1,445 research outputs found
The Last 41.000 Years Fluctuation in Atmosperic CO2 Concentration Inferred From the Changes in Oxygen and Carbon Stable Isotopes Ratios of the Marine Sediment
The past atmospheric CO2 concentrations were reconstructed based on the results of measurements of stable oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios of fossil foraminifer and total organic carbon contained in marine sediment taken from the Okinawa Trough, East China Sea. In this study, we utilized two models of Popp et al and Rau et al. for the reconstruction. The results show that the whole trends of the changes in CO2 concentrations are very similar, even when it is compared to the atmospheric CO2 concentration of air trapped in ice core from southern pole. Changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations are interpreted as a consequence of fluctuation in ocean surface water utilization of CO2 by marine organism and those are closely related to glacial-interglacial (cold-warm) fluctuations between maximum and minimum values through most Quaternary. Rekonstruksi terhadap Perubahan konsentrasi CO2 yang terkandung dalam udara telah dilakukan berdasarkan hasil pengukuran rasio isotop stabil oksigen dan karbon dalam fosil foraminifera dan total karbon organik yang terkandung dalam sedimen dasar laut dari Okinawa Trough, Laut Cina Timur. Dalam studi ini, dipakai model dari Popp et al. dan Rau et al. untuk rekonstruksi. Hasil studi menunjukkan bahwa kedua tren dari Perubahan kandungan CO2 udara sangat mirip, bahkan bila dibandingkan dengan kandungan CO2 udara yang terperangkap dalam inti es di Kutup Selatan sekalipun. Perubahan kandungan CO2 udara diinterpretrasikan sebagai akibat fluktuasi konsumsi CO2 di permukaan air laut oleh mikro-organisme yang juga sangat erat hubungannya dengan fluktuasi glasial-interglasial (dingin-panas) antara suhu udara bumi maksimum dan minimum sepanjang masa Kuarter
Development of Atmospheric Monitoring System at Akeno Observatory for the Telescope Array Project
We have developed an atmospheric monitoring system for the Telescope Array
experiment at Akeno Observatory. It consists of a Nd:YAG laser with an
alt-azimuth shooting system and a small light receiver. This system is
installed inside an air conditioned weather-proof dome. All parts, including
the dome, laser, shooter, receiver, and optical devices are fully controlled by
a personal computer utilizing the Linux operating system.
It is now operated as a back-scattering LIDAR System. For the Telescope Array
experiment, to estimate energy reliably and to obtain the correct shower
development profile, the light transmittance in the atmosphere needs to be
calibrated with high accuracy.
Based on observational results using this monitoring system, we consider this
LIDAR to be a very powerful technique for Telescope Array experiments. The
details of this system and its atmospheric monitoring technique will be
discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures(plus 3 gif files), Published in NIM-A Vol.488,
August 200
Universal validity of the second law of information thermodynamics
Feedback control and erasure protocols have often been considered as a model
to embody Maxwell's Demon paradox and to study the interplay between
thermodynamics and information processing. Such studies have led to the
conclusion, now widely accepted in the community, that Maxwell's Demon and the
second law of thermodynamics can peacefully coexist because any gain provided
by the demon must be offset by the cost of performing measurement and resetting
the demon's memory to its initial state. Statements of this kind are
collectively referred to as second laws of information thermodynamics and have
recently been extended to include quantum theoretical scenarios. However,
previous studies in this direction have made several assumptions, in particular
about the feedback process and the measurement performed on the demon's memory,
and thus arrived at statements that are not universally applicable and whose
range of validity is not clear. In this work, we fill this gap by precisely
characterizing the full range of quantum feedback control and erasure protocols
that are overall consistent with the second law of thermodynamics. This leads
us to conclude that the second law of information thermodynamics is indeed
universal: it must hold for any quantum feedback control and erasure protocol,
regardless of the measurement process involved, as long as the protocol is
overall compatible with thermodynamics. Our comprehensive analysis not only
encompasses new scenarios but also retrieves previous ones, doing so with fewer
assumptions. This simplification contributes to a clearer understanding of the
theory. Additionally, our work identifies the Groenewold--Ozawa information
gain as the correct information measure characterizing the work extractable by
feedback control.Comment: 30 pages, 1 figure. The title is changed from the previous version
and one author is added. The contents are significantly update
Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive function in infants in rural Africa
