Measurement of Source Star Colors with the K2C9-CFHT Multi-color Microlensing Survey

K2 Campaign 9 (K2C9) was the first space-based microlensing parallax survey capable of measuring microlensing parallaxes of free-floating planet candidate microlensing events. Simultaneous to K2C9 observations we conducted the K2C9 Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Multi-Color Microlensing Survey (K2C9-CFHT MCMS) in order to measure the colors of microlensing source stars to improve the accuracy of K2C9's parallax measurements. We describe the difference imaging photometry analysis of the K2C9-CFHT MCMS observations, and present the project's first data release. This includes instrumental difference flux lightcurves of 217 microlensing events identified by other microlensing surveys, reference image photometry calibrated to PanSTARRS data release 1 photometry, and tools to convert between instrumental and calibrated flux scales. We derive accurate analytic transformations between the PanSTARRS bandpasses and the Kepler bandpass, as well as angular diameter-color relations in the PanSTARRS bandpasses. To demonstrate the use of our data set, we analyze ground-based and K2 data of a short timescale microlensing event, OGLE-2016-BLG-0795. We find the event has a timescale $t_{\rm E}=4.5 \pm 0.1$~days and microlens parallax $\pi_{\rm E}=0.12 \pm 0.03$ or $0.97 \pm 0.04$, subject to the standard satellite parallax degeneracy. We argue that the smaller value of the parallax is more likely, which implies that the lens is likely a stellar-mass object in the Galactic bulge as opposed to a super-Jupiter mass object in the Galactic disk.Comment: Submitted to PAS

Reappraisal of Plasmapheresis as a Supportive Measure in a Patient with Hepatic Failure after Major Hepatectomy

Major resection of cirrhotic livers can result in hepatic failure, but no supportive treatment has been found to be generally effective. We successfully treated a 63-year-old woman with post-hepatectomy liver failure with plasmapheresis. Following right hepatectomy, the initial postoperative recovery of liver function was favorable, except for ascites. One month later, however, the amount of drained ascites increased up to 2 l/day. In addition, serum cholesterol concentration gradually decreased to around 30 mg/dl, and serum total bilirubin rose to 11.1 mg/dl. Plasmapheresis was performed, and after just 2 sessions, serum cholesterol level was rapidly corrected and prothrombin time was restored. After 3 sessions of plasmapheresis, the usual rebound rise of serum bilirubin disappeared, and the amount of ascites drained also decreased slowly. The patient underwent a total of 5 sessions of plasmapheresis over 2 weeks, after which liver function improved slowly, and she was finally discharged 72 days after liver resection. Mild ascites requiring diuretic therapy persisted over 3 months. She is doing well to date 10 months after liver resection without tumor recurrence or hepatic decompensation. This limited experience suggests that plasmapheresis can be a useful liver support for post-hepatectomy liver failure

Injection Scheme with Deflecting Cavity for Ultimate Storage Ring

We suggest a new on-axis injection scheme that uses two deflecting cavities to remove the tilt of the stored beam, and to kick the injected beam into the ring. In this new injection scheme, an injected beam with a certain angle is overlaid on the stored beam position in transverse phase space through the second deflecting cavity. (Note that the injected beam has separated phase with the stored beam in longitudinal phase space). We present theoretical analysis and numerical simulations of the stored beam and injected beam with the new injection scheme

Atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites as efficient and selective electrocatalysts for the chlorine evolution reaction

Chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is a critical anode reaction in chlor-alkali electrolysis. Although precious metal-based mixed metal oxides (MMOs) have been widely used as CER catalysts, they suffer from the concomitant generation of oxygen during the CER. Herein, we demonstrate that atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites doped on a carbon nanotube (Pt-1/CNT) can catalyse the CER with excellent activity and selectivity. The Pt-1/CNT catalyst shows superior CER activity to a Pt nanoparticle-based catalyst and a commercial Ru/Ir-based MMO catalyst. Notably, Pt-1/CNT exhibits near 100% CER selectivity even in acidic media, with low Cl- concentrations (0.1M), as well as in neutral media, whereas the MMO catalyst shows substantially lower CER selectivity. In situ electrochemical X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals the direct adsorption of Cl- on Pt-N-4 sites during the CER. Density functional theory calculations suggest the PtN4C12 site as the most plausible active site structure for the CER

An auto TCD probe design and visualization

Transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD) is a non-invasive ultrasound method used to examine blood circulation within the brain. During TCD, ultrasound waves are transmitted through the tissues including skull. These sound waves reflect off blood cells moving within the blood vessels, allowing the radiologist to interpret their speed and direction. In this paper, an auto TCD probe is developed to control the 2D deflection angles of the probe. The techniques of Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA) and Magnetic Resource Imagine (MRI) have been used to build the 3D human head model and generate the structure of cerebral arteries. The K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) algorithm as a non-parametric method has been used for signal classification and regression of corresponding arteries . Finally, a global search and local search algorithms are used to locate the ultrasound focal zone and obtain a stronger signal efficient and more accurate result

Noninvasive imaging of radiolabeled exosome-mimetic nanovesicle using Tc-99m-HMPAO

Exosomes known as nano-sized extracellular vesicles attracted recent interests due to their potential usefulness in drug delivery. Amid remarkable advances in biomedical applications of exosomes, it is crucial to understand in vivo distribution and behavior of exosomes. Here, we developed a simple method for radiolabeling of macrophage-derived exosome-mimetic nanovesicles (ENVs) with Tc-99m-HMPAO under physiologic conditions and monitored in vivo distribution of Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs using SPECT/CT in living mice. ENVs were produced from the mouse RAW264.7 macrophage cell line and labeled with Tc-99m-HMPAO for 1 hr incubation, followed by removal of free Tc-99m-HMPAO. SPECT/CT images were serially acquired after intravenous injection to BALB/c mouse. When ENVs were labeled with Tc-99m-HMPAO, the radiochemical purity of Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs was higher than 90% and the expression of exosome specific protein (CD63) did not change in Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs. Tc-99m-HMPAOENVs showed high serum stability (90%) which was similar to that in phosphate buffered saline until 5 hr. SPECT/CT images of the mice injected with Tc-99m-HMPAO-ENVs exhibited higher uptake in liver and no uptake in brain, whereas mice injected with Tc-99m-HMPAO showed high brain uptake until 5 hr. Our noninvasive imaging of radiolabeled-ENVs promises better understanding of the in vivo behavior of exosomes for upcoming biomedical application.114327Ysciescopu

High-transition-temperature superconductivity in the absence of the magnetic-resonance mode

The fundamental mechanism that gives rise to high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity in the copper oxide materials has been debated since the discovery of the phenomenon. Recent work has focussed on a sharp 'kink' in the kinetic energy spectra of the electrons as a possible signature of the force that creates the superconducting state. The kink has been related to a magnetic resonance and also to phonons. Here we report that infrared spectra of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+d), (Bi-2212) show that this sharp feature can be separated from a broad background and, interestingly, weakens with doping before disappearing completely at a critical doping level of 0.23 holes per copper atom. Superconductivity is still strong in terms of the transition temperature (Tc approx 55 K), so our results rule out both the magnetic resonance peak and phonons as the principal cause of high-Tc superconductivity. The broad background, on the other hand, is a universal property of the copper oxygen plane and a good candidate for the 'glue' that binds the electrons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure