1,996 research outputs found
A novel targeted/untargeted GC-Orbitrap metabolomics methodology applied to Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms
Introduction:
Combined infections from Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are a leading cause of death in the developed world. Evidence suggests that Candida enhances the virulence of Staphylococcusâhyphae penetrate through tissue barriers, while S. aureus tightly associates with the hyphae to obtain entry to the host organism. Indeed, in a biofilm state, C. albicans enhances the antimicrobial resistance characteristics of S. aureus. The association of these microorganisms is also associated with significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Due to this tight association we hypothesised that metabolic effects were also in evidence.
Objectives:
To explore the interaction, we used a novel GC-Orbitrap-based mass spectrometer, the Q Exactive GC, which combines the high peak capacity and chromatographic resolution of gas chromatography with the sub-ppm mass accuracy of an Orbitrap system. This allows the capability to leverage the widely available electron ionisation libraries for untargeted applications, along with expanding accurate mass libraries and targeted matches based around authentic standards.
Methods:
Optimised C. albicans and S. aureus mono- and co-cultured biofilms were analysed using the new instrument in addition to the fresh and spent bacterial growth media.
Results:
The targeted analysis experiment was based around 36 sugars and sugar phosphates, 22 amino acids and five organic acids. Untargeted analysis resulted in the detection of 465 features from fresh and spent medium and 405 from biofilm samples. Three significantly changing compounds that matched to high scoring library fragment patterns were chosen for validation.
Conclusion:
Evaluation of the results demonstrates that the Q Exactive GC is suitable for metabolomics analysis using a targeted/untargeted methodology. Many of the results were as expected: e.g. rapid consumption of glucose and fructose from the medium regardless of the cell type. Modulation of sugar-phosphate levels also suggest that the pentose phosphate pathway could be enhanced in the cells from co-cultured biofilms. Untargeted metabolomics results suggested significant production of cell-wall biosynthesis components and the consumption of non-proteinaceous amino-acids
CercetÄri privind comportarea unor trandafiri din grupa Thea Ăźn condiĆŁiile de culturÄ din IaĆi, Romania
The current paper aimed to analyse the behaviour of some rose from Thea group (âIngrid Bergmanâ, âMaurice Utriloâ, âMonikaâ) in the pedoclimatic conditions fromIaĆi County, Romania. Determinations were carried out in cropping conditions provided by rose collection of Floriculture discipline from UASVM IaĆi, Romania. At the end of the study was observed that in the cropping conditions from North-East area of Romania, rose assortments had a very good adaptation. From spring till autumn plants are decorative, being suitable to be used in different types of landscape design
Photoemission study of twisted monolayers and bilayers of WSe2 on graphite substrates
Using microfocused angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we investigated microstructures containing regions of single-layer (SL) and bilayer (BL) WSe2 on graphite substrates at different twist angles between SL WSe2 and graphite and within the BL WSe2. Fermi level electrons emitted from the graphite are sharply focused near their Kgr points in the Brillouin zone, and, when passing through the WSe2, get diffracted to form band replicas readily observed in experimental Fermi surface maps from twisted SL WSe2/graphite. We investigated two twisted BL WSe2 at twist angles âŒ28° and âŒ10° and found no evidence of hybridization gaps at the interlayer band-crossing points, that could be precursors of the flat bands at smaller twist angles. Similarly, no such gaps were found for SL WSe2/graphite. Experimental results are complemented by theoretical density functional theory calculations, which suggest that a formation of hybridization gaps in the WSe2/graphene (which approximates the experimental WSe2/graphite system) sensitively depends on the WSe2 band character at the crossing point with the graphene Dirac band
Twist angle dependent interlayer transfer of valley polarization from excitons to free charge carriers in WSe2/MoSe2 heterobilayers
Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted much attention in the fields of valley- and spintronics due to their property of forming valley-polarized excitons when illuminated by circularly polarized light. In TMD-heterostructures it was shown that these electron-hole pairs can scatter into valley-polarized interlayer exciton states, which exhibit long lifetimes and a twist-angle dependence. However, the question how to create a valley polarization of free charge carriers in these heterostructures after a valley selective optical excitation is unexplored, despite its relevance for opto-electronic devices. Here, we identify an interlayer transfer mechanism in twisted WSe2/MoSe2 heterobilayers that transfers the valley polarization from excitons in WSe2 to free charge carriers in MoSe2 with valley lifetimes of up to 12 ns. This mechanism is most efficient at large twist angles, whereas the valley lifetimes of free charge carriers are surprisingly short for small twist angles, despite the occurrence of interlayer excitons
