1,583 research outputs found
The effects of forcing and dissipation on phase transitions in thin granular layers
Recent experimental and computational studies of vibrated thin layers of
identical spheres have shown transitions to ordered phases similar to those
seen in equilibrium systems. Motivated by these results, we carry out
simulations of hard inelastic spheres forced by homogenous white noise. We find
a transition to an ordered state of the same symmetry as that seen in the
experiments, but the clear phase separation observed in the vibrated system is
absent. Simulations of purely elastic spheres also show no evidence for phase
separation. We show that the energy injection in the vibrated system is
dramatically different in the different phases, and suggest that this creates
an effective surface tension not present in the equilibrium or randomly forced
systems. We do find, however, that inelasticity suppresses the onset of the
ordered phase with random forcing, as is observed in the vibrating system, and
that the amount of the suppression is proportional to the degree of
inelasticity. The suppression depends on the details of the energy injection
mechanism, but is completely eliminated when inelastic collisions are replaced
by uniform system-wide energy dissipation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
ASG Student Social and Emotional Health Report
This report presents the results of sophisticated Rasch measurement analysis and multi-level modelling to validate and support the use of the ACER Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) student and teacher surveys for reporting on the social and emotional well-being of students from the early years of schooling through to senior secondary school levels. It describes the social and emotional well-being of over 10,000 students attending 81 schools across Australia. Among the more important findings of this research are the characteristics of students with low levels of social and emotional well-being compared with students with higher levels of social and emotional well-being
Exploring the phase structure of lattice QCD with twisted mass quarks
The phase structure of zero temperature twisted mass lattice QCD is
investigated. We find strong metastabilities in the plaquette observable when
the untwisted quark mass sweeps across zero.Comment: Talks presented at Lattice2004(spectrum), 6 pages, 6 figure
Charge-Mediated Recognition of N-Terminal Tryptophan in Aqueous Solution by a Synthetic Host
The molecular recognition of peptides and proteins in aqueous solution by designed molecules remains an elusive goal with broad implications for basic biochemical research and for sensors and separations technologies. This paper describes the recognition of N-terminal tryptophan in aqueous solution by the synthetic host cucurbit[8]uril (Q8). Q8 is known to form 1:1:1 heteroternary complexes with methyl viologen (MV) and a second aromatic guest. Here, the complexes of Q8·MV with (i) the four natural aromatic α-amino acids, (ii) four singly charged tryptophan derivatives, and (iii) four tryptophan-containing tripeptides were characterized by isothermal titration calorimetry, mass spectrometry, and UV−visible, fluorescence, and 1H NMR spectroscopy. We find that Q8·MV binds Trp−Gly−Gly with high affinity (Ka = 1.3 × 105 M-1), with 6-fold specificity over Gly−Trp−Gly, and with 40-fold specificity over Gly−Gly−Trp. Analysis of the nine indole-containing compounds suggests that peptide recognition is mediated by the electrostatic charge(s) proximal to the indole, and that the mode of binding is consistent for these compounds. Complex formation is accompanied by the growth of a visible charge-transfer band and the quenching of indole fluorescence. These optical properties, combined with the stability and selectivity of this system, are promising for applications in sensing and separating specific peptides
Twisted mass fermions: neutral pion masses from disconnected contributions
Twisted mass fermions allow light quarks to be explored but with the
consequence that there are mass splittings, such as between the neutral and
charged pion. Using a direct calculation of the connected neutral pion
correlator and stochastic methods to evaluate the disconnected correlations, we
determine the neutral pion mass. We explore the dependence on lattice spacing
and quark mass in quenched QCD. For dynamical QCD, we determine the sign of the
splitting which is linked, via chiral PT, to the nature of the phase transition
at small quark mass.Comment: 6 pages, poster (hadron spectrum and quark masses) at Lattice
2005,Dublin, July 25-3
Sequence-Specific, Nanomolar Peptide Binding via Cucurbit[8]uril-Induced Folding and Inclusion of Neighboring Side Chains
