Pregnancy suppression by active immunization against gestation-specific riboflavin carrier protein

A riboflavin carrier protein isolated from chickens cross-reacts with a gestation-specific rodent carrier for riboflavin. Active immunization of female rats of proved fertility with the purified chicken carrier protein completely yet reversibly suppressed early pregnancy without impairing implantation per se. Concurrently there were no discernible adverse effects on maternal health in terms of weight gain, vitamin status, and fertility.

Synthesis of Azo Coupled Crown Ethers Containing Transition Metal and other Chromophoric Environments and Their Ion Complexation Properties

The crown ethers, 2,3-benzo-1,4,7,10,13-pentaoxa-cyclopentadeca-2-ene and 2,3, ll,12-dibenzo-l,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxscyclooctadeca-2,11-diene are incorporated into H,N'-ethylenebis(acetylacetoneimino) nickel(II) and copper(II), phenol, and β-naphthol by diazo coupling reactions. The selective nature of the coupling reaction has-been demonstrated by the isolation of both asymmetric mono- and symmetric bis(glyoxalarylcrownhydrazoneimino) metal(II) complexes. An interesting binuclear complex containing two intramolecularly rearranged (glyoxal-hydrazonearylimino) metal(II) groups joined by 18-crown-6 result8 when bis(arenediazonium)-18-crown-6 is coupled with the metal(I1) Schiff bases. The substituted ethers form cationic salts with NaClO4, KCNS, NH4CNS, 14g(CNS)2 and Ca(CNS)2. All the synthesised ethers exhibit ion selectivity sequence as K+ > Na+ and Ca2+ > Mg2+.

Multistage monostable multivibrator using load-coupled regenerative feedback

A monostable multivibrator configuration using a new technique of regenerative feedback is discussed. This circuit provides an elegant alternative in situations wherein several monostable multivibrators have to be connected in tandem.

Transient response of coupled non-linear non-conservative systems

This paper deals with an approximate method of analysis of non-linear, non-conservative systems of two degrees of freedom. The approximate equations for amplitude and phase are obtained by a generalized averaging technique based on the ultraspherical polynomial approximation. The method is illustrated by an example of a spring-mass-damper system.

Hyperfine structure in the ESR spectra of exchange-coupled pairs—copper diethyidithiocarbamate

A study of the hyperfine interaction in the ESR of coupled Cu---Cu pairs in single crystals of copper diethyldithiocarbamate as a function of temperature has shown distinct differences in the hyperfine structure in the two fine-structure transitions at 20 K; the spectrum does not have the usual binomial hyperfine pattern for the fine-structure transition of the low field in contrast to that of the high field. The details of the structure of both fine-structure transitions in the 20-K spectrum can be explained by recognizing the fact that the mixing of the nuclear spin states caused by the anisotropic hyperfine interaction affects the electron spin states |+1 and |−1 differently. The anomalous hyperfine structure is found to become symmetric at 77 and 300 K. It is proposed that the reason for this lies in the dynamics of spin-lattice interaction, which limits the lifetime of the spin states in each of the electronic levels |−1 , |0 , and |+1 . The estimate of spin-lattice relaxation time in the temperature range where the changes are observed agrees with those indicated by other studies. The model proposed here for the hyperfine interaction of pairs in the electronic triplet state is of general validity.

ESR study of exchange coupled pairs in copper diethyldithiocarbamate—explanation of the low temperature hyperfine anomaly

A study of the hyperfine interaction in the ESR of Cu-Cu pairs in single crystals of copper diethyldithiocarbamate as a function of temperature has shown distinct differences in the hyperfine structure in the two fine structure transitions at 20 K, the spectrum not having the same hyperfine intensity pattern in the low field fine structure transition in contrast to that of the high field transition. The details of the structure of both the fine structure transitions in the 20 K spectrum have now been explained by recognizing the fact that the mixing of the nuclear spin states caused by the anisotropic hyperfine interaction affects the electron spin states | + 1 > and | −> differently. This has incidentally led to a determination of the sign ofD confirming the earlier model. The anomalous hyperfine structure is found to become symmetric at 77 K and 300 K. It is proposed that the reason for this lies in the dynamics of spin-lattice interaction which limits the lifetime of the spin states in each of the electronic levels | − 1 >, | 0 > and | + 1 > The estimate of spin-lattice relaxation time agrees with those indicated from other studies. The model proposed here for the hyperfine interaction of pairs in the electronic triplet state is of general validity.

