Determination of myoglobin concentration in blood-perfused tissue

金沢大学人間社会研究域人間科学系The standard method for determining the myoglobin (Mb) concentration in blood-perfused tissue often relies on a simple but clever differencing algorithm of the optical spectra, as proposed by Reynafarje. However, the underlying assumptions of the differencing algorithm do not always lead to an accurate assessment of Mb concentration in blood-perfused tissue. Consequently, the erroneous data becloud the understanding of Mb function and oxygen transport in the cell. The present study has examined the Mb concentration in buffer and blood-perfused mouse heart. In buffer-perfused heart containing no hemoglobin (Hb), the optical differencing method yields a tissue Mb concentration of 0.26 mM. In blood-perfused tissue, the method leads to an overestimation of Mb. However, using the distinct 1H NMR signals of MbCO and HbCO yields a Mb concentration of 0.26 mM in both buffer- and blood-perfused myocardium. Given the NMR and optical data, a computer simulation analysis has identified some error sources in the optical differencing algorithm and has suggested a simple modification that can improve the Mb determination. Even though the present study has determined a higher Mb concentration than previously reported, it does not alter significantly the equipoise PO2, the PO2 where Mb and O2 contribute equally to the O2 flux. It also suggests that any Mb increase with exercise training does not necessarily enhance the intracellular O2 delivery. © Springer-Verlag 2008

Boron isotopic composition of olivine-hosted melt inclusions from Gorgona komatiites, Colombia : new evidence supporting wet komatiite origin

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters 312 (2011): 201–212, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.09.033.A fundamental question in the genesis of komatiites is whether 30 these rocks originate from partial melting of dry and hot mantle, 400−500°C hotter than typical sources of MORB and OIB magmas, or if they were produced by hydrous melting of the source at much lower temperatures, similar or only moderately higher than those known today. Gorgona Island, Colombia, is a unique place where Phanerozoic komatiites occur and whose origin is directly connected to the formation of the Caribbean Large Igneous Province. The genesis of Gorgona komatiites remains controversial, mostly because of the uncertain origin of volatile components which they appear to contain. These volatiles could equally result from shallow level magma contamination, melting of a “damp” mantle or fluid-induced partial melting of the source due to devolatilization of the ancient subducting plate. We have analyzed boron isotopes of olivine40 hosted melt inclusions from the Gorgona komatiites. These inclusions are characterized by relatively high contents of volatile components and boron (0.2−1.0 wt.% H2O, 0.05−0.08 wt.% S, 0.02−0.03 wt.% Cl, 0.6−2.0 μg/g B), displaying positive anomalies in the overall depleted, primitive mantle (PM) normalized trace element and REE spectra ([La/Sm]n = 0.16−0.35; [H2O/Nb]n = 8−44; [Cl/Nb]n = 27−68; [B/Nb]n = 9-30, assuming 300 μg/g H2O, 8 μg/g Cl and 0.1 μg/g B in PM; Kamenetsky et al., 2010. Composition and temperature of komatiite melts from Gorgona Island constrained from olivine-hosted melt inclusions. Geology 38, 1003–1006). The inclusions range in δ11B values from −11.5 to +15.6 ± 2.2‰ (1 SE), forming two distinct trends in a δ11B vs. B-concentration diagram. Direct assimilation of seawater, seawater-derived components, altered oceanic crust or marine sediments by ascending komatiite magma cannot readily account for the volatile contents and B isotope variations. Alternatively, injection of <3% of a 11B enriched fluid to the mantle source could be a plausible explanation for the δ11B range that also may explain the H2O, Cl and B excess.Financial support to AAG during data acquisition and manuscript preparation was provided by Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USA) and the Centre de Recherches Pétrographiqueset Géochimiques (France). This research was also supported by the Australian Research Council (Research Fellowship and Discovery grants to VSK). We acknowledge partial support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany (F.W. Bessel Award to VSK and Wolfgang Paul Award to A.V. Sobolev who provided access to the electron microprobe at the Max Planck Institute, Mainz, Germany

GEANT4 : a simulation toolkit

Abstract Geant4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. It includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. It has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilised, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics. PACS: 07.05.Tp; 13; 2

GEANT4--a simulation toolkikt

Geant4 is a toolkit for simulating the passage of particles through matter. It includes a complete range of functionality including tracking, geometry, physics models and hits. The physics processes offered cover a comprehensive range, including electromagnetic, hadronic and optical processes, a large set of long-lived particles, materials and elements, over a wide energy range starting, in some cases, from 250 eV and extending in others to the TeV energy range. It has been designed and constructed to expose the physics models utilised, to handle complex geometries, and to enable its easy adaptation for optimal use in different sets of applications. The toolkit is the result of a worldwide collaboration of physicists and software engineers. It has been created exploiting software engineering and object-oriented technology and implemented in the C++ programming language. It has been used in applications in particle physics, nuclear physics, accelerator design, space engineering and medical physics

The accuracy of voluntary observing ship's meteorological observations - results of the VSOP-NA

For the Voluntary Observing Ships Special Observing Project for the North Atlantic (VSOP-NA), the layout, meteorological instrumentation, and observing practices of 45 voluntary observing ships (VOS) operating in the North Atlantic were cataloged. Over a two-year period these ships provided extra information with each observation, and the effect of different observing practices has been quantified by using analysis fields from an atmospheric forecast model as a comparison standard. Biases of order several tenths of a degree Celsius were detected in sea surface temperature data from engine intake thermometers, in dewpoint temperatures from screens (and to a lesser extent, psychrometers), and in air temperatures due to solar heating. Wind speeds from anemometers were high compared to visual winds by about 2 kt for winds up to about 25 kt. The VSOP-NA data do not, however, indicate which is the more accurate. Correction for anemometer height and use of the WMO Commission for Marine Meteorology version of the Beaufort scale reduced this difference significantly. The result of these corrections on mean heat flux estimates was only a few watts per square meter but much greater changes resulted for particular areas and seasons. The project identified observing methods that are to be preferred for future use on the VOS, and demonstrated that the combined use of VOS data and a forecasting model allowed the detection of biases both in the observations and in the model analyses