Efficient measurement of (3)J(N,Cgamma) and (3)J(C',Cgamma) coupling constants of aromatic residues in (13)C, (15)N-labeled proteins

An NMR pulse sequence is proposed for the simultaneous determination of side chain chi1 torsion-angle related (3)J(N,Cgamma) and (3)J(C', Cgamma) couplings in aromatic amino acid spin systems. The method is of the quantitative J correlation type and takes advantage of attenuated (15)N and (1)H transverse relaxation by means of the TROSY principle. Unlike previously developed schemes for the measurement of either of the two coupling types, spectra contain internal reference peaks that are usually recorded in separate experiments. Therefore, the desired information is extracted from a single rather than four data sets. The new method is demonstrated with uniformly (13)C/(15)N labeled Desulfovibrio vulgaris flavodoxin, which contains 14 aromatic out of 147 total amino acid residues.     

Measurement of the CP violation parameter sin2 phi(1) in B(0)(d) meson decays

We present a measurement of the standard model CP violation parameter sin2 phi(1) (also known as sin2beta) based on a 10.5 fb(-1) data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e(+)e(-) collider. One neutral B meson is reconstructed in the J/psiK(S), psi(2S)K(S), chi(c1)K(S), eta(c)K(S), J/psiK(L), or J/psipi(0) CP-eigenstate decay channel and the flavor of the accompanying B meson is identified from its charged particle decay products. From the asymmetry in the distribution of the time interval between the two B-meson decay points, we determine sin2 phi(1) = 0.58(+0.32)(-0.34)(stat)+0.09-0.10(syst).     

Cosine modulated HSQC: a rapid determination of (3)J(HNHalpha) scalar couplings in (15)N-labeled proteins

A two-dimensional HSQC-based NMR method, (15)N-COSMO-HSQC, is presented for the rapid determination of homonuclear (3)J(HNHalpha) couplings in (15)N-labeled proteins in solution. Scalar couplings are extracted by comparing the intensity of two separate datasets recorded with and without decoupling of the (3)J(HNHalpha) during a preparation period. The scalar couplings are introduced through a cosine modulation of the peak intensities. The experiment relies on a BIRD sandwich to selectively invert all amide protons H(N) and is very simple to implement. (3)J(HNHalpha) couplings were determined using both the (15)N-COSMO-HSQC and quantitative-J on (15)N-labeled chemokine RANTES. The two experiments show well-correlated values.     

Higgs-mediated B0 --> &mgr;(+)&mgr;(-) in minimal supersymmetry

We demonstrate a new source for flavor-changing neutral currents within the minimal supersymmetric standard model. At moderate to large tanbeta, it is no longer possible to diagonalize the masses of the quarks in the same basis as their Yukawa couplings. This generates flavor-violating couplings of the form &bmacr;(R)d(L)straight phi and &bmacr;(R)s(L)straight phi where straight phi is any of the three neutral, physical Higgs bosons. These new couplings lead to rare processes in the B system such as B0-->&mgr;(+)&mgr;(-) and B0-&Bmacr;(0) mixing. We show that the latter are anomalously suppressed, while the former is in the experimentally interesting range, with an observable signal possible at Run II of the Tevatron if m(A) less, similar400-700 GeV.     

Improved measurement of (3)J(H(alpha)(i),N(i+1)) coupling constants in H(2)O dissolved proteins.

A modification to the recently proposed alpha/beta-HN(CO)CA-J TROSY pulse sequence (P. Permi et al., J. Magn. Reson. 146, 255-259 (2000)) makes it possible to determine (3)J(H(alpha)(i), N(i+1)) coupling constants from a single E.COSY-type cross-peak pattern rather than from two (1)H(alpha) spin-state-edited subspectra. Advantages are increased (15)N resolution, critical to extracting accurate (1)H(alpha)-(15)N coupling constants, and minimized differential relaxation due to nested (13)C(alpha) and (15)N evolution periods. Application of the improved pulse sequence to Desulfovibrio vulgaris flavodoxin results in (3)J(H(alpha)(i), N(i+1)) values being systematically larger than those obtained with the original scheme. Parametrization of the coupling dependence on the protein backbone torsion angle psi yields the Karplus relation (3)J(H(alpha)(i), N(i+1))=-1.00 cos(2)(psi-120 degrees )+0.65 cos(psi-120 degrees )-0.15 Hz, with a residual root-mean-square difference of 0.13 Hz between measured and back-calculated coupling constants. The curve compares with data derived from ubiquitin (A. C. Wang and A. Bax, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 117, 1810-1813 (1995)), although spanning a slightly larger range of J values in flavodoxin. The orientation of the Ala39/Ser40 peptide link, forming a type-II beta-turn in flavodoxin, is twisted against X-ray-derived torsions by approximately 10 degrees in the NMR structure as evident from the analysis of straight phi- and psi-related (3)J coupling constants. The remaining deviation of some experimental values from the prediction is likely to be due to strong hydrogen bonding, substituent effects, or the additional dependence on the adjacent torsions straight phi.     

