NO binding to cobalamin: influence of the metal oxidation state

Density functional and molecular orbital theory calculations on models for cobalamin suggest that NO binds similarly to the Co(II) and Co(III) oxidation states. However, Co(III) can bind water far more strongly than Co(II) as a sixth ligand, so that the competition between water and NO complexation strongly favors water for Co(III) in the gas phase. Although the Co(II) oxidation state is found to bind water slightly more strongly than NO in the gas phase, the inclusion of solvation effects via the polarizeable continuum model makes NO binding more favorable. Thus, the experimentally observed ability of cob(II)alamin to bind NO in aqueous solution is the result of its weak complexation with water and the relatively poor solvation of NO. Calculated vibrational frequencies support the interpretation of the cob(II)alamin-NO complex as being cob(III)alamin-NO-, although the DFT calculations underestimate the degree of charge transfer in comparison to Hartree-Fock calculations.     

The effect of opacifier properties on thermal conductivity of vacuum insulation panel with fumed silica

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The reduction of radiation heat transfer in VIPs is an important issue. In VIPs, the radiation heat transfer is reduced by the use of opacifier....     

Minimal and Pseudo-Umbilical Rotational Surfaces in Euclidean Space {\mathbb{E}^4}

In this paper we study general rotational surfaces in ${\mathbb{E}^4}$ whose meridian curves lie in two-dimensional planes. We firstly find all minimal general rotational surfaces by solving the differential equation that characterizes minimal general rotational surfaces. Then we determine all pseudo-umbilical general rotational surfaces in ${\mathbb{E}^4}$ .     

Two meta-heuristics for parallel machine scheduling with job splitting to minimize total tardiness

Parallel machine scheduling is a popular research area due to its wide range of potential application areas. This paper focuses on the problem of scheduling n independent jobs to be processed on m identical parallel machines with the aim of minimizing the total tardiness of the jobs considering a job splitting property. It is assumed that a job can be split into sub-jobs and these sub-jobs can be processed independently on parallel machines. We present a mathematical model for this problem. The problem of total tardiness on identical parallel machines is NP-hard. Obtaining an optimal solution for this type of complex, large-sized problem in reasonable computational time by using an optimization solver is extremely difficult. We propose two meta-heuristics: Tabu search and simulated annealing. Computational results are compared on random generated problems with different sizes.     

A noncooperative power control game in multi-access fading channels with quality of service (QoS) constraints

In this paper, a game-theoretic analysis for the resource allocation policies in fading multiple-access channels (MACs) in the presence of statistical quality of service (QoS) constraints in the form of limitations on the buffer length is performed. We employ effective capacity, which provides the maximum constant arrival rate that a given process can support while satisfying statistical buffer constraints, to measure the throughput for each user. We assume that the channel side information (CSI) is available at both the receiver and the transmitters, and the transmitters are selfish, rational with certain QoS and average power constraints. Without the aid of the receiver, we show that there is always a unique admissible Nash equilibrium of the noncooperative power control game, for which numerical results at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) have been provided. The Nash equilibrium of the power control game is proved to be always inside the rate region where successive decoding techniques are used at the receiver.     

Activation of Spruce Wood Surfaces by Plasma Treatment After Long Terms of Natural Surface Inactivation

Surface inactivation is a phenomenon that causes poor adhesion. A wood surface exposed to contaminants such as dust or atmospheric grime can experience surface inactivation. Inactivation mechanisms can reduce the attractive forces on the wood surface and lead to a decrease in wettability. Plasma treatment has been applied to recover inactivated wood surfaces for better adhesion and bonding. Plasma treatment technology is very simple and the cost is rather low. In addition, this treatment produces no environmental pollution. In this study, low pressure plasma treatment was applied to reactivate the surfaces of spruce wood for glue bonding and to increase wettability after a 9-year period of natural surface inactivation. Changes in contact angles, surface energy, surface colour and bonding strength of inactivated and oxygen plasma treated wood surfaces were studied. Wettability, bonding and other mechanical strength properties of plywood panels increased with the oxygen plasma treatment.     

Synthesis, characterization, DNA interaction and potential applications of gold nanoparticles functionalized with Acridine Orange fluorophores

Two new water-soluble gold nanoparticles (AO-TEG-Au and AO-PEG-Au NPs) are prepared and characterized. They are stabilized by thioalkylated oligoethylene glycols and functionalized with fluorescent Acridine Orange (AO) derivatives. Despite the different core sizes (11.8 and 3.9 nm respectively) and shell composition, they are both well dispersed and are stable in water, even if some self-aggregation is observed in the case of AO-TEG-Au NPs. However, AO-PEG-Au NPs show much lower emission efficiency with respect to AO-TEG-Au NPs. Spectrophotometric and spectrofluorometric experiments indicate that both types of nanoparticle are able to bind to calf thymus DNA, either by external binding or partial intercalation. Preliminary FACS flow cytometry tests seem to indicate that the AO-TEG-Au nanoparticle is able to cross the cell membrane where it is absorbed by Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells at the picomolar concentration level.