Intensity Differences (intensity + difference)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Raman scattering studies of the magnetic ordering in hexagonal HoMnO3 thin films

JOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 9 2010
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien
Abstract We present the results of the temperature dependence of the Raman spectra of hexagonal HoMnO3 thin films in the 13,300 K temperature range. The films were grown on Pt(111)//Al2O3 (0001) substrates using the laser ablation method. In the HoMnO3 thin films, we initially observedseveral broad Raman peaks at ,510, 760, 955, 1120, and 1410 cm,1. These broad Raman peaks display an anomalous behavior near the magnetic transition temperature, and the intensity difference of the Raman spectra at different temperatures shows several pairs of negative and positive peaks as the temperature is lowered below the Néel temperature. Our analyses indicate that all the broad peaks are correlated with magnetic ordering, and we have assigned the origin of all the broad peaks. Purely on the basis of the Raman analysis, we have deduced the Néel temperature and the spin exchange integrals of HoMnO3 thin films. We also investigated the effects of the growth condition on the strongest broad peak at ,760 cm,1, which is related with pure magnetic ordering. This result indicates that the oxygen defect in the HoMnO3 sample has negligible effect on magnetic ordering. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Indole ring orientations of Trp189 in the ground and M intermediate states of bacteriorhodopsin as studied by polarized UV resonance Raman spectroscopy,

JOURNAL OF RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY, Issue 1-3 2006
Kazuhiro Asakawa
Abstract Polarized resonance Raman spectroscopy provides a means for orientation analysis of proteins in aligned samples. Previously, we developed a Raman linear intensity difference (RLID) method to determine the orientations of aromatic amino acid side chains in flow-oriented or membrane-bound proteins. In this study, we have applied the RLID method to Trp189 in bacteriorhodopsin (BR), a transmembrane protein that acts as a light-driven proton pump. Among the eight Trp residues in BR, the Raman spectrum of Trp189 has been extracted by subtracting the spectrum of the Trp189 , Phe mutant from that of wild-type BR. By examining the 251.3-nm-exited polarized resonance Raman intensities of two indole ring vibrations of Trp189, the directions of the La and Bb transition moments have been determined with respect the membrane normal in the light-adapted ground state (BR568) and a photo-excited intermediate (M). Comparison of the orientations of the Trp189 indole ring derived from the La and Bb inclination angles has shown that the indole ring slightly but significantly reorients toward the ionone ring of the retinal chromophore in the M intermediate. The reorientation of Trp189 is consistent with the previous observation that helix F, on which Trp189 is located, undergoes an outward tilt and the hydrophobic interaction of Trp189 increases in the M intermediate. The RLID method combined with 251.3 nm excitation and point mutation is useful for detecting even a small reorientation of a targeted Trp residue. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Clinical trial: the glucagon-like peptide-1 analogue ROSE-010 for management of acute pain in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study

ALIMENTARY PHARMACOLOGY & THERAPEUTICS, Issue 2 2009
P. M. HELLSTRÖM
Summary Background, There is currently no treatment available to manage acute pain attacks in IBS patients regardless of subtype. Aims, To evaluate efficacy and safety of the GLP-1 analogue ROSE-010 in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Methods, Eligible patients (n = 166) meeting Rome II criteria were randomly assigned to receive single subcutaneous injections of ROSE-010 100 ,g, 300 ,g and placebo in a cross-over design. Safety was assessed from spontaneously reported adverse events and measurement of vital signs. Patient-rated pain relief and intensity were measured on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. The primary efficacy variable was proportion of patients with >50% maximum total pain relief response from 10 to 60 min after treatment. Secondary endpoints included the maximum summed pain intensity difference, time to meaningful pain relief and patient ratings of satisfaction with treatment. Results, Twice as many patients were responders in the primary efficacy endpoint after both ROSE-010 injections compared to placebo (24%P = 0.011, 23%P = 0.005, and 12% after 300 ,g, 100 ,g and placebo injections, respectively). Similar results were obtained for the proportion of patients with total pain intensity response. Times to meaningful and total pain relief were shorter for both doses of ROSE-010 compared with placebo. Compared with placebo, more patients (P < 0.05) were satisfied with ROSE-010 and considered ROSE-010 better than previous IBS medications used. Conclusion, ROSE-010 was well tolerated and provided fast and effective relief of acute pain attacks on demand in IBS patients. [source]


