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At least 469 records · Page 26

The development of a new sealed bipolar lead-acid battery

New light weight composite bipolar plates which can withstand the corrosive environment of the lead acid battery have made possible the construction of a sealed bipolar lead acid battery that promises to achieve very high specific power levels and substantially higher energy densities than conventional lead acid batteries. Performance projections based on preliminary experimental results show that the peak specific power of the battery can be as high as 90 kW/kg, and that a specific power of 5 kW/kg can be sustained over several thousand pulses.

Attia, A. I.↗

Spatial characterization of acid rain stress in Canadian Shield Lakes

The lake acidification in Northern Ontario was investigated using LANDSAT TM to sense lake volume reflectance and also to provide important vegetation and terrain characteristics. The purpose of this project was to determine the ability of LANDSAT to assess water quality characteristics associated with lake acidification. Results demonstrate that a remote sensor can discriminate lake clarity based upon reflection. The basic hypothesis is that seasonal and multi-year changes in lake optical transparency are indicative of sensitivity to acidic deposition. In many acid-sensitive lakes optical transparency is controlled by the amount of dissolved organic carbon present. Seasonal changes in the optical transparency of lakes can potentially provide an indication of the stress due to acid deposition and loading.

Tanis, F. J.↗

Measurements of tropospheric nitric acid over the Western United States and Northeastern Pacific Ocean

Over 240 measurements of nitric acid (HNO3) were made in the free troposphere as well as in the boundary layer. Marine HNO3 measurement results were strikingly similar to results from GAMETAG and other past atmospheric field experiments. The marine boundary layer HNO3 average, 62 parts-per-trillion by volume (pptv), was 1/3 lower than the marine free tropospheric average, 108 pptv, suggesting that the boundary layer is a sink for tropospheric nitric acid, probably by dry deposition. Nitric acid measurements on a nighttime continental flight gave a free tropospheric average of 218 pptv, substantially greater than the daytime continental free tropospheric 5-flight average of 61 pptv. However, the nighttime results may be influenced by highly convective conditions that existed from thunderstorms in the vicinity during that night flight. The continental boundary layer HNO3 average of 767 pptv is an order of magnitude greater than the free tropospheric average, indicating that the boundary layer is a source of free tropospheric HNO3. The distribution of continental boundary layer HNO3 data, from averages of 123 over rural Nevada and Utah to 1057 pptv in the polluted San Joaquin Valley of California suggest a close tie between boundary layer HNO3 and anthropogenic activity.

Lebel, P. J.↗

Metabolism of branched-chain amino acids in leg muscles from tail-cast suspended intact and adrenalectomized rats

The effects of muscle unloading, adrenalectomy, and cortisol treatment on the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids in the soleus and extensor digitorum longus of tail-cast suspended rats were investigated using C-14-labeled lucine, isoleucine, and valine in incubation studies. It was found that, compared to not suspended controls, the degradation of branched-chain amino acids in hind limb muscles was accelerated in tail-cast suspended rats. Adrenalectomy was found to abolish the aminotransferase flux and to diminish the dehydrogenase flux in the soleus. The data also suggest that cortisol treatment increases the rate of metabolism of branched-chain amino acids at the dehydrogenase step.

Jaspers, Stephen R.↗

Effects of stretching and disuse on amino acids in muscles of rat hind limbs

The effects of disuse and passive stretch on the concentrations of amino acids and ammonia in the unloaded soleus muscle was investigated in hindquarter-suspended (for six days by casting one foot in dorsiflexion) tail-casted rats. For a comparison with the condition of unloading, amino acids and ammonia were also measured in shortened extensor digitorum longus in the same casted limb and in denervated leg muscles. The results obtained suggest that passive stretch diminishes some of the characteristic alterations of amino acid concentrations due to unloading. This effect of stretch is considered to be due to the maintenance of muscle tension.

Jaspers, Stephen R.↗

Template-directed oligomerization of 5-prime-deoxy 5-nucleosideacetic acid derivatives

5-prime-deoxy 5-nucleosideacetic acids H-II are isostructural analogs of nucleotides with a carboxylate group in the place of the 5-prime-phosphate group. In this work, their oligomerization in aqueous solution was studied using a water-soluble carbodiimide as the condensing agent in the presence or absence of an appropriate polynucleotide template. Condensation of adenylic acid analogs IIa, IIIa, and Va in the presence of polyuridylic acid were found to be the most efficient reactions. Cyclization of the activated monomers to lactones and the insolubility of the oligomers in aqueous solution were found to be obstacles to the efficient formation of long oligomers.

Harada, Kazuo↗

Metabolism of Nonessential N15-Labeled Amino Acids and the Measurement of Human Whole-Body Protein Synthesis Rates

Eight N-15 labeled nonessential amino acids plus (15)NH4Cl were administered over a 10 h period to four healthy adult males using a primed-constant dosage regimen. The amount of N-15 excreted in the urine and the urinary ammonia, hippuric acid, and plasma alanine N-15 enrichments were measured. There was a high degree of consistency across subjects in the ordering of the nine compounds based on the fraction of N-15 excreted (Kendall coefficient of concordance W = 0.83, P is less than 0.01). Protein synthesis rates were calculated from the urinary ammonia plateau enrichment and the cumulative excretion of N-15. Glycine was one of the few amino acids that gave similar values by both methods.

