Improved excitation schemes for multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning for quadrupolar nuclei designed using optimal control theory

We have investigated the use of optimal control theory for the design of improved multiple-quantum excitation schemes for the popular multiple-quantum magic-angle spinning NMR experiment for quadrupolar nuclei with half-integer quadrupolar spin. The advantage of the new low-power experiments, termed OCFASTER, is demonstrated by sensitivity improvements approaching 50% for 87Rb in RbClO4 and RbNO3 as compared to FASTER and standard strong-pulse excitation schemes.     

Stabilisation of a nucleic acid three-way junction by an oligonucleotide containing a single 2'-C to 3'-O-phosphate butylene linkage prepared by a tandem RCM-hydrogenation method

A cyclic dinucleotide with a butylene linker between the upper 2'-C position and the 3'-O-phosphate linkage was synthesised from simple nucleoside building blocks via a tandem ring-closing metathesis and hydrogenation procedure. The major of two phosphorus epimers was incorporated into an oligodeoxynucleotide, as well as into an LNA-DNA mixmer oligonucleotide. These were evaluated as parts in three different secondary structures, a duplex, a bulged duplex and a three-way junction, with both DNA and RNA complements. In the DNA:RNA hybrid molecule, the oligodeoxynucleotide containing this single 2'-C to 3'-O-phosphate butylene linkage was found to stabilise a three-way junction.     

Computerized, comprehensive databases of cellular and secreted proteins from normal human embryonic lung MRC-5 fibroblasts: identification of transformation and/or proliferation sensitive proteins

Databases of protein information from human embryonal lung fibroblasts (MRC-5) have been established using computer analyzed two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. One thousand four hundred and eighty-two cellular proteins (1060 with isoelectric focusing and 422 with nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis, in the first dimension) ranging in molecular mass between 8 and 234 kDa were separated and numbered. Information entered in the database (in most cases for major proteins) includes: protein name, HeLa protein catalog number, mouse protein catalog number, proteins matched in transformed human epithelial amnion cells (AMA) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), transformation and/or proliferation sensitive proteins, synthesis in quiescent cells, cell cycle regulated proteins, mitochondrial and heat shock proteins, cytoskeletal proteins and proteins whose synthesis is affected by interferons. Additional information entered for a few transformation-sensitive proteins that have been selected for future studies includes levels of synthesis and amounts in fetal human tissues. A total of four hundred and seventy-six [35S]methionine labeled polypeptides (258 isoelectric focusing; 218, nonequilibrium pH gradient electrophoresis) secreted by MRC-5 fibroblasts were separated and recorded (J. E. Celis et al., Leukemia 1987, 1, 707-717). Information entered in this database includes molecular weight and transformation sensitive proteins. These databases, as well as those of epithelial and lymphoid cell proteins (J. E. Celis et al., Leukemia 1988, 9, 561-601), represent the initial stages of a systematic effort to establish comprehensive databases of human protein information. In the long run, these databases are expected to offer a useful framework in which to focus the human genome sequencing effort.     

Synthesis of Oxacyclic Scaffolds via Dual Ruthenium Hydride/Brønsted Acid‐Catalyzed Isomerization/Cyclization of Allylic Ethers

A ruthenium hydride/Brønsted acid‐catalyzed tandem sequence is reported for the synthesis of 1,3,4,9‐tetrahydropyrano[3,4‐b]indoles (THPIs) and related oxacyclic scaffolds. The process was designed on the premise that readily available allylic ethers would undergo sequential isomerization, first to enol ethers (Ru catalysis), then to oxocarbenium ions (Brønsted acid catalysis) amenable to endo cyclization with tethered nucleophiles. This methodology provides not only an attractive alternative to the traditional oxa‐Pictet–Spengler reaction for the synthesis of THPIs, but also convenient access to THPI congeners and other important oxacycles such as acetals.     

Origin of Stability in Branched Alkanes

The potential origins of stability in branched alkanes are investigated, paying close attention to two recent hypotheses: geminal steric repulsion and protobranching. All alkane isomers through C₆H₁₄ along with heptane and octane were investigated at the MPW1B95/6‐311++G(d,p) level. Their geminal steric repulsion, total steric repulsion, and orbital interactions were evaluated by using natural bond orbital analysis. All measures of steric repulsion fail to explain the stability of branched alkanes. The extra stability of branched alkanes and protobranching, in general, is tied to stabilizing geminal σ→σ* delocalization, particularly of the type that involves adjacent C? C bonds and, thus, preferentially stabilizes branched alkanes. This picture is corroborated by valence bond calculations that attribute the effect to additional ionic structures (e.g., CH₃⁺ :CH₂ :CH₃^? and CH₃:^? CH₂: CH₃⁺ for propane) that are not possible without protobranching.     

Aquaporin-11: A channel protein lacking apparent transport function expressed in brain

Background  

The aquaporins are a family of integral membrane proteins composed of two subfamilies: the orthodox aquaporins, which transport only water, and the aquaglyceroporins, which transport glycerol, urea, or other small solutes. Two recently described aquaporins, numbers 11 and 12, appear to be more distantly related to the other mammalian aquaporins and aquaglyceroporins.     

Local-in-time adjoint-based method for design optimization of unsteady flows

We present a new local-in-time discrete adjoint-based methodology for solving design optimization problems arising in unsteady aerodynamic applications. The new methodology circumvents storage requirements associated with the straightforward implementation of a global adjoint-based optimization method that stores the entire flow solution history for all time levels. This storage cost may quickly become prohibitive for large-scale applications. The key idea of the local-in-time method is to divide the entire time interval into several subintervals and to approximate the solution of the unsteady adjoint equations and the sensitivity derivative as a combination of the corresponding local quantities computed on each time subinterval. Since each subinterval contains relatively few time levels, the storage cost of the local-in-time method is much lower than that of the global methods, thus making the time-dependent adjoint optimization feasible for practical applications. Another attractive feature of the new technique is that the converged solution obtained with the local-in-time method is a local extremum of the original optimization problem. The new method carries no computational overhead as compared with the global implementation of adjoint-based methods. The paper presents a detailed comparison of the global- and local-in-time adjoint-based methods for design optimization problems governed by the unsteady compressible 2-D Euler equations.