Myuller’s concept of the viscous flow: Prospects for its evolution

The salient points of Myuller’s concept of viscous flow are set forth. The concept is analyzed in terms of the basic principles of quantum mechanics and statistical thermodynamics. Particular emphasis is placed on the activation entropy of the viscous flow S _η ^* and the glass transition entropy ΔS _g . It is demonstrated that, when the tunnel penetration gives way to over-the-barrier passage, the temperature dependences are not described by the Arrhenius equation. The information aspect of the discrete transformations of chemical bonds is described in detail. The publication of the Proceedings will be continued in the next issue of the journal. The paper “Rudolf Ludvigovich Myuller—A Man, Scientist, and Organizer” by S. V. Nemilov was published in the journalFiz. Khim. Stekla, 1999, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 121–129 [Glass Phys. Chem. (Engl. transl.), 1999, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 93–99].     

Modeling Neuronal Pathology in Yeast: Insights into the Molecular Basis of Parkinson’s Disease

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been extensively studied as a model organism for biochemical and genetic research for almost a century. In recent years, yeast has been successfully used to model many aspects of human diseases. These “humanized” yeast models have had a profound influence on our understanding of the molecular events underlying neurodegenerative disorders. Yeast models can recapitulate important molecular events that occur in neurodegeneration, and provide clues about the underpinnings of toxicity in animal models of disease. Moreover, yeast models have also served as a powerful tool for drug discovery. In this mini-review, we describe yeast models that have been used to study the molecular aspects of Parkinson’s disease pathology and recent advances in the field based on these models.     

Alternative feedstocks: a continuing trend in the polymer industry?

Polymers as we know them today have been developed from the feedstock available at the time of their formulation, i.e. crude oil in particular. Fossil feedstocks are used primarily for heating, cooling and fuelling engines in automobiles and power plants. Due to environmental awareness, increasing oil prices and strong progress in biotechnology in recent decades, new feedstocks will become available for fuels. Bio‐refineries will emerge in parallel with the existing oil refineries, and the feedstocks produced by these bio‐refineries will in part also be used to make polymers. This paper elucidates the historical developments and the possibilities for protecting our planet from pollution and global warming. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Editor’s special invited paper: On the efficient score vector in sequential monitoring

The use of the efficient score statistic in sequential monitoring procedures is reviewed and analysed. Various models that arise in applications are considered. The efficient score vector has the same optimality property as the generalized likelihood ratio, but it has a simple-structure requiring fewer estimations, and this is especially important when the data have a complicated structure. Furthermore, with the efficient score vector it is possible to detect which component of the parameter vector is different from the hypothetical or the historical value. The problems we solve here were the subjects of separate publications, but with the new methodology they are easily calculated examples.     

PSNO: Predicting Cysteine S-Nitrosylation Sites by Incorporating Various Sequence-Derived Features into the General Form of Chou’s PseAAC

S-nitrosylation (SNO) is one of the most universal reversible post-translational modifications involved in many biological processes. Malfunction or dysregulation of SNO leads to a series of severe diseases, such as developmental abnormalities and various diseases. Therefore, the identification of SNO sites (SNOs) provides insights into disease progression and drug development. In this paper, a new bioinformatics tool, named PSNO, is proposed to identify SNOs from protein sequences. Firstly, we explore various promising sequence-derived discriminative features, including the evolutionary profile, the predicted secondary structure and the physicochemical properties. Secondly, rather than simply combining the features, which may bring about information redundancy and unwanted noise, we use the relative entropy selection and incremental feature selection approach to select the optimal feature subsets. Thirdly, we train our model by the technique of the k-nearest neighbor algorithm. Using both informative features and an elaborate feature selection scheme, our method, PSNO, achieves good prediction performance with a mean Mathews correlation coefficient (MCC) value of about 0.5119 on the training dataset using 10-fold cross-validation. These results indicate that PSNO can be used as a competitive predictor among the state-of-the-art SNOs prediction tools. A web-server, named PSNO, which implements the proposed method, is freely available at http://59.73.198.144:8088/PSNO/.     

Insight into the intermolecular interactions in the NF3–HSO system: a computational study

Quantum calculations were carried out in order to investigate the heterodimers of NF₃ with the HSO molecule in the gas phase at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ and MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ//MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ computational levels. Ten minima were located on the potential energy surface (PES) of the NF₃–HSO system. Binding energies corrected with basis set superposition error are in the range 3.15–7.85?kJ/mol. The atom in molecules theory was applied to analyze the nature of intermolecular interactions.     

