Hybrid Polypeptides: Gabapentin as a Stereochemically Constrained gamma-Amino Acid Residue

The design of folded structures in peptides containing the higher homologues of alpha-amino acid residues requires the restriction of the range of local conformational choices In alpha-amino acids stereochemically constrained residues like alpha,alpha-dialkylated residue, aminoisobutyric acid (Aib), and D-Proline ((D)Pro) have proved extremely useful in the design of helices and hairpins in short peptides Extending this approach, backbone substitution and cyclization are anticipated to bc useful in generating conformationally constrained beta- and gamma-residues This brief review provides a survey of work on hybrid peptide sequences concerning the conformationally constrained gamma-amino acid residue 1-aminomethyl cyclohexane acetic acid, gabapentin (Gpn) This achiral, beta,beta-disubstituted, gamma-residue strongly favors gauche-gauche conformations about the C-alpha-C-beta (0(2)) and C-alpha-C-gamma (0(1)) bonds, facilitating local folding The Gpn residue can adopt both C-7 (NH1 -> CO1) and C-9 (CO1 (I)<- NH1+I) hydrogen bonds which are analogous to the C-5 and C7 (gamma-turn) conformations at alpha-residues In conjunction with adjacent residues, Gpn may be used in ay and gamma alpha segments to generate C-12 hydrogen bonded conformations which may be considered as expanded analogs of conventional beta-turns The structural characterization of C-12 helices, C-12/C-10 helices with mixed hydrogen bond directionalities and beta-hairpins incorporating Gpn residues at the turn segment is illustrated (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc Biopolymers (Pept Sci) 94 733-741 2010

Investigation of the characteristics of an SF6 rotating arc by a mathematical model

A mathematical model has been developed for predicting the performance of rotating arcs in SF6 gas by considering the energy balance and force balance equations. The finite difference technique has been adopted for the computer simulation of the arc characteristics. This method helps in considering the spatial variation of the transport and radiative properties of the arc. All the three heat loss mechanisms-conduction, convection, and radiation-have been considered. Results obtained over a 10 ms (half cycle of 50 Hz wave) current flow period for 1.4 kA (peak) and 4.2 kA (peak), show that the proposed arc model gives the expected behavior of the arc over the range of currents studied.

Correlation of resistivity and microstructure in dilute titaniulll–nitrogen alloy

The precipitation kinetics of the quenched dilute Ti-1.6 at.-%N alloy has been followed by resistivity measurements at 77 K using the four probe method. Resistivity behaviour has been studied for various durations for the alloys aged in the temperature range 273-373 K. The resistivity behaviour has been explained on the basis of the growth and decay of interfacial strain fields associated with the precipitation process. In addition, the resistivity changes have been correlated with transmission electron microscopy observations. (C) 1995 The Institute of Materials.

Diminished chaos of heart rate time series in patients with major depression

Background: Depression and anxiety have been linked to serious cardiovascular events in patients with preexisting cardiac illness. A decrease in cardiac vagal function as suggested by a decrease in heart rate (HR) variability has been linked to sudden death. Methods: We compared LLE and nonlinearity scores of the unfiltered (UF) and filtered time series (very low, low, and high frequency; VLF, LF and HF) of HR between patients with depression (n = 14) and healthy control subjects (n = 18). Results: We found significantly lower LLE of the unfiltered series in either posture, and HF series in patients with major depression in supine posture (p < .002). LLE (LF/UF), which may indicate relative sympathetic activity was also significantly higher in supine and standing postures in patients (p < .05); LF/HF (LLE) was also higher in patients (p < .05) in either posture. Conclusions: These findings suggest that major depression is associated with decreased cardiac vagal function and a relative increase in sympathetic function, which may be related to the higher risk of cardiovascular mortality, in this group and illustrates the usefulness of nonlinear measures of chaos such as LLE in addition to the commonly used spectral measures.

Effect of annealing on phase transition in poly(vinylidene fluoride) films prepared using polar solvent

The gamma-phase poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films are usually prepared using dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent, regardless of preparation temperature. Here we report the crystallization of both alpha and gamma-phase PVDF films by varying preparation temperature using DMSO solvent. The gamma-phase PVDF films were annealed at 70, 90, 110, 130 and 160 degrees C for five hours. The changes in the phase contents in the PVDF at different annealing conditions have been described. When thin films were annealed at 90 degrees C for 5 h, maximum percentage of beta-phase appears in PVDF thin films. The gamma-phase PVDF films completely converted to alpha-phase when they were annealed at 160 degrees C for 5 h. From X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Raman studies, it is confirmed that the PVDF thin films, cast from solution and annealed at 90 degrees C for 5 h, have maximum percentage of beta-phase. The beta-phase PVDF shows a remnant polarization of 4.9 mu C/cm(2) at 1400 kV/cm at 1 Hz.

