7,557 research outputs found
Enhanced tunneling conductivity induced by gelation of attractive colloids
We show that the formation of a gel by conducting colloidal particles leads
to a dramatic enhancement in bulk conductivity, due to inter-particle electron
tunneling, combining predictions from molecular dynamics simulations with
structural measurements in an experimental colloid system. Our results show how
colloidal gelation can be used as a general route to huge enhancements of
conductivity, and suggest a feasible way for developing cheap materials with
novel properties and low metal content.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 2 table
Correcting artifacts from finite image size in Differential Dynamic Microscopy
Differential Dynamic Microscopy (DDM) analyzes traditional real-space
microscope images to extract information on sample dynamics in a way akin to
light scattering, by decomposing each image in a sequence into Fourier modes,
and evaluating their time correlation properties. DDM has been applied in a
number of soft-matter and colloidal systems. However, objects observed to move
out of the microscope's captured field of view, intersecting the edges of the
acquired images, can introduce spurious but significant errors in the
subsequent analysis. Here we show that application of a spatial windowing
filter to images in a sequence before they enter the standard DDM analysis can
reduce these artifacts substantially. Moreover, windowing can increase
significantly the accessible range of wave vectors probed by DDM, and may
further yield unexpected information, such as the size polydispersity of a
colloidal suspension
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-3 and 4: Critical Point
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test - 3 and 4: Critical Point (BCAT-3-4-CP) will determine phase separation rates and add needed points to the phase diagram of a model critical fluid system. Crewmembers photograph samples of polymer and colloidal particles (tiny nanoscale spheres suspended in liquid) that model liquid/gas phase changes. Results will help scientists develop fundamental physics concepts previously cloaked by the effects of gravity
3D stellar kinematics at the Galactic center: measuring the nuclear star cluster spatial density profile, black hole mass, and distance
We present 3D kinematic observations of stars within the central 0.5 pc of
the Milky Way nuclear star cluster using adaptive optics imaging and
spectroscopy from the Keck telescopes. Recent observations have shown that the
cluster has a shallower surface density profile than expected for a dynamically
relaxed cusp, leading to important implications for its formation and
evolution. However, the true three dimensional profile of the cluster is
unknown due to the difficulty in de-projecting the stellar number counts. Here,
we use spherical Jeans modeling of individual proper motions and radial
velocities to constrain for the first time, the de-projected spatial density
profile, cluster velocity anisotropy, black hole mass (), and
distance to the Galactic center () simultaneously. We find that the inner
stellar density profile of the late-type stars, to
have a power law slope , much more shallow than
the frequently assumed Bahcall Wolf slope of . The measured
slope will significantly affect dynamical predictions involving the cluster,
such as the dynamical friction time scale. The cluster core must be larger than
0.5 pc, which disfavors some scenarios for its origin. Our measurement of
and
kpc is consistent with that derived from stellar
orbits within 1 of Sgr A*. When combined with the orbit of
S0-2, the uncertainty on is reduced by 30% ( kpc).
We suggest that the MW NSC can be used in the future in combination with
stellar orbits to significantly improve constraints on .Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, ApJL accepte
Binary Colloidal Alloy Test-5: Phase Separation
The Binary Colloidal Alloy Test - 5: Phase Separation (BCAT-5-PhaseSep) experiment will photograph initially randomized colloidal samples onboard the ISS to determine their resulting structure over time. This allows the scientists to capture the kinetics (evolution) of their samples, as well as the final equilibrium state of each sample. BCAT-5-PhaseSep studies collapse (phase separation rates that impact product shelf-life); in microgravity the physics of collapse is not masked by being reduced to a simple top and bottom phase as it is on Earth
Identification of single-site gold catalysis in acetylene hydrochlorination
There remains considerable debate over the active form of gold under operating conditions of a recently validated gold catalyst for acetylene hydrochlorination. We have performed an in situ x-ray absorption fine structure study of gold/carbon (Au/C) catalysts under acetylene hydrochlorination reaction conditions and show that highly active catalysts comprise single-site cationic Au entities whose activity correlates with the ratio of Au(I):Au(III) present. We demonstrate that these Au/C catalysts are supported analogs of single-site homogeneous Au catalysts and propose a mechanism, supported by computational modeling, based on a redox couple of Au(I)-Au(III) species.
View Full Tex
Discovery and validation of information theory-based transcription factor and cofactor binding site motifs.
Data from ChIP-seq experiments can derive the genome-wide binding specificities of transcription factors (TFs) and other regulatory proteins. We analyzed 765 ENCODE ChIP-seq peak datasets of 207 human TFs with a novel motif discovery pipeline based on recursive, thresholded entropy minimization. This approach, while obviating the need to compensate for skewed nucleotide composition, distinguishes true binding motifs from noise, quantifies the strengths of individual binding sites based on computed affinity and detects adjacent cofactor binding sites that coordinate with the targets of primary, immunoprecipitated TFs. We obtained contiguous and bipartite information theory-based position weight matrices (iPWMs) for 93 sequence-specific TFs, discovered 23 cofactor motifs for 127 TFs and revealed six high-confidence novel motifs. The reliability and accuracy of these iPWMs were determined via four independent validation methods, including the detection of experimentally proven binding sites, explanation of effects of characterized SNPs, comparison with previously published motifs and statistical analyses. We also predict previously unreported TF coregulatory interactions (e.g. TF complexes). These iPWMs constitute a powerful tool for predicting the effects of sequence variants in known binding sites, performing mutation analysis on regulatory SNPs and predicting previously unrecognized binding sites and target genes
Identifying and Indexing Icosahedral Quasicrystals from Powder Diffraction Patterns
We present a scheme to identify quasicrystals based on powder diffraction
data and to provide a standardized indexing. We apply our scheme to a large
catalog of powder diffraction patterns, including natural minerals, to look for
new quasicrystals. Based on our tests, we have found promising candidates
worthy of further exploration.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
A common founding clone with TP53 and PTEN mutations gives rise to a concurrent germ cell tumor and acute megakaryoblastic leukemia
We report the findings from a patient who presented with a concurrent mediastinal germ cell tumor (GCT) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Bone marrow pathology was consistent with a diagnosis of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AML M7), and biopsy of an anterior mediastinal mass was consistent with a nonseminomatous GCT. Prior studies have described associations between hematological malignancies, including AML M7 and nonseminomatous GCTs, and it was recently suggested that a common founding clone initiated both cancers. We performed enhanced exome sequencing on the GCT and the AML M7 from our patient to define the clonal relationship between the two cancers. We found that both samples contained somatic mutations in PTEN (C136R missense) and TP53 (R213 frameshift). The mutations in PTEN and TP53 were present at ∼100% variant allele frequency (VAF) in both tumors. In addition, we detected and validated five other shared somatic mutations. The copy-number analysis of the AML exome data revealed an amplification of Chromosome 12p. We also identified a heterozygous germline variant in FANCA (S858R), which is known to be associated with Fanconi anemia but is of uncertain significance here. In summary, our data not only support a common founding clone for these cancers but also suggest that a specific set of distinct genomic alterations (in PTEN and TP53) underlies the rare association between GCT and AML. This association is likely linked to the treatment resistance and extremely poor outcome of these patients. We cannot resolve the clonal evolution of these tumors given limitations of our data
- …