Large Morphological Changes Research Articles

The effect of encapsulation in carbon nanotubes on properties of Fe–Ni nanoalloys with cubic and helical structures

The effect of encapsulation in carbon nanotubes on Fe–Ni nanoparticles (NPs), NP assemblies and nanowires (NWs) is studied by means of atomistic simulations with empirical potentials. The BCC Fe, L10, FeNi, L12 FeNi3 and FCC Ni stable phases of the bulk alloy are retrieved for both the freestanding (FS) and the encapsulated nanoalloys. As it requires large morphological changes, the BCC/L10 transition may be inhibited by the confinement in a nanotube. The results indicate that encapsulation has the effect to enhance Fe segregation at compositions intermediate between stable phases. When the nanotube is too narrow, encapsulated NWs do not support a cubic structure. They consist in coaxial layers with a central straight atomic row aligning with the tube axis. Each layer displays a helical structure which can be equivalently viewed as a folded atomic plane with low Miller indices. Such ultrathin helical Fe–Ni NWs, FS as well as encapsulated, behave as almost ideal solid solutions over the whole range of compositions.

Aerobic oxidation of α,β-unsaturated alcohols using sequentially-grown AuPd nanoparticles in water and tetraalkylphosphonium ionic liquids

Metallic and bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) (Au, Pd, and AuPd) were synthesized in water with poly(vinylpyrroldine) (PVP) as a polymer stabilizer, as well as in tetraalkylphosphonium chloride ionic liquids (ILs). A borohydride reduction technique was used for the preparation of the monometallic NPs, while a sequential reduction strategy was seen to generate the putative core–shell varieties. Pd and sequentially grown Au–Pd NPs were seen to serve as efficient catalysts for the oxidation of α,β-unsaturated alcohols, while the Au NPs themselves showed minimal activity. However, a system with both Au NPs and a Pd(II) salt (K2PdCl4) also efficiently catalyzed the oxidation reaction in water. A number of aliphatic and aromatic unsaturated alcohols were oxidized using oxygen as an oxidant with these as-prepared catalysts at 60°C in the absence of base. TEM and EXAFS studies of the nanoparticle catalysts before and after the oxidation reaction revealed that the Pd(II) salt was reduced in situ during catalytic conditions, and that there was large changes in particle size and morphology after catalysis, which suggests Ostwald ripening and the presence of a redox mechanism. In the IL system, the ease of Pd reduction led to high activities for many α,β-unsaturated alcohols in the absence of the Au promoter.

Clay crystal-chemical adaptability and transformation mechanisms

AbstractChemical and mineralogical transformations of phyllosilicates are among the most important in diagenetic environments in all types of rocks because they can exert a large control on the processes taking place in such environments and/or provide constraints for the conditions in which phyllosilicate transformation occurred. Dissolution-precipitation and solid-state transformation are usually the two mechanisms proposed for such reactions depending on the crystal-chemical and morphological similarities between parent and neoformed phases together with knowledge of the environmental conditions. These two mechanisms, however, may be at both ends of the spectrum of those operating and many transformations may take place through a mixture of the two mechanisms, generating observable elements that are characteristic of one or the other. In the present literature, the boundaries between the two mechanisms are not clear, mainly because dissolution-precipitation is sometimes defined at nearly atomic scale. It is proposed here that such small-scale processes are considered as a solid-state transformation, and that dissolution-precipitation requires dissolution of entire mineral particles and their dissolved species to pass into the bulk of the solution. Understanding the reaction mechanisms of diagenetic transformations is an important issue because they impinge on geochemical conditions and variables such as cation mobility, rock volume, fabric changes, rock permeability, stable isotope signature and phyllosilicate crystal-chemistry.I propose that, in the lower range temperatures at which clay mineral transformations take place, energy considerations favour solid-state transformation, or reactions that involve the breaking of a limited number of bonds, over dissolution of entire grains and precipitation of crystals of the new phase. Large morphological changes are frequently invoked as evidence for a dissolution-precipitation mechanism but changes in particle shape and size may be achieved by particle rupture, particle welding or by hybrid processes in which dissolution-precipitation plays a minor role.Past and recent studies of phyllosilicate transformations show chemical and structural intermediates indicating a large crystal-chemical versatility, greater than is commonly recognized. These intermediates include tetrahedral sheets of different composition within TOT units (termed polar layers), dioctahedral and trioctahedral domains in the same layer, and 2:1 and 1:1 domains also within the same layers. The existence of such intermediate structures suggests that the reaction mechanisms that generated them are within the realm of the solid-state transformation processes.

