In‐gel equilibration for improved protein retention in 2DE‐based proteomic workflows

The 2DE is a powerful proteomic technique, with excellent protein separation capabilities where intact proteins are spatially separated by pI and molecular weight. 2DE is commonly used in conjunction with MS to identify proteins of interest. Current 2DE workflow requires several manual processing steps that can lead to experimental variability and sample loss. One such step is the transition between first dimension IEF and second‐dimension SDS‐PAGE, which requires exchanging denaturants and the reduction and alkylation of proteins. This in‐solution‐based equilibration step has been shown to be rather inefficient, losing up to 30% of the original starting material through diffusion effects. We have developed a refinement of this equilibration step using agarose stacking gels poured on top of the second‐dimension SDS‐PAGE gel, referred to as in‐gel equilibration. We show that in‐gel equilibration is effective at reduction and alkylation in SDS‐PAGE gels. Quantification of whole‐cell extracts separated on 2DE gels shows that in‐gel equilibration increases protein retention, decreased intergel variability, and simplifies 2DE workflow.     

Product safety for a monopolist under strict liability

This paper views strict producer liability as essentially requiring the producer to provide a tie-in sale of full coverage insurance to its customers. The output and safety levels under strict producer liability are compared to those that would exist when the consumer retains all liability. The risk averseness of the producer and the availability of commercial liability coverage are shown to affect the producer's output and safety decision. In general, a shift from consumer to producer liability might not encourage the production of safer products, either with or without the availability of commercial liability insurance to the producer.     

The lowest energy 4ƒ-5d transition of the triply ionized gadolinium in CaF2

The lowest energy 4?-5d transition of triply ionized gadolinium in CaF₂ is tentatively identified. It is found that the no phonon line is not accompanied by the ≈ 480 cm^-1 vibronic feature observed in ten other triply ionized rare-earth ions in the CaF₂ matrix.     

A hydrocarbon anchored peptide that forms a chloride-selective channel in liposomes

The heptapeptide sequence Gly-Gly-Gly-Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly, when anchored to diglycolic acid derived (C18H37)2NCOCH2OCH2COOH, forms chloride-selective ion channels in phospholipid liposomes but the related heptapeptide Gly-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Gly, and tripeptide Gly-Gly-Gly do not.     

Hilbert Schemes of Degree Four Curves

In this paper we determine the irreducible components of the Hilbert schemes H _4,g of locally Cohen-Macaulay space curves of degree four and arbitrary arithmetic genus g: there are roughly (g ²/24) of them, most of which are families of multiplicity structures on lines. We give deformations which show that these Hilbert schemes are connected. For g–3 we exhibit a component that is disjoint from the component of extremal curves and use this to give a counterexample to a conjecture of Aït-Amrane and Perrin.     

Unitary group approach to crystal field theory: Projection operator approach

A treatment for a strong crystal field of cubic symmetry is given using the unitary group approach. Projection operator techniques are utilized to achieve results equivalent to those given recently by Wen Zhenyi.