An analytical approach to optimization of isotope production by bremsstrahlung radiation.

Based on analytical description of isotope production by bremsstrahlung (X-ray) radiation, an algorithm is proposed for calculating the optimal dimensions of a cylindrical target of given mass positioned at a given distance from a bremsstrahlung converter to ensure the maximum yield of the isotope product. The expressions are derived for the total activity and its distribution along the target axis. A technique of γ-spectrometric measuring the activity of a thick production target is proposed.

A method of determining the bremsstrahlung flux-weighted average photonuclear cross section.

Based on a developed analytical model, a method is proposed for measuring the photonuclear cross section averaged over bremsstrahlung flux without application of additional target-monitor of photon flux. The method involves the use of a thin isotopic target, that completely overlaps the photon beam (a photonuclear converter), as well as an algorithm for processing the data on the yield of a reaction under study in such a target. The novel technique was validated on the reactions Mo(γ,n)Mo and Ni(γ,n)Ni in the range of photon end-point energy of 40.

Development and validation of an analytical model of isotope production by bremsstrahlung radiation.

An analytical method is used to describe isotope production at an electron accelerator. The key characteristics that determine the total target activity and its distribution have been established. The expressions for the reaction yield depend explicitly on the irradiation regime and parameters of the giant dipole resonance.

Controlling Calcium Carbonate Particle Morphology, Size, and Molecular Order Using Silicate.

Calcium carbonate (CaCO) is one of the most abundant substances on earth and has a large array of industrial applications. Considerable research has been conducted in an effort to synthesize calcium carbonate microparticles with controllable and specific morphologies and sizes. CaCO produced by a precipitation reaction of calcium nitrate and sodium carbonate solution was found to have high polymorphism and batch to batch variability.

Cardiomyocytes facing fibrotic conditions re-express extracellular matrix transcripts.

Pathophysiological conditions, such as myocardial infarction and mechanical overload affect the mammalian heart integrity, leading to a stiffened fibrotic tissue. With respect to the pathophysiology of cardiac fibrosis but also in the limelight of upcoming approaches of cardiac cell therapy it is of interest to decipher the interaction of cardiomyocytes with fibrotic matrix. Therefore, we designed a hydrogel-based model to engineer fibrotic tissue in vitro as an approach to predict the behavior of cardiomyocytes facing increased matrix rigidity.

Near ultra-violet to mid-visible band gap tuning of mixed cation RbCsPbX (X = Cl or Br) perovskite nanoparticles.

One of the most attractive features of perovskite materials is their chemical flexibility. Due to innovative chemical compositions of perovskites, their optical and structural properties, and functionalities have become more advanced, enabling better solar performance in photovoltaics, as well as robustness and excellent properties in the nanoscale for optoelectronics. The quest for novel perovskite compositions in the nano-scale is significantly important.

Binding Potency of Heparin Immobilized on Activated Charcoal for DNA Antibodies.

In vitro experiments showed that heparin adsorbed on activated charcoal can bind antibodies raised against native and single-stranded DNA in a diluted sera pool with a high level of these DNA. Thus, heparin used as anticoagulant during hemosorption procedure can demonstrate supplementary therapeutic activity resulting from its interaction with various agents involved in acute and chronic inflammatory reactions such as DNA- and RNA-binding substances, proinflammatory cytokines, complement components, growth factors, etc. Research and development of heparin-containing carbonic adsorbents for the therapy of numerous inflammatory and autoimmune diseases seems to be a promising avenue in hematology.

Nanodiamonds of Laser Synthesis for Biomedical Applications.

In recent decade detonation nanodiamonds (DND), discovered 50 years ago and used in diverse technological processes, have been actively applied in biomedical research as a drug and gene delivery carrier, a contrast agent for bio-imaging and diagnostics and an adsorbent for protein separation and purification. In this work we report about nanodiamonds of high purity produced by laser assisted technique, compare them with DND and consider the prospect and advantages of their use in the said applications.

[Effect of apparatus plasmapheresis on the bowel barrier and motility function in patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis].

Influence of therapeutic plasmapheresis on bowel barrier function and evacuation was investigated in 83 patients with severe acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Except standard therapy patient obtained therapeutic plasmapheresis using "Haemonetics" PCS 2 system. Complex treatment of patients with acute necrotizing pancreatitis and dynamic ileus using plasmapheresis increases contractive and propulsive function of stomach and duodenum and prolongs period of activity of these organs on 32%.

Crystallite size--is it a new predictor for renal stone burden?

Objective: To evaluate the importance of stone composition and crystallite size in the formation of ultimate stone burden. Crystallite is the smallest building block, which is unique in size and architecture for each type of stone component. Currently, the knowledge about the clinical importance of crystallite size is very limited.

[Hemocoagulation disorders in patients with acute pancreatitis].

62 patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) were examined in order to determine hemocoagulation disorders. The obtained results showed that the patients developed the consumptive coagulopathy with high levels of D-dimer, activation and exhaustion of antithrombin III (AT III). The development of hemocoagulation disturbances in patients with severe AP was confirmed through decrease of activity of AT III up to 68% and high level of D-dimer>693 ng/ml.

X-ray diffraction and SEM study of kidney stones in Israel: quantitative analysis, crystallite size determination, and statistical characterization.

