1,554 research outputs found
alphabeta sequence of F is IS31
Previous studies have shown that there is a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) segment, of length 1.3 kb and denoted as the alphabeta sequence, which occurs twice on the F plasmid at corrdinates 93.2 to 94.5/OF kb and 13.7 to 15.0F kb. In the present investigation, heteroduplexes were prepared between a phage DNA carrying the insertion sequence IS3 and suitable F-prime DNAs. The hybrids formed show that IS3 is the same as alphabeta. This result plus previous studies support the view that: (i) the insertion sequence IS2 and IS3 occur on F and, in multiple copies, on the main bacterial chromosome of Escherichia coli K-12; and (ii)these IS sequences on the main bacterial chromosomes are hot spots for Hfr formation by reciprocal recombination with the corresponding sequences of F
Ventricular diastolic filling characteristics in stage-24 chick embryos after extra-embryonic venous obstruction
Alteration of extra-embryonic venous blood flow in stage-17 chick embryos
results in well-defined cardiovascular malformations. We hypothesize that
the decreased dorsal aortic blood volume flow observed after venous
obstruction results in altered ventricular diastolic function in stage-24
chick embryos. A microclip was placed at the right lateral vitelline vein
in a stage-17 (52-64 h of incubation) chick embryo. At stage 24 (4.5 days
of incubation), we measured simultaneously dorsal aortic and
atrioventricular blood flow velocities with a 20-MHz pulsed-Doppler
velocity meter. The fraction of passive and active filling was integrated
and multiplied by dorsal aortic blood flow to obtain the relative passive
and active ventricular filling volumes. Data were summarized as means +/-
S.E.M. and analyzed by t-test. At similar cycle lengths ranging from 557
ms to 635 ms (P>0.60), dorsal aortic blood flow and stroke volume measured
in the dorsal aorta were similar in stage-24 clipped and normal embryos.
Passive filling volume (0.07+/-0.01 mm(3)) was decreased, and active
filling volume (0.40+/-0.02 mm(3)) was increased in the clipped embryo
when compared with the normal embryo (0.15+/-0.01 mm(3), 0.30+/-0.01
mm(3), respectively) (P<0.003). In the clipped embryos, the passive/active
ratio was decreased compared with that in normal embryos (P<0.001).
Ventricular filling components changed after partially obstructing the
extra-embryonic venous circulation. These results suggest that material
properties of the embryonic ventricle are modified after temporarily
reduced hemodynamic load
Single vortex structure in two models of iron pnictide superconductivity
The structure of a single vortex in a FeAs superconductor is studied in the
framework of two formulations of superconductivity for the recently proposed
sign-reversed wave () scenario: {\it (i)} a continuum model taking
into account the existence of an electron and a hole band with a repulsive
local interaction between the two; {\it (ii)} a lattice tight-binding model
with two orbitals per unit cell and a next-nearest-neighbour attractive
interaction. In the first model, the local density of states (LDOS) at the
vortex centre, as a function of energy, exhibits a peak at the Fermi level,
while in the second model such LDOS peak is deviated from the Fermi level and
its energy depends on band filling. An impurity located outside the vortex core
has little effect on the LDOS peak, but an impurity close to the vortex core
can almost suppress it and modify its position.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in New Journal of
Physic
Evidence of Doping-Dependent Pairing Symmetry in Cuprate Superconductors
Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) studies reveal long-range spatial
homogeneity and predominantly -pairing spectral characteristics in
under- and optimally doped superconductors, whereas
STS on exhibits {\it
microscopic} spatial modulations and strong scattering near the Zn or Mg
impurity sites, together with global suppression of the pairing potential. In
contrast, in overdoped ,
-pairing symmetry is found, suggesting significant changes in
the superconducting ground-state at a critical doping value.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Published in Physical Review Letters.
Corresponding author: Nai-Chang Yeh (e-mail address: [email protected]
"Pair" Fermi contour and repulsion-induced superconductivity in cuprates
The pairing of charge carriers with large pair momentum is considered in
connection with high-temperature superconductivity of cuprate compounds. The
possibility of pairing arises due to some essential features of
quasi-two-dimensional electronic structure of cuprates: (i) The Fermi contour
with strong nesting features; (ii) The presence of extended saddle point near
the Fermi level; (iii) The existence of some ordered state (for example,
antiferromagnetic) close to the superconducting one as a reason for an
appearing of "pair" Fermi contour resulting from carrier redistribution in
momentum space. In an extended vicinity of the saddle point, momentum space has
hyperbolic (pseudoeuclidean) metrics, therefore, the principal values of
two-dimensional reciprocal reduced effective mass tensor have unlike signs.
