Anisotropic scattering of discrete particle arrays.

Far-field intensities of light scattered from a linear centro-symmetric array illuminated by a plane wave of incident light are estimated at a series of detector angles. The intensities are computed from the superposition of E-fields scattered by the individual array elements. An average scattering phase function is used to model the scattered fields of individual array elements. The nature of scattering from the array is investigated using an image (theta-phi plot) of the far-field intensities computed at a series of locations obtained by rotating the detector angle from 0 degrees to 360 degrees, corresponding to each angle of incidence in the interval [0 degrees 360 degrees]. The diffraction patterns observed from the theta-Phi plot are compared with those for isotropic scattering. In the absence of prior information on the array geometry, the intensities corresponding to theta-Phi pairs satisfying the Bragg condition are used to estimate the phase function. An algorithmic procedure is presented for this purpose and tested using synthetic data. The relative error between estimated and theoretical values of the phase function is shown to be determined by the mean spacing factor, the number of elements, and the far-field distance. An empirical relationship is presented to calculate the optimal far-field distance for a given specification of the percentage error.

Case study of modeled aerosol optical properties during the SAFARI 2000 campaign.

We present modeled aerosol optical properties (single scattering albedo, asymmetry parameter, and lidar ratio) in two layers with different aerosol loadings and particle sizes, observed during the Southern African Regional Science Initiative 2,000 (SAFARI 2,000) campaign. The optical properties were calculated from aerosol size distributions retrieved from aerosol layer optical thickness spectra, measured using the NASA Ames airborne tracking 14-channel sunphotometer (AATS-14) and the refractive index based on the available information on aerosol chemical composition. The study focuses on sensitivity of modeled optical properties in the 0.3-1.5 microm wavelength range to assumptions regarding the mixing scenario. We considered two models for the mixture of absorbing and nonabsorbing aerosol components commonly used to model optical properties of biomass burning aerosol: a layered sphere with absorbing core and nonabsorbing shell and the Maxwell-Garnett effective medium model. In addition, comparisons of modeled optical properties with the measurements are discussed. We also estimated the radiative effect of the difference in aerosol absorption implied by the large difference between the single scattering albedo values (approximately 0.1 at midvisible wavelengths) obtained from different measurement methods for the case with a high amount of biomass burning particles. For that purpose, the volume fraction of black carbon was varied to obtain a range of single scattering albedo values (0.81-0.91 at lambda=0.50 microm). The difference in absorption resulted in a significant difference in the instantaneous radiative forcing at the surface and the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and can result in a change of the sign of the aerosol forcing at TOA from negative to positive.

Immunization does not interfere with uptake and transport by motor neurons of the binding fragment of tetanus toxin.

The nontoxic binding domain of tetanus toxin (fragment C or TTC) readily undergoes retrograde axonal transport from an intramuscular injection site. This property has led to investigation of TTC as a possible vector for delivering therapeutic proteins to motor neurons. However, the vast majority of individuals in the developed world have been vaccinated with tetanus toxoid and have circulating antitetanus antibodies that cross-react with TTC and may block the delivery of a TTC-linked therapeutic protein. However, it is uncertain whether the immune response is capable of completely neutralizing an intramuscular depot of protein prior to its internalization by presynaptic nerve terminals, where it is inaccessible to antibody. We have evaluated uptake of rhodamine-labeled TTC following intramuscular injection in normal animals and animals vaccinated with tetanus toxoid prior to injection of fluorescently labeled TTC. All animals demonstrated uptake of TTC, with fluorescence appropriately localized to the hypoglossal nerve and nucleus. The distribution and intensity of fluorescence within neurons and processes were indistinguishable between the two groups and were characteristic of TTC. Vaccinated animals showed levels of uptake of TTC into the brain comparable to those of immunologically naïve animals as measured by quantitative fluorimetry. All vaccinated animals had protective levels of antitetanus antibodies as measured by ELISA. Uptake of TTC by nerve terminals from an intramuscular depot is an avid and rapid process and is not blocked by vaccination associated with protection from tetanus toxin.

Particular solution of the discrete-ordinate method.

