Systems biology reveals biology of systems

In the last decades, genomic and postgenomic technologies obtained a great amount of information on molecular bases of cell physiology and organization. In spite of this, the knowledge of cells and living organisms in their entirety, is far from being achieved. In order to deal with biological complexity, Systems Biology uses a new approach to overcome this inadequacy. Despite different definitions, Systems Biology's view of biological phenomena highlights that a holistic perspective is needed to integrate and understand the huge amount of empirical data which have been collected. This is one of the aspects that makes Systems Biology so interesting, from a theoretical and epistemological point of view, and that renders it a useful tool to help students approach living beings' dynamics within a comprehensive framework of their biological features as well. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity, 2010     

Investigation of Terra Cotta artefacts with terahertz

Terahertz Time Domain Imaging has been used in the last few years for the investigation of cultural heritage. In this article, the authors demonstrate the possibility to apply it for the investigation of clay artifacts. Tomographic images were obtained of a model in reflection, and an Egyptian vessel in transmission.     

Geometrical and fluidic tuning of periodically modulated thin metal films

We numerically demonstrate near-zero transmission of light through two-dimensional arrays of isolated gold rings. The analysis of the device as an optofluidic sensor is presented to demonstrate the tuning of the device in relation to variations of volume and refractive index of an isotropic fluid positioned over the structure. We also evaluate the performance of the device with respect to geometrical parameters of the rings.     

Beta-functionalised polythiophenes as microelectrode modifiers in low conductive media

A study on polythiophene coated microelectrodes is reported, the goal being that of checking the capability of these electrochemical systems to work in low conductive media. The possibility of electrochemically p-doping the polymer in the presence of very low concentrations or even in the absence of supporting electrolyte in the solution is ascertained, opening the way to the use of similar systems in pure solvent media. This result is obtained in such conditions that the presence of residual charges--and corresponding counterions--trapped inside the film coating can be reasonably hypothesised.     

Simultaneous separation of different enantiomeric pairs in capillary electrophoresis by mixing different hemispherodextrins,a very versatile class of receptors

Six different racemates of the profen family were used as analytes in order to test the chiral selector properties of three members of a new class of cyclodextrin derivatives, hemispherodextrins (HMs), in capillary electrophoresis. In addition to experiments carried out to separate each enantiomeric pair one by one, other experiments were carried out on samples containing all six enantiomeric pairs. Electropherograms were obtained either by adding a single HM to the background electrolyte (BGE), or a binary mixture of HMs. The results obtained confirm the excellent chiral selector properties of the HMs, and furthermore show that these compounds can also be used for achiral selection. When mixing different HMs, a complementary effect in chiral selectivity is observed, which, in our opinion, deserves further study.     

Productive trapping of NAD-type radicals. Non-biomimetic reduction of pyridinium salts

One-electron reduction of pyridinium salts (NAD+ analogues) generates dihydropyridyl radicals which may then be engaged in radical addition processes to regioselectively form gamma-substituted dihydropyridines.     

Base promoted isomerization of aziridinyl ethers: a new access to alpha- and beta-amino acids

Aziridinyl ethers are selectively and easily converted to either amino vinyl ethers or alkoxy allylamines by treatment with mixed metal bases (superbases).     

The solute-solvent system: solvent constraints on the conformational dynamics of acetylcholine

The objective of this study was to determine if and how a solvent influences internal motions in a solute molecule. Acetylcholine was chosen as the object of study given its interesting molecular structure and major biological significance. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out in the vacuum (10 ns), water (5 ns), methanol (5 ns), and octanol (1.5 ns). Seven clusters of conformers were identified, namely, +g+g, -g-g, +gt, -gt, t+g, t-g, and tt, where the gauche and trans labels refer to the dihedral angles tau(2) and tau(3), respectively. As expected, the relative proportion of these conformational clusters was highly solvent-dependent and corresponded to a progressive loss of conformational freedom with increasing molecular weight of the solvent. More importantly, the conformational clusters were used to calculate instantaneous and median angular velocity (omega and omega(M), respectively) and instantaneous and median angular acceleration (alpha and alpha(M), respectively). Angular velocity and angular acceleration were both found to decrease markedly with increasing molecular weight of the solvent, i.e., vacuum (epsilon = 1) > water > methanol > octanol. The decrease from the vacuum to octanol was approximately 40% for tau(2) and approximately 60% for tau(3). Such solvent-dependent constraints on a solute's internal motions may be biologically and pharmacologically relevant.