534 research outputs found
Quasi-equilibrium states in thermotropic liquid crystals studied by multiple quantum NMR
We study the nature of the quasiinvariants in nematic 5CB and measure their
relaxation times by encoding the multiple quantum coherences of the states
following the JB pulse pair on two orthogonal bases, Z and X. The experiments
were also performed in powder adamantane at 301 K which is used as a reference
compound having only one dipolar quasiinvariant. We show that the evolution of
the quantum states during the build up of the quasi-equilibrium state in 5CB
prepared under the S condition is similar to the case of adamantane and that
their quasi-equilibrium density operators have the same tensor structure. In
contrast, the second constant of motion, whose explicit operator form is not
known, involves a richer composition of multiple quantum coherences on the X
basis of even order, in consistency with the truncation inherent in its
definition. We exploited the exclusive presence coherences 4, 6, 8, besides 0
and 2 under the W condition to measure the spin-lattice relaxation time T_{W}
accurately, so avoiding experimental difficulties that usually impair dipolar
order relaxation measurement such as Zeeman contamination at high fields, and
also superposition of the different quasiinvariants. This procedure opens the
possibility of measuring the spin-lattice relaxation of a quasiinvariant
independent of the Zeeman and S reservoirs, so incorporating a new relaxation
parameter useful for studying the complex molecular dynamics in mesophases. In
fact, we report the first measurement of T_{W} in a liquid crystal at high
magnetic fields. The comparison of the obtained value with the one
corresponding to a lower field (16 MHz) points out that the relaxation of the
W-order strongly depends on the intensity of the external magnetic field,
similarly to the case of the S reservoir, indicating that the relaxation of the
W-quasiinvariant is also governed by the cooperative molecular motions.Comment: 7 figures. http://www.famaf.unc.edu.ar/series/AFis2005.ht
NMR Techniques for Quantum Control and Computation
Fifty years of developments in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have resulted
in an unrivaled degree of control of the dynamics of coupled two-level quantum
systems. This coherent control of nuclear spin dynamics has recently been taken
to a new level, motivated by the interest in quantum information processing.
NMR has been the workhorse for the experimental implementation of quantum
protocols, allowing exquisite control of systems up to seven qubits in size.
Here, we survey and summarize a broad variety of pulse control and tomographic
techniques which have been developed for and used in NMR quantum computation.
Many of these will be useful in other quantum systems now being considered for
implementation of quantum information processing tasks.Comment: 33 pages, accepted for publication in Rev. Mod. Phys., added
subsection on T_{1,\rho} (V.A.6) and on time-optimal pulse sequences
(III.A.6), redid some figures, made many small changes, expanded reference
Determination of glucose exchange rates and permeability of erythrocyte membrane in preeclampsia and subsequent oxidative stress-related protein damage using dynamic-19F-NMR
The cause of the pregnancy condition preeclampsia (PE) is thought to be endothelial dysfunction caused by oxidative stress. As abnormal glucose tolerance has also been associated with PE, we use a fluorinated-mimic of this metabolite to establish whether any oxidative damage to lipids and proteins in the erythrocyte membrane has increased cell membrane permeability. Data were acquired using 19F Dynamic-NMR (DNMR) to measure exchange of 3-fluoro-3-deoxyglucose (3-FDG) across the membrane of erythrocytes from 10 pregnant women (5 healthy control women, and 5 from women suffering from PE). Magnetisation transfer was measured using the 1D selective inversion and 2D EXSY pulse sequences, over a range of time delays. Integrated intensities from these experiments were used in matrix diagonalisation to estimate the values of the rate constants of exchange and membrane permeability. No significant differences were observed for the rate of exchange of 3-FDG and membrane permeability between healthy pregnant women and those suffering from PE, leading us to conclude that no oxidative damage had occurred at this carrier-protein site in the membrane
Preferential Cu2+ coordination by His(96) and His(111) induces beta-sheet formation in the unstructured amyloidogenic region of the prion protein
The prion protein (PrP) is a Cu2+ binding cell surface glycoprotein that can misfold into a beta-sheet-rich conformation to cause prion diseases. The majority of copper binding studies have concentrated on the octarepeat region of PrP. However, using a range of spectroscopic techniques, we show that copper binds preferentially to an unstructured region of PrP between residues 90 and 115, outside of the octarepeat domain. Comparison of recombinant PrP with PrP-(91-115) indicates that this prion fragment is a good model for Cu2+ binding to the full-length protein. In contrast to previous reports we show that Cu2+ binds to this region of PrP with a nano-molar dissociation constant. NMR and EPR spectroscopy indicate a square-planar or square-pyramidal Cu2+ coordination utilizing histidine residues. Studies with PrP analogues show that the high affinity site requires both His(96) and His(111) as Cu2+ ligands, rather than a complex centered on His(96) as has been previously suggested. Our circular dichroism studies indicate a loss of irregular structure on copper coordination with an increase in beta-sheet conformation. It has been shown that this unstructured region, between residues 90 and 120, is vital for prion propagation and different strains of prion disease have been linked with copper binding. The role of Cu2+ in prion misfolding and disease must now be re-evaluated in the light of these findings
- …