We present two methods that can be used to derive the particular solution of the discrete-ordinate method (DOM) for an arbitrary source in a plane-parallel atmosphere, which allows us to solve the transfer equation 12-18% faster in the case of a single beam source and is even faster for the atmosphere thermal emission source. We also remove the divide by zero problem that occurs when a beam source coincides with a Gaussian quadrature point. In our implementation, solution for multiple sources can be obtained simultaneously. For each extra source, it costs only 1.3-3.6% CPU time required for a full solution. The GDOM code that we developed previously has been revised to integrate with the DOM. Therefore we are now able to compute the Green's function and DOM solutions simultaneously.

A multi-domain protein system based on the HC fragment of tetanus toxin for targeting DNA to neuronal cells.

One goal of gene therapy is the targeted delivery of therapeutic genes to defined tissues. One attractive target is the central nervous system as there are several neuronal degenerative diseases which may be amenable to gene therapy. At present there is a lack of delivery systems that are able to target genes specifically to neuronal cells. Multi-domain proteins were designed and constructed to facilitate the delivery of exogenous genes to neuronal cells. Neuronal targeting activity of the proteins was achieved by inclusion of the HC fragment of tetanus toxin (TeNT), a protein with well-characterised tropism for the central nervous system. The yeast Gal4 DNA-binding domain enabled specific binding of DNA while the translocation domain from diphtheria toxin (DT) was included to facilitate crossing of the endosomal vesicle. One multi-domain protein, containing all three of these domains, was found to transfect up to 8% of neuroblastoma N18-RE105 cells with marker genes. Monitoring the transfection by confocal microscopy indicated that this protein-DNA transfection complex is to some extent localised at the cell surface, suggesting that further improvements to translocating this membrane barrier may yield higher transfection levels. The demonstration that this multi-domain protein can target genes specifically to neuronal cells is a first step in the development of novel vectors for the delivery of genes with therapeutic potential to diseased neuronal tissues.

Exposure assessment of particulate matter for susceptible populations in Seattle.

In this article we present results from a 2-year comprehensive exposure assessment study that examined the particulate matter (PM) exposures and health effects in 108 individuals with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), coronary heart disease (CHD), and asthma. The average personal exposures to PM with aerodynamic diameters < 2.5 microm (PM2.5) were similar to the average outdoor PM2.5 concentrations but significantly higher than the average indoor concentrations. Personal PM2.5 exposures in our study groups were lower than those reported in other panel studies of susceptible populations. Indoor and outdoor PM2.5, PM10 (PM with aerodynamic diameters < 10 microm), and the ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 were significantly higher during the heating season. The increase in outdoor PM10 in winter was primarily due to an increase in the PM2.5 fraction. A similar seasonal variation was found for personal PM2.5. The high-risk subjects in our study engaged in an equal amount of dust-generating activities compared with the healthy elderly subjects. The children in the study experienced the highest indoor PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. Personal PM2.5 exposures varied by study group, with elderly healthy and CHD subjects having the lowest exposures and asthmatic children having the highest exposures. Within study groups, the PM2.5 exposure varied depending on residence because of different particle infiltration efficiencies. Although we found a wide range of longitudinal correlations between central-site and personal PM2.5 measurements, the longitudinal r is closely related to the particle infiltration efficiency. PM2.5 exposures among the COPD and CHD subjects can be predicted with relatively good power with a microenvironmental model composed of three microenvironments. The prediction power is the lowest for the asthmatic children.

General perturbation technique for the calculation of radiative effects in scattering and absorbing media.

Recently it has been shown that the perturbation technique, based on joint use of both the direct and the adjoint solutions of the radiative transfer equation, is a powerful tool to solve and analyze various time-independent one-dimensional problems of atmospheric physics such as the calculation of weighting functions, prediction of radiative effects, and development of retrieval algorithms. Our primary goal is to obtain a general formulation of the perturbation technique for the most general case of the radiative transfer problem: time-dependent problems, with regard to polarization, and any possible external sources of radiation such as laser beams and solar illumination. Possible areas of application of the perturbation technique are discussed, and several examples to illustrate them are provided. The accuracy of this technique is discussed by considering the particular examples.