Polarization-dependence of anomalous scattering in brominated DNA and RNA molecules, and importance of crystal orientation in single- and multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction phasing

In this paper the anisotropy of anomalous scattering at the Br K-absorption edge in brominated nucleotides is investigated, and it is shown that this effect can give rise to a marked directional dependence of the anomalous signal strength in X-ray diffraction data. This implies that choosing the correct orientation for crystals of such molecules can be a crucial determinant of success or failure when using single- and multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction (SAD or MAD) methods to solve their structure. In particular, polarized absorption spectra on an oriented crystal of a brominated DNA molecule were measured, and were used to determine the orientation that yields a maximum anomalous signal in the diffraction data. Out of several SAD data sets, only those collected at or near that optimal orientation allowed interpretable electron density maps to be obtained. The findings of this study have implications for instrumental choices in experimental stations at synchrotron beamlines, as well as for the development of data collection strategy programs

Spectral fluctuations of Schr\"odinger operators generated by critical points of the potential

Starting from the spectrum of Schr\"odinger operators on $\mathbb{R}^n$, we propose a method to detect critical points of the potential. We argue semi-classically on the basis of a mathematically rigorous version of Gutzwiller's trace formula which expresses spectral statistics in term of classical orbits. A critical point of the potential with zero momentum is an equilibrium of the flow and generates certain singularities in the spectrum. Via sharp spectral estimates, this fluctuation indicates the presence of a critical point and allows to reconstruct partially the local shape of the potential. Some generalizations of this approach are also proposed.\medskip keywords : Semi-classical analysis; Schr\"odinger operators; Equilibriums in classical mechanics.Comment: 18 pages, Final versio

Bactericidal – Bacteriostatic Foam Filters for Air Treatment

A highly loaded porous polyimide (PI) foam type air filter has been fabricated by incorporating antimicrobial active metals to prevent microbial growth and kill microbes, and so to provide health benefits for people in enclosed spaces. PI foams containing antibacterial agents, such as PCu80 (PI (20 wt %)/copper (80 wt %)), PNi80 (PI (20 wt %)/nickel (80 wt %)), and copper-nickel composites, were synthesized and tested against model bacterium, Erwinia carotovora (Gram negative) to determine the antibacterial efficacy of the air filter. Scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) confirmed the distribution of copper and nickel throughout PCu80 and PNi80, where concentrations between 70% and 75% were detected. The copper: nickel ratio was consistent throughout the foam for PCu64Ni16 (PI (20 wt %)/copper (64 wt %)/nickel (16 wt %)). PCu80 displayed a high log reduction value (LRV) of 99.996% and, thus, exhibited a bactericidal effect. PNi80 displayed a lower LRV of 99.4%. However, a higher LRV value was observed compared to the control, 95.5% (PI foam without antibacterial agent), and thus, demonstrated a bacteriostatic effect. PCu64Ni16 exhibited and sustained exceptional microbe removal efficiencies of 99.9997% for 24 h at high humidity levels and demonstrated the highest zone of inhibition (ZOI) value of 33.90 ± 0.16 mm compared to PCu80 (27.5 ± 1.1 mm). Nickel strongly inhibited the proliferation of bacteria, while copper destroyed the bacteria on the foam filters. Therefore, such functionalized filters can potentially overcome the inherent limitation in conventional filters and imply their superiority for controlling indoor air quality.</p

Effects of methylprednisolone on exercise-induced increases of plasma levels of polymorphonuclear elastase and myeloperoxidase in man. Preliminary results

The aim of the present study was to verify whether a single oral dose of methylprednisolone could modulate the exercise-induced release of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) elastase and myeloperoxidase. Four healthy, male subjects were submitted to a 20 min downhill run (−20%) at 60% VO2 max, 3 h after oral absorption of a placebo or a single dose of 32 mg methylprednisolone. A marked neutrophilia (+103% of basal PMN count; p < 0.02) was observed 3 h after methylprednisolone ingestion. During both exercise trials, placebo and methylprednisolone, PMN counts were increased by 46% and 19% (p < 0.05), respectively. The running test caused marked and significant (p < 0.05) increases in plasma myeloperoxidase concentration (MPO). The magnitude of MPO changes was the same in the two trials (+110%). Exercise also resulted in significant changes in plasma elastase concentration (EL) in both experimental conditions (placebo: +104%, p < 0.05; methylprednisolone: +338%, p < 0.005). Plasma elastase levels reached at the end of exercise on methylprednisolone were significantly higher than after placebo (p < 0.05). A significant relationship was found between EL and PMN in methylprednisolone trial only (r = 0.72; l0 < 0.005). These results showed that the transient exercise-induced release of elastase and myeloperoxidase were not decreased by methylprednisolone

[C II] 158 μm Emission as a Star Formation Tracer

The [C II] 157.74 μm transition is the dominant coolant of the neutral interstellar gas, and has great potential as a star formation rate (SFR) tracer. Using the Herschel KINGFISH sample of 46 nearby galaxies, we investigate the relation of [C II] surface brightness and luminosity with SFR. We conclude that [C II] can be used for measurements of SFR on both global and kiloparsec scales in normal star-forming galaxies in the absence of strong active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The uncertainty of the Σ_([C II]) – Σ_(SFR) calibration is ±0.21 dex. The main source of scatter in the correlation is associated with regions that exhibit warm IR colors, and we provide an adjustment based on IR color that reduces the scatter. We show that the color-adjusted Σ_([C II]) – Σ_(SFR) correlation is valid over almost five orders of magnitude in Σ_(SFR), holding for both normal star-forming galaxies and non-AGN luminous infrared galaxies. Using [C II] luminosity instead of surface brightness to estimate SFR suffers from worse systematics, frequently underpredicting SFR in luminous infrared galaxies even after IR color adjustment (although this depends on the SFR measure employed). We suspect that surface brightness relations are better behaved than the luminosity relations because the former are more closely related to the local far-UV field strength, most likely the main parameter controlling the efficiency of the conversion of far-UV radiation into gas heating. A simple model based on Starburst99 population-synthesis code to connect SFR to [C II] finds that heating efficiencies are 1%-3% in normal galaxies