81 research outputs found
Discovery of 21 New Changing-look AGNs in Northern Sky
The rare case of changing-look (CL) AGNs, with the appearance or
disappearance of broad Balmer emission lines within a few years, challenges our
understanding of the AGN unified model. We present a sample of 21 new CL AGNs
at , which doubles the number of such objects known to date. These
new CL AGNs were discovered by several ways, from (1) repeat spectra in the
SDSS, (2) repeat spectra in the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic
Telescope (LAMOST) and SDSS, and (3) photometric variability and new
spectroscopic observations. We use the photometric data from surveys, including
the SDSS imaging survey, the Pan-STARRS1, the DESI Legacy imaging survey, the
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Catalina Real-time Transient
Survey, and the Palomar Transient Factory. The estimated upper limits of
transition timescale of the CL AGNs in this sample spans from 0.9 to 13 years
in the rest frame. The continuum flux in the optical and mid-infrared becomes
brighter when the CL AGNs turn on, or vice versa. Variations of more than 0.2
mag in band were detected in 15 CL AGNs during the transition. The optical
and mid-infrared variability is not consistent with the scenario of variable
obscuration in 10 CL AGNs at more than confidence level. We confirm a
bluer-when-brighter trend in the optical. However, the mid-infrared WISE colors
become redder when the objects become brighter in the band,
possibly due to a stronger hot dust contribution in the band when the AGN
activity becomes stronger. The physical mechanism of type transition is
important for understanding the evolution of AGNs.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
An Unusual Mid-infrared Flare in a Type 2 AGN: An Obscured Turning-on AGN or Tidal Disruption Event?
We report the discovery of an exceptional MIR flare in a Type 2 AGN, SDSS J165726.81+234528.1, at z = 0.059. This object brightened by 3 mag in the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) W1 and W2 bands between 2015 and 2017 (and has been fading since 2018), without significant changes (≾0.2 mag) in the optical over the same period of time. Based on the WISE light curves and near-IR imaging, the flare is more significant at longer wavelengths, suggesting an origin of hot dust emission. The estimated black hole mass (~10^(6.5) M⊙) from different methods places its peak bolometric luminosity around the Eddington limit. The high luminosity of the MIR flare and its multiyear timescale suggest that it most likely originated from reprocessed dust radiation in an extended torus surrounding the AGN, instead of from stellar explosions. The MIR color variability is consistent with known changing-look AGN and tidal disruption events (TDEs), but inconsistent with normal supernovae. We suggest that it is a turning-on Type 2 AGN or TDE, where the optical variability is obscured by the dust torus during the transition. This MIR flare event reveals a population of dramatic nuclear transients that are missed in the optical
Microbead-Based Platform for Multiplex Detection of DNA and Protein
We present a novel microbead-based
detection platform as a simple
and universal strategy for simultaneous determination of multiple
biomolecules. This platform is composed of streptavidin coated uniform-sized
polystyrene microbeads, dye and biotin-labeled ssDNA or aptamer probes,
and quencher-labeled complementary sequences. By this method, upon
target binding to the probes, quencher strand dissociation is triggered,
which results in fluorescence reactivation of the microbead linked
probes. The fluorescence variation is readily monitored by flow cytometry
and with a high sensitivity. Explicitly, this microbead-based detection
platform shows a high sensitivity for target DNA with a detection
limit as low as 0.20 nM, alongside good selectivity from one-base
mismatched DNA. This novel platform also shows good selectivity and
high sensitivity for protein detection when aptamer is used as a probe.
The detection limit for lysozyme is as low as 8.56 nM. Moreover, simultaneous
detection of multiple targets has been achieved via incorporating
different dye-labeled probes on the microbeads concurrently. We have
also applied this developed strategy to the detection of target DNA
in human serum. This strategy can be easily extended to other targets
through simple probe and quencher variation
General Peroxidase Activity of G-Quadruplex−Hemin Complexes and Its Application in Ligand Screening
A DNA Aptameric Ligand of Human Transferrin Receptor Generated by Cell-SELEX
General cancer-targeted ligands that can deliver drugs to cells have been given considerable attention. In this paper, a high-affinity DNA aptamer (HG1) generally binding to human tumor cells was evolved by cell-SELEX, and was further optimized to have 35 deoxynucleotides (HG1-9). Aptamer HG1-9 could be taken up by live cells, and its target protein on a cell was identified to be human transferrin receptor (TfR). As a man-made ligand of TfR, aptamer HG1-9 was demonstrated to bind at the same site of human TfR as transferrin with comparable binding affinity, and was proved to cross the epithelium barrier through transferrin receptor-mediated transcytosis. These results suggest that aptamer HG1-9 holds potential as a promising ligand to develop general cancer-targeted diagnostics and therapeutics
Adaptive Single Photon Compressed Imaging Based on Constructing a Smart Threshold Matrix
We demonstrate a single-photon compressed imaging system based on single photon counting technology and compressed sensing theory. In order to cut down the measurement times and shorten the imaging time, a fast and efficient adaptive sampling method, suited for single-photon compressed imaging, is proposed. First, the pre-measured rough images are transformed into sparse bases as a priori information. Then a smart threshold matrix is designed by using large sparse coefficients of the rough image in sparse bases. The adaptive measurement matrix is obtained by modifying the original Gaussian random matrix with the specially designed threshold matrix. Building the adaptive measurement matrix requires only one level of sparse representation, which means that adaptive imaging can be achieved quickly with very little computation. The experimental results show that the reconstruction effect of the image measured using the adaptive measurement matrix is obviously superior than that of the Gaussian random matrix under different measurement times and different reconstruction algorithms
Modeling and Testing of a Composite Steel–Concrete Joint for Hybrid Girder Bridges
A hybrid girder bridge adopts a steel segment at the mid-span of the main span of a continuous concrete girder bridge. The critical point of the hybrid solution is the transition zone, connecting the steel and concrete segments of the beam. Although many girder tests revealing the structural behavior of hybrid girders have been conducted by previous studies, few specimens took the full section of a steel–concrete joint due to the large size of prototype hybrid bridges. In this study, a static load test on a composite segment to bridge the joint between the concrete and steel parts of a hybrid bridge with full section was conducted. A finite element model replicating the tested specimen results was established through Abaqus, while parametric studies were also conducted. The test and numerical results revealed that the concrete filling in the composite solution prevented the steel flange from extensive buckling, which significantly improved the load-carrying capacity of the steel–concrete joint. Meanwhile, strengthening the interaction between the steel and concrete helps to prevent the interlayer slip and simultaneously contributes to a higher flexural stiffness. These results are an important basis for establishing a rational design scheme for the steel–concrete joint of hybrid girder bridges
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