Structure determination in "shiftless" solid state NMR of oriented protein samples

An efficient formalism for calculating protein structures from oriented-sample NMR data in the torsion-angle space is presented. Angular anisotropies of the NMR observables are treated by utilizing an irreducible spherical basis of rotations. An intermediate rotational transformation is introduced that greatly speeds up structural fitting by rendering the dependence on the torsion angles Φ and Ψ in a purely diagonal form. Back-calculation of the simulated solid-state NMR spectra of protein G involving 15N chemical shift anisotropy (CSA), and 1H-15N and 1Hα-13Cα dipolar couplings was performed by taking into account non-planarity of the peptide linkages and experimental uncertainty. Even a relatively small (to within 1 ppm) random variation in the CSA values arising from uncertainties in the tensor parameters yields the RMSD's of the back-calculated structures of more than 10 ?. Therefore, the 15N CSA has been substituted with heteronuclear dipolar couplings which are derived from the highly conserved bond lengths and bond angles associated with the amino-acid covalent geometry. Using the additional 13Cα-15N and 13C'-15N dipolar couplings makes it possible to calculate protein structures entirely from "shiftless" solid-state NMR data. With the simulated "experimental" uncertainty of 15 Hz for protein G and 120 Hz for a helical hairpin derived from bacteriorhodopsin, back-calculation of the synthetic dipolar NMR spectra yielded a converged set of solutions. The use of distance restraints dramatically improves structural convergence even if larger experimental uncertainties are assumed.     

Consistent resolution of possible anomalies in B0-->phi K(S) and B+ --> eta'K+ Decays

In the framework of R-parity violating (R(p)) supersymmetry, we try to find a consistent explanation for both recently measured CP asymmetry in B0 --> phi K(S) decay and the large branching ratio of B+/- --> eta'K+/- decay, which are inconsistent with the standard model (SM) prediction. We also investigate other charmless hadronic B -- >PP and B --> VP decay modes whose experimental data favor the SM: for instance, recently measured CP asymmetries in B0 --> eta(')K(S) and B0 -- >J/Psi K(S). We find that all the observed data can be accommodated for certain values of R(p) couplings.     

Calculated polar substituent effects on the stability of 3‐substituted(X) bicyclo[1.1.1]pent‐1‐yl cations and 4‐substituted(X) bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐1‐yl cations: a DFT study

The effects of substituents on the stability of 3‐substituted(X) bicyclo[1.1.1]pent‐1‐yl cations (3) and 4‐substituted(X) bicyclo[2.2.1]hept‐1‐yl cations (4), for a set of substituents (X = H, NO₂, CN, NC, CF₃, CHO, COOH , F, Cl, HO, NH₂, CH₃, SiH₃, Si(CH₃)₃, Li, O^?, and NH₃⁺) covering a wide range of electronic substituent effects were calculated using the DFT theoretical model at the B3LYP/6‐311 + G(2d,p) and B3LYP/6‐31 + G (d) levels of theory, respectively. Linear regression analysis was employed to explore the relationship between the calculated relative hydride affinities (ΔE, kcal/mol) of the appropriate isodesmic reactions for 3/4 and polar field/group electronegativity substituent constants (σ_F and σ_χ, respectively). The analysis reveals that the ΔE values for both systems are best described by a combination of both substituent constants. The result highlights the importance of the σ_χ dependency of charge delocalization in these systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theoretical investigation of a series of bis(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)furazan and bis(1H-tetrazol) derivatives as high-energy-density materials

