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Photosystem II (PSII) uses solar energy to oxidize water and delivers electrons for life on Earth. The photochemical reaction center of PSII is known to possess two stationary states. In the open state (PSIIO), the absorption of a single photon triggers electron-transfer steps, which convert PSII into the charge-separated closed state (PSIIC). Here, by using steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques on Spinacia oleracea and Thermosynechococcus vulcanus preparations, we show that additional illumination gradually transforms PSIIC into a light-adapted charge-separated state (PSIIL). The PSIIC-to-PSIIL transition, observed at all temperatures between 80 and 308 K, is responsible for a large part of the variable chlorophyll-a fluorescence (Fv) and is associated with subtle, dark-reversible reorganizations in the core complexes, protein conformational changes at noncryogenic temperatures, and marked variations in the rates of photochemical and photophysical reactions. The build-up of PSIIL requires a series of light-induced events generating rapidly recombining primary radical pairs, spaced by sufficient waiting times between these events--pointing to the roles of local electric-field transients and dielectric relaxation processes. We show that the maximum fluorescence level, Fm, is associated with PSIIL rather than with PSIIC, and thus the Fv/Fm parameter cannot be equated with the quantum efficiency of PSII photochemistry. Our findings resolve the controversies and explain the peculiar features of chlorophyll-a fluorescence kinetics, a tool to monitor the functional activity and the structural-functional plasticity of PSII in different wild-types and mutant organisms and under stress conditions. VC American Society of Plant Biologists 2021. All rights reserved

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a mark on nearly all events since the start of the year 2020. There are many studies that examine the medical, economic, and social effects of the pandemic; however, only a few are concerned with how the reactions of society affect the spread of the virus. The goal of our study is to explore and analyze the connection between the communication of pandemic sceptics and the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its caused damages. We aim to investigate the causal relationship between communication about COVID-19 on social media, anti-mask events, and epidemiological indicators in three countries: the USA, Spain, and Hungary.

Photosystem II (PSII) catalyses the photoinduced oxygen evolution and, by producing reducing equivalents drives, in concert with PSI, the conversion of carbon dioxide to sugars. Our knowledge about the architecture of the reaction centre (RC) complex and the mechanisms of charge separation and stabilisation is well advanced. However, our understanding of the processes associated with the functioning of RC is incomplete: the photochemical activity of PSII is routinely monitored by chlorophyll-a fluorescence induction but the presently available data are not free of controversy. In this work, we examined the nature of gradual fluorescence rise of PSII elicited by trains of single-turnover saturating flashes (STSFs) in the presence of a PSII inhibitor, permitting only one stable charge separation. We show that a substantial part of the fluorescence rise originates from light-induced processes that occur after the stabilisation of charge separation, induced by the first STSF; the temperature-dependent relaxation characteristics suggest the involvement of conformational changes in the additional rise. In experiments using double flashes with variable waiting times (∆τ) between them, we found that no rise could be induced with zero or short ∆τ, the value of which depended on the temperature - revealing a previously unknown rate-limiting step in PSII.

