191 research outputs found
Candida albicans pathogenicity mechanisms
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
The quorum-sensing molecules farnesol/homoserine lactone and dodecanol operate via distinct modes of action in Candida albicans
Living as a commensal, Candida albicans must adapt and respond to environmental cues generated by the mammalian host and by microbes comprising the natural flora. These signals have opposing effects on C. albicans, with host cues promoting the yeast-to-hyphal transition and bacteria-derived quorum-sensing molecules inhibiting hyphal development. Hyphal development is regulated through modulation of the cyclic AMP (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) signaling pathway, and it has been postulated that quorum-sensing molecules can affect filamentation by inhibiting the cAMP pathway. Here, we show that both farnesol and 3-oxo-C12-homoserine lactone, a quorum-sensing molecule secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, block hyphal development by affecting cAMP signaling; they both directly inhibited the activity of the Candida adenylyl cyclase, Cyr1p. In contrast, the 12-carbon alcohol dodecanol appeared to modulate hyphal development and the cAMP signaling pathway without directly affecting the activity of Cyr1p. Instead, we show that dodecanol exerted its effects through a mechanism involving the C. albicans hyphal repressor, Sfl1p. Deletion of SFL1 did not affect the response to farnesol but did interfere with the response to dodecanol. Therefore, quorum sensing in C. albicans is mediated via multiple mechanisms of action. Interestingly, our experiments raise the possibility that the Burkholderia cenocepacia diffusible signal factor, BDSF, also mediates its effects via Sfl1p, suggesting that dodecanol's mode of action, but not farnesol or 3-oxo-C12-homoserine lactone, may be used by other quorum-sensing molecules
Fixed-N Superconductivity: The Crossover from the Bulk to the Few-Electron Limit
We present a truly canonical theory of superconductivity in ultrasmall
metallic grains by variationally optimizing fixed-N projected BCS
wave-functions, which yields the first full description of the entire crossover
from the bulk BCS regime (mean level spacing bulk gap )
to the ``fluctuation-dominated'' few-electron regime (). A
wave-function analysis shows in detail how the BCS limit is recovered for , and how for pairing correlations become
delocalized in energy space. An earlier grand-canonical prediction for an
observable parity effect in the spectral gaps is found to survive the fixed-N
projection.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX, V2: minor charges to mach final printed
versio
Pressure effects on the transition temperature and the magnetic field penetration depth in the pyrochlore superconductor RbOs_2O_6
We report magnetization measurements under high hydrostatic pressure in the
newly discovered pyrochlore superconductor RbOs_2O_6 (T_c\simeq6.3K at p=0). A
pronounced and {\it positive} pressure effect (PE) on T_c with dT_c/dp
=0.090(1)K/kbar was observed, whereas no PE on the magnetic penetration depth
\lambda was detected. The relative pressure shift of T_c [ dlnT_c/dp \simeq
1.5%/kbar] is comparable with the highest values obtained for highly underdoped
high-temperature cuprate superconductors. Our results suggest that RbOs_2O_6 is
an adiabatic BCS-type superconductor.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
A small superconducting grain in the canonical ensemble
By means of the Lanczos method we analyze superconducting correlations in
ultrasmall grains at fixed particle number. We compute the ground state
properties and the excitation gap of the pairing Hamiltonian as a function of
the level spacing . Both quantities turn out to be parity dependent and
universal functions of the ratio ( is the BCS gap). We
then characterize superconductivity in the canonical ensemble from the scaling
behavior of correlation functions in energy space.Comment: 11 pages Revtex, 5 figures .ep
Mixed state properties of superconducting MgB2 single crystals
We report on measurements of the magnetic moment in superconducting MgB2
single crystals. We find \mu_0H_{c2}^c(0) = 3.2 T, \mu_0H_{c2}^{ab}(0) = 14.5
T, \gamma = 4.6, \mu_0H_c(0) = 0.28 T, and \kappa(T_c) = 4.7. The standard
Ginzburg-Landau and London model relations lead to a consistent data set and
indicate that MgB2 is a clean limit superconductor of intermediate coupling
strength with very pronounced anisotropy effects
Re-entrant spin susceptibility of a superconducting grain
We study the spin susceptibility chi of a small, isolated superconducting
grain. Due to the interplay between parity effects and pairing correlations,
the dependence of chi on temperature T is qualitatively different from the
standard BCS result valid in the bulk limit. If the number of electrons on the
grain is odd, chi shows a re-entrant behavior as a function of temperature.
This behavior persists even in the case of ultrasmall grains where the mean
level spacing is much larger than the BCS gap. If the number of electrons is
even, chi(T) is exponentially small at low temperatures.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. To be published in PR
Directional emission of light from a nano-optical Yagi-Uda antenna
The plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles can enhance and direct light
from optical emitters in much the same way that radio frequency (RF) antennas
enhance and direct the emission from electrical circuits. In the RF regime, a
typical antenna design for high directivity is the Yagi-Uda antenna, which
basically consists of a one-dimensional array of antenna elements driven by a
single feed element. Here, we present the experimental demonstration of
directional light emission from a nano-optical Yagi-Uda antenna composed of an
array of appropriately tuned gold nanorods. Our results indicate that
nano-optical antenna arrays are a simple but efficient tool for the spatial
control of light emission.Comment: 4 pages, including 4 figure
Spin-Orbit-Induced Magnetic Anisotropy for Impurities in Metallic Samples I. Surface Anisotropy
Motivated by the recent measurements of Kondo resistivity in thin films and
wires, where the Kondo amplitude is suppressed for thinner samples, the surface
anisotropy for magnetic impurities is studied. That anisotropy is developed in
those cases where in addition to the exchange interaction with the impurity
there is strong spin-orbit interaction for conduction electrons around the
impurity in the ballistic region. The asymmetry in the neighborhood of the
magnetic impurity exhibits the anisotropy axis which, in the case of a
plane surface, is perpendicular to the surface. The anisotropy energy is
for spin , and the anisotropy constant is
inversionally proportional to distance measured from the surface and
. Thus at low temperature the spin is frozen in a singlet or doublet of
lowest energy. The influence of that anisotropy on the electrical resistivity
is the subject of the following paper (part II).Comment: 28 pages, RevTeX (using epsfig), 8 eps figures included, submitted to
PR
Electrical Control of Plasmon Resonance with Graphene
Surface plasmon, with its unique capability to concentrate light into
sub-wavelength volume, has enabled great advances in photon science, ranging
from nano-antenna and single-molecule Raman scattering to plasmonic waveguide
and metamaterials. In many applications it is desirable to control the surface
plasmon resonance in situ with electric field. Graphene, with its unique
tunable optical properties, provides an ideal material to integrate with
nanometallic structures for realizing such control. Here we demonstrate
effective modulation of the plasmon resonance in a model system composed of
hybrid graphene-gold nanorod structure. Upon electrical gating the strong
optical transitions in graphene can be switched on and off, which leads to
significant modulation of both the resonance frequency and quality factor of
plasmon resonance in gold nanorods. Hybrid graphene-nanometallic structures, as
exemplified by this combination of graphene and gold nanorod, provide a general
and powerful way for electrical control of plasmon resonances. It holds promise
for novel active optical devices and plasmonic circuits at the deep
subwavelength scale
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