Noncommutative Chern Characters of Compact Lie Group C*-Algebras

For compact Lie groups, the Chern characters K^*(G) Q H^* _DR(G;Q) have been already constructed. In this paper, we construct and study the corresponding noncommutative Chern characters. They are homomorphisms ch_C*: K_*(C^*(G)) from quantum K-groups into entire current periodic cyclic homology groups of group C^*-algebras. We also obtain the corresponding algebraic version ch_alg: K_*(C^*(G)) HP_*(C^*(G)), which can be identified with the classical Chern character K_* (C(T)) HP_* (C(T)), where T is the maximal torus of G.     

Relative E ‐Theory

The Etheory of A. Connes and N. Higson provides a new realization of Khomology based on the notion of asymptotic morphisms. In this paper we define relative Etheory, associating to a C*algebra A and an ideal I the Abelian groups Enrel(A;I). These groups are related to the Etheory groups of A and I in the familiar way by a long exact sequence and excision isomorphisms. The definition of relative Etheory is motivated by the properties of first order, elliptic differential operators on complete Riemannian manifolds. Applications will be considered in a future publication.     

Mixed Hodge structure in cyclic homology and algebraic K-theory, 1

Deligne defined the notion of a mixed Hodge structure (MHS) and proved that every quasiprojective variety over has a natural MHS on its cohomology. This paper establishes similar results for cyclic homology and the algebraic K-theory of simply connected quasi-projective varieties over . In the nonsimply connected case, an MHS is established on certain quotient groups of algebraic K-theory.Supported by a NSERC University Research Fellowship and operating grant.     

Some algebraic properties of cyclic homology groups

In [10], see also [8], a cyclic homology theory HC _* ^– was introduced. The purpose of this paper is to study algebraically the properties of this version of cyclic homology. First we study its relation to Connes cyclic cohomology theory HC ^* and to the usual cyclic homology theory HC _* studied by Loday and Quillen in [15]. We explain the precise sense in which HC _* ^– is dual to HC ^*. Next we study products and describe a general method for constructing product operations in cyclic homology and cohomology theories. Finally we examine the relation between the theory HC _* ^– and algebraic K-theory.     

Persistent spectral hole‐burning study on dendrimer porphyrins

We report the first results of persistent spectral hole burning of dendrimer porphyrins having three‐, four‐, or five‐layered aryl ether dendritic arrays. We evaluate structural relaxations of dendrimer framework around the porphyrin core at low temperatures. A large environmental change around the porphyrin core, as evaluated from the hole area, was suppressed in dendrimer porphyrins of higher generation numbers, whereas a small environmental change, as evaluated from hole width, showed no dependence on the number of generations. The dendrimer porphyrins showed sharp holes at 20 K, suggesting a long dephasing time and the suppression of spontaneous spectral diffusion. The results of dendrimer‐embedded polymer sample indicated that the structural relaxation of polymer chain outside the dendrimer does not have an influence on the resonant frequency of the porphyrin core. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 40: 210–215, 2002     

Modeling the interactions of a peptide-major histocompatibility class I ligand with its receptors. II. Cross-reaction between a monoclonal antibody and two αβ T cell receptors

The recombinant antibody, pSAN13.4.1, has a unique T cell like specificity; it binds an Influenza Hemagglutinin octapeptide (Ha_255–262) in an MHC (H-2K^k)-restricted manner, and a detailed comparison of the fine specificity of pSAN13.4.1 with the fine specificity of two Ha_255–262-specific, H-2K^k-restricted T cell hybridomas has supported this contention. A three-dimensional model of pSAN13.4.1 has been derived by homology modeling techniques. Subsequently, the structure of the pSAN13.4.1 antibody in complex with the antigenic Ha-K^k ligand was derived after a flexible and automated docking of the MHC-peptide pair into the Fab combining site. Interestingly, the most energetically favored binding mode shows numerous analogies to the recently determined recognition of class I MHC-peptide complexes by T cell receptors (TCRs). The pSAN13.4.1 also binds diagonally across the MHC binding groove but is more deeply anchored to the peptide-MHC (pep/MHC) ligand than TCRs, notably through numerous interactions of its heavy chain. The present model accounts well for the experimentally determined binding affinity of a set of 144 single amino acid substituted Ha analogues and the observed shared specificity between the pSAN antibody and two different T cell receptors for the Ha-K^k antigenic ligand. Analogies and differences between Fab and TCR recognition are explained by dissecting the binding role of each chain of the immune receptors as well as the contribution of all peptide amino acids.     

