Flow-through room temperature phosphorescence optosensing for the determination of lead in sea water

The chelates formed between the heavy metal ion Pb(II) and the reagents 8-hydroxy-5-quinolinesulphonic acid, 8-hydroxy-7-quinolinesulphonic acid and 8-hydroxy-7-iodo-5-quinolinesulphonic acid exhibit strong room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) if retained on the surface of anion exchange resin beads. Based on the on-line formation, in a flow-injection system, of such RTP lead chelates and their transient immobilization on an anion exchange resin, three flow-through optosensing systems are investigated for lead in sea water. Optimum experimental conditions and the analytical performance characteristics of the three optosensors are discussed. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) of the order of 3% are typical at 100 ng ml−1 Pb(II) and the active sensing phases can easily be regenerated by passing 500 μl of 6 M hydrochloric acid. A lead(II) detection limit of 0.1 ng ml−1 (3×background SD, for 2 ml sample injection volumes) was achieved for the optosensor based on 8-hydroxy-7-quinolinesulphonic acid. Possible interferences present in sea water, including cations and anions which could affect the sensor response, are discussed in detail. Finally, the selected RTP flow-through optical sensor has been successfully tested for the determination of lead in sea water at a few ng ml−1.

Twinning and Stacking Fault Formation during Tensile Deformation of Nanocrystalline Ni

Deformation twins and stacking faults have been observed in nanocrystal line Ni, for the first time under uniaxial tensile test conditions. These partial dislocation mediated deformation mechanisms are enhanced at cryogenic test temperatures. Our observations highlight the effects of deformation conditions, temperature in particular, on deformation mechanisms in nanograins.

Bead-probe complex capture a couple of SINE and LINE family from genomes of two closely related species of East Asian cyprinid directly using magnetic separation

Background: Short and long interspersed elements (SINEs and LINEs, respectively), two types of retroposons, are active in shaping the architecture of genomes and powerful tools for studies of phylogeny and population biology. Here we developed special protocol to apply biotin-streptavidin bead system into isolation of interspersed repeated sequences rapidly and efficiently, in which SINEs and LINEs were captured directly from digested genomic DNA by hybridization to bead-probe complex in solution instead of traditional strategy including genomic library construction and screening. Results: A new couple of SINEs and LINEs that shared an almost identical 3'tail was isolated and characterized in silver carp and bighead carp of two closely related species. These SINEs (34 members), designated HAmo SINE family, were little divergent in sequence and flanked by obvious TSD indicated that HAmo SINE was very young family. The copy numbers of this family was estimated to 2 x 10(5) and 1.7 x 10(5) per haploid genome by Real-Time qPCR, respectively. The LINEs, identified as the homologs of LINE2 in other fishes, had a conserved primary sequence and secondary structures of the 3'tail region that was almost identical to that of HAmo SINE. These evidences suggest that HAmo SINEs are active and amplified recently utilizing the enzymatic machinery for retroposition of HAmoL2 through the recognition of higher-order structures of the conserved 42-tail region. We analyzed the possible structures of HAmo SINE that lead to successful amplification in genome and then deduced that HAmo SINE, SmaI SINE and FokI SINE that were similar in sequence each other, were probably generated independently and created by LINE family within the same lineage of a LINE phylogeny in the genomes of different hosts. Conclusion: The presented results show the advantage of the novel method for retroposons isolation and a pair of young SINE family and its partner LINE family in two carp fishes, which strengthened the hypotheses containing the slippage model for initiation of reverse transcription, retropositional parasitism of SINEs on LINEs, the formation of the stem loop structure in 3'tail region of some SINEs and LINEs and the mechanism of template switching in generating new SINE family.

Induction of apoptosis in a carp leucocyte cell line infected with turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) rhabdovirus

A rhabdovirus was observed from the diseased turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.) with lethal syndrome. In this study, a carp leucocyte (CLC) cell line was used to investigate the infection process and cell death mechanism occurring during the virus infection. Strong cytopathogenic effect (CPE) and the morphological changes, such as extreme chromatin condensation, nucleus fragmentation, and apoptotic body formation, were observed under fluorescence microscopy after DAPI staining in the infected CLC cells. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed cell shrinkage, plasma membrane blebbing, cytoplasm vacuolization, chromatin condensation, nuclear breakdown and formation of discrete apoptotic bodies. The bullet-shaped nucleocapsids were measured and ranged in size from 110 to 150 nm in length and 40 to 60 nm in diameter. And therefore the virus is called Scophthalmus maximus rhabdovirus (SMRV). Agarose gel electrophoresis analysis of the DNA extracted from infected cells showed typical DNA ladder in the course of SMRV infection. Flow cytometry analysis of SMRV infected CLC cells detected apoptotic peak in the virus infected CLC cells. Virus titre analysis and electron microscopic observation revealed that the virus replication fastigium was earlier than that of the apoptosis occurrence. No apoptosis was observed in the CLC infected with UV-inactivated SMRV. All these supported that SMRV infected CLC cells undergo apoptosis and the virus replication is necessary for apoptosis induction of CLC cells. (C) 2004 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Effects of Pairing Correlations on Formation of Proton Halo in C-9

Properties for the ground state of C-9 are studied in the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with the NLSH, NLLN and TM2 effective interactions. Pairing correlations are taken into account by a density-dependent delta-force with the pairing strength for protons determined by fitting either to the experimental binding energy or to the odd-even mass difference from the five-point formula. The effects of pairing correlations on the formation of proton halo in the ground state of C-9 are examined. The halo structure is shown to be formed by the partially occupied valence proton levels p(3/2) and p(1/2).

Several new phenomena in the formation of ring-banded spherulites of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and poly(styrene-random-acrylonitrile) blends

Ring-banded spherulites in crystallization of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) and poly (styrene-random-acrylonitrile) blends were observed with polarizing optical microscopy and digital image analysis technique was applied directly to the image obtained by polarizing microscope, Several new interesting phenomena were found. One is that the ring-banded structure is still clearly seen after the analyzer was removed and this astonished phenomenon couldn't result from the general concept about formation mechanism of ring-banded spherulite - lamellae twisting, Another one is that there is a slight, dark line in the bright band when cross polars were added, which may be related to the formation process and mechanism of ring-banded spherulites in the blends of poly (epsilon-caprolactone) and poly (styrene-random-acrylonitrile).

Formation of the V center on H-type zeolites with thermal treatment

The effect of thermal treatment on H-MCM-22 and H-ZSM-5 zeolites was investigated using the electron spin resonance technique. A six-line signal (denoted as A, g = 2.048, A = 22. 15 G) was detected on H-MCM-22 after He purging at high temperatures, whose intensities increased with the treating temperature. The same signal was also found on H-ZSM-5 zeolites with different crystal sizes. The paramagnetic center was identified as a V center, namely, a hole of an electron trapped on an oxygen atom bonding to a nearby aluminum atom. These signals appeared only on a dealuminated sample or a sample concomitantly with dealumination. The formation of the hole might involve an electron transferring from the lattice oxygen to a nonframework aluminum species, and the hyperfine splitting is caused by the interaction between the electron hole locating on the p orbit of oxygen and the framework aluminum bonding with the oxygen. The signal disappeared after the sample was exposed to air or oxygen at room temperature. However, the process was reversible. A new set of signals (denoted as B, g(1) = 2.008, g(2) = 2.003, g(3) = 1.9985) was observed after oxygen adsorption on the H-MCM-22 pretreated with He at 973 K or He purging at 973 K on the H-MCM-22 pretreated with oxygen at 813 K, which was attributed to the O- species.