2,771 research outputs found
Fractionation of Hydrogen Isotopes by Sulfate- and Nitrate-Reducing Bacteria.
Hydrogen atoms from water and food are incorporated into biomass during cellular metabolism and biosynthesis, fractionating the isotopes of hydrogen-protium and deuterium-that are recorded in biomolecules. While these fractionations are often relatively constant in plants, large variations in the magnitude of fractionation are observed for many heterotrophic microbes utilizing different central metabolic pathways. The correlation between metabolism and lipid δ(2)H provides a potential basis for reconstructing environmental and ecological parameters, but the calibration dataset has thus far been limited mainly to aerobes. Here we report on the hydrogen isotopic fractionations of lipids produced by nitrate-respiring and sulfate-reducing bacteria. We observe only small differences in fractionation between oxygen- and nitrate-respiring growth conditions, with a typical pattern of variation between substrates that is broadly consistent with previously described trends. In contrast, fractionation by sulfate-reducing bacteria does not vary significantly between different substrates, even when autotrophic and heterotrophic growth conditions are compared. This result is in marked contrast to previously published observations and has significant implications for the interpretation of environmental hydrogen isotope data. We evaluate these trends in light of metabolic gene content of each strain, growth rate, and potential flux and reservoir-size effects of cellular hydrogen, but find no single variable that can account for the differences between nitrate- and sulfate-respiring bacteria. The emerging picture of bacterial hydrogen isotope fractionation is therefore more complex than the simple correspondence between δ(2)H and metabolic pathway previously understood from aerobes. Despite the complexity, the large signals and rich variability of observed lipid δ(2)H suggest much potential as an environmental recorder of metabolism
Witnessing Entanglement of EPR States With Second-Order Interference
The separability of the continuous-variable EPR state can be tested with
Hanbury-Brown and Twiss type interference. The second-order visibility of such
interference can provide an experimental test of entanglement. It is shown that
time-resolved interference leads to the Hong, Ou and Mandel deep, that provides
a signature of quantum non-separability for pure and mixed EPR states. A
Hanbury-Brown and Twiss type witness operator can be constructed to test the
quantum nature of the EPR entanglement.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
Transition Radiation in QCD matter
In ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions a finite size QCD medium is
created. In this paper we compute radiative energy loss to zeroth order in
opacity by taking into account finite size effects. Transition radiation occurs
on the boundary between the finite size medium and the vacuum, and we show that
it lowers the difference between medium and vacuum zeroth order radiative
energy loss relative to the infinite size medium case. Further, in all previous
computations of light parton radiation to zeroth order in opacity, there was a
divergence caused by the fact that the energy loss is infinite in the vacuum
and finite in the QCD medium. We show that this infinite discontinuity is
naturally regulated by including the transition radiation.Comment: 21 page, 22 figure
Mining energy consumption as a function of ore grade decline: the case of lead and zinc
Demand for raw materials is increasing exponentially. To satisfy that demand, more minerals need to be mined from the Earth’s crust. As a result, minerals are being exhausted, and ore grades decline. Lower ore grade mines also mean more energy, which in turn entails fossil fuel emissions and more climate change. This paper estimates the specific energy for the beneficiation process of metals lead and zinc as case studies. The evaluation is performed with specialized software, HSC Chemistry which assesses the specific energy for every stage: comminution, flotation, and refining. Different scenarios have been established to simulate the behavior of a mine when it approaches depletion. Preliminary results show that energy consumption for lead would increase by five times when compared to the current situation if ore grades decrease until the level of tailings, while for zinc by almost two
Diagnostic accuracy of dynamic CZT-SPECT in coronary artery disease. A systematic review and meta-analysis
Background: With the appearance of cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) cameras, dynamic myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) has been introduced, but comparable data to other MPI modalities, such as quantitative coronary angiography (CAG) with fractional flow reserve (FFR) and positron emission tomography (PET), are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic CZT single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) in coronary artery disease compared to quantitative CAG, FFR, and PET as reference. Materials and Methods: Different databases were screened for eligible citations performing dynamic CZT-SPECT against CAG, FFR, or PET. PubMed, OvidSP (Medline), Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and EMBASE were searched on the 5th of July 2020. Studies had to meet the following pre-established inclusion criteria: randomized controlled trials, retrospective trails or observational studies relevant for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease, and performing CZT-SPECT and within half a year the