Model-based aortic power transfer: A potential measure for quantifying aortic stenosis severity based on measured data.

Current aortic stenosis severity grading is based mainly on the local properties of the stenotic valve, such as pressure gradient or jet velocity. Success rates of valve replacement therapy are still suboptimal, so alternative grading of AS should be investigated. We suggest the efficiency of power transfer from the left ventricle to the aorta, as it takes into account heart, valve and circulatory system. Left ventricular and circulatory power were estimated using a 0D model, which was optimised to patient data: left ventricular and aortic pressure, aortic flow and diastolic left ventricular volume. Optimisation was performed using a data assimilation method. These data were available in rest as well as chemically induced exercise for twelve patients. Using this limited data set, we showed that aortic valve efficiency is highly heterogeneous between patients, but also often dependent on the haemodynamic load. This indicates that power transfer efficiency is a highly interesting metric for further research in aortic stenosis.

Thermodynamics of the charge recombination in photosystem II.

The temperature dependence of the electric field-induced chlorophyll luminescence in photosystem II was studied in Tris-washed, osmotically swollen spinach chloroplasts (blebs). The system II reaction centers were brought in the state Z(+)P(+)-QA (-)QB (-) by preillumination and the charge recombination to the state Z(+)PQAQB (-) was measured at various temperatures and electrical field strengths. It was found that the activation enthalpy of this back reaction was 0.16 eV in the absence of an electrical field and diminished with increasing field strength. It is argued that this energy is the enthalpy difference between the states IQA (-) and I(-)QA and accounts for about half of the free energy difference between these states. The redox state of QB does not influence this free energy difference within 150 µs after the photoreduction of QA. The consequences for the interpretation of thermodynamic properties of QA are discussed.

Orientation of pigments and pigment-protein complexes in the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii.

The orientation of pigments and pigment-protein complexes of the green photosynthetic bacterium Prosthecochloris aestuarii was studied by measurement of linear dichroism spectra at 295 and 100 K. Orientation of intact cells and membrane vesicles (Complex I) was obtained by drying on a glass plate. The photochemically active pigment-protein complexes (photosystem-protein complex and reaction center pigment-protein complex) and the antenna bacteriochlorophyll a protein were oriented by pressing a polyacrylamide gel. The data indicate that the near-infrared transitions (Qy) of bacteriochlorophyll c and most bacteriochlorophyll a molecules have a relatively parallel orientation to the membrane, whereas the Qy transitions of the bacteriochlorophyll a in the antenna protein are oriented predominantly perpendicularly to the membrane. Carotenoids and the Qx transitions (590-620 nm) of bacteriochlorophyll a, not belonging to the bacteriochlorophyll a protein, have a relatively perpendicular orientation to the membrane. The absorption and linear dichroism spectra indicate the existence of different pools of bacteriochlorophyll c in the chlorosomes and of carotenoid and bacteriopheophytin c in the cell membrane. The results suggest that the photosystem-protein and reaction center pigment-protein complexes are oriented with their short axes approximately perpendicular to the plane of the membrane. The symmetry axis of the bacteriochlorophyll a protein has an approximately perpendicular orientation.

Electrochromic absorbance changes in spinach chloroplasts induced by an external electrical field.

Absorbance changes induced by electrical field pulses were studied in osmotically swollen spinach chloroplasts. The results and their interpretation on the basis of the geometry and electrical properties of the material may be summarized as follows: 1. The spherical vesicles, 'blebs', formed upon dilution of a chloroplast suspension consist of only a single membrane, while part of the thylakoid system remains concentrated in a few patches on its surface. 2. When an electrical field pulse is applied, an up to 3000-fold enhanced field is built up in the membrane, with a time constant of about 20 mus. From this the specific capacitance of the bleb wall was found to be 2 microF . CM-2. 3. The electrical field in the membrane causes several absorbance changes of the photosynthetic pigments with different dependencies on the direction of polarization of the measuring light. Some of these are due to field-induced changes in orientation, in particular of chlorophyll alpha, and have a relaxation time of less than 100 mus. Most of the absorbance changes directly reflect the kinetics of the membrane potential and can be ascribed to electrochromic shifts of photosynthetic pigments, mainly of carotenoids. 4. The carotenoid absorbance changes depend quadratically on the membrane potential; an apparent saturation at high applied field strengths is ascribed to dielectric breakdown at a membrane potential of about 1 V. 5. All carotenoids in the membrane contribute to the absorbance changes induced by an externally applied field, whereas the well-known light-induced electrochromic absorbance change at 518 nm is mainly caused by a minor fraction of permanently polarized and spectrally red-shifted carotenoids. A computer simulation showed that this interpretation quantitatively explains the results and requires no unreasonable values of the various parameters involved.