5,400 research outputs found
Causalities of war: The connection between type VI secretion system and microbiota
Cellular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Microbiota niches have space and/or nutrient restrictions, which has led to the coevolution of cooperation, specialisation, and competition within the population. Different animal and environmental niches contain defined resident microbiota that tend to be stable over time and offer protection against undesired intruders. Yet fluxes can occur, which alter the composition of a bacterial population. In humans, the microbiota are now considered a key contributor to maintenance of health and homeostasis, and its alteration leads to dysbiosis. The bacterial type VI secretion system (T6SS) transports proteins into the environment, directly into host cells or can function as an antibacterial weapon by killing surrounding competitors. Upon contact with neighbouring cells, the T6SS fires, delivering a payload of effector proteins. In the absence of an immunity protein, this results in growth inhibition or death of prey leading to a competitive advantage for the attacker. It is becoming apparent that the T6SS has a role in modulating and shaping the microbiota at multiple levels, which is the focus of this review. Discussed here is the T6SS, its role in competition, key examples of its effect upon the microbiota, and future avenues of researc
Hyperuniform long-range correlations are a signature of disordered jammed hard-particle packings
We show that quasi-long-range (QLR) pair correlations that decay
asymptotically with scaling in -dimensional Euclidean space
, trademarks of certain quantum systems and cosmological
structures, are a universal signature of maximally random jammed (MRJ)
hard-particle packings. We introduce a novel hyperuniformity descriptor in MRJ
packings by studying local-volume-fraction fluctuations and show that
infinite-wavelength fluctuations vanish even for packings with size- and
shape-distributions. Special void statistics induce hyperuniformity and QLR
pair correlations.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures; changes to figures and text based on review
process; accepted for publication at Phys. Rev. Let
J D Bernal: philosophy, politics and the science of science
This paper is an examination of the philosophical and political legacy of John Desmond Bernal. It addresses the evidence of an emerging consensus on Bernal based on the recent biography of Bernal by Andrew Brown and the reviews it has received. It takes issue with this view of Bernal, which tends to be admiring of his scientific contribution, bemused by his sexuality, condescending to his philosophy and hostile to his politics. This article is a critical defence of his philosophical and political position
J D Bernal: philosophy, politics and the science of science
This paper is an examination of the philosophical and political legacy of John Desmond Bernal. It addresses the evidence of an emerging consensus on Bernal based on the recent biography of Bernal by Andrew Brown and the reviews it has received. It takes issue with this view of Bernal, which tends to be admiring of his scientific contribution, bemused by his sexuality, condescending to his philosophy and hostile to his politics. This article is a critical defence of his philosophical and political position
A Symmetry Adapted Approach to Molecular Spectroscopy: The Anharmonic Oscillator Symmetry Model
We apply the Anharmonic Oscillator Symmetry Model to the description of
vibrational excitations in and molecules. A
systematic procedure can be used to establish the relation between the
algebraic and configuration space formulations, by means of which new
interactions are found in the algebraic model, leading to reliable
spectroscopic predictions. We illustrate the method for the case of -triatomic molecules and the Be-cluster.Comment: 12 pages, invited talk at XIX Oaxtepec Symposium on Nuclear Physics,
January 199
The Jahn-Teller active fluoroperovskites : thermo- and magneto optical correlations as function of the -site
Chromium (II) fluoroperovskites are
strongly correlated Jahn-Teller active materials at low temperatures. In this
paper, we examine the role that the -site ion plays in this family of
fluoroperovskites using both experimental methods (XRD, optical absorption
spectroscopy and magnetic fields) and DFT simulations. Temperature-dependent
optical absorption experiments show that the spin-allowed transitions and
only merge completely for = Na at 2 K. Field-dependent optical
absorption measurements at 2 K show that the oscillating strength of the
spin-allowed transitions in increases with increasing
applied field. Direct magneto-structural correlations which suppress the
spin-flip transitions are observed for below its Ne\'el
temperature. In the spin-flip transitions vanish abruptly below
9 K revealing magneto-optical correlations not linked to crystal structure
changes. This suggests that as the long range ordering is reduced local JT
effects in the individual octahedra take control of the
observed behavior. Our results show clear deviation from the pattern found for
the isoelectronic system. The size of the -site cation
is shown to be central in dictating the physical properties and phase
transitions in , opening up the possibility of varying the
composition to create novel states of matter with tuneable properties
Nanostructuring lithium niobate substrates by focused ion beam milling
We report on two novel ways for patterning Lithium Niobate (LN) at
submicronic scale by means of focused ion beam (FIB) bombardment. The first
method consists of direct FIB milling on LiNbO3 and the second one is a
combination of FIB milling on a deposited metallic layer and subsequent RIE
(Reactive Ion Etching) etching. FIB images show in both cases homogeneous
structures with well reproduced periodicity. These methods open the way to the
fabrication of photonic crystals on LiNbO3 substrates
Dimensional analysis and Rutherford Scattering
Dimensional analysis, and in particular the Buckingham theorem is
widely used in fluid mechanics. In this article we obtain an expression for the
impact parameter from Buckingham's theorem and we compare our result with
Rutherford's original discovery found in the early twentieth century
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