Lignin and the formation of wood

Zusammenfassung Lignin kann in seiner ursprünglichen Form durch Abbau von Holz mit Hilfe von Zellulose-zerstörenden Pilzen und darauffolgender Extraktion mit kaltem Alkohol isoliert werden. Die Verbindung stellt enzymatisch freigesetztes Lignin dar. Im verholzenden Gewebe entsteht das Lignin aus photosynthetisch gebildeter Glukose über Shikimisäure undp-Hydroxyphenyl-Brenztraubensäure.

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Presented at the 4th International Congress of Biochemistry, Vienna 1958, in the SymposiumBiochemistry of Wood.     

Digenic inheritance of severe insulin resistance in a human pedigree

Impaired insulin action is a key feature of type 2 diabetes and is also found, to a more extreme degree, in familial syndromes of insulin resistance. Although inherited susceptibility to insulin resistance may involve the interplay of several genetic loci, no clear examples of interactions among genes have yet been reported. Here we describe a family in which five individuals with severe insulin resistance, but no unaffected family members, were doubly [corrected] heterozygous with respect to frameshift/premature stop mutations in two unlinked genes, PPARG and PPP1R3A these encode peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma, which is highly expressed in adipocytes, and protein phosphatase 1, regulatory subunit 3, the muscle-specific regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 1, which are centrally involved in the regulation of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, respectively. That mutant molecules primarily involved in either carbohydrate or lipid metabolism can combine to produce a phenotype of extreme insulin resistance provides a model of interactions among genes that may underlie common human metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes.     

Single-substrate liquid-crystal displays by photo-enforced stratification

Data visualization plays a crucial role in our society, as illustrated by the many displays that surround us. In the future, displays may become even more pervasive, ranging from individually addressable image-rendering wall hangings to data displays integrated in clothes. Liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) provide most of the flat-panel displays currently used. To keep pace with the ever-increasing possibilities afforded by developments in information technology, we need to develop manufacturing processes that will make LCDs cheaper and larger, with more freedom in design. Existing batch processes for making and filling LCD cells are relatively expensive, with size and shape limitations. Here we report a cost-effective, single-substrate technique in which a coated film is transformed into a polymer-covered liquid-crystal layer. This approach is based on photo-enforced stratification: a two-step photopolymerization-induced phase separation of a liquid-crystal blend and a polymer precursor. The process leads to the formation of micrometre-sized containers filled with a switchable liquid-crystal phase. In this way, displays can be produced on a variety of substrates using current coating technology. The developed process may be an important step towards new technologies such as 'display-on-anything' and 'paintable displays'.     

On the Identifiability in the Latent Budget Model

end-member model . A major drawback of the latent budget model is that, in general, the model is not identifiable, which complicates the interpretation of the model considerably. This paper studies the geometry and identifiability of the latent budget model. Knowledge of the geometric structure of the model is used to specify an appropriate criterion to identify the model. The results are illustrated by an empirical data set.     

Isostaining and iso-nonstaining in 5-bromodeoxyuridine-substitutedVicia faba chromosomes

Summary Isostaining and iso-nonstaining was studied by the fluorescent plus Giemsa (FPG) technique after immersion ofVicia faba roots in 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) for about 1 cell cycle (17 h) and in thymidine (19 h) for another one. Both phenomena were seldom observed, never occurred together in the same cell, and are interpreted as being due to deviations of the cell cycle duration.Acknowledgments. S. Sturelid is grateful to the Academy of Sciences of the GDR for financing his stay in Gatersleben.     

Staphylocoagulase is a prototype for the mechanism of cofactor-induced zymogen activation

Many bacterial pathogens secrete proteins that activate host trypsinogen-like enzyme precursors, most notably the proenzymes of the blood coagulation and fibrinolysis systems. Staphylococcus aureus, an important human pathogen implicated in sepsis and endocarditis, secretes the cofactor staphylocoagulase, which activates prothrombin, without the usual proteolytic cleavages, to directly initiate blood clotting. Here we present the 2.2 A crystal structures of human alpha-thrombin and prethrombin-2 bound to a fully active staphylocoagulase variant. The cofactor consists of two domains, each with three-helix bundles; this is a novel fold that is distinct from known serine proteinase activators, particularly the streptococcal plasminogen activator streptokinase. The staphylocoagulase fold is conserved in other bacterial plasma-protein-binding factors and extracellular-matrix-binding factors. Kinetic studies confirm the importance of isoleucine 1 and valine 2 at the amino terminus of staphylocoagulase for zymogen activation. In addition to making contacts with the 148 loop and (pro)exosite I of prethrombin-2, staphylocoagulase inserts its N-terminal peptide into the activation pocket of bound prethrombin-2, allosterically inducing functional catalytic machinery. These investigations demonstrate unambiguously the validity of the zymogen-activation mechanism known as 'molecular sexuality'.     

Quantum control of energy flow in light harvesting

Coherent light sources have been widely used in control schemes that exploit quantum interference effects to direct the outcome of photochemical processes. The adaptive shaping of laser pulses is a particularly powerful tool in this context: experimental output as feedback in an iterative learning loop refines the applied laser field to render it best suited to constraints set by the experimenter. This approach has been experimentally implemented to control a variety of processes, but the extent to which coherent excitation can also be used to direct the dynamics of complex molecular systems in a condensed-phase environment remains unclear. Here we report feedback-optimized coherent control over the energy-flow pathways in the light-harvesting antenna complex LH2 from Rhodopseudomonas acidophila, a photosynthetic purple bacterium. We show that phases imprinted by the light field mediate the branching ratio of energy transfer between intra- and intermolecular channels in the complex's donor acceptor system. This result illustrates that molecular complexity need not prevent coherent control, which can thus be extended to probe and affect biological functions.     

Approximation of NURBS Curves and Surfaces Using Adaptive Equidistant Parameterizations

Introduction Curves and surfaces can be represented using coefficients and a set of basis functions[1]. In the following, only curves are considered, but all statements apply equally to surfaces. Different representations use different sets of basis functions. These basis functions can be, for example, polynomials for polynomial curves, Bernstein-polynomials for Bézier curves, or B-spline basis functions for B-spline curves. As long as the general representation is of the form: 0( ) ( )ni i…