Effect of Water Content on the Thermal Inactivation Kinetics of Horseradish Peroxidase Freeze-Dried from Alkaline pH

The thermal inactivation of horseradish peroxidase freeze-dried from solutions of different pH (8, 10 and 11.5, measured at 25 C) and equilibrated to different water contents was studied in the temperature range from 110 to 150 C. The water contents studied (0.0, 1.4, 16.2 and 25.6 g water per 100 g of dry enzyme) corresponded to water activities of 0.0, 0.11, 0.76 and 0.88 at 4 C. The kinetics were well described by a double exponential model. The enzyme was generally more stable the lower the pH of the original solution, and for all pH values, the maximum stability was obtained at 1.4 g water/100 g dry enzyme. Values of z were generally independent of water content and of the pH of the original solution, and in the range of 15–25 °C, usually found in neutral conditions, with the exception of the enzyme freeze dried from pH 11.5 and equilibrated with phosphorus pentoxide, where a z-value of the stable fraction close to 10 C was found

Pb-Pb Dating of Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Samples Using Resonance Ionization Mass Spectrometry

We are developing an in-situ, rock-dating spectrometer for spaceflight called the Chemistry, Organics, and Dating EXperiment (CODEX). CODEX will measure Rb-Sr ages on the Moon or Mars, and can be augmented to obtain Pb-Pb ages. Coupling Rb-Sr and Pb-Pb measurements broadens the suite of samples that can be dated, and could provide tests of concordance. Here we assess whether geochronologically meaningful Pb-Pb data could be measured in situ by tuning the prototype CODEX to acquire Pb-Pb data from a suite of well-characterized specimens from the Earth, Moon, and Mars. For Keuhl Lake zircon 91500 our 207Pb/206Pb age of 1090 ± 40 Ma is indistinguishable from the accepted age. In each of the Martian meteorites we studied, we could not resolve more than a single component of Pb, and could not uniquely determine ages. Nevertheless, our measurements were consistent with most previous studies of Pb in these meteorites. On the other hand, we determined 204.206,207 Pb isochron ages for all three lunar meteorites we studied. Our age for MIL 05035 is 3500 ± 200 Ma, within 2σ of published ages for this specimen, in spite of its having \u3c1 ppm Pb. LAP 02205 was contaminated by terrestrial Pb, but by filtering our data to exclude the most contaminated spots, we obtained an age of 3010 ± 70 Ma, coincident with published values. Finally, our age for NWA 032 is nearly 1000 Myr older than its age determined from other isotopic systems, and is supported by additional Pb measurements made after chemical leaching

Characterization of a 5-eV neutral atomic oxygen beam facility

An experimental effort to characterize an existing 5-eV neutral atomic oxygen beam facility being developed at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is described. This characterization effort includes atomic oxygen flux and flux distribution measurements using a catalytic probe, energy determination using a commercially designed quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS), and the exposure of oxygen-sensitive materials in this beam facility. Also, comparisons were drawn between the reaction efficiencies of materials exposed in plasma ashers, and the reaction efficiencies previously estimated from space flight experiments. The results of this study show that the beam facility is capable of producing a directional beam of neutral atomic oxygen atoms with the needed flux and energy to simulate low Earth orbit (LEO) conditions for real time accelerated testing. The flux distribution in this facility is uniform to +/- 6 percent of the peak flux over a beam diameter of 6 cm

Emergence of classicality in small number entangled systems

We show the transition from a fully quantized interaction to a semiclassical one in entangled small number quantum systems using the quantum trajectories approach. In particular, we simulate the microwave Ramsey zones used in Rydberg atom interferometry, filling in the gap between the strongly entangling Jaynes Cummings evolution and the semiclassical rotation of the atomic internal states. We also correlate the information flowing with leaking photons to the entanglement generation between cavity field and flying atom and detail the roles played by the strong dissipation and the external driving force in preserving atomic coherence through the interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

