Flow And Heat-Transfer Over An Upstream Moving Wall With A Magnetic-Field And A Parallel Free Stream

The flow and heat transfer over an upstream moving non-isothermal wall with a parallel free stream have been considered. The magnetic field has been applied in the free stream parallel to the wall and the effect of induced magnetic field has been included in the analysis. The boundary layer equations governing the steady incompressible electrically conducting fluid flow have been solved numerically using a shooting method. This problem is interesting because a solution exists only when the ratio of the wall velocity does not exceed a certain critical value and this critical value depends on the magnetic field and magnetic Prandtl number. Also dual solutions exist for a certain range of wall velocity.

1-Anilino-8-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) binding to proteins revisited: Investigation of dye binding to molten globule states by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

The binding of 1-anilino-8-naphthalene-sulfonic acid to globular proteins at acidic pH has been investigated by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS). Mass spectra of apomyoglobin recorded in the pH range 2−7 establish that maximal ANS binding is observed at pH 4.0. As many as seven distinct species may be observed in the gas phase which correspond to protein molecules containing one to six molecules of bound ANS. At neutral pH only a single molecule of ANS is bound. In the case of cytochrome c, maximal binding is observed at pH 4.0, with five molecules being bound. Binding is suppressed at neutral pH. In both cases ESIMS demonstrates maximal ANS binding at pH values where the proteins have been reported to exist in molten globule states. ANS binding is not observed for lysozyme, which has a tightly folded structure over the entire pH range. Reduction of disulfide bonds in lysozyme leads to the detection of ANS-bound species at neutral pH. Binding is suppressed at low pH due to complete unfolding of the reduced protein. The results suggest that ESIMS may provide a convenient method of probing the stoichiometry and distribution of dye complexes with molten protein globules

Accurate mass-based analysis in human sport doping control : Application of liquid chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Human sport doping control analysis is a complex and challenging task for anti-doping laboratories. The List of Prohibited Substances and Methods, updated annually by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), consists of hundreds of chemically and pharmacologically different low and high molecular weight compounds. This poses a considerable challenge for laboratories to analyze for them all in a limited amount of time from a limited sample aliquot. The continuous expansion of the Prohibited List obliges laboratories to keep their analytical methods updated and to research new available methodologies. In this thesis, an accurate mass-based analysis employing liquid chromatography - time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOFMS) was developed and validated to improve the power of doping control analysis. New analytical methods were developed utilizing the high mass accuracy and high information content obtained by TOFMS to generate comprehensive and generic screening procedures. The suitability of LC-TOFMS for comprehensive screening was demonstrated for the first time in the field with mass accuracies better than 1 mDa. Further attention was given to generic sample preparation, an essential part of screening analysis, to rationalize the whole work flow and minimize the need for several separate sample preparation methods. Utilizing both positive and negative ionization allowed the detection of almost 200 prohibited substances. Automatic data processing produced a Microsoft Excel based report highlighting the entries fulfilling the criteria of the reverse data base search (retention time (RT), mass accuracy, isotope match). The quantitative performance of LC-TOFMS was demonstrated with morphine, codeine and their intact glucuronide conjugates. After a straightforward sample preparation the compounds were analyzed directly without the need for hydrolysis, solvent transfer, evaporation or reconstitution. The hydrophilic interaction technique (HILIC) provided good chromatographic separation, which was critical for the morphine glucuronide isomers. A wide linear range (50-5000 ng/ml) with good precision (RSD<10%) and accuracy (±10%) was obtained, showing comparable or better performance to other methods used. In-source collision-induced dissociation (ISCID) allowed confirmation analysis with three diagnostic ions with a median mass accuracy of 1.08 mDa and repeatable ion ratios fulfilling WADA s identification criteria. The suitability of LC-TOFMS for screening of high molecular weight doping agents was demonstrated with plasma volume expanders (PVE), namely dextran and hydroxyethylstarch (HES). Specificity of the assay was improved, since interfering matrix compounds were removed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC). ISCID produced three characteristic ions with an excellent mean mass accuracy of 0.82 mDa at physiological concentration levels. In summary, by combining TOFMS with a proper sample preparation and chromatographic separation, the technique can be utilized extensively in doping control laboratories for comprehensive screening of chemically different low and high molecular weight compounds, for quantification of threshold substances and even for confirmation. LC-TOFMS rationalized the work flow in doping control laboratories by simplifying the screening scheme, expediting reporting and minimizing the analysis costs. Therefore LC-TOFMS can be exploited widely in doping control, and the need for several separate analysis techniques is reduced.

