Structural and Functional Analysis of the Pyridoxal Phosphate Homeostasis Protein YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum

Pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) is the active form of vitamin B6, but it is highly reactive and poisonous in its free form. YggS is a PLP-binding protein found in bacteria and humans that mediates PLP homeostasis by delivering PLP to target enzymes or by performing a protective function. Several biochemical and structural studies of YggS have been reported, but the mechanism by which YggS recognizes PLP has not been fully elucidated. Here, we report a functional and structural analysis of YggS from Fusobacterium nucleatum (FnYggS). The PLP molecule could bind to native FnYggS, but no PLP binding was observed for selenomethionine (SeMet)-derivatized FnYggS. The crystal structure of FnYggS showed a type III TIM barrel fold, exhibiting structural homology with several other PLP-dependent enzymes. Although FnYggS exhibited low (<35%) amino acid sequence similarity with previously studied YggS proteins, its overall structure and PLP-binding site were highly conserved. In the PLP-binding site of FnYggS, the sulfate ion was coordinated by the conserved residues Ser201, Gly218, and Thr219, which were positioned to provide the binding moiety for the phosphate group of PLP. The mutagenesis study showed that the conserved Ser201 residue in FnYggS was the key residue for PLP binding. These results will expand the knowledge of the molecular properties and function of the YggS family.     

立方氮化硼单晶紫外吸收光谱的研究

对于在高温、高压下合成的人工立方氮化硼(cBN)片状单晶进行了紫外吸收光谱和第一性原理的能带结构研究。实验中采用了UV WINLAB光谱分析仪,数据分析由MOLECULAR SPECTROSCOPY软件进行拟合运算,通过特殊的石英夹具对样品的测试表明cBN的紫外吸收波长限为198 nm,带隙为6.26 eV。结合第一性原理计算的cBN的能带结构和电子态密度的计算,可以证实导致紫外光吸收的过程是价带电子吸收光子到导带的间接跃迁。文章实验结果与目前报道的cBN能带结构中禁带宽度的吻合较好,表明cBN具有良好的紫外特性,是一种具有发展前景的紫外光电和高温半导体器件材料。     

矿化剂浓度和温度对水热法合成氧化锌晶体形态的影响

采用水热法，通过改变矿化剂浓度和温度合成了具有不同形态的氧化锌晶体。在较低的温度(350℃)，填充度为35％。矿化剂KOH浓度小于2mol／L时，只合成了氧化锌微晶。当矿化剂KOH浓度大于3mol/L时，合成出多种形态氧化锌晶体，大的晶体达到几十到几百微米，小晶体仅几微米。当矿化剂KOH浓度从4mol／L增加到5mol／L时，晶体的大小没有明显改变。在高矿化剂条件下合成的晶体显露完整的晶面结构，主要显露柱面m{1010}、锥面p{1011}、负极面O面{0001}，有时也显露Zn面{0001}。晶体表面出现斑坑，显示出晶体的表面缺陷。在430℃，填充度为35％，矿化剂KOH浓度大于1．5moL／L时。合成了多种形态氧化锌晶体，大晶体有几十到几百微米，小晶体仅几微米。当矿化剂KOH浓度为2mol／L，KBr浓度为lmol/L时，最大晶体的长度达到1mm。矿化剂KOH浓度为4mol/L时，晶体没有增大。粒度较大的氧化锌晶体形状多为六棱锥体，显露柱面m{1010}、锥面p{1011}、负极面O面{0001}。晶体表面光滑，完整性好。质量高于350℃时合成的晶体。     

Preparation of CdO nanoparticles by mechanochemical reaction

CdO nanoparticles of 43 nm in crystal size were successfully synthesized by the mechanochemical reaction (CdCl₂ + Na₂CO₃) with NaCl as a diluent and subsequent thermal treatment at 700°C for 2 h. The samples were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Effect of calcination temperature on the crystal size of CdO nanoparticles was primarily investigated. The apparent activation energy of CdO nanoparticle formation during thermal treatment was calculated to be 12.2 kJ/mol.     

Crystal Structure and Excimer Fluorescence of Some Benzoylacetonatoboron Difluorides: Stacking Factor

The comparative study of the crystal structures of benzoylacetonato- (1), p-toluylacetonato- (2) and p-ethylbenzoylacetonatoboron (3) difluoride was carried out. Correlation of the luminescence properties of the complexes 1–3 and their crystal structures was revealed. The excimer formation in these compounds occurred the most efficiently for the complexes 1 characterized by the formation of stacks of molecules, unlike the complex 3, where individual dimers behaved as excimer-forming centers. The maximal fluorescence intensity was observed for the complex 2, which had the highest structural ordering.     

