Surfactant-induced amorphous aggregation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein: a physical methods approach

The interactions of non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100 and the coat protein of tobacco mosaic virus, which is an established model for both ordered and non-ordered protein aggregation, were studied using turbidimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, isothermal titration calorimetry, and dynamic light scattering. It was found that at the critical aggregation concentration (equal to critical micelle concentration) of 138 x 10(-6) M, Triton X-100 induces partial denaturation of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein molecules followed by protein amorphous aggregation. Protein aggregation has profound ionic strength dependence and proceeds due to hydrophobic sticking of surfactant-protein complexes (start aggregates) with initial radii of 46 nm. It has been suggested that the anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate forms mixed micelles with Triton X-100 and therefore reverses protein amorphous aggregation with release of protein molecules from the amorphous aggregates. A stoichiometric ratio of 5 was found for Triton X-100-sodium dodecyl sulfate interactions.     

Numerical techniques for finding equilibrium in von Neumann’s model

Numerical methods for finding an equilibrium position in von Neumann’s multisector economy model are proposed. They can be implemented using computers with floating-point arithmetic. The proposed methods are based on reducing the problem to solving the corresponding matrix games.     

砷化镓光阴极直流高压注入器研究进展

主要介绍自由电子激光相干强太赫兹源（FEL-THz）装置上的砷化镓光阴极直流高压注入器的研究进展,并讨论其驱动未来高重复频率短波长自由电子激光器的差距。通过综合砷化镓阴极寿命的三大影响因素,提出了其工作寿命的定性物理模型;通过该模型对阴极和注入器进行优化,在直流高压电子枪上得到了5 mA, 32 min的连续稳定输出;测量了电子束在4.8 mA下归一化发射度约为4.0 mmmrad,阴极热发射度约为0.6 mmmrad,电子束本征横向能量约为92 meV,250 keV电子束在距离阴极90.6 cm处纵向均方根长度约为11.5 ps。这一束流状态已经基本满足FEL-THz需求。     

Analysis of the error of a direct algorithm for determining the distance to an electric dipole

We present an algorithm for combined processing of the vertical and horizontal components of electric and magnetic fields, respectively, which allows us to determine the distance to an equivalent dipole source of electromagnetic radiation. We have found the dependence of mathematical expectation and variance of the distance determination error on the source spectrum and transfer function of the input filter. The estimates for the particular case corresponding to the averaged source of lightning discharges indicate the possibility of using the algorithm under study in systems for locating the lightning centers and allow us to develop the requirements for hardware of such systems. We propose data on the program complex for the system used to locate the lightning centers. Chelyabinsk State Technical University, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 266–277, February 1999.     

Shape resonances in slow electron scattering by aromatic molecules. I. Anthraquinone derivatives

A series of anthraquinone (C(14)O(2)H(8)) derivatives has been studied by means of electron capture negative ion mass spectrometry (ECNI-MS), photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), and AM1 quantum chemical calculations. Mean lifetimes of molecular negative ions M(-.) (MNI) have been measured. The mechanism of long-lived MNI formation in the epithermal energy region of incident electrons has been investigated. A simple model of a molecule (a spherical potential well with the repulsive centrifugal term) has been applied for the analysis of the energy dependence of cross sections at the first stage of the electron capture process. It has been shown that a temporary resonance of MNI at the energy approximately 0.5 eV corresponds to a shape resonance with lifetime 1-2.10(-13) s in the f-partial wave (l = 3) of the incident electron. The next resonant state of MNI at the energy approximately 1.7 eV has been associated with the electron excited Feshbach resonance (whose parent state is a triplet npi* transition). In all cases the initial electron state of the MNI relaxes into the ground state by means of a radiationless transition, and the final state of the MNI is a nuclear excited resonance with a lifetime measurable on the mass spectrometry timescale. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal fluctuations of elastic filaments with spontaneous curvature and torsion

We study the effects of thermal fluctuations on thin elastic filaments with spontaneous curvature and torsion. We derive analytical expressions for the orientational correlation functions and for the persistence length of helices and find that this length varies nonmonotonically with the strength of thermal fluctuations. In the weak fluctuation regime, the persistence length of a spontaneously twisted helix has three resonance peaks as a function of the twist rate. In the limit of strong fluctuations, all memory of the helical shape is lost.     

Domain-like magnetic structure in superconductors of ErRh4B4 and HoMo6S8 type

The problem of the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetic order is studied by taking into account the indirect exchange interaction, magnetic dipolar interaction and magnetic anisotropy. It is shown that the domain-like magnetic structure should be realized in the superconducting phases of ErRh₄B₄ and HoMo₆S₈ at the temperatures T_m = 1.4 and 0.7 K respectively. The transition from superconducting domain-like phase (DS) to the normal ferromagnetic (FN) state is described.