Comparison of head-to-head and head-to-tail polystyrenes by thermally stimulated discharge

Thermally stimulated depolarization (TSD) experiments were carried out on several polystyrene samples. They included normal head-to-tail polystyrene (atactic) obtained by anionic polymerization of styrene, amorphous and substantially crystalline isotactic polystyrene, and the newly available head-to-head polystyrene. By TSD, six maxima of current intensity occurred at specific temperatures. Their features are compared for the various samples. Only three peaks could be identified with transitions which had been found by other techniques. Peak 5, located near T_g, is the primary relaxation. Maximum 6 could be the transition found above the T_g by torsional braid analysis and called T₁₁ for polystyrene samples. Maximum 1 seems to correspond to what is sometimes referred to as the γ transition.     

Analytical solutions of a class of optimum orbit modifications

This paper presents the complete analytical solution of several fundamental problems in orbital correction. The initial orbit is represented by a given point in the phase space, while the final orbit is constrained to stay in a given curve which can be bounded, unbounded, or composed of a finite number of segments of different curves. The inclusion of atmospheric maneuver as part of the optimum process is discussed; its analytical treatment can be carried out by modifying the final state to include the set of orbits having their perigee at the boundary of the atmosphere.The selection of the apogee and perigee distances as state variables gives a symmetric form to the problem and results in a linear differential equation of the first order for the ratio of the adjoint variables. The introduction of a curve of comparison, called the separatrix, facilitates the discussion of the existence of a corner on an optimal trajectory.This work was supported by NASA Contract No. NASr 54(06).     

Physical alginate hydrogels based on hydrophobic or dual hydrophobic/ionic interactions: bead formation, structure, and stability

Hydrophobically associating alginate (AA) derivatives were prepared by covalent fixation of dodecyl or octadecyl chains onto the polysaccharide backbone (AA-C12/AA-C18). In semidilute solution, intermolecular hydrophobic interactions result in the formation of physical hydrogels, the physicochemical properties of which can be controlled through polymer concentration, hydrophobic chain content, and nonchaotropic salts such as sodium chloride. The mechanical properties of these hydrogels can then be reinforced by the addition of calcium chloride. The combination of both calcium bridges and intermolecular hydrophobic interactions leads to a decrease in the swelling ratio accompanied by an increase of elastic and viscous moduli. Beads made of hydrophobically modified alginate were obtained by dropping an aqueous solution of alginate derivative into a NaCl/CaCl2 solution. As compared to unmodified alginate beads, modified alginate particles proved to be stable in the presence of nongelling cations or calcium-sequestering agents. However, evidence is presented for a more heterogeneous structure than that of plain calcium alginate hydrogels with, in particular, an increase in the effective gel mesh size, as determined by partition and diffusion coefficient measurements.     

How carbo-benzenes fit molecules in their inner core as do biologic ion carriers?

Structural Chemistry - The present computational study complements experimental efforts to describe and characterize carbo-benzene derivatives as paradigms of aromatic carbo-mers. A long-lasting...     

A Matrix Model for the Topological String I: Deriving the Matrix Model

We construct a matrix model that reproduces the topological string partition function on arbitrary toric Calabi–Yau threefolds. This demonstrates, in accord with the BKMP “remodeling the B-model” conjecture, that Gromov–Witten invariants of any toric Calabi–Yau threefold can be computed in terms of the spectral invariants of a spectral curve. Moreover, it proves that the generating function of Gromov–Witten invariants is a tau function for an integrable hierarchy. In a follow-up paper, we will explicitly construct the spectral curve of our matrix model and argue that it equals the mirror curve of the toric Calabi–Yau manifold.     

