883 research outputs found
Comparison of Rotational Energies and Rigidity of OCS-paraH_2 and OCS-4He complexes
We analyze the nature of the rotational energy level structure of the OCS-He
and OCS-H_2 complexes with a comparison of exact calculations to several
differentdynamical approximations. We compare with the clamped coordinate
quasiadiabatic approximation that introduces an effective potential for each
asymmetric rotor level, with an effective rotation Hamiltonian constructed from
ground state averages of the inverse of the inertial matrix, and investigate
the usefulness of the Eckart condition to decouple rotations and vibrations of
these weakly bound complexes between linear OCS and 4He or H_2. Comparison with
exact results allows an assessment of the accuracies of the different
approximate methods and indicates which approaches are suitable for larger
clusters of OCS with 4He and with H_2. We find the OCS-H_2 complex is
considerably more rigid than the OCS-4He complex, suggesting that semi-rigid
models are useful for analysis of larger clusters of H_2 with OCS.Comment: accepted by Chem. Phys., 200
Quasiparticle vanishing driven by geometrical frustration
We investigate the single hole dynamics in the triangular t-J model. We study
the structure of the hole spectral function, assuming the existence of a 120
magnetic Neel order. Within the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) there
is a strong momentum and t sign dependence of the spectra, related to the
underlying magnetic structure and the particle-hole asymmetry of the model. For
positive t, and in the strong coupling regime, we find that the low energy
quasiparticle excitations vanish outside the neighbourhood of the magnetic
Goldstone modes; while for negative t the quasiparticle excitations are always
well defined. In the latter, we also find resonances of magnetic origin whose
energies scale as (J/t)^2/3 and can be identified with string excitations. We
argue that this complex structure of the spectra is due to the subtle interplay
between magnon-assisted and free hopping mechanisms. Our predictions are
supported by an excellent agreement between the SCBA and the exact results on
finite size clusters. We conclude that the conventional quasiparticle picture
can be broken by the effect of geometrical magnetic frustration.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. Published versio
Catalytic activity of biomass-supported Pd nanoparticles : influence of the biological component in catalytic efficacy and potential application in ‘green’ synthesis of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals
AbstractFive gram negative and two gram positive bacterial strains known for their heavy metal tolerance or ability to reduce metal ions were coated with Pd(0) nanoparticles (NPs) via reduction of soluble Pd(II) ions under H2 following an initial uptake of PdCl42- without added electron donor ('biosorption'), where the gram negative strains had a ~5-fold greater capacity for Pd(II). Cupriavidis metallidurans accumulated Pd(II) exceptionally; the possibility of reduction to Pd(0) via an endogenous electron donor was not discounted. The initial rate of subsequent H2-mediated Pd(II) reduction correlated with the Pd(II) removed during biosorption (r2=0.9). TEM showed strain-specific variations of Pd-NPs. At a 1:3 loading of Pd:biomass the cell surfaces of Escherichia coli and Desulfovibrio desulfuricans showed uniform coverage with small NPs with the other strains showing larger aggregates. NPs made by the gram positive cells appeared larger than their gram negative counterparts. At a loading of 1:19 all were active catalysts in Cr(VI) reduction and in two Heck coupling reactions. BioPdE. coli and bioPdD. desulfuricans and bioPdA. oxydans were consistently the best and worst catalysts respectively. BioPdE. coli was further tested as a process catalyst according to industrial protocols in Heck and Suzuki coupling reactions. Laboratory and industrial tests (coupling of phenyl iodide and ethyl acrylate) gave 75% and 78% conversion to ethyl cinnamate, respectively. The biomaterial catalysed Heck and Suzuki reactions using bromoacetophenone and 4-bromoanisole (Heck) and 4-chloroanisole (Suzuki) but not 3-chlorotoluene. In accordance with known chemical catalysis the catalytic efficacy was related to electron-withdrawing substituents on the phenyl ring, with more than 90% conversion (Suzuki) using 4-bromobenzotrifluoride
The Self Model and the Conception of Biological Identity in Immunology
