Novel standards in the measurement of rat insulin granules combining electron microscopy, high-content image analysis and in silico modelling

Knowledge of number, size and content of insulin secretory granules is pivotal for understanding the physiology of pancreatic beta cells. Here we re-evaluated key structural features of rat beta cells, including insulin granule size, number and distribution as well as cell size

Effects of magnetic field on mental health staff employed in gas power plant, Shiraz, 2008

Background and aimsIn the industrial world, almost everyone is unavoidably exposed to ambient magnetic field (ELF) generated by various technical and household appliances. According to the studies carried out in a power station in Shiraz, psychological disorders causedby jobs are among the most important problems of the workers.MethodsThis study is performed to determine the presence or absence of psychological disorders. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) is used in this study to recognize psychosomatic disorders.ResultsMeasurements indicate that range of magnetic field varies from 0.087) micro Tesla(in the phone homes to 30)micro Tesla( in power stations. The results of this study has shown that a significant number of staff which were exposed to magnetic fields and noise )78.2%) were suspected to have a kind of mental disorders.ConclusionThe results obtained from this study which shows the prevalence of mental disorders among the suspected case is higher than the results of Noorbala and colleagues study in 2006. Therefore, there are necessities to do more research in order to find the relationship between electric and magnetic fields and psychological disorders

An Investigation of Shift Work Disorders in Security Personnel of 3 Hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, 2009

Background and aims: Security personnel of hospitals in Iran are of shift worker groups that are affected more than of other shift workers. Methods: This study was performed in 3 hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and 130 workers of security personnel were evaluated. Data of shift workers were collected with Survey of Shift workers (SOS) questionnaire and at the same time, the stature, weight and blood pressure were also measured. . Further , 130 people of unexposed group were evaluated by this questionnaire. Results: Comparison between two groups (shift workers and non-shift workers) has shown significant difference between the prevalence of high blood pressure, sleep disorders, satisfaction of individual life, satisfaction in family life, satisfaction in social life, psychological disorders, cardiovascular disorders, digestive disorders, musculoskeletal disorders in two groups and this significant difference in shift workers are more than of unexposed group. Conclusion: Investigation of these disorders has identified the importance of paying attention to shift workers requirements and contribution of workers in work schedules, problem solving and improvement of work conditions.

Author's personal copy Modelling aldehyde oxidase activity in aqueous-organic solvent mixtures at various temperatures

This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. Abstract A model is proposed to represent the enzyme activity ratios in water -organic solvent mixtures at various temperatures. The prediction capability of the model was evaluated employing aldehyde oxidase as a model enzyme in seven water -organic solvent mixtures at 25, 35 and 45°C by using mean percentage deviation (MPD). The MPD obtained for each water -organic solvent mixture was 6.2%. A general model was also proposed employing the Abraham solvent parameters with MPD as 19.5%. The proposed models could be used in industry for speeding up the process designs where water -organic solvent mixtures at various temperatures were employed. ª 2013 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University

New infrared bands of nonpolar OCS dimer and experimental frequencies for two intermolecular modes

Spectra of the nonpolar carbonyl sulfide dimer in the region of the OCS \u3bd1 fundamental band were observed in a slit-jet supersonic expansion. The jet was probed using radiation from a tunable diode laser employed in a rapid-scan signal averaging mode. Six new bands were observed and analyzed, all of which originate from the dimer ground vibrational state. Three were vibrational fundamentals involving the (18OCS)2 and 16OCS-18OCS isotopologues. They enabled an estimate to be made of the frequency of the infrared-forbidden mode corresponding to in-phase vibration of the OCS monomers in the dimer, a value needed to obtain an intermolecular vibrational frequency from one of the observed combination bands. A relatively weak b-type dimer band centered at 2103.105 cm 12\ub9 was assigned to the OCS 4\u3bd2 (l = 0) bending overtone. Combination bands were observed involving the geared bend and van der Waals stretch intermolecular modes. The resulting experimental frequencies of 37.5(20) cm 12\ub9 for the bend and 42.9727(1) cm 12\ub9 for the stretch are in good agreement with a recent high level theoretical calculation.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

Spectroscopic identification of carbon dioxide clusters: (CO 2)6 to (CO2)13

In spite of wide interest in CO2 clusters, only dimers and trimers have previously been assigned to specific infrared bands. Here, transitions for clusters with 6-13 molecules are identified in the \u3bd3 region ( 3c2350 cm-1). Spectra are observed in a supersonic jet (T 3c 2.5 K) using a tunable laser probe, and analyzed with the aid of cluster calculations based on a widely-used model potential. Vibrational origins show blue-shifts significantly larger than predicted by resonant dipole interactions. \ua9 2011 the Owner Societies.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye

INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY OF THE MIXED N2_{2}O-CO2_{2} DIMER

Author Institution: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary; Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada; Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council of; Canada, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0R6, CanadaHigh-resolusion infrared spectra of the weakly bound N$_{2}$O-CO$_{2}$ complex are studied using a tunable diode laser to probe a pulsed supersonic slit jet. The previously known N$_{2}$O-CO$_{2}$ dimer band in the region of the $\nu _{3}$ CO$_{2}$ asymmetric strtch ($\sim$ $2350$ cm$^{-1}$) is remeasured and analyzed in improved detail and two new bands in the regions of the N$_{2}$O $\nu _{1}$ ($\sim$ $2230$ cm$^{-1}$) and $\nu _{3}$ ($\sim$ $1280$ cm$^{-1}$) stretching fundamentals are observed and assigned to N$_{2}$O-CO$_{2}$. The ground state rotational constants for all three bands are $A=0.29498$ cm$^{-1}$, $B=0.05801$ cm$^{-1}$ and $C=0.04837$ cm$^{-1}$. We also observe another band with c-type rotational structure at about $2251.5$ cm$^{-1}$ which is assigned as a combination of the intramolecular N$_{2}$O $\nu _{1}$ stretching vibration and the intermolecular out-of-plane torsional vibration. The resulting torsional frequency for the N$_{2}$O-CO$_{2}$ dimer is about $25.7$ cm$^{-1}$

Nitrous oxide tetramer has two highly symmetric isomers

Infrared spectra of the nitrous oxide tetramer, (N 2O) 4, are studied in the region of the N 2O 1 fundamental band ( 3c2200 cm -1). The spectra are observed using a tunable diode laser to probe a pulsed supersonic jet expansion. Parallel (\u394K = 0) bands are observed for the previously observed isomer of (N 2O) 4, which is confirmed by isotopic substitution to have an oblate symmetric rotor structure with D 2d symmetry. A distinct new isomer of (N 2O) 4 is observed by means of a perpendicular (\u394K = \ub11) band. It has a prolate symmetric rotor structure with S 4 symmetry. These isomers represent two distinct, but almost equally favorable, ways of bringing together a pair of nonpolar N 2O dimers to form a tetramer. It is not clear at present which one represents the true ground state. \ua9 2011 American Institute of Physics.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye