3,453 research outputs found
Interplay between excitation kinetics and reaction-center dynamics in purple bacteria
Photosynthesis is arguably the fundamental process of Life, since it enables
energy from the Sun to enter the food-chain on Earth. It is a remarkable
non-equilibrium process in which photons are converted to many-body excitations
which traverse a complex biomolecular membrane, getting captured and fueling
chemical reactions within a reaction-center in order to produce nutrients. The
precise nature of these dynamical processes -- which lie at the interface
between quantum and classical behaviour, and involve both noise and
coordination -- are still being explored. Here we focus on a striking recent
empirical finding concerning an illumination-driven transition in the
biomolecular membrane architecture of {\it Rsp. Photometricum} purple bacteria.
Using stochastic realisations to describe a hopping rate model for excitation
transfer, we show numerically and analytically that this surprising shift in
preferred architectures can be traced to the interplay between the excitation
kinetics and the reaction center dynamics. The net effect is that the bacteria
profit from efficient metabolism at low illumination intensities while using
dissipation to avoid an oversupply of energy at high illumination intensities.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in New Journal of
Physic
A Multiple System of Radio Sources at the Core of the L723 Multipolar Outflow
We present high angular resolution Very Large Array multi-epoch continuum
observations at 3.6 cm and 7 mm towards the core of the L723 multipolar outflow
revealing a multiple system of four radio sources suspected to be YSOs in a
region of only ~4 arcsecs (1200 AU) in extent. The 3.6 cm observations show
that the previously detected source VLA 2 contains a close (separation ~0.29
arcsecs or ~90 AU) radio binary, with components (A and B) along a position
angle of ~150 degrees. The northern component (VLA 2A) of this binary system is
also detected in the 7 mm observations, with a positive spectral index between
3.6 cm and 7 mm. In addition, the source VLA 2A is associated with extended
emission along a position angle of ~115 degrees, that we interpret as
outflowing shock-ionized gas that is exciting a system of HH objects with the
same position angle. A third, weak 3.6 cm source, VLA 2C, that is detected also
at 7 mm, is located ~0.7 arcsecs northeast of VLA 2A, and is possibly
associated with the water maser emission in the region. The 7 mm observations
reveal the presence of an additional source, VLA 2D, located ~3.5 arcsecs
southeast of VLA 2A, and with a 1.35 mm counterpart. All these radio continuum
sources have a positive spectral index, compatible with them being YSOs. We
also propose that the high velocity CO emission observed in the region could be
the superposition of multiple outflows (at least three independent bipolar
outflows) excited by the YSOs located at the core, instead of the previous
interpretations in terms of only one or two outflows.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (2007 December
6
Multiple Sources toward the High-mass Young Star S140 IRS1
S140 IRS1 is a remarkable source where the radio source at the center of the
main bipolar molecular outflow in the region is elongated perpendicular to the
axis of the outflow, an orientation opposite to that expected if the radio
source is a thermal jet exciting the outflow. We present results of 1.3 cm
continuum and H2O maser emission observations made with the VLA in its A
configuration toward this region. In addition, we also present results of
continuum observations at 7 mm and re-analyse observations at 2, 3.5 and 6 cm
(previously published). IRS 1A is detected at all wavelengths, showing an
elongated structure. Three water maser spots are detected along the major axis
of the radio source IRS 1A. We have also detected a new continuum source at 3.5
cm (IRS 1C) located ~0.6'' northeast of IRS 1A. The presence of these two YSOs
(IRS 1A and 1C) could explain the existence of the two bipolar molecular
outflows observed in the region. In addition, we have also detected three
continuum clumps (IRS 1B, 1D and 1E) located along the major axis of IRS 1A. We
discuss two possible models to explain the nature of IRS 1A: a thermal jet and
an equatorial wind.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, to be published in A
Large Scale Flows from Orion-South
Multiple optical outflows are known to exist in the vicinity of the active
star formation region called Orion-South (Orion-S). We have mapped the velocity
of low ionization features in the brightest part of the Orion Nebula, including
Orion-S, and imaged the entire nebula with the Hubble Space Telescope. These
new data, combined with recent high resolution radio maps of outflows from the
Orion-S region, allow us to trace the origin of the optical outflows. It is
confirmed that HH 625 arises from the blueshifted lobe of the CO outflow from
136-359 in Orion-S while it is likely that HH 507 arises from the blueshifted
lobe of the SiO outflow from the nearby source 135-356. It is likely that
redshifted lobes are deflected within the photon dominated region behind the
optical nebula. This leads to a possible identification of a new large shock to
the southwest from Orion-S as being driven by the redshifted CO outflow arising
from 137-408. The distant object HH 400 is seen to have two even further
components and these all are probably linked to either HH 203, HH 204, or HH
528. Distant shocks on the west side of the nebula may be related to HH 269.
The sources of multiple bright blueshifted Herbig-Haro objects (HH 202, HH 203,
HH 204, HH 269, HH 528) remain unidentified, in spite of earlier claimed
identifications. Some of this lack of identification may arise from the fact
that deflection in radial velocity can also produce a change in direction in
the plane of the sky. The best way to resolve this open question is through
improved tangential velocities of low ionization features arising where the
outflows first break out into the ionized nebula.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press. Some figures are shown at reduced
resolution. A full-resolution version is available at
http://ifront.org/wiki/Orion_South_Outflows_Pape
Limits on the Dipole Moments of the -Lepton via the Process $e^{+}e^{-}\to \tau^+ \tau^- \gamma in a Left-Right Symmetric Model
Limits on the anomalous magnetic moment and the electric dipole moment of the
lepton are calculated through the reaction at the -pole and in the framework of a left-right symmetric model.