Electronic Band Structure Changes across the Antiferromagnetic Phase Transition of Exfoliated MnPS3 Flakes Probed by Ό-ARPES
Exfoliated magnetic 2D materials enable versatile tuning of magnetization, e.g., by gating or providing proximity-induced exchange interaction. However, their electronic band structure after exfoliation has not been probed, presumably due to their photochemical sensitivity. Here, we provide micrometer-scale angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of the exfoliated intralayer antiferromagnet MnPS3 above and below the NeÌel temperature down to one monolayer. Favorable comparison with density functional theory calculations enables identifying the orbital character of the observed bands. Consistently, we find pronounced changes across the NeÌel temperature for bands consisting of Mn 3d and 3p levels of adjacent S atoms. The deduced orbital mixture indicates that the superexchange is relevant for the magnetic interaction. There are only minor changes between monolayer and thicker films, demonstrating the predominant 2D character of MnPS3. The novel access is transferable to other MPX3 materials (M: transition metal, P: phosphorus, X: chalcogenide), providing several antiferromagnetic arrangements
Quantum numbers of the state and orbital angular momentum in its decay
Angular correlations in decays, with , and , are used to measure
orbital angular momentum contributions and to determine the value of
the meson. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.0
fb of proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector. This
determination, for the first time performed without assuming a value for the
orbital angular momentum, confirms the quantum numbers to be .
The is found to decay predominantly through S wave and an upper limit
of at C.L. is set on the fraction of D wave.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure
Observation of two new baryon resonances
Two structures are observed close to the kinematic threshold in the mass spectrum in a sample of proton-proton collision data, corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb recorded by the LHCb experiment.
In the quark model, two baryonic resonances with quark content are
expected in this mass region: the spin-parity and
states, denoted and .
Interpreting the structures as these resonances, we measure the mass
differences and the width of the heavier state to be
MeV,
MeV,
MeV, where the first and second
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The width of the
lighter state is consistent with zero, and we place an upper limit of
MeV at 95% confidence level. Relative
production rates of these states are also reported.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Observation of the decay
The first observation of the decay is reported. The
study is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions corresponding to
of integrated luminosity collected with the LHCb detector. The
significance of the signal is standard deviations. The branching fraction
is measured to be , where the third uncertainty comes from the
branching fraction that is used as a normalisation.
In addition, the charge asymmetries of and
, which are control channels, are measured to be and , respectively. All results are consistent with
theoretical expectations
First observation and amplitude analysis of the decay
The decay is observed in a data sample
corresponding to of collision data recorded by the LHCb
experiment during 2011 and 2012. Its branching fraction is measured to be
where the uncertainties are statistical, systematic and from
the branching fraction of the normalisation channel , respectively. An amplitude analysis of the resonant
structure of the decay is used to measure the
contributions from quasi-two-body ,
, and
decays, as well as from nonresonant sources. The
resonance is determined to have spin~1.Comment: 39 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. Updated following
erratum 10.1103/PhysRevD.93.11990
Study of and decays and determination of the CKM angle
We report a study of the suppressed and favored
decays, where the neutral meson is detected
through its decays to the and CP-even and
final states. The measurement is carried out using a proton-proton
collision data sample collected by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of 3.0~fb. We observe the first significant
signals in the CP-even final states of the meson for both the suppressed
and favored modes, as well as
in the doubly Cabibbo-suppressed final state of the decay. Evidence for the ADS suppressed decay , with , is also presented. From the observed
yields in the , and their
charge conjugate decay modes, we measure the value of the weak phase to be
. This is one of the most precise
single-measurement determinations of to date.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures; All figures and tables, along with any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-020.htm
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