7,057 research outputs found
Organized Disassembly of Photosynthesis During Programmed Cell Death Mediated By Long Chain Bases.
In plants, pathogen triggered programmed cell death (PCD) is frequently mediated by polar lipid molecules referred as long chain bases (LCBs) or ceramides. PCD interceded by LCBs is a well-organized process where several cell organelles play important roles. In fact, light-dependent reactions in the chloroplast have been proposed as major players during PCD, however, the functional aspects of the chloroplast during PCD are largely unknown. For this reason, we investigated events that lead to disassembly of the chloroplast during PCD mediated by LCBs. To do so, LCB elevation was induced with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (a non-host pathogen) or Fumonisin B1 in Phaseolus vulgaris. Then, we performed biochemical tests to detect PCD triggering events (phytosphingosine rises, MPK activation and H2O2 generation) followed by chloroplast structural and functional tests. Observations of the chloroplast, via optical phenotyping methods combined with microscopy, indicated that the loss of photosynthetic linear electron transport coincides with the organized ultrastructure disassembly. In addition, structural changes occurred in parallel with accumulation of H2O2 inside the chloroplast. These features revealed the collapse of chloroplast integrity and function as a mechanism leading to the irreversible execution of the PCD promoted by LCBs
New OH Zeeman measurements of magnetic field strengths in molecular clouds
We present the results of a new survey of 23 molecular clouds for the Zeeman
effect in OH undertaken with the ATNF Parkes 64-m radio telescope and the NRAO
Green Bank 43-m radio telescope. The Zeeman effect was clearly detected in the
cloud associated with the HII region RCW 38, with a field strength of 38+/-3
micro-Gauss, and possibly detected in a cloud associated with the HII region
RCW 57, with a field strength of -203+/-24 micro-Gauss. The remaining 21
measurements give formal upper limits to the magnetic field strength, with
typical 1-sigma sensitivities <20 micro-Gauss. For 22 of the molecular clouds
we are also able to determine thecolumn density of the gas in which we have
made a sensitive search for the Zeeman effect. We combine these results with
previous Zeeman studies of 29 molecular clouds, most of which were compiled by
Crutcher (1999), for a comparsion of theoretical models with the data. This
comparison implies that if the clouds can be modeled as initially spherical
with uniform magnetic fields and densities that evolve to their final
equilibrium state assuming flux-freezing then the typical cloud is magnetically
supercritical, as was found by Crutcher (1999). If the clouds can be modeled as
highly flattened sheets threaded by uniform perpendicular fields, then the
typical cloud is approximately magnetically critical, in agreement with Shu et
al. (1999), but only if the true values of the field for the non-detections are
close to the 3-sigma upper limits. If instead these values are significantly
lower (for example, similar to the 1-sigma limits), then the typical cloud is
generally magnetically supercritical.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Stellar Rotation in Young Clusters. II. Evolution of Stellar Rotation and Surface Helium Abundance
We derive the effective temperatures and gravities of 461 OB stars in 19
young clusters by fitting the H-gamma profile in their spectra. We use
synthetic model profiles for rotating stars to develop a method to estimate the
polar gravity for these stars, which we argue is a useful indicator of their
evolutionary status. We combine these results with projected rotational
velocity measurements obtained in a previous paper on these same open clusters.
We find that the more massive B-stars experience a spin down as predicted by
the theories for the evolution of rotating stars. Furthermore, we find that the
members of binary stars also experience a marked spin down with advanced
evolutionary state due to tidal interactions. We also derive non-LTE-corrected
helium abundances for most of the sample by fitting the He I 4026, 4387, 4471
lines. A large number of helium peculiar stars are found among cooler stars
with Teff < 23000 K. The analysis of the high mass stars (8.5 solar masses < M
< 16 solar masses) shows that the helium enrichment process progresses through
the main sequence (MS) phase and is greater among the faster rotators. This
discovery supports the theoretical claim that rotationally induced internal
mixing is the main cause of surface chemical anomalies that appear during the
MS phase. The lower mass stars appear to have slower rotation rates among the
low gravity objects, and they have a large proportion of helium peculiar stars.
We suggest that both properties are due to their youth. The low gravity stars
are probably pre-main sequence objects that will spin up as they contract.
