Morphometric study of the small intestinal mucosa in young, adult, and old rats submitted to protein deficiency and rehabilitation

Linear and stereological morphometric methods were applied to the jejunal and ileal mucosa of young, adult, and old male Wistar rats submitted to protein deficiency and rehabilitation. The animals were fed ad libitum a 2% casein diet during 42 days and then received a 20% casein diet for 30 days. Food intake, body weights, and plasma protein concentrations were recorded. In the young protein deficient rats values of mucosal height, surface area, and volume of the lamina propria were significantly lower than those of their age controls in both jejunum and ileum. In adults the differences were less marked and in the old rats all parameters were found to be unaltered by the protein deficient diet. The surface-to-volume ratio showed no significant differences between control and protein deficient in all three age groups, meaning that villus pattern did not change with protein deficiency. On rehabilitation, a striking difference between jejunum and ileum was observed in the young rats; all parameters returned to control levels in the jejunum, while they remained lower than those of their controls in the ileum.

Small angle X-ray scattering study of structural changes in silica gel modified with organofunctional groups

Silica gel surfaces, organofunctionalized with 2-mercaptobenzimidazole, iminosalicylaldehyde and imidazole groups were examined using the small angle X-ray scattering technique (SAXS). From the scattering intensity data it was concluded that particles have a uniform size after the coupling reaction. The chemical treatment of the silica gel leads to an attachment of the organofunctional groups on the solid-pore interface of the silica with an increase of the mean size of the solid phase and some coalescence of the pores. © 1989.

Liver response to low-hexachlorobenzene exposure in protein- or energy-restricted rats

The individual effects of protein deficiency and energy restriction on liver response to low-hexachlorobenzene (HCB) exposure were investigated in adult male Wistar rats. In rats fed either the low-protein or control diet, the only effect caused by HCB was a decrease in paralysis time following an ip injection of zoxazolamine. This decrease was similar for both groups. In the animals subjected to energy restriction, HCB induced a greater decrease in paralysis time, an increase in the size of centrilobular hepatocytes, a lower liver DNA content and an increased concentration of HCB in the adipose tissue, compared with the control and protein-deficient groups. Our data suggest that energy restriction increases liver response to HCB, while protein deficiency does not impair the hepatic reaction to small doses of HCB exposure.

Observed supersymmetry of hadrons and the tachyonless string models

The experimental mesonic density of states ρmeson(m)≃ρbaryon(m) from 0.9 to 1.3 GeV. In this region the ρmeson fits the ρ(m) deduced for it from discrete bag model states. Beyond 1.3 GeV one can expect exotic mesons. If ρmeson is replaced by the baryon density (as suggested by string model studies [D. Kutasov and N. Seiberg, Nucl. Phys. B 358 (1991) 600; P.G.O. Freund and J.L. Rosner, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68 (1992) 765]), agreement with theory is obtained up to 1.7 GeV. Beyond 1.7 GeV exotic baryons may be expected.

Potentiometric study using chemically modified silica gel with pyridinium as membrane for ClO4 - ions

A potentiometric sensor for the perchlorate anion was developed by mixing chemically modified silicagel with pyridinium perchlorate, with an epoxy polymer and graphite. The electrode showed Nernstian response between 1.0 × 10-2 and 1.0 × 10-3M perchlorate concentrations. The electrode showed high selectivity to this ion at solutions pH between 5.5 and 8.0. The presence of IO4 -, NO3 -,Br-, IO3 -, Cl- and SO4 2- ions in the solutions, had only small interference in the electrode response in the range mentioned. © 1995 Springer-Verlag.

Use of sorghum seed tissue as a biocatalyst in a stirred reactor for oxalic acid determination

The enzyme oxalate oxidase, E.C. 1.2.3.4 from Sorghum vulgare seeds (variety BR303) was used to develop a new sensor for oxalate determination without any purification. The sorghum seeds were conditioned in a 0.10 mol I-1 KCl solution. Then, these seeds were put in a stirring bar type enzymic reactor and coupled with an electrode for CO2. This device was introduced into a cell containing 10.0 ml of a 0.10 mol I-1 KCl solution saturated with oxygen. This sensor showed a linear response between 1.0 and 4.0 × 10-3 mol I-1 with a slope of 30 mV per decade of oxalate concentration at 25.0°C. The sensor was stable for one month or 200 determinations. The response time was about 60 s. The Michaelis-Menten constant determined for this enzyme was 1.5 × 10-3 mol I-1.

Determination of Oxalate in Grass by FIA with a Spectrophotometric Detection System Using a Two Enzyme Reactor

A new methodology for soluble oxalic acid determination in grass samples was developed using a two enzyme reactor in an FIA system. The reactor consisted of 3 U of oxalate oxidase and 100 U of peroxidase immobilized on Sorghum vulgare seeds activated with glutaraldehyde. The carbon dioxide was monitored spectrophotometrically, after reacting with an acid-base indicator (Bromocresol Purple) after it permeated through a PTFE membrane. A linear response range was observed between 0.25 and 1.00mmol l-1 of oxalic acid; the data was fit by the equation A=-0.8(±1.5)+ 57.2(±2.5)[oxalate], with a correlation coefficient of 0.9971 and a relative standard deviation of 2% for n=5. The variance for a 0.25 mmol l-1 oxalic acid standard solution was lower than 4% for 11 measurements. The FIA system allows analysis of 20 samples per hour without prior treatment. The proposed method showed a good correlation with that of the Sigma Kit.

