THE EFFECT OF RADIATION-INDUCED CROSS-LINKING ON THE RELAXATION OF TAUT TIE MOLECULES DURING ANNEALING OF DRAWN LDPE

Shrinkage, retractive stress, and infrared dichroism of the drawn low-density polyethylene (LDPE) as-drawn and irradiated by Co-60-ray have been measured under different annealing conditions. The shrinkage and the disorientation of the irradiated sample was undergone more rapidly than that of unirradiated one as the temperature was continuously increased, surpassing a certain value, and a higher degree of shrinkage and disorientation was achieved finally for the irradiated sample when the samples were annealed with free ends. For the samples heated isothermally with fixed ends, the retractive stress went through a maximum and then attenuated to a limited value, and the degree of such a stress attenuation for the unirradiated sample was much more than that for the irradiated sample. These results show that the taut tie molecules (TTMs) in drawn PE can relax by the pulling of chain segments out of crystal blocks that they anchored in at elevated temperatures higher than the a transition and also by the displacing of microfibrils if the samples were annealed with free ends. The cross-links produced by irradiation prohibit the former process. It was further observed that the dependence of the average extinction coefficient of the band at 2016 cm-1 on that of the band at 1894 cm-1 is related to irradiation and annealing conditions, which has also been explained by the relaxation of TTMs and the function of irradiation-induced cross-linking on the relaxation.

INVESTIGATION OF ELECTRIC DICHROISM OF CETYLPYRIDINIUM BROMIDE BY SPECTROELECTROCHEMISTRY WITH A LONG OPTICAL-PATH LENGTH THIN-LAYER CELL

In this paper, the electric dichroism of cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) has been found and studied by spectroelectrochemistry with a long optical path length thin-layer cell (LOPTLC) for the first time. The CPB molecule with a long carbon chain and a polar pyridinium ring is anisotropic in molecular configuration or in polarizability. In the electric field of a thin-layer cell, the CPB molecule reorientates along the direction of the electric field and exhibits electric dichroism, which results in the increase of absorbance of CPB in the UV-vis range. By use of in situ measurement of spectroelectrochemistry, the order parameters of long molecular axis (S = 0.845) and short molecular axis (D = 0.155) and the angle between the long axis direction of the CPB molecule and the direction normal to the electrode surface (theta = 18-degrees 44') have been determined. These data were used to describe the state of arrangement of the molecules in the solution. The reorientation of CPB molecules is the result of the interaction between the anisotropic molecules and electric field. The effects of the concentration of CPB and of the applied electric field on the electric dichroism have been investigated.

Two thymosin-repeated molecules with structural and functional diversity coexist in Chinese mitten crab Eriocheir sinensis

Recently, beta-thymosin-like proteins with multiple thymosin domains (defined as thymosin-repeated proteins) have been identified from invertebrate. In the present study, the cDNAs of two thymosin-repeated proteins (designated EsTRP1 and EsTRP2) were cloned from Chinese mitten crab by expressed sequence tags (EST) techniques. BLAST analysis presented three and two thymosin domains in EsTRP1 and EsTRP2, respectively, with the identities amongst the five domains varying from 47% to 100%. Both EsTRP1 and EsTRP2 shared high similarities with previously identified vertebrate beta-thynnosins and invertebrate thymosin-repeated proteins (TRPs) with the identities ranging from 43% to 78%, indicating that EsTRPs were new members of the beta-thymosin family. Real-time RT-PCR assay was adopted to determine the tissue distribution of EsTRPs and their temporal expression profile in hemocytes after pathogen stimulation and injury challenge. The expression of EsTRP1 transcript was predominantly detectable in the tissues of hemocytes, hepatopancreas and gonad with the highest expression in hemocytes, while the highest expression level of EsTRP2 was found in heart. EsTRP1 mRNA expression in hemocytes significantly increased at 3 and 48 h after Listonella anguillarum challenge, but there was no significant variation in EsTRP2 temporal expression profile. The injury challenge reduced the mRNA expression of EsTRPs, with the down-regulation of EsTRP2 expression occurred earlier than that of EsTRP1. The cDNA fragments encoding their mature peptides of EsTRP1 and EsTRP2 were recombined and expressed in Escherichia coli. The activities of recombinant proteins (rEsTRP1 and rEsTRP2) were examined by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) and lysoplate assay. rEsTRP2 could significantly accelerate the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, but there was no significant effect of rEsTRP1 on the tumor cell proliferation. Both rEsTRP1 and rEsTRP2 did not possess the ability of killing Micrococcus luteus and L. anguillarum. The differences in the tissue distribution of mRNA transcripts, the response to pathogen stimulation and injury challenge, and the effect of recombinant proteins on human cell proliferation, indicated that there were functional diversity between the two structurally different molecules, EsTRP1 and EsTRP2. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Triploid and tetraploid Zhikong scallop, Chlamys farreri Jones et Preston, produced by inhibiting polar body I

Triploid scallops are valuable for aquaculture because of their enlarged adductor muscle, and tetraploids are important for the commercial production of triploids. We tested tetraploid induction in the zhikong scallop by inhibiting polar body I in newly fertilized eggs. The ploidy of resultant embryos was determined by chromosome counting at 2- to 4-cell stage and by flow cytometry thereafter. Embryos from the control groups were mostly diploids (79%), along with some aneuploids. Embryos from the treated groups were 13% diploids, 18% triploids, 26% tetraploids, 13% pentaploids, and 36% aneuploids. Tetraploids, pentaploids, and most aneuploids suffered heavy mortality during the first week and became undetectable among the larvae at day 14. Five tetraploids (2%) were found among a sample of 267 spat from one of the replicates, and none was detected at day 450. The adductor muscle of triploid scallops was 44% heavier (P < .01) than that of diploids, confirming the value of the triploid technology in this species.

Chromosome segregation in fertilized eggs from triploid Pacific oysters, Crassostrea gigas (Thunberg), following inhibition of polar body 1

Chromosome segregation in fertilized eggs from triploid Pacific oysters, following inhibition of the first polar body (PB1), was studied with acetic orcein staining techniques. To block the release of PB1, fertilized eggs were treated with 0.5 mg/l of cytochalasin B (CB). Four types of segregation were observed, namely, ''tripolar segregation'' (54.5%), ''united bipolar segregation'' (12%), ''separated bipolar segregation'' (2.5%), and ''incomplete united bipolar segregation'' (4%). The remaining 23% could not be classified because of chromosome disorganization, but appeared to be variants of the above. It seemed clear that the predominant pattern that gave rise to tetraploids was united bipolar segregation, although certain separated bipolar segregations might also lead to the formation of tetraploids. The sequential events of meioses observed in CB-treated eggs are described. The asynchrony of meiotic events and possible mechanisms for the various types of chromosome segregation are discussed.