Carbon and nitrogen metabolism of an eutrophication tolerative macrophyte, Potamogeton crispus, under NH4+ stress and low light availability

Submersed macrophytes in eutrophic lakes often experience high NH4+ concentration and low light availability in the water column. This study found that an NH4+-N concentration of 1 mgL(-1) in the water column apparently caused physiological stress on the macrophyte Potamogeton crispus; L The plants accumulated free amino acids (FAA) and lost soluble carbohydrates (SC) under NH4+ stress. These stressful effects of NH4+ were exacerbated under low light availability. Shading significantly increased NH4+ and FAA contents and dramatically decreased SC and starch contents in the plant shoots. At an NH4+-N concentration of 1 mg L-1 in the water column, neither growth inhibition nor NH4+ accumulation was observed in the plant tissues of P. crispus under normal light availability. The results showed that 1 mg L-1 NH4+-N in the water column was not toxic to P. crispus in a short term. To avoid NH4+ toxicity. active NH4+ transportation out of the cell may cost energy and thus result in a decline of carbohydrate. When NH4+ inescapably accumulates in the plant cell, i.e. under NH4+ Stress and shading, NH4+ is scavenged by FAA synthesis. (c) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Carbon film deposited by mass-selected low energy ion beam technique and ion bombardment effect

By mass-selected low energy ion beam deposition, amorphous carbon film was obtained. X-ray diffraction, Raman and Auger electron spectroscopy depth line shape measurements showed that such carbon films contained diamond particles. The main growth mechanism is subsurface implantation. Furthermore, it was indicated in a different way that ion bombardment played a decisive role in bias enhanced nucleation of chemical vapor deposition diamond.

Low potential detection of glutamate based on the electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH at thionine/single-walled carbon nanotubes composite modified electrode

A glutamate biosensor based on the electrocatalytic oxidation of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which was generated by the enzymatic reaction, was developed via employing a single-walled carbon nanotubes/thionine (Th-SWNTs) nanocomposite as a mediator and an enzyme immobilization matrix. The biosensor, which was fabricated by immobilizing glutamate dehydrogenase (GIDH) on the surface of Th-SWNTs, exhibited a rapid response (ca. 5 s), a low detection limit (0.1 mu M), a wide and useful linear range (0.5-400 mu M), high sensitivity (137.3 +/- 15.7) mu A mM(-1) cm(-2), higher biological affinity, as well as good stability and repeatability. In addition, the common interfering species, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, and 4-acetamidophenol, did not cause any interference due to the use of a low operating potential (190 mV vs. NHE). The biosensor can be used to quantify the concentration of glutamate in the physiological level. The Th-SWNTs system represents a simple and effective approach to the integration of dehydrogenase and electrodes, which can provide analytical access to a large group of enzymes for wide range of bioelectrochemical applications including biosensors and biofuel cells.

Raman Spectroscopy of Irradiation Effect in Three Carbon Allotropes Induced by Low Energy B Ions

Irradiation efect in three carbon allotropes C60, diamond and highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) induced by 170 keV B ions, mainly including the process of the damage creation, is investigated by means of Raman spectroscopy technique. The diferences on irradiation sensitivity and structural stability for C60, HOPG and diamond are compared. The analysis results indicate that C60 is the most sensitive for B ions irradiation,diamond is the second one and the structure of HOPG is the most stable under B ion irradiation. The damage cross sections ? of C60, diamond and HOPG deduced from the Raman spectra are 7.78×10−15 , 6.38×10−15 and1.31 × 10−15cm2, respectively.

High-efficiency transfer and expression of AdCMV-p53 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells induced by low-dose carbon-ion radiation

Objective To investigate whether the irradiation with C-beam could enhance adenovirus-mediated transfer and expression of p53 in human hepatocellular carcinoma. Materials and methods HepG2 cells were exposed to C-beam or gamma-ray and then infected with replicationdeficient adenovirus recombinant vectors containing human wild-type p53 or green fluorescent protein, respectively. The transfer efficiency and expression level of the exogenous gene were detected by flow cytometric analysis. Cell survival fraction was detected by clonogenic assay. Results The transfer frequency in C-beam or gamma-irradiated groups increased by 50-83% and 5.7-38.0% compared with the control, respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with C-beam alone, p53 alone, and gamma-ray with p53, the percentages of p53 positive cells for 1 Gy C-beam with p53 increased by 56.0-72.0%, 63.5-82.0%, and 31.3-72.5% on first and third day after the treatments, respectively (P < 0.05). The survival fractions for the 2Gy C-bearn and AdCMV-p53 infection groups decreased to similar to 2%. Conclusion C-beam irradiation could significantly promote AdCMV-green fluorescent protein transfer and expression of p53.

Cytogenetic Effects of Low Doses of Energetic Carbon Ions on Rice After Exposures of Dry Seeds, Wet Seeds and Seedlings

In order to investigate the biological effects of heavy ion radiation at low closes and the different radiosensitivities of growing and non-growing plants. rice at different lift stages (dry seed, wet seed and seedling) were exposed to carbon ions at closes of 0 02, 0.2, 2 and 20 Gy. Radiobiological effects on survival, root growth and mitotic activity, as well as the induction of chromosome aberrations in root meristem. were observed The results show that radiation exposure induces a stimulatory response at lower close and an inhibitory response at higher dose on the mitotic activity of wet seeds and seedlings Cytogenetic damages are induced in both seeds and seedlings by carbon ion radiation at doses as low as 0.02 Gy Compared with seedlings. seeds are more resistant to the lethal damage and the growth rate damage by high doses of carbon ions, but are more sensitive to cytogenetic damage by low closes of irradiation Different types of radiation induced chromosome aberrations are observed between seeds and seedlings. Based on these results, the relationships between low close heavy ion-induced biological effects and the biological materials are discussed.

A simple route to incorporate redox mediator into carbon nanotubes/Nafion composite film and its application to determine NADH at low potential

Through a new and simple ion-exchange route, two-electron redox mediator thionine has been deliberately incorporated into the carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/Nafion composite film due to the fact that there is strong interaction between any of two among the three materials (ion-exchange process between thionine and Nafion, strong adsorption of thionine by CNTs, and wrapping and solubilizing of CNTs with Nation). The good homogenization of electron conductor CNTs in the integrated films provides the possibility of three-dimensional electron conductive network. The resulting integrated films exhibited high and stable electrocatalytic activity toward NADH oxidation with the significant decrease of high overpotential, which responds more sensitively more than those modified by thioine or CNTs alone. Such high electrocatalytic activity facilitated the low potential determination of NADH (as low as -0.1 V), which eliminated the interferences from other easily oxidizable species. In a word, the immobilization approach is very simple, timesaving and effective, which could be extended to the immobilization of other cationic redox mediators into the CNTs/Nafion composite film. And these features may offer potential promise for the design of amperometric biosensors.

Studies on the PTC/NTC effect of carbon black filled low density polyethylene composites

The positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and negative temperature coefficient (NTC) effect of carbon black (CB) filled low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites was studied using electrical resistivity spectra, DSC, tensile mechanical analysis (TMA) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques. The three LDPEs used have a similar crystallinity and different melting index (MI). The experimental results indicate that the CB has no significant effect on the crystallinity and the long spacing of crystalline domains of LDPE. Based upon the TMA and dynamic elastic modulus spectra, it can be concluded that the PTC effect is related to the thermal expansion of the polymer matrix, and the NTC effect is caused by a decrease of the elastic modulus of the polymer at high temperatures. The NTC effect can be reduced by enhancing either the elastic modulus or the interaction between carbon black and matrix. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.