514 research outputs found
Low-energy Dipole Excitations in Nuclei at the N=50,82 and Z=50 Shell Closures as Signatures for a Neutron Skin
Low-energy dipole excitations have been investigated theoretically in N=50,
several N=82 isotones and the Z=50 Sn isotopes. For this purpose a method
incorporating both HFB and multi-phonon QPM theory is applied. A concentration
of one-phonon dipole strength located below the neutron emission threshold has
been calculated in these nuclei. The analysis of the corresponding neutron and
proton dipole transition densities allows to assign a genuine pattern to the
low-energy excitations and making them distinct from the conventional GDR
modes. Analyzing also the QRPA wave functions of the states we can identify
these excitations as Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) modes, recently studied also
in Sn and N=82 nuclei. The results for N=50 are exploratory for an experimental
project designed for the bremsstrahlung facility at the ELBE accelerator.Comment: Nuclear Physics in Astrophysics III Conference, 26 - 31 March 2007,
Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, German
Properties of the 5- state at 839 keV in 176Lu and the s-process branching at A = 176
The s-process branching at mass number A = 176 depends on the coupling
between the high-K ground state and a low-lying low-K isomer in 176Lu. This
coupling is based on electromagnetic transitions via intermediate states at
higher energies. The properties of the lowest experimentally confirmed
intermediate state at 839 keV are reviewed, and the transition rate between
low-K and high-K states under stellar conditions is calculated on the basis of
new experimental data for the 839 keV state. Properties of further candidates
for intermediate states are briefly analyzed. It is found that the coupling
between the high-K ground state and the low-K isomer in 176Lu is at least one
order of magnitude stronger than previously assumed leading to crucial
consequences for the interpretation of the 176Lu/176Hf pair as an s-process
thermometer.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Large Oligomeric Complex Structures Can Be Computationally Assembled by Efficiently Combining Docked Interfaces
Macromolecular oligomeric assemblies are involved in many biochemical processes of living organisms. The benefits of such assemblies in crowded cellular environments include increased reaction rates, efficient feedback regulation, cooperativity and protective functions. However, an atom‐level structural determination of large assemblies is challenging due to the size of the complex and the difference in binding affinities of the involved proteins. In this study, we propose a novel combinatorial greedy algorithm for assembling large oligomeric complexes from information on the approximate position of interaction interfaces of pairs of monomers in the complex. Prior information on complex symmetry is not required but rather the symmetry is inferred during assembly. We implement an efficient geometric score, the transformation match score, that bypasses the model ranking problems of state‐of‐the‐art scoring functions by scoring the similarity between the inferred dimers of the same monomer simultaneously with different binding partners in a (sub)complex with a set of pregenerated docking poses. We compiled a diverse benchmark set of 308 homo and heteromeric complexes containing 6 to 60 monomers. To explore the applicability of the method, we considered 48 sets of parameters and selected those three sets of parameters, for which the algorithm can correctly reconstruct the maximum number, namely 252 complexes (81.8%) in, at least one of the respective three runs. The crossvalidation coverage, that is, the mean fraction of correctly reconstructed benchmark complexes during crossvalidation, was 78.1%, which demonstrates the ability of the presented method to correctly reconstruct topology of a large variety of biological complexes. Proteins 2015; 83:1887–1899. © 2015 The Authors. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc
The Selection Function of SZ Cluster Surveys
We study the nature of cluster selection in Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) surveys,
focusing on single frequency observations and using Monte Carlo simulations
incorporating instrumental effects, primary cosmic microwave background (CMB)
anisotropies and extragalactic point sources. Clusters are extracted from
simulated maps with an optimal, multi-scale matched filter. We introduce a
general definition for the survey selection function that provides a useful
link between an observational catalog and theoretical predictions. The
selection function defined over the observed quantities of flux and angular
size is independent of cluster physics and cosmology, and thus provides a
useful characterization of a survey. Selection expressed in terms of cluster
mass and redshift, on the other hand, depends on both cosmology and cluster
physics. We demonstrate that SZ catalogs are not simply flux limited, and
illustrate how incorrect modeling of the selection function leads to biased
estimates of cosmological parameters. The fact that SZ catalogs are not flux
limited complicates survey ``calibration'' by requiring more detailed
information on the relation between cluster observables and cluster mass.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics, 11 pages, 7
figure
Constraining dark energy with Sunyaev-Zel'dovich cluster surveys
We discuss the prospects of constraining the properties of a dark energy
component, with particular reference to a time varying equation of state, using
future cluster surveys selected by their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We compute
the number of clusters expected for a given set of cosmological parameters and
propogate the errors expected from a variety of surveys. In the short term they
will constrain dark energy in conjunction with future observations of type Ia
supernovae, but may in time do so in their own right.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, version accepted for publication in PR
A Comparison of Algorithms for the Construction of SZ Cluster Catalogues
We evaluate the construction methodology of an all-sky catalogue of galaxy
clusters detected through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. We perform an
extensive comparison of twelve algorithms applied to the same detailed
simulations of the millimeter and submillimeter sky based on a Planck-like
case. We present the results of this "SZ Challenge" in terms of catalogue
completeness, purity, astrometric and photometric reconstruction. Our results
provide a comparison of a representative sample of SZ detection algorithms and
highlight important issues in their application. In our study case, we show
that the exact expected number of clusters remains uncertain (about a thousand
cluster candidates at |b|> 20 deg with 90% purity) and that it depends on the
SZ model and on the detailed sky simulations, and on algorithmic implementation
of the detection methods. We also estimate the astrometric precision of the
cluster candidates which is found of the order of ~2 arcmins on average, and
the photometric uncertainty of order ~30%, depending on flux.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A: 14 pages, 7 figures. Detailed
figures added in Appendi
Search for the electric dipole excitations to the multiplet in Sn
The odd-mass Sn nucleus was investigated in nuclear resonance
fluorescence experiments up to an endpoint energy of the incident photon
spectrum of 4.1 MeV at the bremsstrahlung facility of the Stuttgart University.
