Mapping the ultrafast flow of harvested solar energy in living photosynthetic cells

Photosynthesis transfers energy efficiently through a series of antenna complexes to the reaction center where charge separation occurs. Energy transfer in vivo is primarily monitored by measuring fluorescence signals from the small fraction of excitations that fail to result in charge separation. Here, we use two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy to follow the entire energy transfer process in a thriving culture of the purple bacteria, Rhodobacter sphaeroides. By removing contributions from scattered light, we extract the dynamics of energy transfer through the dense network of antenna complexes and into the reaction center. Simulations demonstrate that these dynamics constrain the membrane organization into small pools of core antenna complexes that rapidly trap energy absorbed by surrounding peripheral antenna complexes. The rapid trapping and limited back transfer of these excitations lead to transfer efficiencies of 83% and a small functional light-harvesting unit

Preservation of the metabolic rate of oxygen in preterm infants during indomethacin therapy for closure of the ductus arteriosus

Background:The aim of this study was to assess and quantify the effects of indomethacin on cerebral blood flow (CBF), oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (CMRO 2) in preterm infants undergoing treatment for a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA).Methods:CBF and CMRO 2 were measured before and after the first dose of a 3-d course of indomethacin to close hemodynamically significant PDA in preterm neonates. Indocyanine-green (ICG) concentration curves were acquired before and after indomethacin injection to quantify CBF and CMRO 2.Results:Eight preterm neonates (gestational age, 27.6 ± 0.5 wk; birth weight, 992 ± 109 g; 6 males:2 females) were treated at a median age of 4.5 d (range, 4-21 d). Indomethacin resulted in an average CBF decrease of 18% (pre- and post-CBF = 12.9 ± 1.3 and 10.6 ± 0.8 ml/100 g/min, respectively) and an OEF increase of 11% (pre- and post-OEF = 0.38 ± 0.02 and 0.42 ± 0.02, respectively) but no significant change in CMRO 2 (pre- and post-CMRO 2 = 0.83 ± 0.07 and 0.76 ± 0.07 ml O 2 /100 g/min, respectively). Corresponding mean blood pressure (BP), arterial oxygen saturation (S a O 2), heart rate, and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension levels remained unchanged.Conclusion:Indomethacin resulted in significant reduction in CBF but did not alter CMRO 2 because of a compensatory increase in OEF. Copyright © 2013 International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc

Theory of Coexistence of Superconductivity and Ferroelectricity : A Dynamical Symmetry Model

We propose and investigate a model for the coexistence of Superconductivity (SC) and Ferroelectricity (FE) based on the dynamical symmetries $su(2)$ for the pseudo-spin SC sector, $h(4)$ for the displaced oscillator FE sector, and $su(2) \otimes h(4)$ for the composite system. We assume a minimal symmetry-allowed coupling, and simplify the hamiltonian using a double mean field approximation (DMFA). A variational coherent state (VCS) trial wave-function is used for the ground state: the energy, and the relevant order parameters for SC and FE are obtained. For positive sign of the SC-FE coupling coefficient, a non-zero value of either order parameter can suppress the other (FE polarization suppresses SC and vice versa). This gives some support to "Matthias' Conjecture" [1964], that SC and FE tend to be mutually exclusive. For such a Ferroelectric Superconductor we predict: a) the SC gap $\Delta$ (and $T_c$) will increase with increasing applied pressure when pressure quenches FE as in many ferroelectrics, and b) the FE polarization will increase with increaesing magnetic field up to $H_c$. The last result is equivalent to the prediction of a new type of Magneto-Electric Effect in a coexistent SC-FE material. Some discussion will be given of the relation of these results to the cuprate superconductors.Comment: 46 page

Identification of QTLs Associated with Callogenesis and Embryogenesis in Oil Palm Using Genetic Linkage Maps Improved with SSR Markers.

Clonal reproduction of oil palm by means of tissue culture is a very inefficient process. Tissue culturability is known to be genotype dependent with some genotypes being more amenable to tissue culture than others. In this study, genetic linkage maps enriched with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were developed for dura (ENL48) and pisifera (ML161), the two fruit forms of oil palm, Elaeis guineensis. The SSR markers were mapped onto earlier reported parental maps based on amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. The new linkage map of ENL48 contains 148 markers (33 AFLPs, 38 RFLPs and 77 SSRs) in 23 linkage groups (LGs), covering a total map length of 798.0 cM. The ML161 map contains 240 markers (50 AFLPs, 71 RFLPs and 119 SSRs) in 24 LGs covering a total of 1,328.1 cM. Using the improved maps, two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with tissue culturability were identified each for callusing rate and embryogenesis rate. A QTL for callogenesis was identified in LGD4b of ENL48 and explained 17.5% of the phenotypic variation. For embryogenesis rate, a QTL was detected on LGP16b in ML161 and explained 20.1% of the variation. This study is the first attempt to identify QTL associated with tissue culture amenity in oil palm which is an important step towards understanding the molecular processes underlying clonal regeneration of oil palm