Probing SU(2) symmetry breaking in the nucleon sea

Investigation of invariant cross-sections for production of K*- and K*0, in the fragmentation region of the proton, in p - p and γ - p reactions, gives a direct and unambiguous probe to the symmetry breaking of the nucleon sea. Based on existing data, we clearly found a large asymmetry of the sea. Our result is in excellent agreement with NA51 measurement, signaling lack of any nuclear effect. The measurement can be carried out in a single experimental set up. The ratio K*-/K*0 is equivalent to ū/d̄, with easy access to the x-dependence of the asymmetry. The observed asymmetry from available experimental data is used to improve the valon-recombination model. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Scaling law for baryon coupling to its current and its possible applications

The baryon coupling to its current (λB), in conventional QCD sum rule calculations (QCDSR), is shown to scale as the cubic power of the baryon mass, MB. Some theoretical justification for it comes from a simple light-cone model and also general scaling arguments for QCD. But more importantly, taken as a phenomenological ansatz for the present, this may find very good use in current explorations of possible applications of QCDSR to baryon physics both at temperature T = 0, T ≠ 0 and/or density ρ = 0, ρ ≠ 0. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

Quark-antiquark correlation in the pion

The electromagnetic tensor for inclusive electron scattering off the pion Wμν for momentum transfers such that q+ = 0, (q+ = q0 + q3) is shown to obey a sum-rule for the component W++. From this sum-rule, one can define the quark-antiquark correlation function in the pion, which characterizes the transverse distance distribution between the quark and antiquark in the light-front pion wave-function. Within the realistic models of the relativistic pion wave function (including instanton vacuum inspired wave function) it is shown that the value of the two-quark correlation radius (rqq̄) is near twice the pion electromagnetic radius (rπ), where rπ ≈ 2/3 fm. We also define the correlation length lcorr where the two-particle correlation have an extremum. The estimation of lcorr ≈ 0.3-0,5 fm is very close to estimations from instanton models of QCD vacuum. It is also shown that the above correlation is very sensitive to the pion light-front wave-function models. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.

Universal aspects of Efimov states and light halo nuclei

The parametric region in the plane defined by the ratios of the energies of the subsystems and the three-body ground state, in which Efimov states can exist, is determined. We use a renormalizable model that guarantees the general validity of our results in the context of short-range interactions. The experimental data for one-and two-neutron separation energies, implies that among the halo nuclei candidates, only 20C has a possible Efimov state, with an estimated energy less than 14 KeV below the scattering threshold.

Oxalate determination in urine using an immobilized enzyme on Sorghum vulgare seeds in a flow injection conductimetric system

A flow-injection (FI) method was developed for the determination of oxalate in urine. It was based on the use of oxalate oxidase (E.C. 1.2.3.4) immobilized on ground seeds of the BR-303 Sorghum vulgare variety. A reactor was filled with this activated material, and the samples (200 μL) containing oxalate were passed through it, carried by a deionized water flow. The carbon dioxide produced by the enzyme reaction permeated through a microporous PTFE membrane, and was received in a water acceptor stream, promoting conductivity changes proportional to the oxalate concentration in the sample. The results obtained showed a useful linear range from 0.05 to 0.50 mmol dm-3. The proposed method, when compared with the Sigma enzymatic procedure, showed good correlation (Y = 0.006(±0.016) + 0.98(±0.019)X; r = 0.9995, Y = conductivity in μS, and X = concentration in mmol dm-3), selectivity, and sensitivity. The new immobilization approach promotes greater stability, allowing oxalate determination for 6 months. About 13 determinations can be performed per hour. The precision of the proposed method is about ± 3.2 % (r.s.d).

Polishable and Renewable DNA Hybridization Biosensors

Routine applications of DNA hybridization biosensors are often restricted by the need for regenerating the single-stranded (ss) probe for subsequent reuse. This note reports on a viable alternative to prolonged thermal or chemical regeneration schemes through the mechanical polishing of oligonucleotide-bulk-modified carbon composite electrodes. The surface of these biocomposite hybridization biosensors can be renewed rapidly and reproducibly by a simple extrusion/polishing protocol. The immobilized probe retains its hybridization activity on confinement in the interior of the carbon paste matrix, with the use of fresh surfaces erasing memory effects and restoring the original target response, to allow numerous hybridization/measurement cycles. We expect that such reusable nucleic acid modified composite electrodes can be designed for a wide variety of biosensing applications.

Renormalization of the one-pion-exchange interaction

A renormalization scheme for the nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction based on a subtracted T-matrix equation is proposed and applied to the one-pion-exchange potential supplemented by contact interactions. The singlet and triplet scattering lengths are given to fix the renormalized strengths of the contact interactions. With only one scaling parameter (μ), the results show an overall very good agreement with neutron-proton data, particularly for the observables related to the triplet channel. The agreement is qualitative in the 1 S0 channel. Between the low-energy NN observables we have examined, the mixing parameter of the 3S1-3D1 states is the most sensitive to the scale. The scheme is renormalization group invariant for μ → ∞. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.