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Interaction between surfactants forms micelles that typically lead to a reduction of the irritation potential of the mixture. The objective of this study is to illustrate that such antagonism between surfactants is applicable to actual cases of consumer products e.g. laundry detergent products. The Zein test is an in vitro assay measuring corn protein denaturation by solutions of surfactant(s) and often used to predict their acute irritation potential. The Zein test data for the surfactant mixtures from nine representative laundry detergents demonstrate that the protein denaturation by the mixtures is, in all cases, lower than the cumulative score of protein denaturation by the different surfactants tested separately. The data clearly indicate that antagonism occurs between the actual surfactants present in their exact proportions as found in the consumer laundry detergent products. These data support the view that the hazard classification of detergent products as (irritant) by the dangerous preparation directive should not be based on a simple cumulative score of the irritation properties of the individual components of the products.

The development of a methodology to manipulate surface properties of a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of alkanethiol on a gold film using direct laser patterning is the objective of this paper. The present study demonstrates proof of the concept for the feasibility of laser patterning monolayers and outlines theoretical modeling of the process to predict the resulting feature size. This approach is unique in that it eliminates the need for photolithography, is noncontact, and can be extended to other systems such as SAMs on silicon wafers or potentially polymeric substrates. A homogeneous SAM made of 1-hexadecanethiol is formed on a 300-Å sputtered film of gold (supported by a soda lime glass substrate). Localized regions are then desorbed by scanning the focal spot of a 488-nm continuous-wave argon ion laser beam under a nitrogen atmosphere. The desorption occurs as a result of a high substrate temperature produced by the moving laser beam with a Gaussian spatial profile at a constant speed of 200 μm/s. After completing the scans, the sample is dipped into a dilute solution of 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid and a hydrophilic monolayer self-assembles along the previously irradiated regions. The resultant lines are viewed, and line widths are measured using both wetting with tridecane under a light microscope and scanning electron microscopy. Using the direct laser patterning method, we have produced straight line patterns with widths of 28−170 μm. A thermal model was constructed to predict the line width of the desorbed monolayer. The effect of the laser power, beam waist, and temperature dependence of the substrate conductivity on the theoretical predictions is considered. It is shown that the theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the experimental results, and, thus, the model can effectively be used to predict experimental results.

Ionosphere-magnetosphere disturbances at high latitudes, e.g. magnetic substorms, are accompanied by energetic particle precipitation and strong variations of the ionospheric electric fields and currents. These might reasonably be expected to modify the local atmospheric electric circuit. We have analysed air-earth vertical currents (AECs) measured by a long wire antenna at Esrange, northern Sweden during 35 geomagnetic substorms. Using superposed epoch analysis we compare the air-earth current variations during the 3 h before and after the time of the magnetic X-component minimum with those for corresponding local times on 35 days without substorms. After elimination of the average daily variation we can conclude that the effect of substorms on AEC is small but distinguishable. It is speculated that the AEC increases observed during about 2 h prior to the geomagnetic X-component minimum, are due to enhancement of the ionospheric electric field. During the subsequent 2 h of the substorm recovery phase, the difference between “substorm” and “quiet” atmospheric currents decreases. The amplitude of this “substorm” variation of AEC is estimated to be less than 50% of the amplitude of the diurnal variation in AEC during the same time interval. The statistical significance of this result was confirmed using the Van der Waerden X-test. This method was further used to show that the average air-earth current and its fluctuations increase during late expansion and early recovery phases of substorms.

During the summer of 1997 investigations into the nature of polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) were conducted using the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) VHF radar in Norway. The radar was operated in a frequency domain interferometry (FDI) mode over a period of two weeks to study the frequency coherence of the returned radar signals. The operating frequencies of the radar were 224.0 and 224.6 MHz. We present the first results from the experiment by discussing two 4-h intervals of data collected over two consecutive nights. During the first of the two days an enhancement of the FDI coherence, which indicates the presence of distinct scattering layers, was found to follow the lower boundary of the PMSE. Indeed, it is not unusual to observe that the coherence values are peaked around the heights corresponding to both the lower- and upper-most boundaries of the PMSE layer and sublayers. A Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism is offered as one possible explanation for the layering structure. Additionally, our analysis using range-time-pseudocolor plots of signal-to-noise ratios, spectrograms of Doppler velocity, and estimates of the positions of individual scattering layers is shown to be consistent with the proposition that upwardly propagating gravity waves can become steepened near the mesopause.

