A unified treatment of nonclassical nonlinear effects in the propagation of ultrasound in heterogeneous media

Recent experiments on rocks and other materials, such as soil, cement, concrete and damaged elastic materials, have led to the discovery of nonlinear (NL) hysteretic effects in their elastic behaviour. These observations suggest the existence of a NL mesoscopic elasticity universality class, to which all the aforementioned materials belong. The purpose of the present contribution is to search for the basic mathematical roots for nonclassical nonlinearity, in order to explain its universality, classify it and correlate it with the underlying meso- or microscopic interaction mechanisms. In our discussions we explicitly consider two quite different kinds of specimens: a two-bonded-elements structure and a thin multigrained bar. It is remarkable that, although the former includes only one interface and the latter very many interstices, the same "interaction box" formalism can be applied to both. Another important result of the proposed formalism is that the spectral contents of an arbitrary system for any input amplitude may be predicted, under certain assumptions, from the result of a single experiment at a higher amplitude.     

Molecular dynamics simulations of the ligand-induced chemical information transfer in the 5-HT(1A) receptor

Comparative molecular dynamics simulations of the 5-HT(1A) receptor in its empty as well as agonist- (i.e. active) and antagonist-bound (i.e. nonactive) forms have been carried out. The agonists 5-HT and (R)-8-OH-DPAT as well as the antagonist WAY100635 have been employed. The results of this study strengthen the hypothesis that the receptor portions close to the E/DRY/W motif, with prominence to the cytosolic extensions of helices 3 and 6, are particularly susceptible to undergo structural modification in response to agonist binding. Despite the differences in the structural/dynamics behavior of the two agonists when docked into the 5-HT(1A) receptor, they both exert a destabilization of the intrahelical and interhelical interactions found in the empty and antagonist-bound receptor forms between the arginine of the E/DRY sequence and both D133(3.49) and E340(6.30). For both agonists, the chemical information transfer from the extracellular to the cytosolic domains is mediated by a cluster of aromatic amino acids in helix 6, following the ligand interaction with selected amino acids in the extracellular half of the receptor, such as D116(3.32), S199(5.42), Y195(5.38), and F361(6.51). A significant reduction in the bend at P360(6.50), as compared to the empty and the antagonist-bound receptor forms, is one of the features of the agonist-bound forms that is related to the breakage of the interhelical salt bridge between the E/DRY arginine and E340(6.30). Another structural feature, shared by the agonist-bound receptor forms and not by the empty and antagonist-bound forms, is the detachment of helices 2 and 4, as marked by the movement of W161(4.50) away from helix 2, toward the membrane space.     

A new approach to the statistical treatment of 2D-maps in proteomics using fuzzy logic

A new approach to the statistical treatment of 2D-maps has been developed. This method is based on the use of fuzzy logic and allows to take into consideration the typical low reproducibility of 2D-maps. In this approach the signal corresponding to the presence of proteins on the 2D-maps is substituted with probability functions, centred on the signal itself. The standard deviation of the bidimensional gaussian probability function employed to blur the signal allows to assign different uncertainties to the two electrophoretic dimensions. The effect of changing the standard deviation and the digitalisation resolution are investigated.     

Toward the optimization of continuous-flow aldol and α-amination reactions by means of proline-functionalized silicon packed-bed microreactors

The activity and stability under flow conditions of covalently and non-covalently silica supported proline and proline-like organocatalysts is herein described. The slow aldol reaction of cyclohexanone with p-nitro benzaldehyde and the fast α-amination of isovaleraldehyde with dibenzyl azodicarboxylate have been selected as model reactions for this study. Prospects and limitations of the disclosed continuous-flow organocatalytic approach are widely discussed.     

Bad normed spaces, convexity properties, separated sets

Some years ago, a parameter-denoted by A₁(X)-was defined in real Banach spaces. In the same setting, several years before, a notion called Q-convexity had been defined. Studying these two notions seems to be rather awkward and up until now this has not been done in deep.Here we indicate some properties and connections between these two parameters and some other related ones, in infinite-dimensional Banach spaces. We also consider another notion, a natural extension of Q-convexity, and we discuss the case when A₁(X) attains its maximum value. The spaces where this happens can be considered as ”bad” since they cannot have several properties which are usually considered as nice (like uniform non-squareness or P-convexity).     

