2,096 research outputs found
Molecular analysis of the distribution and phylogeny of the soxB gene among sulfur-oxidizing bacteria - evolution of the Sox sulfur-oxidizing enzyme system
The soxB gene encodes the SoxB component of the periplasmic thiosulfate-oxidizing Sox enzyme complex, which has been proposed to be widespread among the various phylogenetic groups of sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (SOB) that convert thiosulfate to sulfate with and without the formation of sulfur globules as intermediate. Indeed, the comprehensive genetic and genomic analyses presented in the present study identified the soxB gene in 121 phylogenetically and physiologically divergent SOB, including several species for which thiosulfate utilization has not been reported yet. In first support of the previously postulated general involvement of components of the Sox enzyme complex in the thiosulfate oxidation process of sulfur-storing SOB, the soxB gene was detected in all investigated photo- and chemotrophic species that form sulfur globules during thiosulfate oxidation (Chromatiaceae, Chlorobiaceae, Ectothiorhodospiraceae, Thiothrix, Beggiatoa, Thiobacillus, invertebrate symbionts and free-living relatives). The SoxB phylogeny reflected the major 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic lineages of the investigated SOB, although topological discrepancies indicated several events of lateral soxB gene transfer among the SOB, e.g. its independent acquisition by the anaerobic anoxygenic phototrophic lineages from different chemotrophic donor lineages. A putative scenario for the proteobacterial origin and evolution of the Sox enzyme system in SOB is presented considering the phylogenetic, genomic (sox gene cluster composition) and geochemical data
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian is equivalent to the teleparallel theory
The quadratic spinor Lagrangian is shown to be equivalent to the teleparallel
/ tetrad representation of Einstein's theory. An important consequence is that
the energy-momentum density obtained from this quadratic spinor Lagrangian is
essentially the same as the ``tensor'' proposed by Moller in 1961.Comment: 10 pages, RevTe
Computer simulations of hard pear-shaped particles
We report results obtained from Monte Carlo simulations investi-
gating mesophase formation in two model systems of hard pear-shaped
particles. The first model considered is a hard variant of the trun-
cated Stone-Expansion model previously shown to form nematic and
smectic mesophases when embedded within a 12-6 Gay-Berne-like po-
tential [1]. When stripped of its attractive interactions, however, this system is found to lose its liquid crystalline phases. For particles of length to breadth ratio k = 3, glassy behaviour is seen at high pressures, whereas for k = 5 several bi-layer-like domains are seen, with high intradomain order but little interdomain orientational correlation. For the second model, which uses a parametric shape parameter based on the generalised Gay-Berne formalism, results are presented for particles with elongation k = 3; 4 and 5. Here, the systems with k = 3 and 4 fail to display orientationally ordered phases, but that with k = 5 shows isotropic, nematic and, unusually for a hard-particle model, interdigitated smectic A2 phases.</p
Geometric Strategy for the Optimal Quantum Search
We explore quantum search from the geometric viewpoint of a complex
projective space , a space of rays. First, we show that the optimal quantum
search can be geometrically identified with the shortest path along the
geodesic joining a target state, an element of the computational basis, and
such an initial state as overlaps equally, up to phases, with all the elements
of the computational basis. Second, we calculate the entanglement through the
algorithm for any number of qubits as the minimum Fubini-Study distance to
the submanifold formed by separable states in Segre embedding, and find that
entanglement is used almost maximally for large . The computational time
seems to be optimized by the dynamics as the geodesic, running across entangled
states away from the submanifold of separable states, rather than the amount of
entanglement itself.Comment: revtex, 10 pages, 7 eps figures, uses psfrag packag
Schooling for violence and peace : how does peace education differ from ânormalâ schooling?
This article reviews literature on the roles of schooling in both reproducing and actively perpetrating violence, and sets out an historical explanation of why schools are socially constructed in such a way as to make these roles possible. It then discusses notions of peace education in relation to one particular project in England before using empirical data from research on the project to examine contrasts between peace education approaches and ânormalâ schooling from the viewpoints of project workers, pupils and teachers. It concludes that such contrasts and tensions do indeed exist and that this raises serious questions about the compatibility of peace education and formal schooling
Progress on the Experimental Search for Charge Symmetry Breaking (CSB) in n-p Scattering
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant NSF PHY 81-14339 and by Indiana Universit
An Experimental Test of Charge Symmetry in n-p Scattering
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grants NSF PHY 78-22774 A03, NSF PHY 81-14339, and by Indiana Universit
Understanding hadronic gamma-ray emission from supernova remnants
We aim to test the plausibility of a theoretical framework in which the
gamma-ray emission detected from supernova remnants may be of hadronic origin,
i.e., due to the decay of neutral pions produced in nuclear collisions
involving relativistic nuclei. In particular, we investigate the effects
induced by magnetic field amplification on the expected particle spectra,
outlining a phenomenological scenario consistent with both the underlying
Physics and the larger and larger amount of observational data provided by the
present generation of gamma experiments, which seem to indicate rather steep
spectra for the accelerated particles. In addition, in order to study to study
how pre-supernova winds might affect the expected emission in this class of
sources, the time-dependent gamma-ray luminosity of a remnant with a massive
progenitor is worked out. Solid points and limitations of the proposed scenario
are finally discussed in a critical way.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures; Several comments, references and a figure added.
Some typos correcte
The Kuiper Belt and Other Debris Disks
We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in
the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system
formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system
and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the Terrestrial and
giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some
of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a
collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks"
observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the Solar system
provides a level of detail that we cannot discern in the distant disks while
observations of the disks may help to set the Solar system in proper context.Comment: 50 pages, 25 Figures. To appear in conference proceedings book
"Astrophysics in the Next Decade
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