Monovalent cation localization in DNA A-tracts with different sequences

The free solution mobilities of 26-base pair (bp) DNA oligomers containing A-tracts with and without internal ApT steps have been measured by capillary electrophoresis, using the mobility of a 26-bp random-sequence oligomer as a reference. The background electrolytes (BGEs) contained mixtures of Li⁺ and tetrapropylammonium (TPA⁺) ions, keeping the total cation concentration constant at 0.3 M. The mobility ratios equaled 1.00 in 0.3 M TPA⁺, indicating that the A-tract and reference oligomers had the same B-form conformation in this BGE. With increasing [Li⁺], the mobility ratio decreased as Li⁺ ions became localized in the A-tract minor groove, suggesting that the A-tract was now in the B* conformation. If the A-tract contained an internal ApT step and the oligomer contained less than ∼50% A + T, the mobility ratio reached a reduced plateau value that remained constant as the [Li⁺] increased to 0.3 M. However, for A-tracts without an internal ApT step and for A-tracts embedded in oligomers containing more than 50% A + T, the mobility ratios increased again at high [Li⁺], eventually reaching a plateau value of 1.00. Hence, DNA A-tracts in solution appear to exist as mixtures of the B and B* conformations, with the fractional concentration of each conformer depending on the [Li⁺], the A-tract sequence, and the total A + T content of the oligomer.     

Superprotonic Conductivity of MOFs Confining Zwitterionic Sulfamic Acid as Proton Source and Conducting Medium

A few metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), which typically use strong acids as proton sources, display superprotonic conductivity (≈10⁻¹ S cm⁻¹); however, they are rare due to the instability of MOFs in highly acidic conditions. For the first time, we report superprotonic conductivity using a moderately acidic guest, zwitterionic sulfamic acid (HSA), which is encapsulated in MOF-808 and MIL-101. HSA acts not only as a proton source but also as a proton-conducting medium due to its extensive hydrogen bonding ability and zwitterion effect. A new sustained concentration gradient method results in higher HSA encapsulation compared to conventional methods, producing 10HSA@MOF-808-(bSA)₂ and 8HSA@MIL-101. These MOFs show impressive superprotonic conductivity of 2.47×10⁻¹ and 3.06×10⁻¹ S cm⁻¹, respectively, at 85 °C and 98 % relative humidity, and maintain stability for 7 days.     

Single‐Molecule Methods to Study Membrane Receptor Oligomerization

Membrane receptors control fundamental cellular processes. Binding of a specific ligand to a receptor initiates communication through the membrane and activation of signaling cascades. This activation process often leads to a spatial rearrangement of receptors in the membrane at the molecular level. Single‐molecule techniques contributed significantly to the understanding of receptor organization and rearrangement in membranes. Here, we review four prominent single‐molecule techniques that have been applied to membrane receptors, namely, stepwise photobleaching, Förster resonance energy transfer, sub‐diffraction localization microscopy and co‐tracking. We discuss the requirements, benefits and limitations of each technique, discuss target labeling, present a selection of applications and results and compare the different methodologies.     

DOA estimation for uniform circular array without the source number based on beamspace transform and higher-order cumulant

Fourth-order cumulant is one of most widely used high-order cumulant for direction of arrival (DOA) estimation due to its ability of expanding the virtual array aperture as well as suppressing Gaussian noise. To address the two-dimensional (2D) DOA estimation problem, we propose a modified MUSIC scheme for uniform circular array (UCA) in this paper. Firstly, the fourth-order cumulant of UCA is considered to construct a new propagator, resulting in the elimination of a priori knowledge of the number of signals. Secondly, the UCA is transformed by beamspace transformation, reducing the time computational complexity of the algorithm since the two-dimensional grid search and singular value decomposition are avoided. And finally a low-rank recovery algorithm is adopted to improve the accuracy regarding the limited snapshots scenario. The numerical simulations validate the superiority of the proposed method.     

考虑损伤的修正梯度弹性理论

梯度弹性理论在描述材料微结构起主导作用的力学行为时具有显著优势,将其与损伤理论相结合,可在材料破坏研究中考虑微结构的影响.基于修正梯度弹性理论,将应变张量、应变梯度张量和损伤变量作为Helmholtz自由能函数的状态变量,并在自然状态附近对自由能函数作Taylor展开,进而由热力学基本定律,推导出修正梯度弹性损伤理论本构方程的一般形式.编制有限元程序,模拟土样损伤局部化带的发展演化过程.结果表明,修正梯度弹性损伤理论消除了网格依赖性;损伤局部化带不是与损伤同时发生,而是在损伤发展到一定程度后再逐渐显现出来.     

一种基于校正无线电传播时间的室内三维定位模型

对室内终端进行基于无线通信基站的三维定位时,由于无线电在传播过程中,存在建筑物或树木遮挡、反射、折射等物理现象,导致基站到终端传播时间的测量值与精确值之间存在误差.为了减少上述误差对定位精度的影响,运用无线定位原理建立了一种基于校正无线电传播时间的改进的室内三维定位模型.通过对2016年全国研究生数学建模问题C题所提供的不同场景的数据分析,发现基站与终端无线电传播时间的测量值与其精确值之间存在线性关系,而且同一场景下近似有相同的线性关系,场景不同线性关系一般不同.基于这一现象,对基本的定位模型进行了合理的修正形成了改进的定位模型,数值实验表明改进的定位模型有很好的定位精度和鲁棒性.     

Electron localization function from density components

This work addresses the decomposition of the Electron Localization Function (ELF) into partial density contributions using an appealing split of kinetic energy densities. Regarding the degree of the electron localization, the relationship between ELF and its usual spin‐polarized formula is discussed. A new polarized ELF formula, built from any subsystems of the density, and a localization function, quantifying the measure of electron localization for only a subpart of the total system are introduced. The methodology appears tailored to describe the electron localization in bonding patterns of subsystems, such as the local nucleophilic character. Beyond these striking examples, this work opens up opportunities to describe any electronic properties that depend only on subparts of the density in atoms, molecules, or solids. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On the semicontinuity problem of fibers and global F-regularity

In this article, we discuss the semicontinuity problem of certain properties on fibers for a morphism of schemes. One aspect of this problem is local. Namely, we consider properties of schemes at the level of local rings, in which the main results are established by solving the lifting and localization problems for local rings. In particular, we obtain the localization theorems in the case of seminormal and F-rational rings, respectively. Another aspect of this problem is global, which is often related to the vanishing problem of certain higher direct image sheaves. As a test example, we consider the deformation of the global F-regularity.     

A unifying theory of exactness of linear penalty functions II: parametric penalty functions

In this article, we develop a general theory of exact parametric penalty functions for constrained optimization problems. The main advantage of the method of parametric penalty functions is the fact that a parametric penalty function can be both smooth and exact unlike the standard (i.e. non-parametric) exact penalty functions that are always nonsmooth. We obtain several necessary and/or sufficient conditions for the exactness of parametric penalty functions, and for the zero duality gap property to hold true for these functions. We also prove some convergence results for the method of parametric penalty functions, and derive necessary and sufficient conditions for a parametric penalty function to not have any stationary points outside the set of feasible points of the constrained optimization problem under consideration. In the second part of the paper, we apply the general theory of exact parametric penalty functions to a class of parametric penalty functions introduced by Huyer and Neumaier, and to smoothing approximations of nonsmooth exact penalty functions. The general approach adopted in this article allowed us to unify and significantly sharpen many existing results on parametric penalty functions.