The Aggregation Potential of the 1–15- and 1–16-Fragments of the Amyloid β Peptide and Their Influence on the Aggregation of Aβ40

The aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide is important in Alzheimer’s disease. Shorter Aβ fragments may reduce Aβ’s cytotoxicity and are used in diagnostics. The aggregation of Aβ16 is controversial; Liu et al. (J. Neurosci. Res. 75:162–171, 2004) and Liao et al. (FEBS Lett. 581:1161–1165, 2007) find that Aβ16 does not aggregate and reduces Aβ’s cytotoxicity, Du et al. (J. Alzheimer’s Dis. 27:401–413, 2011) reports that Aβ16 aggregates and that Aβ16 oligomers are toxic to cells. Here the aggregation potential of two shorter fragments, Aβ15 and Aβ16, and their influence on Aβ40 is measured by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and the ThioT fluorescence assay (ThioT). Continuous-wave, 9 GHz EPR measurements and ThioT results reveal that neither Aβ15 nor Aβ16 aggregate by themselves and that they do not affect Aβ40 aggregation.     

First-principles study of the properties of Pmn21-B1–xAlxN

Abstract

The structural, mechanical, elastic anisotropic, thermodynamic and optoelectronic properties of Pmn2₁-B_1–xAl_xN are investigated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. For BN and AlN, the lattice parameters, elastic constants and elastic modulus are found to be in agreement with others’ theoretical data. The absence of any imaginary phonon frequencies in the entire Brillouin zone confirms that Pmn2₁-B_1–xAl_xN alloys are dynamically stable. The vibration modes transfer from high frequency to low frequency with the increase of the component Al. All of Pmn2₁-B_1–xAl_xN (x = 0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1) behave in a brittle manner. Ternary BAlN alloys are more anisotropic than BN and AlN. The Debye temperature decreases with the increase of the component Al. At temperatures below 2000 K, the heat capacity of Pmn2₁-B_1–xAl_xN increases with the increase of the component Al. For B_0.5Al_0.5N, below the Fermi level, B p contributes more than Al p, whereas above the Fermi level, Al p contributes more than B p. With the increase of composition Al, B–N interactions become weaker and Al–N interactions become stronger, and the dielectric function, absorption and Raman intensity drift from high-frequency to low-frequency.     

First-principles study of the structural and elastic properties of AuxV1–x and AuxNb1–x alloys

Ab initio total energy calculations, based on the Exact Muffin-Tin Orbitals (EMTO) method in combination with the coherent potential approximation (CPA), are used to calculate the total energy of Au_xV_1–x and Au_xNb_1–x random alloys along the Bain path that connects the body-centred cubic (bcc) and face-centred cubic (fcc) structures as a function of composition x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1). The equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius and the elastic properties of both systems are determined as a function of composition. Our theoretical prediction in case of pure elements (x = 0 or x = 1) are in good agreement with the available experimental data. For the Au–V system, the equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius increase as x increases, while for the Au–Nb system, the equilibrium Wigner–Seitz radius is almost constant. The bulk modulus B and C₄₄ for both alloys exhibit nearly parabolic trend. On the other hand, the tetragonal shear elastic constant C′ decreases as x increases and correlates reasonably well with the structural energy difference between fcc and bcc structures. Our results offer a consistent starting point for further theoretical and experimental studies of the elastic and micromechanical properties of Au–V and Au–Nb systems.     

Nonstationary spectroscopy of the 1–2.5 THz frequency band with the use of solid-state devices

We develop the principles of construction of a gas spectrometer based on nonstationary effects (freely decaying polarization, fast sweep, etc.) with the use of solid-state devices in the terahertz frequency band. A spectrometer based on quantum semiconductor superlattices (QSSLs), which is operated at up to 2.5 THz and meets the requirements of high and ultra-high resolution spectroscopy is implemented. As the radiation source in this spectrometer, we use a frequency synthesizer which was developed by the authors of this paper. The device is based on a phase-shift keyed Gunn oscillator and a QSSL frequency multiplier. As the receiving system, a QSSL mixer operated in harmonic mode was employed. The possibilities of harmonic generation by using the radiation of a spectrally pure Gunn oscillator and a QSSL frequency multiplier are studied with the help of the IR Fourier spectrometer “BOMEM” DA3.002 with Si-composite bolometer operated at a temperature of 4.2 K. The 45th harmonic at a frequency of about 6.5 THz was reached in the experiment. The spectral absorption lines of NH3 and CO at 2400017.632 and 1841345.506 MHz, respectively, were measured.     

Elasticity of the B2 phase and the effect of the B1–B2 phase transition on the elasticity of MgO

A study of the high-pressure anisotropy of MgO was conducted using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximations. The pressure dependence of the elastic stiffness coefficients and the anisotropy parameters, in both B1 and B2 phases, shows that for high-hydrostatic compression the easiest deformation is the shear along (100) plane and the the material's response to deformation and to shearing strains is quite the same. According to the calculations of the velocities of propagation of elastic waves, we deduced that MgO develop an elastic anisotropy, especially, in the B1 phase. We present the B2 phase elastic properties which are not already studied under high pressure.     

