153 research outputs found
EXAFS Study on Local Structure of Iron Crystal by the Use of Asymmetrical Monochromator and PSPC
The EXAFS spectroscopy equipment constructed from an asymmetrical cut flat monochromator and PSPC is applied to the structural determination of pure α-iron which has small difference (0.038nm) in the first and second nearest neighbour distance. The efficiency of the curve fitting method for the two shell model of known structure material (α-iron) is discussed, in addition to describing the details of the experimental procedure of our new type of spectrometer and of the EXAFS data analysis
Comparative study of macroscopic quantum tunneling in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_y intrinsic Josephson junctions with different device structures
We investigated macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) of
BiSrCaCuO intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) with two device
structures. One is a nanometer-thick small mesa structure with only two or
three IJJs and the other is a stack of a few hundreds of IJJs on a narrow
bridge structure. Experimental results of switching current distribution for
the first switching events from zero-voltage state showed a good agreement with
the conventional theory for a single Josephson junction, indicating that a
crossover temperature from thermal activation to MQT regime for the former
device structure was as high as that for the latter device structure. Together
with the observation of multiphoton transitions between quantized energy levels
in MQT regime, these results strongly suggest that the observed MQT behavior is
intrinsic to a single IJJ in high- cuprates, independent of device
structures. The switching current distribution for the second switching events
from the first resistive state, which were carefully distinguished from the
first switchings, was also compared between two device structures. In spite of
the difference in the heat transfer environment, the second switching events
for both devices were found to show a similar temperature-independent behavior
up to a much higher temperature than the crossover temperature for the first
switching. We argue that it cannot be explained in terms of the self-heating
owing to dissipative currents after the first switching. As possible
candidates, the MQT process for the second switching and the effective increase
of electronic temperature due to quasiparticle injection are discussed.Comment: 10pages, 7figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
A Start-Timing Detector for the Collider Experiment PHENIX at RHIC-BNL
We describe a start-timing detector for the PHENIX experiment at the
relativistic heavy-ion collider RHIC. The role of the detector is to detect a
nuclear collision, provide precise time information with an accuracy of 50ps,
and determine the collision point along the beam direction with a resolution of
a few cm. Technical challenges are that the detector must be operational in a
wide particle-multiplicity range in a high radiation environment and a strong
magnetic field. We present the performance of the prototype and discuss the
final design of the detector.Comment: 12 pages, LaTeX, 9 gif and 4 ps figures. Submitted to NIM
Gravitational field of charged gyratons
We study relativistic gyratons which carry an electric charge. The
Einstein-Maxwell equations in arbitrary dimensions are solved exactly in the
case of a charged gyraton propagating in an asymptotically flat metric.Comment: 11 pages, some new comments and new references added. To appear in
Classical and Quantum Gravit
Supersymmetric Intersecting Branes on the Waves
We construct a general family of supersymmetric solutions in time- and
space-dependent wave backgrounds in general supergravity theories describing
single and intersecting p-branes embedded into time-dependent dilaton-gravity
plane waves of an arbitrary (isotropic) profile, with the brane world-volume
aligned parallel to the propagation direction of the wave. We discuss how many
degrees of freedom we have in the solutions. We also propose that these
solutions can be used to describe higher-dimensional time-dependent "black
holes", and discuss their property briefly.Comment: 12 pages, LaTe
Superconducting Fluctuation investigated by THz Conductivity of LaSrCuO Thin Films
Frequency-dependent terahertz conductivities of LaSrCuO thin
films with various carrier concentrations were investigated. The imaginary part
of the complex conductivity considerably increased from far above a
zero-resistance superconducting transition temperature,
, because of the existence of the fluctuating
superfluid density with a short lifetime. The onset temperature of the
superconducting fluctuation is at most for
underdoped samples, which is consistent with the previously reported analysis
of microwave conductivity. The superconducting fluctuation was not enhanced
under a 0.5 T magnetic field. We also found that the temperature dependence of
the superconducting fluctuation was sensitive to the carrier concentration of
LaSrCuO, which reflects the difference in the nature of the
critical dynamics near the superconducting transition temperature. Our results
suggest that the onset temperature of the Nernst signal is not related to the
