2,187 research outputs found
High-temperature terahertz optical diode effect without magnetic order in polar FeZnMoO
We present a terahertz spectroscopic study of polar ferrimagnet
FeZnMoO. Our main finding is a giant high-temperature optical diode
effect, or nonreciprocal directional dichroism, where the transmitted light
intensity in one direction is over 100 times lower than intensity transmitted
in the opposite direction. The effect takes place in the paramagnetic phase
with no long-range magnetic order in the crystal, which contrasts sharply with
all existing reports of the terahertz optical diode effect in other
magnetoelectric materials, where the long-range magnetic ordering is a
necessary prerequisite. In \fzmo, the effect occurs resonantly with a strong
magnetic dipole active transition centered at 1.27 THz and assigned as electron
spin resonance between the eigenstates of the single-ion anisotropy
Hamiltonian. We propose that the optical diode effect in paramagnetic
FeZnMoO is driven by signle-ion terms in magnetoelectric free energy
Determination of the Prevalence of Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis among Persons Vaccinated against Bacillus Calmette-Guérin in South Korea
The prevalence of tuberculous infection was estimated among 12,032 persons with a Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination scar and 7,788 persons without such a scar who participated in a nationwide tuberculin skin test survey conducted in the Republic of Korea in 1975. The analysis was built upon mixture models that captured the heterogeneity of indurations arising from tuberculous infection, cross-reactions due to infection with environmental mycobacteria, and BCG vaccination. The three distributions were allowed to vary by age, sex, and BCG vaccination status in the Bayesian manner, according to the prior opinion of the authors. Estimated prevalences of tuberculous infection were similar among persons with a BCG scar and persons without one: 7.5% (95% credibility interval (CI): 3.1, 12.5) and 5.2% (95% CI: 4.2, 6.3), respectively, at age 0-4 years and 87.3% (95% CI: 84.0, 90.2) and 84.0% (95% CI: 81.9, 85.8), respectively, at age 25-29 years. From this analysis it can be concluded that mixture models allow investigators, for the first time, to estimate the prevalence of tuberculous infection not only in unvaccinated persons but also in the BCG-vaccinated population. Mixture models are a versatile tool for analyzing diagnostic test data and more general classification problems of considerable complexit
Remarks on Renormalization of Black Hole Entropy
We elaborate the renormalization process of entropy of a nonextremal and an
extremal Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole by using the Pauli-Villars
regularization method, in which the regulator fields obey either the
Bose-Einstein or Fermi-Dirac distribution depending on their spin-statistics.
The black hole entropy involves only two renormalization constants. We also
discuss the entropy and temperature of the extremal black hole.Comment: 14 pages, revtex, no figure
The Genome Sequence of 'Mycobacterium massiliense' Strain CIP 108297 Suggests the Independent Taxonomic Status of the Mycobacterium abscessus Complex at the Subspecies Level
Members of the Mycabacterium abscessus complex are rapidly growing mycobacteria that are emerging as human pathogens. The M. abscassus complex was previously composed of three species, namely M. abscessus sensu strict, 'M. massiliense', and M. bolletii', In 2011, 'M. massiliense' and 'M. bolletre' were united and reclassified as a single subspecies within M. abscessus: M. abscessus subsp. bolletii. However, the placement of 'M. massiliense' Within the boundary of M. abscessus subsp. balletii remains highly controversial with regard to clinical aspects. In this study, we revisited the taxonomic status of members of the M. abscessus complex based on comparative analysis of he whole-genome sequences of 53 strains, The genome sequence of the previous type strain of 'Mycobacterium massiliense' (CIP 108297) was determined using next-generation sequencing. The genome tree based on average nucleotide identity (AN I) values supported the differentiation of M. bolletii' and M. massiliense' at the subspecies level. The genome tree also clearly illustrated that 'M. bolletil' and 'M. massiliense' form a distinct phylogenetic clade within the radiation of the M. abscessus complex. The genomic distances observed in this study suggest that the current M. abscessus subsp. bolletii taxon should be divided into two subspecies, M. abscessus subsp. massiliense subsp. nov. and M. abscessus subsp. bolletii, to correspondingly accommodate the previously known 'M. assiliense' and 'M. bolletii' strains.
