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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

4-Hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate reductase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae – structure and interactions with coenzymes and substrate analog

Highlights: • N. gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen which is a leading cause of communicable diseases. • 4-Hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate reductase from N. gonorrhoeae (NgDapB) is a new drug target, and its structure was determined. • ITC we have demonstrated and characterized binding of NADH, NADPH and an inhibitor (2,6-PDC) to NgDapB. • In the case of NgDapB, the ITC results suggest random sequential mechanism for substrate binding. • A large scale analysis of DapBs' sequences revealed that DapBs can be segregated into three distinct groups. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, an obligate human pathogen, is a leading cause of communicable diseases globally. Due to rapid development of drug resistance, the rate of successfully curing gonococcal infections is rapidly decreasing. Hence, research is being directed toward finding alternative drugs or drug targets to help eradicate these infections. 4-Hydroxy-tetrahydrodipicolinate reductase (DapB), an important enzyme in the meso-diaminopimelate pathway, is a promising target for the development of new antibiotics. This manuscript describes the first structure of DapB from N. gonorrhoeae determined at 1.85 Å. This enzyme uses NAD(P)H as cofactor. Details of the interactions of the enzyme with its cofactors and a substrate analog/inhibitor are discussed. A large scale bioinformatics analysis of DapBs' sequences is also described.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Controlling structure distortions in 3-layer ferroelectric Aurivillius oxides

Combined Rietveld refinements of x-ray and neutron powder diffraction data were used to understand the subtle structure distortions in 3-layer Aurivillius oxides that yield off-centering displacements in ferroelectric and multiferroic compositions. Ferroelectric phases including Bi{sub 2}A{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 12} (A=La, Pr, Nd, La/Pr, La/Nd, Pr/Nd), Bi{sub 2}A{sub 2}TiNb{sub 2}O{sub 12} (A=Ca/Sr, Sr, and Sr/Ba) and Bi{sub 2}A{sub 2}TiTa{sub 2}O{sub 12} (A=Ca/Sr, and Sr/Ba) were studied to separate the effects of cation size and charge on the structure distortions and properties. A new approach to describing the local coordination around the Ti, Nb, and/or Ta ions is presented, where the oxygen octahedra are characterized as containing kinks in three dimensions. The kink angles follow trends with the A-site ionic radius and the ferroelectric polarization. The driving force for extensive cation site mixing between the Bi and A-site cations has been clearly established, with site mixing required to maintain interlayer bonding. - Graphical abstract: Distortion of the oxygen octahedra from planar geometries can be controlled via choice of the perovskite A-site cation, and the kink angle correlates with cation off-centering and ferroelectric polarization. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer A-site cations define the tilt and distortion of the octahedral. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Distortions of oxygen octahedra, ignoring the central cation, link to ferroelectric polarization. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Bi ion occupancy in the perovskite causes distortion of the oxygen sublattice. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We predict multiferroic behavior from off-centering caused by the Bi ion lone pair.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Three Dimensional Mapping of Nicle Oxidation States Using Full Field Xray Absorption Near Edge Structure Nanotomography

The reduction-oxidation cycling of the nickel-based oxides in composite solid oxide fuel cells and battery electrodes is directly related to cell performance. A greater understanding of nickel redox mechanisms at the microstructural level can be achieved in part using transmission x-ray microscopy (TXM) to explore material oxidation states. X-ray nanotomography combined with x-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy has been applied to study samples containing distinct regions of nickel and nickel oxide (NiO) compositions. Digitally processed images obtained using TXM demonstrate the three-dimensional chemical mapping and microstructural distribution capabilities of full-field XANES nanotomography.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Non-Gaussian structure of B-mode polarization after delensing

