9,148 research outputs found
Inter-cluster filaments in a CDM Universe
The large--scale structure (LSS) in the Universe comprises a complicated
filamentary network of matter. We study this network using a high--resolution
simulation of structure formation of a Cold Dark Matter cosmology. We
investigate the distribution of matter between neighbouring large haloes whose
masses are comparable to massive clusters of galaxies. We identify a total of
228 filaments between neighbouring clusters. Roughly half of the filaments are
either warped or lie off the cluster--cluster axis. We find that straight
filaments on the average are shorter than warped ones. More massive clusters
are connected to more filaments than less massive ones on average. This finding
indicates that the most massive clusters form at the intersections of the
filamentary backbone of LSS. For straight filaments, we compute mass profiles.
Radial profiles show a fairly well--defined radius, , beyond which the
profiles follow an power law fairly closely. For the majority of
filaments, lies between 1.5 Mpc and 2.0 Mpc. The
enclosed overdensity inside varies between a few times up to 25 times
mean density, independent of the length of the filaments. Along the filaments'
axes, material is not distributed uniformly. Towards the clusters, the density
rises, indicating the presence of the cluster infall regions. In addition, we
also find some sheet--like connections between clusters. In roughly a fifth of
all cluster--cluster connections where we could not identify a filament or
sheet, projection effects lead to filamentary structures in the projected mass
distribution. (abridged)Comment: 10 pages, 18 figures; submitted to MNRAS; updated: final version,
accepted for publicatio
A plasmid-based lacZα gene assay for DNA polymerase fidelity measurement
A significantly improved DNA polymerase fidelity assay, based on a gapped plasmid containing the lacZα reporter gene in a single-stranded region, is described. Nicking at two sites flanking lacZα, and removing the excised strand by thermocycling in the presence of complementary competitor DNA, is used to generate the gap. Simple methods are presented for preparing the single-stranded competitor. The gapped plasmid can be purified, in high amounts and in a very pure state, using benzoylated-naphthoylated DEAE-cellulose, resulting in a low background mutation frequency (~1 × 10(-4)). Two key parameters, the number of detectable sites and the expression frequency, necessary for measuring polymerase error rates have been determined. DNA polymerase fidelity is measured by gap filling in vitro, followed by transformation into Escherichia coli and scoring of blue/white colonies and converting the ratio to error rate. Several DNA polymerases have been used to fully validate this straightforward and highly sensitive system
Optical techniques to feed and control GaAs MMIC modules for phased array antenna applications
A complex signal distribution system is required to feed and control GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) for phased array antenna applications above 20 GHz. Each MMIC module will require one or more RF lines, one or more bias voltage lines, and digital lines to provide a minimum of 10 bits of combined phase and gain control information. In a closely spaced array, the routing of these multiple lines presents difficult topology problems as well as a high probability of signal interference. To overcome GaAs MMIC phased array signal distribution problems optical fibers interconnected to monolithically integrated optical components with GaAs MMIC array elements are proposed as a solution. System architecture considerations using optical fibers are described. The analog and digital optical links to respectively feed and control MMIC elements are analyzed. It is concluded that a fiber optic network will reduce weight and complexity, and increase reliability and performance, but higher power will be required
Design and commissioning of a timestamp-based data acquisition system for the DRAGON recoil mass separator
The DRAGON recoil mass separator at TRIUMF exists to study radiative proton
and alpha capture reactions, which are important in a variety of astrophysical
scenarios. DRAGON experiments require a data acquisition system that can be
triggered on either reaction product ( ray or heavy ion), with the
additional requirement of being able to promptly recognize coincidence events
in an online environment. To this end, we have designed and implemented a new
data acquisition system for DRAGON which consists of two independently
triggered readouts. Events from both systems are recorded with timestamps from
a MHz clock that are used to tag coincidences in the earliest possible
stage of the data analysis. Here we report on the design, implementation, and
commissioning of the new DRAGON data acquisition system, including the
hardware, trigger logic, coincidence reconstruction algorithm, and live time
considerations. We also discuss the results of an experiment commissioning the
new system, which measured the strength of the
keV resonance in the NeNa radiative proton
capture reaction.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in EPJ A "tools for
experiment and theory
Alloreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes generated in the presence of viral- derived peptides show exquisite peptide and MHC specificity
The nature of alloreactivity to MHC molecules has been enigmatic, primarily because of the observation that allogeneic responses are considerably stronger than syngeneic responses. To better determine the specificity potential of allogeneic responses, we have generated alloreactive CTL specific for exogenous, viral-derived peptide ligands. This approach allowed us to critically evaluate both the peptide- and MHC-specificity of these alloreactive T cells. Exploiting the accessibility of the H-2Ld class I molecule for exogenous peptide ligands, alloreactive CTL were generated that are specific for either murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) or lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) peptides bound by Ld alloantigens. Peptide specificity was initially observed in bulk cultures of alloreactive CTL only when tested on peptide-sensitized T2.Ld target cells that have defective presentation of endogenous peptides. Subsequent cloning of bulk alloreactive CTL lines generated to MCMV yielded CTL clones that had exquisitely specific MCMV peptide recognition requirement. All of the MCMV/Ld alloreactive CTL clones were also exquisitely MHC-specific in that none of the CTL clones lysed targets expressing MCMV/Lq complexes, even though Lq differs from Ld by only six amino acid residues and Lq also binds the MCMV peptide. This observation clearly demonstrates that alloreactive CTL are capable of the same degree of specificity for target cell recognition as are syngeneic CTL in MHC-restricted responses
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