Stable, oil-in-water nanoemulsions containing astaxanthin (AsX) were produced by intense fluid shear forces resulting from pumping a coarse reagent emulsion through a self-throttling annular gap ...valve at 300 MPa. Compared to crude emulsions prepared by conventional homogenization, a size reduction of over two orders of magnitude was observed for AsX-encapsulated oil droplets following just one pass through the annular valve. In krill oil formulations, the mean hydrodynamic diameter of lipid particles was reduced to 60 nm after only two passes through the valve and reached a minimal size of 24 nm after eight passes. Repeated processing of samples through the valve progressively decreased lipid particle size, with an inflection in the rate of particle size reduction generally observed after 2–4 passes. Krill- and argan oil-based nanoemulsions were produced using an Ultra Shear Technology™ (UST™) approach and characterized in terms of their small particle size, low polydispersity, and stability.
The Pontocaspian (Black Sea - Caspian Sea) region has a very dynamic history of basin development and biotic evolution. The region is the remnant of a once vast Paratethys Sea. It contains some of ...the best Eurasian geological records of tectonic, climatic and paleoenvironmental change. The Pliocene-Quaternary co-evolution of the Black Sea-Caspian Sea is dominated by major changes in water (lake and sea) levels resulting in a pulsating system of connected and isolated basins. Understanding the history of the region, including the drivers of lake level and faunal evolution, is hampered by indistinct stratigraphic nomenclature and contradicting time constraints for regional sedimentary successions. In this paper we review and update the late Pliocene to Quaternary stratigraphic framework of the Pontocaspian domain, focusing on the Black Sea Basin, Caspian Basin, Marmara Sea and the terrestrial environments surrounding these large, mostly endorheic lake-sea systems.
Background: We report the first results of a randomized trial assessing a new oral aminobisphosphonate, ibandronate, in patients with bone metastases from breast cancer. Patients and methods: ...Patients (n = 435) received placebo, or oral ibandronate 20 mg or 50 mg once-daily for 96 weeks. The primary efficacy measure was the number of 12-week periods with new bone complications skeletal morbidity period rate (SMPR). Multivariate Poisson regression analysis assessed the relative risk reduction of skeletal-related events. Secondary efficacy analyses included bone pain and analgesic use. Adverse events were monitored. Results: SMPR was significantly reduced with oral ibandronate placebo 1.2, 20 mg group 0.97 (P = 0.024), 50 mg group 0.98 (P = 0.037). Ibandronate 50 mg significantly reduced the need for radiotherapy (P = 0.005 versus placebo). The relative risk of skeletal events was reduced by 38% (20 mg dose) and 39% (50 mg dose) versus placebo (P = 0.009 and P = 0.005). The tolerability profile of ibandronate was similar to placebo. Conclusions: Oral ibandronate is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for metastatic bone disease. The 50 mg dose is being further evaluated in clinical trials, and this dose was recently approved in the European Union for the prevention of skeletal events in patients with breast cancer and bone metastases.
The invention of optical lasers led to a revolution in the field of optics and to the creation of such fields of research as quantum optics. The reason was their unique statistical and coherence ...properties. The emerging, short-wavelength free-electron lasers (FELs) are sources of very bright coherent extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray radiation with pulse durations on the order of femtoseconds, and are presently considered to be laser sources at these energies. FELs are highly spatially coherent to the first-order but in spite of their name, behave statistically as chaotic sources. Here, we demonstrate experimentally, by combining Hanbury Brown and Twiss interferometry with spectral measurements that the seeded XUV FERMI FEL-2 source does indeed behave statistically as a laser. The results may be useful for quantum optics experiments and for the design and operation of next generation FEL sources.
Destabilase from the medical leech Hirudo medicinalis belongs to the family of i-type lysozymes. It has two different enzymatic activities: microbial cell walls destruction (muramidase activity), and ...dissolution of the stabilized fibrin (isopeptidase activity). Both activities are known to be inhibited by sodium chloride at near physiological concentrations, but the structural basis remains unknown. Here we present two crystal structures of destabilase, including a 1.1 Å-resolution structure in complex with sodium ion. Our structures reveal the location of sodium ion between Glu34/Asp46 residues, which were previously recognized as a glycosidase active site. While sodium coordination with these amino acids may explain inhibition of the muramidase activity, its influence on previously suggested Ser49/Lys58 isopeptidase activity dyad is unclear. We revise the Ser49/Lys58 hypothesis and compare sequences of i-type lysozymes with confirmed destabilase activity. We suggest that the general base for the isopeptidase activity is His112 rather than Lys58. pKa calculations of these amino acids, assessed through the 1 μs molecular dynamics simulation, confirm the hypothesis. Our findings highlight the ambiguity of destabilase catalytic residues identification and build foundations for further research of structure-activity relationship of isopeptidase activity as well as structure-based protein design for potential anticoagulant drug development.
