The E. coli BtuCD Structure: A Framework for ABC Transporter Architecture and Mechanism

The ABC transporters are ubiquitous membrane proteins that couple adenosine triphosphate (ATP) hydrolysis to the translocation of diverse substrates across cell membranes. Clinically relevant examples are associated with cystic fibrosis and with multidrug resistance of pathogenic bacteria and cancer cells. Here, we report the crystal structure at 3.2 angstrom resolution of the Escherichia coli BtuCD protein, an ABC transporter mediating vitamin B_(12) uptake. The two ATP-binding cassettes (BtuD) are in close contact with each other, as are the two membrane-spanning subunits (BtuC); this arrangement is distinct from that observed for the E. coli lipid flippase MsbA. The BtuC subunits provide 20 transmembrane helices grouped around a translocation pathway that is closed to the cytoplasm by a gate region whereas the dimer arrangement of the BtuD subunits resembles the ATP-bound form of the Rad50 DNA repair enzyme. A prominent cytoplasmic loop of BtuC forms the contact region with the ATP-binding cassette and appears to represent a conserved motif among the ABC transporters

A distinct mechanism for the ABC transporter BtuCD–BtuF revealed by the dynamics of complex formation

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are integral membrane proteins that translocate a diverse array of substrates across cell membranes. We present here the dynamics of complex formation of three structurally characterized ABC transporters—the BtuCD vitamin B_(12) importer and MetNI d/l-methionine importer from Escherichia coli and the Hi1470/1 metal-chelate importer from Haemophilus influenzae—in complex with their cognate binding proteins. Similarly to other ABC importers, MetNI interacts with its binding protein with low affinity (K_d ~10^(−4) M). In contrast, BtuCD–BtuF and Hi1470/1–Hi1472 form stable, high-affinity complexes (K_d ~10^(−13) and 10^(−9) M, respectively). In BtuCD–BtuF, vitamin B_(12) accelerates the complex dissociation rate ~10^7-fold, with ATP having an additional destabilizing effect. The findings presented here highlight substantial mechanistic differences between BtuCD–BtuF, and likely Hi1470/1–Hi1472, and the better-characterized maltose and related ABC transport systems, indicating that there is considerable mechanistic diversity within this large protein super-family

Systematic Theoretical Search for Dibaryons in a Relativistic Model

A relativistic quark potential model is used to do a systematic search for quasi-stable dibaryon states in the $u$, $d$, and $s$ three flavor world. Flavor symmetry breaking and channel coupling effects are included and an adiabatic method and fractional parentage expansion technique are used in the calculations. The relativistic model predicts dibaryon candidates completely consistent with the nonrelativistic model.Comment: 12 pages, latex, no figure

Spatial stochastic resonance in 1D Ising systems

The 1D Ising model is analytically studied in a spatially periodic and oscillatory external magnetic field using the transfer-matrix method. For low enough magnetic field intensities the correlation between the external magnetic field and the response in magnetization presents a maximum for a given temperature. The phenomenon can be interpreted as a resonance phenomenon induced by the stochastic heatbath. This novel "spatial stochastic resonance" has a different origin from the classical stochastic resonance phenomenon.Comment: REVTex, 5 pages, 3 figure

A Dispersive Analysis on the f0(600)f_0(600) and f0(980)f_0(980) Resonances in γγ→π+π−,π0π0\gamma\gamma\to\pi^+\pi^-, \pi^0\pi^0 Processes

We estimate the di-photon coupling of $f_0(600)$, $f_0(980)$ and $f_2(1270)$ resonances in a coupled channel dispersive approach. The $f_0(600)$ di-photon coupling is also reinvestigated using a single channel $T$ matrix for $\pi\pi$ scattering with better analyticity property, and it is found to be significantly smaller than that of a $\bar qq$ state. Especially we also estimate the di-photon coupling of the third sheet pole located near $\bar KK$ threshold, denoted as $f_0^{III}(980)$. It is argued that this third sheet pole may be originated from a coupled channel Breit-Wigner description of the $f_0(980)$ resonance.Comment: 24 pages and 13 eps figures. A nuerical bug in previous version is fixed. Some results changed. References and new figures added. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.

