Variability of Luminous Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud Using 10 Years of ASAS Data

Motivated by the detection of a recent outburst of the massive luminous blue variable LMC-R71, which reached an absolute magnitude M_V = -9.3 mag, we undertook a systematic study of the optical variability of 1268 massive stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using a recent catalog by Bonanos et al. (2009) as the input. The ASAS All Star Catalog (Pojmanski 2002) provided well-sampled light curves of these bright stars spanning 10 years. Combining the two catalogs resulted in 599 matches, on which we performed a variability search. We identified 117 variable stars, 38 of which were not known before, despite their brightness and large amplitude of variation. We found 13 periodic stars that we classify as eclipsing binary (EB) stars, eight of which are newly discovered bright, massive eclipsing binaries composed of OB type stars. The remaining 104 variables are either semi- or non-periodic, the majority (85) being red supergiants. Most (26) of the newly discovered variables in this category are also red supergiants with only three B and four O stars.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures and 3 tables; published in A

Transgenic avian-derived recombinant human interferon-alpha2b (AVI-005) in healthy subjects: an open-label, single-dose, controlled study.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study characterized the safety and pharmacological properties of AVI-005, a novel glycosylated recombinant human interferon-alpha2b produced from the egg whites of chickens transfected with human cDNA. METHODS: 18 healthy volunteers received single subcutaneous rising doses (0.5, 1.66 or 5 million international units, MIU) of AVI-005. A randomized parallel comparator group of 10 subjects received 5 MIU of unglycosylated IFN-alpha2b (Intron A). The pharmacokinetic parameters t1/2, tmax, Cmax, AUC0-24h, Vd, and clearance were compared between AVI-005 and unglycosylated IFN-alpa2b. RESULTS: At equipotent doses, AVI-005 had a larger AUC0-24h than the control interferon. Pharmacodynamic markers ofneopterin and beta2-microglobulin for the two treatments were similar. These markers were increased by AVI-005 in a dose-dependent manner. Pharmacodynamic responses to treatment with AVI-005 were shown by the change in mRNA expression for interferon inducible protein kinase and 2\u275\u27-oligoadenylate synthetase. Adverse events in the two groups were qualitatively and quantitatively similar. CONCLUSION: AVI-005 demonstrates biological activity and pharmaco-kinetic properties in humans that support further development

Sum Rules for Multi-Photon Spectroscopy of Ions in Finite Symmetry

Models describing one- and two-photon transitions for ions in crystalline environments are unified and extended to the case of parity-allowed and parity- forbidden p-photon transitions. The number of independent parameters for characterizing the polarization dependence is shown to depend on an ensemble of properties and rules which combine symmetry considerations and physical models.Comment: 16 pages, Tex fil

Infrared microspectroscopy to elucidate the underlying biomolecular mechanisms of FLASH radiotherapy.

FLASH-radiotherapy (FLASH-RT) is an emerging modality that uses ultra-high dose rates of radiation to enable curative doses to the tumor while preserving normal tissue. The biological studies showed the potential of FLASH-RT to revolutionize radiotherapy cancer treatments. However, the complex biological basis of FLASH-RT is not fully known yet. Within this context, our aim is to get deeper insights into the biomolecular mechanisms underlying FLASH-RT through Fourier Transform Infrared Microspectroscopy (FTIRM). C57Bl/6J female mice were whole brain irradiated at 10 Gy with the eRT6-Oriatron system. 10 Gy FLASH-RT was delivered in 1 pulse of 1.8μs and conventional irradiations at 0.1 Gy/s. Brains were sampled and prepared for analysis 24 h post-RT. FTIRM was performed at the MIRAS beamline of ALBA Synchrotron. Infrared raster scanning maps of the whole mice brain sections were collected for each sample condition. Hyperspectral imaging and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) were performed in several regions of the brain. PCA results evidenced a clear separation between conventional and FLASH irradiations in the 1800-950 cm <sup>-1</sup> region, with a significant overlap between FLASH and Control groups. An analysis of the loading plots revealed that most of the variance accounting for the separation between groups was associated to modifications in the protein backbone (Amide I). This protein degradation and/or conformational rearrangement was concomitant with nucleic acid fragmentation/condensation. Cluster separation between FLASH and conventional groups was also present in the 3000-2800 cm <sup>-1</sup> region, being correlated with changes in the methylene and methyl group concentrations and in the lipid chain length. Specific vibrational features were detected as a function of the brain region. This work provided new insights into the biomolecular effects involved in FLASH-RT through FTIRM. Our results showed that beyond nucleic acid investigations, one should take into account other dose-rate responsive molecules such as proteins, as they might be key to understand FLASH effect

