Using a Cold Radiometer to Measure Heat Loads and Survey Heat Leaks

We have developed an inexpensive cold radiometer for use in thermal/vacuum chambers to measure heat loads, characterize emissivity and specularity of surfaces and to survey areas to evaluate stray heat loads. We report here the results of two such tests for the James Webb Space Telescope to measure heat loads and effective emissivities of 2 major pieces of optical ground support equipment that will be used in upcoming thermal vacuum testing of the Telescope

Photocatalytic Removal of Copper and Selenium from Waste water under Visible Light

Zirconia and silica mixed titanium oxides were synthe-sized by modified sol-gel method in presence of a surf-actant (CETAB). Materials were characterized by surface area, XRD, SEM and UV-Vis spectroscopy. Materials are found to be in uniform size and mostly spherical when synthesized in presence of CETAB. Effect of sum factant concentration on the particle size, shape and the catalytic activity is also evaluated. Calcination temp-erature plays an important role on the phase stability and catalytic activity of the materials. It is well observed that without any hole scavenger the efficiency of photocatalytic metal removal is quite low for both the metal ions within 30minuites of reaction. However, addition of hole scavenger increases the activity many folds and hence complete removal of Se and Cu was possible in 30 minutes of reaction. Among all the organic hole scavengers used, sodium formate is found to be the most active one for selenium whereas for copper EDTA is the most suitable one. Reaction pH also plays important role in the efficiency of the metal removal. Above all synth-esized materials are found to be efficient catalyst for visible light reaction. The same catalyst is found to be reusable at least for 5-6 times with 4-5% decrease in the activity

Anodic dissolution behaviour of tungsten carbide scraps in ammoniacal media

In the present paper, potentiodynamic studies of WC scrap have been carried out as these studies give better idea about the anodic dissolution behaviour of the scrap material for their recycling to recover metal values. However, it has been seen that anodic passivation retards the dissolution of the scrap and adversely affects the recovery of metals. To minimise the passivity and to increase the anodic dissolution, some chemicals are often used as additives. Two different electrolytes namely hydrochloric acid and aqueous ammonia at varying concentrations had been employed for the above studies. The additives citric acid and oxalic acid were added to the acidic electrolyte whereas ammonium chloride, ammonium carbonate, ammonium sulphate were added in different concentration to the ammoniacal electrolyte. The studies revealed that 2% citric acid in 1N HCl was the optimum to achieve maximum anodic dissolution (current) of WC scrap. On the other hand, 2% NH4Cl was found suitable to obtain maximum anodic dissolution (current) in the ammoniacal (1N) medium. The potentiodynamic studies were followed by the actual electrodissolution experiments in an electrolytic cell with the help of a rectifier. The W and Co were recovered as tungsten oxide and metallic chips, respectively

An overview on different processes for recovery of valuable metals from tungsten carbide scrap.

Cemented tungsten carbide material has been widely used in the hard metal industry for the manufacture of cutting tools, drilling tools, mining and machining tools and high wear resistant parts. When these tool bits and components are scrapped, they are collected and processed for recycling following appropriate methods. Tungsten and cobalt both are strategic rare metals and the cost of these metals entrapped in these scraps is estimated to be very high. Therefore, WC scraps have been considered as an important secondary resource of cobalt and tungsten metals. Recycling of hard materials like tungsten carbide scrap require specialised techniques. This paper presents a review of the different processes reported so far to recover valuable metals (W, Co) from cemented tungsten carbide scrap materials. Recycling techniques following either hydro or pyrometallurgical or a combination of them to recover the valuable metals (W, Co) are discussed. Thermal oxidation in presence of air/oxygen generates friable oxides of metals contained in tungsten carbide hard material, which is either leached in acid/alkali to produce tungsten oxide or subjected to reduction by hydrogen to produce tungsten powder. Direct leaching of tungsten scrap in concentrated acid/alkali solutions has also been investigated and different value added materials like ammonium para tungstate, tungstic acid etc are produced in the subsequent processing of leach liquor. The electrochemical route has emerged as an attractive method as it is a single step dissolution process consuming very low energy. However, passivation has been reported to slow down the dissolution rate and hence, some additives have also been tried for continuous dissolution. The environmental and economical aspects of some of the important processes have also been highlighted in this paper

