301 research outputs found
Development of V3Ga Conductors Fabricated through Composite Precursor Wires with Ga-coated V Wires
Exotic radiation from a photonic crystal excited by an ultra-relativistic electron beam
We report the observation of an exotic radiation (unconventional
Smith-Purcell radiation) from a one-dimensional photonic crystal. The physical
origin of the exotic radiation is direct excitation of the photonic bands by an
ultra-relativistic electron beam. The spectrum of the exotic radiation follows
photonic bands of a certain parity, in striking contrast to the conventional
Smith-Purcell radiation, which shows solely a linear dispersion. Key
ingredients for the observation are the facts that the electron beam is in an
ultra-relativistic region and that the photonic crystal is finite. The origin
of the radiation was identified by comparison of experimental and theoretical
results.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Self-trapped states and the related luminescence in PbCl crystals
We have comprehensively investigated localized states of photoinduced
electron-hole pairs with electron-spin-resonance technique and
photoluminescence (PL) in a wide temperature range of 5-200 K. At low
temperatures below 70 K, holes localize on Pb ions and form
self-trapping hole centers of Pb. The holes transfer to other trapping
centers above 70 K. On the other hand, electrons localize on two Pb ions
at higher than 50 K and form self-trapping electron centers of Pb.
From the thermal stability of the localized states and PL, we clarify that
blue-green PL band at 2.50 eV is closely related to the self-trapped holes.Comment: 8 pages (10 figures), ReVTEX; removal of one figure, Fig. 3 in the
version
Search for Anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Rays with the Telescope Array Experiment
We study the anisotropy of Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events
collected by the Telescope Array (TA) detector in the first 40 months of
operation. Following earlier studies, we examine event sets with energy
thresholds of 10 EeV, 40 EeV, and 57 EeV. We find that the distributions of the
events in right ascension and declination are compatible with an isotropic
distribution in all three sets. We then compare with previously reported
clustering of the UHECR events at small angular scales. No significant
clustering is found in the TA data. We then check the events with E>57 EeV for
correlations with nearby active galactic nuclei. No significant correlation is
found. Finally, we examine all three sets for correlations with the large-scale
structure of the Universe. We find that the two higher-energy sets are
compatible with both an isotropic distribution and the hypothesis that UHECR
sources follow the matter distribution of the Universe (the LSS hypothesis),
while the event set with E>10 EeV is compatible with isotropy and is not
compatible with the LSS hypothesis at 95% CL unless large deflection angles are
also assumed. We show that accounting for UHECR deflections in a realistic
model of the Galactic magnetic field can make this set compatible with the LSS
hypothesis.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Stress Generation and Filament Turnover during Actin Ring Constriction
We present a physical analysis of the dynamics and mechanics of contractile actin rings. In particular, we analyze the dynamics of ring contraction during cytokinesis in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. We present a general analysis of force balances and material exchange and estimate the relevant parameter values. We show that on a microscopic level contractile stresses can result from both the action of motor proteins, which cross-link filaments, and from the polymerization and depolymerization of filaments in the presence of end-tracking cross-linkers
Identification of SNAP receptors in rat adipose cell membrane fractions and in SNARE complexes co-immunoprecipitated with epitope-tagged N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein
MMP-9 gene variants increase the risk for non-atopic asthma in children
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Atopic and non-atopic wheezing may be caused by different etiologies: while eosinophils are more important in atopic asthmatic wheezers, neutrophils are predominantly found in BAL samples of young children with wheezing. Both neutrophils as well as eosinophils may secrete matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9). Considering that MMP-9 plays an important role in airway wall thickening and airway inflammation, it may influence the development of obstructive airway phenotypes in children. In the present study we investigated whether genetic variations in <it>MMP-9 </it>influence the development of different forms of childhood asthma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Genotyping of four HapMap derived tagging SNPs in the <it>MMP-9 </it>gene was performed using MALDI-TOF MS in three cross sectional study populations of German children (age 9-11; N = 4,264) phenotyped for asthma and atopic diseases according to ISAAC standard procedures. Effects of single SNPs and haplotypes were studied using SAS 9.1.3 and Haploview.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SNP rs2664538 significantly increased the risk for non-atopic wheezing (OR 2.12, 95%CI 1.40-3.21, p < 0.001) and non-atopic asthma (OR 1.66, 95%CI 1.12-2.46, p = 0.011). Furthermore, the minor allele of rs3918241 may be associated with decreased expiratory flow measurements in non-atopic children. No significant effects on the development of atopy or total serum IgE levels were observed.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results have shown that homozygocity for <it>MMP-9 </it>variants increase the risk to develop non-atopic forms of asthma and wheezing, which may be explained by a functional role of MMP-9 in airway remodeling. These results suggest that different wheezing disorders in childhood are affected differently by genetic alterations.</p
A new assay based on terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism of homocitrate synthase gene fragments for Candida species identification
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