More than 50 mainly hitherto unknown levels were found. From the measurement of
the scattering cross sections model independent absolute electric dipole
excitation strengths were extracted. The measured angular distributions
suggested the spins of 11 excited levels. Quasi-particle phonon model
calculations including a complete configuration space were performed for the
first time for a heavy odd-mass spherical nucleus. These calculations give a
clear insight in the fragmentation and distribution of the , , and
excitation strength in the low energy region. It is proven that the
component of the two-phonon quintuplet built on
top of the ground state is strongly fragmented. The theoretical
calculations are consistent with the experimental data.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
O(12) limit and complete classification of symmetry schemes in proton-neutron interacting boson model
It is shown that the proton-neutron interacting boson model (pnIBM) admits
new symmetry limits with O(12) algebra which break F-spin but preserves the
quantum number M_F. The generators of O(12) are derived and the quantum number
`v' of O(12) for a given boson number N is determined by identifying the
corresponding quasi-spin algebra. The O(12) algebra generates two symmetry
schemes and for both of them, complete classification of the basis states and
typical spectra are given. With the O(12) algebra identified, complete
classification of pnIBM symmetry limits with good M_F is established.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figur
CD20 and CD19 targeted vectors induce minimal activation of resting B lymphocytes
B lymphocytes are an important cell population of the immune system. However, until recently it was not possible to transduce resting B lymphocytes with retro- or lentiviral vectors, making them unsusceptible for genetic manipulations by these vectors. Lately, we demonstrated that lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with modified measles virus (MV) glycoproteins hemagglutinin, responsible for receptor recognition, and fusion protein were able to overcome this transduction block. They use either the natural MV receptors, CD46 and signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM), for cell entry (MV-LV) or the vector particles were further modified to selectively enter via the CD20 molecule, which is exclusively expressed on B lymphocytes (CD20-LV). It has been shown previously that transduction by MV-LV does not induce B lymphocyte activation. However, if this is also true for CD20-LV is still unknown. Here, we generated a vector specific for another B lymphocyte marker, CD19, and compared its ability to transduce resting B lymphocytes with CD20-LV. The vector (CD19ds-LV) was able to stably transduce unstimulated B lymphocytes, albeit with a reduced efficiency of about 10% compared to CD20-LV, which transduced about 30% of the cells. Since CD20 as well as CD19 are closely linked to the B lymphocyte activation pathway, we investigated if engagement of CD20 or CD19 molecules by the vector particles induces activating stimuli in resting B lymphocytes. Although, activation of B lymphocytes often involves calcium influx, we did not detect elevated calcium levels. However, the activation marker CD71 was substantially up-regulated upon CD20-LV transduction and most importantly, B lymphocytes transduced with CD20-LV or CD19ds-LV entered the G1b phase of cell cycle, whereas untransduced or MV-LV transduced B lymphocytes remained in G0. Hence, CD20 and CD19 targeting vectors induce activating stimuli in resting B lymphocytes, which most likely renders them susceptible for lentiviral vector transduction
Catalog Extraction in SZ Cluster Surveys: a matched filter approach
We present a method based on matched multifrequency filters for extracting
cluster catalogs from Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) surveys. We evaluate its
performance in terms of completeness, contamination rate and photometric
recovery for three representative types of SZ survey: a high resolution single
frequency radio survey (AMI), a high resolution ground-based multiband survey
(SPT), and the Planck all-sky survey. These surveys are not purely flux
limited, and they loose completeness significantly before their point-source
detection thresholds. Contamination remains relatively low at <5% (less than
30%) for a detection threshold set at S/N=5 (S/N=3). We identify photometric
recovery as an important source of catalog uncertainty: dispersion in recovered
flux from multiband surveys is larger than the intrinsic scatter in the Y-M
relation predicted from hydrodynamical simulations, while photometry in the
single frequency survey is seriously compromised by confusion with primary
cosmic microwave background anisotropy. The latter effect implies that
follow-up observations in other wavebands (e.g., 90 GHz, X-ray) of single
frequency surveys will be required. Cluster morphology can cause a bias in the
recovered Y-M relation, but has little effect on the scatter; the bias would be
removed during calibration of the relation. Point source confusion only
slightly decreases multiband survey completeness; single frequency survey
completeness could be significantly reduced by radio point source confusion,
but this remains highly uncertain because we do not know the radio counts at
the relevant flux levels.Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures, replaced to match version accepted for
publication in A&
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