1,436 research outputs found
On the stability of Dirac sheet configurations
Using cooling for SU(2) lattice configurations, purely Abelian constant
magnetic field configurations were left over after the annihilation of
constituents that formed metastable Q=0 configurations. These so-called Dirac
sheet configurations were found to be stable if emerging from the confined
phase, close to the deconfinement phase transition, provided their Polyakov
loop was sufficiently non-trivial. Here we show how this is related to the
notion of marginal stability of the appropriate constant magnetic field
configurations. We find a perfect agreement between the analytic prediction for
the dependence of stability on the value of the Polyakov loop (the holonomy) in
a finite volume and the numerical results studied on a finite lattice in the
context of the Dirac sheet configurations
Watching a superfluid untwist itself: Recurrence of Rabi oscillations in a Bose-Einstein condensate
The order parameter of a condensate with two internal states can continuously
distort in such a way as to remove twists that have been imposed along its
length. We observe this effect experimentally in the collapse and recurrence of
Rabi oscillations in a magnetically trapped, two-component Bose-Einstein
condensate of ^87Rb
Quantitative test of the barrier nucleosome model for statistical positioning of nucleosomes up- and downstream of transcription start sites
The positions of nucleosomes in eukaryotic genomes determine which parts of
the DNA sequence are readily accessible for regulatory proteins and which are
not. Genome-wide maps of nucleosome positions have revealed a salient pattern
around transcription start sites, involving a nucleosome-free region (NFR)
flanked by a pronounced periodic pattern in the average nucleosome density.
While the periodic pattern clearly reflects well-positioned nucleosomes, the
positioning mechanism is less clear. A recent experimental study by Mavrich et
al. argued that the pattern observed in S. cerevisiae is qualitatively
consistent with a `barrier nucleosome model', in which the oscillatory pattern
is created by the statistical positioning mechanism of Kornberg and Stryer. On
the other hand, there is clear evidence for intrinsic sequence preferences of
nucleosomes, and it is unclear to what extent these sequence preferences affect
the observed pattern. To test the barrier nucleosome model, we quantitatively
analyze yeast nucleosome positioning data both up- and downstream from NFRs.
Our analysis is based on the Tonks model of statistical physics which
quantifies the interplay between the excluded-volume interaction of nucleosomes
and their positional entropy. We find that although the typical patterns on the
two sides of the NFR are different, they are both quantitatively described by
the same physical model, with the same parameters, but different boundary
conditions. The inferred boundary conditions suggest that the first nucleosome
downstream from the NFR (the +1 nucleosome) is typically directly positioned
while the first nucleosome upstream is statistically positioned via a
nucleosome-repelling DNA region. These boundary conditions, which can be
locally encoded into the genome sequence, significantly shape the statistical
distribution of nucleosomes over a range of up to ~1000 bp to each side.Comment: includes supporting materia
Cloning and expression of new microRNAs from zebrafish
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play an important role in development and regulate the expression of many animal genes by post-transcriptional gene silencing. Here we describe the cloning and expression of new miRNAs from zebrafish. By high-throughput sequencing of small-RNA cDNA libraries from 5-day-old zebrafish larvae and adult zebrafish brain we found 139 known miRNAs and 66 new miRNAs. For 65 known miRNAs and for 11 new miRNAs we also cloned the miRNA star sequence. We analyzed the temporal and spatial expression patterns for 35 new miRNAs and for 32 known miRNAs in the zebrafish by whole mount in situ hybridization and northern blotting. Overall, 23 of the 35 new miRNAs and 30 of the 32 known miRNAs could be detected. We found that most miRNAs were expressed during later stages of development. Some were expressed ubiquitously, but many of the miRNAs were expressed in a tissue-specific manner. Most newly discovered miRNAs have low expression levels and are less conserved in other vertebrate species. Our cloning and expression analysis indicates that most abundant and conserved miRNAs in zebrafish are now known
Emergence of quasi-metallic state in disordered 2D electron gas due to strong interactions
The interrelation between disorder and interactions in two dimensional
electron liquid is studied beyond weak coupling perturbation theory. Strong
repulsion significantly reduces the electronic density of states on the Fermi
level. This makes the electron liquid more rigid and strongly suppresses
elastic scattering off impurities. As a result the weak localization, although
ultimately present at zero temperature and infinite sample size, is
unobservable at experimentally accessible temperature at high enough densities.
