Exploring the Transition of Human α-Synuclein from Native to the Fibrillar State: Insights into the Pathogenesis of Parkinson’s Disease

The etiology of Parkinson’s disease involves the interplay between the environmental and genetic factors. Here in this study human α-synuclein upon exposure to 100 μM pendimethalin for 12 h in vitro passes through a partially folded state which proceeds to the aggregated state and terminally ends in the fibrillar phase. Variations in the ANS fluorescence intensities led to the detection of intermediate and aggregated states at 6 and 10 h respectively. Far-UV CD analysis depicted significant α-helical content for intermediate state at 6 h in presence of 100 μM pendimethalin. Further increasing the incubation time to 12 h resulted in a predominant β-sheet content which was confirmed to be fibrillar by TEM. Turbidity, Rayleigh scattering analysis, Congo red assay and ThT measurements supported the TEM data i.e. the formation of fibrillar structure of human α-synuclein upon 12 h incubation. Thus, our observation could suggest a possible underlying molecular basis for Parkinson’s disease.

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Graphical Abstract Schematic elucidation of the factors involved in the fibrillation of α-Synuclein during Parkinson’s pathogenesis.

     

Transition from the 0 state to the π state in S-FNF-S Josephson structures

The critical current I _C of S-FNF-S Josephson structures has been calculated as a function of the distance between the superconducting (S) electrodes, L, via the Usadel semiclassical equations for the case of specifying the supercurrent in the direction parallel to the interface between the ferromagnetic (F) and normal (N) films of the composite weak-link region. It has been shown that, owing to the interaction between the F and N films, both the typical decrease scale of the critical current and the period of its oscillations to lengths of the scale ξ_N can be much larger than the respective quantities for the SFS junctions. Moreover, this interaction changes both the magnitude and sign of the critical current. It has been shown that the critical current in a structure with the collinear magnetization vectors of the films can be significantly different from the critical current in a structure with the antiparallel magnetization of the F films.     

Application of Donkin’s formula in the theory of energy analyzers: Part II

Studies of conic-type electric-field structures are continued. The electric field is investigated, and its potential is described by the following analytical expression. $\Phi (x,y,z) = \frac{x}{{z + \sqrt {x^2 + y^2 + z^2 } }}$ . Expression (1) is derived on the basis of Donkin’s formula. Properties of these electric fields are described in Part I [1].     

Transition from Disorder to Order in Traffic Flow

We propose a new technique to investigate the dynamical transitions among the traffic phases. A type of the control signals has been designated at a given site (signal point) of the single-lane highway. Under the effect of the control signal, the velocity of the vehicle that passes the signal point will be changed periodically. Our method is tested for the deterministic NaSch traffic model. The simulation results demonstrate that the disorder states in the deterministic NaSch traffic model can be suppressed, and the different types of periodic states wouldoccur.     

Influence of Doping on the Mott Metal—Insulator Transition in Infinite Dimensions

We have studied the effect of hole-doping on the established scenerio of the first-order Mott metal-insulator transition (MIT) at half-filling using dynamical mean-field theory and exact diagonalization technique.The mott insulator state is changed into metallic state immediately as holes are doped into the system.The latter is expected to be Fermi liquid.The previously found unanalytical structure of MIT no longer exists for doping as small as 2 percent.We compare our results with that obtained from Gutzwiller approximation.     

Transition to Antispirals in the Complex Ginzburg-Landau Equation

We report a continuous transition from outwardly rotating spiral waves to antispirals in the complex GinzburgLandau equation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the normal spiral to antispiral transition is fulfilled through a rest spiral wave with zero propagation speed. The propagation direction of spiral waves and the power law behaviour close to the transition boundary are examined.     

The magic of Feynman’s QED: from field-less electrodynamics to the Feynman diagrams

For some time, even after the Feynman diagrams and rules were publicly known, the foundations of Feynman’s quantum electrodynamics remained mostly private. Its stupendous efficiency then appeared like magic to most of his competitors. The purpose of this essay is to reveal the hidden contrivances of this magic, in a journey from field-less electrodynamics to the Feynman diagrams.

     

Transition to Chaos in the Floating Half Zone Convection

The transition process from steady convection to chaos is experimentally studied in thermocapillary convections of floating half zone. The onset of temperature oscillations in the liquid bridge of floating half zone and further transitions of the temporal convective behaviour are detected by measuring the temperature in the liquid bridge. The fast Fourier transform reveals the frequency and amplitude characteristics of the flow transition. The experimental results indicate the existence of a sequence of period-doubling bifurcations that culminate in chaos. The measured Feigenbaum numbers are δ2 =4.69 and δ4 = 4.6, which are comparable with the theoretical asymptotic value δ=4.669.     

Ultrafast hopping dynamics of 5f electrons in the Mott insulator UO₂ studied by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy

We describe a femtosecond pump-probe study of ultrafast hopping dynamics of 5f electrons in the Mott insulator UO? following Mott-gap excitation at temperatures of 5-300 K. Hopping-induced response of the lattice and electrons is probed by transient reflectivity at mid- and above-gap photon energies, respectively. These measurements show an instantaneous hop, subsequent picosecond lattice deformation, followed by acoustic phonon emission and microsecond relaxation. Temperature-dependent studies indicate that the slow relaxation results from Hubbard excitons formed by U3?-U?? pairs.     