Cortical mapping of cognitive function during infancy is poorly understood in low-income countries due to the lack of transportable neuroimaging methods. We have successfully piloted functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging tool in rural Gambia. Four-to-eight month old infants watched videos of Gambian adults perform social movements, while haemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. We found distinct regions of the posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex that evidenced either visual-social activation or vocally selective activation (vocal > non-vocal). The patterns of selective cortical activation in Gambian infants replicated those observed within similar aged infants in the UK. These are the first reported data on the measurement of localized functional brain activity in young infants in Africa and demonstrate the potential that fNIRS offers for field-based neuroimaging research of cognitive function in resource-poor rural communities
Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess cognitive function in infants in rural Africa
Cortical mapping of cognitive function during infancy is poorly understood in low-income countries due to the lack of transportable neuroimaging methods. We have successfully piloted functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a neuroimaging tool in rural Gambia. Four-to-eight month old infants watched videos of Gambian adults perform social movements, while haemodynamic responses were recorded using fNIRS. We found distinct regions of the posterior superior temporal and inferior frontal cortex that evidenced either visual-social activation or vocally selective activation (vocal > non-vocal). The patterns of selective cortical activation in Gambian infants replicated those observed within similar aged infants in the UK. These are the first reported data on the measurement of localized functional brain activity in young infants in Africa and demonstrate the potential that fNIRS offers for field-based neuroimaging research of cognitive function in resource-poor rural communities
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
Biliary Bicarbonate Secretion Constitutes a Protective Mechanism against Bile Acid-Induced Injury in Man
Background: Cholangiocytes expose a striking resistance against bile acids: while other cell types, such as hepatocytes, are susceptible to bile acid-induced toxicity and apoptosis already at micromolar concentrations, cholangiocytes are continuously exposed to millimolar concentrations as present in bile. We present a hypothesis suggesting that biliary secretion of HCO(3)(-) in man serves to protect cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced damage by fostering the deprotonation of apolar bile acids to more polar bile salts. Here, we tested if bile acid-induced toxicity is pH-dependent and if anion exchanger 2 (AE2) protects against bile acid-induced damage. Methods: A human cholangiocyte cell line was exposed to chenodeoxycholate (CDC), or its glycine conjugate, from 0.5 mM to 2.0 mM at pH 7.4, 7.1, 6.7 or 6.4, or after knockdown of AE2. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined by WST and caspase-3/-7 assays, respectively. Results: Glycochenodeoxycholate (GCDC) uptake in cholangiocytes is pH-dependent. Furthermore, CDC and GCDC (pK(a) 4-5) induce cholangiocyte toxicity in a pH-dependent manner: 0.5 mM CDC and 1 mM GCDC at pH 7.4 had no effect on cell viability, but at pH 6.4 decreased viability by >80% and increased caspase activity almost 10- and 30-fold, respectively. Acidification alone had no effect. AE2 knockdown led to 3- and 2-fold enhanced apoptosis induced by 0.75 mM CDC or 2 mM GCDC at pH 7.4. Discussion: These data support our hypothesis of a biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella serving to protect human cholangiocytes against bile acid-induced injury. AE2 is a key contributor to this protective mechanism. The development and progression of cholangiopathies, such as primary biliary cirrhosis, may be a consequence of genetic and acquired functional defects of genes involved in maintaining the biliary HCO(3)(-) umbrella. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base
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Carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios of urine and faeces as novel nutritional biomarkers of meat and fish intake
Purpose
Meat and fish consumption are associated with changes in the risk of chronic diseases. Intake is mainly assessed using self-reporting, as no true quantitative nutritional biomarker is available. The measurement of plasma fatty acids, often used as an alternative, is expensive and time-consuming. As meat and fish differ in their stable isotope ratios, δ13C and δ15N have been proposed as biomarkers. However, they have never been investigated in controlled human dietary intervention studies.
Objective
In a short-term feeding study, we investigated the suitability of δ13C and δ15N in blood, urine and faeces as biomarkers of meat and fish intake.
Methods
The dietary intervention study (n = 14) followed a randomised cross-over design with three eight-day dietary periods (meat, fish and half-meatâhalf-fish). In addition, 4 participants completed a vegetarian control period. At the end of each period, 24-h urine, fasting venous blood and faeces were collected and their δ13C and δ15N analysed.
Results
There was a significant difference between diets in isotope ratios in faeces and urine samples, but not in blood samples (KruskalâWallis test, p < 0.0001). In pairwise comparisons, δ13C and δ15N were significantly higher in urine and faecal samples following a fish diet when compared with all other diets, and significantly lower following a vegetarian diet. There was no significant difference in isotope ratio between meat and half-meatâhalf-fish diets for blood, urine or faecal samples.
Conclusions
The results of this study show that urinary and faecal δ13C and δ15N are suitable candidate biomarkers for short-term meat and fish intake
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