Pentopyranosyl Oligonucleotide Systems. 9th Communication

Pyranosyl‐RNA (‘p‐RNA’ ) is an oligonucleotide system isomeric to natural RNA and composed of the very same building blocks as RNA. Its generational, chemical, and informational properties are deemed to be those of an alternative nucleic acid system that could have been a candidate in Nature's evolutionary choice of the molecular basis of genetic function. We consider the study of the chemistry of p‐RNA as etiologically relevant in the sense that knowledge of its structural, chemical, and informational properties on the chemical level offers both a perspective and reference points for the recognition of specific structural assets of the RNA structure that made it the (supposedly) superior system among possible alternatives and, therefore, the system that became part of biology as we know it today. The paper describes the chemical synthesis of β‐d‐ (and L )‐ribopyranosyl‐(4′→2′)‐oligonucleotide sequences, presents a resume of their structural and chemical properties, and cautiously discusses what we may and may not have learned from the pyranosyl isomer of RNA with respect to the conundrum of RNA's origin.     

Homogenization of two-phase flow: high contrast of phase permeabilityHomogénéisation d'écoulement diphasique : grand contraste de perméabilité d'une phase

The steady-state two-phase flow non-linear equation is considered in the case when one of phases has low effective permeability in some periodic set, while on the complementary set it is high; the second phase has no contrast of permeabilities in different zones. A homogenization procedure gives the homogenized model with macroscopic effective permeability of the second phase depending on the gradient and on the second order derivatives of the macroscopic pressure of the first phase. This effect cannot be obtained by classical (one small parameter) homogenization. To cite this article: G.P. Panasenko, G. Virnovsky, C. R. Mecanique 331 (2003).     

Baum-Katz-Nagaev type results for martingales

We obtain a Baum-Katz-Nagaev type theorem for bounded martingale difference sequences that have more than a second moment, and prove that the celebrated Hsu-Robbins-Erd?s theorem fails for martingales.     

The change of the superstructure of semicrystalline polymers during deformation: results from small-angle scattering with synchrotron radiation

The change of the superstructure of different polyethylenes during uniaxial deformation is investigated. The method used is small-angle scattering with synchrotron radiation. For branched polyethylene (Lupolen 1840D) the whole deformation range is analyzed. Beginning with superstructure of the lamellar cluster type, the superstructure partly disappears on a time scale of a few minutes and the fibrillar structure is built up. The degree of destruction and rebuilding depends on the drawing temperature. For very high molecular weight polyethylene (GUR) a reversible change of the superstructure at higher deformation ratios and at different temperatures is observed. The superstructure of (ethylene—hexene) copolymers (TIPELIN) at high draw ratios depends on the drawing temperature and is almost independent of the side group content. Interfibrillar microcracks parallel to the draw direction are produced in samples with a low side group content for draw ratios λ ≥ 1.5.