MEASUREMENT OF THE PROTON-PROTON CORRELATION FUNCTION FROM THE BREAK-UP OF Mg-22 AND Ne-20

An experiment of Mg-22 and Ne-20 beams bombarding on a C-12 target at an energy of 60 similar to 70 A MeV has been performed at the RIKEN projectile fragment separator (RIPS)in the RIKEN Ring Cyclotron Facility to study the two-proton correlated emission from Mg-22 and Ne-20 excited states. The two-protons momentum correlation functions have been obtained for Mg-22 and Ne-20, respectively. The trajectories of the Mg-22 decayed products (Ne-20 + p + p) were also measured to get the angular correlations between the two protons in Center of Mass of decaying system by relativistic-kinematics reconstruction. The results exhibit that Mg-22 has the features of He-2 cluster decay mechanism.

PROJECTILE FRAGMENTATION OF Ar-36,Ar-40 INDUCED REACTIONS

Fragment yields for Z >= 5 from projectile fragmentation using primary beams of Ar-36,Ar-40 at 50 MeV/nucleon on Ni-64 target have been measured in RIBLL fragment separator. We compare the fragment cross sections with the predictions of the empirical EPAX parametrization of fragmentation cross-sections and Statistical Abration-Ablation model (SAA) by considering the RIBLL separator transmission rate. Isotope yield ratios between these two reactions were calculated and isoscaling parameters alpha and beta are extracted, their dependences on fragment atomic number Z and neutron number N were presented.

CONSISTENT THREE-BODY FORCE WITH BONN B POTENTIAL AND NEUTRON STAR STRUCTURE

Microscopic three-nucleon force consistent with the Bonn B two-nucleon potential is constructed, which includes Delta(1232), Roper, and nucleon-antinucleon excitation contributions. Recent results for the choice of the meson parameters are discussed. The forces are used in Brueckner calculations and the saturation properties of nuclear matter are determined. At the high densities,the nuclear equation of state and the symmetry energy are calculated. The corresponding neutron star mass-radius relations are presented.

PROBING THE SYMMETRY ENERGY AT SUPRA-SATURATION DENSITIES FROM PION EMISSION IN HEAVY-ION COLLISIONS

Within the framework of the improved isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics (ImIQMD) model, the emission of pion in heavy-ion collisions in the region 1 A GeV as a probe of nuclear symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities is investigated systematically, in which the pion is considered to be mainly produced by the decay of resonances Delta(1232) and N*(1440). The pi(-)/pi(+) yields are calculated for selected Skyrme parameters SkP, SLy6, Ska and SIII, and also for the cases of different stiffness of symmetry energy with the parameter SLy6. Preliminary results compared with the measured data by the FOPI collaboration favor a hard symmetry energy of the potential term proportional to (rho/rho(0))(gamma s) with gamma(s) = 2.

CONSTRAINTS ON THE DENSITY DEPENDENCE OF THE SYMMETRY ENERGY

Collisions involving Sn-112 and Sn-124 nuclei have been calculated with the ImQMD transport model in order to place constraints on the density dependences of the nuclear symmetry energy. Consistent constraints on the symmetry energy at sub-saturation density have been obtained by comparing these transport calculations to measurements of isospin diffusion and to the ratios of neutron and proton spectra. New isospin diffusion results from E/A = 35 MeV are also presented.

CHARMED BARYON IN A STRING MODEL

Charmed baryon spectroscopy has been studied under a string model. In this model, charmed baryons are composed of a diquark and a charm quark which are connected by a constant tension. In this diquark picture, the quantum numbers J(P) of confirmed baryons have been well assigned. Energies of the first and second orbital excitations have been predicted and compared with the experimental data. Meanwhile, diquark masses have been extracted in the background of charm quark which satisfy a splitting relation based on spin-spin interaction.

Isolation, characterization and electron microscopic single particle analysis of the NADH : ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) from the hyperthermophilic eubacterium Aquifex aeolicus

The proton-translocating NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase (complex I) has been purified from Aquifex aeolicus, a hyperthermophilic eubacterium of known genome sequence. The purified detergent solubilized enzyme is highly active above 50 degreesC. The specific activity for electron transfer from NADH to decylubiquinone is 29 U/mg at 80 degreesC. The A. aeolicus complex I is completely sensitive to rotenone and 2-n-decyl-quinazoline-4-yl-amine. SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis shows that it may contain up to 14 subunits. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of the bands indicates the presence of a stable subcomplex, which is composed of subunits E, F, and G. The isolated complex is highly stable and active in a temperature range from 50 to 90 degreesC, with a half-life of about 10 h at 80 degreesC. The activity shows a linear Arrhenius plot at 50-85 degreesC with an activation energy at 31.92 J/mol K. Single particle electron microscopy shows that the A. aeolicus complex I has the typical L-shape. However, visual inspection of averaged images reveals many more details in the external arm of the complex than has been observed for complex I from other sources. In addition, the angle (90degrees) between the cytoplasmic peripheral arm and the membrane intrinsic arm of the complex appears to be invariant.

