48 research outputs found
Searching for Perfect Fluids: Quantum Viscosity in a Universal Fermi Gas
We measure the shear viscosity in a two-component Fermi gas of atoms, tuned
to a broad s-wave collisional (Feshbach) resonance. At resonance, the atoms
strongly interact and exhibit universal behavior, where the equilibrium
thermodynamic properties and the transport coefficients are universal functions
of the density and temperature . We present a new calibration of the
temperature as a function of global energy, which is directly measured from the
cloud profiles. Using the calibration, the trap-averaged shear viscosity in
units of is determined as a function of the reduced temperature at
the trap center, from nearly the ground state to the unitary two-body regime.
Low temperature data is obtained from the damping rate of the radial breathing
mode, while high temperature data is obtained from hydrodynamic expansion
measurements. We also show that the best fit to the high temperature expansion
data is obtained for a vanishing bulk viscosity. The measured trap-averaged
entropy per particle and shear viscosity are used to estimate the ratio of the
shear viscosity to the entropy density, which is compared that conjectured for
a perfect fluid.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure
The Pioneer Anomaly
Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11
spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated
the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly
changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was
interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at
the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of
the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer
anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we
summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and
the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review
various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current
state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of
the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts
rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft
in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry
files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study
is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background
for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a
significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the
two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various
data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data
analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was
not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for
the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living
Reviews in Relativit
Cdc14 phosphatase promotes segregation of telomeres through repression of RNA polymerase II transcription
Kinases and phosphatases regulate messenger RNA synthesis through post-translational modification of the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (ref. 1). In yeast, the phosphatase Cdc14 is required for mitotic exit2,3 and for segregation of repetitive regions4. Cdc14 is also a subunit of the silencing complex RENT (refs 5, 6), but no roles in transcriptional repression have been described. Here we report that inactivation of Cdc14 causes silencing defects at the intergenic spacer sequences of ribosomal genes during interphase and at YâČ repeats in subtelomeric regions during mitosis. We show that the role of Cdc14 in silencing is independent of the RENT deacetylase subunit Sir2. Instead, Cdc14 acts directly on RNA polymerase II by targeting CTD phosphorylation at Ser 2 and Ser 5. We also find that the role of Cdc14 as a CTD phosphatase is conserved in humans. Finally, telomere segregation defects in cdc14 mutants4 correlate with the presence of subtelomeric YâČ elements and can be rescued by transcriptional inhibition of RNA polymerase II
Proteomic Profiling and Identification of Immunodominant Spore Antigens of Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus thuringiensis
Differentially expressed and immunogenic spore proteins of the Bacillus cereus group of bacteria, which includes Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, and Bacillus thuringiensis, were identified. Comparative proteomic profiling of their spore proteins distinguished the three species from each other as well as the virulent from the avirulent strains. A total of 458 proteins encoded by 232 open reading frames were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis for all the species. A number of highly expressed proteins, including elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu), elongation factor G, 60-kDa chaperonin, enolase, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, and others exist as charge variants on two-dimensional gels. These charge variants have similar masses but different isoelectric points. The majority of identified proteins have cellular roles associated with energy production, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, amino acid transport and metabolism, posttranslational modifications, and translation. Novel vaccine candidate proteins were identified using B. anthracis polyclonal antisera from humans postinfected with cutaneous anthrax. Fifteen immunoreactive proteins were identified in B. anthracis spores, whereas 7, 14, and 7 immunoreactive proteins were identified for B. cereus and in the virulent and avirulent strains of B. thuringiensis spores, respectively. Some of the immunodominant antigens include charge variants of EF-Tu, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, dihydrolipoamide acetyltransferase, Î-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase, and a dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase. Alanine racemase and neutral protease were uniquely immunogenic to B. anthracis. Comparative analysis of the spore immunome will be of significance for further nucleic acid- and immuno-based detection systems as well as next-generation vaccine development
Insights into Melting Behavior of Propyl-Bridged Di(cyanate ester) Monomers through Crystal Packing, Thermal Characterization, and Computational Analysis
Four isomeric propyl-bridged
diÂ(cyanate ester) monomers having
an unexpectedly wide range of melting points were analyzed using X-ray
crystallography, thermal analysis, and both empirical and semiempirical
modeling, in order to examine the structureâproperty relationships
that determine the melting characteristics. The four monomersâ
crystal structures were determined, and intermolecular contacts and
packing were examined. Enthalpies and entropies of melting were determined
experimentally via differential scanning calorimetry and compared
against two empirical models. Computational insights were provided
by examining the monomersâ energetic rotational barriers. Significant
effects that could not be accounted for within the framework of either
the empirical or semiempirical models altered the entropy of melting
over a range spanning about 40% of the average value, while the enthalpy
of melting varied over a range equivalent to 50% of the average value.
These large variations, even within an isomeric series exhibiting
a high similarity in chemical structure, combined with an apparent
correlation between the two parameters, complicate the prediction
of melting phenomena for technologically important molecules, even
when data for close structural analogues are available