Use of centrifugal-gravity concentration for rejection of talc and recovery improvement in base-metal flotation

The possibility of using a centrifugal-gravity concentrator to reject Mg-bearing minerals and minimize metal losses in the flotation of base metals was evaluated. Sample characterization, batch scoping tests, pilot-scale tests, and regrind-flotation tests were conducted on a Ni flotation tailings stream. Batch tests revealed that the Mg grade decreased dramatically in the concentrate products. Pilot-scale testing of a continuous centrifugal concentrator (Knelson CVD6) on the flotation tailings revealed that a concentrate with a low mass yield, low Mg content, and high Ni upgrade ratio could be achieved. Under optimum conditions, a concentrate at 6.7% mass yield was obtained with 0.85% Ni grade at 12.9% Ni recovery and with a low Mg distribution (1.7%). Size partition curves demonstrated that the CVD also operated as a size classifier, enhancing the rejection of talc fines. Overall, the CVD was capable of rejecting Mg-bearing minerals. Moreover, an opportunity exists for the novel use of centrifugal-gravity concentration for scavenging flotation tailings and/or after comminution to minimize amount of Mg-bearing minerals reporting to flotation.     

Structural basis for EGFR ligand sequestration by Argos

Members of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or ErbB/HER family and their activating ligands are essential regulators of diverse developmental processes. Inappropriate activation of these receptors is a key feature of many human cancers, and its reversal is an important clinical goal. A natural secreted antagonist of EGFR signalling, called Argos, was identified in Drosophila. We showed previously that Argos functions by directly binding (and sequestering) growth factor ligands that activate EGFR. Here we describe the 1.6-A resolution crystal structure of Argos bound to an EGFR ligand. Contrary to expectations, Argos contains no EGF-like domain. Instead, a trio of closely related domains (resembling a three-finger toxin fold) form a clamp-like structure around the bound EGF ligand. Although structurally unrelated to the receptor, Argos mimics EGFR by using a bipartite binding surface to entrap EGF. The individual Argos domains share unexpected structural similarities with the extracellular ligand-binding regions of transforming growth factor-beta family receptors. The three-domain clamp of Argos also resembles the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) receptor, which uses a similar mechanism to engulf the EGF-like module of uPA. Our results indicate that undiscovered mammalian counterparts of Argos may exist among other poorly characterized structural homologues. In addition, the structures presented here define requirements for the design of artificial EGF-sequestering proteins that would be valuable anti-cancer therapeutics.     

Boundary lubrication under water

Boundary lubrication, in which the rubbing surfaces are coated with molecular monolayers, has been studied extensively for over half a century. Such monolayers generally consist of amphiphilic surfactants anchored by their polar headgroups; sliding occurs at the interface between the layers, greatly reducing friction and especially wear of the underlying substrates. This process, widespread in engineering applications, is also predicted to occur in biological lubrication via phospholipid films, though few systematic studies on friction between surfactant layers in aqueous environments have been carried out. Here we show that the frictional stress between two sliding surfaces bearing surfactant monolayers may decrease, when immersed in water, to as little as one per cent or less of its value in air (or oil). We attribute this to the shift of the slip plane from between the surfactant layers, to the surfactant/substrate interface. The low friction would then be due to the fluid hydration layers surrounding the polar head groups attached to the substrate. These results may have implications for future technological and biomedical applications.     

Granular materials: packing grains by thermal cycling

A long-standing problem in managing the behaviour of a collection of solid grains concerns the nature of the grain packing, a property that is typically controlled by how the grains are poured or shaken. Here we show that a systematic and controllable increase in granular packing can be induced by simply raising and then lowering the temperature, without the input of mechanical energy. This thermal processing may have important practical implications for the handling and storage of granular materials.     

Two types of carbonate substitution in the apatite structure

Zusammenfassung Um die Art des Karbonateinbaues in die Apatitstruktur zu klären, wurden zwei Typen von synthetischen Karbonatapatiten untersucht: solche, die sich in wässrigen Medien bildeten, und andere, die bei hohen Temperaturen und unter Ausschluss von Wasser entstanden.     

Sampling in spatial vision

The human visual system is capable of making spatial discriminations with extraordinary accuracy. In normal foveal vision, relative position, width or size can be judged with an accuracy much finer than the size or spacing of even the smallest foveal cones. This remarkable accuracy of spatial vision has been termed 'hyperacuity'. Almost a century ago Ewald Hering proposed that the accuracy of Vernier acuity could be accounted for by averaging of discrete samples along the length of the lines comprising the targets; however, the discovery that Vernier acuity of a few arc seconds could be achieved with dots has rendered the nature and role of sampling in spatial discrimination unclear. We have been investigating the sampling of spatial information in central and peripheral vision (the perifovea) of normal human observers and in observers with strabismic amblyopia. Our results, presented here, show that peripheral vision and central vision of strabismic amblyopes differ qualitatively in their sampling characteristics from those of the normal fovea. Both the periphery and the central visual field of strabismic amblyopes demonstrate marked positional uncertainty which can be reduced by averaging of spatial information from discrete samples.     

Inhibitory tagging system facilitates visual search

Two visuospatial phenomena, serial search and inhibition of return, have recently gained the attention of scientists from such diverse disciplines as neuroscience, artificial intelligence and cognitive psychology. A linear increase in search latency with increasing display size has been assumed to reflect serial focused attention to each item in the display. A delay in the detection of a signal in a previously attended location has been assumed to reflect an inhibitory process that may be used to prevent attention from returning to the same stimulus. The following study of human performance supports these assumptions and, by demonstrating that inhibition of return operates in serial search, presumably to improve search efficiency, provides a functional link between these two phenomena.     

The extracellular matrix of the hematopoietic microenvironment

The bone marrow microenvironment plays an important role in promoting hematopoietic progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation and the controlled egress of these developing hematopoietic cells. The establishment of long-term bone marrow cultures, which are thought to mimic hematopoiesis in vitro, and various stromal cell lines has greatly facilitated the analysis of the functions of this microenvironment. Extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules of all three categories (collagens, proteoglycans and glycoproteins) have been identified as part of this microenvironment and have been shown to be involved in, different biological functions such as cell adhesion and anti-adhesion, binding and presentation of various cytokines and regulation of cell growth. It is suggested that these matrix molecules in combination with cytokines are crucial for compartmentalization of the bone marrow. Although many cell adhesion molecules have been characterized on the surface of hematopoietic progenitor cells, the nature of cellular receptors for the ECM components is less well defined. During leukemia, many immature blood cells are released from bone marrow, but it is not yet known whether these abnormalities in hematopoiesis are also caused by an altered microenvironment or altered composition of its extracellular matrix. The elucidation of the involvement of specific ECM-isoforms and as yet not characterized ECM components and their receptors in the bone marrow will certainly help towards a better understanding of these phenomena.