Infrared High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Post-AGB Circumstellar Disks. I. HR 4049 - The Winnowing Flow Observed?

High-resolution infrared spectroscopy in the 2.3-4.6 micron region is reported for the peculiar A supergiant, single-lined spectroscopic binary HR 4049. Lines from the CO fundamental and first overtone, OH fundamental, and several H2O vibration-rotation transitions have been observed in the near-infrared spectrum. The spectrum of HR 4049 appears principally in emission through the 3 and 4.6 micron region and in absorption in the 2 micron region. The 4.6 micron spectrum shows a rich 'forest' of emission lines. All the spectral lines observed in the 2.3-4.6 micron spectrum are shown to be circumbinary in origin. The presence of OH and H2O lines confirm the oxygen-rich nature of the circumbinary gas which is in contrast to the previously detected carbon-rich material. The emission and absorption line profiles show that the circumbinary gas is located in a thin, rotating layer near the dust disk. The properties of the dust and gas circumbinary disk and the spectroscopic orbit yield masses for the individual stars, M_AI~0.58 Msolar and M_MV~0.34 Msolar. Gas in the disk also has an outward flow with a velocity of $\gtrsim$ 1 km/s. The severe depletion of refractory elements but near-solar abundances of volatile elements observed in HR 4049 results from abundance winnowing. The separation of the volatiles from the grains in the disk and the subsequent accretion by the star are discussed. Contrary to prior reports, the HR 4049 carbon and oxygen isotopic abundances are typical AGB values: 12C/13C=6^{+9}_{-4} and 16O/17O>200.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, Accepted by Ap

Abelian Monopoles in SU(2) Lattice Gauge Theory as Physical Objects

By numerical calculations we show that the abelian monopole currents are locally correlated with the density of SU(2) lattice action. The correlations are larger by the order of magnitude in the maximal abelian projection than in the projections which correspond to the diagonalization of Polyakov line and to the diagonalization of the plaquette. These facts show that (at least) in the maximal abelian projection the monopoles are the physical objects, they carry the SU(2) action. The larger value of \beta, the larger the relative action carried by monopole. Calculations on the asymmetric lattice show that this correlation exists also in the deconfinement phase of gluodynamics.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures, uses epsf.sty; to be published in Phys.Rev.Lett., replaced to match version accepted for publicatio

SolRgene: an online database to explore disease resistance genes in tuber-bearing Solanum species

Background The cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is an important food crop, but highly susceptible to many pathogens. The major threat to potato production is the Irish famine pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which causes the devastating late blight disease. Potato breeding makes use of germplasm from wild relatives (wild germplasm) to introduce resistances into cultivated potato. The Solanum section Petota comprises tuber-bearing species that are potential donors of new disease resistance genes. The aim of this study was to explore Solanum section Petota for resistance genes and generate a widely accessible resource that is useful for studying and implementing disease resistance in potato. Description The SolRgene database contains data on resistance to P. infestans and presence of R genes and R gene homologues in Solanum section Petota. We have explored Solanum section Petota for resistance to late blight in high throughput disease tests under various laboratory conditions and in field trials. From resistant wild germplasm, segregating populations were generated and assessed for the presence of resistance genes. All these data have been entered into the SolRgene database. To facilitate genetic and resistance gene evolution studies, phylogenetic data of the entire SolRgene collection are included, as well as a tool for generating phylogenetic trees of selected groups of germplasm. Data from resistance gene allele-mining studies are incorporated, which enables detection of R gene homologs in related germplasm. Using these resources, various resistance genes have been detected and some of these have been cloned, whereas others are in the cloning pipeline. All this information is stored in the online SolRgene database, which allows users to query resistance data, sequences, passport data of the accessions, and phylogenic classifications. Conclusion Solanum section Petota forms the basis of the SolRgene database, which contains a collection of resistance data of an unprecedented size and precision. Complemented with R gene sequence data and phylogenetic tools, SolRgene can be considered the primary resource for information on R genes from potato and wild tuber-bearing relatives

Optical spectrum of the post-AGB star HD56126 in the region 4010-8790 AA

We studied in detail the optical spectrum of the post-AGB star HD56126 (IRAS07134+1005). We use high resolution spectra (R=25000 and 60000) obtained with the echelle spectrographs of the 6-m telescope. About one and a half thousand absorptions of neutral atoms and ions, absorption bands of C_2, CN, and CH molecules, and interstellar bands (DIBs) are identified in the 4010 to 8790 AA wavelength region, and the depths and radial velocities of these spectral features are measured. Differences are revealed between the variations of the radial velocities measured from spectral features of different excitation. In addition to the well-known variability of the Halpha profile, we found variations in the profiles of a number of FeII, YII, and BaII lines. We also produce an atlas of the spectrum of HD56126 and its comparison staralpha Per. The full version of the atlas is available in electronic form from Web-address: http://www.sao.ru/hq/ssl/Atlas/Atlas.htmlComment: 42 pages, 6 figure

Neutron Scattering Study on Competition between Hidden Order and Antiferromagnetism in U(Ru_{1-x}Rh_x)_2Si_2 (x <= 0.05)