These young objects very likely host a remnant magnetic field from their natal
cloud, and these strong fields sculpt out surface regions with unusual chemical
abundances.Comment: 50 pages 18 figures, accepted by Ap
Complete Order alpha_s^3 Results for e^+ e^- to (gamma,Z) to Four Jets
We present the next-to-leading order (O(alpha_s^3)) perturbative QCD
predictions for e^+e^- annihilation into four jets. A previous calculation
omitted the O(alpha_s^3) terms suppressed by one or more powers of 1/N_c^2,
where N_c is the number of colors, and the `light-by-glue scattering'
contributions. We find that all such terms are uniformly small, constituting
less than 10% of the correction. For the Durham clustering algorithm, the
leading and next-to-leading logarithms in the limit of small jet resolution
parameter y_{cut} can be resummed. We match the resummed results to our
fixed-order calculation in order to improve the small y_{cut} prediction.Comment: Latex2e, 17 pages with 5 encapsulated figures. Note added regarding
subsequent related work. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Higgs and Z boson decays into light gluinos
We calculate the decay rate of scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons into a
pair of gluinos, within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. In the
theoretically and experimentally allowed light gluino window, \mg \sim 3--5
GeV, gluino pairs can completely dominate the decays of the light scalar Higgs
boson and play a prominent role in the decay of the pseudoscalar Higgs boson.
This would alter the limits obtained from decays on the lightest CP--even
and CP--odd Higgs bosons, and could jeopardize the search for these Higgs
particles at future hadron colliders. In contrast, the branching ratio for the
two--body decay of bosons into pairs of light gluinos is less than 0.1\%.Comment: Latex file, 16 pages of text. 8 uufiled postscript figures included.
Compressed postscript version with figures available by anonymous ftp at
ftp://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/pub/preprints/current/madph-94-853.ps.
Differential Regularization of Topologically Massive Yang-Mills Theory and Chern-Simons Theory
We apply differential renormalization method to the study of
three-dimensional topologically massive Yang-Mills and Chern-Simons theories.
The method is especially suitable for such theories as it avoids the need for
dimensional continuation of three-dimensional antisymmetric tensor and the
Feynman rules for three-dimensional theories in coordinate space are relatively
simple. The calculus involved is still lengthy but not as difficult as other
existing methods of calculation. We compute one-loop propagators and vertices
and derive the one-loop local effective action for topologically massive
Yang-Mills theory. We then consider Chern-Simons field theory as the large mass
limit of topologically massive Yang-Mills theory and show that this leads to
the famous shift in the parameter . Some useful formulas for the calculus of
differential renormalization of three-dimensional field theories are given in
an Appendix.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures. Several typewritten errors and inappropriate
arguments are corrected, especially the correct adresses of authors are give
The intrinsic shape of galaxy bulges
The knowledge of the intrinsic three-dimensional (3D) structure of galaxy
components provides crucial information about the physical processes driving
their formation and evolution. In this paper I discuss the main developments
and results in the quest to better understand the 3D shape of galaxy bulges. I
start by establishing the basic geometrical description of the problem. Our
understanding of the intrinsic shape of elliptical galaxies and galaxy discs is
then presented in a historical context, in order to place the role that the 3D
structure of bulges play in the broader picture of galaxy evolution. Our
current view on the 3D shape of the Milky Way bulge and future prospects in the
field are also depicted.Comment: Invited Review to appear in "Galactic Bulges" Editors: Laurikainen
E., Peletier R., Gadotti D. Springer Publishing. 24 pages, 7 figure
Ground state of one-dimensional bosons with delta interaction: link to the BCS model
The Bethe roots describing the ground state energy of the integrable 1D model
of interacting bosons with weakly repulsive two-body delta interactions are
seen to satisfy the set of Richardson equations appearing in the strong
coupling limit of an integrable BCS pairing model. The BCS model describes
boson-boson interactions with zero centre of mass momentum of pairs. It follows
that the Bethe roots of the weakly interacting boson model are given by the
zeros of Laguerre polynomials. The ground state energy and the lowest
excitation are obtained explicitly via the Bethe roots. A direct link has thus
been established, in the context of integrable 1D models, between bosons
interacting via weakly repulsive two-body delta-interactions and strongly
interacting Cooper pairs of bosons.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. This revised version makes contact with earlier
work of Gaudin and clarifies the link to the BCS pairing mode
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