associated with human islet amyloid polypeptide overexpression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisa Cadavez

    Full Text Available In type 2 diabetes, beta-cell dysfunction is thought to be due to several causes, one being the formation of toxic protein aggregates called islet amyloid, formed by accumulations of misfolded human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP. The process of hIAPP misfolding and aggregation is one of the factors that may activate the unfolded protein response (UPR, perturbing endoplasmic reticulum (ER homeostasis. Molecular chaperones have been described to be important in regulating ER response to ER stress. In the present work, we evaluate the role of chaperones in a stressed cellular model of hIAPP overexpression. A rat pancreatic beta-cell line expressing hIAPP exposed to thapsigargin or treated with high glucose and palmitic acid, both of which are known ER stress inducers, showed an increase in ER stress genes when compared to INS1E cells expressing rat IAPP or INS1E control cells. Treatment with molecular chaperone glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa (GRP78, also known as BiP or protein disulfite isomerase (PDI, and chemical chaperones taurine-conjugated ursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA or 4-phenylbutyrate (PBA, alleviated ER stress and increased insulin secretion in hIAPP-expressing cells. Our results suggest that the overexpression of hIAPP induces a stronger response of ER stress markers. Moreover, endogenous and chemical chaperones are able to ameliorate induced ER stress and increase insulin secretion, suggesting that improving chaperone capacity can play an important role in improving beta-cell function in type 2 diabetes.

  9. HPLC-ICP-MS compared with radiochemical detection for metabolite profiling of H-3-bromohexine in rat urine and faeces

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, B.P.; Gammelgaard, B.; Hansen, S.H.

    2005-01-01

    H-3-Bromohexine was dosed to rats as a model compound to allow comparison of HPLC-ICP-MS detection on bromine to radiochemical detection in an in vivo drug metabolism study. Metabolite profiles were obtained in urine and faeces extracts. No influence of the methanol gradient on the bromine response...... was observed in the range of 18 - 75% methanol. The sensitivity obtained by HPLC- ICP-MS was almost two orders of magnitude better than on-line H-3 radiochemical detection. For ICP- MS, the limit of detection was calculated to be 69 nM Br ( injection volume 100 mu l), corresponding to an absolute limit...

  10. Synthesis and antitumoral activity of novel 3-(2-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl) and 3-(5-substituted-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl) beta-carboline derivatives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Formagio, Anelise S Nazari; Tonin, Lilian T Düsman; Foglio, Mary Ann; Madjarof, Christiana; de Carvalho, João Ernesto; da Costa, Willian Ferreira; Cardoso, Flávia P; Sarragiotto, Maria Helena

    2008-11-15

    Several novel 1-substituted-phenyl beta-carbolines bearing the 2-substituted-1,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl and 5-substituted-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl groups at C-3 were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activity. The assay results pointed thirteen compounds with growth inhibition effect (GI(50)<100 microM) for all eight different types of human cancer cell lines tested. The beta-carbolines 7a and 7h, bearing the 3-(2-metylthio-1,3,4-oxadiazol-5-yl) group, displayed high selectivity and potent anticancer activity against ovarian cell line with GI(50) values lying in the nanomolar concentration range (GI(50)=10 nM for both compounds). The 1-(N,N-dimethylaminophenyl)-3-(5-thioxo-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl) beta-carboline (8g) was the most active compound, showing particular effectiveness on lung (GI(50)=0.06 microM), ovarian and renal cell lines. The potent anticancer activity presented for synthesized compounds 7a, 7h, and 8g, together with their easiness of synthesis, makes these compounds promising anticancer agents.

  11. Textural and mechanical characterization of C-S-H gels from hydration of synthetic T1-C{sub 3}S, {beta}-C{sub 2}S and their blends; Caracterizacion textural y mecanica de geles C-S-H formados en la hidratacion de muestras sinteticas T1-C{sub 3}S, {beta}-C{sub 2}S y sus mezclas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goni, S.; Guerrero, A.; Puertas, F.; Hernandez, M. S.; Palacios, M.; Dolado, J. S.; Zhu, W.; Howind, T.

    2011-07-01

    The textural and mechanical characterization of C-S-H gels formed from the hydration of pure T1-C{sub 3}S, {beta}-C{sub 2}S and their blends are studied by Nitrogen sorption and nano indentation experiments. The surface area and nano porosity of C-S-H gels formed from the hydration of {beta}-C{sub 2}S and the 30-70 (T1-C{sub 3}S and {beta}-C{sub 2}S mixture) are higher than those from hydration of T1-C{sub 3}S, and 70-30, with the difference decreasing with hydration age. Such changes are well supported by findings of nano indentation study, which shows the greater relative volume of C-S-H phases with lower densities in the {beta}-C{sub 2}S and the 30-70 pastes. With the increase in hydration age, the relative volume of C-S-H phases with higher densities increased at the expenses of those with lower density. Important quantitative correlations were found among these textural characteristics and the mean chain length, determined from {sup 2}9Si magic-angle-spinning (MAS) NMR, of the C-S-H gels. (Author) 36 refs.

  12. Topographic antigenic determinants recognized by monoclonal antibodies on human choriogonadotropin beta-subunit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bidart, J.M.; Troalen, F.; Salesse, R.; Bousfield, G.R.; Bohuon, C.J.; Bellet, D.H.

    1987-01-01

    We describe a first attempt to study the antibody-combining sites recognized by monoclonal antibodies raised against the beta-subunit of human choriogonadotropin (hCG). Two groups of antibodies were first defined by their ability to recognize only the free beta-subunit or the free and combined subunit. Antibodies FBT-11 and FBT-11-L bind only to hCG beta-subunit but not to hCG, whereas antibodies FBT-10 and D1E8 bind to both the beta-subunit and the hormone. In both cases, the antigenic determinants were localized to the core of the protein (residues 1-112), indicating the weak immunogenicity of the specific carboxyl-terminal extension of hCG-beta. Nine synthetic peptides spanning different regions of hCG-beta and lutropin-beta were assessed for their capacity to inhibit antibody binding. A synthetic peptide inclusive of the NH2-terminal region (residues 1-7) of the hCG beta-subunit was found to inhibit binding to the radiolabeled subunit of a monoclonal antibody specific for free hCG-beta (FBT-11). Further delineation of the antigenic site recognized by this antibody provided evidence for the involvement of fragment 82-92. Moreover, monoclonal antibody FBT-11 inhibited the recombination of hCG-beta to hCG-alpha, indicating that its antigenic determinant might be located nearby or in the hCG-beta portion interacting with the alpha-subunit. Binding of monoclonal antibody FBT-10, corresponding to the second antigenic determinant, was weakly inhibited by fragment 82-105 and did not impair the recombination of the hCG beta-subunit to the hCG alpha-subunit. Its combining site appeared to be located in a region of the intact native choriogonadotropin present at the surface of the hormone-receptor complex

  13. Variation in the binding of 125I-labeled interferon-beta ser to cellular receptors during growth of human renal and bladder carcinoma cells in vitro

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruzicka, F.J.; Schmid, S.M.; Groveman, D.S.; Cummings, K.B.; Borden, E.C.

    1987-01-01

    Studies of various established human bladder and renal carcinoma cell lines cultured in vitro demonstrated the presence of specific, saturable, high affinity binding sites for 125 I-labeled human interferon Beta ser IFN-beta ser). This recombinant produced interferon labeled with approximately one atom of 125 I/molecule of IFN expressed minimal or no loss of antiviral activity. A single class of binding sites (1000-2000/cell) with an affinity constant of 10(10)-10(11) L/M was measured at 4 degrees C for cells exhibiting widely different sensitivity to the antiproliferative effect of IFN-beta ser. Major fluctuations in the binding of 125 I-labeled IFN-beta ser to cellular receptors were observed during in vitro proliferation of four of five cell lines examined. A significant decrease (P less than 0.001) in specific binding was observed 48 h after cultures were established. Cell cycle analysis suggested that within the first 24 h and in the very late log and stationary phase of growth of ACHN (human renal carcinoma) cells, variations in the binding of 125 I-labeled IFN-beta ser were partially attributable to binding fluctuations during the mitotic cycle. The 2- to 3-fold decline 24 h following plating of ACHN cells corresponded to a 70% decrease in the number of cells in G0-G1. T24 (human transitional cell carcinoma) and ACHN cells, synchronized by serum starvation, demonstrated increased binding of 125 I-labeled IFN-beta ser 4-16 h following serum replenishment. This increase in receptor binding occurred prior to the onset of DNA and protein synthesis and was followed by a decline immediately prior to cell division. Binding site analysis indicated that the increased binding prior to DNA synthesis was due to a 5- to 6-fold increase in receptor affinity for the radiolabeled ligand

  14. Expression profile of senescence-associated beta-galactosidase and activation of telomerase in human ovarian surface epithelial cells undergoing immortalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litaker, J R; Pan, J; Cheung, Y; Zhang, D K; Liu, Y; Wong, S C; Wan, T S; Tsao, S W

    1998-11-01

    Senescence is a specific physiological stage of cells characterized by long population doubling time. It accounts for the inability of normal somatic cells to undergo indefinite cell division. As the number of population doublings increase, cell cycle regulatory mechanisms come into play and signal cells to exit the cell cycle and become senescent. Senescence has been implicated in the aging process and may function as a tumor suppressor mechanism in human cells. The ability to measure the degree of cellular senescence is important in understanding the biological processes regulating cell aging and immortalization. Senescent cells exhibit an enzyme termed senescence-associated histochemical staining. Cells immortalized by viral oncogenes often enter a stage of crisis at the early phase of immortalization. The cells at crisis have a long population doubling time. Cells at the crisis stage resemble senescent cells and the expression of SA- beta-Gal may be used to monitor the process of immortalization. In this study the expression profile of SA-beta-Gal was examined in human ovarian surface epithelial cells (HOSE 6-3) undergoing immortalization by the human papilloma viral oncogene E6 and E7 (HPV E6 and E7). Our results showed a low percentage (12.0%) of HOSE 6-3 cells expressing SA-beta-Gal activity at the pre-crisis stage. The percentage of HOSE 6-3 cells expressing SA-beta-Gal activity was highest (39.2%) at the crisis stage. When HOSE 6-3 cells achieved immortalized status there was a sharp decrease in cells (1. 3%) expressing SA-beta-Gal activity. In addition, an inverse relationship between the expression of SA-beta-Gal activity and telomerase activity was noted in cells undergoing immortalization. The results confirm that the SA-beta-Gal enzyme is a good marker for monitoring the population of cells undergoing senescence at different stages of immortalization and that telomerase activation is a characteristic feature of post-crisis cells.

  15. Probing the N = Z Line via β Decay

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Markku Oinonen

    1999-01-01

    This contribution reports several beta-decay studies performed at ISOLDE On-Line Mass Separator at CERN recently for nuclei close to N = Z line. Beta decay of 58 Zn provides a possibility to compare Gamow-Teller strength extracted from complementary beta-decay studies and charge-exchange reactions. Measurement on beta-decay half-life of 70 Kr shows importance of experimental information in modeling the path of the astrophysical rp process. Decay of 71 Kr is an example of a mirror beta decay and extends the systematics of these particular decays towards highly deformed region close to A = 80

  16. Metabolite profiling of leek (Allium porrum L) cultivars by (1) H NMR and HPLC-MS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soininen, Tuula H; Jukarainen, Niko; Soininen, Pasi; Auriola, Seppo O K; Julkunen-Tiitto, Riitta; Oleszek, Wieslaw; Stochmal, Anna; Karjalainen, Reijo O; Vepsäläinen, Jouko J

    2014-01-01

    Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum) is consumed as a vegetable throughout the world. However, little is known about the metabolites of leek cultivars, especially those with potentially important beneficial properties for human health. We provide new information for the overall metabolite composition of several leek cultivars grown in Europe by using HPLC-MS and (1) H NMR. The use of a novel CTLS/NMR (constrained total-line-shape nuclear magnetic resonance) approach was found to be capable of reliable quantification, even with overlapping metabolite signals in the (1) H NMR of plant metabolites. Additionally, a new application for leek flavonoids was optimised for HPLC-MS. The total concentration of carbohydrates (glucose, fructose, kestose/nystose and sucrose) and nine amino acids varied by fourfold in leek juice from different cultivars, while the total concentrations of four organic acids were similar in all cultivars. All the quantified flavonols were kaempferol derivatives or quercetin derivatives and threefold differences in flavonol concentrations were detected between cultivars. In this study, various phytochemical profiles were determined for several leek cultivars by (1) H NMR spectroscopy with CTLS combined with HPLC-MS. The wide variation in bioactive compounds among commercial leek cultivars offers promising opportunities for breeders to raise the levels of important biochemical compounds in leek breeding lines, and also provides some objective measure for quality assurance for the leek industry. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  17. Complexity in pH-Dependent Ribozyme Kinetics: Dark pKa Shifts and Wavy Rate-pH Profiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frankel, Erica A; Bevilacqua, Philip C

    2018-02-06

    Charged bases occur in RNA enzymes, or ribozymes, where they play key roles in catalysis. Cationic bases donate protons and perform electrostatic catalysis, while anionic bases accept protons. We previously published simulations of rate-pH profiles for ribozymes in terms of species plots for the general acid and general base that have been useful for understanding how ribozymes respond to pH. In that study, we did not consider interaction between the general acid and general base or interaction with other species on the RNA. Since that report, diverse small ribozyme classes have been discovered, many of which have charged nucleobases or metal ions in the active site that can either directly interact and participate in catalysis or indirectly interact as "influencers". Herein, we simulate experimental rate-pH profiles in terms of species plots in which reverse protonated charged nucleobases interact. These analyses uncover two surprising features of pH-dependent enzyme kinetics. (1) Cooperativity between the general acid and general base enhances population of the functional forms of a ribozyme and manifests itself as hidden or "dark" pK a shifts, real pK a shifts that accelerate the reaction but are not readily observed by standard experimental approaches, and (2) influencers favorably shift the pK a s of proton-transferring nucleobases and manifest themselves as "wavy" rate-pH profiles. We identify parallels with the protein enzyme literature, including reverse protonation and wavelike behavior, while pointing out that RNA is more prone to reverse protonation. The complexities uncovered, which arise from simple pairwise interactions, should aid deconvolution of complex rate-pH profiles for RNA and protein enzymes and suggest veiled catalytic devices for promoting catalysis that can be tested by experiment and calculation.

  18. Production of beta-xylanase and beta-xylosidase by the extremely halophilic archaeon Halorhabdus utahensis

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wainø, M.; Ingvorsen, K.

    2003-01-01

    -xylosidase stabilities, approximately 55% and 83% of the initial beta-xylanase and beta-xylosidase activities, respectively, remained after 24 h incubation at 20% NaCl. The enzymes were also shown to be slightly thermophilic: P-xylanase activity exhibiting two optima at 55degrees and 70degreesC, while beta......The extremely halophilic archaeon, Halorhabdus utahensis, isolated from the Great Salt Lake, Utah, produced beta-xylanase and beta-xylosidase activities. Both enzymes were active over a broad NaCl range from near zero to 30% NaCl when tested with culture broth. A broad NaCl optimum was observed...... for beta-xylanase activity between 5% and 15% NaCl, while beta-xylosidase activity was highest at 5% NaCl. Almost half of the maximum activities remained at 27%-30% NaCl for both enzyme activities. When dialyzed culture supernatant and culture broth were employed for determination of beta-xylanase and beta...

  19. The extinction to the H2 line emission in the DR 21 outflow source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nadeau, D.; Riopel, M.; Geballe, T.R.

    1991-01-01

    The v = 1-0 S(1) and Q(3) lines of H2 have been measured in four regions of the DR 21 H2 line-emission source, in order to determine whether the observed morphology of the emission represents the distribution of the excited H2 or is modified by nonuniform extinction across the source. The measured lines originate from the same upper level, and their ratio is a direct measure of the reddening. The line ratios show that the extinction is quite uniform across the source and that there is no correlation between the intensity and the extinction. This result implies that the gap between the two lobes of emission is not due to increased extinction but rather is a region where there is little excited H2 gas. 13 refs

  20. OBSERVATIONS AND SIMULATIONS OF THE Na i D{sub 1} LINE PROFILES IN AN M-CLASS SOLAR FLARE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuridze, D.; Mathioudakis, M.; Jess, D. B.; Grant, S. D. T.; Kawate, T.; Keenan, F. P. [Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN (United Kingdom); Christian, D. J. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Northridge, CA 91330 (United States); Kowalski, A. F.; Allred, J. C. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 671, Greenbelt, MD 20771 (United States); Simões, P. J. A. [SUPA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ (United Kingdom)

    2016-12-01

    We study the temporal evolution of the Na i D{sub 1} line profiles in the M3.9 flare SOL2014-06-11T21:03 UT, using observations at high spectral resolution obtained with the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer instrument on the Dunn Solar Telescope combined with radiative hydrodynamic simulations. Our results show a significant increase in the intensities of the line core and wings during the flare. The analysis of the line profiles from the flare ribbons reveals that the Na i D{sub 1} line has a central reversal with excess emission in the blue wing (blue asymmetry). We combine RADYN and RH simulations to synthesize Na i D{sub 1} line profiles of the flaring atmosphere and find good agreement with the observations. Heating with a beam of electrons modifies the radiation field in the flaring atmosphere and excites electrons from the ground state 3s {sup 2}S to the first excited state 3p {sup 2}P, which in turn modifies the relative population of the two states. The change in temperature and the population density of the energy states make the sodium line profile revert from absorption into emission. Furthermore, the rapid changes in temperature break the pressure balance between the different layers of the lower atmosphere, generating upflow/downflow patterns. Analysis of the simulated spectra reveals that the asymmetries of the Na i D{sub 1} flare profile are produced by the velocity gradients in the lower solar atmosphere.

  1. Thermal stability of Trichoderma reesei C30 cellulase and Aspergillus niger. beta. -glucosidase after pH and chemical modification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Woodward, J.; Whaley, K.S.; Zachry, G.S.; Wohlpart, D.L.

    1981-01-01

    Treatment of Trichoderma reesei C30 cellulase at pH 10.0 for 1 h at room temperature increased its pH and thermal stability. Chemical modification of the free epsilon-amino groups of cellulase at pH 10.0 resulted in no further increase in stability. Such chemical modification, however, decreased the thermal stability of the cellulose-cellulase complex. On the contrary, the chemical modification of Aspergillus niger ..beta..-glucosidase with glutaraldehyde at pH 8.0 increased the thermal stability of this enzyme.

  2. On the formation of Mg II h and k lines in solar prominences

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Heinzel, Petr; Vial, J. C.; Anzer, U.

    2014-01-01

    Roč. 564, April (2014), A132/1-A132/10 ISSN 0004-6361 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP209/12/0906; GA ČR(CZ) GAP209/11/2463; GA ČR GA205/09/1705 Institutional support: RVO:67985815 Keywords : line: profiles * line: formation * Sun: filaments, prominences Subject RIV: BN - Astronomy, Celestial Mechanics, Astrophysics Impact factor: 4.378, year: 2014

  3. Effect of beta-adrenoceptor blockers on human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) potassium channels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dupuis, Delphine S; Klaerke, Dan A; Olesen, Søren-Peter

    2005-01-01

    Patients with congenital long QT syndrome may develop arrhythmias under conditions of increased sympathetic tone. We have addressed whether some of the beta-adrenoceptor blockers commonly used to prevent the development of these arrhythmias could per se block the cardiac HERG (Human Ether....... These data showed that HERG blockade by beta-adrenoceptor blockers occurred only at high micromolar concentrations, which are significantly above the recently established safe margin of 100 (Redfern et al., 2003).......-1H-inden-4-yl)oxy]-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]-2-butanol hydrochloride) blocked the HERG channel with similar affinity, whereas the beta1-receptor antagonists metoprolol and atenolol showed weak effects. Further, the four compounds blocked HERG channels expressed in a mammalian HEK293 cell line...

  4. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) promotes IL-2 mRNA expression through the up-regulation of NF-kappaB, AP-1 and NF-AT in EL4 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, S H; Yea, S S; Jeon, Y J; Yang, K H; Kaminski, N E

    1998-12-01

    Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) has been previously shown to modulate interleukin 2 (IL-2) secretion by activated T-cells. In the present studies, we determined that TGF-beta1 induced IL-2 mRNA expression in the murine T-cell line EL4, in the absence of other stimuli. IL-2 mRNA expression was significantly induced by TGF-beta1 (0.1-1 ng/ml) over a relatively narrow concentration range, which led to the induction of IL-2 secretion. Under identical condition, we examined the effect of TGF-beta1 on the activity of nuclear factor AT (NF-AT), nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB), activator protein-1 (AP-1) and octamer, all of which contribute to the regulation of IL-2 gene expression. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that TGF-beta1 markedly increased NF-AT, NF-kappaB and AP-1 binding to their respective cognate DNA binding sites, whereas octamer binding remained constant, as compared with untreated cells. Employing a reporter gene expression system with p(NF-kappaB)3-CAT, p(NF-AT)3-CAT and p(AP-1)3-CAT, TGF-beta1 treatment of transfected EL4 cells induced a dose-related increase in chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity that correlated well with the DNA binding profile found in the electrophoretic mobility shift assay studies. These results show that TGF-beta1, in the absence of any additional stimuli, up-regulates the activity of key transcription factors involved in IL-2 gene expression, including NF-AT, NF-kappaB and AP-1, to help promote IL-2 mRNA expression by EL4 cells.

  5. Optimized formation of detergent micelles of beta-carotene and retinal production using recombinant human beta,beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Nam-Hee; Kim, Yeong-Su; Kim, Hye-Jung; Oh, Deok-Kun

    2008-01-01

    The formation of beta-carotene detergent micelles and their conversion into retinal by recombinant human beta,beta-carotene 15,15'-monooxygenase was optimized under aqueous conditions. Toluene was the most hydrophobic among the organic solvents tested; thus, it was used to dissolve beta-carotene, which is a hydrophobic compound. Tween 80 was selected as the detergent because it supported the highest level of retinal production among all of the detergents tested. The maximum production of retinal was achieved in detergent micelles containing 200 mg/L of beta-carotene and 2.4% (w/v) Tween 80. Under these conditions, the recombinant enzyme produced 97 mg/L of retinal after 16 h with a conversion yield of 48.5% (w/w). The amount of retinal produced, which is the highest ever reported, is a result of the ability of our system to dissolve large amounts of beta-carotene.

  6. Investigation of MHD instabilities and control in KSTAR preparing for high beta operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Y.S.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Bialek, J.M.; Berkery, J.W.; Lee, S.G.; Ko, W.H.; Bak, J.G.; Jeon, Y.M.; Kim, J.; Hahn, S.H.; Yoon, S.W.; Lee, K.D.; You, K.-I.; Bae, Y.S.; Oh, Y.K.; Park, J.K.; Ahn, J.-W.; Choi, M.J.; Yun, G.S.; Park, H.K.

    2013-01-01

    Initial H-mode operation of the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) is expanded to higher normalized beta and lower plasma internal inductance moving towards design target operation. As a key supporting device for ITER, an important goal for KSTAR is to produce physics understanding of MHD instabilities at long pulse with steady-state profiles, at high normalized beta, and over a wide range of plasma rotation profiles. An advance from initial plasma operation is a significant increase in plasma stored energy and normalized beta, with W tot = 340 kJ, β N = 1.9, which is 75% of the level required to reach the computed ideal n = 1 no-wall stability limit. The internal inductance was lowered to 0.9 at sustained H-mode duration up to 5 s. In ohmically heated plasmas, the plasma current reached 1 MA with prolonged pulse length up to 12 s. Rotating MHD modes are observed in the device with perturbations having tearing rather than ideal parity. Modes with m/n = 3/2 are triggered during the H-mode phase but are relatively weak and do not substantially reduce W tot . In contrast, 2/1 modes to date only appear when the plasma rotation profiles are lowered after H–L back-transition. Subsequent 2/1 mode locking creates a repetitive collapse of β N by more than 50%. Onset behaviour suggests the 3/2 mode is close to being neoclassically unstable. A correlation between the 2/1 mode amplitude and local rotation shear from an x-ray imaging crystal spectrometer suggests that the rotation shear at the mode rational surface is stabilizing. As a method to access the ITER-relevant low plasma rotation regime, plasma rotation alteration by n = 1, 2 applied fields and associated neoclassical toroidal viscosity (NTV) induced torque is presently investigated. The net rotation profile change measured by a charge exchange recombination diagnostic with proper compensation of plasma boundary movement shows initial evidence of non-resonant rotation damping by the n = 1, 2

  7. Calculated Resonance Line Profiles of [Mg II], [C II], and [Si IV] in the Solar Atmosphere

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avrett, E.; Landi, E.; McKillop, S.

    2013-12-01

    NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space mission, launched 2013 June 27, is intended to study the structure of the solar chromosphere and the transition region between the chromosphere and corona. The spectral lines to be observed include the Mg II k line at 2796.5 Å, the C II 1334.5 Å line, and the Si IV line at 1393.8 Å, which are formed in the middle chromosphere, the upper chromosphere, and the lower transition region, respectively. Here we calculate the profiles of these lines from four models of the solar atmosphere, intended to represent the faint and mean internetwork, a network lane, and bright network. We show how the profiles change from the center of the solar disk toward the limb of the Sun and in response to outflows and inflows. These results are intended to cover the range of expected quiet-Sun observations and assist in their interpretation. We expect that the observations will lead to improvements in the models, which can then be used to estimate the required non-radiative heating in the different regions.

  8. Calculated resonance line profiles of [Mg II], [C II], and [Si IV] in the solar atmosphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avrett, E.; McKillop, S.; Landi, E.

    2013-01-01

    NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph space mission, launched 2013 June 27, is intended to study the structure of the solar chromosphere and the transition region between the chromosphere and corona. The spectral lines to be observed include the Mg II k line at 2796.5 Å, the C II 1334.5 Å line, and the Si IV line at 1393.8 Å, which are formed in the middle chromosphere, the upper chromosphere, and the lower transition region, respectively. Here we calculate the profiles of these lines from four models of the solar atmosphere, intended to represent the faint and mean internetwork, a network lane, and bright network. We show how the profiles change from the center of the solar disk toward the limb of the Sun and in response to outflows and inflows. These results are intended to cover the range of expected quiet-Sun observations and assist in their interpretation. We expect that the observations will lead to improvements in the models, which can then be used to estimate the required non-radiative heating in the different regions.

  9. Radioimmunoassay of human. beta. -lipotropin in unextracted plasma. [/sup 125/I tracer technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wiedemann, E. (Univ. of California, Berkeley); Saito, T.; Linfoot, J.A.; Li, C.H.

    1977-11-01

    A sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay for human ..beta..-lipotropin (..beta../sub h/-LPH) in unextracted plasma was developed using pure ..beta../sub h/-LPH as tracer and standard and an antiserum not cross-reacting with human ..beta..-MSH and hACTH. In healthy volunteers plasma ..beta../sub h/-LPH ranged from <20 to 150 pg/ml at 8:00 a.m. and rose after metyrapone administration. ..beta../sub h/-LPH was very low in panhypopituitarism, normal in most patients with untreated Cushing's disease, elevated in acromegaly and extremely high in Nelson's syndrome.

  10. [H-3]dihydroalprenolol binding to beta adrenergic receptors in multiple sclerosis brain

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zeinstra, E; Wilczak, N; De Keyser, J

    2000-01-01

    By using immunocytochemistry we previously reported the absence of beta(2) adrenergic receptors on astrocytes in multiple sclerosis (MS) white matter. Here, we measured beta(1) and beta(2) adrenergic receptor concentrations in postmortem brain sections of six MS patients and six controls by using

  11. Role of leucine in isoprenoid metabolism. Incorporation of (3-/sup 13/C)leucine and of (2-/sup 3/H,4-/sup 14/C)-. beta. ,. beta. -dimethyl-acrylic acid into phytosterols by tissue cultures of Andrographis paniculata

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anastasis, P; Freer, I; Overton, K; Rycroft, D; Singh, S B [Glasgow Univ. (UK). Dept. of Chemistry

    1985-02-01

    (3-/sup 13/C)Leucine is incorporated into phytosterols by tissue cultures of Andrographis paniculata by breakdown to acetyl-CoA and its subsequent incorporation via (3S)-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) and mevalonic acid; (2-/sup 3/H,4-/sup 14/C)-..beta..,..beta..-dimethylacrylic acid also is not incorporated intact.

  12. Modification of K-line emission profiles in laser-created solid-density plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sengebusch, A.; Reinholz, H.; Roepke, G.

    2010-01-01

    Complete text of publication follows. X-ray emissions in the keV energy range have shown to be suitable radiation to investigate the properties of laser-created solid-density plasmas. We use the modifications of inner shell transitions due to the environment to characterize these plasmas. A theoretical treatment of spectral line profiles based on a self-consistent ion sphere model is applied on moderately ionized mid-Z materials, such as titanium, silicon and chlorine. We observe large contributions of satellite transitions due to M-shell ionization and excitation. To determine the composition a mixture of various excited and ionized ionic states embedded in a plasma has to be considered. Plasma polarization effects that cause shifts of the emission and ionization energies are taken into account. K-line profiles are calculated for bulk temperatures up to 100 eV and free electron densities up to 10 24 cm -3 in order to analyze recent measurements with respect to the plasma parameters of electron heated target regions. Moreover, in high-intensity laser-matter interactions, inevitable prepulses are likely to create preplasma and shocks within the target before the main pulse arrives. We investigate the influence of density gradients due to prepulses on the spectral profiles. Further, radial bulk temperature distributions as well the composition of the created warm dense matter are inferred.

  13. Addendum report of the JHPS expert committee on radiation protection of the lens of the eye (2). When and how should the dosimetry of beta H_p(3) be made?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akahane, Keiichi; Tatsuzaki, Hideo; Iimoto, Takeshi; Ichiji, Takeshi; Hamada, Nobuyuki; Iwai, Satoshi; Ohguchi, Hiroyuki; Ohno, Kazuko; Kawaura, Chiyo; Kurosawa, Tadahiro; Tsujimura, Norio; Hayashida, Toshiyuki; Hotta, Yutaka; Yamasaki, Tadashi; Yokoyama, Sumi

    2015-01-01

    In a mixed field of photon and beta radiations, the same dose assigned to skin is normally assigned to the dose to the lens of the eye as a conservative estimate of H_p(3). In exceptional cases where a very high beta dose might be imparted of the same order with the dose limit, however, the conservatively biased dose must be too limiting, and thereby an accurate estimate of beta H_p(3) is desirable. This addendum report of the Japan Health Physics Society Expert Committee on Radiation Protection of the Lens of the Eye presents a practical proposal of when and how the dosimetry of beta H_p(3) should be made. (author)

  14. Buffer salt effects in off-line coupling of capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marák, Jozef; Stanová, Andrea

    2014-05-01

    In this work, the impact of buffer salts/matrix effects on the signal in direct injection MS with an electrospray interface (DI-ESI-MS) following pITP fractionation of the sample was studied. A range of buffers frequently used in CE analyses (pH 3-10) was prepared containing 10, 50, and 90% v/v of ACN, respectively. The sets of calibration solutions of cetirizine (an antihistaminic drug with an amphiprotic character) within a 0.05-2.0 mg/L concentration range were prepared in different buffers. The greatest enhancements in the MS signal (in terms of change in the slope of the calibration line) were obtained for the beta-alanine buffer (pH 3.5) in positive ionization and for the borate buffer (pH 9.2) in negative ionization, respectively. The procedure was successfully applied to the analysis of buserelin (a peptidic drug). The slope of the calibration line for solutions containing the beta-alanine buffer with 50% of ACN was 4 times higher than for water or urine, respectively. This study clearly demonstrates that the buffer salt/matrix effects in an offline combination of pITP and DI-ESI-MS can also play a positive role, as they can enhance the signal in MS. A similar influence of the above effects can also be presumed in the CE techniques combined on-line with ESI-MS.

  15. A VIRTUAL SKY WITH EXTRAGALACTIC H I AND CO LINES FOR THE SQUARE KILOMETRE ARRAY AND THE ATACAMA LARGE MILLIMETER/SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obreschkow, D.; Kloeckner, H.-R.; Heywood, I.; Rawlings, S.; Levrier, F.

    2009-01-01

    We present a sky simulation of the atomic H I-emission line and the first 10 12 C 16 O rotational emission lines of molecular gas in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. The simulated sky field has a comoving diameter of 500 h -1 Mpc; hence, the actual field of view depends on the (user-defined) maximal redshift z max ; e.g., for z max = 10, the field of view yields ∼4 x 4 deg 2 . For all galaxies, we estimate the line fluxes, line profiles, and angular sizes of the H I and CO-emission lines. The galaxy sample is complete for galaxies with cold hydrogen masses above 10 8 M sun . This sky simulation builds on a semi-analytic model of the cosmic evolution of galaxies in a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. The evolving CDM distribution was adopted from the Millennium Simulation, an N-body CDM simulation in a cubic box with a side length of 500 h -1 Mpc. This side length limits the coherence scale of our sky simulation: it is long enough to allow the extraction of the baryon acoustic oscillations in the galaxy power spectrum, yet the position and amplitude of the first acoustic peak will be imperfectly defined. This sky simulation is a tangible aid to the design and operation of future telescopes, such as the Square Kilometre Array, Large Millimeter Telescope, and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array. The results presented in this paper have been restricted to a graphical representation of the simulated sky and fundamental dN/dz analyses for peak flux density limited and total flux limited surveys of H I and CO. A key prediction is that H I will be harder to detect at redshifts z ∼> 2 than predicted by a no-evolution model. The future verification or falsification of this prediction will allow us to qualify the semi-analytic models.

  16. Preparation of [3beta-3H] labeled bile acids and bile alcohols

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dayal, B.; Baga, E.; Tint, G.S.; Shefer, S.; Salen, G.

    1979-01-01

    [3beta-3H]-bile acids and bile alcohols may be useful for metabolic studies in man and animals because the 3-position is invulnerable to bacterial attack. A number of tritium labeled bile acids and bile alcohols were prepared by selective oxidation of the hydroxyl group at carbon-3 followed by reduction with NaBT4. In each case, the bile acids and bile alcohols epimeric at carbon-3 were resolved by analytical and preparative thin-layer chromatography and characterized by gas liquid chromatography. The average yield was 60 to 65% and specific activities of the final products were in the range of 7.4 x 10 7 dpm/mg

  17. Observation of ESR spin flip satellite lines of trapped hydrogen atoms in solid H2 at 4.2 K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazaki, Tetsuo; Iwata, Nobuchika; Fueki, Kenji; Hase, Hirotomo

    1990-01-01

    ESR spectra of H atoms, produced in γ-irradiated solid H 2 , were studied at 4.2 K. Two main lines of the ESR spectra of H atoms that are separated by about 500 G accompanied two weak satellite lines. Both satellite lines and main lines decrease with the same decay rate. In the D 2 -H 2 mixtures, the satellite-line intensity depends upon the number of matrix protons. The spacing of the satellites from the main lines is equal to that of the NMR proton resonance frequency. It was concluded that the satellite lines were not ascribable to paired atoms but to spin flip lines due to an interaction of H atoms with matrix protons. The analysis of the spin flip lines and the main lines suggests that H atoms in solid H 2 are trapped in the substitutional site

  18. The profiles of Fe K α line from the inhomogeneous accretion flow

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Xiao-Di; Ma, Ren-Yi; Li, Ya-Ping; Zhang, Hui; Fang, Tao-Tao

    2018-05-01

    The clumpy disc, or inhomogeneous accretion flow, has been proposed to explain the properties of accreting black hole systems. However, the observational evidence remains to be explored. In this work, we calculate the profiles of Fe K α lines emitted from the inhomogeneous accretion flow through the ray-tracing technique, in order to find possible observable signals of the clumps. Compared with the skewed double-peaked profile of the continuous standard accretion disc, the lines show a multipeak structure when the emissivity index is not very steep. The peaks and wings are affected by the position and size of the cold clumps. When the clump is small and is located in the innermost region, due to the significant gravitational redshift, the blue wing can overlap with the red wing of the outer cold disc/clump, forming a fake peak or greatly enhancing the red peak. Given high enough resolution, it is easier to constrain the clumps around the supermassive black holes than the clumps in stellar mass black holes due to the thermal Doppler effect.

  19. An ultrafast line-by-line algorithm for calculating spectral transmittance and radiance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, X.

    2013-01-01

    An ultrafast line-by-line algorithm for calculating spectral transmittance and radiance of gases is presented. The algorithm is based on fast convolution of the Voigt line profile using Fourier transform and a binning technique. The algorithm breaks a radiative transfer calculation into two steps: a one-time pre-computation step in which a set of pressure independent coefficients are computed using the spectral line information; a normal calculation step in which the Fourier transform coefficients of the optical depth are calculated using the line of sight information and the coefficients pre-computed in the first step, the optical depth is then calculated using an inverse Fourier transform and the spectral transmittance and radiance are calculated. The algorithm is significantly faster than line-by-line algorithms that do not employ special speedup techniques by a factor of 10 3 –10 6 . A case study of the 2.7 μm band of H 2 O vapor is presented. -- Highlights: •An ultrafast line-by-line model based on FFT and a binning technique is presented. •Computationally expensive calculations are factored out into a pre-computation step. •It is 10 3 –10 8 times faster than LBL algorithms that do not employ speedup techniques. •Good agreement with experimental data for the 2.7 μm band of H 2 O

  20. Density profile analysis during an ELM event in ASDEX Upgrade H-modes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nunes, I.; Manso, M.; Serra, F.; Horton, L.D.; Conway, G.D.; Loarte, A.

    2005-01-01

    This paper reports results on measurements of the density profiles. Here we analyse the behaviour of the electron density for a set of experiments in type I ELMy H-mode discharges in ASDEX Upgrade where the plasma current, plasma density, triangularity and input power were varied. Detailed measurements of the radial extent of the perturbation on the density profiles caused by the edge localized mode (ELM) crash (ELM affected depth), the velocity of the radial propagation of the perturbation as well as the width and gradient of the density pedestal are determined. The effect of a type I ELM event on the density profiles affects the outermost 20-40% of the plasma minor radius. At the scrape-off layer (SOL) the density profile broadens while in the pedestal region the density decreases resulting in a smaller density gradient. This change in the density profile defines a pivot point around which the density profile changes. The average radial velocity at the SOL is in the range 125-150 ms -1 and approximately constant for all the density layers far from the pivot point. The width of the density pedestal is approximately constant for all the ELMy H-mode discharges analysed, with values between 2 and 3.5 cm. These results are then compared with an analytical model where the width of the density is predominantly set by ionization (neutral penetration model). The width of the density profiles for L-mode discharges is included, since L- and H-mode have different particle transport. No agreement between the experimental results and the model is found

  1. Identification of a 170-kDa protein associated with the vacuolar Na+/H+ antiport of Beta vulgaris.

    OpenAIRE

    Barkla, B J; Blumwald, E

    1991-01-01

    The effect of the addition of amiloride to the growth medium was tested on the Na+/H+ antiport activity of tonoplast vesicles isolated from sugar beet (beta vulgaris L.) cell suspensions. Cells grown in the presence of NaCl and amiloride displayed an increased antiport activity. Analysis of the kinetic data showed that while the affinity of the antiport for Na+ ions did not change, the maximal velocity of the Na+/H+ exchange increased markedly. These results suggest the addition of more antip...

  2. Morphology of the bipolar planetary nebula NGC 2346 from emission line profile studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Anandarao, B G; Banerjee, D P.K.; Desai, J N; Jain, S K; Mallik, D C.V.

    1988-11-01

    High resolution observations of H..cap alpha.. 6563 A, (O III) 5007 A and (N II) 6583 A emission lines in the bipolar planetary nebula NGC 2346 are presented. Expansion velocities (V/sub exp/) of 8 +- 1 km s/sup -1/ in the :O III: line and 11 +- 1 km s/sup -1/ in the :N II: line are observed in the central region. An expansion velocity of 7.5 +- 1.0 km s/sup -1/ in the (O III) line is observed in a position 10 arcsec away from the centre, in the NE lobe of the nebula. From the widths of the H..cap alpha.. and (N II) lines, an ion temperature of T=10 650 +- 2950 K and a turbulent velocity V/sub T/ = 16 +- 2 km s/sup -1/ are derived. Using the detailed radial velocity mapping done by a previous author, a morphological model for the nebula is presented.

