3,172 research outputs found
Reanalysis of the GALLEX solar neutrino flux and source experiments
After the completion of the gallium solar neutrino experiments at the
Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (GALLEX}: 1991-1997; GNO: 1998-2003) we
have retrospectively updated the GALLEX results with the help of new technical
data that were impossible to acquire for principle reasons before the
completion of the low rate measurement phase (that is, before the end of the
GNO solar runs). Subsequent high rate experiments have allowed the calibration
of absolute internal counter efficiencies and of an advanced pulse shape
analysis for counter background discrimination. The updated overall result for
GALLEX (only) is (73.4 +7.1 -7.3) SNU. This is 5.3% below the old value of
(77.5 + 7.5 -7.8) SNU (PLB 447 (1999) 127-133) with a substantially reduced
error. A similar reduction is obtained from the reanalysis of the 51Cr neutrino
source experiments of 1994/1995.Comment: Accepted by Physics Letters B January 13, 201
Cleaning the USNO-B Catalog through automatic detection of optical artifacts
The USNO-B Catalog contains spurious entries that are caused by diffraction
spikes and circular reflection halos around bright stars in the original
imaging data. These spurious entries appear in the Catalog as if they were real
stars; they are confusing for some scientific tasks. The spurious entries can
be identified by simple computer vision techniques because they produce
repeatable patterns on the sky. Some techniques employed here are variants of
the Hough transform, one of which is sensitive to (two-dimensional)
overdensities of faint stars in thin right-angle cross patterns centered on
bright (<13 \mag) stars, and one of which is sensitive to thin annular
overdensities centered on very bright (<7 \mag) stars. After enforcing
conservative statistical requirements on spurious-entry identifications, we
find that of the 1,042,618,261 entries in the USNO-B Catalog, 24,148,382 of
them (2.3 \percent) are identified as spurious by diffraction-spike criteria
and 196,133 (0.02 \percent) are identified as spurious by reflection-halo
criteria. The spurious entries are often detected in more than 2 bands and are
not overwhelmingly outliers in any photometric properties; they therefore
cannot be rejected easily on other grounds, i.e., without the use of computer
vision techniques. We demonstrate our method, and return to the community in
electronic form a table of spurious entries in the Catalog.Comment: published in A
The Frontal Hydraulic Head: A Micro-α Scale (~1 km) Triggering Mechanism for Mesoconvective Weather Systems
Measurements from the NOAA Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) 300 m tower, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Sabreliner aircraft, and the NOAA GOES-5 satellite, give evidence for the cross-front scale collapse of nonprecipitating surface cold-frontal zones to horizontal distances of ∼1 km or less. The leading edges of these frosts possess the characteristic structure of density current flows: an elevated hydraulic head followed by a turbulent wake. Vertical motions at the frontal heads exceed 5 m s−1 at 300 m (AGL). The ascent at the frontal head may act as a (∼1 km-scale) triggering mechanism for the release of potential instability and the formation of intense squall-line mesoconvection
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Carbon Nanohorns as Effective Nanotherapeutics in Cancer Therapy
Different carbon nanostructures have been explored as functional materials for the development of effective nanomaterials in cancer treatment applications. This review mainly aims to discuss the features, either strength or weakness, of carbon nanohorn (CNH), carbon conical horn-shaped nanostructures of sp2 carbon atoms. The interest for these materials arises from their ability to couple the clinically relevant properties of carbon nanomaterials as drug carriers with the negligible toxicity described in vivo. Here, we offer a comprehensive overview of the recent advances in the use of CNH in cancer treatments, underlining the benefits of each functionalization route and approach, as well as the biological performances of either loaded and unloaded materials, while discussing the importance of delivery devices
Verhaltenstherapeutische Behandlung eines Patienten mit beginnender Alzheimer-Demenz
The following case report shows a behavioral treatment of a 53-year-old Patient with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), The treatment includes procedures described in the Behavioral Competency Training (VKT) for patients with early-stage AD developed by Ehrhardt and associates. The program consists of about 20 weekly treatment sessions in which the patient's resources are activated and patient's coping is supported. The therapy and the intervention are debated in the light of the ongoing discussion about a state-of-the-art therapy for AD
