I n the article by Musse et al. in this issue of PNAS (1), the authors present unique and compelling physico-chemical data that demonstrate the structural instability of myelin in multiple sclerosis (MS). Such alteration in myelin stability, reported as secondary to changes in myelin basic protein (MBP) structure, may be causative in nature and or contribute to the early course of demyelination...

Increasing numbers of protein structures are solved each year, but many of these structures belong to proteins whose sequences are homologous to sequences in the Protein Data Bank. Nevertheless, the structures of homologous proteins belonging to the same family contain useful information because functionally important residues are expected to preserve physico-chemical, structural and energetic ...

Structural and functional differentiation of chro­ matin implies the search for the methods of isolation and characterization of DNA bound with chromatin fractions. Preliminary fractionation of chromatin fol­ lowed by the isolation of DNA from these fractions are the methods frequently used. The isolation procedure put forward by Strazhevskaya and Struchkov [1] makes it possible to isolate DNA ...

Dermal reactions are the most frequently reported chemical health-related occupational hazard. Identifying dermal sensitizers is important for improving workplace safety. This paper takes a close look at the physico-chemical properties and results from the Local Lymph Node Assay (LLNA) to better understand and predict potent dermal sensitizers. The LLNA was used to identify 28 pharmaceutical ag...

The K1 and K10 associated genodermatoses are characterized by clinical symptoms of mild to severe redness, blistering and hypertrophy of the skin. In this paper, we set out to computationally investigate the structural and functional effects of missense mutations on the 2B domain of K1/K10 heterodimer and its consequences in disease phenotype. We modeled the structure of the K1/K10 heterodimer ...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are chemical systems comprising organic molecules coordinated to metal ions or clusters to form one-, two-, or three-dimensional structural arrangement (Figure 1). The use of lanthanide (Ln) ions results in a specific class of Ln-MOFs possessing unique physico-chemical properties owing to a large atomic magnetic moment, strong spin-orbital coupling, high coordina...

It is a well-established empirical fact that economic growth and development brings about major changes in sectorial output, employment, and consumption structure. In the context of economic development discussion, structural change refers to the change in key components of macroeconomic indicators, including national production and expenditure, exports and imports, population, and the sectoria...

The purpose of this article is to initiate a systematic study dimension-free relations between basic communication and query complexity measures various matrix norms. In other words, our goal obtain inequalities that bound parameter solely as function another parameter. This in contrast perhaps the more common framework where poly-logarithmic dependencies on number input bits are tolerated. Dim...

Abstract Dimension stone is natural rock prepared for building use. It rapidly colonised by microorganisms that cause discoloration (mainly cyanobacteria, algae and fungi) structural damage. Microbial mobilisation of ions leads to new superficial or internal deposits, weakening the structure. Cyanobacteria fungi may penetrate, filling pores creating spaces. Lichens, fungus/phototroph associatio...

BACKGROUND Determination of physico-chemical (weight, length, diameter, stomatal density, respiration rate, colour, soluble solids concentration, titratable acidity, chlorophyll and betacyanin content) and structural changes of red-fleshed dragon fruit (Hylocereus polyrhizus (Weber) Britton & Rose) was carried out from 5 to 35 days after pollination (DAP) in order to explain their growth, devel...