superconducting fluctuation we argued in this paper.Comment: J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. in pres
Increased endothelin-1 and diminished nitric oxide levels in blister fluids of patients with intermediate cold type complex regional pain syndrome type 1
BACKGROUND: In complex regional pain syndrome type 1 (CRPS1) pro-inflammatory mediators and vascular changes play an important role in the sustained development and outcome of the disease. The aim of this study was to determine the involvement of vasoactive substances endothelin-1 (ET-1) and nitric oxide (NO) during early chronic CRPS1. METHODS: Included were 29 patients with CRPS 1 who were diagnosed during the acute stage of their disease and observed during follow-up visits. Disease activity and impairment were determined and artificial suction blisters were made on the CRPS1 and the contralateral extremities for measurements of IL-6, TNF-α, ET-1 and nitrate/nitrite (NOx). RESULTS: The levels of IL-6, TNF-α and ET-1 in blister fluid in the CRPS1 extremity versus the contralateral extremity were significantly increased and correlated with each other, whereas NOx levels were decreased. CONCLUSION: The NOx/ET-1 ratio appears to be disturbed in the intermediate stage of CRPS, resulting in vasoconstriction and consequently in a diminished tissue blood distribution
Hyperoxia accelerates Fas-mediated signaling and apoptosis in the lungs of Legionella pneumophila pneumonia
VEGFR2 Translocates to the Nucleus to Regulate Its Own Transcription
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 (VEGFR2) is the major mediator of the angiogenic effects of VEGF. In addition to its well known role as a membrane receptor that activates multiple signaling pathways, VEGFR2 also has a nuclear localization. However, what VEGFR2 does in the nucleus is still unknown. In the present report we show that, in endothelial cells, nuclear VEGFR2 interacts with several nuclear proteins, including the Sp1, a transcription factor that has been implicated in the regulation of genes needed for angiogenesis. By in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays, we found that VEGFR2 binds to the Sp1-responsive region of the VEGFR2 proximal promoter. These results were confirmed by EMSA assays, using the same region of the VEGFR2 promoter. Importantly, we show that the VEGFR2 DNA binding is directly linked to the transcriptional activation of the VEGFR2 promoter. By reporter assays, we found that the region between -300/-116 relative to the transcription start site is essential to confer VEGFR2-dependent transcriptional activity. It was previously described that nuclear translocation of the VEGFR2 is dependent on its activation by VEGF. In agreement, we observed that the binding of VEGFR2 to DNA requires VEGF activation, being blocked by Bevacizumab and Sunitinib, two anti-angiogenic agents that inhibit VEGFR2 activation. Our findings demonstrate a new mechanism by which VEGFR2 activates its own promoter that could be involved in amplifying the angiogenic response
Survey of period variations of superhumps in SU UMa-type dwarf novae. VII. the seventh year (2014-2015)
© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Astronomical Society of Japan. All rights reserved. Continuing the project described by Kato et al. (2009, PASJ, 61, S395), we collected times of superhump maxima for 102 SU UMa-type dwarf novae, observed mainly during the 2014-2015 season, and characterized these objects. Our project has greatly improved the statistics of the distribution of orbital periods, which is a good approximation of the distribution of cataclysmic variables at the terminal evolutionary stage, and has confirmed the presence of a period minimum at a period of 0.053 d and a period spike just above this period. The number density monotonically decreased toward the longer period and there was no strong indication of a period gap. We detected possible negative superhumps in Z Cha. It is possible that normal outbursts are also suppressed by the presence of a disk tilt in this system. There was no indication of enhanced orbital humps just preceding the superoutburst, and this result favors the thermal-tidal disk instability as the origin of superoutbursts. We detected superhumps in three AM CVn-type dwarf novae. Our observations and recent other detections suggest that 8% of objects showing dwarf nova-type outbursts are AM CVn-type objects. AM CVn-type objects and EI Psc-type objects may be more abundant than previously recognized. OT J213806, a WZ Sge-type object, exhibited remarkably different features between the 2010 and 2014 superoutbursts. Although the 2014 superoutburst was much fainter, the plateau phase was shorter than the 2010 one, and the course of the rebrightening phase was similar. This object indicates that the O - C diagrams of superhumps can indeed be variable, at least in WZ Sge-type objects. Four deeply eclipsing SU UMa-type dwarf novae (ASASSN-13cx, ASASSN-14ag, ASASSN-15bu, and NSV 4618) were identified. We studied long-term trends in supercycles in MM Hya and CY UMa and found systematic variations of supercycles of ∼20%
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