Impact of rRNA methylations on ribosome recycling and fidelity of initiation in Escherichia coli

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) contains a number of modified nucleosides in functionally important regions including the intersubunit bridge regions. As the activity of ribosome recycling factor (RRF) in separating the large and the small subunits of the ribosome involves disruption of intersubunit bridges, we investigated the impact of rRNA methylations on ribosome recycling. We show that deficiency of rRNA methylations, especially at positions 1518 and 1519 of 16S rRNA near the interface with the 50S subunit and in the vicinity of the IF3 binding site, adversely affects the efficiency of RRF-mediated ribosome recycling. In addition, we show that a compromise in the RRF activity affords increased initiation with a mutant tRNA(fMet) wherein the three consecutive G-C base pairs ((29)GGG(31):39CCC41), a highly conserved feature of the initiator tRNAs, were mutated to those found in the elongator tRNA(Met) ((29)UCA(31):(39)psi GA(41)). This observation has allowed us to uncover a new role of RRF as a factor that contributes to fidelity of initiator tRNA selection on the ribosome. We discuss these and earlier findings to propose that RRF plays a crucial role during all the steps of protein synthesis.

A nuclear magnetic resonance study of tetramethylammonium tribromocadmate

Proton spin lattice relaxation (T1) in (CH3)4NCdBr3 at different Larmor frequencies (10, 20 and 30 MHz) has been studied in the temperature range 77 to 400 K. The variations in T1 at high temperature are independent of frequency and show a maximum due to spin rotation- interaction. The other features are interpreted as being due to isotropic tumbling of the tetramethylammonium ion and random reorientation of the CH3 group. The CW spectrum remained narrow up to 77 K and develops a wing structure at low temperatures. This observation is attributed to a possible tunnelling motion of the CH3 group, which has rather low activation energy as demonstrated by the study of T1.

Risk Minimizing Option Pricing in a Semi-Markov Modulated Market

We address risk minimizing option pricing in a semi-Markov modulated market where the floating interest rate depends on a finite state semi-Markov process. The growth rate and the volatility of the stock also depend on the semi-Markov process. Using the Föllmer–Schweizer decomposition we find the locally risk minimizing price for European options and the corresponding hedging strategy. We develop suitable numerical methods for computing option prices.

On the orientation of grain boundaries in cadmium recrystallized during hot deformatio

The authors are grateful to Professor K. P. Abraham for the provision of facilities and encouragement. One of us (PRR) acknowledges the award of a National Associateship by the UGC which facilitated a short-time visit to the Indian Institute of Science.

Correlated Gaussian Sources over Orthogonal Gaussian Channels

We consider the transmission of correlated Gaussian sources over orthogonal Gaussian channels. It is shown that the Amplify and Forward (AF) scheme which simplifies the design of encoders and the decoder, performs close to the optimal scheme even at high SNR. Also, it outperforms a recently proposed scalar quantizer scheme both in performance and complexity. We also study AF when there is side information at the encoders and decoder.

Orientation Of Grain-Boundaries In Cadmium Recrystallized During Hot Deformation

The authors are grateful to Professor K. P. Abraham for the provision of facilities and encouragement. One of us (PRR) acknowledges the award of a National Associateship by the UGC which facilitated a short-time visit to the Indian Institute of Science.

Extracting Three Dimensional Surface Model of Human Kidney from the Visible Human Data Set using Free Software

Three dimensional digital model of a representative human kidney is needed for a surgical simulator that is capable of simulating a laparoscopic surgery involving kidney. Buying a three dimensional computer model of a representative human kidney, or reconstructing a human kidney from an image sequence using commercial software, both involve (sometimes significant amount of) money. In this paper, author has shown that one can obtain a three dimensional surface model of human kidney by making use of images from the Visible Human Data Set and a few free software packages (ImageJ, ITK-SNAP, and MeshLab in particular). Images from the Visible Human Data Set, and the software packages used here, both do not cost anything. Hence, the practice of extracting the geometry of a representative human kidney for free, as illustrated in the present work, could be a free alternative to the use of expensive commercial software or to the purchase of a digital model.

Interplay of structural distortions, dielectric effects and magnetic order in multiferroic GdMnO3

Multiferroic materials are characterized by simultaneous magnetic and ferroelectric ordering making them good candidates for magneto-electrical applications. We conducted thermal expansion and magnetostriction measurements in magnetic fields up to 14 T on perovskitic GdMnO3 by highresolution capacitive dilatometry in an effort to determine all longitudinal and transversal components of the magnetostriction tensor. Below the ordering temperature T (N) = 42 K, i.e., within the different complex (incommensurate or complex) antiferromagnetic phases, lattice distortions of up to 100 ppm have been found. Although no change of the lattice symmetry occurs, the measurements reveal strong magneto-structural phenomena, especially in the incommensurate sinusoidal antiferromagnetic phase. A strong anisotropy of the magnetoelastic properties was found, in good agreement with the type and propagation vector of the magnetic structure. We demonstrate that our capacitive dilatometry can detect lattice expansion effects and changes of the dielectric permittivity simultaneously because the sample is housed inside the capacitor. A separation of both effects is possible by shielding the sample. Dielectric transitions could be detected by this method and compared to the critical values of H and T in the magnetic phase diagram. Dielectric changes measured at 1 kHz excitation frequency are detected in GdMnO3 at about 180 K, and between 10 K and 25 K in the canted antiferromagnetic structure which is characterized by a complex magnetic order on both the Gd- and Mn-sites.

