Editorial

The credit crisis is a complex societal problem in which many phenomena and actors are involved. If one wants to analyze the causes of this problem, try to stabilize the situation and prevent new fall backs, a multi-disciplinary approach is prescribed. A careful analysis based on the scientific methodology of societal complexity is needed in order to find how the credit crisis happened and how new crises can be prevented. Theories of multiple disciplines must be used by a multi disciplinary team to analyze the situation and to find sustainable options. This process can be accomplished by following the Compram Methodology of DeTombe. The Compram Methodology provides a framework for policy making which includes many methods and tools. The Compram Methodology is specialized to handle complex interdisciplinary world-wide problems and to offer a step-by-step approach of analyzing the problem, finding and implementing sustainable interventions and evaluating the effects. The Compram Methodology offers a bird’s-eye view on the complexity of the problem and gives directions to policy makers to build their decisions on using a multi-disciplinary, multi-actor approach. In this article the credit crisis is discussed in relation with the Compram Methodology. Aspects of the credit crisis are described with an emphasis on the role of the actors. Based on the Compram Methodology directions can be provided for handling the credit crisis and avoiding future similar problems.     

2-Methyl-1,4-naphthoquinones containing 3-[N-(ω-mercaptoalkyl)alkanamide] chains: synthesis, self-assembling, and electrochemical properties

2-Methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives containing 3-[N-(ω-mercaptoalkyl)alkanamide] chains were synthesized from ω-bromoalkylamine salts of 2-methyl-3-carboxyalkyl-1,4-naphthoquinones in the presence of N,N′-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide at ambient temperature, and then transformed into the corresponding mercapto derivatives. Their self-assembling and electrochemical properties on gold were studied. The influence of an intrachain amide group on the structure and electron transfer properties of self-assembled monolayers were evaluated by comparison with analogous ester and alkyl chain-containing 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinones.     

Orientations Making <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Cycles Cyclic

We show that the minimum number of orientations of the edges of the n-vertex complete graph having the property that every triangle is made cyclic in at least one of them is \(\lceil \log _2(n-1)\rceil \). More generally, we also determine the minimum number of orientations of \(K_n\) such that at least one of them orients some specific k-cycles cyclically on every k-element subset of the vertex set. Though only formally related, the questions answered by these results were motivated by an analogous problem of Vera T. Sós concerning triangles and 3-edge-colorings. Some variants of the problem are also considered.     

Electron ionization mass spectra of phosphorus-containing heterocycles. II. 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-1,3,2-benzodiazaphosphinine 2-oxides

The electron ionization mass spectra of cis- and trans-fused 1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-decahydro-1,3,2-benzodiazaphosphinine 2-oxides (1-17) were recorded, and the fragmentation pathways were established and compared with those of 1,4,4a,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-2H-3,1,2-benzoxazaphosphinine 2-oxides. In general, the mass spectral behaviors of the isomeric compounds were very similar and it was mostly impossible to differentiate them from each other on the basis of the relative abundances of their characteristic fragment ions. The compounds in which R(2) = Ph or OPh exhibited a series of common fragments, e.g. [R(2)H](+), R(2)PONHR(1(3)+), [M-C(3)H(7)](+) and [M-C(4)H(9)](+), the latter two ions being present in the spectra of only two of the derivatives with an N(CH(2)CH(2)Cl)(2) substituent on the P atom. When R(2) = Ph, numerous other alkyl radicals, alkenes and a cycloalkane were also ejected and these compounds also lost NH(2), NH(3), CH(3)N, CH(4)N or CH(3)NH(2). The compounds with an N(CH(2)CH(2)Cl)(2) substituent on the P atom most closely resembled their 3,1,2-O,N,P analogs in respect of the dominant role of this substituent.     

Histidine-rich branched peptides as Cu(II) and Zn(II) chelators with potential therapeutic application in Alzheimer's disease

Two histidine-rich branched peptides with one lysine as a branching unit have been designed and synthesized by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Their complex formation with Cu(II) and Zn(II) as well as their ability to attenuate the metal-ion induced amyloid aggregation has been characterized. Both peptides can keep Cu(II) and Zn(II) in complexed forms at pH 7.4 and can bind two equivalents of metal ions in solutions with excess metal. The stoichiometry, stability and structure of the complexes formed have been determined by pH potentiometry, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, circular dichroism, EPR and NMR spectroscopy and ESI-MS. Both mono- and bimetallic species have been detected over the whole pH range studied. The basic binding mode is either a tridentate {N(amino), N(amide), N(im)} or a histamine-type of coordination which is complemented by the binding of far imidazole or amino groups leading to macrochelate formation. The peptides were able to prevent Cu(II)-induced Aβ(1-40) aggregation but could not effectively compete for Zn(II) in vitro. Our results suggest that branched peptides containing potential metal-binding sites may be suitable metal chelators for reducing the risk of amyloid plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease.     

Phosphorylation of (1-aryl-1-hydroxymethyl)phosphonates

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Constructing large feasible suboptimal intervals for constrained nonlinear optimization

An algorithm for finding a large feasiblen-dimensional interval for constrained global optimization is presented. Then-dimensional interval is iteratively enlarged about a seed point while maintaining feasibility. An interval subdivision method may be used to check feasibility of the growing box. The resultant feasible interval is constrained to lie within a given level set, thus ensuring it is close to the optimum. The ability to determine such a feasible interval is useful for exploring the neighbourhood of the optimum, and can be practically used in manufacturing considerations. The numerical properties of the algorithm are tested and demonstrated by an example problem.This work was supported by Grants OTKA 2879/1991 and OTKA 2675/1991, and in part by NSF Grant DDM-9211001.