19,107 research outputs found
HST NICMOS imaging of z~2, 24 micron-selected Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies
We present Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS H-band imaging of 33 Ultraluminous
Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) at z~2 that were selected from the 24 micron catalog
of the Spitzer Extragalactic First Look Survey. The images reveal that at least
17 of the 33 objects are associated with interactions. Up to one fifth of the
sources in our sample could be minor mergers whereas only 2 systems are merging
binaries with luminosity ratio <=3:1, which is characteristic of local ULIRGs.
The rest-frame optical luminosities of the sources are of the order 10^10-10^11
L_sun and their effective radii range from 1.4 to 4.9 kpc. The most compact
sources are either those with a strong active nucleus continuum or those with a
heavy obscuration in the mid-infrared regime, as determined from Spitzer
Infra-Red Spectrograph data. The luminosity of the 7.7 micron feature produced
by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules varies significantly among compact
systems whereas it is typically large for extended systems. A bulge-to-disk
decomposition performed for the 6 brightest (m_H<20) sources in our sample
indicates that they are best fit by disk-like profiles with small or negligible
bulges, unlike the bulge-dominated remnants of local ULIRGs. Our results
provide evidence that the interactions associated with ultraluminous infrared
activity at z~2 can differ from those at z~0.Comment: ApJ, in press. Document revised to match the journal versio
Clusterization, frustration and collectivity in random networks
We consider the random Erd{\H o}s--R\'enyi network with enhanced
clusterization and Ising spins at the network nodes. Mutually linked
spins interact with energy . Magnetic properties of the system as dependent
on the clustering coefficient are investigated with the Monte Carlo heat
bath algorithm. For the Curie temperature increases from 3.9 to 5.5
when increases from almost zero to 0.18. These results deviate only
slightly from the mean field theory. For the spin-glass phase appears
below ; this temperature decreases with , on the contrary to the
mean field calculations. The results are interpreted in terms of social
systems.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; serious change of result
Constant mean curvature solutions of the Einstein-scalar field constraint equations on asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds
We follow the approach employed by Y. Choquet-Bruhat, J. Isenberg and D.
Pollack in the case of closed manifolds and establish existence and
non-existence results for the Einstein-scalar field constraint equations on
asymptotically hyperbolic manifolds.Comment: 15 page
Dynamics of Phase Behavior of a Polymer Blend Under Shear Flow
We study the dynamics of the phase behavior of a polymer blend in the
presence of shear flow. By adopting a two fluid picture and using a
generalization of the concept of material derivative, we construct kinetic
equations that describe the phase behavior of polymer blends in the presence of
external flow. A phenomenological form for the shear modulus for the blend is
proposed. The study indicates that a nonlinear dependence of the shear modulus
of the blend on the volume fraction of one of the species is crucial for a
shift in the stability line to be induced by shear flow.Comment: 16 pages, late
Hedgehog Signalling in Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer
Objectives: Androgen-deprivation therapy effectively shrinks hormone-naïve prostate cancer, both in the prostate and at sites of distant metastasis. However prolonged androgen deprivation generally results in relapse and androgen-independent tumour growth, which is inevitably fatal. The molecular events that enable prostate cancer cells to proliferate in reduced androgen conditions are poorly understood. Here we investigate the role of Hedgehog signalling in androgen-independent prostate cancer (AIPC). Methods: Activity of the Hedgehog signalling pathway was analysed in cultured prostate cancer cells, and circulating prostate tumour cells were isolated from blood samples of patients with AIPC. Results: AIPC cells were derived through prolonged culture in reduced androgen conditions, modelling hormone therapy in patients, and expressed increased levels of Hedgehog signalling proteins. Exposure of cultured AIPC cells to cyclopamine, which inhibits Hedgehog signalling, resulted in inhibition of cancer cell growth. The expression of the Hedgehog receptor PTCH and the highly prostate cancer-specific gene DD3PCA3 was significantly higher in circulating prostate cancer cells isolated from patients with AIPC compared with samples prepared from normal individuals. There was an association between PTCH and DD3PCA3 expression and the length of androgen-ablation therapy. Conclusions: Our data are consistent with reports implicating overactivity of Hedgehog signalling in prostate cancer and suggest that Hedgehog signalling contributes to the androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer cells. As systemic anti-Hedgehog medicines are developed, the Hedgehog pathway will become a potential new therapeutic target in advanced prostate cancer.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
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Genome-Wide Association Study and Subsequent Exclusion of ATCAY as a Candidate Gene Involved in Equine Neuroaxonal Dystrophy Using Two Animal Models.