  3. Non-Maxwellian Analysis of the Transition-region Line Profiles Observed by the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudík, Jaroslav; Dzifčáková, Elena [Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Fričova 298, 251 65 Ondřejov (Czech Republic); Polito, Vanessa; Testa, Paola [Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 60 Garden Street, MS 58, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Zanna, Giulio Del, E-mail: dudik@asu.cas.cz [Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, CMS, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA (United Kingdom)

    2017-06-10

    We investigate the nature of the spectral line profiles for transition-region (TR) ions observed with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) . In this context, we analyzed an active-region observation performed by IRIS in its 1400 Å spectral window. The TR lines are found to exhibit significant wings in their spectral profiles, which can be well fitted with a non-Maxwellian κ distribution. The fit with a κ distribution can perform better than a double-Gaussian fit, especially for the strongest line, Si iv 1402.8 Å. Typical values of κ found are about 2, occurring in a majority of spatial pixels where the TR lines are symmetric, i.e., the fit can be performed. Furthermore, all five spectral lines studied (from Si iv, O iv, and S iv) appear to have the same full-width at half-maximum irrespective of whether the line is an allowed or an intercombination transition. A similar value of κ is obtained for the electron distribution by the fitting of the line intensities relative to Si iv 1402.8 Å, if photospheric abundances are assumed. The κ distributions, however, do not remove the presence of non-thermal broadening. Instead, they actually increase the non-thermal width. This is because, for κ distributions, TR ions are formed at lower temperatures. The large observed non-thermal width lowers the opacity of the Si iv line sufficiently enough for this line to become optically thin.

  4. 4beta-Hydroxywithanolide E from Physalis peruviana (golden berry) inhibits growth of human lung cancer cells through DNA damage, apoptosis and G2/M arrest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yen, Ching-Yu; Chiu, Chien-Chih; Chang, Fang-Rong; Chen, Jeff Yi-Fu; Hwang, Chi-Ching; Hseu, You-Cheng; Yang, Hsin-Ling; Lee, Alan Yueh-Luen; Tsai, Ming-Tz; Guo, Zong-Lun; Cheng, Yu-Shan; Liu, Yin-Chang; Lan, Yu-Hsuan; Chang, Yu-Ching; Ko, Ying-Chin; Chang, Hsueh-Wei; Wu, Yang-Chang

    2010-02-18

    The crude extract of the fruit bearing plant, Physalis peruviana (golden berry), demonstrated anti-hepatoma and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the cellular mechanism involved in this process is still unknown. Herein, we isolated the main pure compound, 4beta-Hydroxywithanolide (4betaHWE) derived from golden berries, and investigated its antiproliferative effect on a human lung cancer cell line (H1299) using survival, cell cycle, and apoptosis analyses. An alkaline comet-nuclear extract (NE) assay was used to evaluate the DNA damage due to the drug. It was shown that DNA damage was significantly induced by 1, 5, and 10 microg/mL 4betaHWE for 2 h in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.005). A trypan blue exclusion assay showed that the proliferation of cells was inhibited by 4betaHWE in both dose- and time-dependent manners (p < 0.05 and 0.001 for 24 and 48 h, respectively). The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 4betaHWE in H1299 cells for 24 and 48 h were 0.6 and 0.71 microg/mL, respectively, suggesting it could be a potential therapeutic agent against lung cancer. In a flow cytometric analysis, 4betaHWE produced cell cycle perturbation in the form of sub-G1 accumulation and slight arrest at the G2/M phase with 1 microg/mL for 12 and 24 h, respectively. Using flow cytometric and annexin V/propidium iodide immunofluorescence double-staining techniques, these phenomena were proven to be apoptosis and complete G2/M arrest for H1299 cells treated with 5 microg/mL for 24 h. In this study, we demonstrated that golden berry-derived 4betaHWE is a potential DNA-damaging and chemotherapeutic agent against lung cancer.

  5. Capability to Recover Plutonium-238 in H-Canyon/HB-Line - 13248

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fuller, Kenneth S. Jr.; Smith, Robert H. Jr.; Goergen, Charles R. [Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC 29802 (United States)

    2013-07-01

    Plutonium-238 is used in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) to generate electrical power and in Radioisotope Heater Units (RHUs) to produce heat for electronics and environmental control for deep space missions. The domestic supply of Pu-238 consists of scrap material from previous mission production or material purchased from Russia. Currently, the United States has no significant production scale operational capability to produce and separate new Pu-238 from irradiated neptunium-237 targets. The Department of Energy - Nuclear Energy is currently evaluating and developing plans to reconstitute the United States capability to produce Pu-238 from irradiated Np-237 targets. The Savannah River Site had previously produced and/or processed all the Pu-238 utilized in Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) for deep space missions up to and including the majority of the plutonium for the Cassini Mission. The previous full production cycle capabilities included: Np- 237 target fabrication, target irradiation, target dissolution and Np-237 and Pu-238 separation and purification, conversion of Np-237 and Pu-238 to oxide, scrap recovery, and Pu-238 encapsulation. The capability and equipment still exist and could be revitalized or put back into service to recover and purify Pu-238/Np-237 or broken General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) pellets utilizing existing process equipment in HB-Line Scrap Recovery, and H-Canyon Frame Waste Recovery processes. The conversion of Np-237 and Pu-238 to oxide can be performed in the existing HB-Line Phase-2 and Phase- 3 Processes. Dissolution of irradiated Np-237 target material, and separation and purification of Np-237 and Pu-238 product streams would be possible at production rates of ∼2 kg/month of Pu-238 if the existing H-Canyon Frames Process spare equipment were re-installed. Previously, the primary H-Canyon Frames equipment was removed to be replaced: however, the replacement project was stopped. The spare equipment

  6. Microbial Community Profile of a Lead Service Line Removed from a Drinking Water Distribution System▿

    Science.gov (United States)

    White, Colin; Tancos, Matthew; Lytle, Darren A.

    2011-01-01

    A corroded lead service line was removed from a drinking water distribution system, and the microbial community was profiled using 16S rRNA gene techniques. This is the first report of the characterization of a biofilm on the surface of a corroded lead drinking water service line. The majority of phylotypes have been linked to heavy-metal-contaminated environments. PMID:21652741

  7. MicroRNA-320a suppresses human colon cancer cell proliferation by directly targeting {beta}-catenin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Jian-Yong [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Huang, Yi [Department of Anesthesiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Li, Ji-Peng [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Zhang, Xiang; Wang, Lei [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Meng, Yan-Ling [Department of Immunology, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Yan, Bo [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Bian, Yong-Qian [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Zhao, Jing [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); Wang, Wei-Zhong, E-mail: weichang@fmmu.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Fourth Military Medical University, 710032 Xi' an (China); and others

    2012-04-20

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer miR-320a is downregulated in human colorectal carcinoma. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Overexpression of miR-320a inhibits colon cancer cell proliferation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer {beta}-Catenin is a direct target of miR-320a in colon cancer cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer miR-320a expression inversely correlates with mRNA expression of {beta}-catenin's target genes in human colon carcinoma. -- Abstract: Recent profile studies of microRNA (miRNA) expression have documented a deregulation of miRNA (miR-320a) in human colorectal carcinoma. However, its expression pattern and underlying mechanisms in the development and progression of colorectal carcinoma has not been elucidated clearly. Here, we performed real-time PCR to examine the expression levels of miR-320a in colon cancer cell lines and tumor tissues. And then, we investigated its biological functions in colon cancer cells by a gain of functional strategy. Further more, by the combinational approaches of bioinformatics and experimental validation, we confirmed target associations of miR-320a in colorectal carcinoma. Our results showed that miR-320a was frequently downregulated in cancer cell lines and colon cancer tissues. And we demonstrated that miR-320a restoration inhibited colon cancer cell proliferation and {beta}-catenin, a functionally oncogenic molecule was a direct target gene of miR-320a. Finally, the data of real-time PCR showed the reciprocal relationship between miR-320a and {beta}-catenin's downstream genes in colon cancer tissues. These findings indicate that miR-320a suppresses the growth of colon cancer cells by directly targeting {beta}-catenin, suggesting its application in prognosis prediction and cancer treatment.

  8. Comprehensive expression profiling of tumor cell lines identifies molecular signatures of melanoma progression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byungwoo Ryu

    2007-07-01

    Full Text Available Gene expression profiling has revolutionized our ability to molecularly classify primary human tumors and significantly enhanced the development of novel tumor markers and therapies; however, progress in the diagnosis and treatment of melanoma over the past 3 decades has been limited, and there is currently no approved therapy that significantly extends lifespan in patients with advanced disease. Profiling studies of melanoma to date have been inconsistent due to the heterogeneous nature of this malignancy and the limited availability of informative tissue specimens from early stages of disease.In order to gain an improved understanding of the molecular basis of melanoma progression, we have compared gene expression profiles from a series of melanoma cell lines representing discrete stages of malignant progression that recapitulate critical characteristics of the primary lesions from which they were derived. Here we describe the unsupervised hierarchical clustering of profiling data from melanoma cell lines and melanocytes. This clustering identifies two distinctive molecular subclasses of melanoma segregating aggressive metastatic tumor cell lines from less-aggressive primary tumor cell lines. Further analysis of expression signatures associated with melanoma progression using functional annotations categorized these transcripts into three classes of genes: 1 Upregulation of activators of cell cycle progression, DNA replication and repair (CDCA2, NCAPH, NCAPG, NCAPG2, PBK, NUSAP1, BIRC5, ESCO2, HELLS, MELK, GINS1, GINS4, RAD54L, TYMS, and DHFR, 2 Loss of genes associated with cellular adhesion and melanocyte differentiation (CDH3, CDH1, c-KIT, PAX3, CITED1/MSG-1, TYR, MELANA, MC1R, and OCA2, 3 Upregulation of genes associated with resistance to apoptosis (BIRC5/survivin. While these broad classes of transcripts have previously been implicated in the progression of melanoma and other malignancies, the specific genes identified within each class

  9. BLACK HOLE MASS ESTIMATES BASED ON C IV ARE CONSISTENT WITH THOSE BASED ON THE BALMER LINES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Assef, R. J.; Denney, K. D.; Kochanek, C. S.; Peterson, B. M.; Kozlowski, S.; Dietrich, M.; Grier, C. J.; Khan, R. [Department of Astronomy, The Ohio State University, 140 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210 (United States); Ageorges, N.; Buschkamp, P.; Gemperlein, H.; Hofmann, R. [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik, Giessenbachstr., D-85748 Garching (Germany); Barrows, R. S. [Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701 (United States); Falco, E.; Kilic, M. [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States); Feiz, C.; Germeroth, A. [Landessternwarte, ZAH, Koenigstuhl 12, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); Juette, M.; Knierim, V. [Astron. Institut der Ruhr Univ. Bochum, Universitaetsstr. 150, D-44780 Bochum (Germany); Laun, W., E-mail: rjassef@astronomy.ohio-state.edu [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany); and others

    2011-12-01

    Using a sample of high-redshift lensed quasars from the CASTLES project with observed-frame ultraviolet or optical and near-infrared spectra, we have searched for possible biases between supermassive black hole (BH) mass estimates based on the C IV, H{alpha}, and H{beta} broad emission lines. Our sample is based upon that of Greene, Peng, and Ludwig, expanded with new near-IR spectroscopic observations, consistently analyzed high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) optical spectra, and consistent continuum luminosity estimates at 5100 A. We find that BH mass estimates based on the full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of C IV show a systematic offset with respect to those obtained from the line dispersion, {sigma}{sub l}, of the same emission line, but not with those obtained from the FWHM of H{alpha} and H{beta}. The magnitude of the offset depends on the treatment of the He II and Fe II emission blended with C IV, but there is little scatter for any fixed measurement prescription. While we otherwise find no systematic offsets between C IV and Balmer line mass estimates, we do find that the residuals between them are strongly correlated with the ratio of the UV and optical continuum luminosities. This means that much of the dispersion in previous comparisons of C IV and H{beta} BH mass estimates are due to the continuum luminosities rather than to any properties of the lines. Removing this dependency reduces the scatter between the UV- and optical-based BH mass estimates by a factor of approximately two, from roughly 0.35 to 0.18 dex. The dispersion is smallest when comparing the C IV {sigma}{sub l} mass estimate, after removing the offset from the FWHM estimates, and either Balmer line mass estimate. The correlation with the continuum slope is likely due to a combination of reddening, host contamination, and object-dependent SED shapes. When we add additional heterogeneous measurements from the literature, the results are unchanged. Moreover, in a trial observation of a

  10. Steroids from the leaves of Chinese Melia azedarach and their cytotoxic effects on human cancer cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Shi-Biao; Ji, Yan-Ping; Zhu, Jing-Jing; Zhao, Yun; Xia, Gang; Hu, Ying-He; Hu, Jin-Feng

    2009-09-01

    Three new (1-3) and several known (4-6) steroids were isolated from the leaves of Chinese Melia azedarach. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic methods including 2D NMR techniques and mass spectrometry to be (20S)-5,24(28)-ergostadiene-3beta,7alpha,16beta,20-tetrol (1), (20S)-5-ergostene-3beta,7alpha,16beta,20-tetrol (2), and 2alpha,3beta-dihydro-5-pregnen-16-one (3). The cytotoxicities of the isolated compounds against three human cancer cell lines (A549, H460, U251) were evaluated; only compounds 1, 2, and (20S)-5-stigmastene-3beta,7alpha,20-triol (4) were found to show significant cyctotoxic effects with IC(50)s from 12.0 to 30.1 microg/mL.

  11. Spectroscopic measurements of an H- ion source discharge

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keller, R.; Smith, H.V. Jr.

    1985-01-01

    Spectral emission lines from an H - Penning surface-plasma source (SPS), the 4X source, are examined in the visible and near ultraviolet. Electron distribution temperatures are deduced from integral line-strength measurements. These temperatures are surprisingly low, about 0.5 eV. Electron density values of about 1.5 x 10 14 cm -3 and H-atom energies between 2 and 2.6 eV are determined from the measured Balmer-line profiles. Assuming the H - energy is identical to the H-atom energy, an emittance limit of 0.006 π x cm x mrad is deduced for this source with a 5.4-mm aperture

  12. Off-Line High-pH Reversed-Phase Fractionation for In-Depth Phosphoproteomics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Batth, Tanveer S; Francavilla, Chiara; Olsen, Jesper V

    2014-01-01

    thousands of phosphorylation sites. However, in-depth phosphoproteomics often require off-line enrichment and fractionation techniques. In this study, we provide a detailed analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of phosphopeptides, which have been fractionated by off-line high-pH chromatography (Hp...... phosphorylated peptides over that with SCX. Further optimizations in the pooling and concatenation strategy increased the total number of multiphosphorylated peptides detected after HpH fractionation. In conclusion, we provide a basic framework and resource for performing in-depth phosphoproteome studies...

  13. Deuterium-tritium TFTR plasmas in the high poloidal beta regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabbagh, S.A.; Mauel, M.E.; Navratil, G.A.

    1995-03-01

    Deuterium-tritium plasmas with enhanced energy confinement and stability have been produced in the high poloidal beta, advanced tokamak regime in TFTR. Confinement enhancement H triple-bond τ E /τ E ITER-89P > 4 has been obtained in a limiter H-mode configuration at moderate plasma current I p = 0.85 - 1.46 MA. By peaking the plasma current profile, β N dia triple-bond 10 8 tperpendicular > aB 0 /I p = 3 has been obtained in these plasma,s exceeding the β N limit for TFTR plasmas with lower internal inductance, l i . Fusion power exceeding 6.7 MW with a fusion power gain Q DT = 0.22 has been produced with reduced alpha particle first orbit loss provided by the increased l i

  14. Human APC sequesters beta-catenin even in the absence of GSK-3beta in a Drosophila model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rao, P R; Makhijani, K; Shashidhara, L S

    2008-04-10

    There have been conflicting reports on the requirement of GSK-3beta-mediated phosphorylation of the tumor suppressor adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) vis-à-vis its ability to bind and degrade beta-catenin. Using a unique combination of loss of function for Shaggy/GSK-3beta and a gain of function for human APC in Drosophila, we show that misexpressed human APC (hAPC) can still sequester Armadillo/beta-catenin. In addition, human APC could suppress gain of Wnt/Wingless phenotypes associated with loss of Shaggy/GSK-3beta activity, suggesting that sequestered Armadillo/beta-catenin is non-functional. Based on these studies, we propose that binding per se of beta-catenin by APC does not require phosphorylation by GSK-3beta.

  15. The morphologies of breast cancer cell lines in three-dimensionalassays correlate with their profiles of gene expression

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kenny, Paraic A.; Lee, Genee Y.; Myers, Connie A.; Neve, RichardM.; Semeiks, Jeremy R.; Spellman, Paul T.; Lorenz, Katrin; Lee, Eva H.; Barcellos-Hoff, Mary Helen; Petersen, Ole W.; Gray, Joe W.; Bissell, MinaJ.

    2007-01-31

    3D cell cultures are rapidly becoming the method of choice for the physiologically relevant modeling of many aspects of non-malignant and malignant cell behavior ex vivo. Nevertheless, only a limited number of distinct cell types have been evaluated in this assay to date. Here we report the first large scale comparison of the transcriptional profiles and 3D cell culture phenotypes of a substantial panel of human breast cancer cell lines. Each cell line adopts a colony morphology of one of four main classes in 3D culture. These morphologies reflect, at least in part, the underlying gene expression profile and protein expression patterns of the cell lines, and distinct morphologies were also associated with tumor cell invasiveness and with cell lines originating from metastases. We further demonstrate that consistent differences in genes encoding signal transduction proteins emerge when even tumor cells are cultured in 3D microenvironments.

  16. The effect of pH profiles in methanogenic aggregates on the kinetics of acetate conversion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beer, de D.; Huisman, J.W.; Heuvel, van den J.C.; Ottengraf, S.P.P.

    1993-01-01

    Due to the conversion of acetic acid into the weaker carbonic acid and CH4, the pH inside methanogenic aggregates is higher than in the bulk liq. The pH profiles in aggregates were measured with pH microelectrodes. These profiles strongly det. the macro-kinetics of the aggregate, by their influence

  17. Axisymmetric stability of vertically asymmetric Tokamaks at large beta poloidal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamazaki, K.; Fishman, H.; Okabayashi, M. (Princeton Univ., NJ (USA). Plasma Physics Lab.); Todd, A.M.M. (Grumman Aerospace Corp., Princeton, NJ (USA))

    1983-11-01

    The rigid-mode stability of high-..beta.. vertically asymmetric Tokamak equilibria with quasi-uniform current profile is investigated analytically using toroidicity-shaping double expansion method. It is found that vertical stability at large beta poloidal is mainly determined by a coupling between the shape of the plasma surface and the Shafranov shift of the magnetic axis. To the lowest order, symmetric components of the plasma surface shape are found to be the critical destabilizing elements. Asymmetric components have little effect. The inclusion of higher order terms in the high-..beta.. Tokamak expansion leads to further destabilization. These analytic insights are qualitatively confirmed by numerical stability calculations using the PEST code with parabolic safety-factor profile.

  18. Recommendation of short tandem repeat profiling for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barallon, Rita; Bauer, Steven R; Butler, John; Capes-Davis, Amanda; Dirks, Wilhelm G; Elmore, Eugene; Furtado, Manohar; Kline, Margaret C; Kohara, Arihiro; Los, Georgyi V; MacLeod, Roderick A F; Masters, John R W; Nardone, Mark; Nardone, Roland M; Nims, Raymond W; Price, Paul J; Reid, Yvonne A; Shewale, Jaiprakash; Sykes, Gregory; Steuer, Anton F; Storts, Douglas R; Thomson, Jim; Taraporewala, Zenobia; Alston-Roberts, Christine; Kerrigan, Liz

    2010-10-01

    Cell misidentification and cross-contamination have plagued biomedical research for as long as cells have been employed as research tools. Examples of misidentified cell lines continue to surface to this day. Efforts to eradicate the problem by raising awareness of the issue and by asking scientists voluntarily to take appropriate actions have not been successful. Unambiguous cell authentication is an essential step in the scientific process and should be an inherent consideration during peer review of papers submitted for publication or during review of grants submitted for funding. In order to facilitate proper identity testing, accurate, reliable, inexpensive, and standardized methods for authentication of cells and cell lines must be made available. To this end, an international team of scientists is, at this time, preparing a consensus standard on the authentication of human cells using short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. This standard, which will be submitted for review and approval as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute, will provide investigators guidance on the use of STR profiling for authenticating human cell lines. Such guidance will include methodological detail on the preparation of the DNA sample, the appropriate numbers and types of loci to be evaluated, and the interpretation and quality control of the results. Associated with the standard itself will be the establishment and maintenance of a public STR profile database under the auspices of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The consensus standard is anticipated to be adopted by granting agencies and scientific journals as appropriate methodology for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues.

  19. Recommendation of short tandem repeat profiling for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barallon, Rita; Bauer, Steven R.; Butler, John; Capes-Davis, Amanda; Dirks, Wilhelm G.; Furtado, Manohar; Kline, Margaret C.; Kohara, Arihiro; Los, Georgyi V.; MacLeod, Roderick A. F.; Masters, John R. W.; Nardone, Mark; Nardone, Roland M.; Nims, Raymond W.; Price, Paul J.; Reid, Yvonne A.; Shewale, Jaiprakash; Sykes, Gregory; Steuer, Anton F.; Storts, Douglas R.; Thomson, Jim; Taraporewala, Zenobia; Alston-Roberts, Christine; Kerrigan, Liz

    2010-01-01

    Cell misidentification and cross-contamination have plagued biomedical research for as long as cells have been employed as research tools. Examples of misidentified cell lines continue to surface to this day. Efforts to eradicate the problem by raising awareness of the issue and by asking scientists voluntarily to take appropriate actions have not been successful. Unambiguous cell authentication is an essential step in the scientific process and should be an inherent consideration during peer review of papers submitted for publication or during review of grants submitted for funding. In order to facilitate proper identity testing, accurate, reliable, inexpensive, and standardized methods for authentication of cells and cell lines must be made available. To this end, an international team of scientists is, at this time, preparing a consensus standard on the authentication of human cells using short tandem repeat (STR) profiling. This standard, which will be submitted for review and approval as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute, will provide investigators guidance on the use of STR profiling for authenticating human cell lines. Such guidance will include methodological detail on the preparation of the DNA sample, the appropriate numbers and types of loci to be evaluated, and the interpretation and quality control of the results. Associated with the standard itself will be the establishment and maintenance of a public STR profile database under the auspices of the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The consensus standard is anticipated to be adopted by granting agencies and scientific journals as appropriate methodology for authenticating human cell lines, stem cells, and tissues. PMID:20614197

  20. Protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721: Identification and functional analysis

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yi Feng; Zhong-Min Tian; Ming-Xi Wan; Zhao-Bin Zheng

    2007-01-01

    AIM: To investigate the protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721, to analyze the specific functions of abundant expressed proteins in the processes of hepatocarcinoma genesis, growth and metastasis, to identify the hepatocarcinoma-specific biomarkers for the early prediction in diagnosis, and to explore the new drug targets for liver cancer therapy.METHODS: Total proteins from human hepatocarcinomacell line SMMC-7721 were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2DE). The silver-stained gel was analyzed by 2DE software Image Master 2D Elite.Interesting protein spots were identified by peptide mass fingerprinting based on matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS)and database searching.RESULTS: We obtained protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721. Among the twenty-one successfully identified proteins, mitofilin,endoplasmic reticulum protein ERp29, ubiquinol-cytochrome C reductase complex core protein Ⅰ,peroxisomal enoyl CoA hydratase, peroxiredoxin-4 and probable 3-oxoacid CoA transferase 1 precursor were the six novel proteins identified in human hepatocarcinoma cells or tissues. Specific functions of the identified heat-shock proteins were analyzed in detail, and the results suggested that these proteins might promote tumorigenesis via inhibiting cell death induced by several cancer-related stresses or via inhibiting apoptosis at multiple points in the apoptotic signal pathway. Other identified chaperones and cancer-related proteins were also analyzed.CONCLUSION: Based on the protein profile of SMMC-7721 cells, functional analysis suggests that the identified chaperones and cancer-related proteins have their own pathways to contribute to the tumorigenesis, tumor growth and metastasis of liver cancer. Furthermore, proteomic analysis is indicated to be feasible in the cancer study.

  1. Highly parallel line-based image coding for many cores.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Xiulian; Xu, Jizheng; Zhou, You; Wu, Feng

    2012-01-01

    Computers are developing along with a new trend from the dual-core and quad-core processors to ones with tens or even hundreds of cores. Multimedia, as one of the most important applications in computers, has an urgent need to design parallel coding algorithms for compression. Taking intraframe/image coding as a start point, this paper proposes a pure line-by-line coding scheme (LBLC) to meet the need. In LBLC, an input image is processed line by line sequentially, and each line is divided into small fixed-length segments. The compression of all segments from prediction to entropy coding is completely independent and concurrent at many cores. Results on a general-purpose computer show that our scheme can get a 13.9 times speedup with 15 cores at the encoder and a 10.3 times speedup at the decoder. Ideally, such near-linear speeding relation with the number of cores can be kept for more than 100 cores. In addition to the high parallelism, the proposed scheme can perform comparatively or even better than the H.264 high profile above middle bit rates. At near-lossless coding, it outperforms H.264 more than 10 dB. At lossless coding, up to 14% bit-rate reduction is observed compared with H.264 lossless coding at the high 4:4:4 profile.

  2. Radiosensitivity of Prostate Cancer Cell Lines for Irradiation from Beta Particle-emitting Radionuclide ¹⁷⁷Lu Compared to Alpha Particles and Gamma Rays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elgqvist, Jörgen; Timmermand, Oskar Vilhelmsson; Larsson, Erik; Strand, Sven-Erik

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to investigate the radiosensitivity of the prostate cancer cell lines LNCaP, DU145, and PC3 when irradiated with beta particles emitted from (177)Lu, and to compare the effect with irradiation using alpha particles or gamma rays. Cells were irradiated with beta particles emitted from (177)Lu, alpha particles from (241)Am, or gamma rays from (137)Cs. A non-specific polyclonal antibody was labeled with (177)Lu and used to irradiate cells in suspension with beta particles. A previously described in-house developed alpha-particle irradiator based on a (241)Am source was used to irradiate cells with alpha particles. External gamma-ray irradiation was achieved using a standard (137)Cs irradiator. Cells were irradiated to absorbed doses equal to 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 Gy. The absorbed doses were calculated as mean absorbed doses. For evaluation of cell survival, the tetrazolium-based WST-1 assay was used. After irradiation, WST-1 was added to the cell solutions, incubated, and then measured for level of absorbance at 450 nm, indicating the live and viable cells. LNCaP, DU145, and PC3 cell lines all had similar patterns of survival for the different radiation types. No significant difference in surviving fractions were observed between cells treated with beta-particle and gamma-ray irradiation, represented for example by the surviving fraction values (mean±SD) at 2, 6, and 10 Gy (SF2, SF6, and SF10) for DU145 after beta-particle irradiation: 0.700±0.090, 0.186±0.050 and 0.056±0.010, respectively. A strong radiosensitivity to alpha particles was observed, with SF2 values of 0.048±0.008, 0.018±0.006 and 0.015±0.005 for LNCaP, DU145, and PC3, respectively. The surviving fractions after irradiation using beta particles or gamma rays did not differ significantly at the absorbed dose levels and dose rates used. Irradiation using alpha particles led to a high level of cell killing. The results show that the beta-particle emitter

  3. [Alpha but not beta-adrenergic stimulation has a positive inotropic effect associated with alkalinization of intracellular pH].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gambassi, G; Lakatta, E G; Capogrossi, M C

    1991-01-01

    There is increasing evidence that alpha-adrenoceptors also exist in the myocardium and that an increase in force of contraction may be produced by stimulation of these sites. This positive inotropism seems to be dependent either on an increased amount of Ca++ released into the cytosol with each action potential or on increased myofilament responsiveness. In contrast, beta-adrenergic stimulation reduces the sensitivity of the contractile proteins and the positive inotropic effect is due to the activation of L-type calcium channels on the sarcolemma. We used single, isolated, enzymatically dissociated, adult rat ventricular myocytes. Cells were loaded either with the ester derivative of the Ca++ probe Indo-1 or with the intracellular pH probe Snarf-1 and at the same time we measured the contractile parameters and monitored the fluorescence as an index of intracellular calcium concentration or pH value. The single cells (bicarbonate buffer continuously gassed with O2 95%, CO2 5%, Ca++ 1.5 mM, field stimulation 0.5 Hz) were exposed to phenylephrine (50 microM) and nadolol (1 microM). Alpha-adrenergic stimulation increased twitch amplitude (delta ES = 1.93 +/- 0.77, n = 8; p less than 0.05) and showed only a slight increase in Ca++ transient. On the other end, the positive inotropic effect (delta ES = 2.84 +/- 0.86, n = 4; p less than 0.02) obtained with beta-adrenergic stimulation (isoproterenol 50 nM, bicarbonate buffer, Ca++ 0.5 mM, field stimulation 0.2 Hz) was always associated with a large increase in intracellular Ca++ concentration. Isoproterenol did not change intracellular pH (delta pH = 0.006 +/- 0.006, n = 4; NS) while phenylephrine increased it significantly (delta pH = 0.055 +/- 0.011, n = 8; p less than 0.002). Moreover, there was a statistically significant correlation between delta ES and delta pH (R2 = 0.532; p less than 0.05) when phenylephrine was present. This alkalinization as well as the increased contractility was antagonized by treatment with

  4. Line printing solution-processable small molecules with uniform surface profile via ink-jet printer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Huimin; Xu, Wei; Tan, Wanyi; Zhu, Xuhui; Wang, Jian; Peng, Junbiao; Cao, Yong

    2016-03-01

    Line printing offers a feasible approach to remove the pixel well structure which is widely used to confine the ink-jet printed solution. In the study, a uniform line is printed by an ink-jet printer. To achieve a uniform surface profile of the printed line, 10vol% low-volatile solvent DMA (3,4-Dimethylanisole) is mixed with high-volatile solvent Pxy (p-xylene) as the solvent. After a solution-processable small molecule is dissolved, the surface tension of DMA solution becomes lower than that of Pxy solution, which creates an inward Marangoni flow during the solvent evaporation. The inward Marangoni flow balances out the outward capillary flow, thereby forming a flat film surface. The line width of the printed line depends on the contact angle of the solution on the hole injection layer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Biologic activities of recombinant human-beta-defensin-4 toward cultured human cancer cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerashchenko, O L; Zhuravel, E V; Skachkova, O V; Khranovska, N N; Filonenko, V V; Pogrebnoy, P V; Soldatkina, M A

    2013-06-01

    The aim of the study was in vitro analysis of biological activity of recombinant human beta-defensin-4 (rec-hBD-4). hBD-4 cDNA was cloned into pGEX-2T vector, and recombinant plasmid was transformed into E. coli BL21(DE3) cells. To purify soluble fusion GST-hBD-4 protein, affinity chromatography was applied. Rec-hBD-4 was cleaved from the fusion protein with thrombin, and purified by reverse phase chromatography on Sep-Pack C18. Effects of rec-hBD-4 on proliferation, viability, cell cycle distribution, substrate-independent growth, and mobility of cultured human cancer cells of A431, A549, and TPC-1 lines were analyzed by direct cell counting technique, MTT assay, flow cytofluorometry, colony forming assay in semi-soft medium, and wound healing assay. Rec-hBD-4 was expressed in bacterial cells as GST-hBD-4 fusion protein, and purified by routine 3-step procedure (affine chromatography on glutathione-agarose, cleavage of fusion protein by thrombin, and reverse phase chromatography). Analysis of in vitro activity of rec-hBD-4 toward three human cancer cell lines has demonstrated that the defensin is capable to affect cell behaviour in concentration-dependent manner. In 1-100 nM concentrations rec-hBD-4 significantly stimulates cancer cell proliferation and viability, and promotes cell cycle progression through G2/M checkpoint, greatly enhances colony-forming activity and mobility of the cells. Treatment of the cells with 500 nM of rec-hBD-4 resulted in opposite effects: significant suppression of cell proliferation and viability, blockage of cell cycle in G1/S checkpoint, significant inhibition of cell migration and colony forming activity. Recombinant human beta-defensin-4 is biologically active peptide capable to cause oppositely directed effects toward biologic features of cancer cells in vitro dependent on its concentration.

  6. Plasma beta-endorphin, beta-lipotropin and corticotropin in polycystic ovarian disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laatikainen, T; Salminen, K; Virtanen, T; Apter, D

    1987-04-01

    In 9 women with polycystic ovarian disease (PCOD) and in 11 control subjects at the follicular phase of the normal cycle, blood samples were collected at 15-min intervals during a 2 h period of bed rest for the assay of beta-endorphin, beta-lipotropin, corticotropin, cortisol and prolactin. During the study period, the plasma levels of these hormones decreased more significantly in the PCOD than in the control group, suggesting that the PCOD patients had a more significant stress response to the puncture of the vein than the control subjects. The second hour of the study period was considered to represent resting levels of hormones. The mean resting levels (+/- S.E.) of the hormones between the PCOD and control groups, respectively, were as follows: beta-E, 2.0 +/- 0.4 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.1 pmol/l, p less than 0.05; beta-LPH, 3.4 +/- 0.6 vs. 2.1 +/- 0.5 pmol/l, N.S.; corticotropin, 2.0 +/- 0.3 vs. 1.1 +/- 0.5 pmol/l, p less than 0.05; cortisol, 176 +/- 24 vs. 128 +/- 16, N.S.; and prolactin; 3.9 +/- 0.6 vs. 5.6 +/- 1.2 ng/ml, N.S. These results confirm the previous findings on increased circulating levels of beta-E in PCOD. A concomitant increase of the plasma level of corticotropin suggests that the basal secretion of both beta-E and corticotropin from the anterior pituitary gland is increased in women with PCOD.

  7. Comparison of (/sup 125/I)beta-endorphin binding to rat brain and NG108-15 cells using a monoclonal antibody directed against the opioid receptor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bidlack, J.M.; O' Malley, W.E.; Schulz, R.

    1988-02-01

    The properties of (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin-binding sites from rat brain membranes and membranes from the NG108-15 cell line were compared using a monoclonal antibody directed against the opioid receptor and opioid peptides as probes. The binding of (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin to both rat brain and NG108-15 membranes yielded linear Scatchard plots with Kd values of 1.2 nM and 1.5 nM, respectively, and Bmax values of 865 fmol/mg rat brain membrane protein and 1077 fmol/mg NG108-15 membrane protein. A monoclonal antibody, OR-689.2.4, capable of inhibiting mu and delta binding but not kappa binding to rat brain membranes, noncompetitively inhibited the binding of 1 nM (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin to rat brain and NG108-15 membranes with an IC50 value of 405 nM for rat brain membranes and 543 nM for NG108-15 membranes. The monoclonal antibody also inhibited the binding of 3 nM (/sup 3/H) (D-penicillamine2, D-penicillamine5) enkephalin to NG108-15 membranes with an IC50 value of 370 nM. In addition to blocking the binding of (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin to brain membranes, the antibody also displaced (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin from membranes. Site-specific opioid peptides had large variations in their IC50 values depending on whether they were inhibiting (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin binding to rat brain or the NG108-15 membranes. When the peptides were tested with the monoclonal antibody for their combined ability to inhibit (/sup 125/I)beta h-endorphin binding to both membrane preparations, the peptides and antibody blocked binding as though they were acting at allosterically coupled sites, not two totally independent sites. These studies suggest that mu-, delta-, and beta-endorphin-binding sites share some sequence homology with the 35,000-dalton protein that the antibody is directed against.

  8. Effect of bootstrap current on MHD equilibrium beta limit in heliotron plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Watanabe, K.Y.

    2001-01-01

    The effect of bootstrap current on the beta limit of MHD equilibria is studied systematically by an iterative calculation of MHD equilibrium and the consistent bootstrap current in high beta heliotron plasmas. The LHD machine is treated as a standard configuration heliotron with an L=2 planar axis. The effects of vacuum magnetic configurations, pressure profiles and the vertical field control method are studied. The equilibrium beta limit with consistent bootstrap current is quite sensitive to the magnetic axis location for finite beta, compared with the currentless cases. For a vacuum configuration with the magnetic axis shifted inwards in the torus, even in the high beta regimes, the bootstrap current flows to increase the rotational transform, leading to an increase in the equilibrium beta limit. On the contrary, for a vacuum configuration with the magnetic axis shifted outwards in the torus, even in the low beta regimes, the bootstrap current flows so as to reduce the rotational transform; therefore, there is an acceleration of the Shafranov shift increase as beta increases, leading to a decrease in the equilibrium beta limit. The pressure profiles and vertical field control methods influence the equilibrium beta limit through the location of the magnetic axis for finite beta. These characteristics are independent of both device parameters, such as magnetic field strength, and device size in the low collisional regime. (author)

  9. The H line: a brand new beam line for fundamental physics at the J-PARC muon facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kawamura, N; Shimomura, K; Miyake, Y; Toyoda, A; Saito, N; Mihara, S; Aoki, M

    2013-01-01

    The muon facility, J-PARC (Muon Science Establishment; MUSE), has been operated since first beam in 2008. Starting with a 200 kW proton beam, the beam intensity has reached 3×10 6 / muons/s, the most intense pulsed muon beam in the world. A 2 cm thick graphite target permits the extraction of four secondary muon beams. A brand new beam line, the H line, is planned to be constructed. The new beam line is designed to have a large acceptance, will provide the ability to tune the momentum, and use a kicker magnet and/or Wien filter. This beam line will provide an intense beam for experiments that require high statistics and must occupy the experimental areas for a relatively long period.

  10. On-line data analysis and monitoring for H1 drift chambers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duellmann, D.

    1992-01-01

    The on-line monitoring, slow control and calibration of the H1 central jet chamber uses a VME multiprocessor system to perform the analysis and a connected Macintosh computer as graphical interface to the operator on shift. Tasks of this system are: Analysis of event data including on-line track search; on-line calibration from normal events and testpulse events; control of the high voltage and monitoring of settings and currents; monitoring of temperature, pressure and mixture of the chambergas. A program package is described which controls the dataflow between data aquisition, different VME CPUs and Macintosh. It allows to run off-line style programs for the different tasks. (orig.)

  11. On-line data analysis and monitoring for H1 drift chambers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Düllmann, Dirk

    1992-05-01

    The on-line monitoring, slow control and calibration of the H1 central jet chamber uses a VME multiprocessor system to perform the analysis and a connected Macintosh computer as graphical interface to the operator on shift. Task of this system are: - analysis of event data including on-line track search, - on-line calibration from normal events and testpulse events, - control of the high voltage and monitoring of settings and currents, - monitoring of temperature, pressure and mixture of the chambergas. A program package is described which controls the dataflow between data aquisition, differnt VME CPUs and Macintosh. It allows to run off-line style programs for the different tasks.

  12. Double beta decay of 82Se

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Elliott, S.R.; Hahn, A.A.; Moe, M.K.; Nelson, M.A.; Vient, M.A.

