1,258 research outputs found
Low-Cost Single Mode Optical Passive Coupler Devices with an MT-Interface Based on Polymeric Waveguides in BCB Low-Cost Single Mode Optical Passive Coupler Devices with an MT-Interface Based on Polymeric Waveguides in BCB
Abstract The authors have demonstrated the feasibility of using Benzocyclobutene (BCB) waveguides for realization of low-cost single mode optical modules, for example WDM filters or power splitters, with multi-channel connector interfaces
Proinsulin C-peptide elicits disaggregation of insulin resulting in enhanced physiological insulin effects
Using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), proinsulin C-peptide was found to influence insulin-insulin interactions. In SPR with chip-bound insulin, C-peptide mixed with analyte insulin increased the binding, while alone C-peptide did not. A control peptide with the same residues in random sequence had little effect. In ESI-MS, C-peptide lowered the presence of insulin hexamer. The data suggest that C-peptide promotes insulin disaggregation. Insulin/insulin oligomer μM dissociation constants were determined. Compatible with these findings, type 1 diabetic patients receiving insulin and C-peptide developed 66% more stimulation of glucose metabolism than when given insulin alone. A role of C-peptide in promoting insulin disaggregation may be important physiologically during exocytosis of pancreatic β-cell secretory granulae and pharmacologically at insulin injection sites. It is compatible with the normal co-release of C-peptide and insulin and may contribute to the beneficial effect of C-peptide and insulin replacement in type 1 diabetics
Search for exoplanets in M31 with pixel-lensing and the PA-99-N2 event revisited
Several exoplanets have been detected towards the Galactic bulge with the
microlensing technique. We show that exoplanets in M31 may also be detected
with the pixel-lensing method, if telescopes making high cadence observations
of an ongoing microlensing event are used. Using a Monte Carlo approach we find
that the mean mass for detectable planetary systems is about .
However, even small mass exoplanets () can cause
significant deviations, which are observable with large telescopes. We
reanalysed the POINT-AGAPE microlensing event PA-99-N2. First, we test the
robustness of the binary lens conclusion for this light curve. Second, we show
that for such long duration and bright microlensing events, the efficiency for
finding planetary-like deviations is strongly enhanced with respect to that
evaluated for all planetary detectable events.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Paper presented at the "II Italian-Pakistani
Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysics, Pescara, July 8-10, 2009. To be
published in a special issue of General Relativity and Gravitation (eds. F.
De Paolis, G.F.R. Ellis, A. Qadir and R. Ruffini
First Microlensing Events From The MEGA Survey Of M31
We present the first M31 candidate microlensing events from the Microlensing
Exploration of the Galaxy and Andromeda (MEGA) survey. MEGA uses several
telescopes to detect microlensing towards the nearby Andromeda galaxy, M31, in
order to establish whether massive compact objects are a significant
contribution to the mass budget of the dark halo of M31. The results presented
here are based on observations with the Isaac Newton Telescope on La Palma,
during the 1999/00 and 2000/01 observing seasons. In this data set, 14 variable
sources consistent with microlensing have been detected, 12 of which are new
and 2 have been reported previously by the POINT-AGAPE group. A preliminary
analysis of the spatial and timescale distributions of the candidate events
support their microlensing nature. We compare the spatial distributions of the
candidate events and of long-period variable stars, assuming the chances of
finding a long-period variable and a microlensing event are comparable. The
spatial distribution of our candidate microlensing events is more far/near side
asymmetric than expected from the detected long-period variable distribution.
