Catalytic Antibodies in Bipolar Disorder: Serum IgGs Hydrolyze Myelin Basic Protein

The pathogenesis of bipolar affective disorder is associated with immunological imbalances, a general pro-inflammatory status, neuroinflammation, and impaired white matter integrity. Myelin basic protein (MBP) is one of the major proteins in the myelin sheath of brain oligodendrocytes. For the first time, we have shown that IgGs isolated from sera of bipolar patients can effectively hydrolyze human myelin basic protein (MBP), unlike other test proteins. Several stringent criteria were applied to assign the studied activity to serum IgG. The level of MBP-hydrolyzing activity of IgG from patients with bipolar disorder was statistically significantly 1.6-folds higher than that of healthy individuals. This article presents a detailed characterization of the catalytic properties of MBP-hydrolyzing antibodies in bipolar disorder, including the substrate specificity, inhibitory analysis, pH dependence of hydrolysis, and kinetic parameters of IgG-dependent MBP hydrolysis, providing the heterogeneity of polyclonal MBP-hydrolyzing IgGs and their difference from canonical proteases. The ability of serum IgG to hydrolyze MBP in bipolar disorder may become an additional link between the processes of myelin damage and inflammation.     

Operational risks for gas pipelines at low temperatures

The fundamental causes of accidents in gas pipelines at low temperatures are investigated. Their frequency is determined, along with the critical crack size in the pipe.     

Use of chemosorptive fibres to free wastewater from zinc

Conclusions The possibility of using the fibrous ion-exchange materials VION KS-3 and VION KN-1 to free wastewater from zinc has been investigated.It has been shown that, at a sulfuric acid content less than 0.5 g/liter and a sodium sulfate content less than 0.2 g/liter in the wastewater, and also in cleaning up neutral waters, it is advisable to use VION KS-3 fibre.It is possible to use VION KN-1 fibre in cleaning up wastewater having a pH of 4 and a considerable salt background (up to 10 g/liter of sodium sulfate). However, in this case, the VION KN-1 fibre should be in the Na-form.Translated from Khimicheskie Volokna, No. 6, pp. 16–17, November–December, 1984.     

Development and Experimental Testing of an Optical Micro-Spectroscopic Technique Incorporating True Line-Scan Excitation

Multiphoton micro-spectroscopy, employing diffraction optics and electron-multiplying CCD (EMCCD) cameras, is a suitable method for determining protein complex stoichiometry, quaternary structure, and spatial distribution in living cells using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging. The method provides highly resolved spectra of molecules or molecular complexes at each image pixel, and it does so on a timescale shorter than that of molecular diffusion, which scrambles the spectral information. Acquisition of an entire spectrally resolved image, however, is slower than that of broad-bandwidth microscopes because it takes longer times to collect the same number of photons at each emission wavelength as in a broad bandwidth. Here, we demonstrate an optical micro-spectroscopic scheme that employs a laser beam shaped into a line to excite in parallel multiple sample voxels. The method presents dramatically increased sensitivity and/or acquisition speed and, at the same time, has excellent spatial and spectral resolution, similar to point-scan configurations. When applied to FRET imaging using an oligomeric FRET construct expressed in living cells and consisting of a FRET acceptor linked to three donors, the technique based on line-shaped excitation provides higher accuracy compared to the point-scan approach, and it reduces artifacts caused by photobleaching and other undesired photophysical effects.     

60Co content in the spent graphite masonry of commercial reactors at the siberian chemical combine

Some results of comprehensive investigations of the radioactive contamination of graphite masonry from shutdown commercial uranium-graphite reactors at the Siberian Chemical Combine are reported. The objective of the investigations was to study the distribution of radionuclides and to determine the contamination level. In the present paper information about⁶⁰Co in the gaphite of the I-1 and él-2 reactors is reported. Its content in the samples was measured by γ-spectrometry. There were about 250 graphite samples from the I-1 reactor and 200 from él-2. According to the data obtained, the surface contamination level of the blocks can be taken as the same for the entire core within the limits of the errors presented. The average⁶⁰Co contamination of the graphite in the surface of blocks from the I-1 core is 5600 ₋₅₀₀ ⁺⁵⁵⁰ Bq/g and 8400 ₋₁₀₀₀ ⁺¹²⁰⁰ Bq/g for the él-2 core. The⁶⁰Co content in the interior volume of the graphite blocks of a I-1 reactor is now 1100 ₋₁₆₀ ⁺²⁰⁰ Bq/g and 2000 ₋₃₀₀ ⁺¹³⁵⁰ Bq/g in éI-2. The⁶⁰Co activity in all blocks from the I-1 core is 1.22·10¹² Bq, and for éI-1 the figure is 2.16·10¹² Bq. 4 figures, 3 tables, 7 references. Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 86, No. 3, pp. 183–188, March, 1999.     