Subpicosecond time‐resolved studies of coherent phonon oscillations in thin‐film YBa2Cu3O6+x (x<0.4)

We report the results of the first time‐resolved observation of impulsively generated coherent optical phonon oscillations in the semiconducting cuprate compound YBa2Cu3O6+x (x<0.4). The oscillations, which were probed through time‐resolved transmissivity modulation, had a period of 237 fs at room temperature, corresponding to a Raman active mode of A1g symmetry at 142 cm−1. No oscillations were observed in the superconducting form of Y‐Ba‐Cu‐O either above or below Tc. The amplitude, frequency, and linewidth of this mode were measured over a temperature range from ∼7 K to room temperature.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70769/2/APPLAB-58-9-980-1.pd

Experimental search for evidence of the three-nucleon force and a new analysis method

A research program with the aim of investigating the spin dependence of the three-nucleon continuum in pd collisions at intermediate energies was carried out at IUCF using the Polarized INternal Target EXperiments (PINTEX) facility. In the elastic scattering experiment at 135 and 200 MeV proton beam energies a total of 15 independent spin observables were obtained. The breakup experiment was done with a vector and tensor polarized deuteron beam of 270 MeV and an internal polarized hydrogen gas target. We developed a novel technique for the analysis of the breakup observables, the sampling method. The new approach takes into account acceptance and non-uniformities of detection efficiencies and is suitable for any kinematically complete experiment with three particles in the final state.Comment: Contribution to the 19th European Few-Body Conference, Groningen Aug. 23-27, 200

Femtosecond optical absorption studies of nonequilibrium electronic processes in high Tc superconductors

We report the results of femtosecond optical transient absorption experiments performed on the superconducting compounds YBa2Cu3O7−x(x ∼ 0) and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ(δ ∼ 0) and nonsuperconducting YBa2Cu3O6+y(y<0.4) for sample temperatures ranging from ∼7 K to room temperature. Nonequilibrium heating was found to occur on a subpicosecond time scale. A distinct, dramatic increase in the relaxation time was observed for the superconducting samples as the sample temperature was lowered below the critical temperatures of the respective films. Accompanying the increase in relaxation time was an increase in the peak fractional transmissivity change. No such changes were observed for the nonsuperconducting YBCO sample. We believe the above described behavior is electronic in origin and intimately related to the superconductivity of the compounds.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69780/2/APPLAB-57-16-1696-1.pd

Conservative and disruptive modes of adolescent change in human brain functional connectivity

Adolescent changes in human brain function are not entirely understood. Here, we used multiecho functional MRI (fMRI) to measure developmental change in functional connectivity (FC) of resting-state oscillations between pairs of 330 cortical regions and 16 subcortical regions in 298 healthy adolescents scanned 520 times. Participants were aged 14 to 26 y and were scanned on 1 to 3 occasions at least 6 mo apart. We found 2 distinct modes of age-related change in FC: “conservative” and “disruptive.” Conservative development was characteristic of primary cortex, which was strongly connected at 14 y and became even more connected in the period from 14 to 26 y. Disruptive development was characteristic of association cortex and subcortical regions, where connectivity was remodeled: connections that were weak at 14 y became stronger during adolescence, and connections that were strong at 14 y became weaker. These modes of development were quantified using the maturational index (MI), estimated as Spearman’s correlation between edgewise baseline FC (at 14 y, FC14) and adolescent change in FC (ΔFC14−26), at each region. Disruptive systems (with negative MI) were activated by social cognition and autobiographical memory tasks in prior fMRI data and significantly colocated with prior maps of aerobic glycolysis (AG), AG-related gene expression, postnatal cortical surface expansion, and adolescent shrinkage of cortical thickness. The presence of these 2 modes of development was robust to numerous sensitivity analyses. We conclude that human brain organization is disrupted during adolescence by remodeling of FC between association cortical and subcortical areas