On the physical basis for the cis-positive rule describing protein orientation in biological membranes

AbstractThe topology of hydrophobic intramembrane proteins is characterized by a statistical asymmetry in the distribution of positively-charged residues on the two sides of the membrane, the ‘inside- or cis-positive rule’. A mechanism is proposed involving only neutral residue transfer. For a tightly bound polypeptide adsorbed on the membrane and not at equilibrium, the pK values of the ionic residues related to dissociation of the proton into the aqueous phase bulk are increased because of interaction with the negative charges at the membrane surface. The pK shift would selectively neutralize aspartate and glutamate residues, favoring their translocation across the membrane, while stabilizing the impermeant positively charged state of lysine and arginine residues

Fourier transform infrared evidence for a predominantly alpha-helical structure of the membrane bound channel forming COOH-terminal peptide of colicin E1

The structure of the membrane bound state of the 178-residue thermolytic COOH-terminal channel forming peptide of colicin E1 was studied by polarized Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. This fragment was reconstituted into DMPC liposomes at varying peptide/lipid ratios ranging from 1/25–1/500. The amide I band frequency of the protein indicated a dominant alpha-helical secondary structure with limited beta- and random structures. The amide I and II frequencies are at 1,656 and 1,546 cm-1, close to the frequency of the amide I and II bands of rhodopsin, bacteriorhodopsin and other alpha-helical proteins. Polarized FTIR of oriented membranes revealed that the alpha-helices have an average orientation less than the magic angle, 54.6 degrees, relative to the membrane normal. Almost all of the peptide groups in the membrane-bound channel protein undergo rapid hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange. These results are contrasted to the alpha-helical membrane proteins, bacteriorhodopsin, and rhodopsin

Lieb-Robinson Bounds for Harmonic and Anharmonic Lattice Systems

We prove Lieb-Robinson bounds for the dynamics of systems with an infinite dimensional Hilbert space and generated by unbounded Hamiltonians. In particular, we consider quantum harmonic and certain anharmonic lattice systems

Morris-Thorne wormholes with a cosmological constant

First, the ideas introduced in the wormhole research field since the work of Morris and Thorne are briefly reviewed, namely, the issues of energy conditions, wormhole construction, stability, time machines and astrophysical signatures. Then, spherically symmetric and static traversable Morris-Thorne wormholes in the presence of a generic cosmological constant are analyzed. A matching of an interior solution to the unique exterior vacuum solution is done using directly the Einstein equations. The structure as well as several physical properties and characteristics of traversable wormholes due to the effects of the cosmological term are studied. Interesting equations appear in the process of matching. For instance, one finds that for asymptotically flat and anti-de Sitter spacetimes the surface tangential pressure of the thin-shell, at the boundary of the interior and exterior solutions, is always strictly positive, whereas for de Sitter spacetime it can take either sign as one could expect, being negative (tension) for relatively high cosmological constant and high wormhole radius, positive for relatively high mass and small wormhole radius, and zero in-between. Finally, some specific solutions with generic cosmological constant, based on the Morris-Thorne solutions, are provided.Comment: latex, 49 pages, 8 figures. Expanded version of the paper published in Physical Review

Demonstration of the temporal matter-wave Talbot effect for trapped matter waves

We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution, allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T < 11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present the first measurement of directed flow ($v_1$) at RHIC. $v_1$ is found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities $\eta$ from -1.2 to 1.2, then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range $2.4 < |\eta| < 4$. The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS. Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics

We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding

Kaon Production and Kaon to Pion Ratio in Au+Au Collisions at \snn=130 GeV

Mid-rapidity transverse mass spectra and multiplicity densities of charged and neutral kaons are reported for Au+Au collisions at \snn=130 GeV at RHIC. The spectra are exponential in transverse mass, with an inverse slope of about 280 MeV in central collisions. The multiplicity densities for these particles scale with the negative hadron pseudo-rapidity density. The charged kaon to pion ratios are $K^+/\pi^- = 0.161 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.024 {\rm (syst)}$ and $K^-/\pi^- = 0.146 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.022 {\rm (syst)}$ for the most central collisions. The $K^+/\pi^-$ ratio is lower than the same ratio observed at the SPS while the $K^-/\pi^-$ is higher than the SPS result. Both ratios are enhanced by about 50% relative to p+p and $\bar{\rm p}$+p collision data at similar energies.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl