Dynamics of Bacteriorhodopsin in the Dark-Adapted State from Solution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

To achieve efficient proton pumping in the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin (bR), the protein must be tightly coupled to the retinal to rapidly convert retinal isomerization into protein structural rearrangements. Methyl group dynamics of bR embedded in lipid nanodiscs were determined in the dark-adapted state, and were found to be mostly well ordered at the cytosolic side. Methyl groups in the M145A mutant of bR, which displays only 10 % residual proton pumping activity, are less well ordered, suggesting a link between side-chain dynamics on the cytosolic side of the bR cavity and proton pumping activity. In addition, slow conformational exchange, attributed to low frequency motions of aromatic rings, was indirectly observed for residues on the extracellular side of the bR cavity. This may be related to reorganization of the water network. These observations provide a detailed picture of previously undescribed equilibrium dynamics on different time scales for ground-state bR.     

Laser spectroscopy of the 1s HFS of H-like ions at a bunched beam in the storage ring ESR

The investigation of the 1s HFS provides a good possibility for testing QED effects in a combination of a strong electric and magnetic field. Here, we report about the laserspectroscopic measurements of the ground state hyperfine splitting in ²⁰⁷Pb⁸¹⁺. To handle this M1-transition in the infrared optical regime with its long lifetime, we developed a new detection technique using a bunched ion beam. For the observation of fluorescence light, a new mirror system is adapted to the emission characteristics from an ion beam at relativistic velocities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Virtual logarithms

The modification of the number field sieve which Joux and Lercier recently used to compute logarithms in a prime field of a record 120 decimal digits makes use of the notion of a virtual logarithm of a prime ideal in a number ring. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for their method to succeed and give an explicit formula for the virtual logarithm of an ideal.     

Justification of the Shallow-Water Limit for a Rigid-Lid Flow with Bottom Topography

The so-called lake equations arise as the shallow-water limit of the rigid-lid equations—three-dimensional Euler equations with a rigid-lid upper boundary condition—in a horizontally periodic basin with bottom topography. We prove an a priori estimate in the Sobolev space H ^m for m≥ 3 which shows that a solution to the rigid-lid equations can be approximated by a solution of the lake equations for an interval of time which can be estimated in terms of the initial deviation from a columnar configuration and the magnitude of the initial data in H ^m , the gradient of the bottom topography in H ^m+1 , and the aspect ratio of the basin. In particular, any solution to the lake equations remains close to some solution of the rigid-lid equations for an interval of time that can be made arbitrarily large by choosing the aspect ratio of the basin small. Received 10 October 1996 and accepted 15 May 1997     

Laser systems specialized for laser spectroscopy at storage rings

Laser spectroscopy at storage rings often suffers from a limited resolution due to Doppler-broadened resonances. Broadening is caused by the velocity spread of the ions stored in the beam. In the following, the present status of our work on laser systems specialized on the specific needs of laser spectroscopy at storage rings is reported. Two pulsed laser systems were developed. One is a dye laser whose spectral bandwidth can be switched by inserting different Littrow-prisms into the resonator. An increase in bandwidth up to a factor of 45 was achieved. This laser was used for fast qualitative scans and high resolution measurements. The other laser system is a Nd : YAG laser pumped optical parametric oscillator. It is a tunable laser system covering the spectral range from 410 to 4000 nm. Furthermore, a continuous wave laser with a frequency shifted feedback cavity is described. It shows broadband emission with an adjustable bandwidth of up to 4.5 GHz. This laser can be advantageous for laser cooling of ion beams. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Consecutive reactions of diethoxydimethylsilane and triethoxymethylsilane with methoxide ions in methanol solution

The consecutive reactions of (CH₃)₂Si(OC₂H₅)₂ and CH₃Si(OC₂H₅)₃ with methoxide ions were investigated in methanol solutions. The reverse transesterification reactions with ethoxide ions could be neglected in both cases since the concentration of ethoxide in methanol solution was assumed to be low due to the fast equilibrium reaction C₂H₅O^? + CH₃OH ? C₂H₅OH + CH₃O^?. The progress of the reactions was followed by monitoring the formation of ethanol with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. All rate constants were determined at 295 K. The reactions between the dialkoxydimethylsilanes and methoxide ions were assumed to consist of two consecutive steps that can be represented by the net reaction; (CH₃)₂Si(OC₂H₅)₂ + 2CH₃O^? → (CH₃)₂Si(OCH₃)₂ + 2C₂H₅O^?. The two consecutive rate constants were established as 1.93 ± 0.12M^?1s^?1 and 1.00 ± 0.12M^?1s^?1, respectively. The consecutive rate constants for the reactions between the trialkoxymethylsilanes and methoxide ions can be written according to the total reaction; CH₃Si(OC₂H₅)₃ + 3CH₃O^? → CH₃Si(OCH₃)₃ + 3C₂H₅O^?. The three rate constants corresponding to each consecutive step were established as 1.12 ± 0.09 M^?1s^?1, 0.82 ± 0.10 M^?1s^?1, and 0.51 ± 0.06 M^?1s^?1, respectively. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Crystal field and magnetic properties of the tetragonal TbNi2Si2 compound

The magnetic properties of a TbNi₂Si₂ single crystal have been investigated experimentally by specific heat, anisotropy of the susceptibility and magnetization, and inelastic neutron scattering, leading to the determination of its fundamental coupling parameters. The lowest crystalline electric field states are two singlets close to each other, that explains the different magnetic structures evidenced in TbNi₂Si₂: an amplitude modulated structure, close to T _N , a simple antiferromagnetic one at low temperature and an antiphase one when an external magnetic field is applied along the c direction.