We consider the problem of the mean field (Poisson-Boltzmann) calculation of the electrostatic free energy for a strongly charged polyelectrolyte such as DNA in a salt solution. We compare two approaches to calculate the free energy: (i) direct one starting from the statistical-mechanical expression for the electrostatic free energy and (ii) the polyion charge variation method. In the infinite dilution limit (in respect to polyion) and in excess salt (IDLES) the two approaches are fully equivalent. This is shown by straight forward algebra. We have performed specific calculations of the free energy difference for the case of B-Z transition in DNA as a function of ionic strength. As expected, the two approaches led to identical results. The ionic strength dependence of the B-to-Z free energy proves to be concaved up and as a result Z-DNA is stabilized at low ionic concentration as well as at high salt, in full agreement with our previous results (M.D.Frank-Kamenetskii et al., J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 3, 35-42 (1985]. Our data quantitatively agree with the results of Soumpasis (D.M.Soumpasis, J. Biomol. Struct. Dyn. 6, 563-574 (1988]. However, his claim about the absence of the effect of stabilization of Z-DNA at low salt proves to be groundless, and the criticism of our earlier approach seems to be irrelevant.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07391102.1991.10507874 | DOI Listing |
ACS Nano
January 2025
Battery and Electrochemistry Laboratory (BELLA), Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Kaiserstr. 12, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany.
Improving interfacial stability between cathode active material (CAM) and solid electrolyte (SE) is vital for developing high-performance all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), with compatibility issues among the cell components representing a major challenge. CAM surface coating with a chemically inert ion conductor is a promising approach to suppress side reactions occurring at the cathode interfaces. Another strategy to mitigate mechanical degradation involves utilizing single-crystalline particle morphologies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Adv
January 2025
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Allegaten 55, Bergen 5007, Norway.
The polar bear () is the only Arctic land mammal that dives into water to hunt. Despite thermal insulation provided by blubber and fur layers and low Arctic temperatures, their fur is typically observed to be free of ice. This study investigates the anti-icing properties of polar bear fur.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Chem Theory Comput
January 2025
Division of Chemical Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-8531, Japan.
Solvent environment may significantly affect the equilibria involving flexible solute species, such as proteins and polymers. In the present work, a computation scheme is formulated for the change in the excess chemical potential of a flexible solute molecule upon variation of the solvent condition. The formulation adopts the scheme of error minimization in parallel to the method of Bennett acceptance ratio, and an exact expression is presented that provides the change in the excess chemical potential from solvation free energies computed in two solvent conditions of interest.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Proteome Res
January 2025
Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
The daily light-dark cycle is a recurrent and predictable environmental phenomenon to which many organisms, including cyanobacteria, have evolved to adapt. Understanding how cyanobacteria alter their metabolic attributes in response to subjective light or dark growth may provide key features for developing strains with improved photosynthetic efficiency and applications in enhanced carbon sequestration and renewable energy. Here, we undertook a label-free proteomic approach to investigate the effect of extended light (LL) or extended dark (DD) conditions on the unicellular cyanobacterium ATCC 51142.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
December 2024
Xi'an Jiaotong University, School of Microelectronics & State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Xi'an 710049, China.
The bismuth monolayer has recently been experimentally identified as a novel platform for the investigation of two-dimensional single-element ferroelectric system. Here, we model the potential energy surface of a bismuth monolayer by employing a message-passing neural network and achieve an error smaller than 1.2 meV per atom.
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