Regulation of proteolysis at the neutrophil-substrate interface by secretory leukoprotease inhibitor

Human neutrophils can initiate the rapid degradation of extracellular matrix macromolecules by localizing the destructive process to sites of cell-substrate contact. Although plasma and its filtrates contain multiple proteinase inhibitors, these inhibitors did not prevent neutrophils from attacking either underlying fibronectin or elastin. However, subjacent substrates could be protected from neutrophils by recombinant secretory leukoprotease inhibitor, a structurally unique serine proteinase inhibitor whose natural counterpart is normally confined to human mucous secretions. The identification of this extravascular proteinase inhibitor as a potent regulator of subjacent proteolysis could lead to the development of a new class of anti-inflammatory therapeutics.     

Trophoblast L-selectin-mediated adhesion at the maternal-fetal interface

Trophoblast adhesion to the uterine wall is the requisite first step of implantation and, subsequently, placentation. At the maternal-fetal interface, we investigated the expression of selectin adhesion systems that enable leukocyte capture from the bloodstream. On the maternal side, human uterine epithelial cells up-regulated selectin oligosaccharide-based ligands during the window of receptivity. On the fetal side, human trophoblasts expressed L-selectin. This ligand-receptor system was functional, because beads coated with the selectin ligand 6-sulfo sLe(x) bound to trophoblasts, and trophoblasts bound to ligand-expressing uterine luminal epithelium in tissue sections. These results suggest that trophoblast L-selectin mediates interactions with the uterus and that this adhesion mechanism may be critical to establishing human pregnancy.     

Competitive hydration of quinazoline at the montmorillonite-water interface

Ultraviolet spectroscopic analyses of suspensions of quinazoline and Na(+)-saturated montmorillonite have indicated that covalent hydration of the monovalent organic cation is inhibited at or near the clay surface. A similar lack of hydration was observed in solutions of quinazoline and high-ionic-strength calcium chloride. The inhibition is attributed to a local competition between quinazoline and the inorganic cations for water of hydration.     

Deceleration of interstellar hydrogen at the heliospheric interface

High-resolution spectra of nearby stars show absorption lines due to material in the local interstellar cloud. This cloud is deduced to be moving at 26 kilometers per second with respect to the sun, and in the same direction as the "interstellar wind" flowing through the solar system. Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft show that neutral helium is drifting through the solar system at the same velocity, but neutral hydrogen appears to be moving at only 20 kilometers per second, a result confirmed by new measurements of the hydrogen emission line taken by the High-Resolution Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. These results indicate that neutral hydrogen atoms from the local interstellar cloud are preferentially decelerated at the heliospheric interface, most likely by charge-exchange with interstellar protons, while neutral helium is unaffected by the plasma. The magnitude of the observed deceleration implies an interstellar plasma density of 0.06 to 0.10 per cubic centimeter, which in turn implies that the heliospheric shock should be less than 100 astronomical units from the sun.     

Ordered liquid aluminum at the interface with sapphire

Understanding the nature of solid-liquid interfaces is important for many processes of technological interest, such as solidification, liquid-phase epitaxial growth, wetting, liquid-phase joining, crystal growth, and lubrication. Recent studies have reported on indirect evidence of density fluctuations at solid-liquid interfaces on the basis of x-ray scattering methods that have been complemented by atomistic simulations. We provide evidence for ordering of liquid atoms adjacent to an interface with a crystal, based on real-time high-temperature observations of alumina-aluminum solid-liquid interfaces at the atomic-length scale. In addition, crystal growth of alumina into liquid aluminum, facilitated by interfacial transport of oxygen from the microscope column, was observed in situ with the use of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.     

Total alignment of calcite at acidic polydiacetylene films: cooperativity at the organic-inorganic interface

Biological matrices can direct the absolute alignment of inorganic crystals such as calcite. Cooperative effects at an organic-inorganic interface resulted in similar co-alignment of calcite at polymeric Langmuir-Schaefer films of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (p-PDA). The films nucleated calcite at the (012) face, and the crystals were co-aligned with respect to the polymer's conjugated backbone. At the same time, the p-PDA alkyl side chains reorganized to optimize the stereochemical fit to the calcite structure, as visualized by changes in the optical spectrum of the polymer. These results indicate the kinds of interactions that may occur in biological systems where large arrays of crystals are co-aligned.     

