270 research outputs found
The Gaussian Curvature Elastic Modulus of N-Monomethylated Dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine: Relevance to Membrane Fusion and Lipid Phase Behavior
AbstractThe energy of intermediates in fusion of phospholipid bilayers is sensitive to κ¯m, the saddle splay (Gaussian curvature) elastic modulus of the lipid monolayers. The value κ¯m is also important in understanding the stability of inverted cubic (QII) and rhombohedral (R) phases relative to the lamellar (Lα) and inverted hexagonal (HII) phases in phospholipids. However, κ¯m cannot be measured directly. It was previously measured by observing changes in QII phase lattice dimensions as a function of water content. Here we use observations of the phase behavior of N-mono-methylated dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE-Me) to determine κ¯m. At the temperature of the Lα/QII phase transition, TQ, the partial energies of the two phases are equal, and we can express κ¯m in terms of known lipid monolayer parameters: the spontaneous curvature of DOPE-Me, the monolayer bending modulus κm, and the distance of the monolayer neutral surface from the bilayer midplane, δ. The calculated ratio κ¯m/κm is −0.83±0.08 at TQ ≈ 55°C. The uncertainty is due primarily to uncertainty in the value of δ for the Lα phase. This value of κ¯m/κm is in accord with theoretical expectations, including recent estimates of the value required to rationalize observations of rhombohedral (R) phase stability in phospholipids. The value κ¯m substantially affects the free energy of formation of fusion intermediates: more energy (tens of kBT) is required to form stalks and fusion pores (ILAs) than estimated solely on the basis of the bending elastic energy. In particular, ILAs are much higher in energy than previously estimated. This rationalizes the action of fusion-catalyzing proteins in stabilizing nascent fusion pores in biomembranes; a function inferred from recent experiments in viral systems. These results change predictions of earlier work on ILA and QII phase stability and Lα/QII phase transition mechanisms. To our knowledge, this is the first determination of the saddle splay (Gaussian) modulus in a lipid system consisting only of phospholipids
Surface Polymer Network Model and Effective Membrane Curvature Elasticity
A microscopic model of a surface polymer network - membrane system is
introduced, with contact polymer surface interactions that can be either
repulsive or attractive and sliplinks of functionality four randomly
distributed over the supporting membrane surface anchoring the polymers to it.
For the supporting surface perturbed from a planar configuration and a small
relative number of surface sliplinks, we investigate an expansion of the free
energy in terms of the local curvatures of the surface and the surface density
of sliplinks, obtained through the application of the Balian - Bloch -
Duplantier multiple surface scattering method. As a result, the dependence of
the curvature elastic modulus, the Gaussian modulus as well as of the
spontaneous curvature of the "dressed" membrane, ~{\sl i.e.} polymer network
plus membrane matrix, is obtained on the mean polymer bulk end to end
separation and the surface density of sliplinks.Comment: 15 pages with one included compressed uuencoded figure
Fluctuation-Induced Interactions between Rods on a Membrane
We consider the interaction between two rods embedded in a fluctuating
surface. The modification of fluctuations by the rods leads to an attractive
long-range interaction between them. We consider fluctuations governed by
either surface tension (films) or bending rigidity (membranes). In both cases
the interaction falls off with the separation of the rods as . The
orientational part of the interaction is proportional to in the former case, and to in the latter, where and
are angles between the rods and the line joining them. These
interactions are somewhat reminiscent of dipolar forces and will tend to align
collections of such rods into chains.Comment: REVTEX, 14 pages, with 2 Postscript figure
Electromagnetic Probes
A review is presented of dilepton and real photon measurements in
relativistic heavy ion collisions over a very broad energy range from the low
energies of the BEVALAC up to the highest energies available at RHIC. The
dileptons cover the invariant mass range \mll = 0 - 2.5 GeV/c, i.e. the
continuum at low and intermediate masses and the light vector mesons, . The review includes also measurements of the light vector mesons
in elementary reactions.Comment: To be published in Landolt-Boernstein Volume 1-23A; 40 pages, 24
figures. Final version updated with small changes to the text, updated
references and updated figure
The PHENIX Experiment at RHIC
The physics emphases of the PHENIX collaboration and the design and current
status of the PHENIX detector are discussed. The plan of the collaboration for
making the most effective use of the available luminosity in the first years of
RHIC operation is also presented.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Further details of the PHENIX physics program
available at http://www.rhic.bnl.gov/phenix
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
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