Effects of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons on the fidelity of cell division in human CYP2E1 expressing cells

Chlorinated organic chemicals are widely used in industry and are present in the environment. Five chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, namely 1-2-dichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, 2,3-dichlorobutane and 1-chlorohexane were investigated to determine their influence upon the fidelity of cell division in cultured mammalian cells. In order to determine the influence of these chemical compounds upon the fidelity of cell division, a technique known as differential staining of chromosomes and spindle was performed with one genetically engineered cell line and its parental cell line. The genetically engineered cell line used in this study expressed a human P450 enzyme, CYP2E1. Four chemicals, 1-2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, 2,3-dichlorobutane and 1-chlorohexane required metabolic bioactivations in order to induce spindle damage in cultured mammalian cells whereas 1,1,2-trichloroethane was a direct-acting spindle poison.     

Novel Thiophenic Copolymer as a Multi-Purpose Macromolecular Intermediate

The preparation of a new thiophenic dimer partially derivatized with a bromohexylic chain is described. Its polymerization under mild oxidative conditions leads to a polythiophene with a degree of functionalization of 50% and highly soluble in organic solvents. The product has been fully characterized by FT-IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR using one and two-dimensional techniques as well as by SEC and thermal analysis. Solvatochromic effects of the new polymer have been investigated in different mixtures, underlining its self-assembling capability even in solvated states.     

Computational learning of the conditional phase-type (C-Ph) distribution

This paper presents a new algorithm for learning the structure of a special type of Bayesian network. The conditional phase-type (C-Ph) distribution is a Bayesian network that models the probabilistic causal relationships between a skewed continuous variable, modelled by the Coxian phase-type distribution, a special type of Markov model, and a set of interacting discrete variables. The algorithm takes a data set as input and produces the structure, parameters and graphical representations of the fit of the C-Ph distribution as output. The algorithm, which uses a greedy-search technique and has been implemented in MATLAB, is evaluated using a simulated data set consisting of 20,000 cases. The results show that the original C-Ph distribution is recaptured and the fit of the network to the data is discussed.     

Topologically protected qubits as minimal Josephson junction arrays with non-trivial boundary conditions: A proposal

Recently a one-dimensional closed ladder of Josephson junctions has been studied [G. Cristofano, V. Marotta, A. Naddeo, G. Niccoli, Phys. Lett. A 372 (2008) 2464] within a twisted conformal field theory (CFT) approach [G. Cristofano, G. Maiella, V. Marotta, Mod. Phys. Lett. A 15 (2000) 1679; G. Cristofano, G. Maiella, V. Marotta, G. Niccoli, Nucl. Phys. B 641 (2002) 547] and shown to develop the phenomenon of flux fractionalization [G. Cristofano, V. Marotta, A. Naddeo, G. Niccoli, Eur. Phys. J. B 49 (2006) 83]. That led us to predict the emergence of a topological order in such a system [G. Cristofano, V. Marotta, A. Naddeo, J. Stat. Mech.: Theory Exp. (2005) P03006]. In this Letter we analyze the ground states and the topological properties of fully frustrated Josephson junction arrays (JJA) arranged in a Corbino disk geometry for a variety of boundary conditions. In particular minimal configurations of fully frustrated JJA are considered and shown to exhibit the properties needed in order to build up a solid state qubit, protected from decoherence. The stability and transformation properties of the ground states of the JJA under adiabatic magnetic flux changes are analyzed in detail in order to provide a tool for the manipulation of the proposed qubit.     

First biosynthetic evidence on the phenyl-containing polyketides of the marine mollusc Scaphander lignarius

The biosynthesis of lignarenones 1 and 2, the major polyketides of the Mediterranean mollusc Scaphander lignarius is described. The process is primed by benzoic acid and requires acetate and propionate as extender units. The labeling pattern suggests PKS-like synthesis of an unusual E,Z,E-triene chain and origin of the benzoate unit from phenylalanine. 13C-13C NMR COSY has been used to establish the labeling positions due to incorporation of 13C2-acetate.     

Propensity to spending of an average consumer over a brief period

Understanding consumption dynamics and its impact on the whole economy and welfare withinthe present economic crisis is not an easy task. Indeed the level of consumer demand fordifferent goods varies with the prices, consumer incomes and demographic factors.Furthermore crisis may trigger different behaviors which result in distortions andamplification effects. In the present work we propose a simple model to quantitativelydescribe the time evolution over a brief period of the amount of money an average consumerdecides to spend, depending on his/her available budget. A simple hydrodynamical analog ofthe model is discussed. Finally, perspectives of this work are briefly outlined.