Identification of RPS14 as a 5q- syndrome gene by RNA interference screen

Somatic chromosomal deletions in cancer are thought to indicate the location of tumor suppressor genes, whereby complete loss of gene function occurs through biallelic deletion, point mutation, or epigenetic silencing, thus fulfilling Knudson's two-hit hypothesis.1 In many recurrent deletions, however, such biallelic inactivation has not been found. One prominent example is the 5q- syndrome, a subtype of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) characterized by a defect in erythroid differentiation.2 Here, we describe an RNA interference (RNAi)-based approach to discovery of the 5q- disease gene. We find that partial loss of function of the ribosomal protein RPS14 phenocopies the disease in normal hematopoietic progenitor cells, and moreover that forced expression of RPS14 rescues the disease phenotype in patient-derived bone marrow cells. In addition, we identified a block in the processing of pre-rRNA in RPS14 deficient cells that is highly analogous to the functional defect in Diamond Blackfan Anemia, linking the molecular pathophysiology of the 5q- syndrome to a congenital bone marrow failure syndrome. These results indicate that the 5q- syndrome is caused by a defect in ribosomal protein function, and suggests that RNAi screening is an effective strategy for identifying causal haploinsufficiency disease genes

Discovery of Localized Regions of Excess 10-TeV Cosmic Rays

An analysis of 7 years of Milagro data performed on a 10-degree angular scale has found two localized regions of excess of unknown origin with greater than 12 sigma significance. Both regions are inconsistent with gamma-ray emission with high confidence. One of the regions has a different energy spectrum than the isotropic cosmic-ray flux at a level of 4.6 sigma, and it is consistent with hard spectrum protons with an exponential cutoff, with the most significant excess at ~10 TeV. Potential causes of these excesses are explored, but no compelling explanations are found.Comment: Submitted to PhysRevLet

The Study of TeV Variability and Duty Cycle of Mrk 421 from 3 Years of Observations with the Milagro Observatory

TeV flaring activity with time scales as short as tens of minutes and an orphan TeV flare have been observed from the blazar Markarian 421 (Mrk 421). The TeV emission from Mrk 421 is believed to be produced by leptonic synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) emission. In this scenario, correlations between the X-ray and the TeV fluxes are expected, TeV orphan flares are hardly explained and the activity (measured as duty cycle) of the source at TeV energies is expected to be equal or less than that observed in X-rays if only SSC is considered. To estimate the TeV duty cycle of Mrk 421 and to establish limits on its variability at different time scales, we continuously observed Mrk 421 with the Milagro observatory. Mrk 421 was detected by Milagro with a statistical significance of 7.1 standard deviations between 2005 September 21 and 2008 March 15. The observed spectrum is consistent with previous observations by VERITAS. We estimate the duty cycle of Mrk 421 for energies above 1 TeV for different hypothesis of the baseline flux and for different flare selections and we compare our results with the X-ray duty cycle estimated by Resconi et al. 2009. The robustness of the results is discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, ApJ accepte

Spectrum and Morphology of the Two Brightest Milagro Sources in the Cygnus Region: MGRO J2019+37 and MGRO J2031+41

The Cygnus region is a very bright and complex portion of the TeV sky, host to unidentified sources and a diffuse excess with respect to conventional cosmic-ray propagation models. Two of the brightest TeV sources, MGRO J2019+37 and MGRO J2031+41, are analyzed using Milagro data with a new technique, and their emission is tested under two different spectral assumptions: a power law and a power law with an exponential cutoff. The new analysis technique is based on an energy estimator that uses the fraction of photomultiplier tubes in the observatory that detect the extensive air shower. The photon spectrum is measured in the range 1 to 200 TeV using the last 3 years of Milagro data (2005-2008), with the detector in its final configuration. MGRO J2019+37 is detected with a significance of 12.3 standard deviations ($\sigma$), and is better fit by a power law with an exponential cutoff than by a simple power law, with a probability $>98$% (F-test). The best-fitting parameters for the power law with exponential cutoff model are a normalization at 10 TeV of $7^{+5}_{-2}\times10^{-10}$ $\mathrm{s^{-1}\: m^{-2}\: TeV^{-1}}$, a spectral index of $2.0^{+0.5}_{-1.0}$ and a cutoff energy of $29^{+50}_{-16}$ TeV. MGRO J2031+41 is detected with a significance of 7.3$\sigma$, with no evidence of a cutoff. The best-fitting parameters for a power law are a normalization of $2.4^{+0.6}_{-0.5}\times10^{-10}$ $\mathrm{s^{-1}\: m^{-2}\: TeV^{-1}}$ and a spectral index of $3.08^{+0.19}_{-0.17}$. The overall flux is subject to an $\sim$30% systematic uncertainty. The systematic uncertainty on the power law indices is $\sim$0.1. A comparison with previous results from TeV J2032+4130, MGRO J2031+41 and MGRO J2019+37 is also presented.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Observation and Spectral Measurements of the Crab Nebula with Milagro