The B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background on large scales has been considered as a probe of gravitational waves from the cosmic inflation. Ongoing and future experiments will, however, suffer from contamination due to the B-modes of non-primordial origins, one of which is the lensing induced B-mode polarization. Subtraction of the lensing B-modes, usually referred to as delensing, will be required for further improvement of detection sensitivity of the gravitational waves. In such experiments, knowledge of statistical properties of the B-modes after delensing is indispensable to likelihood analysis particularly because the lensing B-modes are known to be non-Gaussian. In this paper, we study non-Gaussian structure of the delensed B-modes on large scales, comparing it with that of the lensing B-modes. In particular, we investigate the power spectrum correlation matrix and the probability distribution function (PDF) of the power spectrum amplitude. Assuming an experiment in which the quadratic delensing is an almost optimal method, we find that delensing reduces correlations of the lensing B-mode power spectra between different multipoles, and that the PDF of the power spectrum amplitude is well described as a normal distribution function with a variance larger than that in the case of a Gaussian field. These features are well captured by an analytic model based on the 4th order Edgeworth expansion. As a consequence of the non-Gaussianity, the constraint on the tensor-to-scalar ratio after delensing is degraded within approximately a few percent, which depends on the multipole range included in the analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Event structure and double helicity asymmetry in jet production from polarized p+p collisions at (sq rt) s = 200 GeV

We report on the event structure and double helicity asymmetry (A{sub LL}) of jet production in longitudinally polarized p+p collisions at {radical}s = 200 GeV. Photons and charged particles were measured by the PHENIX experiment at midrapidity |{eta}| < 0.35 with the requirement of a high-momentum (> 2 GeV/c) photon in the event. Event structure, such as multiplicity, p{sub T} density and thrust in the PHENIX acceptance, were measured and compared with the results from the pythia event generator and the geant detector simulation. The shape of jets and the underlying event were well reproduced at this collision energy. For the measurement of jet ALL, photons and charged particles were clustered with a seed-cone algorithm to obtain the cluster p{sub T} sum (p{sub T}{sup reco}). The effect of detector response and the underlying events on p{sub T}{sup reco} was evaluated with the simulation. The production rate of reconstructed jets is satisfactorily reproduced with the next-to-leading-order and perturbative quantum chromodynamics jet production cross section. For 4 < p{sub T}{sup reco} < 12 GeV/c with an average beam polarization of <P> = 49% we measured A{sub LL} = -0.0014 {+-} 0.0037{sup stat} at the lowest p{sub T}{sup reco} bin (4-5 GeV/c) and -0.0181 {+-} 0.0282{sup stat} at the highest p{sub T}{sup reco} bin (10-12 GeV/c) with a beam polarization scale error of 9.4% and a p{sub T} scale error of 10%. Jets in the measured p{sub T}{sup reco} range arise primarily from hard-scattered gluons with momentum fraction 0.02 < x < 0.3 according to pythia. The measured A{sub LL} is compared with predictions that assume various {Delta}G(x) distributions based on the Gluck-Reya-Stratmann-Vogelsang parameterization. The present result imposes the limit -1.1 < {integral}{sub 0.02}{sup 0.3}dx{Delta}G(x,{mu}{sup 2} = 1 GeV{sup 2}) < 0.4 at 95% confidence level or {integral}{sub 0.02}{sup 0.3}dx{Delta}G(x,{mu}2 = 1 GeV{sup 2}) < 0.5 at 99% confidence level.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Comparative Genome Structure, Secondary Metabolite, and Effector Coding Capacity across Cochliobolus Pathogens

The genomes of five Cochliobolus heterostrophus strains, two Cochliobolus sativus strains, three additional Cochliobolus species (Cochliobolus victoriae, Cochliobolus carbonum, Cochliobolus miyabeanus), and closely related Setosphaeria turcica were sequenced at the Joint Genome Institute (JGI). The datasets were used to identify SNPs between strains and species, unique genomic regions, core secondary metabolism genes, and small secreted protein (SSP) candidate effector encoding genes with a view towards pinpointing structural elements and gene content associated with specificity of these closely related fungi to different cereal hosts. Whole-genome alignment shows that three to five of each genome differs between strains of the same species, while a quarter of each genome differs between species. On average, SNP counts among field isolates of the same C. heterostrophus species are more than 25 higher than those between inbred lines and 50 lower than SNPs between Cochliobolus species. The suites of nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS), polyketide synthase (PKS), and SSP encoding genes are astoundingly diverse among species but remarkably conserved among isolates of the same species, whether inbred or field strains, except for defining examples that map to unique genomic regions. Functional analysis of several strain-unique PKSs and NRPSs reveal a strong correlation with a role in virulence.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