Equilibrium Clusters in Concentrated Lysozyme Protein Solutions

We have studied the structure of salt-free lysozyme at 293 K and pH 7.8 using molecular simulations and experimental SAXS effective potentials between proteins at three volume fractions, 0.012, 0.033, and 0.12. We found that the structure of lysozyme near physiological conditions strongly depends on the volume fraction of proteins. The studied lysozyme solutions are dominated by monomers only for <0.012; for the strong dilution 70% of proteins are in a form of monomers. For 0.033 only 20% of proteins do not belong to a cluster. The clusters are mainly elongated. For 0.12 almost no individual particles exits, and branched, irregular clusters of large extent appear. Our simulation study provides new insight into the formation of equilibrium clusters in charged protein solutions near physiological conditions

Gender, Part-time Employment and Employee Participation in the Workplace: Comparing Australia and the European Union

The international trend in the growth and incidence of 'no n-standard employment', and its highly gendered nature, is well documented. For ease of definition, and because of the nature of the available data, we focus upon part-time employment in this paper. Employee participation may be defined as any workplace process which 'allows employees to exert some influence over their work and the conditions under which they work' (Strauss 1998). It may be divided into two main approaches, direct participation and indirect or representative participation. Direct participation involves the employee in job or task-oriented decision-making in the production process at the shop or office floor level. Indirect or representative forms of participation include joint consultative committees, works councils, and employee members of boards of directors or management. In the EU context statutory works councils are the most common expression of representative participation, but in Australia, consultative committees resulting from union/employer agreement or unilateral management initiative are the more common form. All of these forms of employee participation raise important issues concerning part time employees. Effective participation has two further major requirements which also may disadvantage part timers. First, there is a ge neral consensus in the participation literature that training is required for effective direct or representative participation. Secondly, effective communication between management and employees is required for participation, preferably involving a two-way information flow. The issue is of further significance since it has decided gender implications. This paper seeks to redress this relative insularity in the literature by examining some broad trends in this area in Australia and the EU. It analyses survey data at a national level in Australia and compares with some survey data generated in the EU by the EPOC project and analysed by Juliet Webster along the lines which we suggest here. It tests the hypothesis that the growth of one non-standard form of employment, part-time employment, diminishes the access to participation in the workplace enjoyed by female workers in comparison with their male colleagues, and finds that the hypothesis is strongly confirmed. This has major implications for workplace equity, and for organisational efficiency.gender, part-time employment, employee participation, Australia, European Union

Transport analysis of K+ production in proton-nucleus reactions

The production of $K^+$ mesons in proton-nucleus collisions from 1.0 to 2.3 GeV is analyzed with respect to one-step nucleon-nucleon $(NN\to N Y K^+$) and two-step $\Delta$-nucleon $(\Delta N \to K^+ Y N$) or pion-nucleon $(\pi N \to K^+ Y$) production channels on the basis of a coupled-channel transport approach (CBUU) including the kaon final-state-interactions (FSI). Momentum-dependent potentials for the nucleon, hyperon and kaon in the final state are included as well as $K^+$ elastic rescattering in the target nucleus. The transport calculations are compared to the experimental $K^+$ spectra taken at COSY-J\"ulich. Our systematic analysis of $K^+$ spectra from $^{12}C$, $^{63}Cu$, $^{107}Ag$ and $^{197}Au$ targets as well as their momentum differential ratios gives a repulsive $K^+$ potential of $20\pm 5$ MeV at normal nuclear matter density.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.

Multipartite quantum correlations: symplectic and algebraic geometry approach

We review a geometric approach to classification and examination of quantum correlations in composite systems. Since quantum information tasks are usually achieved by manipulating spin and alike systems or, in general, systems with a finite number of energy levels, classification problems are usually treated in frames of linear algebra. We proposed to shift the attention to a geometric description. Treating consistently quantum states as points of a projective space rather than as vectors in a Hilbert space we were able to apply powerful methods of differential, symplectic and algebraic geometry to attack the problem of equivalence of states with respect to the strength of correlations, or, in other words, to classify them from this point of view. Such classifications are interpreted as identification of states with `the same correlations properties' i.e. ones that can be used for the same information purposes, or, from yet another point of view, states that can be mutually transformed one to another by specific, experimentally accessible operations. It is clear that the latter characterization answers the fundamental question `what can be transformed into what \textit{via} available means?'. Exactly such an interpretations, i.e, in terms of mutual transformability can be clearly formulated in terms of actions of specific groups on the space of states and is the starting point for the proposed methods.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, final form submitted to the journa

Autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy — a case series

The objective of our study was to report the course of the disease in a family affected with autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy (ADNIV, OMIM#193235). ADNIV is a very rare inherited blinding disease due to mutations in CAPN5 gene. We assembled a retrospective observational case series of ADNIV patients. We noticed first symptoms in different ages, similar course of the disease and its progression leading in most cases to complete blindness despite treatment

Autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy — a review

Autosomal dominant neovascular inflammatory vitreoretinopathy (ADNIV) is a hereditary autoimmune disorder of the eye caused by mutations in the CAPN5 gene. It is characterized by non-specific uveitis in the anterior chamber and vitreous leading to panuveitis, iris and retinal neovascularization, cystoid macular edema, abnormal retinal pigmentation, vitreous hemorrhage, intraocular fibrosis, membrane formation and tractional retinal detachment. ADNIV is a progressive disease leading to complete blindness despite of treatment. Confirmation is made by genetic analysis demonstrating mutations of the CAPN5 gene

Classification of Low Dimensional Lie Super-Bialgebras

A thorough analysis of Lie super-bialgebra structures on Lie super-algebras osp(1|2) and super-e(2) is presented. Combined technique of computer algebraic computations and a subsequent identification of equivalent structures is applied. In all the cases Poisson-Lie brackets on supergroups are found. Possibility of quantizing them in order to obtain quantum groups is discussed. It turns out to be straightforward for all but one structures for super-E(2) group.Comment: 15 pages, LaTe