40 research outputs found
Spatially heterogeneous ages in glassy dynamics
We construct a framework for the study of fluctuations in the nonequilibrium
relaxation of glassy systems with and without quenched disorder. We study two
types of two-time local correlators with the aim of characterizing the
heterogeneous evolution: in one case we average the local correlators over
histories of the thermal noise, in the other case we simply coarse-grain the
local correlators. We explain why the former describe the fingerprint of
quenched disorder when it exists, while the latter are linked to noise-induced
mesoscopic fluctuations. We predict constraints on the pdfs of the fluctuations
of the coarse-grained quantities. We show that locally defined correlations and
responses are connected by a generalized local out-of-equilibrium
fluctuation-dissipation relation. We argue that large-size heterogeneities in
the age of the system survive in the long-time limit. The invariance of the
theory under reparametrizations of time underlies these results. We relate the
pdfs of local coarse-grained quantities and the theory of dynamic random
manifolds. We define a two-time dependent correlation length from the spatial
decay of the fluctuations in the two-time local functions. We present numerical
tests performed on disordered spin models in finite and infinite dimensions.
Finally, we explain how these ideas can be applied to the analysis of the
dynamics of other glassy systems that can be either spin models without
disorder or atomic and molecular glassy systems.Comment: 47 pages, 60 Fig
Redox Regulation and Trapping Sulphenic Acid in the Peroxide Sensitive Human Mitochondrial Branched Chain Aminotransferase
The human branched chain aminotransferase enzymes are key regulators of glutamate metabolism in the brain and are among a growing number of redox-sensitive proteins. Studies that use thiol-specific reagents and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry demonstrate that the mitochondrial BCAT enzyme has a redox-active CXXC center, which on oxidation forms a disulfide bond (RSSR), via a cysteine sulfenic acid intermediate. Mechanistic details of this redox regulation were revealed by the use of mass spectrometry and dimedone modification. We discovered that the thiol group at position C315 of the CXXC motif acts a redox sensor, whereas the thiol group at position C318 permits reversible regulation by forming an intrasubunit disulphide bond. Because of their roles in redox regulation and catalysis, there is a growing interest in cysteine sulphenic acids. Therefore, development of chemical tags/methods to trap these transient intermediates is of immense importance
Metabolomic analysis of 92 pulmonary embolism patients from a nested case-control study identifies metabolites associated with adverse clinical outcomes
Clinical epidemiolog
Paleo-Yardangs -- Wind-Scoured Desert Landforms at the Permo-Triassic Unconformity
In Canyonlands National Park, south-east Utah, at least 29 partly exhumed, aligned sandstone ridges trending generally N20-degrees-W occur at the upper unconformable surface of the Lower Permian (Leonardian) White Rim Sandstone. The ridges are at least 1.5 km long, 250 m wide and have up to 14 m of vertical relief (mean of 9 m). A thin lag of coarse sandstone that contains wind-ripple laminae and granule ripples directly overlies the ridges. Angular blocks of sandstone within the lag and sand-filled fissures immediately below the lag, within the ridges, attest to early cementation of the ridge-forming material. SE-dipping aeolian cross-strata within the White Rim Sandstone and within the lag closely parallel the ridge trend. The ridges are interpreted as wind-sculpted desert landforms (yardangs) that developed on the lithified upper surface of the White Rim Sandstone during an extended period of hyperaridity towards the end of the Permian