Nonlinear properties of multiphase high-temperature superconductors of the Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–O system in the temperature range of the superconducting transition

The nonlinear characteristics of high-temperature superconductors of the Bi–Sr–Ca–Cu–O system have been experimentally investigated in the temperature range of the superconducting transition under the influence of a harmonic alternating magnetic field. The effect of the generation of odd harmonics in the signal of response to a harmonic alternating magnetic field for multiphase high-temperature superconductors containing regions with different values of the critical temperature in their bulk has been observed for the first time. The mechanism of harmonic generation in a superconductor in the resistive state, which is associated with the switch effect, i.e., with the redistribution of eddy current density between the local regions of the superconductor, has been considered.     

On the Effect of Stochastic Fluctuations in the Dynamics of the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner Model

In this paper the dynamics of a system of spherical particles that fill a small volume fraction of the space and that evolves in a concentration field is discussed. Corrections to the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner (LSW) model that take into account the stochastic character of the problem are computed. It is proved, under suitable smallness assumptions for the volume fraction filled by the particles, that the effect of these corrections does not modify much the dynamics of the self-similar solutions of the LSW system of equations.     

Mixing Time of Markov Chains for the 1–2 Model

Journal of Statistical Physics - A 1–2 model configuration is a subset of edges of a hexagonal lattice satisfying the constraint that each vertex is incident to 1 or 2 edges. We introduce...     

On quasi-periodic solutions of the 2+1 dimensional Caudrey–Dodd–Gibbon–Kotera–Sawada equation

The 2+1 dimensional Caudrey–Dodd–Gibbon–Kotera–Sawada equation is decomposed into systems of integrable ordinary differential equations resorting to the nonlinearization of Lax pairs. The Abel–Jacobi coordinates are introduced to straighten the flows, from which quasi-periodic solutions of the 2+1 dimensional Caudrey–Dodd–Gibbon–Kotera–Sawada equation are obtained in terms of Riemann theta functions.     

Ground-state phase diagram of the 1-D Holstein–Hubbard model

The Holstein–Hubbard model is investigated in one-dimension at half filling employing a series of unitary transformations taking into account the coherence and correlation of phonons. To treat the phonon subsystem more accurately a new squeezing transformation is introduced to incorporate the electron-density-dependent onsite phonon correlations to lower the energy further. The effective electronic Hamiltonian is next obtained by averaging the transformed Hamiltonian with respect to the zero-phonon state and the resulting effective electronic Hamiltonian is solved exactly using the method of Bethe ansatz. Finally the ground state is obtained by minimizing the energy with respect to all the variational parameters. The present method gives better results for the ground state energy of the system and also suggests the existence of a wider intermediate metallic phase at the charge-density-wave–spin-density-wave crossover region, which was first predicted by Takada and Chatterjee and later supported by Krishna and Chatterjee.     

A Mysterious Cluster Expansion Associated to the Expectation Value of the Permanent of 0–1 Matrices

We consider two ensembles of \(0-1\) \(n\times n\) matrices. The first is the set of all \(n\times n\) matrices with entries zeroes and ones such that all column sums and all row sums equal r, uniformly weighted. The second is the set of \(n \times n\) matrices with zero and one entries where the probability that any given entry is one is r / n, the probabilities of the set of individual entries being i.i.d.’s. Calling the two expectation values E and \(E_B\) respectively, we develop a formal relation

$$\begin{aligned} E({{\mathrm{perm}}}(A)) = E_B({{\mathrm{perm}}}(A)) e^{\sum _2 T_i}.\quad \quad \quad \quad \mathrm{(A1)} \end{aligned}$$

We use two well-known approximating ensembles to E, \(E_1\) and \(E_2\). Replacing E by either \(E_1\) or \(E_2\) we can evaluate all terms in (A1). For either \(E_1\) or \(E_2\) the terms \(T_i\) have amazing properties. We conjecture that all these properties hold also for E. We carry through a similar development treating \(E({{\mathrm{perm}}}_m(A))\), with m proportional to n, in place of \(E({{\mathrm{perm}}}(A))\).

     

Results of the Experiments on the Crystallization of a Ge–Si–Sb Solid Solution under the Conditions of Microgravity on the Soyuz–Apollo Spacecraft

Physics of the Solid State - Objective factors that allow the experiment on growing crystals of a Ge–Si–Sb solid solution on the Soyuz–Apollo spacecraft to take a special place...     