Preliminary report on the geology and field petrology at the Apollo 15 landing site

Apollo 15 mission and manned geologic exploration of lunar landing site - map

Activity and regulation by growth factors of calmodulin-dependent protein kinase III (elongation factor 2-kinase) in human breast cancer

Calmodulin-dependent protein kinase III (CaM kinase III, elongation factor-2 kinase) is a unique member of the Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinase family. Activation of CaM kinase III leads to the selective phosphorylation of elongation factor 2 (eEF-2) and transient inhibition of protein synthesis. Recent cloning and sequencing of CaM kinase III revealed that this enzyme represents a new superfamily of protein kinases. The activity of CaM kinase III is selectively activated in proliferating cells; inhibition of the kinase blocked cells in G0/G1-S and decreased viability. To determine the significance of CaM kinase III in breast cancer, we measured the activity of the kinase in human breast cancer cell lines as well as in fresh surgical specimens. The specific activity of CaM kinase III in human breast cancer cell lines was equal to or greater than that seen in a variety of cell lines with similar rates of proliferation. The specific activity of CaM kinase III was markedly increased in human breast tumour specimens compared with that of normal adjacent breast tissue. The activity of this enzyme was regulated by breast cancer mitogens. In serum-deprived MDA-MB-231 cells, the combination of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulated cell proliferation and activated CaM kinase III to activities observed in the presence of 10% serum. Inhibition of enzyme activity blocked cell proliferation induced by growth factors. In MCF-7 cells separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, CaM kinase III was increased in S-phase over that of other phases of the cell cycle. In summary, the activity of Ca2+/CaM-dependent protein kinase III is controlled by breast cancer mitogens and appears to be constitutively activated in human breast cancer. These results suggest that CaM kinase III may contribute an important link between growth factor/receptor interactions, protein synthesis and the induction of cellular proliferation in human breast cancer. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Povećanje letalnog učinka bleomicina na stanice HeLa i V79 s pomoću pčelinjeg otrova

This study investigated possible growth-inhibiting effects of bee venom applied alone or in combination with a cytotoxic drug bleomycin on HeLa and V79 cells in vitro based on clone formation, cell counting, and apoptosis. Melittin, the key component of bee venom, is a potent inhibitor of calmodulin activity, and also a potent inhibitor cell growth and clonogenicity. Intracellular accumulation of melittin correlates with the cytotoxicity of antitumour agents. Previous studies indicated that some calcium antagonists and calmodulin inhibitors enhanced intracellular levels of antitumor agents by inhibiting their outward transport. In this study, treatment of exponentially growing HeLa and V79 cells with bleomycin caused a dose-dependent decrease in cell survival due to DNA damage. This lethal effect was potentiated by adding a non-lethal dose of the bee venom. By preventing repair of damaged DNA, bee venom inhibited recovery from potentially lethal damage induced by bleomycin in V79 and HeLa cells. Apoptosis, necrosis, and lysis were presumed as possible mechanisms by which bee venom inhibited growth and clonogenicity of V79 cells. HeLa cells, on the other hand, showed greater resistance to bee venom. Our findings suggest that bee venom might find a therapeutic use in enhancing cytotoxicity of antitumour agent bleomycin.U uvjetima in vitro istražen je inhibitorni učinak pčelinjeg otrova, samog ili združenog s citostatikom bleomicinom, na rast stanica HeLa i V79. Rabljene su sljedeće metode: brojenje stanica, metoda klonskog rasta i apoptoza. Poznato je da neki antagonisti kalcija i kalmodulinski inhibitori povisuju unutarstaničnu razinu protutumorskih lijekova inhibirajući njihov prijenos iz stanice. Unutarstanična akumulacija melitina izravno povećava citotoksični učinak protutumorskog lijeka. Obrada stanica HeLa i V79 u eksponencijalnoj fazi rasta bleomicinom uzrokuje oštećenje DNA ovisno o dozi te smanjenje broja živih stanica. Uočeno je da se letalni učinak bleomicina može pojačati dodatkom neletalne doze pčelinjeg otrova. Pčelinji otrov pritom inhibira popravak nastalih oštećenja u stanicama HeLa i V79 te sprječava oporavak stanica tretiranih bleomicinom. Apoptoza, nekroza i liza mogući su mehanizmi kojima pčelinji otrov inhibira rast i stvaranje kolonija stanica V79, dok HeLa-stanice pokazuju pojačanu otpornost na pčelinji otrov. Istraživanje također potvrđuje mogućnost uporabe pčelinjeg otrova u povećanju citotoksičnosti bleomicina

