Uniqueness of post-gelation solutions of a class of coagulation equations

We prove well-posedness of global solutions for a class of coagulation equations which exhibit the gelation phase transition. To this end, we solve an associated partial differential equation involving the generating functions before and after the phase transition. Applications include the classical Smoluchowski and Flory equations with multiplicative coagulation rate and the recently introduced symmetric model with limited aggregations. For the latter, we compute the limiting concentrations and we relate them to random graph models.     

Oil droplet size determination in complex flavor delivery systems by diffusion NMR spectroscopy

Droplet size distribution of flavor oils in two different solid flavor delivery systems were determined with pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy: yeast encapsulation system, a spray dried flavor encapsulation system based on empty yeast cells, and glassy encapsulation system, an extruded solid water soluble carbohydrate delivery system. The oil droplet sizes are limited by the yeast cell walls in the yeast encapsulation system and the size distribution is unimodal according to images from transmission electron microscopy. The droplet size determination with diffusion NMR is based on the Murday and Cotts theory of restricted diffusion of liquids in geometrical confinements. Good fits of the diffusion data could be obtained by applying a unimodal, log-normal size distribution model and average droplet sizes of about 2 μm were found that correspond approximately to the inner diameter of the yeast cells. Scanning electron microscopy images showed a multimodal droplet size distribution in the glassy extruded delivery systems. To fit the NMR data a bimodal log-normal distribution function with five independent fitting parameters was implemented that yielded consistent and robust results. The two size populations were found in the micron and sub-micron range, respectively. The method was sufficiently accurate to depict variation of droplet size distributions in glassy encapsulation systems of different formulation.     

Frontiers in frustrated magnetism

This article discusses at a qualitative level a number of issues at the forefront of current understanding and developments in frustrated quantum magnetism. The focal point of the presentation is the spin liquid, which is introduced in terms of (un)broken spin and lattice symmetries. An overview of the full spectrum of research activity in the field is obtained by considering selected examples from experimental approaches to realising spin-liquid states, from theoretical efforts which seek both to classify spin liquids according to their physical properties and to broaden the search for spin-liquid behaviour, and from numerical techniques which offer the prospect of qualitatively new insight into frustrated spin systems.     

Synthesis of cationic porphyrin modified amino acids

Derivatives of amino acids bearing a porphyrin moiety on a side chain were synthesized by coupling a porphyrin to a glutamic acid side chain; the utility of these compounds was demonstrated by their use in solid-phase synthesis of a peptide bearing a cationic porphyrin and by studying its DNA-binding properties.     

A Bayesian model for repeated measures zero-inflated count data with application to outpatient psychiatric service use

In applications involving count data, it is common to encounter an excess number of zeros. In the study of outpatient service utilization, for example, the number of utilization days will take on integer values, with many subjects having no utilization (zero values). Mixed-distribution models, such as the zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB), are often used to fit such data. A more general class of mixture models, called hurdle models, can be used to model zero-deflation as well as zero-inflation. Several authors have proposed frequentist approaches to fitting zero-inflated models for repeated measures. We describe a practical Bayesian approach which incorporates prior information, has optimal small-sample properties, and allows for tractable inference. The approach can be easily implemented using standard Bayesian software. A study of psychiatric outpatient service use illustrates the methods.     

Self-assembly of the beta2-microglobulin NHVTLSQ peptide using a coarse-grained protein model reveals a beta-barrel species

Although a wide variety of proteins can assemble into amyloid fibrils, the structure of the early oligomeric species on the aggregation pathways remains unknown at an atomic level of detail. In this paper we report, using molecular dynamics simulations with the OPEP coarse-grained force field, the free energy landscape of a tetramer and a heptamer of the beta2-microglobulin NHVTLSQ peptide. On the basis of a total of more than 17 ns trajectories started from various states, we find that both species are in equilibrium between amorphous and well-ordered aggregates with cross-beta-structure, a perpendicular bilayer beta-sheet, and, for the heptamer, six- or seven-stranded closed and open beta-barrels. Moreover, analysis of the heptamer trajectories shows that the perpendicular bilayer beta-sheet is one possible precursor of the beta-barrel, but that this barrel can also be formed from a twisted monolayer beta-sheet with successive addition of chains. Comparison with previous aggregation simulations and the fact that nature constructs transmembrane beta-sheet proteins with pores open the possibility that beta-barrels with small inner diameters may represent a common intermediate during the early steps of aggregation.     

Mass spectroscopic observation of shock-induced chemistry in liquid CS2

We have observed, via time-of-flight mass spectrometry, 13 chemical species more massive than CS2 produced by shocking liquid CS2 to very high pressure/temperature. The stoichiometry of three of these species is uniquely determined from the 12CS2 experiments; these species are C2S2, C3S2, and C4S2. The stoichiometry of the other 10 structures cannot be uniquely determined from 12CS2 experiments. However, by redoing the experiments using isotopically labeled CS2 (i.e., 13CS2), we determined the stoichiometry of nine of the remaining structures. The nine structures are Sn (n = 3-8) and CS3, C2S5, and C4S6. A structure with mass 297.1 amu was also observed in the 12CS2 experiments but was not detected in the 13CS2 experiments. This structure must be C6S7, C14S4, or C22S; given the low carbon content of the other observed carbon species, it is probably C6S7. The shockwaves to which the CS2 molecules were subjected were produced by the detonation of high mass-density solid explosives. The explosives used were either a plastic bonded form of cyclotetramethlylene tetranitramine or pure hexanitrostilbene. Numerical compressible fluid-mechanical simulations were done to estimate the pressures, temperatures, and time scales of the processes that occurred in the shocked CS2. The results obtained in the present experiments are related to earlier work on CS2's chemical reactivity that used both shockwave methods and static techniques to produce very high pressure.     

Synthesis, characterization and cytolytic activity of alpha-helical amphiphilic peptide nanostructures containing crown ethers

Many natural alpha-helical amphiphilic peptides are known to have lytic activity toward different cells. Herein, we describe the synthesis and the characterization of synthetic alpha-helical amphiphilic peptide nanostructures containing crown ethers, as well as the modulation of their cytolytic activity by adding different acidic dipeptide chains at the N- or C-terminus.     

Probing amyloid fibril formation of the NFGAIL peptide by computer simulations

Amyloid fibril formation, as observed in Alzheimer's disease and type II diabetes, is currently described by a nucleation-condensation mechanism, but the details of the process preceding the formation of the nucleus are still lacking. In this study, using an activation-relaxation technique coupled to a generic energy model, we explore the aggregation pathways of 12 chains of the hexapeptide NFGAIL. The simulations show, starting from a preformed parallel dimer and ten disordered chains, that the peptides form essentially amorphous oligomers or more rarely ordered beta-sheet structures where the peptides adopt a parallel orientation within the sheets. Comparison between the simulations indicates that a dimer is not a sufficient seed for avoiding amorphous aggregates and that there is a critical threshold in the number of connections between the chains above which exploration of amorphous aggregates is preferred.