Episodic bright and dark spots on Uranus

The northern mid-latitudes of Uranus produce greater episodes of bright cloud formation than any other region on the planet. Near 30°N, very bright cloud features were observed in 1999, 2004, and 2005, with lifetimes of the order of months. In October 2011, Gemini and HST observations revealed another unusually bright cloud feature near 23°N, which was subsequently identified in July 2011 observations and found to be increasing in brightness. Observations obtained at Keck in November 2011 revealed a second bright spot only 2°N of the first, but with a substantially different drift rate (−9.2°E/day vs −1.4°E/day), which we later determined would lead to a close approach on 25 December 2011. A Hubble Target of Opportunity proposal was activated to image the results of the interaction. We found that the original bright spot had faded dramatically before the HST observations had begun and the second bright spot was found to be a companion of a new dark spot on Uranus, only the second ever observed. Both spots exhibited variable drift rates during the nearly 5months of tracking, and both varied in brightness, with BS1 reaching its observed peak on 26 October 2011, and BS2 on 11 November 2011. Altitude measurements based on near-IR imaging in H and Hcont filters showed that the deeper BS2 clouds were located near the methane condensation level (≈1.2bars), while BS1 was generally ∼500mb above that level (at lower pressures). Large morphological changes in the bright cloud features suggest that they are companion clouds of possibly orographic nature associated with vortex circulations, perhaps similar to companion clouds associated with the Great Dark Spot on Neptune, but in this case at a much smaller size scale, spanning only a few degrees of longitude at their greatest extents.

Magnesium hydride as a high capacity negative electrode for lithium ion batteries

Conversion reactions in lithium batteries have been proved for several classes of materials, such as oxides, fluorides, sulphides, nitrides, phosphides and recently for hydrides. Metal hydrides can be electrochemically reduced to a highly conductive composite material consisting of nanometric metallic particles dispersed in an amorphous LiH matrix. Magnesium hydride undergoes a reversible conversion reaction and it has very good theoretical performances, i.e. a theoretical specific capacity of 2038 mA h g−1 and a working potential of 0.5 V vs. Li+/Li. The purpose of our study is to investigate the MgH2 redox activity by evaluating the effect of ball milling pre-treatments and by studying the conversion reaction mechanism. Three materials, prepared by submitting bulk MgH2 to different ball milling procedures, are investigated. By coupling electrochemical tests, ex situ X-ray powder diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, we prove that the lithium incorporation does not follow a simple direct conversion path as it follows at least a sequence of four consecutive processes: (a) the hydride conversion reaction of MgH2 to give Mg and LiH, (b) the alloying of Li in hcp Mg and (c and d) the formation and lithium enrichment of a bcc Li–Mg solid solution. Furthermore some experimental clues suggest that the mechanism is probably even more complex as it can imply the formation of other unknown intermediate Li–Mg–H phases. Moreover large morphological changes occur upon lithium incorporation in the electrodes: in particular an extended sintering of the metal nanoparticles occurs upon cycling. This effect leads to electrode pulverization and capacity fading. On the other hand MgH2 shows a very limited potential hysteresis between discharge and charge and very promising kinetics at high current.

Optical and Electrical Properties of Merocyanine Dye LB Films by Various Time of UV Irradiation and Heat Treatment

The Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique provides many possibilities for the control of film thickness, dimensions, and molecular structures on the nanometer scale. Various kinds of dye molecules have been found to form the J-aggregation which has been used as sensitizers of silver halide photography for long time. In recent years, they attract attention as model systems for investigating the ultra-fast exciton dynamics, materials for ultra-fast nonlinear optical devices, fluorescence probes for mitochondrial membranes. We fabricated the merocyanine dye LB films with arachidic acid (AA). In order to observe the J-aggregation of the merocyanine dye LB films, CdCl2 and KHCO3 solutions were added in subphase. From the optical absorption spectra of the mixed dye LB films (6Me-Ds:AA = 1:2) at different layers, the optical absorption peak was about 520 nm. However, the optical absorption peak of the LB films was shifted to 600 nm, when CdCl2 and KHCO3 solutions were added. This is the consequence result to the J-aggregation of the merocyanine dye. We also investigated the optical absorption peak of the LB films according to various time at 60 degrees C and 275 nm UV. We measured the STM morphology of the merocyanine dye LB film (1 layer) before UV irradiation and heat treatment. The morphology size of the LB film on HOPG was 5 nm. The roughness and molecular size were about 66.163 pm and 0.176 nm, respectively. The J-aggregation of this type was also accompanied by large morphological changes. We analyze the morphology and electrical properties of the LB films by the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).

