283 research outputs found
Compact strain-sensitive flexible photonic crystals for sensors
A promising fabrication route to produce absorbing flexible photonic crystals is presented, which exploits self-assembly during the shear processing of multi-shelled polymer spheres. When absorbing material is incorporated in the interstitial space surrounding high-refractive-index spheres, a dramatic enhancement in the transmission edge on the short-wavelength side of the band gap is observed. This effect originates from the shifting optical field spatial distribution as the incident wavelength is tuned around the band gap, and results in a contrast up to 100 times better than similar but nonabsorbing photonic crystals. An order-of-magnitude improvement in strain sensitivity is shown, suggesting the use of these thin films in photonic sensors
Detecting violations of temporal regularities in waking and sleeping two-month-old infants
Correctly processing rapid sequences of sounds is essential for developmental milestones, such as language acquisition. We investigated the sensitivity of two-month-old infants to violations of a temporal regularity, by recording event-related brain potentials (ERP) in an auditory oddball paradigm from 36 waking and 40 sleeping infants. Standard tones were presented at a regular 300 ms inter-stimulus interval (ISI). One deviant, otherwise identical to the standard, was preceded by a 100 ms ISI. Two other deviants, presented with the standard ISI, differed from the standard in their spectral makeup. We found significant differences between ERP responses elicited by the standard and each of the deviant sounds. The results suggest that the ability to extract both temporal and spectral regularities from a sound sequence is already functional within the first few months of life. The scalp distribution of all three deviant-stimulus responses was influenced by the infants‟ state of alertness
Bevacizumab for the Treatment of Recurrent Glioblastoma
Despite advances in upfront therapy, the prognosis in the great majority of patients with glioblastoma (GBM) is poor as almost all recur and result in disease-related death. Glioblastoma are highly vascularized cancers with elevated expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the dominant mediator of angiogenesis. A compelling biologic rationale, a need for improved therapy, and positive results from studies of bevacizumab in other cancers led to the evaluation of bevacizumab in the treatment of recurrent GBM. Bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets VEGF, has been shown to improve patient outcomes in combination with chemotherapy (most commonly irinotecan) in recurrent GBM, and on the basis of positive results in two prospective phase 2 studies, bevacizumab was granted accelerated approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a single agent in recurrent GBM. Bevacizumab therapy is associated with manageable, class-specific toxicity as severe treatment-related adverse events are observed in only a minority of patients. With the goal of addressing questions and controversies regarding the optimal use of bevacizumab, the objective of this review is to provide a summary of the clinical efficacy and safety data of bevacizumab in patients with recurrent GBM, the practical issues surrounding the administration of bevacizumab, and ongoing investigations of bevacizumab in managing GBM
On the nature of the unidentified X-ray/gamma-ray sources IGR J18027-1455 and IGR J21247+5058
We present a multiwavelength study of the environment of the unidentified
X-ray/gamma-ray sources IGR J18027-1455 and IGR J21247+5058, recently
discovered by the IBIS/ISGRI instrument, onboard the INTEGRAL satellite. The
main properties of the sources found inside their position error circles, give
us clues about the nature of these high-energy sources.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of the Conference "The
Multiwavelength Approach to Unidentified Sources", to appear in the journal
Astrophysics and Space Scienc
Low-field magnetoresistance in GaAs 2D holes
We report low-field magnetotransport data in two-dimensional hole systems in
GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures and quantum wells, in a large density range, cm, with primary focus on
samples grown on (311)A GaAs substrates. At high densities, cm, we observe a remarkably strong positive magnetoresistance.
