A Free Boundary Problem for Some Modified Predator-Prey Model in a Higher Dimensional Environment

Applications of Mathematics - We focus on the free boundary problems for a Leslie-Gower predator-prey model with radial symmetry in a higher dimensional environment that is initially well populated...     

Output feedback regulation of large-scale feedforward systems with discrete and distributed delays

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper proposes an output feedback control strategy to achieve the global regulation of a class of large-scale feedforward nonlinear systems with discrete and distributed...     

Oscillation-preserving Legendre-Galerkin methods for second kind integral equations with highly oscillatory kernels

Numerical Algorithms - The original solutions of highly oscillatory integral equations usually have rapid oscillation, which means that conventional numerical approaches used to solve these...     

Highly sensitive perylene tetra-(alkoxycarbonyl) based colorimetric and ratiometric probes for fluorine detection

Fluoride anion (F^?) affects environmental, biological, and chemical processes significantly. Therefore, its detection has received increasing attention, and sensitive, effective, and convenient probes for F^? detection need to be developed urgently. In this work, two perylene tetra-(alkoxycarbonyl) (PTAC) based colorimetric and ratiometric probes, P1 and P2, were developed for the detection of F^?. The interactions between F^? and these two probes were investigated by absorption, electrochemistry, ¹H NMR, and density functional methods. Both the two probes were complexed with F^? with a ratio of 1:1. The detection limits of P1 and P2 were 0.22 μM and 0.87 μM, respectively. It was worth noting that the absorption peak of P1 showed a 190 nm red shift when sensing F^?, and P1 is the largest red shift value reported in F^? probes based on PTAC derivatives. This phenomenon was resulted from the unique configuration and deprotonation of P1 that can promote the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT). This strategy provides an example for the development of other ion probes based on D-A type ICT mechanism.     

Effects of lanthanides doping on the optical properties of graphene/WSe2 heterostructure based on ab-initio calculations

Based on the density functional theory, we discussed the electronic and optical properties of graphene/ WSe₂ (GW) heterostructure after lanthanides doping. Red shift appears and the optical parameter values are improved in the low energy region after the lanthanides are doped. Different doping types are also discussed. In the case of single doping, substitute Yb atom on W site will improve the peak values of the optical parameters greatly. In the case of co-doping, it is found that the effect will be more obvious when the two doped lanthanide atoms are located in the second neighboring positons. These results suggest that lanthanides doping does adjust the electronic structure and improve the optical properties of GW heterostructures, which providing useful guidance for the design of novel optical nanodevices based on two-dimensional materials.     

Molecular insight for the role of key residues of calreticulin in its binding activities: A computational study

Calreticulin (CRT) is localized to and has functions in multiple cellular compartments, including the cell surface, the endoplasmic reticulum, and the extracellular matrix. Mutagenesis studies have identified several residues on a concave β-sheet surface of CRT critical for CRT binding to carbohydrate and other proteins/peptides. How the mutations of these key residues in CRT affect the conformation and dynamics of CRT, further influencing CRT binding to carbohydrates and other proteins to signal the important biological activities remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the effect of three key point mutations (C105A, C137A and W319A) on CRT conformation and dynamics via atomistic molecular dynamics simulations. Results show that these three key residues mutations induced the changes of CRT local backbone flexibility and secondary structure of CRT N-domain, which could further affect CRT’s binding activity. C137A mutation led to dramatic decrease of the overall size of CRT due to the P-domain fold back to the globular domain and formed new inter-domain contacts, which can cause blockage of CRT’s binding with other large substrates. Furthermore, for CRT concave β-strand surface patch containing lectin binding site, CRT C105A, C137A and W319A point mutation resulted in the changes in solvent accessible surface area, key residues’ side chain atom positions and dynamical correlated motions between residues. All these changes could directly affect CRT binding behavior. Results of this study provide molecular and structural insights into understanding the role of key residues of CRT in its binding behavior.     

Cytosine-5 methylation-directed construction of a Au nanoparticle-based nanosensor for simultaneous detection of multiple DNA methyltransferases at the single-molecule level

DNA methylation at cytosine/guanine dinucleotide islands (CpGIs) is the most prominent epigenetic modification in prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes. DNA methyltransferases (MTases) are responsible for genomic methylation, and their aberrant activities are closely associated with various diseases including cancers. However, the specific and sensitive detection of multiple DNA MTases has remained a great challenge due to the specificity of the methylase substrate and the rareness of methylation-sensitive restriction endonuclease species. Here, we demonstrate for the first time the cytosine-5 methylation-directed construction of a Au nanoparticle (AuNP)-based nanosensor for simultaneous detection of multiple DNA MTases at the single-molecule level. We used the methyl-directed endonuclease GlaI to cleave the site-specific 5-methylcytosine (5-mC). In the presence of CpG and GpC MTases (i.e., M.SssI and M.CviPI), their hairpin substrates are methylated at cytosine-5 to form the catalytic substrates for GlaI, respectively, followed by simultaneous cleavage by GlaI to yield two capture probes. These two capture probes can hybridize with the Cy5/Cy3–signal probes which are assembled on the AuNPs, respectively, to form the double-stranded DNAs (dsDNAs). Each dsDNA with a guanine ribonucleotide can act as the catalytic substrate for ribonuclease (RNase HII), inducing recycling cleavage of signal probes to liberate large numbers of Cy5 and Cy3 molecules from the AuNPs. The released Cy5 and Cy3 molecules can be simply quantified by total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF)-based single-molecule imaging for simultaneous measurement of M.SssI and M.CviPI MTase activities. This method exhibits good specificity and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 2.01 × 10⁻³ U mL⁻¹ for M.SssI MTase and 3.39 × 10⁻³ U mL⁻¹ for M.CviPI MTase, and it can be further applied for discriminating different kinds of DNA MTases, screening potential inhibitors, and measuring DNA MTase activities in human serum and cell lysate samples, holding great potential in biomedical research, clinical diagnosis, drug discovery and cancer therapeutics.

Cytosine-5 methylation-directed construction of Au nanoparticle-based nanosensors enables specific and sensitive detection of multiple DNA methyltransferases.     

Dynamic relaxation process of a 3D super crystal structure in a Cu:KTN crystal

In this Letter,we report the existence and relaxation properties of a critical phenomenon on called a 3D super crystal that emerges at T=TC?3.5℃,that is,in the proximity of the Curie temperature of a Cu:KTN sample.The dynamics processes of a 3D super crystal manifest in its formation containing polarized nanometric regions and/or polarized clusters.However,with strong coupling and interaction of microcomponents,the characteristic relaxation time measured by dynamic light scattering demonstrates a fully new relaxation mechanism with a much longer relaxation time.As the relaxation mechanism of a relaxator is so-far undetermined,this research provides a novel perspective.These results can help structure a fundamental theory of ferroelectric relaxation.     

Electron-donating methoxy group enhances the stability and efficiency of indole-based fluorescent probe for detecting Cu2+

Research on Chemical Intermediates - Two novel Schiff-base fluorescent probes bearing different substituents were synthesized by the reaction of indole derivatives with 4-aminoantipyrine. The...