Wilson’s Disease: A Comprehensive Review of the Molecular Mechanisms

Wilson’s disease (WD), also known as hepatolenticular degeneration, is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder resulting from abnormal copper metabolism. Reduced copper excretion causes an excessive deposition of the copper in many organs such as the liver, central nervous system (CNS), cornea, kidney, joints, and cardiac muscle where the physiological functions of the affected organs are impaired. The underlying molecular mechanisms for WD have been extensively studied. It is now believed that a defect in P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B), the gene encoding the copper transporting P-type ATPase, is responsible for hepatic copper accumulation. Deposited copper in the liver produces toxic effects via modulating several molecular pathways. WD can be a lethal disease if left untreated. A better understanding of the molecular mechanisms causing the aberrant copper deposition and organ damage is the key to developing effective management approaches.     

Assessing the utility of coal’s elementary composition in predicting the yield of coking products

Elementary analysis of the organic mass of coal does not provide sufficient information to predict the yield of coking products, since it does not reflect the changes in the atomic bonds between the carbon, hydrogen, and other elements.     

Investigation into the properties of basalt of the Vasil’evskoe deposit in Yakutia as the raw material for obtaining continuous fibers

The results of investigations into the chemical and mineralogical composition of potentially suitable petrurgical raw materials of the Vasil’evka deposit for producing continuous basalt fibers and composite materials on its basis are presented. Electron probe microanalysis and petrographic analysis are used. The performed investigations proved the possibility of obtaining continuous basalt fibers based on basalt from the Vasil’evka deposit in Yakutia, since its composition and main characteristics correspond to requirements imposed on petrurgical raw materials by the viscosity modulus, the pyroxene composition, the presence of phase transformations, etc.     

The unusual influence of hetaryl groups on the direct conversion of some secondary alcohols into thiols with Lawesson’s reagent: elucidation of the reaction mechanism

A series of hetaryl-substituted methanols were used for direct conversion into the corresponding thiols by treatment with Lawesson’s reagent in boiling toluene. Unexpectedly, the respective sulfides were formed exclusively. In the case of chiral alcohols, the sulfides were obtained as 1:1-mixtures of meso- and dl-diastereoisomers. In contrast to hetaryl-substituted alcohols, the analogous protocol applied for benzhydryl alcohol led to a mixture of the expected secondary thiol and a bis(diphenylmethyl) trithiophosphonate. Finally, the analogous reactions with ferrocenyl(phenyl)methanol and diferrocenylmethanol, respectively, led to the corresponding thiols in good yield.     

Long-range attractive forces extending from the alumina’s nanolayer surface in aqueous solutions

Aluminum oxide-hydroxide nanolayer with a thickness of approximately 1.2 nm is electroadhesively deposited onto silicious support material with large surface area of about 50 m²/g, forming a highly electropositive composite of boehmite nanolayer in the form of monocrystalline oxide/hydroxide (α-Al₂O₃·H₂O) on the second electronegative solid. The composite can be viewed as a sphere with a rough surface and charge density of approximately 0.08 C/m². This creates a significant electric field with negligible screening (ka ? 1) in the region close to the surface of the nanocomposite. This field attracts nano- and micron-sized particles from as far as 200 μm in a few seconds, many orders of magnitude greater than conventional Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (DLVO) theory, which predicts only nanometer-scale effects arising from the presence of the surface. The strong electric field on the surface is then able to retain small particles such as viruses, atomically thin sheets of graphene oxide, RNA, DNA, proteins, dyes as well as heavy metals such as cobalt, arsenic, and lead.

Alumina’s nanolayer surface can be further functionalized by adding other sub-micron or nano-sized particles to target a specific contaminant. An example is shown where alumina nanolayer is coated with nano-sized iron monohydrate to yield an arsenic sorbent that shows high sorption capacity.     

Young’s Modulus of Dry-pressed Ceramics: The Effect of the Binder

Measurements of Young’s modulus of green compacts prepared from spray-dried alumina powders containing two binders: polyvinyl alcohol or polyethylene glycol are reported. The variations of Young’s modulus with forming pressure are compared to those of mechanical strength and discussed in terms of glass transition temperature (T_g). When the T_g of the polymer is lower than the pressing temperature (case of PEG and moisture-plasticized PVA), the variation of the Young’s modulus is related to the evolution of the binder film covering the surface of primary particles inside the granules. Microcracking of the brittle external polymer-rich layer of granules seems to be responsible for a different evolution of Young’s modulus of green compact in the case of a binder with a T_g higher than the forming temperature (dry PVA).     