Concise intensity statistics of Friedel opposites and classification of the reflections

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION A, Issue 4 2009
U. Shmueli
A previous extensive analysis of the mean-square intensity difference of Friedel opposites [Shmueli et al. (2008). Acta Cryst. A64, 476,483] is here concisely re-examined and confirmed by purely statistical methods. The analysis applies to noncentrosymmetric crystals only. For special reflections and centered lattices both mean-square intensity difference and average intensity of Friedel opposites depend on the centering factor of the crystal lattice and/or on the isotropy subgroup of the reflection. A complete classification of the reflections, based on the above intensity statistics, is presented. It is also shown that the experimentally important Bijvoet ratio is found to depend only on the chemical composition of the unit-cell content and the wavelength of the radiation. [source]


Lateralization During the Weber Test: Animal Experiments

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 3 2002
Jean-Yves Sichel MD
Abstract Objectives/Hypothesis The objective of this study were to present an assessment of a new theory to explain lateralization during the Weber test using an animal model. This theory is based on the discovery that a major pathway in bone conduction stimulation to the inner ear is through the skull contents (probably the cerebrospinal fluid [CSF]). The placement of a bone vibrator or tuning fork on the skull excites the inner ear by the classic osseous pathway and by the suggested CSF pathway. We assume that there is a phase difference between the stimulation mediated by the ossicular chain (inertial and occlusion mechanisms) and the one mediated by the CSF. The presence of a conductive pathology will decrease the magnitude of the sound energy mediated by the ossicular chain. Thus, the out-of-phase signal arriving through the bony pathways will be decreased, hence increasing the resultant sound intensity stimulating the cochlea. Study Design Prospective animal study. Methods The experiment was performed on 10 fat sand rats, which had undergone unilateral cochleostomy and a small craniotomy. The auditory nerve brainstem response (ABR) thresholds were measured to air-conducted stimulation, to stimulation with the bone vibrator applied to the skull, and to stimulation with the bone vibrator applied directly to the brain through the craniotomy. The ossicular chain of the second ear was then fixed to the middle ear walls with cyanoacrylate glue to induce a conductive hearing loss. The ABR thresholds to the same three stimuli were then measured again. Results After ossicular chain fixation, the ABR threshold to air-conducted stimulation increased, to bone vibrator stimulation on the bone decreased (hearing improvement), and to bone vibrator stimulation directly on the brain remained unchanged. Conclusions This experiment confirms the proposed theory. During clinical bone conduction stimulation, there is a phase difference between sound energy reaching the inner ear through the middle ear ossicles and from the CSF. A middle ear conductive pathology removes one of these components, thus increasing the effective sound intensity in the affected ear. On the other hand, when the bone vibrator is applied on the brain, the inner ear is stimulated only through the CSF, so ossicular chain fixation does not change the ABR threshold. Moreover, this study proves that lateralization during the Weber phenomenon is the result, at least in part, of an intensity difference between sound energy reaching the two cochleae. [source]


Kv1 currents mediate a gradient of principal neuron excitability across the tonotopic axis in the rat lateral superior olive

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 2 2004
Margaret Barnes-Davies
Abstract Principal neurons of the lateral superior olive (LSO) detect interaural intensity differences by integration of excitatory projections from ipsilateral bushy cells and inhibitory inputs from the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body. The intrinsic membrane currents active around firing threshold will form an important component of this binaural computation. Whole cell patch recording in an in vitro brain slice preparation was employed to study conductances regulating action potential (AP) firing in principal neurons. Current-clamp recordings from different neurons showed two types of firing pattern on depolarization, one group fired only a single initial AP and had low input resistance while the second group fired multiple APs and had a high input resistance. Under voltage-clamp, single-spiking neurons showed significantly higher levels of a dendrotoxin-sensitive, low threshold potassium current (ILT). Block of ILT by dendrotoxin-I allowed single-spiking cells to fire multiple APs and indicated that this current was mediated by Kv1 channels. Both neuronal types were morphologically similar and possessed similar amounts of the hyperpolarization-activated nonspecific cation conductance (Ih). However, single-spiking cells predominated in the lateral limb of the LSO (receiving low frequency sound inputs) while multiple-firing cells dominated the medial limb. This functional gradient was mirrored by a medio-lateral distribution of Kv1.1 immunolabelling. We conclude that Kv1 channels underlie the gradient of LSO principal neuron firing properties. The properties of single-spiking neurons would render them particularly suited to preserving timing information. [source]


