112 research outputs found
NGC 1866: First Spectroscopic Detection of Fast Rotating Stars in a Young LMC Cluster
High-resolution spectroscopic observations were taken of 29 extended main
sequence turn-off (eMSTO) stars in the young (200 Myr) LMC cluster, NGC
1866 using the Michigan/Magellan Fiber System and MSpec spectrograph on the
Magellan-Clay 6.5-m telescope. These spectra reveal the first direct detection
of rapidly rotating stars whose presence has only been inferred from
photometric studies. The eMSTO stars exhibit H-alpha emission (indicative of
Be-star decretion disks), others have shallow broad H-alpha absorption
(consistent with rotation 150 km s), or deep H-alpha core
absorption signaling lower rotation velocities (150 km s ).
The spectra appear consistent with two populations of stars - one rapidly
rotating, and the other, younger and slowly rotating.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Who Benefits From Teams? Comparing Workers, Supervisors, and Managers
This paper offers a political explanation for the diffusion and sustainability of team-based work systems by examining the differential outcomes of team structures for 1200 workers, supervisors, and middle managers in a large unionized telecommunications company. Regression analyses show that participation in self-managed teams is associated with significantly higher levels of perceived discretion, employment security, and satisfaction for workers and the opposite for supervisors. Middle managers who initiate team innovations report higher employment security, but otherwise are not significantly different from their counterparts who are not involved in innovations. By contrast, there are no significant outcomes for employees associated with their participation in offline problem-solving teams
Cyclopentenyl cytosine increases gemcitabine radiosensitisation in human pancreatic cancer cells
The deoxycytidine analogue 2′,2′-difluoro-2′-deoxycytidine (dFdC, gemcitabine) is a potent radiosensitiser, but has limited efficacy in combination with radiotherapy in patients with pancreatic cancer due to acute toxicity. We investigated whether cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC), targetting the ‘de novo' biosynthesis of cytidine triphosphate (CTP), could increase dFdC cytotoxicity alone or in combination with irradiation in a panel of human pancreatic cancer cells (Panc-1, Miapaca-2, BxPC-3). To investigate the role of deoxycytidine kinase (dCK), the rate-limiting enzyme in the activation of dFdC, human lung cancer cells without (dFdC-resistant SWg) and with an intact dCK gene (dFdC-sensitive SWp) were included. We found that CPEC (100–1000 nmol l−1) specifically reduced CTP levels in a dose-dependent manner that lasted up to 72 h in all cell lines. Preincubation with CPEC resulted in a dose-dependent increase in dFdC incorporated into the DNA only in dFdC-sensitive cells. Consequently, CPEC increased the effectiveness of dFdC (300 nmol l−1 for 4 h) only in dFdC-sensitive cells, which was accompanied by an increase in apoptosis. We also found that CPEC enhanced the radiosensitivity of cells treated with dFdC (30–300 nmol l−1 for 4 h). These results indicate that CPEC enhances the cytotoxicity of dFdC alone and in combination with irradiation in several human tumour cell lines with an intact dCK gene
Adjuvant gemcitabine and concurrent radiation for patients with resected pancreatic cancer: a phase II study
The safety and efficacy of gemcitabine and concurrent radiation to the upper abdomen followed by weekly gemcitabine in patients with resected pancreatic cancer was determined. Patients with resected adenocarcinoma of the pancreas were treated with intravenous gemcitabine administered twice-weekly (40 mg m−2) for 5 weeks concurrent with upper abdominal radiation (50.4 Gy in 5½ weeks). At the completion of the chemoradiation, patients without disease progression were given gemcitabine (1000 mg m−2) weekly for two cycles. Each cycle consisted of 3 weeks of treatment followed by 1 week without treatment. Forty-seven patients were entered, 46 of whom are included in this analysis. Characteristics: median age 61 years (range 35–79); 24 females (58%); 73% stage T3/T4; and 70% lymph node positive. Grade III/IV gastrointestinal or haematologic toxicities were infrequent. The median survival was 18.3 months, while the median time to disease recurrence was 10.3 months. Twenty-four percent of patients were alive at 3 years. Only six of 34 patients with progression experienced local regional relapse as a component of the first site of failure. These results confirm the feasibility of delivering adjuvant concurrent gemcitabine and radiation to the upper abdomen. This strategy produced good local regional tumour control
A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws
A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their
models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article
reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a
contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical
galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits
and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy
envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust,
bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of
pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving
sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are
presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero'
relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe
today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies,
whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling.