Effects of Neutron Irradiation and Annealing on the Elastic Moduli and Electrical Resistivity of Molybdenum and Tungsten Single Crystals

The effects of neutron irradiation and annealing on the elastic moduli and electrical resistivity of Mo and W were studied using single-crystal samples oriented with their axis along [100], [110], and [111]. The samples were irradiated with fast neutrons (E> 0.1 MeV) to a neutron fluence of 1.14 × 10²⁶n/m²in a BR-10 reactor at 460°C. The irradiation-induced changes in resistivity and elastic moduli were found to be orientation-dependent. Irradiated W was found to exhibit elastic anisotropy and relaxation of the shear and Young's moduli. Isochronal annealing below 0.7t _mdid not reduce the resistivity of the samples to its initial level, presumably because of the formation of radionuclides, while the shear and Young's moduli were restored to their initial levels.     

Scattering properties of needlelike and platelike ice spheroids with moderate size parameters

We use the current advanced version of the T-matrix method to compute the optical cross sections, the asymmetry parameter of the phase function, and the scattering matrix elements of ice spheroids with aspect ratios up to 20 and surface-equivalent-sphere size parameters up to 12. We demonstrate that platelike and needlelike particles with moderate size parameters possess unique scattering properties: their asymmetry parameters and phase functions are similar to those of surface-equivalent spheres, whereas all other elements of the scattering matrix are typical of particles much smaller than the wavelength (Rayleigh scatterers). This result may have important implications for optical particle sizing and remote sensing of the terrestrial and planetary atmospheres.     

Structural features of vacuum-deposited high-hardness chromium coatings

The structure and hardness of ion-plasma coatings, obtained by evaporating chromium with a low-pressure compressed arc, from a melting crucible with and without clusterization of the vapor flow, was studied. It is shown that the Hall–Patch equation can be used to calculate the yield point of the coatings where the effective grain size corresponds to the size of a dislocation cell. On the basis of the three temperature zones of coating applications, the structure of ion-plasma chromium coatings corresponds to the zone of heat application. High hardness of the coating is achieved primarily as a result of extremely small grain size (down to 0.1 µm).Institute of Problems in Materials Science, Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kiev. Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 8(368), pp. 70–75, August, 1993.     

A first assessment of the SMOS data in southwestern France using in situ and airborne soil moisture estimates: The CAROLS airborne campaign

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission, based on an aperture synthesis L-band radiometer was successfully launched in November 2009. In the context of a validation campaign for the SMOS mission, intensive airborne and in situ observations were performed in southwestern France for the SMOS CAL/VAL, from April to May 2009 and from April to July 2010. The CAROLS (Cooperative Airborne Radiometer for Ocean and Land Studies) bi-angular (34°-0°) and dual-polarized (V and H) L-band radiometer was designed, built and installed on board the French ATR-42 research aircraft. During springs of 2009 and 2010, soil moisture observations from the SMOSMANIA (Soil Moisture Observing System-Meteorological Automatic Network Integrated Application) network of Météo-France were complemented by airborne observations of the CAROLS L-band radiometer, following an Atlantic-Mediterranean transect in southwestern France. Additionally to the 12 stations of the SMOSMANIA soil moisture network, in situ measurements were collected in three specific sites within an area representative of a SMOS pixel. Microwave radiometer observations, acquired over southwestern France by the CAROLS instrument were analyzed in order to assess their sensitivity to surface soil moisture (w_g). A combination of microwave brightness temperature (T_b) at either two polarizations or two contrasting incidence angles was used to retrieve w_g through regressed empirical logarithmic equations with good results, depending on the chosen configuration. The regressions derived from the CAROLS measurements were applied to the SMOS T_b and their retrieval performance was evaluated. The retrievals of w_g showed significant correlation (p-value < 0.05) with surface measurements for most of the SMOSMANIA stations (8 of 12 stations) and with additional field measurements at two specific sites, also. Root mean square errors varied from 0.03 to 0.09 m³ m^− 3 (0.06 m³ m^− 3 on average).