A relativistic density functional study of gaseous uranium tetrahalides

The molecular structures and vibrational frequencies of gaseous UX₄ (X = F, Cl, Br and I) molecules have been investigated using generalized gradient approximation (GGA) functions (BP, BLYP, PBE and RPBE) with triple-zeta polarized (TZP) basis set. Scalar relativistic effects are introduced via the zeroth-order regular approximation (ZORA) approach to the Dirac equation in the present study. Of the methods examined here the RPBE has the best performance in terms of the errors compared with experiment and reference for the vibrational frequencies. The bond dissociation energies (BDE) for U–X bonds in the UX₄ were obtained using the RPBE method, and are in good agreement with experimental values. In addition, satisfactory calculated entropies of UX₄ have also been obtained at temperatures ranging from 600 to 1200 K in 50 steps using the same method.     

Exploring the Parallel G-Quadruplex Nucleic Acid World: A Spectroscopic and Computational Investigation on the Binding of the c-myc Oncogene NHE III1 Region by the Phytochemical Polydatin

Trans-polydatin (tPD), the 3-β-D-glucoside of the well-known nutraceutical trans-resveratrol, is a natural polyphenol with documented anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective, and immunoregulatory effects. Considering the anticancer activity of tPD, in this work, we aimed to explore the binding properties of this natural compound with the G-quadruplex (G4) structure formed by the Pu22 [d(TGAGGGTGGGTAGGGTGGGTAA)] DNA sequence by exploiting CD spectroscopy and molecular docking simulations. Pu22 is a mutated and shorter analog of the G4-forming sequence known as Pu27 located in the promoter of the c-myc oncogene, whose overexpression triggers the metabolic changes responsible for cancer cells transformation. The binding of tPD with the parallel Pu22 G4 was confirmed by CD spectroscopy, which showed significant changes in the CD spectrum of the DNA and a slight thermal stabilization of the G4 structure. To gain a deeper insight into the structural features of the tPD-Pu22 complex, we performed an in silico molecular docking study, which indicated that the interaction of tPD with Pu22 G4 may involve partial end-stacking to the terminal G-quartet and H-bonding interactions between the sugar moiety of the ligand and deoxynucleotides not included in the G-tetrads. Finally, we compared the experimental CD profiles of Pu22 G4 with the corresponding theoretical output obtained using DichroCalc, a web-based server normally used for the prediction of proteins’ CD spectra starting from their “.pdb” file. The results indicated a good agreement between the predicted and the experimental CD spectra in terms of the spectral bands’ profile even if with a slight bathochromic shift in the positive band, suggesting the utility of this predictive tool for G4 DNA CD investigations.     

微波放电解离氯分子解离效率的测量

以Cl/Cl2/HN3/He为基础的NCl(a1Δ)/I作为一种化学激光新的体系,氯原子产生的多少对该体系的研究是至关重要的。利用滴定法研究了微波解离氯分子的解离效率。用HN3/He滴定Cl,由光学多通道分析仪监测NCl(a1Δ)和NCl(b1Σ)辐射的荧光。发现微波解离氯分子的效率并不是想象的那样低,在较小的氯流量下,最高的解离效率可以达到100％。     

串联组装双C60 的电子结构和输运特性

利用第一原理密度泛函理论计算组装C60形成能和电子结构,用半经典隧穿理论研究了串联C60的电子输运特性。结果显示：六边形对六边形双C60比边对边双C60稳定;库仑阻塞与系统的结构密切相关,并且只有阴极结比阳极结窄时,才会出现库仑阻塞;低温时出现非常明显库仑台阶,温度较高时其被热效应抑制。     

Hcp-icosahedron structural transformation induced by the change in Ag concentration during the freezing of （CoAg）561 clusters

The synergy effect of alloy elements in bimetallic clusters can be used to tune the chemical and physical properties. Research on the influences of alloy concentration and distribution on the frozen structure of bimetallic clusters plays a key rolc in exploring new structural materials. In this paper, we study the influence of Ag concentration on the frozen structure of the （AgCo）561 cluster by using molecular dynamics simulation with a general embedded atom method. The results indicate that tt~e structure and chemical ordering of the （AgCo）561 cluster are strongly related to Ag concentration. Hcp-icosahedron structural transformation in the frozen （CoAg）561 cluster can be induced by changing Ag concentration. The chemical ordering also transforms to Janus-like Co Ag from core-shell Co-Ag.     

