Cosmology with wide-field SZ cluster surveys: Selection and Systematic Effects

The cosmological potential of large-scale structure observations for cosmology have been extensively discussed in the litterature. In particular, it has recently been shown how Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) cluster surveys can be used to constrain dark energy parameters. In this paper, we study whether selection and systematics effects will limit future wide-field SZ surveys from achieving their cosmological potential. For this purpose, we use a sky simulation and an SZ-cluster detection software presented in Pires et al. (2005), using the future Olimpo, APEX and Planck surveys as a concrete examples. We show that the SZ-cluster selection function and contamination of SZ-cluster catalogues are more complex than is usually assumed. In particular, the simulated field-to-field detected cluster counts is a factor 3 larger than the expected Poisson fluctuations. We also study the impact of missing redshift information and of the uncertainty of the scaling relations for low mass clusters. We quantify, through hypothesis tests, how near-future SZ experiments can be used to discriminate between different structure formation models. Using a maximum likelihood approach, we then study the impact of these systematics on the joint measurement of cosmological models and of cluster scaling relations.Comment: 23 pages, submitted to Astron. & AstroPhy

CR3 and Dectin-1 Collaborate in Macrophage Cytokine Response through Association on Lipid Rafts and Activation of Syk-JNK-AP-1 Pathway

Copyright: © 2015 Huang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited Acknowledgments We are grateful to the Second Core Laboratory of Research Core Facility at the National Taiwan University Hospital for confocal microscopy service and providing ultracentrifuge. We thank Dr. William E. Goldman (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC) for kindly providing WT and ags1-null mutant of H. capsulatum G186A. Funding: This work is supported by research grants 101-2320-B-002-030-MY3 from the Ministry of Science and Technology (http://www.most.gov.tw) and AS-101-TP-B06-3 from Academia Sinica (http://www.sinica.edu.tw) to BAWH. GDB is funded by research grant 102705 from Welcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Aspergillus niger Protein EstA Defines a New Class of Fungal Esterases within the α/β Hydrolase Fold Superfamily of Proteins

AbstractFrom the fungus Aspergillus niger, we identified a new gene encoding protein EstA, a member of the α/β-hydrolase fold superfamily but of unknown substrate specificity. EstA was overexpressed and its crystal structure was solved by molecular replacement using a lipase-acetylcholinesterase chimera template. The 2.1 Å resolution structure of EstA reveals a canonical Ser/Glu/His catalytic triad located in a small pocket at the bottom of a large solvent-accessible, bowl-shaped cavity. Potential substrates selected by manual docking procedures were assayed for EstA activity. Consistent with the pocket geometry, preference for hydrolysis of short acyl/propyl chain substrates was found. Identification of close homologs from the genome of other fungi, of which some are broad host-range pathogens, defines EstA as the first member of a novel class of fungal esterases within the superfamily. Hence the structure of EstA constitutes a lead template in the design of new antifungal agents directed toward its pathogenic homologs

Non-linear microwave impedance of short and long Josephson Junctions

The non-linear dependence on applied $ac$ field ($b_{\omega}$) or current ($i_{\omega}$) of the microwave (ac) impedance $R_{\omega}+iX_{\omega}$ of both short and long Josephson junctions is calculated under a variety of excitation conditions. The dependence on the junction width is studied, for both field symmetric (current anti-symmetric) and field anti-symmetric (current symmetric) excitation configurations.The resistance shows step-like features every time a fluxon (soliton) enters the junction, with a corresponding phase slip seen in the reactance. For finite widths the interference of fluxons leads to some interesting effects which are described. Many of these calculated results are observed in microwave impedance measurements on intrinsic and fabricated Josephson junctions in the high temperature superconductors, and new effects are suggested. When a $$ field ($b_{dc}$) or current ($i_{dc}$) is applied, interesting phase locking effects are observed in the ac impedance $Z_{\omega}$. In particular an almost periodic dependence on the dc bias is seen similar to that observed in microwave experiments at very low dc field bias. These results are generic to all systems with a $\cos (\phi)$ potential in the overdamped limit and subjected to an ac drive.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figure

