Romance Languages and Literatures as Presented in German Doctoral Dissertations 1885-1950 (Book Review)

published or submitted for publicatio

Institutional Implications of Automated Circulation Study

published or submitted for publicatio

Bath induced coherence and the secular approximation

Finding efficient descriptions of how an environment affects a collection of discrete quantum systems would lead to new insights into many areas of modern physics. Markovian, or time-local, methods work well for individual systems, but for groups a question arises: does system-bath or inter-system coupling dominate the dissipative dynamics? The answer has profound consequences for the long-time quantum correlations within the system. We consider two bosonic modes coupled to a bath. By comparing an exact solution to different Markovian master equations, we find that a smooth crossover of the equations-of-motion between dominant inter-system and system-bath coupling exists - but requires a non-secular master equation. We predict a singular behaviour of the dynamics, and show that the ultimate failure of non-secular equations of motion is essentially a failure of the Markov approximation. Our findings justify the use of time-local theories throughout the crossover between system-bath dominated and inter-system-coupling dominated dynamics.PostprintPeer reviewe

Two 'transitions': the political economy of Joyce Banda's rise to power and the related role of civil society organisations in Malawi

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Review of African Political Economy on 21/07/2014, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056244.2014.90194

Problems Associated with Making Mechanical Measurements on Water–Ice at Quasistatic and Dynamic Strain Rates

Abstract: Space penetrators are a potential method of inserting instrumentation onto ice-covered bodies in the solar system. Part of a study to see whether this is feasible involves numerically simulating impact of the penetrator into ice at impact velocities of a few 100 m/s. In order to do this accurately, it is necessary to have a constitutive model for water ice that is valid at the strain rates and temperatures relevant to impact in the Outer Solar System. This paper reports certain issues and difficulties that arose during a study to obtain this data

Substrate envelope and drug resistance: crystal structure of RO1 in complex with wild-type human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease

In our previous crystallographic studies of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease-substrate complexes, we described a conserved envelope that appears to be important for substrate recognition and the selection of drug-resistant mutations. In this study, the complex of HIV-1 protease with the inhibitor RO1 was determined and comparison with the substrate envelope provides a rationale for mutational patterns

Inhibition of native hepatitis C virus replicase by nucleotide and non-nucleoside inhibitors

AbstractA number of nucleotide and non-nucleoside inhibitors of HCV polymerase are currently under investigation as potential antiviral agents to treat HCV-infected patients. HCV polymerase is part of a replicase complex including the polymerase subunit NS5B together with other viral and host proteins and viral RNA. The RNA synthesis activity of the native replicase complex was inhibited by 3′-deoxy-CTP, a chain-terminating nucleotide analog, but not inhibited by non-nucleoside NS5B polymerase inhibitors of three different structural classes. The HCV replicase was also resistant to heparin, a broad-spectrum, RNA-competitive polymerase inhibitor. Prebinding of the recombinant NS5B protein with a RNA template rendered the polymerase largely resistant to the inhibition by heparin and the non-nucleoside inhibitors, but did not affect the inhibitory potency of 3′-deoxy-CTP. Therefore, the HCV replicase showed a similar pattern of inhibitor sensitivity as compared to RNA-bound NS5B. These results suggest that the native HCV replicase complex represents a stable and productive polymerase–RNA complex. The allosteric non-nucleoside NS5B polymerase inhibitors are inactive against established HCV replicase but may function antagonistically with the formation of a productive enzyme–template complex

Odorant binding proteins fromHermetia illucens: potential sensing elements for detecting volatile aldehydes involved in early stages of organic decomposition

Organic decomposition processes, involving the breakdown of complex molecules such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats, release small chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), smelly even at very low concentrations, but not all readily detectable by vertebrates. Many of these compounds are instead detected by insects, mostly by saprophytic species, for which long-range orientation towards organic decomposition matter is crucial. In the present work the detection of aldehydes, as an important measure of lipid oxidation, has been possible exploiting the molecular machinery underlying odour recognition inHermetia illucens(Diptera: Stratiomyidae). This voracious scavenger insect is of interest due to its outstanding capacity in bioconversion of organic waste, colonizing very diverse environments due to the ability of sensing a wide range of chemical compounds that influence the choice of substrates for ovideposition. A variety of soluble odorant binding proteins (OBPs) that may function as carriers of hydrophobic molecules from the air-water interface in the antenna of the insect to the receptors were identified, characterised and expressed. An OBP-based nanobiosensor prototype was realized using selected OBPs as sensing layers for the development of an array of quartz crystal microbalances (QCMs) for vapour phase detection of selected compounds at room temperature. QCMs coated with four recombinantH. illucensOBPs (HillOBPs) were exposed to a wide range of VOCs indicative of organic decomposition, showing a high sensitivity for the detection of three chemical compounds belonging to the class of aldehydes and one short-chain fatty acid. The possibility of using biomolecules capable of binding small ligands as reversible gas sensors has been confirmed, greatly expanding the state-of the-art in gas sensing technology