573 research outputs found
The WINGS Survey: a progress report
A two-band (B and V) wide-field imaging survey of a complete, all-sky X-ray
selected sample of 78 clusters in the redshift range z=0.04-0.07 is presented.
The aim of this survey is to provide the astronomical community with a complete
set of homogeneous, CCD-based surface photometry and morphological data of
nearby cluster galaxies located within 1.5 Mpc from the cluster center. The
data collection has been completed in seven observing runs at the INT and
ESO-2.2m telescopes. For each cluster, photometric data of about 2500 galaxies
(down to V~23) and detailed morphological information of about 600 galaxies
(down to V~21) are obtained by using specially designed automatic tools.
As a natural follow up of the photometric survey, we also illustrate a long
term spectroscopic program we are carrying out with the WHT-WYFFOS and AAT-2dF
multifiber spectrographs. Star formation rates and histories, as well as
metallicity estimates will be derived for about 350 galaxies per cluster from
the line indices and equivalent widths measurements, allowing us to explore the
link between the spectral properties and the morphological evolution in high-
to low-density environments, and across a wide range in cluster X-ray
luminosities and optical properties.Comment: 12 pages, 10 eps figures, Proceedings of the SAIt Conference 200
ALG12 mannosyltransferase defect in congenital disorder of glycosylation type lg
In the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of eukaryotes, N-linked glycans are first assembled on the lipid carrier dolichyl pyrophosphate. The GlcNAc2Man9Glc3 oligosaccharide is transferred to selected asparagine residues of nascent polypeptides. Defects along the biosynthetic pathway of N-glycans are associated with severe multisystemic syndromes called congenital disorders of glycosylation. Here, we describe a deficiency in the ALG12 ER α1,6-mannosyltransferase resulting in a novel type of glycosylation disorder. The severe disease was identified in a child presenting with psychomotor retardation, hypotonia, growth retardation, dysmorphic features and anorexia. In the patient's fibroblasts, the biosynthetic intermediate GlcNAc2Man7 oligosaccharide was detected both on the lipid carrier dolichyl pyrophosphate and on newly synthesized glycoproteins, thus pointing to a defect in the dolichyl pyrophosphate-GlcNAc2Man7-dependent ALG12 α1,6 mannosyltransferase. Analysis of the ALG12 cDNA in the CDG patient revealed compound heterozygosity for two point mutations that resulted in the amino acid substitutions T67M and R146Q, respectively. The impact of these mutations on ALG12 protein function was investigated in the Saccharomyces cerevisiae alg12 glycosylation mutant by showing that the yeast ALG12 gene bearing the homologous mutations T61M and R161Q and the human mutant ALG12 cDNA alleles failed to normalize the growth defect phenotype of the alg12 yeast model, whereas expression of the normal ALG12 cDNA complemented the yeast mutation. The ALG12 mannosyltransferase defect defines a new type of congenital disorder of glycosylation, designated CDG-I
Mesoscopic atomic entanglement for precision measurements beyond the standard quantum limit
Squeezing of quantum fluctuations by means of entanglement is a well
recognized goal in the field of quantum information science and precision
measurements. In particular, squeezing the fluctuations via entanglement
between two-level atoms can improve the precision of sensing, clocks,
metrology, and spectroscopy. Here, we demonstrate 3.4 dB of metrologically
relevant squeezing and entanglement for ~ 10^5 cold cesium atoms via a quantum
nondemolition (QND) measurement on the atom clock levels. We show that there is
an optimal degree of decoherence induced by the quantum measurement which
maximizes the generated entanglement. A two-color QND scheme used in this paper
is shown to have a number of advantages for entanglement generation as compared
to a single color QND measurement.Comment: 6 pages+suppl, PNAS forma
Laser ablation loading of a radiofrequency ion trap
The production of ions via laser ablation for the loading of radiofrequency
(RF) ion traps is investigated using a nitrogen laser with a maximum pulse
energy of 0.17 mJ and a peak intensity of about 250 MW/cm^2. A time-of-flight
mass spectrometer is used to measure the ion yield and the distribution of the
charge states. Singly charged ions of elements that are presently considered
for the use in optical clocks or quantum logic applications could be produced
from metallic samples at a rate of the order of magnitude 10^5 ions per pulse.