SPONTANEOUS TRANSFORMATIONS OF NANOCLUSTERS

It is well-known that nano-systems can have properties which are distinctly different from macroscopic systems. In this study we point out the following specific behaviour: if the particle number is decreased so that the size of the system is in the nanometer-realm, new effects emerge which reflect certain features of biological systems although the system is inorganic in nature. This behaviour is shown by realistic molecular dynamics calculations in connection with aluminum-nanoclusters at various temperatures. The clusters can transform without external influence from a metastable into a stable state, and there can be more than one stable state, that is, we observe a bifurcation in the sense of chaos-theory. The stable states can differ in both the atomic structure and the outer shape.     

Synthesis and molecular docking of some new bis-thiadiazoles as anti-hypertensive α-blocking agents

Abstract

Twelve bis-thiadiazole derivatives were synthesized in high yield via the reaction of 2,2′-terephthaloyl bis(N-phenylhydrazine carbothioamide) with a variety of hydrazonoyl chlorides in ethanol containing catalytic amounts of TEA. All the newly synthesized compounds were characterized by physical and chemical tools (FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and Mass spectrometry). Moreover, all the novel synthesized derivatives were screened for their antihypertensive α-blocking efficacy against to assess their pharmaceutical significance. The encouraging promising results obtained from antihypertensive α-blocking activity studies on the newly synthesized derivatives make the synthesis of a new series of these compounds and studying of their pharmaceutical importance an active area for more and more investigations. The molecular docking of the most active derivative 15?b against the human dopamine D3 receptor was performed by the Molecular Operating Environment (MOE 2014. 0901) program.     

Multiple Keys for a Single Lock: The Unusual Structural Plasticity of the Nucleotidyltransferase (4′)/Kanamycin Complex

The most common mode of bacterial resistance to aminoglycoside antibiotics is the enzyme‐catalysed chemical modification of the drug. Over the last two decades, significant efforts in medicinal chemistry have been focused on the design of non‐ inactivable antibiotics. Unfortunately, this strategy has met with limited success on account of the remarkably wide substrate specificity of aminoglycoside‐modifying enzymes. To understand the mechanisms behind substrate promiscuity, we have performed a comprehensive experimental and theoretical analysis of the molecular‐recognition processes that lead to antibiotic inactivation by Staphylococcus aureus nucleotidyltransferase 4′(ANT(4′)), a clinically relevant protein. According to our results, the ability of this enzyme to inactivate structurally diverse polycationic molecules relies on three specific features of the catalytic region. First, the dominant role of electrostatics in aminoglycoside recognition, in combination with the significant extension of the enzyme anionic regions, confers to the protein/antibiotic complex a highly dynamic character. The motion deduced for the bound antibiotic seem to be essential for the enzyme action and probably provide a mechanism to explore alternative drug inactivation modes. Second, the nucleotide recognition is exclusively mediated by the inorganic fragment. In fact, even inorganic triphosphate can be employed as a substrate. Third, ANT(4′) seems to be equipped with a duplicated basic catalyst that is able to promote drug inactivation through different reactive geometries. This particular combination of features explains the enzyme versatility and renders the design of non‐inactivable derivatives a challenging task.     

Effect of Vacancy Defects on the Young's Modulus and Fracture Strength of Graphene: A Molecular Dynamics Study

The Young's modulus of graphene with various rectangular and circular vacancy defects is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. By comparing with the results calculated from an effective spring model, it is demonstrated that the Young's modulus of graphene is largely correlated to the size of vacancy defects perpendicular to the stretching direction. And a linear reduction of Young's modulus with the increasing concentration of mono‐atomic‐vacancy defects (i.e., the slope of ?0.03) is also observed. The fracture behavior of graphene, including the fracture strength, crack initiation and propagation are then studied by the molecular dynamics simulation, the effective spring model, and the quantized fracture mechanics. The blunting effect of vacancy edges is demonstrated, and the characterized crack tip radius of 4.44 Å is observed.