Pseudo spin-valves with Al or Nb as spacer layer: GMR and search for spin switch behaviour

The magnetoresistance of several Ferromagnet/Normal metal/Ferromagnet spin-valve type structures has been investigated using Al as normal spacer layer. A magnetoresistance ratio up to 4.1% at room temperature and 5.7% at 0.3 K is found for the sandwich with both Co layers, while slightly lower signals are found for the structures involving CoFe and NiFe layers. The magnetoresistance dependence for Co/Al/Co, Co/Al/CoFe and Co/Al/NiFe on the spacer layer thickness exhibits the familiar non monotonic behaviour with second peak slightly larger than the one reported for Cu based pseudo spin valves. At cryogenic temperatures, preliminary results on the onset of spin switch effects in Co/Al/Co and the full spin switch effect in Co/Nb/Co are also reported here.     

Measurement of η photoproduction on the proton from threshold to 1500 MeV

Beam asymmetry and differential cross-section for the reaction γp → ηp were measured from production threshold to 1500MeV photon laboratory energy. The two dominant neutral decay modes of the η -meson, η → 2γ and η → 3π⁰ , were analyzed. The full set of measurements is in good agreement with previously published results. Our data were compared with three models. They all fit satisfactorily the results but their respective resonance contributions are quite different. The possible photoexcitation of a narrow state N(1670) was investigated and no evidence was found.     

A simulation tool for voltage control studies in power systems

An electrical power system is a large scale system composed of complicated and sophisticated combination of multiple electronic and electromechanical components. In general, these components are nonlinear. Power system is also characterized by a wide range of normal operating conditions which continuously vary. To help the designer study the voltage control problems in power systems, a simulation tool is presented in this paper. It is based on decomposition of the overall system simulation task into three subtasks so as to attain both computational efficiency and flexibility. The use of the proposed simulation tool in a voltage control problem is also presented.     

Molecular insights into azumamide e histone deacetylases inhibitory activity

Azumamide E, a cyclotetrapeptide isolated from the sponge Mycale izuensis, is the most powerful carboxylic acid containing natural histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor known to date. In this paper, we describe design and synthesis of two stereochemical variants of the natural product. These compounds have allowed us to clarify the influence of side chain topology on the HDAC-inhibitory activity. The present contribution also reveals the identity of the recognition pattern between azumamides and the histone deacetylase-like protein (HDLP) model receptor and reports the azumamide E unprecedented isoform selectivity on histone deacetylases class subtypes. From the present studies, a plausible model for the interaction of azumamides with the receptor binding pocket is derived, providing a framework for the rational design of new cyclotetrapeptide-based HDAC inhibitors as antitumor agents.     

Which one among Zn(II), Co(II), Mn(II), and Fe(II) is the most efficient ion for the methionine aminopeptidase catalyzed reaction?

The catalytic hydrolysis of a methionyl-peptide substrate by a methionine aminopeptidase active site model cluster was investigated at the DF/B3LYP level of theory, in the gas-phase and in the protein environment. Zn(II), Co(II), Mn(II), and Fe(II) transition metals were examined as the potential catalytic metals of this enzyme involved in protein maturation. Two different mechanisms in which Glu204 was present as protonated or deprotonated residue were considered. The energetic profiles show lower barriers as the protonated glutamate is involved. The rate-determining step of the hydrolysis reaction is always the nucleophilic addition of the hydroxide on substrate carbon, followed by less energetically demanding methionine-peptide C-N bond scission. The lowest activation energy is obtained in the case of zinc dication while the other metals show very high energetic barriers, so that methionine aminopeptidase can be in principle recognized as a dizinc enzyme.     

On the relative stabilities of gold nanoparticles

We calculate and compare the relative free energies of ideal/pristine gold nanoparticles for morphologies produced previously in vapor synthesis computer simulations. The results in conjunction with previous work provide a unique and direct quantitative comparison between ideal thermodynamics and kinetics in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles for an identical system. The ideal/pristine free energies suggest that the I(h) morphology was the most stable structure up to the 147(I(h)) followed by the TO(h) for all the remaining nanoparticle sizes. A grouping of m-D(h) structures was identified in the size range N=146-318 with stabilities which were very close to the most stable I(h) and TO(h) structures. The free energy analysis was somewhat at odds with population statistics obtained from our kinetic growth simulations where the I(h) dominated and where very little presumably stable TO(h) nanoparticles were produced, implying that kinetic mechanisms are more influential than thermodynamic considerations. On the other hand other possible reasons for such discrepancies are discussed; one of these includes an interesting observation where the I(h) morphology was found to have a unique ability to incorporate exposed surface disorder such as adatoms into stable hexagonal surface structures through internal and surface structural rearrangements, leading to a possible enhancement in stabilities of I(h)-type morphologies.     

Evidence of the facile hydride and enolate addition to the imine bond of an aluminum-salophen complex

The isolation of complexes 2 and 3, unambiguously characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, demonstrates that nucleophilic additions to the aluminum-coordinated imino bond of salophen complex 1 can be achieved under very mild conditions.     

Multifunctional core-shell nanoparticles: discovery of previously invisible biomarkers

Many low-abundance biomarkers for early detection of cancer and other diseases are invisible to mass spectrometry because they exist in body fluids in very low concentrations, are masked by high-abundance proteins such as albumin and immunoglobulins, and are very labile. To overcome these barriers, we created porous, buoyant, core-shell hydrogel nanoparticles containing novel high affinity reactive chemical baits for protein and peptide harvesting, concentration, and preservation in body fluids. Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) nanoparticles were functionalized with amino-containing dyes via zero-length cross-linking amidation reactions. Nanoparticles functionalized in the core with 17 different (12 chemically novel) molecular baits showed preferential high affinities (K(D) < 10(-11) M) for specific low-abundance protein analytes. A poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-vinylsulfonic acid) shell was added to the core particles. This shell chemistry selectively prevented unwanted entry of all size peptides derived from albumin without hindering the penetration of non-albumin small proteins and peptides. Proteins and peptides entered the core to be captured with high affinity by baits immobilized in the core. Nanoparticles effectively protected interleukin-6 from enzymatic degradation in sweat and increased the effective detection sensitivity of human growth hormone in human urine using multiple reaction monitoring analysis. Used in whole blood as a one-step, in-solution preprocessing step, the nanoparticles greatly enriched the concentration of low-molecular weight proteins and peptides while excluding albumin and other proteins above 30 kDa; this achieved a 10,000-fold effective amplification of the analyte concentration, enabling mass spectrometry (MS) discovery of candidate biomarkers that were previously undetectable.