Densely packed DNA arrays exhibit hexagonal and orthorhombic local packings, as well as a weakly first order transition between them. While we have some understanding of the interactions between DNA molecules in aqueous ionic solutions, the structural details of its ordered phases and the mechanism governing the respective phase transitions between them remains less well understood. Since at hi...

Accurate force field parameters for ions are essential for meaningful simulation studies of proteins and nucleic acids. Currently accepted models of ions, especially for divalent ions, do not necessarily reproduce the right physiological behavior of Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) ions. Saxena and Sept (J. Chem. Theor. Comput. 2013, 9, 3538-3542) described a model, called the multisite-ion model, where inste...

background: recurrent abortion is defined as three or more consecutive pregnancy losses. we aimed to determine the relationship between male sperm parameters and hypo-osmotic swelling score and recurrent abortion. we also studied whether washing of spermatozoa and intrauterine insemination in patients with recurrent miscarriage and low score hypo-osmotic swelling test in male partners could imp...

Primary roots of maize (Zea mays L. cv WF9 x Mo17) seedlings growing in vermiculite at various water potentials exhibited substantial osmotic adjustment in the growing region. We have assessed quantitatively whether the osmotic adjustment was attributable to increased net solute deposition rates or to slower rates of water deposition associated with reduced volume expansion. Spatial distributio...

Neutralized DNA gels exhibit a reversible volume transition when CaCl2 is added to the surrounding aqueous NaCl solution. In this paper, a systematic study of the osmotic and mechanical properties of Na-DNA gels is presented to determine, qualitatively and quantitatively, the effect of Ca-Na exchange on the volume transition. It is found that in the absence of CaCl2 the DNA gels exhibit osmotic...

Corrcspondence/Reprint request: Dr. Ferenc Horkay, Ph.D .. Section oo Tissue Biophysics and Biomimetics, National Institutes of Health, Bldg. 13, Room 3WJ6B, 13 South Drive, Bethcsda, MD 20892, USA.E-mail:[email protected] Abstract The effect of cations on the osmotic properties of chemically cross-linked sodium polyacrylate hydrogels has been investigated. The variation of the osmotic swell...

Iran is located in a hot and dry region. As a result of low precipitation and a vast area of salty and alkali soil, osmotic pressure is very high in most parts of the country (i.e., osmotic potential is more negative). In the present study four levels of osmotic pressure (-0.25, -0.35, -0.45, -0.50 MPa) were created artificially, by polyethylene glycol (PEG) and treatment of three seed types, n...

Drought stress influences seed germination and seedling growth of many plants. Seed coating is technique of covering seeds with adhesive agents to improve seed performance and plant establishment and could be used to alleviate the negative effects of osmotic stress. In order to solve the problem of low germination and poor vigor of sweet corn under osmotic stress conditions (0, -0.3, -0.6 and -...

Real-time activity measurements of genetically identified neuroendocrine vasopressin neurons show they can anticipate osmotic challenges. In this issue of Neuron, Mandelblat-Cerf et al. (2017) show that correlating these results with ongoing behavior and plasma osmolality points to the existence of brain networks that integrate exterosensory cues with interosensory signals to drive neuroendocri...