Radiation effects in a model ceramic for nuclear waste disposal

The safe immobilization of nuclear waste in geological repositories is one of the major scientific challenges facing humanity today. Crystalline ceramics hold the promise of locking up actinides from nuclear fuel and excess weapons plutonium in their structure thereby isolating them from the environment. This paper presents the atomistic details of radiation damage in a model ceramic, zircon.     

0.27-dB/km attenuation achieved by MSP preform process [opticalfibers]

Mechanically shaped preforms (MSP) have been demonstrated to combine economic non-CVD (chemical vapor deposition) processing and low loss, with a published value of 0.63 dB/km and a size of 30 fkm/preform. Improved processing is proposed which results in a minimum loss of 0.27 dB/km at 1550 nm. Preforms capable of yielding 150 fkm have been produced. Reboiling during preform stretching and fiber pulling is identified as the last remaining problem of the process     

Immunoglobulin A levels in southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina) milk during the suckling period

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) levels in milk samples from southern elephant seals at King George Island, Antarctica are reported. IgA levels were determined throughout the suckling period (approximately 23 days). The IgA concentration in southern elephant seal milk was lower than in other mammals and, unlike most mammalian milk, was not high during early lactation. There was not a definite pattern in IgA levels, which fluctuated within narrow limits throughout the suckling period (mean +/- SD, 30.81 +/- 6.38 mg IgA/100 g milk). If IgG was present, its level was too low to be detected by the method used. This is the first evidence in Southern elephant seal of the possibility of transmission of passive immunity after birth involving secretion of IgA in the milk.     

Analysis of amyloid deposition in a transgenic mouse model of homozygous familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy

Amyloid fibrils derived from the Japanese, Portuguese, and Swedish types of familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy all consist of a variant transthyretin (TTR) with a substitution of methionine for valine at position 30 (TTR Met 30). In an attempt to establish an animal model of TTR Met-30-associated homozygous familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy and to study the structural and functional properties of human TTR Met 30, we generated a mouse line carrying a null mutation at the endogenous ttr locus (ttr-/-) and the human mutant ttr gene (6.0-hMet 30) as a transgene. In these mice, human TTR Met-30-derived amyloid deposits were first observed in the esophagus and stomach when the mice were 11 months of age. With advancing age, amyloid deposits extended to various other tissues. Because no significant difference was detected in the onset, progression, and tissue distribution of amyloid deposition between the ttr-/- and ttr+/+ transgenic mice expressing 6.0-hMet 30, endogenous normal mouse TTR probably does not affect the deposition of human TTR Met-30-derived amyloid in mice. TTR is a tetramer composed of four identical subunits that binds thyroxine (T4) and plasma retinol-binding protein. The introduction of 6.0-hMet 30 into the ttr-/- mice significantly increased their depressed serum levels of T4 and retinol-binding protein, suggesting that human TTR Met 30 binds T4 and retinol-binding protein in vivo. The T4-binding ability of human TTR Met 30 was confirmed by the analysis of T4-binding proteins in the sera of ttr-/- transgenic mice expressing 6.0-hMet 30. The T4-binding studies also demonstrated the presence of hybrid tetramers between mouse and human TTR subunits in the ttr+/+ transgenic mice expressing 6.0-hMet 30.     

Resorbable calcium phosphate bone substitute

Bacteroides fragilis strains isolated from different sources, i.e. 1 strain (AA1) from an aquatic environment, 1 strain from normal flora (118310) and the type strain (ATCC 25285) originally isolated from clinical material, were analysed for both cell envelope proteins composition and surviving under oxidative stress starvation. All strains examined showed a similar survival response when cultured in drinking water with a ten-fold decrease in viable counts per day during the 7 days of analysis. The outer membrane protein (OMP) profiles of all strains were quite similar during the stress period as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). However, the periplasmic proteins of the strain 118310 showed two protein bands at 48 and 58 kDa, respectively, that were absent in the strains AA1 and ATCC 25285 during the incubation period in potable water. Whole cells and periplasmic 35S-labelled proteins from bacteria cultured in drinking water showed a significant increase in proteins at 16, 18, 24, 26, 35, 48, and 58 kDa and 18, 22, 24, 48, 58, and 70 kDa, respectively, in all strains when compared to cells grown in BHI-PRAS media as detected by autoradiography following SDS-PAGE. These data suggest that B. fragilis may have a synthesis mechanism that allows them to adapt to adverse environments.