Sizing large proteins and protein complexes by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and ion mobility

Mass spectrometry (MS) and ion mobility with electrospray ionization (ESI) have the capability to measure and detect large noncovalent protein-ligand and protein-protein complexes. Using an ion mobility method of gas-phase electrophoretic mobility molecular analysis (GEMMA), protein particles representing a range of sizes can be separated by their electrophoretic mobility in air. Highly charged particles produced from a protein complex solution using electrospray can be manipulated to produce singly charged ions, which can be separated and quantified by their electrophoretic mobility. Results from ESI-GEMMA analysis from our laboratory and others were compared with other experimental and theoretically determined parameters, such as molecular mass and cryoelectron microscopy and X-ray crystal structure dimensions. There is a strong correlation between the electrophoretic mobility diameter determined from GEMMA analysis and the molecular mass for protein complexes up to 12 MDa, including the 93 kDa enolase dimer, the 480 kDa ferritin 24-mer complex, the 4.6 MDa cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), and the 9 MDa MVP-vault assembly. ESI-GEMMA is used to differentiate a number of similarly sized vault complexes that are composed of different N-terminal protein tags on the MVP subunit. The average effective density of the proteins and protein complexes studied was 0.6 g/cm(3). Moreover, there is evidence that proteins and protein complexes collapse or become more compact in the gas phase in the absence of water.     

2′‐De­oxy‐5‐propynyl­cytidine: a nucleoside forming two solid‐state conformations

The title compound, 4‐amino‐1‐(2‐deoxy‐β‐d ‐erythropentofuranosyl)‐5‐(prop‐1‐ynyl)pyrimidin‐2(1H)‐one, C₁₂H₁₅N₃O₄, shows two conformations in the crystalline state which differ mainly in the glycosylic bond torsion angle and the sugar pucker. Both mol­ecules exhibit an anti glycosylic bond conformation, with torsion angles χ = −135.0 (2) and −156.4 (2)° for mol­ecules 1 and 2, respectively. The sugar moieties show a twisted C2′‐endo sugar pucker (S‐type), with P = 173.3 and 192.5° for mol­ecules 1 and 2, respectively. The crystal structure is characterized by a three‐dimensional network that is stabilized by several inter­molecular hydrogen bonds between the two conformers.     

Aggregation of iron colloids in estuaries: a heterogeneous kinetics study using continuous mixing of river and sea waters

The kinetics of iron colloid aggregation in estuaries have been simulated with a model estuary in which seawater is continuously pumped into a reservoir initially containing river water. Profiles of colloidal Fe concentration versus salinity produced in this apparatus closely resembled field data for actual estuaries. Synthetic Fe colloids prepared by peptising Fe(OH)₃ with humic acid and phosphate showed very similar kinetic behaviour. Aggregation rate was found to be almost independent of velocity shear rate, implying that most aggregations are induced by brownian interparticle collisions. A heterogeneous kinetic model is proposed to explain the kinetic behaviour of Fe colloids during seawater-induced aggregation. This model describes kinetic behaviour in terms of a log-normal distribution of rate constants characterised by a mean value k and a standard deviation γ. Experiments showed that k is linearly related to the rate constant for salinity increase during mixing. This coupling of salinity changes and aggregation rate leads to Fe-salinity profiles that are nearly independent of the rate of salinity change, but which are dependent on γ.     

Preservice Elementary Teachers' Mathematics Content Knowledge and Teacher Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and teacher efficacy during an elementary mathematics methods course. A positive moderate relationship between content knowledge and personal teaching efficacy was found, and this relationship was stable during the course. No relationship was found between content knowledge and outcome expectancy. Written artifacts were used to understand and elaborate on these findings. Those data suggest that prior learning experiences may help explain this relationship. Additionally, they suggest that preservice teachers with different levels of content knowledge may attend to different sources of information when making efficacy judgments about teaching.     

Pompeiu sets in compact Heisenberg manifolds

A necessary and sufficient condition is presented for a set to be a Pompeiu subset of any compact homogeneous space with a finite invariant measure. The condition, which is expressed in terms of the intertwining operators of each primary summand of the quasi-regular representation, is then interpreted in the case of the compact Heisenberg manifolds. Examples are presented demonstrating that the condition to be Pompeiu in these manifolds is quite different from the corresponding condition for a torus of the same dimension. This provides a contrast with the existing comparison between the Heisenberg group itself and Euclidean space in terms of Pompeiu sets. In addition, the closed linear span of all translates of any square integrable function on any compact homogeneous space is determined.     

Structural transformation of MoO<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanobelts into MoS<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanotubes

The structural transformation of MoO₃ nanobelts into MoS₂ nanotubes using a simple sulfur source has been reported. This transformation has been extensively investigated using electron microscopic and spectroscopic techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), electron diffraction (ED), and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDAX and TEM-EDX). The method described in this report will serve as a generic route for the transformation of other oxide nanostructures into the chalcogenide nanostructures.     

Subgraphs of hypercubes and subdiagrams of boolean lattices

In this paper we extensively treat the following problems: When is a given graph a subgraph (resp. induced subgraph) of a hypercube and when is an ordered set a subdiagram (resp. induced subdiagram) of a Boolean lattice? We present characterizations for that in terms of suitable edge-colorings of the graphs and, for ordered sets, of their covering graphs.     

Quantum information and triangular optical lattices

The regular structures obtained by optical lattice technology and their behavior are analyzed from the quantum information perspective. Initially, we demonstrate that a triangular optical lattice of two atomic species, bosonic or fermionic, can be employed to generate a variety of novel spin-1/2 models that include effective three-spin interactions. Such interactions can be employed to simulate specific one-or two-dimensional physical systems that are of particular interest for their condensed matter and entanglement properties. In particular, connections between the scaling behavior of entanglement and the entanglement properties of closely spaced spins are drawn. Moreover, three-spin interactions are well suited to support quantum computing without the need to manipulate individual qubits. By employing Raman transitions or the interaction of the atomic electric dipole moment with magnetic field gradients, one can generate Hamiltonians that can be used for the physical implementation of geometric or topological objects. This work serves as a review article that also includes many new results.     

An extended Heath–Jarrow–Morton risk-neutral drift

Using a finite dimensional Hilbert space framework, this work proposes a new derivation of the HJM [D. Heath, R. Jarrow, A. Morton, Bond pricing and the term structure of interest rates: A new methodology for contingent claims valuation, Econometrica 60 (1992) 77–105] risk-neutral drift that takes into account nonzero instantaneous correlations between factors. The results obtained generalize the original HJM risk-neutral drift and provide an approach by which interest rate derivatives can be priced using functions of directly observable factors.