New force replica exchange method and protein folding pathways probed by force-clamp technique

We have developed a new extended replica exchange method to study thermodynamics of a system in the presence of external force. Our idea is based on the exchange between different force replicas to accelerate the equilibrium process. This new approach was applied to obtain the force-temperature phase diagram and other thermodynamical quantities of the three-domain ubiquitin. Using the C(alpha)-Go model and the Langevin dynamics, we have shown that the refolding pathways of single ubiquitin depend on which terminus is fixed. If the N end is fixed then the folding pathways are different compared to the case when both termini are free, but fixing the C terminal does not change them. Surprisingly, we have found that the anchoring terminal does not affect the pathways of individual secondary structures of three-domain ubiquitin, indicating the important role of the multidomain construction. Therefore, force-clamp experiments, in which one end of a protein is kept fixed, can probe the refolding pathways of a single free-end ubiquitin if one uses either the polyubiquitin or a single domain with the C terminus anchored. However, it is shown that anchoring one end does not affect refolding pathways of the titin domain I27, and the force-clamp spectroscopy is always capable to predict folding sequencing of this protein. We have obtained the reasonable estimate for unfolding barrier of ubiquitin, using the microscopic theory for the dependence of unfolding time on the external force. The linkage between residue Lys48 and the C terminal of ubiquitin is found to have the dramatic effect on the location of the transition state along the end-to-end distance reaction coordinate, but the multidomain construction leaves the transition state almost unchanged. We have found that the maximum force in the force-extension profile from constant velocity force pulling simulations depends on temperature nonlinearly. However, for some narrow temperature interval this dependence becomes linear, as have been observed in recent experiments.     

葡萄糖在Ti/NanoTiO2-ZrO2修饰电极上电催化氧化

在无水乙醇和乙酰丙酮混合溶液中,电解Ti金属制得前驱体Ti(OCH2CH3)4-y(acac)y,再加入ZrCl4,将上述溶液直接水解、干燥后,在450℃煅烧2 h,粉体通过X射线衍射(XRD)分析表明:纳米TiO2-ZrO2粉体呈单分散结构。扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试表明,颗粒平均尺寸为30~40 nm。通过溶胶-凝胶法制得高活性的Ti/NanoTiO2-ZrO2修饰电极,采用循环伏安研究发现,Ti/NanoTiO2-ZrO2电极对葡萄糖氧化具有高催化活性。在NaBr电解液中,Br-在Ti/NanoTiO2-ZrO2电极表面氧化为Br2,Br2间接电氧化葡萄糖。     

Comparative Study of CuO Species on CuO/Al2O3, CuO/CeO-Al2O3 andCuO/La2O-Al2O3 Catalysts for CO Oxidation

CuO/Al2O3, CuO/CeO2-Al2O3, and CuO/La2O3-Al2O3 (denoted as Cu/Al, Cu/CeAl, and Cu/LaAl) catalysts were prepared by an impregnation method. CuO species and CuO/Al2O3 thermal solid-solid interaction were characterized by in situ XRD, Raman spectroscopy and H2-TPR techniques. For the Cu/Al catalyst, a CuAl2O4 phase exists between the CuO and Al2O3 layer and the CuO phase exists on the surface in both highly dispersed and bulk forms. For the Cu/CeAl catalyst, there is highly dispersed and bulk CuO on the surface, but most of the CuO has transferred into the internal layer of CeO2 as bulk CuO and CuAl2O4. For the Cu/LaAl catalyst, only bulk CuO is present on the surface of the catalyst and no CuAl2O4 is formed. The catalytic activity order for CO oxidation is Cu/CeAl>Cu/Al>Cu/LaAl. The highly dispersed CuO on the catalyst surface may be the active phase for CO oxidation. The results show that the addition of CeO2 not only promotes both the transference of CuO and the formation of CuAl2O4 but also favors the CO oxidation due to the association of highly dispersed CuO with CeO2, while La2O3 hinders the transference of CuO and the formation of CuAl2O4.     

红外光学材料折射率均匀性的测量不确定度评定

基于多样品多型号仪器的测试信息及其GUM和MCM方法,讨论了四步干涉法测量红外光学材料折射率均匀性的测量范围及其测量不确定度评定。红外干涉测量的绝对灵敏度和准确度虽不及可见激光干涉仪,但采用了四步干涉测量的方法,消除了干涉仪的固有系统误差,有利于实现对红外光学材料折射率均匀性的高准确度测量。实际测试表明,该测量范围覆盖110-5～510-3,测量相对标准不确定度为210-1～210-2。     

Preparation and characterization of (PVP + NaClO4) electrolytes for battery applications

A sodium ion-conducting polymer electrolyte based on polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) complexed with NaClO₄ was prepared using the solution-cast technique. The cathode film of V₂O₅ xerogel modified with polyvinyl pyrrolidone was prepared using the sol-gel method. Investigations were conducted using X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transformation infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The ionic conductivity and transference number measurements were performed to characterize the polymer electrolyte for battery applications. The transference number data indicated that the conducting species in these electrolytes are the anions. Using the electrolyte, electrochemical cells with a configuration Na/(PVP + NaClO₄)/V₂O₅ modified by (PVP) were fabricated and their discharge profiles studied.     

激光器机理及激光功率表达式的实验验证

运用光反馈的原理和技术演示并验证激光功率表达式，说明激光介质和光学谐振腔的性质和作用。     

β-NMR in II–VI semiconductors

β-active probe nuclei are implanted in nominally undoped ZnSe crystals. β-radiation detected nuclear magnetic resonance (β-NMR) studies are described for two different probe nuclei, ⁸Li and ¹²B. This way, the implantation behavior of two “opposite”dopants, one acceptor (Li) and one donor (B) can be characterized by the same microscopic technique. Such characterizations are attempted in terms of the structure of intermediate or final lattice sites, defect charge states, or the kinetics of defect reactions and site changes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.