Atmospheric chemistry of gas-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: formation of atmospheric mutagens.

The atmospheric chemistry of the 2- to 4-ring polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which exist mainly in the gas phase in the atmosphere, is discussed. The dominant loss process for the gas-phase PAH is by reaction with the hydroxyl radical, resulting in calculated lifetimes in the atmosphere of generally less than one day. The hydroxyl (OH) radical-initiated reactions and nitrate (NO3) radical-initiated reactions often lead to the formation of mutagenic nitro-PAH and other nitropolycyclic aromatic compounds, including nitrodibenzopyranones. These atmospheric reactions have a significant effect on ambient mutagenic activity, indicating that health risk assessments of combustion emissions should include atmospheric transformation products

Measurement of ambient aerosol hydration state at Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southeastern United States

We present results from two field deployments of a unique tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) configuration with two primary capabilities: identifying alternative stable or meta-stable ambient aerosol hydration states associated with hysteresis in aerosol hydration behavior and determining the actual Ambient hydration State (AS-TDMA). This data set is the first to fully classify the ambient hydration state of aerosols despite recognition that hydration state significantly impacts the roles of aerosols in climate, visibility and heterogeneous chemistry. The AS-TDMA was installed at a site in eastern Tennessee on the border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park for projects during the summer of 2006 and winter of 2007–2008. During the summer, 12% of the aerosols sampled in continuous AS-TDMA measurements were found to posses two possible hydration states under ambient conditions. In every case, the more hydrated of the possible states was occupied. The remaining 88% did not posses multiple possible states. In continuous measurements during the winter, 49% of the aerosols sampled possessed two possible ambient hydration states; the remainder possessed only one. Of those aerosols with multiple possible ambient hydration states, 65% occupied the more hydrated state; 35% occupied the less hydrated state. This seasonal contrast is supported by differences in the fine particulate (PM<sub>2.5</sub>) composition and ambient RH as measured during the two study periods. In addition to seasonal summaries, this work includes case studies depicting the variation of hydration state with changing atmospheric conditions

Effect of the counter cation on the third order nonlinearity in anionic Au dithiolene complexes

In this work, we present the third order nonlinear optical investigation of two gold complexes, which differ by the nature of the counter cations. The impact of the different design in the architecture through a set of hydrogen bonds in the case of Au-Mel of the systems on the nonlinearity has been studied by means of the Z-scan setup under 532 nm, 30 ps laser excitation, allowing for the determination of the nonlinear absorption and refraction of the samples. Significant modification of the nonlinear optical response between the two metal complexes has been found suggesting a clear effect of the counter cation

Constraining the Symmetry Energy: A Journey in the Isospin Physics from Coulomb Barrier to Deconfinement

Heavy Ion Collisions (HIC) represent a unique tool to probe the in-medium nuclear interaction in regions away from saturation. In this work we present a selection of reaction observables in dissipative collisions particularly sensitive to the isovector part of the interaction, i.e. to the symmetry term of the nuclear Equation of State (EoS). At low energies the behavior of the symmetry energy around saturation influences dissipation and fragment production mechanisms. We will first discuss the recently observed Dynamical Dipole Radiation, due to a collective neutron-proton oscillation during the charge equilibration in fusion and deep-inelastic collisions. Important Iso-EOS effects are stressed. Reactions induced by unstable 132Sn beams appear to be very promising tools to test the sub-saturation Isovector EoS. New Isospin sensitive observables are also presented for deep-inelastic, fragmentation collisions and Isospin equilibration measurements (Imbalance Ratios). The high density symmetry term can be derived from isospin effects on heavy ion reactions at relativistic energies (few AGeV range), that can even allow a ``direct'' study of the covariant structure of the isovector interaction in the hadron medium. Rather sensitive observables are proposed from collective flows and from pion/kaon production. The possibility of the transition to a mixed hadron-quark phase, at high baryon and isospin density, is finally suggested. Some signatures could come from an expected ``neutron trapping'' effect. The importance of studying violent collisions with radioactive beams from low to relativistic energies is finally stressed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, Int.Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics in Heavy Ion Reactions and Neutron Stars, Beijing Normal Univ. July 07, to appear in Int.Journ.Modern Physics E (2008

Evaluation of organic markers for chemical mass balance source apportionment at the Fresno Supersite

International audienceSources of PM2.5 at the Fresno Supersite during high PM2.5 episodes occurring from 15 December 2000?3 February 2001 were estimated with the Chemical Mass Balance (CMB) receptor model. The ability of source profiles with organic markers to distinguish motor vehicle, residential wood combustion (RWC), and cooking emissions was evaluated with simulated data. Organics improved the distinction between gasoline and diesel vehicle emissions and allowed a more precise estimate of the cooking source contribution. Sensitivity tests using average ambient concentrations showed that the gasoline vehicle contribution was not resolved without organics. Organics were not required to estimate hardwood contributions. The most important RWC marker was the water-soluble potassium ion. The estimated cooking contribution did not depend on cholesterol because its concentrations were below the detection limit in most samples. Winter time source contributions were estimated by applying the CMB model to individual and average sample concentrations. RWC was the largest source, contributing 29?31% of measured PM2.5. Hardwood and softwood combustion accounted for 16?17% and 12?15%, respectively. Secondary ammonium nitrate and motor vehicle emissions accounted for 31?33% and 9?15%, respectively. The gasoline vehicle contribution (3?10%) was comparable to the diesel vehicle contribution (5?6%). The cooking contribution was 5?19% of PM2.5. Fresno source apportionment results were consistent with those estimated in previous studies

