Study of the peak effect phenomenon in single crystals of 2H-NbSe2

The weakly pinned single crystals of the hexagonal 2H-NbSe₂ compound have emerged as prototypes for determining and characterizing the phase boundaries of the possible order-disorder transformations in the vortex matter. We present here a status report based on the ac and dc magnetization measurements of the peak effect phenomenon in three crystals of 2H-NbSe₂, in which the critical current densities vary over two orders of magnitude. We sketch the generic vortex phase diagram of a weakly pinned superconductor, which also utilizes theoretical proposals. We also establish the connection between the metastability effects and pinning.     

PHOTOINACTIVATION OF CATALASE

Abstract— Inactivation of catalase with visible light (>400nm) has been studied in purified bovine liver catalase and in peroxisomal catalase in the mitochondrial fraction of rat liver. Light corresponding to that of maximal absorbance of the heme site (405 nm) was most effective in inactivation. Although photoinactivation is O₂ dependent, scavengers of OH radical, ¹O₂ and O⁻₂ did not protect against loss of activity in either system. Superoxide dismutase partially protected purified catalase added into the mitochondrial fraction system. However, complete protection of catalase was afforded by low concentrations of substrates such as formic acid or methanol which rapidly convert Compound I to Ferricatalase.     

Shaping Solid-State Supramolecular Cavities: Chemically Induced Accordionlike Movement of gamma-Zirconium Phosphate Containing Polyethylenoxide Pillars

The hydrophilic oxygen atoms of polyethylenoxide chains inserted as pillars in gamma-zirconium phosphate form hydrogen bonds with the acid groups of the host. As a result the pillars are almost perpendicular to the gamma layers. Upon changing the pH level of the supernatant solution the hydrogen bonds are broken and the pillars become almost perpendicular to the layers (shown schematically). Thus there is a reversible enlargement-shortening of the interlayer space.     

Determination of Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in saliva by isotope dilution direct injection inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Trace elements in small sample volumes of saliva were determined by coupling a high efficiency direct injection nebulizer to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and employing quantification by isotope dilution. Aliquots of 0.4 ml of human saliva were mixed with 0.1 ml of concentrated nitric acid and diluted to 2 ml with water. Sample solutions were spiked with an isotopic solution enriched in 135Ba, 112Cd, 65Cu, 206Pb and 66Zn. The amount of each isotope added to the samples and the measurement procedure were adjusted to attain precise analytical results calculated from the isotope ratios 135Ba/138Ba, 112Cd/114Cd, 65Cu/63Cu, 206Pb/208Pb and 66Zn/68Zn. Data acquisition for Ba, Cu and Zn isotopes was performed for a single sample injection of 50 microl and in another sample injection the Cd and Pb isotopes were measured. Concentrations ranging from 5.0 to 16 microg l(-1) for Ba, from 0.50 to 1.1 microg l(-1) for Cd, from 6.0 to 50 microg l(-1) for Cu, from 0.8 to 18.8 microg l(-1) for Pb and from 46.0 to 230 microg l(-1) for Zn were found in saliva samples. Detection limits of 0.11, 0.03, 0.40, 0.05 and 0.59 microg l(-1) were determined for Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn, respectively. The concentrations found by isotope dilution were in agreement with those of the completely digested samples quantified by external calibration. The direct analysis of 30 samples per hour was attained with the proposed procedure, avoiding time-consuming digestion steps, contamination risks and matrix effects.     

BOLD--a biological O-linked glycan database

Glycans can be O-linked to proteins via the hydroxyl group of serine, threonine, tyrosine, hydroxylysine or hydroxyproline. Sometimes the glycan is O-linked to the hydroxyl group via a phosphodiester bond. The core monosaccharide residue may be N-acetylgalactosamine, N-acetylglucosamine, galactose, glucose, fucose, mannose, xylose or arabinose. These O-linked glycans can remain as a monosaccharide, but often a complex structure is built up by stepwise addition of monosaccharides. Monosaccharides known to be added include galactose, N-acetylglucosamine, fucose, N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-glycolylneuraminic acid and 2-keto-3-deoxynonulosonic acid. O-linked glycans can also contain sulfate and phosphate residues. This leads to the possibility of the existence of numerous O-glycan structures. The biological O-linked database (BOLD) is a relational database that contains information on O-linked glycan structures, their biological sources (with a link to the SWISS-PROT protein database), the references in which the glycan was described (with a link to MEDLINE), and the methods used to determine the glycan structure. The database provides a valuable resource for glycobiology researchers interested in O-linked oligosaccharide structures that have been previously described on proteins from different species and tissues.     

Structural determination of neutral O-linked oligosaccharide alditols by negative ion LC-electrospray-MS<Superscript>n</Superscript>.

Neutral O-linked oligosaccharides released from the salivary mucin MUC5B were separated and detected by negative ion LC-MS and LC-MS(2). The resolution of the chromatography and the information obtained from collision induced dissociation of detected [M - H](-) ions were usually sufficient to identify the sequence of individual oligosaccharides, illustrated by the fact that 50 different oligosaccharides ranging from disaccharides to nonasaccharides could be assigned from the sample. Fragmentation was shown to yield mostly reducing end sequence fragments (Z(i) and Y(i)), enabling primary sequence assignment. Specific fragmentation pathways or patterns were also detected giving specific linkage information. The reducing end core (Gal/GlcNAcbeta1-3GalNAcol or Gal/GlcNAcbeta1-3(GlcNAcbeta1-6)GalNAcol) could be deduced from the pronounced glycosidic C-3 cleavage and A(i) type cleavages of the reducing end GalNAcol, together with the non reducing end fragment from the loss of a single substituted GalNAcol. Substitution patterns on GlcNAc residues were also found, indicative for C-4 substitution ((0,2)A(i) - H(2)O cleavage) and disubstitution of C-3 and C-4 (Z(i)/Z(i) cleavages). This kind of fragmentation can be used for assigning the mode of chain elongation (Galbeta1-3/4GlcNAcbeta1-) and identification of Lewis type antigens like Lewis a/x and Lewis b/y on O-linked oligosaccharides. In essence, negative ion LC-MS(2) was able to generate extensive data for understanding the overall glycosylation pattern of a sample, especially when only a limited amount of material is available.     

K-Theory for the Integer Heisenberg Groups

We give a closed formula for topological K-theory of the homogeneous space N/, where is the standard integer lattice in the simply connected Heisenberg Lie group N of dimension 2n+1, n . The main tools in our calculations are obtained by computing diagonal forms for certain incidence matrices that arise naturally in combinatorics.