A European campaign of ground-based radar, lidar and optical measurements was carried out during the winter of 1996/1997 (28 December–2 February) to study lee waves in the northern part of Scandinavia. The participants operated ozone lidars, backscatter lidars and MST radars at ALOMAR/Andoya and Esrange/Kiruna, and an ALIS imaging system in Kiruna. The Andoya site was generally windward of the Scandinavian mountains, the Kiruna site on the leeward side. The goal of the experiment was to examine the influence of lee waves on the formation of Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSCs). This paper studies the radar data from MST-radar ESRAD located at Esrange [68.°N, 21.°E], i.e. in the lee of the mountains. We present three cases where strong lee waves were observed: in one case they propagated upwards to the lower stratosphere and in the other two cases they were trapped or absorbed in the troposphere. We examine the local waves and the direction and strength of the local wind using the radar, the synoptic meteorological situation using weather maps (European Meteorological Bulletin) and the synoptic stratospheric temperatures using ECMWF data. We observed that waves propagate up to the stratosphere during frontal passages. When anticyclonic ridges are present, the propagation to the stratosphere is very weak. This is due to trapping of the waves at or below the tropopause. We also show that the radar data alone can be used to characterise the different weather conditions for the three cases studied (through the variation of the height of the tropopause). The synoptic stratospheric temperatures in the three cases were similar, and were above the expected threshold for PSC formation. Lidar and visual observation of PSCs and nacreous clouds, respectively, showed that these were present only in the case when the lee waves propagated up to the lower stratosphere.

During the METAL campaign conducted at Andøya Rocket Range in September–October 1991, detailed in situ measurements were performed by means of plasma probes in the TURBO rocket payload. During one of the salvoes (30 September 1991), strong plasma density fluctuations were detected above 78 km, especially on downleg. The results are shown to be in good agreement with the new instability predicted from the kinetic theory of Dimant and Sudan (1995). The new instability leads to the excitation of long wavelength plasma waves along the bisector between the drift velocity Vdand the electric field E.

High-voltage electron microscopy at 1,500 kV was used to examine mitochondrial morphology in three skeletal muscles of the rat. The soleus, deep portion of the vastus lateralis, and superficial portion of the vastus lateralis muscles were examined to represent slow-twitch oxidative, fast-twitch oxidative, glycolytic, and fast-twitch glycolytic skeletal muscle fiber types, respectively. Muscle samples were removed from six female Wistar rats. The tissues were fixed using standard electron microscopic techniques and were sectioned transversely with respect to muscle fiber orientation to approximately 0.5-micron thickness. The sections were stained on grids with uranyl acetate and Reynolds' lead citrate. Results revealed a mitochondrial reticulum in all three skeletal muscle fiber types. Stereological analyses of the electron micrographs were performed to measure volume densities and surface-to-volume ratios of mitochondria in the muscle samples. Cross-sectional volume densities of mitochondria in the soleus (15.5 +/- 1%) and deep portion of the vastus lateralis (16.1 +/- 2%) were significantly greater (P less than 0.05) than in the superficial portion of the vastus lateralis (8.7 +/- 1%). Surface-to-volume ratios of mitochondria were not significantly different between fiber types. It was concluded that the mitochondria in mammalian limb skeletal muscle are a reticulum, or network.

The enzyme, exo-beta-(1-3)-D-glucanase, (EC 3.2.1-) obtained from a culture filtrate of Basidiomycete sp. QM 806, has been obtained in a highly purified form and preliminary investigations on its mechanism of action have been reported (Peterson, D. R., and Kirkwood, S. (1975) Carbohydr. Res. 41, 273-283). Studies reported in this paper, have provided strong evidence for the role of histidine in the catalytic site of this carbohydrase. Chemical modifications of the amino acid residues in the enzyme with diazotized 5-amino-1H-tetrazole or tetranitromethane caused irreversible loss of enzyme activity which varied according to the time of exposure to, or concentration of the inhibitor. Prior incubation of the enzyme with a substrate considerably reduced the extent of this inhibition. Amino acid analysis of the enzyme treated in these ways clearly indicated that the substrate protected histidine residues from chemical modification by the diazotized 5-amino-1H-tetrazole. Chemical modification of both histidine and tyrosine residues were effected by incubating the enzyme with the inhibitors described above. Although evidence is presented to suggest that tyrosine is not directly involved in the active site of the enzyme (the catalytic site or the binding site), the role of this residue in the maintenance of the enzyme conformation is discussed. Enzyme assays carried out either in aqueous or deuterated buffer systems provided further evidence which is consistent with the proposed enzyme mechanism.