Enhanced Infrared Absorption of C60 on Thin Evaporated Pd Island Films

ISRAEL JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY, Issue 3 2006
Toshimasa Wadayama
Infrared transmission spectra of C60 multilayers on thin Pd films deposited onto surface-oxidized Si(100) and hydrogen-terminated Si(111) substrates are reported. In both cases, the spectra in the 1500,1100 cm,1 region exhibited bands at 1444, 1429, and 1182 cm,1 due, respectively, to the Ag (2), T1u (4), and T1u (3) modes. The appearance of the Ag (2) mode, which is originally infrared inactive (Raman active), reveals electron transfer from the metal to chemisorbed C60. Indeed, increasing the thickness of C60, the Ag (2) mode intensity saturated more rapidly than the T1u (4) and T1u (3) modes. The originally infrared active T1u (4) and T1u (3) modes were enhanced in intensity depending upon the Pd thickness. Actually, while both substrates gave nearly the same magnitude of enhancement, the optimum Pd thickness was smaller on the hydrogen-terminated surface than on the surface-oxidized surface. On the other hand, the Ag (2) mode was less intense on the hydrogen-terminated surface than on the oxidized surface, suggestive of a shortage of chemisorbed C60 and thus pointing out the importance of the metal film morphology. Indeed, Pd films deposited on the two substrates gave rise to quite different AFM images. We also show that, regardless of the substrate, the Ag (2) mode is an order of magnitude smaller than for Ag deposition, though no remarkable intensity differences were observed with respect to the T1u (4) and T1u (3) modes. [source]


Polarization switching in BaTiO3 thin films measured by X-ray diffraction exploiting anomalous dispersion

JOURNAL OF APPLIED CRYSTALLOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2004
S. J. Van Reeuwijk
Films of BaTiO3 ranging from 20,nm to 300,nm in thickness were grown with pulsed laser deposition on Nb:SrTiO3. The quality of the layers was investigated using atomic force microscopy, X-ray reflectivity and X-ray diffraction. Both the micrographs and the X-ray reflectivity spectra indicate a smooth surface of the layers. The X-ray diffraction profiles measured using synchrotron radiation show features characteristic for highly crystalline thin films. The application of an external electric field parallel to the c axis changes an hkl reflection of BaTiO3 to an hk reflection. Due to the anomalous dispersion, the intensities of these two reflections are not equal and the atomic displacements can be determined from the intensity differences. The electric field-induced intensity changes can be as large as a few percent, which makes data collection from a 100,nm film using Cu K, radiation from an X-ray tube feasible. The ,I/I values of a number of reflections from the 20 and 50,nm films were measured using synchrotron radiation. The observed ,I/I values were in good agreement with the intensity changes expected for polarization switching in the bulk. [source]


MRI of early- and late-stage arterial remodeling in a low-level cholesterol-fed rabbit model of atherosclerosis

JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 4 2007
John A. Ronald MS
Abstract Purpose To monitor early- and late-stage arterial remodeling following low-level cholesterol (CH) feeding in rabbits using a standardized MRI protocol. Materials and Methods New Zealand White rabbits were fed a CH diet (0.25% w/w) (n = 15) or normal chow (n = 6) and imaged either at 0, 2, 6, 8, and 11 months ("early-stage") or 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 months ("late-stage"). T2-weighted fast-spin-echo images (,200 ,m in-plane resolution) of aortic lesions were collected using either a 1.5 or 3.0T MR scanner interfaced with a customized surface RF coil. Luminal (LA), outer vessel wall boundary (OVBA), and vessel wall areas (VWA) were assessed. Results Among CH-fed animals in the early-stage group, increased VWA associated with decreased OVBA and a more pronounced decrease in LA was first detectable at 8 months. These changes became more evident between 8 and 11 months. In the late-stage group, lesions continued to grow in response to CH-feeding, as VWA significantly increased at regular 2-month intervals. Beyond 16 months, signal intensity differences (reflecting increased lesion complexity) within the vessel wall were noted. Conclusion This often-overlooked rabbit model combined with customized MR technology holds tremendous promise for studying the natural progression, regression, and remodeling of atherosclerotic lesions. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2007;26:1010,1019. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Discrimination and identification of the six aromatic positional isomers of trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)

JOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY (INCORP BIOLOGICAL MASS SPECTROMETRY), Issue 4 2008
Kei Zaitsu
Abstract A reliable and accurate GC-MS method was developed that allows both mass spectrometric and chromatographic discrimination of the six aromatic positional isomers of trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA). Regardless of the trifluoroacetyl (TFA) derivatization, chromatographic separation of all the investigated isomers was achieved by using DB-5ms capillary columns (30 m × 0.32 mm i.d.), with run times less than 15 min. However, the mass spectra of the nonderivatized TMAs, except 2,4,6-trimethoxyamphetmine (TMA-6), showed insufficient difference for unambiguous discrimination. On the other hand, the mass spectra of the TFA derivatives of the six isomers exhibited fragments with significant intensity differences, which allowed the unequivocal identification of all the aromatic positional isomers investigated in the present study. This GC-MS technique in combination with TFA derivatization, therefore, is a powerful method to discriminate these isomers, especially useful to distinguish the currently controlled 3,4,5-trimethoxyamphetmine (TMA-1) and 2,4,5-trimethoxyamphetmine (TMA-2) from other uncontrolled TMAs. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Proteomic analysis identifies in vivo candidate matrix metalloproteinase-9 substrates in the left ventricle post-myocardial infarction

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 11 2010
Rogelio Zamilpa
Abstract Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) deletion has been shown to improve remodeling of the left ventricle post-myocardial infarction (MI), but the mechanisms to explain this improvement have not been fully elucidated. MMP-9 has a broad range of in vitro substrates, but relevant in vivo substrates are incompletely defined. Accordingly, we evaluated the infarct regions of wild-type (wt) and MMP-9 null (null) mice using a proteomic strategy. Wt and null groups showed similar infarct sizes (48±3 in wt and 45±3% in null), indicating that both groups received an equal injury stimulus. Left ventricle infarct tissue was homogenized and analyzed by 2-DE and MS. Of 31 spot intensity differences, the intensities of 9 spots were higher and 22 spots were lower in null mice compared to wt (all p<0.05). Several extracellular matrix proteins were identified in these spots by MS, including fibronectin, tenascin-C, thrombospondin-1, and laminin. Fibronectin was observed on the gels at a lower than expected molecular weight in the wt group, which suggested substrate cleavage, and the lower molecular weight spot was observed at lower intensity in the MMP-9 null group, which suggested cleavage by MMP-9. Immunoblotting confirmed the presence of fibronectin cleavage products in the wt samples and lower levels in the absence of MMP-9. In conclusion, examining infarct tissue from wt and MMP-9 null mice by proteomic analysis provides a powerful and unique method to identify in vivo candidate MMP substrates. [source]


Detection and correction of underassigned rotational symmetry prior to structure deposition

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 5 2010
Billy K. Poon
Up to 2% of X-ray structures in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) potentially fit into a higher symmetry space group. Redundant protein chains in these structures can be made compatible with exact crystallographic symmetry with minimal atomic movements that are smaller than the expected range of coordinate uncertainty. The incidence of problem cases is somewhat difficult to define precisely, as there is no clear line between underassigned symmetry, in which the subunit differences are unsupported by the data, and pseudosymmetry, in which the subunit differences rest on small but significant intensity differences in the diffraction pattern. To help catch symmetry-assignment problems in the future, it is useful to add a validation step that operates on the refined coordinates just prior to structure deposition. If redundant symmetry-related chains can be removed at this stage, the resulting model (in a higher symmetry space group) can readily serve as an isomorphous replacement starting point for re-refinement using re-indexed and re-integrated raw data. These ideas are implemented in new software tools available at http://cci.lbl.gov/labelit. [source]


