Critical phenomena and renormalization-group theory

Chemical Reviews is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 “Green” Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: From Process Design to Preparation of Well-Defined Environmentally Friendly Polymeric Materials Nicolay V. Tsarevsky, and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Chem. Rev., 2007, 107 (6), 2270-2299• DOI: 10.1021/cr050947p • Publication Date (Web): 27 May 2007 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on April 2, 2009

"Green" atom transfer radical polymerization: from process design to preparation of well-defined environmentally friendly polymeric materials.

http://static.sif.it/SIF/resources/public/files/va2012/likos_0710.pdf

Effective interactions in soft condensed matter physics

https://www.cell.com/biophysj/pdf/S0006-3495(01)75737-2.pdf

Mesoscopic Simulation of Cell Membrane Damage, Morphology Change and Rupture by Nonionic Surfactants

The 'EF-hand' Ca2+-binding motif plays an essential role in eukaryotic cellular signalling, and the proteins containing this motif constitute a large and functionally diverse family. The EF-hand is defined by its helix-loop-helix secondary structure as well as the ligands presented by the loop to bind the Ca2+ ion. The identity of these ligands is semi-conserved in the most common (the 'canonical') EF-hand; however, several non-canonical EF-hands exist that bind Ca2+ by a different co-ordination mechanism. EF-hands tend to occur in pairs, which form a discrete domain so that most family members have two, four or six EF-hands. This pairing also enables communication, and many EF-hands display positive co-operativity, thereby minimizing the Ca2+ signal required to reach protein saturation. The conformational effects of Ca2+ binding are varied, function-dependent and, in some cases, minimal, but can lead to the creation of a protein target interaction site or structure formation from a molten-globule apo state. EF-hand proteins exhibit various sensitivities to Ca2+, reflecting the intrinsic binding ability of the EF-hand as well as the degree of co-operativity in Ca2+ binding to paired EF-hands. Two additional factors can influence the ability of an EF-hand to bind Ca2+: selectivity over Mg2+ (a cation with very similar chemical properties to Ca2+ and with a cytoplasmic concentration several orders of magnitude higher) and interaction with a protein target. A structural approach is used in this review to examine the diversity of family members, and a biophysical perspective provides insight into the ability of the EF-hand motif to bind Ca2+ with a wide range of affinities.

Structures and metal-ion-binding properties of the Ca2+-binding helix-loop-helix EF-hand motifs

Upper and lower critical solution temperatures in poly (ethylene glycol) solutions

We have measured coexistence curves for the system polystyrene–methylcyclohexane with varying molecular weight from Mw=1.02×104 to 71.9×104. In the temperature range e=(Tc−T)/Tc≳0.03, a deviation from simple scaling was observed for systems with Mw=10.9∼71.9×104. The effect of correction terms on simple scaling was negligibly small for systems with Mw=1.02∼4.64×104. This finding is compatible with molecular weight dependence of a critical value of e for the validity of the Landau theory. In the appropriate temperature range, where a contribution from the correction terms is negligible, an analysis by simple scaling gives the exponent β=0.332±0.001 independent of molecular weight. The critical exponent for the diameter is also independent of molecular weight and determined as 0.858±0.005, which is consistent with results of recent specific heat measurements.

Coexistence curve of polystyrene in methylcyclohexane. I. Range of simple scaling and critical exponents

Anisotropic viscoelastic properties of cortical bone.

The structure of cortical bone at the collagen-mineral level was investigated by means of atomic force microscopy. Surfaces of the specimens treated with collagenase and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were examined. Images of blob-like objects observed in intact specimen became clearly outlined after collagenase treatment; the sizes of the blob decreased, suggesting that each blob had been fragmented by the collagenase treatment. Following EDTA treatment of an intact specimen, an image of thread-like objects appeared; the thread was partly constructed by trains of blobs and the other parts of the threads had a periodic pattern along its longer axis. The period was almost equal to the collagen D-period of the Hodge-Petruska model, indicating that the threads are collagen fibrils and that the blobs are related to the mineral phase in bone. It was concluded that minerals were deposited on and along collagen fibrils. A decorated collagen fibril model for the spatial relationship between mineral and collagen fibril was proposed. According to our model, the mineral inside the collagen fibril is about one forth of the extrafibrillar mineral.

Atomic force microscopic studies on the structure of bovine femoral cortical bone at the collagen fibril-mineral level.

The relation between the refractive index and the excess molar volume for binary liquid mixtures has been clarified using the additivity rule. The excess volume is represented by two terms due to the excess refractive index and the refractive index difference. Refractive indices have been measured by a differential refractometer for the isorefractive binary mixtures 1-chlorobutane (BuCl)–butan-2-ol (BuOH), 1-chlorobutane–2-methoxyethanol (MOEt), and isopropyl acetate (IPA)–methylethyl ketone (MEK). For the isorefractive binary systems the excess volume was represented by the excess refractive index term and compared with the observed one without knowing the explicit form of the refractive index equation. Coherent correlations were found between the observed excess volume and refractive index for the systems BuCl–BuOH and BuCl–MOEt. The relation of the excess volume and refractive index for the system IPA–MEK suggested a contradiction to the additivity rule. The analyses of the old data for the system propan-1-ol–1,2-dibromoethane have elucidated a strong dependence of the refractive index difference term on the functional form of the refractive index equation. The binary systems studied are not described by a unique equation for the refractive index.

Mitsuo Nakata

Papers

Upper and lower critical solution temperatures in poly (ethylene glycol) solutions

Coexistence curve of polystyrene in methylcyclohexane. I. Range of simple scaling and critical exponents

Anisotropic viscoelastic properties of cortical bone.

Atomic force microscopic studies on the structure of bovine femoral cortical bone at the collagen fibril-mineral level.

Refractive index and excess volume for binary liquid mixtures. Part 1.—Analyses of new and old data for binary mixtures