Relation between high-tc superconductivity and structure - a study of la3-xba3+xcu6o14+delta and yba2cu3o7-delta systems

Superconductivity is found in tetragonal La3−x Ba3+x Cu6O14+δ and La, Ba)6−x Sr x Cu6O14+δ even though they do not possess Cu-O chains or the K2NiF4 structure. Resistivity measurements confirm the occurrence of a transformation from chain-superconductivity to sheet-superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O7−δ as δ is varied in the range 0.0–0.5.

Analysis and computation of the oil film thickness between the piston ring and cylinder liner of an internal combustion engine

A study of the essential features of piston rings in the cylinder liner of an internal combustion engine reveals that the lubrication problem posed by it is basically that of a slider bearing. According to steady-flow-hydrodynamics, viz. Image the oil film thickness becomes zero at the dead centre positions as the velocity, U = 0. In practice, however, such a phenomenon cannot be supported by consideration of the wear rates of pistion rings and cylinder liners. This can be explained by including the “squeeze” action term in the

Differences in the levels of aminoacylation and contents of modified nucleotides between total tRNAs from N2- and NH4+-grown Azospirillum lipoferum cells

Total tRNAs isolated from N2- and NH4(+)-grown Azospirillum lipoferum cells were compared with respect to amino acid acceptance, isoacceptor tRNA species levels and extent of nucleotide modifications. Amino-acylation of these two tRNA preparations with ten different amino acids indicated differences in the relative acceptor activities. Comparison of aminoacyl-tRNA patterns by RPC-5 column chromatography revealed no qualitative differences in the elution profiles. However, quantitative differences in the relative amounts of some isoacceptors were observed. These results indicate that alterations of relative amounts of functional tRNA species occur to match cellular requirements of the bacterial cells using N2 or NH4+ as nitrogen source. In addition, the content of modified nucleotides in total tRNAs of N2- and NH4(+)-grown cells was determined. In the NH4(+)-grown cells, content of most of the modified nucleotides decreased significantly. Based upon these results, the relationship of chargeability of tRNAs to base modifications is discussed.

Recognition and alignment of homologous DNA sequences between minichromosomes and single-stranded DNA promoted by RecA protein

The incorporation of DNA into nucleosomes and higher-order forms of chromatin in vivo creates difficulties with respect to its accessibility for cellular functions such as transcription, replication, repair and recombination. To understand the role of chromatin structure in the process of homologous recombination, we have studied the interaction of nucleoprotein filaments, comprised of RecA protein and ssDNA, with minichromosomes. Using this paradigm, we have addressed how chromatin structure affects the search for homologous DNA sequences, and attempted to distinguish between two mutually exclusive models of DNA-DNA pairing mechanisms. Paradoxically, we found that the search for homologous sequences, as monitored by unwinding of homologous or heterologous duplex DNA, was facilitated by nucleosomes, with no discernible effect on homologous pairing. More importantly, unwinding of minichromosomes required the interaction of nucleoprotein filaments and led to the accumulation of circular duplex DNA sensitive to nuclease P1. Competition experiments indicated that chromatin templates and naked DNA served as equally efficient targets for homologous pairing. These and other findings suggest that nucleosomes do not impede but rather facilitate the search for homologous sequences and establish, in accordance with one proposed model, that unwinding of duplex DNA precedes alignment of homologous sequences at the level of chromatin. The potential application of this model to investigate the role of chromosomal proteins in the alignment of homologous sequences in the context of cellular recombination is considered.

Photophysics of conjugated polymers: interplay between Forster energy migration and defect concentration in shaping a photochemical funnel in PPV

Recent single molecule experiments have suggested the existence of a photochemical funnel in the photophysics of conjugated polymers, like poly[2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyl)oxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene] (MEH-PPV). The funnel is believed to be a consequence of the presence of conformational or chemical defects along the polymer chain and efficient non-radiative energy transfer among different chromophore segments. Here we address the effect of the excitation energy dynamics on the photophysics of PPV. The PPV chain is modeled as a polymer with the length distribution of chromophores given either by a Gaussian or by a Poisson distribution. We observe that the Poisson distribution of the segment lengths explains the photophysics of PPV better than the Gaussian distribution. A recently proposed version of an extended particle-in-a-box' model is used to calculate the exciton energies and the transition dipole moments of the chromophores, and a master equation to describe the excitation energy transfer among different chromophores. The rate of energy transfer is assumed to be given here, as a first approximation, by the well-known Forster expression. The observed excitation population dynamics confirms the photochemical funneling of excitation energy from shorter to longer chromophores of the polymer chain. The time scale of spectral shift and energy transfer for our model polymer, with realistic values of optical parameters, is in the range of 200-300 ps. We find that the excitation energy may not always migrate towards the longest chromophore segments in the polymer chain as the efficiency of energy transfer between chromophores depends on the separation distance between the two and their relative orientation.