    1992-01-01

    The two-neutrino double beta decay of 82 Se has been measured during a 20 244 h run resulting in a half-life of 1.08 -0.06 +0.26 x10 20 years (68% C.L.). No candidate events for the zero-neutrino double beta decay during 21 924 h results in a half-life limit of 2.7x10 22 years at the 68% confidence level

  13. Expression of human beta-defensins-1-4 in thyroid cancer cells and new insight on biologic activity of hBD-2 in vitro.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuravel, O V; Gerashchenko, O L; Khetsuriani, M R; Soldatkina, M A; Pogrebnoy, P V

    2014-09-01

    The study was aimed on analysis of human beta-defensin-1-4 (hBDs) mRNA expression in cultured thyroid cancer cells and evaluation of effects of recombinant hBD-2 (rec-hBD-2) on growth patterns, migration properties and expression of E-cadherin and vimentin in these cells. The study was performed on cultured follicular thyroid cancer WRO cells, papillary thyroid cancer TPC1 cells, and anaplastic thyroid cancer KTC-2 cells. For analysis of hBD-1-4 mRNA expression in thyroid cancer cells, semiquantitative RT-PCR was used. Effects of rec-hBD-2 on cell proliferation, viability, and migration were analyzed using direct cell counting, MTT test, and scratch assay respectively. Expression of vimentin and E-cadherin was evaluated by quantitative PCR (qPCR). By the data of RT-PCR, all three studied thyroid cancer cell lines express hBD-1 and -4 mRNA, but not hBD-2 mRNA, while hBD-3 expression was detected in WRO and KTC-2 cells. The treatment of TPC-1, WRO, and KTC-2 cells with 100-1000 nM rec-hBD-2 resulted in significant concentration-dependent suppression of cell proliferation, viability, and migratory property. By the data of qPCR, significant up-regulation of vimentin expression was registered in KTC-2 and WRO cells treated with 500 nM rec-hBD-2. Significant down-regulation of E-cadherin expression (p cells treated with the defensin. Also, it has been shown that TPC-1 cells treated with 500 nM rec-hBD-2 acquired more elongated morphology. The data demonstrate that hBD-2 in concentrations higher than 100 nM exerts significant concentration-dependent suppression of thyroid cancer cell growth and migration, and affects vimentin and E-cadherin expression dependent on histologic type of thyroid cancer cells.

  14. Smooth H I Low Column Density Outskirts in Nearby Galaxies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ianjamasimanana, R.; Walter, Fabian; de Blok, W. J. G.; Heald, George H.; Brinks, Elias

    2018-06-01

    The low column density gas at the outskirts of galaxies as traced by the 21 cm hydrogen line emission (H I) represents the interface between galaxies and the intergalactic medium, i.e., where galaxies are believed to get their supply of gas to fuel future episodes of star formation. Photoionization models predict a break in the radial profiles of H I at a column density of ∼5 × 1019 cm‑2 due to the lack of self-shielding against extragalactic ionizing photons. To investigate the prevalence of such breaks in galactic disks and to characterize what determines the potential edge of the H I disks, we study the azimuthally averaged H I column density profiles of 17 nearby galaxies from the H I Nearby Galaxy Survey and supplemented in two cases with published Hydrogen Accretion in LOcal GAlaxieS data. To detect potential faint H I emission that would otherwise be undetected using conventional moment map analysis, we line up individual profiles to the same reference velocity and average them azimuthally to derive stacked radial profiles. To do so, we use model velocity fields created from a simple extrapolation of the rotation curves to align the profiles in velocity at radii beyond the extent probed with the sensitivity of traditional integrated H I maps. With this method, we improve our sensitivity to outer-disk H I emission by up to an order of magnitude. Except for a few disturbed galaxies, none show evidence of a sudden change in the slope of the H I radial profiles: the alleged signature of ionization by the extragalactic background.

  15. Emission-line diagnostics of nearby H II regions including interacting binary populations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Lin; Stanway, Elizabeth R.; Eldridge, J. J.

    2018-06-01

    We present numerical models of the nebular emission from H II regions around young stellar populations over a range of compositions and ages. The synthetic stellar populations include both single stars and interacting binary stars. We compare these models to the observed emission lines of 254 H II regions of 13 nearby spiral galaxies and 21 dwarf galaxies drawn from archival data. The models are created using the combination of the BPASS (Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis) code with the photoionization code CLOUDY to study the differences caused by the inclusion of interacting binary stars in the stellar population. We obtain agreement with the observed emission line ratios from the nearby star-forming regions and discuss the effect of binary-star evolution pathways on the nebular ionization of H II regions. We find that at population ages above 10 Myr, single-star models rapidly decrease in flux and ionization strength, while binary-star models still produce strong flux and high [O III]/H β ratios. Our models can reproduce the metallicity of H II regions from spiral galaxies, but we find higher metallicities than previously estimated for the H II regions from dwarf galaxies. Comparing the equivalent width of H β emission between models and observations, we find that accounting for ionizing photon leakage can affect age estimates for H II regions. When it is included, the typical age derived for H II regions is 5 Myr from single-star models, and up to 10 Myr with binary-star models. This is due to the existence of binary-star evolution pathways, which produce more hot Wolf-Rayet and helium stars at older ages. For future reference, we calculate new BPASS binary maximal starburst lines as a function of metallicity, and for the total model population, and present these in Appendix A.

  16. AGS vertical beta function measurements for Run 15

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harper, C. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Ahrens, L. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Huang, H. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Schoefer, V. [Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)

    2016-10-07

    One key parameter for running the AGS efficiently is by maintaining a low emittance. To measure emittance, one needs to measure the beta function throughout the cycle. This can be done by measuring the beta function at the ionization profile monitors (IPM) in the AGS. This tech note delves into the motivation, the measurement, and some strides that were made throughout Run15.

  17. Glucose, other secretagogues, and nerve growth factor stimulate mitogen-activated protein kinase in the insulin-secreting beta-cell line, INS-1

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frödin, M; Sekine, N; Roche, E

    1995-01-01

    The signaling pathways whereby glucose and hormonal secretagogues regulate insulin-secretory function, gene transcription, and proliferation of pancreatic beta-cells are not well defined. We show that in the glucose-responsive beta-cell line INS-1, major secretagogue-stimulated signaling pathways...... converge to activate 44-kDa mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. Thus, glucose-induced insulin secretion was found to be associated with a small stimulatory effect on 44-kDa MAP kinase, which was synergistically enhanced by increased levels of intracellular cAMP and by the hormonal secretagogues......-1. Phorbol ester, an activator of protein kinase C, stimulated 44-kDa MAP kinase by both Ca(2+)-dependent and -independent pathways. Nerve growth factor, independently of changes in cytosolic Ca2+, efficiently stimulated 44-kDa MAP kinase without causing insulin release, indicating that activation...

  18. Asymmetry of Hβ Stark profiles in T-tube hydrogen plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Djurovic, S.; Nikolic, D.; Savic, I.; Soerge, S.; Demura, A. V.

    2005-01-01

    The whole Balmer H β line profiles are studied in detail experimentally in the T-tube discharge for the wide range of plasma parameters. Besides the common one, two additional parameters are introduced to characterize the asymmetry behavior of the experimental Stark profiles with the reference point chosen in the center of the line. The experimental data are analyzed and benchmarked versus the simple theoretical model based on the effects of microfield nonuniformity and electron impact shifts

  19. SIMULTANEOUS ULTRAVIOLET AND OPTICAL EMISSION-LINE PROFILES OF QUASARS: IMPLICATIONS FOR BLACK HOLE MASS DETERMINATION

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ho, Luis C.; Dong Xiaobo; Goldoni, Paolo; Ponti, Gabriele; Greene, Jenny E.

    2012-01-01

    The X-shooter instrument on the Very Large Telescope was used to obtain spectra of seven moderate-redshift quasars simultaneously covering the spectral range ∼3000 Å to 2.5 μm. At z ≈ 1.5, most of the prominent broad emission lines in the ultraviolet to optical region are captured in their rest frame. We use this unique data set, which mitigates complications from source variability, to intercompare the line profiles of C IV λ1549, C III] λ1909, Mg II λ2800, and Hα and evaluate their implications for black hole (BH) mass estimation. We confirm that Mg II and the Balmer lines share similar kinematics and that they deliver mutually consistent BH mass estimates with minimal internal scatter (∼<0.1 dex) using the latest virial mass estimators. Although no virial mass formalism has yet been calibrated for C III], this line does not appear promising for such an application because of the large spread of its velocity width compared to lines of both higher and lower ionization; part of the discrepancy may be due to the difficulty of deblending C III] from its neighboring lines. The situation for C IV is complex and, because of the limited statistics of our small sample, inconclusive. On the one hand, slightly more than half of our sample (4/7) have C IV line widths that correlate reasonably well with Hα line widths, and their respective BH mass estimates agree to within ∼0.15 dex. The rest, on the other hand, exhibit exceptionally broad C IV profiles that overestimate virial masses by factors of 2-5 compared to Hα. As C IV is widely used to study BH demographics at high redshifts, we urgently need to revisit our analysis with a larger sample.

  20. Better Renal Resistive Index Profile in Subjects with Beta Thalassemia Minor .

    Science.gov (United States)

    Basut, Fahrettin; Keşkek, Şakir Özgür; Gülek, Bozkurt

    2018-05-03

    Beta thalassaemia minor is a common genetic disorder without any characteristic symptoms except mild anemia. It is found to be associated with some cardiovascular risk factors such as insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus. The renal resistive index (RRI) is a measure of renal arterial resistance to blood flow. The aim of this study was to evaluate the renal resistive index in subjects with beta thalassaemia minor (BTM). A total of 253 subjects were included in this cross-sectional study. The study group consisted of 148 subjects with BTM and the control group consisted of 105 healthy subjects. Beta thalassaemia minor was diagnosed by complete blood count and hemoglobin electrophoresis. Blood pressure measurement and biochemical tests were performed. Renal resistive index of all subjects was measured using renal Doppler ultrasonography. Subjects with beta thalassemia minor had lower renal resistive indices compared to healthy subjects (0.58 ± 0.04 vs. 0.60 ± 0.06, p = 0.0016). Additionally, the RRI levels of subjects with BTM were correlated with systolic blood pressure (p = 0.017, r = 0.194). In this study, lower renal resistive index was found in subjects with BTM. This may be associated with decreased vascular resistance and blood viscosity in these subjects. ©2018The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.

  1. WNT10B functional dualism: beta-catenin/Tcf-dependent growth promotion or independent suppression with deregulated expression in cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoshikawa, Hirohide; Matsubara, Kenichi; Zhou, Xiaoling; Okamura, Shu; Kubo, Takahiko; Murase, Yaeko; Shikauchi, Yuko; Esteller, Manel; Herman, James G; Wei Wang, Xin; Harris, Curtis C

    2007-11-01

    We found aberrant DNA methylation of the WNT10B promoter region in 46% of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 15% of colon cancer samples. Three of 10 HCC and one of two colon cancer cell lines demonstrated low or no expression, and 5-aza-2'deoxycytidine reactivated WNT10B expression with the induction of demethylation, indicating that WNT10B is silenced by DNA methylation in some cancers, whereas WNT10B expression is up-regulated in seven of the 10 HCC cell lines and a colon cancer cell line. These results indicate that WNT10B can be deregulated by either overexpression or silencing in cancer. We found that WNT10B up-regulated beta-catenin/Tcf activity. However, WNT10B-overexpressing cells demonstrated a reduced growth rate and anchorage-independent growth that is independent of the beta-catenin/Tcf activation, because mutant beta-catenin-transduced cells did not suppress growth, and dominant-negative hTcf-4 failed to alleviate the growth suppression by WNT10B. Although WNT10B expression alone inhibits cell growth, it acts synergistically with the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) to stimulate cell growth. WNT10B is bifunctional, one function of which is involved in beta-catenin/Tcf activation, and the other function is related to the down-regulation of cell growth through a different mechanism. We suggest that FGF switches WNT10B from a negative to a positive cell growth regulator.

  2. Protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721: Identification and functional analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Feng, Yi; Tian, Zhong-Min; Wan, Ming-Xi; Zheng, Zhao-Bin

    2007-01-01

    AIM: To investigate the protein profile of human hepatocarcinoma cell line SMMC-7721, to analyze the specific functions of abundant expressed proteins in the processes of hepatocarcinoma genesis, growth and metastasis, to identify the hepatocarcinoma-specific biomarkers for the early prediction in diagnosis, and to explore the new drug targets for liver cancer therapy.

  3. Genome-wide profiling of H3K56 acetylation and transcription factor binding sites in human adipocytes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kinyui Alice Lo

    Full Text Available The growing epidemic of obesity and metabolic diseases calls for a better understanding of adipocyte biology. The regulation of transcription in adipocytes is particularly important, as it is a target for several therapeutic approaches. Transcriptional outcomes are influenced by both histone modifications and transcription factor binding. Although the epigenetic states and binding sites of several important transcription factors have been profiled in the mouse 3T3-L1 cell line, such data are lacking in human adipocytes. In this study, we identified H3K56 acetylation sites in human adipocytes derived from mesenchymal stem cells. H3K56 is acetylated by CBP and p300, and deacetylated by SIRT1, all are proteins with important roles in diabetes and insulin signaling. We found that while almost half of the genome shows signs of H3K56 acetylation, the highest level of H3K56 acetylation is associated with transcription factors and proteins in the adipokine signaling and Type II Diabetes pathways. In order to discover the transcription factors that recruit acetyltransferases and deacetylases to sites of H3K56 acetylation, we analyzed DNA sequences near H3K56 acetylated regions and found that the E2F recognition sequence was enriched. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing, we confirmed that genes bound by E2F4, as well as those by HSF-1 and C/EBPα, have higher than expected levels of H3K56 acetylation, and that the transcription factor binding sites and acetylation sites are often adjacent but rarely overlap. We also discovered a significant difference between bound targets of C/EBPα in 3T3-L1 and human adipocytes, highlighting the need to construct species-specific epigenetic and transcription factor binding site maps. This is the first genome-wide profile of H3K56 acetylation, E2F4, C/EBPα and HSF-1 binding in human adipocytes, and will serve as an important resource for better understanding adipocyte

  4. Effect of 6-week course of glucagon-like peptide 1 on glycaemic control, insulin sensitivity, and beta-cell function in type 2 diabetes: a parallel-group study

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zander, Mette; Madsbad, Sten; Madsen, Jan Lysgaard

    2002-01-01

    subcutaneous infusion of GLP-1 (n=10) or saline (n=10) for 6 weeks. Before (week 0) and at weeks 1 and 6, they underwent beta-cell function tests (hyperglycaemic clamps), 8 h profiles of plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide, glucagon, and free fatty acids, and appetite and side-effect ratings on 100 mm visual...... analogue scales; at weeks 0 and 6 they also underwent dexascanning, measurement of insulin sensitivity (hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamps), haemoglobin A(1c), and fructosamine. The primary endpoints were haemoglobin A(1c) concentration, 8-h profile of glucose concentration in plasma, and beta......-cell function (defined as the first-phase response to glucose and the maximum insulin secretory capacity of the cell). Analyses were per protocol. FINDINGS: One patient assigned saline was excluded because no veins were accessible. In the remaining nine patients in that group, no significant changes were...

  5. The study for the profiles of mixed dentition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Tae Won

    1978-01-01

    The study was to analyze on the hard and soft tissue profiles in mixed dentition. The subject consisted of 100 males and 100 females from 9 to 12 years of age and with a normal occlusion and acceptable profiles. On the bases of SnH line and SnV line, the author traced all the cephalograms and calculated the mean value and standard deviation in each measuring category and evaluated the sexual difference, the proper limit of development. The obtained results were as follows; 1. Individual variations of the lower facial part were larger the upper facial part in depth and height. 2. Sexual difference of lower facial part was significant in depth and height. 3. All the measured values to the SnH and SnV line were larger in male than in female but revealed resemblance in the profilogram. 4. The measured values of the region of nose, upper lip and point A showed stable tendency.

  6. New Constraints on Quasar Broad Absorption and Emission Line Regions from Gravitational Microlensing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hutsemékers, Damien; Braibant, Lorraine; Sluse, Dominique [Institut d' Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, Liège (Belgium); Anguita, Timo [Departamento de Ciencias Fisicas, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago (Chile); Goosmann, René, E-mail: hutsemekers@astro.ulg.ac.be [Observatoire Astronomique de Strasbourg, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg (France)

    2017-09-29

    Gravitational microlensing is a powerful tool allowing one to probe the structure of quasars on sub-parsec scale. We report recent results, focusing on the broad absorption and emission line regions. In particular microlensing reveals the intrinsic absorption hidden in the P Cygni-type line profiles observed in the broad absorption line quasar H1413+117, as well as the existence of an extended continuum source. In addition, polarization microlensing provides constraints on the scattering region. In the quasar Q2237+030, microlensing differently distorts the Hα and CIV broad emission line profiles, indicating that the low- and high-ionization broad emission lines must originate from regions with distinct kinematical properties. We also present simulations of the effect of microlensing on line profiles considering simple but representative models of the broad emission line region. Comparison of observations to simulations allows us to conclude that the Hα emitting region in Q2237+030 is best represented by a Keplerian disk.

  7. New Constraints on Quasar Broad Absorption and Emission Line Regions from Gravitational Microlensing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Damien Hutsemékers

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Gravitational microlensing is a powerful tool allowing one to probe the structure of quasars on sub-parsec scale. We report recent results, focusing on the broad absorption and emission line regions. In particular microlensing reveals the intrinsic absorption hidden in the P Cygni-type line profiles observed in the broad absorption line quasar H1413+117, as well as the existence of an extended continuum source. In addition, polarization microlensing provides constraints on the scattering region. In the quasar Q2237+030, microlensing differently distorts the Hα and CIV broad emission line profiles, indicating that the low- and high-ionization broad emission lines must originate from regions with distinct kinematical properties. We also present simulations of the effect of microlensing on line profiles considering simple but representative models of the broad emission line region. Comparison of observations to simulations allows us to conclude that the Hα emitting region in Q2237+030 is best represented by a Keplerian disk.

  8. Gene expression profiling in respond to TBT exposure in small abalone Haliotis diversicolor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jia, Xiwei; Zou, Zhihua; Wang, Guodong; Wang, Shuhong; Wang, Yilei; Zhang, Ziping

    2011-10-01

    In this study, we investigated the gene expression profiling of small abalone, Haliotis diversicolor by tributyltin (TBT) exposure using a cDNA microarray containing 2473 unique transcripts. Totally, 107 up-regulated genes and 41 down-regulated genes were found. For further investigation of candidate genes from microarray data and EST analysis, quantitative real-time PCR was performed at 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, 96 h and 192 h TBT exposure. 26 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed in different time course, 3 of them were unknown. Some gene homologues like cellulose, endo-beta-1,4-glucanase, ferritin subunit 1 and thiolester containing protein II CG7052-PB might be the good biomarker candidate for TBT monitor. The identification of stress response genes and their expression profiles will permit detailed investigation of the defense responses of small abalone genes. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  9. Suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS)-3 protects beta cells against IL-1beta-mediated toxicity through inhibition of multiple nuclear factor-kappaB-regulated proapoptotic pathways

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Karlsen, Allan Ertman; Heding, P E; Frobøse, H

    2004-01-01

    The proinflammatory cytokine IL-1beta induces apoptosis in pancreatic beta cells via pathways dependent on nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), mitogen-activated protein kinase, and protein kinase C. We recently showed suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS)-3 to be a natural negative feedback reg...... regulator of IL-1beta- and IFN-gamma-mediated signalling in rat islets and beta cell lines, preventing their deleterious effects. However, the mechanisms underlying SOCS-3 inhibition of IL-1beta signalling and prevention against apoptosis remain unknown....

  10. Efficient algorithm for generating spectra using line-by-line methods

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sonnad, V.; Iglesias, C.A.

    2011-01-01

    A method is presented for efficient generation of spectra using line-by-line approaches. The only approximation is replacing the line shape function with an interpolation procedure, which makes the method independent of the line profile functional form. The resulting computational savings for large number of lines is proportional to the number of frequency points in the spectral range. Therefore, for large-scale problems the method can provide speedups of two orders of magnitude or more. A method was presented to generate line-by-line spectra efficiently. The first step was to replace the explicit calculation of the profile by the Newton divided-differences interpolating polynomial. The second step is to accumulate the lines effectively reducing their number to the number of frequency points. The final step is recognizing the resulting expression as a convolution and amenable to FFT methods. The reduction in computational effort for a configuration-to-configuration transition array with large number of lines is proportional to the number of frequency points. The method involves no approximations except for replacing the explicit profile evaluation by interpolation. Specifically, the line accumulation and convolution are exact given the interpolation procedure. Furthermore, the interpolation makes the method independent of the line profile functional form contrary to other schemes using FFT methods to generate line-by-line spectra but relying on the analytic form of the profile Fourier transform. Finally, the method relies on a uniform frequency mesh. For non-uniform frequency meshes, however, the method can be applied by using a suitable temporary uniform mesh and the results interpolated onto the final mesh with little additional cost.

  11. Solubility-pH profiles of some acidic, basic and amphoteric drugs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shoghi, Elham; Fuguet, Elisabet; Bosch, Elisabeth; Ràfols, Clara

    2013-01-23

    The solubility vs. pH profiles of five ionizable drugs of different nature (a monoprotic acid, a monoprotic base, a diprotic base and two amphoteric compounds showing a zwitterionic species each one) have been determined through two different methodologies: the classical shake-flask (S-F) and the potentiometric Cheqsol methods using in both instances the appropriate Henderson-Hasselbalch (H-H) or derived relationships. The results obtained independently from both approaches are consistent. A critical revision about the influence of the electrolyte used as buffering agent in the S-F method on the obtained solubility values is also performed. Thus, some deviations of the experimental points with respect the H-H profiles can be attributed to specific interactions between the buffering electrolyte and the drug due to the hydrotrophic character of citric and lactic acids. In other cases, the observed deviations are independent of the buffers used since they are caused by the formation of new species such as drug aggregates (cefadroxil) or the precipitation of a salt from a cationic species of the analyzed compound (quetiapine). Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Parametric dependencies of JET electron temperature profiles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schunke, B [Commission of the European Communities, Abingdon (United Kingdom). JET Joint Undertaking; Imre, K; Riedel, K [New York Univ., NY (United States)

    1994-07-01

    The JET Ohmic, L-Mode and H-Mode electron temperature profiles obtained from the LIDAR Thomson Scattering Diagnostic are parameterized in terms of the normalized flux parameter and a set of the engineering parameters like plasma current, toroidal field, line averages electron density... It is shown that the electron temperature profiles fit a log-additive model well. It is intended to use the same model to predict the profile shape for D-T discharges in JET and in ITER. 2 refs., 5 figs.

  13. Functional modulation of cerebral gamma-aminobutyric acidA receptor/benzodiazepine receptor/chloride ion channel complex with ethyl beta-carboline-3-carboxylate: Presence of independent binding site for ethyl beta-carboline-3-carboxylate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taguchi, J.; Kuriyama, K. (Kyoto Prefectural Univ. of Medicine (Japan))

    1990-05-01

    Effect of ethyl beta-carboline-3-carboxylate (beta-CCE) on the function of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptor/benzodiazepine receptor/chloride ion channel complex was studied. Beta-CCE noncompetitively and competitively inhibited (3H)flunitrazepam binding to benzodiazepine receptor, but not (3H)muscimol binding to GABAA receptor as well as t-(3H)butylbicycloorthobenzoate (( 3H) TBOB) binding to chloride ion channel, in particulate fraction of the mouse brain. Ro15-1788 also inhibited competitively (3H) flunitrazepam binding. On the other hand, the binding of beta-(3H)CCE was inhibited noncompetitively and competitively by clonazepam and competitively by Ro15-1788. In agreement with these results, benzodiazepines-stimulated (3H)muscimol binding was antagonized by beta-CCE and Ro15-1788. Gel column chromatography for the solubilized fraction from cerebral particulate fraction by 0.2% sodium deoxycholate (DOC-Na) in the presence of 1 M KCl indicated that beta-(3H)CCE binding site was eluted in the same fraction (molecular weight, 250,000) as the binding sites for (3H)flunitrazepam, (3H)muscimol and (3H)TBOB. GABA-stimulated 36Cl- influx into membrane vesicles prepared from the bovine cerebral cortex was stimulated and attenuated by flunitrazepam and beta-CCE, respectively. These effects of flunitrazepam and beta-CCE on the GABA-stimulated 36Cl- influx were antagonized by Ro15-1788. The present results suggest that the binding site for beta-CCE, which resides on GABAA receptor/benzodiazepine receptor/chloride ion channel complex, may be different from that for benzodiazepine. Possible roles of beta-CCE binding site in the allosteric inhibitions on benzodiazepine binding site as well as on the functional coupling between chloride ion channel and GABAA receptor are also suggested.

  14. Achieving high fusion reactivity in high poloidal beta discharges in TFTR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Manuel, M.E.; Navratil, G.A.; Sabbagh, S.A.; Batha, S.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.; Budny, R.V.; Bush, C.E.; Cavallo, A.; Chance, M.S.; Cheng, C.Z.; Efthimion, P.C.; Fredrickson, E.D.; Fu, G.Y.; Hawryluk, R.J.; Janos, A.C.; Jassby, D.L.; Levinton, F.; Mikkelsen, D.R.; Manickam, J.; McCune, D.C.; McGuire, K.M.; Medley, S.S.; Mueller, D.; Nagayama, Y.; Owens, D.K.; Park, H.K.; Ramsey, A.T.; Stratton, B.C.; Synakowski, E.J.; Taylor, G.; Wieland, R.M.; Yamada, M.; Zarnstorff, M.C.: Zweben, S.; Kesner, J.; Marmar, E.; Snipes, J.; Terry, J.

    1993-04-01

    High poloidal beta discharges have been produced in TFTR that achieved high fusion reactivities at low plasma currents. By rapidly decreasing the plasma current just prior to high-power neutral beam injection, relatively peaked current profiles were created having high l i > 2, high Troyon-normalized beta, βN > 3, and high poloidal beta. β p ≥ 0.7 R/a. The global energy confinement time after the current ramp was comparable to supershots, and the combination of improved MHD stability and good confinement produced a new high εβ p high Q DD operating mode for TFTR. Without steady-state current profile control, as the pulse lengths of high βp discharges were extended, l i decreased, and the improved stability produced immediately after by the current ramp deteriorated. In four second, high εβ p discharges, the current profile broadened under the influence of bootstrap and beam-drive currents. When the calculated voltage throughout the plasma nearly vanished, MHD instabilities were observed with β N as low as 1.4. Ideal MHD stability calculations showed this lower beta limit to be consistent with theoretical expectations

  15. Deciphering the Correlation between Breast Tumor Samples and Cell Lines by Integrating Copy Number Changes and Gene Expression Profiles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi Sun

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers with high incident rate and high mortality rate worldwide. Although different breast cancer cell lines were widely used in laboratory investigations, accumulated evidences have indicated that genomic differences exist between cancer cell lines and tissue samples in the past decades. The abundant molecular profiles of cancer cell lines and tumor samples deposited in the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia and The Cancer Genome Atlas now allow a systematical comparison of the breast cancer cell lines with breast tumors. We depicted the genomic characteristics of breast primary tumors based on the copy number variation and gene expression profiles and the breast cancer cell lines were compared to different subgroups of breast tumors. We identified that some of the breast cancer cell lines show high correlation with the tumor group that agrees with previous knowledge, while a big part of them do not, including the most used MCF7, MDA-MB-231, and T-47D. We presented a computational framework to identify cell lines that mostly resemble a certain tumor group for the breast tumor study. Our investigation presents a useful guide to bridge the gap between cell lines and tumors and helps to select the most suitable cell line models for personalized cancer studies.

  16. NON-LTE INVERSIONS OF THE Mg ii h and k AND UV TRIPLET LINES

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De la Cruz Rodríguez, Jaime; Leenaarts, Jorrit [Institute for Solar Physics, Dept. of Astronomy, Stockholm University, AlbaNova University Centre, SE-106 91 Stockholm Sweden (Sweden); Ramos, Andrés Asensio [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

    2016-10-20

    The Mg ii h and k lines are powerful diagnostics for studying the solar chromosphere. They have become particularly popular with the launch of the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph ( IRIS ) satellite, and a number of studies that include these lines have lead to great progress in understanding chromospheric heating, in many cases thanks to the support from 3D MHD simulations. In this study, we utilize another approach to analyze observations: non-LTE inversions of the Mg ii h and k and UV triplet lines including the effects of partial redistribution. Our inversion code attempts to construct a model atmosphere that is compatible with the observed spectra. We have assessed the capabilities and limitations of the inversions using the FALC atmosphere and a snapshot from a 3D radiation-MHD simulation. We find that Mg ii h and k allow reconstructing a model atmosphere from the middle photosphere to the transition region. We have also explored the capabilities of a multi-line/multi-atom setup, including the Mg ii h and k, the Ca ii 854.2 nm, and the Fe i 630.25 lines to recover the full stratification of physical parameters, including the magnetic field vector, from the photosphere to the chromosphere. Finally, we present the first inversions of observed IRIS spectra from quiet-Sun, plage, and sunspot, with very promising results.

  17. Modifying locally the safety profile to improve the confinement of magnetic field lines in tokamak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Constantinescu, D.; Firpo, M.-C.

    2012-01-01

    Using Hamiltonian models for the magnetic field lines, we propose a methodology to improve their confinement through the creation of transport barriers. A local modification of the safety profile creating a low-shear zone is shown to be sufficient to locally enhance drastically the regularity of the magnetic field lines without requesting a reversed shear. The optimal benefits of low-shear are obtained when the value q 0 of the safety profile in the low-shear zone is sufficiently far from the main resonance values m/n with low m and n, in the case of large enough values of those (m, n) mode amplitudes. A practical implementation in tokamak plasmas should involve electron cyclotron current drive to locally modify the magnetic shear. (paper)

  18. Hypoxia induces adipogenic differentitation of myoblastic cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Itoigawa, Yoshiaki [Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai (Japan); Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan); Kishimoto, Koshi N., E-mail: kishimoto@med.tohoku.ac.jp [Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai (Japan); Okuno, Hiroshi; Sano, Hirotaka [Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai (Japan); Kaneko, Kazuo [Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo (Japan); Itoi, Eiji [Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai (Japan)

    2010-09-03

    Research highlights: {yields} C2C12 and G8 myogenic cell lines treated by hypoxia differentiate into adipocytes. {yields} The expression of C/EBP{beta}, {alpha} and PPAR{gamma} were increased under hypoxia. {yields} Myogenic differentiation of C2C12 was inhibited under hypoxia. -- Abstract: Muscle atrophy usually accompanies fat accumulation in the muscle. In such atrophic conditions as back muscles of kyphotic spine and the rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons, blood flow might be diminished. It is known that hypoxia causes trans-differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow into adipocytes. However, it has not been elucidated yet if hypoxia turned myoblasts into adipocytes. We investigated adipogenesis in C2C12 and G8 murine myogenic cell line treated by hypoxia. Cells were also treated with the cocktail of insulin, dexamethasone and IBMX (MDI), which has been known to inhibit Wnt signaling and promote adipogenesis. Adipogenic differentiation was seen in both hypoxia and MDI. Adipogenic marker gene expression was assessed in C2C12. CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein (C/EBP) {beta}, {alpha} and peroxisome proliferator activating receptor (PPAR) {gamma} were increased by both hypoxia and MDI. The expression profile of Wnt10b was different between hypoxia and MDI. The mechanism for adipogenesis of myoblasts in hypoxia might be regulated by different mechanism than the modification of Wnt signaling.

  19. Observation and modelling of the Fe XXI line profile observed by IRIS during the impulsive phase of flares

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polito, V.; Testa, P.; De Pontieu, B.; Allred, J. C.

    2017-12-01

    The observation of the high temperature (above 10 MK) Fe XXI 1354.1 A line with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) has provided significant insights into the chromospheric evaporation process in flares. In particular, the line is often observed to be completely blueshifted, in contrast to previous observations at lower spatial and spectral resolution, and in agreement with predictions from theoretical models. Interestingly, the line is also observed to be mostly symmetric and with a large excess above the thermal width. One popular interpretation for the excess broadening is given by assuming a superposition of flows from different loop strands. In this work, we perform a statistical analysis of Fe XXI line profiles observed by IRIS during the impulsive phase of flares and compare our results with hydrodynamic simulations of multi-thread flare loops performed with the 1D RADYN code. Our results indicate that the multi-thread models cannot easily reproduce the symmetry of the line and that some other physical process might need to be invoked in order to explain the observed profiles.

  20. Proteomic Profiling of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris Leaves during Rhizomania Compatible Interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kimberly M. Webb

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Rhizomania, caused by Beet necrotic yellow vein virus (BNYVV, severely impacts sugar beet (Beta vulgaris production throughout the world, and is widely prevalent in most production regions. Initial efforts to characterize proteome changes focused primarily on identifying putative host factors that elicit resistant interactions with BNYVV, but as resistance breaking strains become more prevalent, effective disease control strategies will require the application of novel methods based on better understanding of disease susceptibility and symptom development. Herein, proteomic profiling was conducted on susceptible sugar beet, infected with two strains of BNYVV, to clarify the types of proteins prevalent during compatible virus-host plant interactions. Total protein was extracted from sugar beet leaf tissue infected with BNYVV, quantified, and analyzed by mass spectrometry. A total of 203 proteins were confidently identified, with a predominance of proteins associated with photosynthesis and energy, metabolism, and response to stimulus. Many proteins identified in this study are typically associated with systemic acquired resistance and general plant defense responses. These results expand on relatively limited proteomic data available for sugar beet and provide the ground work for additional studies focused on understanding the interaction of BNYVV with sugar beet.

  1. Exercise- and cold-induced changes in plasma beta-endorphin and beta-lipotropin in men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Viswanathan, M; Van Dijk, J P; Graham, T E; Bonen, A; George, J C

    1987-02-01

    The plasma beta-endorphin (beta-EP) and beta-lipotropin (beta-LPH) response of men, eumenorrheic women, and amenorrheic women (n = 6) to 1 h of rest or to a bicycle ergometer test [20 min at 30% maximum O2 uptake (VO2max), 20 min at 60% VO2max, and at 90% VO2max to exhaustion] was studied in both normal (22 degrees C) and cold (5 degrees C) environments. beta-EP and beta-LPH was measured by radioimmunoassay in venous samples collected every 20 min during rest or after each exercise bout. Exhaustive exercise at ambient temperature (Ta) 22 degrees C induced significant increases in plasma beta-EP and beta-LPH in all subjects as did work at 60% VO2max in amenorrheic and eumenorrheic women. During work at Ta 5 degrees C, the relative increase in beta-EP and beta-LPH was suppressed in eumenorrheic women and completely prevented in amenorrheic women. Although significant lowering of beta-EP and beta-LPH was observed in men and eumenorrheic women during rest at 5 degrees C, amenorrheic women maintained precold exposure levels. These findings suggest that plasma beta-EP and beta-LPH may reflect a thermoregulatory response to heat load. There appears to be a sexual dimorphism in exercise- and cold-induced release of beta-EP and beta-LPH and amenorrhea may be accompanied by alterations in these responses.

  2. Gastrointestinal pH profile in subjects with irritable bowel syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lalezari, David

    2012-01-01

    To investigate the small bowel pH profile and small intestine transit time (SITT) in healthy controls and patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Nine IBS patients (3 males, mean age 35 yr) and 10 healthy subjects (6 males, mean age 33 yr) were studied. Intestinal pH profile and SITT were assessed by a wireless motility pH and pressure capsule (Smart Pill). Mean pH values were measured in the small intestine (SI) and compared both within and between groups. Data presented as mean or median, ANOVA, P <0.05 for significance. We found the pH for the first (Q1), second (Q2), third (Q3), and fourth quartile (Q4) of the SI in healthy versus IBS patients was 5.608 ± 0.491 vs. 5.667 ± 0.297, 6.200 ± 0.328 vs. 6.168 ± 0.288, 6.679 ± 0.316 vs. 6.741 ± 0.322, and 6.884 ± 0.200 vs. 6.899 ± 0.303, respectively. We found no significant group difference in pH per quartile (P=0.7979). The proximal SI was significantly more acidic, compared to distal segments, in both healthy subjects and IBS patients (P<0.0001). We found no significant difference in the measured SITT between IBS and control groups with a mean SITT of 218.56 ± 59.60 min and 199.20 ± 82.31 min, respectively (P=0.55). This study shows the presence of a gradient of pH along the SI, in both IBS and healthy subjects, the distal being less acidic. These finding may be of importance in small bowel homeostasis.

  3. Venus gravity - Analysis of Beta Regio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esposito, P. B.; Sjogren, W. L.; Mottinger, N. A.; Bills, B. G.; Abbott, E.

    1982-01-01

    Radio tracking data acquired over Beta Regio were analyzed to obtain a surface mass distribution from which a detailed vertical gravity field was derived. In addition, a corresponding vertical gravity field was evaluated solely from the topography of the Beta region. A comparison of these two maps confirms the strong correlation between gravity and topography which was previously seen in line-of-sight gravity maps. It also demonstrates that the observed gravity is a significant fraction of that predicted from the topography alone. The effective depth of complete isostatic compensation for the Beta region is estimated to be 330 km, which is somewhat deeper than that found for other areas of Venus.

  4. Multi-omic profiling of MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell-lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erik Dassi

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Neuroblastoma is the most common pediatric cancer, arising from the neural crest cells of the sympathetic nervous system. Its most aggressive subtype, characterized by the amplification of the MYCN oncogene, has a dismal prognosis and no effective treatment is available. Understanding the alterations induced by the tumor on the various layers of gene expression is therefore important for a complete characterization of this neuroblastoma subtype and for the discovery of new therapeutic opportunities. Here we describe the profiling of 13 MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell lines at the genome (copy number, transcriptome, translatome and miRome levels (GEO series GSE56654, GSE56552 and GSE56655. We provide detailed experimental and data analysis procedures by means of which we derived the results described in [1].

  5. Some schemes for on-line correction of the closed orbit, dispersion and beta functions in PEP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Donald, M.H.R.; Blocker, C.; Chao, A.W.; Hollebeek, R.J.; Lee, M.J.; Linstadt, J.E.; Siegrist, J.L.; Spencer, N.

    1981-02-01

    PEP has been operated successfully under computer control. It is necessary for colliding beam operation that the errors in closed orbits, dispersion and beta functions be corrected. The schemes in the PEP control program for on-line correction of these errors are described in this paper. The orbit control tasks in the PEP control system perform the functions of data gathering, data presentation (color display, printing), calculation and setting of corrector magnets. The tasks are generally small and modular, taking information from the database, processing it, then returning the results to the database. The PEP operator communicates with the tasks through touch panels monitored by the Director program. The display task, which displays orbit and corrector information on a TV color display, provides the main information required by the operator

  6. Polysome profiling of mAb producing CHO cell lines links translational control of cell proliferation and recombinant mRNA loading onto ribosomes with global and recombinant protein synthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godfrey, Charlotte L; Mead, Emma J; Daramola, Olalekan; Dunn, Sarah; Hatton, Diane; Field, Ray; Pettman, Gary; Smales, C Mark

    2017-08-01

    mRNA translation is a key process determining growth, proliferation and duration of a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell culture and influences recombinant protein synthesis rate. During bioprocessing, CHO cells can experience stresses leading to reprogramming of translation and decreased global protein synthesis. Here we apply polysome profiling to determine reprogramming and translational capabilities in host and recombinant monoclonal antibody-producing (mAb) CHO cell lines during batch culture. Recombinant cell lines with the fastest cell specific growth rates were those with the highest global translational efficiency. However, total ribosomal capacity, determined from polysome profiles, did not relate to the fastest growing or highest producing mAb cell line, suggesting it is the ability to utilise available machinery that determines protein synthetic capacity. Cell lines with higher cell specific productivities tended to have elevated recombinant heavy chain transcript copy numbers, localised to the translationally active heavy polysomes. The highest titre cell line was that which sustained recombinant protein synthesis and maintained high recombinant transcript copy numbers in polysomes. Investigation of specific endogenous transcripts revealed a number that maintained or reprogrammed into heavy polysomes, identifying targets for potential cell engineering or those with 5' untranslated regions that might be utilised to enhance recombinant transcript translation. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal published by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Comparison of Solar Fine Structure Observed Simultaneously in Lyα and Mg II h

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmit, D.; Sukhorukov, A. V.; De Pontieu, B.; Leenaarts, J.; Bethge, C.; Winebarger, A.; Auchère, F.; Bando, T.; Ishikawa, R.; Kano, R.; Kobayashi, K.; Narukage, N.; Trujillo Bueno, J.

