Observation of a nanophase segregation in LiCl aqueous solutions from Transient Grating Experiments

Transient Grating experiments performed on supercooled LiCl, RH2O solutions with R>6 reveal the existence of a strong, short time, extra signal which superposes to the normal signal observed for the R=6 solution and other glass forming systems. This extra signal shows up below 190 K, its shape and the associated timescale depend only on temperature, while its intensity increases with R. We show that the origin of this signal is a phase separation between clusters with a low solute concentration and the remaining, more concentrated, solution. Our analysis demonstrates that these clusters have a nanometer size and a composition which are rather temperature independent, while increasing R simply increases the number of these clusters.Comment: 19 pages+ 8 figures+ 2 table

1H, 13C and 15N assignment of the GNA1946 outer membrane lipoprotein from Neisseria meningitidis

GNA1946 (Genome-derived Neisseria Antigen 1946) is a highly conserved exposed outer membrane lipoprotein from Neisseria meningitidis bacteria of 287 amino acid length (31 kDa). Although the structure of NMB1946 has been solved recently by X-Ray crystallography, understanding the behaviour of GNA1946 in aqueuos solution is highly relevant for the discovery of the antigenic determinants of the protein that will possibly lead to a more efficient vaccine development against virulent serogroup B strain of N.meningitidis. Here we report almost complete 1H, 13C and 15N resonance assignments of GNA1946 (residues 10–287) in aqueous buffer solution

Critical scattering by fluid cyclohexane in porous silica

The addition of liquid cyclohexane to a loosely packed powder of porous silica has been observed to produce an orange coloration in transmitted light which is characteristic of critical scattering. The creation of a metastable fluid system in confined geometry has been confirmed by the observation of enhanced small-angle neutron scattering