Dynamic Control of Microbial Movement by Photoswitchable ATP Antagonists

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the energy source for various biochemical processes and biomolecular motors in living things. Development of ATP antagonists and their stimuli-controlled actions offer a novel approach to regulate biological processes. Herein, we developed azobenzene-based photoswitchable ATP antagonists for controlling the activity of motor proteins; cytoplasmic and axonemal dyneins. The new ATP antagonists showed reversible photoswitching of cytoplasmic dynein activity in an in vitro dynein-microtubule system due to the trans and cis photoisomerization of their azobenzene segment. Importantly, our ATP antagonists reversibly regulated the axonemal dynein motor activity for the force generation in a demembranated model of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. We found that the trans and cis isomers of ATP antagonists significantly differ in their affinity to the ATP binding site.     

Small and moderate Vadasz number chaotic convection in porous media in the presence of non-Boussinesq effects and feedback control

Feedback control on thermal convection in a fluid-saturated porous medium is investigated based on the approach of dynamical systems. A low dimensional Lorenz-like model was obtained using the Galerkin truncated approximation. The possible suppression or enhancement of chaotic convection is demonstrated.     

Synthesis, Crystal Structure and ab initio Studies of Cyclohexyl N-Phenylcarbamate

Abstract  

Cyclohexyl N-phenylcarbamate, C₁₃H₁₇NO₂ (I), which is a useful target for biotransformations by fungi, has been synthesized and the structure has been solved by X-ray diffraction. The crystals are triclinic, space group P [`1] \bar{1} , with a = 5.2581 (2) ?, b = 9.5080 (3) ?, c = 12.6165 (4) ?, α = 70.544 (2)°, β = 89.075 (2)°, γ = 80.447 (2)°, M _r = 219.28, V = 585.96 (3) ?³, Z = 2 and R = 0.065. In the title compound the phenyl ring makes a dihedral angle of 30.68(7)° with the carbamate group The molecules are linked into infinite chains via N–H···O hydrogen bonds along the a axis. These hydrogen-bonded chains are further linked by weaker C–H···π interactions. Quantum-mechanical ab initio calculations for the free molecule reproduce well the observed bond lengths and valency angles but show that the crystal packing might be responsible for the rotation of the phenyl ring out of the carbamate plane in the solid state conformation.     

MHD flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film on an unsteady stretching sheet by the homotopy analysis method

The magnetohydrodynamics flow and heat transfer in a thin liquid film over an unsteady elastic stretching surface are analyzed by the homotopy analysis method. A more general surface temperature is taken into consideration. The effects of various parameters in this study are discussed and presented graphically. The good agreement between the analytic series solutions and the previous numerical results shows the effectiveness of HAM to this problem. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Facile One‐Pot Synthesis of 3,5‐Disubstituted Isoxazole Derivatives Using Hydroxy (Tosyloxy) Iodobenzene

Hydroxy (tosyloxy) iodobenzene (HTIB), a hypervalent iodine reagent, has been extensively used for oxidative transformations. We have developed a one‐pot synthesis wherein aldoximes when reacted with alkynes in the presence of HTIB result in the direct formation of isoxazoles. This simple and straightforward reaction allows for ease of purification while leading to the formation of high purity 3,5‐disubstituted isoxazoles in moderate yields.     

Liquid chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometric method for determination of E121 in mouse plasma and its application to pharmacokinetics

A rapid LC‐MS/MS method for quantification of an enaminone analog, E121 in mouse plasma using E118 as an internal standard (IS) has been developed and validated. The analyte was analyzed on C₁₈ column using a mobile phase of acetonitrile/methanol/ammonium acetate/formic acid (60:20:20:0.025, v/v/v/v) at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. Quantitation was achieved using ESI+ interface, employing MRM mode at m/z 308>262 and 222>194 for E121 and IS, respectively. The calibration standards were linear over a range of 0.10–20 μg/mL (r²>0.99) with an LLOQ of 0.1 μg/mL (RSD%; 11.4% and bias%; 9.5%). Intra‐ and inter‐run precision of E121 assay ranged from 3.7 to 10.9% with accuracy (bias) that varied between ?10.0 and 12.0%, demonstrating good precision and accuracy. Recoveries of E121 and the IS from plasma were above 80%. Stability of E121 in plasma showed that the analyte was stable under various conditions. The matrix effect study showed a lack of effect. The applicability of the developed method was demonstrated by measuring E121 in mouse plasma samples following intraperitoneal administration of various doses ranging from 10 to 100 mg/kg and this study demonstrates that E121 exhibits linear kinetics in the dose range studied.     

Design,fabrication and characterization of a Schottky diode on an AlGaAs/GaAs HEMT structure for on-chip RF power detection

A Schottky diode was designed and fabricated on an n-AlGaAs/GaAs high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) structure for RF power detection. The processing steps used in the fabrication were the conventional steps used in standard GaAs processing. Current–voltage measurements showed that the devices had rectifying properties with a barrier height of 0.5289–0.5468 eV. The fabricated Schottky diodes detected RF signals well and their cut-off frequencies up to 20 GHz were estimated in direct injection experiments. To achieve a high cut-off frequency, a smaller Schottky contact area is required. The feasibility of direct integration with the planar dipole antenna via a coplanar waveguide transmission line without insertion of matching circuits was discussed. A higher cut-off frequency can also be achieved by reducing the length of the coplanar waveguide transmission line. These preliminary results represent a breakthrough as regards direct on-chip integration technology, towards the realization of a ubiquitous network society.     

Approximate solutions of fractional Zakharov–Kuznetsov equations by VIM

This paper presents the approximate analytical solution of a fractional Zakharov–Kuznetsov equation with the help of the powerful variational iteration method. The fractional derivatives are described in the Caputo sense. Several examples are given and the results are compared to exact solutions. The results show that the variational iteration method is very effective, convenient and simple to use.     

Approximate analytical solution for MHD stagnation-point flow in porous media

In this paper, the steady two-dimensional laminar forced MHD Hiemenz flow against a flat plate with variable wall temperature in a porous medium which was solved numerically using the implicit finite-difference of Keller-box method [Yih KA. The effect of uniform suction/blowing on heat transfer of magnetohydrodynamic Hiemenz flow through porous media. Acta Mech 1998;130:147–58] is revisited. A simple analytic approach of the Adomian decomposition method (ADM) is employed to obtain an approximate analytical solution of the problem. The skin friction coefficient and the rate of heat transfer given by the ADM are in good agreement with the numerical solutions of the Keller-box method.