Controlling the dynamics of a single atom in lateral atom manipulation

We studied the dynamics of a single cobalt (Co) atom during lateral manipulation on a copper (111) surface in a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope. The Co binding site locations were revealed in a detailed image that resulted from lateral Co atom motion within the trapping potential of the scanning tip. Random telegraph noise, corresponding to the Co atom switching between hexagonal close-packed (hcp) and face-centered cubic (fcc) sites, was seen when the tip was used to try to position the Co atom over the higher energy hcp site. Varying the probe tip height modified the normal copper (111) potential landscape and allowed the residence time of the Co atom in these sites to be varied. At low tunneling voltages (less than approximately 5 millielectron volts), the transfer rate between sites was independent of tunneling voltage, current, and temperature. At higher voltages, the transfer rate exhibited a strong dependence on tunneling voltage, indicative of vibrational heating by inelastic electron scattering.     

碳纤维木材复合材结合层剪切蠕变性能研究

为了研究碳纤维应用于建筑木构件及其节点加固工程中的长期承载性能,采用持续负载的剪切试验方法对碳纤维木材复合材结合层在高湿(温度60℃,相对湿度90％),低湿(温度24℃,相对温度45％)环境条件下的蠕变性能进行了研究.结论表明:Burger模型可较精确地模拟复合材结合层的短期剪切性能(R2≥98％);高湿环境下结合层剪切蠕变量显著大于低温环境,温度及相对湿度都是影响蠕变的重要因素;结合层厚度越大,剪切蠕变变形也越大,应力松弛较大,建议碳纤维与木材复合时施加一定的压力(0.05 MPa以上)以减少结合层厚度;高温环境下高应力水平的蠕变速率最大,较短时间便出现结合层断裂,在碳纤维设计应用时,应确保结合层剪切应力水平在极限应力的50％以内.图3参12     

Alkanes at the air-sea interface from offshore louisiana and Florida

Alkanes at the air-sea interface were analyzed in 118 surface samples collected at five different intervals over a 12-month period from Timbalier Bay (Louisiana), ogfshore Louiisiana, and offshore Florida. The alkanes were characterized by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Unexpectedly, methyl branched alkanes ranging in chain length froin C(15) to C(35) and cycloalkanes were frequently the predominant components. This suggests that the alkanes are produced by natural biological sources as well as human activities.     

Wet electrons at the H2O/TiO2(110) surface

At interfaces of metal oxide and water, partially hydrated or "wet-electron" states represent the lowest energy pathway for electron transfer. We studied the photoinduced electron transfer at the H2O/TiO2(110) interface by means of time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy and electronic structure theory. At approximately 1-monolayer coverage of water on partially hydroxylated TiO2 surfaces, we found an unoccupied electronic state 2.4 electron volts above the Fermi level. Density functional theory shows this to be a wet-electron state analogous to that reported in water clusters and which is distinct from hydrated electrons observed on water-covered metal surfaces. The decay of electrons from the wet-electron state to the conduction band of TiO2 occurs in 相似文献   

Free energy and temperature dependence of electron transfer at the metal-electrolyte interface

The rate constant of the electron-transfer reaction between a gold electrode and an electroactive ferrocene group has been measured at a structurally well-defined metal-electrolyte interface at temperatures from 1 degrees to 47 degrees C and reaction free energies from -1.0 to +0.8 electron volts (eV). The ferrocene group was positioned a fixed distance from the gold surface by the self-assembly of a mixed thiol monolayer of (eta(5)C(5)H(5))Fe(eta(5)C(5)H(4))CO(2)(CH(2))(16)SH and CH(3)(CH(2))(15)SH. Rate constants from 1 per second (s(-1)) to 2 x 10(4) s(-1) in 1 molar HClO(4) are reasonably fit with a reorganization energy of 0.85 eV and a prefactor for electron tunneling of 7 x 10(4) s(-1) eV(-1). Such self-assembled monolayers can be used to systematically probe the dependence of electron-transfer rates on distance, medium, and spacer structure, and to provide an empirical basis for the construction of interfacial devices such as sensors and transducers that utilize macroscopically directional electron-transfer reactions.     