Role of Sphingosine Kinase 1 and Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Axis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is primarily diagnosed in the latter stages of disease progression and is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Thus, there is a need to find biomarkers of early HCC as well as the development of more effective treatments for the disease. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) is a pleiotropic lipid signaling molecule produced by two isoforms of sphingosine kinase (SphK1 and SphK2) that is involved in regulation of many aspects of mammalian physiology and pathophysiology, including inflammation, epithelial and endothelial barrier function, cancer, and metastasis, among many others. Abundant evidence indicates that SphK1 and S1P promote cancer progression and metastasis in multiple types of cancers. However, the role of SphK/S1P in HCC is less well studied. Here, we review the current state of knowledge of SphKs and S1P in HCC, including evidence for the correlation of SphK1 expression and S1P levels with progression of HCC and negative outcomes, and discuss how this information could lead to the design of more effective diagnostic and treatment modalities for HCC

Principles of Modular Tumor Therapy

Nature is interwoven with communication and is represented and reproduced through communication acts. The central question is how may multimodal modularly acting and less toxic therapy approaches, defined as modular therapies, induce an objective response or even a continuous complete remission, although single stimulatory or inhibitingly acting drugs neither exert mono-activity in the respective metastatic tumor type nor are they directed to potentially ‘tumor-specific’ targets. Modularity in the present context is a formal pragmatic communicative systems concept, describing the degree to which systems objects (cells, pathways etc.) may be communicatively separated in a virtual continuum, and recombined and rededicated to alter validity and denotation of communication processes in the tumor. Intentional knowledge, discharging in reductionist therapies, disregards the risk-absorbing background knowledge of the tumor’s living world including the holistic communication processes, which we rely on in every therapy. At first, this knowledge constitutes the validity of informative intercellular processes, which is the prerequisite for therapeutic success. All communication-relevant steps, such as intentions, understandings, and the appreciation of messages, may be modulated simultaneously, even with a high grade of specificity. Thus, modular therapy approaches including risk-absorbing and validity-modifying background knowledge may overcome reductionist idealizations. Modular therapies show modular events assembled by the tumor’s living world as an additional evolution-constituting dimension. This way, modular knowledge may be acquired from the environment, either incidentally or constitutionally. The new communicatively defined modular coherency of environment, i.e. the tumor-associated microenvironment, and tumor cells open novel ways for the scientific community in ‘translational medicine’

Histone deacetylases as new therapy targets for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer

Introduction: In developed countries, ovarian cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women. Due to the nonspecific symptomatology associated with the disease many patients with ovarian cancer are diagnosed late, which leads to significantly poorer prognosis. Apart from surgery and radiotherapy, a substantial number of ovarian cancer patients will undergo chemotherapy and platinum based agents are the mainstream first-line therapy for this disease. Despite the initial efficacy of these therapies, many women relapse; therefore, strategies for second-line therapies are required. Regulation of DNA transcription is crucial for tumour progression, metastasis and chemoresistance which offers potential for novel drug targets. Methods: We have reviewed the existing literature on the role of histone deacetylases, nuclear enzymes regulating gene transcription. Results and conclusion: Analysis of available data suggests that a signifant proportion of drug resistance stems from abberant gene expression, therefore HDAC inhibitors are amongst the most promising therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Together with genetic testing, they may have a potential to serve as base for patient-adapted therapies