    2017-10-01

    The Chromospheric Lyman Alpha Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) observed the Sun in H I Lyα during a suborbital rocket flight on 2015 September 3. The Interface Region Imaging Telescope (IRIS) coordinated with the CLASP observations and recorded nearly simultaneous and co-spatial observations in the Mg II h and k lines. The Mg II h and Lyα lines are important transitions, energetically and diagnostically, in the chromosphere. The canonical solar atmosphere model predicts that these lines form in close proximity to each other and so we expect that the line profiles will exhibit similar variability. In this analysis, we present these coordinated observations and discuss how the two profiles compare over a region of quiet Sun at viewing angles that approach the limb. In addition to the observations, we synthesize both line profiles using a 3D radiation-MHD simulation. In the observations, we find that the peak width and the peak intensities are well correlated between the lines. For the simulation, we do not find the same relationship. We have attempted to mitigate the instrumental differences between IRIS and CLASP and to reproduce the instrumental factors in the synthetic profiles. The model indicates that formation heights of the lines differ in a somewhat regular fashion related to magnetic geometry. This variation explains to some degree the lack of correlation, observed and synthesized, between Mg II and Lyα. Our analysis will aid in the definition of future observatories that aim to link dynamics in the chromosphere and transition region.

  8. Comparison of Solar Fine Structure Observed Simultaneously in Ly α and Mg ii h

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schmit, D. [Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, 625 2nd Street, Suite 209, Petaluma, CA 94952 (United States); Sukhorukov, A. V.; Leenaarts, J. [Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1029, Blindern NO-0315 Oslo (Norway); De Pontieu, B. [Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory, Building 252, 3176 Porter Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94304 (United States); Bethge, C.; Winebarger, A.; Kobayashi, K. [NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, ZP 13, Huntsville, AL 35812 (United States); Auchère, F. [Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale, CNRS/Univ. Paris-Sud 11, Bâtiment 121, F-91405 Orsay (France); Bando, T.; Kano, R.; Narukage, N. [National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Ishikawa, R. [Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Chuo-ku, Sagamihara, Kanagawa 252-5210 (Japan); Bueno, J. Trujillo [Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

    2017-10-01

    The Chromospheric Lyman Alpha Spectropolarimeter (CLASP) observed the Sun in H i Ly α during a suborbital rocket flight on 2015 September 3. The Interface Region Imaging Telescope ( IRIS ) coordinated with the CLASP observations and recorded nearly simultaneous and co-spatial observations in the Mg ii h and k lines. The Mg ii h and Ly α lines are important transitions, energetically and diagnostically, in the chromosphere. The canonical solar atmosphere model predicts that these lines form in close proximity to each other and so we expect that the line profiles will exhibit similar variability. In this analysis, we present these coordinated observations and discuss how the two profiles compare over a region of quiet Sun at viewing angles that approach the limb. In addition to the observations, we synthesize both line profiles using a 3D radiation-MHD simulation. In the observations, we find that the peak width and the peak intensities are well correlated between the lines. For the simulation, we do not find the same relationship. We have attempted to mitigate the instrumental differences between IRIS and CLASP and to reproduce the instrumental factors in the synthetic profiles. The model indicates that formation heights of the lines differ in a somewhat regular fashion related to magnetic geometry. This variation explains to some degree the lack of correlation, observed and synthesized, between Mg ii and Ly α . Our analysis will aid in the definition of future observatories that aim to link dynamics in the chromosphere and transition region.

  9. Initial slope of human tumor cell survival curves: its modification by the oxic cell sensitizer beta-arabinofuranosyladenine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chavaudra, N.; Halimi, M.; Parmentier, C.; Gaillard, N.; Grinfeld, S.; Malaise, E.P.

    1989-01-01

    The initial slope of the survival curve, which is a characteristic of each tumor cell line, varies with the histological group of the tumor. It is one of the factors on which clinical radioresponsiveness depends. The DNA dependant DNA polymerase inhibitor beta-ara A acts as an oxic cell sensitizer. This study was carried out on human tumor cell lines to look for a correlation between the degree of radiosensitization induced by beta-ara A and the radiosensitivity of a given cell line. Six human tumor cell lines with different radiosensitivities were used (the survival rate at 2 Gy and D ranged from 20 to 73% and from 1.2 to 3.2 Gy, respectively). beta-ara A had a major toxic effect on all cell lines but this varied greatly from one cell line to another and was concentration dependant; this toxic effect was taken into account when calculating the surviving fractions. For all cell lines, beta-ara A acted as an oxic radiosensitizer and the radiosensitization was concentration dependant. Analysis of the survival curves of the 6 cell lines using the linear quadratic model showed that concentrations of beta-ara A between 200 and 1000 microM induced an increase in the linear component while the quadratic component underwent no systematic change. The sensitizing enhancement ratio (SER) measured from the Ds ratios, varied greatly from one line to another. For example, at a concentration of 500 microM, the extreme values of Ds ratios were 1.5 and 2.6. The radiosensitization is greater, the higher the radiosensitivity of the cell line studied during exponential growth. The results do not favor the use of beta-ara A in the treatment of intrinsically radioresistant human tumors

  10. Initial slope of human tumor cell survival curves: its modification by the oxic cell sensitizer beta-arabinofuranosyladenine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chavaudra, N.; Halimi, M.; Parmentier, C.; Gaillard, N.; Grinfeld, S.; Malaise, E.P.

    1989-05-01

    The initial slope of the survival curve, which is a characteristic of each tumor cell line, varies with the histological group of the tumor. It is one of the factors on which clinical radioresponsiveness depends. The DNA dependant DNA polymerase inhibitor beta-ara A acts as an oxic cell sensitizer. This study was carried out on human tumor cell lines to look for a correlation between the degree of radiosensitization induced by beta-ara A and the radiosensitivity of a given cell line. Six human tumor cell lines with different radiosensitivities were used (the survival rate at 2 Gy and D ranged from 20 to 73% and from 1.2 to 3.2 Gy, respectively). beta-ara A had a major toxic effect on all cell lines but this varied greatly from one cell line to another and was concentration dependant; this toxic effect was taken into account when calculating the surviving fractions. For all cell lines, beta-ara A acted as an oxic radiosensitizer and the radiosensitization was concentration dependant. Analysis of the survival curves of the 6 cell lines using the linear quadratic model showed that concentrations of beta-ara A between 200 and 1000 microM induced an increase in the linear component while the quadratic component underwent no systematic change. The sensitizing enhancement ratio (SER) measured from the Ds ratios, varied greatly from one line to another. For example, at a concentration of 500 microM, the extreme values of Ds ratios were 1.5 and 2.6. The radiosensitization is greater, the higher the radiosensitivity of the cell line studied during exponential growth. The results do not favor the use of beta-ara A in the treatment of intrinsically radioresistant human tumors.

  11. Development of an ultrahigh-temperature process for the enzymatic hydrolysis of lactose. IV. Immobilization of two thermostable beta-glycosidases and optimization of a packed-bed reactor for lactose conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petzelbauer, Inge; Kuhn, Bernhard; Splechtna, Barbara; Kulbe, Klaus D; Nidetzky, Bernd

    2002-03-20

    Recombinant hyperthermostable beta-glycosidases from the archaea Sulfolobus solfataricus (Ss beta Gly) and Pyrococcus furiosus (CelB) were covalently attached onto the insoluble carriers chitosan, controlled pore glass (CPG), and Eupergit C. For each enzyme/carrier pair, the protein-binding capacity, the immobilization yield, the pH profiles for activity and stability, the activity/temperature profile, and the kinetic constants for lactose hydrolysis at 70 degrees C were determined. Eupergit C was best among the carriers in regard to retention of native-like activity and stability of Ss beta Gly and CelB over the pH range 3.0-7.5. Its protein binding capacity of approximately 0.003 (on a mass basis) was one-third times that of CPG, while immobilization yields were typically 80% in each case. Activation energies for lactose conversion by the immobilized enzymes at pH 5.5 were in the range 50-60 kJ/mol. This is compared to values of approximately 75 kJ/mol for the free enzymes. Immobilization expands the useful pH range for CelB and Ss beta Gly by approximately 1.5 pH units toward pH 3.5 and pH 4.5, respectively. A packed-bed enzyme reactor was developed for the continuous conversion of lactose in different media, including whey and milk, and operated over extended reaction times of up to 14 days. The productivities of the Eupergit C-immobilized enzyme reactor were determined at dilution rates between 1 and 12 h(-1), and using 45 and 170 g/L initial lactose. Results of kinetic modeling for the same reactor, assuming plug flow and steady state, suggest the presence of mass-transfer limitation of the reaction rate under the conditions used. Formation of galacto-oligosaccharides in the continuous packed-bed reactor and in the batch reactor using free enzyme was closely similar in regard to yield and individual saccharide components produced. Copyright 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 77: 619-631, 2002; DOI 10.1002/bit.10110

  12. [Focus on beta-blockers for vascular specialists in 2012].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mairesse, S; Blacher, J; Safar, M-E

    2011-12-01

    Since they were launched on the market in 1964, cardiovascular indications for beta-blockers have been validated and accepted worldwide. Numerous studies and meta-analysis have confirmed their benefits. They reduce mortality in post infarction and acute coronary syndrome populations and also in people with stable coronary heart disease. Moreover, heart failure with systolic left ventricular dysfunction is a major indication for this therapeutic class, providing a 30% decrease in mortality. In patients with permanent atrial fibrillation, beta-blockers are recommended for rate control. In hypertension patients, first-line drug treatment with beta-blockers is currently discussed. Indeed, several studies have shown that patients randomized in the beta-blocker arms experienced more coronary heart and cerebrovascular diseases than comparators. Their lesser effect on central blood pressure decrease could partially explain those results. Nevertheless, beta-blockers are still considered as first-line drugs for hypertension in the French and European guidelines. Long-term comparative studies focusing on central blood pressure are needed. Concerning the other indications for beta-blockers in vascular diseases, their use perioperatively to reduce surgical cardiovascular risk raised much hope, but the most recent results are disappointed and even suggest possible higher mortality. Finally, except for patients with critical ischemia of the lower limbs, presence of peripheral artery disease should probably be considered as a condition favoring their prescription. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  13. Binding kinetics of five drugs to beta2-adrenoceptor using peak profiling method and nonlinear chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Yuan; Wang, Jing; Fei, Fuhuan; Sun, Huanmei; Liu, Ting; Li, Qian; Zhao, Xinfeng; Zheng, Xiaohui

    2018-02-23

    Investigations of drug-protein interactions have advanced our knowledge of ways to design more rational drugs. In addition to extensive thermodynamic studies, ongoing works are needed to enhance the exploration of drug-protein binding kinetics. In this work, the beta2-adrenoceptor (β 2 -AR) was immobilized on N, N'-carbonyldiimidazole activated amino polystyrene microspheres to prepare an affinity column (4.6 mm × 5.0 cm, 8 μm). The β 2 -AR column was utilized to determine the binding kinetics of five drugs to the receptor. Introducing peak profiling method into this receptor chromatographic analysis, we determined the dissociation rate constants (k d ) of salbutamol, terbutaline, methoxyphenamine, isoprenaline hydrochloride and ephedrine hydrochloride to β 2 -AR to be 15 (±1), 22 (±1), 3.3 (±0.2), 2.3 (±0.2) and 2.1 (±0.1) s -1 , respectively. The employment of nonlinear chromatography (NLC) in this case exhibited the same rank order of k d values for the five drugs bound to β 2 -AR. We confirmed that both the peak profiling method and NLC were capable of routine measurement of receptor-drug binding kinetics. Compared with the peak profiling method, NLC was advantageous in the simultaneous assessment of the kinetic and apparent thermodynamic parameters. It will become a powerful method for high throughput drug-receptor interaction analysis. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Equine endometrial fibrosis correlates with 11beta-HSD2, TGF-beta1 and ACE activities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ganjam, V K; Evans, T J

    2006-03-27

    Endometrial periglandular fibrosis (EPF) contributes to embryonic and fetal loss in mares. Equine EPF correlates inversely with conception and successful gestation. In the modified Kenney endometrial biopsy classification system, EPF categories I, IIA, IIB, and III correspond to minimal, mild, moderate, and severe fibrosis (+/-inflammation), respectively. Paraffin sections of biopsy specimens were stained with H&E, and picrosirius red (specific for fibrillar collagens types I and III), to determine %EPCVF. Endometrial ACE-binding activity, TGF-beta1 and 11beta-HSD2 activities were also measured. Ultrastructural changes in EPF categories IIB and III endometria strongly suggested myofibroblastic transformation. ACE-binding activity was highest in EPF category IIB; however, endometrial TGF-beta1 and 11beta-HSD2 activities were significantly correlated to the severity of EPF (P<0.05). We conclude that, locally generated angiotensin II initiates the expression of TGF-beta1 resulting in myofibroblastic transformation. 11Beta-HSD2 in concert appears to modulate the severity of endometrial fibrosis.

  15. A reference genome and methylome for the Plasmodium knowlesi A1-H.1 line

    KAUST Repository

    Benavente, Ernest Diez

    2017-12-16

    Plasmodium knowlesi, a common parasite of macaques, is recognized as a significant cause of human malaria in Malaysia. The P. knowlesi A1H1 line has been adapted to continuous culture in human erythrocytes, successfully providing an in vitro model to study the parasite. We have assembled a reference genome for the PkA1-H.1 line using PacBio long read combined with Illumina short read sequence data. Compared with the H-strain reference, the new reference has improved genome coverage and a novel description of methylation sites. The PkA1-H.1 reference will enhance the capabilities of the in vitro model to improve the understanding of P. knowlesi infection in humans.

  16. A reference genome and methylome for the Plasmodium knowlesi A1-H.1 line

    KAUST Repository

    Benavente, Ernest Diez; de Sessions, Paola Florez; Moon, Robert W.; Grainger, Munira; Holder, Anthony A; Blackman, Michael J.; Roper, Cally; Drakeley, Christopher J.; Pain, Arnab; Sutherland, Colin J.; Hibberd, Martin L.; Campino, Susana; Clark, Taane G

    2017-01-01

    Plasmodium knowlesi, a common parasite of macaques, is recognized as a significant cause of human malaria in Malaysia. The P. knowlesi A1H1 line has been adapted to continuous culture in human erythrocytes, successfully providing an in vitro model to study the parasite. We have assembled a reference genome for the PkA1-H.1 line using PacBio long read combined with Illumina short read sequence data. Compared with the H-strain reference, the new reference has improved genome coverage and a novel description of methylation sites. The PkA1-H.1 reference will enhance the capabilities of the in vitro model to improve the understanding of P. knowlesi infection in humans.

  17. CD86 and beta2-adrenergic receptor signaling pathways, respectively, increase Oct-2 and OCA-B Expression and binding to the 3'-IgH enhancer in B cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Podojil, Joseph R; Kin, Nicholas W; Sanders, Virginia M

    2004-05-28

    Stimulation of CD86 (formerly known as B7-2) and/or the beta2-adrenergic receptor on a CD40 ligand/interleukin-4-activated B cell increased the rate of mature IgG1 transcription. To identify the mechanism responsible for this effect, we determined whether CD86 and/or beta2-adrenergic receptor stimulation regulated transcription factor expression and binding to the 3'-IgH enhancer in vitro and in vivo. We showed that CD86 stimulation increased the nuclear localization of NF-kappaB1 (p50) and phosphorylated RelA (p65) and increased Oct-2 expression and binding to the 3'-IgH enhancer, in a protein kinase C-dependent manner. These effects were lost when CD86-deficient or NF-kappaB1-deficient B cells were used. CD86 stimulation also increased the level of IkappaB-alpha phosphorylation but in a protein kinase C-independent manner. Beta2-adrenergic receptor stimulation increased CREB phosphorylation, OCA-B expression, and OCA-B binding to the 3'-IgH enhancer in a protein kinase A-dependent manner, an effect lost when beta2-adrenergic receptor-deficient B cells were used. Also, the beta2-adrenergic receptor-induced increase in the level of mature IgG1 transcript was lost when OCA-B-deficient B cells were used. These data are the first to show that CD86 stimulation up-regulates the expression of the transcription factor Oct-2 in a protein kinase C- and NF-kappaB1-dependent manner, and that beta2-adrenergic receptor stimulation up-regulates the expression of the coactivator OCA-B in a protein kinase A-dependent manner to cooperate with Oct-2 binding to the 3'-IgH enhancer.

  18. EXTREMELY BROAD RADIO RECOMBINATION MASER LINES TOWARD THE HIGH-VELOCITY IONIZED JET IN CEPHEUS A HW2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jimenez-Serra, I.; Patel, N.; Martin-Pintado, J.; Baez-Rubio, A.; Thum, C.

    2011-01-01

    We present the first detection of the H40α, H34α, and H31α radio recombination lines (RRLs) at millimeter wavelengths toward the high-velocity ionized jet in the Cepheus A HW2 star-forming region. From our single-dish and interferometric observations, we find that the measured RRLs show extremely broad asymmetric line profiles with zero-intensity line widths of ∼1100 km s -1 . From the line widths, we estimate a terminal velocity for the ionized gas in the jet of ≥500 km s -1 , consistent with that obtained from the proper motions of the HW2 radio jet. The total integrated line-to-continuum flux ratios of the H40α, H34α, and H31α lines are 43, 229, and 280 km s -1 , clearly deviating from LTE predictions. These ratios are very similar to those observed for the RRL masers toward MWC349A, suggesting that the intensities of the RRLs toward HW2 are affected by maser emission. Our radiative transfer modeling of the RRLs shows that their asymmetric profiles could be explained by maser emission arising from a bi-conical radio jet with a semi-opening angle of 18 deg., electron density distribution varying as r -2.11 , and turbulent and expanding wind velocities of 60 and 500 km s -1 .

  19. D/H ratio for Jupiter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, H.; Schempp, W.V.; Baines, K.H.

    1989-01-01

    Observations of Jupiter's spectrum near the R5(0) HD line at 6063.88 A are reported. A feature with an equivalent width of 0.065 + or - 0.021 mA is coincident with the expected line. This feature is compared with HD profiles computed for inhomogeneous scattering models for Jupiter to yield a range for the Jovian D/H ratio of 1.0-2.9 x 10 to the -5th. This D/H ratio is in the lower range of previously reported D/H values for Jupiter and corresponds to an essentially solar D/H ratio for Jupiter. The detection of HD features in the presence of probable blends with spectral features of minor atmospheric hydrocarbon molecules is discussed. Such blends may make unambiguous identification of HD features difficult. 26 references

  20. In-trap decay spectroscopy for {beta}{beta} decays

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brunner, Thomas

    2011-01-18

    The presented work describes the implementation of a new technique to measure electron-capture (EC) branching ratios (BRs) of intermediate nuclei in {beta}{beta} decays. This technique has been developed at TRIUMF in Vancouver, Canada. It facilitates one of TRIUMF's Ion Traps for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN), the Electron Beam Ion Trap (EBIT) that is used as a spectroscopy Penning trap. Radioactive ions, produced at the radioactive isotope facility ISAC, are injected and stored in the spectroscopy Penning trap while their decays are observed. A key feature of this technique is the use of a strong magnetic field, required for trapping. It radially confines electrons from {beta} decays along the trap axis while X-rays, following an EC, are emitted isotropically. This provides spatial separation of X-ray and {beta} detection with almost no {beta}-induced background at the X-ray detector, allowing weak EC branches to be measured. Furthermore, the combination of several traps allows one to isobarically clean the sample prior to the in-trap decay spectroscopy measurement. This technique has been developed to measure ECBRs of transition nuclei in {beta}{beta} decays. Detailed knowledge of these electron capture branches is crucial for a better understanding of the underlying nuclear physics in {beta}{beta} decays. These branches are typically of the order of 10{sup -5} and therefore difficult to measure. Conventional measurements suffer from isobaric contamination and a dominating {beta} background at theX-ray detector. Additionally, X-rays are attenuated by the material where the radioactive sample is implanted. To overcome these limitations, the technique of in-trap decay spectroscopy has been developed. In this work, the EBIT was connected to the TITAN beam line and has been commissioned. Using the developed beam diagnostics, ions were injected into the Penning trap and systematic studies on injection and storage optimization were performed. Furthermore, Ge

  1. The national spherical torus experiment (NSTX) research programme and progress towards high beta, long pulse operating scenarios

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Synakowski, E.J.; Bell, M.G.; Bell, R.E.

    2003-01-01

    A major research goal of the national spherical torus experiment is establishing long-pulse, high beta, high confinement operation and its physics basis. This research has been enabled by facility capabilities developed during 2001 and 2002, including neutral beam (up to 7 MW) and high harmonic fast wave (HHFW) heating (up to 6 MW), toroidal fields up to 6 kG, plasma currents up to 1.5 MA, flexible shape control, and wall preparation techniques. These capabilities have enabled the generation of plasmas with β T ≡ /(B T0 2 /2μ 0 ) of up to 35%. Normalized beta values often exceed the no-wall limit, and studies suggest that passive wall mode stabilization enables this for H mode plasmas with broad pressure profiles. The viability of long, high bootstrap current fraction operations has been established for ELMing H mode plasmas with toroidal beta values in excess of 15% and sustained for several current relaxation times. Improvements in wall conditioning and fuelling are likely contributing to a reduction in H mode power thresholds. Electron thermal conduction is the dominant thermal loss channel in auxiliary heated plasmas examined thus far. HHFW effectively heats electrons, and its acceleration of fast beam ions has been observed. Evidence for HHFW current drive is obtained by comparison of the loop voltage evolution in plasmas with matched density and temperature profiles but varying phases of launched HHFW waves. Studies of emissions from electron Bernstein waves indicate a density scale length dependence of their transmission across the upper hybrid resonance near the plasma edge that is consistent with theoretical predictions. A peak heat flux to the divertor targets of 10 MW m -2 has been measured in the H mode, with large asymmetries being observed in the power deposition between the inner and outer strike points. Non-inductive plasma startup studies have focused on coaxial helicity injection. With this technique, toroidal currents up to 400 kA have been

  2. mRNA expression profile in DLD-1 and MOLT-4 cancer cell lines cultured under Microgravity

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — DLD-1 and MOLT-4 cell lines were cultured in a Rotating cell culture system to simulate microgravity and mRNA expression profile was observed in comparison to Static...

  3. Isoproterenol reduces ischemia-reperfusion lung injury despite beta-blockade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takashima, Seiki; Schlidt, Scott A; Koukoulis, Giovanna; Sevala, Mayura; Egan, Thomas M

    2005-06-01

    If lungs could be retrieved from non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs), the shortage of lungs for transplantation could be alleviated. The use of lungs from NHBDs is associated with a mandatory warm ischemic interval, which results in ischemia-reperfusion injury upon reperfusion. In an earlier study, rat lungs retrieved 2-h postmortem from NHBDs had reduced capillary leak measured by filtration coefficient (Kfc) when reperfused with isoproterenol (iso), associated with an increase in lung tissue levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP). The objective was to determine if this decrease in Kfc was because of beta-stimulation, or would persist despite beta-blockade. Donor rats were treated intraperitoneally with beta-blockade (propranolol or pindolol) or carrier, sacrificed, and lungs were retrieved immediately or 2 h postmortem. The lungs were reperfused with or without iso and the beta-blockers in the reperfusate. Outcome measures were Kfc, wet:dry weight ratio (W/D), lung levels of adenine nucleotides and cAMP. Lungs retrieved immediately after death had normal Kfc and W/D. After 2 h of ischemia, Kfc and W/D were markedly elevated in controls (no drug) and lungs reperfused with beta-blockers alone. Isoproterenol-reperfusion decreased Kfc and W/D significantly (P < 0.01) even in the presence of beta-blockade. Lung cAMP levels were increased only with iso in the absence of beta-blockade. The attenuation of ischemia-reperfusion injury because of iso occurs even in the presence of beta-blockade, and may not be a result of beta-stimulated increased cAMP.

  4. Blue-wing enhancement of the chromospheric Mg II h and k lines in a solar flare

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tei, Akiko; Sakaue, Takahito; Okamoto, Takenori J.; Kawate, Tomoko; Heinzel, Petr; UeNo, Satoru; Asai, Ayumi; Ichimoto, Kiyoshi; Shibata, Kazunari

    2018-05-01

    We performed coordinated observations of AR 12205, which showed a C-class flare on 2014 November 11, with the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Domeless Solar Telescope (DST) at Hida Observatory. Using spectral data in the Si IV 1403 Å, C II 1335 Å, and Mg II h and k lines from IRIS and the Ca II K, Ca II 8542 Å, and Hα lines from DST, we investigated a moving flare kernel during the flare. In the Mg II h line, the leading edge of the flare kernel showed an intensity enhancement in the blue wing and a smaller intensity of the blue-side peak (h2v) than that of the red-side one (h2r). The blueshift lasted for 9-48 s with a typical speed of 10.1 ± 2.6 km s-1, which was followed by a high intensity and a large redshift with a speed of up to 51 km s-1 detected in the Mg II h line. The large redshift was a common property for all six lines, but the blueshift prior to it was found only in the Mg II lines. Cloud modeling of the Mg II h line suggests that the blue-wing enhancement with such a peak difference could have been caused by a chromospheric-temperature (cool) upflow. We discuss a scenario in which an upflow of cool plasma is lifted up by expanding hot plasma owing to the deep penetration of non-thermal electrons into the chromosphere. Furthermore, we found that the blueshift persisted without any subsequent redshift in the leading edge of the flare kernel during its decaying phase. The cause of such a long-lasting blueshift is also discussed.

  5. Neural mechanisms of transient neocortical beta rhythms: Converging evidence from humans, computational modeling, monkeys, and mice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sherman, Maxwell A.; Lee, Shane; Law, Robert; Haegens, Saskia; Thorn, Catherine A.; Hämäläinen, Matti S.; Moore, Christopher I.; Jones, Stephanie R.

    2016-01-01

    Human neocortical 15–29-Hz beta oscillations are strong predictors of perceptual and motor performance. However, the mechanistic origin of beta in vivo is unknown, hindering understanding of its functional role. Combining human magnetoencephalography (MEG), computational modeling, and laminar recordings in animals, we present a new theory that accounts for the origin of spontaneous neocortical beta. In our MEG data, spontaneous beta activity from somatosensory and frontal cortex emerged as noncontinuous beta events typically lasting drive targeting proximal and distal dendrites of pyramidal neurons, where the defining feature of a beta event was a strong distal drive that lasted one beta period (∼50 ms). This beta mechanism rigorously accounted for the beta event profiles; several other mechanisms did not. The spatial location of synaptic drive in the model to supragranular and infragranular layers was critical to the emergence of beta events and led to the prediction that beta events should be associated with a specific laminar current profile. Laminar recordings in somatosensory neocortex from anesthetized mice and awake monkeys supported these predictions, suggesting this beta mechanism is conserved across species and recording modalities. These findings make several predictions about optimal states for perceptual and motor performance and guide causal interventions to modulate beta for optimal function. PMID:27469163

  6. Vitamin A family compounds, estradiol, and docetaxel in proliferation, apoptosis and immunocytochemical profile of human ovary endometrioid cancer cell line CRL-11731.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorota Lemancewicz

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Endometrioid carcinoma represents approximately 10% of cases of the malignant ovarian epithelial tumors. According to literature, the vitamin A (carotenoids and retinoids plays an essential role in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis in both normal and neoplastic ovarian tissues. Apart from that, the retinoids alter a cytotoxic effect of chemiotherapeutics, i.e. docetaxel, on ovarian cancer cell lines. Retinoids act on cancer cells throughout different mechanism than taxanes, so they may be the potential candidates for the new treatment strategies of ovarian cancer. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of vitamin A family compounds (retinol, beta-carotene, lycopene, all-trans -, 9-cis - and 13-cis retinoic acid on the growth and proliferation of CRL-11731 endometrioid ovary cancer cell line and on docetaxel and estradiol activity in this culture. The assay was based on [3H] thymidine incorporation and the proliferative activity of PCNA- and Ki 67-positive cells. The apoptotic index and expression of the Bcl-2 and p53 antigens in CRL-11731 cells were also studied. Among vitamin A family compounds retinol and carotenoids, but not retinoids, inhibited the growth of cancer cells in dose dependent manner. Only the concentration of 100 muM of docetaxel inhibited incorporation [3H] thymidine into CRL-11731 cancer cells. Retinol (33.4%+/-8.5, carotenoids (beta-carotene 20 muM 4.7%+/-2.9, 50 muM 2.2%+/-0.9; lycopene 10 muM 7.6%+/-0.8, 20 muM 5.2%+/-2.5, 50 muM 2.9%+/-1.2, and 13-cis retinoic acid (19.7%+/-2.2 combined with docetaxel (100 muM significantly decreased the percentage of proliferating cells (p<0.0001. The antiproliferative action of lycopene alone and in combination with docetaxel was also confirmed in immunohistochemical examination (decreased the percentage of PCNA and Ki67 positive cells. Also retinol (10 muM and lycopene (20 and 50 muM combined with estradiol (0.01 muM statistically decreased the percentage of

  7. Secondary structure determination of human. beta. -endorphin by /sup 1/H NMR spectroscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lichtarge, O.; Jardetzky, O.; Li, C.H.

    1987-09-08

    The /sup 1/H NMR spectra of human ..beta..-endorphin indicate that the peptide exists in random-coil form in aqueous solution but becomes helical in mixed solvent. Thermal denaturation NMR experiments show that in water there is no transition between 24 and 75/sup 0/C, while a slow noncooperative thermal unfolding is observed in a 60% methanol-40% water mixed solvent in the same temperature range. These findings are consistent with circular dichroism studies by other workers concluding that ..beta..-endorphin is a random coil in water but that it forms 50% ..cap alpha..-helix or more in mixed solvents. The peptide in the mixed water-methanol solvent was further studied by correlated spectroscopy (COSY) and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) experiments. These allow a complete set of assignments to be made and establish two distinct stretches over which the solvent induces formation of ..cap alpha..-helices: the first occurs between Tyr-1 and Thr-12 and the second between Leu-14 and extending to Lys-28. There is evidence that the latter is capped by a turn occurring between Lys-28 and Glu-31. These helices form at the enkephalin receptor binding site, which is at the amino terminus, and at the morphine receptor binding site, located at the carboxyl terminus. The findings suggest that these two receptors may specifically recognize ..cap alpha..-helices.

  8. Beam Optics Studies in the Large Hadron Collider Observations on an Anomalous Octupolar Resonance Line in the LHC -- and -- Accuracy & Feasibility of the $\\beta^*$ Measurement for LHC and HL-LHC Using K-Modulation

    CERN Document Server

    Carlier, F S

    While linear LHC dynamics are mostly understood and under control, non-linear beam dynamics will play an increasingly important role in the challenging regimes of future LHC operation. In 2012, turn-by-turn measurements of large betatron excitations of LHC Beam 2 at injection energy were carried out. These measurements revealed an unexpectedly large spectral line in the horizontal motion with frequency $-Q_x-2Q_y$. Detailed analyses and simulations are presented to understand the nature of this spectral line. -- ABSTRACT II -- The future regimes of operation of the LHC will require improved control of $\\beta^*$ measurements to succesfully level the luminosities in the interaction points. The method of K-modulation has been widely used in other machines such as, LEP, HERA, Tevatron and ALBA to measure lattice beta functions. In the LHC, K-modulation of the last quadrupoles of the IP is the method to measure $\\beta^*$ in the IP. This paper highlights the challenge of high precision tune measurements (up to $10...

  9. MHC class I phenotype and function of human beta 2-microglobulin transgenic murine lymphocytes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bjerager, L; Pedersen, L O; Bregenholt, S

    1996-01-01

    . Based on data from cellular binding studies, Scatchard analyses and flow cytometry, it is concluded that exogenous h beta 2m does not bind to hybrid MHC class I (MHC-I) molecules composed of mouse heavy chain/h beta 2m molecules expressed on lymphocytes of transgenic mice. Immunoprecipitation and SDS......-PAGE analysis of metabolically labelled normal C57BL/6 lymph node cells showed binding of exogenous h beta 2m to MHC-I, in particular, to the H-2Db molecule through an exchange with endogenous mouse beta 2m. In contrast to normal H-2Db molecules, hybrid H-2Db expressed on the surface of transgenic lymphocytes...... binds radiolabelled peptide in the absence of exogenous added h beta 2m suggesting that a stable fraction of hybrid H-2Db molecules is empty or contain peptides with very low affinity. In a one-way allogenic mixed lymphocyte culture, transgenic splenocytes were found to be far less stimulatory than...

  10. beta-Carotene in breast milk and serum is increased after a single beta-carotene dose.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canfield, L M; Giuliano, A R; Neilson, E M; Yap, H H; Graver, E J; Cui, H A; Blashill, B M

    1997-07-01

    Normal lactating mothers were administered a single dose of 60 or 210 mg beta-carotene and changes in serum and milk retinol, alpha-tocopherol, and carotenoids were monitored for 8 d. Average serum beta-carotene concentrations increased 4.1- and 4.0-fold after the 60- and 210-mg doses, respectively. Milk beta-carotene concentrations increased 4.1- and 3.0-fold after the 60- and 210-mg doses, respectively. Maximum serum concentrations were reached 24 h after both supplements, although concentrations of milk beta-carotene continued to rise for 2-3 d. After 8 d, both serum and milk beta-carotene continued to rise for 2-3 d. After 8 d, both serum and milk beta-carotene concentrations remained about twofold higher than baseline concentrations. Increases in serum or milk beta-carotene concentrations were not dose-dependent. Initial serum and milk concentrations of beta-carotene predicted increases after supplementation, and increases in serum beta-carotene concentrations predicted those in milk. Concentrations of milk carotenoids were less than one-tenth their respective concentrations in serum. Lutein, beta-cryptoxanthin, lycopene, alpha-carotene, retinol, and alpha-tocopherol concentrations in serum or milk did not change significantly after beta-carotene supplementation. Retinol esters account for most of the retinol equivalents in the milk of well-nourished mothers. Initial and maximum concentrations of beta-carotene in serum and milk were strongly correlated for individual mothers. Collectively, the data showed that a single 60-mg supplement of beta-carotene sustained elevated beta-carotene concentrations in serum and milk for > 1 wk in normal mothers but did not affect concentrations of other major carotenoids, retinol, or alpha-tocopherol.

  11. Cronbach's [Alpha], Revelle's [Beta], and McDonald's [Omega][sub H]: Their Relations with Each Other and Two Alternative Conceptualizations of Reliability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zinbarg, Richard E.; Revelle, William; Yovel, Iftah; Li, Wen

    2005-01-01

    We make theoretical comparisons among five coefficients--Cronbach's [alpha], Revelle's [beta], McDonald's [omega][sub h], and two alternative conceptualizations of reliability. Though many end users and psychometricians alike may not distinguish among these five coefficients, we demonstrate formally their nonequivalence. Specifically, whereas…

  12. Ultrastructural characterization of noradrenergic- and beta-adrenergic receptor-containing profiles in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Farb

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Norepinephrine (NE is thought to play a key role in fear and anxiety, but its role in amygdala-dependent Pavlovian fear conditioning, a major model for understanding the neural basis of fear, is poorly understood. The lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA is a critical brain region for fear learning and regulating the effects of stress on memory. To understand better the cellular mechanisms of NE and its adrenergic receptors in the LA, we used antibodies directed against dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DβH, the synthetic enzyme for NE, or against two different isoforms of the beta-adrenergic receptors (βARs, one that predominately recognizes neurons (βAR 248 and the other astrocytes (βAR 404, to characterize the microenvironments of DβH and βAR. By electron microscopy, most DβH terminals did not make synapses, but when they did, they formed both asymmetric and symmetric synapses. By light microscopy, βARs were present in both neurons and astrocytes. Confocal microscopy revealed that both excitatory and inhibitory neurons express βAR248. By electron microscopy, βAR 248 was present in neuronal cell bodies, dendritic shafts and spines, and some axon terminals and astrocytes. When in dendrites and spines, βAR 248 was frequently concentrated along plasma membranes and at post-synaptic densities of asymmetric (excitatory synapses. βAR 404 was expressed predominately in astrocytic cell bodies and processes. These astrocytic processes were frequently interposed between unlabeled terminals or ensheathed asymmetric synapses. Our findings provide a morphological basis for understanding ways in which NE may modulate transmission by acting via synaptic or non-synaptic mechanisms in the LA.

  13. The host galaxy of the gamma-ray narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    León Tavares, J.; Chavushyan, V.; Puerari, I.; Patiño-Alvarez, V.; Carramiñana, A.; Carrasco, L.; Guichard, J.; Olguín-Iglesias, A.; Valdes, J. [Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE), Apartado Postal 51 y 216, 72000 Puebla (Mexico); Kotilainen, J. [Finnish Centre for Astronomy with ESO (FINCA), University of Turku, Väisäläntie 20, FI-21500 Piikkiö (Finland); Añorve, C. [Facultad de Ciencias de la Tierra y del Espacio (FACITE) de la Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, Blvd. de la Americas y Av. Universitarios S/N, Ciudad Universitaria, C.P. 80010, Culiacán Sinaloa (Mexico); Cruz-González, I. [Instituto de Astronomía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ap. 70-264, 04510 DF (Mexico); Antón, S. [Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía-CSIC, E-18008 Granada (Spain); Karhunen, K.; Sanghvi, J., E-mail: leon.tavares@inaoep.mx [Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku, FI-20100 Turku (Finland)

    2014-11-01

    We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) imaging data of the radio-loud, narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H 0323+342, which shows intense and variable gamma-ray activity discovered by the Fermi satellite with the Large Area Telescope. Near-infrared and optical images are used to investigate the structural properties of the host galaxy of 1H 0323+342; this together with optical spectroscopy allows us to examine its black hole mass. Based on two-dimensional (2D) multiwavelength surface-brightness modeling, we find that statistically, the best model fit is a combination of a nuclear component and a Sérsic profile (n ∼ 2.8). However, the presence of a disk component (with a small bulge n ∼ 1.2) also remains a possibility and cannot be ruled out with the present data. Although at first glance a spiral-arm-like structure is revealed in our images, a 2D Fourier analysis of the imagery suggests that this structure corresponds to an asymmetric ring, likely associated with a recent violent dynamical interaction. We discuss our results in the context of relativistic jet production and galaxy evolution.

  14. Noradrenergic lesioning with an anti-dopamine beta-hydroxylase immunotoxin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picklo, M. J.; Wiley, R. G.; Lappi, D. A.; Robertson, D.

    1994-01-01

    Sympathectomy has been achieved by a variety of methods but each has its limitations. These include lack of tissue specificity, incomplete lesioning, and the age range of susceptibility to the lesioning. To circumvent these drawbacks, an immunotoxin was constructed using a monoclonal antibody against the noradrenergic specific enzyme dopamine beta-hydroxylase (D beta H) coupled via a disulfide bond to saporin, a ribosomal inactivating protein. Three days after intravenous injection of the anti-D beta H immunotoxin (50 micrograms) into adult Sprague-Dawley rats, 66% of neurons in the superior cervical ganglia were chromatolytic. Superior cervical ganglia neurons were poisoned in 1 day old and 1 week old (86% of neurons) neonatal rats following subcutaneous injection of 3.75 and 15 micrograms, respectively. The anti-D beta H immunotoxin will be a useful tool in the study of the peripheral noradrenergic system in adult and neonatal animals.

  15. Two center electron emission in collisions of fast ions with H, and H2: Interplay between interference and Compton profile effect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Misra, D.; Kumar, Ajay; Kadhane, U.R.; Fainstein, P.D.; Tribedi, L.C.

    2006-01-01

    Young type interference effect has been studied in case of particle induced ionization of H 2 . Oscillations are derived by comparing the measured DDCS for H 2 with the calculated DDCS for H. The effect of the Compton profiles of H 2 and H on the interference structure is also studied. A theoretical model based on molecular distorted wave calculation explains the experimental results qualitatively

  16. Beta-endorphin in genetically hypoprolactinemic rat: IPL nude rat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cohen, H.; Sabbagh, I.; Abou-Samra, A.B.; Bertrand, J.

