The Mechanism of Ligand‐Induced Activation or Inhibition of μ‐ and κ‐Opioid Receptors

G‐protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs) are important targets for treating severe diseases. However why certain molecules act as activators whereas others, with similar structures, block GPCR activation, is poorly understood since the same molecule can activate one receptor subtype while blocking another closely related receptor. To shed light on these central questions, we used all‐atom, long‐time‐scale molecular dynamics simulations on the κ‐opioid and μ‐opioid receptors (κOR and μOR). We found that water molecules penetrating into the receptor interior mediate the activating versus blocking effects of a particular ligand–receptor interaction. Both the size and the flexibility of the bound ligand regulated water influx into the receptor. The solvent‐accessible inner surface area was found to be a parameter that can help predict the function of the bound ligand.     

Cationic copolymerization of racemic‐β‐butyrolactone with L,L‐lactide: One‐pot synthesis of block copolymers

Cationic copolymerization of racemic‐β‐butyrolactone (β‐BL) with l,l ‐lactide (LA) initiated by alcohol and catalyzed by trifluoromethanesulfonic acid proceeding by activated monomer (AM) mechanism was investigated. Although both comonomers were present from the beginning in the reaction mixture, polymerization proceeded in sequential manner, with poly‐BL formed at the first stage acting as a macroinitiator for the subsequent polymerization of LA. Such course of copolymerization was confirmed by following the consumption of both comonomers throughout the process as well as by observing the changes of growing chain‐end structure using ¹H NMR. ¹³C NMR analysis and thermogravimetry revealed the block structure of resulting copolymers. The proposed mechanism of copolymerization was confirmed by the studies of changes of ¹H NMR chemical shift of acidic proton in the course of copolymerization, providing an indication that indeed protonated species and hydroxyl groups are present throughout the process, as required for AM mechanism. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 4873–4884     

Crystallization behavior of Dy3+-doped selenide glasses

Rare earth (RE)-doped chalcogenide glasses are an important promising material for active photonic devices, including mid-infrared (mid-IR) fiber lasers and amplifiers. Here we report on dysprosium ion (Dy³⁺)-doped GeAsGaSe chalcogenide glasses based on 10 atomic (at.) % Ga. A series of Dy³⁺-doped GeAsGaSe glasses, with increasing levels of Dy³⁺ dopant from 0 ppm to 2000 ppm added to the Ge_16.5As₉Ga₁₀Se_64.5 (at. %) base glass, is synthesized and characterized using: Fourier transform infrared spectrometry; X-ray diffraction (XRD); imaging and analysis using a high resolution transmission electron microscope, with selected area electron diffraction (HRTEM-SAED), and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (HRTEM-EDX) and an environmental scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (ESEM-EDX) and with secondary electron mapping. At the higher levels of Dy³⁺ doping, the glasses exhibit bulk crystallization; XRD, HRTEM-EDX and ESEM-EDX indicate the crystals are predominantly a modified, face centered cubic α-Ga₂Se₃, with some substitution of Ge. In addition, features on the bulk glass surface are shown to comprise Dy³⁺, sometimes accompanied by Si and [O] which, it is suggested, are due to contamination from the silica glass melting ampoule.     

A Golden-Thompson inequality in supersymmetric quantum mechanics

We establish a supersymmetric version of the Golden-Thompson inequality.Supported in part by the Department of Energy under grant DE-FG02-88ER25065.     

The phenylnitrene rearrangement in the inner phase of a hemicarcerand

The photochemistry of phenyl azide 1 and 13C-labeled phenyl azide 13C-1 incarcerated inside a hemicarcerand 4 was investigated. Low-temperature photolysis of hemicarceplex 41 and 413C-1 yields incarcerated 1-azacyclohepta-1,2,4,6-tetraene 42 and 413C-2 (18-50%), respectively, which were characterized by low-temperature FT-IR and 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopy. After correction for the hemicarcerand-induced upfield shift, the 13C chemical shifts of incarcerated 13C-2 compare very well (Deltadelta 相似文献   

Solution-processed, highly-oriented supramolecular architectures of functionalized porphyrins with extended electronic states

Thin films of aligned supramolecular architectures built from newly synthesized thiophene-substituted porphyrins have been processed from solution on surfaces.     

Relationships between experienced listener ratings of multichannel audio quality and naïve listener preferences

The preferences of a large number of na?ve listeners were elicited in response to a selection of multichannel audio items that had been degraded in quality by using band-limiting and down-mixing algorithms. Relationships were sought between these preference ratings and the quality judgements of experienced listeners in an attempt to determine whether one could be predicted from the other. Results suggest that a simple regression model can be used to do this with adequate results, but that a better prediction can be successfully based on experienced listener ratings of timbral and spatial fidelity. There is a difference between na?ve and experienced listeners in the weightings of the fidelities and their relationship to overall quality.     

Global Laurent expansions on Riemann surfaces

We discuss global Laurent expansions for meromorphich-forms on a compact Riemann surface of genusg2. Our approach is motivated by Krichever and Novikov's work on string theory.Supported in part by the Department of Energy under Grant DE-FG02-88ER25065     

Preparation of tissue samples for X-ray fluorescence microscopy

As is well-known, trace elements, especially metals, play an important role in the pathogenesis of many disorders. The topographic and quantitative elemental analysis of pathologically changed tissues may shed some new light on processes leading to the degeneration of cells in the case of selected diseases. An ideal and powerful tool for such purpose is the Synchrotron Microbeam X-ray Fluorescence technique. It enables the carrying out of investigations of the elemental composition of tissues even at the single cell level.

The tissue samples for histopathological investigations are routinely fixed and embedded in paraffin. The authors try to verify the usefulness of such prepared tissue sections for elemental analysis with the use of X-ray fluorescence microscopy. Studies were performed on rat brain samples. Changes in elemental composition caused by fixation in formalin or paraformaldehyde and embedding in paraffin were examined.

Measurements were carried out at the bending magnet beamline L of the Hamburger Synchrotronstrahlungslabor HASYLAB in Hamburg.

The decrease in mass per unit area of K, Br and the increase in P, S, Fe, Cu and Zn in the tissue were observed as a result of the fixation. For the samples embedded in paraffin, a lower level of most elements was observed. Additionally, for these samples, changes in the composition of some elements were not uniform for different analyzed areas of rat brain.     

Local rings of singularities andN=2 supersymmetric quantum mechanics

We investigate the Kähler structure arising inn-component,N=2 supersymmetric quantum mechanics. We defineL ²-cohomology groups of a modified and relate them to the corresponding spaces of harmonic forms. We prove that the cohomology is concentrated in the middle dimension, and is isomorphic to the direct sum of the local rings of the singularities of the superpotential. In the physics language, this means that the number of ground states is equal to the absolute value of the index of the supercharge, and each ground state contains exactlyn fermions.Supported in part by the Department of Energy under Grant DE-F602-88ER25065