157 research outputs found
Single-molecule experiments in biological physics: methods and applications
I review single-molecule experiments (SME) in biological physics. Recent
technological developments have provided the tools to design and build
scientific instruments of high enough sensitivity and precision to manipulate
and visualize individual molecules and measure microscopic forces. Using SME it
is possible to: manipulate molecules one at a time and measure distributions
describing molecular properties; characterize the kinetics of biomolecular
reactions and; detect molecular intermediates. SME provide the additional
information about thermodynamics and kinetics of biomolecular processes. This
complements information obtained in traditional bulk assays. In SME it is also
possible to measure small energies and detect large Brownian deviations in
biomolecular reactions, thereby offering new methods and systems to scrutinize
the basic foundations of statistical mechanics. This review is written at a
very introductory level emphasizing the importance of SME to scientists
interested in knowing the common playground of ideas and the interdisciplinary
topics accessible by these techniques. The review discusses SME from an
experimental perspective, first exposing the most common experimental
methodologies and later presenting various molecular systems where such
techniques have been applied. I briefly discuss experimental techniques such as
atomic-force microscopy (AFM), laser optical tweezers (LOT), magnetic tweezers
(MT), biomembrane force probe (BFP) and single-molecule fluorescence (SMF). I
then present several applications of SME to the study of nucleic acids (DNA,
RNA and DNA condensation), proteins (protein-protein interactions, protein
folding and molecular motors). Finally, I discuss applications of SME to the
study of the nonequilibrium thermodynamics of small systems and the
experimental verification of fluctuation theorems. I conclude with a discussion
of open questions and future perspectives.Comment: Latex, 60 pages, 12 figures, Topical Review for J. Phys. C (Cond.
Matt
Nanorings and rods interconnected by self-assembly mimicking an artificial network of neurons
[EN] Molecular electronics based on structures ordered as neural networks emerges as the next evolutionary milestone in the construction of nanodevices with unprecedented applications. However, the straightforward formation of geometrically defined and interconnected nanostructures is crucial for the production of electronic circuitry nanoequivalents. Here we report on the molecularly fine-tuned self-assembly of tetrakis-Schiff base compounds into nanosized rings interconnected by unusually large nanorods providing a set of connections that mimic a biological network of neurons. The networks are produced through self-assembly resulting from the molecular conformation and noncovalent intermolecular interactions. These features can be easily generated on flat surfaces and in a polymeric matrix by casting from solution under ambient conditions. The structures can be used to guide the position of electron-transporting agents such as carbon nanotubes on a surface or in a polymer matrix to create electrically conducting networks that can find direct use in constructing nanoelectronic circuits.The research leading to these results has received funding from ICIQ, ICREA, the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) through project CTQ2011-27385 and the European Community Seventh Framework Program (FP7-PEOPLE-ITN-2008, CONTACT consortium) under grant agreement number 238363. We acknowledge E. C. Escudero-Adan, M. Martinez-Belmonte and E. Martin from the X-ray department of ICIQ for crystallographic analysis, and M. Moncusi, N. Argany, R. Marimon, M. Stefanova and L. Vojkuvka from the Servei de Recursos Cientifics i Tecnics from Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona, Spain).Escarcega-Bobadilla, MV.; Zelada-Guillen, GA.; Pyrlin, SV.; Wegrzyn, M.; Ramos, MMD.; Giménez Torres, E.; Stewart, A.... (2013). 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The Potential Energy Surface in Molecular Quantum Mechanics
The idea of a Potential Energy Surface (PES) forms the basis of almost all
accounts of the mechanisms of chemical reactions, and much of theoretical
molecular spectroscopy. It is assumed that, in principle, the PES can be
calculated by means of clamped-nuclei electronic structure calculations based
upon the Schr\"{o}dinger Coulomb Hamiltonian. This article is devoted to a
discussion of the origin of the idea, its development in the context of the Old
Quantum Theory, and its present status in the quantum mechanics of molecules.
