1,325 research outputs found
ALGEBRAIC PROPERTIES OF FORMAL POWER SERIES COMPOSITION
The study of formal power series is an area of interest that spans many areas of mathematics. We begin by looking at single-variable formal power series with coefficients from a field. By restricting to those series which are invertible with respect to formal composition we form a group. Our focus on this group focuses on the classification of elements having finite order. The notion of a semi-cyclic group comes up in this context, leading to several interesting results about torsion subgroups of the group. We then expand our focus to the composition of multivariate formal power series, looking at similar questions about classifying elements of finite order. We end by defining a natural automorphism on this group induced by a group action of the symmetric group
The impact of malaria parasites on dendritic cell–T cell interaction
Malaria is caused by apicomplexan parasites of the genus Plasmodium. While infection continues to pose a risk for the majority of the global population, the burden of disease mainly resides in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although immunity develops against disease, this requires years of persistent exposure and is not associated with protection against infection. Repeat infections occur due to the parasite's ability to disrupt or evade the host immune responses. However, despite many years of study, the mechanisms of this disruption remain unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated a parasite-induced failure in dendritic cell (DCs) function affecting the generation of helper T cell responses. These T cells fail to help B cell responses, reducing the production of antibodies that are necessary to control malaria infection. This review focuses on our current understanding of the effect of Plasmodium parasite on DC function, DC-T cell interaction, and T cell activation. A better understanding of how parasites disrupt DC-T cell interactions will lead to new targets and approaches to reinstate adaptive immune responses and enhance parasite immunity
The SWELLS survey. III. Disfavouring "heavy" initial mass functions for spiral lens galaxies
We present gravitational lens models for 20 strong gravitational lens systems
observed as part of the Sloan WFC Edge-on Late-type Lens Survey (SWELLS)
project. Fifteen of the lenses are taken from paper I while five are newly
discovered systems. The systems are galaxy-galaxy lenses where the foreground
deflector has an inclined disc, with a wide range of morphological types, from
late-type spiral to lenticular. For each system, we compare the total mass
inside the critical curve inferred from gravitational lens modelling to the
stellar mass inferred from stellar population synthesis (SPS) models, computing
the stellar mass fraction f* = M(SPS)/M(lens). We find that, for the lower mass
SWELLS systems, adoption of a Salpeter stellar initial mass function (IMF)
leads to estimates of f* that exceed 1. This is unphysical, and provides strong
evidence against the Salpeter IMF being valid for these systems. Taking the
lower mass end of the SWELLS sample sigma(SIE) < 230 km/s, we find that the IMF
is lighter (in terms of stellar mass-to-light ratio) than Salpeter with 98%
probability, and consistent with the Chabrier IMF and IMFs between the two.
This result is consistent with previous studies of spiral galaxies based on
independent techniques. In combination with recent studies of massive
early-type galaxies that have favoured a heavier Salpeter-like IMF, this result
strengthens the evidence against a universal stellar IMF.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Some changes (none major) to
address the referee's comments. 18 pages, 8 figure
Dexamethasone serum concentrations after intravenous administration in horses during race training
Dexamethasone (DXM) sodium phosphate is a widely used corticosteroid for inflammatory conditions in horses, regulated in racing jurisdictions in the USA by a 0.005 ng/ml serum/plasma threshold. This study seeks to describe serum concentrations of DXM at 48 and 72 h after intravenous administration of 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate over 1 to 5 days, and to identify a possible source of DXM overages. 74 horses (39 Thoroughbreds, 13 Standardbreds, 22 Quarter Horses) in active race training received 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate. Serum was collected before injection, at 48 and 72 h post last injection, and analysed by LC/MS-MS (limit of quantification (LOQ) = 2.5 pg/ml). No differences were identified by ANOVA (P≤0.05) for racing breeds, age, gender or the number of days of DXM sodium phosphate administration, so data were pooled for each time point. The DXM serum concentration at 48 h (mean ± standard deviation, range) was 2.18±1.56 pg/ml (&&2.5 to 40 pg/ml). Summary statistics could not be derived for 72 h DXM serum concentration data owing to censored data, but ranged from &2.5 to 95.8 pg/ml. There was one extreme outlier (Tukey) at 48 h, and two extreme outliers at 72 h. A separate study was conducted using sedentary experimental horses to determine the likelihood that positive DXM samples could result from environmental transfer. Urine was collected from a mare 2 to 3 h post administration of 20 mg DXM. Hay with 100 ml of the DXM (17 ng/ml) containing urine was offered to each of six experimental horses and blood was collected at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h. All six horses had plasma DXM concentration above the limit of detection and five of six had plasma DXM concentrations above the LOQ for at least one sample time
