Structural and optical properties of polycrystalline NiO thin films prepared by using the oxidation of the metallic Ni

Here, we report on the structural and the optical properties of polycrystalline NiO thin films prepared by using the thermal oxidation of metallic Ni. After the deposition of the Ni films, they were placed in a thermal oxidation furnace at different temperatures (400, 500, 600, 700, and 1000 ??C), resulting in mean crystallite sizes between 6 nm and 40 nm. From the optical absorption spectra, we determined the energy gaps of these films. Interestingly, the energy gaps were in the range of 3.13 ??? 3.29 eV, which were smaller than those of the bulk.ope

An alternative flexible conformation of the E. coli HUbeta(2) protein: structural, dynamics, and functional aspects.

The histone-like HU protein is the major nucleoid-associated protein involved in the dynamics and structure of the bacterial chromosome. Under physiological conditions, the three possible dimeric forms of the E. coli HU protein (EcHUalpha(2), EcHUbeta(2), and EcHUalphabeta) are in thermal equilibrium between two dimeric conformations (N(2) I(2)) varying in their secondary structure content. High-temperature molecular dynamics simulations combined with NMR experiments provide information about structural and dynamics features at the atomic level for the N(2) to I(2) thermal transition of the EcHUbeta(2) homodimer. On the basis of these data, a realistic 3D model is proposed for the major I(2) conformation of EcHUbeta(2). This model is in agreement with previous experimental data