Communication: Broad manifold of excitonic states in light-harvesting complex 1 promotes efficient unidirectional energy transfer in vivo

In photosynthetic organisms, the pigment-protein complexes that comprise the light-harvesting antenna exhibit complex electronic structures and ultrafast dynamics due to the coupling among the chromophores. Here, we present absorptive two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectra from living cultures of the purple bacterium, Rhodobacter sphaeroides , acquired using gradient assisted photon echo spectroscopy . Diagonal slices through the 2D lineshape of the LH1 stimulated emission/ground state bleach feature reveal a resolvable higher energy population within the B875 manifold. The waiting time evolution of diagonal, horizontal, and vertical slices through the 2D lineshape shows a sub-100 fs intra-complex relaxation as this higher energy population red shifts. The absorption (855 nm) of this higher lying sub-population of B875 before it has red shifted optimizes spectral overlap between the LH1 B875 band and the B850 band of LH2. Access to an energetically broad distribution of excitonic states within B875 offers a mechanism for efficient energy transfer from LH2 to LH1 during photosynthesis while limiting back transfer. Two-dimensional lineshapes reveal a rapid decay in the ground-state bleach/stimulated emission of B875. This signal, identified as a decrease in the dipole strength of a strong transition in LH1 on the red side of the B875 band, is assigned to the rapid localization of an initially delocalized exciton state, a dephasing process that frustrates back transfer from LH1 to LH2

Search for Neutral Higgs Bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in e+e- Interactions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for the lightest neutral scalar and neutral pseudoscalar Higgs bosons in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model is performed using 176.4 pb^-1 of integrated luminosity collected by L3 at a center-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No signal is observed, and the data are consistent with the expected Standard Model background. Lower limits on the masses of the lightest neutral scalar and pseudoscalar Higgs bosons are given as a function of tan(beta). Lower mass limits for tan(beta)>1 are set at the 95% confidence level to be m_h > 77.1 GeV and m_A > 77.1 GeV

Measurement of W Polarisation at LEP

The three different helicity states of W bosons produced in the reaction e+ e- -> W+ W- -> l nu q q~ at LEP are studied using leptonic and hadronic W decays. Data at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt s = 183-209 GeV are used to measure the polarisation of W bosons, and its dependence on the W boson production angle. The fraction of longitudinally polarised W bosons is measured to be 0.218 \pm 0.027 \pm 0.016 where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation

Protons in near earth orbit

The proton spectrum in the kinetic energy range 0.1 to 200 GeV was measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS-91 at an altitude of 380 km. Above the geomagnetic cutoff the observed spectrum is parameterized by a power law. Below the geomagnetic cutoff a substantial second spectrum was observed concentrated at equatorial latitudes with a flux ~ 70 m^-2 sec^-1 sr^-1. Most of these second spectrum protons follow a complicated trajectory and originate from a restricted geographic region.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 7 .eps figure

Search for Extra Dimensions in Boson and Fermion Pair Production in e+e- Interactions at LEP

Extra spatial dimensions are proposed by recent theories that postulate the scale of gravity to be of the same order as the electroweak scale. A sizeable interaction between gravitons and Standard Model particles is then predicted. Effects of these new interactions in boson and fermion pair production are searched for in the data sample collected at centre-of-mass energies above the Z pole by the L3 detector at LEP. In addition, the direct production of a graviton associated with a Z boson is investigated. No statistically significant hints for the existence of these effects are found and lower limits in excess of 1 TeV are derived on the scale of this new theory of gravity

Measurement of the Probability of Gluon Splitting into Charmed Quarks in Hadronic Z Decays

We have measured the probability, n(g->cc~), of a gluon splitting into a charm-quark pair using 1.7 million hadronic Z decays collected by the L3 detector. Two independent methods have been applied to events with a three-jet topology. One method relies on tagging charmed hadrons by identifying a lepton in the lowest energy jet. The other method uses a neural network based on global event shape parameters. Combining both methods, we measure n(g->cc~)= [2.45 +/- 0.29 +/- 0.53]%