766 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Containment and equivalence of weighted automata: Probabilistic and max-plus cases
This paper surveys some results regarding decision problems for probabilistic and max-plus automata, such as containment and equivalence. Probabilistic and max-plus automata are part of the general family of weighted automata, whose semantics are maps from words to real values. Given two weighted automata, the equivalence problem asks whether their semantics are the same, and the containment problem whether one is point-wise smaller than the other one. These problems have been studied intensively and this paper will review some techniques used to show (un)decidability and state a list of open questions that still remain
Acceleration of Nucleophilic CH Activation by Strongly Basic Solvents
(IPI)Ru(II)(OH)_n(H_2O)_m, 2, where IPI is the NNN-pincer
ligand, 2,6-diimidizoylpyridine, is shown to catalyze H/D exchange
between hydrocarbons and strongly basic solvents at higher rates
than in the case of the solvent alone. Significantly, catalysis by 2
is accelerated rather than inhibited by increasing solvent basicity.
The evidence is consistent with the reaction proceeding by base
modulated nucleophilic CH activation
Leishmania isoenzyme polymorphisms in Ecuador: Relationships with geographic distribution and clinical presentation
Background: Determinants of the clinical presentation of the leishmaniases are poorly understood but Leishmania species and strain differences are important. To examine the relationship between clinical presentation, species and isoenzyme polymorphisms, 56 Leishmania isolates from distinct presentations of American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) from Ecuador were analyzed.
Methods: Isolates were characterized by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis for polymorphisms of 11 isoenzymes. Patients were infected in four different ecologic regions: highland and lowland jungle of the Pacific coast, Amazonian lowlands and Andean highlands.
Results: Six Leishmania species constituting 21 zymodemes were identified: L. (Viannia) panamensis (21 isolates,
7 zymodemes), L. (V.) guyanensis (7 isolates, 4 zymodemes), L. (V.) braziliensis (5 isolates, 3 zymodemes), L.
(Leishmania) mexicana (11 isolates, 4 zymodemes), L. (L.) amazonensis (10 isolates, 2 zymodemes) and L. (L.) major
(2 isolates, 1 zymodeme). L. panamensis was the species most frequently identified in the Pacific region and was
associated with several clinical variants of cutaneous disease (CL); eight cases of leishmaniasis recidiva cutis (LRC) found in the Pacific highlands were associated with 3 zymodemes of this species. Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis
found only in the Amazonian focus was associated with 3 zymodemes of L. braziliensis. The papular variant of CL,
Uta, found in the Andean highlands was related predominantly with a single zymodeme of L. mexicana.
Conclusion: Our data show a high degree of phenotypic variation within species, and some evidence for associations between specific variants of ATL (i.e. Uta and LRC) and specific Leishmania zymodemes. This study
further defines the geographic distribution of Leishmania species and clinical variants of ATL in Ecuador
Localization of mitochondrial DNA base excision repair to an inner membrane-associated particulate fraction
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) contains high levels of oxidative damage relative to nuclear DNA. A full, functional DNA base excision repair (BER) pathway is present in mitochondria, to repair oxidative DNA lesions. However, little is known about the organization of this pathway within mitochondria. Here, we provide evidence that the mitochondrial BER proteins are not freely soluble, but strongly associated with an inner membrane-containing particulate fraction. Uracil DNA glycosylase, oxoguanine DNA glycosylase and DNA polymerase Ī³ activities all co-sedimented with this particulate fraction and were not dissociated from it by detergent (0.1% or 1.0% NP40) treatment. The particulate associations of these activities were not due to their binding mtDNA, which is itself associated with the inner membrane, as they also localized to the particulate fraction of mitochondria from 143B (TK(ā)) Ļ(0) cells, which lack mtDNA. However, all of the BER activities were at least partially solubilized from the particulate fraction by treatment with 150ā300 mM NaCl, suggesting that electrostatic interactions are involved in the association. The biological implications of the apparent immobilization of BER proteins are discussed
Mechanism of efficient anti-Markovnikov olefin hydroarylation catalyzed by homogeneous Ir(III) complexes
The mechanism of the hydroarylation reaction between unactivated olefins (ethylene, propylene, and styrene) and benzene catalyzed by [(R)Ir(Ī¼-acac-O,O,C^3)-(acac-O,O)_2]_2 and [R-Ir(acac-O,O)_2(L)] (R = acetylacetonato, CH_3, CH_2CH_3, Ph, or CH_2CH_2Ph, and L = H_2O or pyridine) Ir(III) complexes was studied by experimental methods. The system is selective for generating the anti-Markovnikov product of linear alkylarenes (61 : 39 for benzene + propylene and 98 : 2 for benzene + styrene). The reaction mechanism was found to follow a rate law with first-order dependence on benzene and catalyst, but a non-linear dependence on olefin. ^(13)C-labelling studies with CH_3^(13)CH_2-Ir-Py showed that reversible Ī²-hydride elimination is facile, but unproductive, giving exclusively saturated alkylarene products. The migration of the ^(13)C-label from the Ī± to Ī²-positions was found to be slower than the CāH activation of benzene (and thus formation of ethane and Ph-d_5-Ir-Py). Kinetic analysis under steady state conditions gave a ratio of the rate constants for CH activation and Ī²-hydride elimination (k_(CH): k_Ī²) of 0.5. The comparable magnitude of these rates suggests a common rate determining transition state/intermediate, which has been shown previously with B3LYP density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Overall, the mechanism of hydroarylation proceeds through a series of pre-equilibrium dissociative steps involving rupture of the dinuclear species or the loss of L from Ph-Ir-L to the solvento, 16-electron species, Ph-Ir(acac-O,O)_2-Sol (where Sol refers to coordinated solvent). This species then undergoes trans to cis isomerization of the acetylacetonato ligand to yield the pseudo octahedral species cis-Ph-Ir-Sol, which is followed by olefin insertion (the regioselective and rate determining step), and then activation of the CāH bond of an incoming benzene to generate the product and regenerate the catalyst
Parallel dynamics of continuous Hopfield model revisited
We have applied the generating functional analysis (GFA) to the continuous
Hopfield model. We have also confirmed that the GFA predictions in some typical
cases exhibit good consistency with computer simulation results. When a
retarded self-interaction term is omitted, the GFA result becomes identical to
that obtained using the statistical neurodynamics as well as the case of the
sequential binary Hopfield model.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
- ā¦