Structural basis for discriminative regulation of gene expression by adenine- and guanine-sensing mRNAs

Metabolite-sensing mRNAs, or "riboswitches," specifically interact with small ligands and direct expression of the genes involved in their metabolism. Riboswitches contain sensing "aptamer" modules, capable of ligand-induced structural changes, and downstream regions, harboring expression-controlling elements. We report the crystal structures of the add A-riboswitch and xpt G-riboswitch aptamer modules that distinguish between bound adenine and guanine with exquisite specificity and modulate expression of two different sets of genes. The riboswitches form tuning fork-like architectures, in which the prongs are held in parallel through hairpin loop interactions, and the internal bubble zippers up to form the purine binding pocket. The bound purines are held by hydrogen bonding interactions involving conserved nucleotides along their entire periphery. Recognition specificity is associated with Watson-Crick pairing of the encapsulated adenine and guanine ligands with uridine and cytosine, respectively.     

氟硅烷自组装单分子膜的制备及其摩擦学性能

利用分子自组装技术制备了全氟辛酰胺丙基硅烷单分子膜,用X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对组装膜的表面元素进行了表征;接触角测试表明,该组装膜具有很好的疏水-疏油性,其对水的接触角高达105°,对正十六烷的接触角为50°.摩擦磨损实验结果表明,全氟辛酰胺丙基硅烷自组装单分子膜可以大大降低基片的摩擦系数,使载玻片的摩擦系数从0.85左右降低到0.14左右,而且低负荷下具有很好的耐磨性.     

Synthesis of a model system for the preparation of phloroglucinol containing natural products

A model system for the synthesis of phloroglucinol containing natural products was synthesized. Key steps include a manganic acetate-mediated cyclization and the facile conversion of an alkene into a β-bromoenone.     

Interpretation of negative values of the interaction parameter in the adsorption equation through the effects of surface layer heterogeneity

The problem of the negative values of the interaction parameter in the equation of Frumkin has been analyzed with respect to the adsorption of nonionic molecules on energetically homogeneous surface. For this purpose, the adsorption states of a homologue series of ethoxylated nonionic surfactants on air/water interface have been determined using four different models and literature data (surface tension isotherms). The results obtained with the Frumkin adsorption isotherm imply repulsion between the adsorbed species (corresponding to negative values of the interaction parameter), while the classical lattice theory for energetically homogeneous surface (e.g., water/air) admits attraction alone. It appears that this serious contradiction can be overcome by assuming heterogeneity in the adsorption layer, that is, effects of partial condensation (formation of aggregates) on the surface. Such a phenomenon is suggested in the Fainerman-Lucassen-Reynders-Miller (FLM) "Aggregation model". Despite the limitations of the latter model (e.g., monodispersity of the aggregates), we have been able to estimate the sign and the order of magnitude of Frumkin's interaction parameter and the range of the aggregation numbers of the surface species.     

On a class of graphs with prescribed mean curvature

We study a class of quasilinear elliptic equations on the unit ball of ℝ ⁿ in the divergence form ∑ _j=1 ⁿ D _j{G(|x|²,|Du|²)D _j u} =H(|x|) and get estimates on the boundary by using a modified barrier-function technique of Bernstein. We establish a maximum principle for the gradients of solutions and get a global gradient estimate. We prove that solutions with constant boundary condition must be radial. Finally, we apply these results to graphs {(x,u(x)):x∈H ⁿ } whereu:H ⁿ →ℝ is a smooth map of then-hyperbolic spaceH ⁿ =B(0,1) with the metric to get the existence of graphs with radial prescribed mean curvature.     

掺杂镨的纳米二氧化钛光催化降解2,4-二硝基苯酚的研究

以钛酸丁酯为原料,用溶胶-凝胶(sol-gel)法制备了掺杂镨的纳米TiO2粉末.采用X光衍射仪对粉体的物相进行了表征.样品经500 ℃焙烧2 h后,0.5%(摩尔分数)Pr3+-TiO2纳米粉末为单一的锐钛型结构.通过粉体对2,4-二硝基苯酚的降解情况对其光催化活性进行了测试,结果表明与纯TiO2相比,Pr3+-TiO2的光催化活性有较大提高,当Pr3+的掺入量为0.5%(摩尔分数)时催化活性最高.以高压汞灯为光源,2,4-二硝基苯酚的初始浓度为50 mg·L-1,催化剂0.5%(摩尔分数)Pr3+-TiO2投加量为1.0 g·L-1时,2,4-二硝基苯酚的光催化降解效果最好.     

Alkylation of ethyl bromomalonate by alkylcobaloximes

Allylcobaloximes react under very mild conditions with ethyl bromomalonate to yield allyl-substituted ethylmalonates in good yield. In the case of crotyl-, 3,3 dimethyl, allyl- and cinnamyl-cobaloximes, the substitution occurs with total rearrangement of the allyl groups. Similar rearrangements are observed during the reactions of propargyl- and allenylcobaloximes with BrCH(CO₂Et)₂ yielding allenyl- and propargyl-malonic esters respectively.     

Zeta-potentials of self-assembled surface micelles of ionic surfactants adsorbed at hydrophobic graphite surfaces

The zeta-potentials of the self-assembled surface ionic surfactants (sodium dodecyl sulfate—SDS and hexadecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide—CTAB) on graphite surfaces were determined both from streaming potential and electrophoretic mobility measurements. The adsorption of the surfactants at graphite–liquid interfaces has been studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) soft-contact imaging which shows the formation of linear, parallel hemicylinders with headgroups oriented towards the solution. The magnitude of the zeta-potential increased with an increase in surfactant concentration, reaching a constant value at a concentration corresponding to the point of surface micelle formation as confirmed from AFM imaging. The streaming potential and electrophoretic mobility measurements showed that the zeta-potentials of SDS and CTAB surface micelles adsorbed at the graphite surface were about −75 and +70 mV, respectively, well in agreement with the values reported for bulk phase micelles in the literature.