Analyzing functional similarity of protein sequences with discrete wavelet transform

This paper applies discrete wavelet transform (DWT) with various protein substitution models to find functional similarity of proteins with low identity. A new metric, 'S' function, based on the DWT is proposed to measure the pair-wise similarity. We also develop a segmentation technique, combined with DWT, to handle long protein sequences. The results are compared with those using the pair-wise alignment and PSI-BLAST.     

柄型金属有机化合物(V)——锗桥连茚基及取代茚基锆化合物的合成及催化烯烃聚合

锗桥连茚及取代茚配体相继与丁基锂及ＺｒＣｌ４作用,生成锗桥连茚基及取代茚基锆化合物Ｍｅ２Ｇｅ(２－Ｒ１－４－Ｒ２－Ｉｎｄ)２ＺｒＣｌ２[Ｒ１＝Ｒ２＝Ｈ(１);Ｒ１＝Ｍｅ,Ｒ２＝Ｈ(２);Ｒ１＝Ｍｅ,Ｒ２＝Ｐｈ(３)]．化合物１－３均为内消旋和外消旋异构体的混合物,通过多次重结晶得到化合物１和２的纯外消旋异构体及化合物３的内消旋异构体．由元素分析和１Ｈ ＮＭＲ谱表征了化合物的分子结构．研究了在甲基铝氧烷(ＭＡＯ)的助催化下,化合物１－３对乙烯和丙烯聚合的催化性能．由锗桥连茚基化合物１－３得到的聚乙烯的分子量分布比一般茂金属催化剂略宽．内消旋和外消旋异构体的混合物(３)由于两个催化活性中心不等同而使得到的聚乙烯的分子量分布相当宽．外消旋异构体１和２催化丙烯聚合得到高等规聚丙烯．     

Copolymerization of ethylene and 1-butene with highly active Ticl4/THF/Mgcl2, Ticl4/THF/Mgcl2/SiO2, and TiCl3.1/3AlCl3 catalysts

Highly active catalysts for copolymerization have been prepared by the precipitation of MgCl₂/ToCl₄ complex with or without high surface area silica. Copolymerization of ethylene and 1-butene has been tested by using the prepared catalysts at various concentrations of 1-butene. The catalytic activities are 20–80 kg/g Ti h. The rate of copolymerization is strongly affected by the addition of 1-butene. The decay rate of copolymerization is first order with respect to time. Analyses of copolymers with solvent extraction, DSC, IR, XRD, and NMR were performed. Ethylene reactivity ratio (k₁₁) for TiCl₄/MgCl₂/THF catalyst is calculated to be about 26 by NMR spectrum. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A model for thermal degradation of hybrid nanocomposites

A model is developed for thermal degradation of polymer nanocomposites. A composite is thought of as an equivalent network of linear chains with attached side-groups. Thermal degradation is treated as combination of (i) binary scission (fragmentation) of backbone chains, and (ii) detachment of side-groups and their subsequent annihilation (diffusion to the surface of a sample and desorption). An explicit solution is derived for the kinetic equation. This solution involves three adjustable parameters that are found by fitting observations on isotactic polypropylene reinforced with carbon nanofibres. Good agreement is demonstrated between the experimental data and the results of numerical simulation.     

ELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF PROTEIN-LIKE SINGLE CHAIN

The conformational properties and elastic behaviors of protein-like single chains in the process of tensile elongation were investigated by means of Monte Carlo method. The sequences of protein-like single chains contain two types of residues: hydrophobic (H) and hydrophilic (P). The average conformations and thermodynamics statistical properties of protein-like single chains with various elongation ratio λ were calculated. It was found that the mean-square end-to-end distance r increases with elongation ratio,λ. The tensor eigenvalues ratio of : decreases with elongation ratio λ for short (HP)x protein-like polymers, however, the ratio of : increases with elongation ratioλ,especially for long (H)x sequence. Average energy per bond increases with elongation ratioλ, especially for(H)x protein-like single chains. Helmholtz free energy per bond also increases with elongation ratioλ. Elastic force (f), energy contribution to force (fU) and entropy contribution to force (fs) for different protein-like single chains were also calculated.These investigations may provide some insights into elastic behaviors of proteins.     