Rearrangement of holes in momentum space results in a rise of "pair" Fermi
contour which may be defined as zero-energy line for relative motion of the
pair. The superconducting gap arises just on this line. Pair Fermi contour
formation inside the region of momentum space with hyperbolic metrics results
in not only superconducting pairing but in a rise of quasi-stationary state in
the relative motion of the pair. Such a state has rather small decay and may be
related to the pseudogap regime of underdoped cuprates. It is concluded that
the pairing in cuprates may be due to screened Coulomb repulsion. In this case,
the superconducting energy gap in hole-doped cuprates exists in the region of
hole concentration which is bounded both above and below. The superconducting
state with positive condensation energy exists in more narrow range of doping
level inside this region. Such hole concentration dependence correlates with
typical phase diagram of cuprates.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Characterization of the basal angiosperm Aristolochia fimbriata: a potential experimental system for genetic studies
BACKGROUND: Previous studies in basal angiosperms have provided insight into the diversity within the angiosperm lineage and helped to polarize analyses of flowering plant evolution. However, there is still not an experimental system for genetic studies among basal angiosperms to facilitate comparative studies and functional investigation. It would be desirable to identify a basal angiosperm experimental system that possesses many of the features found in existing plant model systems (e.g., Arabidopsis and Oryza). RESULTS: We have considered all basal angiosperm families for general characteristics important for experimental systems, including availability to the scientific community, growth habit, and membership in a large basal angiosperm group that displays a wide spectrum of phenotypic diversity. Most basal angiosperms are woody or aquatic, thus are not well-suited for large scale cultivation, and were excluded. We further investigated members of Aristolochiaceae for ease of culture, life cycle, genome size, and chromosome number. We demonstrated self-compatibility for Aristolochia elegans and A. fimbriata, and transformation with a GFP reporter construct for Saruma henryi and A. fimbriata. Furthermore, A. fimbriata was easily cultivated with a life cycle of just three months, could be regenerated in a tissue culture system, and had one of the smallest genomes among basal angiosperms. An extensive multi-tissue EST dataset was produced for A. fimbriata that includes over 3.8 million 454 sequence reads. CONCLUSIONS: Aristolochia fimbriata has numerous features that facilitate genetic studies and is suggested as a potential model system for use with a wide variety of technologies. Emerging genetic and genomic tools for A. fimbriata and closely related species can aid the investigation of floral biology, developmental genetics, biochemical pathways important in plant-insect interactions as well as human health, and various other features present in early angiosperms
Unconventional Pairing in Heavy Fermion Metals
The Fermi-liquid theory of superconductivity is applicable to a broad range
of systems that are candidates for unconventional pairing. Fundamental
differences between unconventional and conventional anisotropic superconductors
are illustrated by the unique effects that impurities have on the
low-temperature transport properties of unconventional superconductors. For
special classes of unconventional superconductors the low-temperature transport
coefficients are {\it universal}, i.e. independent of the impurity
concentration and scattering phase shift. The existence of a universal limit
depends on the symmetry of the order parameter and is achieved at low
temperatures , where is the bandwidth
of the impurity induced Andreev bound states. In the case of UPt thermal
conductivity measurements favor an or ground state.
Measurements at ultra-low temperatures should distinguish different pairing
states.Comment: 8 pages in a LaTex (3.0) file plus 5 Figures in PostScript. To appear
in the Proceedings of the XXI International Conference on Low Temperature
Physics held in Prague, 8-14 August 199
Lead exposure in adult males in urban Transvaal Province, South Africa during the apartheid era
Human exposure to lead is a substantial public health hazard worldwide and is particularly problematic in the Republic of South Africa given the country’s late cessation of leaded petrol. Lead exposure is associated with a number of serious health issues and diseases including developmental and cognitive deficiency, hypertension and heart disease. Understanding the distribution of lifetime lead burden within a given population is critical for reducing exposure rates. Femoral bone from 101 deceased adult males living in urban Transvaal Province (now Gauteng Province), South Africa between 1960 and 1998 were analyzed for lead concentration by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Of the 72 black and 29 white individuals sampled, chronic lead exposure was apparent in nearly all individuals. White males showed significantly higher median bone lead concentration (ME = 10.04 µg·g−1), than black males (ME = 3.80 µg·g−1) despite higher socioeconomic status. Bone lead concentration covaries significantly, though weakly, with individual age. There was no significant temporal trend in bone lead concentration. These results indicate that long-term low to moderate lead exposure is the historical norm among South African males. Unexpectedly, this research indicates that white males in the sample population were more highly exposed to lead
Gravitational Lensing
Gravitational lensing has developed into one of the most powerful tools for
the analysis of the dark universe. This review summarises the theory of
gravitational lensing, its main current applications and representative results
achieved so far. It has two parts. In the first, starting from the equation of
geodesic deviation, the equations of thin and extended gravitational lensing
are derived. In the second, gravitational lensing by stars and planets,
galaxies, galaxy clusters and large-scale structures is discussed and
summarised.Comment: Invited review article to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity, 85
pages, 15 figure
Measurement of the Boson Mass
A measurement of the mass of the boson is presented based on a sample of
5982 decays observed in collisions at
= 1.8~TeV with the D\O\ detector during the 1992--1993 run. From a
fit to the transverse mass spectrum, combined with measurements of the
boson mass, the boson mass is measured to be .Comment: 12 pages, LaTex, style Revtex, including 3 postscript figures
(submitted to PRL
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