637 research outputs found
Neutralization of a single arginine residue gates open a two-pore domain, alkali-activated K+ channel
Fernando D. González-Nilo and Wendy González. Centro de Bioinformática y Simulación Molecular, Universidad de Talca, 2 Norte 685, Talca 346-0000, Chile.Potassium channels share a common selectivity filter that determines the conduction characteristics of the pore. Diversity in K+ channels is given by how they are gated open. TASK-2, TALK-1, and TALK-2 are two-pore region (2P) KCNK K+ channels gated open by extracellular alkalinization. We have explored the mechanism for this alkalinization-dependent gating using molecular simulation and site-directed mutagenesis followed by functional assay. We show that the side chain of a single arginine residue (R224) near the pore senses pH in TASK-2 with an unusual pKa of 8.0, a shift likely due to its hydrophobic environment. R224 would block the channel through an electrostatic effect on the pore, a situation relieved by its deprotonation by alkalinization. A lysine residue in TALK-2 fulfills the same role but with a largely unchanged pKa, which correlates with an environment that stabilizes its positive charge. In addition to suggesting unified alkaline pH-gating mechanisms within the TALK subfamily of channels, our results illustrate in a physiological context the principle that hydrophobic environment can drastically modulate the pKa of charged amino acids within a protein.PNAS Sponsored
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/0606173104/DC1
Unifying phantom inflation with late-time acceleration: scalar phantom-non-phantom transition model and generalized holographic dark energy
The unifying approach to early-time and late-time universe based on phantom
cosmology is proposed. We consider gravity-scalar system which contains usual
potential and scalar coupling function in front of kinetic term. As a result,
the possibility of phantom-non-phantom transition appears in such a way that
universe could have effectively phantom equation of state at early time as well
as at late time. In fact, the oscillating universe may have several phantom and
non-phantom phases. As a second model we suggest generalized holographic dark
energy where infrared cutoff is identified with combination of FRW parameters:
Hubble constant, particle and future horizons, cosmological constant and
universe life-time (if finite). Depending on the specific choice of the model
the number of interesting effects occur: the possibility to solve the
coincidence problem, crossing of phantom divide and unification of early-time
inflationary and late-time accelerating phantom universe. The bound for
holographic entropy which decreases in phantom era is also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, clarifications/refs added, to match with published versio
Spatial correlations in vote statistics: a diffusive field model for decision-making
We study the statistics of turnout rates and results of the French elections
since 1992. We find that the distribution of turnout rates across towns is
surprisingly stable over time. The spatial correlation of the turnout rates, or
of the fraction of winning votes, is found to decay logarithmically with the
distance between towns. Based on these empirical observations and on the
analogy with a two-dimensional random diffusion equation, we propose that
individual decisions can be rationalised in terms of an underlying "cultural"
field, that locally biases the decision of the population of a given region, on
top of an idiosyncratic, town-dependent field, with short range correlations.
Using symmetry considerations and a set of plausible assumptions, we suggest
that this cultural field obeys a random diffusion equation.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures; added sociophysics references
Universal procedure to cure future singularities of dark energy models
A systematic search for different viable models of the dark energy universe,
all of which give rise to finite-time, future singularities, is undertaken,
with the purpose to try to find a solution to this common problem. After some
work, a universal procedure to cure all future singularities is developed and
carefully tested with the help of explicit examples corresponding to each one
of the four different types of possible singularities, as classified in the
literature. The cases of a fluid with an equation of state which depends on
some parameter, of modified gravity non-minimally coupled to a matter
Lagrangian, of non-local gravity, and of isotropic turbulence in a dark fluid
universe theory are investigated in detail
On Isotropic Turbulence in the Dark Fluid Universe
As first part of this work, experimental information about the decay of
isotropic turbulence in ordinary hydrodynamics, u^2(t) proportional to
t^{-6/5}, is used as input in FRW equations in order to investigate how an
initial fraction f of turbulent kinetic energy in the cosmic fluid influences
the cosmological development in the late, quintessence/phantom, universe. First
order perturbative theory to the first order in f is employed. It turns out
that both in the Hubble factor, and in the energy density, the influence from
the turbulence fades away at late times. The divergences in these quantities
near the Big Rip behave essentially as in a non-turbulent fluid. However, for
the scale factor, the turbulence modification turns out to diverge
logarithmically. As second part of our work, we consider the full FRW equation