    1986-01-20

    Beta-endorphin has been reported to regulate not only stress- and suckling-induced but also basal prolactin secretion. In the aim to better evaluate the endogenous beta-endorphin-prolactin interrelation, the authors measured beta-endorphin levels in a new rat strain, genetically hypoprolactinemic and characterized by a total lack of lactation: IPL nude rat. Beta-endorphin was measured using a specific anti-h-..beta.. endorphin in plasma and extracts of anterior and neurointermediate lobes of the pituitary, hypothalamus and brain. Pituitary extracts were also chromatographed on Sephadex G50 column. Results obtained showed that in IPL nude females on diestrus and males, the beta-endorphin contents of the neurointermediate lobe was significantly lower than in normal rats, while the values found in the other organs and plasma were similar. However, elution pattern of the anterior pituitary extracts from male rats showed greater immunoactivity eluting as I/sup 125/ h-beta-endorphin than in normal rat; this was not the case for the female rat. These results are consistent with a differential regulation of beta-endorphin levels of anterior and neurointermediate lobe by catecholamines. Moreover they suggest that PRL secretion was more related to neurointermediate beta-endorphin. 40 references, 2 figures, 4 tables.

  17. Dynamic behaviour of the contact line for 350 km/h on the new line Wuhan - Guangzhou; Dynamisches Verhalten der Oberleitung fuer 350 km/h auf der neuen Strecke Wuhan - Guangzhou

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zimmert, Gerhard [Balfour Beatty Rail, Beijing (China)

    2010-04-15

    Only after four and a half years of construction activities regular services started on the approximately 1 000 km long new high-speed line Wuhan - Guangzhou in the People's Republic of China. Achieving 320 to 330 km/h commercial speed, this line is the fastest railway connection in the world. The dynamic interaction between contact line and pantograph determines the maximally possible speed to an increasing extent. Worldwide, there is only low experience on the contact line dynamic behavior at this speed level. Balfour Beatty Rail designed the contact line for this installation, participated essentially in the implementation and, therefore, was in charge of proving the contact line quality. A series of test runs concerning the geometrical requirements and the contact force behaviour eventually proved the suitability of the system. (orig.)

  18. Biological profile of {sup 99m}Tc-HYNIC-betaAla-NT(8-13) in MDAMB-231 breast cancer cell line

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teodoro, Rodrigo; Faintuch, Bluma L.; Wiecek, Danielle P.; Silva, Natanael G.; Vallejo, Natalia M., E-mail: teodoro_rodrigo@yahoo.com.b [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil). Diretoria de Radiofarmacia

    2009-07-01

    Introduction: Neurotensin (NT) is a tridecapeptide involved in several growth-steps of human cancers. Recent studies postulated the role of NT and NT-receptor subtype 1 in breast cancer progression. However, the main drawback of natural NT is its rapid degradation in plasma. In an effort to develop a NT peptide-based radiopharmaceutical for the detection of breast cancer, the aim of this study was the radiolabeling of the double stabilized NT(8-13) peptide using HYNIC as chelating agent. Methods: Conjugated HYNIC-betaAla-NT(8-13) was labeled with {sup 99m}Tc using tricine and EDDA as coligands. Radiochemical purity was checked by TLC and confirmed by RP-HPLC. {sup 99m}Tc-HYNIC-betaAla-NT(8-13) (0.1 mL/74 MBq) was administered in Nude mice bearing MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and biodistribution studies were carried out at 30 and 90 min postinjection (pi). Blocking evaluation was also conducted by co-injection of 115 nmol of cold NT (8-13) analog. Planar gamma-camera imaging was acquired at the earlier time point studied. Results: Radiochemical purity of the radioconjugate was higher than 99%. Biodistribution studies revealed a very fast accumulation in tumor (1.97+-0.18% ID/g, 30 min pi) with a sharply decrease at the later time point studied (0.44+-0.02% ID/g). The specificity of the radioconjugate was evaluated with blockade studies. A reduction of 45.94%, 27.73% and 36.39% was found for tumor, large and small intestines, respectively, at 30 min pi. Otherwise, a less impressive blockade was observed for tumor and small intestine (28.68% and 24.90%, respectively) at the later time point studied. Conclusion: The results provide encouraging evidence in the development of radiolabeled NT(8-13) analogues for breast cancer diagnosis. (author)

  19. Functional characterization of the beta-adrenergic receptor subtypes expressed by CA1 pyramidal cells in the rat hippocampus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hillman, Kristin L; Doze, Van A; Porter, James E

    2005-08-01

    Recent studies have demonstrated that activation of the beta-adrenergic receptor (AR) using the selective beta-AR agonist isoproterenol (ISO) facilitates pyramidal cell long-term potentiation in the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) region of the rat hippocampus. We have previously analyzed beta-AR genomic expression patterns of 17 CA1 pyramidal cells using single cell reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, demonstrating that all samples expressed the beta2-AR transcript, with four of the 17 cells additionally expressing mRNA for the beta1-AR subtype. However, it has not been determined which beta-AR subtypes are functionally expressed in CA1 for these same pyramidal neurons. Using cell-attached recordings, we tested the ability of ISO to increase pyramidal cell action potential (AP) frequency in the presence of subtype-selective beta-AR antagonists. ICI-118,551 [(+/-)-1-[2,3-(dihydro-7-methyl-1H-inden-4-yl)oxy]-3-[(1-methylethyl)amino]-2-butanol] and butoxamine [alpha-[1-(t-butylamino)ethyl]-2,5-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol) hydrochloride], agents that selectively block the beta2-AR, produced significant parallel rightward shifts in the concentration-response curves for ISO. From these curves, apparent equilibrium dissociation constant (K(b)) values of 0.3 nM for ICI-118,551 and 355 nM for butoxamine were calculated using Schild regression analysis. Conversely, effective concentrations of the selective beta1-AR antagonists CGP 20712A [(+/-)-2-hydroxy-5-[2-([2-hydroxy-3-(4-[1-methyl-4-(trifluoromethyl)-1H-imidazol-2-yl]phenoxy)propyl]amino)ethoxy]-benzamide methanesulfonate] and atenolol [4-[2'-hydroxy-3'-(isopropyl-amino)propoxy]phenylacetamide] did not significantly affect the pyramidal cell response to ISO. However, at higher concentrations, atenolol significantly decreased the potency for ISO-mediated AP frequencies. From these curves, an apparent atenolol K(b) value of 3162 nM was calculated. This pharmacological profile for subtype-selective beta-AR antagonists

  20. IGF-binding proteins mediate TGF-beta 1-induced apoptosis in bovine mammary epithelial BME-UV1 cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gajewska, Małgorzata; Motyl, Tomasz

    2004-10-01

    TGF-beta 1 is an antiproliferative and apoptogenic factor for mammary epithelial cells (MEC) acting in an auto/paracrine manner and thus considered an important local regulator of mammary tissue involution. However, the apoptogenic signaling pathway induced by this cytokine in bovine MEC remains obscure. The present study was focused on identification of molecules involved in apoptogenic signaling of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) in the model of bovine mammary epithelial cell line (BME-UV1). Laser scanning cytometry (LSC), Western blot and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) were used for analysis of expression and activity of TGF-beta 1-related signaling molecules. The earliest response occurring within 1-2 h after TGF-beta 1 administration was an induction and activation of R-Smads (Smad2 and Smad3) and Co-Smad (Smad4). An evident formation of Smad-DNA complexes began from 2nd hour after MEC exposure to TGF-beta 1. Similarly to Smads, proteins of AP1 complex: phosphorylated c-Jun and JunD appeared to be early reactive molecules; however, an increase in their expression was detected only in cytosolic fraction. In the next step, an increase of IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and IGFBP-4 expression was observed from 6th hour followed by a decrease in the activity of protein kinase B (PKB/Akt), which occurred after 24 h of MEC exposure to TGF-beta 1. The decrease in PKB/Akt activity coincided in time with the decline of phosphorylated Bad expression (inactive form). Present study supported additional evidence that stimulation of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) was associated with complete abrogation of TGF-beta 1-induced activation of Bad and Bax and in the consequence protection against apoptosis. In conclusion, apoptotic effect of TGF-beta 1 in bovine MEC is mediated by IGFBPs and occurs through IGF-I sequestration, resulting in inhibition of PKB/Akt-dependent survival pathway.

  1. [3H]Ethynylbicycloorthobenzoate ([3H]EBOB) binding in recombinant GABAA receptors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yagle, Monica A; Martin, Michael W; de Fiebre, Christopher M; de Fiebre, NancyEllen C; Drewe, John A; Dillon, Glenn H

    2003-12-01

    Ethynylbicycloorthobenzoate (EBOB) is a recently developed ligand that binds to the convulsant site of the GABAA receptor. While a few studies have examined the binding of [3H]EBOB in vertebrate brain tissue and insect preparations, none have examined [3H]EBOB binding in preparations that express known configurations of the GABAA receptor. We have thus examined [3H]EBOB binding in HEK293 cells stably expressing human alpha1beta2gamma2 and alpha2beta2gamma2 GABAA receptors, and the effects of CNS convulsants on its binding. The ability of the CNS convulsants to displace the prototypical convulsant site ligand, [35S]TBPS, was also assessed. Saturation analysis revealed [3H]EBOB binding at a single site, with a K(d) of approximately 9 nM in alpha1beta2gamma2 and alpha2beta2gamma2 receptors. Binding of both [3H]EBOB and [35S]TBPS was inhibited by dieldrin, lindane, tert-butylbicycloorthobenzoate (TBOB), PTX, TBPS, and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) at one site in a concentration-dependent fashion. Affinities were in the high nM to low microM range for all compounds except PTZ (low mM range), and the rank order of potency for these convulsants to displace [3H]EBOB and [35S]TBPS was the same. Low [GABA] stimulated [3H]EBOB binding, while higher [GABA] (greater than 10 microM) inhibited [3H]EBOB binding. Overall, our data demonstrate that [3H]EBOB binds to a single, high affinity site in alpha1beta2gamma2 and alpha2beta2gamma2 GABAA receptors, and modulation of its binding is similar to that seen with [35S]TBPS. [3H]EBOB has a number of desirable traits that may make it preferable to [35S]TBPS for analysis of the convulsant site of the GABAA receptor.

  2. Unshifted Metastable He I* Mini-broad Absorption Line System in the Narrow-line Type 1 Quasar SDSS J080248.18+551328.9

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Tuo; Zhou, Hongyan; Jiang, Peng; Wang, Tinggui; Ge, Jian; Wang, Huiyuan; Komossa, S.; Hamann, Fred; Zuther, Jens; Liu, Wenjuan; Lu, Honglin; Zuo, Wenwen; Yang, Chenwei; Yuan, Weimin

    2015-02-01

    We report the identification of an unusual absorption-line system in the quasar SDSS J080248.18+551328.9 and present a detailed study of the system, incorporating follow-up optical and near-IR spectroscopy. A few tens of absorption lines are detected, including He I*, Fe II*, and Ni II*, which arise from metastable or excited levels, as well as resonant lines in Mg I, Mg II, Fe II, Mn II, and Ca II. All of the isolated absorption lines show the same profile of width Δv ~ 1500 km s-1 centered at a common redshift as that of the quasar emission lines, such as [O II], [S II], and hydrogen Paschen and Balmer series. With narrow Balmer lines, strong optical Fe II multiplets, and weak [O III] doublets, its emission-line spectrum is typical for that of a narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy (NLS1). We have derived reliable measurements of the gas-phase column densities of the absorbing ions/levels. Photoionization modeling indicates that the absorber has a density of n H ~ (1.0-2.5) × 105 cm-3 and a column density of N H ~ (1.0-3.2) × 1021 cm-2 and is located at R ~100-250 pc from the central supermassive black hole. The location of the absorber, the symmetric profile of the absorption lines, and the coincidence of the absorption- and emission-line centroid jointly suggest that the absorption gas originates from the host galaxy and is plausibly accelerated by stellar processes, such as stellar winds and/or supernova explosions. The implications for the detection of such a peculiar absorption-line system in an NLS1 are discussed in the context of coevolution between supermassive black hole growth and host galaxy buildup.

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

    Science.gov (United States)

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

    1993-04-01

    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 driven by the vitellogenin A2 ERE were transfected into estrogen-treated MCF-7 cells. RXR beta inhibited ERE-driven reporter activity in a dose-dependent and element-specific fashion. This inhibition occurred in the absence of the RXR ligand 9-cis retinoic acid. The RXR beta-induced inhibition was specific for estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated ERE activation because inhibition was observed in ER-negative MDA-MB-231 cells only following transfection of the estrogen-activated ER. No inhibition of the basal reporter activity was observed. The inhibition was not caused by simple competition of RXR beta with the ER for ERE binding, since deletion mutants retaining DNA binding activity but lacking the N-terminal or C-terminal domain failed to inhibit reporter activity. In addition, cross-linking studies indicated the presence of an auxiliary nuclear factor present in MCF-7 cells that contributed to RXR beta binding of the ERE. Studies using known heterodimerization partners of RXR beta confirmed that RXR beta/triiodothyronine receptor alpha heterodimers avidly bind the ERE but revealed the existence of another triiodothyronine-independent pathway of ERE inhibition. These results indicate that estrogen-responsive genes may be negatively regulated by RXR beta through two distinct pathways.

  4. Beta1 integrin promotes but is not essential for metastasis of ras-myc transformed fibroblasts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brakebusch, C; Wennerberg, K; Krell, H W

    1999-01-01

    To investigate the role of beta1 integrin during tumor metastasis, we established a ras-myc transformed fibroblastoid cell line with a disrupted beta1 integrin gene on both alleles (GERM 11). Stable transfection of this cell line with an expression vector encoding beta1A integrin resulted in beta1A......, tumors induced by the high expressing clones 1A10 and 2F2 were markedly smaller, suggesting an inverse correlation of tumor growth and beta1 integrin expression. The metastasis potential of all three beta1 integrin-expressing GERM 11 sublines tested was significantly higher than that of the beta1......-deficient GERM 11 cells. GERM 116 tumors led in all animals to severe metastasis in lung and liver, while GERM 11 tumors induced only a few metastatic foci in the lung. Stroma of both tumors contained nidogen and high amounts of tenascin C, but only a few very low levels of fibronectin, laminin-1...

  5. Muon Beam Studies in the H4 beam line and the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF++)

    CERN Document Server

    Margraf, Rachel; CERN. Geneva. EN Department

    2017-01-01

    In this report, I summarize my work of detailed study and optimization of the muon beam configuration of H4 beam line in SPS North Area. Using Monte-Carlo simulations, I studied the properties and behavior of the muon beam in combination with the field of the large, spectrometer “ GOLIATH” magnet at -1.5, -1.0, 0, 1.0 and 1.5 Tesla, which is shown to affect the central x position of the muon beam that is delivered to the Gamma Irradiation Facility (GIF++). I also studied the muon beam for different configurations of the two XTDV beam dumps upstream of GIF++ in the H4 beam line. I will also discuss my role in mapping the magnetic field of the GOLIATH magnet in the H4 beam line.

  6. Recovering the systemic redshift of galaxies from their Lyman-alpha line profile

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhamme, A.; Garel, T.; Ventou, E.; Contini, T.; Bouché, N.; Herenz, E. C.; Richard, J.; Bacon, R.; Schmidt, K. B.; Maseda, M.; Marino, R. A.; Brinchmann, J.; Cantalupo, S.; Caruana, J.; Clément, B.; Diener, C.; Drake, A. B.; Hashimoto, T.; Inami, H.; Kerutt, J.; Kollatschny, W.; Leclercq, F.; Patrício, V.; Schaye, J.; Wisotzki, L.; Zabl, J.

    2018-04-01

    The Lyman alpha (Lyα) line of Hydrogen is a prominent feature in the spectra of star-forming galaxies, usually redshifted by a few hundreds of km s-1 compared to the systemic redshift. This large offset hampers follow-up surveys, galaxy pair statistics and correlations with quasar absorption lines when only Lyα is available. We propose diagnostics that can be used to recover the systemic redshift directly from the properties of the Lyα line profile. We use spectroscopic observations of Lyman-Alpha Emitters (LAEs) for which a precise measurement of the systemic redshift is available. Our sample contains 13 sources detected between z ≈ 3 and z ≈ 6 as part of various Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO). We also include a compilation of spectroscopic Lyα data from the literature spanning a wide redshift range (z ≈ 0 - 8). First, restricting our analysis to double-peaked Lyα spectra, we find a tight correlation between the velocity offset of the red peak with respect to the systemic redshift, V_peak^red, and the separation of the peaks. Secondly, we find a correlation between V_peak^red and the full width at half maximum of the Lyα line. Fitting formulas, to estimate systemic redshifts of galaxies with an accuracy of ≤100 km s-1 when only the Lyα emission line is available, are given for the two methods.

  7. Composição centesimal e teor de beta-glucanas em cereais e derivados Nutrient profile and beta-glucans content in cereal seeds and foodstuffs contain them

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre H. Fujita

    2003-08-01

    Full Text Available Foi utilizado o método enzimático recomendado pela AOAC para determinação de beta-glucanas em cereais e alimentos que os contém. O método, utiliza liquenase (EC 3.2.1.73 e beta-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21 para hidrólise debeta-glucanas, é rápido, fácil de executar e específico para beta-glucanas com ligações beta(1->3 e beta(1->4. As sementes analisadas foram subministradas pelo Instituto Agronômico de Campinas (IAC e os alimentos adquiridos nos supermercados. Aveia e cevada são os grãos com maior conteúdo de beta-glucanas. Na aveia os teores determinados foram 6,48 e 5,94%. Nos 10 cultivares de cevada os teores de beta-glucanas oscilaram entre 2,04 e 9,68%. Trigo e triticale apresentaram teores de b-glucanas menores que 1%. Nos produtos comerciais o teor de beta-glucanas estava relacionado ao tipo de cereal da fórmula. O produto comercial de maior conteúdo de beta-glucanas é o farelo de aveia. As beta-glucanas são ingredientes funcionais em potencial e a conveniência ou não de estimular sua incorporação em alimentos deve ser mais estudada. Quanto à composição centesimal dos grãos de cereais, o teor de proteínas foi o que apresentou a maior variação e isso se reflete na composição dos produtos comerciais.The method employed was the enzymatic one recommended by de AOAC for the determination of beta-glucans in cereals and in foodstuffs containing cereals in their formulation. The method, using lichenase (EC 3.2.1.73 and beta-glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.21 for the hydrolysis of beta-glucans, is quick and easy to execute, but is specific for beta-glucans with beta(1->3 and beta(1->4 bonds. The Agronomic Institute of Campinas (IAC supplied the seeds analyzed, and the foodstuffs were acquired in supermarkets. Oat and barley are the grains with the highest content of beta-glucans. In the oats, the determined values were 6.48 and 5.94%. In the 10 cultivars of barley, the content of beta-glucans varied between 2.04 and 9

  8. Correlations between RNA and protein expression profiles in 23 human cell lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pontén Fredrik

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The Central Dogma of biology holds, in famously simplified terms, that DNA makes RNA makes proteins, but there is considerable uncertainty regarding the general, genome-wide correlation between levels of RNA and corresponding proteins. Therefore, to assess degrees of this correlation we compared the RNA profiles (determined using both cDNA- and oligo-based microarrays and protein profiles (determined immunohistochemically in tissue microarrays of 1066 gene products in 23 human cell lines. Results A high mean correlation coefficient (0.52 was obtained from the pairwise comparison of RNA levels determined by the two platforms. Significant correlations, with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.445, between protein and RNA levels were also obtained for a third of the specific gene products. However, the correlation coefficients between levels of RNA and protein products of specific genes varied widely, and the mean correlations between the protein and corresponding RNA levels determined using the cDNA- and oligo-based microarrays were 0.25 and 0.20, respectively. Conclusion Significant correlations were found in one third of the examined RNA species and corresponding proteins. These results suggest that RNA profiling might provide indirect support to antibodies' specificity, since whenever a evident correlation between the RNA and protein profiles exists, this can sustain that the antibodies used in the immunoassay recognized their cognate antigens.

  9. Improvements to the on-line mass separator, RAMA, and the beta-delayed charged-particle emission of proton-rich sd shell nuclei

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ognibene, T.J.

    1996-03-01

    To overcome the extreme difficulties encountered in the experimental decay studies of proton drip line nuclei, several techniques have been utilized, including a helium-jet transport system, particle identification detectors and mass separation. Improvements to the ion source/extraction region of the He-jet coupled on-line Recoil Atom Mass Analyzer (RAMA) and its target/ion source coupling resulted in significant increases in RAMA efficiencies and its mass resolution, as well as reductions in the overall transit time. At the 88-Inch Cyclotron at LBNL, the decays of 31 Cl, 27 P and 28 P, with half-lives of 150 msec, 260 msec and 270.3 msec, respectively, were examined using a he-jet and low-energy gas ΔE-gas ΔE-silicon E detector telescopes. Total beta-delayed proton branches of 0.3% and 0.07% in 31 Cl and 27 P, respectively, were estimated. Several proton peaks that had been previously assigned to the decay of 31 Cl were shown to be from the decay of 25 Si. In 27 P, two proton groups at 459 ± 14 keV and 610 ± 11 keV, with intensities of 7 ± 3% and 92 ± 4% relative to the main (100%) group were discovered. The Gamow-Teller component of the preceding beta-decay of each observed proton transition was compared to results from shell model calculations. Finally, a new proton transition was identified, following the β-decay of 28 P, at 1,444 ± 12 keV with a 1.7 ± 0.5% relative intensity to the 100% group. Using similar low-energy detector telescopes and the mass separator TISOL at TRIUMF, the 109 msec and 173 msec activities, 17 Ne and 33 Ar, were studied. A new proton group with energy 729 ± 15 keV was observed following the beta-decay of 17 Ne. Several discrepancies between earlier works as to the energies, intensities and assignments of several proton transitions from 17 Ne and 33 Ar were resolved

  10. Roentgenographic studies of Korean adults profile with normal occlusion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Tae Won [College of Dentistry, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    1972-11-15

    A roentgraphic cephalometric study was made on the soft and hard tissue profile of Korean adults. The subject consisted of 52 males and 54 females from 17 to 22 years of age and with normal occlusion and acceptable profile. Twenty one landmarks were plotted and two oriented lines named SnH line and SnV line were drawn on the tracings of all cephalograms. The means and the standard deviations from the subjects were calculated in each measuring category and the means were compared with those of male and female samples. The results were obtained as follow: 1. In depth and height, individual variations and sex differences of the lower facial profile were larger than the upper face. 2. The sex differences of upper facial profile were larger in height than depth. 3. The individual variations and sex differences of the top of nose were the smallest in all measuring points. 4. The thickness of the soft tissue of upper face and upper lip in male sample were larger than those of female, but the same matter were not found in mental region.

  11. Interactions between beta subunits of the KCNMB family and Slo3: beta4 selectively modulates Slo3 expression and function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng-Tao Yang

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The pH and voltage-regulated Slo3 K(+ channel, a homologue of the Ca(2+- and voltage-regulated Slo1 K(+ channel, is thought to be primarily expressed in sperm, but the properties of Slo3 studied in heterologous systems differ somewhat from the native sperm KSper pH-regulated current. There is the possibility that critical partners that regulate Slo3 function remain unidentified. The extensive amino acid identity between Slo3 and Slo1 suggests that auxiliary beta subunits regulating Slo1 channels might coassemble with and modulate Slo3 channels. Four distinct beta subunits composing the KCNMB family are known to regulate the function and expression of Slo1 Channels.To examine the ability of the KCNMB family of auxiliary beta subunits to regulate Slo3 function, we co-expressed Slo3 and each beta subunit in heterologous expression systems and investigated the functional consequences by electrophysiological and biochemical analyses. The beta4 subunit produced an 8-10 fold enhancement of Slo3 current expression in Xenopus oocytes and a similar enhancement of Slo3 surface expression as monitored by YFP-tagged Slo3 or biotin labeled Slo3. Neither beta1, beta2, nor beta3 mimicked the ability of beta4 to increase surface expression, although biochemical tests suggested that all four beta subunits are competent to coassemble with Slo3. Fluorescence microscopy from beta4 KO mice, in which an eGFP tag replaced the deleted exon, revealed that beta4 gene promoter is active in spermatocytes. Furthermore, quantitative RT-PCR demonstrated that beta4 and Slo3 exhibit comparable mRNA abundance in both testes and sperm.These results argue that, for native mouse Slo3 channels, the beta4 subunit must be considered as a potential interaction partner and, furthermore, that KCNMB subunits may have functions unrelated to regulation of the Slo1 alpha subunit.

  12. Investigation of hTERT gene expression levels in two cell lines infected by high-risk human papilloma virus

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maryam Akhtari

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Background: Human papilloma virus (HPV is one of the most important factors in cervical cancer. Viral sequences are integrated into the host cell genome. In mild cases the virus causes skin damages, in severe cases it leads to cancer. Like many other cancers, telomerase gene expression was increased in cervical cancer. This enzyme is a reverse transcriptase that contains two common subunits: i catalytic protein called human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT and, ii RNA sequence called hTR. hTERT expression is hardly found in any somatic tissues. Detection of high telomerase activity in human cells, lead to tumor genesis. So hTERT can be used as a diagnostic tool in cancer detection. Methods: This experimental study was carried out from May 2013 to April 2014 in Nanobiotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. Caski and Hela cancer cell lines were used which contain HPV16 and HPV18 respectively. Cell lines were cultured and total RNA was extracted. Following normalization agent glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GADPH, hTERT expression level was determining by real-time PCR method. For each sample, the expression level of hTERT and GAPDH were quantified as copy numbers (per reaction using the standard curve. Finally, hTERT levels in Hela and Caski cell lines were compared quantitatively by t-test using GraphPad statistic software version 5 (San Diego, CA, USA. Results: According to the charts real-time PCR, hTERT gene expression in Hela and Caski cancer cell lines is significantly different (t=0.0319. Conclusion: All results confirm that hTERT expression levels in Hela and Caski cell lines are significantly different and the level of hTERT expression in the Caski cell line was slightly higher than that of Hela cell line. The significant difference between hTERT mRNA expression levels reported here could be used as a tumor marker for HPV16 and HPV18 in cervical cancer.

  13. Decreased levels of genuine large free hCG alpha in men presenting with abnormal semen analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Plas Eugen

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG and its free subunits (hCG alpha, hCG beta are produced in the male reproductive tract and found in high concentrations in seminal fluid, in particular hCG alpha. This study aimed to elucidate changes in peptide hormone profiles in patients showing abnormal semen analyses and to determine the genuineness of the highly abundant hCG alpha. Methods Seminal plasma was obtained from 45 male patients undergoing semen analysis during infertility workups. Comprehensive peptide hormone profiles were established by a panel of immunofluorometric assays for hCG, hCG alpha, hCG beta and its metabolite hCG beta core fragment, placental lactogen, growth hormone and prolactin in seminal plasma of patients with abnormal semen analysis results (n = 29 versus normozoospermic men (n = 16. The molecular identity of large hyperglycosylated hCG alpha was analyzed by mass-spectrometry and selective deglycosylation. Results hCG alpha levels were found to be significantly lower in men with impaired semen quality (1346 +/- 191 vs. 2753 +/- 533 ng/ml, P = 0.022. Moreover, patients with reduced sperm count had reduced intact hCG levels compared with normozoospermic men (0.097 +/- 0.022 vs. 0.203 +/- 0.040 ng/ml, P = 0.028. Using mass-spectrometry, the biochemical identity of hCG alpha purified from seminal plasma was verified. Under non-reducing conditions in SDS-PAGE, hCG alpha isolated from seminal plasma migrated in a manner comparable with large free hCG alpha with an apparent molecular mass (Mr, app of 24 kDa, while hCG alpha dissociated from pregnancy-derived holo-hCG migrated at approximately 22 kDa. After deglycosylation with PNGase F under denaturing conditions, all hCG alpha variants showed an Mr, app of 15 kDa, indicating identical amino acid backbones. Conclusions The findings indicate a pathophysiological relevance of hCG, particularly its free alpha subunit, in spermatogenesis. The

  14. Development of T. aestivum L.-H. californicum alien chromosome lines and assignment of homoeologous groups of Hordeum californicum chromosomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Yuhui; Yuan, Jingya; Wang, Zhangjun; Wang, Haiyan; Xiao, Jin; Yang, Zhixi; Zhang, Ruiqi; Qi, Zengjun; Xu, Weigang; Hu, Lin; Wang, Xiu-E

    2014-08-20

    Hordeum californicum (2n = 2x = 14, HH) is resistant to several wheat diseases and tolerant to lower nitrogen. In this study, a molecular karyotype of H. californicum chromosomes in the Triticum aestivum L. cv. Chinese Spring (CS)-H. californicum amphidiploid (2n = 6x = 56, AABBDDHH) was established. By genomic in situ hybridization (GISH) and multicolor fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using repetitive DNA clones (pTa71, pTa794 and pSc119.2) as probes, the H. californicum chromosomes could be differentiated from each other and from the wheat chromosomes unequivocally. Based on molecular karyotype and marker analyses, 12 wheat-alien chromosome lines, including four disomic addition lines (DAH1, DAH3, DAH5 and DAH6), five telosomic addition lines (MtH7L, MtH1S, MtH1L, DtH6S and DtH6L), one multiple addition line involving H. californicum chromosome H2, one disomic substitution line (DSH4) and one translocation line (TH7S/1BL), were identified from the progenies derived from the crosses of CS-H. californicum amphidiploid with common wheat varieties. A total of 482 EST (expressed sequence tag) or SSR (simple sequence repeat) markers specific for individual H. californicum chromosomes were identified, and 47, 50, 45, 49, 21, 51 and 40 markers were assigned to chromosomes H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6 and H7, respectively. According to the chromosome allocation of these markers, chromosomes H2, H3, H4, H5, and H7 of H. californicum have relationship with wheat homoeologous groups 5, 2, 6, 3, and 1, and hence could be designated as 5H(c), 2H(c), 6H(c), 3H(c) and 1H(c), respectively. The chromosomes H1 and H6 were designated as 7H(c) and 4H(c), respectively, by referring to SSR markers located on rye chromosomes. Copyright © 2014 Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Genetics Society of China. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Stellar model chromospheres. IV - The formation of the H-epsilon feature in the sun /G2 V/ and Arcturus /K2 III/

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ayres, T. R.; Linsky, J. L.

    1975-01-01

    The formation of the Balmer-series member H-epsilon in the near-red wing of the Ca II H line is discussed for two cases: the sun (H-epsilon absorption profile) and Arcturus (H-epsilon emission profile). It is shown that although the H-epsilon source functions in both stars are dominated by the Balmer-continuum radiation field through photoionizations, the line-formation problems in the two stars are quantitatively different, owing to a substantial difference in the relative importance of the stellar chromosphere temperature inversion as compared with the stellar photosphere.

  16. Increase in beta limit in tokamak plasmas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kamada, Yutaka

    2003-01-01

    This paper reviews recent studies of tokamak MHD stability towards the achievement of a high beta steady-state, where the profile control of current, pressure, and rotation, and the optimization of the plasma shape play fundamental roles. The key instabilities include the neoclassical tearing mode, the resistive wall mode, the edge localized mode, etc. In order to demonstrate an economically attractive tokamak reactor, it is necessary to increase the beta value simultaneously with a sufficiently high integrated plasma performance. Towards this goal, studies of stability control in self-regulating plasma systems are essential. (author)

  17. Amyloid beta-peptide(25-35) changes [Ca2+] in hippocampal neurons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mogensen, Helle Smidt; Beatty, D M; Morris, S J

    1998-01-01

    of A beta(25-35) on [Ca2+]i and intracellular H+ concentration ([H+]i) in single hippocampal neurons by real time fluorescence imaging using the Ca(2+)- and H(+)-specific ratio dyes, indo-1 and SNARF-1. Incubation of these cultures with A beta(25-35) for 3-12 days in vitro increased [Ca2+]i and [H......+]i in large, NMDA-responsive neurons....

  18. Line shape parameters for the H2O-H2 collision system for application to exoplanet and planetary atmospheres

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renaud, Candice L.; Cleghorn, Kara; Hartmann, Léna; Vispoel, Bastien; Gamache, Robert R.

    2018-05-01

    Water can be detected throughout the universe: in comets, asteroids, dwarf planets, the inner and outer planets in our solar system, cool stars, brown dwarfs, and on many exoplanets. Here the focus is on locations rich in hydrogen gas. To properly study these environments, there is a need for the line shape parameters for H2O transitions in collision with hydrogen. This work presents calculations of the half-width and line shift, made using the Modified Complex Robert-Bonamy (MCRB) formalism, at a number of temperatures. It is shown that this collision system is strongly off-resonance. For such conditions, the atom-atom part of the intermolecular potential dominates the interaction of the radiating and perturbing molecules. The atom-atom parameters were adjusted by fitting the H2O-H2 measurements of Brown and Plymate (1996). Several techniques were used to extract lines for which there is more confidence in the quality of the data. The final potential yields results that agree with the measurements with ∼0.3% difference and a 5.9% standard deviation. Using this potential, MCRB calculations were made for all transitions in the pure rotation, ν2, ν1, and ν3 bands. The structure of the line shape parameters and the temperature dependence of the half-width, as a function of the rotational and vibrational quantum numbers, are discussed. It is shown that the power law model of the T-dependence of the half-width is inadequate over large temperature ranges.

  19. Late-onset form of beta-electron transfer flavoprotein deficiency

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Curcoy, A; Olsen, Rikke Katrine Jentoft; Ribes, A

    2003-01-01

    Multiple acyl-CoA-dehydrogenase deficiency (MADD) or glutaric aciduria type II (GAII) are a group of metabolic disorders due to deficiency of either electron transfer flavoprotein (ETF) or electron transfer flavoprotein ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-QO). We report the clinical features...... and biochemical and molecular genetic analyses of a patient with a mild late-onset form of GAII due to beta-ETF deficiency. Biochemical data showed an abnormal urine organic acid profile, low levels of free carnitine, increased levels of C(10:1n-6), and C(14:1n-9) in plasma, and decreased oxidation of [9,10-3H......]palmitate and [9,10-3H]myristate in fibroblasts, suggesting MAD deficiency. In agreement with these findings, mutational analysis of the ETF/ETFDH genes demonstrated an ETFB missense mutation 124T>C in exon 2 leading to replacement of cysteine-42 with arginine (C42R), and a 604_606AAG deletion in exon 6...

  20. Effect of beta-carotene-rich tomato lycopene beta-cyclase ( tlcy-b) on cell growth inhibition in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palozza, Paola; Bellovino, Diana; Simone, Rossella; Boninsegna, Alma; Cellini, Francesco; Monastra, Giovanni; Gaetani, Sancia

    2009-07-01

    Lycopene beta-cyclase (tlcy-b) tomatoes, obtained by modulating carotenogenesis via genetic engineering, contain a large amount of beta-carotene, as clearly visible by their intense orange colour. In the present study we have subjected tlcy-b tomatoes to an in vitro simulated digestion and analysed the effects of digestate on cell proliferation. To this aim we used HT-29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells, grown in monolayers, as a model. Digested tomatoes were diluted (20 ml, 50 ml and 100 ml/l) in culture medium and added to the cells for different incubation times (24 h, 48 h and 72 h). Inhibition of cell growth by tomato digestate was dose-dependent and resulted from an arrest of cell cycle progression at the G0/G1 and G2/M phase and by apoptosis induction. A down-regulation of cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl expression was observed. We also found that heat treatment of samples before digestion enhanced beta-carotene release and therefore cell growth inhibition. To induce with purified beta-carotene solubilised in tetrahydrofuran the same cell growth inhibition obtained with the tomato digestate, a higher amount of the carotenoid was necessary, suggesting that beta-carotene micellarised during digestion is utilised more efficiently by the cells, but also that other tomato molecules, reasonably made available during digestion, may be present and cooperate with beta-carotene in promoting cell growth arrest.

  1. Characterization of a beta 1----3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase associated with synthesis of type 1 and type 2 lacto-series tumor-associated antigens from the human colonic adenocarcinoma cell line SW403.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, E H

    1988-01-01

    Previous studies have indicated that activation of a normally unexpressed beta 1----3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase is responsible for the accumulation of a wide diversity of both type 1 and 2 lacto-series antigens in human colonic adenocarcinomas. A beta 1----3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase has been solubilized from the human colonic adenocarcinoma cell line SW403 by 0.2% Triton X-100 and some of its properties have been studied. The enzyme was active over a broad pH range from 5.8 to 7.5 and had a strict requirement for Mn2+ as a divalent metal ion. Transfer of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to lactosylceramide was optimal when assayed in the presence of a final concentration of Triton CF-54 of 0.3%. Inclusion of CDPcholine in the reaction mixture stimulated the activity by protecting the UDP[14C]GlcNAc from hydrolysis by endogenous enzymes. The kinetic parameters of the enzyme were studied. Km values for acceptors nLc4 and nLc6 were determined to be 0.19 mM for each. However, the Vmax values calculated for these acceptors were 150 and 110 pmol/h/mg protein for nLc4 and nLc6, respectively, suggesting reduced potential for further elongation as the chain length increases. The Km for UDPGlcNAc was determined to be 0.17 mM. Studies of the acceptor specificity have indicated transfer of GlcNAc occurs mainly to type 2 chain nonfucosylated structures. However, elongation of the type 1 chain structure Lc4 was also detected.

  2. Group B streptococcal beta-hemolysin/cytolysin directly impairs cardiomyocyte viability and function.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mary E Hensler

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Group B Streptococcus (GBS is a leading cause of neonatal sepsis where myocardial dysfunction is an important contributor to poor outcome. Here we study the effects of the GBS pore-forming beta-hemolysin/cytolysin (Bh/c exotoxin on cardiomyocyte viability, contractility, and calcium transients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: HL-1 cardiomyocytes exposed to intact wild-type (WT or isogenic Deltabeta h/c mutant GBS, or to cell-free extracts from either strain, were assessed for viability by trypan blue exclusion and for apoptosis by TUNEL staining. Functionality of exposed cardiomyocytes was analyzed by visual quantitation of the rate and extent of contractility. Mitochondrial membrane polarization was measured in TMRE-loaded cells exposed to GBS beta h/c. Effects of GBS beta h/c on calcium transients were studied in fura-2AM-loaded primary rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. Exposure of HL-1 cardiomyocytes to either WT GBS or beta h/c extracts significantly reduced both rate and extent of contractility and later induced necrotic and apoptotic cell death. No effects on cardiomyocyte viability or function were observed after treatment with Deltabeta h/c mutant bacteria or extracts. The beta h/c toxin was associated with complete and rapid loss of detectable calcium transients in primary neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes and induced a loss of mitochondrial membrane polarization. These effects on viability and function were abrogated by the beta h/c inhibitor, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data show a rapid loss of cardiomyocyte viability and function induced by GBS beta h/c, and these deleterious effects are inhibited by DPPC, a normal constituent of human pulmonary surfactant.. These findings have clinical implications for the cardiac dysfunction observed in neonatal GBS infections.

  3. Design and production of sintered {beta}-tricalcium phosphate 3D scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Santos, Carlos F.L. [CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigacao em Ciencias da Saude, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilha (Portugal); Silva, Abilio P. [Centro de Ciencia e Tecnologia Aeroespaciais, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilha (Portugal); Lopes, Luis [CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigacao em Ciencias da Saude, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilha (Portugal); Pires, Ines [Instituto de Engenharia Mecanica - Lisboa (IDMEC Lisboa/IST/UTL), Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Correia, Ilidio J., E-mail: icorreia@ubi.pt [CICS-UBI - Centro de Investigacao em Ciencias da Saude, Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilha (Portugal)

    2012-07-01

    The characteristics of sintered {beta}-tricalcium phosphate ({beta}-TCP) scaffolds produced by 3D printing were studied by means of X-ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, uniaxial compression tests and cytotoxicity tests, using human osteoblast cells. The results reported include details of the {beta}-TCP scaffolds' porosity, density, phase stability, mechanical behavior and cytotoxic profile. Collectively, these properties are fundamental for the future application of these scaffolds as bone substitutes for individualized therapy. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer {beta}-Tricalcium phosphate ({beta}-TCP) 3D scaffolds were produced by rapid prototyping. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Scaffold properties were assessed by SEM, FTIR, XRD and by mechanical tests. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The cytotoxic profile of the scaffolds was characterized by in vitro assays. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Scaffolds have good properties for its application as bone substitutes for individualized therapy.