`Broken symmetries' in macromolecular crystallography: phasing from unmerged data

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 4 2010
Marc Schiltz
The space-group symmetry of a crystal structure imposes a point-group symmetry on its diffraction pattern, giving rise to so-called symmetry-equivalent reflections. Instances in macromolecular crystallography are discussed in which the symmetry in reciprocal space is broken, i.e. where symmetry-related reflections are no longer equivalent. Such a situation occurs when the sample suffers from site-specific radiation damage during the X-ray measurements. Another example of broken symmetry arises from the polarization anisotropy of anomalous scattering. In these cases, the genuine intensity differences between symmetry-related reflections can be exploited to yield phase information in the structure-solution process. In this approach, the usual separation of the data merging and phasing steps is abandoned. The data are kept unmerged down to the Harker construction, where the symmetry-breaking effects are explicitly modelled and refined and become a source of supplementary phase information. [source]


Pseudo-merohedral twinning in monoclinic crystals of wild-type human brain neuroglobin

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 4 2009
Djemel Hamdane
The purification, crystallization and successful structure determination by molecular replacement of wild-type human brain neuroglobin at 1.8,Å resolution is reported. The apparent space group was orthorhombic C2221, but the real space group was monoclinic P21, which resulted from twinning. Indeed, the unit-cell parameters, a = 31.2, b = 139.1, c = 31.2,Å, , = 102°, display a fortuitously close to c and twinning by the operator l, ,k, h occurs. Twinning was not evident from the initial analysis of intensity distribution, but pseudo-merohedral twinning was revealed by the Padilla and Yeates test based on local intensity differences. A twinning fraction of 0.5 was determined in SHELXL, indicating a perfect hemihedrally twinned crystal. To date, this type of twinning has been reported in more than ten structures, which makes it quite a common case in proteins. [source]


Exploiting the anisotropy of anomalous scattering boosts the phasing power of SAD and MAD experiments

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 7 2008
Marc Schiltz
The X-ray polarization anisotropy of anomalous scattering in crystals of brominated nucleic acids and selenated proteins is shown to have significant effects on the diffraction data collected at an absorption edge. For conventionally collected single- or multi-wavelength anomalous diffraction data, the main manifestation of the anisotropy of anomalous scattering is the breakage of the equivalence between symmetry-related reflections, inducing intensity differences between them that can be exploited to yield extra phase information in the structure-solution process. A new formalism for describing the anisotropy of anomalous scattering which allows these effects to be incorporated into the general scheme of experimental phasing methods using an extended Harker construction is introduced. This requires a paradigm shift in the data-processing strategy, since the usual separation of the data-merging and phasing steps is abandoned. The data are kept unmerged down to the Harker construction, where the symmetry-breaking is explicitly modelled and refined and becomes a source of supplementary phase information. These ideas have been implemented in the phasing program SHARP. Refinements using actual data show that exploitation of the anisotropy of anomalous scattering can deliver substantial extra phasing power compared with conventional approaches using the same raw data. Examples are given that show improvements in the phases which are typically of the same order of magnitude as those obtained in a conventional approach by adding a second-wavelength data set to a SAD experiment. It is argued that such gains, which come essentially for free, i.e. without the collection of new data, are highly significant, since radiation damage can frequently preclude the collection of a second-wavelength data set. Finally, further developments in synchrotron instrumentation and in the design of data-collection strategies that could help to maximize these gains are outlined. [source]


Anomalous signal indicators in protein crystallography

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 11 2005
P. H. Zwart
A Monte Carlo procedure is described that generates random structure factors with simulated errors corresponding to an X-­ray data set of a protein of a specific size and given heavy-atom content. The simulated data set can be used to estimate Bijvoet ratios and figures of merit as obtained from SAD phasing routines and can be used to gauge the feasibility of solving a structure via the SAD method. In addition to being able to estimate results from phasing, the simulation allows the estimation of the correlation coefficient between |,F|, the absolute Bijvoet amplitude difference, and FA, the structure-factor amplitude of the heavy-atom model. As this quantity is used in various substructure-solution routines, the estimate provides a rough estimate of the ease of substructure solution. Furthermore, the Monte Carlo procedure provides an easy way of estimating the number of significant Bijvoet intensity differences, denoted as the measurability, and is proposed as an intuitive measure of the quality of anomalous data. [source]


