Molecular mechanics and dynamics simulation of hydrogen diffusion in aluminum melt

The main impurities in aluminum melt are hydrogen and Al_2O_3,which can deteriorate melt quality and materials performance.However,the diffusion process of H atoms in aluminum melt and the interactions among Al atoms,Al_2O_3 and hydrogen have been studied rarely.Molecular mechanics and dynamics simulations are employed to study the diffusion behaviors of different types of hydrogen,such as free H atoms,H atoms in H_2 and H^+ions in H_2O using COMPASS force field.Correspondingly,force field types h,h1h and h1o are used to describe different types of hydrogen which are labeled as H_h,H_(h1h) and H_(h1o).The results show that the adsorption areas are maximum for H_(h1o),followed by H_(h1h) and H_h.The diffusion ability of H_(h1o) is the strongest whereas H_h is hard to diffuse in aluminum melt because of the differences in radius and potential well depth of various types of hydrogen.Al_2O_3 cluster makes the Al atoms array disordered,creating the energy conditions for hydrogen diffusion in aluminum melt.Al_2O_3 improves the diffusion of H_h and H_(h1o),and constrains H_(h1h) which accumulates around it and forms gas porosities in aluminum.H_(h1o) is the most dispersive in aluminum melt,moreover,the distance of Al-H_(h1o) is shorter than that of Al-H_(h1h),both of which are detrimental to the removal of H_(h1o).The simulation results indicate that the gas porosities can be eliminated by the removal of Al_2O_3 inclusions,and the dispersive hydrogen can be removed by adsorption function of gas bubbles or molten fluxes.

Allosteric Mechanism of Calmodulin Revealed by Targeted Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Calmodulin （CAM） is involved in the regulation of a variety of cellular signaling pathways. To accomplish its physiological functions, CaM binds with Ca2＋ at its EF-hand Ca2＋ binding sites which induce the conformational switching of CaM. However, the molecular mechanism by which Ca2＋ binds with CaM and induces conformational switching is still obscure. Here we combine molecular dynamics with targeted molecular dynamics simulation and achieve the state-transition pathway of CaM. Our data show that Ca2＋ binding speeds up the conformational transition of CaM by weakening the interactions which stabilize the closed state. It spends about 6.5 ns and 5.25 ns for transition from closed state to open state for apo and holo CaM, respectively. Regarding the contribution of two EF-hands, our data indicate that the first EF-hand triggers the conformational transition and is followed by the second one. We determine that there are two interaction networks which contribute to stabilize the closed and open states, respectively.

Molecular Structural and Properties of 3-chloro-4 (dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2[5H]-furanone (MX)

3 - chloro - 4 (dichloromethyl) - 5 - hydroxy - 2 [5H] - furanone (MX) formed during chlorination of water containing natural organic substances, is a very potent bacterial mutgen. Molecular mechanics calculations to evaluate the conformation of structure, and to determine structure relationship properties are put forward. The investigations allow the correlation of molecular structures of MX with its properties, such as mass,partial charges, steric energy, frontier molecular orbital. The VRML molecular models have been investigated using Virtual Reality software. The spectral simulation of MX is illustrated. The principal aim is to develop an efficient method which control of MX.

Recent progress on the mechanics of sharply bent DNA

Despite extensive studies on the mechanics of DNA under external constrains, such as tension, torsion, and bending, several important aspects have remained poorly understood. One biologically important example is the mechanics of DNA under sharp bending conditions, which has been debated for a decade without thorough comprehension. The debate is about the interesting phenomenon raised from a series of different experiments: sharply bent DNA has a surprisingly high apparent bending flexibility that deviates from the canonical bending elasticity of DNA. This finding has motivated various theoretical models, which mainly incorporate the excitation of mechanical defects inside severely bent DNA molecules. Here, we review the recent progress on the understanding of the mechanics of sharply bent DNA and provide our view on this important question by interrogating the theoretical foundation of these experimental measurements.

An empirical description for the hinge-like mechanism in single-layer black phosphorus:The angle–angle cross interaction

The single-layer black phosphorus is characterized by its puckered configuration that pos- sesses the hinge-like behavior, which leads to the highly anisotropic in-plane Poisson＇s ratios and the negative out-of-plane Poisson＇s ratio. We demonstrate that the hinge-like mechanism can be described by the angle-angle cross interaction, which, combined with the bond stretching and angle bending interactions, is able to provide a good description for the mechanical properties of single-layer black phosphorus. We also propose a nonlinear angle-angle cross interaction, which follows the form of Stillinger-Weber potential and can be advantageous for molecular dynamics simulations of single-layer black phosphorus under large deformation.