A linear Paul trap was loaded with Th+ ions produced by laser ablation. An
overall ion production and trapping efficiency of 10^-7 to 10^-6 was attained.
For ions injected individually, a dependence of the capture probability on the
phase of the RF field has been predicted. In the experiment this was not
observed, presumably because of collective effects within the ablation plume.Comment: submitted to Appl. Phys. B., special issue on ion trappin
Improved Color-Temperature Relations and Bolometric Corrections for Cool Stars
We present new grids of colors and bolometric corrections for F-K stars
having 4000 K < Teff < 6500 K, 0.0 < log g < 4.5 and -3.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.0. A
companion paper extends these calculations into the M giant regime. Colors are
tabulated for Johnson U-V and B-V; Cousins V-R and V-I; Johnson-Glass V-K, J-K
and H-K; and CIT/CTIO V-K, J-K, H-K and CO. We have developed these
color-temperature (CT) relations by convolving synthetic spectra with
photometric filter-transmission-profiles. The synthetic spectra have been
computed with the SSG spectral synthesis code using MARCS stellar atmosphere
models as input. Both of these codes have been improved substantially,
especially at low temperatures, through the incorporation of new opacity data.
The resulting synthetic colors have been put onto the observational systems by
applying color calibrations derived from models and photometry of field stars
which have Teffs determined by the infrared-flux method. The color calibrations
have zero points and slopes which change most of the original synthetic colors
by less than 0.02 mag and 5%, respectively. The adopted Teff scale (Bell &
Gustafsson 1989) is confirmed by the extraordinary agreement between the
predicted and observed angular diameters of the field stars. We have also
derived empirical CT relations from the field-star photometry. Except for the
coolest dwarfs (Teff < 5000 K), our calibrated, solar-metallicity model colors
are found to match these and other empirical relations quite well. Our
calibrated, 4 Gyr, solar-metallicity isochrone also provides a good match to
color-magnitude diagrams of M67. We regard this as evidence that our calibrated
colors can be applied to many astrophysical problems, including modelling the
integrated light of galaxies. (abridged)Comment: To appear in the March 2000 issue of the Astronomical Journal. 72
pages including 16 embedded postscript figures (one page each) and 6 embedded
postscript tables (18 pages total
The role of thyroid function in borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia: a Mendelian Randomisation study.
BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies have reported a genetic overlap between borderline personality disorder (BPD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). Epidemiologically, the direction and causality of the association between thyroid function and risk of BPD and SCZ are unclear. We aim to test whether genetically predicted variations in TSH and FT4 levels or hypothyroidism are associated with the risk of BPD and SCZ. METHODS: We employed Mendelian Randomisation (MR) analyses using genetic instruments associated with TSH and FT4 levels as well as hypothyroidism to examine the effects of genetically predicted thyroid function on BPD and SCZ risk. Bidirectional MR analyses were employed to investigate a potential reverse causal association. RESULTS: Genetically predicted higher FT4 was not associated with the risk of BPD (OR: 1.18; P = 0.60, IVW) or the risk of SCZ (OR: 0.93; P = 0.19, IVW). Genetically predicted higher TSH was not associated with the risk of BPD (OR: 1.11; P = 0.51, IVW) or SCZ (OR: 0.98, P = 0.55, IVW). Genetically predicted hypothyroidism was not associated with BPD or SCZ. We found no evidence for a reverse causal effect between BPD or SCZ on thyroid function. CONCLUSIONS: We report evidence for a null association between genetically predicted FT4, TSH or hypothyroidism with BPD or SCZ risk. There was no evidence for reverse causality
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