3,816 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
A Modular Gradient-Sensing Network for Chemotaxis in Escherichia coli Revealed by Responses to Time-Varying Stimuli
The Escherichia coli chemotaxis-signaling pathway computes time derivatives of chemoeffector concentrations. This network features modules for signal reception/amplification and robust adaptation, with sensing of chemoeffector gradients determined by the way in which these modules are coupled in vivo. We characterized these modules and their coupling by using fluorescence resonance energy transfer to measure intracellular responses to time-varying stimuli. Receptor sensitivity was characterized by step stimuli, the gradient sensitivity by exponential ramp stimuli, and the frequency response by exponential sine-wave stimuli. Analysis of these data revealed the structure of the feedback transfer function linking the amplification and adaptation modules. Feedback near steady state was found to be weak, consistent with strong fluctuations and slow recovery from small perturbations. Gradient sensitivity and frequency response both depended strongly on temperature. We found that time derivatives can be computed by the chemotaxis system for input frequencies below 0.006 Hz at 22°C and below 0.018 Hz at 32°C. Our results show how dynamic input–output measurements, time honored in physiology, can serve as powerful tools in deciphering cell-signaling mechanisms.Molecular and Cellular Biolog
Modeling the ballistic-to-diffusive transition in nematode motility reveals variation in exploratory behavior across species
A quantitative understanding of organism-level behavior requires predictive
models that can capture the richness of behavioral phenotypes, yet are simple
enough to connect with underlying mechanistic processes. Here we investigate
the motile behavior of nematodes at the level of their translational motion on
surfaces driven by undulatory propulsion. We broadly sample the nematode
behavioral repertoire by measuring motile trajectories of the canonical lab
strain N2 as well as wild strains and distant species. We focus on
trajectory dynamics over timescales spanning the transition from ballistic
(straight) to diffusive (random) movement and find that salient features of the
motility statistics are captured by a random walk model with independent
dynamics in the speed, bearing and reversal events. We show that the model
parameters vary among species in a correlated, low-dimensional manner
suggestive of a common mode of behavioral control and a trade-off between
exploration and exploitation. The distribution of phenotypes along this primary
mode of variation reveals that not only the mean but also the variance varies
considerably across strains, suggesting that these nematode lineages employ
contrasting ``bet-hedging'' strategies for foraging.Comment: 46 pages, 18 figures, 6 table
Pressure-induced unconventional superconductivity in the heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeIn3: An 115In-NQR study under pressure
We report on the pressure-induced unconventional superconductivity in the
heavy-fermion antiferromagnet CeIn3 by means of nuclear-quadrupole-resonance
(NQR) studies conducted under a high pressure. The temperature and pressure
dependences of the NQR spectra have revealed a first-order quantum-phase
transition (QPT) from an AFM to PM at a critical pressure Pc=2.46 GPa. Despite
the lack of an AFM quantum critical point in the P-T phase diagram, we
highlight the fact that the unconventional SC occurs in both phases of the AFM
and PM. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 in the AFM phase have
provided evidence for the uniformly coexisting AFM+SC phase. In the HF-PM phase
where AFM fluctuations are not developed, 1/T1 decreases without the coherence
peak just below Tc, followed by a power-law like T dependence that indicates an
unconventional SC with a line-node gap. Remarkably, Tc has a peak around Pc in
the HF-PM phase as well as in the AFM phase. In other words, an SC dome exists
with a maximum value of Tc = 230 mK around Pc, indicating that the origin of
the pressure-induced HF SC in CeIn3 is not relevant to AFM spin fluctuations
but to the emergence of the first-order QPT in CeIn3. When the AFM critical
temperature is suppressed at the termination point of the first-order QPT, Pc =
2.46 GPa, the diverging AFM spin-density fluctuations emerge at the critical
point from the AFM to PM. The results with CeIn3 leading to a new type of
quantum criticality deserve further theoretical investigations
Conductance renormalization and conductivity of a multi-subband Tomonaga-Luttinger model
We studied the conductance renormalization and conductivity of multi-subband
Tomonaga-Luttinger models with inter-subband interactions. We found that, as in
single-band systems, the conductance of a multi-subband system with an
arbitrary number of subbands is not renormalized due to interaction between
electrons. We derived a formula for the conductivity in multi-subband models.
