Entropy and Entropic Forces to Model Biological Fluids

Living cells are complex systems characterized by fluids crowded by hundreds of different elements, including, in particular, a high density of polymers. They are an excellent and challenging laboratory to study exotic emerging physical phenomena, where entropic forces emerge from the organization processes of many-body interactions. The competition between microscopic and entropic forces may generate complex behaviors, such as phase transitions, which living cells may use to accomplish their functions. In the era of big data, where biological information abounds, but general principles and precise understanding of the microscopic interactions is scarce, entropy methods may offer significant information. In this work, we developed a model where a complex thermodynamic equilibrium resulted from the competition between an effective electrostatic short-range interaction and the entropic forces emerging in a fluid crowded by different sized polymers. The target audience for this article are interdisciplinary researchers in complex systems, particularly in thermodynamics and biophysics modeling.     

Metric characterizations of proper interval graphs and tree-clique graphs

A connected graph G is a tree-clique graph if there exists a spanning tree T (a compatible tree) such that every clique of G is a subtree of T. When T is a path the connected graph G is a proper interval graph which is usually defined as intersection graph of a family of closed intervals of the real line such that no interval contains another. We present here metric characterizations of proper interval graphs and extend them to tree-clique graphs. This is done by demonstrating “local” properties of tree-clique graphs with respect to the subgraphs induced by paths of a compatible tree. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Fragmentation characteristic of glutathione conjugates activated by high-energy collisions

Product ion spectra of fifteen monoglutathione and diglutathione conjugates have been measured using activation by 6000-eV collisions with helium in the third field-free region of a four-sector tandem mass spectrometer of EBEB configuration. Fragmentation patterns in the cation spectra have been analyzed for decompositions of the glutathione moiety that would permit recognition of an unknown as a glutathione conjugate. Five spectra from an earlier study of high-energy collisional activation on a BEEB four-sector instrument have also been included in this analysis. A suite of appropriate ions was found to occur consistently, including ions of m/z 307 comprising the glutathione tripeptide and the complementary ion [MH — 307]⁺ or the ion radical [MH — 306]^+’.     

N-Glycomics of Cerebrospinal Fluid: Method Comparison

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains valuable biological and neurological information. However, its glycomics analysis is hampered due to the low amount of protein in the biofluid, as has been demonstrated by other glycomics studies using a substantial amount of CSF. In this work, we investigated different N-glycan sample preparation approaches to develop a more sensitive method. These methods, one with an increased amount of buffer solution during the N-glycan release step with a lower amount of sample volume and the other with Filter-Aided N-Glycan Separation (FANGS), were compared with recent work to demonstrate their effectiveness. It was demonstrated that an increased amount of buffer solution showed higher intensity in comparison to the previously published method and FANGS. This suggested that digestion efficiency during the N-glycan release step was not in an optimal condition from the previously published method, and that there is a substantial loss of sample with FANGS when preparing N-glycans from CSF.     

Polymorphism in 2‐(4‐hydroxy‐2,6‐dimethylanilino)‐5,6‐dihydro‐4H‐1,3‐thiazin‐3‐ium chloride

Details of the structures of two conformational polymorphs of the title compound, C₁₂H₁₇N₂OS⁺·Cl⁻, are reported. In form (I) (space group P), the two N—H groups of the cation are in a trans conformation, while in form (II) (space group P2₁/c), they are in a cis arrangement. This results in different packing and hydrogen‐bond arrangements in the two forms, both of which have extended chains lying along the a direction. In form (I), these chains are composed of centrosymmetric R₄²(18) (N—H...Cl and O—H...Cl) hydrogen‐bonded rings and R₂²(18) (N—H...O) hydrogen‐bonded rings. In form (II), the chains are formed by centrosymmetric R₄²(18) (N—H...Cl and O—H...Cl) hydrogen‐bonded rings and by R₄²(12) (N—H...Cl) hydrogen‐bonded rings.     

Yafet-Kittel-type magnetic ordering in Ni0.35Zn0.65Fe2O4 ferrite detected by magnetosensitive microwave absorption measurements

Magnetosensitive microwave absorption measurements of polycrystalline ferrite Ni_0.35Zn_0.65Fe₂O₄ was carried out at 9.4 GHz (X-band) as a function of temperature. Temperature dependence of the total linewidth (ΔH_pp) deduced from the resonance spectra showed the passage through the Curie point (T_c~430 K). Additionally, the plot ΔH_pp vs. T also indicated the existence of another magnetic phase transition at ~240 K, which can be associated with a Yafet-Kittel-type canting of the magnetic moments. Low-field microwave absorption (LFMA) and the magnetically modulated microwave absorption spectroscopy (MAMMAS) were used to give a further knowledge on this material. For low temperature, these techniques give evidence of a Yafet-Kittel-type canting of the magnetic moments.     

Effect of the Incorporation of Proteins on the Performance of Carbon Paste Electrodes Modified with Electrogenerated Magnetite Nanoparticles towards the Reduction of Hydrogen Peroxide

This work reports the effect of the incorporation of different proteins within carbon paste electrodes (CPE) modified with electrochemically synthesized magnetite nanoparticles (20 nm) on the electrochemical response towards hydrogen peroxide. Scanning electron microscopy images reveal that the proteins produce a more efficient dispersion of the nanoparticles within the composite. When CPE is modified with 5.0 % w/w magnetite and 5.0 % w/w albumin the sensitivity for hydrogen peroxide at ?0.100 V is enhanced 40 times and the charge transfer resistance significantly decreases. The increase in sensitivity and the decrease in R_ct was dependent on the nature of the protein.     

Structure-mediated transition in the behavior of elastic and inelastic properties of beach tree bio-carbon

Microstructural characteristics and amplitude dependences of the Young modulus E and of internal friction (logarithmic decrement δ) of bio-carbon matrices prepared from beech tree wood at different carbonization temperatures T _carb ranging from 600 to 1600°C have been studied. The dependences E(T _carb) and δ(T _carb) thus obtained revealed two linear regions of increase of the Young modulus and of decrease of the decrement with increasing carbonization temperature, namely, ΔE ～ AΔT _carb and Δδ ～ BΔT _carb, with A ≈ 13.4 MPa/K and B ≈ ?2.2 × 10^?6 K^?1 for T _carb < 1000°C and A ≈ 2.5 MPa/K and B ≈ ?3.0 × 10^?7 K^?1 for T _carb > 1000°C. The transition observed in the behavior of E(T _carb) and δ(T _carb) at T _carb = 900–1000°C can be assigned to a change of sample microstructure, more specifically, a change in the ratio of the fractions of the amorphous matrix and of the nanocrystalline phase. For T _carb < 1000°C, the elastic properties are governed primarily by the amorphous matrix, whereas for T _carb > 1000°C the nanocrystalline phase plays the dominant part. The structurally induced transition in the behavior of the elastic and microplastic characteristics at a temperature close to 1000°C correlates with the variation of the physical properties, such as electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and thermopower, reported in the literature.