Planet Hunters. V. A Confirmed Jupiter-Size Planet in the Habitable Zone and 42 Planet Candidates from the Kepler Archive Data
We report the latest Planet Hunter results, including PH2 b, a Jupiter-size
(R_PL = 10.12 \pm 0.56 R_E) planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a
solar-type star. PH2 b was elevated from candidate status when a series of
false positive tests yielded a 99.9% confidence level that transit events
detected around the star KIC 12735740 had a planetary origin. Planet Hunter
volunteers have also discovered 42 new planet candidates in the Kepler public
archive data, of which 33 have at least three transits recorded. Most of these
transit candidates have orbital periods longer than 100 days and 20 are
potentially located in the habitable zones of their host stars. Nine candidates
were detected with only two transit events and the prospective periods are
longer than 400 days. The photometric models suggest that these objects have
radii that range between Neptune to Jupiter. These detections nearly double the
number of gas giant planet candidates orbiting at habitable zone distances. We
conducted spectroscopic observations for nine of the brighter targets to
improve the stellar parameters and we obtained adaptive optics imaging for four
of the stars to search for blended background or foreground stars that could
confuse our photometric modeling. We present an iterative analysis method to
derive the stellar and planet properties and uncertainties by combining the
available spectroscopic parameters, stellar evolution models, and transiting
light curve parameters, weighted by the measurement errors. Planet Hunters is a
citizen science project that crowd-sources the assessment of NASA Kepler light
curves. The discovery of these 43 planet candidates demonstrates the success of
citizen scientists at identifying planet candidates, even in longer period
orbits with only two or three transit events.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables, accepted and published on ApJ ApJ,
776, 1
Dexamethasone serum concentrations after intravenous administration in horses during race training
Dexamethasone (DXM) sodium phosphate is a widely used corticosteroid for inflammatory conditions in horses, regulated in racing jurisdictions in the USA by a 0.005 ng/ml serum/plasma threshold. This study seeks to describe serum concentrations of DXM at 48 and 72 h after intravenous administration of 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate over 1 to 5 days, and to identify a possible source of DXM overages. 74 horses (39 Thoroughbreds, 13 Standardbreds, 22 Quarter Horses) in active race training received 20 mg DXM sodium phosphate. Serum was collected before injection, at 48 and 72 h post last injection, and analysed by LC/MS-MS (limit of quantification (LOQ) = 2.5 pg/ml). No differences were identified by ANOVA (P ≤ 0.05) for racing breeds, age, gender or the number of days of DXM sodium phosphate administration, so data were pooled for each time point. Summary statistics could not be derived for 72 h DXM serum concentration data owing to censored data, but ranged from \u3c 2.5 to 95.8 pg/ml. There was one extreme outlier (Tukey) at 48 h, and two extreme outliers at 72 h. A separate study was conducted using sedentary experimental horses to determine the likelihood that positive DXM samples could result from environmental transfer. Urine was collected from a mare 2 to 3 h post administration of 20 mg DXM. Hay with 100 ml of the DXM (17 ng/ml) containing urine was offered to each of six experimental horses and blood was collected at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 h. All six horses had plasma DXM concentration above the limit of detection and five of six had plasma DXM concentrations above the LOQ for at least one sample time
Optimisation of the Schizosaccharomyces pombe urg1 expression system
The ability to study protein function in vivo often relies on systems that regulate the presence and absence of the protein of interest. Two limitations for previously described transcriptional control systems that are used to regulate protein expression in fission yeast are: the time taken for inducing conditions to initiate transcription and the ability to achieve very low basal transcription in the "OFF-state". In previous work, we described a Cre recombination-mediated system that allows the rapid and efficient regulation of any gene of interest by the urg1 promoter, which has a dynamic range of approximately 75-fold and which is induced within 30-60 minutes of uracil addition. In this report we describe easy-to-use and versatile modules that can be exploited to significantly tune down P urg1 "OFF-levels" while maintaining an equivalent dynamic range. We also provide plasmids and tools for combining P urg1 transcriptional control with the auxin degron tag to help maintain a null-like phenotype. We demonstrate the utility of this system by improved regulation of HO-dependent site-specific DSB formation, by the regulation Rtf1-dependent replication fork arrest and by controlling Rhp18(Rad18)-dependent post replication repair
Recon 2.2: from reconstruction to model of human metabolism.
