11,873 research outputs found
A large scale prediction of bacteriocin gene blocks suggests a wide functional spectrum for bacteriocins
Bacteriocins are peptide-derived molecules produced by bacteria, whose
recently-discovered functions include virulence factors and signalling
molecules as well as their better known roles as antibiotics. To date, close to
five hundred bacteriocins have been identified and classified. Recent
discoveries have shown that bacteriocins are highly diverse and widely
distributed among bacterial species. Given the heterogeneity of bacteriocin
compounds, many tools struggle with identifying novel bacteriocins due to their
vast sequence and structural diversity. Many bacteriocins undergo
post-translational processing or modifications necessary for the biosynthesis
of the final mature form. Enzymatic modification of bacteriocins as well as
their export is achieved by proteins whose genes are often located in a
discrete gene cluster proximal to the bacteriocin precursor gene, referred to
as \textit{context genes} in this study. Although bacteriocins themselves are
structurally diverse, context genes have been shown to be largely conserved
across unrelated species. Using this knowledge, we set out to identify new
candidates for context genes which may clarify how bacteriocins are
synthesized, and identify new candidates for bacteriocins that bear no sequence
similarity to known toxins. To achieve these goals, we have developed a
software tool, Bacteriocin Operon and gene block Associator (BOA) that can
identify homologous bacteriocin associated gene clusters and predict novel
ones. We discover that several phyla have a strong preference for bactericon
genes, suggesting distinct functions for this group of molecules. Availability:
https://github.com/idoerg/BOAComment: Accepted for publication in BMC Bioinformatic
Three-dimensional massive gravity and the bigravity black hole
We study three-dimensional massive gravity formulated as a theory with two
dynamical metrics, like the f-g theories of Isham-Salam and Strathdee. The
action is parity preserving and has no higher derivative terms. The spectrum
contains a single massive graviton. This theory has several features discussed
recently in TMG and NMG. We find warped black holes, a critical point, and
generalized Brown-Henneaux boundary conditions.Comment: 8 pages, Revtex. Minor change. References adde
Interacting electrons on trilayer honeycomb lattices
Few-layer graphene systems come in various stacking orders. Considering
tight-binding models for electrons on stacked honeycomb layers, this gives rise
to a variety of low-energy band structures near the charge neutrality point.
Depending on the stacking order these band structures enhance or reduce the
role of electron-electron interactions. Here, we investigate the instabilities
of interacting electrons on honeycomb multilayers with a focus on trilayers
with ABA and ABC stackings theoretically by means of the functional
renormalization group. We find different types of competing instabilities and
identify the leading ordering tendencies in the different regions of the phase
diagram for a range of local and non-local short-ranged interactions. The
dominant instabilities turn out to be toward an antiferromagnetic spin-density
wave (SDW), a charge density wave and toward quantum spin Hall (QSH) order.
Ab-initio values for the interaction parameters put the systems at the border
between SDW and QSH regimes. Furthermore, we discuss the energy scales for the
interaction-induced gaps of this model study and put them into context with the
scales for single-layer and Bernal-stacked bilayer honeycomb lattices. This
yields a comprehensive picture of the possible interaction-induced ground
states of few-layer graphene.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure
Quantum Antiferromagnetism in Quasicrystals
The antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model is studied on a two-dimensional
bipartite quasiperiodic lattice. The distribution of local staggered magnetic
moments is determined on finite square approximants with up to 1393 sites,
using the Stochastic Series Expansion Quantum Monte Carlo method. A non-trivial
inhomogeneous ground state is found. For a given local coordination number, the
values of the magnetic moments are spread out, reflecting the fact that no two
sites in a quasicrystal are identical. A hierarchical structure in the values
of the moments is observed which arises from the self-similarity of the
quasiperiodic lattice. Furthermore, the computed spin structure factor shows
antiferromagnetic modulations that can be measured in neutron scattering and
nuclear magnetic resonance experiments.
