Myoglobin-CO substate structures and dynamics: multidimensional vibrational echoes and molecular dynamics simulations

Spectrally resolved infrared stimulated vibrational echo data were obtained for sperm whale carbonmonoxymyoglobin (MbCO) at 300 K. The measured dephasing dynamics of the CO ligand are in agreement with dephasing dynamics calculated with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for MbCO with the residue histidine-64 (His64) having its imidazole epsilon nitrogen protonated (N(epsilon)-H). The two conformational substate structures B(epsilon) and R(epsilon) observed in the MD simulations are assigned to the spectroscopic A(1) and A(3) conformational substates of MbCO, respectively, based on the agreement between the experimentally measured and calculated dephasing dynamics for these substates. In the A(1) substate, the N(epsilon)-H proton and N(delta) of His64 are approximately equidistant from the CO ligand, while in the A(3) substate, the N(epsilon)-H of His64 is oriented toward the CO, and the N(delta) is on the surface of the protein. The MD simulations show that dynamics of His64 represent the major source of vibrational dephasing of the CO ligand in the A(3) state on both femtosecond and picosecond time scales. Dephasing in the A(1) state is controlled by His64 on femtosecond time scales, and by the rest of the protein and the water solvent on longer time scales.     

Using ultrafast infrared multidimensional correlation spectroscopy to aid in vibrational spectral peak assignments

Ultrafast infrared heterodyne detected vibrational stimulated echoes with full phase information are used to obtain the vibrational correlation spectrum from a mixture of metal-carbonyl compounds. The linear absorption spectrum displays four peaks in the carbonyl stretching region. In the absence of knowledge of the molecules that make up the mixture, the absorption spectrum could arise from four molecules that each produces a single peak to one molecule with four peaks. In contrast, the correlation spectrum displays four peaks on the diagonal and off-diagonal peaks that make it straightforward to determine which peaks belong to a particular molecule.     

Thermal diffusivity measurements of natural and isotopically enriched diamond by picosecond infrared transient grating experiments

The photopyroelectric (PPE) technique is used to measure the specific heat of YBa₂Cu₃O_7–X thin films. Hysteresis in the PPE amplitude is observed in the temperature range 90 K to 250 K. Peaks in the inverse PPE amplitude at T=110 K in the cooling path and at T230 K in the heating path are observed. The magnitude of hysteresis depends upon the thermal history of the sample.     

Orientational dynamics of water confined on a nanometer length scale in reverse micelles

The time-resolved orientational anisotropies of the OD hydroxyl stretch of dilute HOD in H(2)O confined on a nanometer length scale in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelles are studied using ultrafast infrared polarization and spectrally resolved pump-probe spectroscopy, and the results are compared to the same experiments on bulk water. The orientational anisotropy data for three water nanopool sizes (4.0, 2.4, and 1.7 nm) can be fitted well with biexponential decays. The biexponential decays are analyzed using a wobbling-in-a-cone model that involves fast orientational diffusion within a cone followed by slower, full orientational relaxation. The data provide the cone angles, the diffusion constants for motion within the cones, and the final diffusion constants as a function of the nanopool size. The two processes can be interpreted as a local angular fluctuation of the OD and a global hydrogen bond network rearrangement process. The trend in the relative amplitudes of the long and short exponential decays suggest an increasing rigidity as the nanopool size decreases. The trend in the long decay constants indicates a longer hydrogen bond network rearrangement time with decreasing reverse micelle size. The anisotropy measurements for the reverse micelles studied extrapolate to approximately 0.33 rather than the ideal value of 0.4, suggesting the presence of an initial inertial component in the anisotropy decay that is too fast to resolve. The very fast decay component is consistent with initial inertial orientational motion that is seen in published molecular-dynamics simulations of water in AOT reverse micelles. The angle over which the inertial orientational motion occurs is determined. The results are in semiquantitative agreement with the molecular-dynamics simulations.     

