Ruptures of mixed lipid monolayers under tension and supercooling: implications for nanobubbles in plants.

Mixed phospholipid and glycolipid monolayers likely coat the surfaces of pressurised gas nanobubbles within the hydraulic systems of plants. The lipid coatings bond to water under negative pressure and are thus stretched out of equilibrium. In this work, we have used molecular dynamics simulations to produce trajectories of a biologically relevant mixed monolayer, pulled at mild negative pressures (-1.

Atomic structure and water arrangement on K-feldspar microcline (001).

The properties of clouds, such as their reflectivity or their likelihood to precipitate, depend on whether the cloud droplets are liquid or frozen. Thus, understanding the ice nucleation mechanisms is essential for the development of reliable climate models. Most ice nucleation in the atmosphere is heterogeneous, , caused by ice nucleating particles such as mineral dusts or organic aerosols.

Effect of insulin insufficiency on ultrastructure and function in skeletal muscle.

Background: Decreased insulin availability and high blood glucose levels, the hallmark features of poorly controlled diabetes, drive disease progression and are associated with decreased skeletal muscle mass. We have shown that mice with β-cell dysfunction and normal insulin sensitivity have decreased skeletal muscle mass. This project asks how insulin deficiency impacts on the structure and function of the remaining skeletal muscle in these animals.

Reevaluation and novel insights into amino sugar and neutral sugar necromass biomarkers in archaea, bacteria, fungi, and plants.

Soil microbial necromass is an important contributor to soil organic matter (>50%) and it is largely composed of microbial residues. In soils, fragmented cell wall residues are mostly found in their polysaccharide forms of fungal chitin and bacterial peptidoglycan. Microbial necromass biomarkers, particularly amino sugars (AS) such as glucosamine (GlcN) and muramic acid (MurA) have been used to trace fungal and bacterial residues in soils, and to distinguish carbon (C) found in microbial residues from non-microbial organic C.

Further cautionary tales on thermostatting in molecular dynamics: Energy equipartitioning and non-equilibrium processes in gas-phase simulations.

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of gas-phase chemical reactions are typically carried out on a small number of molecules near thermal equilibrium by means of various thermostatting algorithms. Correct equipartitioning of kinetic energy among translations, rotations, and vibrations of the simulated reactants is critical for many processes occurring in the gas phase. As thermalizing collisions are infrequent in gas-phase simulations, the thermostat has to efficiently reach equipartitioning in the system during equilibration and maintain it throughout the actual simulation.