International audience; Recent chlorophyll-a fluorescence yield measurements, using single-turnover saturating flashes (STSFs), have revealed the involvement of a rate-limiting step in the reactions following the charge separation induced by the first flash (Magyar et al. 2018). As also shown here, in diuron-inhibited PSII core complexes isolated from Thermosynechococcus vulcanus the fluorescence maximum could only be reached by a train of STSFs. In order to elucidate the origin of the fluorescence yield increments in STSF series, we performed transient absorption measurements at 819 nm, reflecting the photooxidation and re-reduction kinetics of the primary electron donor P680. Upon single flash excitation of the dark-adapted sample, the decay kinetics could be described with lifetimes of 17 ns (~50%) and 167 ns (~30%), and a longer-lived component (~20%). This kinetics are attributed to re-reduction of P680•+ by the donor side of PSII. In contrast, upon second-flash (with Δt between 5 μs and 100 ms) or repetitive excitation, the 819 nm absorption changes decayed with lifetimes of about 2 ns (~60%) and 10 ns (~30%), attributed to recombination of the primary radical pair P680•+ Pheo•- , and a small longer-lived component (~10%). These data confirm that only the first STSF is capable of generating stable charge separation - leading to the reduction of QA ; and thus, the fluorescence yield increments elicited by the consecutive flashes must have a different physical origin. Our double-flash experiments indicate that the rate-limiting steps, detected by chlorophyll-a fluorescence, are not correlated with the turnover of P680. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The accurate and sensitive determination of H2O2 is very important in many cases because it is a product of reactions catalysed by several oxidase enzymes in living cells and it is essential in environmental and pharmaceutical analyses. The fabrication of enzyme protein activity based biosensors is a very promising way for this purpose because the function of biological molecules is very specific, sensitive, and selective. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is the most commonly used enzyme for H2O2 detection because it can oxidize hydrogen atoms and, for example, xenobiotics in the presence of H2O2. In order to define the limit of detection (LOD) of H2O2 we made calibrations with guaiacol and amplex red (AR), which are hydrogen donors of HRP. The accumulation of the reaction products, tetraguaiacol, and resorufin, respectively, then can be easily detected by absorption or emission (fluorescence) spectroscopy. In our experiments an enzyme electrode was fabricated from ITO (indium tin oxide), functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (f-MWCNTs), and HRP. Although the enzyme activity was smaller by about two orders of magnitude when the enzyme was bound to the f-MWCNTs (ca. 10−2 M H2O2/(M HRP·sec) compared to ca. 2 M H2O2/(M HRP·sec) and 5 M H2O2/(M HRP·sec) with AR and guaiacol in buffer solution), LOD of the H2O2 decomposition was about 6 pM H2O2/sec and 10 pM H2O2/sec in the case of AR and guaiacol, respectively.

An optoelectronic device, which converts light energy to electric potential, was designed and fabricated by using photosynthetic reaction centre (RC) proteins of purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides R-26, based on the structure and function of the dye sensitised organic solar cells. First, an electrochemical cell with three electrodes was created especially for this measurement. ITO covered by the MWCNT-RC containing sample served as the working electrode and the counter and the reference electrodes were platinum and Ag\AgCl, respectively. Water soluble ubiquinone-0 and ferrocene, in some experiments were used as mediators. In another experiment, the presence of the RCs in the active layer under dried conditions assured tuneable wavelength sensitivity, in general in the visible, but specially, in the near infrared (700-1000 nm) spectral range. The lifetime of the primary charge separation is in the ps time scale and that of the charge stabilisation can be modulated (at least theoretically) between ps and seconds. A successful combination of RC protein with a light energy converter device in spectroelectrochemical cell (wet conditions in buffered electrolyte) and in dried multilayer structure will be presented here. (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Partial nitrogen doping was performed during the catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) synthesis of multi-walled carbon nanotubes. A special reactor was created to facilitate the execution of syntheses with different reaction conditions. The synthesized samples were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in order to provide information about the tubular and nontubular morphology of particles and their deformation gained after the reaction conditions were changed. The incorporation of nitrogen into the carbon structure was studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), whereas X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy evaluations showed the degree of graphitization. The samples then were carboxyl functionalized in varied concentrations of nitric acid solutions and photosynthetic reaction center protein (RC-26) purified from purple bacteria was linked to the carboxyl groups in order to make the degree of functionalization visible. The protein-linked samples were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our experiments indicated that the syntheses carried out in the new reactor were successful and resulted in carbon nanotubes partially doped with nitrogen. TEM studies revealed that the expected deformations are localized only in a defined segment of carbon nanotubes therefore nitrogen doping is most possibly presented there. The nitrogen content in the samples represented in atomic ratios was between 0.9% and 2.9%. The deformations facilitate the functionalization at that certain area, thus the location of carboxyl groups can be determined.

