Polarity Estimate of the Hydrophobic Binding Sites in Erythroid Spectrin: A Study by Pyrene Fluorescence

The apparent dielectric constant, , of the hydrophobic pyrene binding sites in erythroid spectrin and human serum albumin (HSA) were estimated using the linear relationship [Turro, N.J., Kuo, P.L., Somasundaran, P. and Wong, K. (1986). J. Phys. Chem. 90, 288–291] between the ratio of the first (373 nm) and the third (384 nm) vibronic peak intensities (l₁/l₃) and the dielectric constant of the bulk medium. Binding of the hydrophobic fluorescent probe, pyrene, to erythroid spectrin and HSA was determined from concentration dependent change in the ratio l₁/l₃ from the emission spectra. Pyrene binds to spectrin (K_app = 6.2 × 10⁶ M^–1) with a higher affinity than that of HSA (K_app = 3.7 × 10⁴ M^–1) and the binding in both cases are saturable. The for spectrin and HSA was estimated to be 7 ± 2.1 and 5.4 ± 1.6 respectively. A case study with spectrin, covalently labeled with pyrene maleimide, have been presented for aging of pyrene-labelled spectrin showing the potential of the use of vibrational peak ratios (l₁/l₃) in the study of polarity of microenvironments in the neighborhood of cysteine residues of a protein. Large changes in the pyrene spectral components indicated conformational changes in the cysteine microenvironment of the protein upon storage at 4°C.     

Effect of exchangeable cation on the swelling property of 2:1 dioctahedral smectite--a periodic first principle study

We used both localized and periodic calculations on a series of monovalent (Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+) and divalent (Mg2+, Ca2+, Sr2+, Ba2+) cations to monitor their effect on the swelling of clays. The activity order obtained for the exchangeable cations among all the monovalent and divalent series studied: Ca2+ > Sr2+ > Mg2+ > Rb+ > Ba2+ > Na+ > Li+ > Cs+ > K+. We have shown that, in case of dioctahedral smectite, the hydroxyl groups play a major role in their interaction with water and other polar molecules in the presence of an interlayer cation. We studied both type of clays, with a different surface structure and with/without water using a periodic calculation. Interlayer cations and charged 2:1 clay surfaces interact strongly with polar solvents; when it is in an aqueous medium, clay expands and the phenomenon is known as crystalline swelling. The extent of swelling is controlled by a balance between relatively strong swelling forces and electrostatic forces of attraction between the negatively charged phyllosilicate layer and the positively charged interlayer cation. We have calculated the solvation energy at the first hydration shell of an exchangeable cation, but the results do not correspond directly to the experimental d-spacing values. A novel quantitative scale is proposed with the numbers generated by the relative nucleophilicity of the active cation sites in their hydrated state through Fukui functions within the helm of the hard soft acid base principle. The solvation effect thus measured show a perfect match with experiment, which proposes that the reactivity index calculation with a first hydration shell could rationalize the swelling mechanism for exchangeable cations. The conformers after electron donation or acceptance propose the swelling mechanism for monovalent and divalent cations.     

Inducing efficiency in oligopolistic markets with increasing returns to scale

We consider a Cournot oligopoly market of firms possessing increasing returns to scale technologies (which may not be identical). It is shown that an external regulating agency can increase total social welfare without running a deficit by offering to subsidize one firm an amount which depends on the output level of that firm and the market price. The firms bid for this contract, the regulator collects the highest bid upfront and subsidizes the highest bidding firm. It is shown that there exists a subsidy schedule such that (i) the regulator breaks even, (ii) the subsidized firm obtains zero net profit and charges a price equal to its average cost, (iii) every other firm willingly exit the market and (iv) market price decreases, consumers are better off and total welfare improves.     

Difference Equations Approach for Multi-Server Queueing Models with Removable Servers

Methodology and Computing in Applied Probability - We consider an extended form of the MX/M/c queue with two types of server groups: Static as well as dynamic (which turn on/off in a...     

Incorporating manufacturing lead times in joint production-marketing models: A review and some future directions

In many industries the pricing of a product over time can be used to manage demand for the product. Lead time, or promised delivery time is often a significant factor in price negotiations. However, the production planning literature has largely treated pricing decisions as exogeneous while focusing on the allocation of production capacity between products over time. On the other hand, the marketing literature has generally ignored the effects of capacity constraints and focused on the effects of pricing. In this paper, we begin by reviewing the existing literature on integrative production-marketing research, focusing on those models that consider lead times and capacity. We suggest a number of directions for future research that take advantage of recent developments in production planning models, as well as explicit modeling of feedback loops governing key parameters, which suggest a broader view of the problem.     

Relative hyperbolicity,trees of spaces and Cannon-Thurston maps

We prove the existence of continuous boundary extensions (Cannon-Thurston maps) for the inclusion of a vertex space into a tree of (strongly) relatively hyperbolic spaces satisfying the qi-embedded condition. This implies the same result for inclusion of vertex (or edge) subgroups in finite graphs of (strongly) relatively hyperbolic groups. This generalizes a result of Bowditch for punctured surfaces in 3 manifolds and a result of Mitra for trees of hyperbolic metric spaces.     

Theoretical simulation of photovoltaic response of graphene-on-semiconductors

Using the fundamental models for voltage and current, we report on the photovoltaic behavior of graphene-on-semiconductor-based devices. The graphene-n-Si and graphene-n-GaAs systems are studied for open-circuit voltage (V _OC) and short-circuit current density (J _SC) under low- and high-level injection conditions. The effects of semiconductor doping density and surface recombination velocity on the V _OC of both systems are investigated. The V _OC for graphene-n-Si under low- and high-level injection conditions are found to be 0.353 V and 0.451 V, respectively, whereas the V _OC for graphene-n-GaAs under low- and high-level injection conditions are 0.441 V and 0.471 V, respectively. The J _SC for graphene-n-Si under low- and high-level injection conditions are calculated as 3 mAcm^?2 and 4.78 mAcm^?2, respectively, whereas the J _SC for graphene-n-GaAs under low- and high-level injection conditions are 5.2 mAcm^?2 and 6.68 mAcm^?2, respectively. These results are in good agreement with the reported experimental work.