The genetic basis of energy conservation in the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20.

Sulfate-reducing bacteria play major roles in the global carbon and sulfur cycles, but it remains unclear how reducing sulfate yields energy. To determine the genetic basis of energy conservation, we measured the fitness of thousands of pooled mutants of Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20 during growth in 12 different combinations of electron donors and acceptors. We show that ion pumping by the ferredoxin:NADH oxidoreductase Rnf is required whenever substrate-level phosphorylation is not possible. The uncharacterized complex Hdr/flox-1 (Dde_1207:13) is sometimes important alongside Rnf and may perform an electron bifurcation to generate more reduced ferredoxin from NADH to allow further ion pumping. Similarly, during the oxidation of malate or fumarate, the electron-bifurcating transhydrogenase NfnAB-2 (Dde_1250:1) is important and may generate reduced ferredoxin to allow additional ion pumping by Rnf. During formate oxidation, the periplasmic [NiFeSe] hydrogenase HysAB is required, which suggests that hydrogen forms in the periplasm, diffuses to the cytoplasm, and is used to reduce ferredoxin, thus providing a substrate for Rnf. During hydrogen utilization, the transmembrane electron transport complex Tmc is important and may move electrons from the periplasm into the cytoplasmic sulfite reduction pathway. Finally, mutants of many other putative electron carriers have no clear phenotype, which suggests that they are not important under our growth conditions, although we cannot rule out genetic redundancy

Exclusive Radiative Decays of Upsilon in SCET

We study exclusive radiative decays of the $\Upsilon$ using soft-collinear effective theory and non-relativistic QCD. In contrast to inclusive radiative decays at the endpoint we find that color-octet contributions are power suppressed in exclusive decays, and can safely be neglected, greatly simplifying the analysis. We determine the complete set of Lorentz structures that can appear in the SCET Wilson coefficients and match onto them using results from a previous calculation. We run these coefficients from the scale \mups to the scale $\Lambda \sim 1 \textrm{GeV}$, thereby summing large logarithms. Finally we use our results to predict the ratio of branching fractions $B(\Upsilon \to \gamma f_2)/B(J/\psi \to \gamma f_2)$, $B(J/\psi \to \gamma f_2)/B(\psi' \to \gamma f_2)$, and the partial rate for $\Upsilon \to \gamma \pi \pi$.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. Updated to reflect published versio

Multielectron Redox Chemistry of Transition Metal Complexes Supported by a Non‐Innocent N3P2 Ligand: Synthesis, Characterization, and Catalytic Properties

A new redox‐active, diarylamido‐based ligand (LN3P2) capable of κ5‐N,N,N,P,P chelation has been used to prepare a series of complexes with the general formula [MII(LN3P2)]X, where M = Fe (1; X = OTf), Co (2; X = ClO4), or Ni (3; X = ClO4). The diarylamido core of monoanionic LN3P2 is derived from bis(2‐amino‐4‐methylphenyl)amine, which undergoes condensation with two equivalents of 2‐(diphenylphosphanyl)benzaldehyde to provide chelating arms with both arylphosphine and imine donors. X‐ray structural, magnetic, and spectroscopic studies indicate that the N3P2 coordination environment generally promotes low‐spin configurations. Three quasi‐reversible redox couples between +1.0 and –1.5 V (vs. Fc+/Fc) were observed in voltammetric studies of each complex, corresponding to MII/MIII oxidation, LN3P2‐based oxidation, and MII/MI reduction (in order of highest to lowest potential). Spectroscopic and computational analyses of 3ox – generated via chemical one‐electron oxidation of 3 – revealed that a stable diarylaminyl radical (LN3P2·) is formed upon oxidation. The ability of the CoII complex (2) to function as an electrocatalyst for H2 generation was evaluated in the presence of weak acids. Moderate activity was observed using 4‐tert‐butylphenol as the proton source at potentials below –2.0 V. The insights gained here will assist in the future design of pentadentate mixed N/P‐based chelates for catalytic processes

The stability of adaptive synchronization of chaotic systems

In past works, various schemes for adaptive synchronization of chaotic systems have been proposed. The stability of such schemes is central to their utilization. As an example addressing this issue, we consider a recently proposed adaptive scheme for maintaining the synchronized state of identical coupled chaotic systems in the presence of a priori unknown slow temporal drift in the couplings. For this illustrative example, we develop an extension of the master stability function technique to study synchronization stability with adaptive coupling. Using this formulation, we examine local stability of synchronization for typical chaotic orbits and for unstable periodic orbits within the synchronized chaotic attractor (bubbling). Numerical experiments illustrating the results are presented. We observe that the stable range of synchronism can be sensitively dependent on the adaption parameters, and we discuss the strong implication of bubbling for practically achievable adaptive synchronization.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

