Effective form of sulfoquinovosyldiacyglycerol (SQDG) vesicles for DNA polymerase inhibition

Sulfoquinovosyldiacyglycerol (SQDG) has a wide range of biological activities that make it an attractive compound for the development of new drugs. Chemically synthesized beta-SQDG-C(18:0) (1,2-di-O-stearoyl-3-O-(6-deoxy-6-sulfo-beta-d-glucopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol), for example, has a potent inhibitory effect on DNA polymerases. We investigated the properties of the vesicle form of beta-SQDG-C(18:0) as the monomer has low solubility in water. The structure of the beta-SQDG-C(18:0) vesicles are highly influenced by NaCl concentration in preparation process. At low NaCl concentrations, the beta-SQDG-C(18:0) vesicles have high surface curvature and form small unilamellar vesicles. Increases in NaCl concentration, resulted in decreased surface curvature and a tendency for beta-SQDG-C(18:0) to form large multilamellar vesicles. The small unilamellar vesicles showed a potent inhibitory effect on DNA polymerase beta, whereas the large multilamellar vesicles had no such effect. We investigated further the relationship between vesicle size and activity by preparing smaller vesicles (262, 99 and 43 nm in diameter) using an extrusion technique. These smaller vesicles had a greater inhibitory effect on DNA polymerase beta activity than non-extruded vesicles. beta-SQDG-C(18:0) vesicles, especially those of small size, were effective in DNA polymerase inhibition and are expected to have high applicability in DNA polymerase study.     

Synthesis of protein-silica hybrid hollow particles through the combination of protein catalysts and sonochemical treatment

Hollow spherical particles with protein-silica hybrid shell structures have been synthesized through a combination of the catalytic activity of the protein and sonochemical treatment; the morphologies of the particles were controlled by varying the protein concentration.     

Enhancement of gas phase heat transfer by acoustic field application

This study discusses a possibility for enhancement of heat transfer between solids and ambient gas by application of powerful acoustic fields. Experiments are carried out by using preheated Pt wires (length 0.1-0.15 m, diameter 50 and 100 micro m) positioned at the velocity antinode of a standing wave (frequency range 216-1031 Hz) or in the path of a travelling wave (frequency range 6.9-17.2 kHz). A number of experiments were conducted under conditions of gas flowing across the wire surface. Effects of sound frequency, sound strength, gas flow velocity and wire preheating temperature on the Nusselt number are examined with and without sound application. The gas phase heat transfer rate is enhanced with acoustic field strength. Higher temperatures result in a vigorous radiation from the wire surface and attenuate the effect of sound. The larger the gas flow velocity, the smaller is the effect of sound wave on heat transfer enhancement.     

Performance of a genetic algorithm for the graph partitioning problem

The performance of the genetic algorithm (GA) for the graph partitioning problem (GPP) is investigated by comparison with standard heuristics on well-known benchmark graphs. In general, there is a case where a practical performance of a conventional genetic approach, which performs only simple operations without a local search strategy, is not sufficient. However, it is known that a combination of GA and local search can produce better solutions. From this practice, we incorporate a simple local search algorithm into the GA. In particular, the search ability of the GA is compared with standard heuristics such as multistart local search and simulated annealing, which use the same neighborhood structure of the simple local search, for solving the GPP. Experimental results show that the GA performs better than its competitors.     

A simple purely infinite <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis>*-algebra associated with a lambda-graph system of the Motzkin shift

The Motzkin shift is a nonsofic subshift consisting of the four brackets (,[,),] with standard bracket rule and one additional symbol, the unit 1. We show that the C*-algebra associated with a -graph system that presents the Motzkin shift is simple and purely infinite. It is generated by two partial isometries and three isometries, and is a universal unique C*-algebra subject to some operator relations among the generators. The K₀-group of the C*-algebra is computed to be the abelian group of all -valued continuous functions on the Cantor set. The K₁-group is trivial. Hence it is not stably isomorphic to any Cuntz-Krieger algebra and to any Cuntz-algebra.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 46L80, 46L55, 37B10in final form: 6 October 2003     

Bowen–Franks Groups for Subshifts and Ext-Groups for C*-Algebras

We generalize the Bowen–Franks groups for topological Markov shifts to general subshifts as the Ext-groups for the associated C ^*-algebras. The generalized Bowen–Franks groups for subshifts are shown to be invariant under flow equivalence and, hence, invariant under topological conjugacy. They are regarded as the indices of Fredholm operators related to extensions of the associated C ^*-algebras so that they are described in terms of symbolic dynamical systems. In particular, the group for a sofic subshift is determined by the adjacency matrix of its left Krieger cover graph. The Bowen–Franks groups for some non sofic subshifts are calculated, proving that certain subshifts with the same topological entropy are not flow equivalent.     

KOROVKIN TYPE APPROXIMATION THEOREMS ON THE SPACE OF CONTINUOUSLY DIFFERENTIABLE FNCTIONS

It is studied Korovkin type approximation theorems on C⁽¹⁾ ([0, 1]) the space of continuously differentiable functions on the unit interval. It is proved that test functions for which Korovkin type approximation theorems hold depending on norms of C⁽¹⁾ ([0, 1]).     

Photosalient Effect of a Diarylethene with a Perfluorocyclohexene Ring

Crystals of a diarylethene with a perfluorocyclohexene ring exhibit a remarkable photosalient effect upon UV light irradiation that is attributed to the structural changes that occur when going from open‐ to closed‐ring isomers in the crystalline state, together with the existence of two conformers with different photoconversions compared with those of a perfluorocyclopentene derivative. Our current results give a design principle for molecular structures so as to achieve the photosalient effect for photochromic crystals.