Therefore practically there exists a well defined metallic state. We study
diffusion of electrons in this state and find that the diffusion pole is
significantly modified due to "mixture" with static photons similar to the
Anderson - Higgs mechanism in superconductivity. As a result several effects
stemming from the long range nature of diffusion like the Aronov - Altshuler
logarithmic corrections to conductivity are less pronounced.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.
Non-linear effects and dephasing in disordered electron systems
The calculation of the dephasing time in electron systems is presented. By
means of the Keldysh formalism we discuss in a unifying way both weak
localization and interaction effects in disordered systems. This allows us to
show how dephasing arises both in the particle-particle channel (weak
localization) and in the particle-hole channel (interaction effect). First we
discuss dephasing by an external field. Besides reviewing previous work on how
an external oscillating field suppresses the weak localization correction, we
derive a new expression for the effect of a field on the interaction
correction. We find that the latter may be suppressed by a static electric
field, in contrast to weak localization. We then consider dephasing due to
inelastic scattering. The ambiguities involved in the definition of the
dephasing time are clarified by directly comparing the diagrammatic approach
with the path-integral approach. We show that different dephasing times appear
in the particle-particle and particle-hole channels. Finally we comment on
recent experiments.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures (14ps-files
Quantum effects:heat flow in atomic bottlenecks
The Wiedemann–Franz law linking electrical and thermal conductance has now been verified experimentally in atomic junctions
The Glial Regenerative Response to Central Nervous System Injury Is Enabled by Pros-Notch and Pros-NFκB Feedback
Organisms are structurally robust, as cells accommodate changes preserving structural integrity and function. The molecular mechanisms underlying structural robustness and plasticity are poorly understood, but can be investigated by probing how cells respond to injury. Injury to the CNS induces proliferation of enwrapping glia, leading to axonal re-enwrapment and partial functional recovery. This glial regenerative response is found across species, and may reflect a common underlying genetic mechanism. Here, we show that injury to the Drosophila larval CNS induces glial proliferation, and we uncover a gene network controlling this response. It consists of the mutual maintenance between the cell cycle inhibitor Prospero (Pros) and the cell cycle activators Notch and NFκB. Together they maintain glia in the brink of dividing, they enable glial proliferation following injury, and subsequently they exert negative feedback on cell division restoring cell cycle arrest. Pros also promotes glial differentiation, resolving vacuolization, enabling debris clearance and axonal enwrapment. Disruption of this gene network prevents repair and induces tumourigenesis. Using wound area measurements across genotypes and time-lapse recordings we show that when glial proliferation and glial differentiation are abolished, both the size of the glial wound and neuropile vacuolization increase. When glial proliferation and differentiation are enabled, glial wound size decreases and injury-induced apoptosis and vacuolization are prevented. The uncovered gene network promotes regeneration of the glial lesion and neuropile repair. In the unharmed animal, it is most likely a homeostatic mechanism for structural robustness. This gene network may be of relevance to mammalian glia to promote repair upon CNS injury or disease
Norwalk Virus Shedding after Experimental Human Infection
Noroviruses are shed in feces up to 8 weeks after infection
Atomic structures of TDP-43 LCD segments and insights into reversible or pathogenic aggregation.
The normally soluble TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is found aggregated both in reversible stress granules and in irreversible pathogenic amyloid. In TDP-43, the low-complexity domain (LCD) is believed to be involved in both types of aggregation. To uncover the structural origins of these two modes of β-sheet-rich aggregation, we have determined ten structures of segments of the LCD of human TDP-43. Six of these segments form steric zippers characteristic of the spines of pathogenic amyloid fibrils; four others form LARKS, the labile amyloid-like interactions characteristic of protein hydrogels and proteins found in membraneless organelles, including stress granules. Supporting a hypothetical pathway from reversible to irreversible amyloid aggregation, we found that familial ALS variants of TDP-43 convert LARKS to irreversible aggregates. Our structures suggest how TDP-43 adopts both reversible and irreversible β-sheet aggregates and the role of mutation in the possible transition of reversible to irreversible pathogenic aggregation
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