Glycosylation sites of hemocyanins of Helix pomatia and Sepia officinalis

Glycopeptides were isolated from functional units of two molluscan hemocyanins (Hcs). They were analyzed and localized in the sequences. A comparison with potential N-glycosylation sites of two other molluscan Hcs was made. An immunological cross-reactivity was observed between the beta-Hc and the alpha-macroglobulin of Helix pomotia. ELISA experiments with glycopeptide fractions indicated a competition.     

Novel spiroannulated 3-benzofuranones. Synthesis and inhibition of the human peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase Pin1

The novel 3H-spiro[1-benzofuran-2-cyclopentan]-3-one skeleton has been made accessible by different routes. One- and two-step protocols lead to tricyclic and tetracyclic benzofuranones 2 and 3, respectively. A four-step synthesis to spirocompound 4 is described. The novel spirocyclic benzofuranones display modest to no inhibition of the human peptidyl prolyl cis/trans isomerase Pin1.     

Bias-stress effects in organic field-effect transistors based on self-assembled monolayer nanodielectrics

The electrical stability of low-voltage organic transistors based on phosphonic acid self-assembled monolayer (SAM) dielectrics is investigated using four different semiconductors. The threshold voltage shift in these devices shows a stretched-exponential time dependence under continuous gate bias with a relaxation time in the range of 10(3)-10(5) s, at room temperature. Differences in the bias instability of transistors based on different self-assembled monolayers and organic semiconductors suggest that charge trapping into localized states in the semiconductor is not the only mechanism responsible for the observed instability. By applying 1-5 s long programming voltage pulses of 2-3 V in amplitude, a large reversible threshold voltage shift can be produced. The retention time of the programmed state was measured to be on the order of 30 h. The combination of low voltage operation and relatively long retention times makes these devices interesting for ultra-low power memory applications.     

Scattering of a plane wave by one-dimensional dielectric random rough surfaces—study with the curvilinear coordinate method

We present a method giving the bi-static scattering coefficient of a one-dimensional dielectric random rough surface illuminated by a plane wave. The theory is based on Maxwell's equations written in a nonorthogonal coordinate system. For each medium, this method leads to an eigenvalue system. The scattered field is expanded as a linear combination of eigensolutions satisfying the outgoing wave condition. The boundary conditions allow the diffraction amplitudes to be determined. The Monte Carlo technique is applied and the bi-static scattering coefficient is estimated by averaging the scattering amplitudes over several realizations. The results of a Gaussian random process with a Gaussian roughness spectrum are compared to published experimental and numerical data. Comparisons are conclusive.     

Negative tension induced by lipid uptake

Membrane fusion is an important process in cell biology. While the molecular mechanisms of fusion are actively studied at a very local scale, the consequences of fusion at a larger scale on the shape and stability of the membrane are still not explored. In this Letter, the evolution of the membrane tension during the fusion of positive small unilamellar vesicles with a negative giant unilamellar vesicle has been experimentally investigated and compared to an existing theoretical model. The tension has been deduced using videomicroscopy from the measurement of the fluctuation spectrum and of the time correlation function of the fluctuations. We show that fusion induces a strong decrease in the effective tension of the membrane which eventually reaches negative values. Under these conditions, we show that localized instabilities appear on the vesicle. The membrane finally collapses, forming dense lipid structures.     

Eigenvalue system for the scattering from rough surfaces - Saving in computation time by a physical approach

The curvilinear coordinate method is an efficient theoretical tool for analysing rough surfaces. It consists on solving Maxwell’s equations written in a nonorthogonal coordinate system. The C method leads to eigenvalue systems and the scattered fields can be expanded as a linear combination of eigensolutions. The boundary conditions allow the combination coefficients to be determined. The dominant computational cost for the C method is the eigenvalue problem solution which is of order of N³ where N is the size of eigenvalue systems. In this paper, we propose a new approach based on the association of the C method with the beam simulation method (BSM) in order to reduce the computational time. The BSM is based on decomposing a large incident beam into narrower subbeams and then synthesizing the large beam by coherent superposition. The adopted procedure consists of two stages. First, the surface fields are obtained by the C method associated with each elementary beam illuminating smaller surfaces. Second, the total surface field is deduced from a coherent superposition of elementary surface current densities. The far-field and the scattering coefficients are derived from the Huygens principle applied to the total surface fields. We confirm the efficiency and the validity of the approach and show that the BSM applied with the C method allows a significant saving in computation time.