Evidence for a planetary mass third body orbiting the binary star KIC 5095269

In this paper, we report the evidence for a planetary mass body orbiting the close binary star KIC 5095269. This detection arose from a search for eclipse timing variations among the more than 2,000 eclipsing binaries observed by Kepler. Light curve and periodic eclipse time variations have been analysed using Systemic and a custom Binary Eclipse Timings code based on the Transit Analysis Package which indicates a $7.70\pm0.08M_{Jup}$ object orbiting every $237.7\pm0.1d$ around a $1.2M_\odot$ primary and $0.51M_\odot$ secondary in an 18.6d orbit. A dynamical integration over $10^7$ years suggests a stable orbital configuration. Radial velocity observations are recommended to confirm the properties of the binary star components and the planetary mass of the companion.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Microsatellite instability in ovarian neoplasms.

Microsatellite instability has been observed in a variety of sporadic malignancies, but its existence in sporadic ovarian cancer has been the subject of conflicting reports. We have performed a polymerase chain reaction-based microsatellite analysis of DNAs extracted from the neoplastic and non-neoplastic tissues of 41 ovarian cancer patients. Tumour-associated alterations were observed in seven (17%) of these cases. Clinicopathological correlations revealed that: (1) alterations among tumours classified as serous adenocarcinomas occurred with relatively low frequency (2/24 or 8%); (2) most of the tumours with microsatellite alterations (5/7 or 71%) were of less common histopathological types (epithelial subtypes such as endometrioid and mixed serous and mucinous, or non-epithelial types such as malignant mixed Müllerian or germ cell tumours); (3) tumour-associated alterations were observed in 3/4 (75%) of the patients with stage I tumours vs 4/37 (11%) of the patients with stage II, III and IV tumours (P = 0.01); (4) tumour-associated microsatellite instability was found to occur with similar frequencies among patients with and without clinical features suggestive of familial disease, including positive family history, early onset, or multiple primary tumours. In summary, we have observed microsatellite alterations in the neoplastic tissues of ovarian cancer patients with diverse genetic backgrounds and clinicopathological features. The pattern of alterations is consistent with the possibility that multiple mechanisms may be responsible for microsatellite instability in ovarian neoplasms

X-ray Variability and Hardness of ESO 243-49 HLX-1: Clear Evidence for Spectral State Transitions

The ultra-luminous X-ray (ULX) source ESO 243-49 HLX-1 currently provides the strongest evidence for the existence of intermediate mass black holes. We conduct an ongoing monitoring campaign with the Swift X-ray Telescope and found that HLX-1 showed two fast rise and exponential decay with increases in the count rate of a factor ~40 separated by 375+/-13 days. We obtained new XMM-Newton and Chandra dedicated pointings that were triggered at the lowest and highest luminosities, respectively. The unabsorbed luminosities ranged from 1.9x10^40 to 1.25x10^42 erg/s. We confirm here the detection of spectral state transitions from HLX-1 reminiscent of Galactic black hole binaries: at high luminosities, the X-ray spectrum showed a thermal state dominated by a disk component with temperatures of 0.26 keV at most, and at low luminosities the spectrum is dominated by a hard power law with a photon index in the range 1.4-2.1, consistent with a hard state. The source was also observed in a steep power law state. In the thermal state, the luminosity of the disk component appears to scale with the fourth power of the inner disk temperature which supports the presence of an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk. The low fractional variability (rms of 9+/-9%) in this state also suggests the presence of a dominant disk. The spectral changes and long-term variability of the source cannot be explained by variations of the beaming angle and are not consistent with the source being in a super-Eddington accretion state. HLX-1 is thus an unusual ULX as it is similar to Galactic black hole binaries, which have non-beamed and sub-Eddington emission, but with luminosities 3 orders of magnitude higher. In this picture, a lower limit on the mass of the black hole of >9000 M_sun can be derived, and the disk temperature in the thermal state also suggests the presence of a black hole of a few 10^3 M_sun.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ (October 10, 2011, v740-1); 11 figures, 13 pages with emulateapj styl

Five Dimensional Rotating Black Hole in a Uniform Magnetic Field. The Gyromagnetic Ratio

In four dimensional general relativity, the fact that a Killing vector in a vacuum spacetime serves as a vector potential for a test Maxwell field provides one with an elegant way of describing the behaviour of electromagnetic fields near a rotating Kerr black hole immersed in a uniform magnetic field. We use a similar approach to examine the case of a five dimensional rotating black hole placed in a uniform magnetic field of configuration with bi-azimuthal symmetry, that is aligned with the angular momenta of the Myers-Perry spacetime. Assuming that the black hole may also possess a small electric charge we construct the 5-vector potential of the electromagnetic field in the Myers-Perry metric using its three commuting Killing vector fields. We show that, like its four dimensional counterparts, the five dimensional Myers-Perry black hole rotating in a uniform magnetic field produces an inductive potential difference between the event horizon and an infinitely distant surface. This potential difference is determined by a superposition of two independent Coulomb fields consistent with the two angular momenta of the black hole and two nonvanishing components of the magnetic field. We also show that a weakly charged rotating black hole in five dimensions possesses two independent magnetic dipole moments specified in terms of its electric charge, mass, and angular momentum parameters. We prove that a five dimensional weakly charged Myers-Perry black hole must have the value of the gyromagnetic ratio g=3.Comment: 23 pages, REVTEX, v2: Minor changes, v3: Minor change

Components of Antineutrino Emission in Nuclear Reactor

New ${\bar{\nu}_e},e$ scattering experiments aimed for sensitive searches of the ${\nu}_e$ magnetic moment and projects to explore small mixing angle oscillations at reactors call for a better understanding of the reactor antineutrino spectrum. Here we consider six components, which contribute to the total ${\bar{\nu}_e}$ spectrum generated in nuclear reactor. They are: beta decay of the fission fragments of $^{235}$U, $^{239}$Pu, $^{238}$U and $^{241}$Pu, decay of beta-emitters produced as a result of neutron capture in $^{238}$U and also due to neutron capture in accumulated fission fragments which perturbs the spectrum. For antineutrino energies less than 3.5 MeV we tabulate evolution of ${\bar{\nu}_e}$ spectra corresponding to each of the four fissile isotopes vs fuel irradiation time and their decay after the irradiation is stopped and also estimate relevant uncertainties. Small corrections to the ILL spectra are considered.Comment: LaTex 8 pages, 2 ps figure

CD3- leukocytes present in the human uterus during early placentation: phenotypic and morphologic characterization of the CD56++ population.

