1,722,156 research outputs found
Indice dei nomi [in Stefano Carrai, Il caso clinico di Zeno e altri studi di filologia e critica sveviana]
Intrinsic compressibility and volume compression in solvated proteins by molecular dynamics simulation at high pressure
Constant pressure and temperature molecular dynamics techniques have been employed to investigate the changes in structure and volumes of two globular proteins, superoxide dismutase and lysozyme, under pressure. Compression (the relative changes in the proteins' volumes), computed with the Voronoi technique, is closely related with the so-called protein intrinsic compressibility, estimated by sound velocity measurements. In particular, compression computed with Voronoi volumes predicts, in agreement with experimental estimates, a negative bound water contribution to the apparent protein compression. While the use of van der Waals and molecular volumes underestimates the intrinsic compressibilities of proteins, Voronoi volumes produce results closer to experimental estimates. Remarkably, for two globular proteins of very different secondary structures, we compute identical (within statistical error) protein intrinsic compressions, as predicted by recent experimental studies. Changes in the protein interatomic distances under compression are also investigated. It is found that, on average, short distances compress less than longer ones. This nonuniform contraction underlines the peculiar nature of the structural changes due to pressure in contrast with temperature effects, which instead produce spatially uniform changes in proteins. The structural effects observed in the simulations at high pressure can explain protein compressibility measurements carried out by fluorimetric and hole burning techniques. Finally, the calculation of the proteins static structure factor shows significant shifts in the peaks at short wavenumber as pressure changes. These effects might provide an alternative way to obtain information concerning compressibilities of selected protein regions
Reviewing the problem of the U (1) axial symmetry and the chiral transition in QCD
We discuss the role of the U(1) axial symmetry for the phase structure of QCD at finite temperature. We expect that, above a certain critical temperature, also the U(1) axial symmetry will be (effectively) restored. We will try to see if this transition has (or has not) anything to do with the usual chiral transition: various possible scenarios are discussed. In particular, supported by recent lattice results, we analyze a scenario in which a U(1)-breaking condensate survives across the chiral transition. This scenario can be consistently reproduced using an effective Lagrangian model. The effects of the U(1) chiral condensate on the slope of the topological susceptibility in the full theory with quarks are studied: we find that this quantity (in the chiral limit of zero quark masses) acts as an order parameter for the U(1) axial symmetry above the chiral transition. Further information on the new U(1) chiral order parameter is derived from the study (at zero temperature) of the radiative decays of the "light" pseudoscalar mesons in two photons: a comparison of our results with the experimental data is performed. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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