Surfactant-induced amorphous aggregation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein: a physical methods approach

The interactions of non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 and the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus, which is an established model for both ordered and non-ordered protein aggregation, were studied using turbidimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, isothermal titration calorimetry, and dynamic light scattering. It was found that at the critical aggregation concentration (equal to critical micelle concentration) of 138 x 10(-6) M, Triton X-100 induces partial denaturation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein molecules followed by protein amorphous aggregation. Protein aggregation has profound ionic strength dependence and proceeds due to hydrophobic sticking of surfactant-protein complexes (start aggregates) with initial radii of 46 nm. It has been suggested that the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate forms mixed micelles with Triton X-100 and therefore reverses protein amorphous aggregation with release of protein molecules from the amorphous aggregates. A stoichiometric ratio of 5 was found for Triton X-100-sodium dodecyl sulfate interactions.     

Numerical radius and zero pattern of matrices

Let A be an n×n complex matrix and r be the maximum size of its principal submatrices with no off-diagonal zero entries. Suppose A has zero main diagonal and x is a unit n-vector. Then, letting ‖A‖ be the Frobenius norm of A, we show that

|〈Ax,x〉^|2?(1−1/2r−1/2n)‖A^‖2.     

Graphs with many r-cliques have large complete r-partite subgraphs

Let r2 and c>0. Every graph on n vertices with at least cn^rcliques on r vertices contains a complete r-partite subgraphwith r–1 parts of size c^rlog n and one part of size greaterthan n^1–cr–1. This result implies a quantitativeform of the Erdös–Stone theorem.     

A spectral condition for odd cycles in graphs

Let G be a graph of sufficiently large order n, and let the largest eigenvalue μ(G) of its adjacency matrix satisfies . Then G contains a cycle of length t for every t?n/320This condition is sharp: the complete bipartite graph T₂(n) with parts of size ⌊n/2⌋ and ⌈n/2⌉ contains no odd cycles and its largest eigenvalue is equal to .This condition is stable: if μ(G) is close to and G fails to contain a cycle of length t for some t?n/321, then G resembles T₂(n).     

Spectralizable Operators

We introduce the notion of spectralizable operators. A closed operator A in a Hilbert space is called spectralizable if there exists a non-constant polynomial p such that the operator p(A) is a scalar spectral operator in the sense of Dunford. We show that such operators belongs to the class of generalized spectral operators and give some examples where spectralizable operators occur naturally. Vladimir Strauss gratefully acknowledges support by DFG, Grant No. TR 903/3-1.     

Sesquitransitive and Localizing Operator Algebras

An algebra of operators on a Banach space X is said to be transitive if X has no nontrivial closed subspaces invariant under every member of the algebra. In this paper we investigate a number of conditions which guarantee that a transitive algebra of operators is “large” in various senses. Among these are the conditions of algebras being localizing or sesquitransitive. An algebra is localizing if there exists a closed ball B ∌ 0 such that for every sequence (x _n ) in B there exists a subsequence and a bounded sequence (A _k ) in the algebra such that converges to a non-zero vector. An algebra is sesquitransitive if for every non-zero z ∈ X there exists C > 0 such that for every x linearly independent of z, for every non-zero y ∈ X, and every there exists A in the algebra such that and ||Az|| ≤ C||z||. We give an algebraic version of this definition as well, and extend Jacobson’s density theorem to algebraically sesquitransitive rings. The second and the third authors were supported by NSERC.     

Highly efficient quenching of excimer fluorescence by perylene diimide in DNA

Pyrene excimer fluorescence is effectively quenched by non-nucleosidic perylene diimides upon DNA duplex formation.     

Cyclic oxonium derivatives of polyhedral boron hydrides and their synthetic applications

Cyclic oxonium derivatives of polyhedral boron hydrides are a relatively new class of boron compounds. They have great potential for the modification of various types of organic and bioorganic molecules and the synthesis of compounds that could be used in different fields from the treatment of nuclear wastes to the treatment of cancer. In the present Perspective we would like to present an overview of the results of the preparation and synthetic application of these compounds.