Rotational and Nuclear-Spin Level Dependent Photodissociation Dynamics of H₂S

The photodissociation dynamics of small molecules in the vacuum ultraviolet range can have key implications for astrochemical modelling, but revealing such dynamical details is a challenging task. Here the authors, combining high resolution experimental techniques, provide a detailed description of the fragmentation dynamics of selected rotational levels of a predissociated Rydberg state of H2S

A fictitious domain method for particulate flows with heat transfer

The distributed-Lagrange-multiplier/fictitious-domain (DLM/FD) method of Glowinski et al. [R. Glowinski, T.-W. Pan, T.I. Hesla, D.D. Joseph, A distributed Lagrange multiplier/fictitious domain method for particulate flows, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 25 (1999) 755–794] is extended to deal with heat transfer in particulate flows in two dimensions. The Boussinesq approximation is employed for the coupling between the flow and temperature fields. The fluid-flow equations are solved with the finite-difference projection method on a half-staggered grid. In our operator splitting scheme, the Lagrange multipliers at the previous time level are kept in the fluid equations, and the new Lagrange multipliers for the rigid-body motion constraint and the Dirichlet temperature boundary condition are determined from the reduced saddle-point problem, whereas a very simple scheme based on the fully explicit computation of the Lagrange multiplier is proposed for the problem in which the solid heat conduction inside the particle boundary is also considered. Our code for the case of fixed temperature on the immersed boundary is verified by comparing favorably our results on the natural convection driven by a hot cylinder eccentrically placed in a square box and on the sedimentation of a cold circular particle in a vertical channel to the data in the literature. The code for the case of freely varying temperature on the boundaries of freely moving particles is applied to analyze the motion of a catalyst particle in a box and in particular the heat conductivities of nanofluids and sheared non-colloidal suspensions, respectively. Our preliminary computational results support the argument that the micro-heat-convection in the fluids is primarily responsible for the unusually high heat conductivity of nanofluids. It is shown that the Peclet number plays a negative role in the diffusion-related heat conductivity of a sheared non-colloidal suspension, whereas the Reynolds number does the opposite

Antioxidative Stress Activity of Oligophosphopeptides Derived from Hen Egg Yolk Phosvitin in Caco-2 Cells

The protective effects of hen egg yolk phosvitin phosphopeptides (PPPs) against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced oxidative stress were evaluated in an in vitro assay using human intestinal epithelial cells. Caco-2 cells were stimulated with 1 mM H2O2 for 6 h, and the secretion of IL-8, a proinflammatory mediator, was determined by ELISA as a biomarker of oxidative stress. The inhibition of H2O2-induced IL-8 secretion from Caco-2 cells was observed by pretreatment for 2 h with PPPs, but not with phosvitin. PPPs also suppressed the formation of malondialdehyde in H2O2-treated Caco-2 cells. Furthermore, intracellular glutathione levels and glutathione reductase activity were elevated by the addition of PPPs. The protective effects of PPPs against H2O2-induced oxidative stress were almost the same as that of glutathione, and PPPs with a high content of phosphorus exhibited higher protective activity than PPPs without phosphorus; however, phosphoserine itself did not show any significant antioxidative stress activity. These findings suggest that oligophosphopeptides from hen egg yolk phosvitin possess novel antioxidative activity against oxidative stress in intestinal epithelial cells and that phosphorus and peptide structure seem to have a key role in the activity. Keywords: Phosvitin; phosphopeptides; egg yolk; oxidative stress; IL-8; Caco-

New evidence from a calcite-dolomite carbonatite dyke for the magmatic origin of the massive Bayan Obo ore-bearing dolomite marble, Inner Mongolia, China

New data on Sr and Nd isotope composition and major and trace element distribution in dolomite-calcite carbonatite dykes at Bayan Obo are provided, and a Mid-Proterozoic age is deduced. The dykes and the neighbouring massive dolomite (H8) body have similar geochemical characteristics, interpreted to indicate a carbonatitic magmatic origin. The occurrence of riebeckite-bearing fenitized quartzites marginal to both dykes and H8 dolomite body, and the presence of xenoliths in the latter, supports this conclusion. Taken together with previously published stable isotope data, these data confirm a mantle-derived origin for the H8 body. The oxygen isotope composition of the dolomite and magnetite in the dykes is lower than that in the fine-grained dolomite. Oxygen data from samples of the coarse-grained dolomite host are either similar to the dykes or to the fine-grained type in agreement with their other geochemical characteristics. The carbonate-magnetite thermometric pairs of the fine-grained dolomite indicate a range of 350–540?°C, which is probably lower than that of the original main magmatic emplacement. This supports the distinction made between the original coarse-grained dolomite marble and dyke composition from the later fine-grained dolomite. Thus the large H8 dolomite is interpreted as a carbonatite intrusion that contains wall-rock xenoliths and caused fenitization of the hanging wall, foot wall and the xenoliths, and that the coarse-grained portions of the H8 marble are those portions that, in the Late Proterozoic to Palaeozoic, escaped recrystallization to fine-grained dolomite and subsequent REE-Fe mineralization