Comment on Orientational Ordering Transition in Solid C\u3csub\u3e60\u3c/sub\u3e

A Comment on the Letter by P. A. Heiney et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 2911 (1991)

Orientational Ordering of Icosahedra in Solid C\u3csub\u3e60\u3c/sub\u3e

We determine the allowed structures for orientationally ordered icosahedral molecules on a fcc lattice such that there are four molecules per simple-cubic unit cell. The allowed space groups are Pm3, Pn3, and Pa3. In the latter two, an angle of rotation assumes a value not fixed by symmetry. The locations of all 240 atoms in the unit cell as deduced from the powder x-ray data of Heiney et al. are tabulated. We discuss a number of minima in the free energy which correspond to the observed Pa3 structure of solid C60. We introduce orientational order parameters which lead to a Landau free energy, from which we predict that the orientational transition is discontinuous

Comment on New Orientationally Ordered Low-Temperature Superstructure in High-Purity C\u3csub\u3e60\u3c/sub\u3e

A Comment on the Letter by G. Van Tendeloo et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 69, 1065 (1992)

Mean-Field Theory for C\u3csub\u3e70\u3c/sub\u3e

Orientational ordering transitions in C70 are studied by constructing a Landau free energy in terms of order parameters describing long-range orientational order. This theory predicts that the transition from the orientationally disordered state into a partially ordered state, where the long axes of the molecules are parallel to one another, is discontinuous with an elastic distortion. Order parameters describing the lower temperature transition, where spinning about the long axis becomes hindered, are also discussed

Symmetry Analysis of the 2a Phase of C\u3csub\u3e60\u3c/sub\u3e

A symmetry analysis of the 2a phase recently observed in some samples of C60 is presented. This phase is described by a unit cell with eight molecules in inequivalent orientations. We first show that if this structure is assumed to be exactly cubic, there are only three allowed space groups, none of which corresponds to the Pa3¯ arrangement of threefold axes previously established for C60 by several groups. Our calculated powder diffraction spectra for these space groups are not consistent with existing experimental data. Second, if the symmetry of the Pa3¯ structure is lowered by a doubling of the unit cell, we show that the resulting structure is trigonal, space group R3¯. We calculate powder diffraction spectra for this scenario and thereby place upper limits on both the angular distortion and the trigonal lattice distortion. Third, since the microscopic origin of this distortion probably involves defects of some presently unknown type, we consider a phenomenological scenario for the origin of this trigonal distortion. Within this scenario, we study the symmetry of the interactions needed to explain this structure. We start by giving an analysis of the structural distortion within harmonic lattice dynamics. However, to obtain the correct (R3¯) symmetry structure we were forced to study the cubic coupling between zone-corner librons and macroscopic strains. In this way we relate the development of R3¯ symmetry from the Pa3¯ structure in terms of a phenomenological model of lattice dynamics. Fourth, we extend the above arguments to construct a Landau theory for the hypothesized Pa3¯→R3¯ phase transition, which occurs as a function of the concentration of the presumed defects. The resulting free energy has no cubic terms (so the transition can be continuous) but has five fourth-order invariants

GeneSeer: A sage for gene names and genomic resources

BACKGROUND: Independent identification of genes in different organisms and assays has led to a multitude of names for each gene. This balkanization makes it difficult to use gene names to locate genomic resources, homologs in other species and relevant publications. METHODS: We solve the naming problem by collecting data from a variety of sources and building a name-translation database. We have also built a table of homologs across several model organisms: H. sapiens, M. musculus, R. norvegicus, D. melanogaster, C. elegans, S. cerevisiae, S. pombe and A. thaliana. This allows GeneSeer to draw phylogenetic trees and identify the closest homologs. This, in turn, allows the use of names from one species to identify homologous genes in another species. A website is connected to the database to allow user-friendly access to our tools and external genomic resources using familiar gene names. CONCLUSION: GeneSeer allows access to gene information through common names and can map sequences to names. GeneSeer also allows identification of homologs and paralogs for a given gene. A variety of genomic data such as sequences, SNPs, splice variants, expression patterns and others can be accessed through the GeneSeer interface. It is freely available over the web and can be incorporated in other tools through an http-based software interface described on the website. It is currently used as the search engine in the RNAi codex resource, which is a portal for short hairpin RNA (shRNA) gene-silencing constructs

Phenomenologial Dynamics of C\u3csub\u3e70\u3c/sub\u3e

We construct the most general effective Hamiltonian for the C70 solid and study the long-wavelength dynamics of the system near the high-temperature orientational ordering phase transition. We derive neutron scattering cross sections, NMR line shifts, and T1 from our theory and suggest some experiments to further constrain our Hamiltonian

Deficiency in glutamine but not glucose induces MYC-dependent apoptosis in human cells

The idea that conversion of glucose to ATP is an attractive target for cancer therapy has been supported in part by the observation that glucose deprivation induces apoptosis in rodent cells transduced with the proto-oncogene MYC, but not in the parental line. Here, we found that depletion of glucose killed normal human cells irrespective of induced MYC activity and by a mechanism different from apoptosis. However, depletion of glutamine, another major nutrient consumed by cancer cells, induced apoptosis depending on MYC activity. This apoptosis was preceded by depletion of the Krebs cycle intermediates, was prevented by two Krebs cycle substrates, but was unrelated to ATP synthesis or several other reported consequences of glutamine starvation. Our results suggest that the fate of normal human cells should be considered in evaluating nutrient deprivation as a strategy for cancer therapy, and that understanding how glutamine metabolism is linked to cell viability might provide new approaches for treatment of cancer

piRNA pathway targets active LINE1 elements to establish the repressive H3K9me3 mark in germ cells

Transposable elements (TEs) occupy a large fraction of metazoan genomes and pose a constant threat to genomic integrity. This threat is particularly critical in germ cells, as changes in the genome that are induced by TEs will be transmitted to the next generation. Small noncoding piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) recognize and silence a diverse set of TEs in germ cells. In mice, piRNA-guided transposon repression correlates with establishment of CpG DNA methylation on their sequences, yet the mechanism and the spectrum of genomic targets of piRNA silencing are unknown. Here we show that in addition to DNA methylation, the piRNA pathway is required to maintain a high level of the repressive H3K9me3 histone modification on long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) in germ cells. piRNA-dependent chromatin repression targets exclusively full-length elements of actively transposing LINE families, demonstrating the remarkable ability of the piRNA pathway to recognize active elements among the large number of genomic transposon fragments