纳米晶聚合物复合薄膜PbTiO3-PEK-c的电光特性及其弛豫过程的研究

制备了掺杂型纳米晶聚合物钛酸铅聚醚醚酮 (PbTiO3 PEK c)复合薄膜 ,采用简单透射技术测量了该复合薄膜的线性电光系数 ,并研究了该复合薄膜的电光特性的弛豫过程     

The formation of biaxial nematic phases in binary mixtures of thermotropic liquid-crystals composed of uniaxial molecules

ABSTRACT

Monte Carlo simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble are used to investigate the formation of an ordered, biaxial nematic phase in a binary mixture of thermotropic liquid crystals. The orientational dependence of the interaction between molecules of each pure component is the same as in the well-known Maier-Saupe model; each pure component of the mixture is therefore capable of forming a uniaxial nematic phase. For the interaction between molecules of different components, we use the same Maier-Saupe model but change the sign of the coupling constant. As a consequence a T-shaped arrangement of these molecules is energetically favoured. The formation of the biaxial phase occurs in two steps. At higher temperatures T, one of the components forms a uniaxial nematic phase whereas the other is in a quasi two-dimensional restricted isotropic liquid state. We develop a simple theoretical model to understand the high degree of (ostensible) nematic order in the latter. At lower T, the second component becomes nematic and then the entire mixture of the two compounds has biaxial symmetry. The biaxial nematic phase does not demix into domains rich in molecules of one or the other species.     

Influences of nanoparticles and chain length on thermodynamic and electrical behavior of fluorine liquid crystals

Hydrogen-bonded polar nematic liquid crystal series with the general formula nOBAF (n = 7—12) is studied. The mesomorphic characterization is demonstrated through differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy (POM). The complexes with short alkyl chains (n=7, 8) present a wide nematic range and monotropic smectic F mesophase, whereas the longer alkyl chain (n=10—12) analogues show high melting and low clearing mesomorphic liquid crystals. The thermal range of the mesophase and the birefringence increase with chain length decreasing. Furthermore, the effect of the nanoparticles (LiNbO₃) on the thermal and the electrical behavior of 8OBAF are investigated. The presence of LiNbO₃ nanoparticles increases the conductivity and reduces the resistivity of the complex.     

High sensitivity dual core photonic crystal fiber sensor for simultaneous detection of two samples

The optical control ability of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is a distinctive property suitable for improving sensing and plasma performance. This article proposes a dual-core D-channel PCF sensor that can detect two samples simultaneously, which effectively solves the problems of coating difficulty and low wavelength sensitivity. The PCF has four layers of air holes, which dramatically reduces the optical fiber loss and is more conducive to the application of sensors in actual production. In addition, by introducing dual cores on the upper and lower sides of the central air hole, reducing the spacing between the core and the gold nanolayer, a stronger evanescent field can be generated in the cladding air hole. The optical fiber sensor can detect the refractive index of two samples simultaneously with a maximum sensitivity of 21300 nm/RIU. To the best of our knowledge, the sensitivity achieved in this work is the highest sensitivity with the dual sample synchronous detection sensors. The detection range of the refraction index is 1.35-1.41, and the resolution of the sensor is 4.695×10^-6. Overall, the sensor will be suitable for medical detection, organic chemical sensing, analyte detection, and other fields.     

Tunable and highly sensitive temperature sensor based on graphene photonic crystal fiber

Optical fiber temperature sensors have been widely employed in enormous areas ranging from electric power industry, medical treatment, ocean dynamics to aerospace. Recently, graphene optical fiber temperature sensors attract tremendous attention for their merits of simple structure and direct power detecting ability. However, these sensors based on transfer techniques still have limitations in the relatively low sensitivity or distortion of the transmission characteristics, due to the unsuitable Fermi level of graphene and the destruction of fiber structure, respectively. Here, we propose a tunable and highly sensitive temperature sensor based on graphene photonic crystal fiber (Gr-PCF) with the non-destructive integration of graphene into the holes of PCF. This hybrid structure promises the intact fiber structure and transmission mode, which efficiently enhances the temperature detection ability of graphene. From our simulation, we find that the temperature sensitivity can be electrically tuned over four orders of magnitude and achieve up to ～ 3.34×10^-3 dB/(cm·℃) when the graphene Fermi level is ～ 35 meV higher than half the incident photon energy. Additionally, this sensitivity can be further improved by ～ 10 times through optimizing the PCF structure (such as the fiber hole diameter) to enhance the light-matter interaction. Our results provide a new way for the design of the highly sensitive temperature sensors and broaden applications in all-fiber optoelectronic devices.