Facilitation of cleaning of alumina surfaces fouled with heat-treated bovine serum albumin by ozone treatment.

Facilitation of cleaning of alumina (A12O3) particles fouled with heat-treated bovine serum albumin (BSA), which contains sulfhydryl groups on the molecule, by gaseous ozone was studied. With increasing temperature of heat treatment, the amount of adsorbed BSA onto A12O3 surfaces increased, whereas the rate of BSA desorption during alkali cleaning decreased markedly, resulting in the larger amounts of BSA remaining on 12O3 surfaces. No significant amounts of BSA were removed from A12O3 surfaces by alkali cleaning alone when treated at temperatures above 120 degrees C. Before alkali cleaning, the heat-treated, BSA-fouled AI2O3 at 150 degrees C were treated with 0.05 to 0.30% (vol/vol) gaseous ozone at room temperature. Ozone pretreatment markedly accelerated the rate of BSA desorption during subsequent alkali cleaning. The effect of ozone pretreatment on BSA removal depended on the concentration of ozone and treatment time and hence on the total amount of ozone supplied. The molecular weight (MW) of desorbed BSA during alkali cleaning without ozone pretreatment coincided with the MW of the native BSA, whereas the MW of desorbed BSA during the combined ozone-alkali cleaning was lower than the MW of the native BSA. This indicated that the heat-treated BSA molecules adsorbed on A12O3 were partially decomposed into some fragments by ozone pretreatment, resulting in the facilitation of the removal of BSA during alkali cleaning.

Effect of ozone pretreatment on alkali cleaning of alumina fouled with bovine serum albumin.

Pretreatment of alumina particles fouled with bovine serum albumin (BSA) by 0.3% (v/v) gaseous ozone markedly accelerated the removal of BSA during alkali cleaning through partial decomposition of the BSA molecule. The results suggest that ozone pretreatment can reduce the NaOH concentration required for adequate alkali cleaning by at least one order of magnitude.

Conformation of adsorbed bovine serum albumin governing its desorption behavior at alumina-water interfaces.

The mode of initial adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) onto positively charged Al2O3 particles was studied as a function of surface coverage (theta). The adsorption isotherm of BSA exhibited saturation (theta = 1) and the existence of an inflection point at theta of 0.82. The relative numbers of ionic groups on a BSA molecule interacting with the Al2O3 surface at various theta were monitored by measuring the relative adsorption density of H+ and OH-, ([gamma(H+) - gamma(OH-)]), for BSA-adsorbed Al2O3 using potentiometric titration. The [gamma(H+) - gamma(OH-)] curves for Al2O3, BSA, and BSA-adsorbed Al2O3 at various KNO3 concentrations showed a common intersection point (cip) which was the pH giving the acid-base equivalence point, respectively. Compared with the cip's of Al2O3 (5.6) and BSA (5.2), the cip's of BSA-adsorbed Al2O3 were situated at points corresponding to more alkaline pH values over the theta range of 0.13 to 1.0. These results suggested that negatively charged groups, mainly carboxyl groups, on the BSA molecule electrostatically interacted with the Al2O3 surface. The degree of shift in the cip increased gradually with increasing theta from 0.13 to 0.70, while it decreased markedly over the theta range of 0.82 to 1.0. The variation in the cip reflected the change in the total number of ion pairs formed between BSA molecules and Al2O3. The initial rates of BSA desorption during alkali cleaning were low and almost constant over the theta range of 0.13 to 0.70, but increased markedly at theta higher than 0.82. It is suggested that the conformational changes of BSA adsorbed on Al2O3, involving changes in the relative magnitude of electrostatic interaction forces, occur discretely at theta of approximately 0.8.

P300 event-related potentials in probable dissociative generalized amnesia.

1. To investigate whether abnormalities in objective neurophysiologic measures are observable in patients with probable dissociative generalized amnesia, the P300 and N100 event-related potentials were evaluated in six such patients in both acute stage and after recovery from amnesia. Findings were compared with those in 12 age- and gender-matched healthy subjects. 2. While latencies did not differ from those of control subjects, P300 amplitudes in acute-stage recordings were lower than those in controls. Repeated recordings in the patients showed a significant increase in P300 amplitude after recovery from amnesia. 3. Amplitude and latency of N100 did not differ between the patient and control groups, nor changed significantly after retrieval of memory. 4. These findings suggest that some unknown biological and/or psychologic mechanisms that cause retrograde autobiographic amnesia may impair cognitive function as reflected in an objective neurophysiologic measure such as the P300.

Kinetics of the methanogenic fermentation of acetate.

