[Transient emission spectra from OH, CH and C2 free radicals in the combustion reaction of n-decane].

Using an intensified spectroscopic detector CCD and a heated shock tube, transient emission spectra of n-decane in the combustion reaction were measured in a spectral range of 200-850 nm. Experiments were conducted at temperatures of 1100-1600 K, a pressure of 2.0 atm, an initial fuel mole fraction of 1.0% and an equivalence ratio of 1.0. Results show that the main emission bands are attributed to OH, CH and C2 radicals produced during the combustion process of n-decane. Emission intensities of the three radicals reached their maximums only after 5 micros from the onset of their ignitions. After about 30 micros had passed, the band of OH radical was still observed, but the bands of CH and C2 radicals almost disappeared. Time histories of spectral emission intensities represent the time histories of concentrations of the three radicals during the process of combustion The emission peak ratio of OH (306.4 nm)/CH(431.4 nm) is approximately 27/100 in the combustion of n-decane, which is much greater than the corresponding ratio of about 7/100 in the combustion of n-heptane. This result reveals that the two fuels have different reaction mechanisms. High resolution characteristic spectra of CH and C2 were also acquired in the present experiment, the spectra show the rotational structures of the bands clearly. Current results are valuable for understanding the property and validating the mechanism of n-decane combustion reaction

[Spectroscopic measurement of intermediate free radicals of n-heptane in the combustion reaction].

Using an intensified spectroscopic detector CCD and a chemical shock tube, transient emission spectra of n-heptane during the reaction process of combustion were measured, with exposure time of 6 micros and a spectral range of 200 - 850 nm Experiments were conducted at an ignition temperature of 1 408 K and pressure of 2.0 atmos, with an initial fuel mole fraction of 1.0% and an equivalence ratio of 1.0. Measured emission bands were determined to be produced by OH, CH and C2 free radicals, which reveals that small OH, CH and C2 radicals are important intermediate products in the combustion process of n-heptane. Time-resolved spectra indicate that radical concentrations of OH, CH and C2 reached their peaks sharply; however, CH and C2 reduced and disappeared rapidly while the duration of OH was much longer in the reaction. This work provides experimental data for understanding the microscopic process and validating the mechanism of n-heptane combustion reaction.

The peripheral blood transcriptome dynamically reflects system wide biology: a potential diagnostic tool.

In our genome-wide survey of gene expression in human peripheral blood cells using both an expressed sequence tag (EST) and a microarray hybridization approach, we identified the expression of a large proportion (approximately 80%) of the genes encoded in the human genome. Comparison of the peripheral blood transcriptome with genes expressed in nine different human tissue types revealed that expression of over 80% was shared with any given tissue. We also sought to determine whether those gene transcripts undetected by these methods were also expressed in peripheral blood cells. Using reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, we detected additional tissue-specific gene transcripts including beta-myosin heavy chain (heart specific) and insulin (specific to pancreatic islet beta cells), in circulating blood cells. Arguably, the detection of low levels of tissue-specific transcripts could be considered products of "illegitimate" transcription; however, our study also demonstrates that environmental conditions affect the transcriptional regulation of insulin in the peripheral blood. We thus hypothesize that blood cells can act as sentinels of disease and that we could capitalize on this property of blood for the diagnosis/prognosis of disease (the "Sentinel Principle"). Peripheral blood is an ideal surrogate tissue as it is readily obtainable, provides a large biosensor pool in the form of gene transcripts, and response to changes in the macro- and micro-environments is detectable as alterations in the levels of these gene transcripts.

A molecular compendium of genes expressed in multiple myeloma.

We have created a molecular resource of genes expressed in primary malignant plasma cells using a combination of cDNA library construction, 5' end single-pass sequencing, bioinformatics, and microarray analysis. In total, we identified 9732 nonredundant expressed genes. This dataset is available as the Myeloma Gene Index (www.uhnres.utoronto.ca/akstewart_lab).Predictably, the sequenced profile of myeloma cDNAs mirrored the known function of immunoglobulin-producing, high-respiratory rate, low-cycling, terminally differentiated plasma cells. Nevertheless, approximately 10% of myeloma-expressed sequences matched only entries in the database of Expressed Sequence Tags (dbEST) or the high-throughput genomic sequence (htgs) database. Numerous novel genes of potential biologic significance were identified. We therefore spotted 4300 sequenced cDNAs on glass slides creating a myeloma-enriched microarray. Several of the most highly expressed genes identified by sequencing, such as a novel putative disulfide isomerase (MGC3178), tumor rejection antigen TRA1, heat shock 70-kDa protein 5, and annexin A2, were also differentially expressed between myeloma and B lymphoma cell lines using this myeloma-enriched microarray. Furthermore, a defined subset of 34 up-regulated and 18 down-regulated genes on the array were able to differentiate myeloma from nonmyeloma cell lines. These not only include genes involved in B-cell biology such as syndecan, BCMA, PIM2, MUM1/IRF4, and XBP1, but also novel uncharacterized genes matching sequences only in the public databases. In summary, our expressed gene catalog and myeloma-enriched microarray contains numerous genes of unknown function and may complement other commercially available arrays in defining the molecular portrait of this hematopoietic malignancy. GenBank Accession numbers include BF169967-BF176369, BF185966-BF185969, and BF177280-BF177455.