11,532 research outputs found
Radar cross calibration investigation TAMU radar polarimeter calibration measurements
A short pulse, 20 MHz bandwidth, three frequency radar polarimeter system (RPS) operates at center frequencies of 10.003 GHz, 4.75 GHz, and 1.6 GHz and utilizes dual polarized transmit and receive antennas for each frequency. The basic lay-out of the RPS is different from other truck mounted systems in that it uses a pulse compression IF section common to all three RF heads. Separate transmit and receive antennas are used to improve the cross-polarization isolation at each particular frequency. The receive is a digitally controlled gain modulated subsystem and is interfaced directly with a microprocesser computer for control and data manipulation. Antenna focusing distance, focusing each antenna pair, rf head stability, and polarization characteristics of RPS antennas are discussed. Platform and data acquisition procedures are described
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Cargo adaptors regulate stepping and force generation of mammalian dynein-dynactin.
Cytoplasmic dynein is an ATP-driven motor that transports intracellular cargos along microtubules. Dynein adopts an inactive conformation when not attached to a cargo, and motility is activated when dynein assembles with dynactin and a cargo adaptor. It was unclear how active dynein-dynactin complexes step along microtubules and transport cargos under tension. Using single-molecule imaging, we showed that dynein-dynactin advances by taking 8 to 32-nm steps toward the microtubule minus end with frequent sideways and backward steps. Multiple dyneins collectively bear a large amount of tension because the backward stepping rate of dynein is insensitive to load. Recruitment of two dyneins to dynactin increases the force generation and the likelihood of winning against kinesin in a tug-of-war but does not directly affect velocity. Instead, velocity is determined by cargo adaptors and tail-tail interactions between two closely packed dyneins. Our results show that cargo adaptors modulate dynein motility and force generation for a wide range of cellular functions
Space capsule Patent
Manned space capsule configuration for orbital flight and atmospheric reentr
Small-Molecule Photostabilizing Agents are Modifiers of Lipid Bilayer Properties
AbstractSmall-molecule photostabilizing or protective agents (PAs) provide essential support for the stability demands on fluorescent dyes in single-molecule spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. These agents are employed also in studies of cell membranes and model systems mimicking lipid bilayer environments, but there is little information about their possible effects on membrane structure and physical properties. Given the impact of amphipathic small molecules on bilayer properties such as elasticity and intrinsic curvature, we investigated the effects of six commonly used PAs—cyclooctatetraene (COT), para-nitrobenzyl alcohol (NBA), Trolox (TX), 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO), para-nitrobenzoic acid (pNBA), and n-propyl gallate (nPG)—on bilayer properties using a gramicidin A (gA)-based fluorescence quench assay to probe for PA-induced changes in the gramicidin monomer↔dimer equilibrium. The experiments were done using fluorophore-loaded large unilamellar vesicles that had been doped with gA, and changes in the gA monomer↔dimer equilibrium were assayed using a gA channel-permeable fluorescence quencher (Tl+). Changes in bilayer properties caused by, e.g., PA adsorption at the bilayer/solution interface that alter the equilibrium constant for gA channel formation, and thus the number of conducting gA channels in the large unilamellar vesicle membrane, will be detectable as changes in the rate of Tl+ influx—the fluorescence quench rate. Over the experimentally relevant millimolar concentration range, TX, NBA, and pNBA, caused comparable increases in gA channel activity. COT, also in the millimolar range, caused a slight decrease in gA channel activity. nPG increased channel activity at submillimolar concentrations. DABCO did not alter gA activity. Five of the six tested PAs thus alter lipid bilayer properties at experimentally relevant concentrations, which becomes important for the design and analysis of fluorescence studies in cells and model membrane systems. We therefore tested combinations of COT, NBA, and TX; the combinations altered the fluorescence quench rate less than would be predicted assuming their effects on bilayer properties were additive. The combination of equimolar concentrations of COT and NBA caused minimal changes in the fluorescence quench rate
Completeness in Photometric and Spectroscopic Searches for Clusters
We investigate, using simulated galaxy catalogues, the completeness of
searches for massive clusters of galaxies in redshift surveys or imaging
surveys with photometric redshift estimates, i.e. what fraction of clusters
(M>10^14/h Msun) are found in such surveys. We demonstrate that the matched
filter method provides an efficient and reliable means of identifying massive
clusters even when the redshift estimates are crude. In true redshift surveys
the method works extremely well. We demonstrate that it is possible to
construct catalogues with high completeness, low contamination and both varying
little with redshift.Comment: ApJ in press, 15 pages, 10 figure
Critical Droplets and Phase Transitions in Two Dimensions
In two space dimensions, the percolation point of the pure-site clusters of
the Ising model coincides with the critical point T_c of the thermal transition
and the percolation exponents belong to a special universality class. By
introducing a bond probability p_B<1, the corresponding site-bond clusters keep
on percolating at T_c and the exponents do not change, until
p_B=p_CK=1-exp(-2J/kT): for this special expression of the bond weight the
critical percolation exponents switch to the 2D Ising universality class. We
show here that the result is valid for a wide class of bidimensional models
with a continuous magnetization transition: there is a critical bond
probability p_c such that, for any p_B>=p_c, the onset of percolation of the
site-bond clusters coincides with the critical point of the thermal transition.
The percolation exponents are the same for p_c<p_B<=1 but, for p_B=p_c, they
suddenly change to the thermal exponents, so that the corresponding clusters
are critical droplets of the phase transition. Our result is based on Monte
Carlo simulations of various systems near criticality.Comment: Final version for publication, minor changes, figures adde
Two qubits entanglement dynamics in a symmetry-broken environment
We study the temporal evolution of entanglement pertaining to two qubits
interacting with a thermal bath. In particular we consider the simplest
nontrivial spin bath models where symmetry breaking occurs and treat them by
mean field approximation. We analytically find decoherence free entangled
states as well as entangled states with an exponential decay of the quantum
correlation at finite temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
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