@article{17809, abstract = {Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) in galactic nuclei are thought to be a common by-product of major galaxy mergers. We use simple disk models for the circumbinary gas and for the binary–disk interaction to follow the orbital decay of SMBHBs with a range of total masses (M) and mass ratios (q), through physically distinct regions of the disk, until gravitational waves (GWs) take over their evolution. Prior to the GW-driven phase, the viscous decay is generically in the stalled "secondary-dominated" regime. SMBHBs spend a non-negligible fraction of a fiducial time of 107 yr at orbital periods between days ≲torb≲ yr, and we argue that they may be sufficiently common to be detectable, provided they are luminous during these stages. A dedicated optical or X-ray survey could identify coalescing SMBHBs statistically, as a population of periodically variable quasars, whose abundance obeys the scaling Nvar ∝ tαvar within a range of periods around tvar∼ tens of weeks. SMBHBs with M ≲ 107 M☉, with 0.5 ≲ α ≲ 1.5, would probe the physics of viscous orbital decay, whereas the detection of a population of higher-mass binaries, with α = 8/3, would confirm that their decay is driven by GWs. The lowest-mass SMBHBs (M ≲ 105–6 M☉) enter the GW-driven regime at short orbital periods, when they are already in the frequency band of the Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA). While viscous processes are negligible in the last few years of coalescence, they could reduce the amplitude of any unresolved background due to near-stationary LISA sources. We discuss modest constraints on the SMBHB population already available from existing data, and the sensitivity and sky coverage requirements for a detection in future surveys. SMBHBs may also be identified from velocity shifts in their spectra; we discuss the expected abundance of SMBHBs as a function of their orbital velocity.}, author = {Haiman, Zoltán and Kocsis, Bence and Menou, Kristen}, issn = {0004-637X}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal}, number = {2}, pages = {1952--1969}, publisher = {American Astronomical Society}, title = {{The population of viscosity- and gravitational wave-driven supermassive black hole binaries among luminous active galactic nuclei}}, doi = {10.1088/0004-637x/700/2/1952}, volume = {700}, year = {2009}, } @article{1798, abstract = {The mammalian brain is assembled from thousands of neuronal cell types that are organized in distinct circuits to perform behaviorally relevant computations. Transgenic mouse lines with selectively marked cell types would facilitate our ability to dissect functional components of complex circuits. We carried out a screen for cell type-specific green fluorescent protein expression in the retina using BAC transgenic mice from the GENSAT project. Among others, we identified mouse lines in which the inhibitory cell types of the night vision and directional selective circuit were selectively labeled. We quantified the stratification patterns to predict potential synaptic connectivity between marked cells of different lines and found that some of the lines enabled targeted recordings and imaging of cell types from developing or mature retinal circuits. Our results suggest the potential use of a stratification-based screening approach for characterizing neuronal circuitry in other layered brain structures, such as the neocortex.}, author = {Sandra Siegert and Scherf, Brigitte G and Del Punta, Karina and Didkovsky, Nick and Heintz, Nathaniel M and Roska, Botond M}, journal = {Nature Neuroscience}, number = {9}, pages = {1197 -- 1204}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, title = {{Genetic address book for retinal cell types}}, doi = {10.1038/nn.2370}, volume = {12}, year = {2009}, } @article{1799, abstract = {The detection of approaching objects, such as looming predators, is necessary for survival. Which neurons and circuits mediate this function? We combined genetic labeling of cell types, two-photon microscopy, electrophysiology and theoretical modeling to address this question. We identify an approach-sensitive ganglion cell type in the mouse retina, resolve elements of its afferent neural circuit, and describe how these confer approach sensitivity on the ganglion cell. The circuit's essential building block is a rapid inhibitory pathway: it selectively suppresses responses to non-approaching objects. This rapid inhibitory pathway, which includes AII amacrine cells connected to bipolar cells through electrical synapses, was previously described in the context of night-time vision. In the daytime conditions of our experiments, the same pathway conveys signals in the reverse direction. The dual use of a neural pathway in different physiological conditions illustrates the efficiency with which several functions can be accommodated in a single circuit.