3,248 research outputs found
Delivering services by building and running virtual organisations
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Spectroscopy and Electrochemistry of Cytochrome P450 BM3-Surfactant Film Assemblies
We report analyses of electrochemical and spectroscopic measurements on cytochrome P450 BM3 (BM3) in didodecyldimethylammonium bromide (DDAB) surfactant films. Electronic absorption spectra of BM3âDDAB films on silica slides reveal the characteristic low-spin Fe^(III) heme absorption maximum at 418 nm. A prominent peak in the absorption spectrum of BM3 Fe^(II)âCO in a DDAB dispersion is at 448 nm; in spectra of aged samples, a shoulder at âŒ420 nm is present. Infrared absorption spectra of the BM3 Fe^(II)âCO complex in DDAB dispersions feature a time-dependent shift of the carbonyl stretching frequency from 1950 to 2080 cm^(-1). Voltammetry of BM3-DDAB films on graphite electrodes gave the following results:âFe^(III/II) E_(1/2) at â260 mV (vs SCE), âŒ300 mV positive of the value measured in solution; ÎS°_(rc), ÎS°, and ÎH° values for water-ligated BM3 in DDAB are â98 J mol^(-1) K^(-1), â163 J mol^(-1) K^(-1), and â47 kJ mol^(-1), respectively; values for the imidazole-ligated enzyme are â8 J mol^(-1) K^(-1), â73 J mol^(-1) K^(-1), and â21 kJ mol^(-1). Taken together, the data suggest that BM3 adopts a compact conformation within DDAB that in turn strengthens hydrogen bonding interactions with the heme axial cysteine, producing a P420-like species with decreased electron density around the metal center
An Unexpectedly Broad Thermal and Salinity-Tolerant Estuarine Methanogen Community
Moderately thermophilic (Tmax, ~55 °C) methanogens are identified after extended enrichments from temperate, tropical and low-temperature environments. However, thermophilic methanogens with higher growth temperatures (Topt â„ 60 °C) are only reported from high-temperature environments. A microcosm-based approach was used to measure the rate of methane production and methanogen community structure over a range of temperatures and salinities in sediment from a temperate estuary. We report short-term incubations (<48 h) revealing methanogens with optimal activity reaching 70 °C in a temperate estuary sediment (in situ temperature 4â5 °C). While 30 °C enrichments amended with acetate, H2 or methanol selected for corresponding mesophilic trophic groups, at 60 °C, only hydrogenotrophs (genus Methanothermobacter) were observed. Since these methanogens are not known to be active under in situ temperatures, we conclude constant dispersal from high temperature habitats. The likely provenance of the thermophilic methanogens was studied by enrichments covering a range of temperatures and salinities. These enrichments indicated that the estuarine sediment hosted methanogens encompassing the global activity envelope of most cultured species. We suggest that estuaries are fascinating sink and source environments for microbial function study
Rapid and highly variable warming of lake surface waters around the globe
In this first worldwide synthesis of in situ and satelliteâderived lake data, we find that lake summer surface water temperatures rose rapidly (global meanâ=â0.34°C decadeâ1) between 1985 and 2009. Our analyses show that surface water warming rates are dependent on combinations of climate and local characteristics, rather than just lake location, leading to the counterintuitive result that regional consistency in lake warming is the exception, rather than the rule. The most rapidly warming lakes are widely geographically distributed, and their warming is associated with interactions among different climatic factorsâfrom seasonally iceâcovered lakes in areas where temperature and solar radiation are increasing while cloud cover is diminishing (0.72°C decadeâ1) to iceâfree lakes experiencing increases in air temperature and solar radiation (0.53°C decadeâ1). The pervasive and rapid warming observed here signals the urgent need to incorporate climate impacts into vulnerability assessments and adaptation efforts for lakes
Quarkonium spectroscopy and perturbative QCD: massive quark-loop effects
We study the spectra of the bottomonium and B_c states within perturbative
QCD up to order alpha_s^4. The O(Lambda_QCD) renormalon cancellation between
the static potential and the pole mass is performed in the epsilon-expansion
scheme. We extend our previous analysis by including the (dominant) effects of
non-zero charm-quark mass in loops up to the next-to-leading non-vanishing
order epsilon^3. We fix the b-quark MSbar mass on Upsilon(1S) and compute the higher levels. The
effect of the charm mass decreases by about 11 MeV and increases
the n=2 and n=3 levels by about 70--100 MeV and 240--280 MeV, respectively. We
provide an extensive quantitative analysis. The size of non-perturbative and
higher order contributions is discussed by comparing the obtained predictions
with the experimental data. An agreement of the perturbative predictions and
the experimental data depends crucially on the precise value (inside the
present error) of alpha_s(M_Z). We obtain .Comment: 33 pages, 21 figures; v2: Abstract modified; Table7 (summary of
errors) added; Version to appear in Phys.Rev.
