Binding mode characterization of novel RNA polymerase inhibitors using a combined biochemical and NMR approach.

Bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) represents a validated target for the development of broad-spectrum antibiotics. However, the medical value of RNAP inhibitors in clinical use is limited by the prevalence of resistant strains. To overcome this problem, we focused on the exploration of alternative target sites within the RNAP.

Cores of swirling particle motion in unsteady flows.

In nature and in flow experiments particles form patterns of swirling motion in certain locations. Existing approaches identify these structures by considering the behavior of stream lines. However, in unsteady flows particle motion is described by path lines which generally gives different swirling patterns than stream lines.

Vortex and strain skeletons in Eulerian and Lagrangian frames.

We present an approach to analyze mixing in flow fields by extracting vortex and strain features as extremal structures of derived scalar quantities that satisfy a duality property: they indicate vortical as well as high-strain (saddletype) regions. Specifically, we consider the Okubo-Weiss criterion and the recently introduced MZ-criterion. While the first is derived from a purely Eulerian framework, the latter is based on Lagrangian considerations.