}, author = {Münch, Thomas A and Da Silveira, Ravá A and Sandra Siegert and Viney, Tim J and Awatramani, Gautam B and Roska, Botond M}, journal = {Nature Neuroscience}, number = {10}, pages = {1308 -- 1316}, publisher = {Nature Publishing Group}, title = {{Approach sensitivity in the retina processed by a multifunctional neural circuit}}, doi = {10.1038/nn.2389}, volume = {12}, year = {2009}, } @article{844, abstract = {Mutation rate varies greatly between nucleotide sites of the human genome and depends both on the global genomic location and the local sequence context of a site. In particular, CpG context elevates the mutation rate by an order of magnitude. Mutations also vary widely in their effect on the molecular function, phenotype, and fitness. Independence of the probability of occurrence of a new mutation's effect has been a fundamental premise in genetics. However, highly mutable contexts may be preserved by negative selection at important sites but destroyed by mutation at sites under no selection. Thus, there may be a positive correlation between the rate of mutations at a nucleotide site and the magnitude of their effect on fitness. We studied the impact of CpG context on the rate of human-chimpanzee divergence and on intrahuman nucleotide diversity at non-synonymous coding sites. We compared nucleotides that occupy identical positions within codons of identical amino acids and only differ by being within versus outside CpG context. Nucleotides within CpG context are under a stronger negative selection, as revealed by their lower, proportionally to the mutation rate, rate of evolution and nucleotide diversity. In particular, the probability of fixation of a non-synonymous transition at a CpG site is two times lower than at a CpG site. Thus, sites with different mutation rates are not necessarily selectively equivalent. This suggests that the mutation rate may complement sequence conservation as a characteristic predictive of functional importance of nucleotide sites.}, author = {Schmidt, Steffen and Gerasimova, Anna and Fyodor Kondrashov and Adzuhbei, Ivan A and Kondrashov, Alexey S and Sunyaev, Shamil R}, journal = {PLoS Genetics}, number = {11}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {{Hypermutable non-synonymous sites are under stronger negative selection}}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1000281}, volume = {4}, year = {2008}, } @article{8480, abstract = {The KIX domain of the transcription co-activator CBP is a three-helix bundle protein that folds via rapid accumulation of an intermediate state, followed by a slower folding phase. Recent NMR relaxation dispersion studies revealed the presence of a low-populated (excited) state of KIX that exists in equilibrium with the natively folded form under non-denaturing conditions, and likely represents the equilibrium analog of the folding intermediate. Here, we combine amide hydrogen/deuterium exchange measurements using rapid NMR data acquisition techniques with backbone 15N and 13C relaxation dispersion experiments to further investigate the equilibrium folding of the KIX domain. Residual structure within the folding intermediate is detected by both methods, and their combination enables reliable quantification of the amount of persistent residual structure. Three well-defined folding subunits are found, which display variable stability and correspond closely to the individual helices in the native state. While two of the three helices (α2 and α3) are partially formed in the folding intermediate (to ∼ 50% and ∼ 80%, respectively, at 20 °C), the third helix is disordered. The observed helical content within the excited state exceeds the helical propensities predicted for the corresponding peptide regions, suggesting that the two helices are weakly mutually stabilized, while methyl 13C relaxation dispersion data indicate that a defined packing arrangement is unlikely. Temperature-dependent experiments reveal that the largest enthalpy and entropy changes along the folding reaction occur during the final transition from the intermediate to the native state. Our experimental data are consistent with a folding mechanism where helices α2 and α3 form rapidly, although to different extents, while helix α1 consolidates only as folding proceeds to complete the native state-structure.}, author = {Schanda, Paul and Brutscher, Bernhard and Konrat, Robert and Tollinger, Martin}, issn = {0022-2836}, journal = {Journal of Molecular Biology}, keywords = {Molecular Biology}, number = {4}, pages = {726--741}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Folding of the KIX domain: Characterization of the equilibrium analog of a folding intermediate using 15N/13C relaxation dispersion and fast 1H/2H amide exchange NMR spectroscopy}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jmb.2008.05.040}, volume = {380}, year = {2008}, } @article{8481, abstract = {The copK gene is localized on the pMOL30 plasmid of Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 within the complex cop cluster of genes, for which 21 genes have been identified. The expression of the corresponding periplasmic CopK protein is strongly upregulated in the presence of copper, leading to a high periplasmic accumulation. The structure and metal-binding properties of CopK were investigated by NMR and mass spectrometry. The protein is dimeric in the apo state with a dissociation constant in the range of 10- 5 M estimated from analytical ultracentrifugation. Mass spectrometry revealed that CopK has two high-affinity Cu(I)-binding sites per monomer with different Cu(I) affinities. Binding of Cu(II) was observed but appeared to be