Urinary calculi have been recognized as one of the most painful medical disorders. Tenable knowledge of the phase composition of the stones is very important to elucidate an underlying etiology of the stone disease. We report here the results of quantitative X-ray diffraction phase analysis performed on 278 kidney stones from the 275 patients treated at the Department of Urology of Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital (Jerusalem, Israel).

Coalescence of silver nanoparticles at room temperature: unusual crystal structure transformation and dendrite formation induced by self-assembly.

It was found that during the evaporation of water from a droplet of a silver nanoparticles dispersion a self-assembly process leads to the coalescence of the nanoparticles at room temperature and eventually results in a 3D, micrometer-sized dendrite. Direct in situ HR-TEM observation of coalescence events of individual nanoparticles revealed that during this process a transformation of the nanoparticles' crystal structure takes place, from the common fcc silver structure to the unusual hcp structure. It was found that even-though a majority of the nanoparticles in the dispersion have the fcc structure the obtained dendrites are characterized by the hcp structure, reflecting the crystal structure transformation due to the coalescence process.

Experiment LEND of the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for high-resolution mapping of neutron emission of the Moon.

The scientific objectives of neutron mapping of the Moon are presented as 3 investigation tasks of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission. Two tasks focus on mapping hydrogen content over the entire Moon and on testing the presence of water-ice deposits at the bottom of permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. The third task corresponds to the determination of neutron contribution to the total radiation dose at an altitude of 50 km above the Moon.

The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) experiment for NASA's 2009 Mars Science Laboratory.

We present a summary of the physical principles and design of the Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) instrument onboard NASA's 2009 Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission. The DAN instrument will use the method of neutron-neutron activation analysis in a space application to study the abundance and depth distribution of water in the martian subsurface along the path of the MSL rover.

Development and metrological characterization of quantitative X-ray diffraction phase analysis for the mixtures of clopidogrel bisulphate polymorphs.

Clopidogrel bisulphate (CLP) is a pharmaceutical compound with a novel mechanism of action for the reduction of atherosclerotic events. Only two crystalline forms (CLP I and CLP II) among the six known polymorphs of CLP have therapeutic activity. The structure of the CLP I polymorph is unknown and the structure of the CLP II polymorph is known only partially.

Crystallization of carbamazepine pseudopolymorphs from nonionic microemulsions.

Crystallization of carbamazepine (CBZ), an antiepileptic drug, precipitated from confined spaces of nonionic microemulsions was investigated. The study was aimed to correlate the structure of the microemulsion [water-in-oil (W/O), bicontinuous, and oil-in-water (O/W)] with the crystalline structure and morphology of solid CBZ. The precipitated CBZ was studied by DSC, TGA, powder XRD, single-crystal XRD, SEM, and optical microscopy.

[The closed joint-stock company "Amiko" (X-ray equipment)].

The paper presents data on the closed joint-stock company AMIKO: basic lines of its activities, history, manufactured and designed products.

[The interaction of organophosphorus amino acid analogs with cytochrome P-450 2B4].

Interaction between phosphorus amino acids analogs, 1-aminoalkylphosphonous and 1-aminoalkylthiophosphonic acids, and microsomes from the liver of phenobarbital-induced rabbits was studied. The phosphorus amino acids analogs cause type I and reverse type I spectral changes, respectively. A new reaction in the microsomal monooxygenase system was revealed.

Reductase and oxygenase activities of semisynthetic flavocytochromes based on cytochrome P450 2B4.

A synthetic flavocytochrome with the reductase and oxygenase activities was obtained by covalent binding of riboflavin to cytochrome P450 2B4. The reactions catalyzed by the newly synthesized flavocytochromes were studied. Formation of carboxycomplex with the reduced form of hemoprotein led to 60-80% inhibition of oxygenase reactions indicating the leading role of reduced heme iron in generating active oxygen species by flavocytochromes.

[Surface of cytochrome P-450 2B4: structure and function].

The review is devoted to the identification and structure of one of the cytochromes P450s-cytochrome P-450 2B4 derived from the rabbit liver endoplasmic reticulum. A critical review is made of the data on this enzyme membrane topology, its active site's structure and localization of its membrane and water-exposed regions. The paper is based on the data available in the literature and the authors' own findings.

[Induction of Ca2+-dependent chemiluminescent response of peritoneal macrophages with bacterial lipopolysaccharides].

A lipopolysaccharide preparation obtained from Klebsiella pneumonia was shown to affect primarily the peritoneal macrophages after intraperitoneal administration. Transition of the macrophages to a new metabolic state in response to opsonized zymosan was responsible for a distinct increase in the rate of luminol-dependent chemoluminescence. At the same time, the macrophages produced chemiluminescence was only slightly increased in the presence of Ca2+ ionophore A23187.

Analysis of the nucleotide and derived amino acid sequences of the SsoII restriction endonuclease and methyltransferase.

A 2648-bp fragment from the P4 plasmid of Shigella sonnei strain 47 coding for the SsoII restriction endonuclease (ENase) and methyltransferase (MTase) (recognition sequence 5'-CCNGG) was sequenced. Two divergently arranged open reading frames of 905 bp for the SsoII ENase (R.SsoII) and 1137 bp for the MTase (M.

[The role of heme in formation of the native structure of cytochrome P-450 LM2].

The role of heme in the formation of cytochrome P-450 native structure was investigated. It was shown that treatment of purified and membrane-bound hemoproteins with H2O2 results in the total destruction of heme. After incubation with hemine the apoprotein thus obtained forms a catalytically active cytochrome P-450.