Kink turns (k-turns) are widespread elements in RNA that mediate tertiary contacts by kinking the helical axis. We have found that the ability of k-turns to undergo ion-induced folding is conferred by a single base pair that follows the conserved A·G pairs, that is, the 3b·3n position. A Watson-Crick pair leads to an inability to fold in metal ions alone, while 3n=G or 3b=C (but not both) permi...

The desaturation and elongation of [1-(14)C]18:3n-3 was investigated in hepatocytes from different populations and three different species of salmonids indigenous to Scotland, brown trout, Atlantic salmon and Arctic charr. Two groups of fish were sampled, before and after they were fed two experimental diets, a control diet containing fish oil and a diet containing vegetable oil (a 1:1 blend of...

Given a set of n unit squares in the plane, the goal is to rank them in space in such a way that only few squares see each other vertically. We prove that ranking the squares according to the lexicographic order of their centers results in at most 3n-7 pairwise visibilities for n at least 4. We also show that this bound is best possible, by exhibiting a set of n squares with at least 3n-7 pairw...

This article presents new properties of the mesh array for matrix multiplication. In contrast to the standard array that requires 3n-2 steps to complete its computation, the mesh array requires only 2n-1 steps. Symmetries of the mesh array computed values are presented which enhance the efficiency of the array for specific applications. In multiplying symmetric matrices, the results are obtaine...

Accurate gene prediction in eukaryotes is a difficult and subtle problem. Here we point out a useful feature of expected distributions of spliceosomal intron lengths. Since introns are removed from transcripts prior to translation, intron lengths are not expected to respect coding frame, thus the number of genomic introns that are a multiple of three bases ('3n introns') should be similar to th...

k-turns are commonly-occurring motifs that introduce sharp kinks into duplex RNA, thereby facilitating tertiary contacts. Both the folding and conformation of k-turns are determined by their local sequence. k-turns fall into two conformational classes, called N3 and N1, that differ in the pattern of hydrogen bonding in the core. We show here that this is determined by the basepair adjacent to t...