Laser-driven shock compression of samples precompressed to 1 GPa produces high-pressure-temperature conditions inducing two significant changes in the optical properties of water: the onset of opacity followed by enhanced reflectivity in the initially transparent water. The onset of reflectivity at infrared wavelengths can be interpreted as a semiconductor↔ electronic conductor transition in water, and is found at pressures above ϳ130 GPa for single-shocked samples precompressed to 1 GPa. Our results indicate that conductivity in the deep interior of "icy" giant planets is greater than realized previously because of an additional contribution from electrons.
Aluminum chloride (AlCl3), a neurotoxic compound, inhibited ATP diphosphohydrolase activity of synaptosomes obtained from cerebral cortex of adult rats. The metal ion significantly inhibited ATPase and ADPase activities of the enzyme at all concentrations tested in vitro (0.01, 0.05, 0.5, 5, and 10 mM) in the presence of 1.5 mM calcium. When tested in the absence of Ca2+, and with increasing amounts of Al3+, enzyme activity remained below basal levels, suggesting that the trivalent cation Al3+ is not a substitute for the divalent cation Ca2+ in ATP-Ca2+ and ADP-Ca2+ complexes. The Al3+ inhibition was competitive with respect to Ca2+. The enzyme inhibition was reversed by the addition of deferoxamine (DFO). NaF significantly inhibited ATP diphosphohydrolase activity, and this inhibition was reversed by the addition of Ca2+ to the medium. Such inhibition was not potentiated by AlF4, which is an inhibitor of cation-transport ATPases.
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