IntroductionThe human genome-scale metabolic reconstruction details all known metabolic reactions occurring in humans, and thereby holds substantial promise for studying complex diseases and phenotypes. Capturing the whole human metabolic reconstruction is an on-going task and since the last community effort generated a consensus reconstruction, several updates have been developed.ObjectivesWe report a new consensus version, Recon 2.2, which integrates various alternative versions with significant additional updates. In addition to re-establishing a consensus reconstruction, further key objectives included providing more comprehensive annotation of metabolites and genes, ensuring full mass and charge balance in all reactions, and developing a model that correctly predicts ATP production on a range of carbon sources.MethodsRecon 2.2 has been developed through a combination of manual curation and automated error checking. Specific and significant manual updates include a respecification of fatty acid metabolism, oxidative phosphorylation and a coupling of the electron transport chain to ATP synthase activity. All metabolites have definitive chemical formulae and charges specified, and these are used to ensure full mass and charge reaction balancing through an automated linear programming approach. Additionally, improved integration with transcriptomics and proteomics data has been facilitated with the updated curation of relationships between genes, proteins and reactions.ResultsRecon 2.2 now represents the most predictive model of human metabolism to date as demonstrated here. Extensive manual curation has increased the reconstruction size to 5324 metabolites, 7785 reactions and 1675 associated genes, which now are mapped to a single standard. The focus upon mass and charge balancing of all reactions, along with better representation of energy generation, has produced a flux model that correctly predicts ATP yield on different carbon sources.ConclusionThrough these updates we have achieved the most complete and best annotated consensus human metabolic reconstruction available, thereby increasing the ability of this resource to provide novel insights into normal and disease states in human. The model is freely available from the Biomodels database (http://identifiers.org/biomodels.db/MODEL1603150001)
Planet Hunters X: Searching for Nearby Neighbors of 75 Planet and Eclipsing Binary Candidates from the K2 Kepler Extended Mission
We present high-resolution observations of a sample of 75 K2 targets from
Campaigns 1-3 using speckle interferometry on the Southern Astrophysical
Research (SOAR) telescope and adaptive optics (AO) imaging at the Keck II
telescope. The median SOAR -band and Keck -band detection limits at 1"
were ~mag and ~mag, respectively. This
sample includes 37 stars likely to host planets, 32 targets likely to be
eclipsing binaries (EBs), and 6 other targets previously labeled as likely
planetary false positives. We find nine likely physically bound companion stars
within 3" of three candidate transiting exoplanet host stars and six likely
EBs. Six of the nine detected companions are new discoveries; one of the six,
EPIC 206061524, is associated with a planet candidate. Among the EB candidates,
companions were only found near the shortest period ones ( days), which is
in line with previous results showing high multiplicity near short-period
binary stars. This high-resolution data, including both the detected companions
and the limits on potential unseen companions, will be useful in future planet
vetting and stellar multiplicity rate studies for planets and binaries.Comment: Accepted in A
Solar-like oscillations in the G2 subgiant beta Hydri from dual-site observations
We have observed oscillations in the nearby G2 subgiant star beta Hyi using
high-precision velocity observations obtained over more than a week with the
HARPS and UCLES spectrographs. The oscillation frequencies show a regular comb
structure, as expected for solar-like oscillations, but with several l=1 modes
being strongly affected by avoided crossings. The data, combined with those we
obtained five years earlier, allow us to identify 28 oscillation modes. By
scaling the large frequency separation from the Sun, we measure the mean
density of beta Hyi to an accuracy of 0.6%. The amplitudes of the oscillations
are about 2.5 times solar and the mode lifetime is 2.3 d. A detailed comparison
of the mixed l=1 modes with theoretical models should allow a precise estimate
of the age of the star.Comment: 13 pages, 14 figures, accepted by ApJ. Fixed minor typo (ref to Fig
14
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