It appears in samples with an anisotropic in-plane mobility and predominantly
along the low-mobility direction, and is strongly dependent on the
perpendicular electric field and the resulting spin-orbit interaction induced
spin-subband population difference. A careful examination of the data reveals
that the magnetoresistance must result from a combination of factors including
the presence of two spin-subbands, a corrugated quantum well interface which
leads to the mobility anisotropy, and possibly weak anti-localization. None of
these factors can alone account for the observed positive magnetoresistance. We
also present the evolution of the data with density: the magnitude of the
positive magnetoresistance decreases with decreasing density until, at the
lowest density studied ( cm), it vanishes and is
replaced by a weak negative magnetoresistance.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Magnetic fields in supernova remnants and pulsar-wind nebulae
We review the observations of supernova remnants (SNRs) and pulsar-wind
nebulae (PWNe) that give information on the strength and orientation of
magnetic fields. Radio polarimetry gives the degree of order of magnetic
fields, and the orientation of the ordered component. Many young shell
supernova remnants show evidence for synchrotron X-ray emission. The spatial
analysis of this emission suggests that magnetic fields are amplified by one to
two orders of magnitude in strong shocks. Detection of several remnants in TeV
gamma rays implies a lower limit on the magnetic-field strength (or a
measurement, if the emission process is inverse-Compton upscattering of cosmic
microwave background photons). Upper limits to GeV emission similarly provide
lower limits on magnetic-field strengths. In the historical shell remnants,
lower limits on B range from 25 to 1000 microGauss. Two remnants show
variability of synchrotron X-ray emission with a timescale of years. If this
timescale is the electron-acceleration or radiative loss timescale, magnetic
fields of order 1 mG are also implied. In pulsar-wind nebulae, equipartition
arguments and dynamical modeling can be used to infer magnetic-field strengths
anywhere from about 5 microGauss to 1 mG. Polarized fractions are considerably
higher than in SNRs, ranging to 50 or 60% in some cases; magnetic-field
geometries often suggest a toroidal structure around the pulsar, but this is
not universal. Viewing-angle effects undoubtedly play a role. MHD models of
radio emission in shell SNRs show that different orientations of upstream
magnetic field, and different assumptions about electron acceleration, predict
different radio morphology. In the remnant of SN 1006, such comparisons imply a
magnetic-field orientation connecting the bright limbs, with a non-negligible
gradient of its strength across the remnant.Comment: 20 pages, 24 figures; to be published in SpSciRev. Minor wording
change in Abstrac
Discovery and Cross-Section Measurement of Neutron-Rich Isotopes in the Element Range from Neodymium to Platinum at the FRS
With a new detector setup and the high-resolution performance of the fragment
separator FRS at GSI we discovered 57 new isotopes in the atomic number range
of 60: \nuc{159-161}{Nb}, \nuc{160-163}{Pm}, \nuc{163-166}Sm,
\nuc{167-168}{Eu}, \nuc{167-171}{Gd}, \nuc{169-171}{Tb}, \nuc{171-174}{Dy},
\nuc{173-176}{Ho}, \nuc{176-178}{Er}, \nuc{178-181}{Tm}, \nuc{183-185}{Yb},
\nuc{187-188}{Lu}, \nuc{191}{Hf}, \nuc{193-194}{Ta}, \nuc{196-197}{W},
\nuc{199-200}{Re}, \nuc{201-203}{Os}, \nuc{204-205}{Ir} and \nuc{206-209}{Pt}.
The new isotopes have been unambiguously identified in reactions with a
U beam impinging on a Be target at 1 GeV/u. The isotopic production
cross-section for the new isotopes have been measured and compared with
predictions of different model calculations. In general, the ABRABLA and COFRA
models agree better than a factor of two with the new data, whereas the
semiempirical EPAX model deviates much more. Projectile fragmentation is the
dominant reaction creating the new isotopes, whereas fission contributes
significantly only up to about the element holmium.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Increased isomeric lifetime of hydrogen-like Os-192m
An excited metastable nuclear state of 192 Os in a hydrogen-like charge state has been studied for the first time. It was populated in projectile fragmentation of a 197Au beam on a 9Be target with the UNILAC-SIS accelerators at GSI. Fragmentation products in the region of interest were passed through the fragment separator and injected into the experimental storage ring (ESR). Cooling of the injected beam particles enabled Schottky mass spectrometry to be performed. Analysis shows the lifetime of the state to be considerably longer than that of the neutral ion [τneut=8.5(14) s]; this change is attributed to hindrance of internal conversion in hydrogen-like 192Os. Calculations have been performed to estimate the lifetime, and the result has been compared with that measured experimentally. There is good agreement between the expected [τH−like=13.0(24)s] and measured lifetimes (τrest=15.1+1.5−1.3s) from the internal decay of 192mOs. This provides a test for the reliability of the values obtained from internal conversion coefficient calculations in highly ionized systems and is the first measurement of its kind to be performed using the ESR setup
Technique for Resolving Low-lying Isomers in the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) and the Occurrence of an Isomeric State in 192Re
A recent experiment using projectile fragmentation of a 197Au beam on a 9Be target, combined with the fragment recoil separator and experimental storage ring at ring at GSI, has uncovered an isomeric state in 192Re at 267(10) keV with a half-life of ∼6
A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts
associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal
new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy,
particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the
underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the
period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first
science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed
for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with
the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place
limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave
emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of
merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000
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