MUSE observations of a changing-look AGN I: The re-appearance of the broad emission lines

Optical changing-look Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are a class of sources that change type within a short timescale of years or decades. This change is characterised by the appearance or disappearance of broad emission lines, often associated with dramatic AGN continuum flux changes that are orders of magnitude larger than those expected from typical AGN variability. In this work we study for the first time the host galaxy of a changing-look AGN, Mrk 590, using high spatial resolution optical and near-infrared observations. We discover that after ~ 10 yr absence, the optical broad emission lines of Mrk 590 have reappeared. The AGN optical continuum flux however, is still ~ 10 times lower than that observed during the most luminous state in the 1990s. The host galaxy shows a 4.5 kpc radius star-forming ring with knots of ionised and cold molecular gas emission. Extended ionised and warm molecular gas emission are detected in the nucleus, indicating that there is a reservoir of gas as close as 60 pc from the black hole. We observe a nuclear gas spiral between radii r ~ 0.5 - 2 kpc, which has been suggested as a dynamical mechanism able to drive the necessary gas to fuel AGN. We also discover blue-shifted and high velocity dispersion [O III] emission out to a radius of 1 kpc, tracing a nuclear gas outflow. The gas dynamics in Mrk 590 suggest a complex balance between gas inflow and outflow in the nucleus of the galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

High conversion efficiency mass-limited Sn-based laser plasma source for extreme ultraviolet lithography

Extreme ultraviolet lithography requires a high-efficiency light source at 13 nm that is free from debris. Our mass-limited Sn-based laser plasma source shows 1.2% conversion efficiency. Emission spectra from the source were obtained to observe the effects of Sri concentration and effects of laser intensity. Debris measurements were analyzed, and an enhanced repeller field configuration shows marked improvement in mitigating debris. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society

Chemical Constituents and Biological Activities of Strobilanthes crispus L.

Phytochemical investigation of Strobilanthes crispus has led to the isolation of 1-heptacosanol (1), tetracosanoic acid (2), stigmasterol (3) from the hexane extract, a mixture of four C20-C24 fatty acid esters of �- amyrin (4), taraxerol (5), taraxerone (6), a mixture of two C22 and C24 fatty acid esters of taraxerol (7) from the dichloromethane extract, 4-acetyl-2,7-dihydroxy-1,4,8-triphenyloctane-3,5-dione (8) and stigmasterol �-Dglucopyranoside (9) from the methanol extract. The dichloromethane and methanol crude extracts together with the isolated compounds (4-9) were tested for antibacterial activity using the determination of minimum inhibitory concentration assay and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity using the micro-plate assay. The majority of the samples tested indicated good activity against the Gram-positive bacteria (7.8�125.0 μg/mL), and moderate to weak activity against the Gram-negative bacteria (31.0�250.0 μg/mL) employed. Moderate to weak activity was observed against acetylcholinesterase. Compound (8) showed excellent antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC values of 15.6 and 7.8 μg/mL, respectively, and significant activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, with MIC values of 62.5 and 31.0 μg/mL, respectively. Compound (8) also showed the highest acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity, with an IC50 value of 31.0 μg/mL. This is the first report describing the antibacterial and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of S. crispus on the basis of the isolated constituents. This research work has provided scientific proof of the traditional medicinal use of the leaves of S. crispus

Ion emission measurements and mirror erosion studies for extreme ultraviolet lithography

Mirror erosion by high energy ion emission from extreme UV light sources is one of the main factors contributing to EUVL collector mirror reflectivity degradation. We are measuring ion energy distributions at the mirror distance from the plasma utilizing three different ion diagnostics for the case of tin-doped microscopic droplet laser plasmas. Typical ion energy distributions measured by an electrostatic spectrorneter are described. From the ion energy distributions, an estimate of mirror erosion is obtained. The effectiveness of electrostatic field mitigation is evaluated for the EUVL source requirement. (c) 2005 American Vacuum Society

The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients (CRAFT) survey

We are developing a purely commensal survey experiment for fast (<5s) transient radio sources. Short-timescale transients are associated with the most energetic and brightest single events in the Universe. Our objective is to cover the enormous volume of transients parameter space made available by ASKAP, with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and field of view. Fast timescale transients open new vistas on the physics of high brightness temperature emission, extreme states of matter and the physics of strong gravitational fields. In addition, the detection of extragalactic objects affords us an entirely new and extremely sensitive probe on the huge reservoir of baryons present in the IGM. We outline here our approach to the considerable challenge involved in detecting fast transients, particularly the development of hardware fast enough to dedisperse and search the ASKAP data stream at or near real-time rates. Through CRAFT, ASKAP will provide the testbed of many of the key technologies and survey modes proposed for high time resolution science with the SKA.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS

Analysis and Prediction of Patient Survival After Radiotherapy For Liver Cancer Based On Volumetric Segmental Response and Clinically Relevant Factors

https://openworks.mdanderson.org/sumexp23/1121/thumbnail.jp

Linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex coordinates late thymic T-cell differentiation and regulatory T-cell homeostasis.

The linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC) is essential for innate immunity in mice and humans, yet its role in adaptive immunity is unclear. Here we show that the LUBAC components HOIP, HOIL-1 and SHARPIN have essential roles in late thymocyte differentiation, FOXP3(+) regulatory T (Treg)-cell development and Treg cell homeostasis. LUBAC activity is not required to prevent TNF-induced apoptosis or necroptosis but is necessary for the transcriptional programme of the penultimate stage of thymocyte differentiation. Treg cell-specific ablation of HOIP causes severe Treg cell deficiency and lethal immune pathology, revealing an ongoing requirement of LUBAC activity for Treg cell homeostasis. These data reveal stage-specific requirements for LUBAC in coordinating the signals required for T-cell differentiation

Search for the Higgs boson in events with missing transverse energy and b quark jets produced in proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV

We search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with an electroweak vector boson in events with no identified charged leptons, large imbalance in transverse momentum, and two jets where at least one contains a secondary vertex consistent with the decay of b hadrons. We use ~1 fb-1 integrated luminosity of proton-antiproton collisions at s**(1/2)=1.96 TeV recorded by the CDF II experiment at the Tevatron. We find 268 (16) single (double) b-tagged candidate events, where 248 +/- 43 (14.4 +/- 2.7) are expected from standard model background processes. We place 95% confidence level upper limits on the Higgs boson production cross section for several Higgs boson masses ranging from 110 GeV/c2 to 140 GeV/c2. For a mass of 115 GeV/c2 the observed (expected) limit is 20.4 (14.2) times the standard model prediction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let