Convective director structures upon continuous rotation of nematic side group polymers

We present the first study of convective director structures in nematic side group polymers. A thin liquid crystal cell (10-500 μm) was continuously rotated about an axis perpendicular to the field of a 7T NMR magnet. The director behaviour was followed by deuteron NMR as well as by polarization microscopy. While by optical studies the development of periodic director structures can be directly monitored, the analysis of the NMR lineshape gives detailed information about the director distribution in these structures. The development of the structures depends sensitively on the rotation frequency and is discussed in terms of non-linear amplification of long wavelength director fluctuations due to the coupling between director rotation and viscous flow of the nematic.     

Influence of electron correlation effects on the solvation of Cu2+

Hybrid QM/MM MD simulations including electron correlation effects at MP2 level were performed to obtain an accurate picture of the solvation structure and the Jahn-Teller effect of the Cu2+ ion.     

Representations of aq-deformed Heisenberg algebra

We extend the symmetric operators of theq-deformed Heisenberg algebra to essentially self-adjoint operators. On the extended domains the product of the operators is not defined. To represent the algebra we had to enlarge the representation and we find a Hilbert space representation of the deformed Heisenberg algebra in terms of essentially self-adjoint operators. The respective diagonalization can be achieved by aq-deformed Fourier transformation.     

The number of caterpillars

A caterpillar is a tree which metamorphoses into a path when its cocoon of endpoints is removed. The number of nonisomorphic caterpillars with n+4 points is $\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{n}}\text{+ 2}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>[</mtext><mtext>n</mtext><mtext>2</mtext><mtext>]</mtext>}}$. This neat formula is proved in two ways: first, as a special case of an application of Pólya's enumeration theorem which counts graphs with integer-weighted points; secondly, by an appropriate labeling of the lines of the caterpillar.     

Age-related waning of in vitro Interferon-γ levels against r32kDaBCG in BCG vaccinated children

Background  

Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine has displayed inconsistent efficacy in different trials conducted in various geographical regions. Nevertheless, it significantly reduces the risk of severe childhood tuberculosis and continues to be used to prevent tuberculosis in many countries. Many studies revealed that efficacy of vaccine wanes with age. Most of the studies were based on in vivo and in vitro responses to tuberculin. With the advent of newer tests such as in vitro interferon-γ assays and identification of potent immunogenic mycobacterial proteins there is a need to corroborate the observations. This study aims at ascertaining the need for a booster at a later age as indicated by in vitro release of IFN-γ while evaluating Ag85A as an antigen.     

Synthesis and Biological Activity of New Resveratrol Derivative and Molecular Docking: Dynamics Studies on NFkB

Resveratrol (RVS) is a naturally occurring antioxidant, able to display an array of biological activities. In the present investigation, a new derivative of RVS, RVS(a), was synthesized, and its biological activity was determined on U937 cells. It was observed that RVS(a) showed pronounced activity on U937 cells than RVS. RVS(a) is able to induce apoptosis in tumor cell lines through subsequent DNA fragmentation. From the EMSA results, it was evident that RVS(a) was able to suppress the activity of NFkB by interfering its DNA binding ability. Furthermore, the molecular interaction analysis (docking and dynamics) stated that RVS(a) has strong association with the IkB-alpha site of NFkB compared with RVS; this binding nature of RVS(a) might be prevent the NFkB binding ability with DNA. The present findings represent the potential activity of propynyl RVS on U937 cells and signifying it as a one of putative chemotherapeutic drugs against cancer.     

Neuropeptide delivery to the brain: a von Willebrand factor signal peptide to direct neuropeptide secretion

Background  

Multiple neuropeptides, sometimes with opposing functions, can be produced from one precursor gene. To study the roles of the different neuropeptides encoded by one large precursor we developed a method to overexpress minigenes and establish local secretion.