1,809 research outputs found
Reconstruction of the primordial fluctuation spectrum from the five-year WMAP data by the cosmic inversion method with band-power decorrelation analysis
The primordial curvature fluctuation spectrum is reconstructed by the cosmic
inversion method using the five-year WMAP data of the cosmic microwave
background temperature anisotropy. We apply the covariance matrix analysis and
decompose the reconstructed spectrum into statistically independent
band-powers. The statistically significant deviation from a simple power-law
spectrum suggested by the analysis of the first-year data is not found in the
five-year data except possibly at one point near the border of the wavenumber
domain where accurate reconstruction is possible.Comment: 9page
Nonlinearly Realized Extended Supergravity
We provide nonlinear realization of supergravity with an arbitrary number of
supersymmetries by means of coset construction. The number of gravitino degrees
of freedom counts the number of supersymmetries, which will be possibly probed
in future experiments. We also consider goldstino embedding in the construction
to discuss the relation to nonlinear realization with rigid supersymmetries.Comment: 19 page
Programming models for sensor networks: a survey
Sensor networks have a significant potential in diverse applications some of which are already beginning to be deployed in areas such as environmental monitoring. As the application logic becomes more complex, programming difficulties are becoming a barrier to adoption of these networks. The difficulty in programming sensor networks is not only due to their inherently distributed nature but also the need for mechanisms to address their harsh operating conditions such as unreliable communications, faulty nodes, and extremely constrained resources. Researchers have proposed different programming models to overcome these difficulties with the ultimate goal of making programming easy while making full use of available resources. In this article, we first explore the requirements for programming models for sensor networks. Then we present a taxonomy of the programming models, classified according to the level of abstractions they provide. We present an evaluation of various programming models for their responsiveness to the requirements. Our results point to promising efforts in the area and a discussion of the future directions of research in this area.
Induction of specific tolerance by intrathymic injection of recipient muscle cells transfected with donor class I major histocompatibility complex.
Induction of tolerance to allogeneic MHC antigens has been a goal in the field of transplantation because it would reduce or eliminate the need for generalized immunosuppression. Although encouraging results have been obtained in experimental models by exposing recipient thymus to donor cells before transplantation, donor cells are not typically available at that time, and the donor antigens responsible for the effect are poorly defined. In the present study, thymic tolerance was demonstrated without using donor cells. Recipient thymus was injected before transplantation with autologous myoblasts and myotubes that were genetically modified to express allogeneic donor-type MHC class I antigen. Donor-specific unresponsiveness was induced to a completely MHC-disparate liver transplant and to a subsequent donor-type cardiac allograft, but not a third-party allograft. In vitro, recipient CTL demonstrated a 10-fold reduction in killing of donor cells, but not of third-party cells. Our results demonstrate: (1) that recipient muscle cells can be genetically engineered to induce donor-specific unresponsiveness when given intrathymically, and (2) transfected recipient cells expressing only donor MHC class I antigen can induce tolerance to a fully allogeneic donor
Anisotropic uniaxial pressure response of the Mott insulator Ca2RuO4
We have investigated the in-plane uniaxial pressure effect on the
antiferromagnetic Mott insulator Ca2RuO4 from resistivity and magnetization
measurements. We succeeded in inducing the ferromagnetic metallic phase at
lower critical pressure than by hydrostatic pressure, indicating that the
flattening distortion of the RuO6 octahedra is more easily released under
in-plane uniaxial pressure. We also found a striking in-plane anisotropy in the
pressure responses of various magnetic phases: Although the magnetization
increases monotonically with pressure diagonal to the orthorhombic principal
axes, the magnetization exhibits peculiar dependence on pressure along the
in-plane orthorhombic principal axes. This peculiar dependence can be explained
by a qualitative difference between the uniaxial pressure effects along the
orthorhombic a and b axes, as well as by the presence of twin domain
structures.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Band-power reconstruction of the primordial fluctuation spectrum by the maximum likelihood reconstruction method
The primordial curvature fluctuation spectrum is reconstructed by the maximum
likelihood reconstruction method using the five-year Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe data of the cosmic microwave background temperature
anisotropy. We apply the covariance matrix analysis and decompose the
reconstructed spectrum into statistically independent band-powers. The
prominent peak off a simple power-law spectrum found in our previous analysis
turn out to be a deviation. From the statistics of primordial
spectra reconstructed from mock observations, the probability that a primordial
spectrum including such excess is realized in a power-law model is estimated to
be about 2%.Comment: 9 page
Mutational pattern and frequency of induced nucleotide changes in mouse ENU mutagenesis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>With the advent of sequence-based approaches in the mutagenesis studies, it is now possible to directly evaluate the genome-wide pattern of experimentally induced DNA sequence changes for a diverse array of organisms. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of the mutational bias inherent in mouse ENU mutagenesis, this study describes a detailed evaluation of the induced mutational pattern obtained from a sequence-based screen of ENU-mutagenized mice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Based on a large-scale screening data, we derive the sequence-based estimates of the nucleotide-specific pattern and frequency of ENU-induced base replacement mutation in the mouse germline, which are then combined with the pattern of codon usage in the mouse coding sequences to infer the spectrum of amino acid changes obtained by ENU mutagenesis. We detect a statistically significant difference between the mutational patterns in phenotype- versus sequence-based screens, which presumably reflects differential phenotypic effects caused by different amino acid replacements. We also demonstrate that the mutations exhibit strong strand asymmetry, and that this imbalance is generated by transcription, most likely as a by-product of transcription-coupled DNA repair in the germline.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results clearly illustrate the biased nature of ENU-induced mutations. We expect that a precise understanding of the mutational pattern and frequency of induced nucleotide changes would be of practical importance when designing sequence-based screening strategies to generate mutant mouse strains harboring amino acid variants at specific loci. More generally, by enhancing the collection of experimentally induced mutations in unambiguously defined genomic regions, sequence-based mutagenesis studies will further illuminate the molecular basis of mutagenic and repair mechanisms that preferentially produce a certain class of mutational changes over others.</p
Recommended from our members
The olfactory basis of orchid pollination by mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are important vectors of disease and require sources of carbohydrates for reproduction and survival. Unlike host-related behaviors of mosquitoes, comparatively less is understood about the mechanisms involved in nectar-feeding decisions, or how this sensory information is processed in the mosquito brain. Here we show that Aedes spp. mosquitoes, including Aedes aegypti, are effective pollinators of the Platanthera obtusata orchid, and demonstrate this mutualism is mediated by the orchid's scent and the balance of excitation and inhibition in the mosquito's antennal lobe (AL). The P. obtusata orchid emits an attractive, nonanal-rich scent, whereas related Platanthera species-not visited by mosquitoes-emit scents dominated by lilac aldehyde. Calcium imaging experiments in the mosquito AL revealed that nonanal and lilac aldehyde each respectively activate the LC2 and AM2 glomerulus, and remarkably, the AM2 glomerulus is also sensitive to N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET), a mosquito repellent. Lateral inhibition between these 2 glomeruli reflects the level of attraction to the orchid scents. Whereas the enriched nonanal scent of P. obtusata activates the LC2 and suppresses AM2, the high level of lilac aldehyde in the other orchid scents inverts this pattern of glomerular activity, and behavioral attraction is lost. These results demonstrate the ecological importance of mosquitoes beyond operating as disease vectors and open the door toward understanding the neural basis of mosquito nectar-seeking behaviors
- âŠ