non-specific. The solution structure of apo-CopK revealed an all-β fold formed of two β-sheets in perpendicular orientation with an unstructured C-terminal tail. The dimer interface is formed by the surface of the C-terminal β-sheet. Binding of the first Cu(I)-ion induces a major structural modification involving dissociation of the dimeric apo-protein. Backbone chemical shifts determined for the 1Cu(I)-bound form confirm the conservation of the N-terminal β-sheet, while the last strand of the C-terminal sheet appears in slow conformational exchange. We hypothesize that the partial disruption of the C-terminal β-sheet is related to dimer dissociation. NH-exchange data acquired on the apo-protein are consistent with a lower thermodynamic stability of the C-terminal sheet. CopK contains seven methionine residues, five of which appear highly conserved. Chemical shift data suggest implication of two or three methionines (Met54, Met38, Met28) in the first Cu(I) site. Addition of a second Cu(I) ion further increases protein plasticity. Comparison of the structural and metal-binding properties of CopK with other periplasmic copper-binding proteins reveals two conserved features within these functionally related proteins: the all-β fold and the methionine-rich Cu(I)-binding site.}, author = {Bersch, Beate and Favier, Adrien and Schanda, Paul and van Aelst, Sébastien and Vallaeys, Tatiana and Covès, Jacques and Mergeay, Max and Wattiez, Ruddy}, issn = {0022-2836}, journal = {Journal of Molecular Biology}, keywords = {Molecular Biology}, number = {2}, pages = {386--403}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Molecular structure and metal-binding properties of the periplasmic CopK protein expressed in Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 during copper challenge}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jmb.2008.05.017}, volume = {380}, year = {2008}, } @article{8482, abstract = {The SOFAST-HMQC experiment [P. Schanda, B. Brutscher, Very fast two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy for real-time investigation of dynamic events in proteins on the time scale of seconds, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127 (2005) 8014–8015] allows recording two-dimensional correlation spectra of macromolecules such as proteins in only a few seconds acquisition time. To achieve the highest possible sensitivity, SOFAST-HMQC experiments are preferably performed on high-field NMR spectrometers equipped with cryogenically cooled probes. The duty cycle of over 80% in fast-pulsing SOFAST-HMQC experiments, however, may cause problems when using a cryogenic probe. Here we introduce SE-IPAP-SOFAST-HMQC, a new pulse sequence that provides comparable sensitivity to standard SOFAST-HMQC, while avoiding heteronuclear decoupling during 1H detection, and thus significantly reducing the radiofrequency load of the probe during the experiment. The experiment is also attractive for fast and sensitive measurement of heteronuclear one-bond spin coupling constants.}, author = {Kern, Thomas and Schanda, Paul and Brutscher, Bernhard}, issn = {1090-7807}, journal = {Journal of Magnetic Resonance}, keywords = {Nuclear and High Energy Physics, Biophysics, Biochemistry, Condensed Matter Physics}, number = {2}, pages = {333--338}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Sensitivity-enhanced IPAP-SOFAST-HMQC for fast-pulsing 2D NMR with reduced radiofrequency load}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jmr.2007.11.015}, volume = {190}, year = {2008}, } @article{8509, abstract = {The goal of this paper is to present to nonspecialists what is perhaps the simplest possible geometrical picture explaining the mechanism of Arnold diffusion. We choose to speak of a specific model—that of geometric rays in a periodic optical medium. This model is equivalent to that of a particle in a periodic potential in ${\mathbb R}^{n}$ with energy prescribed and to the geodesic flow in a Riemannian metric on ${\mathbb R}^{n} $.}, author = {Kaloshin, Vadim and Levi, Mark}, issn = {0036-1445}, journal = {SIAM Review}, keywords = {Theoretical Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Computational Mathematics}, number = {4}, pages = {702--720}, publisher = {Society for Industrial & Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Geometry of Arnold diffusion}}, doi = {10.1137/070703235}, volume = {50}, year = {2008}, } @article{8510, abstract = {In this paper, using the ideas of Bessi and Mather, we present a simple mechanical system exhibiting Arnold diffusion. This system of a particle in a small periodic potential can be also interpreted as ray propagation in a periodic optical medium with a near-constant index of refraction. Arnold diffusion in this context manifests itself as an arbitrary finite change of direction for nearly constant index of refraction.