Twist-Bend Nematic Glasses: The Synthesis and Characterisation of Pyrene-based Nonsymmetric Dimers

A selection of pyrene-based liquid crystal dimers have been prepared, containing either methylene-ether or diether linked spacers of varying length and parity. All the diether linked materials, CBOnO.Py (n=5, 6, 11, 12), exhibit conventional nematic and smectic A phases, with the exception of CBO11O.Py which is exclusively nematic. The methylene-ether linked dimer, CBnO.Py, with an even-membered spacer (n=5) was solely nematogenic, but odd-members (n=6, 8, 10) exhibited both nematic and twist-bend nematic phases. Replacement of the cyanobiphenyl fragment by cyanoterphenyl giving CT6O.Py, gave elevated melting and nematic-isotropic transition temperatures, and SmA and SmC_A phases were observed on cooling the nematic phase. Intermolecular face-to-face associations of the pyrene moieties drive glass formation, and all these materials have a glass transition temperature at or above room temperature. The stability of the glassy twist-bend nematic phase allowed for its study using AFM, and the helical pitch length, P_TB, was measured as 6.3 and 6.7 nm for CB6O.Py and CB8O.Py, respectively. These values are comparable to the shortest pitch of a twist-bend nematic phase measured to date.     

A Pilot Survey of Vocal Health in Young Singers

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of vocal problems in young choir singers and to correlate vocal problems with demographic and behavioral information. A questionnaire addressing vocal habits and hygiene was offered to 571 young choir singers, up to 25 years of age, who sing at least weekly; 129 (22.6%) responded. More than one-half of the respondents had experienced vocal difficulty, particularly older adolescents. Detrimental behaviors and circumstances surveyed were not reflective of the incidence of vocal difficulty, except for morning hoarseness, chronic fatigue, insomnia, and female gender after puberty. Voice care professionals should be aware that self-reported voice difficulties are common among young choral singers, especially postpubescent girls, and children with symptoms consistent with reflux (morning hoarseness) and emotional stress (insomnia). Laryngologists should communicate with choral conductors and singing teachers to enhance early identification and treatment of children with voice complaints, and to develop choral educational strategies that help decrease their incidence.     

Validity and Reliability of the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI)

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is present in up to 50% of patients with voice disorders. Currently, there is no validated instrument that documents symptom severity in LPR. We developed the reflux symptom index (RSI), a self-administered nine-item outcomes instrument for LPR. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the RSI. For validity assessment, 25 patients with LPR were evaluated prospectively before and six months after b.i.d. treatment with proton pump inhibitors (PPI). Each patient completed the RSI as well as the 30-item voice handicap index (VHI). For reliability assessment, the study patients were given the RSI on two separate occasions before the initiation of treatment. Normative RSI data were derived from 25 age-matched and gender-matched controls taken from an existing database of asymptomatic individuals without any evidence of LPR. The mean RSI (+/- standard deviation) of patients with LPR improved from 21.2 (+/- 10.7) to 12.8 (+/- 10.0), and the mean VHI improved from 52.2 (+/- 24.7) to 41.5 (+/- 25.0) after 6 months of therapy (p = 0.001 and 0.065, respectively). Of the three VHI subscales (emotional, physical, functional), only the functional subscale improved significantly (p = 0.037). Patients who experienced a five point or better improvement in RSI were 11 times more likely to experience a five-point improvement in VHI (95% confidence interval = 1.7, 76.8). For reliability assessment, the first and second pretreatment RSIs were 19.9 (+/- 11.1) and 20.9 (+/- 9.6), respectively (correlation coefficient = 0.81, p < 0.001). The single-item correlation coefficients ranged from 0.41 to 0.91 (p < 0.05 for all items). The mean pretreatment RSI in patients with LPR was significantly higher than controls (21.2 versus 11.6; p < 0.001). The mean RSI of patients with LPR after 6 months of PPI therapy approached that of asymptomatic controls (p > 0.05). The RSI is easily administered, highly reproducible, and exhibits excellent construct and criterion-based validity.