450 research outputs found
Progressive Transient Photon Beams
In this work we introduce a novel algorithm for transient rendering in
participating media. Our method is consistent, robust, and is able to generate
animations of time-resolved light transport featuring complex caustic light
paths in media. We base our method on the observation that the spatial
continuity provides an increased coverage of the temporal domain, and
generalize photon beams to transient-state. We extend the beam steady-state
radiance estimates to include the temporal domain. Then, we develop a
progressive version of spatio-temporal density estimations, that converges to
the correct solution with finite memory requirements by iteratively averaging
several realizations of independent renders with a progressively reduced kernel
bandwidth. We derive the optimal convergence rates accounting for space and
time kernels, and demonstrate our method against previous consistent transient
rendering methods for participating media
Sub-Doppler spectroscopy of Rb atoms in a sub-micron vapor cell in the presence of a magnetic field
We report the first use of an extremely thin vapor cell (thickness ~ 400 nm)
to study the magnetic-field dependence of laser-induced-fluorescence excitation
spectra of alkali atoms. This thin cell allows for sub-Doppler resolution
without the complexity of atomic beam or laser cooling techniques. This
technique is used to study the laser-induced-fluorescence excitation spectra of
Rb in a 50 G magnetic field. At this field strength the electronic angular
momentum J and nuclear angular momentum I are only partially decoupled. As a
result of the mixing of wavefunctions of different hyperfine states, we observe
a nonlinear Zeeman effect for each sublevel, a substantial modification of the
transition probabilities between different magnetic sublevels, and the
appearance of transitions that are strictly forbidden in the absence of the
magnetic field. For the case of right- and left- handed circularly polarized
laser excitation, the fluorescence spectra differs qualitatively. Well
pronounced magnetic field induced circular dichroism is observed. These
observations are explained with a standard approach that describes the partial
decoupling of I and J states
Adjoint "quarks" on coarse anisotropic lattices: Implications for string breaking in full QCD
A detailed study is made of four dimensional SU(2) gauge theory with static
adjoint ``quarks'' in the context of string breaking. A tadpole-improved action
is used to do simulations on lattices with coarse spatial spacings ,
allowing the static potential to be probed at large separations at a
dramatically reduced computational cost. Highly anisotropic lattices are used,
with fine temporal spacings , in order to assess the behavior of the
time-dependent effective potentials. The lattice spacings are determined from
the potentials for quarks in the fundamental representation. Simulations of the
Wilson loop in the adjoint representation are done, and the energies of
magnetic and electric ``gluelumps'' (adjoint quark-gluon bound states) are
calculated, which set the energy scale for string breaking. Correlators of
gauge-fixed static quark propagators, without a connecting string of spatial
links, are analyzed. Correlation functions of gluelump pairs are also
considered; similar correlators have recently been proposed for observing
string breaking in full QCD and other models. A thorough discussion of the
relevance of Wilson loops over other operators for studies of string breaking
is presented, using the simulation results presented here to support a number
of new arguments.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figure
Both base excision repair and O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase protect against methylation-induced colon carcinogenesis
Methylating agents are widely distributed environmental carcinogens. Moreover, they are being used in cancer chemotherapy. The primary target of methylating agents is DNA, and therefore, DNA repair is the first-line barrier in defense against their toxic and carcinogenic effects. Methylating agents induce in the DNA O[superscript 6]-methylguanine (O[superscript 6]MeG) and methylations of the ring nitrogens of purines. The lesions are repaired by O[superscript 6]-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (Mgmt) and by enzymes of the base excision repair (BER) pathway, respectively. Whereas O[superscript 6]MeG is well established as a pre-carcinogenic lesion, little is known about the carcinogenic potency of base N-alkylation products such as N3-methyladenine and N3-methylguanine. To determine their role in cancer formation and the role of BER in cancer protection, we checked the response of mice with a targeted gene disruption of Mgmt or N-alkylpurine-DNA glycosylase (Aag) or both Mgmt and Aag, to azoxymethane (AOM)-induced colon carcinogenesis, using non-invasive mini-colonoscopy. We demonstrate that both Mgmt- and Aag-null mice show a higher colon cancer frequency than the wild-type. With a single low dose of AOM (3 mg/kg) Aag-null mice showed an even stronger tumor response than Mgmt-null mice. The data provide evidence that both BER initiated by Aag and O[superscript 6]MeG reversal by Mgmt are required for protection against alkylation-induced colon carcinogenesis. Further, the data indicate that non-repaired N-methylpurines are not only pre-toxic but also pre-carcinogenic DNA lesions.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (FOR 527)Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (DFG KA 724/13-3)Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (WI 3304/1-1
Balancing repair and tolerance of DNA damage caused by alkylating agents
Alkylating agents constitute a major class of frontline chemotherapeutic drugs that inflict cytotoxic DNA damage as their main mode of action, in addition to collateral mutagenic damage. Numerous cellular pathways, including direct DNA damage reversal, base excision repair (BER) and mismatch repair (MMR), respond to alkylation damage to defend against alkylation-induced cell death or mutation. However, maintaining a proper balance of activity both within and between these pathways is crucial for a favourable response of an organism to alkylating agents. Furthermore, the response of an individual to alkylating agents can vary considerably from tissue to tissue and from person to person, pointing to genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that modulate alkylating agent toxicity
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