}, author = {Kaloshin, Vadim and Levi, Mark}, issn = {0273-0979}, journal = {Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society}, keywords = {Applied Mathematics, General Mathematics}, number = {3}, pages = {409--427}, publisher = {American Mathematical Society}, title = {{An example of Arnold diffusion for near-integrable Hamiltonians}}, doi = {10.1090/s0273-0979-08-01211-1}, volume = {45}, year = {2008}, } @article{895, abstract = {Background. The arginine vasopressin V1a receptor (V1aR) modulates social cognition and behavior in a wide variety of species. Variation in a repetitive microsatellite element in the 5′ flanking region of the V1aR gene (AVPR1A) in rodents has been associated with variation in brain V1aR expression and in social behavior. In humans, the 5′ flanking region of AVPR1A contains a tandem duplication of two ∼350 bp, microsatellite-containing elements located approximately 3.5 kb upstream of the transcription start site. The first block, referred to as DupA, contains a polymorphic (GT) 25microsatellite; the second block, DupB, has a complex (CT) 4-(TT)-(CT)8-(GT)24polymorphic motif, known as RS3. Polymorphisms in RS3 have been associated with variation in sociobehavioral traits in humans, including autism spectrum disorders. Thus, evolution of these regions may have contributed to variation in social behavior in primates. We examined the structure of these regions in six ape, six monkey, and one prosimian species. Results. Both tandem repeat blocks are present upstream of the AVPR1A coding region in five of the ape species we investigated, while monkeys have only one copy of this region. As in humans, the microsatellites within DupA and DupB are polymorphic in many primate species. Furthermore, both single (lacking DupB) and duplicated alleles (containing both DupA and DupB) are present in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) populations with allele frequencies of 0.795 and 0.205 for the single and duplicated alleles, respectively, based on the analysis of 47 wild-caught individuals. Finally, a phylogenetic reconstruction suggests two alternate evolutionary histories for this locus. Conclusion. There is no obvious relationship between the presence of the RS3 duplication and social organization in primates. However, polymorphisms identified in some species may be useful in future genetic association studies. In particular, the presence of both single and duplicated alleles in chimpanzees provides a unique opportunity to assess the functional role of this duplication in contributing to variation in social behavior in primates. While our initial studies show no signs of directional selection on this locus in chimps, pharmacological and genetic association studies support a potential role for this region in influencing V1aR expression and social behavior.}, author = {Donaldson, Zoe R and Fyodor Kondrashov and Putnam, Andrea S and Bai, Yaohui and Stoinski, Tara S and Hammock, Elizabeth A and Young, Larry}, journal = {BMC Evolutionary Biology}, number = {1}, publisher = {BioMed Central}, title = {{Evolution of a behavior-linked microsatellite-containing element in the 5′ flanking region of the primate AVPR1A gene}}, doi = {10.1186/1471-2148-8-180}, volume = {8}, year = {2008}, } @article{907, abstract = {The most common form of protein-coding gene overlap in eukaryotes is a simple nested structure, whereby one gene is embedded in an intron of another. Analysis of nested protein-coding genes in vertebrates, fruit flies and nematodes revealed substantially higher rates of evolutionary gains than losses. The accumulation of nested gene structures could not be attributed to any obvious functional relationships between the genes involved and represents an increase of the organizational complexity of animal genomes via a neutral process.}, author = {Assis, Raquel and Kondrashov, Alexey S and Koonin, Eugene V and Fyodor Kondrashov}, journal = {Trends in Genetics}, number = {10}, pages = {475 -- 478}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Nested genes and increasing organizational complexity of metazoan genomes}}, doi = {10.1016/j.tig.2008.08.003}, volume = {24}, year = {2008}, } @article{7320, abstract = {A comparative, experimental diffusivity study of gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) is presented for the first time. The GDL plays an important role for electrochemical losses due to gas transport limitations at high current densities. Characterization and optimization of these layers is therefore essential to improve power density. A recently developed method which allows for fast diffusimetry is applied and data compared to the literature values. Measurements are made as a function of direction and compression and the effect of different binder structures and hydrophobic treatments on effective diffusivities are discussed. A better understanding of the results is gained by including novel GDL cross-section images and a meaningful unit cell model for the interpretation of the data. The diffusivity data is valuable for GDL manufacturers and future PEFC models. The study reveals that a binder–fiber ratio larger than 50% has a negative impact on the effective diffusion properties. The hydrophobic treatment which is necessary to improve the water management can impede diffusion and thus reduce the power density. Furthermore binder has an isotropic effect while compression pronounces the in-plane orientation of the fibers.}, author = {Flückiger, Reto and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Kramer, Denis and Wokaun, Alexander and Scherer, Günther G. and Büchi, Felix N.