SVM-BALSA: remote homology detection based on Bayesian sequence alignment

Biopolymer sequence comparison to identify evolutionarily related proteins, or homologs, is one of the most common tasks in bioinformatics. Support vector machines (SVMs) represent a new approach to the problem in which statistical learning theory is employed to classify proteins into families, thus identifying homologous relationships. Current SVM approaches have been shown to outperform iterative profile methods, such as PSI-BLAST, for protein homology classification. In this study, we demonstrate that the utilization of a Bayesian alignment score, which accounts for the uncertainty of all possible alignments, in the SVM construction improves sensitivity compared to the traditional dynamic programming implementation over a benchmark dataset consisting of 54 unique protein families. The SVM-BALSA algorithms returns a higher area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for 37 of the 54 families and achieves an improved overall performance curve at a significance level of 0.07.     

Mechanistic insights into oxidosqualene cyclizations through homology modeling

2,3-Oxidosqualene cyclases (OSC) are key enzymes in sterol biosynthesis. They catalyze the stereoselective cyclization and skeletal rearrangement of (3S)-2,3-oxidosqualene to lanosterol in mammals and fungi and to cycloartenol in algae and higher plants. Sequence information and proposed mechanism of 2,3-oxidosqualene cyclases are closely related to those of squalene-hopene cyclases (SHC), which represent functional analogs of OSCs in bacteria. SHCs catalyze the cationic cyclization cascade converting the linear triterpene squalene to fused ring compounds called hopanoids. High stereoselectivity and precision of the skeletal rearrangements has aroused the interest of researchers for nearly half a century, and valuable data on studying mechanistic details in the complex enzyme-catalyzed cyclization cascade has been collected. Today, interest in cyclases is still unbroken, because OSCs became targets for the development of antifungal and hypocholesterolemic drugs. However, due to the large size and membrane-bound nature of OSCs, three-dimensional structural information is still not available, thus preventing a complete understanding of the atomic details of the catalytic mechanism. In this work, we discuss results gained from homology modeling of human OSC based on structural information of SHC from Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius and propose a structural model of human OSC. The model is in accordance with previously performed experimental studies with mechanism-based suicide inhibitors and mutagenesis experiments with altered activity and product specificity. Structural insight should strongly stimulate structure-based design of antifungal or cholesterol-lowering drugs.     

Energy generation by methanation of persistent wastes

A 15-L anaerobic fixed-film reactor (AFFR) was evaluated for treating a trade effluent containing inhibitory concentrations of persistent branched-chain fatty acids, namely 2-ethylhexanoic acid (2-EHA) and neopentanoic acid (NPA), at a total of 17,000 mg COD/L. The AFFR was packed with fire-expanded clay spheres, and start-up was accomplished in 60 d. The organic load was increased in steps from 1.1 to 8.5 g COD/L/d. Total COD, 2-EHA, and NPA removal efficiencies were maintained above 70, 98, and 75%, respectively. The reactor could recover from a shock load of 150% increase in organic load. Combined mechanisms of organic adsorption and biodegradation rendered the AFFR more stable with shock loads. Mathane gas produced from the process could be used for preheating the effluent.     

Conformational changes of DNA molecules in interactions with bioactive compounds. I. Influence of metal ions on the conformation of DNA molecules in solution

The influence of metal ions of different valence on the conformation of DNA molecule in solution has been studied. The influence of concentration and charge of counterions on the volume, persistent length and secondary structure of the macromolecules was analyzed. An assessment of the permeability of DNA coil for the solvent at different values of ionic strength of the solution was made. The state of the DNA molecule in solutions with high ionic strengths, when the presence of certain ions causes sharp changes in optical anisotropy of the macromolecule, is considered in detail.