At low temperatures, proteins exist in a glassy state, a state that has no conformational flexibility and shows no biological functions. In a hydrated protein, at temperatures greater-- similar 220 K, this flexibility is restored, and the protein is able to sample more conformational substates, thus becoming biologically functional. This "dynamical" transition of protein is believed to be trigg...

This research quantifies the lag effects and vulnerabilities of temperature effects on cardiovascular disease in Changsha--a subtropical climate zone of China. A Poisson regression model within a distributed lag nonlinear models framework was used to examine the lag effects of cold- and heat-related CVD mortality. The lag effect for heat-related CVD mortality was just 0-3 days. In contrast, we ...

Anisotropic charge transport is observed in a two-dimensional (2D) hole system in a perpendicular magnetic field at filling factors nu=7/2, nu=11/2, and nu=13/2 at low temperature. In stark contrast, the transport at nu=9/2 is isotropic for all temperatures. Isotropic hole transport at nu=7/2 is restored for sufficiently low 2D densities or an asymmetric confining potential. The density and sym...

Understanding spatial patterns of influenza transmission is important for designing control measures. We investigate spatial patterns of laboratory-confirmed influenza A across Canada from October 1999 to August 2012. A statistical analysis (generalized linear model) of the seasonal epidemics in this time period establishes a clear spatio-temporal pattern, with influenza emerging earlier in wes...

We calculate the shift, due to interatomic interactions, of an optical transition in an atomic Fermi gas trapped in an optical lattice, as in recent experiments of Campbell et al. [Science 324, 360 (2009)]. Using a pseudospin formalism to describe the density matrix of atoms, we derive a Bloch equation which incorporates both spatial inhomogeneity of the probe laser field and interatomic intera...

NMR spectra of the non-exchangeable protons in 5S RNA from E. coli show the existence of two distinct conformers of the molecule which meet the operational definition of "A form" or native 5S RNA. Both are easily distinguished spectroscopically from denatured, "B form" 5S RNA. The conditions which interconvert the two A form conformers strongly suggest that the transition between them gives ris...

The dynamics of ethylene adsorption on the Si(001) surface was investigated by means of molecular beam techniques. A constant decrease of initial sticking probability s(0) was observed with increasing kinetic energy indicating a non-activated adsorption channel. With increasing surface temperature, s(0) decreases as well, pointing towards adsorption via a precursor state. Quantitative evaluatio...