Self‐Assembled Cyclic d,l‐α‐Peptides as Generic Conformational Inhibitors of the α‐Synuclein Aggregation and Toxicity: In Vitro and Mechanistic Studies

Many peptides and proteins with large sequences and structural differences self‐assemble into disease‐causing amyloids that share very similar biochemical and biophysical characteristics, which may contribute to their cross‐interaction. Here, we demonstrate how the self‐assembled, cyclic d,l ‐α‐peptide CP‐2 , which has similar structural and functional properties to those of amyloids, acts as a generic inhibitor of the Parkinson′s disease associated α‐synuclein (α‐syn) aggregation to toxic oligomers by an ?off‐pathway“ mechanism. We show that CP‐2 interacts with the N‐terminal and the non‐amyloid‐β component region of α‐syn, which are responsible for α‐syn′s membrane intercalation and self‐assembly, thus changing the overall conformation of α‐syn. CP‐2 also remodels α‐syn fibrils to nontoxic amorphous species and permeates cells through endosomes/lysosomes to reduce the accumulation and toxicity of intracellular α‐syn in neuronal cells overexpressing α‐syn. Our studies suggest that targeting the common structural conformation of amyloids may be a promising approach for developing new therapeutics for amyloidogenic diseases.     

A multi-symplectic numerical integrator for the two-component Camassa–Holm equation

A new multi-symplectic formulation of the two-component Camassa-Holm equation (2CH) is presented, and the associated local conservation laws are shown to correspond to certain well-known Hamiltonian functionals. A multi-symplectic discretisation based on this new formulation is exemplified by means of the Euler box scheme. Furthermore, this scheme preserves exactly two discrete versions of the Casimir functions of 2CH. Numerical experiments show that the proposed numerical scheme has good conservation properties.     

A shock tube study of the reactions of the hydroxyl radical with several combustion species

Reactions of the hydroxyl radical, OH, with several organic species of interest in combustion chemistry have been studied near 1200 K and 1 atm in shock tube experiments in which UV absorption was used to monitor the OH concentration. Rate coefficients were measured for the reactions of OH with 2,3-dimethylbutane, isooctane, neooctane, ethylene, propylene, acetylene, formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol. The values were found to be (in units of 10¹² cm³/mol-s): 21, 22, 18, 2.6, 9.6, 0.28, 12, 5.2, and 5.3. These measured values are compared with previous experimental results and, where appropriate, transition-state theory calculations.     

Effects of long-range interactions on the dynamics of ions in aqueous solution

Molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out for a Br⁻ ion in aqueous solution in order to establish the effect of truncation of long-range interactions on the dynamical properties of the ion. Simulations using smooth truncation of the potential at different cutoff radii were carried out and compared to results using the Ewald summation method. It is shown that when small cutoffs are applied (i.e. R_c = 8Å), the calculations yield low ionic diffusion coefficients relative to experiment, as well as short-time dynamical behavior which is inconsistent with the Ewald calculations. As the cutoff is increased, the results approach both the Ewald and the experimental results. In contrast to the results with the truncated potential, the short-time dynamical behavior of the hydrated bromide ion obtained with the Ewald method can be described by simple Langevin dynamics.     

Calculation of sticking using theR-matrix method with the Bloch operator

We calculate the effects of nuclear forces on the sticking in muon-catalyzed d-t fusion using theR-matrix method. The importance of the Bloch operator in this calculation is emphasized. We try to clarify some features in the formulation that seem to have caused confusion in the past. Some speculations are made regarding the remaining discrepancy of the calculated sticking with experimental values.     

Biorthogonal bases of compactly supported wavelets

Orthonormal bases of compactly supported wavelet bases correspond to subband coding schemes with exact reconstruction in which the analysis and synthesis filters coincide. We show here that under fairly general conditions, exact reconstruction schemes with synthesis filters different from the analysis filters give rise to two dual Riesz bases of compactly supported wavelets. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for biorthogonality of the corresponding scaling functions, and we present a sufficient conditions for the decay of their Fourier transforms. We study the regularity of these biorthogonal bases. We provide several families of examples, all symmetric (corresponding to “linear phase” filters). In particular we can construct symmetric biorthogonal wavelet bases with arbitraily high preassigned regularity; we also show how to construct symmetric biorthogonal wavelet bases “close” to a (nonsymmetric) orthonormal basis.     

Analytic supernova models and black holes

Presented are new analytic solutions to Einstein's field equations with properties normally associated with supernovas. These are the first analytic supernova models with pressure, temperature, and luminosity. These solutions are used to compare a radiative nonzero model (for which the pressure is continuous accross the outer boundary of the star) with a radiative zero model [(standard model) for which the pressure within the star is zero at the outer boundary].     

Equilibrium configurations of rotating charged or gravitating liquid masses with surface tension. II

The equilibrium configurations of rotating charged or gravitating liquid masses with surface tension are investigated. The objective is to discuss in a unified manner configurations of idealized atomic nuclei, rotating liquid drops and rotating idealized astronomical masses. The present paper formulates the problem generally but the applications discussed are mostly to nuclei. These include the estimates of the geometrical characteristics, of the rigid moments of inertia, and of the energies and fission barriers of idealized nuclei throughout the periodic table and with any angular momentum. The existence of super-deformed nuclei, stretched out into cylinderlike configurations by the centrifugal force, is discussed.     

Synchrotron radiation measurements and calculation of core to conduction level transitions in lead chalcogenides

New high resolution reflectivity measurements on PbSe and PbTe using synchrotron radiation (18–26 eV) are studied using an OPW formalism based on recent improved EPM band structure models to determine the angular momentum character of the final conduction band states. Detailed analysis reveals that the reflectivity threshold is shifted to lower energies by 0.8 eV compared to results derived from photoemission and low energy reflectivity data. Electron-hole interactions are suggested as a possible explanation for this shift.