Aspartate transcarbamylase from Leishmania donovani. A discrete, nonregulatory enzyme as a potential chemotherapeutic site

Leishmania donovani is a protozoal pathogen that belongs to the kinetoplastida order. Unlike in other eucaryotic systems, the first three enzymes of the de novo pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway are not components of a multifunctional protein system. The three enzyme activities in the crude extract were separated on a Sephacryl S-200 column. Aspartate carbamoyltransferase (EC 2.1.3.2) has been purified to apparent homogeneity. The enzyme has an approximate molecular weight of 135,000 and seems to be a tetramer of equivalent subunits of molecular weight 35,000. The enzyme shows strictly hyperbolic kinetics with both the substrates under a variety of conditions and is not inhibited by nucleotide phosphates. Km for carbamyl phosphate is 3.1 × 10-4 M and for aspartate is 7.6 × 10-3 M. Apparently, the enzyme has no regulatory role in pyrimidine biosynthesis. N-(Phosphonoacetyl)-L-aspartic acid is a powerful competitive inhibitor (Ki = 5 × 10-7 M) for this enzyme with carbamyl phosphate as substrate. This inhibitor completely inhibits the growth of the vector form of organism at 60 μM and significantly affects the growth of the pathogenic form in a macrophage assay system. The potency of the inhibitor is comparable with allopurinol which is undergoing human clinical trial as an antileishmanial drug

Collapse/Flattening of Nucleonic Bags in Ultra-Strong Magnetic Field

It is shown explicitly using MIT bag model that in presence of ultra-strong magnetic fields, a nucleon either flattens or collapses in the direction transverse to the external magnetic field in the classical or quantum mechanical picture respectively. Which gives rise to some kind of mechanical instability. Alternatively, it is argued that the bag model of confinement may not be applicable in this strange situation.Comment: 8 pages, REVTEX, 3 figures .eps files (included

Fermions at unitarity and Haldane Exclusion Statistics

We consider a gas of neutral fermionic atoms at ultra-low temperatures, with the attractive interaction tuned to Feshbach resonance. We calculate, the variation of the chemical potential and the energy per particle as a function of temperature by assuming the system to be an ideal gas obeying the Haldane-Wu fractional exclusion statistics. Our results for the untrapped gas compare favourably with the recently published Monte Carlo calculations of two groups. For a harmonically trapped gas, the results agree with experiment, and also with other published work.Comment: 4 pages, 1 postscript figur

Electromagnetic nucleon form factors in instant and point form

We present a study of the electromagnetic structure of the nucleons with constituent quark models in the framework of relativistic quantum mechanics. In particular, we address the construction of spectator-model currents in the instant and point forms. Corresponding results for the elastic nucleon electromagnetic form factors as well as charge radii and magnetic moments are presented. We also compare results obtained by different realistic nucleon wave functions stemming from alternative constituent quark models. Finally, we discuss the theoretical uncertainties that reside in the construction of spectator-model transition operators.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, updated and extended version for publicatio

Number Fluctuation in an interacting trapped gas in one and two dimensions

It is well-known that the number fluctuation in the grand canonical ensemble, which is directly proportional to the compressibility, diverges for an ideal bose gas as T -> 0. We show that this divergence is removed when the atoms interact in one dimension through an inverse square two-body interaction. In two dimensions, similar results are obtained using a self-consistent Thomas-Fermi (TF) model for a repulsive zero-range interaction. Both models may be mapped on to a system of non-interacting particles obeying the Haldane-Wu exclusion statistics. We also calculate the number fluctuation from the ground state of the gas in these interacting models, and compare the grand canonical results with those obtained from the canonical ensemble.Comment: 11 pages, 1 appendix, 3 figures. Submitted to J. Phys. B: Atomic, Molecular & Optica

Pion-delta sigma-term

We use a configuration space chiral model in order to evaluate nucleon and delta sigma-terms. Analytic expressions are consistent with chiral counting rules and give rise to expected non-analytic terms in the chiral limit. We obtain the results $\sigma_N=46$ MeV and $\sigma_{\Delta}=32$ MeV, which are very close to values extracted from experiment and produced by other groups.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Adaptable transition systems

We present an essential model of adaptable transition systems inspired by white-box approaches to adaptation and based on foundational models of component based systems. The key feature of adaptable transition systems are control propositions, imposing a clear separation between ordinary, functional behaviours and adaptive ones. We instantiate our approach on interface automata yielding adaptable interface automata, but it may be instantiated on other foundational models of component-based systems as well. We discuss how control propositions can be exploited in the specification and analysis of adaptive systems, focusing on various notions proposed in the literature, like adaptability, control loops, and control synthesis

Laser cladding of Ni50Cr: a parametric and dilution study

The increasing use of biomass as a fuel is leading to higher fireside corrosion of the heat exchangers in boilers due to the high chlorine and alkali metal content in the fuel. Laser cladding of Ni50Cr is a promising technique to enhance fireside corrosion resistance of boiler tubes from this aggressive environment. A parametric study is carried out on the blown powder based laser cladding of Ni50Cr on 304 stainless steel. Successful deposits were generated and the effects of the various process parameters on clad geometry and dilution are reported. The various commonly used techniques for determination of clad dilution are compared and some guidelines for their use are suggested

Exclusion Statistics in a trapped two-dimensional Bose gas

We study the statistical mechanics of a two-dimensional gas with a repulsive delta function interaction, using a mean field approximation. By a direct counting of states we establish that this model obeys exclusion statistics and is equivalent to an ideal exclusion statistics gas.Comment: 3 pages; minor changes in notation; typos correcte

The middle class in macroeconomics and growth theory: a three-class neo-Kaleckian-Goodwin model

This paper presents a three class growth model with labor market conflict. The classes are workers, a middle management middle class, and a "top" management capitalist class. The model introduces personal income distribution that supplements conventional concerns with functional income distribution. Within such a model, endogenously generated changes in personal income distribution can generate endogenous shifts from profit-led to wage-led regimes and vice-versa. A model of an economy with three classes enables us to consider richer patterns of class conflict because the middle class has shared interests and conflicts with both capitalists and workers. Changes that benefit the middle class do not necessarily increase growth or employment or benefit workers