Caveolae in Rabbit Ventricular Myocytes: Distribution and Dynamic Diminution after Cell Isolation

Caveolae are signal transduction centers, yet their subcellular distribution and preservation in cardiac myocytes after cell isolation are not well documented. Here, we quantify caveolae located within 100 nm of the outer cell surface membrane in rabbit single-ventricular cardiomyocytes over 8 h post-isolation and relate this to the presence of caveolae in intact tissue. Hearts from New Zealand white rabbits were either chemically fixed by coronary perfusion or enzymatically digested to isolate ventricular myocytes, which were subsequently fixed at 0, 3, and 8 h post-isolation. In live cells, the patch-clamp technique was used to measure whole-cell plasma membrane capacitance, and in fixed cells, caveolae were quantified by transmission electron microscopy. Changes in cell-surface topology were assessed using scanning electron microscopy. In fixed ventricular myocardium, dual-axis electron tomography was used for three-dimensional reconstruction and analysis of caveolae in situ. The presence and distribution of surface-sarcolemmal caveolae in freshly isolated cells matches that of intact myocardium. With time, the number of surface-sarcolemmal caveolae decreases in isolated cardiomyocytes. This is associated with a gradual increase in whole-cell membrane capacitance. Concurrently, there is a significant increase in area, diameter, and circularity of sub-sarcolemmal mitochondria, indicative of swelling. In addition, electron tomography data from intact heart illustrate the regular presence of caveolae not only at the surface sarcolemma, but also on transverse-tubular membranes in ventricular myocardium. Thus, caveolae are dynamic structures, present both at surface-sarcolemmal and transverse-tubular membranes. After cell isolation, the number of surface-sarcolemmal caveolae decreases significantly within a time frame relevant for single-cell research. The concurrent increase in cell capacitance suggests that membrane incorporation of surface-sarcolemmal caveolae underlies this, but internalization and/or micro-vesicle loss to the extracellular space may also contribute. Given that much of the research into cardiac caveolae-dependent signaling utilizes isolated cells, and since caveolae-dependent pathways matter for a wide range of other study targets, analysis of isolated cell data should take the time post-isolation into account

Identification of Extracellular Segments by Mass Spectrometry Improves Topology Prediction of Transmembrane Proteins

Transmembrane proteins play crucial role in signaling, ion transport, nutrient uptake, as well as in maintaining the dynamic equilibrium between the internal and external environment of cells. Despite their important biological functions and abundance, less than 2% of all determined structures are transmembrane proteins. Given the persisting technical difficulties associated with high resolution structure determination of transmembrane proteins, additional methods, including computational and experimental techniques remain vital in promoting our understanding of their topologies, 3D structures, functions and interactions. Here we report a method for the high-throughput determination of extracellular segments of transmembrane proteins based on the identification of surface labeled and biotin captured peptide fragments by LC/MS/MS. We show that reliable identification of extracellular protein segments increases the accuracy and reliability of existing topology prediction algorithms. Using the experimental topology data as constraints, our improved prediction tool provides accurate and reliable topology models for hundreds of human transmembrane proteins

Shape coexistence in the neutron-deficient even-even Hg182-188 isotopes studied via Coulomb excitation

Coulomb-excitation experiments to study electromagnetic properties of radioactive even-even Hg isotopes were performed with 2.85 MeV/nucleon mercury beams from REX-ISOLDE. Magnitudes and relative signs of the reduced E2 matrix elements that couple the ground state and low-lying excited states in Hg182-188 were extracted. Information on the deformation of the ground and the first excited 0(+) states was deduced using the quadrupole sum rules approach. Results show that the ground state is slightly deformed and of oblate nature, while a larger deformation for the excited 0(+) state was noted in Hg-182; 184. The results are compared to beyond mean field and interacting-boson based models and interpreted within a two-state mixing model. Partial agreement with the model calculations was obtained. The presence of two different structures in the light even-mass mercury isotopes that coexist at low excitation energy is firmly established

Laser Beam Shaping Using a Photoinduced Azopolymer Droplet-Based Mask

The dewetting of an azopolymer droplet, followed by the photostructuration of the evaporated droplet, is employed to create an amplitude mask. This straightforward process yields a large area featuring periodic micro- and nanostructures. The resulting pattern is utilized to generate a nondiffracting beam. Starting with a Gaussian beam illuminating the amplitude mask, the critical aspect is the production of a bright, ring-shaped beam with a high radius-to-width ratio and symmetric central laser spots, each with the same intensity. This alternative approach to shaping a laser beam is demonstrated as a rapid and cost-effective fabrication technique