Transgenic expression of the Ly49A natural killer cell receptor confers class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-specific inhibition and prevents bone marrow allograft rejection.

Natural killer (NK) cells and some T cells are endowed with receptors specific for class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules that can inhibit cellular effector functions. The function of the Ly49 receptor family has been studied in vitro, but no gene transfer experiments have directly established the role of these receptors in NK cell functions. We show here that transgenic expression of the H-2Dd-specific Ly49A receptor in all NK cells and T cells conferred class I-specific inhibition of NK cell-mediated target cell lysis as well as of T cell proliferation. Furthermore, transgene expression prevented NK cell-mediated rejection of allogeneic H-2d bone marrow grafts by irradiated mice. These results demonstrate the function and specificity of Ly49 receptors in vivo, and establish that their subset-specific expression is necessary for the discrimination of MHC-different cells by NK cells in unmanipulated mice

Die informations- und kommunikationstechnische Infrastruktur und ihre mittelfristige Entwicklung an den Hochschulen des Landes NRW

Dieser Bericht des Arbeitskreises der Leiter wissenschaftlicher Rechenzentren in NRW (ARNW) richtet sich an die Hochschulleitungen und die Verantwortlichen für Grundstrukturen in Information und Kommunikation (IuK). Er informiert über aktuelle wichtige Fragen, besonders über den Stand und Einsatz von IuK-Technologien. In Anbetracht der anhaltend schnellen Weiterentwicklung dieses Technologiefeldes, die sich auf alle Bereiche der Hochschulen auswirkt, halten wir das für wichtig, damit vermieden wird, dass wichtige Themen am Rande bleiben. Das neue Hochschulgesetz und der Qualitätspakt machen darüber hinaus eine Positionierung der Hochschulen in NRW zur IuK-Infrastruktur unabdingbar

Hund's rule and metallic ferromagnetism

We study tight-binding models of itinerant electrons in two different bands, with effective on-site interactions expressing Coulomb repulsion and Hund's rule. We prove that, for sufficiently large on-site exchange anisotropy, all ground states show metallic ferromagnetism: They exhibit a macroscopic magnetization, a macroscopic fraction of the electrons is spatially delocalized, and there is no energy gap for kinetic excitations.Comment: 17 page

On the nature of the magnetic ground-state wave function of V_2O_3

After a brief historical introduction, we dwell on two recent experiments in the low-temperature, monoclinic phase of V_2O_3: K-edge resonant x-ray scattering and non-reciprocal linear dichroism, whose interpretations are in conflict, as they require incompatible magnetic space groups. Such a conflict is critically reviewed, in the light of the present literature, and new experimental tests are suggested, in order to determine unambiguously the magnetic group. We then focus on the correlated, non-local nature of the ground-state wave function, that is at the basis of some drawbacks of the LDA+U approach: we singled out the physical mechanism that makes LDA+U unreliable, and indicate the way out for a possible remedy. Finally we explain, by means of a symmetry argument related to the molecular wave function, why the magnetic moment lies in the glide plane, even in the absence of any local symmetry at vanadium sites.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figur

Filling of the Mott-Hubbard gap in the high temperature photoemission spectrum of (V_0.972Cr_0.028)_2O_3

Photoemission spectra of the paramagnetic insulating (PI) phase of (V_0.972Cr_0.028)_2O_3, taken in ultra high vacuum up to the unusually high temperature (T) of 800 K, reveal a property unique to the Mott-Hubbard (MH) insulator and not observed previously. With increasing T the MH gap is filled by spectral weight transfer, in qualitative agreement with high-T theoretical calculations combining dynamical mean field theory and band theory in the local density approximation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Multiplet ligand-field theory using Wannier orbitals

