An experiment to discover mathematical talent in a primary school in Kampong Air

It is often said that many pupils have hidden talent in mathematics. This hidden ability is rarely seen in a normal classroom teaching and learning situation if the focus of the teacher is on drilling with routine exercises. To allow pupils to display their mathematical talent and to break from mental set and fixation in mathematics, they must be given opportunity to think by themselves with mininum cue or guidance. The pupils could be left entirely on their own to show their mathematical creativity even on mathematical topics which have not been exposed to them. With this approach, five non-routine questions were administered one at a time to a standard 5 class. One out of the 25 pupils in the class consistently exhibited mathematical creativity and talent is answering the questions. Her responses were shown and discussed in this paper.     

Ab initio calculation of the heptamer (NH3)7 as a reasonable starting point for a description of the ammonia crystal

Quasi-Wannier functions for the ammonia crystal have been determined from optimized ab initio calculations of the heptamer (NH₃)₇, thus accounting for all the first neighbor interactions. The calculated geometry and binding energy are in good agreement with their experimental counterparts.     

The low-lying electronic excited states of NiCO

Highly correlated coupled cluster methods with single and double excitations (CSSD) and CCSD with perturbative triple excitations were used to predict molecular structures and harmonic vibrational frequencies for the electronic ground state X 1Sigma+, and for the 3Delta, 3Sigma+, 3Phi, 1 3Pi, 2 3Pi, 1Sigma+, 1Delta, and 1Pi excited states of NiCO. The X 1Sigma+ ground state's geometry is for the first time compared with the recently determined experimental structure. The adiabatic excitation energies, vertical excitation energies, and dissociation energies of these excited states are predicted. The importance of pi and sigma bonding for the Ni-C bond is discussed based on the structures of excited states.     

Cyclic perfluorocarbon radicals and anions having high global warming potentials (GWPs): structures, electron affinities, and vibrational frequencies

Adiabatic electron affinities, optimized molecular geometries, and IR-active vibrational frequencies have been predicted for small cyclic hydrocarbon radicals C(n)H(2)(n)(-)(1) (n = 3-6) and their perfluoro counterparts C(n)F(2)(n)(-)(1) (n = 3-6). Total energies and optimized geometries of the radicals and corresponding anions have been obtained using carefully calibrated (Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 231) density functional methods, namely, the B3LYP, BLYP, and BP86 functionals in conjunction with the DZP++ basis set. The predicted electron affinities show that only the cyclopropyl radical tends to bind electrons among the hydrocarbon radicals studied. The trend for the perfluorocarbon (PFC) radicals is quite different. The electron affinities increase with expanding ring size until n = 5 and then slightly decrease at n = 6. Predicted electron affinities of the hydrocarbon radicals using the B3LYP hybrid functional are 0.24 eV (C(3)H(5)/C(3)H(5)(-)), -0.19 eV (C(4)H(7)/C(4)H(7)(-)), -0.15 eV (C(5)H(9)/C(5)H(9)(-)), and -0.11 eV (C(6)H(11)/C(6)H(11)(-)). Analogous electron affinities of the perflurocarbon radicals are 2.81 eV (C(3)F(5)/C(3)F(5)(-)), 3.18 eV (C(4)F(7)/C(4)F(7)(-)), 3.34 eV (C(5)F(9)/C(5)F(9)(-)), and 3.21 eV (C(6)F(11)/C(6)F(11)(-)).     

Specific labeling of cell surface proteins with chemically diverse compounds

The specific and covalent labeling of fusion proteins with synthetic molecules opens up new ways to study protein function in the living cell. Here we present a novel method that allows for the specific and exclusive extracellular labeling of proteins on the surfaces of live cells with a large variety of synthetic molecules including fluorophores, protein ligands, or quantum dots. The approach is based on the specific labeling of fusion proteins of acyl carrier protein with synthetic molecules through post-translational modification catalyzed by phosphopantetheine transferase. The specificity and versatility of the labeling should allow it to become an important tool for studying and manipulating cell surface proteins and for complementing existing approaches in cell surface engineering.     

What is the nature of polyacetylene neutral and anionic chains HC(2n)H and HC(2n)H(-) (n = 6-12) that have recently been observed?

The optimized geometries, adiabatic electron affinities, and IR-active vibrational frequencies have been predicted for the long linear carbon chains HC(2n)H. The B3LYP density functional combined with the DZP basis set was used in this theoretical study. The computed physical properties are discussed. The predicted electron affinities form a remarkably regular sequence: 1.78 (HC(12)H), 2.08 (HC(14)H), 2.32 (HC(16)H), 2.53 (HC(18)H), 2.69 (HC(20)H), 2.83 (HC(22)H), and 2.95 eV (HC(24)H). The predicted structures display an alternating triple and very short single bond pattern, with the degree of bond alternation significantly less for the radical anions.