Microstructural wettability of oil and gas condensate zones of the Karachaganak field

The Karachaganak field is represented by gas condensate and oil zones, a convenient object for studying changes in microstructural wettability during the transition from one zone to another. Microstructural wettability was characterized by a hydrophobization coefficient, Ѳн, which determines the proportion of the pore surface area occupied by adsorbed hydrocarbons. It was found that Ѳн of the samples of the gas and gas condensate zones is the same (on average 0.140), the oil zone - on average 0.250. Analysis of the IR spectra of extracted hydrocarbons showed that the microstructural wettability of the oil zone contains more aromatic, aliphatic, oxidized and sulfur-containing structures and fewer branched structures than in the gas condensate zone. The microstructural wettability of carbonate reservoirs depends on the hydrocarbon composition of the adsorbed oil. Keywords: microstructural wettability; hydrophobic coefficient; hydrocarbons; spectral coefficients.

DisA Restrains the Processing and Cleavage of Reversed Replication Forks by the RuvAB-RecU Resolvasome

DNA lesions that impede fork progression cause replisome stalling and threaten genome stability. Bacillus subtilis RecA, at a lesion-containing gap, interacts with and facilitates DisA pausing at these branched intermediates. Paused DisA suppresses its synthesis of the essential c-di-AMP messenger. The RuvAB-RecU resolvasome branch migrates and resolves formed Holliday junctions (HJ). We show that DisA prevents DNA degradation. DisA, which interacts with RuvB, binds branched structures, and reduces the RuvAB DNA-dependent ATPase activity. DisA pre-bound to HJ DNA limits RuvAB and RecU activities, but such inhibition does not occur if the RuvAB- or RecU-HJ DNA complexes are pre-formed. RuvAB or RecU pre-bound to HJ DNA strongly inhibits DisA-mediated synthesis of c-di-AMP, and indirectly blocks cell proliferation. We propose that DisA limits RuvAB-mediated fork remodeling and RecU-mediated HJ cleavage to provide time for damage removal and replication restart in order to preserve genome integrity.

Dendrimeric Structures in the Synthesis of Fine Chemicals

Dendrimers are highly branched structures with a defined shape, dimension, and molecular weight. They consist of three major components: the central core, branches, and terminal groups. In recent years, dendrimers have received great attention in medicinal chemistry, diagnostic field, science of materials, electrochemistry, and catalysis. In addition, they are largely applied for the functionalization of biocompatible semiconductors, in gene transfection processes, as well as in the preparation of nano-devices, including heterogeneous catalysts. Here, we describe recent advances in the design and application of dendrimers in catalytic organic and inorganic processes, sustainable and low environmental impact, photosensitive materials, nano-delivery systems, and antiviral agents’ dendrimers.

The chemistry of branched condensed phosphates

Condensed phosphates may exist as linear, cyclic or branched structures. Due to their important role in nature, linear polyphosphates have been well studied. In contrast, branched phosphates (ultraphosphates) remain largely uncharacterised, because they were already described in 1950 as exceedingly unstable in the presence of water, epitomized in the antibranching-rule. This rule lacks experimental backup, since, to the best of our knowledge, no rational synthesis of defined ultraphosphates is known. Consequently, detailed studies of their chemical properties, reactivity and potential biological relevance remain elusive. Here, we introduce a general synthesis of monodisperse ultraphosphates. Hydrolysis half-lives up to days call the antibranching-rule into question. We provide evidence for the interaction of an enzyme with ultraphosphates and discover a rearrangement linearizing the branched structure. Moreover, ultraphosphate can phosphorylate nucleophiles such as amino acids and nucleosides with implications for prebiotic chemistry. Our results provide an entry point into the uncharted territory of branched condensed phosphates.

