Protein degradation is an essential process that continuously takes place in all living cells. Regulated degradation of most cellular proteins is initiated by proteasomes, which produce peptides of varying length. These peptides are rapidly cleaved to single amino acids by cytoplasmic peptidases. Proline-containing peptides pose a specific problem due to structural constrains imposed by the pyr...

Upconversion detection nanocomposites were assembled for the selective luminescent detection of mercury ions in water. A hydrophobic cyclometallated ruthenium complex [Ru(II)(bpy)2(thpy)]PF6 (abbreviated as Ru1; bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine and thpy = 2-(2-thienyl)pyridine) is employed as a chemodosimeter to assemble on amphiphilic polymer-coating upconversion nanophosphors (UCNPs) based on the hydrop...

Bacteria capable of anaerobic oxidation of ammonium (anammox) form a deep branching clade within the Planctomycetes. Although the core metabolic pathway of anammox bacteria is largely resolved, many questions still remain. Data mining of the (meta) genomes of anammox bacteria is a powerful method to address these questions or identify targets for further study. The availability of high quality ...

Submitted to the University of Tennessee Comprehensive Exam: Proposal for the Original Research Biao Hu Sep 24 2007 Abstract Transition metal oxides (TMOs) attract extensive attention due to the strong coupling between charge, lattice, orbital, and spin, which results in a variety of exotic phenomena. The Ruddlesden-Popper (RP) (Sr,Ca)n+1RunO3n+1 series are proto-type of strong correlated syste...