Mother-Infant Antibodies to Pneumococcal Polysaccharides and Proteins : Transfer and Persistence of Maternal Antibodies and Development of Vaccine-Induced and Naturally Acquired Antibodies in Infants

Symptomless nasopharyngeal carriage of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is very common in young children. Occasionally the carriage proceeds into mild mucosal diseases, such as sinusitis or acute otitis media, or into serious life-threatening diseases, such as pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis. Each year, up to one million children less than five years of age worldwide die of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD). Especially in the low-income countries IPD is a leading health problem in infants; 75% of all IPD cases occur before one year of age. This stresses the need of increased protection against pneumococcus in infancy. Anti-pneumococcal antibodies form an important component in the defence against pneumococcal infection. Maternal immunisation and early infant immunisation are two possible ways by which potentially protective antibody concentrations against pneumococci could be achieved in early infancy. The aim of this thesis is to increase the knowledge of antibody mediated protection against pneumococcal disease in infants and young children. We investigated the transfer of maternal anti-pneumococcal antibodies from Filipino mothers to their infants, the persistence of the transferred antibodies in the infants, the immunogenicity of the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) in infants and the response of the children to a second dose of PPV at three years of age. We also investigated the development of antibodies to pneumococcal protein antigens in relation to culture-confirmed pneumococcal carriage in infants. Serum samples were collected from the mothers, the umbilical cords and from the infants at young age as well as at three years of age. The samples were used to determine the antibody concentrations to pneumococcal serotypes 1, 5, 6B, 14, 18C and 19F, as well as to the pneumococcal proteins PspA, PsaA, Ply, PspC, PhtD, PhtDC and LytC by the enzyme immunoassay. The findings of the present study confirm previously obtained results and add to the global knowledge of responses to PPV in young children. Immunising pregnant women with PPV provides the infants with increased concentrations of pneumococcal polysaccharide antibodies. Of the six serotypes examined, serotypes 1 and 5 were immunogenic already in infants. At three years of age, the children responded well to the second dose of PPV suggesting that maternal and early infant immunisations might not induce hyporesponsiveness to polysaccharide antigens after subsequent immunisations. The anti-protein antibody findings provide useful information for the development of pneumococcal protein vaccines. All six proteins studied were immunogenic in infancy and the development of anti-protein antibodies started early in life in relation to pneumococcal carriage.

A methodology for supporting ``transfer'' in biomimetic design

Biomimetics involves transfer from one or more biological examples to a technical system. This study addresses four questions. What are the essential steps in a biomimetic process? What is transferred? How can the transferred knowledge be structured in a way useful for biologists and engineers? Which guidelines can be given to support transfer in biomimetic design processes? In order to identify the essential steps involved in carrying out biomimetics, several procedures found in the literature were summarized, and four essential steps that are common across these procedures were identified. For identification of mechanisms for transfer, 20 biomimetic examples were collected and modeled according to a model. of causality called the SAPPhIRE model. These examples were then analyzed for identifying the underlying similarity between each biological and corresponding analogue technical system. Based on the SAPPhIRE model, four levels of abstraction at which transfer takes place were identified. Taking into account similarity, the biomimetic examples were assigned to the appropriate levels of abstraction of transfer. Based on the essential steps and the levels of transfer, guidelines for supporting transfer in biomimetic design were proposed and evaluated using design experiments. The 20 biological and analogue technical systems that were analyzed were similar in the physical effects used and at the most abstract levels of description of their functionality, but they were the least similar at the lowest levels of abstraction: the parts involved. Transfer most often was carried out at the physical effect level of abstraction. Compared to a generic set of guidelines based on the literature, the proposed guidelines improved design performance by about 60%. Further, the SAPPhIRE model turned out to be a useful representation for modeling complex biological systems and their functionality. Databases of biological systems, which are structured using the SAPPhIRE model, have the potential to aid biomimetic concept generation.

Occurrence of 1-methyladenosine and absence of ribothymidine in transfer ribonucleic acid of Mycobacterium smegmatis

The minor base composition of Mycobacterium smegmatis tRNA has been studied. Thin-layer chromatographic patterns of a ribonuclease T2 digest of mycobacterial tRNA indicated the presence of appreciable amounts of 1-methyladenosine (which is commonly present only in eucaryotic tRNA), dihydrouridine, and 7-methylguanosine. Ribothymidine was absent. The S-adenosylmethionine-dependent tRNA methylases of M. smegmatis catalyzed the formation of 1-methyladenosine when Escherichia coli tRNA was used as acceptor. Similarly, E. coli extracts methylated the tRNA of M. smegmatis, forming ribothymidine.

Interfamilial transfer of amber suppressor gene for the isolation of amber mutants of mycobacteriophage I3

A suppressor-containing strain of Mycobacterium smegmatis SN2 was isolated by transferring an amber suppressor carried on the plasmid of Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes ERA through transformation. Amber mutants of mycobacteriophage I3 were isolated.

Time-Resolved Resonance Raman Studies on Proton-Induced Electron-Transfer Reaction from Triplet Excited State of 2-Methoxynaphthalene to Decafluorobenzophenone

In this paper time-resolved resonance Raman (TR3) spectra of intermediates generated by proton induced electron-transfer reaction between triplet 2-methoxynaphthalene ((ROMe)-R-3) and decafluorobenzophenone (DFBP) are presented The TR3 vibrational spectra and structure of 2-methoxynaphthalene cation radical (ROMe+) have been analyzed by density functional theory (DFT) calculation It is observed that the structure of naphthalene ring of ROMe+ deviates from the structure of cation radical of naphthalene