Monitoring selectivity in kinase-promoted phosphorylation of densely packed peptide monolayers using label-free electrochemical detection

This paper describes remarkably high sensitivities in the label-free detection of kinase-promoted phosphorylation for 14 different peptide substrates on electrode-immobilized monolayers (gold or nitride) using serine/threonine kinases PKA, PKC, and CaMK2. Peptide substrates were preselected using (33)P-labeling in a microarray of 1024 substrates. The three most active peptides (A1-A3, C1-C3, and M1-M3) were investigated using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and ion-sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs). Some of the peptide substrates, for example, the PKC-specific substrate PPRRSSIRNAH (C1), showed a remarkably high sensitivity in the EIS-based sensor measurements. Our studies revealed that this high sensitivity is primarily due to the monolayer's packing density. Nanoscopic studies demonstrated a distinct disordering of the C1-monolayer upon phosphorylation, while phosphatase-promoted dephosphorylation regenerated the highly ordered peptide monolayer. As a matter of fact, the initial surface packing of the peptide monolayer mainly determined the level of sensitivity, whereas electrostatic repulsion of the redox-active species was found to be much less important.     

Quantum groups of dimensionpq 2

In this paper we construct two families of non-trivial self-dual semisimple Hopf algebras of dimensionpq ² and investigate closely their (quasi) triangular structures. The paper contains also general results on finite-dimensional triangular Hopf algebras, unimodularity, semisimplicity and ribbon structures of finite-dimensional semisimple Hopf algebras. Dedicated to the memory of Professor S. A. Amitsur This work was partially supported by the Basic Research Foundation administrated by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The paper consists of part of the author’s doctoral dissertation written at Ben Gurion University under the supervision of Prof. M. Cohen and Prof. D. E. Radford whom the author wishes to thank for their valuable guidance.     

Synthesis and characterization of spherical and hemispherical polyepoxide micrometer‐sized particles of narrow size distribution by a single‐step swelling of uniform polystyrene template microspheres with glycidyl methacrylate

Polystyrene template microspheres of narrow size distribution were prepared by dispersion polymerization of styrene in a mixture of ethanol and 2‐methoxy ethanol. Spherical and hemispherical polystyrene/poly(glycidyl methacrylate) microspheres of narrow size distribution were prepared by a single‐step swelling of the polystyrene template microspheres with the swelling solvent monomer glycidyl methacylate, followed by polymerization of the monomer within the swollen template microspheres at 73 °C. Uniform polystyrene/poly(glycidyl methacylate‐ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) polyepoxide composite microspheres were synthesized similarly, substituting glycidyl methacylate for glycidyl methacylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate. Uniform crosslinked poly(glycidyl methacylate‐ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) polyepoxide microspheres have been prepared by dissolution of the PS template polymer of the former composite microspheres. Particles with different properties, for example size, size distribution, shape, surface morphology, surface area, and so forth, were prepared by changing various parameters belonging to the swelling and/or polymerization steps, for example, volume of the swelling monomer/s and/or the swelling solvent dibutyl phthalate. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 4612–4622, 2007     

Stability under unanimous consent,free mobility and core

In this paper, we consider a population represented by a continuum of individuals uniformly distributed over the unit interval that faces a problem of location and financing of public facilities under the equal share rule. We examine three notions of stability of emerging jurisdiction structures (stability under unanimous consent, free mobility and core) and provide a characterization of stable structures. Financial support for Alexei Savvateev was obtained through grants R98-0631 from the Economic Education and Research Consortium, # NSh-1939.2003.6 School Support, Russian Foundation for Basic Research No. 04-02-17227, and the Fund for Promotion of Russian Sciences is gratefully acknowledged.     

Synthesis and characterization of micrometer‐sized homo and composite polyacrylonitrile particles of narrow size distribution on the basis of single‐step swelling of uniform polystyrene template microspheres

Polyacrylonitrile/polystyrene micrometer‐sized composite particles of narrow size distribution were prepared by a single‐step swelling of uniform polystyrene template microspheres with emulsion droplets of methylene chloride containing the monomer acrylonitrile and the initiator benzoyl peroxide. Methylene chloride was then evaporated carefully, followed by polymerization of acrylonitrile at 70 °C within the shrunken template particles. Polymerization of acrylonitrile also occurred at the particles' surface due to the interaction of surface polyacrylonitrile oligoradicals with acrylonitrile dissolved in the aqueous phase. Uniform polyacrylonitrile particles of higher surface area were formed by dissolving the template polystyrene polymer of the composite particles. Surface and bulk characterization of the particles were performed by methods such as FTIR, elemental analysis, TGA‐DSC, XRD, XPS, advancing contact angle, light microscope, SEM and cross‐sectional TEM. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4847–4861, 2004     

Constructing a polytope to approximate a convex body

We develop an algorithm to construct a convex polytopeP withn vertices, contained in an arbitrary convex bodyK inR ^d , so that the ratio of the volumes |K/P|/|K| is dominated byc ·. d/n ^2/(d–1).Supported in part by the fund for the promotion of research in the Technion     

Graph partitioning induced phase transitions

We study the percolation properties of graph partitioning on random regular graphs with N vertices of degree k. Optimal graph partitioning is directly related to optimal attack and immunization of complex networks. We find that for any partitioning process (even if nonoptimal) that partitions the graph into essentially equal sized connected components (clusters), the system undergoes a percolation phase transition at f = fc = 1-2/k where f is the fraction of edges removed to partition the graph. For optimal partitioning, at the percolation threshold, we find S approximately N 0.4 where S is the size of the clusters and l approximately N 0.25 where l is their diameter. Also, we find that S undergoes multiple nonpercolation transitions for f相似文献   

Experimental evidence for phase synchronization transitions in the human cardiorespiratory system

Transitions in the dynamics of complex systems can be characterized by changes in the synchronization behavior of their components. Taking the human cardiorespiratory system as an example and using an automated procedure for screening the synchrograms of 112 healthy subjects we study the frequency and the distribution of synchronization episodes under different physiological conditions that occur during sleep. We find that phase synchronization between heartbeat and breathing is significantly enhanced during non-rapid-eye-movement (non-REM) sleep (deep sleep and light sleep) and reduced during REM sleep. Our results suggest that the synchronization is mainly due to a weak influence of the breathing oscillator upon the heartbeat oscillator, which is disturbed in the presence of long-term correlated noise, superimposed by the activity of higher brain regions during REM sleep.     

Robust Characterization of Multidimensional Scaling Relations between Size Measures for Business Firms

Although the sizes of business firms have been a subject of intensive research, the definition of a “size” of a firm remains unclear. In this study, we empirically characterize in detail the scaling relations between size measures of business firms, analyzing them based on allometric scaling. Using a large dataset of Japanese firms that tracked approximately one million firms annually for two decades (1994–2015), we examined up to the trivariate relations between corporate size measures: annual sales, capital stock, total assets, and numbers of employees and trading partners. The data were examined using a multivariate generalization of a previously proposed method for analyzing bivariate scalings. We found that relations between measures other than the capital stock are marked by allometric scaling relations. Power–law exponents for scalings and distributions of multiple firm size measures were mostly robust throughout the years but had fluctuations that appeared to correlate with national economic conditions. We established theoretical relations between the exponents. We expect these results to allow direct estimation of the effects of using alternative size measures of business firms in regression analyses, to facilitate the modeling of firms, and to enhance the current theoretical understanding of complex systems.