Analysis,Insights and Generalization of a Fast Decentralized Relay Selection Mechanism

Relay selection for cooperative communications has attracted considerable research interest recently. While several criteria have been proposed for selecting one or more relays and analyzed, mechanisms that perform the selection in a distributed manner have received relatively less attention. In this paper, we analyze a splitting algorithm for selecting the single best relay amongst a known number of active nodes in a cooperative network. We develop new and exact asymptotic analysis for computing the average number of slots required to resolve the best relay. We then propose and analyze a new algorithm that addresses the general problem of selecting the best Q >= 1 relays. Regardless of the number of relays, the algorithm selects the best two relays within 4.406 slots and the best three within 6.491 slots, on average. Our analysis also brings out an intimate relationship between multiple access selection and multiple access control algorithms.

On the paradoxical relation between the melting temperature and forbidden energy gap of nanoparticles

We comment on the paradox that seems to exist about a correlation between the size-dependent melting temperature and the forbidden energy gap of nanoparticles. By analyzing the reported expressions for the melting temperature and the band gap of nanoparticles, we conclude that there exists a relation between these two physical quantities. However, the variations of these two quantities with size for semiconductors are different from that of metals. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics.[doi:10.1063/1.3466920].

Crystal Structure of Staphylococcus aureus Metallopeptidase (Sapep) Reveals Large Domain Motions between the Manganese-bound and Apo-states

Proteases belonging to the M20 family are characterized by diverse substrate specificity and participate in several metabolic pathways. The Staphylococcus aureus metallopeptidase, Sapep, is a member of the aminoacylase-I/M20 protein family. This protein is a Mn2+-dependent dipeptidase. The crystal structure of this protein in the Mn2+-bound form and in the open, metal-free state suggests that large interdomain movements could potentially regulate the activity of this enzyme. We note that the extended inactive conformation is stabilized by a disulfide bond in the vicinity of the active site. Although these cysteines, Cys(155) and Cys(178), are not active site residues, the reduced form of this enzyme is substantially more active as a dipeptidase. These findings acquire further relevance given a recent observation that this enzyme is only active in methicillin-resistant S. aureus. The structural and biochemical features of this enzyme provide a template for the design of novel methicillin-resistant S. aureus-specific therapeutics.

Relation between effective atomic charge and chemical shifts in X-ray absorption spectra of transition-metal compounds

Chemical shifts of K absorption discontinuities, Delta E, of several manganese, iron and cobalt oxides with the metal in the formal oxidation states between +2 and +4, have been measured. These data, together with data in the literature on other compounds of these metals, can be fitted into the expression Delta E=aq+bq2, where q is the effective atomic charge on the metal. Theoretical considerations also support this functional relationship between Delta E and q.

Crystal structures of fluorinated aryl biscarbonates and a biscarbamate: a counterpoise between weak intermolecular interactions and molecular symmetry

Conformational features and supramolecular structural organization in three aryl biscarbonates and an aryl biscarbamate with rigid acetylenic unit providing variable spacer lengths have been probed to gain insights into the packing features associated with molecular symmetry and the intermolecular interactions involving `organic' fluorine. Four structures but-2-yne-1,4-diyl bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenylcarbonate), 1; but-2-yne-1,4-diyl bis(4-fluorophenylcarbonate), 2; but-2-yne-1,4-diyl bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenylcarbamate), 3 and hexa-2,4-diyne-1,6-diyl bis(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorophenylcarbonate), 4 have been analyzed in this context. Compound 1 adopts a non-centrosymmetric ``twisted'' (syn) conformation, whereas 2, 3 and 4 acquire a centrosymmetric ``extended'' (anti) conformation. Weak intermolecular interactions and in particular those involving fluorine are found to dictate this conformational variation in the crystal structure of 1. A single-crystal neutron diffraction study at 90 K was performed on 1 to obtain further insights into these interactions involving `organic' fluorine.