2,219 research outputs found
Estimates of T-odd distribution and fragmentation functions
Estimates of the T-odd fragmentation and distribution functions,
and , are presented. Our evaluations are based on a fit on
experimental data of polarized proton-proton scattering. We use our estimates
to make predictions for electron polarized-proton azimuthal asymmetries.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the 7th International Workshop on
Deep Inelastic Scattering and QCD, DIS99, DESY-Zeuthen, April 1999; Nucl.
Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.
Beyond âignoranceâ: using the cultural stereotypes of Americans studying in the UK as a resource for learning and teaching about British culture
A course introducing British culture is a standard component of many study abroad programmes running in this country that are aimed at international students who will be spending a limited amount of time in the United Kingdom. However, it is not often acknowledged that such students possess a range of strong pre-conceptions about British culture and society prior to their arrival. Conventional teaching strategies assume student ignorance of the subject. However, an alternative approach which makes us of pre-arrival stereotypes can be more productive in terms of engaging students in active processes of comparative analysis of their new and existing knowledge. A case study of American student stereotypes of the British monarchy is presented and it is suggested that these can be used as the basis for refining student understanding of cultural politics in the United Kingdom. International students, therefore, should not be treated as being culturally ignorant of Britain in the sense of having no knowledge or opinions at all. Rather, it should be understood that they possess a culturally mediated state of subjectivity which I refer to as âignoranceâ and that this can become a valuable resource for teaching and learning
Two Unrelated 8-Vinyl Reductases Ensure Production of Mature Chlorophylls in Acaryochloris marina
The major photopigment of the cyanobacterium
Acaryochloris marina
is chlorophyll
d
, while its direct biosynthetic precursor,
chlorophyll
a
, is also present in the cell. These pigments, along with the majority of chlorophylls utilized by oxygenic pho-
totrophs, carry an ethyl group at the C-8 position of the molecule, having undergone reduction of a vinyl group during biosyn-
thesis. Two unrelated classes of 8-vinyl reductase involved in the biosynthesis of chlorophylls are known to exist, BciA and BciB.
The genome of
Acaryochloris marina
contains open reading frames (ORFs) encoding proteins displaying high sequence similarity to BciA or BciB, although they are annotated as genes involved in transcriptional control (
nmrA
) and methanogenesis (
frhB
),
respectively. These genes were introduced into an 8-vinyl chlorophyll
a
-producing
delta
bciB
strain of
Synechocystis
sp. strain PCC
6803, and both were shown to restore synthesis of the pigment with an ethyl group at C-8, demonstrating their activities as 8-vinyl reductases. We propose that
nmrA
and
frhB
be reassigned as
bciA
and
bciB
, respectively; transcript and proteomic analysis of
Acaryochloris marina
reveal that both
bciA
and
bciB
are expressed and their encoded proteins are present in the cell, possibly in
order to ensure that all synthesized chlorophyll pigment carries an ethyl group at C-8. Potential reasons for the presence of two
8-vinyl reductases in this strain, which is unique for cyanobacteria, are discussed
Expanded Vandermonde powers and sum rules for the two-dimensional one-component plasma
The two-dimensional one-component plasma (2dOCP) is a system of mobile
particles of the same charge on a surface with a neutralising background.
The Boltzmann factor of the 2dOCP at temperature can be expressed as a
Vandermonde determinant to the power . Recent advances in
the theory of symmetric and anti-symmetric Jack polymonials provide an
efficient way to expand this power of the Vandermonde in their monomial basis,
allowing the computation of several thermodynamic and structural properties of
the 2dOCP for values up to 14 and equal to 4, 6 and 8. In this
work, we explore two applications of this formalism to study the moments of the
pair correlation function of the 2dOCP on a sphere, and the distribution of
radial linear statistics of the 2dOCP in the plane
Inhibition of proton-transfer steps in transhydrogenase by transition metal ions
AbstractTranshydrogenase couples proton translocation across a bacterial or mitochondrial membrane to the redox reaction between NAD(H) and NADP(H). Purified intact transhydrogenase from Escherichia coli was prepared, and its His tag removed. The forward and reverse transhydrogenation reactions catalysed by the enzyme were inhibited by certain metal ions but a âcyclic reactionâ was stimulated. Of metal ions tested they were effective in the order Pb2+>Cu2+>Zn2+=Cd2+>Ni2+>Co2+. The results suggest that the metal ions affect transhydrogenase by binding to a site in the proton-transfer pathway. Attenuated total-reflectance Fourier-transform infrared difference spectroscopy indicated the involvement of His and Asp/Glu residues in the Zn2+-binding site(s). A mutant in which ÎČHis91 in the membrane-spanning domain of transhydrogenase was replaced by Lys had enzyme activities resembling those of wild-type enzyme treated with Zn2+. Effects of the metal ion on the mutant were much diminished but still evident. Signals in Zn2+-induced FTIR difference spectra of the ÎČHis91Lys mutant were also attributable to changes in His and Asp/Glu residues but were much smaller than those in wild-type spectra. The results support the view that ÎČHis91 and nearby Asp or Glu residues participate in the proton-transfer pathway of transhydrogenase
Methods for the recognition of geological weakness zones and other surface discontinuities caused by underground mining in Carboniferous terrain