The current analysis is preliminary and the asymmetry not highly significant,
but the spatial distribution of candidate microlenses is suggestive of the
presence of a microlensing halo.Comment: revised version, 16 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Parenteral oestrogen in the treatment of prostate cancer: a systematic review
The objectives of this study were to assess the effectiveness and safety of parenteral oestrogen in the treatment of prostate cancer, and to examine any dose relationship. A systematic review was undertaken. Electronic databases, published paper and internet resources were searched to locate published and unpublished studies with no restriction by language or publication date. Studies included were randomised controlled trials of parenteral oestrogen in patients with prostate cancer; other study designs were also included to examine dose–response. Study selection, appraisal, data extraction and quality assessment were performed by one reviewer and independently checked by another. Twenty trials were included in the review. The trials differed with regard to the included patients, formulation and dose of parenteral oestrogen, comparator used, outcome measures reported and the duration of follow-up. The results provide no evidence to suggest that parenteral oestrogen, in doses sufficient to produce castrate levels of testosterone, is less effective than luteinising hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) or orchidectomy in controlling prostate cancer, or that it is consistently associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality. Further well-conducted trials of parenteral oestrogen are required. A pilot randomised controlled trial comparing transdermal oestrogen to LHRH analogues in men with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer is underway in the United Kingdom
The Angstrom Project: a microlensing survey of the structure and composition of the bulge of the Andromeda galaxy
The Andromeda Galaxy Stellar Robotic Microlensing Project (The Angstrom
Project) aims to use stellar microlensing events to trace the structure and
composition of the inner regions of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). We present
microlensing rate and timescale predictions and spatial distributions for
stellar and sub-stellar lens populations in combined disk and barred bulge
models of M31. We show that at least half of the stellar microlenses in and
around the bulge are expected to have characteristic durations between 1 and 10
days, rising to as much as 80% for brown-dwarf dominated mass functions. These
short-duration events are mostly missed by current microlensing surveys that
are looking for Macho candidates in the M31 dark matter halo. Our models
predict that an intensive monitoring survey programme such as Angstrom, which
will be able to detect events of durations upwards of a day, could detect
around 30 events per season within ~5 arcminutes of the M31 centre, due to
ordinary low-mass stars and remnants. This yield increases to more than 60
events for brown-dwarf dominated mass functions. The overall number of events
and their average duration are sensitive diagnostics of the bulge mass, in
particular the contribution of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. The combination
of an inclined disk, an offset bar-like bulge, and differences in the bulge and
disk luminosity functions results in a four-way asymmetry in the number of
events expected in each quadrant defined by the M31 disk axes. The asymmetry is
sensitive to the bar prolongation, orientation and mass.Comment: 9 pages, submitted to MNRA
The LKB1-salt-inducible kinase pathway functions as a key gluconeogenic suppressor in the liver
LKB1 is a master kinase that regulates metabolism and growth through adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and 12 other closely related kinases. Liver-specific ablation of LKB1 causes increased glucose production in hepatocytes in vitro and hyperglycaemia in fasting mice in vivo. Here we report that the salt-inducible kinases (SIK1, 2 and 3), members of the AMPK-related kinase family, play a key role as gluconeogenic suppressors downstream of LKB1 in the liver. The selective SIK inhibitor HG-9-91-01 promotes dephosphorylation of transcriptional co-activators CRTC2/3 resulting in enhanced gluconeogenic gene expression and glucose production in hepatocytes, an effect that is abolished when an HG-9-91-01-insensitive mutant SIK is introduced or LKB1 is ablated. Although SIK2 was proposed as a key regulator of insulin-mediated suppression of gluconeogenesis, we provide genetic evidence that liver-specific ablation of SIK2 alone has no effect on gluconeogenesis and insulin does not modulate SIK2 phosphorylation or activity. Collectively, we demonstrate that the LKB1-SIK pathway functions as a key gluconeogenic gatekeeper in the liver
First Measurement of Gamma(D*+) and Precision Measurement of m_D*+ - m_D0
We present the first measurement of the D*+ width using 9/fb of e+ e- data
collected near the Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II.V detector. Our method
uses advanced tracking techniques and a reconstruction method that takes
advantage of the small vertical size of the CESR beam spot to measure the
energy release distribution from the D*+ -> D0 pi+ decay. We find Gamma(D*+) =
96 +- 4 (Statistical) +- 22 (Systematic) keV. We also measure the energy
release in the decay and compute Delta m = m(D*+) - m(D0) = 145.412 +- 0.002
(Statistical) +- 0.012 (Systematic) MeV/c^2Comment: 24 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PR
Designing Future Dark Energy Space Missions: II. Photometric Redshift of Space Weak Lensing Optimized Survey
Accurate weak-lensing analysis requires not only accurate measurement of
galaxy shapes but also precise and unbiased measurement of galaxy redshifts.
The photometric redshift technique appears as the only possibility to determine
the redshift of the background galaxies used in the weak-lensing analysis.
Using the photometric redshift quality, simple shape measurement requirements,
and a proper sky model, we explore what could be an optimal weak-lensing dark
energy mission based on FoM calculation. We found that photometric redshifts
reach their best accuracy for the bulk of the faint galaxy population when
filters have a resolution R~3.2. We show that an optimal mission would survey
the sky through 8 filters using 2 cameras (visible and near infrared). Assuming
a 5-year mission duration, a mirror size of 1.5m, a 0.5deg2 FOV with a visible
pixel scale of 0.15", we found that a homogeneous survey reaching IAB=25.6
(10sigma) with a sky coverage of ~11000deg2 maximizes the Weak Lensing FoM. The
effective number density of galaxies then used for WL is ~45gal/arcmin2, at
least a factor of two better than ground based survey. This work demonstrates
that a full account of the observational strategy is required to properly
optimize the instrument parameters to maximize the FoM of the future
weak-lensing space dark energy mission.Comment: 25 pages, 39 figures, accepted in A&
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