The nucleus negatively controls the synthesis of mitochondrial proteins in the sea urchin egg

Enucleation of Paracentrotus lividus eggs, followed by parthenogenetic activation induces a sharp increase in the synthesis of mitochondrial proteins as shown by electrofluorography after in vivo labeling with radioactive amino acids. These results further substantiate the hypothesis that the cell nucleus negatively controls mitochondrial replication in the sea urchin egg.     

Susceptibility of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food in Italy to antibiotics

The susceptibility of 148 strains of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food to antibiotics currently used in veterinary and human therapy was determined by standard agar dilution and disk diffusion methods. The antibiotics included amikacin, amoxicillin, cefazolin, chloramphenicol, erythromycin, flumequine, fosfomycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, lincomycin, oxytetracycline, rifampicin, spiramycin, streptomycin, tetracycline, tobramycin and vancomycin. Soussy's breakpoints and MIC(50)-MIC(90) values were used to classify the strains into sensitive, moderately sensitive and resistant groups.This work is part of a wider surveillance program on listeriosis started in Italy in 1995.     

Functional interpretations of linear and intuitionistic logic

This paper surveys several computational interpretations of classical linear logic based on two-player one-move games. The moves of the games are higher-order functionals in the language of finite types. All interpretations discussed treat the exponential-free fragment of linear logic in a common way. They only differ in how much advantage one of the players has in the exponential games. We discuss how the several choices for the interpretation of the modalities correspond to various well-known functional interpretations of intuitionistic logic, including Gödel’s Dialectica interpretation and Kreisel’s modified realizability.     

Effect of growth conditions on the flatness of micro-crystal terraces of CdTe thin film

An atomic force microscopy study of the surface roughness of CdTe thin films growth by the close-space vapor transport technique on Corning glass substrate under different growth conditions (substrate temperature, Cd overpressure, and annealing) is presented. The roughness measurements show that under certain growth conditions the surface of the micro-crystals is flatter—on the micrometer scale—than in the case of CdTe layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on a CdTe substrate. ©1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers     

Effect of process variables on liquid hot water pretreatment of wheat straw for bioconversion to fuel‐ethanol in a batch reactor

BACKGROUND: Crop residues as wheat straw are potential sources for fuel‐ethanol production as an alternative to current production based on starch‐ or sugar‐containing feedstocks. In this work, the effect of liquid hot water (LHW) process parameters, i.e. temperature (170 and 200 °C), residence time (0 and 40 min), solid concentration (5% and 10% (w/v)) and overpressure applied in the reactor (30 bar and no overpressure), on pretreatment of wheat straw was studied using a full factorial experimental design. Pretreatment effectiveness was evaluated based on the composition of the solid and liquid fractions obtained after filtration of pretreated material, and the susceptibility of the solid fraction to enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) using commercial cellulases. RESULTS: Statistical analysis showed that only temperature and time, within the limits of the experimental range, have a significant effect on the responses studied. While the effect of pretreatment time in hemicellulose‐derived sugar recovery in prehydrolyzate depends on temperature, EH yield was enhanced as both temperature and time were increased. Maximum EH yield was 96 g glucose per 100 g potential glucose in pretreated residue. Xylan and acetyl groups content remaining in solid residue after pretretament, which were found to be directly correlated, had a marked effect on pretreated substrate degradability. CONCLUSIONS: LHW is an effective pretreatment to enhance the potential of wheat straw as substrate for ethanol production. Maximum hemicellulose‐derived sugar recovery (53% of content in raw material) and EH yield (96% of theoretical) fall within different temperature and time intervals, suggesting separate optimization designs for these responses. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Detection of P2 precursors in the sperm cells of infertile patients who have reduced protamine P2 levels