Diacylglycerol Lipase-α and -β Control Neurite Outgrowth in Neuro-2a Cells through Distinct Molecular Mechanisms

The endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoyl-sn-glycerol (2-AG) is produced through hydrolysis of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol (DAG), which is catalyzed by DAG lipase (DGL). Two DGL isoforms have been molecularly cloned, but their respective roles in endocannabinoid signaling have not been fully elucidated. Here, we report that DGL-α and DGL-β may contribute to all-trans-retinoic acid (RA)-induced neurite outgrowth in neuroblastoma Neuro-2a cells through distinct mechanisms. RA-induced differentiation of Neuro-2a cells was associated with elevations of cellular 2-AG levels and DGL activity, which were accompanied by temporally separated transcription of DGL-α and DGL-β mRNA. Knockdown of either DGL-α or DGL-β expression attenuated neurite outgrowth, which indicates that both isoforms contribute to neuritogenesis. Immunostaining experiments showed that DGL-β is localized to perinuclear lipid droplets, whereas DGL-α is found on plasma membranes. After RA-induced differentiation, both DGL-α- and DGL-β-green fluorescent protein were distributed also in neurites but in distinguishable patterns. Overexpression of either DGL-α or DGL-β increased the number of neurite-bearing cells, but DGL-β caused substantially larger morphological changes than DGL-α did. Finally, the cannabinoid-1 antagonist rimonabant (1 μM) inhibited DGL-α-induced neuritogenesis, whereas it had no such effect on DGL-β-induced morphological differentiation. The results indicate that RA-induced DGL expression is required for neurite outgrowth of Neuro-2a cells. The findings further suggest that DGL-α and -β may regulate neurite outgrowth by engaging temporally and spatially distinct molecular pathways.

The cell cycle of Leishmania: morphogenetic events and their implications for parasite biology

The cell cycle is central to understanding fundamental biology of Leishmania, a group of human-infective protozoan parasites. Leishmania have two main life cycle morphologies: the intracellular amastigote in the mammalian host and the promastigote in the fly. We have produced the first comprehensive and quantitative description of a Leishmania promastigote cell cycle taking a morphometric approach to position any cell within the cell cycle based on its length and DNA content. We describe timings of cell cycle phases and rates of morphological changes; kinetoplast and nucleus S phase, division and position, cell body growth and morphology changes, flagellum growth and basal body duplication. We have shown that Leishmania mexicana undergoes large changes in morphology through the cell cycle and that the wide range of morphologies present in cultures during exponential growth represent different cell cycle stages. We also show promastigote flagellum growth occurs over multiple cell cycles. There are clear implications for the mechanisms of flagellum length regulation, life cycle stage differentiation and trypanosomatid division in general. This data set therefore provides a platform which will be of use for post-genomic analyses of Leishmania cell biology in relation to differentiation and infection.

Critical Salt Bridges Guide Capsid Assembly, Stability, and Maturation Behavior in Bacteriophage HK97

HK97 is a double-stranded DNA bacteriophage that undergoes dramatic conformational changes during viral capsid maturation and for which x-ray structures, at near atomic resolution, of multiple intermediate and mature capsid states are available. Both amide H/(2)H exchange and crystallographic comparisons between the pre-expanded Prohead II particles and the expanded Head II of bacteriophage HK97 revealed quaternary interactions that remain fixed throughout maturation and appear to maintain intercapsomer integrity at all quasi- and icosahedral 3-fold axes. These 3-fold staples are formed from Arg and Glu residues and a metal binding site. Mutations of either Arg-347 or Arg-194 or a double mutation of E344Q and E363A resulted in purification of the phage in capsomer form (hexamers and pentamers). Mutants that did assemble had both decreased thermal stability and decreased in vitro expansion rates. Amide H/(2)H exchange mass spectrometry showed that in the wild type capsid some subunits had a bent "spine" helix (highly exchanging), whereas others were straight (less exchanging). Similar analysis of the never assembled mutant capsomers showed uniform amide exchange in all of these that was higher than that of the straight spine helices (characterized in more mature intermediates), suggesting that the spine helix is somewhat bent prior to capsid assembly. The result further supports a previously proposed mechanism for capsid expansion in which the delta domains of each subunit induce a high energy intermediate conformation, which now appears to include a bent helix during capsomer assembly.