Implementation study of relay selection schemes for energy harvesting WSNs

We propose energy harvesting technologies and cooperative relaying techniques to power the devices and improve reliability. We propose schemes to (a) maximize the packet reception ratio (PRR) by cooperation and (b) minimize the average packet delay (APD) by cooperation amongst nodes. Our key result and insight from the testbed implementation is about total data transmitted by each relay. A greedy policy that relays more data under a good harvesting condition turns out to be a sub optimal policy. This is because, energy replenishment is a slow process. The optimal scheme offers a low APD and also improves PRR.

Interstitial Defects Induced Ferroelectricity in Undoped ZnO Nanorods at Room Temperature

A simple approach for obtaining room temperature ferroelectricity in ZnO rod structures at the nanoscale is reported. A systematic comparative study between two kinds of nanorods prepared by different processes reveals the physics behind it. It is observed that ZnO nanorods grown (in-situ) by a sol gel method on platinum substrate show ferroelectric behaviour. On the contrary, ZnO nanorods first grown by a sol gel method and then spin-coated on a platinum substrate (ex-situ) do not demonstrate this kind of feature. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms partially (002) and (100) plane oriented growth of both samples. From photoluminescence (PL) spectral analysis it is interpreted that oxygen vacancies/zinc interstitial defects, which arises from the large lattice mismatch between the Pt substrate and the ZnO nanorods grown thereon, and preferential ZnO growth along 002], can be causes of this type of phenomena. C-V characterization, P-E hysteresis loop along with piezoelectric force microscopy support this observation.

Higher-Dimensional Analogues of the Map Coloring Problem

After a brief discussion of the history of the problem, we propose a generalization of the map coloring problem to higher dimensions.

A POSTERIORI ERROR CONTROL OF DISCONTINUOUS GALERKIN METHODS FOR ELLIPTIC OBSTACLE PROBLEMS

In this article, we derive an a posteriori error estimator for various discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods that are proposed in (Wang, Han and Cheng, SIAM J. Numer. Anal., 48: 708-733, 2010) for an elliptic obstacle problem. Using a key property of DG methods, we perform the analysis in a general framework. The error estimator we have obtained for DG methods is comparable with the estimator for the conforming Galerkin (CG) finite element method. In the analysis, we construct a non-linear smoothing function mapping DG finite element space to CG finite element space and use it as a key tool. The error estimator consists of a discrete Lagrange multiplier associated with the obstacle constraint. It is shown for non-over-penalized DG methods that the discrete Lagrange multiplier is uniformly stable on non-uniform meshes. Finally, numerical results demonstrating the performance of the error estimator are presented.

Numerical Analysis of Theoretical Model of the Rf MEMs Switches

An improved electromechanical model of the RF MEMS (radio frequency microelectromechanical systems) switches is introduced, in which the effects of intrinsic residual stress from fabrication processes, axial stress due to stretching of beam, and fringing field are taken into account. Four dimensionless numbers are derived from the governing equation of the developed model. A semi-analytical method is developed to calculate the behavior of the RF MEMS switches. Subsequently the influence of the material and geometry parameters on the behavior of the structure is analyzed and compared, and the corresponding analysis with the dimensionless numbers is conducted too. The quantitative relationship between the presented parameters and the critical pull-in voltage is obtained, and the relative importance of those parameters is given.

Efecto de seis tratamientos bajo riego localizado en la producción de chilote en el cultivo del maíz (Zea mays L.), variedad NB-S, a una densidad de 62 500 ptas/ha