In this study, the CD3- LGL/NK cells present in the pregnant human uterus have been characterized. Phenotypic and morphologic analyses of decidual LGL revealed many similarities to the minor CD56bright+, CD16- subset in peripheral blood, but there were some important differences. The relative surface density of CD56+ is greatly increased on decidual LGL to 22x that found on the majority of CD56+ peripheral blood NK cells. The CD56bright+ cells in decidua show LGL morphology, whereas in peripheral blood, they are mainly agranular. Proliferation of CD56+ cells occurs predominantly during the nonpregnant secretory (luteal) phase, indicating these CD56+ uterine LGL do not migrate as terminally differentiated cells. The appearance of CD56+ cells was examined at the ultrastructural level using immunoelectron microscopy. Cells with phenotypic characteristics of decidual LGL occur in a higher percentage (1.11%) in the peripheral blood of women of reproductive age than in men (0.66%). On the basis of these results, it is proposed that the CD56bright+ uterine leukocytes represent a distinctive, hormonally regulated subset possibly adapted to control human placentation.Peer Reviewe

A Comparative Study of the ReCell® Device and Autologous Spit-Thickness Meshed Skin Graft in the Treatment of Acute Burn Injuries.

Early excision and autografting are standard care for deeper burns. However, donor sites are a source of significant morbidity. To address this, the ReCell® Autologous Cell Harvesting Device (ReCell) was designed for use at the point-of-care to prepare a noncultured, autologous skin cell suspension (ASCS) capable of epidermal regeneration using minimal donor skin. A prospective study was conducted to evaluate the clinical performance of ReCell vs meshed split-thickness skin grafts (STSG, Control) for the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns. Effectiveness measures were assessed to 1 year for both ASCS and Control treatment sites and donor sites, including the incidence of healing, scarring, and pain. At 4 weeks, 98% of the ASCS-treated sites were healed compared with 100% of the Controls. Pain and assessments of scarring at the treatment sites were reported to be similar between groups. Significant differences were observed between ReCell and Control donor sites. The mean ReCell donor area was approximately 40 times smaller than that of the Control (P < .0001), and after 1 week, significantly more ReCell donor sites were healed than Controls (P = .04). Over the first 16 weeks, patients reported significantly less pain at the ReCell donor sites compared with Controls (P ≤ .05 at each time point). Long-term patients reported higher satisfaction with ReCell donor site outcomes compared with the Controls. This study provides evidence that the treatment of deep partial-thickness burns with ASCS results in comparable healing, with significantly reduced donor site size and pain and improved appearance relative to STSG

No man’s land: information needs and resources of men with metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer

The majority of men treated for prostate cancer will eventually develop castrate resistant disease (CRPC) with metastases (mCRPC). There are several options for further treatment: chemotherapy, third-line hormone therapy, radium, immunotherapy and palliation. Current ASCO guidelines for survivors of prostate cancer recommend that an individual’s information needs at all stages of disease are assessed, and that patients are provided with or referred to the appropriate sources for information and support. Earlier reviews have highlighted the dearth of such services and we wished to see if the situation had improved more recently. Unfortunately we conclude that there is still a lack of good quality congruent information easily accessible specifically for men with mCRPC and insufficient data regarding the risks, harms and benefits of different management plans. More research providing a clear evidence base about treatment consequences using patient reported outcome measures is required

Interleukin-17 Stimulates C-Reactive Protein Expression in Hepatocytes and Smooth Muscle Cells via p38 MAPK and ERK1/2-Dependent NF-κB and C/EBPβ Activation

Elevated systemic levels of the acute phase C-reactive protein (CRP) are predictors of future cardiovascular events. There is evidence that CRP may also play a direct role in atherogenesis. Here we determined whether the proinflammatory interleukin (IL)-17 stimulates CRP expression in hepatocytes (Hep3B cell line and primary hepatocytes) and coronary artery smooth muscle cells (CASMC). Our results demonstrate that IL-17 potently induces CRP expression in Hep3B cells independent of IL-1β and IL-6. IL-17 induced CRP promoter-driven reporter gene activity that could be attenuated by dominant negative IκBα or C/EBPβ knockdown and stimulated both NF-κB and C/EBP DNA binding and reporter gene activities. Targeting NF-κB and C/EBPβ activation by pharmacological inhibitors, small interfering RNA interference and adenoviral transduction of dominant negative expression vectors blocked IL-17-mediated CRP induction. Overexpression of wild type p50, p65, and C/EBPβ stimulated CRP transcription. IL-17 stimulated p38 MAPK and ERK1/2 activation, and SB203580 and PD98059 blunted IL-17-mediated NF-κB and C/EBP activation and CRP transcription. These results, confirmed in primary human hepatocytes and CASMC, demonstrate for the first time that IL-17 is a potent inducer of CRP expression via p38 MAPK and ERK1/2-dependent NF-κB and C/EBPβ activation and suggest that IL-17 may mediate chronic inflammation, atherosclerosis, and thrombosis