Serine-70 is one of the critical sites for drug-induced Bcl2 phosphorylation in cancer cells

Taxoids and other microtubule-damaging drugs are known to induce Bcl2 phosphorylation at the G2-M phase of the cell cycle, with concomitant apoptosis in malignant cells derived from a variety of human malignancies, including leukemia, lymphoma, and breast and prostate cancer. We have investigated the ability of another antineoplastic drug, dolastatin 10, in inducing Bcl2 phosphorylation and apoptosis. We also investigated the effects of a phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid in the regulation of Bcl2 phosphorylation, cell cycle arrest, and programmed cell death. Moreover, site-directed mutagenesis studies were performed to determine the specific serine residue(s) responsible for drug-induced Bcl2 phosphorylation. Our results indicate that these antimicrotubule agents or okadaic acid can induce posttranslational modification (phosphorylation) of Bcl2 protein at multiple serine residues. Interestingly, mutation of a serine residue at position 70 to alanine can significantly decrease drug-induced posttranslational modification (phosphorylation) of Bcl2 protein. Apparently, Ser70 seems to be a critical site for drug-induced posttranslational modification (phosphorylation) of the Bcl2 protein.     

Scanning electron microscopy studies of abraded rubber surfaces

The surfaces of polybutadiene rubber (BR) and styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) subjected to different degrees of abrasion have been studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the case of SBR it has been shown that abrasion begins with marks in the direction of rotation which are followed by fine ribbing and then by the formation of coarse, angular and prominent ridges. Prolonged abrasion produces folding and cavities on the surface. This change in abrasion mechanism has been explained as a result of heat build-up and high crack growth rate in SBR which occur beyond a certain stage. These help in softening the matrix and removing the surface. On the other hand, fractured surfaces of BR show that ridges begin to form at about 250 revolutions and there is no characteristic difference between the abraded surfaces at lower or higher degrees of abrasion.     

Fourier transform infrared-probed O(3P) microreactor: demonstration with ethylene reactions in argon matrix

To demonstrate the development of an oxygen atom microreactor in the form of liquid-helium-cooled solid argon matrix deposited on an infrared (IR) window, the oxidation of ethylene by mobile O atoms has been investigated. O atom diffusion through the argon matrix is confirmed and used to examine ethylene-oxygen atom reactions. In a bench-scale matrix isolation system probed with a Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer, matrices of solid Ar at 8-10 K doped with NO2 and ethylene have been prepared on a ZnSe window within an evacuated cryostat. The matrices have been photolyzed using 350-450 nm photons, and the reaction products resulting from the reaction of O(3P), one of the photolysis products of NO2, with ethylene have been identified using FT-IR and a Gaussian 98W simulation program. These products include oxirane, acetaldehyde, ethyl nitrite radical, and ketene. The temperature effect in the range of 10-30 K on the products formed has also been investigated. The reaction mechanisms are discussed and the viability of the solid Ar matrix being a low temperature microreactor to examine reaction mechanisms of mobile oxygen atoms is elaborated.     

A theoretical analysis of non-isothermal flow in wire-coating co-extrusion dies

A theoretical study of non-isothermal superimposed flow of two polymer melts in wire coating co-extrusion dies has been carried out. Numerical methods have been employed to solve the coupled momentum- and energy-balance equations. Various combinations of three polymers—namely, high density polyethylene (HDPE), polystyrene (PS) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) have been studied and least squares curve fitted quadratic polynomials have been used for constitutive equations for all three polymers in non-Newtonian high shear rate regions. A multitude of thermal and mechanical boundary conditions can be treated by this algorithm. It was found that temperature and velocity profiles in the die depend significantly on the arrangement of the polymers. Maximum temperature rise has been noted to increase sharply with wire velocity but it can be reduced by increasing the die radius. When the thickness of the outer layer is increased from zero, the shear stress at the wall undergoes a dramatic change (if the viscosities of the polymers are different) at small values of the flow rate ratio and it reaches an asymptotic value at large values of flow rate ratio. It was also found that viscosity ratio at the interface can be reduced by changing the initial temperatures of the liquids. It was observed in some cases that large errors in the calculation of rheological and thermal variables for this problem can be made if temperature rise due to viscous dissipation is not considered.     