  4. Efficient Generation of NKX6-1+ Pancreatic Progenitors from Multiple Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Cristina Nostro

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs represent a renewable source of pancreatic beta cells for both basic research and therapeutic applications. Given this outstanding potential, significant efforts have been made to identify the signaling pathways that regulate pancreatic development in hPSC differentiation cultures. In this study, we demonstrate that the combination of epidermal growth factor (EGF and nicotinamide signaling induces the generation of NKX6-1+ progenitors from all hPSC lines tested. Furthermore, we show that the size of the NKX6-1+ population is regulated by the duration of treatment with retinoic acid, fibroblast growth factor 10 (FGF10, and inhibitors of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP and hedgehog signaling pathways. When transplanted into NOD scid gamma (NSG recipients, these progenitors differentiate to give rise to exocrine and endocrine cells, including monohormonal insulin+ cells. Together, these findings provide an efficient and reproducible strategy for generating highly enriched populations of hPSC-derived beta cell progenitors for studies aimed at further characterizing their developmental potential in vivo and deciphering the pathways that regulate their maturation in vitro.

  5. Beta-endorphin in genetically hypoprolactinemic rat: IPL nude rat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, H.; Sabbagh, I.; Abou-Samra, A.B.; Bertrand, J.

    1986-01-01

    Beta-endorphin has been reported to regulate not only stress- and suckling-induced but also basal prolactin secretion. In the aim to better evaluate the endogenous beta-endorphin-prolactin interrelation, the authors measured beta-endorphin levels in a new rat strain, genetically hypoprolactinemic and characterized by a total lack of lactation: IPL nude rat. Beta-endorphin was measured using a specific anti-h-β endorphin in plasma and extracts of anterior and neurointermediate lobes of the pituitary, hypothalamus and brain. Pituitary extracts were also chromatographed on Sephadex G50 column. Results obtained showed that in IPL nude females on diestrus and males, the beta-endorphin contents of the neurointermediate lobe was significantly lower than in normal rats, while the values found in the other organs and plasma were similar. However, elution pattern of the anterior pituitary extracts from male rats showed greater immunoactivity eluting as I 125 h-beta-endorphin than in normal rat; this was not the case for the female rat. These results are consistent with a differential regulation of beta-endorphin levels of anterior and neurointermediate lobe by catecholamines. Moreover they suggest that PRL secretion was more related to neurointermediate beta-endorphin. 40 references, 2 figures, 4 tables

  6. Potential targets of transforming growth factor-beta1 during inhibition of oocyte maturation in zebrafish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clelland Eric

    2005-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background TGF-beta is a multifunctional growth factor involved in regulating a variety of cellular activities. Unlike mammals, the function of TGF-beta in the reproduction of lower vertebrates, such as fish, is not clear. Recently, we showed that TGF-beta1 inhibits gonadotropin- and 17alpha, 20beta-dihydroxyprogesterone (DHP-induced maturation in zebrafish. The aim of the present study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying this action. Method To determine if the effect of TGF-beta1 on oocyte maturation involves transcription and/or translation, ovarian follicles were pre-treated with actinomycin D, a blocker of transcription, and cyclohexamide, an inhibitor of translation, and incubated with hCG or DHP, either alone or in combination with TGF-beta1 and oocyte maturation scored. To determine the effect of TGF-beta1 on mRNA levels of several key effectors of oocyte maturation, three sets of experiments were performed. First, follicles were treated with control medium or TGF-beta1 for 2, 6, 12, and 24 h. Second, follicles were treated with different concentrations of TGF-beta1 (0 to 10 ng/ml for 18 h. Third, follicles were incubated with hCG in the absence or presence of TGF-beta1 for 18 h. At the end of each experiment, total RNA was extracted and reverse transcribed. PCR using primers specific for 20beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20beta-HSD which is involved in DHP production, follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR, luteinizing hormone receptor (LHR, the two forms of membrane progestin receptor: mPR-alpha and mPR-beta, as well as GAPDH (control, were performed. Results Treatment with actinomycin D, a blocker of transcription, reduced the inhibitory effect of TGF-beta1 on DHP-induced oocyte maturation, indicating that the inhibitory action of TGF-beta1 is in part due to regulation of gene transcription. Treatment with TGF-beta1 caused a dose and time-dependent decrease in mRNA levels of 20beta-HSD, LHR and mPR-beta in

  7. Cell surface glycopeptides from human intestinal epithelial cell lines derived from normal colon and colon adenocarcinomas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Youakim, A.; Herscovics, A.

    1985-01-01

    The cell surface glycopeptides from an epithelial cell line (CCL 239) derived from normal human colon were compared with those from three cell lines (HCT-8R, HCT-15, and CaCo-2) derived independently from human colonic adenocarcinomas. Cells were incubated with D-[2- 3 H]mannose or L-[5,6- 3 H]fucose for 24 h and treated with trypsin to release cell surface components which were then digested exhaustively with Pronase and fractionated on Bio-Gel P-6 before and after treatment with endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H. The most noticeable difference between the labeled glycopeptides from the tumor and CCL 239 cells was the presence in the former of an endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H-resistant high molecular weight glycopeptide fraction which was eluted in the void volume of Bio-Gel P-6. This fraction was obtained with both labeled mannose and fucose as precursors. However, acid hydrolysis of this fraction obtained after incubation with [2- 3 H]mannose revealed that as much as 60-90% of the radioactivity was recovered as fucose. Analysis of the total glycopeptides (cell surface and cell pellet) obtained after incubation with [2- 3 H]mannose showed that from 40-45% of the radioactivity in the tumor cells and less than 10% of the radioactivity in the CCL 239 cells was recovered as fucose. After incubation of the HCT-8R cells with D-[1,6- 3 H]glucosamine and L-[1- 14 C]fucose, strong acid hydrolysis of the labeled glycopeptide fraction excluded from Bio-Gel P-6 produced 3 H-labeled N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine

  8. Distorted cyclotron line profile in Cep X-4 as observed by NuSTAR

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fürst, F.; Pottschmidt, K.; Miyasaka, H.

    2015-01-01

    a powerlaw with a Fermi-Dirac cutoff at high energies. Cep X-4 has a very strong cyclotron resonant scattering feature (CRSF) around 30 keV. A simple absorption-like line with a Gaussian optical depth or a pseudo-Lorentzian profile both fail to describe the shape of the CRSF accurately, leaving significant...

  9. Jupiter's Deep Cloud Structure Revealed Using Keck Observations of Spectrally Resolved Line Shapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bjoraker, G. L.; Wong, M.H.; de Pater, I.; Adamkovics, M.

    2015-01-01

    Technique: We present a method to determine the pressure at which significant cloud opacity is present between 2 and 6 bars on Jupiter. We use: a) the strength of a Fraunhofer absorption line in a zone to determine the ratio of reflected sunlight to thermal emission, and b) pressure- broadened line profiles of deuterated methane (CH3D) at 4.66 meters to determine the location of clouds. We use radiative transfer models to constrain the altitude region of both the solar and thermal components of Jupiter's 5-meter spectrum. Results: For nearly all latitudes on Jupiter the thermal component is large enough to constrain the deep cloud structure even when upper clouds are present. We find that Hot Spots, belts, and high latitudes have broader line profiles than do zones. Radiative transfer models show that Hot Spots in the North and South Equatorial Belts (NEB, SEB) typically do not have opaque clouds at pressures greater than 2 bars. The South Tropical Zone (STZ) at 32 degrees South has an opaque cloud top between 4 and 5 bars. From thermochemical models this must be a water cloud. We measured the variation of the equivalent width of CH3D with latitude for comparison with Jupiter's belt-zone structure. We also constrained the vertical profile of H2O in an SEB Hot Spot and in the STZ. The Hot Spot is very dry for a probability less than 4.5 bars and then follows the H2O profile observed by the Galileo Probe. The STZ has a saturated H2O profile above its cloud top between 4 and 5 bars.

  10. Ideal MHD beta-limits of poloidally asymmetric equilibria

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Todd, A.M.M.; Miller, A.E.; Grimm, R.C.; Okabayashi, M.; Dalhed, H.E. Jr.

    1981-05-01

    The ideal MHD stability of poloidally asymmetric equilibria, which are typical of a tokamak reactor design with a single-null poloidal divertor is examined. As with symmetric equilibria, stability to non-axisymmetric modes improves with increasing triangularity and ellipticity, and with lower edge safety factor. Pressure profiles optimized with respect to ballooning stability are obtained for an asymmetric shape, resulting in ..beta../sub critical/ approx. = 5.7%. The corresponding value for an equivalent symmetric shape is ..beta../sub critical/ approx. = 6.5%.

  11. Long-acting beta 2-agonists in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Llewellyn-Jones, Carol

    2002-01-01

    Until recently, the use of long-acting beta 2-agonists in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been understated. There is now evidence that they may offer benefits beyond bronchodilation. This article reviews the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and looks at the place of long-acting beta 2-agonists as a first-line treatment option.

  12. Photochemical fate of beta-blockers in NOM enriched waters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Ling; Xu, Haomin; Cooper, William J.; Song, Weihua

    2012-01-01

    Beta-blockers, prescribed for the treatment of high blood pressure and for long-term use after a heart attack, have been detected in surface and ground waters. This study examines the photochemical fate of three beta-blockers, atenolol, metoprolol, and nadolol. Hydrolysis accounted for minor losses of these beta-blockers in the pH range 4–10. The rate of direct photolysis at pH 7 in a solar simulator varied from 6.1 to 8.9 h −1 at pH 7. However, the addition of a natural organic matter (NOM) isolate enhanced the photochemical loss of all three compounds. Indirect photochemical fate, generally described by reactions with hydroxyl radical (·OH) and singlet oxygen ( 1 ΔO 2 ), and, the direct reaction with the triplet excited state, 3 NOM ⁎ , also varied but collectively appeared to be the major loss factor. Bimolecular reaction rate constants of the three beta-blockers with 1 ΔO 2 and ·OH were measured and accounted for 0.02–0.04% and 7.2–38.9% of their loss, respectively. These data suggest that the 3 NOM ⁎ contributed 50.6–85.4%. Experiments with various 3 NOM ⁎ quenchers supported the hypothesis that it was singly the most important reaction. Atenolol was chosen for more detailed investigation, with the photoproducts identified by LC–MS analysis. The results suggested that electron-transfer could be an important mechanism in photochemical fate of beta-blockers in the presence of NOM. - Highlights: ► Photochemical degradation of beta-blockers in the simulated natural waters. ► Reactive Oxygen Species play a minor role in the indirect photodegradation. ► The loss of beta-blockers results from direct reaction with 3 DOM ⁎ .

  13. Partial dust obscuration in active galactic nuclei as a cause of broad-line profile and lag variability, and apparent accretion disc inhomogeneities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gaskell, C. Martin; Harrington, Peter Z.

    2018-04-01

    The profiles of the broad emission lines of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and the time delays in their response to changes in the ionizing continuum ("lags") give information about the structure and kinematics of the inner regions of AGNs. Line profiles are also our main way of estimating the masses of the supermassive black holes (SMBHs). However, the profiles often show ill-understood, asymmetric structure and velocity-dependent lags vary with time. Here we show that partial obscuration of the broad-line region (BLR) by outflowing, compact, dusty clumps produces asymmetries and velocity-dependent lags similar to those observed. Our model explains previously inexplicable changes in the ratios of the hydrogen lines with time and velocity, the lack of correlation of changes in line profiles with variability of the central engine, the velocity dependence of lags, and the change of lags with time. We propose that changes on timescales longer than the light-crossing time do not come from dynamical changes in the BLR, but are a natural result of the effect of outflowing dusty clumps driven by radiation pressure acting on the dust. The motion of these clumps offers an explanation of long-term changes in polarization. The effects of the dust complicate the study of the structure and kinematics of the BLR and the search for sub-parsec SMBH binaries. Partial obscuration of the accretion disc can also provide the local fluctuations in luminosity that can explain sizes deduced from microlensing.

  14. Focused ion-beam line profiles: A study of some factors affecting beam broadening

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Templeton, I.M.; Champion, H.G.

    1995-01-01

    The current--density profile of a focused ion beam (FIB) has a central peak accompanied by broader ''wings'' that, while unimportant in lithographic applications, can lead to unwanted effects during an implantation operation. The origin of the wings, and hence the best way to minimize them, is not clear and needs further study. We have measured the line profiles of several of the ions available in our FIB machine as a function of a number of variables, under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. No effects are observed from changes in emission current or deliberate defocusing of the objective lens. There are some changes with beam aperture and/or current, but the biggest differences seem to be associated with a change of source type and hence, possibly, with a change in the source/extractor configuration or in the alloy and the emission process. The wing amplitudes are appreciably lower than many previously observed, and their profiles, at least for the lighter ions studied (Be ++ , Be + , and B + ), are Gaussian rather than exponential. It seems possible that our UHV conditions may have eliminated a scattering mechanism responsible for the larger, exponential wings previously observed. The corresponding beam and rectangle-edge profiles have been calculated. copyright 1995 American Vacuum Society

  15. Gene expression profile of colon cancer cell lines treated with SN-38

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wallin, A; Francis, P; Nilbert, M

    2010-01-01

    the incidence in fact has increased. To improve chemotherapy and enable personalised treatment, the need of biomarkers is of great significance. In this study, we evaluated the gene expression profiles of the colon cancer cell lines treated with SN-38, the active metabolite of topoisomerase-1 inhibitor......Colorectal cancer is the third most common form of cancer in the industrial countries. Due to advances regarding the treatments, primarily development of improved surgical methods and the ability to make the earlier diagnosis, the mortality has remained constant during the past decades even though...

  16. Pengaruh Current Ratio, Asset Size, dan Earnings Variability terhadap Beta Pasar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahim Abdurahim

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The research objective was to determine the effect of variable accounting ie :, current ratio, asset size and earnings variability of the market beta. This study used 72 samples. Analyzer used to test the hypothesis that regression. Previous methods of Fowler and Rorke (1983 to adjust the market beta, and BLUE test is used to test classic assumptions of the independent variables are multikolinearitas, heteroskedasitas with Breushch-Pagan-Godfrey test, and autocorrelation with BG (The Breussh-Godfrey. The results found that the hypothesis H1a, H1b, H1c, and H2a powered means no influence current ratio, asset size and earnings variability of the market beta, both individually and simultaneously.

  17. X-ray diffraction line profile analysis for defect study in Zr–2⋅5% Nb ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Unknown

    The microstructure characterization by X-ray line profile analysis is possible for determination of ... breadth method also gives the coherent domain size, dislocation density and micro-strain present in .... currently used for pressure tubes, has replaced Zircaloy-2 ..... the data on σ0, σNb, m, α, G, and b available in the litera-.

  18. Relation between the 2{nu}{beta}{beta} and 0{nu}{beta}{beta} nuclear matrix elements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vogel, Petr [Kellogg Radiation Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States); Simkovic, Fedor [Department of Nuclear Physics and Biophysics, Comenius University, Mlynska dolina F1, SK-84248 Bratislava (Slovakia)

    2011-12-16

    A formal relation between the GT part of the nuclear matrix elements M{sub GT}{sup 0{nu}} of 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay and the closure matrix elements M{sub cl}{sup 2{nu}} of 2{nu}{beta}{beta} decay is established. This relation is based on the integral representation of these quantities in terms of their dependence on the distance r between the two nucleons undergoing transformation. We also discuss the difficulties in determining the correct values of the closure 2{nu}{beta}{beta} decay matrix elements.

  19. The profile of attention differs between locations orthogonal to and in line with reach direction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stewart, Emma E M; Ma-Wyatt, Anna

    2017-11-01

    People make movements in a variety of directions when interacting with the world around them. It has been well documented that attention shifts to the goal of an upcoming movement, whether the movement is a saccade or a reach. However, recent evidence suggests that the direction of a movement may influence the spatial spread of attention (Stewart & Ma-Wyatt, 2015, Journal of Vision, 15(5), 10). We investigated whether the spatiotemporal profile of attention differs depending on where that location is situated relative to the direction of movement, and if this pattern is consistent across different movement effectors. We compared attentional facilitation at locations in line with or orthogonal to the movement, for reach-only, reach-plus-saccade, and saccade-only conditions. Results show that the spatiotemporal profile of attention differs across different movement combinations, and is also different at target locations orthogonal to and in line with the movement direction. Specifically, when a reach alone was made, there was a general decrease in attention at all locations during the movement and a general increase in attention at all locations with a saccade only. However, the concurrent reach and saccade condition showed a premovement attentional facilitation at locations orthogonal to movement direction, but not those in line with the movement direction. These results suggest attentional guidance may be more important at differing time points, depending on the type of movement.

  20. Applications of Fourier analysis to broadening of stellar line profiles. V

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Smith, M.A.; Frisch, H.

    1976-01-01

    Turbulence dominated by eddies of a finite size produces effects on a line profile which are similar to both macro- and micro-turbulence but which are at the same time neither. It is suggested that one of these effects in the Fourier transform domain, namely the narrowing of the first natural sidelobe relative to the width of the main lobe, can be used as an indicator of the dominance of finite-sized eddies ('mesoturbulence'). An examination of some existing solar data shows that finite-sized eddy models fit the observed sidelobe widths better than do models computed with any reasonable combination of micro- and macro-turbulent broadenings. (Auth.)

  1. Biological functions of hCG and hCG-related molecules

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cole Laurence A

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background hCG is a term referring to 4 independent molecules, each produced by separate cells and each having completely separate functions. These are hCG produced by villous syncytiotrophoblast cells, hyperglycosylated hCG produced by cytotrophoblast cells, free beta-subunit made by multiple primary non-trophoblastic malignancies, and pituitary hCG made by the gonadotrope cells of the anterior pituitary. Results and discussion hCG has numerous functions. hCG promotes progesterone production by corpus luteal cells; promotes angiogenesis in uterine vasculature; promoted the fusion of cytotrophoblast cell and differentiation to make syncytiotrophoblast cells; causes the blockage of any immune or macrophage action by mother on foreign invading placental cells; causes uterine growth parallel to fetal growth; suppresses any myometrial contractions during the course of pregnancy; causes growth and differentiation of the umbilical cord; signals the endometrium about forthcoming implantation; acts on receptor in mother's brain causing hyperemesis gravidarum, and seemingly promotes growth of fetal organs during pregnancy. Hyperglycosylated hCG functions to promote growth of cytotrophoblast cells and invasion by these cells, as occurs in implantation of pregnancy, and growth and invasion by choriocarcinoma cells. hCG free beta-subunit is produced by numerous non-trophoblastic malignancies of different primaries. The detection of free beta-subunit in these malignancies is generally considered a sign of poor prognosis. The free beta-subunit blocks apoptosis in cancer cells and promotes the growth and malignancy of the cancer. Pituitary hCG is a sulfated variant of hCG produced at low levels during the menstrual cycle. Pituitary hCG seems to mimic luteinizing hormone actions during the menstrual cycle.

  2. Elucidation of IL-1/TGF-beta interactions in mouse chondrocyte cell line by genome-wide gene expression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Takahashi, N; Rieneck, K; van der Kraan, P M

    2005-01-01

    To elucidate the antagonism between interleukin-1 (IL-1) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) at the gene expression level, as IL-1 and TGF-beta are postulated to be critical mediators of cartilage degeneration/protection in rheumatic diseases....

  3. Ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in interstellar space. IV. The lines of sight to delta, epsilon, and iota Orionis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laurent, C.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; York, D.G.

    1979-01-01

    We have analyzed the deuterium absorption features in the spectra of delta, epsilon, and iota Ori obtained with Copernicus. The iota Ori line-of-sight analysis, which is quite detailed because of the high-velocity H I components superposed on the deuterium features, gives a D/H ratio (which is uncertain because of a complex profile) of 1.4 x 10 -5 . We determined a D/H ratio of the order of 7 x 10 -6 for delta and epsilon Ori. For the complex line profiles involved, one may regard this as a formal lower limit. Several attempts were made to increase the ratio N (DI)/N (H I) in the context of reasonable models for the line of sight, but with no success; we therefore regard the derived values as actual values, not lower limits. Since our derived value is an average on the line of sight, we cannot rule out the possibility that the true ratios N (D I)/N (H I) in individual nearby components (Δν -1 ) differ from the mean values. Our mean value for these two directions is lower by a factor of 4 than our best value for the zeta Pup line of sight

  4. He II lines in the spectrum of zeta Puppis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Snijders, M.A.J.; Underhill, A.B.

    1975-01-01

    Equivalents widths of He II lines in the series n=2,3,4 and 5 are compiled and compared with predictions from plane-parallel, static model atmospheres using a non-LTE theory of line formation. The agreement between observation and prediction for a (50,000,4.0) model atmosphere is good for the upper members of the n=3 and the n=5 series, but the two lines of the n=2 series which are observed and the upper members of the n=4 series (4→15,4→17, etc.) are stronger than predicted. Well-determined profiles of lines from the n=3 series indicate v sin i=200 km s -1 . Profiles of the higher members of the n=4 series, however, do not match the predictions, the observed line cores being deeper than predicted. The n=4 level appears to be more overpopulated at moderate depths in the atmosphere than the non-LTE calculations with plane-parallel layers indicate. This may be due to an overlap of the H and He II lines in the even-even series caused by macroturbulent velocities of the hydrogen atoms and helium atoms

  5. H I SHELLS AND SUPERSHELLS IN THE I-GALFA H I 21 cm LINE SURVEY. I. FAST-EXPANDING H I SHELLS ASSOCIATED WITH SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, G.; Koo, B.-C. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742 (Korea, Republic of); Gibson, S. J.; Newton, J. H. [Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (United States); Kang, J.-H.; Lane, D. C.; Douglas, K. A. [Arecibo Observatory, HC 3 Box 53995, Arecibo, PR 00612 (United States); Peek, J. E. G. [Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States); Korpela, E. J. [Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Heiles, C., E-mail: koo@astro.snu.ac.kr [Radio Astronomy Lab, UC Berkeley, 601 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

    2013-11-01

    We search for fast-expanding H I shells associated with Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) in the longitude range l ≈ 32° to 77° using 21 cm line data from the Inner-Galaxy Arecibo L-band Feed Array (I-GALFA) H I survey. Among the 39 known Galactic SNRs in this region, we find such H I shells in 4 SNRs: W44, G54.4-0.3, W51C, and CTB 80. All four were previously identified in low-resolution surveys, and three of those (excluding G54.4-0.3) were previously studied with the Arecibo telescope. A remarkable new result, however, is the detection of H I emission at both very high positive and negative velocities in W44 from the receding and approaching parts of the H I expanding shell, respectively. This is the first detection of both sides of an expanding shell associated with an SNR in H I 21 cm emission. The high-resolution I-GALFA survey data also reveal a prominent expanding H I shell with high circular symmetry associated with G54.4-0.3. We explore the physical characteristics of four SNRs and discuss what differentiates them from other SNRs in the survey area. We conclude that these four SNRs are likely the remnants of core-collapse supernovae interacting with a relatively dense (∼> 1 cm{sup –3}) ambient medium, and we discuss the visibility of SNRs in the H I 21 cm line.

  6. H2 emission from non-stationary magnetized bow shocks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tram, L. N.; Lesaffre, P.; Cabrit, S.; Gusdorf, A.; Nhung, P. T.

    2018-01-01

    When a fast moving star or a protostellar jet hits an interstellar cloud, the surrounding gas gets heated and illuminated: a bow shock is born that delineates the wake of the impact. In such a process, the new molecules that are formed and excited in the gas phase become accessible to observations. In this paper, we revisit models of H2 emission in these bow shocks. We approximate the bow shock by a statistical distribution of planar shocks computed with a magnetized shock model. We improve on previous works by considering arbitrary bow shapes, a finite irradiation field and by including the age effect of non-stationary C-type shocks on the excitation diagram and line profiles of H2. We also examine the dependence of the line profiles on the shock velocity and on the viewing angle: we suggest that spectrally resolved observations may greatly help to probe the dynamics inside the bow shock. For reasonable bow shapes, our analysis shows that low-velocity shocks largely contribute to H2 excitation diagram. This can result in an observational bias towards low velocities when planar shocks are used to interpret H2 emission from an unresolved bow. We also report a large magnetization bias when the velocity of the planar model is set independently. Our 3D models reproduce excitation diagrams in BHR 71 and Orion bow shocks better than previous 1D models. Our 3D model is also able to reproduce the shape and width of the broad H2 1-0S(1) line profile in an Orion bow shock (Brand et al. 1989).

  7. Potential of on-line visible and near infrared spectroscopy for measurement of pH for deriving variable rate lime recommendations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tekin, Yücel; Kuang, Boyan; Mouazen, Abdul M

    2013-08-08

    This paper aims at exploring the potential of visible and near infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy for on-line measurement of soil pH, with the intention to produce variable rate lime recommendation maps. An on-line vis-NIR soil sensor set up to a frame was used in this study. Lime application maps, based on pH predicted by vis-NIR techniques, were compared with maps based on traditional lab-measured pH. The validation of the calibration model using off-line spectra provided excellent prediction accuracy of pH (R2 = 0.85, RMSEP = 0.18 and RPD = 2.52), as compared to very good accuracy obtained with the on-line measured spectra (R2 = 0.81, RMSEP = 0.20 and RPD = 2.14). On-line predicted pH of all points (e.g., 2,160) resulted in the largest overall field virtual lime requirement (1.404 t), as compared to those obtained with 16 validation points off-line prediction (0.28 t), on-line prediction (0.14 t) and laboratory reference measurement (0.48 t). The conclusion is that the vis-NIR spectroscopy can be successfully used for the prediction of soil pH and for deriving lime recommendations. The advantage of the on-line sensor over sampling with limited number of samples is that more detailed information about pH can be obtained, which is the reason for a higher but precise calculated lime recommendation rate.

  8. Potential of On-Line Visible and Near Infrared Spectroscopy for Measurement of pH for Deriving Variable Rate Lime Recommendations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yücel Tekin

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims at exploring the potential of visible and near infrared (vis-NIR spectroscopy for on-line measurement of soil pH, with the intention to produce variable rate lime recommendation maps. An on-line vis-NIR soil sensor set up to a frame was used in this study. Lime application maps, based on pH predicted by vis-NIR techniques, were compared with maps based on traditional lab-measured pH. The validation of the calibration model using off-line spectra provided excellent prediction accuracy of pH (R2 = 0.85, RMSEP = 0.18 and RPD = 2.52, as compared to very good accuracy obtained with the on-line measured spectra (R2 = 0.81, RMSEP = 0.20 and RPD = 2.14. On-line predicted pH of all points (e.g., 2,160 resulted in the largest overall field virtual lime requirement (1.404 t, as compared to those obtained with 16 validation points off-line prediction (0.28 t, on-line prediction (0.14 t and laboratory reference measurement (0.48 t. The conclusion is that the vis-NIR spectroscopy can be successfully used for the prediction of soil pH and for deriving lime recommendations. The advantage of the on-line sensor over sampling with limited number of samples is that more detailed information about pH can be obtained, which is the reason for a higher but precise calculated lime recommendation rate.

  9. Determination of K{sub ps} and {beta}{sub 1,H} in a wide interval of initial concentrations of lutetium; Determinacion de K{sub ps} y {beta}{sub 1,H} en un amplio intervalo de concentraciones iniciales del lutecio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez-G, H.; Jimenez R, M.; Solache R, M. [ININ. Apdo. Postal 18-1027, Mexico D.F. (Mexico); Rojas H, A. [UAM-I, A.P. 55-534, 09340, Mexico. D.F. (Mexico)

    2006-07-01

    solubility product constants and the first of lutetium hydrolysis in the interval of initial concentration of 3.72 X 10{sup -5} to 2.09 X 10{sup -3} M of lutetium, in a 2M of NaCIO{sub 4} media, at 303 K and under conditions free of CO{sub 2} its were considered. The solubility diagrams (pLu{sub (ac)}-pC{sub H}) by means of a radiochemical method were obtained, and starting from its the pC{sub H} values that limit the saturation and no-saturation zones of the solutions were settled down. Those diagrams allowed, also, to calculate the solubility product constants of Lu(OH){sub 3}. The experimental data to the polynomial solubility equation were adjusted, what allowed to calculate those values of the solubility product constants of Lu(OH){sub 3} and to determine the first hydrolysis constant. The value of precipitation pC{sub H} diminishes when the initial concentration of the lutetium increases, while the values of K{sub ps} and {beta}{sub 1,H} its remain constant. (Author)

  10. Transcriptome variations among human embryonic stem cell lines are associated with their differentiation propensity.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Changbin Sun

    Full Text Available Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs have the potential to form any cell type in the body, making them attractive cell sources in drug screening, regenerative medicine, disease and developmental processes modeling. However, not all hESC lines have the equal potency to generate desired cell types in vitro. Significant variations have been observed for the differentiation efficiency of various human ESC lines. The precise underpinning molecular mechanisms are still unclear. In this work, we compared transcriptome variations of four hESC lines H7, HUES1, HUES8 and HUES9. We found that hESC lines have different gene expression profiles, and these differentially expressed genes (DEGs are significantly enriched in developmental processes, such as ectodermal, mesodermal and endodermal development. The enrichment difference between hESC lines was consistent with its lineage bias. Among these DEGs, some pluripotency factors and genes involved in signaling transduction showed great variations as well. The pleiotropic functions of these genes in controlling hESC identity and early lineage specification, implicated that different hESC lines may utilize distinct balance mechanisms to maintain pluripotent state. When the balance is broken in a certain environment, gene expression variation between them could impact on their different lineage specification behavior.

  11. Alpha- and Beta-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complexes with 5-Fluorouracil: Characterization and Cytotoxic Activity Evaluation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristina Di Donato

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Cyclodextrins are natural macrocyclic oligosaccharides able to form inclusion complexes with a wide variety of guests, affecting their physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties. In order to obtain an improvement of the bioavailability and solubility of 5-fluorouracil, a pyrimidine analogue used as chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of the colon, liver, and stomac cancers, the drug was complexed with alpha- and beta-cyclodextrin. The inclusion complexes were prepared in the solid state by kneading method and characterized by Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffractometry. In solution, the 1:1 stoichiometry for all the inclusion complexes was established by the Job plot method and the binding constants were determined at different pHs by UV-VIS titration. Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of 5-fluorouracil and its complexation products were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT assay on MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line, Hep G2 (hepatocyte carcinoma cell line, Caco-2 (colon adenocarcinoma cell line, and A-549 (alveolar basal epithelial carcinoma cell line. The results showed that both inclusion complexes increased the 5-fluorouracil capability of inhibiting cell growth. In particular, 5-fluorouracil complexed with beta-cyclodextrin had the highest cytotoxic activity on MCF-7; with alpha-cyclodextrin the highest cytotoxic activity was observed on A-549. The IC50 values were equal to 31 and 73 µM at 72 h, respectively. Our results underline the possibility of using these inclusion complexes in pharmaceutical formulations for improving 5-fluorouracil therapeutic efficacy.

  12. Meson-Exchange Enhancement of First-Forbidden $\\beta$-Transitions in the Lead Region

    CERN Multimedia

    Delaure, B J P; Severijns, N

    2002-01-01

    Both on-line and off-line low temperature nuclear orientation is used to measure the $\\beta$-asymmetry parameter for the first-forbidden g.s. $\\rightarrow$~g.s. $\\beta$-transitions of $^{205}$Hg, $^{207,209}$Tl, $^{209}$Pb and $^{213}$Bi. From this, the ratio of the rank-zero and the rank-one strengths in these decays can be deduced, with the rank of a $\\beta$-transition being defined as the total angular momentum of the lepton system. Combining this result with the experimental ${ft}$-values yields for the first time a purely experimental determination of the rank-zero contribution in these $\\Delta$ J = 0 first-forbidden transitions. This provides an independent check of the large enhancement (of about 100% over the impulse approximation) of the rank-zero matrix element of $\\gamma_{5} $, caused by meson exchange currents (MEC), which was recently obtained from a comparison of calculated first-forbidden $\\beta$-decay rates with experimentally observed values for nuclei in the lead region (A = 205-212). Measur...

  13. Curcumin decreases amyloid-beta peptide levels by attenuating the maturation of amyloid-beta precursor protein.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Can; Browne, Andrew; Child, Daniel; Tanzi, Rudolph E

    2010-09-10

    Alzheimer disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease with no cure. The pathogenesis of AD is believed to be driven primarily by amyloid-beta (Abeta), the principal component of senile plaques. Abeta is an approximately 4-kDa peptide generated via cleavage of the amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP). Curcumin is a compound in the widely used culinary spice, turmeric, which possesses potent and broad biological activities, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, chemopreventative effects, and effects on protein trafficking. Recent in vivo studies indicate that curcumin is able to reduce Abeta-related pathology in transgenic AD mouse models via unknown molecular mechanisms. Here, we investigated the effects of curcumin on Abeta levels and APP processing in various cell lines and mouse primary cortical neurons. We show for the first time that curcumin potently lowers Abeta levels by attenuating the maturation of APP in the secretory pathway. These data provide a mechanism of action for the ability of curcumin to attenuate amyloid-beta pathology.

  14. Molecular simulations of beta-amyloid protein near hydrated lipids (PECASE).

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Thompson, Aidan Patrick; Han, Kunwoo (Texas A& M University, College Station, TX); Ford, David M. (Texas A& M University, College Station, TX)

    2005-12-01

    We performed molecular dynamics simulations of beta-amyloid (A{beta}) protein and A{beta} fragment(31-42) in bulk water and near hydrated lipids to study the mechanism of neurotoxicity associated with the aggregation of the protein. We constructed full atomistic models using Cerius2 and ran simulations using LAMMPS. MD simulations with different conformations and positions of the protein fragment were performed. Thermodynamic properties were compared with previous literature and the results were analyzed. Longer simulations and data analyses based on the free energy profiles along the distance between the protein and the interface are ongoing.

  15. Nicotinic {alpha}4{beta}2 receptor imaging agents

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pichika, Rama [Brain Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3960 (United States); Easwaramoorthy, Balasubramaniam [Brain Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3960 (United States); Collins, Daphne [Brain Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3960 (United States); Christian, Bradley T. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kettering Medical Center, Dayton, OH 45429 (United States); Shi, Bingzhi [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kettering Medical Center, Dayton, OH 45429 (United States); Narayanan, Tanjore K. [Department of Nuclear Medicine, Kettering Medical Center, Dayton, OH 45429 (United States); Potkin, Steven G. [Brain Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3960 (United States); Mukherjee, Jogeshwar [Brain Imaging Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-3960 (United States)]. E-mail: j.mukherjee@uci.edu

    2006-04-15

    The {alpha}4{beta}2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Optimal positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents are therefore highly desired for this receptor. We report here the development and initial evaluation of 2-fluoro-3-[2-((S)-3-pyrrolinyl)methoxy]pyridine (nifene). In vitro binding affinity of nifene in rat brain homogenate using {sup 3}H-cytisine exhibited a K {sub i}=0.50 nM for the {alpha}4{beta}2 sites. The radiosynthesis of 2-{sup 18}F-fluoro-3-[2-((S)-3-pyrrolinyl)methoxy]pyridine ({sup 18}F-nifene) was accomplished in 2.5 h with an overall radiochemical yield of 40-50%, decay corrected. The specific activity was estimated to be approx. 37-185 GBq/{mu}mol. In vitro autoradiography in rat brain slices indicated selective binding of {sup 18}F-nifene to anteroventral thalamic (AVT) nucleus, thalamus, subiculum, striata, cortex and other regions consistent with {alpha}4{beta}2 receptor distribution. Rat cerebellum showed some binding, whereas regions in the hippocampus had the lowest binding. The highest ratio of >13 between AVT and cerebellum was measured for {sup 18}F-nifene in rat brain slices. The specific binding was reduced (>95%) by 300 {mu}M nicotine in these brain regions. Positron emission tomography imaging study of {sup 18}F-nifene (130 MBq) in anesthetized rhesus monkey was carried out using an ECAT EXACT HR+ scanner. PET study showed selective maximal uptake in the regions of the anterior medial thalamus, ventro-lateral thalamus, lateral geniculate, cingulate gyrus, temporal cortex including the subiculum. The cerebellum in the monkeys showed lower binding than the other regions. Thalamus-to-cerebellum ratio peaked at 30-35 min postinjection to a value of 2.2 and subsequently reduced. The faster binding profile of {sup 18}F-nifene indicates promise as a PET imaging agent and thus needs further evaluation.

  16. An extreme Fe II emitter the narrow line quasar PHL 1092

    CERN Document Server

    Bergeron, J

    1980-01-01

    A search for Fe II emission in a sample of radio-quiet quasars has revealed the outstanding properties of PHL 1092. Intense Fe II lines dominate the entire spectrum, and the Fe II UV multiplets are nearly as strong as the optical ones. In contrast the extreme weakness of the Balmer and Mg II lines is striking. For the first time, Fe I lines are identified in an extra-galactic object. The lines are narrow, with a FWHM of 1300 km s/sup -1/. The presence of Fe II UV lines and Fe I lines from the ground state requires moderate column densities. However Fe/sup 0/ can exist only in a region completely shielded from the UV continuum. The weakness of Mg II and H beta relative to Fe II lines is best explained by their thermalization. The emitting region is of high electron density n/sub e/ approximately=10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/, low temperature T approximately=10000K, and has an optical depth in the Fe II UV lines tau /sub UV/ approximately=10/sup 3/-10/sup 4/. It is speculated that for higher densities all the lines wou...

  17. Derivation of novel genetically diverse human embryonic stem cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefanova, Valentina T; Grifo, James A; Hansis, Christoph

    2012-06-10

    Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the potential to revolutionize many biomedical fields ranging from basic research to disease modeling, regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and toxicity testing. A multitude of hESC lines have been derived worldwide since the first 5 lines by Thomson et al. 13 years ago, but many of these are poorly characterized, unavailable, or do not represent desired traits, thus making them unsuitable for application purposes. In order to provide the scientific community with better options, we have derived 12 new hESC lines at New York University from discarded genetically normal and abnormal embryos using the latest techniques. We examined the genetic status of the NYUES lines in detail as well as their molecular and cellular features and DNA fingerprinting profile. Furthermore, we differentiated our hESCs into the tissues most affected by a specific condition or into clinically desired cell types. To our knowledge, a number of characteristics of our hESCs have not been previously reported, for example, mutation for alpha thalassemia X-linked mental retardation syndrome, linkage to conditions with a genetic component such as asthma or poor sperm morphology, and novel combinations of ethnic backgrounds. Importantly, all of our undifferentiated euploid female lines tested to date did not show X chromosome inactivation, believed to result in superior potency. We continue to derive new hESC lines and add them to the NIH registry and other registries. This should facilitate the use of our hESCs and lead to advancements for patient-benefitting applications.

  18. Maternal and cord plasma concentrations of beta-lipotrophin, beta-endorphin and gamma-lipotrophin at delivery; effect of analgesia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Browning, A J; Butt, W R; Lynch, S S; Shakespear, R A; Crawford, J S

    1983-12-01

    Maternal venous plasma concentrations of beta-LPH, beta-EP and gamma-LPH were compared in (i) patients undergoing vaginal delivery, 11 with an epidural block and 13 with pethidine and nitrous oxide or no analgesics; (ii) patients delivered by caesarean section, 7 under epidural block and 8 under general anaesthesia. Patients delivered by either method under epidural block had significantly lower levels of all three peptides than those receiving no epidural. There were significant negative correlations between umbilical vein beta-LPH, beta-EP and gamma-LPH concentrations and umbilical artery pH and positive correlations between beta-LPH and beta-EP but not gamma-LPH and cord PCO2 in 29 patients. There was no relation between cord levels of any of the three peptides and the method of analgesia or the route of delivery. Although concentrations of all three peptides were closely correlated to one another in either maternal or cord plasma, there was no relationship between maternal and fetal levels.