}, issn = {0013-4686}, journal = {Electrochimica Acta}, number = {2}, pages = {551--559}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Anisotropic, effective diffusivity of porous gas diffusion layer materials for PEFC}}, doi = {10.1016/j.electacta.2008.07.034}, volume = {54}, year = {2008}, } @article{7321, abstract = {Cell interaction phenomena in polymer electrolyte fuel cell stacks that arise from imbalance between adjacent cells are investigated in detail experimentally and theoretically. A specialized two-cell stack with advanced localized diagnostics was developed and used to analyze the mechanism and effect of cell-to-cell coupling as a result of operationally relevant variations in reactant feed flow. Contributions to overall and local voltage changes with respect to uniformly operated cells are scrutinized. Unequal operation of the cells causes in-plane current in the bipolar plate to redistribute current and result in inhomogeneous polarization. Both increasing and decreasing polarization along the air-flow path reduces cell power as compared to isopotential operation. A two-dimensional model based on a commercial computational fluid dynamics code is used to back and extend the experimental results to more general cases. Furthermore, the experimental setup presented allowed for the first time to perform simultaneous localized electrochemical impedance spectroscopy beyond the single-cell level. The mechanism of mutual cell interaction on local and integral spectra is revealed. Results show that virtually identical operation of the cells is essential to obtain meaningful integral spectra.}, author = {Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Schneider, Ingo A. and Sui, Pang-Chieh and Wokaun, Alexander and Djilali, Nedjib and Büchi, Felix N.}, issn = {0013-4651}, journal = {Journal of The Electrochemical Society}, number = {7}, publisher = {The Electrochemical Society}, title = {{Cell interaction phenomena in polymer electrolyte fuel cell stacks}}, doi = {10.1149/1.2913095}, volume = {155}, year = {2008}, } @article{7322, abstract = {The gas diffusion layers (GDLs) of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) serve as link between flow field and porous electrode within a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. Beside ensuring sufficient electrical and thermal contact between the whole electrode area and the flow field, these typically 200–400 μm thick porous structures enable the access of educts to the electrode area which would be occluded by the flow field lands if the flow field is directly attached to the electrode. Hence, the characterisation of properties pertaining to mass transport of educts and products through these structures is indispensable whilst examining the contribution of the GDLs to the overall electrochemical characteristics of a MEA. A fast and cost effective method to measure the effective diffusivity of a GDL is presented. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is applied to measure the effective ionic conductivity of an electrolyte-soaked GDL. Taking advantage of the analogy between Ficks and Ohms law, this provides a measure for the effective diffusivity. The method is described in detail, including experimental as well as theoretical aspects, and selected results, highlighting the anisotropy and dependence on the degree of compression, are shown. Moreover, a two-dimensional model consisting of regularly spaced ellipses is developed to represent the porous structure of the GDL, and by using conformal maps, the agreement between this model and experiment with respect to the sensitivity of the effective diffusivity towards compression is shown.}, author = {Kramer, Denis and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Flückiger, Reto and Schneider, Ingo A. and Wokaun, Alexander and Büchi, Felix N. and Scherer, Günther G.}, issn = {1572-6657}, journal = {Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry}, number = {1}, pages = {63--77}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Electrochemical diffusimetry of fuel cell gas diffusion layers}}, doi = {10.1016/j.jelechem.2007.09.014}, volume = {612}, year = {2008}, } @inproceedings{7425, abstract = {The propagation of single cell performance losses to adjacent cells in a polymer electrolyte fuel cell stack is studied by means of local current density measurements in a two cell stack. In this stack, the working conditions of adjacent cells can be controlled independently in order to deliberately change the performance of one cell (inducing cell) and study the coupling effects to the adjacent cell (response cell), while keeping the working conditions of the later one unchanged. The experiments have shown that changes in the current density distribution caused by lowering of the air stoichiometry in the inducing cell cause changes in the current density distribution of the response cell in the order of 60% of the change of the inducing cell, even when the air stoichiometry of the response cell is kept constant. The losses in cell voltage of the inducing cell cause losses in cell voltage of the response cell in a magnitude between 30 and 50%.}, author = {Santis, Marco and Freunberger, Stefan Alexander and Papra, Matthias and Büchi, Felix N.