Testing Mass Loss in Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids using Infrared and Optical Observations II. Predictions and Tests of the OGLE-III Fundamental-Mode Cepheids

In this article, we test the hypothesis that Cepheids have infrared excesses due to mass loss. We fit a model using the mass-loss rate and the stellar radius as free parameters to optical observations from the OGLE-III survey and infrared observations from the 2MASS and SAGE data sets. The sample of Cepheids have predicted minimum mass-loss rates ranging from zero to $10^{-8}M_\odot$ $yr^{-1}$, where the rates depend on the chosen dust properties. We use the predicted radii to compute the Period-Radius relation for LMC Cepheids, and to estimate the uncertainty caused by the presence of infrared excess for determining angular diameters with the infrared surface brightness technique. Finally, we calculate the linear and non-linear Period-Luminosity (P-L) relations for the LMC Cepheids at VIJHK + IRAC wavelengths and we find that the P-L relations are consistent with being non-linear at infrared wavelengths, contrary to previous results.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, 5 tables, ApJ Accepte

Intrinsic Terahertz Plasmons and Magnetoplasmons in Large Scale Monolayer Graphene

We show that in graphene epitaxially grown on SiC the Drude absorption is transformed into a strong terahertz plasmonic peak due to natural nanoscale inhomogeneities, such as substrate terraces and wrinkles. The excitation of the plasmon modifies dramatically the magneto-optical response and in particular the Faraday rotation. This makes graphene a unique playground for plasmon-controlled magneto-optical phenomena thanks to a cyclotron mass 2 orders of magnitude smaller than in conventional plasmonic materials such as noble metals.Comment: to appear in Nano Letter

The Beginning and Evolution of the Universe

We review the current standard model for the evolution of the Universe from an early inflationary epoch to the complex hierarchy of structure seen today. We summarize and provide key references for the following topics: observations of the expanding Universe; the hot early Universe and nucleosynthesis; theory and observations of the cosmic microwave background; Big Bang cosmology; inflation; dark matter and dark energy; theory of structure formation; the cold dark matter model; galaxy formation; cosmological simulations; observations of galaxies, clusters, and quasars; statistical measures of large-scale structure; and measurement of cosmological parameters. We conclude with discussion of some open questions in cosmology. This review is designed to provide a graduate student or other new worker in the field an introduction to the cosmological literature.Comment: 69 pages. Invited review article for Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Supplementary references, tables, and more concise PDF file at http://www.physics.drexel.edu/univers

Finding needles in haystacks: linking scientific names, reference specimens and molecular data for Fungi

DNA phylogenetic comparisons have shown that morphology-based species recognition often underestimates fungal diversity. Therefore, the need for accurate DNA sequence data, tied to both correct taxonomic names and clearly annotated specimen data, has never been greater. Furthermore, the growing number of molecular ecology and microbiome projects using high-throughput sequencing require fast and effective methods for en masse species assignments. In this article, we focus on selecting and re-annotating a set of marker reference sequences that represent each currently accepted order of Fungi. The particular focus is on sequences from the internal transcribed spacer region in the nuclear ribosomal cistron, derived from type specimens and/or ex-type cultures. Re-annotated and verified sequences were deposited in a curated public database at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), namely the RefSeq Targeted Loci (RTL) database, and will be visible during routine sequence similarity searches with NR_prefixed accession numbers. A set of standards and protocols is proposed to improve the data quality of new sequences, and we suggest how type and other reference sequences can be used to improve identification of Fungi

Male and Female Visions of Mediation

Also PCMA Working Paper #2.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/51102/1/334.pd