Using density functional theory (DFT), a series of bis(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)furazan and bis(1H-tetrazol) derivatives with different linkages and substituents are investigated theoretically as potential high-energy-density materials (HEDMs). The heat of formation (HOF), detonation properties, natural bond orbital (NBO) and thermal stabilities are calculated and reported. The introduction of a furazan ring, an –N=N– bridge group and an –N₃ substituent is beneficial to increase the HOF of the title compounds. NBO analysis shows that there are electronic delocalisation effects among the bridge groups, furazan and tetrazole rings, and substituted groups. The conjugation effects and electronic transitions are influenced by the different linkages and substituents. The estimated detonation velocities and pressures indicate that the –ONO₂ and –NO₂ groups and the –N=N– linkage play important roles in enhancing the detonation properties. The bond dissociation energy (BDE) calculations reveal that the –NO₂ group is the substituent group which causes the least thermal stability. The bond between the substituent group and the tetrazole ring is the weakest bond in the title molecules. Considering the detonation performance and the thermal stability, 17 compounds may be promising candidates for HEDMs with good performance. Eight of them (A3, A4, C3, C4, D3, F3, G1 and G3) have better detonation properties than HMX.     

J-multiplied HSQC (MJ-HSQC): a new method for measuring 3J(HNHalpha) couplings in 15N-labeled proteins

A new method for the measurement of homonuclear 3J(HNHalpha) coupling constants in 15N-labeled small proteins is described. The method is based on a modified sensitivity enhanced HSQC experiment, where the 3J(HNHalpha) couplings are multiplied in the f1-dimension. The J-multiplication of homonuclear 3J(HNHalpha) couplings is based on simultaneous incrementation of 15N chemical shift and homonuclear coupling evolution periods. The time increment for the homonuclear coupling evolution period is chosen to be a suitable multiple (2N x t1) of the corresponding increment for 15N-shift evolution. This results in the splitting of the HSQC correlation in the f1-dimension by 2N x 3J(HNHalpha). Because the pulse sequence has good sensitivity and water suppression properties, it is particularly useful for natural abundance samples.     

Observation of large CP violation in the neutral B meson system

We present a measurement of the standard model CP violation parameter sin2 phi(1) based on a 29.1 fb(-1) data sample collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider. One neutral B meson is fully reconstructed as a J/psi K(S), psi(2S)K(S), chi(c1)K(S), eta(c)K(S), J/psi K(L), or J/psi K(*0) decay and the flavor of the accompanying B meson is identified from its decay products. From the asymmetry in the distribution of the time intervals between the two B meson decay points, we determine sin2 phi(1) = 0.99+/-0.14(stat)+/-0.06(syst). We conclude that we have observed CP violation in the neutral B meson system.     

13C natural abundance S3E and S3CT experiments for measurement of J coupling constants between 13Calpha or 1Halpha and other protons in a protein

It is demonstrated that the spin-state-selective pulse sequence elements, S3E and S3CT, previously introduced for measurement of J coupling constants in 15N-labeled proteins can be applied for work with peptides and proteins with 13C at the natural abundance level. In addition, a method is described for suppression of crosstalk caused by passive spin flips and pulse imperfections, which otherwise results in systematically underestimated J coupling constants and thereby inaccurate structural constraints. This method is also applicable for crosstalk suppression in applications of S3E and S3CT to 13C- or 15N-labeled samples. Experimental confirmation is obtained using a 10 mM BPTI sample focusing on 13C in the alpha position. The measured J coupling constants include 3J(HN-Halpha) and 3J(Halpha-Hbeta) related to the phi and chi1 angles, respectively.     

Activated scaling of classical and quantum spin glasses

A model for thermally activated dynamics in disordered systems shows that the linear and nonlinear susceptibility follows a generic exponential form with a "critical rounding," chi(1) proportional to chi(3) proportional to [T ln(t/tau(0)')/K](gamma/b phi) exp - [Tt(g)(phi b)ln(t/tau(0)'/K)](nu/b) (T=temperature, t=time, K=barrier constant, t(g) = 1 - T(SG)/T, and T(SG) = transition temperature; gamma>0 for chi(3) and <0 for chi(1)). This model, also valid in the presence of resonant tunneling states at energies K(0) < K [provided that K is replaced by K(0)+2T ln (1/Gamma(0)), where Gamma(0)(2) proportional, variant tunnel splitting of a spin S=1], is potentially applicable to a wide variety of systems opening the way for the study of thermally activated quantum phase transitions. The famous spin-glass system LiHo(x)Y(1-x) seems to follow this model.     

