Multiple ionization of rare gases by hydrogen-atom impact

Cross sections for the multiple ionization of He, Ne, Ar, and Kr by H^0 impact with and without the simultaneous ionization (electron loss) of the projectile are presented in the energy range 75–300 keV. The data were measured by coincident detection of the recoil target ions and the charge-state analyzed scattered projectiles. To obtain information about the role played by the electron of H^0 in the collision, the measurements were repeated with protons under the same experimental conditions. The measured data are analyzed using the classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) method. CTMC describes well the experimental data for both projectiles for single vacancy creation; however, increasing deviation is observed between theory and experiment with increasing number of created vacancies and with decreasing target atomic number

NIRS PREDICTION FOR PROTEIN AND INTRAMUSCULAR FAT CONTENT OF RABBIT HIND LEG MEAT

The goal of this study was to develop calibration equations to predict the chemical composition of raw, homogenized rabbit meat by means of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). 44 Pannon White rabbits were housed in groups in three different pen types (16 anim./m2), and were fed the same diet. Another 45 animals were housed in cages (12 anim./m2) and fed by different feeding regimes. Rabbits were slaughtered at the bodyweight of 2.4-2.5 kg. Homogenized fresh and freeze-dried left total hind leg muscles were investigated by NIRS using a NIRSystem 6500 equipment with small ring cup sample holder. The ether extract and protein content of all samples were determined chemically. Samples 44 of housing experiment were applied in producing LOCAL calibration equations tested on the 45 samples from the separate feeding experiment. Coefficients of determination (R2) of the predictions were 0.89 and 0.99 for fat, 0.85 and 0.96 for protein in fresh and freeze-dried samples, respectively. Results are reassuring, because the equations were applicable, however the analyzed samples were from independent housing and feeding systems. Therefore the chemical compositions differed in the two datasets, i.e. 9.46%, and 11.79% for fat, 85.75% and 83.44% for protein content in calibration and prediction datasets, respectively. The average of NIRS predicted values for fat and protein was 11.36%, 83.88% or 11.54%, 83.45% when using fresh or freeze-dried samples, respectively

Letter to the Editor: 1H and 15N sequential assignment and solution secondary structure of 15N labelled human pancreatic ribonuclease

Several members of the RNase A (bovine pancreatic ribonuclease) superfamily exhibit anticancer activity. Among the mammalian members of the superfamily, most of the antitumour activity studies have been carried out with a dimeric RNase from bovine seminal vesicles (BS-RNase) (Youle and D’Alessio, 1997). These studies show that dimer formation is crucial for cytotoxicity. Investigations are underway to transfer by protein engineering the structural determinants responsible for the antitumour activity of BS-RNase to a human immunocompatible backbone (Piccoli et al., 1999). Knowledge of the 3D structures of the involved proteins is central to rationally fulfil this objective. As a first step, human pancreatic ribonuclease (HPRNase), a 127-residue monomeric protein (Beintema et al., 1984) was constructed (Russo et al., 1993). The expressed recombinant protein was undistinguishable from the natural product isolated from human pancreas (Weickmann et al., 1981). Here, we present the assignment of practically all of its 1H and 15N spectral resonances, as well as its secondary structure in aqueous solution. The cytotoxic activity of ribonucleases has been related to their ability to evade the cytosolic ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) (Murthy and Sirdeshmukh, 1992). The structure of HP-RNase will be useful to introduce changes in it in order to increase its resistance to RI.This work was supported by the European Commission under the INCO-Copernicus Project No. IC15 CT 96-0903. The assistance of the Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores (Spain) and OMFB (Hungary) (project E26/97) is gratefully acknowledged

Effect of Temperature on the Size of Sedimentary Remains of Littoral Chydorids

The body size of aquatic invertebrates is, to a great extent, dependent on ambient temperature, but size distributions are also determined by other factors like food supply and predation. The effect of temperature on organisms is formulated in the temperature–size hypothesis, which predicts a smaller body size with increasing temperature. In this study, the effect of temperature on the subfossil remains of three littoral Cladocera (Alona affnis, A. quadrangularis, and Chydorus cf. sphaericus) was investigated. Exoskeletal remains of these species can be found in large numbers in lacustrine sediments and over a wide north–south range in Europe. The total length of both headshield and postabdomen for A. affinis and A. quadrangularis and carapace length for C. cf. sphaericus were measured to observe their response to changes in latitude and temperature. A different response to ambient temperature in the growth of body parts was observed. The size of the headshields of both Alona species and of the carapace of Chydorus was significantly larger in colder regions as opposed to warm ones. It turned out that the postabdomen was not a good predictor of ambient temperature. While the sizes of all remains increased with latitude, the sizes of the Alona remains was smaller in the mountain lakes of the Southern Carpathians than in other cold lakes, in this case in Finland, a fact indicative of the importance of other factors on size distribution. This study demonstrates that a morphological response to climate is present in littoral cladocerans, and, therefore, changes in the length of headshield and carapace may be used as a proxy for climate changes in paleolimnological records

Enhanced control of self-doping in halide perovskites for improved thermoelectric performance

Metal halide perovskites have emerged as promising photovoltaic materials, but, despite ultralow thermal conductivity, progress on developing them for thermoelectrics has been limited. Here, we report the thermoelectric properties of all-inorganic tin based perovskites with enhanced air stability. Fine tuning the thermoelectric properties of the films is achieved by self-doping through the oxidation of tin (ΙΙ) to tin (ΙV) in a thin surface-layer that transfers charge to the bulk. This separates the doping defects from the transport region, enabling enhanced electrical conductivity. We show that this arises due to a chlorine-rich surface layer that acts simultaneously as the source of free charges and a sacrificial layer protecting the bulk from oxidation. Moreover, we achieve a figure-of-merit (ZT) of 0.14 ± 0.01 when chlorine-doping and degree of the oxidation are optimised in tandem