Decreased venous thrombosis with an oral inhibitor of P selectin
BackgroundP-selectin inhibition with protein therapeutics such as antibodies or soluble ligands given intravenously can decrease thrombosis in a mouse ligation model of venous thrombosis. In this study, we hypothesized that oral inhibition of P selectin with a novel oral nonprotein inhibitor (PSI-697) would decrease thrombosis and circulating microparticle populations. This study evaluated the effects on thrombosis and circulating microparticle populations in this murine venous thrombosis model.MethodsMice underwent inferior vena cava ligation to induce thrombosis. Mice with high circulating level of P selectin, Delta Cytoplasmic Tail (^CT), mice gene-deleted for both E- and P-selectin knockout (EPKO), and wild-type C57BL/6 mice (WT) were studied without and with administration of PSI-697 in food (100 mg/kg daily) from 2 days before thrombosis until the end of the study. Animals were killed 2 and 6 days later. Evaluations included thrombus weight (TW), vein wall morphometrics, microparticle quantification by using fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis, and vein wall enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for interleukin (IL)-10, P selectin, and monocyte chemotactic protein 1.ResultsPSI-697 significantly decreased TW in WT and ^CT mice, with a treated vs nontreated TW of 132 ± 24 vs 228 ± 29 Ă 10â4 g (P = .014) and 166 ± 19 vs 281 ± 16 Ă 10â4 g (P = .001), respectively. At day 6, the effect was significant only in the ^CT group (P < .05). Drug therapy at day 2 significantly increased vein wall monocytes in WT mice and increased monocytes and total inflammatory cells in ^CT animals. A significant decrease in neutrophils and total inflammatory cells was seen in EPKO mice at day 2 with therapy. Therapy significantly increased platelet-derived microparticles and total microparticles in ^CT mice on day 2. Changes in treated WT and treated EPKO animals were not significant compared with respective vehicle treatments at day 2. On day 6, therapy significantly decreased total microparticles in EPKO animals. Vein wall expression of IL-10 increased in all groups with therapy at day 2 (n = 18) and was significantly increased in WT (2687.5 ± 903 pg/mL vs 636 ± 108 pg/mL total protein; P = .038) and ^CT (2078 ± 295 pg/mL vs 432 ± 62 pg/mL total protein; P = .001) mice. Therapy significantly decreased vein wall P selectin, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, and IL-10 levels at day 6.ConclusionsPSI-697 decreased thrombosis. P-selectin inhibition allowed vein wall inflammatory cell extravasation in this model of complete ligation. Circulating microparticles (platelet-derived microparticles and total microparticles) increased with P-selectin inhibition, possibly because of decreased consumption into the thrombus. In summary, the oral administration of an inhibitor to P selectin provides significant TW reduction.Clinical RelevanceDeep venous thrombosis is a significant national health problem in the general population. The average annual incidence of deep venous thrombosis is approximately 250,000 cases per year. The selectin family of adhesion molecules is thought to be largely responsible for the initial attachment and rolling of leukocytes on stimulated vascular endothelium. Recent studies have explored the possible therapeutic implications of P-selectin inhibition to modulate venous thrombosis. For example, prophylactic dosing of a recombinant P-selectin ligand decreases venous thrombosis in a dose-dependent fashion in both feline and nonhuman primate animal models. Additionally, treatment of 2-day iliac thrombi with a recombinant protein, P-selectin inhibitor, significantly improves vein reopening in nonhuman primates. It is interesting to note that P-selectin inhibition decreases thrombosis without adverse anticoagulation. On the basis of the results from these previous studies, the use of P-selectin antagonism is a logical therapeutic approach to treat venous thrombosis. All inhibitors developed to date are either proteins or small molecules with low oral bioavailability that require intravenous or subcutaneous injection. This study evaluates, for the first time, a novel orally bioavailable inhibitor of P-selectin (PSI-697)
The difference that tenure makes
This paper argues that housing tenures cannot be reduced to either production relations or consumption relations. Instead, they need to be understood as modes of housing distribution, and as having complex and dynamic relations with social classes. Building on a critique of both the productionist and the consumptionist literature, as well as of formalist accounts of the relations between tenure and class, the paper attempts to lay the foundations for a new theory of housing tenure. In order to do this, a new theory of class is articulated, which is then used to throw new light on the nature of class-tenure relations
Unified View of Scaling Laws for River Networks
Scaling laws that describe the structure of river networks are shown to
follow from three simple assumptions. These assumptions are: (1) river networks
are structurally self-similar, (2) single channels are self-affine, and (3)
overland flow into channels occurs over a characteristic distance (drainage
density is uniform). We obtain a complete set of scaling relations connecting
the exponents of these scaling laws and find that only two of these exponents
are independent. We further demonstrate that the two predominant descriptions
of network structure (Tokunaga's law and Horton's laws) are equivalent in the
case of landscapes with uniform drainage density. The results are tested with
data from both real landscapes and a special class of random networks.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables (converted to Revtex4, PRE ref added
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