1,978 research outputs found
Heliospheric plasma sheets
[1] As a high-beta feature on scales of hours or less, the heliospheric plasma sheet (HPS) encasing the heliospheric current sheet shows a high degree of variability. A study of 52 sector boundaries identified in electron pitch angle spectrograms in Wind data from 1995 reveals that only half concur with both high-beta plasma and current sheets, as required for an HPS. The remaining half lack either a plasma sheet or current sheet or both. A complementary study of 37 high-beta events reveals that only 5 contain sector boundaries while nearly all (34) contain local magnetic field reversals, however brief. We conclude that high-beta plasma sheets surround current sheets but that most of these current sheets are associated with fields turned back on themselves. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that high-beta plasma sheets, both at and away from sector boundaries, are the heliospheric counterparts of the small coronal transients observed at the tips of helmet streamers, in which case the proposed mechanism for their release, interchange reconnection, could be responsible for the field inversions
Experimental procedures for precision measurements of the Casimir force with an Atomic Force Microscope
Experimental methods and procedures required for precision measurements of
the Casimir force are presented. In particular, the best practices for
obtaining stable cantilevers, calibration of the cantilever, correction of
thermal and mechanical drift, measuring the contact separation, sphere radius
and the roughness are discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
Evaluation of Background Ionising Radiation Levels in Benue State University Teaching Hospital Makurdi North Central Nigeria
No Abstract
Magnetothermopower and Magnetoresistivity of RuSr2Gd1-xLaxCu2O8 (x=0, 0.1)
We report measurements of magnetothermopower and magnetoresistivity as a
function of temperature on RuSr2Gd1-xLaxCu2O8 (x = 0, 0.1). The normal-state
thermopower shows a dramatic decrease after applying a magnetic field of 5 T,
whereas the resistivity shows only a small change after applying the same
field. Our results suggest that RuO2 layers are conducting and the magnetic
field induced decrease of the overall thermopower is caused by the decrease of
partial thermopower decrease associated with the spin entropy decrease of the
carriers in the RuO2 layers.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure
Sitagliptin is effective and safe as add-on to insulin in patients with absolute insulin deficiency: a case series
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>It is generally believed that incretin-based therapies are effective in patients possessing certain levels of preserved Ī²-cell function. So far, there are no reports that show the effectiveness of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors in patients who absolutely lack the capacity for endogenous insulin secretion.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>This report describes the efficacy of sitagliptin in three Japanese patients (a 91-year-old Japanese woman with type 1 diabetes, a 54-year-old Japanese man with type 2 diabetes and a 30-year-old Japanese man with features of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes) who had no detectable post-meal C-peptide levels. Although they were receiving intensive insulin therapy together with some oral hypoglycemic agents, their glycemic control remained poor. Sitagliptin was added to the ongoing therapeutic regimen to provide better glycemic control. Although these patients had mild hypoglycemia, effective reductions of hemoglobin A1c levels were observed without any adverse events in the liver and kidney during the following 24 weeks. Two of the patients were able to reduce their insulin doses, and one of the patients could discontinue one of the oral hypoglycemic agents. There was no weight gain or gastrointestinal complaints among the three patients. Post-meal C-peptide levels remained undetectable after sitagliptin treatment.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This report demonstrates that sitagliptin is effective and safe as an add-on therapy to insulin in reducing blood glucose levels in patients who absolutely lack the capacity for endogenous insulin secretion. The improvement seen in glycemic control could not be due to enhanced endogenous insulin secretion, since post-meal C-peptide levels remained undetectable after sitagliptin treatment, but it could be a result of other factors (for example, suppression of glucagon levels). However, the glucagon-suppressive effect of sitagliptin is known to be rather weak and short-lived. Given this background, a novel hypothesis that the glycemic effects of this drug may be caused by mechanisms that are independent of the glucagon-like peptide 1 axis (extra-pancreatic effect) will be discussed.</p
