Effects of nonionic,cationic, and anionic micelles on the kinetics of the complexation reaction of nickel (II) with pyridine-2-azo-p-dimethylaniline

The stopped-flow technique has been used to study the effect of cationic (CTAN), nonionic (Triton X-100), andanionic (SDS) micelles on the rate of the reaction between nickel(II) ion and the ligand pyridine-2-azo-p-dimethylaniline (PADA) at 20.0°C and ionic strength 0.03 mol dm^?3. The complex formation reaction is markedly inhibited by both CTAN and Triton X-100 micelles. The kinetic dataare found to conform to a reaction mechanism which implies only partitioning of the ligand between water and the micellar phase, the estimated bindingconstant of PADA being significantly larger in the presence of CTAN aggregates. Anionic micelles strongly speed the complexation reaction, Which occurs in the micellar phase with the same rate and the same mechanism as in water. The extent of binding of PADA to anionic micelles is similar to that found for the cationic micellar aggregates.     

Classification of finite groups according to the number of conjugacy classes II

In the following,G denotes a finite group,r(G) the number of conjugacy classes ofG, β(G) the number of minimal normal subgroups ofG andα(G) the number of conjugate classes ofG not contained in the socleS(G). Let Φ _j = {G|β(G) =r(G) −j}. In this paper, the family Φ₁₁ is classified. In addition, from a simple inspection of the groups withr(G) =b conjugate classes that appear in ϒ _j ^=1/11 Φ _j , we obtain all finite groups satisfying one of the following conditions: (1)r(G) = 12; (2)r(G) = 13 andβ(G) > 1; …; (9)r(G) = 20 andβ(G) > 8; (10)r(G) =n andβ(G) =n −a with 1 ≦a ≦ 11, for each integern ≧ 21. Also, we obtain all finite groupsG with 13 ≦r(G) ≦ 20,β(G) ≦r(G) − 12, and satisfying one of the following conditions: (i) 0 ≦α(G) ≦ 4; (ii) 5 ≦α(G) ≦ 10 andS(G) solvable.     

Absolutely Continuous Embeddings of Rearrangement-Invariant Spaces

Compactness of embeddings between rearrangement invariant spaces is closely related to absolute continuity of these embeddings. We study absolutely continuous embeddings between rearrangement invariant spaces. In particular it is shown that an absolutely continuous embedding is never optimal. We give sufficient (and under additional hypotheses necessary) conditions for absolute continuity of these embeddings. We also provide quantitative estimates of absolutely continuous embeddings.     

The N- and C-terminal domains of parathyroid hormone-related protein affect differently the osteogenic and adipogenic potential of human mesenchymal stem cells

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is synthesized by diverse tissues, and its processing produces several fragments, each with apparently distinct autocrine and paracrine bioactivities. In bone, PTHrP appears to modulate bone formation in part through promoting osteoblast differentiation. The putative effect of PTH-like and PTH-unrelated fragments of PTHrP on human mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) is not well known. Human MSCs were treated with PTHrP (1-36) or PTHrP (107-139) or both (each at 10 nM) in osteogenic or adipogenic medium, from the start or after 6 days of exposure to the corresponding medium, and the expression of several osteoblastogenic and adipogenic markers was analyzed. PTHrP (1-36) inhibited adipogenesis in MSCs and favoured the expression of osteogenic early markers. The opposite was observed with treatment of MSCs with PTHrP (107-139). Moreover, inhibition of the adipogenic differentiation by PTHrP (1-36) prevailed in the presence of PTHrP (107-139). The PTH/PTHrP type 1 receptor (PTH1R) gene expression was maximum in the earlier and later stages of osteogenesis and adipogenesis, respectively. While PTHrP (107-139) did not modify the PTH1R overexpression during adipogenesis, PTHrP (1-36) did inhibit it; an effect which was partially affected by PTHrP (7-34), a PTH1R antagonist, at 1 µM. These findings demonstrate that both PTHrP domains can exert varying effects on human MSCs differentiation. PTHrP (107-139) showed a tendency to favor adipogenesis, while PTHrP (1-36) induced a mild osteogenic effect in these cells, and inhibited their adipocytic commitment. This further supports the potential anabolic action of the latter peptide in humans.     

Cooperativity in multiple unusual weak bonds

This review covers two aspects concerning cooperativity in multiple weak bonds: a summary of literature results and a theoretical study of a complete series of model complexes. All the 15 combination of five weak bonds were explored: hydrogen bonds, hydric bonds, dihydrogen bonds, halogen bonds and ion–π interactions. Since in several cases there were no examples reported, a systematic exploration has been carried out on simple models at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. The results thus obtained have been analyzed using the atoms in molecules methodology.     

Arithmetical conditions on the conjugacy vector of a finite group

We get new properties of the numbersr _G(xN) = |{Cl _G (g)|Cl _G (g)∩xN ≠ Ø} (whereG is a finite group andN is a normal subgroup ofG) that are useful in the analysis of the classification of the finite groups according to the number of conjugacy classes.