The results are based on the recent data reported by the L3 Collaboration at
CERN LEP. Due to the stringent limit of the model mixing angle , the
effect of this angle on the dipole moments is quite small.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
Monitoring the Large Proper Motions of Radio Sources in the Orion BN/KL Region
We present absolute astrometry of four radio sources in the
Becklin-Neugebauer/Kleinman-Low (BN/KL) region, derived from archival data
(taken in 1991, 1995, and 2000) as well as from new observations (taken in
2006). All data consist of 3.6 cm continuum emission and were taken with the
Very Large Array in its highest angular resolution A configuration. We confirm
the large proper motions of the BN object, the radio source I (GMR I) and the
radio counterpart of the infrared source n (Orion-n), with values from 15 to 26
km/s. The three sources are receding from a point between them from where they
seem to have been ejected about 500 years ago, probably via the disintegration
of a multiple stellar system. We present simulations of very compact stellar
groups that provide a plausible dynamical scenario for the observations. The
radio source Orion-n appeared as a double in the first three epochs, but as
single in 2006. We discuss this morphological change. The fourth source in the
region, GMR D, shows no statistically significant proper motions. We also
present new, accurate relative astrometry between BN and radio source I that
restrict possible dynamical scenarios for the region. During the 2006
observations, the radio source GMR A, located about 1' to the NW of the BN/KL
region, exhibited an increase in its flux density of a factor of ~3.5 over a
timescale of one hour. This rapid variability at cm wavelengths is similar to
that previously found during a flare at millimeter wavelengths that took place
in 2003.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
The Non-thermal Radio Jet Toward the NGC 2264 Star Formation Region
We report sensitive VLA 3.6 cm radio observations toward the head of the Cone
nebula in NGC 2264, made in 2006. The purpose of these observations was to
study a non-thermal radio jet recently discovered, that appears to emanate from
the head of the Cone nebula. The jet is highly polarized, with well-defined
knots, and one-sided. The comparison of our images with 1995 archive data
indicates no evidence of proper motions nor polarization changes. We find
reliable flux density variations in only one knot, which we tentatively
identify as the core of a quasar or radio galaxy. An extragalactic location
seems to be the best explanation for this jet.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Comparative study of the antitumoral activity of phosphine- thiosemicarbazone gold(I) complexes obtained by different methodologies
A series of phosphino-thiosemicarbazone gold(I) dinuclear complexes obtained by two different synthetic pro- cedures have been prepared. All the compounds have been spectroscopically characterized including single crystal X ray diffraction analysis in some of cases. [Au2(HL1)Cl2] (1), [Au2(HL2)2]Cl2 (2) and [Au2(HL3)2]Cl2 (3) have been prepared by chemical synthesis using a gold(III) salt as precursor; while [Au2(L1)2] (4), [Au2(L2)2] ∙2CH3CN (5) and [Au2(L3)2] (6) have been isolated from an electrochemical synthesis (HLn=2-[2-(diphenyl- phosphanyl)-benzylidene]-N-R-thiosemicarbazone; HL1: R=methyl, HL2: R=methoxyphenyl, HL3: R=nitrophenyl). The in vitro cytotoxic activity of these gold(I) complexes was tested against some human tumor cell lines: HeLa 229 (cervical epithelial carcinoma), MCF-7 (ovarian adenocarcinoma), NCI-H460 (non- small-cell lung cancer) and MRC5 (normal human lung fibroblast), and the IC50 values compared with those of cisplatin. The neutral methyl-substituted complexes 1 and 4 and methoxyphenyl 5 displayed significant cyto- toxic activities in all investigated cancer cell lines, being 1 and 4 the most effective. The ability of complexes 1 and 4 to induce cell death by apoptosis in Hela 229 was also investigated by fluorescence microscopy using the apoptotic DNA fragmentation as marker. These results indicated that the inhibition of cell proliferation is mainly due to an apoptotic process. In order to obtain more information about the mechanism of action of these me- tallocompounds, the interactions of complexes 1 and 4 with the thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) enzyme were analyzed. Both complexes exhibited a strong inhibition of the thioredoxin reductase activity.We thank Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2018/13 and ED431D 2017/01), MINECO (CTQ2017-90802-REDT) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RED2018-102471-T) for financial support. L. M. G. B. thanks Xunta de Galicia for the predoctoral contract (type A).S
Impact of exposure to cold and cold-osmotic stresses on virulence-associated characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes strains
The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of stress conditions frequently encountered in food-associated environments on virulence-associated characteristics of eight strains of Listeria monocytogenes. Strains were grown at low (11 ºC, cold stress) and optimal (37 ºC) temperatures and in high NaCl concentrations (6% NaCl, 11 ºC; cold-osmotic stress) and tested for their ability to invade the human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. Results demonstrate that the correlation between exposure to cold stress and increased invasion phenotype is strain-dependent as strains investigated exhibited different behaviours, i.e. exposure to cold stress conditions resulted in a significant increase of invasion levels in five out of the eight strains tested, when compared to growth under optimal conditions. On the other hand, when these cold-adapted cells were subsequently submitted to high salt concentrations and low temperature, their enhanced ability to invade Caco-2 was lost. Surprisingly, saturated fatty acids (SFA) and branched chain fatty acids (BCFA) decreased when L. monocytogenes were exposed to stress conditions as opposed to what has been observed in other studies, therefore highlighting that further studies will need to deepen in the understanding of the lipid metabolism of these strains. The effect of stress conditions on the survival of three selected L. monocytogenes strains through an in vitro gastrointestinal (GI) tract digestion model was further investigated. The exposure to cold-osmotic stress increased the survival of one strain through the GI tract.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio
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