The synthesis of uridine diphosphate glucose and uridine diphosphate galactose labeled with tritium in the 4-position permits the observation of the isotope effect associated with the UDPGal-4-epimerase reaction. This isotope effect has been measured for the reaction proceeding in both directions and the values of kT/kHfall in the range 1.5 to 3.0. This allows certain conclusions to be drawn concerning the mechanism of this important enzymatic catalysis. The direction and magnitude of the effect indicate that the 4-hydrogen is removed from the hexose in the course of the reaction. They also appear to dispose of several mechanisms that have been proposed for the epimerase. Specifically, mechanisms involving cleavage of the C—O or C—C bonds at carbon-4 of the hexose moiety, such as cleavage of the carbon chain, elimination and readdition of the carbon-4 hydroxyl as water, or ionization to form a carbonium ion, are not supported by the observed data. A mechanism consistent with all observations involves transfer of the hydrogen at carbon-4 to the enzyme in a step that is not rate determining. This is followed immediately by the rate-determining step, which may well be the reorganization of the enzyme–substrate complex to allow return of the hydrogen in the opposite configuration. The larger estimate of the isotope effect indicates a transfer of the carbon-4 hydrogen to a nitrogen atom located in the enzyme's structure; the smaller estimate is consistent with transfer to oxygen or carbon. Transfer to sulfur appears to be definitely eliminated.During this work a degradative procedure that will permit the location and quantitation of the carbon-bound tritium in any hexose or pentose was developed.

Uridine diphospho-α-d-galacto-hexodialdose (UDP-Gal-6-CHO) and uridine diphospho-α-d-gluco-hexodialdose (UDP-Glc-6-CHO) were produced from UDP-galactose through the use of galactose oxidase and UDP-glucose 4-epimerase. UDP-Glc-6-CHO was shown to be an intermediate in the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme UDP-glucose dehydrogenase, indicating that the conversion of UDP-glucose to UDP-glucuronic acid (UDP-GlcUA) proceeds by two steps with UDP-Glc-6-CHO as an enzyme-bound intermediate. The first step, the formation of UDP-Glc-6-CHO from UDP-glucose, involves nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as the oxidant, is reversible, and is highly specific for the substrate structure. UDP-Glc-6-CHO was reduced to UDP-glucose by the dehydrogenase and NADH, while UDP-Gal-6-CHO would not undergo an analogous reaction. The second step, formation of UDP-GlcUA from UDP-Glc-6-CHO, evidently accounts for the irreversibility of the over-all reaction and is less specific toward substrate structure. Both UDP-Glc-6-CHO and UDP-Gal-6-CHO will undergo this oxidation reaction with the enzyme and NAD+, although the latter reacts at about one-sixth of the rate of the former. The oxidation of UDP-Glc-6-CHO to UDP-GlcUA proceeds at exactly the same rate as does oxidation of UDP-glucose to UDP-GlcUA. The reduction of the UDP-hexodialdose with NaB3H4constitutes a very economical synthesis of radioactive UDP-galactose.

The extracellular polysaccharide isolated from cultures of Xanthomonasoryzaeis composed of D-glucose (5 molecular proportions), D-glucuronic acid (2 molecular proportions), and D-mannose (5 molecular proportions). Acid hydrolysis of this polysaccharide, which contains 0.3% combined pyruvic acid, yields 2-O-β-D-glucopyranosyluronic acid D-mannose, which has been characterized as its crystalline fully methylated β-glycoside. Hydrolysis of the methylated polysaccharide gives 2,3,4,6-tetra-O-methyl-D-mannose (3 molecular proportions), 2,3,4-tri-O-methyl-D-glucuronic acid (1 molecular proportion), 2,3,6-tri-O-methyl-D-glucose (4 molecular proportions), 3,4,6-tri-O-methyl-D-mannose (2 molecular proportions), 2,6-di-O-methyl-D-glucose (3 molecular proportions), 2,3-di-O-methyl-D-glucose (1 molecular proportion). The polyalcohol derived from the polysaccharide by periodate oxidation followed by sodium borohydride reduction gives upon acid hydrolysis glycerol (2 molecular proportions), erythritol (1 molecular proportion), and D-glucose (1 molecular proportion). The general structural significance of these findings is discussed.