Stein, T. P.↗

Revised reference model for nitric acid

A nearly global set of data on the nitric acid distribution was obtained for seven months by the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) experiment on the Nimbus 7 spacecraft. The evaluation of the accuracy, precision, and resolution of these data is described, and a description of the major features of the nitric acid distributions is presented. The zonal mean for nitric acid is distributed in a stratospheric layer that peaks near 30 mb, with the largest mixing ratios occurring in polar regions, especially in winter.

Gille, J. C.↗

Comet dust as a source of amino acids at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary

It is suggested here that the large amounts of apparently extraterrestrial amino acids detected recently in rocks at the K/T boundary at Stevns Klint, Denmark were actually deposited with the dust from a giant comet trapped in the inner solar system, a fragment of which comprised the K/T impactor. Amino acids or their precursors in the comet dust would have been swept up by the earth both before and after the impact, but any conveyed by the impactor itself would have been destroyed. The observed amino acid layers would thus have been deposited without an impact.

Zahnle, Kevin↗

Synthesis of 5'-deoxy-5'-nucleosideacetic acid derivatives

Several new 5'-deoxy-5'-nucleosideacetic acid derivatives have been synthesized by the reactions of alkoxycarbonylmethylene triphenylphosphoranes with nucleoside 5'-aldehydes. The oligomerization of adenine derivatives IIa, IIIa, IV, V and guanine derivatives IIc and IIIc in aqueous solution was studied using a water-soluble carbodiimide as a condensing agent. It is found that the saturated acid (IV) tends to cyclize to the lactone, while IIa and unsaturated acids (IIIa and V) oligomerized efficiently, especially in the presence of poly (U) as a template.

Harada, Kazuo↗

Modification of amino acids at shock pressures of 3 to 30 GPA: Initial results

Since the discovery of amino acids in the Murchison meteorite, much speculation has focused on their origin and subsequent alteration, including the possible role of secondary processes, both terrestrial and extraterrestrial. As collisional processes and associated shock waves seem to have affected the silicate portions of many primitive meteorites, a mixture of powdered Allende (125-150 m grain size) and nine synthetic amino acids (six protein and three nonprotein) were subjected to controlled shock pressures from 3 to 30 GPa to determine the effect of shocks on amino acid survivability. Preliminary characterizations of the recovered shock products are presented.

Peterson, Etta↗

Organic acids and selected nitrogen species for ABLE-3

The NASA Global Tropospheric Experiment (GTE) executed airborne science missions aboard the NASA Wallops Electra (NA429) in the North American high latitude (greater than 45 deg North) atmosphere during Jul. to Aug. 1988 and Jul. to Aug. 1990. These missions were part of GTE's Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE). The 1988 mission , ABLE-3A, examined the ecosystems of Alaska as a source and/or sink for important tropospheric gases and particles, and gained new information on the chemical composition of the Arctic atmosphere during the summertime. During 1990 the second high latitude mission, ABLE-3B, focused on the Hudson Bay Lowland and Labrador regions of Canada. Both of these missions provided benchmark data sets on atmosphere biosphere exchange and atmospheric chemistry over largely uninhabited regions of North America. In support of the GTE/ABLE-3A and -3B field missions, the University of New Hampshire flew instrumentation aboard the Wallops Electra research aircraft to provide measurements of the trace gases nitric (HNO3), formic (HCOOH), and acetic (CH3COOH) acid. In addition, measurements were conducted to determine the major water soluble ionic composition of the atmospheric aerosol. For ABLE-3B, groundbased measurements of the acidic trace gases were also performed from the NASA micrometerological tower situated at Schefferville, Laborador. These measurements were aimed at assessing dry deposition of acidic gases to the taiga ecosystem in the Laborador region of Canada.

Talbot, Robert W.↗

Particle size distributions in Arctic polar stratospheric clouds, growth and freezing of sulfuric acid droplets, and implications for cloud formation

The paper uses particle size and volume measurements obtained with the forward scattering spectrometer probe model 300 during January and February 1989 in the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment to investigate processes important in the formation and growth of polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) particles. It is suggested on the basis of comparisons of the observations with expected sulfuric acid droplet deliquescence that in the Arctic a major fraction of the sulfuric acid droplets remain liquid until temperatures at least as low as 193 K. It is proposed that homogeneous freezing of the sulfuric acid droplets might occur near 190 K and might play a role in the formation of PSCs.

Dye, James E.↗

Revised reference model for nitric acid

A nearly global set of data on the nitric acid distribution was obtained for seven months by the Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) experiment on the Nimbus 7 spacecraft. The evaluation of the accuracy, precision, and resolution of these data is described, and a description of the major features of the nitric acid distributions is presented. The zonal mean for nitric acid is distributed in a stratospheric layer that peaks near 30 mb, with the largest mixing ratios occurring in polar regions, especially in winter.

