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Label-free, live optical imaging of reprogrammed bipolar disorder patient-derived cells reveals a functional correlate of lithium responsiveness
Development of novel treatments and diagnostic tools for psychiatric illness has been hindered by the absence of cellular models of disease. With the advent of cellular reprogramming, it may be possible to recapitulate the disease biology of psychiatric disorders using patient skin cells transdifferentiated to neurons. However, efficiently identifying and characterizing relevant neuronal phenotypes in the absence of well-defined pathophysiology remains a challenge. In this study, we collected fibroblast samples from patients with bipolar 1 disorder, characterized by their lithium response (n=12), and healthy control subjects (n=6). We identified a cellular phenotype in reprogrammed neurons using a label-free imaging assay based on a nanostructured photonic crystal biosensor and found that an optical measure of cell adhesion was associated with clinical response to lithium treatment. This cellular phenotype may represent a useful biomarker to evaluate drug response and screen for novel therapeutics
Supernova 2007bi as a pair-instability explosion
Stars with initial masses 10 M_{solar} < M_{initial} < 100 M_{solar} fuse
progressively heavier elements in their centres, up to inert iron. The core
then gravitationally collapses to a neutron star or a black hole, leading to an
explosion -- an iron-core-collapse supernova (SN). In contrast, extremely
massive stars (M_{initial} > 140 M_{solar}), if such exist, have oxygen cores
which exceed M_{core} = 50 M_{solar}. There, high temperatures are reached at
relatively low densities. Conversion of energetic, pressure-supporting photons
into electron-positron pairs occurs prior to oxygen ignition, and leads to a
violent contraction that triggers a catastrophic nuclear explosion. Tremendous
energies (>~ 10^{52} erg) are released, completely unbinding the star in a
pair-instability SN (PISN), with no compact remnant. Transitional objects with
100 M_{solar} < M_{initial} < 140 M_{solar}, which end up as iron-core-collapse
supernovae following violent mass ejections, perhaps due to short instances of
the pair instability, may have been identified. However, genuine PISNe, perhaps
common in the early Universe, have not been observed to date. Here, we present
our discovery of SN 2007bi, a luminous, slowly evolving supernova located
within a dwarf galaxy (~1% the size of the Milky Way). We measure the exploding
core mass to be likely ~100 M_{solar}, in which case theory unambiguously
predicts a PISN outcome. We show that >3 M_{solar} of radioactive 56Ni were
synthesized, and that our observations are well fit by PISN models. A PISN
explosion in the local Universe indicates that nearby dwarf galaxies probably
host extremely massive stars, above the apparent Galactic limit, perhaps
resulting from star formation processes similar to those that created the first
stars in the Universe.Comment: Accepted version of the paper appearing in Nature, 462, 624 (2009),
including all supplementary informatio
Large scale three-dimensional modelling for wave and tidal energy resource and environmental impact : methodologies for quantifying acceptable thresholds for sustainable exploitation
We describe a modelling project to estimate the potential effects of wave & tidal stream renewables on the marine environment. • Realistic generic devices to be used by those without access to the technical details available to developers are described. • Results show largely local sea bed effects at the level of the currently proposed renewables developments in our study area. • Large scale 3D modelling is critical to quantify the direct, indirect and cumulative effects of renewable energy extraction. • This is critical to comply with planning & environmental impact assessment regulations and achieve Good Environmental Status
The Subluminous and Peculiar Type Ia Supernova PTF09dav
PTF09dav is a peculiar subluminous type Ia supernova (SN) discovered by the
Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). Spectroscopically, it appears superficially
similar to the class of subluminous SN1991bg-like SNe, but it has several
unusual features which make it stand out from this population. Its peak
luminosity is fainter than any previously discovered SN1991bg-like SN Ia (M_B
-15.5), but without the unusually red optical colors expected if the faint
luminosity were due to extinction. The photospheric optical spectra have very
unusual strong lines of Sc II and Mg I, with possible Sr II, together with
stronger than average Ti II and low velocities of ~6000 km/s. The host galaxy
of PTF09dav is ambiguous. The SN lies either on the extreme outskirts (~41kpc)
of a spiral galaxy, or in an very faint (M_R>-12.8) dwarf galaxy, unlike other
1991bg-like SNe which are invariably associated with massive, old stellar
populations. PTF09dav is also an outlier on the light-curve-width--luminosity
and color--luminosity relations derived for other sub-luminous SNe Ia. The
inferred 56Ni mass is small (0.019+/-0.003Msun), as is the estimated ejecta
mass of 0.36Msun. Taken together, these properties make PTF09dav a remarkable
event. We discuss various physical models that could explain PTF09dav. Helium
shell detonation or deflagration on the surface of a CO white-dwarf can explain
some of the features of PTF09dav, including the presence of Sc and the low
photospheric velocities, but the observed Si and Mg are not predicted to be
very abundant in these models. We conclude that no single model is currently
capable of explaining all of the observed signatures of PTF09dav.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
What factors influence training opportunities for older workers? Three factorial surveys exploring the attitudes of HR professionals
The core research questions addressed in this paper are: what factors influence HR professionals in deciding whether to approve training proposals for older workers? What kind of training are they more likely to recommend for older employees and in which organizational contexts? We administered three factorial surveys to 66 HR professionals in Italy. Participants made specific training decisions based on profiles of hypothetical older workers. Multilevel analyses indicated that access to training decreases strongly with age, while highly-skilled older employees with low absenteeism rates are more likely to enjoy training opportunities. In addition, older workers displaying positive performance are more likely to receive training than older workers who perform poorly, suggesting that training late in working life may serve as a reward for good performance rather than as a means of enhancing productivity. The older the HR professional evaluating training proposals, the higher the probability that older workers will be recommended for training.
