8,584 research outputs found
Proton-Coupled Electron Flow in Protein Redox Machines
Electron transfer (ET) reactions are fundamental steps in biological redox processes. Respiration is a case in point: at least 15 ET reactions are required to take reducing equivalents from NADH, deposit them in O_2, and generate the electrochemical proton gradient that drives ATP synthesis. Most of these reactions involve quantum tunneling between weakly coupled redox cofactors (ET distances > 10 Ã…) embedded in the interiors of folded proteins. Here we review experimental findings that have shed light on the factors controlling these distant ET events. We also review work on a sensitizer-modified copper protein photosystem in which multistep electron tunneling (hopping) through an intervening tryptophan is orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding single-step ET reaction.If proton transfers are coupled to ET events, we refer to the processes as proton coupled ET, or PCET, a term introduced by Huynh and Meyer in 1981. Here we focus on two protein redox machines, photosystem II and ribonucleotide reductase, where PCET processes involving tyrosines are believed to be critical for function. Relevant tyrosine model systems also will be discussed
Mechanism of H_2 Evolution from a Photogenerated Hydridocobaloxime
Proton transfer from the triplet excited state of brominated naphthol to a difluoroboryl bridged Co^I-diglyoxime complex, forming Co^(III)H, was monitored via transient absorption. The second-order rate constant for Co^(III)H formation is in the range (3.5−4.7) × 10^9 M^(−1) s^(−1), with proton transfer coupled to excited-state deactivation of the photoacid. Co^(III)H is subsequently reduced by excess Co^I-diglyoxime in solution to produce Co^(II)H (k_(red) = 9.2 × 10^6 M^(−1) s^(−1)), which is then protonated to yield Co^(II)-diglyoxime and H_2
A single intrinsic Josephson junction with double-sided fabrication technique
We make stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) imbedded in the bulk
of very thin (~nm) single crystals.
By precisely controlling the etching depth during the double-sided fabrication
process, the stacks can be reproducibly tailor-made to be of any microscopic
height (), i.e. enclosing a specified number of IJJ (0-6),
including the important case of a single junction. We discuss reproducible
gap-like features in the current-voltage characteristics of the samples at high
bias.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, to be published in APL May. 2
Anisotropic low-temperature piezoresistance in (311)A GaAs two-dimensional holes
We report low-temperature resistance measurements in a modulation-doped,
(311)A GaAs two-dimensional hole system as a function of applied in-plane
strain. The data reveal a strong but anisotropic piezoresistance whose
magnitude depends on the density as well as the direction along which the
resistance is measured. At a density of cm and for a
strain of about applied along [01], e.g., the
resistance measured along this direction changes by nearly a factor of two
while the resistance change in the [33] direction is less than 10% and
has the opposite sign. Our accurate energy band calculations indicate a
pronounced and anisotropic deformation of the heavy-hole dispersion with
strain, qualitatively consistent with the experimental data. The extremely
anisotropic magnitude of the piezoresistance, however, lacks a quantitative
explanation.Comment: 4 pages. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter
Extrinsic Entwined with Intrinsic Spin Hall Effect in Disordered Mesoscopic Bars
We show that pure spin Hall current, flowing out of a four-terminal
phase-coherent two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) within inversion asymmetric
semiconductor heterostructure, contains contributions from both the extrinsic
mechanisms (spin-orbit dependent scattering off impurities) and the intrinsic
ones (due to the Rashba coupling). While the extrinsic contribution vanishes in
the weakly and strongly disordered limits, and the intrinsic one dominates in
the quasiballistic limit, in the crossover transport regime the spin Hall
conductance, exhibiting sample-to-sample large fluctuations and sign change, is
not simply reducible to either of the two mechanisms, which can be relevant for
interpretation of experiments on dirty 2DEGs [V. Sih et al., Nature Phys. 1, 31
(2005)].Comment: 5 pages, 3 color EPS figure
Standing wave oscillations in binary mixture convection: from onset via symmetry breaking to period doubling into chaos
Oscillatory solution branches of the hydrodynamic field equations describing
convection in the form of a standing wave (SW) in binary fluid mixtures heated
from below are determined completely for several negative Soret coefficients.
Galerkin as well as finite-difference simulations were used. They were
augmented by simple control methods to obtain also unstable SW states. For
sufficiently negative Soret coefficients unstable SWs bifurcate subcritically
out of the quiescent conductive state. They become stable via a saddle-node
bifurcation when lateral phase pinning is exerted. Eventually their invariance
under time-shift by half a period combined with reflexion at midheight of the
fluid layer gets broken. Thereafter they terminate by undergoing a
period-doubling cascade into chaos
Superconducting properties of ultrathin Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x single crystals
We use Ar-ion milling to thin Bi2212 single crystals down to a few nanometers
or one-to-two (CuO2)2 layers. With decreasing the thickness, superconducting
transition temperature gradually decreases to zero and the in-plane resistivity
increases to large values indicating the existence of a
superconductor-insulator transition in ultrathin Bi2212 single crystals.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, to appear in J. Appl. Phys. 98(3) 200
The IBIS soft gamma-ray sky after 1000 INTEGRAL orbits
We report here an all-sky soft gamma-ray source catalog based on IBIS
observations performed during the first 1000 orbits of INTEGRAL. The database
for the construction of the source list consists of all good quality data
available from launch in 2002 up to the end of 2010. This corresponds to
110 Ms of scientific public observations with a concentrated coverage on
the Galactic Plane and extragalactic deep exposures. This new catalog includes
939 sources above a 4.5 sigma significance threshold detected in the 17-100 keV
energy band, of which 120 represent previously undiscovered soft gamma-ray
emitters. The source positions are determined, mean fluxes are provided in two
main energy bands, and are reported together with the overall source exposure.
Indicative levels of variability are provided, and outburst times and durations
are given for transient sources. Comparison is made with previous IBIS
catalogs, and those from other similar missions.Comment: 65 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ
Supplement
Long Distance Transport of Ultracold Atoms using a 1D optical lattice
We study the horizontal transport of ultracold atoms over macroscopic
distances of up to 20 cm with a moving 1D optical lattice. By using an optical
Bessel beam to form the optical lattice, we can achieve nearly homogeneous
trapping conditions over the full transport length, which is crucial in order
to hold the atoms against gravity for such a wide range. Fast transport
velocities of up to 6 m/s (corresponding to about 1100 photon recoils) and
accelerations of up to 2600 m/s2 are reached. Even at high velocities the
momentum of the atoms is precisely defined with an uncertainty of less than one
photon recoil. This allows for construction of an atom catapult with high
kinetic energy resolution, which might have applications in novel collision
experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
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