}, booktitle = {3rd International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology}, isbn = {0791837645}, location = {Ypsilanti, MI, United States}, pages = {763--765}, publisher = {ASMEDC}, title = {{Experimental investigation of the propagation of local current density variations to adjacent cells in PEFC stacks}}, doi = {10.1115/fuelcell2005-74116}, year = {2008}, } @inproceedings{753, abstract = {This paper addresses the following question: what is the minimum-sized synchronous window needed to solve consensus in an otherwise asynchronous system? In answer to this question, we present the first optimally-resilient algorithm ASAP that solves consensus as soon as possible in an eventually synchronous system, i.e., a system that from some time GST onwards, delivers messages in a timely fashion. ASAP guarantees that, in an execution with at most f failures, every process decides no later than round GST + f + 2, which is optimal.}, author = {Alistarh, Dan-Adrian and Gilbert, Seth and Guerraoui, Rachid and Travers, Corentin}, pages = {32 -- 46}, publisher = {Springer}, title = {{How to solve consensus in the smallest window of synchrony}}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-540-87779-0_3}, volume = {5218 LNCS}, year = {2008}, } @article{7752, author = {Robinson, Matthew Richard and Pilkington, Jill G. and Clutton-Brock, Tim H. and Pemberton, Josephine M. and Kruuk, Loeske. E.B.}, issn = {0960-9822}, journal = {Current Biology}, number = {10}, pages = {751--757}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Environmental heterogeneity generates fluctuating selection on a secondary sexual trait}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2008.04.059}, volume = {18}, year = {2008}, } @article{581, abstract = {We have detected a spin-dependent displacement perpendicular to the refractive index gradient for photons passing through an air-glass interface. The effect is the photonic version of the spin Hall effect in electronic systems, indicating the universality of the effect for particles of different nature. Treating the effect as a weak measurement of the spin projection of the photons, we used a preselection and postselection technique on the spin state to enhance the original displacement by nearly four orders of magnitude, attaining sensitivity to displacements of ∼1 angstrom. The spin Hall effect can be used for manipulating photonic angular momentum states, and the measurement technique holds promise for precision metrology.}, author = {Onur Hosten and Kwiat, Paul}, journal = {Science}, number = {5864}, pages = {787 -- 790}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, title = {{Observation of the spin hall effect of light via weak measurements}}, doi = {10.1126/science.1152697}, volume = {319}, year = {2008}, } @inproceedings{584, abstract = {Using “quantum weak-measurements” as a coherent enhancement technique for small signals, we have measured the recently proposed “spin Hall effect” of light at an air-glass interface, and are working on the smoothly varying refractive-index case.}, author = {Hosten, Onur and Kwiat, Paul}, isbn = {978-155752859-9}, issn = {21622701}, location = {San Jose, CA, United States}, publisher = {Optica Publishing Group}, title = {{Spin hall effect of light via weak measurements: Sharp and smooth index variations}}, year = {2008}, } @article{6146, abstract = {Homeostasis of internal carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2) levels is fundamental to all animals. Here we examine the CO2 response of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This species inhabits rotting material, which typically has a broad CO2 concentration range. We show that well fed C. elegans avoid CO2 levels above 0.5%. Animals can respond to both absolute CO2 concentrations and changes in CO2 levels within seconds. Responses to CO2 do not reflect avoidance of acid pH but appear to define a new sensory response. Sensation of CO2 is promoted by the cGMP-gated ion channel subunits TAX-2 and TAX-4, but other pathways are also important. Robust CO2 avoidance in well fed animals requires inhibition of the DAF-16 forkhead transcription factor by the insulin-like receptor DAF-2. Starvation, which activates DAF-16, strongly suppresses CO2 avoidance. Exposure to hypoxia (<1% O2) also suppresses CO2 avoidance via activation of the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor HIF-1. The npr-1 215V allele of the naturally polymorphic neuropeptide receptor npr-1, besides inhibiting avoidance of high ambient O2 in feeding C. elegans, also promotes avoidance of high CO2. C. elegans integrates competing O2 and CO2 sensory inputs so that one response dominates. Food and allelic variation at NPR-1 regulate which response prevails. Our results suggest that multiple sensory inputs are coordinated by C. elegans to generate different coherent foraging strategies.}, author = {Bretscher, A. J. and Busch, K. E. and de Bono, Mario}, issn = {0027-8424}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, number = {23}, pages = {8044--8049}, publisher = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, title = {{A carbon dioxide avoidance behavior is integrated with responses to ambient oxygen and food in Caenorhabditis elegans}}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.0707607105}, volume = {105}, year = {2008}, }