262 research outputs found
Hydrodynamical Survey of First Overtone Cepheids
A hydrodynamical survey of the pulsational properties of first overtone
Galactic Cepheids is presented. The goal of this study is to reproduce their
observed light- and radial velocity curves. The comparison between the models
and the observations is made in a quantitative manner on the level of the
Fourier coefficients. Purely radiative models fail to reproduce the observed
features, but convective models give good agreement.
It is found that the sharp features in the Fourier coefficients are indeed
caused by the P1/P4 = 2 resonance, despite the very large damping of the 4th
overtone. For the adopted mass-luminosity relation the resonance center lies
near a period of 4.2d +/- 0.2 as indicated by the observed radial velocity
data, rather than near 3.2d as the light-curves suggest.Comment: ApJ, 12 pages, (slightly) revise
RR Lyrae - Theory vs Observation
The luminosities, effective temperatures and metallicities that are derived
empirically by Kovacs and Jurcsik from the light curves of a large number of
globular cluster and field RRab and RRc stars are compared to theoretical RR
Lyrae models. The strong luminosity dependence of the empirical blue and red
edges (Log L vs Log Teff diagram) is in disagreement with that of both
radiative and convective models. A reexamination of the theoretical
uncertainties in the modelling leads us to conclude that the disagreement is
irreconcilable.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures (revised april 2000, revisions relatively minor
Mode Switching Time Scales in the Classical Variable Stars
Near the edges of the instability strip the rate of stellar evolution is
larger than the growth-rate of the pulsation amplitude, and the same holds
whenever the star is engaged in pulsational mode switching. Stellar evolution
therefore controls both the onset of pulsation at the edges of the instability
strip and of mode switching inside it. Two types of switchings (bifurcations)
occur. In a soft bifurcation the switching time scale is the inverse harmonic
mean of the pulsational modal growth-rate and of the stellar evolution rate. In
a hard bifurcation the switching times can be substantially longer than the
thermal time scale which is typically of the order of a hundred periods for
Cepheids and RR Lyrae. We discuss some of the observational consequences, in
particular the paucity of low amplitude pulsators at the edges of the
instability strip.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, ApJ (in press
Audition in vampire bats, Desmodus rotundus
1. Within the tonotopic organization of the inferior colliculus two frequency ranges are well represented: a frequency range within that of the echolocation signals from 50 to 100 kHz, and a frequency band below that of the echolocation sounds, from 10 to 35 kHz. The frequency range between these two bands, from about 40 to 50 kHz is distinctly underrepresented (Fig. 3B).
2. Units with BFs in the lower frequency range (10–25 kHz) were most sensitive with thresholds of -5 to -11 dB SPL, and units with BFs within the frequency range of the echolocation signals had minimal thresholds around 0 dB SPL (Fig. 1).
3. In the medial part of the rostral inferior colliculus units were encountered which preferentially or exclusively responded to noise stimuli. — Seven neurons were found which were only excited by human breathing noises and not by pure tones, frequency modulated signals or various noise bands. These neurons were considered as a subspeciality of the larger sample of noise-sensitive neurons. — The maximal auditory sensitivity in the frequency range below that of echolocation, and the conspicuous existence of noise and breathing-noise sensitive units in the inferior colliculus are discussed in context with the foraging behavior of vampire bats
Measuring the quantum efficiency of single radiating dipoles using a scanning mirror
Using scanning probe techniques, we show the controlled manipulation of the
radiation from single dipoles. In one experiment we study the modification of
the fluorescence lifetime of a single molecular dipole in front of a movable
silver mirror. A second experiment demonstrates the changing plasmon spectrum
of a gold nanoparticle in front of a dielectric mirror. Comparison of our data
with theoretical models allows determination of the quantum efficiency of each
radiating dipole.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Foraging behavior and Doppler shift compensation in echolocating hipposiderid bats, I-Iipposideros bicolor and I-Iipposideros speoris
1. Two hipposiderid bats,H. bicolor andH. speoris, were observed in their natural foraging areas in Madurai (South India). Both species hunt close together near the foliage of trees and bushes but they differ in fine structure of preferred hunting space:H. bicolor hunts within the foliage, especially whenH. speoris is active at the same time, whereasH. speoris never flies in dense vegetation but rather in the more open area (Fig. 1, Table 1).
2. Both species emit CF/FM-sounds containing only one harmonic component in almost all echolocation situations. The CF-parts of CF/FM-sounds are species specific within a band of 127–138 kHz forH. speoris and 147–159 kHz forH. bicolor (Tables 2 and 3).
3. H. speoris additionally uses a complex harmonic sound during obstacle avoidance and during laboratory tests for Doppler shift compensation.H. bicolor consistently emits CF/FM-sounds in these same situations (Fig. 2).
