2,122 research outputs found
An Observational Limit on the Dwarf Galaxy Population of the Local Group
We present the results of an all-sky, deep optical survey for faint Local
Group dwarf galaxies. Candidate objects were selected from the second Palomar
survey (POSS-II) and ESO/SRC survey plates and follow-up observations performed
to determine whether they were indeed overlooked members of the Local Group.
Only two galaxies (Antlia and Cetus) were discovered this way out of 206
candidates. Based on internal and external comparisons, we estimate that our
visual survey is more than 77% complete for objects larger than one arc minute
in size and with a surface brightness greater than an extremely faint limit
over the 72% of the sky not obstructed by the Milky Way. Our limit of
sensitivity cannot be calculated exactly, but is certainly fainter than 25
magnitudes per square arc second in R, probably 25.5 and possibly approaching
26. We conclude that there are at most one or two Local Group dwarf galaxies
fitting our observational criteria still undiscovered in the clear part of the
sky, and a roughly a dozen hidden behind the Milky Way. Our work places the
"missing satellite problem" on a firm quantitative observational basis. We
present detailed data on all our candidates, including surface brightness
measurements.Comment: 58 pages in AJ manuscript format; some figures at slightly reduced
quality; accepted by the Astronomical Journa
Concurrent Magnetic and Metal-Insulator Transitions in (Eu,Sm)B_6 Single Crystals
The effects of magnetic doping on a EuB_6 single crystal were investigated
based on magnetic and transport measurements. A modest 5% Sm substitution for
Eu changes the magnetic and transport properties dramatically and gives rise to
concurrent antiferromagnetic and metal-insulator transitions (MIT) from
ferromagnetic MIT for EuB6. Magnetic doping simultaneously changes the
itinerant carrier density and the magnetic interactions. We discuss the origin
of the concurrent magnetic MIT in (Eu,Sm)B_6.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, final version to appear in Appl. Phys. Lett
Echinostoma caprom' infection in non-pregnant female BALB/c and Swiss T.O. mice: effect on feed intake, liveweight, and serum pregnancy-associated murine protein-l and corticosterone
The effect of experimental infection with the intestinal ti'einatode. Echinosloma caprani, on feed intake, liyeweight and serum pregnaney-associated murine protein-l (PAMP-1) and corticosteronc was investigated in non-pregnant female BALB/cand Swiss T.O. mice. Twenty-five metacereariae were given by oral gavage on day 0 of which 19.6 % were recovered at post monem on day 46 in the BALB/c mice and 22.0 % in the Swiss T.O. mice. Oral praziquantel treatment (50 mg/kg) on day 39 reduced the recovery of tlnkes from previously-infected mice by 85.4% and 100% in BALB/e and Swiss T 0 mice respectively. The food consumption in the infected Swiss T.0. mice was significantly increased compared to the infected-treated and the controls. In the BALB/c mice the food intake in the infected and infectedtreated animals was significantly increased compared with the controls, The liveweight gain during the experiment in the BALB/e control mice was significantly higher than in the infectedtreated groups. In the Swiss T.0. mice the infected animals gained more weight than the controls and the infected- treated animals. E. caproni was associated with a significant reduction in PAMP-l concentrations in both strains of mice, even in animals from which the majority of flukes had been removed by praziquantel-treatment. There was no significant correlation between the magnitude of the parasite burden and serum PAMP~1 values. Corticosterone values were unaffected by either mouse strain, E. capromi infection or anthelmintie treatment. These results suggest that the previously reported adverse effect of E. capromi on early pregnancy in mice may be caused by parasiteiinduced effects occurring prior to fertilisation
Repeated stressors in adulthood increase the rate of biological ageing
Background
Individuals of the same age can differ substantially in the degree to which they have accumulated tissue damage, akin to bodily wear and tear, from past experiences. This accumulated tissue damage reflects the individual’s biological age and may better predict physiological and behavioural performance than the individual‘s chronological age. However, at present it remains unclear how to reliably assess biological age in individual wild vertebrates.
Methods
We exposed hand-raised adult Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus merula) to a combination of repeated immune and disturbance stressors for over one year to determine the effects of chronic stress on potential biomarkers of biological ageing including telomere shortening, oxidative stress load, and glucocorticoid hormones. We also assessed general measures of individual condition including body mass and locomotor activity.
Results
By the end of the experiment, stress-exposed birds showed greater decreases in telomere lengths. Stress-exposed birds also maintained higher circulating levels of oxidative damage compared with control birds. Other potential biomarkers such as concentrations of antioxidants and glucocorticoid hormone traits showed greater resilience and did not differ significantly between treatment groups.