Monitoring mitochondrial [Ca2+] dynamics with rhod-2, ratiometric pericam and aequorin

The dynamics of mitochondrial [Ca2+] ([Ca2+]M) plays a key role in a variety of cellular processes. The most important methods available to monitor [Ca2+]M are fluorescent dyes such as rhod-2 and specifically targeted proteins such as aequorin and pericam. However, significant discrepancies, both quantitative and qualitative, exist in the literature between the results obtained with different methods. We have made here a systematic comparison of the response of several fluorescent dyes, rhod-2 and rhod-FF, and two Ca2+-sensitive proteins, aequorin and pericam. Our results show that measurements obtained with aequorin and pericam are consistent in terms of dynamic Ca2+ changes. Instead, fluorescent dyes failed to follow Ca2+ changes adequately, especially during repetitive stimulation. In particular, measures obtained with rhod-2 or rhod-FF evidenced the previously reported Ca2+-dependent inhibition of mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake, but data obtained with aequorin or pericam under the same conditions did not. The reason for the loss of response of fluorescent dyes is unclear. Loading with these dyes produced changes in mitochondrial morphology and membrane potential, which were small and reversible at low concentrations (1–2μM), but produced large and prolonged damage at higher concentrations. In addition, cells loaded with low concentrations of rhod-2 suffered large changes in mitochondrial morphology after light excitation. Our results suggest that [Ca2+]M data obtained with these dyes should be taken with care.

Shoreline and beach volume change between 1967 and 2007 at Raine Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Raine Island is a vegetated coral cay located on the far northern outer Great Barrier Reef (GBR), recognised as a globally significant turtle rookery. Cay geomorphology, specifically the morphology of the beach and swale, dictate the availability of nesting sites and influence nesting success. Understanding short and long-term shoreline change is critical for managers charged with protecting the nesting habitat, particularly as climate change progresses. Historical topographic surveys, a simple numerical model and geographic information system (GIS) techniques were used to reconstruct a 40-year (1967–2007) shoreline history of Raine Island. Results show that significant shoreline change has occurred on 78% of the island's shoreline between 1967 and 2007; 34% experienced net retreat and 44% net progradation during the study interval. Shoreline retreat is mainly concentrated on the east–southeast section of the shoreline (average annual rate of − 0.3 ± 0.3 m/yr), while the shore on the western side of the island prograded at a similar rate (0.4 ± 0.2 m/yr). A seasonal signal was detected relating to oscillations in wind direction and intensity, with the southeast and west–southwest shorelines migrating an average of ∼ 17 m from season to season. The volume of sediment deposited on Raine Island between 1967 and 2007 increased by ∼ 68,000 m 3 net, but accretion rates varied significantly seasonally and from year to year. The largest volumetric changes have typically occurred over the last 23 years (1984–2007). Despite the recent concern that Raine Island is rapidly eroding, our data demonstrate net island growth (6% area, 4% volume) between 1967 and 2007. Perceptions of erosion probably reflect large morphological changes arising from seasonal, inter-annual and inter-decadal patterns of sediment redistribution rather than net loss from the island's sediment budget.

