1,128 research outputs found
Orbital-dependent modifications of electronic structure across magneto-structural transition in BaFe2As2
Laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is employed to
investigate the temperature (T) dependence of the electronic structure in
BaFe2As2 across the magneto-structural transition at TN ~ 140 K. A drastic
transformation in Fermi surface (FS) shape across TN is observed, as expected
by first-principles band calculations. Polarization-dependent ARPES and band
calculations consistently indicate that the observed FSs at kz ~ pi in the
low-T antiferromagnetic (AF) state are dominated by the Fe3dzx orbital, leading
to the two-fold electronic structure. These results indicate that
magneto-structural transition in BaFe2As2 accompanies orbital-dependent
modifications in the electronic structure.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. accepted by Physical Review Letter
Chondrosarcoma and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor
Induction of differentiation and apoptosis in cancer cells by ligands of PPARγ is a novel therapeutic approach to malignant tumors. Chondrosarcoma (malignant cartilage tumor) and OUMS-27 cells (cell line established from grade III human chondrosarcoma) express PPARγ. PPARγ ligands inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, and induced apoptosis of OUMS-27. The higher-grade chondrosarcoma expressed a higher amount of antiapoptotic Bcl-xL in vivo. The treatment of OUMS-27 by 15d-PGJ2, the most potent endogenous ligand for PPARγ, downregulated expression of Bcl-xL and induced transient upregulation of proapoptotic Bax, which could accelerate cytochrome c release from mitochondria to the cytosol, followed by induction of caspase-dependent apoptosis. 15d-PGJ2 induced the expression of CDK inhibitor p21 protein in human chondrosarcoma cells, which appears to be involved in the mechanism of inhibition of cell proliferation. These findings suggest that targeted therapy with PPARγ ligands could be a novel strategy against chondrosarcoma
The Earliest Optical Observations of GRB 030329
We present the earliest optical imaging observations of GRB 030329 related to
SN 2003dh. The burst was detected by the HETE-2 satellite at 2003 March 29,
11:37:14.67 UT. Our wide-field monitoring started 97 minutes before the trigger
and the burst position was continuously observed. We found no precursor or
contemporaneous flare brighter than () in 32 s (64 s) timescale
between 10:00 and 13:00 UT. Follow-up time series photometries started at
12:51:39 UT (75 s after position notice through the GCN) and continued for more
than 5 hours. The afterglow was at min after burst.
Its fading between 1.2 and 6.3 hours is well characterized by a single
power-law of the form in -band. No significant flux variation was
detected and upper limits are derived as % in
minutes to hours timescales and % in seconds to
minutes timescales. Such a featureless lightcurve is explained by the smooth
distribution of circumburst medium. Another explanation is that the optical
band was above the synchrotron cooling frequency where emergent flux is
insensitive to the ambient density contrasts. Extrapolation of the afterglow
lightcurve to the burst epoch excludes the presence of an additional flare
component at minutes as seen in GRB 990123 and GRB 021211.Comment: ApJL, in pres
Optical evidence for symmetry changes above the Neel temperature in KCuF3
We report on optical measurements of the 1D Heisenberg antiferromagnet KCuF3.
The crystal-field excitations of the Cu2+ ions have been observed and their
temperature dependence can be understood in terms of magnetic and
exchange-induced dipole mechanisms and vibronic interactions. Above T_N we
observe a new temperature scale T_S characterized by the emergence of narrow
absorption features that correlate with changes of the orbital ordering as
observed by Paolasini et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 106403 (2002)]. The
appearance of these optical transitions provides evidence for a symmetry change
above the Neel temperature that affects the orbital ordering and paves the way
for the antiferromagnetic ordering.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Evaluating methods for ranking differentially expressed genes applied to microArray quality control data
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Statistical methods for ranking differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from gene expression data should be evaluated with regard to high sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility. In our previous studies, we evaluated eight gene ranking methods applied to only Affymetrix GeneChip data. A more general evaluation that also includes other microarray platforms, such as the Agilent or Illumina systems, is desirable for determining which methods are suitable for each platform and which method has better inter-platform reproducibility.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We compared the eight gene ranking methods using the MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) datasets produced by five manufacturers: Affymetrix, Applied Biosystems, Agilent, GE Healthcare, and Illumina. The area under the curve (AUC) was used as a measure for both sensitivity and specificity. Although the highest AUC values can vary with the definition of "true" DEGs, the best methods were, in most cases, either the weighted average difference (WAD), rank products (RP), or intensity-based moderated <it>t </it>statistic (ibmT). The percentages of overlapping genes (POGs) across different test sites were mainly evaluated as a measure for both intra- and inter-platform reproducibility. The POG values for WAD were the highest overall, irrespective of the choice of microarray platform. The high intra- and inter-platform reproducibility of WAD was also observed at a higher biological function level.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results for the five microarray platforms were consistent with our previous ones based on 36 real experimental datasets measured using the Affymetrix platform. Thus, recommendations made using the MAQC benchmark data might be universally applicable.</p
The Anisotropy of Cosmic Ray Arrival Direction around 10^18eV
Anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays around 10^{18}eV is
studied using data from the Akeno 20 km^2 array and the Akeno Giant Air Shower
Array (AGASA), using a total of about 216,000 showers observed over 15 years
above 10^{17}eV. In the first harmonic analysis, we have found significant
anisotropy of 4 % around 10^{18}eV, corresponding to a chance
probability of after taking the number of independent trials
into account. With two dimensional analysis in right ascension and declination,
this anisotropy is interpreted as an excess of showers near the directions of
the Galactic Center and the Cygnus region. This is a clear evidence for the
existence of the galactic cosmic ray up to the energy of 10^{18}eV. Primary
particle which contribute this anisotropy may be proton or neutron.Comment: 4pages, three figures, to appear in Procedings of 26th ICRC(Salt Lake
City
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