An Analogue for Szegő Polynomials of the Clenshaw Algorithm

NSF grant DMS 9002884National Research Council fellowshi

A truncated lipoglycan from mycobacteria with altered immunological properties

Maintenance of cell-wall integrity in Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential and is the target of several antitubercular drugs. For example, ethambutol targets arabinogalactan and lipoarabinomannan (LAM) biosynthesis through the inhibition of several arabinofuranosyltransferases. Apart from their role in cell-wall integrity, mycobacterial LAMs also exhibit important immunomodulatory activities. Here we report the isolation and detailed structural characterization of a unique LAM molecule derived from Mycobacterium smegmatis deficient in the arabinofuranosyltransferase AftC (AftC-LAM). This mutant LAM expresses a severely truncated arabinan domain completely devoid of 3,5-Araf–branching residues, revealing an intrinsic involvement of AftC in the biosynthesis of LAM. Furthermore, we found that ethambutol efficiently inhibits biosynthesis of the AftC-LAM arabinan core, unambiguously demonstrating the involvement of the arabinofuranosyltransferase EmbC in early stages of LAM-arabinan biosynthesis. Finally, we demonstrate that AftC-LAM exhibits an enhanced proinflammatory activity, which is due to its ability to activate Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Overall, our efforts further describe the mechanism of action of an important antitubercular drug, ethambutol, and demonstrate a role for specific arabinofuranosyltransferases in LAM biosynthesis. In addition, the availability of sufficient amounts of chemically defined wild-type and isogenic truncated LAMs paves the way for further investigations of the structure–function relationship of TLR2 activation by mycobacterial lipoglycans

Regularization of moving boundaries in a Laplacian field by a mixed Dirichlet-Neumann boundary condition: exact results

The dynamics of ionization fronts that generate a conducting body, are in simplest approximation equivalent to viscous fingering without regularization. Going beyond this approximation, we suggest that ionization fronts can be modeled by a mixed Dirichlet-Neumann boundary condition. We derive exact uniformly propagating solutions of this problem in 2D and construct a single partial differential equation governing small perturbations of these solutions. For some parameter value, this equation can be solved analytically which shows that the uniformly propagating solution is linearly convectively stable.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Sum Rule and the Spin Structure of the Nucleon

The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule is one of several dispersive sum rules that connect the Compton scattering amplitudes to the inclusive photoproduction cross sections of the target under investigation. Being based on such universal principles as causality, unitarity, and gauge invariance, these sum rules provide a unique testing ground to study the internal degrees of freedom that hold the system together. The present article reviews these sum rules for the spin-dependent cross sections of the nucleon by presenting an overview of recent experiments and theoretical approaches. The generalization from real to virtual photons provides a microscope of variable resolution: At small virtuality of the photon, the data sample information about the long range phenomena, which are described by effective degrees of freedom (Goldstone bosons and collective resonances), whereas the primary degrees of freedom (quarks and gluons) become visible at the larger virtualities. Through a rich body of new data and several theoretical developments, a unified picture of virtual Compton scattering emerges, which ranges from coherent to incoherent processes, and from the generalized spin polarizabilities on the low-energy side to higher twist effects in deep inelastic lepton scattering.Comment: 32 pages, 19 figures, review articl

The flow field of the upper hypoxic Eastern Tropical North Atlantic oxygen minimum zone