Prospects of riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) as an antifertility vaccine in male and female mammals

Riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) is obligatorily involved in yolk deposition of the vitamin, riboflavin, in the developing oocyte of the hen. The production of this protein is inducible by oestrogen. It is evolutionarily conserved in terms of its physicochemical, immunological and functional characteristics. It is the prime mediator of vitamin supply to the developing fetus in mammals, including primates. Passive immunoneutralization of the protein terminates pregnancy in rats. Active immunization of rats and bonnet monkeys with avian RCP prevents pregnancy without causing any adverse physiological effects of the mother in terms of her vitamin status, reproductive cycles or reproductive-endocrine profile. Denatured, linearized RCP is more effective in eliciting neutralizing antibodies capable of interfering with embryonic viability either before or during peri-implantation stages. Two defined stretches of sequential epitopes, one located at the N-terminus and the other at the C-terminus of the protein have been identified. Active immunization with either of these epitopes conjugated with diptheria toxoid curtails pregnancy in rats and monkeys. Immunohistochemical localization of RCP on ovulated oocytes and early embryos shows that the antibodies cause degeneration only of early embryos. RCP is produced intra-testicularly and becomes localized on acrosomal surface of mammalian spermatozoa. Active immunization of male rats and monkeys with denatured RCP markedly reduces fertility by impairing the fertilizing potential of spermatozoa. These findings suggest that RCP, or its defined fragments, could be a novel, first generation vaccine for regulating fertility in both the sexes.

Hormonal modulation of riboflavin carrier protein secretion by immature rat Sertoli cells in culture

We report here that a protein species with biochemical and immunological similarity with chicken egg riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) is synthesized and secreted by immature rat Sertoli cells in culture. When quantitated by a specific heterologous radioimmunoassay, optimal concentrations of FSH (25 ng/ml) brought about 3-fold stimulation of RCP secretion. FSH, in the presence of testosterone (10−6 M) brought about 6-fold stimulation of secretion of RCP over the control cultures which were maintained in the absence of these two factors. The aromatase inhibitor (1,4,6-androstatrien-3,17-dione) curtailed 85% of the enhanced secretion of RCP, suggesting that the hormonal stimulation is mediated through in situ synthesized estrogen and this could be confirmed with exogenous estradiol-17 β which brought about 3 — fold enhancement of secretion of RCP at a concentration of 10−6 M. When tamoxifen (10 μM) was added along with FSH and testosterone, there was 75% decrease in the enhanced secretion of RCP. Addition of this anti-estrogen together with exogenous estradiol resulted in 55% decrease in elevated levels of RCP. Cholera toxin (1 μg/ml) and 8-bromo-cyclic AMP (0.5 mM) mimicked the action of FSH on the secretion of RCP thus suggesting that FSH stimulation of RCP production may be mediated through cyclic AMP. These findings suggest that estrogen mediates RCP induction in hormonally stimulated sertoli cells presumably to function as the carrier of riboflavin to the developing germ cells through blood-testis barrier in rodents.

Hyperexpression of chicken riboflavin carrier protein: Antibodies to the recombinant protein curtail pregnancy in rodents