Inhibition of the fermentation of acetate to methane and carbon dioxide by acetate was analyzed with an acetate-acclimatized sludge and with Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro under mesophilic conditions. A second-order substrate inhibition model, q(ch(4) ) = q(m)S/[K(s) + S + (S/K(i))], where S was the concentration of undissociated acetic acid, not ionized acetic acid, could be applicable in both cases. The analysis resulted in substrate saturation constants, K(s), of 4.0 muM for the acclimatized sludge and 104 muM for M. barkeri. The threshold concentrations of undissociated acetic acid when no further acetate utilization was observed were 0.078 muM (pH 7.50) for the acclimatized sludge and 4.43 muM (pH 7.45) for M. barkeri. These kinetic results suggested that the concentration of undissociated acetic acid became a key factor governing the actual threshold acetate concentration for acetate utilization and that the acclimatized sludge in which Methanothrix spp. appeared dominant could utilize acetate better and survive at a lower concentration of undissociated acetic acid than could M. barkeri.

Inhibition of the fermentation of propionate to methane by hydrogen, acetate, and propionate.

Inhibition of the fermentation of propionate to methane and carbon dioxide by hydrogen, acetate, and propionate was analyzed with a mesophilic propionate-acclimatized sludge that consisted of numerous flocs (size, 150 to 300 mum). The acclimatized sludge could convert propionate to methane and carbon dioxide stoichiometrically without accumulating hydrogen and acetate in a propionate-minimal medium. Inhibition of propionate utilization by propionate could be analyzed by a second-order substrate inhibition model (shown below) given that the substrate saturation constant, K(s), was 15.9 muM; the substrate inhibition constant, K(i), was 0.79 mM; and the maximum specific rate of propionate utilization, q(m), was 2.15 mmol/g of mixed-liquor volatile suspended solids (MLVSS) per day: q(s) = q(m)S/[K(s) + S + (S/K(i))], where q(s) is the specific rate of propionate utilization and S is the initial concentration of undissociated propionic acid. For inhibition by hydrogen and acetate to propionate utilization, a noncompetitive product inhibition model was used: q(s) = q(m)/[1 + (P/K(p))], where P is the initial concentration of hydrogen or undissociated acetic acid and K(p) is the inhibition constant. Kinetic analysis gave, for hydrogen inhibition, K(p(H(2))) = 0.11 atm (= 11.1 kPa, 71.5 muM), q(m) = 2.40 mmol/g of MLVSS per day, and n = 1.51 and, for acetate inhibition, K(p(HAc)) = 48.6 muM, q(m) = 1.85 mmol/g of MLVSS per day, and n = 0.96. It could be concluded that the increase in undissociated propionic acid concentration was a key factor in inhibition of propionate utilization and that hydrogen and acetate cooperatively inhibited propionate degradation, suggesting that hydrogenotrophic and acetoclastic methanogens might play an important role in enhancing propionate degradation to methane and carbon dioxide.

Effect of Sulfur-Containing Compounds on Growth of Methanosarcina barkeri in Defined Medium.

Methanosarcina barkeri Fusaro (DSM 804) could grow on methanol in a mineral medium containing cysteine or thiosulfate as the sole sulfur source. Optimum growth occurred at cysteine concentrations of 1 to 2.8 mM and at thiosulfate concentrations of 2.5 to 5 mM. No inhibition of growth was observed even when these concentrations were doubled in the culture medium. Under the optimum cysteine and thiosulfate concentrations, the generation times of the organism were about 8 to 10 and 10 to 12 h, respectively, giving a cell yield of about 0.14 to 0.17 and 0.08 to 0.11 g (dry weight)/g of methanol consumed. The organism metabolized cysteine and thiosulfate during growth, giving rise to sulfide in the culture medium. H(2)S evolution from cysteine and thiosulfate was catalyzed by two enzymes, namely cysteine desulfhydrase and thiosulfate reductase, respectively, as revealed by enzyme assay in the crude cell-free extract of the organism.

[Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy findings in idiopathic mitral valve prolapse: comparison with clinical findings].

Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsies were performed in nine patients with mitral valve prolapse (MVP), and the histological features were compared with the clinical findings. All of them had atypical anterior chest pain and/or dangerous ventricular arrhythmias, but the grade of MVP was mild. Five patients had non-specific ST-T changes on resting 12 leads ECG, four had ischemic ST depression on treadmill exercise ECG, and five had dangerous arrhythmias on 24 hour Holter monitoring ECG. Resting echocardiography showed normal left ventricular function in all, but exercise echocardiography revealed reduced increment of % fractional shortening (delta % FS) in five patients. Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy findings disclosed endocardial thickening and interstitial myocardial fibrosis in eight patients, myocardial hypertrophy in two, myocardial degeneration in five, and myocardial disarray in five, although these changes were mild. These results suggest that in patients with MVP, there is a subgroup with endomyocardial abnormalities, and these might have some relations to the variety of clinical findings in MVP.