Ichthyosan in fish eye

Ichthyosan A and V are two highly elastoviscous glycan complexes present in the aqueus and vitreus [here aqueus and vitreus are used as nouns as was suggested by Balazs and Denlinger in The eye, vol 1A. Vegetative physiology and biochemistry, 3rd edn. Academic Press, New York, pp 533–589, 1984] of the fish eye. Ichthyosan A, with its high elastic properties, surrounds and stabilizes the lens of the eye. Ichthyosan V, within the collagen fibers, serves as a structure stabilizer of the gel vitreus. These two molecular complexes are non-covalent aggregates composed of hyaluronan, a chondroitin-proteoglycan (sulfate free), and a keratan-like molecule. The ratio of hyaluronan to chondroitin–proteoglycan varies in the two ichthyosans. Electrophoretic separation methods (both free and gel electrophoresis) demonstrate that the hyaluronan–proteoglycan aggregates move as one molecular entity. The average molecular weight of the ichthyosan varies from 5.2 to 13.0 million in various species. Aquatic mammals do not have ichthyosan in their eyes.     

Dynamic updates of the barrier parameter in primal-dual methods for nonlinear programming

We introduce a framework in which updating rules for the barrier parameter in primal-dual interior-point methods become dynamic. The original primal-dual system is augmented to incorporate explicitly an updating function. A Newton step for the augmented system gives a primal-dual Newton step and also a step in the barrier parameter. Based on local information and a line search, the decrease of the barrier parameter is automatically adjusted. We analyze local convergence properties, report numerical experiments on a standard collection of nonlinear problems and compare our results to a state-of-the-art interior-point implementation. In many instances, the adaptive algorithm reduces the number of iterations and of function evaluations. Its design guarantees a better fit between the magnitudes of the primal-dual residual and of the barrier parameter along the iterations.     

Pyridinium salt liquid crystals Effect of mesogen extension and alkyl chain length

The thermotropism of 1-n-alkyl-(4-methyl and 4-tolyl)pyridinium bromides were compared for alkyl chain lengths ranging from n = 12 to 22 carbons. A smectic A mesophase is present in both series for the longer chain compounds, n ≥ 16, with the clearing temperature being similar for both series but increasing rapidly with chain length. The series with the elongated mesogen also possesses an ordered mesophase identified as smectic G. The transition between this mesophase and the S_A or isotropic phase in the 4-tolyl series, and the transition to and from the crystalline phase in both series, are affected relatively little by the alkyl chain length. It seems that the S_A mesophase is governed primarily by the amphiphilic character of the substances, whereas elongation of the ionic head group is responsible for the appearance of a more ordered mesophase at intermediate temperatures.     

What are the structural features of the active site that define binuclear copper proteins function?

The structural basis that define the physiological functions of binuclear copper enzymes is discussed in the frame of the data generated by a broad spectroscopic approach, spanning from paramagnetic NMR and pulsed EPR to x-ray absorption spectroscopies. The structural features discussed for the different oxidation and ligation states accessible to a binuclear copper sites are the coordination geometry for the first and second shell, the metal-metal distance and the role of the bridging exogenous ligand(s). A structural model will be presented to rationalize both the differentiation in function within the protein families and the reaction mechanism of those proteins that are enzymatically active.     

Evidence of the key role of metal-molecule bonding in metal-molecule-metal transport experiments

The transport properties of two oligothiophene derivatives, that differ only by the chemical group coupling to gold, are compared. It is shown that the role of the coupling group in the transport properties can be decoupled from that of the conjugated body of the molecules and that Se is a better electronic coupling group than S. These results are accounted for semiquantitatively within the frame of the scattering theory of transport, using results from ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy experiments as inputs for the position in energy of the molecular orbitals with respect to the Fermi level of the electrodes.     

Droplet traffic at a simple junction at low capillary numbers

We report that, when a train of confined droplets flowing through a channel reaches a junction, the droplets either are alternately distributed between the different outlets or all collect into the shortest one. We argue that this behavior is due to the hydrodynamic feedback of droplets in the different outlets on the selection process occurring at the junction. A "mean field" model, yielding semiquantitative results, offers a first guide to predict droplet traffic in branched networks.     

Sur les dérivés de la fluorénone VII. Bifluorényles et bifluorénonyles

Starting from 3-bromo-, 1-iodo- and 4-iodo-9-oxo-fluorene three symmetrical bifluorenonyls and the corresponding hydrocarbons 3,3′-, 1,1′- and 4,4′-bifluorenyls are prepared. An attempt to obtain the non-symmetrical 1,2′-bifluorenyl is also described.     

Photolyse d'oxazirannes: VI—Détermination par RMN du proton des configurations et conformations privilégiées d'oxazirannes à jonction spirannique

The structures of imines and oxaziridines derived from 2-methyl and 2,6-dimethyl cyclohexanone have been determined by ¹H n.m.r. spectroscopy. The preferred conformation of all the oxaziridines we examined was found to have the nitrogen atom in equatorial position.