608 research outputs found
Clec9a-mediated ablation of conventional dendritic cells suggests a lymphoid path to generating dendritic cells In Vivo
Conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) are versatile activators of immune responses that develop as part of the myeloid lineage downstream of hematopoietic stem cells. We have recently shown that in mice precursors of cDCs, but not of other leukocytes, are marked by expression of DNGR-1/CLEC9A. To genetically deplete DNGR-1-expressing cDC precursors and their progeny, we crossed Clec9a-Cre mice to Rosa-lox-STOP-lox-diphtheria toxin (DTA) mice. These mice develop signs of age-dependent myeloproliferative disease, as has been observed in other DC-deficient mouse models. However, despite efficient depletion of cDC progenitors in these mice, cells with phenotypic characteristics of cDCs populate the spleen. These cells are functionally and transcriptionally similar to cDCs in wild type control mice but show somatic rearrangements of Ig-heavy chain genes, characteristic of lymphoid origin cells. Our studies reveal a previously unappreciated developmental heterogeneity of cDCs and suggest that the lymphoid lineage can generate cells with features of cDCs when myeloid cDC progenitors are impaired
Direct measurement of plasmon propagation lengths on lithographically defined metallic waveguides on GaAs
We present optical investigations of rectangular surface plasmon polariton
waveguides lithographically defined on GaAs substrates. The plasmon propagation
length is directly determined using a confocal microscope, with independent
polarization control in both excitation and detection channels. Surface plasmon
polaritons are launched along the waveguide using a lithographically defined
defect at one end. At the remote end of the waveguide they scatter into the
far-field, where they are imaged using a CCD camera. By monitoring the length
dependence of the intensity of scattered light from the waveguide end, we
directly extract the propagation length, obtaining values ranging from LSPP =
10-40 {\mu}m depending on the waveguide width (w=2-5 {\mu}m) and excitation
wavelength (760-920 nm). Results are in good accord with theoretical
expectations demonstrating the high quality of the lithographically defined
structures. The results obtained are of strong relevance for the development of
future semiconductor based integrated plasmonic technologies
Reduction of time-resolved space-based CCD photometry developed for MOST Fabry Imaging data
The MOST (Microvariability & Oscillations of STars) satellite obtains
ultraprecise photometry from space with high sampling rates and duty cycles.
Astronomical photometry or imaging missions in low Earth orbits, like MOST, are
especially sensitive to scattered light from Earthshine, and all these missions
have a common need to extract target information from voluminous data cubes.
They consist of upwards of hundreds of thousands of two-dimensional CCD frames
(or sub-rasters) containing from hundreds to millions of pixels each, where the
target information, superposed on background and instrumental effects, is
contained only in a subset of pixels (Fabry Images, defocussed images,
mini-spectra). We describe a novel reduction technique for such data cubes:
resolving linear correlations of target and background pixel intensities. This
stepwise multiple linear regression removes only those target variations which
are also detected in the background. The advantage of regression analysis
versus background subtraction is the appropriate scaling, taking into account
that the amount of contamination may differ from pixel to pixel. The
multivariate solution for all pairs of target/background pixels is minimally
invasive of the raw photometry while being very effective in reducing
contamination due to, e.g., stray light. The technique is tested and
demonstrated with both simulated oscillation signals and real MOST photometry.Comment: 16 pages, 23 figure
The host galaxies of three radio-loud quasars: 3C 48, 3C 345, and B2 1425+267
Observations with the Wide-Field/Planetary Camera-2 of the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) are presented for three radio-loud quasars: 3C 48 (z=0.367), B2
1425+267 (z=0.366), and 3C 345 (z=0.594). All three quasars have luminous (~4
L^*) galaxies as hosts, which are either elliptical (B2 1425+267 and 3C 345) or
interacting (3C 48), and all hosts are 0.5 - 1.0 mag bluer in (V-I) than other
galaxies with the same overall morphology at similar redshifts to the quasars.
The host of 3C 48 has many H II regions and a very extended tidal tail.
All nine of the radio-loud quasars studied here and in Bahcall et al. (1997)
either have bright elliptical hosts or occur in interacting systems. There is a
robust correlation between the radio emission of the quasar and the luminosity
of host galaxy; the radio-loud quasars reside in galaxies that are on average
about 1 mag brighter than hosts of the radio-quiet quasars.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 3 postscript and 3 jpeg figures.
Original figures may be found in ftp://eku.sns.ias.edu/pub/sofia/RadioLoud
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