A second-order accurate numerical method for a fractional wave equation

We study a generalized Crank–Nicolson scheme for the time discretization of a fractional wave equation, in combination with a space discretization by linear finite elements. The scheme uses a non-uniform grid in time to compensate for the singular behaviour of the exact solution at t = 0. With appropriate assumptions on the data and assuming that the spatial domain is convex or smooth, we show that the error is of order k ² + h ², where k and h are the parameters for the time and space meshes, respectively.     

On the Weak Invariance Principle for Stationary Sequences under Projective Criteria

In this paper, we study the central limit theorem and its weak invariance principle for sums of a stationary sequence of random variables, via a martingale decomposition. Our conditions involve the conditional expectation of sums of random variables with respect to the distant past. The results contribute to the clarification of the central limit question for stationary sequences. Magda Peligrad is supported in part by a Charles Phelps Taft research support grant at the Univeristy of Cincinnati and the NSA grant H98230-05-1-0066.     

Interactions of thiophenes and acidophilic,thermophilic bacteria

The growth and oxygen consumption of a variety of thermophilic, acidophilic bacteria in the presence of thiophene-2-carboxylate (T2C) and dibenzothiophene (DBT) have been determined. T2C was extremely toxic to the acidophiles in comparison with neutrophiles, but appeared to be degraded by a heterotrophicSulfolobus- like thermophile. DBT proved to be unstable at high temperatures, even in the absence of bacteria, and was not a substrate for the thermophiles.     

Magnetic resonance study of (GdxY1−x)Co2 compounds

The results of magnetic resonance studies on ferrimagnetic (Gd_xY_1?x)Co₂ compounds, both below and above the Curie points, are presented. The ferrimagnetic resonance measurements show that the effective g values can be described by using the Wangsness relation. The spectroscopic splitting factors of cobalt atoms are not composition dependent. In the paramagnetic range the thermal variation of the linewidth is not linear and the g values are a function of temperature. This behavior is analyzed in correlation with the magnetic data.     

Site-to-site peptide transport on a molecular platform using a small-molecule robotic arm

Peptides attached to a cysteine hydrazide ‘transporter module’ are transported selectively in either direction between two chemically similar sites on a molecular platform, enabled by the discovery of new operating methods for a molecular transporter that functions through ratcheting. Substrate repositioning is achieved using a small-molecule robotic arm controlled by a protonation-mediated rotary switch and attachment/release dynamic covalent chemistry. A polar solvent mixtures were found to favour Z to E isomerization of the doubly-protonated switch, transporting cargo in one direction (arbitrarily defined as ‘forward’) in up to 85% yield, while polar solvent mixtures were unexpectedly found to favour E to Z isomerization enabling transport in the reverse (‘backward’) direction in >98% yield. Transport of the substrates proceeded in a matter of hours (compared to 6 days even for simple cargoes with the original system) without the peptides at any time dissociating from the machine nor exchanging with others in the bulk. Under the new operating conditions, key intermediates of the switch are sufficiently stabilized within the macrocycle formed between switch, arm, substrate and platform that they can be identified and structurally characterized by ¹H NMR. The size of the peptide cargo has no significant effect on the rate or efficiency of transport in either direction. The new operating conditions allow detailed physical organic chemistry of the ratcheted transport mechanism to be uncovered, improve efficiency, and enable the transport of more complex cargoes than was previously possible.

Peptides are transported in either direction between chemically similar sites on a molecular platform, substrate repositioning is achieved using a cysteine hydrazide transporter module and a small-molecule robotic arm controlled by a rotary switch.     

Thermodynamic studies on the ferroelectric phase transition in neutron irradiated (LixK1−x)2SO4 crystals at high temperature

Thermodynamic studies of (Li_xK_1?x)₂SO₄, LKS, mixed crystals have been made in the concentration range (x=0.1, 0.2, ...,x=0.5). The thermal behaviour has been investigated by differential thermal analysis, DTA, and differential scanning calorimeter, DSC, in the vicinity of high temperature phases. Also, the effect of the thermal neutron irradiations on the thermal properties of mixed crystals was studied. The results showed a change in the transition temperatureT _c, as well as the value of specific heatC _p at transition temperature, due to the change of stoichiometric ratio and radiation doses. The change of enthalpy and entropy of mixed crystals have been estimated numerically.     

Shift to Pseudomonic acid B production in P. fluorescens NCIMB10586 by mutation of mupirocin tailoring genes mupO, mupU, mupV, and macpE

Mupirocin, a polyketide-derived antibiotic from Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB10586, is a mixture of pseudomonic acids (PA) that target isoleucyl-tRNA synthase. The mup gene cluster encodes both type I polyketide synthases and monofunctional enzymes that should play a role during the conversion of the product of the polyketide synthase into the active antibiotic (tailoring). By in-frame deletion analysis of selected tailoring open-reading frames we show that mupQ, mupS, mupT, and mupW are essential for mupirocin production, whereas mupO, mupU, mupV, and macpE are essential for production of PA-A but not PA-B. Therefore, PA-B is not simply produced by hydroxylation of PA-A but is either a precursor of PA-A or a shunt product. In the mupW mutant, a new metabolite lacking the tetrahydropyran ring is produced, implicating mupW in oxidation of the 16-methyl group.     

Effect of an admixture on the electrical and thermal properties of triglycine sulphate crystals

The influence of chloroacetic acid amide (AC) on the temperature-dependence of the electrical conductivity (), thermal expansion (_ij) and specific heat ((C _p) of triglycine sulphate crystals was studied in the phase transition range (T _c=49°). The addition of isostructural AC increased the electrical conductivity, decreased the thermal expansion and changed theC _p peak. The mechanism is discussed on a thermodynamic basis.

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Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß der Zumischung von Chloressigsäureamid (AC) auf die Temperaturabhängigkeit der elektrischen Leitfähigkeit, der Wärmeausdehnung _ij und der spezifischen WärmeC _p von Triglycinsulfat-Kristallen wurde im Phasenübergangsgebiet (T _c=49 °C) untersucht. Die Beimischung von isostrukturellem AC erhöht die elektrische Leitfähigkeit und vermindert die Wärmeleitfähigkeit, während derC _p-Peak verändert wird. Der Mechanismus kann thermodynamisch diskutiert werden.

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(), () _ij) () , T _c=49°. , , , , C _p. .

     

Swarm intelligence-based hyper-heuristic for the vehicle routing problem with prioritized customers

The vehicle routing problem (VRP) is a combinatorial optimization management problem that seeks the optimal set of routes traversed by a vehicle to deliver products to customers. A recognized problem in this domain is to serve ‘prioritized’ customers in the shortest possible time where customers with known demands are supplied by one or several depots. This problem is known as the Vehicle Routing with Prioritized Customers (VRPC). The purpose of this work is to present and compare two artificial intelligence-based novel methods that minimize the traveling distance of vehicles when moving cargo to prioritized customers. Various studies have been conducted regarding this topic; nevertheless, up to now, few studies used the Cuckoo Search-based hyper-heuristic. This paper modifies a classical mathematical model that represents the VRPC, implements and tests an evolutionary Cuckoo Search-based hyper-heuristic, and then compares the results with those of our proposed modified version of the Clarke Wright (CW) algorithm. In this modified version, the CW algorithm serves all customers per their preassigned priorities while covering the needed working hours. The results indicate that the solution selected by the Cuckoo Search-based hyper-heuristic outperformed the modified Clarke Wright algorithm while taking into consideration the customers’ priority and demands and the vehicle capacity.