We have performed elastic and inelastic neutron scattering experiments on the solid solutions U(Ru_{1-x}Rh_x)_2Si_2 for the Ru rich concentrations: x=0, 0.01, 0.02, 0.025, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05. Hidden order is suppressed with increasing x, and correspondingly the onset temperature T_m (~ 17.5 K at x=0) of weak antiferromagnetic (AF) Bragg reflection decreases. For x=0.04 and 0.05, no magnetic order is detected in the investigated temperature range down to 1.4 K. In the middle range, 0.02 <= x <= 0.03, we found that the AF Bragg reflection is strongly enhanced. At x=0.02, this takes place at ~ 7.7 K (=T_M), which is significantly lower than T_m (~ 13.7 K). T_M increases with increasing x, and seems to merge with T_m at x=0.03. If the AF state is assumed to be homogeneous, the staggered moment \mu_o estimated at 1.4 K increases from 0.02(2) \mu_B/U (x=0) to 0.24(1) \mu_B/U (x=0.02). The behavior is similar to that observed under hydrostatic pressure (\mu_o increases to ~ 0.25 \mu_B/U at 1.0 GPa), suggesting that the AF evolution induced by Rh doping is due to an increase in the AF volume fraction. We also found that the magnetic excitation observed at Q=(1,0,0) below T_m disappears as T is lowered below T_M.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Class I major histocompatibility complexes loaded by a periodate trigger

Class I major histocompatibility complexes (MHCs) present peptide ligands on the cell surface for recognition by appropriate cytotoxic T cells. The unstable nature of unliganded MHC necessitates the production of recombinant class I complexes through in vitro refolding reactions in the presence of an added excess of peptides. This strategy is not amenable to high-throughput production of vast collections of class I complexes. To address this issue, we recently designed photocaged MHC ligands that can be cleaved by a UV light trigger in the MHC bound state under conditions that do not affect the integrity of the MHC structure. The results obtained with photocaged MHC ligands demonstrate that conditional MHC ligands can form a generally applicable concept for the creation of defined peptide−MHCs. However, the use of UV exposure to mediate ligand exchange is unsuited for a number of applications, due to the lack of UV penetration through cell culture systems and due to the transfer of heat upon UV irradiation, which can induce evaporation. To overcome these limitations, here, we provide proof-of-concept for the generation of defined peptide−MHCs by chemical trigger-induced ligand exchange. The crystal structure of the MHC with the novel chemosensitive ligand showcases that the ligand occupies the expected binding site, in a conformation where the hydroxyl groups should be reactive to periodate. We proceed to validate this technology by producing peptide−MHCs that can be used for T cell detection. The methodology that we describe here should allow loading of MHCs with defined peptides in cell culture devices, thereby permitting antigen-specific T cell expansion and purification for cell therapy. In addition, this technology will be useful to develop miniaturized assay systems for performing high-throughput screens for natural and unnatural MHC ligands

Long-range potential fluctuations and 1/f noise in hydrogenated amorphous silicon

We present a microscopic theory of the low-frequency voltage noise (known as "1/f" noise) in micrometer-thick films of hydrogenated amorphous silicon. This theory traces the noise back to the long-range fluctuations of the Coulomb potential produced by deep defects, thereby predicting the absolute noise intensity as a function of the distribution of defect activation energies. The predictions of this theory are in very good agreement with our own experiments in terms of both the absolute intensity and the temperature dependence of the noise spectra.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, several new parts and one new figure are added, but no conceptual revision

Label-free segmentation of co-cultured cells on a nanotopographical gradient

The function and fate of cells is influenced by many different factors, one of which is surface topography of the support culture substrate. Systematic studies of nanotopography and cell response have typically been limited to single cell types and a small set of topographical variations. Here, we show a radical expansion of experimental throughput using automated detection, measurement, and classification of co-cultured cells on a nanopillar array where feature height changes continuously from planar to 250 nm over 9 mm. Individual cells are identified and characterized by more than 200 descriptors, which are used to construct a set of rules for label-free segmentation into individual cell types. Using this approach we can achieve label-free segmentation with 84% confidence across large image data sets and suggest optimized surface parameters for nanostructuring of implant devices such as vascular stents

Emergence of a 4D World from Causal Quantum Gravity

Causal Dynamical Triangulations in four dimensions provide a background-independent definition of the sum over geometries in nonperturbative quantum gravity, with a positive cosmological constant. We present evidence that a macroscopic four-dimensional world emerges from this theory dynamically.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; some short clarifying comments added; final version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

UV-induced ligand exchange in MHC class I protein crystals

High-throughput structure determination of protein−ligand complexes is central in drug development and structural proteomics. To facilitate such high-throughput structure determination we designed an induced replacement strategy. Crystals of a protein complex bound to a photosensitive ligand are exposed to UV light, inducing the departure of the bound ligand, allowing a new ligand to soak in. We exemplify the approach for a class of protein complexes that is especially recalcitrant to high-throughput strategies: the MHC class I proteins. We developed a UV-sensitive, “conditional”, peptide ligand whose UV-induced cleavage in the crystals leads to the exchange of the low-affinity lytic fragments for full-length peptides introduced in the crystallant solution. This “in crystallo” exchange is monitored by the loss of seleno-methionine anomalous diffraction signal of the conditional peptide compared to the signal of labeled MHC β2m subunit. This method has the potential to facilitate high-throughput crystallography in various protein families