4. Both hipposiderid bats respond to Doppler shifts in the returning echoes by lowering the frequency of the emitted sounds (Fig. 3). However, Doppler compensations are incomplete as the emitted frequencies are decreased by only 55% and 56% (mean values) of the full frequency shifts byH. speoris andH, bicolor, respectively.
5. The differences in Doppler shift compensation, echolocating and hunting behavior suggest thatH. speoris is less specialized on echolocation with CF/FM-sounds thanH. bicolor
Prediction of lethal and synthetically lethal knock-outs in regulatory networks
The complex interactions involved in regulation of a cell's function are
captured by its interaction graph. More often than not, detailed knowledge
about enhancing or suppressive regulatory influences and cooperative effects is
lacking and merely the presence or absence of directed interactions is known.
Here we investigate to which extent such reduced information allows to forecast
the effect of a knock-out or a combination of knock-outs. Specifically we ask
in how far the lethality of eliminating nodes may be predicted by their network
centrality, such as degree and betweenness, without knowing the function of the
system. The function is taken as the ability to reproduce a fixed point under a
discrete Boolean dynamics. We investigate two types of stochastically generated
networks: fully random networks and structures grown with a mechanism of node
duplication and subsequent divergence of interactions. On all networks we find
that the out-degree is a good predictor of the lethality of a single node
knock-out. For knock-outs of node pairs, the fraction of successors shared
between the two knocked-out nodes (out-overlap) is a good predictor of
synthetic lethality. Out-degree and out-overlap are locally defined and
computationally simple centrality measures that provide a predictive power
close to the optimal predictor.Comment: published version, 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables; supplement at
http://www.bioinf.uni-leipzig.de/publications/supplements/11-01
Nonlinear Protein Degradation and the Function of Genetic Circuits
The functions of most genetic circuits require sufficient degrees of
cooperativity in the circuit components. While mechanisms of cooperativity have
been studied most extensively in the context of transcriptional initiation
control, cooperativity from other processes involved in the operation of the
circuits can also play important roles. In this study, we examine a simple
kinetic source of cooperativity stemming from the nonlinear degradation of
multimeric proteins. Ample experimental evidence suggests that protein subunits
can degrade less rapidly when associated in multimeric complexes, an effect we
refer to as cooperative stability. For dimeric transcription factors, this
effect leads to a concentration-dependence in the degradation rate because
monomers, which are predominant at low concentrations, will be more rapidly
degraded. Thus cooperative stability can effectively widen the accessible range
of protein levels in vivo. Through theoretical analysis of two exemplary
genetic circuits in bacteria, we show that such an increased range is important
for the robust operation of genetic circuits as well as their evolvability. Our
calculations demonstrate that a few-fold difference between the degradation
rate of monomers and dimers can already enhance the function of these circuits
substantially. These results suggest that cooperative stability needs to be
considered explicitly and characterized quantitatively in any systematic
experimental or theoretical study of gene circuits.Comment: 42 pages, 10 figure
Resolution and enhancement in nanoantenna-based fluorescence microscopy
Single gold nanoparticles can act as nanoantennas for enhancing the
fluorescence of emitters in their near-fields. Here we present experimental and
theoretical studies of scanning antenna-based fluorescence microscopy as a
function of the diameter of the gold nanoparticle. We examine the interplay
between fluorescence enhancement and spatial resolution and discuss the
requirements for deciphering single molecules in a dense sample. Resolutions
better than 20 nm and fluorescence enhancement up to 30 times are demonstrated
experimentally. By accounting for the tip shaft and the sample interface in
finite-difference time-domain calculations, we explain why the measured
fluorescence enhancements are higher in the presence of an interface than the
values predicted for a homogeneous environment.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. accepted for publication in Nano Letter
Designing sequential transcription logic: a simple genetic circuit for conditional memory
The ability to learn and respond to recurrent events depends on the capacity
to remember transient biological signals received in the past. Moreover, it may
be desirable to remember or ignore these transient signals conditioned upon
other signals that are active at specific points in time or in unique
environments. Here, we propose a simple genetic circuit in bacteria that is
capable of conditionally memorizing a signal in the form of a transcription
factor concentration. The circuit behaves similarly to a "data latch" in an
electronic circuit, i.e. it reads and stores an input signal only when
conditioned to do so by a "read command". Our circuit is of the same size as
the well-known genetic toggle switch (an unconditional latch) which consists of
two mutually repressing genes, but is complemented with a "regulatory front
end" involving protein heterodimerization as a simple way to implement
conditional control. Deterministic and stochastic analysis of the circuit
dynamics indicate that an experimental implementation is feasible based on
well-characterized genes and proteins. It is not known, to which extent
molecular networks are able to conditionally store information in natural
contexts for bacteria. However, our results suggest that such sequential logic
elements may be readily implemented by cells through the combination of
existing protein-protein interactions and simple transcriptional regulation.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures; supplementary material available upon request
from the author
- …