It is argued that its present status must be regarded as uncertain.Comment: 18 pages, Proceedings of QSCP-XVII, Turku, Finland 201
Megascopic Quantum Phenomena. A Critical Study of Physical Interpretations
A megascopic revalidation is offered providing responses and resolutions of
current inconsistencies and existing contradictions in present-day quantum
theory. As the core of this study we present an independent proof of the
Goldstone theorem for a quantum field formulation of molecules and solids.
Along with phonons two types of new quasiparticles appear: rotons and
translons. In full analogy with Lorentz covariance, combining space and time
coordinates, a new covariance is necessary, binding together the internal and
external degrees of freedom, without explicitly separating the centre-of-mass,
which normally applies in both classical and quantum formulations. The
generally accepted view regarding the lack of a simple correspondence between
the Goldstone modes and broken symmetries, has significant consequences: an
ambiguous BCS theory as well as a subsequent Higgs mechanism. The application
of the archetype of the classical spontaneous symmetry breaking, i.e. the
Mexican hat, as compared to standard quantum relations, i.e. the Jahn-Teller
effect, superconductivity or the Higgs mechanism, becomes a disparity. In
short, symmetry broken states have a microscopic causal origin, but transitions
between them have a teleological component. The different treatments of the
problem of the centre of gravity in quantum mechanics and in field theories
imply a second type of Bohr complementarity on the many-body level opening the
door for megascopic representations of all basic microscopic quantum axioms
with further readings for teleonomic megascopic quantum phenomena, which have
no microscopic rationale: isomeric transitions, Jahn-Teller effect, chemical
reactions, Einstein-de Haas effect, superconductivity-superfluidity, and
brittle fracture.Comment: 117 pages, 17 sections, final revised version from 20 May 2019 but
uploaded after the DOI was know
Trends and connections across the Antarctic cryosphere
Satellite observations have transformed our understanding of the Antarctic cryosphere. The continent holds the vast majority of Earth’s fresh water, and blankets swathes of the Southern Hemisphere in ice. Reductions in the thickness and extent of floating ice shelves have disturbed inland ice, triggering retreat, acceleration and drawdown of marine-terminating glaciers. The waxing and waning of Antarctic sea ice is one of Earth’s greatest seasonal habitat changes, and although the maximum extent of the sea ice has increased modestly since the 1970s, inter-annual variability is high, and there is evidence of longer-term decline in its extent
Widespread white matter microstructural abnormalities in bipolar disorder: evidence from mega- and meta-analyses across 3033 individuals
Fronto-limbic white matter (WM) abnormalities are assumed to lie at the heart of the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder (BD);
however, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies have reported heterogeneous results and it is not clear how the clinical
heterogeneity is related to the observed differences. This study aimed to identify WM abnormalities that differentiate patients with
BD from healthy controls (HC) in the largest DTI dataset of patients with BD to date, collected via the ENIGMA network. We gathered
individual tensor-derived regional metrics from 26 cohorts leading to a sample size of N = 3033 (1482 BD and 1551 HC). Mean
fractional anisotropy (FA) from 43 regions of interest (ROI) and average whole-brain FA were entered into univariate mega- and
meta-analyses to differentiate patients with BD from HC. Mega-analysis revealed significantly lower FA in patients with BD
compared with HC in 29 regions, with the highest effect sizes observed within the corpus callosum (R2 = 0.041, Pcorr < 0.001) and
cingulum (right: R2 = 0.041, left: R2 = 0.040, Pcorr < 0.001). Lithium medication, later onset and short disease duration were related to
higher FA along multiple ROIs. Results of the meta-analysis showed similar effects. We demonstrated widespread WM abnormalities
in BD and highlighted that altered WM connectivity within the corpus callosum and the cingulum are strongly associated with BD.
These brain abnormalities could represent a biomarker for use in the diagnosis of BD. Interactive three-dimensional visualization of the results is available at www.enigma-viewer.org
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