Display omitted
•Dynamics/relaxation of MQ NMR coherences are investigated at different orientations.•The relaxation of the MQ NMR coherences is determined by dipole-dipole interactions.•The ...universal time scale for different orientations was obtained.
Dynamics and relaxation, or decoherence, of multiple quantum (MQ) coherences are investigated experimentally and theoretically for different orientations of a single crystal of fluorapatite with respect to the external magnetic field. Dynamics of MQ coherences is studied as a function of the preparation period of the MQ NMR experiment. Their relaxation, or decoherence, during the evolution period is also investigated. Universal curves for dynamics and relaxation are obtained and describe the experimental data for different orientations of the investigated sample. Those curves prove the dipolar nature of the observed relaxation process. The contribution of the heteronuclear interactions to the dipolar relaxation is also investigated. The source of discrepancies between experimental data and theoretical results in the experiments with a large angle between the nuclear spin chains and the external magnetic field are discussed.
The new frozen spin target at MAMI Thomas, A.; Borisov, N. S.; Arends, H. -J. ...
Physics of particles and nuclei,
11/2013, Letnik:
44, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The new frozen spin polarized target for experiments at the polarized beam of the real photon facility A2 of the MAMI accelerator is described. The A2-collaboration at the Mainz Microtron MAMI is ...measuring photon absorption cross section using circularly and linearly polarized photons up to the energy of 1.5 GeV. The photons are produced in the’ Bremsstrahlungs’ process. In the years 2005/2006 the Crystal Ball detector with its unique capability to cope with multi photon final states was set up in Mainz. Since 2010 the experimental apparatus has been completed by a polarized target. The horizontal dilution refrigerator of the Frozen-Spin Target has been constructed and is operated in close cooperation with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna, Russia. The system offers the opportunity to provide longitudinally and transversely polarized protons and deuteron. In this paper the operation experience of this new Frozen-Spin Target and first results from the runs in 2010 and 2011 are presented.
Specific features in the content and accumulation of organic carbon and nitrogen in the aggregates of typical chernozems (Protocalcic Chernozems) of long-term experimental plots with different land ...management systems are assessed. The size fractions in the aggregates of >10, 10–3, 2–1, 1–0.25, and <0.25 mm are examined. The carbon and nitrogen contents are shown to depend on the land management system in a statistically significant manner. The dependence of carbon content on the size of aggregates is observed in five land use systems of the seven examined ones (permanent tilled fallow, unmanaged fallow after permanent tilled fallow, permanent corn and potato fields, shelterbelt, and annually mown steppe). As for nitrogen content, such pattern is observed in three land use variants. The specific features in carbon and nitrogen contents in the size fractions of soil aggregates depend on the type of land use. The carbon content under herbaceous vegetation (steppe) increases with a decrease in the size of aggregates reaching its maximum in the fraction of 1–0.25 mm. As for tree stands (shelterbelt), the maximum carbon content is observed in the fractions of >10 and <0.25 mm. All aggregates <2 mm of the chernozem under herbaceous vegetation in the process of restoration contain considerably higher amount of carbon as compared with the coarser fractions. The nitrogen content in the size fractions of the soil of steppe and shelterbelt plots follows the patterns similar to those of the carbon content.
To investigate muon-induced nuclear reactions leading to the production of radionuclides, targets made of C
9H
12, SiO
2, Al
2O
3, Al, S, CaCO
3, Fe, Ni, Cu, Gd, Yb and Tl were irradiated with 100 ...and 190 GeV muons in the NA54 experimental setup at CERN. The radionuclide concentrations were measured with accelerator mass spectrometry and γ-spectroscopy. Results are presented for the corresponding partial formation cross-sections. Several of the long-lived and short-lived radionuclides studied are also produced by fast cosmic ray muons in the atmosphere and at depths underground. Because of their importance to earth sciences investigations, calculations of the depth dependence of production rates by fast cosmic ray muons have been made.
PDF
