1,822 research outputs found
Optimal search strategies for hidden targets
What is the fastest way of finding a randomly hidden target? This question of
general relevance is of vital importance for foraging animals. Experimental
observations reveal that the search behaviour of foragers is generally
intermittent: active search phases randomly alternate with phases of fast
ballistic motion. In this letter, we study the efficiency of this type of two
states search strategies, by calculating analytically the mean first passage
time at the target. We model the perception mecanism involved in the active
search phase by a diffusive process. In this framework, we show that the search
strategy is optimal when the average duration of "motion phases" varies like
the power either 3/5 or 2/3 of the average duration of "search phases",
depending on the regime. This scaling accounts for experimental data over a
wide range of species, which suggests that the kinetics of search trajectories
is a determining factor optimized by foragers and that the perception activity
is adequately described by a diffusion process.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Feasiblity study for a 34 GHz (Ka band) gyroamplifier
The feasibility of using a gyroklystron power tube as the final amplifier in a 400 kW CW 34 GHz transmitter on the Goldstone Antenna is investigated. A conceptual design of the gyroklystron and the transmission line connecting it with the antenna feed horn is presented. The performance characteristics of the tube and transmission line are compared to the transmitter requirements for a deep space radar system. Areas of technical risk for a follow-on hardware development program for the gyroklystron amplifier and overmoded transmission line components are discussed
The exocyst complex is required for targeting of Glut4 to the plasma membrane by insulin
Insulin stimulates glucose transport by promoting exocytosis of the glucose transporter Glut4 (refs 1, 2). The dynamic processes involved in the trafficking of Glut4-containing vesicles, and in their targeting, docking and fusion at the plasma membrane, as well as the signalling processes that govern these events, are not well understood. We recently described tyrosine-phosphorylation events restricted to subdomains of the plasma membrane that result in activation of the G protein TC10 (refs 3, 4). Here we show that TC10 interacts with one of the components of the exocyst complex, Exo70. Exo70 translocates to the plasma membrane in response to insulin through the activation of TC10, where it assembles a multiprotein complex that includes Sec6 and Sec8. Overexpression of an Exo70 mutant blocked insulin-stimulated glucose uptake, but not the trafficking of Glut4 to the plasma membrane. However, this mutant did block the extracellular exposure of the Glut4 protein. So, the exocyst might have a crucial role in the targeting of the Glut4 vesicle to the plasma membrane, perhaps directing the vesicle to the precise site of fusion.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/62982/1/nature01533.pd
Global and regional effects of the photochemistry of CH_3O_2NO_2: evidence from ARCTAS
Using measurements from the NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) experiment, we show that methyl peroxy nitrate (CH_3O_2NO_2) is present in concentrations of ~5–15 pptv in the springtime arctic upper troposphere. We investigate the regional and global effects of CH_3O_2NO_2 by including its chemistry in the GEOS-Chem 3-D global chemical transport model. We find that at temperatures below 240 K inclusion of CH_3O_2NO_2 chemistry results in decreases of up to ~20 % in NO_x, ~20 % in N_2O_5, ~5 % in HNO3, ~2 % in ozone, and increases in methyl hydrogen peroxide of up to ~14 %. Larger changes are observed in biomass burning plumes lofted to high altitude. Additionally, by sequestering NO_x at low temperatures, CH_3O_2NO_2 decreases the cycling of HO_2 to OH, resulting in a larger upper tropospheric HO_2 to OH ratio. These results may impact some estimates of lightning NO_x sources as well as help explain differences between models and measurements of upper tropospheric composition
Electric field and tip geometry effects on dielectrophoretic growth of carbon nanotube nanofibrils on scanning probes
Single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) nanofibrils were assembled onto a variety
of conductive scanning probes including atomic force microscope (AFM) tips and
scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) needles using positive dielectrophoresis
(DEP). The magnitude of the applied electric field was varied in the range of
1-20 V to investigate its effect on the dimensions of the assembled SWNT
nanofibrils. Both length and diameter grew asymptotically as voltage increased
from 5 to 18 V. Below 4 V, stable attachment of SWNT nanofibrils could not be
achieved due to the relatively weak DEP force versus Brownian motion. At
voltages of 20 V and higher, low quality nanofibrils resulted from
incorporating large amounts of impurities. For intermediate voltages, optimal
nanofibrils were achieved, though pivotal to this assembly is the wetting
behaviour upon tip immersion in the SWNT suspension drop. This process was
monitored in situ to correlate wetting angle and probe geometry (cone angles
and tip height), revealing that probes with narrow cone angles and long shanks
are optimal. It is proposed that this results from less wetting of the probe
apex, and therefore reduces capillary forces and especially force transients
during the nanofibril drawing process. Relatively rigid probes (force constant
>= 2 N/m) exhibited no perceivable cantilever bending upon wetting and
de-wetting, resulting in the most stable process control
A re-analysis of the three-year WMAP temperature power spectrum and likelihood
We analyze the three-year WMAP temperature anisotropy data seeking to confirm
the power spectrum and likelihoods published by the WMAP team. We apply five
independent implementations of four algorithms to the power spectrum estimation
and two implementations to the parameter estimation. Our single most important
result is that we broadly confirm the WMAP power spectrum and analysis. Still,
we do find two small but potentially important discrepancies: On large angular
scales there is a small power excess in the WMAP spectrum (5-10% at l<~30)
primarily due to likelihood approximation issues between 13 <= l <~30. On small
angular scales there is a systematic difference between the V- and W-band
