William Karstens

BIOTIN CHEMORESPONSE IN PARAMECIUM

Paramecium tetraurelia locate their␣foodsource by detecting bacterial metabolites and altering swimming behavior to congregate near bacterial populations on which they feed. Several attractants, such as folate, glutamate, cAMP and acetate have been identified and various aspects of chemoreception, signal transduction and effector mechanisms have been described. Here we characterize the Paramecium chemoresponse to biotin. An essential enzymatic cofactor in all cells, biotin is secreted by a large number of bacterial species during growth phase. P. tetraurelia are strongly attracted to biotin with a half-maximal behavioral response at 0.3 mmol · 1−1 in T-maze assays. Physiological recordings from whole cells show that cells hyperpolarize in a concentration-dependent manner in biotin. Whole-cell binding assays utilizing 3H-biotin identify a saturable and specific binding site with an apparent dissociation constant of 0.4 mmol · l−1. The biotin analogs desthiobiotin and biotin methyl ester are also strong attractants. Diaminobiotin fails to attract P. tetraurelia at 1 mmol · l−1, but does interfere with the biotin chemoresponse and displaces 3H-biotin from whole cells. We hypothesize that the keto group and/or fidelity of the ureido ring of biotin are necessary for biotin chemoresponse.

Cauchy's dispersion equation reconsidered: Dispersion in silicate glasses

We formulate a novel method of characterizing optically transparent substances using dispersion theory. The refractive index is given by a generalized Cauchy dispersion equation with coefficients that are moments of the uv and ir absorptions. Mean dispersion, Abbé number, and partial dispersion are combinations of these moments. The empirical relation between index and dispersion for families of glasses appears as a consequence of Beers law applied to the uv spectra.

X-ray core states, atomic size and Moseley's law

Abstract Vintis dipolar sum-rule for the spatial extent of quantum states was tested on atomic K-shell and ns valence states. Agreement between radii derived from absorption spectra and from atomic-structure calculations is excellent, provided Pauli-principle-prohibited transitions are accounted for. These many-electron corrections to the single-electron sum-rule contributed less than 20% to the radii, which supports application of single-electron rules to electron-excess defects as a first approximation. We found the oscillator strength for K-shell excitations decreases rapidly with atomic number because of strength transfer to higher-lying p states. Hence, K-shell contributions to radiation damage decrease with increasing atomic number. A new interpretation of Moseleys law for the X-ray K edge in terms of K-shell radii is described.

Defect signatures in dispersion spectra

Abstract The change in refractive index produced by defects in insulating crystals is studied using dispersion theory. Although typically 10 −3 smaller than the host-crystal index, this change can be observed in non-polar insulators and semiconductors for which the index obeys the Cauchy dispersion equation. Index measurements on high-purity silicon are analyzed as an example.