137 research outputs found
Ice Formation in Model Biological Membranes in the Presence of Cryoprotectors
Ice formation in model biological membranes is studied by SAXS and WAXS in
the presence of cryoprotectors: dimethyl sulfoxide and glycerol. Three types of
phospholipid membranes: DPPC, DMPC, DSPC are chosen for the investigation as
well-studied model biological membranes. A special cryostat is used for sample
cooling from 14.1C to -55.4C. The ice formation is only detected by WAXS in
binary phospholipid/water and ternary phospholipid/cryoprotector/water systems
in the condition of excess solvent. Ice formation in a binary
phospholipid/water system creates an abrupt decrease of the membrane repeat
distance by delta-d, so-called ice-induced dehydration of intermembrane space.
The value of delta-d decreases as the cryoprotector concentration increases.
The formation of ice does not influence the membrane structure (delta-d = 0)
for cryoprotector mole fractions higher than 0.05.Comment: PDF: 9 pages, 3 figures; sourse in MS Wor
A Sucrose Solution Application to the Study of Model Biological Membranes
The small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering, time resolved X-ray small-angle
and wide-angle diffraction coupled with differential scanning calorimetry have
been applied to the investigation of unilamellar and multilamellar
dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) vesicles in sucrose buffers with sucrose
concentrations from 0 to 60%. Sucrose buffer decreased vesicle size and
polydispersity and increased an X-ray contrast between phospholipid membrane
and bulk solvent sufficiently. No influence of sucrose on the membrane
thickness or mutual packing of hydrocarbon chains has been detected. The region
of sucrose concentrations 30%-40% created the best experimental conditions for
X-ray small-angle experiments with phospholipid vesicles.Comment: PDF: 10 pages, 6 figures. MS Word sours
Gravitational waves from rapidly rotating neutron stars
Rapidly rotating neutron stars in Low Mass X-ray Binaries have been proposed
as an interesting source of gravitational waves. In this chapter we present
estimates of the gravitational wave emission for various scenarios, given the
(electromagnetically) observed characteristics of these systems. First of all
we focus on the r-mode instability and show that a 'minimal' neutron star model
(which does not incorporate exotica in the core, dynamically important magnetic
fields or superfluid degrees of freedom), is not consistent with observations.
We then present estimates of both thermally induced and magnetically sustained
mountains in the crust. In general magnetic mountains are likely to be
detectable only if the buried magnetic field of the star is of the order of
G. In the thermal mountain case we find that gravitational
wave emission from persistent systems may be detected by ground based
interferometers. Finally we re-asses the idea that gravitational wave emission
may be balancing the accretion torque in these systems, and show that in most
cases the disc/magnetosphere interaction can account for the observed spin
periods.Comment: To appear in 'Gravitational Waves Astrophysics: 3rd Session of the
Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, 2014', Editor: Carlos F. Sopuert
Potent and broad HIV-neutralizing antibodies in memory B cells and plasma
Induction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) is a goal of HIV-1 vaccine development. Antibody 10E8, reactive with the distal portion of the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) of HIV-1 gp41, is broadly neutralizing. However, the ontogeny of distal MPER antibodies and the relationship of memory B cell to plasma bnAbs are poorly understood. HIV-1âspecific memory B cell flow sorting and proteomic identification of anti-MPER plasma antibodies from an HIV-1âinfected individual were used to isolate broadly neutralizing distal MPER bnAbs of the same B cell clonal lineage. Structural analysis demonstrated that antibodies from memory B cells and plasma recognized the envelope gp41 bnAb epitope in a distinct orientation compared with other distal MPER bnAbs. The unmutated common ancestor of this distal MPER bnAb was autoreactive, suggesting lineage immune tolerance control. Construction of chimeric antibodies of memory B cell and plasma antibodies yielded a bnAb that potently neutralized most HIV-1 strains
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Reading tea leaves worldwide: decoupled drivers of initial litter decomposition mass-loss rate and stabilisation
The breakdown of plant material fuels soil functioning and biodiversity. Currently, process understanding of global decomposition patterns and the drivers of such patterns are hampered by the lack of coherent large-scale datasets. We buried 36,000 individual litterbags (tea bags) worldwide and found an overall negative correlation between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization factors of plant-derived carbon, using the Tea Bag Index (TBI). The stabilization factor quantifies the degree to which easy-to-degrade components accumulate during early-stage decomposition (e.g. by environmental limitations). However, agriculture and an interaction between moisture and temperature led to a decoupling between initial mass-loss rates and stabilization, notably in colder locations. Using TBI improved mass-loss estimates of natural litter compared to models that ignored stabilization. Ignoring the transformation of dead plant material to more recalcitrant substances during early-stage decomposition, and the environmental control of this transformation, could overestimate carbon losses during early decomposition in carbon cycle models
GW190814: gravitational waves from the coalescence of a 23 solar mass black hole with a 2.6 solar mass compact object
We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2â24.3 Me black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50â2.67 Me (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGOâs and Virgoâs third observing run on 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The source was localized to 18.5 deg2 at a distance of - + 241 45
41 Mpc; no electromagnetic counterpart has been confirmed to date. The source has the most unequal mass ratio yet measured with gravitational waves, - + 0.112 0.009 0.008, and its secondary component is either the lightest black hole or the heaviest neutron star ever discovered in a double compact-object system. The
dimensionless spin of the primary black hole is tightly constrained to ïżœ0.07. Tests of general relativity reveal no measurable deviations from the theory, and its prediction of higher-multipole emission is confirmed at high confidence. We estimate a merger rate density of 1â23 Gpcâ3 yrâ1 for the new class of binary coalescence sources
that GW190814 represents. Astrophysical models predict that binaries with mass ratios similar to this event can form through several channels, but are unlikely to have formed in globular clusters. However, the combination of mass ratio, component masses, and the inferred merger rate for this event challenges all current models of the formation and mass distribution of compact-object binaries
GWTC-2.1: Deep extended catalog of compact binary coalescences observed by LIGO and Virgo during the first half of the third observing run
The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a probability of astrophysical origin greater than 0.5. Of these candidates, 36 have been reported in GWTC-2. We also calculate updated source properties for all binary block hole events previously reported in GWTC-1. If the 8 additional high-significance candidates presented here are astrophysical, the mass range of events that are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects \geq 3M_\odot) is increased compared to GWTC-2, with total masses from \sim 14M_\odot for GW190924_021846 to \sim 182M_\odot for GW190426_190642. Source properties calculated using our default prior suggest that the primary components of two new candidate events (GW190403_051519 and GW190426_190642) fall in the mass gap predicted by pair-instability supernova theory. We also expand the population of binaries with significantly asymmetric mass ratios reported in GWTC-2 by an additional two events (the mass ratio is less than 0.65 and 0.44 at 90% probability for GW190403_051519 and GW190917_114630 respectively), and find that 2 of the 8 new events have effective inspiral spins \chi_\mathrm{eff} > 0 (at 90\% credibility), while no binary is consistent with \chi_\mathrm{eff} \lt 0 at the same significance. We provide updated estimates for rates of binary black hole and binary neutron star coalescence in the local Universe
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Soil-Plant Community Relationship in the Selkirk Mountains of Northern Idaho
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