Propellant-efficient station-keeping using a hybrid sail in the Earth–Moon system

Nonlinear Dynamics - The problem of propellant-efficient station-keeping using a hybrid sail in the Earth–Moon system is investigated in this paper. To achieve high-precision station-keeping...     

Visualizing electronic interactions between iron and carbon by X-ray chemical imaging and spectroscopy

The electronic interaction of a catalyst and its support is of vital importance to its catalytic performance. However, it is still a great challenge to directly probe the interaction due to the lack of well-defined models and efficient technical means. In this study, we report that pod-like carbon nanotubes with encapsulated iron particles (Pod-Fe) and scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) can be used as an ideal model and technique to study the electronic interaction between carbon shells and iron particles. The chemical imaging and spectroscopy of Pod-Fe by STXM show that the local electronic structures at C K-edge near edge (π*) of carbon shells can be significantly modified by the encapsulated iron particles, which promotes the adsorption of oxygen-containing species, and thereby further modifies the electronic structure (π* and σ*) of the carbon shells. Moreover, computed X-ray absorption near edge structure spectra (XANES) confirmed the electronic modifications of carbon shells by the encapsulated iron particles. The present study provides a direct evidence of electronic interactions with simultaneously collected images and spectra, which can promote the understanding towards the nature of active sites and supports.     

Novel Terpyridine Conjugated Nitrogen Mustard Derivatives: Synthesis,Spectral Properties,and Anticancer Activity

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A series of 2,2′:6′,2′-terpyridine conjugated nitrogen mustard derivatives with structurally symmetrical character and rather small...     

Hierarchically Self‐Assembled Star‐Shaped ZnO Microparticles for Electrochemical Sensing of Amines

Novel, hierarchically nanostructured, star‐shaped ZnO (SSZ) microparticles are synthesized by a hydrothermal synthetic route. The SSZ microparticles serve as effective platforms for electrochemical detection of amines in solution. The morphology and structure of the materials are characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and UV/Vis spectroscopy. The as‐synthesized SSZ microparticles comprise self‐assembled hexagonal prisms that possess nanometer and micrometer pores in their structure and on their surfaces—structural features that are conducive to sensing applications. An electrode fabricated by using the hierarchically nanostructured SSZ materials serve as a sensitive electrochemical sensor for detection of low concentrations of ethylenediamine, with a sensitivity of 2.98×10^?2 mA cm^?2 mm ^?1, a detection limit of 2.36×10^?2 mm , and a short response time of 8 s.     

Hydrogen Storage Properties of Ca(BH4)2–LiNH2 System

Ca(BH₄)₂ is one of the promising candidates for hydrogen storage materials because of its high gravimetric and volumetric hydrogen capacity. However, its high dehydrogenation temperature and limited reversibility has been a hurdle for its practical applications. In an effort to overcome these barriers and to adjust the thermal stability, we make a composite system Ca(BH₄)₂–LiNH₂. Interaction of Ca(BH₄)₂ and LiNH₂ leads to decreased dehydrogenation temperatures and increased hydrogen desorption capacity in comparison to pristine Ca(BH₄)₂. More than 7 wt % of hydrogen can be detached at a temperature as low as approximately 178 °C from the cobalt‐catalyzed Ca(BH₄)₂–4 LiNH₂ system.     

HIV-1整合酶G140A/G149A及T661/S153Y突变后的构象变化

对HIV-1整合酶(IN)野生体(WT),G140A/G149A和T66I/S153Y突变体分别进行了5 ns的分子动力学(MD)模拟,并用成簇和动力学交叉相关图(DCCM)分析了突变前后的构象变化.整体结构分析表明,突变后IN的活性口袋尺寸变化不大,T66I/S153Y突变体分子的整体运动性提高,而G140A/G149A突变体的功能loop区柔性明显上升.IN WT的方均根涨落(RMSF)模拟值与B因子实验值的较高相关性证明了柔性分析的合理性.通过成簇分析发现,IN在突变后功能loop区构象有开合运动,构象开放的概率是:体系G140A/G149A＞T66I/S153Y＞WT.最后DCCM分析结果表明,功能性分区的弱化以及DDE基序残基运动相关性的降低均有可能是突变体G140A/G149A和T66I/S153Y产生抗药性的原因.模拟结果对理解IN突变体的抗药机理以及为基于HIV-1 IN的药物分子设计提供了理论帮助.     