Antelope mating strategies facilitate invasion of grasslands by a woody weed

Intra and interspecific variation in frugivore behaviour can have important consequences for seed dispersal outcomes. However, most information comes from among-species comparisons, and within-species variation is relatively poorly understood. We examined how large intraspecific differences in the behaviour of a native disperser, blackbuck antelope Antilope cervicapra, influence dispersal of a woody invasive, Prosopis juliflora, in a grassland ecosystem. Blackbuck disperse P. juliflora seeds through their dung. In lekking blackbuck populations, males defend clustered or dispersed mating territories. Territorial male movement is restricted, and within their territories males defecate on dung-piles. In contrast, mixed-sex herds range over large areas and do not create dung-piles. We expected territorial males to shape seed dispersal patterns, and seed deposition and seedling recruitment to be spatially localized. Territorial males had a disproportionately large influence on seed dispersal. Adult males removed twice as much fruit as females, and seed arrival was disproportionately high on territories. Also, because lek-territories are clustered, seed arrival was spatially highly concentrated. Seedling recruitment was also substantially higher on territories compared with random sites, indicating that the local concentration of seeds created by territorial males continued into high local recruitment of seedlings. Territorial male behaviour may, thus, result in a distinct spatial pattern of invasion of grasslands by the woody P. juliflora. An ex situ experiment showed no beneficial effect of dung and a negative effect of light on seed germination. We conclude that large intraspecific behavioural differences within frugivore populations can result in significant variation in their effectiveness as seed dispersers. Mating strategies in a disperser could shape seed dispersal, seedling recruitment and potentially plant distribution patterns. These mating strategies may aid in the spread of invasives, such as P. juliflora, which could, in turn, negatively influence the behaviour and ecology of native dispersers.

Unzipping Carbon Nanotubes at High Impact

The way nanostructures behave and mechanically respond to high impact collision is a topic of intrigue. For anisotropic nanostructures, such as carbon nanotubes, this response will be complicated based on the impact geometry. Here we report the result of hypervelocity impact of nanotubes against solid targets and show that impact produces a large number of defects in the nanotubes, as well as rapid atom evaporation, leading to their unzipping along the nanotube axis. Fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations are used to gain further insights of the pathways and deformation and fracture mechanisms of nanotubes under high energy mechanical impact. Carbon nanotubes have been unzipped into graphene nanoribbons before using chemical treatments but here the instability of nanotubes against formation, fracture, and unzipping is revealed purely through mechanical impact. defect

Accelerating Information Diffusion in Social Networks Under the Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible Epidemic Model

Standard Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible (SIS) epidemic models assume that a message spreads from the infected to the susceptible nodes due to only susceptible-infected epidemic contact. We modify the standard SIS epidemic model to include direct recruitment of susceptible individuals to the infected class at a constant rate (independent of epidemic contacts), to accelerate information spreading in a social network. Such recruitment can be carried out by placing advertisements in the media. We provide a closed form analytical solution for system evolution in the proposed model and use it to study campaigning in two different scenarios. In the first, the net cost function is a linear combination of the reward due to extent of information diffusion and the cost due to application of control. In the second, the campaign budget is fixed. Results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed system in accelerating and improving the extent of information diffusion. Our work is useful for devising effective strategies for product marketing and political/social-awareness/crowd-funding campaigns that target individuals in a social network.

On Locally Gabriel Geometric Graphs

Let be a set of points in the plane. A geometric graph on is said to be locally Gabriel if for every edge in , the Euclidean disk with the segment joining and as diameter does not contain any points of that are neighbors of or in . A locally Gabriel graph(LGG) is a generalization of Gabriel graph and is motivated by applications in wireless networks. Unlike a Gabriel graph, there is no unique LGG on a given point set since no edge in a LGG is necessarily included or excluded. Thus the edge set of the graph can be customized to optimize certain network parameters depending on the application. The unit distance graph(UDG), introduced by Erdos, is also a LGG. In this paper, we show the following combinatorial bounds on edge complexity and independent sets of LGG: (i) For any , there exists LGG with edges. This improves upon the previous best bound of . (ii) For various subclasses of convex point sets, we show tight linear bounds on the maximum edge complexity of LGG. (iii) For any LGG on any point set, there exists an independent set of size .

H2O-CH4 and H2S-CH4 complexes: a direct comparison through molecular beam experiments and ab initio calculations

New molecular beam scattering experiments have been performed to measure the total ( elastic plus inelastic) cross sections as a function of the velocity in collisions between water and hydrogen sulfide projectile molecules and the methane target. Measured data have been exploited to characterize the range and strength of the intermolecular interaction in such systems, which are of relevance as they drive the gas phase molecular dynamics and the clathrate formation. Complementary information has been obtained by rotational spectra, recorded for the hydrogen sulfide-methane complex, with a pulsed nozzle Fourier transform microwave spectrometer. Extensive ab initio calculations have been performed to rationalize all the experimental findings. The combination of experimental and theoretical information has established the ground for the understanding of the nature of the interaction and allows for its basic components to be modelled, including charge transfer, in these weakly bound systems. The intermolecular potential for H2S-CH4 is significantly less anisotropic than for H2O-CH4, although both of them have potential minima that can be characterized as `hydrogen bonded'.