Application of the method of static fluctuational approach to the Bogolyubov–Kolesnikov–Shelah model

A method of calculating the equilibrium correlation functions of any arbitrary order for the Baldwin– Kolesnikov–Shelah (BKSh) model is suggested based on the static fluctuational approach. The method based on only one controllable approach allows the so-called equations of long-range coupling to be obtained which contain all information on the sought-after equilibrium correlation functions within the scope of the BKSh model. Calculations of the sought-after equilibrium correlation functions allow one to go beyond the scope of the conventional molecular field approach and to take into account the effect of field fluctuations on the gap behavior and the heat capacity to the left and right of the critical point. For the simplest case disregarding a dependence of the potential on the wave vector, temperature dependences of the energy gap and heat capacity with allowance for the fluctuations are presented. It is demonstrated that in this case, the fluctuations are small for three-dimensional systems, but sharply increase with decreasing dimensionality of the system.     

Determination of the Galaxy age by the method of uranium–thorium–plutonium isotopic ratios

The dependence of the Galaxy age (Т _G), as determined by the method of uranium–thorium isotopic ratios, on the parameters of the nucleosynthesis model is studied within the theory of galactic nucleosynthesis. It is shown that ТG depends strongly both on the scenario of the production of nuclei in the r-process and those features of neutron-rich nuclei that are used in the respective analysis and on galactic-nucleosynthesis parameters. The effect of a sudden nucleosynthesis spike before the formation of a solar system on the Galaxy age is evaluated. The region of admissible values of the parameters of galacticnucleosynthesis theory is discussed. The method of uranium–thorium isotopic ratios is supplemented with the ²⁴⁴Pu/²³⁸U ratio for yet another cosmochronometer pair, and the Galaxy age is estimated on the basis of the model modified in this way.     

The effect of the metal cylinder in the slot on the transmission properties of the metal–insulator–metal waveguide

The effects of the size, the position and the shape of the metal cylinder in the slot waveguide on the transmittance properties at the communication wavelength of 1.55 μm are investigated using the finite difference time domain method. Since the surface plasmon polartions excites the local surface plasmon resonance of the metal cylinder, the attenuation in the metal–insulator–metal waveguide is enhanced. Those results provide us with the theoretical foundation for the prediction of the effect of the imperfection in the preparation process on the transmittance properties of the metal–insulator–metal waveguides.     

Skin dominance of the dielectric–electronic–phononic–photonic attribute of nanoscaled silicon

Nanoscaled or porous silicon (p-Si) with and without surface passivation exhibits unusually tunable properties that its parent bulk does never show. Such property tunability amplifies the applicability of Si in the concurrent and upcoming technologies. However, consistent understanding of the fundamental nature of nanoscaled Si remains a high challenge. This article aims to address the recent progress in this regard with focus on reconciling the tunable dielectric, electronic, phononic, and photonic properties of p-Si in terms of skin dominance. We show that the skin-depth bond contraction, local quantum entrapment, and electron localization is responsible for the size-induced property tunability. The shorter and stronger bonds between undercoordinated skin atoms result in the local densification and quantum entrapment of the binding energy and the bonding electrons, which in turn polarizes the dangling bond electrons. Such local entrapment modifies the Hamiltonian and associated properties such as the band gap, core level shift, Stokes shift (electron–phonon interaction), phonon and dielectric relaxation. Therefore, given the known trend of one property change, one is expected to be able to predict the variation of the rest based on the notations of the bond order–length–strength correlation and local bond average approach (BOLS-LBA). Furthermore, skin bond reformation due to Al, Cu, and Ti metallization and O and F passivation adds another freedom to enhance or attenuate the size effect. The developed formulations, spectral analytical methods, and importantly, the established database and knowledge could be of use in engineering p-Si and beyond for desired functions.     

Effect of upsetting deformation temperature on the formation of the fine-grained cast alloy structure of the Ni–Mn–Ga system

The plastic behavior during deformation by upsetting and its effect on the microstructure in the polycrystalline Ni_2.19Fe_0.04Mn_0.77Ga alloy are studied. The temperatures of martensitic and magnetic phase transformations were determined by the method for analyzing the temperature dependence of the specific magnetization as M _F = 320 K, A _S = 360 K, and T _C = 380 K. Using differential scanning calorimetry, it is shown that the phase transition from the ordered phase L2₁ to the disordered phase B2 is observed in the alloy during sample heating in the temperature range of 930–1070 K. The melting temperature is 1426 K. An analysis of the load curves constructed for sample deposition at temperatures of 773, 873, and 973 K shows that the behavior of the stress–strain curve at a temperature of 773 K is inherent to cold deformation. The behavior of the dependences for 873 and 973 K is typical of hot deformation. After deforming the alloy, its microstructure is studied using backscattered scanning electron microscopy. Plastic deformation of the alloy at study temperatures results in grain structure fragmentation in the localized deformation region. At all temperatures, a recrystallized grain structure is observed. It is found that the structure is heterogeneously recrystallized after upsetting at 973 K due to the process intensity at such a high temperature. The alloy microstructure after plastic deformation at a temperature of 873 K is most homogeneous in terms of the average grain size.