Allosteric antagonist binding sites in class B GPCRs: corticotropin receptor 1

The 41 amino acid neuropeptide, corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and its associated receptors CRF₁-R and CRF₂-R have been targeted for treating stress related disorders. Both CRF₁-R and CRF₂-R belong to the class B G-protein coupled receptors for which little information is known regarding the small molecule antagonist binding characteristics. However, it has been shown recently that different non-peptide allosteric ligands stabilize different receptor conformations for CRF₁-R and hence an understanding of the ligand induced receptor conformational changes is important in the pharmacology of ligand binding. In this study, we modeled the receptor and identified the binding sites of representative small molecule allosteric antagonists for CRF₁-R. The predicted binding sites of the investigated compounds are located within the transmembrane (TM) domain encompassing TM helices 3, 5 and 6. The docked compounds show strong interactions with H228 on TM3 and M305 on TM5 that have also been implicated in the binding by site directed mutation studies. H228 forms a hydrogen bond of varied strengths with all the antagonists in this study and this is in agreement with the decreased binding affinity of several compounds with H228F mutation. Also mutating M305 to Ile showed a sharp decrease in the calculated binding energy whereas the binding energy loss on M305 to Leu was less significant. These results are in qualitative agreement with the decrease in binding affinities observed experimentally. We further predicted the conformational changes in CRF₁-R induced by the allosteric antagonist NBI-27914. Movement of TM helices 3 and 5 are dominant and generates three degenerate conformational states two of which are separated by an energy barrier from the third, when bound to NBI-27914. Binding of NBI-27914 was predicted to improve the interaction of the ligand with M305 and also enhanced the aromatic stacking between the ligand and F232 on TM3. A virtual ligand screening of ~13,000 compounds seeded with ~350 CRF₁-R specific active antagonists performed on the NBI-27914 stabilized conformation of CRF₁-R yielded a 44% increase in enrichment compared to the initially modeled receptor conformation at a 10% cutoff. The NBI-27914 stabilized conformation also shows a high enrichment for high affinity antagonists compared to the weaker ones. Thus, the conformational changes induced by NBI-27914 improved the ligand screening efficiency of the CRF₁-R model and demonstrate a generalized application of the method in drug discovery.     

5,11,17,23-Tetrakis[(p-carboxyphenyl)azo]-25,26,27,28-tetra-hydroxy Calix[4]arene: Crystal Structure and pH Sensing Properties

Treatment of 5,11,17,23‐tetrakis[(p‐carboxyphenyl)azo]‐25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxy calix[4]arene ( 2 ) with HCl in DMF or NaOH in MeOH produced 5,11,17,23‐tetrakis[(p‐carboxyphenyl)azo]‐25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxycalix[4]‐arene·4DMF (2·4DMF) and 5,11,17,23‐tetrakis[(p‐carboxyphenylsodium)azo]‐25,26,27,28‐tetrahydroxycalix[4]‐ arene ( 3 ), respectively, which were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV‐vis, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. An X‐ray analysis of 2·4DMF revealed that its calix[4]arene core adopts a flattened cone conformation in which opposed phenyl groups take parallel or sharply inclined positions. The intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen‐bonding interactions and the π···π interactions form a 2D hydrogen‐bonded wavelike network. Compound 2 had a unique reversible color change in a wide pH range from 1 to 13.5 and showed interesting pH sensing properties.