The self/non-self model, first proposed by F.M. Burnet, has dominated immunology for sixty years now. According to this model, any foreign element will trigger an immune reaction in an organism, whereas endogenous elements will not, in normal circumstances, induce an immune reaction. In this paper we show that the self/non-self model is no longer an appropriate explanation of experimental data in immunology, and that this inadequacy may be rooted in an excessively strong metaphysical conception of biological identity. We suggest that another hypothesis, one based on the notion of continuity, gives a better account of immune phenomena. Finally, we underscore the mapping between this metaphysical deflation from self to continuity in immunology and the philosophical debate between substantialism and empiricism about identity
The influence of gene expression time delays on Gierer-Meinhardt pattern formation systems
There are numerous examples of morphogen gradients controlling long range signalling in developmental and cellular systems. The prospect of two such interacting morphogens instigating long range self-organisation in biological systems via a Turing bifurcation has been explored, postulated, or implicated in the context of numerous developmental processes. However, modelling investigations of cellular systems typically neglect the influence of gene expression on such dynamics, even though transcription and translation are observed to be important in morphogenetic systems. In particular, the influence of gene expression on a large class of Turing bifurcation models, namely those with pure kinetics such as the Gierer–Meinhardt system, is unexplored. Our investigations demonstrate that the behaviour of the Gierer–Meinhardt model profoundly changes on the inclusion of gene expression dynamics and is sensitive to the sub-cellular details of gene expression. Features such as concentration blow up, morphogen oscillations and radical sensitivities to the duration of gene expression are observed and, at best, severely restrict the possible parameter spaces for feasible biological behaviour. These results also indicate that the behaviour of Turing pattern formation systems on the inclusion of gene expression time delays may provide a means of distinguishing between possible forms of interaction kinetics. Finally, this study also emphasises that sub-cellular and gene expression dynamics should not be simply neglected in models of long range biological pattern formation via morphogens
Life and Liesegang: Outcrop-Scale Microbially Induced Diagenetic Structures and Geochemical Self-Organization Phenomena Produced by Oxidation of Reduced Iron
The Kanab Wonderstone is sandstone (Shinarump Member, Chinle Formation) that is cemented and stained with iron oxide. The iron-oxide cementation and staining in these rocks have been considered examples of the Liesegang phenomenon, but we will show that they comprise a microbially induced structure. The spacing of bands of iron-oxide stain follow the Jablczynski spacing law (wherein the spacing between bands of iron-oxide stain increases as one traverses a series of bands) characteristic of Liesegang. Bands of iron-oxide cement exhibit more variable spacing and exhibit a weak but significant correlation between band thickness and distance between bands of cement. The pore-filling cement contains morphotypes that are similar in size and habit to those exhibited by microaerophilic iron-oxidizing bacteria. Other disseminated iron-oxide mineralization occurs as rhombohedra interpreted to be pseudomorphs after siderite. We interpret the cement to be produced by microbially mediated oxidation of siderite (a typical early diagenetic mineral in fluvial sandstones). Iron-oxidizing bacteria colonized the redox interface between siderite-cemented sand and porous sandstone. Microbes oxidized aqueous Fe(II), generating acid that caused siderite dissolution. The iron-oxide cement is the microbial product of a geochemical drive for organization; whereas the iron-oxide stain is true Liesegang. Together, they comprise a distinctive microbially induced structure with high preservation potential. Key Words: Biosignatures—Iron oxides—Diagenesis—Iron-oxidizing bacteria—Shinarump
Nucleon-deuteron elastic scattering as a tool to probe properties of three-nucleon forces
Faddeev equations for elastic Nd scattering have been solved using modern NN
forces combined with the Tucson-Melbourne two-pion exchange three-nucleon
force, with a modification thereof closer to chiral symmetry and the Urbana IX
three-nucleon force. Theoretical predictions for the differential cross section
and several spin observables using NN forces only and NN forces combined with
three-nucleon force models are compared to each other and to the existing data.