Interaction between Thymidylate Synthase and Its Cognate mRNA in Zebrafish Embryos

Thymidylate synthase (TS), which catalyzes the de novo synthesis of dUMP, is an important target for cancer therapy. In this report, the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and ZD1694 on the regulation of TS gene expression were evaluated in zebrafish embryos. Our results revealed that the expression of TS was increased by about six-fold when embryos were treated with 1.0 mu M 5-FU and there was a greater than 10-fold increase in the TS protein level after treatment with 0.4 mu M ZD1694. Northern blot analysis confirmed that expression of TS mRNA was identical in treated or untreated embryos. Gel shift and immunoprecipitation assays revealed that zebrafish TS was specifically bound with its cognate mRNA in vitro and in vivo. We identified a 20 nt RNA sequence, TS:N20, localized to the 5'-UTR of TS mRNA, which corresponded to nt 13-32; TS:N20 bound to the TS protein with an affinity similar to that of the full-length TS mRNA. The MFold program predicted that TS:N20 formed a stable stem-loop structure similar to that of the cis-acting element found in human TS mRNA. Variant RNAs with either a deletion or mutation in the core motif of TS:N20 were unable to bind to the TS protein. In vitro translation experiments, using the rabbit lysate system, confirmed that zebrafish TS mRNA translation was significantly repressed when an excess amount of TS protein was included in the system. Additionally, a TS stability experiment confirmed that treatment of zebrafish embryos with 5-FU could increase the TS stability significantly, and the half life of TS protein was about 2.7 times longer than in untreated embryos. Our study revealed a structural requirement for the interaction of TS RNA with TS protein. These findings also demonstrated that the increase in TS protein induced by 5-FU occurs at the post-transcriptional level and that increased stability and translation efficiency both contributed to the increase in TS protein levels induced by TS inhibitors.

Interaction between Thymidylate Synthase and Its Cognate mRNA in Zebrafish Embryos

Thymidylate synthase (TS), which catalyzes the de novo synthesis of dUMP, is an important target for cancer therapy. In this report, the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and ZD1694 on the regulation of TS gene expression were evaluated in zebrafish embryos. Our results revealed that the expression of TS was increased by about six-fold when embryos were treated with 1.0 mu M 5-FU and there was a greater than 10-fold increase in the TS protein level after treatment with 0.4 mu M ZD1694. Northern blot analysis confirmed that expression of TS mRNA was identical in treated or untreated embryos. Gel shift and immunoprecipitation assays revealed that zebrafish TS was specifically bound with its cognate mRNA in vitro and in vivo. We identified a 20 nt RNA sequence, TS:N20, localized to the 5'-UTR of TS mRNA, which corresponded to nt 13-32; TS:N20 bound to the TS protein with an affinity similar to that of the full-length TS mRNA. The MFold program predicted that TS:N20 formed a stable stem-loop structure similar to that of the cis-acting element found in human TS mRNA. Variant RNAs with either a deletion or mutation in the core motif of TS:N20 were unable to bind to the TS protein. In vitro translation experiments, using the rabbit lysate system, confirmed that zebrafish TS mRNA translation was significantly repressed when an excess amount of TS protein was included in the system. Additionally, a TS stability experiment confirmed that treatment of zebrafish embryos with 5-FU could increase the TS stability significantly, and the half life of TS protein was about 2.7 times longer than in untreated embryos. Our study revealed a structural requirement for the interaction of TS RNA with TS protein. These findings also demonstrated that the increase in TS protein induced by 5-FU occurs at the post-transcriptional level and that increased stability and translation efficiency both contributed to the increase in TS protein levels induced by TS inhibitors.

Identification of archaeon-producing hyperthermophilic alpha-amylase and characterization of the alpha-amylase

The extremely thermophilic anaerobic archaeon strain, HJ21, was isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent, could produce hyperthermophilic alpha-amylase, and later was identified as Thermococcus from morphological, biochemical, and physiological characteristics and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequence. The extracellular thermostable alpha-amylase produced by strain HJ21 exhibited maximal activity at pH 5.0. The enzyme was stable in a broad pH range from pH 5.0 to 9.0. The optimal temperature of alpha-amylase was observed at 95 degrees C. The half-life of the enzyme was 5 h at 90 degrees C. Over 40% and 30% of the enzyme activity remained after incubation at 100 degrees C for 2 and 3 h, respectively. The enzyme did not require Ca2+ for thermostability. This alpha-amylase gene was cloned, and its nucleotide sequence displayed an open reading frame of 1,374 bp, which encodes a protein of 457 amino acids. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed that four homologous regions common in amylases were conserved in the HJ21 alpha-amylase. The molecular weight of the mature enzyme was calculated to be 51.4 kDa, which correlated well with the size of the purified enzyme as shown by the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

Screening of surfactants for harmful algal blooms mitigation

Screening experiments were conducted in order to find promising synthetic surfactants for harmful algal blooms (HABs) mitigation. The chemically synthesized surfactant cocamidopropyl betaine (CAPB) showed characteristics of relatively high inhibition efficiency, high biodegradability and low cost. The motility inhibition ratios of 10 mg/L CAPB on Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Alexandrium tamarense were about 60% after 5 min. The biodegradation test indicated that the half-life of CAPB in seawater was shorter than one day and 90% was biodegraded after five days under the initial concentration of 100 mg/L at 25degreesC. Further cell lysis experiments revealed the selective lysis effect of CAPB on different HAB organisms. More than 90% of C. polykrikoides lysed at the concentration of 10 mg/L CAPB after 24 h and at 15 mg/L CAPB after 4 h, whereas the lysis effect of CAPB on A. tamarense was slight, no more than 10% after 2 h interaction with 50 mg/L CAPB. This research provided preliminary data for CAPB as a candidate in harmful algal blooms mitigation and pointed out unresolved problems for its practical application in the meantime. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.