Tentacle Morphological Variation Coincides with Differential Expression of Toxins in Sea Anemones

Phylum Cnidaria is an ancient venomous group defined by the presence of cnidae, specialised organelles that serve as venom delivery systems. The distribution of cnidae across the body plan is linked to regionalisation of venom production, with tissue-specific venom composition observed in multiple actiniarian species. In this study, we assess whether morphological variants of tentacles are associated with distinct toxin expression profiles and investigate the functional significance of specialised tentacular structures. Using five sea anemone species, we analysed differential expression of toxin-like transcripts and found that expression levels differ significantly across tentacular structures when substantial morphological variation is present. Therefore, the differential expression of toxin genes is associated with morphological variation of tentacular structures in a tissue-specific manner. Furthermore, the unique toxin profile of spherical tentacular structures in families Aliciidae and Thalassianthidae indicate that vesicles and nematospheres may function to protect branched structures that host a large number of photosynthetic symbionts. Thus, hosting zooxanthellae may account for the tentacle-specific toxin expression profiles observed in the current study. Overall, specialised tentacular structures serve unique ecological roles and, in order to fulfil their functions, they possess distinct venom cocktails.

Rigidity of Branching Microstructures in Shape Memory Alloys

We analyze generic sequences for which the geometrically linear energy $$\begin{aligned} E_\eta (u,\chi )\,{:}{=} \,\eta ^{-\frac{2}{3}}\int _{B_{1}\left( 0\right) } \left| e(u)- \sum _{i=1}^3 \chi _ie_i\right| ^2 \, \mathrm {d}x+\eta ^\frac{1}{3} \sum _{i=1}^3 |D\chi _i|({B_{1}\left( 0\right) }) \end{aligned}$$ E η ( u , χ ) : = η - 2 3 ∫ B 1 0 e ( u ) - ∑ i = 1 3 χ i e i 2 d x + η 1 3 ∑ i = 1 3 | D χ i | ( B 1 0 ) remains bounded in the limit $$\eta \rightarrow 0$$ η → 0 . Here $$ e(u) \,{:}{=}\,1/2(Du + Du^T)$$ e ( u ) : = 1 / 2 ( D u + D u T ) is the (linearized) strain of the displacement u, the strains $$e_i$$ e i correspond to the martensite strains of a shape memory alloy undergoing cubic-to-tetragonal transformations and the partition into phases is given by $$\chi _i:{B_{1}\left( 0\right) } \rightarrow \{0,1\}$$ χ i : B 1 0 → { 0 , 1 } . In this regime it is known that in addition to simple laminates, branched structures are also possible, which if austenite was present would enable the alloy to form habit planes. In an ansatz-free manner we prove that the alignment of macroscopic interfaces between martensite twins is as predicted by well-known rank-one conditions. Our proof proceeds via the non-convex, non-discrete-valued differential inclusion $$\begin{aligned} e(u) \in \bigcup _{1\le i\ne j\le 3} {\text {conv}} \{e_i,e_j\}, \end{aligned}$$ e ( u ) ∈ ⋃ 1 ≤ i ≠ j ≤ 3 conv { e i , e j } , satisfied by the weak limits of bounded energy sequences and of which we classify all solutions. In particular, there exist no convex integration solutions of the inclusion with complicated geometric structures.

Thermodynamics of real polymer solutions in the new Rényi and Tsallis formalism

The generalized non-ideality factor of systems (GNF) was introduced into the Renyi and Tsallis information entropy equations, and new expressions were obtained for information and thermodynamic entropies with a fractional moment of the order entropy gS and thermodynamic gth nonideality factors. Equations in formalism of Renyi and Tsallis: The equations describe self-organized structures of essentially non-equilibrium systems and can be used in studying the topological and conformational properties of solutions of high-molecular compounds. GNF: where is are relative average characteristics (pi are statistical probabilities) of opposite processes. Factor g varies in the range 0 ≤ g ≤ 2 and depends on which of the competitive processes prevails. An algorithm for calculating the thermodynamic functions of the state of the system under study is presented. The equations are intended for calculating the thermodynamic functions of objects of fractal nature, including real solutions of synthetic and natural highmolecular compounds of plant and animal origin (hyper branched structures, dendrimers, lignins, biological systems, dendrites, systems of internal organs, blood vessels, etc.).

Synthesis of the Hyper-Branched Core Tetrasaccharide Motif of Chloroviruses

Chemical synthesis of complex oligosaccharides, especially possessing hyper-branched structures with one or multiple 1,2-cis glycosidic bonds is a challenging task. Complementary reactivity of glycosyl donors and acceptors, proper tuning of...