Interface Energy in the Edwards-Anderson Model

We numerically investigate the spin glass energy interface problem in three dimensions. We analyze the energy cost of changing the overlap from −1 to +1 at one boundary of two coupled systems (in the other boundary the overlap is kept fixed to +1). We implement a parallel tempering algorithm that simulates finite temperature systems and works with both cubic lattices and parallelepiped with fixed aspect ratio. We find results consistent with a lower critical dimension D _c =2.5. The results show a good agreement with the mean field theory predictions.     

Quantitative analysis of two-dimensional gel-separated proteins using isotopically marked alkylating agents and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

We describe a simple approach for the relative quantification of individual proteins within a mixture. The method is based on the differential labelling of the mixtures by use of a commercially available acrylamide and deuterium-labelled [2,3,3'-d(3)]-acrylamide to alkylate proteins prior to two-dimensional (2-D) gel electrophoresis. The tryptic digests of the separated proteins were subjected to reflector matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis and the relative peak heights of cysteine-containing peptides were used to quantify their precursor proteins. This approach was tested for the relative quantification of proteins within an artificial mixture of standard proteins and for proteins observed in a 2-D map of rat serum. A good correlation was found between the measured ratios derived from MALDI-TOF data and those theoretically calculated prior to 2-D analysis via known mixing ratios of the two alkylating reagents. The described procedure has proved to be effective for comparative measurements of protein abundances within the investigated mixtures.     

Construction of [4.3.1]propellanes via molybdenum fischer carbene complexes

Treatment of molybdenum Fischer carbene complexes with 6-methylene-7-octen-1-yne derivatives at 40 degrees C generates substituted tricyclo[4.3.1.0(1,6)]deca-2,4-dienes in good yield. Pentacarbonyl(butylmethoxycarbene)molybdenum(0) afforded the highest cyclization yields (54%), while the analogous chromium carbene complex gave no reaction. The range of dienyne substrates that participate in this reaction is explored and its mechanism is analyzed and discussed.     

Time-dependent heat capacity of water-lysozyme solution

Summary We report here the first observation of the time-dependent heat capacity of water-lysozyme solution. The observed increase of heat capacity in time occurs independently of the lysozyme concentration and thepH value of the solvent. The time necessary to attain the heat capacity equilibrium value and the amplitude of the effect are not well reproducible; the former tends to increase with temperature, while the amplitude decreases and practically disappears about 35°C. Evolution of a spatial order of the proteins in water and/or of water molecules interacting with the proteins is considered as a possible explanation for the results. The phenomenon promises to be an important tool to study the role of water in biological organization and activity.     

Palladium(II) complexes with sulphonium ylides

Keto-stabilized sulphonium ylides displace styrene and benzonitrile from their adducts with PdCl₂ to give stable $\text{2}\text{1}$ ylidePdCl₂ complexes. Evidence is given for epimeric equilibrium between trans square-planar structures of these new complexes in solution.A $\text{1}\text{1}$ ylidePdI₂ complex, obtained from dimethylsulphonium methylide, is also described.     

Co stretching vibration of carbon monoxide adsorbed on nickel(111) studied by high resolution electron loss spectroscopy

The frequency of the v-CO stretching vibration measured by HRELS has been followed as a function of the CO coverage and in the presence of coadsorbed hydrocarbons on the Ni(111) face. The v-CO frequency shifts continuously from 225 meV (1814 cm^?1) to 237 meV (1911 cm^?1) when the CO coverage increases from 0 to 0.41. Coadsorption of electron donor molecules, such as ethylene and benzene, generates a significant lowering of the v-CO frequency. Results are discussed in terms of the back donation of metallic electrons into the 2π ¹ antibonding orbitals of CO, the dipole-dipole coupling and the coordination number of the CO adsorbed molecules. The back donation is found to play the major role in the range of coverage explored but we cannot exclude some contribution of a dipole-dipole coupling effect.     

Partially dynamic maintenance of minimum weight hyperpaths

We address the problem of dynamically maintaining minimum weight hyperpaths in a directed hypergraph in a decremental setting. For such a problem, we provide a new efficient algorithm that works for a wide class of hyperpath weight measures. This algorithm explicitly updates minimum weight hyperpaths in

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worst case time under a sequence of L hyperarc weight increments and hyperarc deletions, where C is the maximum weight of minimum hyperpaths in and is the size of the representation of the hypergraph. Hyperpath weight measures are only required to belong to the class of strict weakly superior functions.     

A methodology for measuring the relative effectiveness of healthcare services

^** Email: giorgio.vittadini{at}unimib.it^*** Email: simona.minotti{at}unicatt.it In this paper we propose a methodology for measuring the ‘relativeeffectiveness’ of healthcare services (i.e. the effectof hospital care on patients) under general conditions, in which:) a healthcare outcome underlies qualitative and quantitativeobservable indicators; ß) we are interested in studyingthe simultaneous dependency of multiple outcomes on covariates(where the outcomes can also be correlated to each other); )the relative effectiveness is adjusted for hospital-specificcovariates; ) we hypothesise a general distribution for randomdisturbances and the random parameters of relative effectiveness.For this topic, a generalisation of the SURE (seemingly unrelatedregression equations) multilevel model is proposed. The solutionsare obtained by means of Bayesian inference methods. Since thereis currently no software available to estimate this model, anSAS procedure based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods hasbeen developed by the authors, in line with Goldstein &Spiegelhalter (1996, J. R. Stat. Soc. Ser. A, 159, 385–443),Spiegelhalter et al. (1996, Bayesian Using Gibbs Sampling Manual.Cambridge: MRC Biostatistic Unit, Institute of Public Health)and Albert & Chib (1997, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 92, 916–925).In addition, a new theoretical result regarding the joint posteriordistribution for the parameters is provided. The model proposedhas been implemented for an effectiveness study of a selectionof Lombard hospitals.     

Two dimensional scrolls contained in quadric cones in ℙ5

Smooth, complex, ruled surfaces embedded in ℙ⁵ as linearly normal scrolls, such that they are contained in a quadric cone, are considered. Rational scrolls and some elliptic scrolls are shown to be the only ones contained in cones of rank 5. Results on scrolls contained in cones of lower ranks are also obtained.