Infrared spectral signatures of CDCP1-induced effects in colon carcinoma cells

Metastasis is the major cause of death by cancer. Indeed, metastatic colonies can reactivate and become life threatening, sometimes months or years after the initial diagnosis and surgery of the primary tumor. Therefore, there is a crucial need to develop methods for diagnosis of tumor cells that exhibit high metastatic potential. Here, we addressed the capability of vibrational spectroscopy for investigating the effects induced by CDCP1 expression in colon carcinoma cells. This transmembrane protein has been suggested to play a key role in metastasis by its pleiotropic function. We focused on a cellular model constituted by the cell lines SW480 and SW620 derived respectively from the primary tumor and a lymph node metastasis of the same patient. Induced CDCP1 expression in SW480 led to marked changes in cell morphology. Whereas SW480 form a cell layer, the SW480/CDCP1 cells exhibited reduced cell-to-cell contact. On collagen I, SW480 was more spread and filopodia were observed. In contrast, SW480/CDCP1 cells exhibited lower spreading with no formation of filopodia. Synchrotron Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy experiments were performed on this cellular model. High quality spectroscopic information at sub-cellular resolution, provided by the use of the synchrotron source in infrared microspectroscopy, was recorded on numerous individual cells. Multivariate analysis of spectra recorded using principal component analysis indicated a highest intensity increase of the 970 and 1080 cm(-1) bands, and a modest intensity increase of the 1240 cm(-1) band in the SW480/CDCP1 cells. These bands were correlated with an increased content of phosphorylated proteins as confirmed by in situ labelling using a monoclonal antibody directed against phosphorylated tyrosines. Altogether, these results demonstrate that the vibrational technique used in this study exhibits the capability to characterize spectral signatures of CDCP1-induced effects in colon carcinoma cells. This study may open new avenues for rapid diagnosis of cells with a metastatic potential.     

Thermodynamics and molecular bases of the interaction of ampicillin and streptomycin at their binding sites of bovine serum albumin

Among the biological parameters of chemotherapeutics, serum albumin binding is a critical factor in determining drug distribution and bioavailability. In this study, the binding properties as well as the interaction of ampicillin and streptomycin at their binding sites of bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated. The binding constant varied from 3.2 × 10³ M^?1 at 298 K to 37.5 × 10³ M^?1 at 313 K for ampicillin, and from 10.7 × 10³ M^?1 at 298 K to 3.5 × 10³ M^?1 at 313 K for streptomycin. By increasing the temperature, from 298 to 313 K, the binding affinity decreased by about 11-fold for ampicillin. Conversely, streptomycin showed stronger binding at higher temperature, which is decreased by threefold at 298 K. Interestingly, the affinity of ampicillin with the free BSA was ~4-fold higher than the binding with BSA/streptomycin complex. In contrast, the affinity of streptomycin with the free BSA was ~6-fold lower than the binding with BSA/ampicillin complex. Mutual binding experiments indicate that ampicillin and streptomycin are sharing both of common and different binding sites on BSA. Dissection of the forces of interactions indicated that rigid-body binding was the mode of binding of ampicillin and streptomycin with BSA with minor degree of conformational changes. Both of ampicillin and streptomycin can bind with free BSA. Furthermore, the binding of ampicillin with BSA improves the binding of streptomycin, while the binding of streptomycin with BSA adversely affect the binding of ampicillin.     

Alzheimer’s Disease,Cholesterol, and Statins: The Junctions of Important Metabolic Pathways

Recent years have seen a significant increase in published data supporting the positive effects of statins on neurodegenerative diseases, in particular on Alzheimer’s disease. Statins show neuroprotective activity by a combination of different cellular and systemic mechanisms that are based on the inhibition of the biosynthesis of cholesterol and isoprenoid by‐products. The promising results obtained in vivo and in epidemiological studies are generally not in accordance with those of placebo‐controlled randomized clinical trials. Nevertheless, these results make statins valuable assets for disease prevention rather than therapeutic agents for use when disease symptoms are already displayed. Thus, the modulation of midlife cholesterol and/or statin administration prior to the appearance of dementia or cognitive impairment may have a better long‐term outcome.