取代基效应对二芳基硝酮CH=N(O)桥基1H NMR化学位移的影响

合成一系列取代二芳基硝酮XArCH=N（O）ArY化合物,测定其核磁共振氢谱（¹H NMR）,指认出桥基CH=N（O）上质子的化学位移δH[CH=N（O）],定量研究取代基效应对δH[CH=N（O）]的影响.得到一个4参数定量方程,标准偏差（S）为0.020,较好地表达了δH[CH=N（O）]的变化规律.结果表明,该类化合物的δH[CH=N（O）]主要受4个因素影响：X基团的场/诱导效应[σ_F（X）];Y基团的共轭效应[σ_R（X）];基团X和Y之间的特殊交叉作用（Δσ²）;以及基团X和O^-之间的特殊交叉作用[Δσ²_（X-O^-）].其中,Δσ²_（X-O^-）对δ_{H[CH=N（O）]}变化的贡献超过70%.通过δH[CH=N（O）]与二芳基希夫碱XArCH=NArY桥基CH=N上质子化学位移的δH（CH=N）比较发现,这两类化合物桥基上质子的化学位移之间没有良好的线性关系.因而,在应用NMR谱图解析有机化合物分子结构时,不能简单地用δH（CH=N）的变化去类比δ_{H[CH=N（O）]}的变化.     

离子对电荷转移配合物[NO2Py]x[Co（mnt）2]的合成、光谱和磁性表征

合成了两种新的离子对电荷转移配合物[NO2Py]x[Co(mnt)2],(NO2Py=1-(4-ritrobenzyl)pyridinium;mnt=maleonitriledithiolate;x=1or2时分别对应配合物2和1),并用元素分析和红外光谱、电喷雾质谱和固体反射电子光谱等谱学方法对两种配合物进行了表征.两种配合物在77K到300K范围内的变温磁化率结果表明,配合物2是抗磁性物质,经Pascal′s常数校正后的配合物1的磁化率遵循改进的Bleaney-Bowers方程,实验值和理论计算值能很好的吻合,非线性最小平方二乘法拟合所得的最佳拟合参数为g=2.392,2J/k=5.9K和θ=-4.9K,一致性因子R=7.20×10-9(R=∑(χobsi-χcalcdi)2/∑(χobsi     

Observation of a near-threshold enhancement in the omega(phi) mass spectrum from the doubly OZI-suppressed decay J/psi-->gamma(omega)phi

An enhancement near threshold is observed in the omega(phi) invariant mass spectrum from the doubly Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka-suppressed decays of J/psi-->gamma(omega)phi, based on a sample of 5.8 x 10(7) J/psi events collected with the BESII detector. A partial wave analysis shows that this enhancement favors JP=0+, and its mass and width are M=1812(+19)(-26)(stat)+/-18(syst) MeV/c2 and Gamma=105+/-20(stat)+/-28(syst) MeV/c2. The product branching fraction is determined to be B(J/psi-->gammaX)B(X-->omega(phi))=[2.61+/-0.27(stat)+/-0.65(syst)]x10(-4).     

Critical current of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) low-angle grain boundaries

Transport critical current measurements have been performed on 5 degrees [001]-tilt thin film YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) single grain boundaries with the magnetic field rotated in the plane of the film, phi. The variation of the critical current has been determined as a function of the angle between the magnetic field and the grain boundary plane. In applied fields above 1 T the critical current j(c) is found to be strongly suppressed only when the magnetic field is within an angle phi(k) of the grain boundary. Outside this angular range the behavior of the artificial grain boundary is dominated by the critical current of the grains. We show that the phi dependence of j(c) in the suppressed region is well described by a flux cutting model.     

S(3)E-E.COSY methods for the measurement of (19)F associated scalar and dipolar coupling constants

A (1)H-(19)F spin state selective excitation (S(3)E) pulse sequence element has been applied in combination with (1)H homonuclear mixing to create E.COSY-type experiments designed to measure scalar J(HF2') and J(HH2') and residual dipolar D(HF2') and D(HH2') couplings in 2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-sugars. The (1)H-(19)F S(3)E pulse sequence element, which resembles a simple INEPT sequence, achieves spin-state-selective correlation between geminal (1)H-(19)F spin pairs by linear combination of in-phase (19)F magnetization and anti-phase magnetization evolved from (1)H. Since the S(3)E sequence converts both (19)F and (1)H steady-state polarization into observable coherences, an approximately twofold signal increase is observed for fully relaxed (1)H-(19)F spin pairs with respect to a standard (1)H coupled (19)F 1D experiment. The improved sensitivity and resolution afforded by the use of (1)H-(19)F S(3)E E.COSY-type experiments for measuring couplings is demonstrated on the nucleoside 9-(2',3'-dideoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-threo-pentofuranosyl)adenine (beta-FddA) and on a selectively 2'-fluorine labeled 21mer RNA oligonucleotide.