Spectroscopic characterization of the ground and low-lying electronic states of Ga2N via anion photoelectron spectroscopy

Anion photoelectron spectra of Ga(2)N(-) were measured at photodetachment wavelengths of 416 nm(2.978 eV), 355 nm(3.493 eV), and 266 nm(4.661 eV). Both field-free time-of-flight and velocity-map imaging methods were used to collect the data. The field-free time-of-flight data provided better resolution of the features, while the velocity-map-imaging data provided more accurate anisotropy parameters for the peaks. Transitions from the ground electronic state of the anion to two electronic states of the neutral were observed and analyzed with the aid of electronic structure calculations and Franck-Condon simulations. The ground-state band was assigned to a transition between linear ground states of Ga(2)N(-)(X (1)Sigma(g) (+)) and Ga(2)N(X (2)Sigma(u) (+)), yielding the electron affinity of Ga(2)N, 2.506+/-0.008 eV. Vibrationally resolved features in the ground-state band were assigned to symmetric and antisymmetric stretch modes of Ga(2)N, with the latter allowed by vibronic coupling to an excited electronic state. The energy of the observed excited neutral state agrees with that calculated for the A (2)Pi(u) state, but the congested nature of this band in the photoelectron spectrum is more consistent with a transition to a bent neutral state.     

The effect of β-carotene supplementation on the pharmacokinetics of nelfinavir and its active metabolite M8 in HIV-1-infected patients

β-Carotene supplements are often taken by individuals living with HIV-1. Contradictory results from in vitro studies suggest that β-carotene may inhibit or induce cytochrome P450 enzymes and transporters. The study objective was to investigate the effect of β-carotene on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of nelfinavir and its active metabolite M8 in HIV-1 infected individuals. Twelve hour nelfinavir pharmacokinetic analysis was conducted at baseline and after 28 days of β-carotene supplementation (25,000 IU twice daily). Nelfinavir and M8 concentrations were measured with validated assays. Non-compartmental methods were used to calculate the pharmacokinetic parameters. Geometric mean ratios comparing day 28 to day 1 area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC(0-12 h)), maximum (C(max)) and minimum (C(min)) concentrations of nelfinavir and M8 are presented with 90% confidence intervals. Eleven subjects completed the study and were included in the analysis. There were no significant differences in nelfinavir AUC(0-12 h) and C(min) (-10%, +4%) after β-carotene supplementation. The M8 C(min) was increased by 31% while the M8 AUC(0-12 h) and C(max) were unchanged. During the 28 day period, mean CD4+ % and CD4+:CD8+ ratio increased significantly (p < 0.01). β-carotene supplementation increased serum carotene levels but did not cause any clinically significant difference in the nelfinavir and M8 exposure.     

Irreducible pseudo 2-factor isomorphic cubic bipartite graphs

A bipartite graph is pseudo 2-factor isomorphic if the number of circuits in each 2-factor of the graph is always even or always odd. We proved (Abreu et?al., J Comb Theory B 98:432–442, 2008) that the only essentially 4-edge-connected pseudo 2-factor isomorphic cubic bipartite graph of girth 4 is K _3,3, and conjectured (Abreu et?al., 2008, Conjecture 3.6) that the only essentially 4-edge-connected cubic bipartite graphs are K _3,3, the Heawood graph and the Pappus graph. There exists a characterization of symmetric configurations n ₃ due to Martinetti (1886) in which all symmetric configurations n ₃ can be obtained from an infinite set of so called irreducible configurations (Martinetti, Annali di Matematica Pura ed Applicata II 15:1–26, 1888). The list of irreducible configurations has been completed by Boben (Discret Math 307:331–344, 2007) in terms of their irreducible Levi graphs. In this paper we characterize irreducible pseudo 2-factor isomorphic cubic bipartite graphs proving that the only pseudo 2-factor isomorphic irreducible Levi graphs are the Heawood and Pappus graphs. Moreover, the obtained characterization allows us to partially prove the above Conjecture.     

Superinterpolation in Highly Oscillatory Quadrature

Asymptotic expansions for oscillatory integrals typically depend on the values and derivatives of the integrand at a small number of critical points. We show that using values of the integrand at certain complex points close to the critical points can actually yield a higher asymptotic order approximation to the integral. This superinterpolation property has interesting ramifications for numerical methods based on exploiting asymptotic behaviour. The asymptotic convergence rates of Filon-type methods can be doubled at no additional cost. Numerical steepest descent methods already exhibit this high asymptotic order, but their analyticity requirements can be significantly relaxed. The method can be applied to general oscillators with stationary points as well, through a simple change of variables.     

Shifted GMRES for oscillatory integrals

None of the existing methods for computing the oscillatory integral ò_a^b f(x)e^iwg(x)dx{\int_a^b f(x){\rm e}^{{\rm i}\omega g(x)}{\rm d}x} achieve all of the following properties: high asymptotic order, stability, avoiding deformation into the complex plane and insensitivity to oscillations in f. We present a new method that satisfies these properties, based on applying the gmres algorithm to a shifted linear differential operator.     

Rapamycin biosynthesis: Elucidation of gene product function

The function of gene products involved in the biosynthesis of the clinically important polyketide rapamycin were elucidated by biotransformation and gene complementation.     

Moment-free numerical integration of highly oscillatory functions

^** Email: s.olver{at}damtp.cam.ac.uk The aim of this paper is to derive new methods for numericallyapproximating the integral of a highly oscillatory function.We begin with a review of the asymptotic and Filon-type methodsdeveloped by Iserles and Nørsett. Using a method developedby Levin as a point of departure, we construct a new methodthat utilizes the same information as a Filon-type method, andobtains the same asymptotic order, while not requiring the computationof moments. We also show that a special case of this methodhas the property that the asymptotic order increases with theaddition of sample points within the interval of integration,unlike all the preceding methods whose orders depend only onthe endpoints.