A β-D-(1 → 3)-glucanase from the Basidiomycete sp. QM 806 of Reese and Mandels has been purified and shown to hydrolyze insoluble laminarin by removing glucose residues one at a time from the non-reducing end of the polysaccharide. The enzyme will also hydrolyze simple oligosaccharides and its mode of attack on these is similar to its action on laminarin. The products produced by the action of this preparation on laminarin are consistent with recent information on the structure of this polysaccharide.

The backscattered signal profile received with the EISCAT VHF radar during a noctilucent cloud event of 3–4 August 1997 is discussed. The processing of the radar signal was standard. A strong signal reflection from 83–88 km altitude was observed for three hours without abnormal ionization above this layer. The layer descended with a velocity of 0.5–3 km/hr. Sometimes it was stratified into two layers, the ionosphere between the layers being undisturbed. The scattered signal strength was as strong as would be expected from an electron density of 1011el/cm3. Simultaneously the MST radar at Esrange revealed the occurrence of PMSE at the same heights. A case of strongly reflected signals for the MST radar from 62 km altitude during the Solar Proton Event of 2 May 1998 is also discussed.

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Long‐term observations of polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) from 2002 to 2012 are investigated with the aim to statistically study the effects of solar thermal migrating and lunar gravitational tides on aerosol layers and their environment at altitudes 80–90 km. The solar and lunar tidal periodicities are clearly present in PMSE data. For the first time, both amplitudes and phases of solar and lunar tides are estimated using PMSE data from the ESRAD radar located at Esrange (Sweden). The diurnal, semidiurnal, and terdiurnal solar migrating tides show pronounced periodicities in the PMSE strength and wind velocity components. Lunar tides demonstrate clear oscillations in the PMSE strength and wind velocities as well. “canonical” lunar gravitational tides, corresponding to the lunar gravitational potential, produce rather large amplitudes and are comparable to the solar thermal tides, whereas “noncanonical” lunar oscillations have minor effects on PMSE layers, but are still statistically significant. The influence of diurnal/semidiurnal tides and monthly/semimonthly tidal components is studied separately. Our estimations of solar thermal and lunar tidal amplitudes are in good agreement with those of previous model and experimental studies. A new mechanism of quadratic demodulation of the solar semidiurnal and lunar semidiurnal tides is shown to be valid at the summer mesopause and can explain periodical PMSE oscillations due to the lunar synodic semimonthly tide with period of 14.77 days. Two harmonics with periods of 27.0 and 13.5 days supposedly representing the solar rotation cycle are also clearly present in PMSE data. For the first time, the influence of both solar and lunar tides on PMSE is comprehensively investigated using large statisticsDiurnal variations of the PMSE strength can partly be explained by superposition of three main harmonics of the solar tide (24, 12, and 8 h)A new mechanism of quadratic demodulation can explain the lunar synodic semimonthly tide with period of 14.77 days

Glomangiopericytoma is an uncommon soft tissue tumour, that is distinct from conventional haemangiopericytoma with respect to site, biologic behaviour and histologic features.

MYCODEXTRAN (nigeran) is an unbranched polysaccharide composed of a regular alternating sequence of α–(1rarr;3) and α–(1→4) linked glucopyranosyl units. It is produced in the mycelia of various species of moulds1. Reese and Mandels have recently reported2the isolation and partial purification of an inducible glucanase (mycodextranase) produced in the culture filtrates of selected species of fungi grown on a medium containing mycodextran as a carbon source. The enzyme is an endoglucanase that hydrolyses nigeran to produce hexameric and tetrameric units which are subsequently hydrolysed to produce the disaccharide nigerose (O–α–D–glucopyranosyl–(1→3)–D–glucose) as the final product2.

THERE is a rapidly increasing body of evidence in the literature that all biological methylation processes, as well as many other ‘single-carbon’ biological syntheses, have a common pattern. It has been shown that the N-methyl groups of the alkaloids hordenine1,2and nicotine3, and the N- and O-methyl groups of the alkaloid ricinine4, have the same origin as the labile methyl groups in animal metabolism. Similarly, the O-methyl groups of barley lignin have been shown to fit this same pattern5. We have recently extended these observations to the methylenedioxy and N-methyl groups of the alkaloid protopine.

We present the first reported case of sudden death in a man with an ependymoma of the third ventricle causing acute obstructive hydrocephalus.

