HIGH SPEED REGISTRATION SPECTROFLUORIMETER SFL-S

An experimental multifunctional high speed registration spectrofluorimeter SFL-S has been developed at the Institute for Biological Instrumentation of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The spectroflu-orimeter is designed to measure excitation and emission spectra of solutions and suspensions of bio-logical molecules and cells in the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared spectral regions in the course of fundamental and applied research in the field of physicochemical biology, biophysics, biochemistry, and medicine. Features of the instrument are: the possibility of high-speed registration of spectra by means of multichannel system (32 channels, more than 20 spectra per second); the ability to control the change of the temperature of the solution in the measuring cell according to a given algorithm (0 to 100 °C); the possibility of microtitration of the solution in the measuring cell using an automatic microtitrator.

Algorithms for analyzing secondary resources in physicochemical biology

The significance of secondary sources for scientific research is substantiated. The long-term Information demand monitoring accomplished by the Library reveals the need for improving the processes of planning, coordination and assessment of science and research work. The library is able to facilitate this through providing access to science resources and databases within the subject scope of user inquiries. Based on the Russian and foreign publications, the current state of secondary information resources is analyzed. The recommendations on information analysis and preservation are given. The accumulated materials enabled to generate universal selection and reviewing criteria for the secondary information sources based on their completeness, relevancy, profile compliance, urgency, user friendliness. It is important that scientists and researchers are involved in building the system as well as the librarians providing and updating access to the resources. The researches at Physicochemical Biology Center are provided with the access to the secondary resources to meet their subject inquiries in prompt and efficient manner and to support scientometrical and patent researches.

ORGANOPHOSPHORUS NEUROTOXINS

The collective monograph is devoted to discussing the history of creation, studying the properties, neutralizing and using organophosphorus neurotoxins, which include chemical warfare agents, agricultural crop protection chemical agents (herbicides and insecticides) and medicines. The monograph summarizes the results of current scientific research and new prospects for the development of this field of knowledge in the 21st century, including the use of modern physicochemical methods for experimental study and theoretical analysis of biocatalysis and its mechanisms based on molecular modeling with supercomputer power. The book is intended for specialists who are interested in the current state of research in the field of organophosphorus neurotoxins. The monograph will be useful for students, graduate students, researchers specializing in the field of physical chemistry, physicochemical biology, chemical enzymology, toxicology, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics, biotechnology, nanotechnology and biomedicine.

Comparative analysis of RAS Pushchino Research Center’s publication activities

The authors present the study based on the data of the leading information and bibliographic resources, namely Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus. The complex comparative analysis of scientific activities of the scientists of the research institutes of Pushchino Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences was accomplished. Their publication activities and citations are evaluated, and information sources used in bibliometric analysis are compared. The bibliometric study focused on the document information flow by Pushchino scientists as a special component of the information environment.The big volume of collected data on the publication activities of RAS Pushchino Research Center enables to define the most productive and most cited authors; to correlate between publication type and citation; to reveal international contacts of the scientists and researchers; to reveal organization funding basic research; to make foundation for mining patterns in the development of research areas in physicochemical biology most significant for the Center. The case study reveals that the Russian Academy of Sciences Pushchino Research Center holds leading positions and has a promising intellectual potential.

Physicochemical Biology: Conquered Boundaries and New Horizons

In this paper, we shall consider the main evolutionary stages that occurred within the field of physicochemical biology during the 20th century, following the determination of the tertiary structure of DNA by Watson and Crick and the subsequent successes in the X-ray structural analysis of biopolymers. The authors ideas on the pre-emptive problems and the methods used in physicochemical biology in the 21st century are also presented, including an investigation of the dynamics of biochemical processes, studies of the functions of unstructured proteins, as well as single-molecule investigations of enzymatic processes and of biopolymer tertiary structure formation.

Physicochemical Biology: Conquered Boundaries and New Horizons

In this paper, we shall consider the main evolutionary stages that occurred within the field of physicochemical biology during the 20th century, following the determination of the tertiary structure of DNA by Watson and Crick and the subsequent successes in the X-ray structural analysis of biopolymers. The authors ideas on the pre-emptive problems and the methods used in physicochemical biology in the 21st century are also presented, including an investigation of the dynamics of biochemical processes, studies of the functions of unstructured proteins, as well as single-molecule investigations of enzymatic processes and of biopolymer tertiary structure formation.