A definition of minimum distortion paths between two polyhedra in terms of continuous shape measures (CShM) is presented. A general analytical expression deduced for such pathways makes use of one parameter, the minimum distortion constant, that can be easily obtained through the CShM methodology and is herein tabulated for pairs of polyhedra having four to eight vertexes. The work presented he...

Upon supersonic expansion, formic acid and cyclobutanone (CBU) form a molecular cluster in which the two constituent molecules, linked by OHO and CHO hydrogen bonds, undergo a rapid interconversion between two equivalent forms. The tunneling motion takes place through the rupture and reformation of the C-HO hydrogen bond between the carbonyl oxygen of HCOOH and one of the two hydrogen atoms of ...

Phenotype variations define heterogeneity of biological and molecular systems, which play a crucial role in several mechanisms. Heterogeneity has been demonstrated in tumor cells. Here, samples from blood of patients affected from colon tumor were analyzed and fished with a microfluidic assay based on galactose active moieties, and incubated – for culturing – in SCID mice. Following the experim...

The reversal of the mitochondrial isocitrate dehydrogenase reaction was investigated in rat livers perfused with [U-13C5]glutamate or [U-13C5]glutamine. The mass isotopomer distribution of citric acid cycle intermediates extracted from the livers was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Citrate was enriched in an isotopomer containing five 13C. The formation of this isotopomer ca...

The dynamical behavior of excess protons in liquid water is investigated using femtosecond vibrational pump-probe spectroscopy. By resonantly exciting the O-H+-stretching mode of the H9O4(+) (Eigen) hydration structure of the proton and probing the subsequent absorption change over a broad frequency range, the dynamics of the proton is observed in real time. The lifetime of the protonic stretch...

It has been stated by McDonagh, Palma & Lightner [(1982) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 104, 6867-6871] that complexing of bilirubin with serum albumin has a marked species-dependent influence on bilirubin photoisomerization in vitro and in vivo. Therefore the kinetics for the quantitatively important reaction: (Formula: see text) of the photochemical interconversion between bilirubin and its photoisomers b...

Since its identification in the early 1970s, artemisinin, as well as semi-synthetic derivatives and synthetic trioxanes, have been used in malaria therapy. Reduction of artemisinin by NaBH4 produced dihydroartemisinin (DHA), and yielded a new stereochemically labile centre at C-10, which, in turn, provided two interconverting lactol hemiacetal epimers (namely alpha and beta), whose rate of inte...

We investigate the translocation of a single-stranded DNA through a pore which fluctuates between two conformations, using coupled master equations. The probability density function of the first passage times of the translocation process is calculated, displaying a triple-, double-, or monopeaked behavior, depending on the interconversion rates between the conformations, the applied electric fi...

Several cell-surface lipid-tethered proteins exhibit a concentration-independent, cholesterol-sensitive organization of nanoscale clusters and monomers. To understand the mechanism of formation of these clusters, we investigate the spatial distribution and steady-state dynamics of fluorescently tagged GPI-anchored protein nanoclusters using high-spatial and temporal resolution FRET microscopy. ...

1. Extracts prepared from a variety of higher-plant tissues by ammonium sulphate fractionation were shown to catalyse the interconversion of glycine and serine. This interconversion had an absolute requirement for tetrahydrofolate and appeared to favour serine formation. 2. The biosynthesis of serine from glycine was studied in more detail with protein fractionated from 15-day-old wheat leaves....