680 research outputs found

    P6_5 The Flash and Quantum Tunneling

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    The Flash, a popular DC Comics superhero, is regarded as the fastest human alive. He has the power to run faster than light and phase through solid objects while doing so. Since his power to run faster than light is disputed by Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, for this article we will assume that he is able to achieve a maximum velocity of 0:99 c . Given the high kinetic energy, in this paper we look at the possibility of him quantum tunneling through a solid object such as a wall

    Ostracoda from Lee Point on Shoal Bay, Northern Australia: part 3, podocopina (cytheracea)

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    The littoral environments present in Shoal Bay, Northern Territory (Australia) show a high diversity of ostracods cyther&aacute;ceos (51 genera and 97 species). Probably this diversity is due to three factors: (1) marine environments warm and well oxygenated leading to a high level of biological productivity, (2) shallow marine environments favorable for the accumulation of material conch&iacute;fero post mortem, and (3) a location central in the way of dispersal on the continental shelf between the regions of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. A particular feature of this fauna Cytherscea is that some genres, such as Alocopocythere, can be traced back to the Cretaceous when it first appeared in the shallow waters of the Tethys. In this overlay component of the ancient ostracods are the dominant fauna in partnerships of the modern Indo / Pacific, such as gender Keiji. While the Cytheracea ostracods are the dominant groups, especially the Cypridacea marine Bairdiacea and Plstycopina, are well represented and are quite different (fide Whatley et al., 1995, 1996). We describe here a new genre, Paraxestoleberis, and 15 new species: Dentiby&iacute;here multituberosa, Dampiercythere papillolineata, Neocy&iacute;heromorpha papilloporosa, Loxoconcha catas&iacute;eros, Semicyrherura gamma, Callistocy&iacute;here cookei, Loxocorniculum koolpionyahensis, Ke&uacute;ia interim, K. profundosculpia, K. parademissa, Quasibradleya leepoin&iacute;ensis, Actinocy&iacute;hereis gippsi, Henryhowella sinespinosa, Pon&iacute;icocy&iacute;hereis spatulospinosa and Paraxestoleberis posteroacuminata. Due to the limited material obtained, 16 species are kept in open nomenclature: Bythoceratina sp. Corallicy&iacute;here sp. Venericythere sp. Tanella sp. Loxocorniculum sp. 1 L. sp. 2, Gambiella sp. Javanella sp. Paradoxostoma sp. Neomonoceratina sp., Bradley (sl) sp. Echinocytbereis (sl) sp. Pla&iacute;ycy&iacute;hereis? sp. Alocopocy&iacute;here sp. Xestoleberis sp. and Paraxestoleberis sp. The remaining 66 species have been described previously in other areas.<br /

    Hepatitis C virus exploits cyclophilin A to evade PKR

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    Counteracting innate immunity is essential for successful viral replication. Host cyclophilins (Cyps) have been implicated in viral evasion of host antiviral responses, although the mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we show that hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-opts the host protein CypA to aid evasion of antiviral responses dependent on the effector protein kinase R (PKR). Pharmacological inhibition of CypA rescues PKR from antagonism by HCV NS5A, leading to activation of an interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF1)-driven cell intrinsic antiviral program that inhibits viral replication. These findings further the understanding of the complexity of Cyp-virus interactions, provide mechanistic insight into the remarkably broad antiviral spectrum of Cyp inhibitors, and uncover novel aspects of PKR activity and regulation. Collectively, our study identifies a novel antiviral mechanism that harnesses cellular antiviral immunity to suppress viral replication

    Photodissociation dynamics of methyl iodide probed using femtosecond extreme ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy

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    Femtosecond pump-probe photoelectron spectroscopy measurements using an extreme ultraviolet probe have been made on the photodissociation dynamics of UV (269 nm) excited CH3I. The UV excitation leads to population of the 3Q0 state which rapidly dissociates. The dissociation is manifested as shifts in the measured photoelectron kinetic energy that map the extending C-I bond. The increased energy available in the XUV probe relative to a UV probe means the dynamics are followed over the chemically important region as far as C-I bond lengths of approximately 4 Ă…

    From Sensor Readings to Predictions: On the Process of Developing Practical Soft Sensors.

