Project description:Archived samples from a previously unreported 1958 Stanley Miller electric discharge experiment containing hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S) were recently discovered and analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We report here the detection and quantification of primary amine-containing compounds in the original sample residues, which were produced via spark discharge using a gaseous mixture of H(2)S, CH(4), NH(3), and CO(2). A total of 23 amino acids and 4 amines, including 7 organosulfur compounds, were detected in these samples. The major amino acids with chiral centers are racemic within the accuracy of the measurements, indicating that they are not contaminants introduced during sample storage. This experiment marks the first synthesis of sulfur amino acids from spark discharge experiments designed to imitate primordial environments. The relative yield of some amino acids, in particular the isomers of aminobutyric acid, are the highest ever found in a spark discharge experiment. The simulated primordial conditions used by Miller may serve as a model for early volcanic plume chemistry and provide insight to the possible roles such plumes may have played in abiotic organic synthesis. Additionally, the overall abundances of the synthesized amino acids in the presence of H(2)S are very similar to the abundances found in some carbonaceous meteorites, suggesting that H(2)S may have played an important role in prebiotic reactions in early solar system environments.
Project description:We designed and conducted a series of primordial-soup Miller-Urey style experiments with deuterated gases and reagents to compare the spark-discharge products of a "deuterated world" with the standard reaction in the "hydrogenated world". While the deuteration of the system has little effect on the distribution of amino acid products, significant differences are seen in other regions of the product-space. Not only do we observe about 120 new species, we also see significant differences in their distribution if the two hydrogen isotope worlds are compared. Several isotopologue matches can be identified in both, but a large proportion of products have no equivalent in the corresponding isotope world with ca. 43 new species in the D world and ca. 39 new species in the H world. This shows that isotopic exchange (the addition of only one neutron) may lead to significant additional complexity in chemical space under otherwise identical reaction conditions.
Project description:We have designed a set of experiments to test the role of borosilicate reactor on the yielding of the Miller-Urey type of experiment. Two experiments were performed in borosilicate flasks, two in a Teflon flask and the third couple in a Teflon flask with pieces of borosilicate submerged in the water. The experiments were performed in CH4, N2, and NH3 atmosphere either buffered at pH 8.7 with NH4Cl or unbuffered solutions at pH ca. 11, at room temperature. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy results show important differences in the yields, the number of products, and molecular weight. In particular, a dipeptide, multi-carbon dicarboxylic acids, PAHs, and a complete panel of biological nucleobases form more efficiently or exclusively in the borosilicate vessel. Our results offer a better explanation of the famous Miller's experiment showing the efficiency of borosilicate in a triphasic system including water and the reduced Miller-Urey atmosphere.
Project description:As a typical self-driven many-particle system far from equilibrium, traffic flow exhibits diverse fascinating non-equilibrium phenomena, most of which are closely related to traffic flow stability and specifically the growth/dissipation pattern of disturbances. However, the traffic theories have been controversial due to a lack of precise traffic data. We have studied traffic flow from a new perspective by carrying out large-scale car-following experiment on an open road section, which overcomes the intrinsic deficiency of empirical observations. The experiment has shown clearly the nature of car-following, which runs against the traditional traffic flow theory. Simulations show that by removing the fundamental notion in the traditional car-following models and allowing the traffic state to span a two-dimensional region in velocity-spacing plane, the growth pattern of disturbances has changed qualitatively and becomes qualitatively or even quantitatively in consistent with that observed in the experiment.
Project description:The chemical substitution of a transition metal (M) is an effective method to improve the functionality of materials. In order to design the highly functional materials, we first have to know the local structure and electronic state around the substituted element. Here, we systematically investigated the local structure and electronic state of the host (M h) and guest (M g) transition metals in metal-hexacyanoferrate (M-HCF), Na x (M h, M g)[Fe(CN)6] y (1.40 < x < 1.60 and 0.85 < y < 0.90), by means of extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analyses. The EXAFS and XANES analyses revealed that the local structure and electronic state around M g are essentially the same as those in the pure compound, i.e, M g-HCF. Such an invariant nature of M g in M-HCF is in sharp contrast with that in layered oxide, in which the M g valence changes so that local M g-O distance (d M-Og) approaches the M h-O distance (d M-Oh).
Project description:Clinical trials are necessary in order to develop treatments for diseases; however, they can often be costly, time consuming, and demanding to the patients. This paper summarizes several common methods used for optimal design that can be used to address these issues. In addition, we introduce a novel method for optimizing experiment designs applied to HIV 2-LTR clinical trials. Our method employs Bayesian techniques to optimize the experiment outcome by maximizing the Expected Kullback-Leibler Divergence (EKLD) between the a priori knowledge of system parameters before the experiment and the a posteriori knowledge of the system parameters after the experiment. We show that our method is robust and performs equally well if not better than traditional optimal experiment design techniques.
Project description:To find differentially expressed genes by comparing Fuss neurons and mutant Fuss neurons we utilised targeted DamID in Drosophila melanogaster. This not only predicts many genes expressed and nonexpressed in adult Fuss neuron populations, but also reveals Fuss being expressed in gustatory neurons, especially bitter gustatory neurons. Comparison of control and mutant datasets reveals a reduced expression of gustatory receptor gene Gr66a. Gr66a is an important component of the gustatory receptors compounds responsible for toxic compound sensation. Behaviourial tests reveal an impaired toxic compound sensation of adult Fuss mutant flies.