This generic model is a first step towards understanding magnetic
quasicrystals such as the recently discovered Zn-Mg-Ho icosahedral structure.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages with 5 figure
On leading order gravitational backreactions in de Sitter spacetime
Backreactions are considered in a de Sitter spacetime whose cosmological
constant is generated by the potential of scalar field. The leading order
gravitational effect of nonlinear matter fluctuations is analyzed and it is
found that the initial value problem for the perturbed Einstein equations
possesses linearization instabilities. We show that these linearization
instabilities can be avoided by assuming strict de Sitter invariance of the
quantum states of the linearized fluctuations. We furthermore show that quantum
anomalies do not block the invariance requirement. This invariance constraint
applies to the entire spectrum of states, from the vacuum to the excited states
(should they exist), and is in that sense much stronger than the usual Poincare
invariance requirement of the Minkowski vacuum alone. Thus to leading order in
their effect on the gravitational field, the quantum states of the matter and
metric fluctuations must be de Sitter invariant.Comment: 12 pages, no figures, typos corrected and some clarifying comments
added, version accepted by Phys. Rev.
Partitioning of a polymer chain between a confining cavity and a gel
A lattice field theory approach to the statistical mechanics of charged
polymers in electrolyte solutions [S. Tsonchev, R. D. Coalson, and A. Duncan,
Phys. Rev. E 60, 4257, (1999)] is applied to the study of a polymer chain
contained in a spherical cavity but able to diffuse into a surrounding gel. The
distribution of the polymer chain between the cavity and the gel is described
by its partition coefficient, which is computed as a function of the number of
monomers in the chain, the monomer charge, and the ion concentrations in the
solution.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure
An Algorithmic Test for Diagonalizability of Finite-Dimensional PT-Invariant Systems
A non-Hermitean operator does not necessarily have a complete set of
eigenstates, contrary to a Hermitean one. An algorithm is presented which
allows one to decide whether the eigenstates of a given PT-invariant operator
on a finite-dimensional space are complete or not. In other words, the
algorithm checks whether a given PT-symmetric matrix is diagonalizable. The
procedure neither requires to calculate any single eigenvalue nor any numerical
approximation.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur
Template assisted surface micro microstructuring of flowable dental composites and its effect on the microbial adhesion properties
Despite their various advantages, such as good esthetic properties, absence of mercury and adhesive bonding to teeth, modern dental composites still have some drawbacks, e.g., a relatively high rate of secondary caries on teeth filled with composite materials. Recent research suggests that microstructured biomaterials surfaces may reduce microbial adhesion to materials due to unfavorable physical material–microbe interactions. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to test the hypotheses that (i) different surface microstructures can be created on composites by a novel straightforward approach potentially suitable for clinical application and (ii) that these surface structures have a statistically significant effect on microbial adhesion properties.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
Van der Waals interaction and spontaneous decay of an excited atom in a superlens-type geometry
Within the framework of macroscopic quantum electrodynamics, the resonant van
der Waals potential experienced by an excited two-level atom near a planar
magneto-electric two-layer system consisting of a slab of left-handed material
and a perfect mirror is studied. It is shown that disregarding of material
absorption leads to unphysical results, with divergent values for the potential
away from the surface. Under appropriate conditions, the setup is found to
feature a barrier near the surface which can be employed to levitate particles
or used as a trapping or cooling mechanism. Finally, the problem of spontaneous
decay [J. K\"{a}stel and M. Fleischhauer, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{68}, 011804(R)
(2005)] is revisited. Disregarding of absorption is shown to drastically
falsify the dependence on the atomic position of the decay rate.Comment: 10 Pages, 6 figure
Decoherence of encoded quantum registers
In order to eliminate disturbing effects of decoherence, encoding of quantum
information in decoherence-free subspaces has been suggested. We analyze the
benefits of this concept for a quantum register that is realized in a spin
chain in contact with a common bosonic bath. Within a dissipation-less model we
provide explicit analytical results for the average fidelity of plain and
encoded quantum registers. For the investigation of dissipative spin-boson
couplings we employ a master equation of Bloch-Redfield type.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
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