Improved ALE mesh velocities for complex flows

A key choice in the development of arbitrary Lagrangian‐Eulerian solution algorithms is how to move the computational mesh. The most common approaches are smoothing and relaxation techniques, or to compute a mesh velocity field that produces smooth mesh displacements. We present a method in which the mesh velocity is specified by the irrotational component of the fluid velocity as computed from a Helmholtz decomposition, and excess compression of mesh cells is treated through a noniterative, local spring‐force model. This approach allows distinct and separate control over rotational and translational modes. The utility of the new mesh motion algorithm is demonstrated on a number of 3D test problems, including problems that involve both shocks and significant amounts of vorticity.     

Antagonists of growth hormone-releasing hormone in oncology

The development of antagonists of growth hormone (GH) - releasing hormone (GH-RH) is reviewed. GH-RH antagonists bind with a high affinity to pituitary receptors for GH-RH and inhibit the release of GH in vitro and in vivo. The main applications of GH-RH antagonists would be for tumor therapy. The antitumor effects of GH-RH antagonists are exerted in part indirectly through the inhibition of the secretion of pituitary GH and the reduction in the levels of hepatic insulin like growth factor (IGF-I). However, principal effects of the GH-RH antagonists are exerted directly on tumors. Antagonists of GH-RH inhibit the proliferation of various cancer cell lines in vitro and suppress in vivo the levels and the expression of mRNA for IGF-I and IGF-II in tumors. In many human cancers, the effects of GH-RH antagonists appear to be due to the blockade of the action of tumoral GH-RH. GH-RH ligand is present in various human cancers indicating that it may be an autocrine/paracrine growth factor. Splice variants (SVs) of GH-RH receptors and pituitary type of GH-RH receptors that might mediate effects of tumoral GH-RH and of GH-RH antagonists were demonstrated in many human cancers. This suggests the presence of a stimulatory loop based on GH-RH and SVs or pituitary type of GH-RH receptors in diverse tumors. It was shown that GH-RH antagonists inhibited the growth of various human cancer lines xenografted into nude mice including mammary, ovarian, endometrial and prostate cancers, small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) and non-SCLC, renal, pancreatic, gastric and colorectal carcinomas, malignant gliomas, osteosarcomas and Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas. Further development of GH-RH antagonists should lead to potential therapeutic agents for various cancers.     

Noncovalent DNA binding drives DNA alkylation by leinamycin: evidence that the Z,E-5-(thiazol-4-yl)-penta-2,4-dienone moiety of the natural product serves as an atypical DNA intercalator

Molecular recognition and chemical modification of DNA are important in medicinal chemistry, toxicology, and biotechnology. Historically, natural products have revealed many interesting and unexpected mechanisms for noncovalent DNA binding and covalent DNA modification. The studies reported here characterize the molecular mechanisms underlying the efficient alkylation of duplex DNA by the Streptomyces-derived natural product leinamycin. Previous studies suggested that alkylation of duplex DNA by activated leinamycin (2) is driven by noncovalent association of the natural product with the double helix. This is striking because leinamycin does not contain a classical noncovalent DNA-binding motif, such as an intercalating unit, a groove binder, or a polycation. The experiments described here provide evidence that leinamycin is an atypical DNA-intercalating agent. A competition binding assay involving daunomycin-mediated inhibition of DNA alkylation by leinamycin provided evidence that activated leinamycin binds to duplex DNA with an apparent binding constant of approximately 4.3 ± 0.4 × 10(3) M(-1). Activated leinamycin caused duplex unwinding and hydrodynamic changes in DNA-containing solutions that are indicative of DNA intercalation. Characterization of the reaction of activated leinamycin with palindromic duplexes containing 5'-CG and 5'-GC target sites, bulge-containing duplexes, and 5-methylcytosine-containing duplexes provided evidence regarding the orientation of leinamycin with respect to target guanine residues. The data allow construction of a model for the leinamycin-DNA complex suggesting how a modest DNA-binding constant combines with proper positioning of the natural product to drive efficient alkylation of guanine residues in the major groove of duplex DNA.     

A reconstructed discontinuous Galerkin method for multi-material hydrodynamics with sharp interfaces

Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods have been well established for single-material hydrodynamics. However, consistent DG discretizations for non-equilibrium multi-material (more than two materials) hydrodynamics have not been extensively studied. In this work, a novel reconstructed DG (rDG) method for the single-velocity multi-material system is presented. The multi-material system being considered assumes stiff velocity relaxation, but does not assume pressure and temperature equilibrium between the multiple materials. A second-order DG(P₁) method and a third-order least-squares based rDG(P₁P₂) are used to discretize this system in space, and a third-order total variation diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta method is used to integrate in time. A well-balanced DG discretization of the non-conservative system is presented and is verified by numerical test problems. Furthermore, a consistent interface treatment is implemented, which ensures strict conservation of material masses and total energy. Numerical tests indicate that the DG and rDG methods are, indeed, the second- and third-order accurate. Comparisons with the second-order finite volume method show that the DG and rDG methods are able to capture the interfaces more sharply. The DG and rDG methods are also more accurate in the single-material regions of the flow. This work focuses on the general multidimensional rDG formulation of the non-equilibrium multi-material system and a study of properties of the method via one-dimensional numerical experiments. The results from this research will be the foundation for a multidimensional high-order rDG method for multi-material hydrodynamics.     

Tensor product representation of qubit and its transform under linear-operator action

The general one-particle spin states are considered. It is shown that information contained in a spin-1/2 state can be recorded in an equivalent form with the help of three mixed completely decoherent qubit states. The density matrix of such a system has the form of the tensor product of three diagonal matrices. The linear operator defined in the space of one-particle spin states generates some transform of the tensor products of the diagonal matrices. We construct this transform in the explicit form.     

Synthesis of 1‐substituted 5‐aryl‐3‐(3‐coumarinyl)‐2‐pyrazolines by the reaction of 3‐aryl‐1‐(3‐coumarinyl)propen‐1‐ones with hydrazines

1‐Acetyl‐ and 1‐propionyl‐2‐pyrazolines 11‐27 have been synthesized by the reaction of (3‐coumarinyl)chalcones 1‐10 with hydrazine in hot acetic acid or propionic acid. While 5‐aryl‐3‐(3‐coumarinyl)‐1‐phenyl‐2‐pyrazolines 28‐35 have been prepared by the reaction of (3‐coumarinyl)chalcones 1,3,5‐10 with phenylhydrazine in hot pyridine. Structures of all new compounds have been elucidated by microanalyses, ¹H and ¹³C nmr spectroscopies.     

Features of the hedritic morphology of β‐isotactic polypropylene studied by atomic force microscopy

The lamellar organization of melt‐crystallized β‐isotactic polypropylene was studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) after permanganic etching. Hedritic objects grown at a high crystallization temperature (140–143 °C) were investigated. Essential features of the hedritic development were revealed by the characteristic projections exposed at the sample surface. A three‐dimensional view of the morphology was obtained by AFM. Hedritic growth proceeded mainly by branching around screw dislocations resulting in new lamellae that further developed. Successive lamellar layers often diverged. Deviation from the planar lamellar habit was observed, varying with the position within the hedrite. Twisting of the lamellae also was observed occasionally in the vicinity of the screw dislocations. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 38: 672–681, 2000