Morphological variation in the oral disc of the scleractinian coral Favia speciosa (Dana) at Indonesia

Photographic analysis was used to examine morphological differences in the oral disc of n=1196 living polyps of Favia speciosa Dana (1846) sampled from four sites in the Wakatobi Marine National Park, Indonesia. Although oral disc size attributes differed significantly between the study sites, the geographic difference accounted for only a small fraction of the morphological variation and did not show a clear pattern of correspondence to sedimentation rates. A much higher fraction of the morphological variation was attributed to depth and so to incident light: oral discs grew significantly larger with increasing depth. These results suggest that for F. speciosa corals at Wakatobi, oral disc size may be optimised for heterotrophic nutrition under low light conditions, and photosynthesis in conditions where light is not limiting. Furthermore, the driving force for this phenotypic plasticity is more likely to be depth than sedimentation rate.     

A light-controlled reversible DNA photoligation via carbazole-tethered 5-carboxyvinyluracil

We describe a light-controlled template-directed reversible DNA photoligation via carbazole-tethered 5-carboxyvinyluracil. Carbazole-tethered 5-carboxyvinyl-2'-deoxyuridine-containing oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) can be ligated by irradiation at 366 nm in the presence of template ODN, and the ligated ODN can be split by irradiation at 366 nm in the absence of template ODN.     

Chemical Synthesis of O‐Glycosylated Human Interleukin‐2 by the Reverse Polarity Protection Strategy

The chemical synthesis of human interleukin‐2 (IL‐2) , having a core 1 sugar, by a ligation method is reported. Although IL‐2 is a globular glycoprotein, its C‐terminal region, in particular (99‐133), is extremely insoluble when synthesized by solid‐phase method. To overcome this problem, the side‐chain carboxylic acid of the Glu residues was protected by a picolyl ester, thus reversing its polarity from negative to positive. This reverse polarity protection significantly increased the isoelectric point of the peptide segment and made it positive under acidic conditions and facilitated the purification. An efficient method to prepare the prolyl peptide thioester required for the synthesis of the (28‐65) segment was also developed. These efforts resulted in the total synthesis of the glycosylated IL‐2 having full biological activity.     

Amphiphilic Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Zeotype Aluminosilicate like a Nanoporous Crystallized Langmuir–Blodgett Film

A new organic–inorganic hybrid zeotype compound with amphiphilic one‐dimensional nanopore and aluminosilicate composition was developed. The framework structure is composed of double aluminosilicate layers and 12‐ring nanopores; a hydrophilic layer pillared by Q² silicon atom species and a lipophilic layer pillared by phenylene groups are alternately stacked, and 12‐ring nanopores perpendicularly penetrate the layers. The framework topology looks similar to that of an AFI‐type zeolite but possesses a quasi‐multidimensional pore structure consisting of a 12‐ring channel and intersecting small pores equivalent to 8‐rings. The hybrid material with alternately laminated lipophilic and hydrophilic nanospaces can be assumed as a crystallized Langmuir–Blodgett film. It demonstrates microporous adsorption for both hydrophilic and lipophilic adsorptives, and its outer surface tightly adsorbs lysozyme whose molecular size is much larger than its micropore opening. Our results suggest the possibility of designing porous adsorbent with high amphipathicity.     

Paradoxes as a window to infinity

This study examines approaches to infinity of two groups of university students with different mathematical background: undergraduate students in Liberal Arts Programmes and graduate students in a Mathematics Education Master's Programme. Our data are drawn from students’ engagement with two well-known paradoxes – Hilbert's Grand Hotel and the Ping-Pong Ball Conundrum – before, during, and after instruction. While graduate students found the resolution of Hilbert's Grand Hotel paradox unproblematic, responses of students in both groups to the Ping-Pong Ball Conundrum were surprisingly similar. Consistent with prior research, the work of participants in our study revealed that they perceive infinity as an ongoing process, rather than a completed one, and fail to notice conflicting ideas. Our contribution is in describing specific challenging features of these paradoxes that might influence students’ understanding of infinity, as well as the persuasive factors in students’ reasoning, that have not been unveiled by other means.     

Using Efficient Anchoring Points for Generating Search Directions in Interior Multiobjective Linear Programming

This paper modifies the affine-scaling primal algorithm to multiobjective linear programming (MOLP) problems. The modification is based on generating search directions in the form of projected gradients augmented by search directions pointing toward what we refer to as anchoring points. These anchoring points are located on the boundary of the feasible region and, together with the current, interior, iterate, define a cone in which we make the next step towards a solution of the MOLP problem. These anchoring points can be generated in more than one way. In this paper we present an approach that generates efficient anchoring points where the choice of termination solution available to the decision maker at each iteration consists of a set of efficient solutions. This set of efficient solutions is being updated during the iterative process so that only the most preferred solutions are retained for future considerations. Current MOLP algorithms are simplex-based and make their progress toward the optimal solution by following an exterior trajectory along the vertices of the constraints polytope. Since the proposed algorithm makes its progress through the interior of the constraints polytope, there is no need for vertex information and, therefore, the search for an acceptable solution may prove less sensitive to problem size. We refer to the resulting class of MOLP algorithms that are based on the affine-scaling primal algorithm as affine-scaling interior multiobjective linear programming (ASIMOLP) algorithms.     

Equilibrium/nonequilibrium initial configurations in forward/reverse electron transfer within mixed-metal hemoglobin hybrids

In a protein-protein electron transfer (ET) photocycle, the "forward" ET reaction is initiated with the excited complex, [3DA], in an equilibrium ensemble of configurations, the majority of which exhibit less than the maximal ET matrix element. In contrast, the charge-separated intermediate complex is formed in a nonequilibrium set of configurations with maximal ET matrix elements and would be expected to return to the ground state with the largest rate constant possible unless conformational interconversion first "breaks the connection" and the complex converts to less-reactive substates. According to this analysis, the forward and back ET reactions should show a differential response to viscosity, and the latter could even show an increased rate constant under conditions which suppress departure from the reactive configuration(s). We now report that the viscosity dependences of forward and back ET rate constants for the photocycle within the [alpha2(Zn),beta2(Fe3+N3-)] mixed-metal hemoglobin hybrid at pH 7 show the anticipated behavior: kf decreases as viscosity increases, but, in sharp contrast, kb increases strongly.     

Dynamics and fluidity of amyloid fibrils: a model of fibrous protein aggregates

A previous experimentally defined model for the fibril formed from the core residues of the beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides of Alzheimer's disease, 10YEVHHQKLVFFAEDVGSNKGAIIGLM, Abeta(10-35) using spectroscopic and scattering analyses reports on the average structure, benefiting immensely from the homogeneous assembly of Abeta(10-35). However, the energetic constraints that contribute to fibril dynamics and stability remain poorly understood. Here we perform molecular dynamics simulations to extend the structural assignment by providing evidence for a dynamic average ensemble with transient backbone H-bonds and internal solvation contributing to the inherent stability of amyloid fibrils.