Towards a complete catalog of human proteins

A comprehensive protein database is essential to our understanding of cell function. Two dimensional electrophoresis is the only method at present capable of providing the information necessary for the formation of such a database.     

Preparation and evaluation of poly(polyethylene glycol methyl ether acrylate-co-polyethylene glycol diacrylate) monolith for protein analysis

A poly(polyethylene glycol methyl ether acrylate-co-polyethylene glycol diacrylate) monolith was prepared by UV-initiated polymerization. Methanol and ethyl ether were selected as porogens from a variety of organic solvents to achieve the desirable characteristics of the monolith. The preparation of the monolith could be achieved within 10 min. The monolith was macroscopically homogeneous, had low flow resistance, and did not swell or shrink significantly in tetrahydrofuran. Inverse size-exclusion data indicate that the monolith had a total porosity of 75.4% and an internal porosity of 9.1%. The monolith could be used for size-exclusion separation of peptides, although it could not separate proteins with molecular masses between 10 and 100 K due to its unique pore size distribution. It was found to resist adsorption of proteins in capillary liquid chromatography when using 100 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) containing 0.5 M NaCl. Complete recovery of both acidic and basic proteins was achieved. The monolith can be used for applications in which inert materials are required for protein analysis.     

Selecting topology and connectivity through metal-directed macrocyclization reactions: a square planar palladium [2]catenate and two noninterlocked isomers

We report the synthesis of a [2]catenate using a square planar palladium(II) template, together with two isomers of the interlocked structure: a single tetradentate macrocycle that adopts a "figure of eight" conformation to encapsulate the metal and a complex in which the two macrocycles of the catenane are not interlocked. The three isomers can each be selectively formed depending on how the building blocks are assembled and cyclized. Olefin metathesis of both building blocks while they are attached to the metal gives the single large macrocycle in 77% yield. Cyclizing the monodentate unit prior to attaching both ligands to the metal gives the [2]catenate in 78% yield. Preforming the tridentate macrocycle produces a complex in two atropisomeric forms-threaded and nonthreaded-in a 2:3 ratio, which do not interconvert in dichloromethane at room temperature over 7 days. RCM of the nonthreaded atropisomer affords the complex with two noninterlocked macrocyclic ligands; RCM of the threaded atropisomer generates the topologically isomeric [2]catenate. Heating the acyclic atropisomers in acetonitrile provides a mechanism for their interconversion via ligand exchange, allowing the threaded:nonthreaded ratio to be varied from 2:3 to 8:1. All three fully ring-closed complexes were characterized unambiguously by 1H NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. As far as we are aware, this is the first time such a set of three formal topological and constitutional isomers has been described.     

Toward cocaine esterase therapeutics

Cocaine is among the most reinforcing of all drugs of abuse, yet no effective pharmacotherapy is available. Herein, we report the development and characterization of phage-displayed cocaine esterases with pharmacologically relevant kinetic parameters (kcat/Km approximately 104 M-1 s-1).     

Liquid hydrogen in protonic chabazite

Due to its fully reversible nature, H(2) storage by molecular adsorption could represent an advantage with respect to dissociative processes, where kinetic effects during the charging and discharging processes are present. A drawback of this strategy is represented by the extremely weak interactions that require low temperature and high pressure. High surface area materials hosting polarizing sites can represent a viable way toward more favorable working conditions. Of these, in this contribution, we have studied hydrogen adsorption in a series of zeolites using volumetric techniques and infrared spectroscopy at 15 K. We have found that in H-SSZ-13 zeolite the cooperative role played by high surface area, internal wall topology, and presence of high binding energy sites (protons) allows hydrogen to densify inside the nanopores at favorable temperature and pressure conditions.     

New measurements of the masses of 15B and 19N

The neutron-rich nuclei ¹⁵B and ¹⁹N have been produced in reactions between ¹⁸O and ⁴⁸Ca. Mass excesses of 28.968 ± 0.025 MeV and 15.872 ± 0.020 MeV respectively were deduced from the reaction Q-values. These results are compared with previous measurements and theoretical predictions. Updated predictions using two different mass formulae are presented.     

A Model for Predicting the Performance of a Job Shop

This paper is concerned with presenting a method of modelling a job shop based on queueing theory. The model is very flexible and may be used to explore the relationships between the resources available in the shop (numbers and characteristics of machines, manpower levels and skills), the workload in the shop, the mode of operation of the shop (labour allocation and priority schemes) and the resulting level of congestion within the shop.A range of results is presented, based on the application of the model to a real environment, where good agreement with the observed performance was obtained.