Thermochemistry of Microhydration of Sodiated and Potassiated Monosaccharides

The thermochemical properties ΔHon , ΔSon, and ΔGon for the hydration of sodiated and potassiated monosaccharides (Ara = arabinose, Xyl = xylose, Rib = ribose, Glc = glucose, and Gal = galactose) have been experimentally studied in the gas phase at 10 mbar by equilibria measurements using an electrospray high-pressure mass spectrometer equipped with a pulsed ion beam reaction chamber. The hydration enthalpies for sodiated complexes were found to be between −46.4 and −57.7 kJ/mol for the first, and −42.7 and −52.3 kJ/mol for the second water molecule. For potassiated complexes, the water binding enthalpies were similar for all studied systems and varied between −48.5 and −52.7 kJ/mol. The thermochemical values for each system correspond to a mixture of the α and β anomeric forms of monosaccharide structures involved in their cationized complexes

Yeast Ataxin-2 Forms an Intracellular Condensate Required for the Inhibition of TORC1 Signaling during Respiratory Growth

Yeast ataxin-2, also known as Pbp1 (polyA binding protein-binding protein 1), is an intrinsically disordered protein implicated in stress granule formation, RNA biology, and neurodegenerative disease. To understand the endogenous function of this protein, we identify Pbp1 as a dedicated regulator of TORC1 signaling and autophagy under conditions that require mitochondrial respiration. Pbp1 binds to TORC1 specifically during respiratory growth, but utilizes an additional methionine-rich, low complexity (LC) region to inhibit TORC1. This LC region causes phase separation, forms reversible fibrils, and enables self-association into assemblies required for TORC1 inhibition. Mutants that weaken phase separation in vitro exhibit reduced capacity to inhibit TORC1 and induce autophagy. Loss of Pbp1 leads to mitochondrial dysfunction and reduced fitness during nutritional stress. Thus, Pbp1 forms a condensate in response to respiratory status to regulate TORC1 signaling

A study of the importance of the cell geometry in non-Faradaic systems. A new definition of the cell constant for conductivity measurement

A new definition for the electrochemical cell constant in conductivity measurements is presented in this paper. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy and DC pulses measurements have been carried out in non-Faradaic conditions in order to evaluate the effects of the cell geometry. The results obtained demonstrate that conductivity measurements are affected not only by the electrodes surface and separation but also by the cross section of the electrochemical cell. In order to obtain a linear behavior of the resistance versus the distance between electrodes, the cross section of the cell should be equal to the electrodes surface. Differences between the cell cross section and the electrodes surface produce a heterogeneous distribution of the electric field that causes the non-linear behavior for low values of the electrodes separation. This study shows that the reproducibility in electronic tongue and humid electronic nose measurements can be improved by designing an electrochemical cell structure that warrants a homogeneous distribution of the electrical field, which results in a reduction of the detection threshold in these types of system.Financial support from the Spanish Government (projects MAT2012-38429-C04-04 and IPT-2012-0069-310000) is gratefully acknowledged. The pre-doctoral scholarship granted to Roman Bataller Prats within the program "Formacion de Personal Investigador (FPI) 2012" from Universitat Politecnica de Valencia is gratefully acknowledged.Bataller Prats, R.; Gandía Romero, JM.; García Breijo, E.; Alcañiz Fillol, M.; Soto Camino, J. (2015). A study of the importance of the cell geometry in non-Faradaic systems. A new definition of the cell constant for conductivity measurement. Electrochimica Acta. 153(20):263-272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electacta.2014.12.014S2632721532

Pure-quartic solitons

Temporal optical solitons have been the subject of intense research due to their intriguing physics and applications in ultrafast optics and supercontinuum generation. Conventional bright optical solitons result from the interaction of anomalous group-velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation. Here we experimentally demonstrate a class of bright soliton arising purely from the interaction of negative fourth-order dispersion and self-phase modulation, which can occur even for normal group-velocity dispersion. We provide experimental and numerical evidence of shape-preserving propagation and flat temporal phase for the fundamental pure-quartic soliton and periodically modulated propagation for the higher-order pure-quartic solitons. We derive the approximate shape of the fundamental pure-quartic soliton and discover that is surprisingly Gaussian, exhibiting excellent agreement with our experimental observations. Our discovery, enabled by precise dispersion engineering, could find applications in communications, frequency combs and ultrafast lasers