Gille, J. C.↗

Isotopic and molecular analyses of hydrocarbons and monocarboxylic acids of the Murchison meteorite

The monocarboxylic acids and hydrocarbons of the Murchison meteorite (CM2) were isolated for isotropic analysis. The nonvolatile hydrocarbons were analyzed as crude methanol and benzene-methanol extracts and also after separation by silica gel chromatography into predominantly aliphatic, aromatic, and polar hydrocarbon fractions. The volatile hydrocarbons were obtained after progressive decomposition of the meteorite matrix by freeze-thaw, hot water, and acid treatment. Molecular analyses of the aromatic hydrocarbons showed them to comprise a complex suite of compounds in which pyrene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene, and acenaphthene were the most abundant components, a result similar to earlier analyses. The polar hydrocarbons also comprise a very complex mixture in which aromatic ketones, nitrogen, and sulfur heterocycles were identified. The monocarboxylic acids, aliphatic, aromatic, and polar hydrocarbons, and the indigenous volatile hydrocarbons were found to be D-rich. The deuterium enrichment observed in these compounds is suggestive. In two separate analyses, the delta-D values of the nonvolatile hydrocarbons were observed to increase in the following order: aliphatic-aromatic-polar. This finding is consistent with an early solar system or parent body conversion of aromatic to aliphatic compounds as well as the suggestion of pyrolytic formation of aromatic from aliphatic compounds.

Krishnamurthy, R. V.↗

Proton affinity of methyl nitrate - Less than proton affinity of nitric acid

Several state-of-the-art ab initio quantum mechanical methods were used to investigate the equilibrium structure, dipole moments, harmonic vibrational frequencies, and IR intensities of methyl nitrate, methanol, and several structures of protonated methyl nitrate, using the same theoretical methods as in an earlier study (Lee and Rice, 1992) of nitric acid. The ab initio results for methyl nitrate and methanol were found to be in good agreement with available experimental data. The proton affinity (PA) of methyl nitrate was calculated to be 176.9 +/-5 kcal/mol, in excellent agreement with the experimental value 176 kcal/mol obtained by Attina et al. (1987) and less than the PA value of nitric acid. An explanation of the discrepancy of the present results with those of an earlier study on protonated nitric acid is proposed.

Lee, Timothy J.↗

Meal composition and plasma amino acid ratios: Effect of various proteins or carbohydrates, and of various protein concentrations

The effects of meals containing various proteins and carbohydrates, and of those containing various proportions of protein (0 percent to 20 percent of a meal, by weight) or of carbohydrate (0 percent to 75 percent), on plasma levels of certain large neutral amino acids (LNAA) in rats previously fasted for 19 hours were examined. Also the plasma tryptophan ratios (the ratio of the plasma trytophan concentration to the summed concentrations of the other large neutral amino acids) and other plasma amino acid ratios were calculated. (The plasma tryptophan ratio has been shown to determine brain tryptophan levels and, thereby, to affect the synthesis and release of the neurotransmitter serotonin). A meal containing 70 percent to 75 percent of an insulin-secreting carbohydrate (dextrose or dextrin) increased plasma insulin levels and the tryptophan ratio; those containing 0 percent or 25 percent carbohydrate failed to do so. Addition of as little as 5 percent casein to a 70 percent carbohydrate meal fully blocked the increase in the plasma tryptophan ratio without affecting the secretion of insulin - probably by contributing much larger quantities of the other LNAA than of tryptophan to the blood. Dietary proteins differed in their ability to suppress the carbohydrate-induced rise in the plasma tryptophan ratio. Addition of 10 percent casein, peanut meal, or gelatin fully blocked this increase, but lactalbumin failed to do so, and egg white did so only partially. (Consumption of the 10 percent gelatin meal also produced a major reduction in the plasma tyrosine ratio, and may thereby have affected brain tyrosine levels and catecholamine synthesis.) These observations suggest that serotonin-releasing neurons in brains of fasted rats are capable of distinguishing (by their metabolic effects) between meals poor in protein but rich in carbohydrates that elicit insulin secretion, and all other meals. The changes in brain serotonin caused by carbohydrate-rich, protein-poor meals may affect subsequent food choice and various serotonin-mediated behaviors.

Yokogoshi, Hidehiko↗

Vapor pressures and calculated heats of vaporization of concentrated nitric acid solutions in the composition range 71 to 89 percent nitrogen dioxide, 1 to 10 percent water, and in the temperature range 10 to 60 degrees C

Total vapor pressures were measured for 16 acid mixtures of the ternary system nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, and water within the temperature range 10 degrees to 60 degrees Celsius, and with the composition range 71 to 89 weight percent nitric acid, 7 to 20 weight percent nitrogen dioxide, and 1 to 10 weight percent water. Heats of vaporization were calculated from the vapor pressure measurements for each sample for the temperatures 25, 40, and 60 degrees Celsius. The ullage of the apparatus used for the measurements was 0.46. Ternary diagrams showing isobars as a function of composition of the system were constructed from experimental and interpolated data for the temperatures 25, 40, 45, and 60 degrees C and are presented herein.

Mckeown, A B↗