Conjugated hydrogenation of triglyceride oil containing conjugated acid

Conjugated hydrogenation of tung oil (fatty acid composition: elaeostearic 57.0%, linoleic 25.8%, oleic 11.2% and saturated 6.0%) has been investigated to ascertain the influence of hydrogen donors, namely primary and secondary alcohols, on rate and selectivity under different operating conditions. 2-Propanol, in general, reflects faster rate and greater degree of reduction but less selectivity towards the reduction of unsaturated acids than ethanol, when tung oil is treated at 200 C, 225 C and 250 C with 2% Ni (optimum catalyst level) and theoretical as well as 100% excess of theoretical amount of the two hydrogen donors to ensure complete hydrogenation of the oil. The rate and degree of reduction with ethanol are less influenced by its amount and amount of catalyst, but with 2-propanol these depend considerably on both the amount of hydrogen donor and amount of catalyst. During conjugated hydrogenation of tung oil, deposition of gel-like mass in minor amount occurs only at the wall of the reaction vessel. This is evidently due to polymerization of the conjugated trienoic acid. Presented at the IXth ISF Congress, Rotterdam, September 1968.     

Modeling of the refractive index and extinction coefficient of binary composite films

Southwell's analysis of optical multilayers within the limits of very thin films has been extended to include absorption in the multilayer for predicting the effective values of the refractive index n(e) and extinction coefficient k(e) of mixed-composition binary homogeneous films over a wide spectral region, including the high-absorption (k > 10(-2)) region. It has been found that n(e) in general is a complicated function of the optical parameters (n(1), k(1), n(2), k(2)) and volume fractions (f(1), f(2)) of the component materials in a homogeneous layer, and the expression for n(e) becomes the same as that predicted by the Drude model in the spectral region where the layers are transparent. Moreover, according to the present analysis, the volume fractions of the product of the refractive index and the extinction coefficient of the component materials of a binary composite film are additive and the sum equals the product of the effective refractive index and extinction coefficient of the composite film.     

Planar Ultra-Wideband Bandpass Filter Using Edge Coupled Microstrip Lines and Stepped Impedance Open Stub

The design and implementation of a planar ultra-wideband (UWB) bandpass filter are presented. Three interdigital edge coupled microstrip lines are used for coupling enhancement. A stepped impedance open stub is used for realizing transmission zeros simultaneously in upper and lower stop bands as well as impedance matching in ultra-wide pass band. A pass band from 3.1-10.6 GHz is achieved with an insertion loss of 0.5 dB, a return loss of about 18 dB, a sharp out-of-band-rejection, and a low group delay of only 0.21ns. Single- and double-section filters are realized to meet the UWB mask requirement. The design of the filter is simple, and it shows good frequency response.     

Optimal pricing and lot-sizing for perishable inventory with price and time dependent ramp-type demand

Product perishability is an important aspect of inventory control. To minimise the effect of deterioration, retailers in supermarkets, departmental store managers, etc. always want higher inventory depletion rate. In this article, we propose a dynamic pre- and post-deterioration cumulative discount policy to enhance inventory depletion rate resulting low volume of deterioration cost, holding cost and hence higher profit. It is assumed that demand is a price and time dependent ramp-type function and the product starts to deteriorate after certain amount of time. Unlike the conventional inventory models with pricing strategies, which are restricted to a fixed number of price changes and to a fixed cycle length, we allow the number of price changes before as well as after the start of deterioration and the replenishment cycle length to be the decision variables. Before start of deterioration, discounts on unit selling price are provided cumulatively in successive pricing cycles. After the start of deterioration, discounts on reduced unit selling price are also provided in a cumulative way. A mathematical model is developed and the existence of the optimal solution is verified. A numerical example is presented, which indicates that under the cumulative effect of price discounting, dynamic pricing policy outperforms static pricing strategy. Sensitivity analysis of the model is carried out.