The reaction center protein is the unit in the photosynthetic organisms in which the primary events of the photoelectric energy conversion take place during photosynthesis. When the photochemistry following the excitation of the reaction center by light is oversaturated there is a large probability to form reactive oxygen species (ROS, e.g., singlet oxygen (O-1(2))). Because the ROS components decrease the overall yield of the photochemical energy conversion there is a considerable effort in many laboratories to find conditions to reduce these harmful compounds. The aim of our work is to create a system by using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and RCs for efficient light-energy conversion. The role of the O-1(2) that destroys the RC structure is discussed. 1,3-Diphenylisobenzofuran was used to detect the concentration of the O-1(2). Although, O-1(2) can be sensitized by CNTs in certain conditions, in our experiments the main sources of the O-1(2) are the RCs. The concentration of the O-1(2) in the equilibrium is determined by the forward sensitization and the backward deactivation processes of the components and functions of the CNT/RC composite. (C) 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Many herbicides employed in agriculture and also some antibiotics bind to a specific site of the reaction centre protein (RC) blocking the photosynthetic electron transport. Crystal structures showed that all these compounds bind at the secondary ubiquinone (QB) site albeit to slightly different places. Different herbicide molecules have different binding affinities (evaluated as inhibition constants, KI, and binding enthalpy values, ∆Hbind). The action of inhibitors depends on the following parameters: (i) herbicide molecular structure; (ii) interactions between herbicide and quinone binding site; (iii) protein environment. In our investigations KI and ∆Hbind were deter- mined for several inhibitors. Bound herbicide structures were optimized and their intramolecular charge distributions were calculated. Experimental and calculated data were compared to those available from databank crystal structures. We can state that the herbicide inhibition efficiency depends on steric and electronic factors, i.e. geometry of binding with the protein and molecular charge distribution, respectively. Apolar bulky groups on N-7 atom of the inhibitor molecule (like t-buthyl in terbutryn) are preferable for establishing stronger interactions with QB site, while such substituents are not recommended on N-8. The N-4,7,8 nitrogen atoms maintain a larger electron density so that more effective H-bonds are formed between the inhibitor and the surrounding amino acids of the protein.

Since their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted intense attention to broad range of potential applications. In contrast to the 1D isolated single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT), 2D films or bundles made of thousands of tubes have been introduced as more advantageous building blocks for new types of applications in mechanically flexible and stretchable, optically transparent electronic systems. In our experiments, we combined photosynthetic reaction centre proteins, the light energy converter units in living cells, purified from purple bacteria, with multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) bundles. The change in the conductivity of the bare MWCNT bundles and the RC/MWCNT composite after light excitation was measured and compared. We found that the electrical conductivity under light excitation depends on the intrinsic conductivity of individual tubes within the bundles and on structural characteristics, like geometry (diameter, length, spatial arrangement, interconnects, etc.) and the electronic coupling with the RCs. (C) 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Photosensitizers may convert molecular oxygen into reactive oxygen species (ROS) including, e.g., singlet oxygen (O-1(2)), superoxide anion (O-2(-center dot)), and hydroxyl radicals ((OH)-O-center dot), chemicals with extremely high cyto- and potential genotoxicity. Photodynamic ROS reactions are determinative in medical photodynamic therapy (cancer treatment with externally added photosensitizers) and in reactions damaging the photosynthetic apparatus of plants (via internal pigments). The primary events of photosynthesis take place in the chlorophyll containing reaction center protein complex (RC), where the energy of light is converted into chemical potential. O-1(2) is formed by both bacterial bacteriochlorophylls and plant RC triplet chlorophylls in high light and if the quenching of O-1(2) is impaired. In plant physiology, reducing the formation of the ROS and thus lessening photooxidative membrane damage (including the RC protein) and increasing the efficiency of the photochemical energy conversion is of special interest. Carbon nanotubes, in artificial systems, are also known to react with singlet oxygen. To investigate the possibility of O-1(2) quenching by carbon nanotubes in a biological system, we studied the effect of carbon nanotubes on O-1(2) photogenerated by photosynthetic RCs purified from purple bacteria. 1,3-Diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF), a dye responding to oxidation by O-1(2) with absorption decrease at 420nm was used to measure O-1(2) concentrations. O-1(2) was produced either from a photosensitizer (methylene blue) or from triplet photosynthetic RCs and the antioxidant capacity of carbon nanotubes was assessed. Less O-1(2) was detected by DPBF in the presence of carbon nanotubes, suggesting that these are potential quenchers of this ROS. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