An Inward-Facing Conformation of a Putative Metal-Chelate–Type ABC Transporter

The crystal structure of a putative metal-chelate–type adenosine triphosphate (ATP)–binding cassette (ABC) transporter encoded by genes HI1470 and HI1471 of Haemophilus influenzae has been solved at 2.4 angstrom resolution. The permeation pathway exhibits an inward-facing conformation, in contrast to the outward-facing state previously observed for the homologous vitamin B12 importer BtuCD. Although the structures of both HI1470/1 and BtuCD have been solved in nucleotide-free states, the pairs of ABC subunits in these two structures differ by a translational shift in the plane of the membrane that coincides with a repositioning of the membrane-spanning subunits. The differences observed between these ABC transporters involve relatively modest rearrangements and may serve as structural models for inward- and outward-facing conformations relevant to the alternating access mechanism of substrate translocation

Clustering and Sharing Incentives in BitTorrent Systems

Peer-to-peer protocols play an increasingly instrumental role in Internet content distribution. Consequently, it is important to gain a full understanding of how these protocols behave in practice and how their parameters impact overall performance. We present the first experimental investigation of the peer selection strategy of the popular BitTorrent protocol in an instrumented private torrent. By observing the decisions of more than 40 nodes, we validate three BitTorrent properties that, though widely believed to hold, have not been demonstrated experimentally. These include the clustering of similar-bandwidth peers, the effectiveness of BitTorrent's sharing incentives, and the peers' high average upload utilization. In addition, our results show that BitTorrent's new choking algorithm in seed state provides uniform service to all peers, and that an underprovisioned initial seed leads to the absence of peer clustering and less effective sharing incentives. Based on our observations, we provide guidelines for seed provisioning by content providers, and discuss a tracker protocol extension that addresses an identified limitation of the protocol

Spin wave analysis to the spatially-anisotropic Heisenberg antiferromagnet on triangular lattice

We study the phase diagram at T=0 of the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on the triangular lattice with spatially-anisotropic interactions. For values of the anisotropy very close to J_alpha/J_beta=0.50, conventional spin wave theory predicts that quantum fluctuations melt the classical structures, for S=1/2. For the regime J_beta<J_alpha, it is shown that the incommensurate spiral phases survive until J_beta/J_alpha=0.27, leaving a wide region where the ground state is disordered. The existence of such nonmagnetic states suggests the possibility of spin liquid behavior for intermediate values of the anisotropy.Comment: Revised version, 4 pages, Latex (twocolumn), 4 figures as eps files. To appear in PR

Effects of eight-quark interactions on the hadronic vacuum and mass spectra of light mesons

The combined effective low energy QCD Lagrangians of Nambu -- Jona-Lasinio (NJL) and 't Hooft are supplemented with eight-quark interactions. This work is a follow-up of recent findings, namely (i) the six quark flavour determinant 't Hooft term destabilizes the NJL vacuum, (ii) the addition of a chiral invariant eight-fermion contact term renders the ground state of the theory globally stable; (iii) stability constrains the values of coupling constants of the model, meaning that even in the presence of eight-quark forces the system can be unstable in a certain parameter region. In the present work we study a phenomenological output of eight-quark interactions considering the mass spectra of pseudoscalar and scalar mesons. Mixing angles are obtained and their equivalence to the two angle approach is derived. We show that the masses of pseudoscalars are almost neutral to the eight-quark forces. The only marked effect of the second order in the SU(3) breaking is found in the $\eta -\eta'$ system. The scalars are more sensitive to the eight-quark interactions. A strong repulsion between the singlet-octet members is the reason for the obtained low mass of the $\sigma$ state within the model considered.Comment: LaTeX, 46 pages, two figure

The Current State of Performance Appraisal Research and Practice: Concerns, Directions, and Implications

On the surface, it is not readily apparent how some performance appraisal research issues inform performance appraisal practice. Because performance appraisal is an applied topic, it is useful to periodically consider the current state of performance research and its relation to performance appraisal practice. This review examines the performance appraisal literature published in both academic and practitioner outlets between 1985 and 1990, briefly discusses the current state of performance appraisal practice, highlights the juxtaposition of research and practice, and suggests directions for further research