Since the discovery of charge disproportionation in the FeO2 square-lattice compound Sr3Fe2O7 by Mössbauer spectroscopy more than fifty years ago, the spatial ordering pattern of the ...disproportionated charges has remained "hidden" to conventional diffraction probes, despite numerous x-ray and neutron scattering studies. We have used neutron Larmor diffraction and Fe K-edge resonant x-ray scattering to demonstrate checkerboard charge order in the FeO2 planes that vanishes at a sharp second-order phase transition upon heating above 332 K. Stacking disorder of the checkerboard pattern due to frustrated interlayer interactions broadens the corresponding superstructure reflections and greatly reduces their amplitude, thus explaining the difficulty of detecting them by conventional probes. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on "hidden order" in other materials.
The Platform for Research and Applications with Electrons (PRAE) is a multidisciplinary R&D facility gathering subatomic physics, instrumentation, radiobiology and clinical research around a ...high-performance electron accelerator with beam energies up to 70 MeV. In this paper we report the complete optics design and performance evaluation of a Very High Energy Electron (VHEE) innovative radiobiology study, in particular by using Grid mini-beam and FLASH methodologies, which could represent a major breakthrough in Radiation Therapy (RT) treatment modality.
High-temperature superconducting cuprates exhibit an intriguing phenomenology for the low-energy elementary excitations. In particular, an unconventional temperature dependence of the coherent ...spectral weight (CSW) has been observed in the superconducting phase by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), both at the antinode where the d -wave paring gap is maximum, as well as along the gapless nodal direction. Here, we combine equilibrium and time-resolved ARPES to track the temperature-dependent meltdown of the nodal CSW in Bi-based cuprates with unprecedented sensitivity. We find the nodal suppression of CSW upon increasing temperature to be ubiquitous across single- and bi-layer Bi cuprates, and uncorrelated to superconducting and pseudogap onset temperatures. We quantitatively model both the lineshape of the nodal spectral features and the anomalous suppression of CSW within the Fermi-liquid framework, establishing the key role played by the normal state electrodynamics in the description of nodal quasiparticles in superconducting cuprates.
The co-design of architectures and algorithms has been postulated as a strategy for achieving Exascale computing in this decade. Exascale design space exploration is prohibitively expensive, at least ...partially due to the size and complexity of scientific applications of interest. Application codes can contain millions of lines and involve many libraries. Mini-applications, which attempt to capture some key performance issues, can potentially reduce the order of the exploration by a factor of a thousand. However, we need to carefully understand how representative mini-applications are of the full application code. This paper describes a methodology for this comparison and applies it to a particularly challenging mini-application. A multi-faceted methodology for design space exploration is also described that includes measurements on advanced architecture testbeds, experiments that use supercomputers and system software to emulate future hardware, and hardware/software co-simulation tools to predict the behavior of applications on hardware that does not yet exist.
•A codesign-based methodology is described for exploring the exascale design space.•Codesign requires a multi-faceted approach.•Architecture testbeds are being used to study performance issues of key algorithms.•Network bandwidth degradation studies help define requirements for future systems.•The Structural Simulation Toolkit is described, with some example use cases.
Following impressive results from early phase trials in Japan and Germany, there is a current expansion in European hadron therapy. This article summarises present European Union-funded projects for ...research and co-ordination of hadron therapy across Europe. Our primary focus will be on the research questions associated with carbon ion treatment of cancer, but these considerations are also applicable to treatments using proton beams and other light ions. The challenges inherent in this new form of radiotherapy require maximum interdisciplinary co-ordination. On the basis of its successful track record in particle and accelerator physics, the internationally funded CERN laboratories (otherwise known as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) have been instrumental in promoting collaborations for research purposes in this area of radiation oncology. There will soon be increased opportunities for referral of patients across Europe for hadron therapy. Oncologists should be aware of these developments, which confer enhanced prospects for better cancer cure rates as well as improved quality of life in many cancer patients.
WhiB-like (Wbl) proteins are well known for their diverse roles in actinobacterial morphogenesis, cell division, virulence, primary and secondary metabolism, and intrinsic antibiotic resistance. Gene ...disruption experiments showed that three different Actinobacteria (Mycobacterium smegmatis, Streptomyces lividans, and Rhodococcus jostii) each exhibited a different whiB7-dependent resistance profile. Heterologous expression of whiB7 genes showed these resistance profiles reflected the host's repertoire of endogenous whiB7-dependent genes. Transcriptional activation of two resistance genes in the whiB7 regulon, tap (a multidrug transporter) and erm(37) (a ribosomal methyltransferase), required interaction of WhiB7 with their promoters. Furthermore, heterologous expression of tap genes isolated from Mycobacterium species demonstrated that divergencies in drug specificity of homologous structural proteins contribute to the variation of WhiB7-dependent drug resistance. WhiB7 has a specific tryptophan/glycine-rich region and four conserved cysteine residues; it also has a peptide sequence (AT-hook) at its C terminus that binds AT-rich DNA sequence motifs upstream of the promoters it activates. Targeted mutagenesis showed that these motifs were required to provide antibiotic resistance in vivo. Anaerobically purified WhiB7 from S. lividans was dimeric and contained 2.1 ± 0.3 and 2.2 ± 0.3 mol of iron and sulfur, respectively, per protomer (consistent with the presence of a 2Fe-2S cluster). However, the properties of the dimer's absorption spectrum were most consistent with the presence of an oxygen-labile 4Fe-4S cluster, suggesting 50% occupancy. These data provide the first insights into WhiB7 iron-sulfur clusters as they exist in vivo, a major unresolved issue in studies of Wbl proteins.
Background: WhiB7 is essential for antibiotic resistance in M. tuberculosis.
Results: WhiB7 requires conserved residues, including a redox-sensitive center and DNA-binding motif, to coordinate transcription of species-specific drug resistance genes in diverse Actinobacteria.
Conclusion: WhiB7 activates species-specific drug resistance genes in Actinobacteria.
Significance: Understanding WhiB7 activity may allow the development of drugs that sensitize bacteria to antibiotics.
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