For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact
elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to
appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar
Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references
incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to
Springer: 07-June-201
First report on the herpetofauna of Pulau Aur, Johor, West Malaysia
With the exception ofTweedie's (1983) account ofCalamaria lovii, published
accounts on the herpetofauna of Pulau Aur, located 63 km off the south-east coast of
peninsular Malaysia in the South China Sea did not exist prior to this report. The only
species known from the island were based on the museum records ofLimnonectes blythii,
Mabuya multi/asciata, Bronchocela cristatella, Gehyra mutilata, Varanus nebulosus and
Ahaetulla prasina deposited in the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research. A short
expedition to the island on 15-16 July 2001 yielded an additional 12 species, comprising 10
lizards and two snakes: Limnonectes blythii; Bronchocela cristatella; Cnemaspis cf.
Nigridia; Cosymbotus platyurus; Cyrtodactylus consobrinus; Gehyra mutilata; Gekko
monarchus; Hemidactylus frenatus; Dasia o/ivacea; Emoia atrocostata; Lygosoma
bowring;;; Mabuya multi/asciata; Sphenomorphus scotophi/us; Varanus nebulosus;
Varanus salvator; Ramphotyphlops cf. braminus; Calamaria lovii and Macropisthodon
flaviceps
Limits on and couplings from and production in collisions at TeV
Direct limits are set on and three-boson couplings in a
search for and production with high transverse momentum in
collisions at TeV, using the Collider Detector
at Fermilab. The results are in agreement with the SU(2) U(1) model of
electroweak interactions. Assuming Standard Model coupling, the the
limits are interpreted as direct evidence for a non-zero coupling at
subprocess energies near 500 GeV. Alternatively, assumiong identical and
couplings, bounds and are obtained at CL for a form factor scale 1000 GeV.Comment: 16 pages, submitted to PRL, URL:
http://www-cdf.fnal.gov/physics/pub95/cdf2951_vvprl.p
Search For Charged Higgs Decays of the Top Quark Using Hadronic Decays of the Tau Lepton
This Letter describes a direct search for charged Higgs boson production in
proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)=1.8 TeV recorded by the Collider
Detector at Fermilab. Two-Higgs-doublet extensions to the standard model
predict the existence of charged Higgs bosons. In such models, the branching
fraction for top quarks B(t --> H b --> tau nu b) can be large. This search
uses the hadronic decays of the tau lepton in this channel to significantly
extend previous limits on charged Higgs production.Comment: 6pages, 4 figures, 1 table; LaTeX; submitted to PR
Physiological roles for ecto-5’-nucleotidase (CD73)
Nucleotides and nucleosides influence nearly every aspect of physiology and pathophysiology. Extracellular nucleotides are metabolized through regulated phosphohydrolysis by a series of ecto-nucleotidases. The formation of extracellular adenosine from adenosine 5’-monophosphate is accomplished primarily through ecto-5’-nucleotidase (CD73), a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-linked membrane protein found on the surface of a variety of cell types. Recent in vivo studies implicating CD73 in a number of tissue protective mechanisms have provided new insight into its regulation and function and have generated considerable interest. Here, we review contributions of CD73 to cell and tissue stress responses, with a particular emphasis on physiologic responses to regulated CD73 expression and function, as well as new findings utilizing Cd73-deficient animals
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