Renormalized Thermodynamic Entropy of Black Holes in Higher Dimensions
We study the ultraviolet divergent structures of the matter (scalar) field in
a higher D-dimensional Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole and compute the matter
field contribution to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy by using the Pauli-Villars
regularization method. We find that the matter field contribution to the black
hole entropy does not, in general, yield the correct renormalization of the
gravitational coupling constants. In particular we show that the matter field
contribution in odd dimensions does not give the term proportional to the area
of the black hole event horizon.Comment: Final Revision Form as to be published in Physical Review D, ReVTeX,
No Figure
The ancient phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling system is a master regulator of energy and carbon metabolism in algae
Algae undergo a complete metabolic transformation under stress by arresting cell growth, inducing autophagy and hyperaccumulating biofuel precursors such as triacylglycerols and starch. However, the regulatory mechanisms behind this stress-induced transformation are still unclear. Here, we use biochemical, mutational, and âomicsâ approaches to demonstrate that PI3K signaling mediates the homeostasis of energy molecules and influences carbon metabolism in algae. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the inhibition and knockdown (KD) of algal class III PI3K led to significantly decreased cell growth, altered cell morphology, and higher lipid and starch contents. Lipid profiling of wild-type and PI3K KD lines showed significantly reduced membrane lipid breakdown under nitrogen starvation (-N) in the KD. RNA-seq and network analyses showed that under -N conditions, the KD line carried out lipogenesis rather than lipid hydrolysis by initiating de novo fatty acid biosynthesis, which was supported by tricarboxylic acid cycle down-regulation and via acetyl-CoA synthesis from glycolysis. Remarkably, autophagic responses did not have primacy over inositide signaling in algae, unlike in mammals and vascular plants. The mutant displayed a fundamental shift in intracellular energy flux, analogous to that in tumor cells. The high free fatty acid levels and reduced mitochondrial ATP generation led to decreased cell viability. These results indicate that the PI3K signal transduction pathway is the metabolic gatekeeper restraining biofuel yields, thus maintaining fitness and viability under stress in algae. This study demonstrates the existence of homeostasis between starch and lipid synthesis controlled by lipid signaling in algae and expands our understanding of such processes, with biotechnological and evolutionary implications.Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning 2015M3A6A2065697Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries 2015018
Dual Therapy with Cidofovir and Mirtazapine for Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy in a Sarcoidosis Patient
Background: Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is a demyelinating central nervous system disease caused by JC virus (JCV) reactivation in immunocompromised patients. The disease course of PML is often progressive, fatal and at present, there are few reports on successful treatment outcomes. Case Report: A 45-year-old man with systemic sarcoidosis presented with rapidly progressive dementia and right hemiparesis. The patient was diagnosed with PML as confirmed via brain biopsy and JCV PCR. With a combination treatment of cidofovir and mirtazapine, there was significant improvement of neurological symptoms without measurable functional deficit. Conclusion: This case suggests that dual therapy with cidofovir and mirtazapine might be an effective treatment option in PML patients with sarcoidosis
Symmetry energy of dense matter in holographic QCD
We study the nuclear symmetry energy of dense matter using holographic QCD.
To this end, we consider two flavor branes with equal quark masses in a
D4/D6/D6 model. We find that at all densities the symmetry energy monotonically
increases. At small densities, it exhibits a power law behavior with the
density, .Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Stability of the homogeneous Bose-Einstein condensate at large gas parameter
The properties of the uniform Bose gas is studied within the optimized
variational perturbation theory (Gaussian approximation) in a self-consistent
way. It is shown that the atomic BEC with a repulsive interaction becomes
unstable when the gas parameter gamma=rho a^3 exceeds a critical value
gamma_{crit} ~ 0.01. The quantum corrections beyond the Bogoliubov-Popov
approximation to the energy density, chemical potential and pressure in powers
of gamma expansions are presented.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, Revte
Feasibility of Coronary 18F-Sodium Fluoride Positron-Emission Tomography Assessment With the Utilization of Previously Acquired Computed Tomography Angiography
BACKGROUND: We assessed the feasibility of utilizing previously acquired computed tomography angiography (CTA) with subsequent positron-emission tomography (PET)-only scan for the quantitative evaluation of 18F-NaF PET coronary uptake.
METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-five patients (age 67.1±6.9 years; 76% males) underwent CTA (CTA1) and combined 18F-NaF PET/CTA (CTA2) imaging within 14 [10, 21] days. We fused CTA1 from visit 1 with 18F-NaF PET (PET) from visit 2 and compared visual pattern of activity, maximal standard uptake (SUVmax) values, and target to background ratio (TBR) measurements on (PET/CTA1) fused versus hybrid (PET/CTA2). On PET/CTA2, 226 coronary plaques were identified. Fifty-eight coronary segments from 28 (62%) patients had high 18F-NaF uptake (TBR >1.25), whereas 168 segments had lesions with 18F-NaF TBR â€1.25. Uptake in all lesions was categorized identically on coregistered PET/CTA1. There was no significant difference in 18F-NaF uptake values between PET/CTA1 and PET/CTA2 (SUVmax, 1.16±0.40 versus 1.15±0.39; P=0.53; TBR, 1.10±0.45 versus 1.09±0.46; P=0.55). The intraclass correlation coefficient for SUVmax and TBR was 0.987 (95% CI, 0.983-0.991) and 0.986 (95% CI, 0.981-0.992). There was no fixed or proportional bias between PET/CTA1 and PET/CTA2 for SUVmax and TBR. Cardiac motion correction of PET scans improved reproducibility with tighter 95% limits of agreement (±0.14 for SUVmax and ±0.15 for TBR versus ±0.20 and ±0.20 on diastolic imaging; P<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Coronary CTA/PET protocol with CTA first followed by PET-only allows for reliable and reproducible quantification of 18F-NaF coronary uptake. This approach may facilitate selection of high-risk patients for PET-only imaging based on results from prior CTA, providing a practical workflow for clinical application.ope
- âŠ