Localization of metastable atom beams with optical standing waves: nanolithography at the heisenberg limit

The spatially dependent de-excitation of a beam of metastable argon atoms, traveling through an optical standing wave, produced a periodic array of localized metastable atoms with position and momentum spreads approaching the limit stated by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Silicon and silicon dioxide substrates placed in the path of the atom beam were patterned by the metastable atoms. The de-excitation of metastable atoms upon collision with the surface promoted the deposition of a carbonaceous film from a vapor-phase hydrocarbon precursor. The resulting patterns were imaged both directly and after chemical etching. Thus, quantum-mechanical steady-state atom distributions can be used for sub-0.1-micrometer lithography.     

Imaging surface atomic structure by means of auger electrons

Measurements of the complete angular distribution of Auger electrons emitted from well-defined platinum[111] single-crystal surfaces have led to the discovery that the distributions are composed of "silhouettes" of surface atoms "back lit" by emission from atoms deeper in the solid. Theoretical simulations of Auger electron angular distributions based upon atomic point emitters and spherical atomic scatterers of uniform cross section are in close agreement with these experimental results, but opposite to previous theoretical predictions. In view of the definitive results obtained and the straightforward agreement between theory and experiment, angular distribution Auger microscopy (ADAM) is useful for direct imaging of interfacial structure and investigation of electron-solid interactions in the physical and biological sciences and engineering. Applicability of ADAM is illustrated by images obtained for monolayers of silver and iodine on platinum[111].     

Adaptation of bulk constitutive equations to insoluble monolayer collapse at the air-water interface

A constitutive equation based on stress-strain models of bulk solids was adapted to relate the surface pressure, compression rate, and temperature of an insoluble monolayer of monodendrons during collapse at the air-water interface. A power law relation between compression rate and surface pressure and an Arrhenius temperature dependence of the steady-state creep rate were observed in data from compression rate and creep experiments in the collapse region. These relations were combined into a single constitutive equation to calculate the temperature dependence of the collapse pressure with a maximum error of 5 percent for temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 25 degrees C.     

Enhanced protein adsorption at the solid-solution interface: dependence on surface charge

By the use of infrared internal reflection spectroelectrochemistry, it has been possible to observe an enhanced adsorption of porcine fibrinogen onto a germanium surface at potentials more positive than -200 millivolts relative to a saturated calomel electrode. The enhanced adsorption was observed directly at the interface between the solid and the aqueous solution.     

Characterization of excess electrons in water-cluster anions by quantum simulations

Water-cluster anions can serve as a bridge to understand the transition from gaseous species to the bulk hydrated electron. However, debate continues regarding how the excess electron is bound in (H2O)-n, as an interior, bulklike, or surface electronic state. To address the uncertainty, the properties of (H2O)-n clusters with 20 to 200 water molecules have been evaluated by mixed quantum-classical simulations. The theory reproduces every observed energetic, spectral, and structural trend with cluster size that is seen in experimental photoelectron and optical absorption spectra. More important, surface states and interior states each manifest a characteristic signature in the simulation data. The results strongly support assignment of surface-bound electronic states to the water-cluster anions in published experimental studies thus far.     

Energetic electrons in the magnetosphere of jupiter

Observations of energetic electrons ( greater, similar 0.07 million electron volts) show that the outer magnetosphere of Jupiter consists of a thin disklike, quasitrapping region extending from about 20 to 100 planetary radii (R(J)). This magnetodisk is confined to the vicinity of the magnetic equatorial plane and appears to be an approximate figure of revolution about the magnetic axis of the planet. Hard trapping is observed within a radial distance of about 20 R(J). The omnidirectional intensity J(0) of electrons with energy greater, similar 21 million electron volts within the region 3 r 20 R(J) is given by the following provisional expression in terms of radial distance r and magnetic latitude theta: J(0) = 2.1 x 10(8) exp[-(r/a) - (theta/b)(2)]. In this expression J(0) is particles per square centimeter per second; a = 1.52 R(J) for 3 相似文献