Many chemotherapeutic agents are thought to exert their genotoxic effects through induction of programmed cell death (PCD) (apoptosis) in tumor cells. The bcl-2 is an anti-apoptotic oncoprotein and can confer a survival advantage to tumor cells by preventing apoptosis. Overexpression of bcl-2 may therefore be implicated in resistance to chemotherapy. We studied the significance of bcl-2 expression and the PCD index in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Evaluation of bcl-2 by immunocytochemistry and PCD by an enzymatic end labelling technique using biotin-dUTP was carried out in a total of 55 cases and 40 controls. Bcl-2 was found to be expressed in 47% (26/55) of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases. The positive cells varied from 0-49% among individual samples. Pre-treatment (spontaneous) apoptosis was observed in 62% (34/55) cases. The mean pre-treatment PCD index was 8.27 1.3%, while the median PCD index was 5. The PCD value for the leukemic samples analyzed were then classified as either high apoptosis values ( 5) and low apoptosis values (<5). PCD index was high in 53% (29/55) and low in 47% (26/55). However, 23% (13/55) of cases did not show presence of either apoptosis or bcl-2. There was no association between clinical and laboratory parameters with the apoptotic index or bcl-2 protein expression. However, evaluation of apoptotic index and bcl-2 expression on day 7 of induction chemotherapy showed a borderline correlation between these markers and initial WBC count, presence of mediastinal mass and hepatosplenomegaly. Follow-up of these patients is being done to look for any association between treatment response and apoptosis.     

Cadmium telluride thin films doped with indium: a morphological study

CdTe thin films doped with indium were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Samples were prepared using Corning glass as a substrate by the Close-Space Vapour Transport with Hot Walls (CSVT-HW) technique. All the samples were prepared using 500 ?C (T _subs) and 600 ? C (T _CdTe) as substrate and CdTe source temperatures, respectively. Indium (In) was introduced as a dopant by evaporation during thin-film preparation. The In source temperature was varied from 560 ?C to 730 ?C in order to obtain different In concentrations. The mean grain size as a function of the indium temperature and its relationship to electrical properties are analysed. By making mechanical fractures on the thin films, the lateral growth morphology and conditions of contact with the substrate were studied.     

High Explosives Mixtures Detection Using Fiber Optics Coupled: Grazing Angle Probe/Fourier Transform Reflection Absorption Infrared Spectroscopy

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy operating in Reflection–Absorption mode has been demonstrated as a potential spectroscopic technique to develop new methodologies for detection of chemicals deposited on metallic surfaces. Mid-IR transmitting optical fiber bundle coupled to an external Grazing Angle Probe and an MCT detector together with a bench Michelson interferometer have been used to develop a highly sensitive and selective methodology for detecting traces of organic compounds on metal surfaces. The methodology is remote sensed, in situ and can detect surface loading concentrations of nanograms/cm² of most target compounds. It is an environmentally friendly, solvent free technique that does not require sample preparation. In this work, the ever-important task of high explosives detection, present as traces of neat crystalline forms and in lab-made mixtures, equivalent to the important explosive formulation Pentolite, has been addressed. The sample set consisted of TNT, PETN (both pure samples) and the formulation based on them: Pentolite, present in various loading concentrations. The spectral data collected was subjected to a number of statistical pre-treatments, including first derivative and normalization transformations to make the data more suitable for the analysis. Principal Components Analysis combined with Linear Discriminant Analysis allowed the classification and discrimination of the target analytes contained in the sample set. Loading concentrations as 220 ng/cm² were detected for each explosive in neat form and the in the simulated mixture of Pentolite.     

Digital control of a voltage-mode synchronous buck converter

A digital control algorithm capable of separately specifying the desired output voltage and transient response for a synchronous buck converter operating in voltage mode was developed. This algorithm is based on superimposing a small control signal onto a voltage reference at each switching cycle to cancel out the perturbations. A zero steady-state error in the output voltage can be obtained with the aid of additional dynamics to allow the controller to track a load change and update the reference to a new load state. The specifications of the control algorithm are achieved by pole placement using complete state feedback. The control algorithm was implemented on a digital signal processor (DSP)-controlled synchronous buck converter.