El presente trabajo de investigación se estableció en época seca entre los meses de marzo mayo 2012, bajo sistema de riego por goteo, el experimento se realizó en los terrenos de la Universidad Nacional Agraria, la cual se encuentra ubicada en el km 12 ½ carretera norte, Managua. Sus coordenadas corresponden 12º 08’ latitud norte y 86º 10’ latitud oeste y a una altura de 56 m.s.n.m. Con el objetivo de obtener información acerca del mejoramiento de rendimiento del chilote en el cultivo del maíz a una densidad de 62500 ptas. ha-1, se estudiaron la aplicación seis tratamientos nitrogenados(A=50 kg/ha de nitrógeno aplicado 100% en la dosis a los 21 ddg; B = 50 kg/ha de nitrógeno aplicando la dosis el 50% a los 21dds y 50 % a los 42 ddg;C=50 kg/ha de nitrógeno aplicando la dosis 100% a los 42 ddg, D=100 kg/ha de nitrógeno, aplicando la dosis 100% a los 21 ddg, E=100 kg/ha de nitrógeno, Aplicando el 50% de la dosis a los 21 ddg y 50 % de la dosis a los 42 ddg y el F=100 kg/ha de nitrógeno aplicado el 100% de la dosis a los 42 ddg ), establecidos en un diseño de bloques completamente al azar. Las variables evaluadas durante el crecimiento del cultivo fueron: altura de planta, numero de hojas y diámetro de tallo; y las variables del rendimiento de chilote y sus principales componentes fueron: altura de primera y segunda inserción, longitud del chilote con y sin bráctea, diámetro del chilote con y sin bráctea, peso del chilote con y sin bráctea y el rendimiento del chilote en kg/ha.El mayor rendimiento se obtuvo con el tratamiento E,con 3744.58 kg ha-1 de chilote, obteniendo un beneficio neto de 34879.56 C$ ha-1 y una tasa de retorno marginal del 733.01 por ciento.

Evaluación de germoplasma introducido de sorgo (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench)

En el periodo de los meses abril-agosto de 1971 fueron sembradas 81 variedades de sorgo graniferos de la Colección Mundial, en la finca Santa Rosa, propiedad del Centro Experimental La Calera, Managua. El objetivo era evaluar el comportamiento y hacer selección de las variedades que presentaran los mejores rendimientos y contenido de proteína en el grano. El diseño usado en el experimento fue el de Latice balanceado de nueve por nueve con diez repeticiones. Las parcelas constaron de un surco de cinco metros de largo, separadas a 60 centímetros. Cada parcela estaba repetida diez veces. Todas las parcelas recibieron el mismo tratamiento fertilizante a razón de 60-0-0 kilogramos por hectárea. La densidad de siembra usada fue de 16 kilogramos por hectárea. Los datos a tomar fueron: Días a flor; periodo vegetativo, altura de planta, longitud de panoja, diámetro de panoja, tipo de panoja, color de grano, reacción a enfermedades. acame, contenido de proteína, rendimiento de grano y peso especifico del grano (kilogramos por litro). El periodo de floración tuvo una variación de 47 a 88 días. La altura de planta estuvo comprendida entre 75 a 327 centímetros. La mayoría de las variedades tienen panojas cerradas o semi-cerradas, con un color de grano que va desde café con varias tonalidades al rojo, anaranjado, amarillo, crema hasta blanco. El acame fue severo para todas las variedades altas. Las variedades 13, 19 y 21 presentaron parcelas completamente acamadas. El patógeno Phyllosticta sorghina fue el único que se presento, causando bastante deterioro en el follaje y tallo. Las variedades 1 y 6 con indice 2,0 se consideraron como tolerantes al patogeno. El rendimiento vario de 571 a 6.733 kilogramos de grano por hectárea. El contenido de proteína vario de 8,25 a 17,69 por ciento de proteína. Las variedades que presentaron los mejores rendimientos (8, 80, 78, 5, 38, 77 y 19) tuvieron problemas con la altura y acame. Ninguna de estas variedades sobresale por su contenido de proteína. Las mejores variedades en cuanto al contenido de proteína (70, 21, 40, 44, 14, y 50) tuvieron rendimientos bajos. El tratamiento fertilizante de 60-0-0 kilogramos por hectárea fue bajo en relación a la densidad de siembra de 16 kilogramos por hectárea. Esto fue la causa que se presentaran deficiencias de nitrógeno en todas las variedades. Las variedades presentaron segregantes principalmente en cuanto al color del grano, tipo de panoja y altura. La variabilidad mostrada por el material introducido puede ser aprovechada para aislar genotipos sobresalientes. Las variedades 35, 49, 55, 58, 62, 63, 64 y 81 fueron seleccionadas como futuras variedades comerciales Cuadro 2.

目前正在攻克的力学难题

随着科学技术的迅猛发展,力学与邻近学科进一步相互渗透,形成和正在形成许多新的边缘学科,同时也出现了许多迫切需要攻克的难题。《目前正在攻克的力学难题》一文详细介绍了众多的力学难题,有一定启迪作用。