A method and program for mass quantum chemical calculations of protein—ligand docking complexes

A new fast computational method for mass calculations of docking complexes by the AM1/PM3 semiempirical methods is proposed. The computation time is shortened by at least an order of magnitude compared to alternative schemes of quantum chemical calculations. The root-mean-square deviation of the AM1 calculated energies of formation of complexes from the results obtained by conventional diagonalization procedure is at most 0.4 kcal mol⁻¹. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 418–420, February, 2008.     

Physics in Melbourne

I survey highlights of the practice of physics and allied sciences in Melbourne,Australia, from the 1850s, soon after Europeans first settled in the area, to the present. I note recognizable sites of past and current physical-science activity that may be visited, as well as exhibits of historic items of physics apparatus. I trace the role of physics, in the course of a century and a half, in the evolution of a pioneering settlement into a large city embedded in a modern industrial economy.     

The design of molecules containing planar tetracoordinate carbon

A novel preference for planar tetracoordination was observed over the conventional tetrahedral arrangement in a new series of C₅H₂, C₅H₄, C₅H₄^1+/2+ and related compounds. The stability of these molecules is assessed with the ring-opening barriers, HOMO-LUMO gap, singlet-triplet energy differences and nucleus independent chemical shift values.     

Simultaneous Determination of Carbamate and Organophosphorus Pesticides in Honeybees by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Summary The potential of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been studied for the simultaneous determination of sixteen carbamate and organophosphorus pesticides in honeybees using a traditional sample preparation protocol based on acetone extraction and dichloromethane partitioning. The performances of both atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray (ES) interfaces were compared. APCI offered better sensitivity and specificity for a higher range of pesticides. Limits of quantification were from 0.01 to 0.17 mg kg^–1, at which recoveries obtained were between 64 and 93%, except for pirimicarb that was at 13%, with relative standard deviations ranging from 7 to 20%. Fenitrothion, fenoxycarb, methiocarb and phoxim were found in bees from Valencian Community beehives at concentrations between 0.03 and 3.75 mg kg^–1.     

Time-Reversed Dynamical Entropy and Irreversibility in Markovian Random Processes

A concept of time-reversed entropy per unit time is introduced in analogy with the entropy per unit time by Shannon, Kolmogorov, and Sinai. This time-reversed entropy per unit time characterizes the dynamical randomness of a stochastic process backward in time, while the standard entropy per unit time characterizes the dynamical randomness forward in time. The difference between the time-reversed and standard entropies per unit time is shown to give the entropy production of Markovian processes in nonequilibrium steady states.     

Imaging of wood tissue by ToF-SIMS: Critical evaluation and development of sample preparation techniques

Tissue of Norway spruce wood was investigated by time-of-flight secondary-ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). Different sample preparation techniques (including sectioning and drying) traditionally used for SEM analysis were compared and critically evaluated. A high contamination of wood surfaces by polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) introduced onto the sample during sectioning was detected by ToF-SIMS. A new protocol was developed and images of wood sections dried in different ways were compared. Main location of Mg, Na, K and Ca, but no lignin in membranes of bordered pits in spruce section surfaces was detected by ToF-SIMS imaging if critical point drying (CPD) or acetone extraction followed by drying under nitrogen flow (AEND) was applied. No specific locations of wood components as well as low signals from metal ions (Mg and Na) were observed on the wood surfaces of freeze-dried (FD) or air-dried (AD) sections. It was found that extractive substances, presenting on surfaces of FD and AD wood section, were evenly distributed on the surfaces and interfered with ToF-SIMS analysis. Our results indicated that ToF-SIMS imaging was critically sensitive to the sample preparation technique and a strict protocol for characterization of metals, lignin and polysaccharides in wood was suggested.     

Spectroscopic Studies of 1-Aryl-2,2-Dichlorocyclopropanes

Seventeen 1-aryl-2,2-dichlorocyclopropanes were examined by using IR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectrometry. The data obtained from IR and ¹³C NMR spectra indicate that the bond strength of carbon-chlorine on the cyclopropane ring and the electron density of that carbon depend on the substituent. The mass fragmentation patterns of compounds in this series resemble those of the dibromo analogues. The fragmentation mechanism is proposed to involve the formation of indenium ion through an electrocyclization.     

取代基效应(SCS)与乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物的序列结构Ⅲ.定量分析

本文在分析乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物序列结构时,把代表共单体反接单元的亚甲基(CH₂)βγ和γδ分别归属给了二元组VV和三元组EEV。与此同时,CH₂-δδ和δδ⁺归属给了二元组EE。表征乙烯长序列的CH₂-δ⁺δ⁺分属二元组EE和三元组EEE,对应峰强度在EE和EEE之间的分配是处理序列分布的关键。在本文中运用序列结构的Bovey关系和Randall统计进行演算,求得了修正值△的数学表达式,严格解和近似解。在规则链条件下得到的近似解与G.J.Ray的结果完全相同。当共单体含量较少时,谱峰强度Iδ⁺δ⁺的分配接近相等。在二元组和三元组的水平上,乙烯-α-稀烃共聚物的¹³C NMR谱中共有十三个峰,属于CH₂的有十个,属于CH的有三个。利用这些谱峰的强度数据可以建立一套计算公式,由此提供共聚物序列结构的全部信息。因此这是一个研究乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物序列结构的普适方法。     

Three New Diarylpropanes from Dioscorea composita

Three new diarylpropanes were isolated from the dried rhizomes of Dioscorea composita Hemsl., and their structures were determined as 1, 3-bis-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl) propane (1), 1, 3-bis-(2, 4-dihydroxyphenyl)propane (2), 1-(2′-hydroxy-4′-O-β-D- glucopymnosy-phenyl)-3-(2“, 4“-dihydroxyphenyl)propane (3), by spectroscopic analysis, respectively.