  19. Sizes of flaring kernels in various parts of the Hα line profile

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Radziszewski

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we present new results of spectra-photometrical investigations of the flaring kernels' sizes and their intensities measured simultaneously in various parts of the Hα line profile. Our investigations were based on the very high temporal resolution spectral-imaging observations of the solar flares collected with Large Coronagraph (LC, Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass Spectrograph and Solar Eclipse Coronal Imaging System (MSDP-SECIS at Białkow Observatory (University of Wrocław, Poland.

    We have found that the areas of the investigated individual flaring kernels vary in time and in wavelengths, as well as the intensities and areas of the Hα flaring kernels decreased systematically when observed in consecutive wavelengths toward the wings of the Hα line. Our result could be explained as an effect of the cone-shaped lower parts of the magnetic loops channeling high energy particle beams exciting chromospheric plasma.

  20. A rapid two-step algorithm detects and identifies clinical macrolide and beta-lactam antibiotic resistance in clinical bacterial isolates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Xuedong; Nie, Shuping; Xia, Chengjing; Huang, Lie; He, Ying; Wu, Runxiang; Zhang, Li

    2014-07-01

    Aiming to identify macrolide and beta-lactam resistance in clinical bacterial isolates rapidly and accurately, a two-step algorithm was developed based on detection of eight antibiotic resistance genes. Targeting at genes linked to bacterial macrolide (msrA, ermA, ermB, and ermC) and beta-lactam (blaTEM, blaSHV, blaCTX-M-1, blaCTX-M-9) antibiotic resistances, this method includes a multiplex real-time PCR, a melting temperature profile analysis as well as a liquid bead microarray assay. Liquid bead microarray assay is applied only when indistinguishable Tm profile is observed. The clinical validity of this method was assessed on clinical bacterial isolates. Among the total 580 isolates that were determined by our diagnostic method, 75% of them were identified by the multiplex real-time PCR with melting temperature analysis alone, while the remaining 25% required both multiplex real-time PCR with melting temperature analysis and liquid bead microarray assay for identification. Compared with the traditional phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility test, an overall agreement of 81.2% (kappa=0.614, 95% CI=0.550-0.679) was observed, with a sensitivity and specificity of 87.7% and 73% respectively. Besides, the average test turnaround time is 3.9h, which is much shorter in comparison with more than 24h for the traditional phenotypic tests. Having the advantages of the shorter operating time and comparable high sensitivity and specificity with the traditional phenotypic test, our two-step algorithm provides an efficient tool for rapid determination of macrolide and beta-lactam antibiotic resistances in clinical bacterial isolates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Silhouette and spectral line profiles in the special modification of the Kerr black hole geometry generated by quintessential fields

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schee, Jan; Stuchlik, Zdenek [Silesian University in Opava, Faculty of Philosophy and Science, Institute of Physics and Research Centre for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Opava (Czech Republic)

    2016-11-15

    We study optical effects in quintessential Kerr black hole spacetimes corresponding to the limiting case of the equation-of-state parameter ω{sub q} = -1/3 of the quintessence. In dependence on the dimensionless quintessential field parameter c, we determine the black hole silhouette and the spectral line profiles of Keplerian disks generated in this special quintessential Kerr geometry, representing an extension of the general modifications of the Kerr geometry introduced recently by Ghasemi-Nodehi and Bambi (Eur. Phys. J. C 56:290, 2016). We demonstrate that due to the influence of the parameter c, the silhouette is almost homogeneously enlarged, and the spectral line profiles are redshifted with almost conserved shape. (orig.)

  2. Long-term series of tropospheric water vapour amounts and HDO/H2O ratio profiles above Jungfraujoch.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lejeune, B.; Mahieu, E.; Schneider, M.; Hase, F.; Servais, C.; Demoulin, P.

    2012-04-01

    Water vapour is a crucial climate variable involved in many processes which widely determine the energy budget of our planet. In particular, water vapour is the dominant greenhouse gas in the Earth's atmosphere and its radiative forcing is maximum in the middle and upper troposphere. Because of the extremely high variability of water vapour concentration in time and space, it is challenging for the available relevant measurement techniques to provide a consistent data set useful for trend analyses and climate studies. Schneider et al. (2006a) showed that ground-based Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, performed from mountain observatories, allows for the detection of H2O variabilities up to the tropopause. Furthermore, the FTIR measurements allow the retrieval of HDO amounts and therefore the monitoring of HDO/H2O ratio profiles whose variations act as markers for the source and history of the atmospheric water vapour. In the framework of the MUSICA European project (Multi-platform remote Sensing of Isotopologues for investigating the Cycle of Atmospheric water, http://www.imk-asf.kit.edu/english/musica.php), a new approach has been developed and optimized by M. Schneider and F. Hase, using the PROFFIT algorithm, to consistently retrieve tropospheric water vapour profiles from high-resolution ground-based infrared solar spectra and so taking benefit from available long-term data sets of ground-based observations. The retrieval of the water isotopologues is performed on a logarithmic scale from 14 micro-windows located in the 2600-3100 cm-1 region. Other important features of this new retrieval strategy are: a speed dependant Voigt line shape model, a joint temperature profile retrieval and an interspecies constraint for the HDO/H2O profiles. In this contribution, we will combine the quality of the MUSICA strategy and of our observations, which are recorded on a regular basis with FTIR spectrometers, under clear-sky conditions, at the NDACC site

  3. Serum Beta-hCG of 11 Days after Embryo Transfer to Predict Pregnancy Outcome

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2007-01-01

    Objective To assess the clinic value of a single maternal serum beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) assay 11 d after embryo transfer in ART pregnancies and to predict pregnancy outcome.Methods A total of 384 pregnancies after embryo transfer were included.Inviable pregnancies were defined as biochemical pregnancies,ectopic pregnancies and first trimester abortions.Ongoing pregnancies were defined as singleton pregnancies and multiple pregnancies whose gestation were achieved more than 12 weeks.Serum β-hCG concentrations were compared among different groups.Results On the post embryo transfer d 11,the mean β-hCG concentration of the ongoing pregnancy group (323.7±285.2 mIU/ml) was significantly higher than that of the inviable pregnancy group(81.4±68.1 mmIU/ml)(P<0.001).In multiple gestations,the levels of β-hCG were significantly higher compared with singleton pregnancies.If the β-hCG level was between 10 mIU/ml and 50 mIU/ml,the positive predictive value of biochemical pregnancies and ectopic pregnancies was 81.8%,the negative predictive value was 94.4%.If the level was less than 100 mIU/ml,the positive predictive value of first trimester abortions was 80.8% the negative predictive value was 77.8%.If the level was greater than 250 mIU/ml,the positive predictive value of multiple pregnancies was 83.3%.the negative predictive value was 74.4%.Conclusions A single serum β-hCG level on d 11 after embryo transfer has good predictive valuefor clinical pregnancy outcome in controlled ovarian stimulation cycles and helps to plan the subsequent follow-up.

  4. Chromosome-encoded narrow-spectrum Ambler class A beta-lactamase GIL-1 from Citrobacter gillenii.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naas, Thierry; Aubert, Daniel; Ozcan, Ayla; Nordmann, Patrice

    2007-04-01

    A novel beta-lactamase gene was cloned from the whole-cell DNA of an enterobacterial Citrobacter gillenii reference strain that displayed a weak narrow-spectrum beta-lactam-resistant phenotype and was expressed in Escherichia coli. It encoded a clavulanic acid-inhibited Ambler class A beta-lactamase, GIL-1, with a pI value of 7.5 and a molecular mass of ca. 29 kDa. GIL-1 had the highest percent amino acid sequence identity with TEM-1 and SHV-1, 77%, and 67%, respectively, and only 46%, 31%, and 32% amino acid sequence identity with CKO-1 (C. koseri), CdiA1 (C. diversus), and SED-1 (C. sedlaki), respectively. The substrate profile of the purified GIL-1 was similar to that of beta-lactamases TEM-1 and SHV-1. The blaGIL-1 gene was chromosomally located, as revealed by I-CeuI experiments, and was constitutively expressed at a low level in C. gillenii. No gene homologous to the regulatory ampR genes of chromosomal class C beta-lactamases was found upstream of the blaGIL-1 gene, which fits the noninducibility of beta-lactamase expression in C. gillenii. Rapid amplification of DNA 5' ends analysis of the promoter region revealed putative promoter sequences that diverge from what has been identified as the consensus sequence in E. coli. The blaGIL-1 gene was part of a 5.5-kb DNA fragment bracketed by a 9-bp duplication and inserted between the d-lactate dehydrogenase gene and the ydbH genes; this DNA fragment was absent in other Citrobacter species. This work further illustrates the heterogeneity of beta-lactamases in Citrobacter spp., which may indicate that the variability of Citrobacter species is greater than expected.

  5. Direct ethanol production from barley beta-glucan by sake yeast displaying Aspergillus oryzae beta-glucosidase and endoglucanase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kotaka, Atsushi; Bando, Hiroki; Kaya, Masahiko; Kato-Murai, Michiko; Kuroda, Kouichi; Sahara, Hiroshi; Hata, Yoji; Kondo, Akihiko; Ueda, Mitsuyoshi

    2008-06-01

    Three beta-glucosidase- and two endoglucanase-encoding genes were cloned from Aspergillus oryzae, and their gene products were displayed on the cell surface of the sake yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae GRI-117-UK. GRI-117-UK/pUDB7 displaying beta-glucosidase AO090009000356 showed the highest activity against various substrates and efficiently produced ethanol from cellobiose. On the other hand, GRI-117-UK/pUDCB displaying endoglucanase AO090010000314 efficiently degraded barley beta-glucan to glucose and smaller cellooligosaccharides. GRI-117-UK/pUDB7CB codisplaying both beta-glucosidase AO090009000356 and endoglucanase AO090010000314 was constructed. When direct ethanol fermentation from 20 g/l barley beta-glucan as a model substrate was performed with the codisplaying strain, the ethanol concentration reached 7.94 g/l after 24 h of fermentation. The conversion ratio of ethanol from beta-glucan was 69.6% of the theoretical ethanol concentration produced from 20 g/l barley beta-glucan. These results showed that sake yeast displaying A. oryzae cellulolytic enzymes can be used to produce ethanol from cellulosic materials. Our constructs have higher ethanol production potential than the laboratory constructs previously reported.

  6. In situ oxidation state profiling of nickel hexacyanoferrate derivatized electrodes using line-imaging Raman spectroscopy and multivariate calibration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Haight, S.M.; Schwartz, D.T.

    1999-01-01

    Metal hexacyanoferrate compounds show promise as electrochemically switchable ion exchange materials for use in the cleanup of radioactive wastes such as those found in storage basins and underground tanks at the Department of Energy's Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Reported is the use of line-imaging Raman spectroscopy for the in situ determination of oxidation state profiles in nickel hexacyanoferrate derivatized electrodes under potential control in an electrochemical cell. Line-imaging Raman spectroscopy is used to collect 256 contiguous Raman spectra every ∼5 microm from thin films (ca. 80 nm) formed by electrochemical derivatization of nickel electrodes. The cyanide stretching region of the Raman spectrum of the film is shown to be sensitive to iron oxidation state and is modeled by both univariate and multivariate correlations. Although both correlations fit the calibration set well, the multivariate (principle component regression or PCR) model's predictions of oxidation state are less sensitive to noise in the spectrum, yielding a much smoother oxidation state profile than the univariate model. Oxidation state profiles with spatial resolution of approximately 5 microm are shown for a nickel hexacyanoferrate derivatized electrode in reduced, intermediate, and oxidized states. In situ oxidation state profiles indicate that the 647.1 nm laser illumination photo-oxidizes the derivatized electrodes. This observation is confirmed using photoelectrochemical methods

  7. Relationship between Gene Body DNA Methylation and Intragenic H3K9me3 and H3K36me3 Chromatin Marks

    OpenAIRE

    Hahn, Maria A.; Wu, Xiwei; Li, Arthur X.; Hahn, Torsten; Pfeifer, Gerd P.

    2011-01-01

    To elucidate the relationship between intragenic DNA methylation and chromatin marks, we performed epigenetic profiling of chromosome 19 in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBEC) and in the colorectal cancer cell line HCT116 as well as its counterpart with double knockout of DNMT1 and DNMT3B (HCT116-DKO). Analysis of H3K36me3 profiles indicated that this intragenic mark of active genes is associated with two categories of genes: (i) genes with low CpG density and H3K9me3 in the gene body or ...

  8. Association of. beta. -glucosidase with intact cells of thermoactinomyces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Haegerdal, B; Harris, H; Pye, E K

    1979-03-01

    The location of the ..beta..-glucosidase activity in a whole culture broth of the thermophilic organism Thermoactinomyces has been studied. Little ..beta..-glucosidase activity was found in the culture filtrate, while the culture solids contained the major part of the activity of the whole culture broth. The activity does not appear to be adsorbed to the culture solids; rather there is evidence that it is an intracellular soluble enzyme(s). The pH and temperature optima for a crude ..beta..-glucosidase preparation were determined to be pH 6.5 and 50 to 55/sup 0/C. Enzyme activity studies indicate that the same enzyme(s) accounts for the ..beta..-glucosidase and the cellobiase activities. The validity of using the filter paper activity of culture filtrates from Thermoactinomyces to predict the total saccharification of cellulosic materials to glucose is discussed.

  9. Beta adrenergic receptors in human cavernous tissue

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dhabuwala, C.B.; Ramakrishna, C.V.; Anderson, G.F.

    1985-04-01

    Beta adrenergic receptor binding was performed with /sup 125/I iodocyanopindolol on human cavernous tissue membrane fractions from normal tissue and transsexual procedures obtained postoperatively, as well as from postmortem sources. Isotherm binding studies on normal fresh tissues indicated that the receptor density was 9.1 fmoles/mg. with a KD of 23 pM. Tissue stored at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours, then at 4C in saline solution for 19 to 20 hours before freezing showed no significant changes in receptor density or affinity, and provided evidence for the stability of postmortem tissue obtained within the same time period. Beta receptor density of 2 cavernous preparations from transsexual procedures was not significantly different from normal control tissues, and showed that high concentrations of estrogen received by these patients had no effect on beta adrenergic receptor density. Displacement of /sup 125/iodocyanopindolol by 5 beta adrenergic agents demonstrated that 1-propranolol had the greatest affinity followed by ICI 118,551, zinterol, metoprolol and practolol. When the results of these displacement studies were subjected to Scatfit, non- linear regression line analysis, a single binding site was described. Based on the relative potency of the selective beta adrenergic agents it appears that these receptors were of the beta 2 subtype.

  10. The ratio of deuterium to hydrogen in interstellar space. IV - The lines of sight to Delta, Epsilon, and Iota Orionis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laurent, C.; Vidal-Madjar, A.; York, D. G.

    1979-01-01

    Deuterium absorption features in spectra of Delta, Epsilon, and Iota Ori obtained with Copernicus are analyzed. The Iota Ori line-of-sight analysis, which is quite detailed because of the high-velocity H I components superposed on the deuterium features, gives a D/H ratio (which is uncertain because of a complex profile) of 0.000014. A D/H ratio of the order of 7 millionths is determined for Delta and Epsilon Ori. For the complex line profiles involved, one may regard this as a formal lower limit. Several attempts were made to increase the ratio N(D I)/N(H I) in the context of reasonable models for the line of sight, but with no success; the derived values are therefore regarded as actual values, not lower limits. Since the derived value is an average on the line of sight, the possibility cannot be ruled out that the true ratios N(D I)/N(H I) in individual nearby components differ from the mean values. The mean value for these two directions is lower by a factor of 4 than the best value for the Zeta Pup line of sight (the highest yet derived for path lengths greater than 50 pc).

  11. Reference beta radiations for calibrating dosemeters and dose ratemeters and for determining their response as a function of beta radiation energy. 1. ed.

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-01-01

    This International Standard specifies the requirements for reference beta radiations produced by radionuclide sources to be used for the calibration of protection level dosemeters and dose ratemeters, and for the determination of their response as a function of beta energy. It gives the characteristics of radionuclides which have been used to produce reference beta radiations, gives examples of suitable source constructions and describes methods for the measurement of the residual maximum beta energy and the absorbed dose rate at a depth of 7 mg·cm -2 in a semi-infinite tissue-equivalent medium. The energy range involved lies between 66 keV and 3.6 MeV and the absorbed dose rates are in the range from about 10 μGy·h -1 (1 mrad·h -1 ) to at least 10 Gy·h -1 (10 3 rad·h -1 ). This International Standard proposes two series of beta reference radiations from which the radiation necessary for determining the characteristics (calibration and energy response) of an instrument shall be selected. Series 1 reference radiations are produced by radionuclide sources used with beam flattening filters designed to give uniform dose rates over a large area at a specific distance. The proposed sources of 90 Sr+ 90 Y, 204 TI and 147 Pm produce maximum dose rates of approximately 5mGy·h -1 (0.5 rad·h -1 ). Series 2 reference radiations are produced without the use of beam flattening filters which allows a range of source-to-calibration plane distances to be used. Close to the sources only relatively small areas of uniform dose rate are produced but this Series has the advantage of extending the energy and dose rate ranges beyond those of Series 1. The radionuclides used are those of Series 1 with the addition of the radionuclides 14 C and 106 Ru+ 106 Rh; these sources produce dose rates of up to 10 Gy·h -1 (10 3 rad·h -1 )

  12. Frequency Characteristics of Surface Wave Generated by Single-Line Pulsed Laser Beam with Two Kinds of Spatial Energy Profile Models: Gaussian and Square-Like

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seo, Ho Geon; Kim, Myung Hwan; Choi, Sung Ho; Kim, Chung Seok; Jhang, Kyung Young [Hanyang University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-08-15

    Using a single-line pulsed laser beam is well known as a useful noncontact method to generate a directional surface acoustic wave. In this method, different laser beam energy profiles produce different waveforms and frequency characteristics. In this paper, we considered two typical kinds of laser beam energy profiles, Gaussian and square-like, to find out a difference in the frequency characteristics. To achieve this, mathematical models were proposed first for Gaussian laser beam profile and square-like respectively, both of which depended on the laser beam width. To verify the theoretical models, experimental setups with a cylindrical lens and a line-slit mask were respectively designed to produce a line laser beam with Gaussian spatial energy profile and square-like. The frequency responses of the theoretical models showed good agreement with experimental results in terms of the existence of harmonic frequency components and the shift of the first peak frequencies to low.

  13. Significance of pH-value for meat quality of broilers: Influence of breed lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ristic M.

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available For determination of poultry quality shortly after slaughtering, physical criteria (pH-value, conductivity, colour, juice retention are of importance. However, they are affected by breeding, transport, cooling and the storage period. PH-values of breast meat (genetically structured material were recorded shortly after slaughtering (15 min p.m. and differences between breeding line and gender were found (n=5109. The pH1-values ranged from 5.50 to 6.79. Male broilers showed significantly lower pH1-values than female ones (6.02:6.10. There were also significant differences concerning breeding line and gender. Meat quality (PSE, DFD of broilers can be recorded quickly and accurately determining the pH1-value of breast meat. Threshold ranges to be considered are ≤ 5.8 (PSE, 5.9-6.2 (standard meat properties and ≥ 6.3 (DFD. This classification is not to be compared to the deviation of pork.

  14. Gain Enhancement of Low-Profile, Electrically Small Capacitive Feed Antennas Using Stacked Meander Lines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kazuki Ide

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available The present paper describes the gain enhancement of a small and low-profile linear antenna with capacitive feed (C-feed using three metallic layers. The antenna has very small leakage current on the outer conductor of the coaxial cable and can easily control the imaginary part of the input impedance. The gain of the stacked three-layer meander line antenna, with the meander line in the middle layer being opposite to that of the other two layers, has increased by around 7 dB compared to the single layered C-feed antenna. The antenna gain is discussed based on simulated and measured results, which demonstrates that the antenna has successfully achieved the acceptable impedance and sufficient gain for mobile terminals and RFID tags.

  15. MHD analysis of LHD high beta plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichiguchi, K.; Nakajima, N.; Carreras, B.A.

    2003-01-01

    The nonlinear behavior of the interchange mode in the LHD plasma depends on the overlap of the vortices with different helicity. If the vortices are separated in the radial direction, each mode saturates mildly with generating the local flat regions in the pressure profile. In the case of the significant overlap of the vortices, the convection is enhanced and the sudden global reduction of the pressure occurs. Succession of the saturated pressure profile in the increase of beta can suppress the overlap. Self-organization of the pressure profile to suppress the overlap of the vortices can be the stabilizing mechanism in the LHD plasma. (orig.)

  16. Oxytocin receptors expressed and coupled to Ca2+ signalling in a human vascular smooth muscle cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yazawa, H; Hirasawa, A; Horie, K; Saita, Y; Iida, E; Honda, K; Tsujimoto, G

    1996-03-01

    1. In a human vascular smooth muscle cell line (HVSMC), binding experiments with [3H]-arginine8-vasopressin (AVP) have shown the existence of a homogeneous population of binding sites with affinity (Kd value) of 0.65 nM and a maximum number of binding sites (Bmax) of 122 fmol mg-1 protein. 2. Nonlabelled compounds compete for [3H]-AVP binding in the HVSMC membrane with an order of potency of oxytocin > lyspressin > or = AVP > Thr4, Gly7-oxytocin > (beta-mercapto-beta-beta-cyclopentamethylenepropionyl-O-Me Tyr2, Arg8) vasopressin > desmopressin > OPC21268 > OPC31260. This order was markedly different from that observed in rat vascular smooth muscle cells (A10), a well-established V1A receptor system. 3. In HVSMC both oxytocin and AVP increased inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) production and [Ca2+]i response, but the efficacy of the responses was greater for oxytocin than AVP. 4. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay detected only oxytocin receptor but not V1A or V2 receptors in HVSMC, whereas only V1A receptors were found in A10 cells. 5. In conclusion, in HVSMC only oxytocin receptors are expressed among the vasopressin receptor family, and they coupled to phosphatidyl inositol (PI) turnover/Ca2+ signalling. This unexpected observation should provide new insight into the functional role of the oxytocin receptor in a human vascular smooth muscle cell line.

  17. Design of the beam profile monitor system for the RHIC injection line

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Witkover, R.L.

    1995-01-01

    A video profile monitor (VPM) system will be used in the AGS-to-RHIC (ATR) transfer line to acquire single bunches transferred at 30 Hz. An array of 12 video cameras will be connected to 4 frame grabbers through a wide-band flux. Fast VME image processing boards will analyze a 120 x 120 subset of the image, generated by a 4 x 4 convolution or an ROI computation and sent over the network during the AGS recycle time. Details of the design, results of lab tests and studies with ion and proton beams will be presented

  18. Clinical implication of long noncoding RNA 91H expression profile in osteosarcoma patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xia WK

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Wen-Kai Xia,1 Qing-Feng Lin,2 Dong Shen,2 Zhi-Li Liu,2 Jun Su,2 Wei-Dong Mao2 1Department of Nephrology, 2Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China Abstract: Long noncoding RNAs have been documented as having widespread roles in carcinogenesis and cancer progression. However, roles of long noncoding RNAs in osteosarcoma remain unclear. This study is to investigate the clinical relevance and biological functions of long noncoding RNA 91H in osteosarcoma. Herein, we confirmed that 91H expression was notably increased in osteosarcoma patients and cell lines compared to healthy controls and normal human bone cell lines. High expression of 91H was significantly correlated with advanced clinical stage, chemotherapy after surgery, and tumor size >5 cm. Furthermore, 91H was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in osteosarcoma patients after treatments. Additionally, the knockdown of 91H expression inhibited osteosarcoma cells’ proliferation and promoted their apoptosis in vitro. In summary, these findings indicate that 91H may be a novel biomarker for risk prognostication and also provide a clue to the molecular etiology of osteosarcoma. Keywords: long noncoding RNA, 91H, osteosarcoma, survival

  19. Determination of the crystalline structure of scale solids from the 16H evaporator gravity drain line to tank 38H

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oji, L. N. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

    2015-10-01

    August 2015, scale solids from the 16H Evaporator Gravity Drain Line (GDL) to the Tank 38H were delivered to SRNL for analysis. The desired analytical goal was to identify and confirm the crystalline structure of the scale material and determine if the form of the aluminosilicate mineral was consistent with previous analysis of the scale material from the GDL.

  20. Beta-delayed neutron decay of $^{33}$Na

    CERN Document Server

    Radivojevic, Z; Caurier, E; Cederkäll, J; Courtin, S; Dessagne, P; Jokinen, A; Knipper, A; Le Scornet, G; Lyapin, V G; Miehé, C; Nowacki, F; Nummela, S; Oinonen, M; Poirier, E; Ramdhane, M; Trzaska, W H; Walter, G; Äystö, J

    2002-01-01

    Beta-delayed neutron decay of /sup 33/Na has been studied using the on-line mass separator ISOLDE. The delayed neutron spectra were measured by time-of-flight technique using fast scintillators. Two main neutron groups at 800(60) and 1020(80) keV were assigned to the /sup 33/Na decay, showing evidence for strong feeding of states at about 4 MeV in /sup 33/Mg. By simultaneous beta - gamma -n counting the delayed neutron emission probabilities P/sub 1n/ = 47(6)% and P /sub 2n/ = 13(3)% were determined. The half-life value for /sup 33 /Na, T/sub 1/2/ = 8.0(3) ms, was measured by three different techniques, one employing identifying gamma transitions and two employing beta and neutron counting. (21 refs).

  1. Molecular cloning and characterization of a human beta-Gal-3'-sulfotransferase that acts on both type 1 and type 2 (Gal beta 1-3/1-4GlcNAc-R) oligosaccharides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Honke, K; Tsuda, M; Koyota, S; Wada, Y; Iida-Tanaka, N; Ishizuka, I; Nakayama, J; Taniguchi, N

    2001-01-05

    A novel sulfotransferase gene (designated GP3ST) was identified on human chromosome 2q37.3 based on its similarity to the cerebroside 3'-sulfotransferase (CST) cDNA (Honke, K., Tsuda, M., Hirahara, Y., Ishii, A., Makita, A., and Wada, Y. (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272, 4864-4868). A full-length cDNA was obtained by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and 5'- and 3'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends analyses of human colon mRNA. The isolated cDNA clone predicts that the protein is a type II transmembrane protein composed of 398 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence indicates 33% identity to the human CST sequence. A recombinant protein that is expressed in COS-1 cells showed no CST activity, but did show sulfotransferase activities toward oligosaccharides containing nonreducing beta-galactosides such as N-acetyllactosamine, lactose, lacto-N-tetraose (Lc4), lacto-N-neotetraose (nLc4), and Gal beta 1-3GalNAc alpha-benzyl (O-glycan core 1 oligosaccharide). To characterize the cloned sulfotransferase, a sulfotransferase assay method was developed that uses pyridylaminated (PA) Lc4 and nLc4 as enzyme substrates. The enzyme product using PA-Lc4 as an acceptor was identified as HSO(3)-3Gal beta 1-3GlcNAc beta 1-3Gal beta 1- 4Glc-PA by two-dimensional (1)H NMR. Kinetics studies suggested that GP3ST is able to act on both type 1 (Gal beta 1-3GlcNAc-R) and type 2 (Gal beta 1-4GlcNAc-R) chains with a similar efficiency. In situ hybridization demonstrated that the GP3ST gene is expressed in epithelial cells lining the lower to middle layer of the crypts in colonic mucosa, hepatocytes surrounding the central vein of the liver, extravillous cytotrophoblasts in the basal plate and septum of the placenta, renal tubules of the kidney, and neuronal cells of the cerebral cortex. The results of this study indicate the existence of a novel beta-Gal-3'-sulfotransferase gene family.

  2. Temperature and emission-line structure at the edges of H II regions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mallik, D.C.V.

    1975-01-01

    Models of ionization fronts located at the edges of expanding H ii regions are presented. These fronts are of the weak D-type and are preceded by shocks in the H i clouds. Since the energy input time is smaller than the cooling time, the gas is found to heat up to a high temperature immediately following ionization. At the trailing edge of the front, the temperature decreases and the ionized gas merges with the main bulk of the nebula where the physical processes are in equilibrium. The emission in O ii and N ii lines is greatly enhanced because of the high temperature at the front. The emission in these and other important lines is calculated and compared with Hβ. Effects of different velocities of flow, of different exciting stars, and of different gas densities on the structure of the fronts are also investigated

  3. Interface Trap Profiles in 4H- and 6H-SiC MOS Capacitors with Nitrogen- and Phosphorus-Doped Gate Oxides

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiao, C.; Ahyi, A. C.; Dhar, S.; Morisette, D.; Myers-Ward, R.

    2017-04-01

    We report results on the interface trap density ( D it) of 4H- and 6H-SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors with different interface chemistries. In addition to pure dry oxidation, we studied interfaces formed by annealing thermal oxides in NO or POCl3. The D it profiles, determined by the C- ψ s method, show that, although the as-oxidized 4H-SiC/SiO2 interface has a much higher D it profile than 6H-SiC/SiO2, after postoxidation annealing (POA), both polytypes maintain comparable D it near the conduction band edge for the gate oxides incorporated with nitrogen or phosphorus. Unlike most conventional C- V- or G- ω-based methods, the C- ψ s method is not limited by the maximum probe frequency, therefore taking into account the "fast traps" detected in previous work on 4H-SiC. The results indicate that such fast traps exist near the band edge of 6H-SiC also. For both polytypes, we show that the total interface trap density ( N it) integrated from the C- ψ s method is several times that obtained from the high-low method. The results suggest that the detected fast traps have a detrimental effect on electron transport in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) channels.

  4. Photochemical fate of beta-blockers in NOM enriched waters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Ling; Xu, Haomin; Cooper, William J. [Urban Water Research Center, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-2175 (United States); Song, Weihua, E-mail: wsong@fudan.edu.cn [Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433 (China)

    2012-06-01

    Beta-blockers, prescribed for the treatment of high blood pressure and for long-term use after a heart attack, have been detected in surface and ground waters. This study examines the photochemical fate of three beta-blockers, atenolol, metoprolol, and nadolol. Hydrolysis accounted for minor losses of these beta-blockers in the pH range 4-10. The rate of direct photolysis at pH 7 in a solar simulator varied from 6.1 to 8.9 h{sup -1} at pH 7. However, the addition of a natural organic matter (NOM) isolate enhanced the photochemical loss of all three compounds. Indirect photochemical fate, generally described by reactions with hydroxyl radical ({center_dot}OH) and singlet oxygen ({sup 1}{Delta}O{sub 2}), and, the direct reaction with the triplet excited state, {sup 3}NOM{sup Low-Asterisk }, also varied but collectively appeared to be the major loss factor. Bimolecular reaction rate constants of the three beta-blockers with {sup 1}{Delta}O{sub 2} and {center_dot}OH were measured and accounted for 0.02-0.04% and 7.2-38.9% of their loss, respectively. These data suggest that the {sup 3}NOM{sup Low-Asterisk} contributed 50.6-85.4%. Experiments with various {sup 3}NOM{sup Low-Asterisk} quenchers supported the hypothesis that it was singly the most important reaction. Atenolol was chosen for more detailed investigation, with the photoproducts identified by LC-MS analysis. The results suggested that electron-transfer could be an important mechanism in photochemical fate of beta-blockers in the presence of NOM. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Photochemical degradation of beta-blockers in the simulated natural waters. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Reactive Oxygen Species play a minor role in the indirect photodegradation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The loss of beta-blockers results from direct reaction with {sup 3}DOM{sup Low-Asterisk }.

  5. Pancreatic Transdifferentiation and Glucose-Regulated Production of Human Insulin in the H4IIE Rat Liver Cell Line

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Binhai Ren

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Due to the limitations of current treatment regimes, gene therapy is a promising strategy being explored to correct blood glucose concentrations in diabetic patients. In the current study, we used a retroviral vector to deliver either the human insulin gene alone, the rat NeuroD1 gene alone, or the human insulin gene and rat NeuroD1 genes together, to the rat liver cell line, H4IIE, to determine if storage of insulin and pancreatic transdifferentiation occurred. Stable clones were selected and expanded into cell lines: H4IIEins (insulin gene alone, H4IIE/ND (NeuroD1 gene alone, and H4IIEins/ND (insulin and NeuroD1 genes. The H4IIEins cells did not store insulin; however, H4IIE/ND and H4IIEins/ND cells stored 65.5 ± 5.6 and 1475.4 ± 171.8 pmol/insulin/5 × 106 cells, respectively. Additionally, several β cell transcription factors and pancreatic hormones were expressed in both H4IIE/ND and H4IIEins/ND cells. Electron microscopy revealed insulin storage vesicles in the H4IIE/ND and H4IIEins/ND cell lines. Regulated secretion of insulin to glucose (0–20 mmol/L was seen in the H4IIEins/ND cell line. The H4IIEins/ND cells were transplanted into diabetic immunoincompetent mice, resulting in normalization of blood glucose. This data shows that the expression of NeuroD1 and insulin in liver cells may be a useful strategy for inducing islet neogenesis and reversing diabetes.

  6. New Line Lists for planetological applications: HC3N and C4H2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jolly, A.; Benilan, Y.; Fayt, A.

    2009-04-01

    The Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on-board Cassini, after four years of operation in Saturnian orbit with over thirty close fly-bys of Titan, has obtained spectra in the far and mid-infrared with a spectral resolution of 0.5 cm-1. Mismatch between observed spectra and model spectra obtained from the available line lists has led us to study the bending bands of HC3N and C4H2, the longest carbon chains observed on Titan. Our experimental study for HC3N (Jolly et al. 2007, J.Mol.Spec) has shown that band intensities had to be revised and that including hot bands with lower level as high as 1300 cm-1 was necessary to model our experimental spectra at 0.5 cm-1 resolution. A new extended line list could be obtained by fitting high resolution data with the help of a global analysis. This line list was made available to the astronomers of the CIRS team and will be included in the next version of the GEISA data base. Thanks to the precision of the new spectroscopic data, 13C isotopologues of HC3N have been detected and quantified for the first time in the atmosphere of Titan (Jennings et al. 2008, ApJL). Search for the 15N isotopologues of HC3N will also be presented. The proportion of hot bands is even more important for C4H2 than for HC3N and a new extended line list was absolutely necessary to improve the CIRS spectral analysis. We will present a new line list and show comparison between synthetic spectra and experimental spectra of C4H2 obtained between 193 and 296 K at 0.1 and 0.5 cm-1 resolution. Comparison of model spectra to CIRS observations of C4H2 at 220 and 630 cm-1 will also be presented. Detections of hot bands and isotopes in cold environments such as Titan will be emphasized.

  7. Osteocalcin protects pancreatic beta cell function and survival under high glucose conditions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kover, Karen, E-mail: kkover@cmh.edu [Division of Endocrine/Diabetes, Children' s Mercy Hospital & Clinics, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States); University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States); Yan, Yun; Tong, Pei Ying; Watkins, Dara; Li, Xiaoyu [Division of Endocrine/Diabetes, Children' s Mercy Hospital & Clinics, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States); University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States); Tasch, James; Hager, Melissa [Kansas City University Medical Biosciences, Kansas City, MO (United States); Clements, Mark; Moore, Wayne V. [Division of Endocrine/Diabetes, Children' s Mercy Hospital & Clinics, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States); University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO 64108 (United States)

    2015-06-19

    Diabetes is characterized by progressive beta cell dysfunction and loss due in part to oxidative stress that occurs from gluco/lipotoxicity. Treatments that directly protect beta cell function and survival in the diabetic milieu are of particular interest. A growing body of evidence suggests that osteocalcin, an abundant non-collagenous protein of bone, supports beta cell function and proliferation. Based on previous gene expression data by microarray, we hypothesized that osteocalcin protects beta cells from glucose-induced oxidative stress. To test our hypothesis we cultured isolated rat islets and INS-1E cells in the presence of normal, high, or high glucose ± osteocalcin for up to 72 h. Oxidative stress and viability/mitochondrial function were measured by H{sub 2}O{sub 2} assay and Alamar Blue assay, respectively. Caspase 3/7 activity was also measured as a marker of apoptosis. A functional test, glucose stimulated insulin release, was conducted and expression of genes/protein was measured by qRT-PCR/western blot/ELISA. Osteocalcin treatment significantly reduced high glucose-induced H{sub 2}O{sub 2} levels while maintaining viability/mitochondrial function. Osteocalcin also significantly improved glucose stimulated insulin secretion and insulin content in rat islets after 48 h of high glucose exposure compared to untreated islets. As expected sustained high glucose down-regulated gene/protein expression of INS1 and BCL2 while increasing TXNIP expression. Interestingly, osteocalcin treatment reversed the effects of high glucose on gene/protein expression. We conclude that osteocalcin can protect beta cells from the negative effects of glucose-induced oxidative stress, in part, by reducing TXNIP expression, thereby preserving beta cell function and survival. - Highlights: • Osteocalcin reduces glucose-induced oxidative stress in beta cells. • Osteocalcin preserves beta cell function and survival under stress conditions. • Osteocalcin reduces glucose

  8. Osteocalcin protects pancreatic beta cell function and survival under high glucose conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kover, Karen; Yan, Yun; Tong, Pei Ying; Watkins, Dara; Li, Xiaoyu; Tasch, James; Hager, Melissa; Clements, Mark; Moore, Wayne V.

    2015-01-01

    Diabetes is characterized by progressive beta cell dysfunction and loss due in part to oxidative stress that occurs from gluco/lipotoxicity. Treatments that directly protect beta cell function and survival in the diabetic milieu are of particular interest. A growing body of evidence suggests that osteocalcin, an abundant non-collagenous protein of bone, supports beta cell function and proliferation. Based on previous gene expression data by microarray, we hypothesized that osteocalcin protects beta cells from glucose-induced oxidative stress. To test our hypothesis we cultured isolated rat islets and INS-1E cells in the presence of normal, high, or high glucose ± osteocalcin for up to 72 h. Oxidative stress and viability/mitochondrial function were measured by H 2 O 2 assay and Alamar Blue assay, respectively. Caspase 3/7 activity was also measured as a marker of apoptosis. A functional test, glucose stimulated insulin release, was conducted and expression of genes/protein was measured by qRT-PCR/western blot/ELISA. Osteocalcin treatment significantly reduced high glucose-induced H 2 O 2 levels while maintaining viability/mitochondrial function. Osteocalcin also significantly improved glucose stimulated insulin secretion and insulin content in rat islets after 48 h of high glucose exposure compared to untreated islets. As expected sustained high glucose down-regulated gene/protein expression of INS1 and BCL2 while increasing TXNIP expression. Interestingly, osteocalcin treatment reversed the effects of high glucose on gene/protein expression. We conclude that osteocalcin can protect beta cells from the negative effects of glucose-induced oxidative stress, in part, by reducing TXNIP expression, thereby preserving beta cell function and survival. - Highlights: • Osteocalcin reduces glucose-induced oxidative stress in beta cells. • Osteocalcin preserves beta cell function and survival under stress conditions. • Osteocalcin reduces glucose-induced TXNIP

  9. Comprehensive benchmarking reveals H2BK20 acetylation as a distinctive signature of cell-state-specific enhancers and promoters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Vibhor; Rayan, Nirmala Arul; Muratani, Masafumi; Lim, Stefan; Elanggovan, Bavani; Xin, Lixia; Lu, Tess; Makhija, Harshyaa; Poschmann, Jeremie; Lufkin, Thomas; Ng, Huck Hui; Prabhakar, Shyam

    2016-05-01

    Although over 35 different histone acetylation marks have been described, the overwhelming majority of regulatory genomics studies focus exclusively on H3K27ac and H3K9ac. In order to identify novel epigenomic traits of regulatory elements, we constructed a benchmark set of validated enhancers by performing 140 enhancer assays in human T cells. We tested 40 chromatin signatures on this unbiased enhancer set and identified H2BK20ac, a little-studied histone modification, as the most predictive mark of active enhancers. Notably, we detected a novel class of functionally distinct enhancers enriched in H2BK20ac but lacking H3K27ac, which was present in all examined cell lines and also in embryonic forebrain tissue. H2BK20ac was also unique in highlighting cell-type-specific promoters. In contrast, other acetylation marks were present in all active promoters, regardless of cell-type specificity. In stimulated microglial cells, H2BK20ac was more correlated with cell-state-specific expression changes than H3K27ac, with TGF-beta signaling decoupling the two acetylation marks at a subset of regulatory elements. In summary, our study reveals a previously unknown connection between histone acetylation and cell-type-specific gene regulation and indicates that H2BK20ac profiling can be used to uncover new dimensions of gene regulation. © 2016 Kumar et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  10. Susceptibility of Human Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC H103 and H376 cell lines to Retroviral OSKM mediated reprogramming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nalini Devi Verusingam

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Although numbers of cancer cell lines have been shown to be successfully reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs, reprogramming Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC to pluripotency in relation to its cancer cell type and the expression pattern of pluripotent genes under later passage remain unexplored. In our study, we reprogrammed and characterised H103 and H376 oral squamous carcinoma cells using retroviral OSKM mediated method. Reprogrammed cells were characterized for their embryonic stem cells (ESCs like morphology, pluripotent gene expression via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence staining, embryoid bodies (EB formation and directed differentiation capacity. Reprogrammed H103 (Rep-H103 exhibited similar ESCs morphologies with flatten cells and clear borders on feeder layer. Reprogrammed H376 (Rep-H376 did not show ESCs morphologies but grow with a disorganized morphology. Critical pluripotency genes Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog were expressed higher in Rep-H103 against the parental counterpart from passage 5 to passage 10. As for Rep-H376, Nanog expression against its parental counterpart showed a significant decrease at passage 5 and although increased in passage 10, the level of expression was similar to the parental cells. Rep-H103 exhibited pluripotent signals (Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Tra-1-60 and could form EB with the presence of three germ layers markers. Rep-H103 displayed differentiation capacity into adipocytes and osteocytes. The OSCC cell line H103 which was able to be reprogrammed into an iPSC like state showed high expression of Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog at late passage and may provide a potential iPSC model to study multi-stage oncogenesis in OSCC.