Chicken riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) is a phosphoglycoprotein present in the egg white and yolk of egg-laying animals and in the sera of laying hens and of estrogenized chicks. The RCP cDNA, encoding a protein of predictedMr27,000, has been cloned into a T7 polymerase-driven vector, and high-level expression was observed on induction with IPTG inEscherichia coli.The protein was largely localized in inclusion bodies when expressed at 37°C but was present in the cytosolic fraction when induced at 22°C. At 37°C, two major bands were detected in whole-cell lysates of the strain expressing the protein. N-terminal sequence analysis indicated that the two proteins represented translated products with and without the pelB leader sequence encoded in the pET20b vector, but both included an additional 10 amino acids generated during cloning procedures. The inclusion body obtained at 37°C, on extraction with detergent, led to preferential solubilization of the protein without the pelB signal sequence. The solubilized recombinant RCP was recognized by polyclonal antisera to native RCP but radioimmunoassay revealed quantitative differences in the epitopes exhibited by the recombinant protein. Thus, sequence-specific monoclonal antibodies to chicken RCP also cross-reacted with the recombinant protein with almost equal efficiency, but antibodies which recognize conformation-dependent epitopes showed relatively reduced cross-reactivity with the recombinant protein. Polyclonal antibodies to recombinant RCP were able to recognize both the native and the denatured RCP. Administration of recombinant RCP antisera to pregnant mice led to embryonic resorption leading to early pregnancy termination. These findings reveal that the recombinant protein will be useful for investigations related to the mechanism of pregnancy termination on immunoneutralization of RCP in mammals, as well as in unraveling folding properties of RCP in terms of its ligand binding and antigenetic determinants exposed at its surface.

Coupled Solution for Forced Recharge in Confined Aquifers

Analytical solutions for forced well recharge currently in use were initially developed for pumping scenarios and applied for recharge cases assuming that radial flow in the recharge well replicates a mirror image of that in to a pumping well. Moreover these solutions were not extended to multiaquifer systems. Well bore numerical solutions were generally not considering the effect of well bore interaction, which has a significant effect in the case of a recharge well. In the present paper, improved analytical solutions are developed for a well fully penetrating either single or multiaquifers in respect.to of well storage, well loss, and interactions between the individual aquifers through well bore. The solution developed for constant and variable rates of injection and well loss is applied to the experimental data of the Hansol well injection project near the city of Ahmedabad in the Gujarat state in India. The paper also discusses the difference in well hydraulics of recharge and recovery wells.

A strategy for scheduling tightly coupled parallel applications on clusters

Although various strategies have been developed for scheduling parallel applications with independent tasks, very little work exists for scheduling tightly coupled parallel applications on cluster environments. In this paper, we compare four different strategies based on performance models of tightly coupled parallel applications for scheduling the applications on clusters. In addition to algorithms based on existing popular optimization techniques, we also propose a new algorithm called Box Elimination that searches the space of performance model parameters to determine the best schedule of machines. By means of real and simulation experiments, we evaluated the algorithms on single cluster and multi-cluster setups. We show that our Box Elimination algorithm generates up to 80% more efficient schedule than other algorithms. We also show that the execution times of the schedules produced by our algorithm are more robust against the performance modeling errors.

Femtosecond carrier dynamics and saturable absorption in graphene suspensions

Nonlinear optical properties and carrier relaxation dynamics in graphene, suspended in three different solvents, are investigated using femtosecond (80 fs pulses) Z-scan and degenerate pump-probe spectroscopy at 790 nm. The results demonstrate saturable absorption property of graphene with a nonlinear absorption coefficient, beta of (similar to 2-9) x 10(-8) cm/W. Two distinct time scales associated with the relaxation of photoexcited carriers, a fast one in the range of 130-330 fs (related to carrier-carrier scattering) followed by it slower one in 3.5-4.9 ps range (associated with carrier-phonon scattering) are observed. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics.

Thermal anomalies in ternary Ge42-xPbxSe58 glasses near the charge carrier reversal threshold

The carrier type reversal (CTR) from p- to n-type in semiconducting chalcogenide glasses is an important and a long standing problem in glass science. Ge-Se glasses exhibit CTR when the metallic elements Bi and Pb are added. For example, bulk Ge42-xSe58Pbx glasses exhibit CTR around 8-9 at. % of Pb. These glasses have been prepared by melt quenching method. Glass transition temperature (T-g), Specific heat change between the liquid and the glassy states (Delta C-p) at T-g and the nonreversing heat flow (Delta H-nr) measured by modulated differential scanning calorimetry exhibit anomalies at 9 at. % of Pb. These observed anomalies are interpreted on the basis of the nano scale phase separation occurring in these glasses.