Curve encirclement and protein structure

A method of measuring the extent to which space curves encircle one another is introduced. The method provides a family of sets which characterize encircling curves, allowing curve pairs that engage (and also single curves that self-engage) to be distinguished. The method is applied to the backbone chains of protein molecules.     

Giant spin splitting through surface alloying

The long-range ordered surface alloy Bi/Ag(111) is found to exhibit a giant spin splitting of its surface electronic structure due to spin-orbit coupling, as is determined by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. First-principles electronic structure calculations fully confirm the experimental findings. The effect is brought about by a strong in-plane gradient of the crystal potential in the surface layer, in interplay with the structural asymmetry due to the surface-potential barrier. As a result, the spin polarization of the surface states is considerably rotated out of the surface plane.     

Duality, thermodynamics, and the linear programming problem in constraint-based models of metabolism

It is shown that the dual to the linear programming problem that arises in constraint-based models of metabolism can be given a thermodynamic interpretation in which the shadow prices are chemical potential analogues, and the objective is to minimize free energy consumption given a free energy drain corresponding to growth. The interpretation is distinct from conventional nonequilibrium thermodynamics, although it does satisfy a minimum entropy production principle. It can be used to motivate extensions of constraint-based modeling, for example, to microbial ecosystems.     

A mini-landscape of exact MSSM spectra in heterotic orbifolds

We explore a “fertile patch” of the heterotic landscape based on a Z₆-II${\mathbb{Z}}_6\text{-II}$ orbifold with SO(10) and E₆ local GUT structures. We search for models allowing for the exact MSSM spectrum. Our result is that of order 100 out of a total 3×¹⁰⁴$3\times {10}^4$ inequivalent models satisfy this requirement.     

Molien generating functions and integrity bases for the action of the $${{\mathrm {SO(3)}}}$$ SO ( 3 ) and $${{\mathrm {O(3)}}}$$ O ( 3 ) groups on a set of vectors

Journal of Mathematical Chemistry - The construction of integrity bases for invariant and covariant polynomials built from a set of three dimensional vectors under the $${{\mathrm {SO(3)}}}$$ and...     

Exact Finite-Dimensional Filter for Exponential Functionals of the State of Beneš Systems

The purpose of this article is to derive finite-dimensional filters for exponential functionals of the state of nonlinear Bene? type filtering systems with correlated noises. These new filters can be applied in the state reconstruction of doubly–stochastic auto–regressive processes.     

Thermal degradation of trimethylolpropane/adipic acid hyperbranched poly(ester)s

Hyperbranched poly(ester)s offer attractive features for applications in a number of areas, particularly as platforms for the support of controlled release actives in the agricultural and biomedical fields. Such materials have been generated from trimethylolpropane and adipic acid, and fully characterized using chromatographic, spectroscopic, and thermal methods. The thermal stability of these polymers has been assessed using thermogravimetry and infrared spectroscopy. The degradation characteristics of these materials have been compared to those of two linear adipic acid polymers. The prominent feature of the thermal degradation of the hyperbranched poly(ester)s is ether formation while that for the comparable linear poly(ester)s is ester pyrolysis resulting in chain scission.