Equine neuroaxonal dystrophy/equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (eNAD/EDM) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder of unknown etiology. Clinical signs of neurological deficits develop within the first year of life in vitamin E (vitE) deficient horses. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out using 670,000 SNP markers in 27 case and 42 control Quarter Horses. Two markers, encompassing a 2.5 Mb region on ECA7, were associated with the phenotype (p = 2.05 × 10-7 and 4.72 × 10-6). Within this region, caytaxin (ATCAY) was identified as a candidate gene due to its known role in Cayman Ataxia and ataxic/dystonic phenotypes in mouse models. Whole-genome sequence data in four eNAD/EDM and five unaffected horses identified 199 associated variants within the ECA7 region. MassARRAY® genotyping was performed on these variants within the GWAS population. The three variants within ATCAY were not concordant with the disease phenotype. No difference in expression or alternative splicing was identified using qRT-PCR in brainstem across the ATCAY transcript. Atcayji-hes mice were then used to conduct functional analysis in a second animal model. Histologic lesions were not identified in the central nervous system of Atcayji-hes mice. Additionally, supplementation of homozygous Atcayji-hes mice with 600 IU/day of dl-α-tocopheryl acetate (vitE) during gestation, lactation, and adulthood did not improve the phenotype. ATCAY has therefore been excluded as a candidate gene for eNAD/EDM
A biophysical model of prokaryotic diversity in geothermal hot springs
Recent field investigations of photosynthetic bacteria living in geothermal
hot spring environments have revealed surprisingly complex ecosystems, with an
unexpected level of genetic diversity. One case of particular interest involves
the distribution along hot spring thermal gradients of genetically distinct
bacterial strains that differ in their preferred temperatures for reproduction
and photosynthesis. In such systems, a single variable, temperature, defines
the relevant environmental variation. In spite of this, each region along the
thermal gradient exhibits multiple strains of photosynthetic bacteria adapted
to several distinct thermal optima, rather than the expected single thermal
strain adapted to the local environmental temperature. Here we analyze
microbiology data from several ecological studies to show that the thermal
distribution field data exhibit several universal features independent of
location and specific bacterial strain. These include the distribution of
optimal temperatures of different thermal strains and the functional dependence
of the net population density on temperature. Further, we present a simple
population dynamics model of these systems that is highly constrained by
biophysical data and by physical features of the environment. This model can
explain in detail the observed diversity of different strains of the
photosynthetic bacteria. It also reproduces the observed thermal population
distributions, as well as certain features of population dynamics observed in
laboratory studies of the same organisms
Global periodicity conditions for maps and recurrences via Normal Forms
We face the problem of characterizing the periodic cases in parametric
families of (real or complex) rational diffeomorphisms having a fixed point.
Our approach relies on the Normal Form Theory, to obtain necessary conditions
for the existence of a formal linearization of the map, and on the introduction
of a suitable rational parametrization of the parameters of the family. Using
these tools we can find a finite set of values p for which the map can be
p-periodic, reducing the problem of finding the parameters for which the
periodic cases appear to simple computations. We apply our results to several
two and three dimensional classes of polynomial or rational maps. In particular
we find the global periodic cases for several Lyness type recurrences.Comment: 25 page
Laterally driven interfaces in the three-dimensional Ising lattice gas
We study the steady state of a phase-separated driven Ising lattice gas in
three dimensions using computer simulations with Kawasaki dynamics. An external
force field F(z) acts in the x direction parallel to the interface, creating a
lateral order parameter current j^x(z) which varies with distance z from the
interface. Above the roughening temperature, our data for `shear-like' linear
variation of F(z) are in agreement with the picture wherein shear acts as
effective confinement in this system, thus supressing the interfacial
capillary-wave fluctuations. We find sharper magnetisation profiles and reduced
interfacial width as compared to equilibrium. Pair correlations are more
suppressed in the vorticity direction y than in the driving direction; the
opposite holds for the structure factor. Lateral transport of capillary waves
occurs for those forms of F(z) for which the current j^x(z) is an odd function
of z, for example the shear-like drive, and a `step-like' driving field. For a
V-shaped driving force no such motion occurs, but capillary waves are
suppressed more strongly than for the shear-like drive. These findings are in
agreement with our previous simulation studies in two dimensions. Near and
below the (equilibrium) roughening temperature the effective-confinement
picture ceases to work, but the lateral motion of the interface persists.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
High order magnon bound states in the quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet -NaMnO
Here we report on the formation of two and three magnon bound states in the
quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnet -NaMnO, where the single-ion,
uniaxial anisotropy inherent to the Mn ions in this material provides a
binding mechanism capable of stabilizing higher order magnon bound states.
While such states have long remained elusive in studies of antiferromagnetic
chains, neutron scattering data presented here demonstrate that higher order
composite magnons exist, and, specifically, that a weak three-magnon
bound state is detected below the antiferromagnetic ordering transition of
NaMnO. We corroborate our findings with exact numerical simulations of a
one-dimensional Heisenberg chain with easy-axis anisotropy using matrix-product
state techniques, finding a good quantitative agreement with the experiment.
These results establish -NaMnO as a unique platform for exploring
the dynamics of composite magnon states inherent to a classical
antiferromagnetic spin chain with Ising-like single ion anisotropy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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