spectra (few percent at l>~300). Recently, the latter discrepancy was explained
by Huffenberger et al. (2006) in terms of over-subtraction of unresolved point
sources. As far as the low-l bias is concerned, most parameters are affected by
a few tenths of a sigma. The most important effect is seen in n_s. For the
combination of WMAP, Acbar and BOOMERanG, the significance of n_s =/ 1 drops
from ~2.7 sigma to ~2.3 sigma when correcting for this bias. We propose a few
simple improvements to the low-l WMAP likelihood code, and introduce two
important extensions to the Gibbs sampling method that allows for proper
sampling of the low signal-to-noise regime. Finally, we make the products from
the Gibbs sampling analysis publically available, thereby providing a fast and
simple route to the exact likelihood without the need of expensive matrix
inversions.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Numerical
results unchanged, but interpretation sharpened: Likelihood approximation
issues at l=13-30 far more important than potential foreground issues at l <=
12. Gibbs products (spectrum and sky samples, and "easy-to-use" likelihood
module) available from http://www.astro.uio.no/~hke/ under "Research
Charmed-Baryon Spectroscopy from Lattice QCD with N_f=2+1+1 Flavors
We present the results of a calculation of the positive-parity ground-state
charmed-baryon spectrum using 2+1+1 flavors of dynamical quarks. The
calculation uses a relativistic heavy-quark action for the valence charm quark,
clover-Wilson fermions for the valence light and strange quarks, and HISQ sea
quarks. The spectrum is calculated with a lightest pion mass around 220 MeV,
and three lattice spacings (a \approx 0.12 fm, 0.09 fm, and 0.06 fm) are used
to extrapolate to the continuum. The light-quark mass extrapolation is
performed using heavy-hadron chiral perturbation theory up to O(m_pi^3) and at
next-to-leading order in the heavy-quark mass. For the well-measured charmed
baryons, our results show consistency with the experimental values. For the
controversial J=1/2 Xi_{cc}, we obtain the isospin-averaged value
M_{Xi_{cc}}=3595(39)(20)(6) MeV (the three uncertainties are statistics,
fitting-window systematic, and systematics from other lattice artifacts, such
as lattice scale setting and pion-mass determination), which shows a 1.7 sigma
deviation from the experimental value. We predict the yet-to-be-discovered
doubly and triply charmed baryons Xi_{cc}^*, Omega_{cc}, Omega_{cc}^* and
Omega_{ccc} to have masses 3648(42)(18)(7) MeV, 3679(40)(17)(5) MeV,
3765(43)(17)(5) MeV and 4761(52)(21)(6) MeV, respectively.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure
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Carbonyl sulfide (OCS): Large-scale distributions over North America during INTEX-NA and relationship to CO2
An extensive set of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) observations were made as part of the NASA Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment-North America (INTEX-NA) study, flown from 1 July to 14 August 2004 mostly over the eastern United States and Canada. These data show that summertime OCS mixing ratios at low altitude were dominated by surface drawdown and were highly correlated with CO2. Although local plumes were observed on some low-altitude flight legs, anthropogenic OCS sources were small compared to this sink. These INTEX-NA observations were in marked contrast to the early springtime 2001 Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific experiment, which sampled Asian outflow dominated by anthropogenic OCS emissions. To test the gridded OCS fluxes used in past models, the INTEX-NA observations were combined with the sulfur transport Eulerian model (STEM) regional atmospheric chemistry model for a top-down assessment of bottom-up OCS surface fluxes for North America. Initial STEM results suggest that the modeled fluxes underestimate the OCS plant sink by more than 200%. Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union
The structure and dynamics of secretory component and its interactions with polymeric immunoglobulins
As a first-line vertebrate immune defense, the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) transports polymeric IgA and IgM across epithelia to mucosal secretions, where the cleaved ectodomain (secretory component; SC) becomes a component of secretory antibodies, or when unliganded, binds and excludes bacteria. Here we report the 2.6Å crystal structure of unliganded human SC (hSC) and comparisons with a 1.7Å structure of teleost fish SC (tSC), an early pIgR ancestor. The hSC structure comprises five immunoglobulin-like domains (D1-D5) arranged as a triangle, with an interface between ligand-binding domains D1 and D5. Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements confirmed the D1-D5 interface in solution and revealed that it breaks upon ligand binding. Together with binding studies of mutant and chimeric SCs, which revealed domain contributions to secretory antibody formation, these results provide detailed models for SC structure, address pIgR evolution, and demonstrate that SC uses multiple conformations to protect mammals from pathogens
Parkinson\u27s disease and the gastrointestinal microbiome
Recently, there has been a surge in awareness of the gastrointestinal microbiome (GM) and its role in health and disease. Of particular note is an association between the GM and Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the realisation that the GM can act via a complex bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain. Compelling evidence suggests that a shift in GM composition may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PD by facilitating the characteristic ascending neurodegenerative spread of α-synuclein aggregates from the enteric nervous system to the brain. Here, we review evidence linking GM changes with PD, highlighting mechanisms supportive of pathological α-synuclein spread and intestinal inflammation in PD. We summarise existing patterns and correlations seen in clinical studies of the GM in PD, together with the impacts of non-motor symptoms, medications, lifestyle, diet and ageing on the GM. Roles of GM modulating therapies including probiotics and faecal microbiota transplantation are discussed. Encouragingly, alterations in the GM have repeatedly been observed in PD, supporting a biological link and highlighting it as a potential therapeutic target
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