Two new examples of sets without medians and centers

Many problems in continuous location theory, reduce to finding a best location, in the sense that a facility must be located at a point minimizing the sum of distances to the points of a given finite set (median) or the largest distances to all points (center). The setting is often assumed to be a Banach space. To have a better understanding concerning the structure of location problems, it may occur also in rather simple cases. In this paper we indicate two simple examples of four-point sets such that one of the two problems indicated has a solution, while the other one has no solution. Also, we list papers containing examples previously given, dealing with this lack of optimal solutions.     

Applications of Raman spectroscopy to gemology

Being nondestructive and requiring short measurement times, a low amount of material, and no sample preparation, Raman spectroscopy is used for routine investigation in the study of gemstone inclusions and treatments and for the characterization of mounted gems. In this work, a review of the use of laboratory Raman and micro-Raman spectrometers and of portable Raman systems in the gemology field is given, focusing on gem identification and on the evaluation of the composition, provenance, and genesis of gems. Many examples are shown of the use of Raman spectroscopy as a tool for the identification of imitations, synthetic gems, and enhancement treatments in natural gemstones. Some recent developments are described, with particular attention being given to the semiprecious stone jade and to two important organic materials used in jewelry, i.e., pearls and corals.     

Analysis of trace degradation products (decarboxylated diastereoisomers) of S-adenosylmethionine by electrophoresis in capillaries with cationic coatings (N-methylpolyvinylpyridinium or divalent barium)

Commercial preparations of S‐adenosylmethionine (SAM) when analyzed in uncoated capillaries show a minute impurity believed to be decarboxylated (dc) SAM. By using two types of cationic coatings, thus reducing the electro‐endo‐osmotic flow (EOF), it was possible to separate this impurity into two diastereoisomers of dcSAM. The coatings evaluated for this purpose were: (i) N‐methylpolyvinylpyridinium, used under reversed EOF at acidic conditions (pH 4.0) and (ii) deposition of divalent barium at alkaline pH values (pH 9.4), providing reduced EOF. Under these conditions, it was possible to separate this impurity into two diastereoisomers, which by chemical synthesis were indeed proven to be dcSAM. It was further demonstrated that, in the alkylation of 5′‐methylthioadenosine by 3‐bromopropylamine in bromidric acid to dcSAM, another minute impurity was present, proven, via mass spectrometry, to consist of S‐(5′‐adenosyl)‐3‐thiopropylamine (decarboxylated and demethylated (dc‐SAH)). The LOD for the two dcSAM diastereoisomers was assessed as 17.5 μg/mL and their LOQ as 25.5 μg/mL. By the barium‐based protocol it was possible to quantify the dcSAM, present in a commercial sample of SAM, as a 0.1% impurity.     

Extraction methods of red blood cell membrane proteins for Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT) analysis

Since red blood cells (RBCs) lack nuclei and organelles, cell membrane is their main load-bearing component and, according to a dynamic interaction with the cytoskeleton compartment, plays a pivotal role in their functioning. Even if erythrocyte membranes are available in large quantities, the low abundance and the hydrophobic nature of cell membrane proteins complicate their purification and detection by conventional 2D gel-based proteomic approaches. So, in order to increase the efficiency of RBC membrane proteome identification, here we took advantage of a simple and reproducible membrane sub-fractionation method coupled to Multidimensional Protein Identification Technology (MudPIT). In addition, the adoption of a stringent RBC filtration strategy from the whole blood, permitted to remove exhaustively contaminants, such as platelets and white blood cells, and to identify a total of 275 proteins in the three RBC membrane fractions collected and analysed. Finally, by means of software for the elaboration of the great quantity of data obtained and programs for statistical analysis and protein classification, it was possible to determine the validity of the entire system workflow and to assign the proper sub-cellular localization and function for the greatest number of the identified proteins.