TEXTURE AND CRYSTALLINITY EVOLUTION IN ISOTACTIC POLYPROPYLENE INDUCED BY ROLLING AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

The orientation and crystallinity evolution of isotactic polypropylene （iPP） induced by rolling were studied using wide angle X-ray scattering with an area detector. The tensile mechanical properties of rolled isotactic polypropylene sheets were also measured in this work. The texture component method was used to analyze the rolling texture. The rolling texture consists mainly of （010）[001], （130）[001] and [001]//RD fiber components in the sample with a rolling true strain of 1.5. The results reveal that crystallinity drastically decreases during rolling. It is suggested that amorphization is a deformation mechanism which takes place as an alternative to crystallographic intralamellar slip depending on the orientation of the lamellae. Both the orientation and crystallinity affect the tensile mechanical properties of rolled polypropylene. Crystallinity influences the elastic modulus on both directions and yield strength on transverse direction at the first stage of deformation. Orientation is the main reason for the changes of mechanical properties, especially at the latter part of deformation. The changes of both tensile strength and elongation percentage on rolling direction are larger than those on transverse direction, which results from the orientation. At last, the anisotropic mechanical properties occur on the rolling and transverse direction： high tensile strength with low elongation percentage on rolling direction and low tensile strength with high elongation percentage on transverse direction.     

Synthesis of polypropylene block copolymers from brominated styrene-terminated isotactic polypropylene

Isotactic polypropylene block copolymers, isotactic-polypropylene-block-poly (methyl methacrylate) (i-PP-b-PMMA) and isotactic-polypropylene-block-polystyrene (i-PP-b-PS), were prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) using a brominated styrene-terminated isotactic polypropylene macroinitiator synthesized from bromination of styrene-terminated isotactic polypropylene. The styrene-terminated isotactic polypropylene can be obtained by polymerization of propylene in the presence of styrene and hydrogen chain transfer agents using a rac-Me₂Si[2-methyl-4-(1-naphyl)Ind]₂ZrCl₂ as catalyst. The molecular weights of isotactic polypropylene block copolymers were controlled by altering the amount of hydrogen used in the polymerization of propylene and the amount of monomer used in the blocking reaction. The effect of i-PP-b-PS block copolymer on PP-PS blends and that of i-PP-b-PMMA block copolymer on PP-PMMA blends were studied by scanning electron microscopy.     

Ionization potential of excited states of Be‐like sequence in the concept of iso‐spectrum‐level series

With the introduction of the concept of the iso‐spectrum‐level series, a linear relationship is found between the first differences of the ionization potential of excited states and nuclear charge Z along an iso‐spectrum‐level series, and the ionization potential of excited states of Be‐like sequence are studied systematically on the basis of the weakest bound electron potential model theory. The expression of nonrelativistic ionization potential is derived from the weakest bound electron potential model theory, and relativistic effects are included by using a fourth‐order polynomial in Z. As a demonstration, the ionization potentials of [He]2s2p ³P, [He]2s3s ¹S₀, [He]2s3p ¹P, [He]2s3d ¹D₂, and [He]2s4d ¹D₂ series for a range of Be‐like sequence from Z = 4–23 are calculated. The results are compared with the experimental data and the recent sophisticated ab initio results. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem 93: 344–350, 2003     

Allowed transitions in silicon isoelectronic ions

Dipole‐allowed transitions have been studied for the first few members of the Si isoelectronic sequence. Transition energies, oscillator strengths, transition probabilities and quantum defect values have been estimated for the low‐ and high‐lying excited states of s and d symmetries up to the principal quantum number n=7 for these 3p open shell ions from P⁺ to Cr¹⁰⁺. Time‐dependent coupled Hartree–Fock (TDCHF) theory has been utilized to calculate such transition properties. Most of the results for transition energies, oscillator strengths, and transition probabilities for higher excited states are new. The transition energies for low‐lying excited states agree well with experimental data wherever available. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2001