139La NQR relaxation and microSR study of Zn-doping effects in La2CuO4.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M Corti.
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As cardiovascular stability and the delivery of the prescribed dialysis "dose" seem to be the main factors in determining the morbidity and mortality of hemodialyzer patients today, it is of paramount importance to match hydro-sodium removal with interdialytic load and to verify the delivered dialysis at each session. A specially designed Biofeedback Module (BM--COT Hospal) allows the automatic determination of plasma water conductivity and effective ionic dialysance with no need for blood samples. Using BM, we evaluated the validity of "conductivity kinetic modelling" (CKM) and the possibility that this may substitute "sodium kinetic modelling". Moreover, we evaluated the "in vivo" relationship between ionic dialysance and effective urea clearance. Our results demonstrate that: 1) CKM makes it possible to obtain programmed end-dialysis plasma water conductivity with an error of less than +/- 0.14 mS/cm, roughly equivalent to a sodium concentration of +/- 1.4 mEq/L. 2). Ionic dialysance and effective urea clearance are not equivalent but, as the interrelationship between these is known, the BM allows the routine monitoring of delivered dialysis.
The aggregative properties of gangliosides in diluted aqueous solutions are discussed on the basis of simple and well-established thermodynamic concepts. Theoretical assumptions are compared with experimental data obtained, mainly by scattering techniques, on GM3, GM2, GM1, GD1a, GalNAc-GD1a, GD1b, GD1b lactone and GT1b gangliosides, all containing ceramide portions of similar composition, and on GM1 molecular species containing different well-defined ceramide structures. We also report on mixed aggregates with amphiphilic compounds and on the ganglioside aggregate-soluble protein interaction effects which give rise to very stable lipoproteic complexes of well-defined ganglioside-protein composition.
GM1 ganglioside containing a hydroxylated fatty acid moiety, GM1(OH), was synthesized starting from lyso-GM1 and D-(+)-2-hydroxystearic acid. The aggregative, geometrical and distribution properties of GM1(OH) were compared with those of stearic acid containing GM1 ganglioside; laser light scattering measurements, differential scanning calorimetry and fluorescence spectroscopy were used. GM1 and GM1(OH) are present in solution as micelles with a hydrodynamic radius of 58.7 and 60.0 A, and molecular mass of 470 and 570 kDa, respectively. The surface area occupied by the monomer of GM1(OH) at the lipid-water interface of the aggregate was calculated to be 117 A2, which is 3 A2 lower than that determined for GM1. Proton NMR analyses of GM1 and GM1(OH) suggest different three-dimensional structures at the ganglioside lipid-water interface. Both GM1(OH) and GM1 inserted into dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) vesicles undergo segregation phenomena, with the formation of ganglioside-enriched microdomains, but GM1(OH) shows a higher degree of dispersion in the DPPC matrix and exerts a lower rigidifying effect than does GM1.
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The aggregative and geometrical properties of gangliosides have been compared and discussed. It is shown that, due to the steric packing features of gangliosides, significative considerations can be made on the primary and secondary structures of their head group, starting from their cooperative behaviour, supporting NMR direct observations.
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Conventional and spatially resolved proton NMR and relaxation measurements are used in order to study the molecular motions and the equilibrium and nonequilibrium diffusion of oils in Berea sandstone and Venezuelan reservoir rocks. In the water-saturated Berea a single line with T*2 congruent to 150 microseconds is observed, while the relaxation recovery is multiexponential. In an oil reservoir rock (Ful 13) a single narrow line is present while a distribution of relaxation rates is evidenced from the recovery plots. On the contrary, in the Ful 7 sample (extracted at a deeper depth in a different zone) two NMR components are present, with 3.5 and 30 KHz linewidths, and the recovery plot exhibits biexponential law. No echo signal could be reconstructed in the oil reservoir rocks. These findings can be related to the effects in the micropores, where motions at very low frequency can occur in a thin layer. From a comparison of the diffusion constant in water-saturated Berea, D congruent to 5*10(-6) cm2/sec, with the ones in model systems, the average size of the pores is estimated around 40 A. The density profiles at the equilibrium show uniform distribution of oils or of water, and the relaxation rates appear independent from the selected slice. The nonequilibrium diffusion was studied as a function of time in a Berea cylinder with z axis along H0, starting from a thin layer of oil at the base, and detecting the spin density profiles d(z,t) with slice-selection techniques. Simultaneously, the values of T1's were measured locally, and the distribution of the relaxation rates was observed to be present in any slice.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Ten-three patients were investigated during the early postoperative phase after orthotopic liver transplantation to assess the adequacy of the amino acid (AA) supply during both parenteral (days 1-5) and enteral (days 6-9) nutrition. Plasma AA profile was determined preoperatively, on day 4 and 5 during TPN and on day 8 and 9 during EN, urea production rate was measured every day. Calories input was 28 kcal.kg-.day as glucose, nitrogen intake was 0.25 g.kg- day, supplying individual AA on the basis of previous studies. Urea nitrogen production during TPN (9-11 gN/m2.day) outlines the ability of the transplanted liver to manage the overall nitrogen load. Individual AA plasma profile was considered the expression of an adequate input when comprised between 1 and 1.5 times the normal value, in this respect we obtained adequate levels of all essential AAs. Particularly phenylalanine, methionine and branched chain AA, critical during liver failure, were kept in this range by supplying 68, 48 and 500 mg.kg-1.day. According to AA profile the supply of cystine and tyrosine (conditionally essential AAs), and of histidine, taurine, proline and serine could be safely increased. Not given dispensable AAs (glutamine, asparagine, citrulline and alfa amino butyric) showed a plasma level below the norm and should be added to the diet.
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Minimal sequences of rubella E1 glycoprotein epitopes were previously identified as the tripeptide 250PER252 for the EP2 epitope, the tetrapeptide 260ADDP263 for the EP3 epitope, and the tripeptide 273EVW275 plus the octapeptide 278PVIGSQAR285 for the EP1 epitope. In order to establish for each epitope the shortest sequence that was able to give the maximum binding with human antirubella immunoglobulins, synthetic peptides with increasing number of residues flanking these essential parts of rubella E1 glycoprotein epitopes were synthesized and examined for their antigenic activity. Usually higher activity was observed with progressively longer homologues, whereas the additions of Pro-271, Pro-278 to 272GEVWVT277 peptide, and additions of Ala-248 to 249TPERP253 and 249TPERPR254, led to an abrupt decrease in binding. Taken together, our results indicated that the antigenic activity of the whole antigen could be dissected and reproduced using synthetic peptides of appropriate structure for each epitope.
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The relevance of the presence of an inner ester in the oligosaccharide chain on the aggregative properties of gangliosides is investigated. Micellar molecular weight and hydrodynamic radius of natural GD1b and of semisynthetic GD1b-lactone are measured by the laser light scattering technique. The presence of the lactone ring causes an increase of 36% for the molecular weight and 16% for the hydrodynamic radius. Measurements on mixtures of GD1b and GD1b-lactone show that mixed micelles are formed with microdomain structure. The results are interpreted in terms of the geometrical packing model for the aggregation of amphiphilic molecules and are correlated to membrane processes.