217 research outputs found
Semimicroscopical description of the simplest photonuclear reactions accompanied by excitation of the giant dipole resonance in medium-heavy mass nuclei
A semimicroscopical approach is applied to describe photoabsorption and
partial photonucleon reactions accompanied by the excitation of the giant
dipole resonance (GDR). The approach is based on the continuum-RPA (CRPA) with
a phenomenological description for the spreading effect. The phenomenological
isoscalar part of the nuclear mean field, momentum-independent Landau-Migdal
particle-hole interaction, and separable momentum-dependent forces are used as
input quantities for the CRPA calculations. The experimental photoabsorption
and partial -reaction cross sections in the vicinity of the GDR are
satisfactorily described for Y, Ce and Pb target nuclei.
The total direct-neutron-decay branching ratio for the GDR in Ca and
Pb is also evaluated.Comment: 19 pages, 5 eps figure
Influence of temperature gradients on tunnel junction thermometry below 1 K: cooling and electron-phonon coupling
We have studied thermal gradients in thin Cu and AlMn wires, both
experimentally and theoretically. In the experiments, the wires were Joule
heated non-uniformly at sub-Kelvin temperatures, and the resulting temperature
gradients were measured using normal metal-insulator-superconducting tunnel
junctions. The data clearly shows that even in reasonably well conducting thin
wires with a short (m) non-heated portion, significant temperature
differences can form. In most cases, the measurements agree well with a model
which includes electron-phonon interaction and electronic thermal conductivity
by the Wiedemann-Franz law.Comment: J. Low Temp. Phys. in pres
A Tailorable Collaborative Learning System That Combines OGSA Grid Services and IMS-LD Scripting
This paper presents Gridcole, a new collaborative learning system that can be easily tailored by educators in order to support their own CSCL scenarios, using computing services provided by third parties in the form of OGSA grid services. Educators employ scripts in order to describe the sequence of learning activities and required tools, with standard IMS-LD notation. Thus, through the integration of coarse-grained tools, that may even offer supercomputing capabilities or use specific hardware resources, educators do not depend on software developers to easily configure a suitable environment in order to support a broad range of collaborative scenarios. An example of a learning scenario for a Computer Architecture course is described to illustrate the capabilities of Gridcole
Simulations of the Static Friction Due to Adsorbed Molecules
The static friction between crystalline surfaces separated by a molecularly
thin layer of adsorbed molecules is calculated using molecular dynamics
simulations. These molecules naturally lead to a finite static friction that is
consistent with macroscopic friction laws. Crystalline alignment, sliding
direction, and the number of adsorbed molecules are not controlled in most
experiments and are shown to have little effect on the friction. Temperature,
molecular geometry and interaction potentials can have larger effects on
friction. The observed trends in friction can be understood in terms of a
simple hard sphere model.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
Prostate cancer and Hedgehog signalling pathway
[Abstract] The Hedgehog (Hh) family of intercellular signalling proteins have come to be recognised as key mediators in many fundamental processes in embryonic development. Their activities are central to the growth, patterning and morphogenesis of many different regions within the bodies of vertebrates. In some contexts, Hh signals act as morphogens in the dose-dependent induction of distinct cell fates within a target field, in others as mitogens in the regulation of cell proliferation or as inducing factors controlling the form of a developing organ. These diverse functions of Hh proteins raise many intriguing questions about their mode of action. Various studies have now demonstrated the function of Hh signalling in the control of cell proliferation, especially for stem cells and stem-like progenitors. Abnormal activation of the Hh pathway has been demonstrated in a variety of human tumours. Hh pathway activity in these tumours is required for cancer cell proliferation and tumour growth. Recent studies have uncovered the role for Hh signalling in advanced prostate cancer and demonstrated that autocrine signalling by tumour cells is required for proliferation, viability and invasive behaviour. Thus, Hh signalling represents a novel pathway in prostate cancer that offers opportunities for prognostic biomarker development, drug targeting and therapeutic response monitoring
Ecological Invasion, Roughened Fronts, and a Competitor's Extreme Advance: Integrating Stochastic Spatial-Growth Models
Both community ecology and conservation biology seek further understanding of
factors governing the advance of an invasive species. We model biological
