Investigating the Disordered and Membrane-Active Peptide A-Cage-C Using Conformational Ensembles

The driving forces and conformational pathways leading to amphitropic protein-membrane binding and in some cases also to protein misfolding and aggregation is the subject of intensive research. In this study, a chimeric polypeptide, A-Cage-C, derived from α-Lactalbumin is investigated with the aim of elucidating conformational changes promoting interaction with bilayers. From previous studies, it is known that A-Cage-C causes membrane leakages associated with the sporadic formation of amorphous aggregates on solid-supported bilayers. Here we express and purify double-labelled A-Cage-C and prepare partially deuterated bicelles as a membrane mimicking system. We investigate A-Cage-C in the presence and absence of these bicelles at non-binding (pH 7.0) and binding (pH 4.5) conditions. Using in silico analyses, NMR, conformational clustering, and Molecular Dynamics, we provide tentative insights into the conformations of bound and unbound A-Cage-C. The conformation of each state is dynamic and samples a large amount of overlapping conformational space. We identify one of the clusters as likely representing the binding conformation and conclude tentatively that the unfolding around the central W23 segment and its reorientation may be necessary for full intercalation at binding conditions (pH 4.5). We also see evidence for an overall elongation of A-Cage-C in the presence of model bilayers.     

单壁碳纳米管上毒性苯气体净化的分子模拟(英文)

采用巨正则系综蒙特卡罗(GCMC)方法研究了空气中微量苯组分在单臂碳纳米管(SWNTs)上的吸附净化.模拟表明,具有较大孔径的(20,20)纳米管比较适合吸附纯苯蒸汽,而对于移除空气中的毒性苯物质,苯的吸附选择性分别在(12,12)纳米管及4.0 MPa时和(18,18)纳米管及0.1 MPa时出现最小值和最大值.为了解释这一异常行为,我们进一步分析了N2-O2-C6H6混合物的局部密度分布、吸附分子构型和概率密度分布,发现(18,18)纳米管内外完全被苯分子占据,而对于(12,12)纳米管,由于存在更强的吸附质-吸附剂相互作用,空气分子更倾向于吸附在管与管之间的间隙.此外,吸附分子的空间有序参数表明大多数苯分子采取"平躺"在纳米管表面的定位,而线性的N2和O2分子则多数平行于孔轴方向.最后研究了温度和苯分子主体相浓度对分离效果的影响.我们发现较大孔中的选择性随着温度的增加比小孔下降更加明显.与此对比,主体相苯浓度对小孔中的选择性起到更加重要的作用.     

基于二阶段异质随机森林的汽油辛烷值预测

构建了基于二阶段异质随机森林的汽油辛烷值预测模型.首先利用样本-位点信息表知识约简模型,筛选出对汽油辛烷值影响大的位点数据作为第一阶段;然后,利用集成学习思想集成支持向量回归和动态时间序列神经网络,构建异质随机森林预测模型作为第二阶段.利用十折交叉法验证模型精度,结果表明该集成学习算法具有有效性和高精度.     

基于CEEMD的重大事件对香港住宅价格影响的实证分析

应用互补集成经验模态分解（CEEMD）方法对香港1997―2018年的住宅价格月度数据进行了分解,将经过重构后的数据分成高频序列、低频序列与残差项。将BP多断点检测应用于低频序列,并结合样本时段内的重大事件进行实证分析。结果表明：1997年亚洲金融风暴对房价的影响大于2008年金融危机;外部经济体的救市政策间接地影响香港房价;在经济不景气的大环境下“孙九招”政策没有立即见效;资本投资者入境计划、住房供给调整与按揭贷款调整对房价的影响较为显著;税收调整对房价影响不显著、对交易量影响显著;SARS爆发使住宅价格下降约1%。     

气体混合物各组分化学势的Monte Carlo模拟

在则系综测试粒子Ｍｏｎｔｅ Ｃａｒｌｏ （ＧＣＭＣ）方法模拟常温下空气（以氮气为代表）及其污染物微量有机物（以苯为例）的混合物中各组分的化学势。模拟中,氮气和苯分子采用ＬＪ球型分子势能模型,采用Ｍｅｔｒｏｐｏｌｉｓ抽样及周期边界条件。通过模拟并拟合得到了３００．２Ｋ、苯的摩尔分数为０．０６２５,氮气及苯化学势与压力的关联式,以用于狭缝碳孔中该混合物体系的选择性吸附。     

Monte Carlo NPT系综法模拟考察几种水模型

应用NPT系综法模拟考察了五种水的势能模型 .模拟中采用周期边界条件、Metropolis抽样方法 ,并用Ewald方法对水分子间电荷作用进行长程校正 .模拟计算了内能 ,密度 ,压力及恒压热容等性质 .同时 ,还对这五种模型模拟得到的径向分布函数作了分析 .结果与文献及实验测定相比符合较好     

Ensemble Approach for Detection of Depression Using EEG Features

Depression is a public health issue that severely affects one’s well being and can cause negative social and economic effects to society. To raise awareness of these problems, this research aims at determining whether the long-lasting effects of depression can be determined from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. The article contains an accuracy comparison for SVM, LDA, NB, kNN, and D3 binary classifiers, which were trained using linear (relative band power, alpha power variability, spectral asymmetry index) and nonlinear (Higuchi fractal dimension, Lempel–Ziv complexity, detrended fluctuation analysis) EEG features. The age- and gender-matched dataset consisted of 10 healthy subjects and 10 subjects diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. Most of the proposed feature selection and classifier combinations achieved accuracy in the range of 80% to 95%, and all the models were evaluated using a 10-fold cross-validation. The results showed that the motioned EEG features used in classifying ongoing depression also work for classifying the long-lasting effects of depression.     

Extension of the GHJW theorem for operator ensembles

The Gisin-Hughston-Jozsa-Wootters theorem plays an important role in analyzing various theories about quantum information, quantum communication, and quantum cryptography. It means that any purifications on the extended system which yield indistinguishable state ensembles on their subsystem should have a specific local unitary relation. In this Letter, we show that the local relation is also established even when the indistinguishability of state ensembles is extended to that of operator ensembles.     

Phase dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates: Losses versus revivals

In the absence of losses the phase of a Bose-Einstein condensate undergoes collapses and revivals in time due to elastic atomic interactions. As experiments necessarily involve inelastic collisions, we develop a model to describe the phase dynamics of the condensates in presence of collisional losses. We find that a few inelastic processes are sufficient to damp the revivals of the phase. For this reason the observability of phase revivals for present experimental conditions is limited to condensates with a few hundreds of atoms. Received: 23 February 1998 / Revised: 21 July 1998 / Accepted: 23 July 1998