Kinetics of proton transfer in a green fluorescent protein: A laser-induced pH jump study

The sub-millisecond protonation dynamics of the chromophore in S65T mutant form of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) was tracked after a rapid pH jump following laser-induced proton release from the caged photolabile compoundo-nitrobenzaldehyde. Following a jump in pH from 8 to 5 (which is achieved within 2 μs), the fluorescence of S65T GFP decreased as a single exponential with a time constant of ∼90 μs. This decay is interpreted as the conversion of the deprotonated fluorescent GFP chromophore to a protonated non-fluorescent species. The protonation kinetics showed dependence on the bulk viscosity of the solvent, and therefore implicates bulk solvent-controlled protein dynamics in the protonation process. The protonation is proposed to be a sequential process involving two steps: (a) proton transfer from solvent to the chromophore, and (b) internal structural rearrangements to stabilize a protonated chromophore. The possible implications of these observations to protein dynamics in general is discussed     

Duality Principles in Frame Theory

Duality principles in Gabor theory such as the Ron–Shen duality principle and the Wexler–Raz biorthogonality relations play a fundamental role for analyzing Gabor systems. In this article we present a general approach to derive duality principles in abstract frame theory. For each sequence in a separable Hilbert space we define a corresponding sequence dependent only on two orthonormal bases. Then we characterize exactly properties of the first sequence in terms of the associated one, which yields duality relations for the abstract frame setting. In the last part we apply our results to Gabor systems.     

The Computational Complexity of the Chow Form

We present a bounded probability algorithm for the computation of the Chowforms of the equidimensional components of an algebraic variety. In particular, this gives an alternative procedure for the effective equidimensional decomposition of the variety, since each equidimensional component is characterized by its Chow form. The expected complexity of the algorithm is polynomial in the size and the geometric degree of the input equation system defining the variety. Hence it improves (or meets in some special cases) the complexity of all previous algorithms for computing Chow forms. In addition to this, we clarify the probability and uniformity aspects, which constitutes a further contribution of the paper. The algorithm is based on elimination theory techniques, in line with the geometric resolution algorithm due to M. Giusti, J. Heintz, L. M. Pardo, and their collaborators. In fact, ours can be considered as an extension of their algorithm for zero-dimensional systems to the case of positive-dimensional varieties. The key element for dealing with positive-dimensional varieties is a new Poisson-type product formula. This formula allows us to compute the Chow form of an equidimensional variety from a suitable zero-dimensional fiber. As an application, we obtain an algorithm to compute a subclass of sparse resultants, whose complexity is polynomial in the dimension and the volume of the input set of exponents. As another application, we derive an algorithm for the computation of the (unique) solution of a generic overdetermined polynomial equation system.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of thermodynamic properties of NaCl at high pressures and temperatures

The expansivity, constant-pressure heat capacity, and isothermal bulk modulus of sodium chloride (NaCl) have been obtained by using molecular dynamics method. The calculated thermodynamic parameters are found to be in agreement with the available experimental data. At an extended temperature and pressure ranges, these parameters have also been predicted. The thermodynamic properties of NaCl are summarized in the pressure 0-500 kbar ranges and the temperature up to 1000 K.     

Vibration analysis of a beam with PCLD Patch

An analytical approach for vibration response analysis of a beam with single passive constrained layer damping (PCLD) patch is presented. The governing equation of motion of the beam is firstly derived on the basis of an energy approach and the Lagrange equation. The noval contribution is that a third admissible function is introduced to represent the longitudinal displacements of the constraining layer in the PCLD patch when the assumed-modes method is applied for discretizing the governing equation. In conventional analytical approaches, only two admissible functions are used together with a longitudinal static equilibrium equation of a section of base beam or constraining layer. Comparison of the computational results from the proposed analytical approach and the conventional analytical approach as well as a commercial FEM code reveals that the proposed analytical approach can describe the vibration responses of the damped beam more accurately for commonly used viscoelastic material (VEM) layer in the PCLD patch while the conventional analytical approach, in general, overestimates the damping effects of the PCLD patch. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed analytical approach and conventional analytical approach are discussed through some case studies.     

Synthesis and Raman analysis of 1D-ZnO nanostructure via vapor phase growth

1D-nanostructural zinc oxide (ZnO) with different shapes have been synthesized on p-type Si(1 0 0) and glass substrates via vapor phase growth by heating pure zinc powder at temperatures between 480 and 570 °C. The different ZnO nanostructures depend on the substrates and the growth temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction revealed that a well-aligned nanowires array, which are vertical to the substrate of Si(1 0 0) with 18 sides on their heads, but six sides on their stems, has been formed at 480 °C. Raman study on the ZnO nanostructures shows that the coupling strength between electron and phonon determined by the ratio of the second- to the first-order Raman scattering cross-sections declines with decreasing diameter of the nanowires. However, a little changes of the coupling strength in terms of the width of the nanobelts have been observed.     

群胚上的Dirac结构及泊松约化

本文详细讨论了李双代数胚中的Dirac结构、群胚上的Dirac结构。利用Dirac结构的特征对的概念,给出了作用不变Dirac结构,拉回Dirac结构等概念的新的刻画。最后利用Dirac结构的有关性质,讨论了泊松齐性空间和泊松群胚作用的约化。     

利用模式的对称性研究光子晶体光纤的色散

由光子晶体光纤的对称性可以得到模式分布的对称性，根据模式的对称性选择适当的展开函数，可以使计算量大大减少。计算了六角结构光子晶体光纤的色散特性，得到了波长在1．55pm处色散为零时，光子晶体光纤的结构参量所满足的方程。     

二氧化碳和丙烯直接合成甲基丙烯酸的NiPMo/TiO2催化剂的研究

用溶胶 凝胶法以磷钼酸 (MPA)的镍盐溶液水解钛酸四丁酯制备了NiPMo/TiO2 催化剂 .使用ICP、XRD、TG DTA、IR、TPD MS和微反应技术研究了催化剂的化学组成、热稳定性、化学吸附性质和催化反应性能 .杂多钼酸盐与TiO2 通过O2 -在TiO2 表面发生了键合 .在 6 2 3K下 ,杂多阴离子仍保持原有的Keggin结构 .CO2 在Lewis酸位Ni(Ⅱ )和Lewis碱位Ni-O -Mo的桥氧协同作用下生成CO2 卧式吸附态Ni(Ⅱ )←O - (CO)← (O--Ni) .丙烯有多种吸附态在催化剂上吸附 .在 5 6 3K、1MPa和空速 15 0 0h-1的反应条件下 ,丙烯的摩尔转化率为 3.2 % ,产物MAA选择性为 95 % .     

Obituary Gilbert Grynberg (1948-2003)

We mourn the death of Professor Dr. Gilbert Grynberg, April 17, 1948 - January 27, 2003. We have lost an excellent and highly esteemed scientist, an outstanding character and a good friend. He has been a very active colleague in the merger of Zeitschrift für Physik and Journal de Physique in the early days. As one of the Co-Editors-in-Chief of The European Physical Journal D, from its start, he has formed the scienti.c standards of EPJ. Untiringly he has served our Journal with greatest dedication. We are grateful that he has been with us. The editorial board and o.ce of EPJ B Siegfried Grossmann, Denis Jérome, Antonio Paoletti