A physical model of selective "ion binding" in the L-type calcium channel is constructed, and consequences of the model are compared with experimental data. This reduced model treats only ions and the carboxylate oxygens of the EEEE locus explicitly and restricts interactions to hard-core repulsion and ion-ion and ion-dielectric electrostatic forces. The structural atoms provide a flexible envi...

This paper reports on the ion fluxes at interfaces of various porous carbon electrodes/aqueous solutions alkali metal cations (Na+, K+ and Rb+) iodide anions, monitored by an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM).

An ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) consisting of a thin perfluorinated ionomer (usually, Nafion or Flemion) strip, platinum, and/or gold plated on both faces and neutralized by a certain amount of appropriate cations undergoes large bending motion when, in a hydrated state, a small electric field is applied across its thickness. When the same membrane is suddenly bent, a small voltage of t...

L-Glutamate (Glu)-induced current responses were studied in 119 isolated OFF-type bipolar cells of the cat retina. Cells were recorded by the patch clamp technique in the whole-cell configuration. Glu induced a current carried by alkali metal ions and divalent cations with a permeability ratio of PNa:PK:PCs:PCa = 1:0.94:1.32:0.57. Sensitivity to Glu was highest in the dendritic region. Kainate ...

The article describes the synthesis and extraction properties of the new hexahomotrioxacalix[3]arenebased derivatives cone- and partial-cone-2 bearing 1-methyl-1H-imidazole moieties at the lower rim. It has been demonstrated that O-alkylation of the flexible macrocycle 1 with 2-(chloromethyl)-1-methyl-1Himidazole hydrochloride affords tri-O-alkylated products with a cone or partial-cone conform...

The behaviors of a series of calcium halides and of alkali earth metal chlorides in the air/water surface region were studied in comparison with those of alkali metal halides by measuring the surface tension increments of solutions. The effect of salts with divalent cations on the surface tension increments is more pronounced than that of uni-univalent salts, but there are some similarities bet...

A new environmentally friendly technology for wood pulp delignification, based on the use of polyoxometalates (POMs) and oxygen, is being developed. Polyoxometalate solutions that selectively oxidize lignin under anaerobic conditions can be reoxidized by oxygen and also catalyze the aerobic mineralization ofthe lignin fragments to CO2 and H2O, making possible the closed-mill manufacture of pape...

A set of four hybrid host-guest complexes based on the inorganic crown ether analogue [H12W36O120]12- ({W36}) have been isolated and characterised. The cluster anion features a central rigid binding site made up of six terminal oxygen ligands and this motif allows the selective binding of a range of alkali and alkali-earth-metal cations. Here, the binding site was utilised to functionalise the ...

The properties of the cGMP-dependent channel present in membrane vesicles prepared from intact isolated bovine rod outer segments (ROS) were investigated with the optical probe neutral red. The binding of neutral red is sensitive to transport of cations across vesicular membranes by the effect of the translocated cations on the surface potential at the intravesicular membrane/water interface (S...