Hard scattering and jets: from pp collisions in the 1970’s to Au + Au collisions at RHIC

Hard scattering in pp collisions, discovered at the CERN ISR in 1972 by the method of leading particles, proved that the partons of Deeply Inelastic Scattering strongly interacted with each other. Further ISR measurements utilizing inclusive single or pairs of hadrons established that high particles are produced from states with two roughly back-to-back jets which are the result of scattering of constituents of the nucleons as described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), which was developed during the course of these measurements. These techniques, which are the only practical method to study hard-scattering and jet phenomena in Au + Au central collisions at RHIC energies, are reviewed, with application to present RHIC measurements.Arrival of the final proofs: 28 April 2005Research supported by U.S. Department of Energy, DE-AC02-98CH10886.     

Bringing quantum mechanics to life: from Schrödinger’s cat to Schrödinger’s microbe

The question whether quantum mechanics is complete and the nature of the transition between quantum mechanics and classical mechanics have intrigued physicists for decades. There have been many experimental breakthroughs in creating larger and larger quantum superposition and entangled states since Erwin Schrödinger proposed his famous thought experiment of putting a cat in a superposition of both alive and dead states in 1935. Remarkably, recent developments in quantum optomechanics and electromechanics may lead to the realisation of quantum superposition of living microbes soon. Recent evidence also suggests that quantum coherence may play an important role in several biological processes. In this review, we first give a brief introduction to basic concepts in quantum mechanics and the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment. We then review developments in creating quantum superposition and entangled states and the realisation of quantum teleportation. Non-trivial quantum effects in photosynthetic light harvesting and avian magnetoreception are also discussed. At last, we review recent proposals to realise quantum superposition, entanglement and state teleportation of micro-organisms, such as viruses and bacteria.     

Phase-shift analysis of π+ p-scattering in the energy region from 194 to 600 MeV

An energy-independent phase-shift analysis ofπ ⁺ p-scattering has been carried out at 16 energies in the region 194–600 MeV. The new data on elastic polarization, obtained in LNPI up to 1983, were included.     

Loss of Ergodicity in the Transition from Annealed to Quenched Disorder in a Finite Kinetic Ising Model

We consider a kinetic Ising model which represents a generic agent-based model for various types of socio-economic systems. We study the case of a finite (and not necessarily large) number of agents N as well as the asymptotic case when the number of agents tends to infinity. The main ingredient are individual decision thresholds which are either fixed over time (corresponding to quenched disorder in the Ising model, leading to nonlinear deterministic dynamics which are generically non-ergodic) or which may change randomly over time (corresponding to annealed disorder, leading to ergodic dynamics). We address the question how increasing the strength of annealed disorder relative to quenched disorder drives the system from non-ergodic behavior to ergodicity. Mathematically rigorous analysis provides an explicit and detailed picture for arbitrary realizations of the quenched initial thresholds, revealing an intriguing “jumpy” transition from non-ergodicity with many absorbing sets to ergodicity. For large N we find a critical strength of annealed randomness, above which the system becomes asymptotically ergodic. Our theoretical results suggests how to drive a system from an undesired socio-economic equilibrium (e.g. high level of corruption) to a desirable one (low level of corruption).     

Corrections to Kramers’ formula for the fission rate of excited nuclei

A Kramers?? formulas with corrections of the first and second infinitesimal orders, R _F and R _S , are derived from the integral Kramers?? formula. In these corrections, we consider higher derivatives of the potential and the distance between the saddle and scission points in R _F . The rates R _F and R _S are compared with the results of dynamic simulations R _D . It is shown that R _F and R _I agree with R _D equally well. The calculations are performed for different forms of the potential. Although the corrections are derived for the overdamping mode they can be used for the case of medium friction.     

From Desire to Data: How JLab’s Experimental Program Evolved Part 2: The Painstaking Transition to Concrete Plans,Mid-1980s to 1990

This is the second in a three-part article describing the development of the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility’s experimental program, from the first dreams of incisive electromagnetic probes into the structure of the nucleus through the era in which equipment was designed and constructed and a program crafted so that the long-desired experiments could begin. These developments unfolded against the backdrop of the rise of the more bureaucratic New Big Science and the intellectual tumult that grew from increasing understanding and interest in quark-level physics. Part 2, presented here, focuses on the period from 1986 to 1990. During this period of revolutionary change, laboratory personnel, potential users, and DOE officials labored to proceed from the 1986 laboratory design report, which included detailed accelerator plans and very preliminary experimental equipment sketches, to an approved 1990 experimental equipment conceptual design report, which provided designs complete enough for the onset of experimental equipment construction.     

Transition from Backscattering Speckles to Phase Conjugation in LiNbO3：Fe

We investigate the backscattering for converging beams in iron-doped lithium niobate crystals. Due to the nonlinear properties of the crystal, backscattering exhibits temporally fluctuating speckles that make a transition to the phase conjugate of the incident beam under certain circumstances. Our observation seems to point to a new kind of self-pumped phase conjugation in photorefractive media.