Automated segmentation and quantification of liver and spleen from CT images using normalized probabilistic atlases and enhancement estimation

To investigate the potential of the normalized probabilistic atlases and computer-aided medical image analysis to automatically segment and quantify livers and spleens for extracting imaging biomarkers (volume and height). A clinical tool was developed to segment livers and spleen from 257 abdominal contrast-enhanced CT studies. There were 51 normal livers, 44 normal spleens, 128 splenomegaly, 59 hepatomegaly, and 23 partial hepatectomy cases. 20 more contrast-enhanced CT scans from a public site with manual segmentations of mainly pathological livers were used to test the method. Data were acquired on a variety of scanners from different manufacturers and at varying resolution. Probabilistic atlases of livers and spleens were created using manually segmented data from ten noncontrast CT scans (five male and five female). The organ locations were modeled in the physical space and normalized to the position of an anatomical landmark, the xiphoid. The construction and exploitation of liver and spleen atlases enabled the automated quantifications of liver/spleen volumes and heights (midhepatic liver height and cephalocaudal spleen height) from abdominal CT data. The quantification was improved incrementally by a geodesic active contour, patient specific contrast-enhancement characteristics passed to an adaptive convolution, and correction for shape and location errors. The livers and spleens were robustly segmented from normal and pathological cases. For the liver, the Dice/Tanimoto volume overlaps were 96.2%/92.7%, the volume/height errors were 2.2%/2.8%, the root-mean-squared error (RMSE) was 2.3 mm, and the average surface distance (ASD) was 1.2 mm. The spleen quantification led to 95.2%/91% Dice/Tanimoto overlaps, 3.3%/ 1.7% volume/height errors, 1.1 mm RMSE, and 0.7 ASD. The correlations (R2) with clinical/manual height measurements were 0.97 and 0.93 for the spleen and liver, respectively (p < 0.0001). No significant difference (p > 0.2) was found comparing interobserver and automatic-manual volume/height errors for liver and spleen. The algorithm is robust to segmenting normal and enlarged spleens and livers, and in the presence of tumors and large morphological changes due to partial hepatectomy. Imaging biomarkers of the liver and spleen from automated computer-assisted tools have the potential to assist the diagnosis of abdominal disorders from routine analysis of clinical data and guide clinical management.

Lagoonal wave field on tropical cyclone condition in Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu

Tropical cyclone Gavin caused extremely high wave situation in Funafuti atoll, Tuvalu on March 1997. Although the extremely high waves due to tropical cyclones caused large morphological changes on atoll islands, the detail of the waves under tropical cyclones are not fully understood, because such strong tropical cyclones attack atoll islands once in a few decades. In this study, the numerical simulation of winds and waves under the tropical cyclone Gavin were carried out. The simulated results showed that the lagoonal significant wave height increased twice as high as the mean wave height in March. In the tropical cyclone situation, the place of passage and effective fetch are important for the lagoonal wave condition.

Cell morphological response to low shear stress in a two-dimensional culture microsystem with magnitudes comparable to interstitial shear stress

Slow interstitial flow can lead to large changes in cell morphology. Since conventional biological assays are adapted to two-dimensional culture protocols, there is a need to develop a microfluidic system that can generate physiological levels of interstitial flow. Here we developed a system that uses a passive osmotic pumping mechanism to generate sustained and steady interstitial flows for two-dimensional cultures. Two different cell types, fibroblasts and mesenchymal stem cells, were selected because they are generally exposed to interstitial flow. To quantify the cellular response to interstitial shear flow in terms of proliferation and alignment, 4 rates of flow were applied. We found that the proliferation rate of fibroblasts varied linearly with wall shear stress. In addition, alignment of fibroblast cells depended linearly on the magnitude of the shear stress, whereas mesenchymal stem cells were aligned regardless of the magnitude of shear stress. This suggested that mesenchymal stem cells are very sensitive to shear stresses, even at levels generated by interstitial flow. The results presented here emphasize the need to consider the mechanosensitivity and the natural role of different cell types when evaluating their responses to fluid flow.

The effects of feeding on cell morphology and proliferation of the gastrointestinal tract of juvenile Burmese pythons (Python molurus)

The gastrointestinal tract of Burmese pythons ( Python molurus (L., 1758)) exhibits large morphological and physiological changes in response to feeding and extended periods of fasting. In this study the mucosa of the stomach, small intestine, and colon were examined for changes in structure and cellular proliferation. The mucosa of fasting pythons exhibited low levels of cellular replication, but after feeding, cellular replication was evident as early as 12 h in the small intestine and colon and 24 h in the stomach. Replication peaked 3 days postfeeding for the small intestine and colon, but was still increasing at 6 days postfeeding in the stomach. Interestingly, cell proliferation was still evident after 45 days in the colon. In these tissues, a stock of “ready-to-use” primary lysosomes is found in the mucosal cells of fasting animals, whereas profound intracellular recycling is typical of animals that have been fed. These findings indicate that during the postprandial period, the intestinal mucosa undergoes extensive remodelling in anticipation of the next fasting and feeding period. One key adaptive factor for the python’s ability to cope with infrequent feeding is a well-prepared digestive system in fasting animals that can quickly start functioning again when food becomes available.