Since March 1992 the British Geological Survey (BGS) has collaborated in a CEC part-funded project under the leadership of Dr Clasen of Saarberg, Saarbrueken, Germany. The aim of this project was to determine the most efficient combination of surface geophysical techniques to be used in combination with airborne optical scanning data for the routine detection of shallow faults. Such features, when reactivated following undermining, may become the locii of damaging subsidence, but where they can be traced in advance of mining operations then remedial measures (such as underpinning etc) may be undertaken. This final report outlines the geophysical methods applied and describes our most significant results. Conclusions are drawn concerning the relative efficiencies of each technique and possible
complementary applications
Proteorhodopsin overproduction enhances the long-term viability of Escherichia coli
Genes encoding the photoreactive protein proteorhodopsin (PR) have been found in a wide range of marine bacterial species, reflecting the significant contribution that PR makes to energy flux and carbon cycling in ocean ecosystems. PR can also confer advantages to enhance the ability of marine bacteria to survive periods of starvation. Here, we investigate the effect of heterologously produced PR on the viability of Escherichia coli. Quantitative mass spectrometry shows that E. coli, exogenously supplied with the retinal cofactor, assembles as many as 187,000 holo-PR molecules per cell, accounting for approximately 47% of the membrane area; even cells with no retinal synthesize âŒ148,000 apo-PR molecules per cell. We show that populations of E. coli cells containing PR exhibit significantly extended viability over many weeks, and we use single-cell Raman spectroscopy (SCRS) to detect holo-PR in 9-month-old cells. SCRS shows that such cells, even incubated in the dark and therefore with inactive PR, maintain cellular levels of DNA and RNA and avoid deterioration of the cytoplasmic membrane, a likely basis for extended viability. The substantial proportion of the E. coli membrane required to accommodate high levels of PR likely fosters extensive intermolecular contacts, suggested to physically stabilize the cell membrane and impart a long-term benefit manifested as extended viability in the dark. We propose that marine bacteria could benefit similarly from a high PR content, with a stabilized cell membrane extending survival when those bacteria experience periods of severe nutrient or light limitation in the oceans
Relativistic D-brane Scattering is Extremely Inelastic
We study the effects of quantum production of open strings on the
relativistic scattering of D-branes. We find strong corrections to the brane
trajectory from copious production of highly-excited open strings, whose
typical oscillator level is proportional to the square of the rapidity. In the
corrected trajectory, the branes rapidly coincide and remain trapped in a
configuration with enhanced symmetry. This is a purely stringy effect which
makes relativistic brane collisions exceptionally inelastic. We trace this
effect to velocity-dependent corrections to the open-string mass, which render
open strings between relativistic D-branes surprisingly light. We observe that
pair-creation of open strings could play an important role in cosmological
scenarios in which branes approach each other at very high speeds.Comment: 30 pages; added references and a comment about velocity-dependent
masse
Two-level system with a thermally fluctuating transfer matrix element: Application to the problem of DNA charge transfer
Charge transfer along the base-pair stack in DNA is modeled in terms of
thermally-assisted tunneling between adjacent base pairs. Central to our
approach is the notion that tunneling between fluctuating pairs is rate-limited
by the requirement of their optimal alignment. We focus on this aspect of the
process by modeling two adjacent base pairs in terms of a classical damped
oscillator subject to thermal fluctuations as described by a Fokker-Planck
equation. We find that the process is characterized by two time scales, a
result that is in accord with experimental findings.Comment: original file is revtex4, 10 pages, three eps figure
The ChlD subunit links the motor and porphyrin binding subunits of magnesium chelatase
Magnesium chelatase initiates chlorophyll biosynthesis, catalysing the MgATP2- dependent insertion of a Mg2+ ion into protoporphyin IX. The catalytic core of this large enzyme complex consists of three subunits: Bch/ChlI, Bch/ChlD and Bch/ChlH (in bacteriochlorophyll and chlorophyll producing species respectively). The D and I subunits are members of the AAA+ (ATPases associated with various cellular activities) superfamily of enzymes, and they form a complex that binds to H, the site of metal ion insertion. In order to investigate the physical coupling between ChlID and ChlH in vivo and in vitro , ChlD was FLAG-tagged in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed interactions with both ChlI and ChlH. Co-production of recombinant ChlD and ChlH in Escherichia coli yielded a ChlDH. Quantitative analysis using microscale thermophoresis (MST) showed magnesium-dependent binding ( K d 331 ± 58 nM) between ChlD and H. The physical basis for a ChlD-H interaction was investigated using chemical crosslinking coupled with mass spectrometry (XL-MS), together with modifications that either truncate ChlD or modify single residues. We found that the C-terminal integrin I domain of ChlD governs association with ChlH, the Mg2+ dependence of which also mediates the cooperative response of the Synechocystis chelatase to magnesium. Our work, showing the interaction site between the AAA+ motor and the chelatase domain of magnesium chelatase, will be essential for understanding how free energy from the hydrolysis of ATP on the AAA+ ChlI subunit is transmitted via the bridging subunit ChlD to the active site on ChlH
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