We demonstrate how ab initio cluster calculations including the full Coulomb vertex can be done in the basis of the localized, generalized Wannier orbitals which describe the low-energy density functional (LDA) band structure of the infinite crystal, e.g. the transition metal 3d and oxygen 2p orbitals. The spatial extend of our 3d Wannier orbitals (orthonormalized Nth order muffin-tin orbitals) is close to that found for atomic Hartree-Fock orbitals. We define Ligand orbitals as those linear combinations of the O 2p Wannier orbitals which couple to the 3d orbitals for the chosen cluster. The use of ligand orbitals allows for a minimal Hilbert space in multiplet ligand-field theory calculations, thus reducing the computational costs substantially. The result is a fast and simple ab initio theory, which can provide useful information about local properties of correlated insulators. We compare results for NiO, MnO and SrTiO3 with x-ray absorption, inelastic x-ray scattering, and photoemission experiments. The multiplet ligand field theory parameters found by our ab initio method agree within ~10% to known experimental values

The Cerium volume collapse: Results from the LDA+DMFT approach

The merger of density-functional theory in the local density approximation (LDA) and many-body dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) allows for an ab initio calculation of Ce including the inherent 4f electronic correlations. We solve the DMFT equations by the quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) technique and calculate the Ce energy, spectrum, and double occupancy as a function of volume. At low temperatures, the correlation energy exhibits an anomalous region of negative curvature which drives the system towards a thermodynamic instability, i.e., the $\gamma$-to-$\alpha$ volume collapse, consistent with experiment. The connection of the energetic with the spectral evolution shows that the physical origin of the energy anomaly and, thus, the volume collapse is the appearance of a quasiparticle resonance in the 4f-spectrum which is accompanied by a rapid growth in the double occupancy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Complete Experimental Structure Determination of the p(3x2)pg Phase of Glycine on Cu{110}

We present a quantitative low energy electron diffraction (LEED) surface-crystallograpic study of the complete adsorption geometry of glycine adsorbed on Cu{110} in the ordered p(3×2) phase. The glycine molecules form bonds to the surface through the N atoms of the amino group and the two O atoms of the de-protonated carboxylate group, each with separate Cu atoms such that every Cu atom in the first layer is involved in a bond. Laterally, N atoms are nearest to the atop site (displacement 0.41 Å). The O atoms are asymmetrically displaced from the atop site by 0.54 Å and 1.18 Å with two very different O-Cu bond lengths of 1.93 Å and 2.18 Å. The atom positions of the upper-most Cu layers show small relaxations within 0.07 Å of the bulk-truncated surface geometry. The unit cell of the adsorbate layer consists of two glycine molecules, which are related by a glide-line symmetry operation. This study clearly shows that a significant coverage of adsorbate structures without this glide-line symmetry must be rejected, both on the grounds of the energy dependence of the spot intensities (LEED-IV curves) and of systematic absences in the LEED pattern

Active site binding and sequence requirements for inhibition of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase by the RT1 family of single-stranded DNA aptamers

Nucleic acid aptamers can potentially be developed as broad-spectrum antiviral agents. Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamer RT1t49 inhibits reverse transcriptases (RT) from HIV-1 and diverse lentiviral subtypes with low nanomolar values of Kd and IC50. To dissect the structural requirements for inhibition, RT-catalyzed DNA polymerization was measured in the presence of RT1t49 variants. Three structural domains were found to be essential for RT inhibition by RT1t49: a 5′ stem (stem I), a connector and a 3′ stem (stem II) capable of forming multiple secondary structures. Stem I tolerates considerable sequence plasticity, suggesting that it is recognized by RT more by structure than by sequence-specific contacts. Truncating five nucleotides from the 3′ end prevents formation of the most stable stem II structure, yet has little effect on IC50 across diverse HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIVCPZ RT. When bound to wild-type RT or an RNase H active site mutant, site-specifically generated hydroxyl radicals cleave after nucleotide A32. Cleavage is eliminated by either of two polymerase (pol)-active site mutants, strongly suggesting that A32 lies within the RT pol-active site. These data suggest a model of ssDNA aptamer–RT interactions and provide an improved molecular understanding of a potent, broad-spectrum ssDNA aptamer

Prominent quasi-particle peak in the photoemission spectrum of the metallic phase of V_2O_3

We present the first observation of a prominent quasi-particle peak in the photoemission spectrum of the metallic phase of V_2O_3 and report new spectral calculations that combine the local density approximation with the dynamical mean-field theory (using quantum Monte Carlo simulations) to show the development of such a distinct peak with decreasing temperature. The experimental peak width and weight are significantly larger than in the theory.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, supercedes cond-mat/010804