invasion as an individual-based, stochastic process on a two-dimensional
landscape. An ecologically superior invader and a resident species compete for
space preemptively. Our general model includes the basic contact process and a
variant of the Eden model as special cases. We employ the concept of a
"roughened" front to quantify effects of discreteness and stochasticity on
invasion; we emphasize the probability distribution of the front-runner's
relative position. That is, we analyze the location of the most advanced
invader as the extreme deviation about the front's mean position. We find that
a class of models with different assumptions about neighborhood interactions
exhibit universal characteristics. That is, key features of the invasion
dynamics span a class of models, independently of locally detailed demographic
rules. Our results integrate theories of invasive spatial growth and generate
novel hypotheses linking habitat or landscape size (length of the invading
front) to invasion velocity, and to the relative position of the most advanced
invader.Comment: The original publication is available at
www.springerlink.com/content/8528v8563r7u2742
BRCA1 interacts with Nrf2 to regulate antioxidant signaling and cell survival
Oxidative stress plays an important role in cancer development and treatment. Recent data implicate the tumor suppressor BRCA1 in regulating oxidative stress, but the molecular mechanism and the impact in BRCA1-associated tumorigenesis remain unclear. Here, we show that BRCA1 regulates Nrf2-dependent antioxidant signaling by physically interacting with Nrf2 and promoting its stability and activation. BRCA1-deficient mouse primary mammary epithelial cells show low expression of Nrf2-regulated antioxidant enzymes and accumulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that impair survival in vivo. Increased Nrf2 activation rescues survival and ROS levels in BRCA1-null cells. Interestingly, 53BP1 inactivation, which has been shown to alleviate several defects associated with BRCA1 loss, rescues survival of BRCA1-null cells without restoring ROS levels. We demonstrate that estrogen treatment partially restores Nrf2 levels in the absence of BRCA1. Our data suggest that Nrf2-regulated antioxidant response plays a crucial role in controlling survival downstream of BRCA1 loss. The ability of estrogen to induce Nrf2 posits an involvement of an estrogen-Nrf2 connection in BRCA1 tumor suppression. Lastly, BRCA1-mutated tumors retain a defective antioxidant response that increases the sensitivity to oxidative stress. In conclusion, the role of BRCA1 in regulating Nrf2 activity suggests important implications for both the etiology and treatment of BRCA1-related cancers.FWN â Publicaties zonder aanstelling Universiteit Leide
O circuito social da fotografia em Porto Alegre (1922 e 1935)
Photography has been increasingly investigated by Brazilian historians, thus bringing
about diverse methodological approaches for the analysis of such visual images. A fundamental
component in the studies of this nature is research on photographys social circuit. Within this
scope, there is a body of information that is related to the production, circulation and use of
photography understood as a visual, creative and disseminating image for certain social
imaginaries, and as an artifact that had a place in peoples lives in different contexts. In this
article, the author investigates photographys social circuit in the city of Porto Alegre in the
1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to find clues of the presence of this modern invention in the
life of Porto Alegre citizens and of the urban vistas that it disseminated
Correlated Production of p and p^bar in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV
Correlations between p and pbar's at transverse momenta typical of enhanced
baryon production in Au+Au collisions are reported. The PHENIX experiment
measures same and opposite sign baryon pairs in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)
= 200 GeV. Correlated production of p and p^bar with the trigger particle from
the range 2.5 < p_T < 4.0 GeV/c and the associated particle with 1.8 < p_T <
2.5 GeV/c is observed to be nearly independent of the centrality of the
collisions. Same sign pairs show no correlation at any centrality. The
conditional yield of mesons triggered by baryons (and anti-baryons) and mesons
in the same pT range rises with increasing centrality, except for the most
central collisions, where baryons show a significantly smaller number of
associated mesons. These data are consistent with a picture in which hard
scattered partons produce correlated p and p^bar in the p_T region of the
baryon excess.Comment: 420 authors from 58 institutions, 21 pages,5 figures. Submitted to
Physics Letters B. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures
for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available
at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.
BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362
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