16,753 research outputs found
Isolation of a Novel Phage with Activity against Streptococcus mutans Biofilms
peer-reviewedStreptococcus mutans is one of the principal agents of caries formation mainly, because of its ability to form biofilms at the tooth surface. Bacteriophages (phages) are promising antimicrobial agents that could be used to prevent or treat caries formation by S. mutans. The aim of this study was to isolate new S. mutans phages and to characterize their antimicrobial properties. A new phage, ɸAPCM01, was isolated from a human saliva sample. Its genome was closely related to the only two other available S. mutans phage genomes, M102 and M102AD. ɸAPCM01 inhibited the growth of S. mutans strain DPC6143 within hours in broth and in artificial saliva at multiplicity of infections as low as 2.5x10-5. In the presence of phage ɸAPCM01 the metabolic activity of a S. mutans biofilm was reduced after 24 h of contact and did not increased again after 48 h, and the live cells in the biofilm decreased by at least 5 log cfu/ml. Despite its narrow host range, this newly isolated S. mutans phage exhibits promising antimicrobial properties
Thermal Instability and Photoionized X-ray Reflection in Accretion Disks
We study the X-ray illumination of an accretion disk. We relax the
simplifying assumption of constant gas density used in most previous studies;
instead we determine the density from hydrostatic balance. It is found that the
thermal ionization instability prevents the illuminated gas from attaining
temperatures at which the gas is unstable. In particular, the uppermost layers
of the X-ray illuminated gas are found to be almost completely ionized and at
the local Compton temperature ( K); at larger depths, the gas
temperature drops abruptly to form a thin layer with K, while at
yet larger depths it decreases sharply to the disk effective temperature. We
find that most of the Fe K line emission and absorption edge are
produced in the coolest, deepest layers, while the Fe atoms in the hottest,
uppermost layers are generally almost fully ionized, hence making a negligible
contribution to reprocessing features in keV energy range. We
provide a summary of how X-ray reprocessing features depend on parameters of
the problem. The results of our self-consistent calculations are both
quantitatively and qualitatively different from those obtained using the
constant density assumption. Therefore, we conclude that X-ray reflection
calculations should always utilize hydrostatic balance in order to provide a
reliable theoretical interpretation of observed X-ray spectra of AGN and GBHCs.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; 16 pages plus 13 figure
Strings in extremal BTZ black holes
We study the spectrum of the worldsheet theory of the bosonic closed string
in the massless and extremal rotating BTZ black holes. We use a hyperbolic
Wakimoto representation of the SL(2,R) currents to construct vertex operators
for the string modes on these backgrounds. We argue that there are tachyons in
the twisted sector, but these are not localised near the horizon. We study the
relation to the null orbifold in the limit of vanishing cosmological constant.
We also discuss the problem of extending this analysis to the supersymmetric
case.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
Archaeal abundance in post-mortem ruminal digesta may help predict methane emissions from beef cattle
The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health and SRUC are funded by the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) of the Scottish Government. The project was supported by DEFRA and DA funded Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Inventory Research Platform. Our thanks are due to the excellent support staff at the SRUC Beef Research Centre, Edinburgh, also to Graham Horgan of BioSS, Aberdeen, for conducting multivariate analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Thermodynamics of Chemical Waves
Chemical waves constitute a known class of dissipative structures emerging in
reaction-diffusion systems. They play a crucial role in biology, spreading
information rapidly to synchronize and coordinate biological events. We develop
a rigorous thermodynamic theory of reaction-diffusion systems to characterize
chemical waves. Our main result is the definition of the proper thermodynamic
potential of the local dynamics as a nonequilibrium free energy density and
establishing its balance equation. This enables us to identify the dynamics of
the free energy, of the dissipation, and of the work spent to sustain the wave
propagation. Two prototypical classes of chemical waves are examined. From a
thermodynamic perspective, the first is sustained by relaxation towards
equilibrium and the second by nonconservative forces generated by chemostats.
We analytically study step-like waves, called wavefronts, using the
Fisher-Kolmogorov equation as representative of the first class and oscillating
waves in the Brusselator model as representative of the second. Given the
fundamental role of chemical waves as message carriers in biosystems, our
thermodynamic theory constitutes an important step toward an understanding of
information transfers and processing in biology.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
Double-heterostructure cavities: from theory to design
We derive a frequency-domain-based approach for radiation (FAR) from
double-heterostructure cavity (DHC) modes. We use this to compute the quality
factors and radiation patterns of DHC modes. The semi-analytic nature of our
method enables us to provide a general relationship between the radiation
pattern of the cavity and its geometry. We use this to provide general designs
for ultrahigh quality factor DHCs with radiation patterns that are engineered
to emit vertically
Global hydrodynamic analysis of the molecular flexibility of galactomannans
In the past, intrinsic viscosity and sedimentation velocity analyses have been used separately to assess the conformation and flexibility of guar and locust bean gum galactomannans based on worm-like chain and semi-flexible coil models. Publication of a new global method combining data sets of both intrinsic viscosity and sedimentation coefficient with molecular weight, and minimising a target (error) function now permits a more robust analysis. Using this approach, values for the persistence length of (10 ± 2) nm for guar and (7 ± 1) nm for locust bean gum are returned if the mass per unit length ML is floated as a variable. Using a fixed mass per unit length based on the known compositional data of each galactomannan yields a similar value for Lp in both cases, (8 ± 1) nm for guar and (9 ± 1) nm for locust bean gum, with combined set of data yielding (9 ± 1) nm: within experimental error the flexibilities of both galactomannans are very similar. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
A functional-cognitive framework for attitude research
In attitude research, behaviours are often used as proxies for attitudes and attitudinal processes. This practice is problematic because it conflates the behaviours that need to be explained (explanandum) with the mental constructs that are used to explain these behaviours (explanans). In the current chapter we propose a meta-theoretical framework that resolves this problem by distinguishing between two levels of analysis. According to the proposed framework, attitude research can be conceptualised as the scientific study of evaluation. Evaluation is defined not in terms of mental constructs but in terms of elements in the environment, more specifically, as the effect of stimuli on evaluative responses. From this perspective, attitude research provides answers to two questions: (1) Which elements in the environment moderate evaluation? (2) What mental processes and representations mediate evaluation? Research on the first question provides explanations of evaluative responses in terms of elements in the environment (functional level of analysis); research on the second question offers explanations of evaluation in terms of mental processes and representations (cognitive level of analysis). These two levels of analysis are mutually supportive, in that better explanations at one level lead to better explanations at the other level. However, their mutually supportive relation requires a clear distinction between the concepts of their explanans and explanandum, which are conflated if behaviours are treated as proxies for mental constructs. The value of this functional-cognitive framework is illustrated by applying it to four central questions of attitude research
Solitons in Five Dimensional Minimal Supergravity: Local Charge, Exotic Ergoregions, and Violations of the BPS Bound
We describe a number of striking features of a class of smooth solitons in
gauged and ungauged minimal supergravity in five dimensions. The solitons are
globally asymptotically flat or asymptotically AdS without any Kaluza-Klein
directions but contain a minimal sphere formed when a cycle pinches off in the
interior of the spacetime. The solutions carry a local magnetic charge and many
have rather unusual ergosurfaces. Perhaps most strikingly, many of the solitons
have more electric charge or, in the asymptotically AdS case, more electric
charge and angular momentum than is allowed by the usual BPS bound. We comment
on, but do not resolve, the new puzzle this raises for AdS/CFT.Comment: 60 pages, 12 figures, 3 table
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