Engineering of functional supramacromolecular complexes of proteins (enzymes) using reversed micelles as matrix microreactors

The size of the inner water cavity of reversed micelles formedin a triple system ‘water-surfactant-organic solvent’can be widely varied by changing the degree of surfactant hydration.This gives grounds to use reversed micelles as matrix microreactorsfor the design of supramolecular complexes of proteins. Usingultracentrifugation analysis, it has been demonstrated thatthe oligomeric composition of various enzymes (ketoglutaratedehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, lactic dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphatedehydrogenase) solubilized in reversed micelles of Aerosol OT[sodium bis(2-ethylehexyl)sulfosuccinate] in octane changesupon variation of the degree of hydration. An oligomeric complexforms under conditions when the radius of the micelle innercavity is big enough to incorporate this complex as a whole.At lower degrees of hydration the micelles ‘uncouple’such complexes to their components. The catalytic propertiesof various oligomeric complexes have been studied. Possibilitiesof using reversed micelles for the separation of subunits ofoligomeric enzymes under non-denaturating conditions have beendemonstrated. In particular, the isolated subunits of alkalinephosphatase, lactic dehydrogenase and glyceralde-hyde-3-phosphatedehydrogenase have been found to be active in Aerosol OT reversedmicelles. The dependences of the catalytic activity of oligomericenzymes represent saw-like curves. The maxima of the catalyticactivity observed at these curves relate to the functioningof various oligomeric forms of an enzyme. The radii of the micelleinner cavity under conditions when these maxima are observedcorrelate with the linear dimensions of the enzyme oligomericforms. Correlation of the position of a maximum with the shapeof an oligomeric complex is discussed.     

The relationship between strength and the composition and fineness of cement

Data from new experiments and from work published during the past 40 years are subjected to regression analysis to determine the relationship between strength and the composition and fineness of cement. The original authors differed in their opinions on the relative importance of C₃S and C₃A. The controversy is examined against a background of experience with a group of materials that are representative of Portland cement in general, and in terms of an analysis based on a model in which, during the first weeks of hardening, the strength developed by C₃S depends on the proportion of C₃A in the cement.     

Knowledge and Belief: Some Clarifications

The notions of knowledge and belief play an important role in philosophy. Unfortunately, the literature is not very consistent about defining these notions. Is belief more fundamental than knowledge or is it the other way around? Many accounts rely on the widely accepted strategy of appealing to the intuition of the reader. Such an argumentative methodology is fundamentally flawed because it lets the problems of common sense reasoning in through the front door. Instead, I suggest that philosophical arguments should be based on formal-computational models to (a) reduce the ambiguities and uncertainties that come with intuitive arguments and reasoning, and (b) capture the dynamic nature of many philosophical concepts. I present a model of knowledge and belief that lends itself to being implemented on computers. Its purpose is to resolve terminological confusion in favor of a more transparent account. The position I defend is an antirealist naturalized one: knowledge is best conceived as arising from experience, and is fundamental to belief.     

Discussion of the enabling environments for decentralised water systems

Decentralised water supply systems are becoming increasingly affordable and commonplace in Australia and have the potential to alleviate urban water shortages and reduce pollution into natural receiving marine and freshwater streams. Learning processes are necessary to support the efficient implementation of decentralised systems. These processes reveal the complex socio-technical and institutional factors to be considered when developing an enabling environment supporting decentralised water and wastewater servicing solutions. Critical to the technological transition towards established decentralised systems is the ability to create strategic and adaptive capacity to promote learning and dialogue. Learning processes require institutional mechanisms to ensure the lessons are incorporated into the formulation of policy and regulation, through constructive involvement of key government institutions. Engagement of stakeholders is essential to the enabling environment. Collaborative learning environments using systems analysis with communities (social learning) and adaptive management techniques are useful in refining and applying scientists' and managers' knowledge (knowledge management).     

Delineating Boundaries for Imprecise Regions

In geographic information retrieval, queries often name geographic regions that do not have a well-defined boundary, such as “Southern France.” We provide two algorithmic approaches to the problem of computing reasonable boundaries of such regions based on data points that have evidence indicating that they lie either inside or outside the region. Our problem formulation leads to a number of subproblems related to red-blue point separation and minimum-perimeter polygons, many of which we solve algorithmically. We give experimental results from our implementation and a comparison of the two approaches. This research is supported by the EU-IST Project No. IST-2001-35047 (SPIRIT) and by grant WO 758/4-2 of the German Research Foundation (DFG).     

Patienten — Daten — Schutz

Patientinnen und Patienten vertrauen sich heutzutage nicht mehr nur ihrem Haus- oder Facharzt, sondern immer h?ufiger auch einer Gro?klinik („Krankenhausmaschine“) an. Schon dort entsteht die Frage, wie die ?rztliche Schweigepflicht oder besser: das Patientengeheimnis, noch aufrechterhalten werden kann. Weitere Risiken drohen dem Patientengeheimnis in der zunehmend vernetzten Verarbeitung von medizinischen Befunden z.B. in Praxisnetzen und auch in der Online-Welt, die zweifellos gro?e Vorteile für die behandlungsbedürftigen Menschen bringen. Sie werfen aber auch die Frage nach der Verantwortung für die Sicherheit, Richtigkeit und Verfügbarkeit dieser Daten auf, die nicht selten lebenswichtig sein k?nnen.     

Smooth velocity approximation for constrained systems in real-time simulation

The rapidly increasing complexity of multi-body system models in applications like vehicle dynamics, robotics and bio-mechanics requires qualitative new solution methods to slash computing times for the dynamical simulation.     

Structural sensitivity analysis of flexible multibody systems modeled with the floating frame of reference approach using the adjoint variable method

For the efficient analysis and optimization of flexible multibody systems, gradient information is often required. Next to simple and easy-to-implement finite difference approaches, analytical methods, such as the adjoint variable method, have been developed and are now well established for the sensitivity analysis in multibody dynamics. They allow the computation of exact gradients and require normally less computational effort for large-scale problems. In the current work, we apply the adjoint variable method to flexible multibody systems with kinematic loops, which are modeled using the floating frame of reference formulation. Thereby, in order to solve ordinary differential equations only, the equations of motion are brought into minimal form using coordinate partitioning, and the constraint equations at position and velocity level are incorporated in the adjoint dynamics. For testing and illustrative purposes, the procedure is applied to compute the structural gradient for a flexible piston rod of a slider–crank mechanism.     

Broadband dielectric microwave microscopy on micron length scales

We demonstrate that a near-field microwave microscope based on a transmission line resonator allows imaging in a substantially wide range of frequencies, so that the microscope properties approach those of a spatially resolved impedance analyzer. In the case of an electric probe, the broadband imaging can be used in a direct fashion to separate contributions from capacitive and resistive properties of a sample at length scales on the order of one micron. Using a microwave near-field microscope based on a transmission line resonator we imaged the local dielectric properties of a focused ion beam milled structure on a high-dielectric-constant Ba(0.6)Sr(0.4)TiO(3) thin film in the frequency range from 1.3 to 17.4 GHz. The electrostatic approximation breaks down already at frequencies above approximately 10 GHz for the probe geometry used, and a full-wave analysis is necessary to obtain qualitative information from the images.