This paper describes the molecular recognition of the tripeptide Tyr-Leu-Ala by the synthetic receptor cucurbit[8]uril (Q8) in aqueous buffer with nanomolar affinity and exceptional specificity. This combination of characteristics, which also applies to antibodies, is desirable for applications in biochemistry and biotechnology but has eluded supramolecular chemists for decades. Building on prior knowledge that Q8 binds to peptides with N-terminal aromatic residues, a library screen of 105 peptides was designed to test the effects of residues adjacent to N-terminal Trp, Phe, or Tyr. The screen used tetramethylbenzobis(imidazolium) (MBBI) as a fluorescent indicator and resulted in the unexpected discovery that MBBI can serve not only as a turn-off sensor via the simultaneous inclusion of a Trp residue but also as a turn-on sensor via the competitive displacement of MBBI upon binding of Phe- or Tyr-terminated peptides. The unusual fluorescence response of the Tyr series prompted further investigation by 1H NMR spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and isothermal titration calorimetry. From these studies, a novel binding motif was discovered in which only 1 equiv of peptide binds to Q8, and the side chains of both the N-terminal Tyr residue and its immediate neighbor bind within the Q8 cavity. For the peptide Tyr-Leu-Ala, the equilibrium dissociation constant value is 7.2 nM, whereas that of its sequence isomer Tyr-Ala-Leu is 34 μM. The high stability, recyclability, and low cost of Q8 combined with the straightforward incorporation of Tyr-Leu-Ala into recombinant proteins should make this system attractive for the development of biological applications
Universal Power Law in the Noise from a Crumpled Elastic Sheet
Using high-resolution digital recordings, we study the crackling sound
emitted from crumpled sheets of mylar as they are strained. These sheets
possess many of the qualitative features of traditional disordered systems
including frustration and discrete memory. The sound can be resolved into
discrete clicks, emitted during rapid changes in the rough conformation of the
sheet. Observed click energies range over six orders of magnitude. The measured
energy autocorrelation function for the sound is consistent with a stretched
exponential C(t) ~ exp(-(t/T)^{b}) with b = .35. The probability distribution
of click energies has a power law regime p(E) ~ E^{-a} where a = 1. We find the
same power law for a variety of sheet sizes and materials, suggesting that this
p(E) is universal.Comment: 5 pages (revtex), 10 uuencoded postscript figures appended, html
version at http://rainbow.uchicago.edu/~krame
FRAP to Characterize Molecular Diffusion and Interaction in Various Membrane Environments
Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) is a standard method used to study the dynamics of lipids and proteins in artificial and cellular membrane systems. The advent of confocal microscopy two decades ago has made quantitative FRAP easily available to most laboratories. Usually, a single bleaching pattern/area is used and the corresponding recovery time is assumed to directly provide a diffusion coefficient, although this is only true in the case of unrestricted Brownian motion. Here, we propose some general guidelines to perform FRAP experiments under a confocal microscope with different bleaching patterns and area, allowing the experimentalist to establish whether the molecules undergo Brownian motion (free diffusion) or whether they have restricted or directed movements. Using in silico simulations of FRAP measurements, we further indicate the data acquisition criteria that have to be verified in order to obtain accurate values for the diffusion coefficient and to be able to distinguish between different diffusive species. Using this approach, we compare the behavior of lipids in three different membrane platforms (supported lipid bilayers, giant liposomes and sponge phases), and we demonstrate that FRAP measurements are consistent with results obtained using other techniques such as Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS) or Single Particle Tracking (SPT). Finally, we apply this method to show that the presence of the synaptic protein Munc18-1 inhibits the interaction between the synaptic vesicle SNARE protein, VAMP2, and its partner from the plasma membrane, Syn1A
MEG-based identification of the epileptogenic zone in occult peri-insular epilepsy
AbstractIntroductionPresurgical work-ups of patients with pharmacoresistant epileptic seizures can require multiple diagnostic methods if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with video-EEG monitoring fails to show an epileptogenic lesion. Yet, the added value of available methods is not clear. In particular, only a minority of epilepsy centres apply magnetoencephalography (MEG). This study explores the potential of MEG for patients whose previous sophisticated work-ups missed deep-seated, peri-insular epileptogenic lesions.Patients and methodsThree patients with well documented, frequent, stereotypical hypermotor seizures without clear focus hypotheses after repeated presurgical work-ups including video-EEG-monitoring, 3Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), morphometric MRI analysis, PET and SPECT were referred to MEG source localisation.ResultsIn two out of three patients, MEG source localisation identified very subtle morphological abnormalities formerly missed in MRI or classified as questionable pathology. In the third patient, MEG was not reliable due to insufficient detection of epileptic patterns. Here, a 1mm×1mm×1mm 3T fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI revealed a potential epileptogenic lesion. A minimal invasive work-up via lesion-focused depth electrodes confirmed the intralesional seizure onset in all patients, and histology revealed dysplastic lesions. Seizure outcomes were Engel 1a in two patients, and Engel 1d in the third.DiscussionMEG can contribute to the identification of epileptogenic lesions even when multiple previous methods failed, and when the lesions are located in deep anatomical structures such as peri-insular cortex. For epilepsy centres without MEG capability, referral of patients with cryptogenic focal epilepsies to centres with MEG systems may be indicated
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