We applied it to a simplified case and found that inter-subband interaction
enhances the conductivity, which is contrary to the intra-subband repulsive
interaction, and that the conductivity is further enhanced for a larger number
of subbands.Comment: 12 pages, no figures. to be published in Physical Review B as a brief
repor
Cell boundary confinement sets the size and position of the E. coli chromosome
Although the spatiotemporal structure of the genome is crucial to its biological function, many basic questions remain unanswered on the morphology and segregation of chromosomes. Here, we experimentally show in Escherichia coli that spatial confinement plays a dominant role in determining both the chromosome size and position. In non-dividing cells with lengths increased to 10 times normal, single chromosomes are observed to expand > 4-fold in size. Chromosomes show pronounced internal dynamics but exhibit a robust positioning where single nucleoids reside robustly at mid-cell, whereas two nucleoids self-organize at 1/4 and 3/4 positions. The cell-size-dependent expansion of the nucleoid is only modestly influenced by deletions of nucleoid-associated proteins, whereas osmotic manipulation experiments reveal a prominent role of molecular crowding. Molecular dynamics simulations with model chromosomes and crowders recapitulate the observed phenomena and highlight the role of entropic effects caused by confinement and molecular crowding in the spatial organization of the chromosome
A quark model analysis of the charge symmetry breaking in nuclear force
In order to investigate the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) in the short range
part of the nuclear force, we calculate the difference of the masses of the
neutron and the proton, , the difference of the scattering
lengths of the p-p and n-n scatterings, , and the difference of the
analyzing power of the proton and the neutron in the n-p scattering, , by a quark model. In the present model the sources of CSB are the
mass difference of the up and down quarks and the electromagnetic interaction.
We investigate how much each of them contributes to , and . It is found that the contribution of CSB of the
short range part in the nuclear force is large enough to explain the observed
, while is rather underestimated.Comment: 26 pages,6 figure
The numerical renormalization group method for quantum impurity systems
In the beginning of the 1970's, Wilson developed the concept of a fully
non-perturbative renormalization group transformation. Applied to the Kondo
problem, this numerical renormalization group method (NRG) gave for the first
time the full crossover from the high-temperature phase of a free spin to the
low-temperature phase of a completely screened spin. The NRG has been later
generalized to a variety of quantum impurity problems. The purpose of this
review is to give a brief introduction to the NRG method including some
guidelines of how to calculate physical quantities, and to survey the
development of the NRG method and its various applications over the last 30
years. These applications include variants of the original Kondo problem such
as the non-Fermi liquid behavior in the two-channel Kondo model, dissipative
quantum systems such as the spin-boson model, and lattice systems in the
framework of the dynamical mean field theory.Comment: 55 pages, 27 figures, submitted to Rev. Mod. Phy
ACE-ASIA - Regional climatic and atmospheric chemical effects of Asian dust and pollution
Although continental-scale plumes of Asian dust and pollution reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth's surface and perturb the chemistry of the atmosphere, our ability to quantify these effects has been limited by a lack of critical observations, particularly of layers above the surface. Comprehensive surface, airborne, shipboard, and satellite measurements of Asian aerosol chemical composition, size, optical properties, and radiative impacts were performed during the Asian Pacific Regional Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE-Asia) study. Measurements within a massive Chinese dust storm at numerous widely spaced sampling locations revealed the highly complex structure of the atmosphere, in which layers of dust, urban pollution, and biomass-burning smoke may be transported long distances as distinct entities or mixed together. The data allow a first-time assessment of the regional climatic and atmospheric chemical effects of a continental-scale mixture of dust and pollution. Our results show that radiative flux reductions during such episodes are sufficient to cause regional climate change
- …