A subsurface low oxygen zone is located in the eastern tropical North Atlantic Ocean (ETNA) in the upper ocean with the core of the hypoxic (O2 ≤ 60 μmol kg−1) oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) at 400 to 500 m depth. The poorly known subsurface circulation in the OMZ region is derived from observations and data assimilation results. Measurements in the eastern tropical North Atlantic in November/December 2008, in November/December 2009 and October/November 2010 of velocity, oxygen and of a tracer (CF3SF5) that was released in April 2008 at ∼ 8° N, 23° W (at ∼ 330 m depth) show circulation in the upper part of the OMZ with spreading to the east in the North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC) region and northwestward around the Guinea Dome. Three floats equipped with oxygen sensors deployed at ∼ 8° N, 23° W with parking depths at 330, 350 and 400 m depths were used to estimate velocity along the float trajectory at the surface and at the park depth. South of 9° N, the zonal surface velocity estimate from float data alternate seasonally. At the 350 m park depth north of 9° N a cyclonic northwestward flow across the OMZ was observed. The northward shift into the upper OMZ and the cyclonic flow around the Guinea Dome seem to be connected to a strong Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM) event in 2009. A near-surface cyclonic circulation cell east of the Cape Verde Islands expands into the OMZ layer. The circulation of the upper OMZ mirrors the near surface circulation. Oxygen measurements from the cruises used here, as well as other recent cruises up to the year 2014 confirm the continuous deoxygenation trend in the upper OMZ since the 1960's near the Guinea Dome. The three floats deployed with the tracer show spreading paths consistent with the overall observed tracer spreading. Mesoscale eddies may modify the oxygen distribution in the OMZs. Oxygen sensors on the floats remained well calibrated for more than 20 months and so the oxygen profiles can be used to investigate mesoscale eddy signatures. However, in general eddies are less energetic in the ETNA south of the Cape Verde Islands compared to similar latitudes in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific

Long-term dynamics of adaptive evolution in a globally important phytoplankton species to ocean acidification

Marine phytoplankton may adapt to ocean change, such as acidification or warming, because of their large population sizes and short generation times. Long-term adaptation to novel environments is a dynamic process, and phenotypic change can take place thousands of generations after exposure to novel conditions. We conducted a long-term evolution experiment (4 years = 2100 generations), starting with a single clone of the abundant and widespread coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi exposed to three different CO2 levels simulating ocean acidification (OA). Growth rates as a proxy for Darwinian fitness increased only moderately under both levels of OA [+3.4% and +4.8%, respectively, at 1100 and 2200 μatm partial pressure of CO2 (Pco2)] relative to control treatments (ambient CO2, 400 μatm). Long-term adaptation to OA was complex, and initial phenotypic responses of ecologically important traits were later reverted. The biogeochemically important trait of calcification, in particular, that had initially been restored within the first year of evolution was later reduced to levels lower than the performance of nonadapted populations under OA. Calcification was not constitutively lost but returned to control treatment levels when high CO2–adapted isolates were transferred back to present-day control CO2 conditions. Selection under elevated CO2 exacerbated a general decrease of cell sizes under long-term laboratory evolution. Our results show that phytoplankton may evolve complex phenotypic plasticity that can affect biogeochemically important traits, such as calcification. Adaptive evolution may play out over longer time scales (>1 year) in an unforeseen way under future ocean conditions that cannot be predicted from initial adaptation responses

Замена электродвигателя ПЭН турбоприводом на Кемеровской ТЭЦ

В данной работе рассматривается возможность замены электродвигателя ПЭН турбоприводом на Кемеровской ТЭЦ, с установкой турбопривода на существующий фундамент. Целью работы является оценка возможности увеличения отпуска электроэнергии от станции в результате уменьшения затрат на собственные нужды и повышение маневренности ТЭЦ.In this paper we consider the possibility of replacing the turbine drive motor PEN to Kemerovo CHP , with the installation of turbine drive on the existing foundation. The aim is to assess the possibility of increasing the supply of electric power from the plant by reducing the costs of their own needs and improving maneuverability CHP

Corporate Security Responsibility: Towards a Conceptual Framework for a Comparative Research Agenda

The political debate about the role of business in armed conflicts has increasingly raised expectations as to governance contributions by private corporations in the fields of conflict prevention, peace-keeping and postconflict peace-building. This political agenda seems far ahead of the research agenda, in which the negative image of business in conflicts, seen as fuelling, prolonging and taking commercial advantage of violent conflicts,still prevails. So far the scientific community has been reluctant to extend the scope of research on ‘corporate social responsibility’ to the area of security in general and to intra-state armed conflicts in particular. As a consequence, there is no basis from which systematic knowledge can be generated about the conditions and the extent to which private corporations can fulfil the role expected of them in the political discourse. The research on positive contributions of private corporations to security amounts to unconnected in-depth case studies of specific corporations in specific conflict settings. Given this state of research, we develop a framework for a comparative research agenda to address the question: Under which circumstances and to what extent can private corporations be expected to contribute to public security