An artificial extracellular matrix created by hepatocyte growth factor fused to IgG-Fc

The design of artificial extracellular matrices (ECM) has attracted much attention in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine as well as in molecular biology research. A recombinant hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), fused to an immunoglobulin G (IgG) Fc region (abbreviated as AeHGF-Fc) was constructed and confirmed by Western blot assay. Almost similar amounts of HepG2 cells adhered to AeHGF-Fc-coated surface compared to collagen-coated one with large morphological changes. Immobilized AeHGF-Fc continuously activated Akt in HepG2 cells whereas Akt activation induced by soluble HGF rapidly decreased with time, indicating that immobilized AeHGF-Fc follows different signal transduction pathways compared to soluble HGF.

Sediment budget in the Lagoon of Venice, Italy

A comparison of 1927, 1970 and 2002 bathymetric surveys in the Lagoon of Venice was used to reconstruct historical changes in sedimentation. A detailed GIS-based analysis of the charts revealed the timing and pattern of geomorphic changes and allowed calculation of sediment deposition and erosion for the entire lagoon and each of its four sub-basins: Treporti, Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. Two main developments are discernible from comparative observation of the areal distribution of the main elevation ranges: the diminution in area of the saltmarshes, which decreased by more than 50%, from 68 km 2 in 1927 to 32 km 2 in 2002, and the progressive deepening of the lagoon, with a huge increase in the area of subtidal flats (between −0.75 and −2.00 m depth), from 88 to 206 km 2 during the same period. Generally, the lagoon showed a clear-cut change in the most frequent depths (modal depth) from a value of −0.62 m in 1927 to −0.88 m in 2002. The deepening of the lagoon affected mostly the lagoonal sub-basins south of the town of Venice, where modal depth increased from −0.65 to −1.12 m in Lido, from −0.64 to −1.75 m in Malamocco and from −0.39 to −0.88 m in Chioggia. Large changes in lagoonal morphology were caused by human-induced subsidence, the dredging of navigation channels between 1927 and 1970, and intense natural erosion enhanced by sediment re-suspension due to Manila clam fishing between 1970 and 2002. There was a net loss of about 110 Mm 3 of sediment from the lagoon, most of which (73 Mm 3, ca.70%) was in the earlier period. A significant amount was lost by dredging and direct disposal outside the system, either on land or at sea, and there was a net loss of 39 Mm 3 from the lagoon to the sea through the inlets, at an annual rate of 0.5 Mm 3. Comparison of erosion rates in the two periods revealed an alarming acceleration, from a net sediment loss of 0.3 Mm 3 yr −1 in the period 1927–1970 to 0.8 Mm 3 yr −1 in 1970–2002. Deterioration caused a shift from a highly differentiated lagoon morphology in the 1930s to a sediment-starved and subsidence-dominated structure in the 1970s, and from there to the high-energy and more open (bay-like) lagoon of today. The results demonstrate the potential application of GIS to reconstruct the recent chronology of sediment distribution and to improve the understanding of the geomorphic processes shaping the seafloor, whilst providing an insight into the possible impacts of environmental changes induced by natural and anthropogenic forcing.

GIANT HERBIG-HARO FLOWS IN L1228: A SECOND LOOK

We present second epoch narrowband H{alpha} and [S II] images of the giant Herbig-Haro flows HH199 and HH200 in the L1228 molecular cloud. Proper motions for several members of the HH200 flow were determined by comparing the new images to similar narrowband images taken 13 years earlier. Based on our measurements, the HH200 flow is inclined by 15 deg. to the plane of the sky and has a steady, fixed outflow axis with P.A. = 49 deg. There is a general nonlinear decline in the proper motions with increasing distance from the source, and it appears that successive eruption episodes have cleared out a relatively free channel through the L1228 cloud. The bright knot HH200B6 is located at the end of the channel along the edge of L1228, and appears to be tracing the location where the outflow erupts from the cloud. We did not detect any proper motions for HH200B6, and suggest that it is the plug of material that has been bored out by the cumulative effects of numerous eruptions along a steady outflow axis. The proper motions combined with the spacing of the HH200 knots along the flow axis are consistent with a velocity variable outflow, whichmore » erupts periodically on timescales of the order of 600 years. The relatively small size of the knots combined with the large proper motions and derived bow-shock speeds would seem to rule out the presence of a less collimated wind component. We also discuss the HH199 flow, which is radically different from HH200. The members of the HH199 flow exhibited large changes in the morphology and emission, and were not suitable for determining proper motions. The HH200 and HH199 flows appear to be the opposite ends of the spectrum of giant HH flows.« less

