A Proton Magnetic Resonance Study of the Association of Lysozyme with Monosaccharide Inhibitors

It has been shown that the acetamido methyl protons of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine undergo a chemical shift to higher fields in their proton magnetic resonance spectrum when the inhibitor is bound to lysozyme. The observed chemical shift in the presence of the enzyme is different for the agr- and ß-anomeric forms of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucopyranose indicating either a difference in the affinity of the anomeric forms for lysozyme or different magnetic environments for the methyl protons in their enzyme-bound state. That the agr- and ß-anomeric forms of GlcAc bind to lysozyme in a competitive fashion was indicated by observing the proton magnetic resonance spectra in the presence of 2-acetamido-d3-2-deoxy-agr-d-glucopyranose. The methyl glycosides, methyl-agr-GlcAc and methyl-ß-GlcAc, were also shown to bind competitively with both anomers of GlcAc. Quantitative analysis of the chemical shift data observed for the association of GlcAc with lysozyme was complicated by the mutarotation of GlcAc between its agr- and ß-anomeric forms. However, in the case of the methyl glucosides, where the conformation of each anomer is frozen, it was possible to analyze the chemical shift data in a straightforward manner, and the dissociation constant as well as the chemical shift of the acetamido methyl protons of the enzyme-inhibitor complex was determined for both anomers. The results indicate that the two anomers of methyl-GlcAc bind to lysozyme with slightly different affinities but that the acetamido methyl groups of both anomers experience identical magnetic environments in the enzyme-inhibitor complex

Non-Perturbative Theory of Dispersion Interactions

Some open questions exist with fluctuation-induced forces between extended dipoles. Conventional intuition derives from large-separation perturbative approximations to dispersion force theory. Here we present a full non-perturbative theory. In addition we discuss how one can take into account finite dipole size corrections. It is of fundamental value to investigate the limits of validity of the perturbative dispersion force theory.Comment: 9 pages, no figure

Boulder Bands on Lobate Debris Aprons: Does Spatial Clustering Reveal Accumulation History for Martian Glaciations?

Glacial landforms such as lobate debris aprons (LDA) and Concentric Crater Fill (CCF) are the dominant debris-covered glacial landforms on Mars. These landforms represent a volumetrically significant component of the Amazonian water ice budget, however, because small craters (diameter D 0.5-1 km) are poorly retained glacial brain terrain surfaces, and, since the glacial landforms are geologically young, it is challenging to reliably constrain either individual glacial deposit ages or formational sequences in order to determine how quickly the glaciers accumulated. A fundamental question remaining is whether ice deposition and flow that formed LDA occurred episodically during a few, short instances, or whether glacial flow was quasi-continuous over a long period (~108 yr). Because glaciation is thought to be controlled largely by obliquity excursions, a larger question is whether glacial deposits on Mars exhibit regional to global characteristics that can be used to infer synchronicity of flow or degradation

Multipole analysis of spin observables in vector meson photoproduction

A multipole analysis of vector meson photoproduction is formulated as a generalization of the pseudoscalar meson case. Expansion of spin observables in the multipole basis and behavior of these observables near threshold and resonances are examined.Comment: 15 pages, latex, 2 figure

Tunable dipolar magnetism in high-spin molecular clusters

We report on the Fe17 high-spin molecular cluster and show that this system is an exemplification of nanostructured dipolar magnetism. Each Fe17 molecule, with spin S=35/2 and axial anisotropy as small as D=-0.02K, is the magnetic unit that can be chemically arranged in different packing crystals whilst preserving both spin ground-state and anisotropy. For every configuration, molecular spins are correlated only by dipolar interactions. The ensuing interplay between dipolar energy and anisotropy gives rise to macroscopic behaviors ranging from superparamagnetism to long-range magnetic order at temperatures below 1K.Comment: Replaced with version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta)

CITATION: Clarke, C., et al. 2017. Development and evaluation of a diagnostic cytokine-release assay for mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta). BMC Veterinary Research, 13:2, doi:10.1186/s12917-016-0927-x.The original publication is available at http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.comBackground: Sensitive diagnostic tools are necessary for the detection of Mycobacterium suricattae infection in meerkats (Suricata suricatta) in order to more clearly understand the epidemiology of tuberculosis and the ecological consequences of the disease in this species. We therefore aimed to develop a cytokine release assay to measure antigen-specific cell-mediated immune responses of meerkats. Results: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) were evaluated for the detection of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and IFN-γ inducible protein 10 (IP-10) in meerkat plasma. An IP-10 ELISA was selected to measure the release of this cytokine in whole blood in response to Bovigam® PC-HP Stimulating Antigen, a commercial peptide pool of M. bovis antigens. Using this protocol, captive meerkats with no known M. suricattae exposure (n = 10) were tested and results were used to define a diagnostic cut off value (mean plus 2 standard deviations). This IP-10 release assay (IPRA) was then evaluated in free-living meerkats with known M. suricattae exposure, categorized as having either a low, moderate or high risk of infection with this pathogen. In each category, respectively, 24.7%, 27.3% and 82.4% of animals tested IPRA-positive. The odds of an animal testing positive was 14.0 times greater for animals with a high risk of M. suricattae infection compared to animals with a low risk. Conclusion: These results support the use of this assay as a measure of M. suricattae exposure in meerkat populations. Ongoing longitudinal studies aim to evaluate the value of the IPRA as a diagnostic test of M. suricattae infection in individual animals.http://bmcvetres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12917-016-0927-xPublisher's versio

Fluid-sensitive nanoscale switching with quantum levitation controlled by α -Sn/ β -Sn phase transition

We analyze the Lifshitz pressure between silica and tin separated by a liquid mixture of bromobenzene and chlorobenzene. We show that the phase transition from semimetallic α−Sn to metallic β−Sn can switch Lifshitz forces from repulsive to attractive. This effect is caused by the difference in dielectric functions of α−Sn and β−Sn, giving both attractive and repulsive contributions to the total Lifshitz pressure in different frequency regions controlled by the composition of the intervening liquid mixture. In this way, one may be able to produce phase-transition-controlled quantum levitation in a liquid medium