Raman studies on amino acids profiles at the dentin-enamel-junction in human and ancient/recent animal teeth

Raman microscopy enables the delimitation of the Dentin-Enamel Junction (DEJ) in human and animal teeth, by using, e.g., the 1 oscillations of PO43- (960 cm-1) for the boundary with the enamel and of stretching modes for C-H2 (~2935 cm-1) for the boundary with the dentin and it can be strictly compared with the optical image of DEJ. In this way, one can observe the distribution of some elements of collagen fibrils crossing DEJ, by using the oscillations for proline ((C-C) of ring at 855 and 921 cm-1), for hydroxyproline ((C-C) of ring at 876 cm-1), and for phenylalanine ((C-C) of ring ~1003 cm-1). The systematic although not identical drop in the concentrations of these amino acids was observed on passing from the dentin to enamel side. Several other oscillations were traced as well (for organic chain fragments, amide groups). The observation was widened on the zones adhering on the enamel side (up to 15 m) and on the dentin side (15 m outside the boundary) to the DEJ. The investigations suggest the reorganization of the organic matter in these zones

Uniform asymptotic normal structure, the uniform semi-Opial property and fixed points of asymptotically regular uniformly lipschitzian semigroups. Part I

In this paper we introduce the uniform asymptotic normal structure and the uniform semi-Opial properties of Banach spaces. This part is devoted to a study of the spaces with these properties. We also compare them with those spaces which have uniform normal structure and with spaces with WCS(X)>1

High-dose boron and silver ion implantation into PMMA probed by slow positrons: Effects of carbonization and formation of metal nanoparticles

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.The Doppler broadening slow positron beam spectroscopy (SPBS) data for the previously observed effect of carbonization in high-dose (>1016 ion/cm2) 40 keV boron-ion-implanted polymethylmethacrylate (B:PMMA) and another one obtained for the effect of formation of metal nanoparticles in high-dose 30 keV silver-ion-implanted polymer (Ag:PMMA) are compared. Following to the Doppler broadening SPBS results, a difference in the high-dose ion-irradiation-induced processes in B:PMMA and Ag:PMMA is detected

The fixed point property and unbounded sets in CAT(0) spaces

In this work we study the fixed point property for nonexpansive self-mappings defined on convex and closed subsets of a CAT(0) space. We will show that a positive answer to this problem is very much linked with the Euclidean geometry of the space while the answer is more likely to be negative if the space is more hyperbolic. As a consequence we extend a very well known result of W.O. Ray on Hilbert spaces.Dirección General de Enseñanza SuperiorJunta de Andalucí

Dynamics in Several Complex Variables

In this chapter we shall describe the dynamics of holomorphic self-maps of taut manifolds, and in particular the dynamics of holomorphic self-maps of convex and strongly pseudoconvex domains. A main tool in this exploration will be provided by the Kobayashi distance

Modification and preservation of environmental signals in speleothems

Speleothems are primarily studied in order to generate archives of climatic change and results have led to significant advances in identifying and dating major shifts in the climate system. However, the climatological meaning of many speleothem records cannot be interpreted unequivocally; this is particularly so for more subtle shifts and shorter time periods, but the use of multiple proxies and improving understanding of formation mechanisms offers a clear way forward. An explicit description of speleothem records as time series draws attention to the nature and importance of the signal filtering processes by which the weather, the seasons and longer-term climatic and other environmental fluctuations become encoded in speleothems. We distinguish five sources of variation that influence speleothem geochemistry: atmospheric, vegetation/soil, karstic aquifer, primary speleothem crystal growth and secondary alteration and give specific examples of their influence. The direct role of climate diminishes progressively through these five factors. \ud \ud We identify and review a number of processes identified in recent and current work that bear significantly on the conventional interpretation of speleothem records, for example: \ud \ud 1) speleothem geochemistry can vary seasonally and hence a research need is to establish the proportion of growth attributable to different seasons and whether this varies over time. \ud \ud 2) whereas there has traditionally been a focus on monthly mean Ã�´18O data of atmospheric moisture, current work emphasizes the importance of understanding the synoptic processes that lead to characteristic isotope signals, since changing relative abundance of different weather types might 1Corresponding author, fax +44(0)1214145528, E-mail: [email protected] control their variation on the longer-term. \ud \ud 3) the ecosystem and soil zone overlying the cave fundamentally imprint the carbon and trace element signals and can show characteristic variations with time. \ud \ud 4) new modelling on aquifer plumbing allows quantification of the effects of aquifer mixing. \ud \ud 5) recent work has emphasized the importance and seasonal variability of CO2-degassing leading to calcite precipitation upflow of a depositional site on carbon isotope and trace element composition of speleothems. \ud \ud 6) Although much is known about the chemical partitioning between water and stalagmites, variability in relation to crystal growth mechanisms and kinetics is a research frontier. \ud \ud 7) Aragonite is susceptible to conversion to calcite with major loss of chemical information, but the controls on the rate of this process are obscure. \ud \ud Analytical factors are critical to generate high-resolution speleothem records. A variety of methods of trace element analysis are available, but standardization is a common problem with the most rapid methods. New stable isotope data on Irish stalagmite CC3 compares rapid laser-ablation techniques with the conventional analysis of micromilled powders and ion microprobe methods. A high degree of comparability between techniques for Ã�´18O is found on the mm-cm scale, but a previously described high-amplitude oxygen isotope excursion around 8.3 ka is identified as an analytical artefact related to fractionation of the laser-analysis associated with sample cracking. High-frequency variability of not less than 0.5o/oo may be an inherent feature of speleothem Ã�´18O records

Invariant Distances

In this chapter we shall define the (invariant) distance we are going to use, and collect some of its main properties we shall need later on