Interactions of Safranin T with Nucleic Acids

The interactions of Safranin T (ST) with several nucleic acids have been investigated by electrochemical, UV‐visible and CD spectroscopic techniques. The form of the nucleic acid‐ST complexes is sensitive to the ratio of the two species. Two electrochemically inactive complexes such as, nucleic acid‐ST and nucleic acid‐2ST, were formed while ST interacts with nucleic acids. Two processes were obtained from spectral experiments: (1) at the high value of R (R is defined as the ratio of the total concentration of ST to that of nucleic acid), ST is groove‐binding with stacking, (2) at the low value of R, ST is groove‐binding without stacking. Intrinsic binding constants were obtained by spectral methods. The experiments also show that electrostatic binding plays an important role in the interaction of ST with nucleic acids.     

On a conjecture about the exponent set of primitive matrices

M. Lewin and Y. Vitek conjecture [7] that every integer $\text{?[}\text{(n>}{}^2\text{?2n+2)}\text{2}\text{]+1}$ is an exponent of some n×n primitive matrix. In this paper, we prove three results related to Lewin and Vitek's conjecture: (1) Every integer $\text{?[}\text{(n}{}^2\text{?2n+2)}\text{4}\text{]+1}$ is an exponent of some n×n primitive matrix. (2) The conjecture is true when n is sufficiently large. (3) We give a counterexample to show that the conjecture is not true in the case when n=11.     

Multifocal multiphoton microscopy based on a spatial light modulator

We present a new multifocal multiphoton microscope that employs a programmable spatial light modulator to generate dynamic multifocus arrays which can be rapidly scanned by changing the incident angle of the laser beam using a pair of galvo scanners. Using this microscope, we can rapidly select the number and the spatial density of focal points in a multifocus array, as well as the locations and shapes of arrays according to the features of the areas of interest in the field of view without any change to the hardware.     

Molecular dynamics and ion mobility spectrometry study of model β-hairpin peptide, trpzip1

Here, we explore the conformations of gas phase, protonated tryptophan zipper 1 (trpzip1) ions and its six derivatives by an enhanced sampling molecular dynamics, specially the integrated tempering sampling molecular dynamics simulation (ITS-MDS). The structural distributions obtained from ITS-MDS are compared with results obtained from matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI)-ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS). The IM-MS measured collision cross-section (CCS) profiles compare well with the calculated CCS profiles obtained from ITS-MDS. Although β-turn structures are preferred for solution phase species, the ITS-MDS and IM-MS structural analysis suggests that the γ-turn structures are preferred for gas-phase, unsolvated trpzip1 [M + H](+) ions. In addition, the data suggests that the energy landscape of the gas phase peptide ions is sensitive to the site of protonation as well as intramolecular interactions involving the lysine side chain.     

Microarray-guided discovery of two-photon (2P) small molecule probes for live-cell imaging of cysteinyl cathepsin activities

A microarray immobilized with 105 aldehyde-containing small molecules was screened against mammalian cell lysates over-expressing cathepsin L to identify two potent inhibitors, which were subsequently converted into cell-permeable probes capable of live-cell imaging of endogenous cysteinyl cathepsin activities by two-photon fluorescence microscopy.     

Semi-analytical three-dimensional elasticity solutions for generally laminated composite plates

Semi-analytical solutions for bending and free vibration of composite laminated plates have been derived based on three-dimensional elasticity theory using a newly developed hybrid analysis, which perfectly combines the state space approach (SSA) and the technique of differential quadrature (DQ). The thickness direction of laminates is selected as the transfer direction in SSA, and the DQ technique is employed to discretize the in-plane domains. This actualizes the transformation of the original partial differential equations into a state equation consisting of first-order ordinary differential equations. In particular, the use of DQ technique makes ease of the treatment of various boundary conditions, which cannot be considered in the conventional exact SSA. To avoid numerical instabilities in the conventional transfer matrix method, artificial interfaces are introduced to divide each layer into several sub-layers to reduce the transfer distance and the joint coupling matrices are established according to the continuity conditions at actual and artificial interfaces to implement the global analysis. Comprehensive numerical examples are preformed to validate the present hybrid method. Effects of some parameters on mechanical properties of the laminates are discussed.     

Design,synthesis, and insecticidal activities of novel diamide derivatives with alpha-amino acid subunits

A series of diamide derivatives containing α-amino acids were designed and synthesized. These compounds were evaluated for their insecticidal activities against Plutella xylostella, Mythimna separate, Myzus persicae, and Tetranychus cinnabarinus. Most of the title compounds containing an l -phenylglycine skeleton were endowed with good activities at the concentration of 500 mg·L⁻¹. Compounds ( R)-A6 showed a potential value for further optimization as an insecticidal lead with the LC₅₀ value of 86.8 mg·L⁻¹.     

Pampas grass-inspired FeOOH nanobelts as high performance anodes for sodium ion batteries

High-performance materials are the key to developing new alternative energy-storage systems[1-4].Sodium ion batteries(SIBs)are regarded as the promising large-scale electric energy storage owing to the high abundance and low cost of sodium resources[1,5-9].However,the sluggish kinetics of Na⁺caused by the large-sized Na⁺(1.02A)result in the lower energy density and unsatisfactory electrochemical properties[10-14].