9,103 research outputs found
Simulations of a Scintillator Compton Gamma Imager for Safety and Security
We are designing an all-scintillator Compton gamma imager for use in security
investigations and remediation actions involving radioactive threat material.
To satisfy requirements for a rugged and portable instrument, we have chosen
solid scintillator for the active volumes of both the scatter and absorber
detectors. Using the BEAMnrc/EGSnrc Monte Carlo simulation package, we have
constructed models using four different materials for the scatter detector:
LaBr_3, NaI, CaF_2 and PVT. We have compared the detector performances using
angular resolution, efficiency, and image resolution. We find that while PVT
provides worse performance than that of the detectors based entirely on
inorganic scintillators, all of the materials investigated for the scatter
detector have the potential to provide performance adequate for our purposes.Comment: Revised text and figures, Presented at SORMA West 2008, Published in
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Scienc
Mutations in human dynamin block an intermediate stage in coated vesicle formation
The role of human dynamin in receptor-mediated endocytosis was investigated by transient expression of GTP-binding domain mutants in mammalian cells. Using assays which detect intermediates in coated vesicle formation, the dynamin mutants were found to block endocytosis at a stage after the initiation of coat assembly and preceding the sequestration of ligands into deeply invaginated coated pits. Membrane transport from the ER to the Golgi complex was unaffected indicating that dynamin mutants specifically block early events in endocytosis. These results demonstrate that mutations in the GTP-binding domain of dynamin block Tfn-endocytosis in mammalian cells and suggest that a functional dynamin GTPase is required for receptor-mediated endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits
Mild guanidinoacetate increase under partial guanidinoacetate methyltransferase deficiency strongly affects brain cell development.
Among cerebral creatine deficiency syndromes, guanidinoacetate methyltransferase (GAMT) deficiency can present the most severe symptoms, and is characterized by neurocognitive dysfunction due to creatine deficiency and accumulation of guanidinoacetate in the brain. So far, every patient was found with negligible GAMT activity. However, GAMT deficiency is thought under-diagnosed, in particular due to unforeseen mutations allowing sufficient residual activity avoiding creatine deficiency, but enough guanidinoacetate accumulation to be toxic. With poorly known GAA-specific neuropathological mechanisms, we developed an RNAi-induced partial GAMT deficiency in organotypic rat brain cell cultures. As expected, the 85% decrease of GAMT protein was insufficient to cause creatine deficiency, but generated guanidinoacetate accumulation causing axonal hypersprouting and decrease in natural apoptosis, followed by induction of non-apoptotic cell death. Specific guanidinoacetate-induced effects were completely prevented by creatine co-treatment. We show that guanidinoacetate accumulation without creatine deficiency is sufficient to affect CNS development, and suggest that additional partial GAMT deficiencies, which may not show the classical brain creatine deficiency, may be discovered through guanidinoacetate measurement
A case of IMP-4-, OXA-421-, OXA-96-, and CARB-2-producing acinetobacter pittii sequence type 119 in Australia
An IMP-4-producing Acinetobacter pittii strain coproducing oxacillinases was isolated from a leg wound of a 67-year-old female patient. Identification to the species level by rpoB and gyrB sequencing and multiplex-PCR-based analysis revealed that the isolate was A. pittii. Whole-genome sequencing of this A. pittii isolate determined the presence of bla(OXA-96), bla(CARB-2), and a novel bla(OXA-421) gene. The position of this novel bla(OXA-421) gene was similar to that of bla(OXA-51) in A. baumannii, downstream of the phosphinothricin N-acetyltransferase gene and upstream of fxsA in the chromosome. This A. pittii isolate was found to belong to sequence type 119 (ST119). Here, we report the first isolation of IMP-4-producing A. pittii ST119 with a novel bla(OXA-421) gene from a patient in Australia and characterize its draft genome
Spectral and stratigraphic mapping of hydrated sulfate and phyllosilicate-bearing deposits in northern Sinus Meridiani, Mars
We present detailed stratigraphic and spectral analyses that focus on a region in
northern Sinus Meridiani located between 1°N to 5°N latitude and 3°W to 1°E longitude.
Several stratigraphically distinct units are defined and mapped using morphologic
expression, spectral properties, and superposition relationships. Previously unreported
exposures of hydrated sulfates and Fe/Mg smectites are identified using MRO CRISM and
MEX OMEGA nearâinfrared (1.0 to 2.5 ”m) spectral reflectance observations. Layered
deposits with monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfate spectral signatures that occur in
association with a northeastâsouthwest trending valley are reexamined using highresolution
CRISM, HiRISE, and CTX images. Layers that are spectrally dominated by
monohydrated and polyhydrated sulfates are intercalated. The observed compositional
layering implies that multiple wetting events, brine recharge, or fluctuations in evaporation
rate occurred. We infer that these hydrated sulfateâbearing layers were unconformably
deposited following the extensive erosion of preexisting layered sedimentary rocks and
may postdate the formation of the sulfateâ and hematiteâbearing unit analyzed by the MER
Opportunity rover. Therefore, at least two episodes of deposition separated by an
unconformity occurred. Fe/Mg phyllosilicates are detected in units that predate the sulfateand
hematiteâbearing unit. The presence of Fe/Mg smectite in older units indicates that the
relatively low pH formation conditions inferred for the younger sulfateâ and hematitebearing
unit are not representative of the aqueous geochemical environment that prevailed
during the formation and alteration of earlier materials. Sedimentary deposits indicative of
a complex aqueous history that evolved over time are preserved in Sinus Meridiani, Mars
All-optical hyperpolarization of electron and nuclear spins in diamond
Low thermal polarization of nuclear spins is a primary sensitivity limitation
for nuclear magnetic resonance. Here we demonstrate optically pumped
(microwave-free) nuclear spin polarization of and
in -doped diamond.
polarization enhancements up to above thermal equilibrium are observed
in the paramagnetic system . Nuclear spin polarization is
shown to diffuse to bulk with NMR enhancements of at
room temperature and at , enabling a route to
microwave-free high-sensitivity NMR study of biological samples in ambient
conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Vortices in Spatially Inhomogeneous Superfluids
We study vortices in a radially inhomogeneous superfluid, as realized by a
trapped degenerate Bose gas in a uniaxially symmetric potential. We show that,
in contrast to a homogeneous superfluid, an off-axis vortex corresponds to an
anisotropic superflow whose profile strongly depends on the distance to the
trap axis. One consequence of this superflow anisotropy is vortex precession
about the trap axis in the absence of an imposed rotation. In the complementary
regime of a finite prescribed rotation, we compute the minimum-energy vortex
density, showing that in the rapid-rotation limit it is extremely uniform,
despite a strongly inhomogeneous (nearly) Thomas-Fermi condensate density
. The weak radially-dependent contribution () to the vortex distribution, that vanishes with the
number of vortices as , arises from the interplay between
vortex quantum discretness (namely their inability to faithfully support the
imposed rigid-body rotation) and the inhomogeneous superfluid density. This
leads to an enhancement of the vortex density at the center of a typical
concave trap, a prediction that is in quantitative agreement with recent
experiments (cond-mat/0405240). One striking consequence of the inhomogeneous
vortex distribution is an azimuthally-directed, radially-shearing superflow.Comment: 22 RevTeX pages, 20 figures, Submitted to PR
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