International investors, contagion and the Russian crisis

The paper provides detailed empirical assessment of the role of non-residents in the development of Rus-sian financial crisis in 1997-1998. It is established that non-residents behaved differently during the pe-riod of crisis and significantly contributed to the collapse of the state bonds market. In particular, we found that sharp downturn in May 1998 was caused by contagious selling on the part of foreign investors following Indonesian crisis. At the same time, we question the common view that non-residents were lar-gely responsible for market pressures at the initial stage of the crisis. In this paper we go a little beyond the discussion of Russian crisis and propose alternative explanation of contagious outflow of foreign ca-pital. We combine CAPM and findings of Forbes and Rigobon (2001) to show that international portfolio investors are more sensitive to pure external shocks and less sensitive to pure domestic ones.financial markets; financial crises; Russia; contagion

Mechanism of long-range proton translocation along biological membranes

AbstractRecent experiments suggest that protons can travel along biological membranes up to tens of micrometers, but the mechanism of transport is unknown. To explain such a long-range proton translocation we describe a model that takes into account the coupled bulk diffusion that accompanies the migration of protons on the surface. We show that protons diffusing at or near the surface before equilibrating with the bulk desorb and re-adsorb at the surface thousands of times, giving rise to a power-law desorption kinetics. As a result, the decay of the surface protons occurs very slowly, allowing for establishing local gradient and local exchange, as was envisioned in the early local models of biological energy transduction

Theoretical and computational analysis of the membrane potential generated by cytochrome c oxidase upon single electron injection into the enzyme

AbstractWe have developed theory and the computational scheme for the analysis of the kinetics of the membrane potential generated by cytochrome c oxidase upon single electron injection into the enzyme. The theory allows one to connect the charge motions inside the enzyme to the membrane potential observed in the experiments by using data from the “dielectric topography” map of the enzyme that we have created. The developed theory is applied for the analysis of the potentiometric data recently reported by the Wikström group [I. Belevich, D.A. Bloch, N. Belevich, M. Wikström and M.I. Verkhovsky, Exploring the proton pump mechanism of cytochrome c oxidase in real time, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 104 (2007) 2685–2690] on the O to E transition in Paracoccus denitrificans oxidase. Our analysis suggests, that the electron transfer to the binuclear center is coupled to a proton transfer (proton loading) to a group just “above” the binuclear center of the enzyme, from which the pumped proton is subsequently expelled by the chemical proton arriving to the binuclear center. The identity of the pump site could not be determined with certainty, but could be localized to the group of residues His326 (His291 in bovine), propionates of heme a3, Arg 473/474, and Trp164. The analysis also suggests that the dielectric distance from the P-side to Fe a is 0.4 or larger. The difficulties and pitfalls of quantitative interpretation of potentiometric data are discussed

Computer simulation of water in cytochrome c oxidase

AbstractStatistical mechanics and molecular dynamics simulations have been carried out to study the distribution and dynamics of internal water molecules in bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase (CcO). CcO is found to be capable of holding plenty of water, which in subunit I alone amounts to about 165 molecules. The dynamic characterization of these water molecules is carried out. The nascent water molecules produced in the redox reaction at the heme a3–CuB binuclear site form an intriguing chain structure. The chain begins at the position of Glu242 at the end of the D channel, and has a fork structure, one branch of which leads to the binuclear center, and the other to the propionate d of heme a3. The branch that leads to the binuclear center has dynamic access both to the site where the formation of water occurs, and to delta-nitrogen of His291. From the binuclear center, the chain continues to run into the K channel. The stability of this hydrogen bond network is examined dynamically. The catalytic site is located at the hydrophobic region, and the nascent water molecules are produced at the top of the energy hill. The energy gradient is utilized as the mechanism of water removal from the protein. The water exit channels are explored using high-temperature dynamics simulations. Two putative channels for water exit from the catalytic site have been identified. One is leading directly toward Mg2+ site. However, this channel is only open when His291 is dissociated from CuB. If His291 is bound to CuB, the only channel for water exit is the one that originates at E242 and leads toward the middle of the membrane. This is the same channel that is presumably used for oxygen supply

Representability and Specht problem for G-graded algebras

Let W be an associative PI algebra over a field F of characteristic zero, graded by a finite group G. Let id_{G}(W) denote the T-ideal of G-graded identities of W. We prove: 1. {[G-graded PI equivalence]} There exists a field extension K of F and a finite dimensional Z/2ZxG-graded algebra A over K such that id_{G}(W)=id_{G}(A^{*}) where A^{*} is the Grassmann envelope of A. 2. {[G-graded Specht problem]} The T-ideal id_{G}(W) is finitely generated as a T-ideal. 3. {[G-graded PI-equivalence for affine algebras]} Let W be a G-graded affine algebra over F. Then there exists a field extension K of F and a finite dimensional algebra A over K such that id_{G}(W)=id_{G}(A).Comment: 37 page

Taxonomic diversity and abundance of enchytraeids (Annelida, Clitellata, Enchytraeida) in the Northern Palaearctic. 1. Asian part

Enchytraeids, or potworms, are tiny oligochaetes that are distributed worldwide in many terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Despite their key role in the functioning of ecosystems, the diversity and abundance of Enchytraeidae are rarely studied due to the laborious process of species identification. The present study addresses this gap and sheds some light on the distribution and abundance of enchytraeids in the lands of the Northern Palearctic. The provided dataset constitutes the latest and comprehensive field sampling of enchytraeid assemblages across the Asiatic part of the Northern Palearctic, encompassing an original set of soil samples systematically collected throughout the region from 2019 to 2022.The dataset includes occurrences from 131 georeferenced sites, encompassing 39 species and 7,074 records. This represents the first dataset providing species-specific information about the distribution and abundance of terrestrial enchytraeids across an extensive geographic area covering the Asian sector of the Northern Palaearctic. The compiled dataset is the key for exploring and understanding local and regional enchytraeid diversity. It may also serve as a valuable resource for monitoring and conserving the entire soil biodiversity

Simple Ways to Measure Behavioral Responses of Drosophila to Stimuli and Use of These Methods to Characterize a Novel Mutant

The behavioral responses of adult Drosophila fruit flies to a variety of sensory stimuli – light, volatile and non-volatile chemicals, temperature, humidity, gravity, and sound - have been measured by others previously. Some of those assays are rather complex; a review of them is presented in the Discussion. Our objective here has been to find out how to measure the behavior of adult Drosophila fruit flies by methods that are inexpensive and easy to carry out. These new assays have now been used here to characterize a novel mutant that fails to be attracted or repelled by a variety of sensory stimuli even though it is motile