The Crab Nebula was detected with the Milagro experiment at a statistical significance of 17 standard deviations over the lifetime of the experiment. The experiment was sensitive to approximately 100 GeV - 100 TeV gamma ray air showers by observing the particle footprint reaching the ground. The fraction of detectors recording signals from photons at the ground is a suitable proxy for the energy of the primary particle and has been used to measure the photon energy spectrum of the Crab Nebula between ~1 and ~100 TeV. The TeV emission is believed to be caused by inverse-Compton up-scattering scattering of ambient photons by an energetic electron population. The location of a TeV steepening or cutoff in the energy spectrum reveals important details about the underlying electron population. We describe the experiment and the technique for distinguishing gamma-ray events from the much more-abundant hadronic events. We describe the calculation of the significance of the excess from the Crab and how the energy spectrum is fit. The fit is consistent with values measured by IACTs between 1 and 20 TeV. Fixing the spectral index to values that have been measured below 1 TeV by IACT experiments (2.4 to 2.6), the fit to the Milagro data suggests that Crab exhibits a spectral steepening or cutoff between about 20 to 40 TeV.Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journa

A Measurement of the Spatial Distribution of Diffuse TeV Gamma Ray Emission from the Galactic Plane with Milagro

Diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission produced by the interaction of cosmic-ray particles with matter and radiation in the Galaxy can be used to probe the distribution of cosmic rays and their sources in different regions of the Galaxy. With its large field of view and long observation time, the Milagro Gamma Ray Observatory is an ideal instrument for surveying large regions of the Northern Hemisphere sky and for detecting diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission at very high energies. Here, the spatial distribution and the flux of the diffuse $\gamma$-ray emission in the TeV energy range with a median energy of 15 TeV for Galactic longitudes between 30$^\circ$ and 110$^\circ$ and between 136$^\circ$ and 216$^\circ$ and for Galactic latitudes between -10$^\circ$ and 10$^\circ$ are determined. The measured fluxes are consistent with predictions of the GALPROP model everywhere except for the Cygnus region ($l\in[65^\circ,85^\circ]$). For the Cygnus region, the flux is twice the predicted value. This excess can be explained by the presence of active cosmic ray sources accelerating hadrons which interact with the local dense interstellar medium and produce gamma rays through pion decay.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap

Measuring the Polarization of a Rapidly Precessing Deuteron Beam

This paper describes a time-marking system that enables a measurement of the in-plane (horizontal) polarization of a 0.97-GeV/c deuteron beam circulating in the Cooler Synchrotron (COSY) at the Forschungszentrum J\"ulich. The clock time of each polarimeter event is used to unfold the 120-kHz spin precession and assign events to bins according to the direction of the horizontal polarization. After accumulation for one or more seconds, the down-up scattering asymmetry can be calculated for each direction and matched to a sinusoidal function whose magnitude is proportional to the horizontal polarization. This requires prior knowledge of the spin tune or polarization precession rate. An initial estimate is refined by re-sorting the events as the spin tune is adjusted across a narrow range and searching for the maximum polarization magnitude. The result is biased toward polarization values that are too large, in part because of statistical fluctuations but also because sinusoidal fits to even random data will produce sizeable magnitudes when the phase is left free to vary. An analysis procedure is described that matches the time dependence of the horizontal polarization to templates based on emittance-driven polarization loss while correcting for the positive bias. This information will be used to study ways to extend the horizontal polarization lifetime by correcting spin tune spread using ring sextupole fields and thereby to support the feasibility of searching for an intrinsic electric dipole moment using polarized beams in a storage ring. This paper is a combined effort of the Storage Ring EDM Collaboration and the JEDI Collaboration.Comment: 28 pages, 15 figures, prepared for Physical Review ST - Accelerators and Beam

Creativity encounters between children and robots

Creativity is an intrinsic human ability with multiple benefits across the lifespan. Despite its importance, societies not always are well equipped with contexts for creativity stimulation; as a consequence, a major decline in creative abilities occurs at the age of 7 years old. We investigated the effectiveness of using a robotic system named YOLO as an intervention tool to stimulate creativity in children. During the intervention, children used YOLO as a character for their stories and through the interaction with the robot, creative abilities were stimulated. Our study (n = 62) included 3 experimental conditions: i) YOLO displayed behaviors based on creativity techniques; ii) YOLO displayed behaviors based on creativity techniques plus social behaviors; iii) YOLO was turned off, not displaying any behaviors. We measured children’s creative abilities at pre- and post-testing and their creative process through behavior analysis. Results showed that the interaction with YOLO contributed to higher creativity levels in children, specifically contributing to the generation of more original ideas during story creation. This study shows the potential of using social robots as tools to empower intrinsic human abilities, such as the ability to be creative.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Search for Lorentz and CPT Violation Effects in Muon Spin Precession

The spin precession frequency of muons stored in the $(g-2)$ storage ring has been analyzed for evidence of Lorentz and CPT violation. Two Lorentz and CPT violation signatures were searched for: a nonzero $\Delta\omega_{a}$ (=$\omega_{a}^{\mu^{+}}-\omega_{a}^{\mu^{-}}$); and a sidereal variation of $\omega_{a}^{\mu^{\pm}}$. No significant effect is found, and the following limits on the standard-model extension parameters are obtained: $b_{Z} =-(1.0 \pm 1.1)\times 10^{-23}$ GeV; $(m_{\mu}d_{Z0}+H_{XY}) = (1.8 \pm 6.0 \times 10^{-23})$ GeV; and the 95% confidence level limits $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{+}}< 1.4 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV and $\check{b}_{\perp}^{\mu^{-}} < 2.6 \times 10^{-24}$ GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letters, Modified to answer the referees suggestion