H2O2 is a product of reactions catalysed by several oxidase enzymes and it is essential in environmental and pharmaceutical analyses. The most commonly used enzyme in understanding the biological behaviour of catalysed oxidation of H2O2 is horseradish peroxidase (HRP). In our experiments HRP was bound to carboxyl-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT-COOH) by N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) and 1-[3-dimethylaminopropyl]-3-ethyl-carbodiimide (EDC) crosslinkers. The activity of this bio-nanocomposite and the limit of detection (LOD) for H2O2 were determined by measuring the fluorescence of tetraguaiacol (which chemical is the product of guaiacol oxidation after addition of H2O2 to the reaction mixture) as a function of time. The hydrogen peroxide biosensor we developed exhibited a detection limit of 1.2 mu MH(2)O(2)s(-1) which resolution was better than the one measured in solution by about a factor of eight (it was 10 mu MH(2)O(2)s(-1) in solution). An attempt has been made to measure the concentration of H2O2 in an electrochemical cell with HRP immobilized on the surface of an electrode made of indium tin oxide (ITO, a transparent conductive oxide) and MWNT. (C) 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Photosynthetic reaction center proteins purified from Rhodobacter sphaeroides purple bacterium were deposited on the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO), a transparent conductive oxide, and the photochemical/-physical properties of the composite were investigated. The kinetics of the light induced absorption change indicated that the RC was active in the composite and there was an interaction between the protein cofactors and the ITO. The electrochromic response of the bacteriopheophytine absorption at 771 nm showed an increased electric field perturbation around this chromophore on the surface of ITO compared to the one measured in solution. This absorption change is associated with the charge-compensating relaxation events inside the protein. Similar life time, but smaller magnitude of this absorption change was measured on the surface of borosilicate glass. The light induced change in the conductivity of the composite as a function of the concentration showed the typical sigmoid saturation characteristics unlike if the photochemically inactive chlorophyll was layered on the ITO. In this later case the light induced change in the conductivity was oppositely proportional to the chlorophyll concentration due to the thermal dissipation of the excitation energy. The sensitivity of the measurement is very high; few picomole RC can change the light induced resistance of the composite.

Photosynthetic reaction centres are membrane-spanning proteins, found in several classes of autotroph organisms, where a photoinduced charge separation and stabilization takes place with a quantum efficiency close to unity. The protein remains stable and fully functional also when extracted and purified in detergents thereby biotechnological applications are possible, for example, assembling it in nano-structures or in optoelectronic systems. Several types of bio-nanocomposite materials have been assembled by using reaction centres and different carrier matrices for different purposes in the field of light energy conversion (e. g., photovoltaics) or biosensing (e. g., for specific detection of pesticides). In this review we will summarize the current status of knowledge, the kinds of applications available and the difficulties to be overcome in the different applications. We will also show possible research directions for the close future in this specific field.

Basic principles of structural and functional requirements of photosynthetic energy conversion in hierarchically organized machineries are reviewed. Blueprints of photosynthesis, the energetic basis of virtually all life on Earth, can serve the basis for constructing artificial light energy-converting molecular devices. In photosynthetic organisms, the conversion of light energy into chemical energy takes places in highly organized fine-tunable systems with structural and functional hierarchy. The incident photons are absorbed by light-harvesting complexes, which funnel the excitation energy into reaction centre (RC) protein complexes containing redox-active chlorophyll molecules; the primary charge separations in the RCs are followed by vectorial transport of charges (electrons and protons) in the photosynthetic membrane. RCs possess properties that make their use in solar energy-converting and integrated optoelectronic systems feasible. Therefore, there is a large interest in many laboratories and in the industry toward their use in molecular devices. RCs have been bound to different carrier matrices, with their photophysical and photochemical activities largely retained in the nano-systems and with electronic connection to conducting surfaces. We show examples of RCs bound to carbon-based materials (functionalized and non-functionalized single- and multiwalled carbon nanotubes), transitional metal oxides (ITO) and conducting polymers and porous silicon and characterize their photochemical activities. Recently, we adapted several physical and chemical methods for binding RCs to different nanomaterials. It is generally found that the P(+)(QAQB)(-) charge pair, which is formed after single saturating light excitation is stabilized after the attachment of the RCs to the nanostructures, which is followed by slow reorganization of the protein structure. Measuring the electric conductivity in a direct contact mode or in electrochemical cell indicates that there is an electronic interaction between the protein and the inorganic carrier matrices. This can be a basis of sensing element of bio-hybrid device for biosensor and/or optoelectronic applications.