Structure of a pseudomerohedrally twinned monoclinic crystal form of a pyridoxal phosphate-dependent catalytic antibody

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 4 2005
Béatrice Golinelli-Pimpaneau
The purification, crystallization and structure determination at 2.3,Å resolution of the complex of the pyridoxal-5,-phosphate (PLP) dependent catalytic antibody 15A9 with a phosphopyridoxyl- l -alanine (PPL- l -alanine) substrate analogue are described. The crystal belongs to space group P21, with two molecules in the asymmetric unit related by non-crystallographic symmetry. The unit-cell parameters are a = 63.5, b = 81.7, c = 79.3,Å and , is fortuitously 90°. Refinement of the structure converged at unacceptably high R factors. Although the traditional analysis of intensity distribution did not indicate twinning, pseudomerohedral twinning was revealed by a newer test based on local intensity differences [Padilla & Yeates (2003), Acta Cryst. D59, 1124,1130]. When the potential twinning operator was included in SHELX, the structure could be satisfactorily refined with a twinning fraction of 0.46, indicating a nearly perfect hemihedrally twinned crystal. One of the active sites is occupied by the phosphopyridoxyl- l -alanine ligand, while one iodide ion mimics the cofactor phosphate group in the other. Four other iodide ions are present in the structure: two are involved in specific intermolecular contacts and two dictate the conformation of the CDRH3 loop in each molecule. [source]


A statistic for local intensity differences: robustness to anisotropy and pseudo-centering and utility for detecting twinning

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 7 2003
Jennifer E. Padilla
A new approach to analyzing macromolecular single-crystal X-ray diffraction intensity statistics is presented. Instead of considering reflections in resolution shells, differences between local pairs of reflection intensities are taken and normalized separately. When the two reflections to be compared (having intensities I1 and I2, respectively) are chosen appropriately, the behavior of the parameter L = (I1 , I2)/(I1 + I2) is insensitive to phenomena that tend to confound traditional intensity statistics, such as anisotropic diffraction and pseudo-centering. The distributions and expected values for L take simple forms when the intensity data are from ordinary crystals or from perfectly twinned specimens. The robustness of the approach is demonstrated with examples using real proteins whose diffraction data appear aberrant by other methods of intensity analysis. The new statistic is better suited than other available methods for diagnosing perfect hemihedral twinning. [source]


Fluorescence spectroscopy of H-ras transfected murine fibroblasts: A comparison with Monte Carlo simulations

BIOPOLYMERS, Issue 2 2010
Shlomo Mark
Abstract Autofluorescence properties of tissues have been widely used to diagnose various types of malignancies. In this study, we measured the autofluorescence properties of H-ras transfected murine fibroblasts and the counterpart control cells. The pair of cells is genetically identical except for the transfected H-ras gene. We applied Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the relative contributions of Rayleigh and Mie scattering effects towards fluorescence in an in vitro model system of normal and H-ras transfected fibroblasts. The experimental results showed that fluorescence emission intensity was higher for normal cells than the malignant counterpart cells by about 30%. In normal cells, linearity in emission intensity was observed for cell densities of up to 1.0 × 106 cells/ml whereas for transformed cells it was up to 1.4 × 106 cells/ml. Nuclear volume changes give good account for the differences in the intrinsic fluorescence between normal and malignant cells. The Monte Carlo (MC) code, newly developed for this study, explains both predominant experimental features: the large fluorescence intensity differences between the transfected and the corresponding control cells as well as the phenomena of the red shift in the excitation spectra as a function of cell density. The contribution of Rayleigh scattering was found to be predominant compared to Mie scattering. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 93: 132,140, 2010. This article was originally published online as an accepted preprint. The "Published Online" date corresponds to the preprint version. You can request a copy of the preprint by emailing the Biopolymers editorial office at biopolymers@wiley.com [source]