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A new mesoporous silica structure with cubic Iad symmetry has been synthesized. The structure has very large unit cell dimensions, up to 250 Å in the as-synthesized form and 222 Å after calcination, and the surface area is around 700 m2/g. The syntheses were done according to well-established synthesis conditions with the triblock copolymers Pluronics P103 or P123, except for the addition of NaI t

The pH and salt dependent self-association of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) has been studied extensively, mainly by scattering techniques, but it has proven difficult to distinguish oligomerization from long-range interactions. Because HEWL is the principal model system in studies of protein crystallization, it is important to establish its oligomerization behavior unambiguously. Here, we address

Aqueous solutions of proteins and oppositely charged polyelectrolytes were studied at different polyelectrolyte chain length, ionic strength, and protein-protein interaction potential as a function of the polyelectrolyte concentration. One of the protein models used represented lysozyme in aqueous environment. The model systems were solved by Monte Carlo simulations, and their properties were anal

Images by cryo-transmission electron microscopy show two types of structure in dilute aqueous mixtures of amylose (AM) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS): Loose fibrous networks and unilamellar vesicles. Neither of the structures was observed in reference solutions of AM or SDS alone. It is proposed that both types of structure consist of inclusion complexes where SDS molecules are enclosed in V-typ

Leukotrienes (LTs) and prostaglandins (PGs) are metabolites of arachidonic acid that play major roles in various inflammatory conditions. The release of these mediators, by cells recruited to or present at the site of inflammation, modulate/influence the magnitude of the inflammatory response. A better understanding of eicosanoids and how their receptors trigger intracellular signaling during infl

High-throughput proteomics, based on the microarray platform, requires stable, highly functional components that will yield a highly sensitive read-out of low, abundance protein. Although antibodies are the best characterized binding molecules for this purpose, only a fraction of them appear to behave satisfactorily in the chip format. Therefore, high demands need to be placed on their molecular d

Electrostatic interactions in proteins can be probed experimentally through determination of residue-specific acidity constants, We describe here triple-resonance NMR techniques for direct determination of lysine and arginine side-chain protonation states in proteins. The experiments are based on detection of nonexchangeable protons over the full range of pH and temperature and therefore are well

Natural killer (NK) T lymphocytes are a subpopulation of T lymphocytes regarded as early regulators of immune responses. The majority of NKT cells are restricted by the CD1d molecule. NKT cells have mostly been studied in one single mouse strain, C57BL/6 (B6), because of the absence of NK1.1 in other common mouse strains, and the lack of other reliable surface markers for CD1d-restricted cells. To

An NMR technique to measure exchange kinetics at thermal equilibrium in dispersions of moderately soluble crystalline material is presented. By monitoring the exchange of molecules between pools in solid and dissolved form, one can characterize the surface specific exchange rate. Illustrative experiments were performed in a model system with beta-type crystals of tripalmitin as the solid phase and

The susceptibility pattern of Mycobacterium marinum was determined. Quinupristin-dalfopristin and telithromycin were less active than clarithromycin. Linezolid showed good antimicrobial activity at clinically achievable concentrations. Gatifloxacin, levofloxacin, and moxifloxacin displayed activities similar to those of ciprofloxacin. Gemifloxacin was less active. The Etest method showed variable

A novel gel structure called the "plum-pudding" gel was described by us previously. I The gel was composed of randomly dispersed microgel particles ("plums") in a conventional hydrogel network. Depending on the preparation conditions, the microgels can be incorporated into the gel as expanded networks or dense collapsed globules. Where the microgel particles exist as collapsed globules, they have

Concentrations of 34 trace elements in hair have been determined in 47 females from an acid region in southern Sweden, who were compared with 43 females from an alkaline area. The concentrations of these elements in hair and drinking water were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The hair concentrations of boron a

Many bird species host several lineages of apicomplexan blood parasites (Protista spp., Haemosporida spp.), some of which are shared across different host species. To understand such complex systems, it is essential to consider the fact that different lineages, species, and families of parasites can occur in the same population, as well as in the same individual bird, and that these parasites may

M. A. Persinger (2002) claimed that transcranial magnetic stimulation with weak, complex magnetic fields evokes mystical experiences. However, in a double-blind experiment, P. Granqvist, M. Fredrikson, P. Unge, A. Hagenfeldt, S. Valind., et al. (2005) found no effects of field exposure on mystical experiences (N = 89), though a minority of participants reported spontaneous mystical experiences. Fo

Interactions between amphiphilic alpha-helical human apolipoprotein CI (APO CI) adsorbed on hydrophilic and on hydrophobic surfaces were studied using an interferometric surface force apparatus in an effort to understand the surface conformation and the binding activity of this protein. We used mica as the hydrophilic substrate and polymerized octadecyltriethoxysilane (OTE)-covered mica as the hyd