Symplectic Symmetry of the Neutrino Mass and the See-Saw Mechanism
We investigate the algebraic structure of the most general neutrino mass
Hamiltonian and place the see-saw mechanism in an algebraic framework. We show
that this Hamiltonian can be written in terms of the generators of an Sp(4)
algebra. The Pauli-Gursey transformation is an SU(2) rotation which is embedded
in this Sp(4) group. This SU(2) also generates the see-saw mechanism.Comment: 11 pages, REVTE
Age-dependent differences in human brain activity using a face- and location-matching task: An fMRI study
Purpose: To evaluate the differences of cortical activation patterns in young and elderly healthy subjects for object and spatial visual processing using a face- and location-matching task. Materials and Methods: We performed a face- and a location-matching task in 15 young (mean age: 28 +/- 9 years) and 19 elderly (mean age: 71 +/- 6 years) subjects. Each experiment consisted of 7 blocks alternating between activation and control condition. For face matching, the subjects had to indicate whether two displayed faces were identical or different. For location matching, the subjects had to press a button whenever two objects had an identical position. For control condition, we used a perception task with abstract images. Functional imaging was performed on a 1.5-tesla scanner using an EPI sequence. Results: In the face-matching task, the young subjects showed bilateral (right 1 left) activation in the occipito-temporal pathway (occipital gyrus, inferior and middle temporal gyrus). Predominantly right hemispheric activations were found in the fusiform gyrus, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (inferior and middle frontal gyrus) and the superior parietal gyrus. In the elderly subjects, the activated areas in the right fronto-lateral cortex increased. An additional activated area could be found in the medial frontal gyrus (right > left). In the location-matching task, young subjects presented increased bilateral (right > left) activation in the superior parietal lobe and precuneus compared with face matching. The activations in the occipito-temporal pathway, in the right fronto-lateral cortex and the fusiform gyrus were similar to the activations found in the face-matching task. In the elderly subjects, we detected similar activation patterns compared to the young subjects with additional activations in the medial frontal gyrus. Conclusion: Activation patterns for object-based and spatial visual processing were established in the young and elderly healthy subjects. Differences between the elderly and young subjects could be evaluated, especially by using a face-matching task. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel
Mutations of the ret protooncogene in German multiple endocrine neoplasia families: Relation between genotype and phenotype.
It has been suggested that not only the position but also the nature of the mutations of the ret protooncogene strongly correlate with the clinical manifestation of the multiple endocrine neoplasm type 2 (MEN 2) syndrome. In particular, individuals with a Cys634-Arg substitution should have a greater risk of developing parathyroid disease. We, therefore, analyzed 94 unrelated families from Germany with inherited medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) for mutation of the ret protooncogene. In all but 1 of 59 families with MEN 2A, germline mutations in the extracellular domain of the ret protein were found. Some 81% of the MEN 2A mutations affected codon 634. Phenotype-genotype correlations suggested that the prevalence of pheochromocytoma and hyperparathyroidism is significantly higher in families with codon 634 mutations, but there was no correlation with the nature of the mutation. In all but 1 of 27 familial MTC (FMTC) families, mutations were detected in 1 of 4 cysteines in the extracellular domain of the ret protooncogene. Half of the FMTC mutations affected codon 634. Mutations outside of codon 634 occurred more often in FMTC families than in MEN 2A families. In all but 1 of 8 MEN 2B patients, de novo mutations in codon 918 were found. These data confirm the preferential localization of MEN 2-associated mutations and the correlation between disease phenotype and the position of the ret mutation, but there was no correlation between the occurrence of hyperparathyroidism or pheochromocytoma and the nature of the mutation
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