Annual and interannual variations of ozone in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region have been studied using ozonesonde data collected between 1994 and 2001 at several northern European stations. The climatology of ozone exhibits a prominent annual cycle in the UTLS region. The observed change in the phase of the annual cycle from late spring‐early summer at 500 hPa to spring at 200 hPa and to winter‐early spring at 100 hPa shows the switching of the ozone control from photochemical to dynamical. Traces of interannual variation in the lower stratosphere are seen not only in the upper troposphere but also in the middle troposphere (not necessarily always) indicating the dynamical influence on tropospheric ozone budget. Further, the correlation between ozone mixing ratio and potential vorticity (PV) is studied at three northern high‐latitude stations. As expected, a good correlation is found in the lower stratosphere, while the correlation is fair in the middle troposphere, except during summer over the European Arctic. This weak correlation at high latitudes indicates the dominance of photochemistry over dynamics in the presence of prolonged hours of solar illumination. The correlation coefficients derived at high latitudes are smaller than those reported at midlatitudes. This could be due to the greater number of tropopause folds at midlatitudes than at high latitudes and this eventually leads to the conclusion that the downward cross‐tropopause flux is greater at midlatitudes than at high latitudes. Absence of a significant north‐south gradient in the ozone/PV ratio in the lower stratosphere suggests that a single ozone/PV ratio (however, the ratio varies with month) can be used to convert global PV fluxes to ozone fluxes. A few cases of tropopause folds (only one case study is reported in the present study) are selected and studied in detail with the help of a very high frequency radar and meteorological analysis. The ratio between ozone and PV for these case studies agrees reasonably well with the climatological ratios.

An attempt is made to determine the range of two-dimensional current models consistent with the measured magnetovariational response, for periods from 5–30 min, near the Great Glen Fault in northern Scotland. All current models must be symmetric about the fault line but, because of uncertainty about the magnitude of the ocean effect, models ranging from a line current at 80 km depth to a uniform current sheet, 60 km wide, at 10 km depth are equally acceptable. Comparison with other geophysical studies of the same area suggests that a suitable conducting zone is unlikely to be present at shallow depths and interpretation in terms of a conducting zone in the 20–80 km depth range is favoured, although no such zone has been resolved by the other studies.

Data from eighteen Gough—Reitzel magnetometers and four flux-gate magnetometers, which were operated in North Scotland, are presented and discussed. The coverage given by this set of instruments was not dense enough to resolve satisfactorily the complex induction anomalies in this area but some of the major features seen are described. The features observed cannot be accounted for either by oceanic induction effects or by source field effects. The Great Glen shows up as a major conductivity feature. Other effects are also observed, some apparently associated with the highly resistive granites found in this area.

The characteristics of surface-wave propagation in ocean basins are examined numerically for models with two types of anisotropic alignment in the upper mantle: one resulting from glide-plane slip in olivine with horizontal or vertical slip-planes, and the other from syntectonic recrystallization of olivine in a zone of horizontal shear. Glide-plane slip can cause highly anomalous inclined-Rayleigh particle-motion in the third-generalized mode (corresponding to the isotropic second-Rayleigh mode). The amplitude of this anomaly is rather insensitive to details of the structure. Syntectonic recrystallization can cause an anomalous combination of inclined-and tilted-Rayleigh motion in all modes. The variation with period of the amplitude of the anomaly in the fundamental mode can indicate the approximate depth to the anisotropic layer. In both types of alignment, the sense of tilt and the inclination varies with direction of propagation in a manner characteristic of the structural symmetry.

Observations of surface waves crossing ocean basins indicate that, at least in some cases, a better interpretation of what was previously considered to be the simultaneous arrival of fundamental Love and second Rayleigh modes, with similar group velocities, is the coupled motion of the second-generalized mode surface wave propagating in an anisotropic upper-mantle. This mode displays the polarization anomalies expected from anisotropic alignments caused by syntectonic recrystallization of olivine in a zone of horizontal shear. The polarity of the pattern of anomalies, found in waves crossing the Pacific Basin, suggests that the lithosphere is dragging the asthenosphere.

The limitations of isotropic modelling in the inversion of anisotropic surface-wave phase velocities are examined. Inversion of synthetic dispersion data for some model ocean-basin structures is used to demonstrate that isotropic inversions can give inaccurate and misleading estimates of upper-mantle properties when anisotropy is present.