Surface treatment of a polypropylene film with a nitrogen DBD at medium pressure

Surface treatment of polymer films is usually necessary to improve surface wetting and adhesion characteristics. Traditional liquid chemical processes have several disadvantages in contrast to dry finishing processes, like plasma technology. Dielectric barrier discharges at atmospheric pressure are extensively studied for surface treatment, however, almost no research has been done on surface treatment with a dielectric barrier discharge at medium pressure. Therefore, in this paper, a polypropylene (PP) film is plasma-treated with a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) in nitrogen at medium pressure (5.0 kPa). The surface properties of the plasma-treated samples are examined using contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Results show that the surface wettability is significantly enhanced after plasma treatment. The incorporation of nitrogen on the surface is significant (10 at%), demonstrating the ability of the used DBD set-up to generate nitrogen-containing functional groups on the PP surface. Nevertheless, a considerable amount of oxygen (10 at%) is incorporated onto the PP surface underlining the extreme reactivity of oxygen active species and the difficulty in overcoming the air contamination problem. Moreover, AFM analysis reveals that the nitrogen plasma creates large changes in the surface morphology of the PP film due to the selective etching of the amorphous regions of the polymer film.

The effect of hypoxia on gill morphology and ionoregulatory status in the Lake Qinghai scaleless carp, Gymnocypris przewalskii

Goldfish and crucian carp at low temperature exhibit plasticity in gill morphology during exposure to hypoxia to enhance gas exchange. Hypoxia-induced changes in gill morphology and cellular ultrastructure of the high altitude scaleless carp from Lake Qinghai, China, were investigated to determine whether this is a general characteristic of cold water carp species. Fish were exposed to acute hypoxia (0.3 mg O2 l(-1)) for 24 h followed by 12 h recovery in normoxic water (6 mg O2 l(-1) at 3200 m altitude), with no mortality. Dramatic alterations in gill structure were initiated within 8 h of hypoxia and almost complete by 24 h, and included a gradual reduction of filament epithelial thickness (>50%), elongation of respiratory lamellae, expansion of lamellar respiratory surface area (>60%) and reduction in epithelial water-blood diffusion distance (<50%). An increase in caspase 3 activity in gills occurred following 24 h exposure to hypoxia, indicating possible involvement of apoptosis in gill remodeling. Extensive gill mucous production during hypoxia may have been part of a general stress response or may have played a role in ion exchange and water balance. The large increase in lamellar surface area and reduction in diffusion distance presumably enhances gas transfer during hypoxia (especially in the presence of increased mucous production) but comes with an ionoregulatory cost, as indicated by a 10 and 15% reduction in plasma [Na+] and [Cl-], respectively, within 12-24 h of hypoxia. Within 12 h of hypoxia exposure, ;wavy-convex'-mitochondria rich cells (MRCs) with large apical crypts and numerous branched microvilli were transformed into small ;shallow-basin' cells with a flattened surface. As the apical membrane of MRCs is the site for active ion uptake from the water, a reduction in apical crypt surface area may have contributed to the progressive reduction in plasma [Na+] and [Cl-] observed during hypoxia. The changes in the macro- and ultra-structure of fish gills, and plasma [Na+] and [Cl-] during hypoxia were reversible, showing partial recovery by 12 h following return to normoxia. Although the large morphological changes in the gill observed in the scaleless carp support the hypothesis that gill remodeling during hypoxia is a general characteristic of cold water carp species, the reduced magnitude of the response in scaleless carp relative to goldfish and crucian carp may be a reflection of their more active lifestyle or because they reside in a moderately hypoxic environment at altitude.