The combinatorial game Nofil played on Steiner triple systems

We introduce an impartial combinatorial game on Steiner triple systems called Next One to Fill Is the Loser (Nofil ). Players move alternately, choosing points of the triple system. If a player is forced to fill a block on their turn, they lose. By computing nim-values, we determine optimal strategies for Nofil on all Steiner triple systems up to order 15 and a sampling for orders 19, 21 and 25. The game Nofil can be thought of in terms of play on a corresponding hypergraph which will become a graph during play. At that point Nofil is equivalent to playing the game Node Kayles on the graph. We prove necessary conditions and sufficient conditions for a graph to reached playing Nofil. We conclude that the complexity of determining the outcome of the game Nofil on Steiner triple systems is PSPACE-complete for randomized reductions.     

Synthesis of stable and cell-type selective analogues of cyclic ADP-ribose, a Ca(2+)-mobilizing second messenger. Structure--activity relationship of the N1-ribose moiety

We previously developed cyclic ADP-carbocyclic ribose (cADPcR, 2) as a stable mimic of cyclic ADP-ribose (cADPR, 1), a Ca(2+)-mobilizing second messenger. A series of the N1-ribose modified cADPcR analogues, designed as novel stable mimics of cADPR, which were the 2"-deoxy analogue 3, the 3"-deoxy analogue 4, the 3"-deoxy-2"-O-(methoxymethyl) analogue 5, the 3"-O-methyl analogue 6, the 2",3"-dideoxy analogue 7, and the 2",3"-dideoxydidehydro analogue 8, were successfully synthesized using the key intramolecular condensation reaction with phenylthiophosphate-type substrates. We investigated the conformations of these analogues and of cADPR and found that steric repulsion between both the adenine and N9-ribose moieties and between the adenine and N1-ribose moieties was a determinant of the conformation. The Ca(2+)-mobilizing effects were evaluated systematically using three different biological systems, i.e., sea urchin eggs, NG108-15 neuronal cells, and Jurkat T-lymphocytes. The relative potency of Ca(2+)-mobilization by these cADPR analogues varies depending on the cell-type used: e.g., 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) > cADPcR (2) > cADPR (1) in sea urchin eggs; cADPR (1) > cADPcR (2) approximately 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) in T-cells; and cADPcR (2) > cADPR (1) > 3"-deoxy-cADPcR (4) in neuronal cells, respectively. These indicated that the target proteins and/or the mechanism of action of cADPR in sea urchin eggs, T-cells, and neuronal cells are different. Thus, this study represents an entry to cell-type selective cADPR analogues, which can be used as biological tools and/or novel drug leads.     

On the splitting of the CO 1π level in the chemisorption system CO/Ni(111): substrate or lateral interaction?

LCGTO Xα model cluster calculations have been carried out to rationalize the shape of the CO 1π band of the chemisorption system CO/Ni(111) observed in angular resolved photoemission. The splitting induced by substrate interaction at twofold bridging sites (0.4 eV) is much smaller than the value deduced from experiment (1.2 eV). From calculations on (CO) _n clusters lateral adsorbate interaction is estimated to cause a sizable broadening of the 1π band (1.2eV, in satisfactory agreement with experiment), but essentially no splitting (?0.1 eV). Therefore, rehybridisation due to local interaction does not seem to suffice as an explanation for the observed shape of the CO 1π band.     

About the fluorine chemistry in MCVD: The mechanism of fluorine incorporation into SiO2 layers

Fluorine incorporation during the deposition of silica layers is studied under MCVD conditions using C₂F₃Cl₃ as fluorine source. The experimental results are compared with known models of the incorporation mechanism. It is found that a gas/solid equilibrium during the consolidation step determines the final fluorine content of the layers.