Total Synthesis and Functional Evaluation of IORs, Sulfonolipidābased Inhibitors of Cell Differentiation in Salpingoeca rosetta
The choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta is an important model system to study the evolution of multicellularity. In this study we developed a new, modular, and scalable synthesis of sulfonolipid IORā1A (six steps, 27ā% overall yield), which acts as bacterial inhibitor of rosette formation in S.ā
rosetta . The synthesis features a decarboxylative crossācoupling reaction of a sulfonic acidācontaining tartaric acid derivative with alkyl zinc reagents. Synthesis of 15 modified IORā1A derivatives, including fluorescent and photoaffinityābased probes, allowed quantification of IORā1A, localization studies within S.ā
rosetta cells, and evaluation of structureāactivity relations. In a proof of concept study, an inhibitory bifunctional probe was employed in proteomic profiling studies, which allowed to deduce binding partners in bacteria and S.ā
rosetta . These results showcase the power of synthetic chemistry to decipher the biochemical basis of cell differentiation processes within S.ā
rosetta
Recommended from our members
A GPU-based Calculation Method for Near Field Effects of Cherenkov Radiation Induced by Ultra High Energy Cosmic Neutrinos
Microscopic Approach to Magnetism and Superconductivity of -Electron Systems with Filled Skutterudite Structure
In order to gain a deep insight into -electron properties of filled
skutterudite compounds from a microscopic viewpoint, we investigate the
multiorbital Anderson model including Coulomb interactions, spin-orbit
coupling, and crystalline electric field effect. For each case of
=113, where is the number of electrons per rare-earth ion, the
model is analyzed by using the numerical renormalization group (NRG) method to
evaluate magnetic susceptibility and entropy of electron. In order to make
further step to construct a simplified model which can be treated even in a
periodic system, we also analyze the Anderson model constructed based on the
- coupling scheme by using the NRG method. Then, we construct an orbital
degenerate Hubbard model based on the - coupling scheme to investigate
the mechanism of superconductivity of filled skutterudites. In the 2-site
model, we carefully evaluate the superconducting pair susceptibility for the
case of =2 and find that the susceptibility for off-site Cooper pair is
clearly enhanced only in a transition region in which the singlet and triplet
ground states are interchanged.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, Typeset with jpsj2.cl
Concordance among gene expression-based predictors for ER-positive breast cancer treated with adjuvant tamoxifen
Funding: NCI Breast SPORE program (P50-CA58223-09A1); (RO1-420 CA138255) Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Sociedad EspaƱola de OncologĆa MĆ©dica (SEOM) and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. AP is affiliated to the Medicine PhD program of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain.ER-positive (ER+) breast cancer includes all of the intrinsic molecular subtypes, although the luminal A and B subtypes predominate. In this study, we evaluated the ability of six clinically relevant genomic signatures to predict relapse in patients with ER+ tumors treated with adjuvant tamoxifen only. Four microarray datasets were combined and research-based versions of PAM50 intrinsic subtyping and risk of relapse (PAM50-ROR) score, 21-gene recurrence score (OncotypeDX), Mammaprint, Rotterdam 76 gene, index of sensitivity to endocrine therapy (SET) and an estrogen-induced gene set were evaluated. Distant relapse-free survival (DRFS) was estimated by Kaplan-Meier and log-rank tests, and multivariable analyses were done using Cox regression analysis. Harrell's C-index was also used to estimate performance. All signatures were prognostic in patients with ER+ node-negative tumors, whereas most were prognostic in ER+ node-positive disease. Among the signatures evaluated, PAM50-ROR, OncotypeDX, Mammaprint and SET were consistently found to be independent predictors of relapse. A combination of all signatures significantly increased the performance prediction. Importantly, low-risk tumors (>90% DRFS at 8.5 years) were identified by the majority of signatures only within node-negative disease, and these tumors were mostly luminal A (78%-100%). Most established genomic signatures were successful in outcome predictions in ER+ breast cancer and provided statistically independent information. From a clinical perspective, multiple signatures combined together most accurately predicted outcome, but a common finding was that each signature identified a subset of luminal A patients with node-negative disease who might be considered suitable candidates for adjuvant endocrine therapy alone
- ā¦