in which the turbulent part of the dark energy is accounted for by a separate
term. It is demonstrated that turbulence occurrence may change the future
universe evolution due to dissipation of dark energy. For instance,
phantom-dominated universe becomes asymptotically a de Sitter one in the
future, thus avoiding the Big Rip singularity.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, significant revision. Matches published versio
Optimised phase disposition pulse-width modulation strategy for hybrid-clamped multilevel inverters using switching state sequences
This study describes an optimised modulation strategy based on switching state sequences for the hybrid-clamped multilevel converter. Two key control variables defined as 'phase shift angle' and 'switching state change' for a five-level hybrid-clamped inverter are proposed to improve all switches' operation, and by changing their values, different control methods can be obtained for modulation optimisation purposes. Two example methods can solve the voltage imbalance problem of the dc-link capacitors and furthermore avoid two switches' simultaneous switching transitions and improve the inverter's performance as compared with the traditional phase disposition pulse-width modulation strategy. A 6 kW prototype inverter is developed and a range of simulation and experiments are carried out for validation. It is found that simulation and experimental results are in a good agreement and the proposed modulation strategy is verified in terms of low-order harmonic reduction
The Influence of Free Quintessence on Gravitational Frequency Shift and Deflection of Light with 4D momentum
Based on the 4D momentum, the influence of quintessence on the gravitational
frequency shift and the deflection of light are examined in modified
Schwarzschild space. We find that the frequency of photon depends on the state
parameter of quintessence : the frequency increases for and
decreases for . Meanwhile, we adopt an integral power number
() to solve the orbital equation of photon. The photon's
potentials become higher with the decrease of . The behavior of
bending light depends on the state parameter sensitively. In
particular, for the case of , there is no influence on the
deflection of light by quintessence. Else, according to the H-masers of GP-A
redshift experiment and the long-baseline interferometry, the constraints on
the quintessence field in Solar system are presented here.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. European Physical Journal C in pres
Unifying inflation with dark energy in modified F(R) Horava-Lifshitz gravity
We study FRW cosmology for a non-linear modified F(R) Horava-Lifshitz gravity
which has a viable convenient counterpart. A unified description of early-time
inflation and late-time acceleration is possible in this theory, but the
cosmological dynamic details are generically different from the ones of the
convenient viable F(R) model. Remarkably, for some specific choice of
parameters they do coincide. The emergence of finite-time future singularities
is investigated in detail. It is shown that these singularities can be cured by
adding an extra, higher-derivative term, which turns out to be qualitatively
different when compared with the corresponding one of the convenient F(R)
theory.Comment: LaTeX 12 pages, typos are correcte
Entropy and universality of Cardy-Verlinde formula in dark energy universe
We study the entropy of a FRW universe filled with dark energy (cosmological
constant, quintessence or phantom). For general or time-dependent equation of
state the entropy is expressed in terms of energy, Casimir energy,
and . The correspondent expression reminds one about 2d CFT entropy only for
conformal matter. At the same time, the cosmological Cardy-Verlinde formula
relating three typical FRW universe entropies remains to be universal for any
type of matter. The same conclusions hold in modified gravity which represents
gravitational alternative for dark energy and which contains terms growing at
low curvature. It is interesting that BHs in modified gravity are more entropic
than in Einstein gravity. Finally, some hydrodynamical examples testing new
shear viscosity bound, which is expected to be the consequence of the
holographic entropy bound, are presented for the early universe in the plasma
era and for the Kasner metric. It seems that the Kasner metric provides a
counterexample to the new shear viscosity bound.Comment: LaTeX file, 39 pages, references are adde
Interacting entropy-corrected new agegraphic dark energy in Brans-Dicke cosmology
Motivated by a recent work of one of us [1], we extend it by using quantum
(or entropy) corrected new agegraphic dark energy in the Brans-Dicke cosmology.
The correction terms are motivated from the loop quantum gravity which is one
of the competitive theories of quantum gravity. Taking the non-flat background
spacetime along with the conformal age of the universe as the length scale, we
derive the dynamical equation of state of dark energy and the deceleration
parameter. An important consequence of this study is the phantom divide
scenario with entropy-corrected new agegraphic dark energy. Moreover, we assume
a system of dark matter, radiation and dark energy, while the later interacts
only with dark matter. We obtain some essential expressions related with dark
energy dynamics. The cosmic coincidence problem is also resolved in our model.Comment: 16 pages, no figure, accepted for publication in Gen. Relativ. Gra
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