keywords: training; older workers; HR professionals; factorial survey; multilevel model
First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings
We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from
cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took
place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9
days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We
interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of
gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the
parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of
cosmic string models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with version submitted to PR
Astrophysically Triggered Searches for Gravitational Waves: Status and Prospects
In gravitational-wave detection, special emphasis is put onto searches that
focus on cosmic events detected by other types of astrophysical observatories.
The astrophysical triggers, e.g. from gamma-ray and X-ray satellites, optical
telescopes and neutrino observatories, provide a trigger time for analyzing
gravitational wave data coincident with the event. In certain cases the
expected frequency range, source energetics, directional and progenitor
information is also available. Beyond allowing the recognition of gravitational
waveforms with amplitudes closer to the noise floor of the detector, these
triggered searches should also lead to rich science results even before the
onset of Advanced LIGO. In this paper we provide a broad review of LIGO's
astrophysically triggered searches and the sources they target
‘O sibling, where art thou?’ – a review of avian sibling recognition with respect to the mammalian literature
Avian literature on sibling recognition is rare compared to that developed by mammalian researchers. We compare avian and mammalian research on sibling recognition to identify why avian work is rare, how approaches differ and what avian and mammalian researchers can learn from each other. Three factors: (1) biological differences between birds and mammals, (2) conceptual biases and (3) practical constraints, appear to influence our current understanding. Avian research focuses on colonial species because sibling recognition is considered adaptive where ‘mixing potential’ of dependent young is high; research on a wider range of species, breeding systems and ecological conditions is now needed. Studies of acoustic recognition cues dominate avian literature; other types of cues (e.g. visual, olfactory) deserve further attention. The effect of gender on avian sibling recognition has yet to be investigated; mammalian work shows that gender can have important influences. Most importantly, many researchers assume that birds recognise siblings through ‘direct familiarisation’ (commonly known as associative learning or familiarity); future experiments should also incorporate tests for ‘indirect familiarisation’ (commonly known as phenotype matching). If direct familiarisation proves crucial, avian research should investigate how periods of separation influence sibling discrimination. Mammalian researchers typically interpret sibling recognition in broad functional terms (nepotism, optimal outbreeding); some avian researchers more successfully identify specific and testable adaptive explanations, with greater relevance to natural contexts. We end by reporting exciting discoveries from recent studies of avian sibling recognition that inspire further interest in this topic
All-sky LIGO Search for Periodic Gravitational Waves in the Early S5 Data
We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic
gravitational waves in the frequency range 50--1100 Hz and with the frequency's
time derivative in the range -5.0E-9 Hz/s to zero. Data from the first eight
months of the fifth LIGO science run (S5) have been used in this search, which
is based on a semi-coherent method (PowerFlux) of summing strain power.
Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report 95%
confidence-level upper limits on radiation emitted by any unknown isolated
rotating neutron stars within the search range. Strain limits below 1.E-24 are
obtained over a 200-Hz band, and the sensitivity improvement over previous
searches increases the spatial volume sampled by an average factor of about 100
over the entire search band. For a neutron star with nominal equatorial
ellipticity of 1.0E-6, the search is sensitive to distances as great as 500
pc--a range that could encompass many undiscovered neutron stars, albeit only a
tiny fraction of which would likely be rotating fast enough to be accessible to
LIGO. This ellipticity is at the upper range thought to be sustainable by
conventional neutron stars and well below the maximum sustainable by a strange
quark star.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
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