  11. Peptide design using alpha,beta-dehydro amino acids: from beta-turns to helical hairpins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mathur, Puniti; Ramakumar, S; Chauhan, V S

    2004-01-01

    Incorporation of alpha,beta-dehydrophenylalanine (DeltaPhe) residue in peptides induces folded conformations: beta-turns in short peptides and 3(10)-helices in larger ones. A few exceptions-namely, alpha-helix or flat beta-bend ribbon structures-have also been reported in a few cases. The most favorable conformation of DeltaPhe residues are (phi,psi) approximately (-60 degrees, -30 degrees ), (-60 degrees, 150 degrees ), (80 degrees, 0 degrees ) or their enantiomers. DeltaPhe is an achiral and planar residue. These features have been exploited in designing DeltaPhe zippers and helix-turn-helix motifs. DeltaPhe can be incorporated in both right and left-handed helices. In fact, consecutive occurrence of three or more DeltaPhe amino acids induce left-handed screw sense in peptides containing L-amino acids. Weak interactions involving the DeltaPhe residue play an important role in molecular association. The C--H.O==C hydrogen bond between the DeltaPhe side-chain and backbone carboxyl moiety, pi-pi stacking interactions between DeltaPhe side chains belonging to enantiomeric helices have shown to stabilize folding. The unusual capability of a DeltaPhe ring to form the hub of multicentered interactions namely, a donor in aromatic C--H.pi and C--H.O==C and an acceptor in a CH(3).pi interaction suggests its exploitation in introducing long-range interactions in the folding of supersecondary structures. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Pept Sci), 2004

  12. Banding ligation versus beta-blockers for primary prevention in oesophageal varices in adults

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gluud, Lise Lotte; Krag, Aleksander

    2012-01-01

    Non-selective beta-blockers are used as a first-line treatment for primary prevention in patients with medium- to high-risk oesophageal varices. The effect of non-selective beta-blockers on mortality is debated and many patients experience adverse events. Trials on banding ligation versus non...

  13. Cytokines interleukin-1beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha regulate different transcriptional and alternative splicing networks in primary beta-cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ortis, Fernanda; Naamane, Najib; Flamez, Daisy

    2010-01-01

    by the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta + interferon (IFN)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha + IFN-gamma in primary rat beta-cells. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Fluorescence-activated cell sorter-purified rat beta-cells were exposed to IL-1beta + IFN-gamma or TNF-alpha + IFN-gamma for 6 or 24 h......-cells, with temporal differences in the number of genes modulated by IL-1beta + IFNgamma or TNF-alpha + IFN-gamma. These cytokine combinations induced differential expression of inflammatory response genes, which is related to differential induction of IFN regulatory factor-7. Both treatments decreased the expression...... of genes involved in the maintenance of beta-cell phenotype and growth/regeneration. Cytokines induced hypoxia-inducible factor-alpha, which in this context has a proapoptotic role. Cytokines also modified the expression of >20 genes involved in RNA splicing, and exon array analysis showed cytokine...

  14. Liver X receptor activation inhibits PC-3 prostate cancer cells via the beta-catenin pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Youlin, Kuang; Li, Zhang; Weiyang, He; Jian, Kang; Siming, Liang; Xin, Gou

    2017-03-01

    Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors family of ligand-dependent transcription factors that play a crucial role in regulating cholesterol metabolism and inflammation. Recent studies show that LXR agonists exhibit anti-cancer activities in a variety of cancer cell lines including prostate. To further identify the potential mechanisms of LXRα activation on prostate cancer, we investigated the effect of LXR agonist T0901317 on PC3 prostate cancer cell and in which activity of beta-catenin pathway involved. Prostate cancer PC3 cells were transfected with LXR-a siRNA and treated with LXR activator T0901317. qRT-PCR and western blot were used to detect the LXR-a expression. beta-catenin, cyclin D1 and c-MYC were analyzed by western blot. Cell apoptosis was examined by flow cytometry and Cell proliferation was assessed by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Cell migration was detected by Transwell chambers. Data showed that T0901317 significantly inhibited PC3 cell proliferation as well as invasion and increased apoptosis in vitro. Furthermore, we found that LXRα activation induced the reduction of beta-catenin expression in PC3 cells, and this inhibitory effect could be totally abolished when cells were treated with LXRα. Meanwhile, the expression of beta-catenin target gene cyclin D1 and c-MYC were also decreased. This study provided additional evidence that LXR activation inhibited PC-3 prostate cancer cells via suppressing beta-catenin pathway. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  15. Increased antigen presentation but impaired T cells priming after upregulation of interferon-beta induced by lipopolysaccharides is mediated by upregulation of B7H1 and GITRL.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fang Wang

    Full Text Available Dendritic cells are able to present Ag-derived peptides on MHC class I and II molecules and induce T cells priming. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS, an activator of Toll-like 4 receptor (TLR4 signaling, has been demonstrated to facilitate Ag-presentation, up-regulate surface molecules expression but impair T cells priming. In this study, we investigated the effect of LPS on nicotine-enhanced DCs-dependent T cells priming and the mechanisms of LPS orchestrating the immunosuppressive program. We could demonstrate that the treatment with LPS resulted in increased surface molecules expression, enhanced Ag-presentation, up-regulated release of TGF-beta, TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IFN-beta. Concomititantly, the upregulation of IFN-beta in DCs induces the up-regulation of coinhibitory molecules B7H1 and GITRL, which cause an impaired activation of naïve Ag-specific T cells and the induction of T cell tolerance by enhancing B7H1-PD-1 interactions and promoting GITRL-GITL facilitated Treg generation, respectively. These data provide a mechanistic basis for the immunomodulatory action of IFN-beta which might open new possibilities in the development of therapeutic approaches aimed at the control of excessive immune response and persistent infection.

  16. Realisation of a {beta} spectrometer solenoidal and a double {beta} spectrometer at coincidence; Realisation d'un spectrometre {beta} solenoidal et d'un double spectrometre {beta} a coincidence

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Moreau, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Saclay (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1955-06-15

    The two spectrometers have been achieved to tackle numerous problems of nuclear spectrometry. They possess different fields of application that complete themselves. The solenoidal spectrometer permits the determination of the energy limits of {beta} spectra and of their shape; it also permits the determination of the coefficients of internal conversion and reports {alpha}{sub K} / {alpha}{sub L} and it is especially efficient for the accurate energy levels of the {gamma} rays by photoelectric effect. The double coincidence spectrometer has been conceived to get a good efficiency in coincidence: indeed, the sum of the solid angles used for the {beta} and {gamma} emission is rather little lower to 4{pi} steradians. To get this efficiency, one should have sacrificed a little the resolution that is lower to the one obtained with the solenoidal spectrometer for a same brightness. Each of the elements of the double spectrometer can also be adapted to the study of angular correlations {beta}{gamma} and e{sup -}{gamma}. In this use, it is superior to the thin magnetic lens used up to here. The double spectrometer also permits the survey of the coincidences e{sup -}e{sup -}, e{sup -}{beta} of a equivalent way to a double lens; it can also be consider some adaptation for the survey of the angular correlations e{sup -}e{sup -}, e{sup -}{beta}. Finally, we applied the methods by simple spectrometry and by coincidence spectrometry, to the study of the radiances of the following radioelements: {sup 76}As (26 h), {sup 122}Sb (2,8 j), {sup 124}Sb (60 j), {sup 125}Sb (2,7 years). (M.B.) [French] Les deux spectrometres qui ont ete realises permettent d'aborder un grand nombre de problemes de spectrometrie nucleaire. Ils possedent des champs d'application tres differents qui se completent. Le spectrometre solenoidal permet la determination des energies limites des spectres {beta} et de leur forme; il permet aussi la determination des coefficients de conversion interne et des rapports

  17. Sterol synthesis. A novel reductive rearrangement of an alpha,beta-unsaturated steroidal epoxide; a new chemical synthesis of 5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta, 15alpha-diol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parish, E J; Schroepfer, G J

    1977-04-01

    Reduction of 3beta-benzoyloxy-14alpha,15alpha-epoxy-5alpha-cholest-7-ene with either lithium triethylboro-hydride or lithium aluminum hydride (4 molar excess) gave 5-alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta,15alpha-diol in high yield. Reduction of the epoxy ester with lithium triethylborodeuteride or lithium aluminum deuteride (4 molar excess) gave [7alpha-2-H]-5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta,15alpha-diol. Reduction of 2beta-benzoyloxy-14alpha,15alpha-epoxy-5alpha-cholest-7-ene with a large excess (24 molar excess) of lithium aluminum hydride gave, in addition to the expected 5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta,15alpha-diol, a significant yield (33%) of 5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta-o1. Reduction of the epoxy ester with a large excess (24 molar excess) of lithium aluminum deuteride gave [7alpha-2H]-5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta,15alpha-diol and 5alpha-cholest-8(14)-en-3beta-o1 which contained two atoms of stably bound deuterium.

  18. Effects of ethanol on pancreatic beta-cell death: interaction with glucose and fatty acids.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dembele, Korami; Nguyen, K Hoa; Hernandez, Tiffany A; Nyomba, B L Grégoire

    2009-04-01

    Western lifestyle plays an important role in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes by causing insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction, a prerequisite for the development of diabetes. High fat diet and alcohol are major components of the western diet. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of ethanol and fatty acids on beta-cell survival and metabolism. We treated the rat beta-cell line RINm5F with ethanol, a mixture of palmitic and oleic acids, or both. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) were determined by (5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate) (CM-H2DCFDA) fluorescence assay, and mitochondrial activity was assessed by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) reduction assay and by determining ATP production. Cell viability was assessed with a cell counter and trypan blue exclusion, and the mode of cell death by Hoechst33342 and propidium iodide staining. With both ethanol and fatty acid treatments, MTT reduction and ATP production decreased, whereas ROS production increased. Ethanol treatment had no effect on cell number, whereas fatty acid treatment reduced the cell number. Cell incubation with ethanol, fatty acids, or both increased the number of Hoechst 33342-positive nuclei. However, the majority of nuclei from fatty acid-treated cells were stained with propidium iodide, indicating a loss of plasma membrane integrity. We conclude that both ethanol and fatty acids generate cellular oxidative stress, and affect mitochondrial function in RINm5F beta-cells. However, ethanol causes beta-cell death by apoptosis, whereas fatty acids cause cell death predominantly by necrosis. It is not known whether these results are applicable to human beta-cells.

  19. A comparative study of the FcepsilonRI molecule on human mast cell and basophil cell lines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Bettina Margrethe; Dissing, S; Skov, P S

    2005-01-01

    Mast cells and basophils express the high-affinity IgE receptor FcepsilonRI. We have analysed the human mast cell line LAD2 and four subclones of the basophil cell line KU812 in order to reveal possible differences concerning the FcepsilonRI surface regulation, anti-IgE-triggered activation......, FcepsilonRIalpha protein stability and the mRNA level of FcepsilonRIalpha-, beta- and the truncated beta-chain (beta(T)), and thereby determine the utility of these cell lines in investigations of the FcepsilonRI biology....

  20. Applications of the Warren-Averbach method of X-ray diffraction line profile analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ichikawa, Rodrigo Uchida

    2013-01-01

    The objective of this work was to develop and implement a methodology of X-ray Line Profile Analysis (XLPA) for the study and determination of the mean crystallite sizes and microstrains in materials. A computer program was developed to speed up the treatment of diffraction peaks and perform the deconvolution utilizing the Stokes method to correct the instrumental contribution in the X-ray diffraction measurements. The XLPA methods used were the Scherrer, Williamson-Hall and Single-Line methods, which can be called real space methods, and the Fourier space method of Warren-Averbach. Furthermore, considering a mathematical modelling it was possible to calculate the crystallite size distribution, considering the log-normal distribution and spherical crystallites. It was possible to demonstrate the proposed theory can provide reliable results evaluating a dispersion parameter. The methodologies described above were applied in two distinct materials: in the alloy Zircaloy-4 and in ZnO. (author)

  1. Understanding AGNs in the Local Universe through Optical Reverberation Mapping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pei, Liuyi

    2016-01-01

    I present the results of observational projects aimed at measuring the mass of the black hole at the center of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and understanding the structure and kinematics of the broad-line emitting gas within the black hole's sphere of influence.The first project aims to measure the black hole mass in the Kepler-field AGN KA1858. We obtained simultaneous spectroscopic data from the Lick Observatory 3-m telescope using the Kast Double Spectrograph and photometry data from five ground-based telescopes, and used reverberation mapping (RM) techniques to measure the emission-line light curves' lags relative to continuum variations. We obtained lags for H-beta, H-gamma, H-delta, and He II, and obtained the first black hole mass measurement for this object. Our results will serve as a reference point for future studies on relations between black hole mass and continuum variability characteristics using Kepler AGN light curves.The second project, in collaboration with the AGN STORM team, aims to understand the structure and dynamics of the broad line region (BLR) in NGC 5548 in both UV and optical wavelengths. To supplement 6 months of HST UV observations, we obtained simultaneous optical spectroscopic data from six ground-based observatories. We obtained emission-line lags for the optical H-beta and He II lines as well as velocity-resolved lag measurements for H-beta. We also compared the velocity-resolved lags for H-beta to the UV emission lines C IV and Ly-alpha and found similar lag profiles for all three lines.Finally, I will discuss my contributions to two other collaborations in AGN RM. A key component in RM is monitoring continuum variability, which is often done through ground-based photometry. I will present a pipeline that performs aperture photometry on any number of images of an AGN with WCS coordinates and immediately produces relative light curves. This pipeline enables quick looks of AGN variability in real time and has been used in the

  2. Phenotypic and gene expression changes between low (glucose-responsive) and High (glucose non-responsive) MIN-6 beta cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    O´Driscoll, L.; Gammell, p.; McKierman, E.

    2006-01-01

    The long-term potential to routinely use replacement beta cells/islets as cell therapy for type 1 diabetes relies on our ability to culture such cells/islets, in vitro, while maintaining their functional status. Previous beta cell studies, by ourselves and other researchers, have indicated...... that the glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) phenotype is relatively unstable, in long-term culture. This study aimed to investigate phenotypic and gene expression changes associated with this loss of GSIS, using the MIN-6 cell line as model. Phenotypic differences between MIN-6(L, low passage) and MIN-6(H......, high passage) were determined by ELISA (assessing GSIS and cellular (pro)insulin content), proliferation assays, phase contrast light microscopy and analysis of alkaline phosphatase expression. Differential mRNA expression was investigated using microarray, bioinformatics and real-time PCR technologies...

  3. Beta limit due to resistive instabilities in T-10

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kislov, D.A.; Esipchuk, Yu.V.; Kirneva, N.

    2001-01-01

    Soft beta limiting phenomena have been observed in T-10 in ECRH heated plasmas. Neoclassical tearing modes are supposed to be responsible for the beta limitation. The MHD onset was observed at high β p but low β N values. Critical β has been found to be almost independent of collisionality parameter ν e *. Sawtooth stabilization by ECCD does not result in an increase of critical β. Dependence of the critical β on the q(r) profile (modified by ECCD) has been observed. (author)

  4. Beta cell 5'-shifted isomiRs are candidate regulatory hubs in type 2 diabetes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeanette Baran-Gale

    Full Text Available Next-generation deep sequencing of small RNAs has unveiled the complexity of the microRNA (miRNA transcriptome, which is in large part due to the diversity of miRNA sequence variants ("isomiRs". Changes to a miRNA's seed sequence (nucleotides 2-8, including shifted start positions, can redirect targeting to a dramatically different set of RNAs and alter biological function. We performed deep sequencing of small RNA from mouse insulinoma (MIN6 cells (widely used as a surrogate for the study of pancreatic beta cells and developed a bioinformatic analysis pipeline to profile isomiR diversity. Additionally, we applied the pipeline to recently published small RNA-seq data from primary human beta cells and whole islets and compared the miRNA profiles with that of MIN6. We found that: (1 the miRNA expression profile in MIN6 cells is highly correlated with those of primary human beta cells and whole islets; (2 miRNA loci can generate multiple highly expressed isomiRs with different 5'-start positions (5'-isomiRs; (3 isomiRs with shifted start positions (5'-shifted isomiRs are highly expressed, and can be as abundant as their unshifted counterparts (5'-reference miRNAs. Finally, we identified 10 beta cell miRNA families as candidate regulatory hubs in a type 2 diabetes (T2D gene network. The most significant candidate hub was miR-29, which we demonstrated regulates the mRNA levels of several genes critical to beta cell function and implicated in T2D. Three of the candidate miRNA hubs were novel 5'-shifted isomiRs: miR-375+1, miR-375-1 and miR-183-5p+1. We showed by in silico target prediction and in vitro transfection studies that both miR-375+1 and miR-375-1 are likely to target an overlapping, but distinct suite of beta cell genes compared to canonical miR-375. In summary, this study characterizes the isomiR profile in beta cells for the first time, and also highlights the potential functional relevance of 5'-shifted isomiRs to T2D.

  5. High hRFI expression correlates with resistance to Fluoro pyrimidines in human colon cancer cell lines and in xenografts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sasaki, S.; Tokyo Univ., Tokyo; Watanabe, T.; Konishi, T.; Kitayama, J.; Nagawa, H.; Kobunai, T.

    2005-01-01

    We previously reported that the over-expression of hRFI, a protein preferentially expressed in the digestive tract regions of several cancers, exhibited a tendency to inhibit TNF-α induced apoptosis. In this study, we sought to determine the potential effect of hRFI expression on the sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and/or other fluoro pyrimidines. For the whole lysates of 8 colon cancer cell lines, we performed Western blotting with anti-hRFI antibody and analyzed the correlations between the expression level of hRFI and the cell lines' sensitivity to 5-FU induced apoptosis. Furthermore, for a tissue micro array consisting of 32 xenograft derived human cancer cell lines, we examined the expression levels of hRFI and survivin by immunohistochemical staining, and analyzed the correlations between the expression of each protein and the sensitivity to several chemotherapeutic agents in the xenografts examined. Both in colon cancer cell lines and in xenografts, the expression level of hRFI was correlated with resistance to 5-FU and its derivatives. This evidence suggests that hRFI may be a marker predicting the response to fluorouracil derived chemotherapeutic agents and that the reduction of the expression level of hRFI might improve the outcome of chemotherapy

  6. An On-Line Water Monitor for Low Level {beta}-Radioactivity Measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quirk, E J.M.

    1968-05-15

    A detection system is described for the continuous monitoring of {beta}-radioactivity in the secondary cooling water at the Studsvik R2 reactor. Radiation emanating from a water surface is measured by a large area gas proportional detector. To protect the detector from splash caused by bursting bubbles a protective film and heater assembly is interposed between the detector and the water surface. A special feature is the programmed 'exercise' sequence for the magnetic valves which eliminates a tendency for them to stick after prolonged periods of idleness. The extent to which contamination affects the background counting rate has been studied. It is shown that for the duration of the tests described the monitor remains free from the effects of contamination so long as the scaler live time is suitably chosen. Minimum measurable specific activities obtainable in practice extend from 4 x 10{sup -6} to 3.86 x 10{sup -8} Ci/m{sup 3} depending on the {beta} end-point energy in the range 167 keV - 2.26 MeV.

  7. The flinders sensitive line rats, a genetic model of depression, show abnormal serotonin receptor mRNA expression in the brain that is reversed by 17beta-estradiol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osterlund, M K; Overstreet, D H; Hurd, Y L

    1999-12-10

    The possible link between estrogen and serotonin (5-HT) in depression was investigated using a genetic animal model of depression, the Flinders Sensitive Line (FSL) rats, in comparison to control Flinders Resistant Line rats. The mRNA levels of the estrogen receptor (ER) alpha and beta subtypes and the 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2A) receptors were analyzed in several limbic-related areas of ovariectomized FSL and FRL rats treated with 17beta-estradiol (0.15 microg/g) or vehicle. The FSL animals were shown to express significantly lower levels of the 5-HT(2A) receptor transcripts in the perirhinal cortex, piriform cortex, and medial anterodorsal amygdala and higher levels in the CA 2-3 region of the hippocampus. The only significant difference between the rat lines in ER mRNA expression was found in the medial posterodorsal amygdala, where the FSL rats showed lower ERalpha expression levels. Overall, estradiol treatment increased 5-HT(2A) and decreased 5-HT(1A) receptor mRNA levels in several of the examined regions of both lines. Thus, in many areas, estradiol was found to regulate the 5-HT receptor mRNA expression in the opposite direction to the alterations found in the FSL rats. These findings further support the implication of 5-HT receptors, in particular the 5-HT(2A) subtype, in the etiology of affective disorders. Moreover, the ability of estradiol to regulate the expression of the 5-HT(1A) and 5-HT(2A) receptor genes might account for the reported influence of gonadal hormones in mood and depression.

  8. Study of critical beta non-circular tokamak equilibria sustained in steady state by beam driven currents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Okano, K.; Ogawa, Y.; Naitou, H.

    1988-07-01

    A new MHD-equilibrium/current-drive analysis code was developed to analyse the high beta tokamak equilibria consistent with the beam driven current profiles. In this new code, the critical beta equilibrium, which is stable against the ballooning mode, the kink mode and the Mercier mode, is determined first using MHD equilibrium and stability analysis codes (EQLAUS/ERATO). Then, the current drive parameters and the plasma parameters, required to sustain this critical beta equilibrium, are determined by iterative calculations. The beam driven current profiles are evaluated by the Fokker-Planck calculations on individual flux surfaces, where the toroidal effects on the beam ion and plasma electron trajectories are considered. The pressure calculation takes into account the beam ion and fast alpha components. A peculiarity of our new method is that the obtained solution is not only consistent with the MHD equilibrium but also consistent with the critical beta limit conditions, in the current profile and the pressure profile. Using this new method, β ∼ 21 % bean and β ∼ 6 % D-type critical beta equilibria were scanned for various parameters; the major radius, magnetic field, temperature, injection energy, etc. It was found that the achievable Q value for the bean type was always about 30 % larger than for the D-type cases, where Q = fusion power/beam power. With strong beanness, Q ∼ 6 for DEMO type tokamaks (∼500 MWth) and Q ∼ 20 for power reactor size (4.5 GWth) are achievable. On the other hand, the Q value would not exceed sixteen for the D-type machines. (author)

  9. Contributions of Cell Metabolism and H+ Diffusion to the Acidic pH of Tumors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul A. Schornack

    2003-03-01

    Full Text Available The tumor microenvironment is hypoxic and acidic. These conditions have a significant impact on tumor progression and response to therapies. There is strong evidence that tumor hypoxia results from inefficient perfusion due to a chaotic vasculature. Consequently, some tumor regions are well oxygenated and others are hypoxic. It is commonly believed that hypoxic regions are acidic due to a stimulation of glycolysis through hypoxia, yet this is not yet demonstrated. The current study investigates the causes of tumor acidity by determining acid production rates and the mechanism of diffusion for H+ equivalents through model systems. Two breast cancer cell lines were investigated with divergent metabolic profiles: nonmetastatic MCF-7/s and highly metastatic MDA-mb-435 cells. Glycolysis and acid production are inhibited by oxygen in MCF-7/s cells, but not in MDA-mb-435 cells. Tumors of MDAmb-435 cells are significantly more acidic than are tumors of MCF-7/s cells, suggesting that tumor acidity is primarily caused by endogenous metabolism, not the lack of oxygen. Metabolically produced protons are shown to diffuse in association with mobile buffers, in concordance with previous studies. The metabolic and diffusion data were analyzed using a reaction-diffusion model to demonstrate that the consequent pH profiles conform well to measured pH values for tumors of these two cell lines.

  10. Adaptive grip force is modulated by subthalamic beta activity in Parkinson's disease patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lukas L. Imbach

    2015-01-01

    Conclusion: The time-locked suppression of beta oscillatory activity in the STN is in line with previous reports of beta ERD prior to voluntary movements. Our results show that the STN is involved in anticipatory grip force control in PD patients. The difference in the phasic beta ERD between the two tasks and the reduction of cortico-subthalamic synchronization suggests that qualitatively different neuronal network states are involved in different grip force control tasks.

  11. Beta-elemene blocks epithelial-mesenchymal transition in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 through Smad3-mediated down-regulation of nuclear transcription factors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xian Zhang

    Full Text Available Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT is the first step required for breast cancer to initiate metastasis. However, the potential of drugs to block and reverse the EMT process are not well explored. In the present study, we investigated the inhibitory effect of beta-elemene (ELE, an active component of a natural plant-derived anti-neoplastic agent in an established EMT model mediated by transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1. We found that ELE (40 µg/ml blocked the TGF-β1-induced phenotypic transition in the human breast cancer cell line MCF-7. ELE was able to inhibit TGF-β1-mediated upregulation of mRNA and protein expression of nuclear transcription factors (SNAI1, SNAI2, TWIST and SIP1, potentially through decreasing the expression and phosphorylation of Smad3, a central protein mediating the TGF-β1 signalling pathway. These findings suggest a potential therapeutic benefit of ELE in treating basal-like breast cancer.

  12. Interpretation of the line profiles of the 8 micron band of silicon monoxide from VY canis majoris

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Van Blerkom, D.; Xinjie, M.

    1982-01-01

    Observations of the vibration-rotation transitions of silicon monoxide from the expanding circumstellar envelope of VY Canis Majoris have previously been interpreted in terms of line formation in a thin shell of gas surrounding an opaque core of dust which emits a continuous spectrum. We show that the use of this model is the cause of the apparent displacement of the stellar velocity derived from the 8 μm lines by 14 km s -1 from the value based on the v = 0, J = 2→1 SiO line and on the midpoint of the OH maser emission. No such displacement occurs if a model of line formation is employed in which emission from the entire envelope contributes to the emergent profile. This eliminates the need to postulate asymmetries in the envelope and agrees with infrared continuum studies

  13. Depth profiling of oxide-trapped charges in 6H-SiC MOS structures by slant etching method

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Saitoh, Kazunari; Takahashi, Yoshihiro; Ohnishi, Kazunori [Nihon Univ., Tokyo (Japan). Coll. of Science and Technology; Yoshikawa, Masahito; Ohshima, Takeshi; Itoh, Hisayoshi; Nashiyama, Isamu

    1997-03-01

    In this paper, we propose a method to evaluate the depth profile of trapped charges in an oxide layer on SiC. Using this method, 6H-SiC MOS structures with different oxide thickness were fabricated on the same substrate under the same oxidation condition, and the depth profile of oxide-trapped charges before and after {sup 60}Co-gamma ray irradiation were obtained. It is found, from the depth profiling, that the trapping mechanism of electrons and holes in the oxide strongly depends on the bias polarity during irradiation, and these charges are trapped near 6H-SiC/SiO{sub 2} interface. We believe that this method is very useful for estimation of the oxide-trapped charges in 6H-SiC MOS structures. (author)

  14. Iodine-123 labelled N-(2-fluoroethyl)-2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane for dopamine transporter imaging in the living human brain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kuikka, J.T. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); AAkerman, K. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Bergstroem, K.A. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Karhu, J. [Dept. of Clinical Neurophysiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Hiltunen, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Haukka, J. [MAP Medical Technologies Oy, Tikkakoski (Finland); Heikkinen, J. [Dept. of Clinical Physiology, Kuopio Univ. Hospital (Finland); Tiihonen, J. [Dept. of Forensic Psychiatry, Niuvanniemi Hospital, Kuopio (Finland); Wang, S. [Research Biochemical International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States); Neumeyer, J.L. [Research Biochemical International (RBI), Natick, MA (United States)

    1995-07-01

    Here we report a pilot comparison of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT and [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP with a new tropane derivative, [{sup 123}I]N-(2-fluoroethyl)-2{beta}-carbomethoxy-3{beta}-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane ([{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FE), using SPET imaging in four healthy male subjects. Peak uptake of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FE into the basal ganglia occurred very rapidly (0.5 h after injection of tracer), after which the striatal washout obeyed a bi-exponential form. The specific DAT binding of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FE into the basal ganglia was somewhat less (0.785{+-}0.117) than that of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT (0.922{+-}0.004) or [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FP (0.813{+-}0.047). All these tracers have excellent imaging quality in healthy control subjects. However, the relatively fast washout of [{sup 123}I]{beta}-CIT-FE and low temporal resolution of older SPET cameras may limit the use of this tracer to the measurement of the DAT density. (orig./UG)

  15. On employing H216O, H217O, H218O, and D216O lines as frequency standards in the 15-170 cm-1 window

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Furtenbacher, Tibor; Csaszar, Attila G.

    2008-01-01

    The protocol MARVEL, standing for measured active rotational-vibrational energy levels, is used to study high-accuracy measurements of rotational lines of four isotopologues of water, H 2 16 O, H 2 17 O, H 2 18 O, and D 2 16 O, obtained by spectroscopy in the far-infrared (FIR) region of 15-170 cm -1 by Matsushima et al. [Matsushima F, Odashima H, Iwasaki T, Tsunekawa S, Takagi K. Frequency measurement of pure rotational transitions of H 2 O from 0.5 to 5 THz. J Mol Struct 1995; 352/353, 371-8; Matsushima F, Nagase H, Nakauchi T, Odashima H, Takagi K. Frequency measurement of pure rotational transitions of H 2 17 O and H 2 18 O from 0.5 to 5 THz. J Mol Spectrosc 1999;193: 217-23; Matsushima F, Matsunaga M, Qian GY, Ohtaki Y, Wang RL, Takagi K. Frequency measurement of pure rotational transitions of D 2 O from 0.5 to 5 THz. J Mol Spectrosc 2001;206: 41-6; Matsushima F, Tomatsu N, Nagai T, Moriwaki Y, Takagi K. Frequency measurement of pure rotational transitions in the v 2 =1 state of H 2 O. J Mol Spectrosc 2006;235: 190-5]. MARVEL validates the high accuracy of most of the measured line positions. It results in a considerable number of energy levels with an average internal uncertainty of only 40 kHz (2σ). It also supports serious inaccuracy problems when Watson-type A-reduced Hamiltonians are used for predicting the highly accurate rotational measurements for water. Finally, MARVEL suggests a large number of para-water levels, for example 41 for H 2 16 O, which are candidates for becoming frequency standards in the FIR region of 15-170 cm -1 (the 0.5-5 THz window) when an accuracy of about 0.1 MHz is deemed to be sufficient

  16. The human leukocyte antigen G promotes trophoblast fusion and β-hCG production through the Erk1/2 pathway in human choriocarcinoma cell lines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Ji-meng [School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071 (China); State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 (China); Zhao, Hong-xi [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710038 (China); Wang, Li [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100853 (China); Gao, Zhi-ying, E-mail: gaozy301@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100853 (China); Yao, Yuan-qing, E-mail: yqyao@126.com [Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing 100853 (China)

    2013-05-10

    Highlights: •HLA-G expression promotes BeWo cells fusion and fusogenic gene expression. •HLA-G is capable of inducing β-hCG production in human choriocarcinoma cell lines. •Up-regulation of β-hCG production by HLA-G is mediated via the Erk1/2 pathway. -- Abstract: The human leukocyte antigen G (HLA-G) is expressed on the fetal–maternal interface and plays a role in protecting fetal-derived trophoblasts from the maternal immune response, allowing trophoblasts to invade the uterus. However, HLA-G also possesses immune suppressing-independent functions. We found that HLA-G expressing BeWo choriocarcinoma cells increased cell–cell fusion compared to control BeWo cells under forskolin treatment. Regardless of forskolin treatment, the expression of fusogenic gene mRNAs, including syncytin-1, the transcription factor glial cell missing 1 (Gcm1), and beta human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) were elevated. HLA-G up-regulates β-hCG production in human choriocarcinoma cells because HLA-G knockdown in JEG-3 cells induces a dramatic decrease in β-hCG compared with control cells. The defect in β-hCG production in HLA-G knocked-down cells could not be completely overcome by stimulating hCG production through increasing intracellular cAMP levels. HLA-G expressing cells have increased phosphorylation levels for extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (Erk1/2) in BeWo cells. The Erk1/2 pathway is inactivated after the inhibition of HLA-G expression in JEG-3 cells. Finally, Erk1/2 inhibition was able to suppress the increased hCG production induced by HLA-G expression. Together, these data suggest novel roles for HLA-G in regulating β-hCG production via the modulation of the Erk1/2 pathway and by inducing trophoblast cell fusion.

  17. High beta and second stability region transport and stability analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1990-01-01

    This document summarizes progress made on the research of high beta and second region transport and stability. In the area second stability region studies we report on an investigation of the possibility of second region access in the center of TFTR ''supershots.'' The instabilities found may coincide with experimental observation. Significant progress has been made on the resistive stability properties of high beta poloidal ''supershot'' discharges. For these studies profiles were taken from the TRANSP transport analysis code which analyzes experimental data. Invoking flattening of the pressure profile on mode rational surfaces causes tearing modes to persist into the experimental range of interest. Further, the experimental observation of the modes seems to be consistent with the predictions of the MHD model. In addition, code development in several areas has proceeded

  18. Evolution of Edge Pedestal Profiles Over the L-H Transition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sayer, M. S.; Stacey, W. M.; Floyd, J. P.; Groebner, R. J.

    2012-10-01

    The detailed time evolution of thermal diffusivities, electromagnetic forces, pressure gradients, particle pinch and momentum transport frequencies (which determine the diffusion coefficient) have been analyzed during the L-H transition in a DIII-D discharge. Density, temperature, rotation velocity and electric field profiles at times just before and after the L-H transition are analyzed in terms of these quantities. The analysis is based on the fluid particle balance, energy balance, force balance and heat conduction equations, as in Ref. [1], but with much greater time resolution and with account for thermal ion orbit loss. The variation of diffusive and non-diffusive transport over the L-H transition is determined from the variation in the radial force balance (radial electric field, VxB force, and pressure gradient) and the variation in the interpreted diffusive transport coefficients. 6pt [1] W.M. Stacey and R.J. Groebner, Phys. Plasmas 17, 112512 (2010).

  19. Characterization of a beta-glycosidase highly active on disaccharides and of a beta-galactosidase from Tenebrio molitor midgut lumen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Alexandre H P; Terra, Walter R; Ferreira, Clélia

    2003-02-01

    The midgut of the yellow mealworm, Tenebrio molitor L. (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) larvae has four beta-glycosidases. The properties of two of these enzymes (betaGly1 and betaGly2) have been described elsewhere. In this paper, the characterization of the other two glycosidases (betaGly3 and betaGly4) is described. BetaGly3 has one active site, hydrolyzes disaccharides, cellodextrins, synthetic substrates and beta-glucosides produced by plants. The enzyme is inhibited by amygdalin, cellotriose, cellotetraose and cellopentaose in high concentrations, probably due to transglycosylation. betaGly3 hydrolyzes beta 1,4-glycosidic linkages with a catalytic rate independent of the substrate polymerization degree (k(int)) of 11.9 s(-1). Its active site is formed by four subsites, where subsites +1 and -1 bind glucose residues with higher affinity than subsite +2. The main role of betaGly3 seems to be disaccharide hydrolysis. BetaGly4 is a beta-galactosidase, since it has highest activity against beta-galactosides. It can also hydrolyze fucosides, but not glucosides, and has Triton X-100 as a non-essential activator (K(a)=15 microM, pH 4.5). betaGly4 has two active sites that can hydrolyze p-nitrophenyl beta-galactoside (NPbetaGal). The one hydrolyzing NPbetaGal with more efficiency is also active against methylumbellipheryl beta-D-galactoside and lactose. The other active site hydrolyzes NPbetaFucoside and binds NPbetaGal weakly. BetaGly4 hydrolyzes hydrophobic substrates with high catalytical efficiency and is able to bind octyl-beta-thiogalactoside in its active site with high affinity. The betaGly4 physiological role is supposed to be the hydrolysis of galactolipids that are found in membranes from vegetal tissues. As the enzyme has a hydrophobic site where Triton X-100 can bind, it might be activated by membrane lipids, thus becoming fully active only at the surface of cell membranes.

  20. Antimicrobial actions of the human epididymis 2 (HE2 protein isoforms, HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    French Frank S

    2004-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The HE2 gene encodes a group of isoforms with similarities to the antimicrobial beta-defensins. We demonstrated earlier that the antimicrobial activity of HE2 proteins and peptides is salt resistant and structure dependent and involves permeabilization of bacterial membranes. In this study, we further characterize the antimicrobial properties of HE2 peptides in terms of the structural changes induced in E. coli and the inhibition of macromolecular synthesis. Methods E. coli treated with 50 micro g/ml of HE2alpha, HE2beta1 or HE2beta2 peptides for 30 and 60 min were visualized using transmission and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the impact of these peptides on bacterial internal and external structure. The effects of HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 on E. coli macromolecular synthesis was assayed by incubating the bacteria with 2, 10 and 25 micro g/ml of the individual peptides for 0–60 min and measuring the incorporation of the radioactive precursors [methyl-3H]thymidine, [5-3H]uridine and L-[4,5-3H(N]leucine into DNA, RNA and protein. Statistical analyses using Student's t-test were performed using Sigma Plot software. Values shown are Mean ± S.D. Results E. coli treated with HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 peptides as visualized by transmission electron microscopy showed extensive damage characterized by membrane blebbing, thickening of the membrane, highly granulated cytoplasm and appearance of vacuoles in contrast to the smooth and continuous membrane structure of the untreated bacteria. Similarly, bacteria observed by scanning electron microscopy after treating with HE2alpha, HE2beta1 or HE2beta2 peptides exhibited membrane blebbing and wrinkling, leakage of cellular contents, especially at the dividing septa, and external accumulation of fibrous materials. In addition, HE2alpha, HE2beta1 and HE2beta2 peptides inhibited E. coli DNA, RNA and protein synthesis. Conclusions The morphological changes observed