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    Automatic data acquisition systems provide large amounts of streaming data generated by physical sensors. This data forms an input to computational models (soft sensors) routinely used for monitoring and control of industrial processes, traffic patterns, environment and natural hazards, and many more. The majority of these models assume that the data comes in a cleaned and pre-processed form, ready to be fed directly into a predictive model. In practice, to ensure appropriate data quality, most of the modelling efforts concentrate on preparing data from raw sensor readings to be used as model inputs. This study analyzes the process of data preparation for predictive models with streaming sensor data. We present the challenges of data preparation as a four-step process, identify the key challenges in each step, and provide recommendations for handling these issues. The discussion is focused on the approaches that are less commonly used, while, based on our experience, may contribute particularly well to solving practical soft sensor tasks. Our arguments are illustrated with a case study in the chemical production industry

    The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Measurement of the 600< ell <8000 Cosmic Microwave Background Power Spectrum at 148 GHz

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    We present a measurement of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation observed at 148 GHz. The measurement uses maps with 1.4' angular resolution made with data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The observations cover 228 square degrees of the southern sky, in a 4.2-degree-wide strip centered on declination 53 degrees South. The CMB at arcminute angular scales is particularly sensitive to the Silk damping scale, to the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect from galaxy clusters, and to emission by radio sources and dusty galaxies. After masking the 108 brightest point sources in our maps, we estimate the power spectrum between 600 < \ell < 8000 using the adaptive multi-taper method to minimize spectral leakage and maximize use of the full data set. Our absolute calibration is based on observations of Uranus. To verify the calibration and test the fidelity of our map at large angular scales, we cross-correlate the ACT map to the WMAP map and recover the WMAP power spectrum from 250 < ell < 1150. The power beyond the Silk damping tail of the CMB is consistent with models of the emission from point sources. We quantify the contribution of SZ clusters to the power spectrum by fitting to a model normalized at sigma8 = 0.8. We constrain the model's amplitude ASZ < 1.63 (95% CL). If interpreted as a measurement of sigma8, this implies sigma8^SZ < 0.86 (95% CL) given our SZ model. A fit of ACT and WMAP five-year data jointly to a 6-parameter LCDM model plus terms for point sources and the SZ effect is consistent with these results.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

    Durability of Response in Children Treated with Pegylated Interferon alfa-2a +/- Ribavirin for Chronic Hepatitis C

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    Objectives: No long-term data have been published on the durability of response following pegylated interferon (PegIFN) treatment in children with chronic hepatitis C. This prospective, multicenter, long-term follow-up (LTFU) study aimed to assess long-term durability of sustained virological response (SVR), long-term safety and tolerability, and the association between IL28B genotype and treatment response, in children previously treated with PegIFN alfa-2a ± ribavirin (RBV) in the PEDS-C trial. Methods: A total of 93 patients were assessed for enrollment, and 38 enrolled in the study. Patients attended 2 study visits: 5 (mean 5.6, range 4.1–6.6) and 6 (6.6, 5.1–7.7) years after treatment cessation. Standardized medical history, physical examination, and laboratory testing were performed at these visits. Reminder telephone calls were conducted at 4 and 8 months after the initial visit. Results: The LTFU cohort was the representative of the original PEDS-C cohort because both baseline and treatment characteristics were comparable. Of the 38 participants, 21 achieved SVR (responders) during the PEDS-C trial and 17 had not (nonresponders). All 21 responders maintained undetectable hepatitis C virus RNA during the LTFU (4.4–7.0 years after achieving SVR) in contrast to the nonresponders who demonstrated persistent viremia. IL28B CC genotype was associated with SVR (67% vs 30% in non-CC, P = 0.028). Conclusion: Long-term durability of SVR is excellent following PegIFN alfa-2a treatment in children with chronic hepatitis C; SVR is higher in those with IL28B CC versus non-CC
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