Using field-based entomological research to promote awareness about forest ecosystem conservation

Interactions between plants, insect herbivores and associated predators represent the majority of terrestrial biodiversity. Insects are vital food sources for many other organisms and provide important ecosystem functions and services including pollination, waste removal and biological control. We propose a complete and reproducible education programme to guide students to understand the importance of managing and conserving forest ecosystems in their region through the study of insect ecology and natural history. Our programme involved lectures, workshops and field surveys of insects with a group of 60 high school students in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia). It addresses the key stages of an entomological research project including: 1) general entomological knowledge and understanding the role of insects in terrestrial diversity and in ecosystem functioning and services; (2) the proposal of simple research questions including hypothesis development and evaluation using scientific literature, 3) fieldwork using different types of light traps; 4) sorting and identification of the insect orders using simple diagnostic keys and illustrated plates; 5) analysing and interpreting the results and 6) demonstrating findings to peers and a public audience. Identifying insects, exploring their natural history and understanding their functions in the field bring the students towards a better understanding and awareness of the importance of forest ecosystem conservation

Effect of Treatment, during Primary Infection, on Establishment and Clearance of Cellular Reservoirs of HIV-1

Patients in whom virologic suppression is achieved with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) retain long-lived cellular reservoirs of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); this retention is an obstacle to sustained control of infection. To assess the impact that initiating treatment during primary HIV-1 infection has on this cell population, we analyzed the decay kinetics of HIV-1 DNA and of infectivity associated with cells activated ex vivo in 27 patients who initiated therapy before or <6 months after seroconversion and in whom viremia was suppressed to <50 copies/mL. The clearance rates of cellular reservoirs could not be distinguished by these techniques (median half-life, 20 weeks) during the first year of HAART. The clearance of HIV-1 DNA slowed significantly during the subsequent 3 years of treatment (median half-life, 70 weeks), consistent with heterogeneous cellular reservoirs being present. Total cell-associated infectivity (CAI) after 1 year of treatment was undetectable (<0.07 infectious units/million cells [IUPM]) in most patients initiating treatment during primary infection either before (9/9) or <6 months after (6/8) seroconversion. In contrast, all 17 control patients who initiated HAART during chronic infection retained detectable CAI after 3-6 years of treatment (median reservoir size, 1.1 IUPM; P<.0005). These results suggest that treatment <6 months after seroconversion may facilitate long-term control of cellular reservoirs that maintain HIV-1 infection during treatmen

Novel naturally derived whey protein isolate and aragonite biocomposite hydrogels have potential for bone regeneration

This work explores novel biocomposite hydrogels fabricated using 40% (wt/vol) solution of whey protein isolate (WPI, from the food industry) mixed with increasing concentrations of synthetic aragonite rod-like powder of 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg/ml (named WPI0, WPI100, WPI200 and WPI300). FTIR results showed that aragonite was successfully incorporated into the WPI hydrogel network. SEM and micro-CT investigations revealed that aragonite was mainly concentrated near the edges of the composite samples, except in WPI300, which had homogeneous aragonite distribution. The pore diameters ranged from 18 to 778 μm while averaged pore size was the lowest for WPI0 at 30 μm and highest for WPI200 at 103 μm. The mean compression modulus was highest for WPI300 at 3.16 MPa. After 28 days in physiological conditions WPI300 had maximum mean swelling of 4.3% and there was the highest degradation rate for WPI200 and WPI300 and lowest for WPI100 and WPI0. The osteoblast-like MG63 cell metabolic and alkaline phosphatase activities in direct contact experiments with composites increased with increasing aragonite content over 3 weeks. Moreover, the degradation products of these composites were non-cytotoxic and led to mineral-like deposits in extracellular matrix. These WPI-aragonite biocomposite hydrogels are potent candidates for bone repair applications