Physical Properties of Metallic Antiferromagnetic CaCo{1.86}As2 Single Crystals

We report studies of CaCo{1.86}As2 single crystals. The electronic structure is probed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of CaCo{1.86}As2 and by full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave calculations for the supercell Ca8Co15As16 (CaCo{1.88}As2). Our XRD crystal structure refinement is consistent with the previous combined refinement of x-ray and neutron powder diffraction data showing a collapsed-tetragonal ThCr2Si2-type structure with 7(1)% vacancies on the Co sites corresponding to the composition CaCo{1.86}As2 [D. G. Quirinale et al., Phys. Rev. B 88, 174420 (2013)]. The anisotropic magnetic susceptibility chi(T) data are consistent with the magnetic neutron diffraction data of Quirianale et al. that demonstrate the presence of A-type collinear antiferromagnetic order below the Neel temperature TN = 52(1) K with the easy axis being the tetragonal c axis. However, no clear evidence from the resistivity rho(T) and heat capacity Cp(T) data for a magnetic transition at TN is observed. A metallic ground state is demonstrated from band calculations and the rho(T), Cp(T) and ARPES data, and spin-polarized calculations indicate a competition between the A-type AFM and FM ground states. The Cp(T) data exhibit a large Sommerfield electronic coefficient reflecting a large density of states at the Fermi energy D(EF), consistent with the band structure calculations which also indicate a large D(EF) arising from Co 3d bands. At 1.8 K the M(H) data for H|| c exhibit a well-defined first-order spin-flop transition at an applied field of 3.5 T. The small ordered moment of 0.3 muB/Co obtained from the M(H) data at low T, the large exchange enhancement of chi and the lack of a self-consistent interpretation of the chi(T) and M(H,T) data in terms of a local moment Heisenberg model together indicate that the magnetism of CaCo{1.86}As2 is itinerant.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 4 tables, 61 references; v2: extended the fits of experimental data by additional electronic structure calculations; published versio

Proximate Composition and Consumer Acceptability of Wheat-Soy Composite Rock Cake

Cookies are traditionally made from soft wheat, a cereal, which is cultivated mostly in temperate regions but imported by countries in the tropics with unfavorable climatic conditions to cultivate the cereal. The aim of the study was to determine the proximate composition and consumer acceptability of rock cakes developed from soy flour. Four different products were thus formulated viz., 0%, 20%, 25% and 75% being replaced with soy flour equivalence in each sample. Samples were examined for their proximate composition using AACC, 2000 methods. Sensory evaluation was also conducted under a 7-point hedonic scale, where 1 represented dislike extremely and 7 represented like extremely. Data was analyzed using SPSS v 20 at 95% confidence interval. Proximate composition analysis showed no significant difference between the means of the constituent nutrients measured. However, the proportionate increased percentage fat, fiber and protein; 26+2.45, 2.00+0.28 and 16.80+2.94 respectively, showed the potential effect of soybean flour in the production of rock cakes. The sensory analysis also showed no significant difference at P < 0.05 between the means and according to the hedonic scale evaluation, WSR11, WSR12 and WSR13 composite rock cakes compared to WSR10, the 100% wheat flour rock cake were “moderately liked” and “like very much” that is, between 5.3 to 6.6 by the fifteen semi-trained panelist. In effect, soybean flour could serve as a nutrient fortification raw product component and as well, to be accepted by consumers of pastries. Keywords: Rock cakes, proximate analysis, sensory analysis, consumer acceptability, hedoni

Radiation-Induced Magnetoresistance Oscillations in a 2D Electron Gas

Recent measurements of a 2D electron gas subjected to microwave radiation reveal a magnetoresistance with an oscillatory dependence on the ratio of radiation frequency to cyclotron frequency. We perform a diagrammatic calculation and find radiation-induced resistivity oscillations with the correct period and phase. Results are explained via a simple picture of current induced by photo-excited disorder-scattered electrons. The oscillations increase with radiation intensity, easily exceeding the dark resistivity and resulting in negative-resistivity minima. At high intensity, we identify additional features, likely due to multi-photon processes, which have yet to be observed experimentally.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; final version as published in Phys Rev Let