A wide range of energies from 3 to 200 MeV is covered. Especially at the higher
energies striking three-nucleon force effects are found, some of which are
supported by the still rare set of data, some are in conflict with data and
thus very likely point to defects in those three-nucleon force models.Comment: 30 pages, 14 Postscript figures; now minor changes in figures and
reference
A novel 65 kDa RNA-binding protein in squid presynaptic terminals
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Neuroscience 166 (2010): 73-83, doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.12.005.A polyclonal antibody (C4), raised against the head domain of chicken myosin Va,
reacted strongly towards a 65 kDa polypeptide (p65) on western blots of extracts from squid optic
lobes but did not recognize the heavy chain of squid myosin V. This peptide was not recognized by
other myosin Va antibodies, nor by an antibody specific for squid myosin V. In an attempt to
identify it, p65 was purified from optic lobes of Loligo plei by cationic exchange and reverse phase
chromatography. Several peptide sequences were obtained by mass spectroscopy from p65 cut from
SDS-PAGE gels. BLAST analysis and partial matching with ESTs from a Loligo pealei data bank
indicated that p65 contains consensus signatures for the hnRNP A/B family of RNA-binding
proteins. Centrifugation of post mitochondrial extracts from optic lobes on sucrose gradients after
treatment with RNase gave biochemical evidence that p65 associates with cytoplasmic RNP
complexes in an RNA-dependent manner. Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence studies
using the C4 antibody showed partial co-labeling with an antibody against squid synaptotagmin in
bands within the outer plexiform layer of the optic lobes and at the presynaptic zone of the stellate
ganglion. Also, punctate labeling by the C4 antibody was observed within isolated optic lobe
synaptosomes. The data indicate that p65 is a novel RNA-binding protein located to the presynaptic
terminal within squid neurons and may have a role in synaptic localization of RNA and its
translation or processing.REL, JCR and JEM received
financial support from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP), the
Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) and the Fundação de
Apoio ao Ensino, Pesquisa e Assistência do Hospital das Clínicas da FMRP-USP (FAEPA). JAD
received financial support from the RI-INBRE Program Grant #P20RR016457 from the Nation
Center for Research Resources, NIH, Bethesda, MD. DTPL, LC, SBFT, EJRV and MMAB were
recipients of research fellowships from FAPESP and CNPq. REL and JEM received Productivityin-
Research fellowships from CNPq
Seasonal size variation in the predatory cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemii in Lake Michigan
1. Dry weight, body length and spine length were measured for the exotic cladoceran Bythotrephes cederstroemii collected from offshore and inshore stations in southeastern Lake Michigan. Average dry weight of each developmental stage exhibited seasonal variation by a factor of more than 5. 2. Mean dry weight of Bythotrephes was closely correlated with water temperature. Contrary to the inverse relationship between water temperature and body size frequently observed for other invertebrates, the dry weight of Bythotrephes increased at higher ambient temperatures. 3. No significant correlation was observed between abundances of major zooplankton taxa and the dry weight of Bythotrephes . An indirect effect of temperature on prey consumption may cause seasonal variation in dry weight of Bythotrephes in Lake Michigan. 4. Distances between adjacent pairs of barbs, added to the caudal spine with each moult, are significantly shorter in Bythotrephes which produce resting eggs. Less material investment in the exoskeleton of sexually reproducing females was observed in favour of growth and reproduction.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74641/1/j.1365-2427.1994.tb00842.x.pd
Pion, kaon, proton and anti-proton transverse momentum distributions from p+p and d+Au collisions at GeV
Identified mid-rapidity particle spectra of , , and
from 200 GeV p+p and d+Au collisions are reported. A
time-of-flight detector based on multi-gap resistive plate chamber technology
is used for particle identification. The particle-species dependence of the
Cronin effect is observed to be significantly smaller than that at lower
energies. The ratio of the nuclear modification factor () between
protons and charged hadrons () in the transverse momentum
range GeV/c is measured to be
(stat)(syst) in minimum-bias collisions and shows little
centrality dependence. The yield ratio of in minimum-bias d+Au
collisions is found to be a factor of 2 lower than that in Au+Au collisions,
indicating that the Cronin effect alone is not enough to account for the
relative baryon enhancement observed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. We extended the pion spectra from
transverse momentum 1.8 GeV/c to 3. GeV/
- …