methodological references. Studies which considered coronary stenosis between 50% and 70% as significant based only on CAG were excluded. Data extracted were sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios. Quality was assessed with QUADAS-2 and statistical analysis was performed using a bivariate model. Results: Based on our criteria, a total of 9 studies containing 421 patients were included. For the assessment of CZT-SPECT, the diagnostic value pooled analysis with a bivariate model was calculated and yielded a sensitivity of 0.79 (% CI 0.73 to 0.85) and a specificity of 0.85 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.92). Diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 17.82 (95% CI 8.80 to 36.08, P < 0.001). Positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) were 3.86 (95% CI 2.76 to 5.38, P < 0.001) and 0.21 (95% CI 0.13 to 0.33, P < 0.001), respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results of the current systematic review and meta-analysis, dynamic CZT-SPECT MPI demonstrated a good sensitivity and specificity to diagnose CAD as compared to the gold standards. However, due to the heterogeneity of the methodologies between the CZT-SPECT MPI studies and the relatively small number of included studies, it warrants further well-defined study protocols
Short-range order and precipitation in Fe-rich Fe-Cr alloys: Atomistic off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations
Short-range order (SRO) in Fe-rich Fe-Cr alloys is investigated by means of
atomistic off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations in the semi-grand canonical
ensemble using classical interatomic potentials. The SRO parameter defined by
Cowley [Phys. Rev. B 77, 669 (1950)] is used to quantify the degree of
ordering. In agreement with experiments a strong ordering tendency in the Cr
distribution at low Cr concentrations (~< 5%) is observed, as manifested in
negative values of the SRO parameters. For intermediate Cr concentrations (5%
~< c_Cr ~< 15%) the SRO parameter for the alpha-phase goes through a minimum,
but at the solubility limit the alpha-phase still displays a rather strong SRO.
In thermodynamic equilibrium for concentrations within the two-phase region the
SRO parameter measured over the entire sample therefore comprises the
contributions from both the alpha and alpha-prime phases. If both of these
contributions are taken into account, it is possible to quantitatively
reproduce the experimental results and interpret their physical implications.
It is thereby shown that the inversion of the SRO observed experimentally is
due to the formation of stable (supercritical) alpha-prime precipitates. It is
not related to the loss of SRO in the alpha-phase or to the presence of
unstable (subcritical) Cr precipitates in the alpha-phase.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Ref-1/APE1 as Transcriptional Regulator and Novel Therapeutic Target in Pediatric T-cell Leukemia
The increasing characterization of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has led to the identification of multiple molecular targets, but have yet to translate into more effective targeted therapies, particularly for high-risk, relapsed T-cell ALL. Searching for master regulators controlling multiple signaling pathways in T-ALL, we investigated the multi-functional protein redox factor-1 (Ref-1/APE1), which acts as a signaling "node" by exerting redox regulatory control of transcription factors important in leukemia. Leukemia patients' transcriptome databases showed increased expression in T-ALL of Ref-1 and other genes of the Ref-1/SET interactome. Validation studies demonstrated that Ref-1 is expressed in high-risk leukemia T-cells, including in patient biopsies. Ref-1 redox function is active in leukemia T-cells, regulating the Ref-1 target NF-kB, and inhibited by the redox-selective Ref-1 inhibitor E3330. Ref-1 expression is not regulated by Notch signaling, but is upregulated by glucocorticoid treatment. E3330 disrupted Ref-1 redox activity in functional studies and resulted in marked inhibition of leukemia cell viability, including T-ALL lines representing different genotypes and risk groups. Potent leukemia cell inhibition was seen in primary cells from ALL patients, relapsed and glucocorticoid-resistant T-ALL cells, and cells from a murine model of Notch-induced leukemia. Ref-1 redox inhibition triggered leukemia cell apoptosis and down-regulation of survival genes regulated by Ref-1 targets. For the first time, this work identifies Ref-1 as a novel molecular effector in T-ALL and demonstrates that Ref-1 redox inhibition results in potent inhibition of leukemia T-cells, including relapsed T-ALL. These data also support E3330 as a specific Ref-1 small molecule inhibitor for leukemia
Parabolic stable surfaces with constant mean curvature
We prove that if u is a bounded smooth function in the kernel of a
nonnegative Schrodinger operator on a parabolic Riemannian
manifold M, then u is either identically zero or it has no zeros on M, and the
linear space of such functions is 1-dimensional. We obtain consequences for
orientable, complete stable surfaces with constant mean curvature
in homogeneous spaces with four
dimensional isometry group. For instance, if M is an orientable, parabolic,
complete immersed surface with constant mean curvature H in
, then and if equality holds, then
M is either an entire graph or a vertical horocylinder.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. Minor changes have been incorporated (exchange
finite capacity by parabolicity, and simplify the proof of Theorem 1)
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