Ferrocenylanthracene polymers: the direct synthesis using “Lawesson’s Reagent”

A method for polymerizing ferrocenylanthraquinone compounds was investigated, using a methodology developed originally for the polymerization of 9,10-anthracenedithiols. This procedure uses an in situ reaction of “Lawesson’s Reagent” (p-methoxyphenylthionophosphine sulphide dimer), with anthraquinone allowing polymerization to proceed across the 9- and 10-positions of the ferrocenylanthraquinones resulting in polymers with pendant ferrocene groups on the polymer backbone. Monomers used for these reactions were anthraquinone (literature comparison), 2-ferrocenylanthraquinone and 2,6-diferrocenylanthraquinone.     

Recent Advances in Rechargeable Magnesium Battery Technology: A Review of the Field’s Current Status and Prospects

The demand for new energy storage systems to be employed in large-scale electrical energy storage systems (EESs) has grown recently, particularly for green energy storage and grid-supporting applications. Rechargeable Mg batteries are promising candidates for such applications because of their good safety characteristics and raw materials’ abundance. Recent progress in the field is noticeable, but further efforts are required to support the successful implementation of rechargeable Mg batteries. We address progress in the development of rechargeable Mg batteries and problems to be resolved in future research, briefly summarize the most recent advances in the development of rechargeable Mg batteries, from a materials perspective, and cover progress on each of the major components of Mg batteries: the electrolyte, the cathode material, and the anode material. We provide a practical guideline for further development of self-sustainable rechargeable Mg batteries as a future power source.     

Offspring Number Does Not Influence Reaching the Disability’s Milestones in Multiple Sclerosis: A Seven-Year Follow-Up Study

Objectives: data on pregnancy long-term effects on multiple sclerosis (MS) course are still controversial; whether experiencing more than one pregnancy exposes one to risk of the disability‘s accrual is still unknown. We investigated differences existing in terms of disability progression among women with MS (wwMS) who had one or more children after their MS onset. Methods: Monoparous and multiparous wwMS were enrolled from the Catania MS Center, Italy, in a monocenter retrospective study. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to examine the effect of the number of parities on time from MS disease onset to EDSS 4.0 and 6.0. The study protocol was approved by the local Ethical Committee. Results: during the seven years of observation, 32.1% and 23.2% of the monoparous group reached expanded disability disease status (EDSS) 4.0 and 6.0 respectively, compared to 13.3% and 3.3% of the multiparous group (p = 0.057 and p = 0.017; respectively). The Kaplan–Meier curve analysis showed no statistically-significant differences between the two groups in reaching the two milestones. The multiparous group showed a longer time to reach the EDSS 4.0 (3.5 vs. 2.6 years, log-rank 0.57, p = 0.45). The Cox regression analysis showed that the EDSS at the time of first pregnancy (Exp(B) 9.4, CI 4.5–19.7, p < 0.001) and the time from MS onset to first pregnancy (Exp(B) 0.96, CI = 0.93–0.98, p < 0.05) were significant predictors of reaching the EDSS 4.0, whereas a model including only the EDSS one year after the first pregnancy significantly predicted (Exp(B) value of 6.4, CI 2.6–15.4, p < 0.001) the reaching of EDSS 6.0. Conclusions: Our results suggest that experiencing more than one pregnancy could not convey a different clinical outcome in wwMS. Further research is needed to confirm our results.     

Glasses in the MnNbOF5–BaF2–FeF3 system: Synthesis,structure and crystallization

Glasses in the MnNbOF₅–BaF₂–FeF₃ system have been fabricated for the first time. The glass structure, thermal characteristics, and crystallization and magnetic properties have been investigated using IR and Raman spectroscopy, Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), (XRD) X-ray powder diffraction and Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry. The NbO₂F₄ and FeF_n polyhedra form a glass network. During the devitrification of most of the glasses, the BaFeF₅ phase was found in the crystallization products. The possibility of obtaining crystalline phases in a glass matrix by heat treatment of glasses in the MnNbOF₅–BaF₂–FeF₃ system is demonstrated.