Conclusions
The current data demonstrate that repeated exposure to experimental stressors affects the rate of biological ageing in adult Eurasian blackbirds. Both telomeres and oxidative damage were affected by repeated stress exposure and thus can serve as blood-derived biomarkers of biological ageing.</p
SPEDEN: Reconstructing single particles from their diffraction patterns
Speden is a computer program that reconstructs the electron density of single
particles from their x-ray diffraction patterns, using a single-particle
adaptation of the Holographic Method in crystallography. (Szoke, A., Szoke, H.,
and Somoza, J.R., 1997. Acta Cryst. A53, 291-313.) The method, like its parent,
is unique that it does not rely on ``back'' transformation from the diffraction
pattern into real space and on interpolation within measured data. It is
designed to deal successfully with sparse, irregular, incomplete and noisy
data. It is also designed to use prior information for ensuring sensible
results and for reliable convergence. This article describes the theoretical
basis for the reconstruction algorithm, its implementation and quantitative
results of tests on synthetic and experimentally obtained data. The program
could be used for determining the structure of radiation tolerant samples and,
eventually, of large biological molecular structures without the need for
crystallization.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Immunospecific Antibody Concentration in Egg Yolk of Chickens Orally Immunised with Varying Doses of Bovine Serum Albumin and the Mucosal Adjuvant, RhinoVax®, using Different Immunization Regimes
Antibody harvested from eggs of immunised chickens, IgY, has proven to be a non-invasive alternative to antibodies purified from serum of mammals. Taking the non-invasive concept further, the development of oral immunization techniques combined with IgY harvest from chicken eggs may subsequently eliminate all regulated procedures from polyclonal antibody production. In the present study, we report the effects of varying the temporal administration mode of the antigen (immunogen) comparing dosing on three consecutive days with dosing on five consecutive days, and of incorporating a mucosal adjuvant. Two antigen doses were compared: 30 mg bovine serum albumin (BSA) and 300 mg BSA, with and without the mucosal adjuvant, RhinoVax®, administered to laying chickens. The egg yolk of chickens dosed with BSA in combination with 20% RhinoVax®, contained significantly higher concentrations of immunospecific IgY than did egg yolks of chickens fed with BSA without adjuvant. The most efficient dose in the RhinoVax®-treated groups was 300 mg BSA regardless of whether the chickens were initially immunised daily for three or five days. A 3-day dosing regime with BSA alone also induced immunospecific IgY production. This study confirms that RhinoVax® is an efficient oral adjuvant. It also demonstrates the efficacy of daily immunizations on three or five consecutive days on immunospecific IgY production. The chickens received oral booster immunizations one and two months after the initial immunization. No real effect could be recorded after the second and third immunization, although the study did provide some evidence of memory based on an optimum IgY concentration recorded after the 2nd immunization.
Financial Transaction Tax: Small is Beautiful
The case for taxing financial transactions merely to raise more revenues from the financial sector is not particularly strong. Better alternatives to tax the financial sector are likely to be available. However, a tax on financial transactions could be justified in order to limit socially
undesirable transactions when more direct means of doing so are unavailable for political or
practical reasons. Some financial transactions are indeed likely to do more harm than good,
especially when they contribute to the systemic risk of the financial system. However, such a
financial transaction tax should be very small, much smaller than the negative externalities in
question, because it is a blunt instrument that also drives out socially useful transactions.
There is a case for taxing over-the-counter derivative transactions at a somewhat higher rate
than exchange-based derivative transactions. More targeted remedies to drive out socially
undesirable transactions should be sought in parallel, which would allow, after their
implementation, to reduce or even phase out financialtransaction taxes
Atom capture by nanotube and scaling anomaly
The existence of bound state of the polarizable neutral atom in the inverse
square potential created by the electric field of single walled charged carbon
nanotube (SWNT) is shown to be theoretically possible. The consideration of
inequivalent boundary conditions due to self-adjoint extensions lead to this
nontrivial bound state solution. It is also shown that the scaling anomaly is
responsible for the existence of bound state. Binding of the polarizable atoms
in the coupling constant interval \eta^2\in[0,1) may be responsible for the
smearing of the edge of steps in quantized conductance, which has not been
considered so far in literature.Comment: Accepted in Int.J.Theor.Phy
Progress in Three-Dimensional Coherent X-Ray Diffraction Imaging
The Fourier inversion of phased coherent diffraction patterns offers images
without the resolution and depth-of-focus limitations of lens-based tomographic
systems. We report on our recent experimental images inverted using recent
developments in phase retrieval algorithms, and summarize efforts that led to
these accomplishments. These include ab-initio reconstruction of a
two-dimensional test pattern, infinite depth of focus image of a thick object,
and its high-resolution (~10 nm resolution) three-dimensional image.
Developments on the structural imaging of low density aerogel samples are
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, X-Ray Microscopy 2005, Himeji, Japa
New Consequences of Induced Transparency in a Double-Lambda scheme: Destructive Interference In Four-wave Mixing
We investigate a four-state system interacting with long and short laser
pulses in a weak probe beam approximation. We show that when all lasers are
tuned to the exact unperturbed resonances, part of the four-wave mixing (FWM)
field is strongly absorbed. The part which is not absorbed has the exact
intensity required to destructively interfere with the excitation pathway
involved in producing the FWM state. We show that with this three-photon
destructive interference, the conversion efficiency can still be as high as
25%. Contrary to common belief,our calculation shows that this process, where
an ideal one-photon electromagnetically induced transparency is established, is
not most suitable for high efficiency conversion. With appropriate
phase-matching and propagation distance, and when the three-photon destructive
interference does not occur, we show that the photon flux conversion efficiency
is independent of probe intensity and can be close to 100%. In addition, we
show clearly that the conversion efficiency is not determined by the maximum
atomic coherence between two lower excited states, as commonly believed. It is
the combination of phase-matching and constructive interference involving the
two terms arising in producing the mixing wave that is the key element for the
optimized FWM generation. Indeed, in this scheme no appreciable excited state
is produced, so that the atomic coherence between states |0> and |2> is always
very small.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. A, 7 pages, 4 figure
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