The long term stability and the redox interaction between single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and photosynthetic reaction center proteins (RCs) purified from purple bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides R-26 in the SWNT/RC complex has been investigated. The binding of SWNT to RC results in an accumulation of positive (the oxidized primary electron donor, P+) and negative (semiquinone forms, Q(A)(-) and Q(B)(-), the reduced primary and secondary quinones, respectively) charges followed by slow reorganization of the protein structure after excitation. The photochemical activity of the SWNT/RC complexes remains stable for several weeks even in dried form. In the absence of SWNT the secondary quinone activity decays quickly as a function of time after drying the RC onto a glass surface. Polarography measurements substantiate the idea that there is an electronic interaction between the RCs and SWNTs after light excitation, which was suggested earlier by optical measurements. The special electronic properties of the SWNT/protein complexes open the possibility for several applications, e. g., in microelectronics, analytics, or energy conversion and storage. (C) 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

Photosynthetic reaction center (RC) is one of the most important proteins, because it is Nature's solar battery converting light energy into chemical potential in the photosynthetic membrane assuring conditions for carbon reduction in cells. Although it is developed in nanometer scale, and is working in nanoscopic power, this is the protein that assures the energy input practically for the whole biosphere on Earth. The extremely large quantum yield of the primary charge separation (close to 100%) in the RC offers a big challenge to use it in nanodevices. Results of structural (AFM, EM), optical, and electro chemical investigations on RC bio-nanocomposite materials based on different carrier matrices (e.g., CNTs, ITO) will be presented.

Absztrakt A szerzők 408 betegnel tudőgyogyaszati onkologiai indikaciokban vegzett PET-CT-vizsgalataik erteket elemzik. Pulmonalis kerekarnyek karakterizalasanak celjabol 154 PET-CT-t vegeztek, amelyet 59 esetben műtet kovetett. A modszer malignitasra vonatkozo szenzitivitasat 100%-nak, specificitasat 56%-nak talaltak. A nyirokcsomo-erintettseg alapjan tortenő staginget 17/54 esetben mediastinoscopia vagy thoracotomia kovette. Fenti indikaciokban a PET-CT-pozitivitas szovettani/citologiai megerősitese minden esetben szukseges. M-staginget 141, neoadjuvans kemoterapiat kovető mediastinalis restaginget 24 betegnel vegeztek. Utobbi indikaciot a PET-CT pontatlansaga miatt masodlagos jelentősegűnek gondoljak. 175 beteg eseteben a PET-CT műteti indikacioban jatszott (sokszor) meghatarozo szerepet elemeztek. Tapasztalataik kozreadasaval segiteni szeretnek a PET-CT adta uj lehetősegek jobb kihasznalasat, ill. gyorsitani ezek diagnosztikus protokollokba tortenő beilleszteset.

Bar a sebeszi reszekcio, a platina-alapu kemoterapias kombinaciok es a sugarterapia javitott ak a tulelesi eredmenyeken, a nem kissejtes tudőrak (NSCLC) tulelesenek novekedesi gorbeje plato fazisahoz erkezett . Az uj terapias lehetősegek koze tartoznak a molekularis celzott terapiak, ezeken belul a tumorok erhalozatara hato szerek. Jelenleg a bevacizumab – mely egy a vaszkularis endothelialis novekedesi faktor (VEGF) elleni rekombinans, monoklonalis antitest – a klinikai fejlesztesek legelőrehaladott abb stadiumban levő gyogyszere. Ugyanakkor mas celzott erellenes szerek is – beleertve a VDA-kat (vascular disrupting agents) es kulonfele kis molekulaju tirozinkinaz-inhibitorokat – remenykeltők voltak a preklinikai es klinikai vizsgalatokban. Jelen kozlemenyunkben att ekintjuk az NSCLC-ben onmagukban vagy kemoterapiaval kombinaltan alkalmazhato antivaszkularis terapias strategiakat. Magyar Onkologia 52: 247–259, 2008 Kulcsszavak: angiogenezis, tudőrak Despite developments in conventional (chemo)radiotherapy and surgery, survival of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients remains poor. Treatments with targeted molecular drugs off er novel therapeutic strategies. Bevacizumab, a recombinant anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody, is the antiangiogenic drug at the most advanced stage of development in the therapy of NSCLC. However, a number of questions and future challenges relating to the use of bevacizumab in NSCLC remain. Furthermore, novel agents targeting the pre-existing NSCLC vasculature (i.e. vascular disrupting agents, VDAs) or multiple tyrosine kinase inhibitors have emerged as unique drug classes delivering promising results in several preclinical and clinical studies. Herein, we review the most recent data using these novel targeted agents either alone or in combination with chemotherapy in NSCLC. Dome B, Magyar M. Tumor vasculature as a therapeutic target in non-small cell lung cancer. Hungarian Oncology 52: 247–259, 2008

Photothermal characteristics and light-induced structural (volume) changes of carotenoid-containing and noncontaining photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) were investigated by wide frequency band hydrophone. We found that the presence of carotenoid either does not play considerable role in the light-induced conformational movements, or these rearrangements are too slow for inducing a photoacoustic (PA) signal. The kinetic component with a few tens of microseconds, exhibited by the carotenoid-less RCs, appears to be similar to that of triplet state lifetimes, identified by other methods. The binding of terbutryn to the acceptor side is shown to affect the dynamics of the RC. Our results do not confirm large displacements or volume changes induced by the charge movements and by the charge relaxation processes in the RCs in few hundreds of microseconds time scale that accompanies the electron transfer between the primary and secondary electron acceptor quinones.

Until recently, it was generally accepted that vascularization of tumors arises exclusively from endothelial sprouting. Whether circulating bone marrow–derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) participate in the progression of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not yet been evaluated. EPCs labeled with CD34, CD133, and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR2) antibodies were counted by flow cytometry in the peripheral blood of 53 NSCLC patients. Furthermore, by means of a quantitative reverse transcription-PCR approach, we measured VEGFR2, CD133, CD34, and VE-cadherin mRNA in the peripheral blood samples of the same patient population. EPCs in tumor samples were identified by confocal microscopy using CD31, CD34, CD133, and VEGFR2 antibodies. Although immunofluorescent labeling of microvessels made clear that incorporation of EPCs is a rare phenomenon in NSCLC tissue (9 of 22 cases), circulating EPC levels before therapeutic intervention were increased in NSCLC patients (P < 0.002, versus healthy controls), and high pretreatment circulating EPC numbers correlated with poor overall survival (P < 0.001). Furthermore, in the subgroup of responders to treatment, the posttreatment EPC numbers in the peripheral blood were significantly lower compared with nonresponding patients. Interestingly, pretreatment mRNA levels of CD133, VE-cadherin, and CD34 were not significantly increased in NSCLC patients, whereas VEGFR2 expression was increased by 80-fold. Moreover, posttreatment VEGFR2 mRNA level in the peripheral blood was significantly higher in the subgroup of nonresponding patients when compared with posttreatment level of patients responding to antitumor therapy. Circulating levels of bone marrow–derived EPCs are significantly increased in NSCLC patients and correlate with clinical behavior. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(14): 7341-7)

The authors analyzed the results of PET-CT scans made with oncological indications among 408 patients. One hundred and fifty-four PET-CTs were done to characterize pulmonary foci, after which in 59 cases lung surgery was performed. The method's sensitivity in respect to malignancy was 100%, specificity was 56%. Staging of affected lymph nodes resulted in 17 mediastinoscopies and 54 thoracotomies. In the former indications PET-CT-positive lymph nodes always need cytologic/histologic verification. M-staging done with PET-CT was performed in 141 cases, mediastinal restaging of patients having received neoadjuvant chemotherapy was done in 24 cases. The latter indications we consider superfluous because of the diagnostic inaccuracy of PET-CT. In 175 cases we analyzed the frequently determining factor of the PET-CT scan in the indication of lung surgery. The authors wish to share their experience for the better use of this method and to accelerate the inclusion of PET-CT into the diagnostic protocol.

A large number of studies have indicated recently that photosynthetic reaction center proteins (RC) bind successfully to nanostructures and their functional activity is largely retained. The major goal of current research is to find the most efficient systems and conditions for the photoelectric energy conversion and for the stability of this bio-nanocomposite. In our studies, we immobilized the RC protein on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNT) through specific chemical binding to amine functional groups and through conducting polymer (poly(3-thiophene acetic acid), PTAA). Both structural (TEM, AFM) and functional (absorption change and conductivity) measurements has shown that RCs could be bound effectively to functionalized CNTs. The kinetics of the light induced absorption change indicated that RCs were still active in the composite and there was an interaction between the protein cofactors and the CNTs. The light generated photocurrent was measured in an electrochemical cell with transparent CNT electrode designed specially for this experiment. (C) 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim