Correlations in the QPO Frequencies of Low Mass X-Ray Binaries and the Relativistic Precession Model

A remarkable correlation between the centroid frequencies of quasi periodic oscillations, QPOs, (or peaked noise components) from low mass X-ray binaries, has been recently discovered by Psaltis, Belloni and van der Klis (1999). This correlation extends over nearly 3 decades in frequency and encompasses both neutron star and black hole candidate systems. We discuss this result in the light of the relativistic precession model, which has been proposed to interpret the kHz QPOs as well as some of the lower frequency QPOs of neutron star low mass X-ray binaries of the Atoll and Z classes. Unlike other models the relativistic precession model does not require the compact object to be a neutron star and can be applied to black hole candidates as well. We show that the predictions of the relativistic precession model match both the value and dependence of the correlation to a very good accuracy without resorting to additional assumptions.Comment: To appear in ApJ Letters. AASTEX Latex v. 5.0, 1 figure not include

DYNAMIC LEFT INTRAVENTRICULAR OBSTRUCTION IN TAKOTSUBO CARDIOMYOPATHY IN A 62-YEAR-OLD WOMAN: A CASE REPORT

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC), also known as the broken heart syndrome and stress cardiomyopathy, is a condition which results in left ventricular systolic dysfunction. It is mainly triggered by extreme emotional stress. Onset of LV outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) during the acute phase of TTC is a rare but challenging complication that can lead to syncop

Para-aortic node involvement is not an independent predictor of survival after resection for pancreatic cancer

AIM To analyze the importance of para-aortic node status in a series of patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in a single Institution. METHODS Between January 2000 and December 2012, 151 patients underwent PD with para-aortic node dissection for pancreatic adenocarcinoma in our Institution. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with negative PALNs (PALNs-), and patients with metastatic PALNs (PALNs+). Pathologic factors, including stage, nodal status, number of positive nodes and lymph node ratio, invasion of para-aortic nodes, tumor\u2019s grading, and radicality of resection were studied by univariate and multivariate analysis. Survival curves were constructed with Kaplan-Meier method and compared with Log-rank test: significance was considered as P < 0.05. RESULTS A total of 107 patients (74%) had nodal metastases. Median number of pathologically assessed lymph nodes was 26 (range 14-63). Twenty-five patients (16.5%) had para-aortic lymph node involvement. Thirty-three patients (23%) underwent R1 pancreatic resection. One-hundred forty-one patients recurred and died for tumor recurrence, one is alive with recurrence, and 9 are alive and free of disease. Overall survival was significantly influenced by grading (P = 0.0001), radicality of resection (P = 0.001), stage (P = 0.03), lymph node status (P = 0.04), para-aortic nodes metastases (P = 0.02). Multivariate analysis showed that grading was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (P = 0.0001), while grading (P = 0.0001) and radicality of resection (P = 0.01) were prognostic parameters for disease-free survival. Number of metastatic nodes, node ratio, and para-aortic nodes involvement were not independent predictors of disease-free and overall survival. CONCLUSION In this experience, lymph node status and para-aortic node metastases were associated with poor survival at univariate analysis, but they were not independent prognostic factors

Selective transcription and cellular proliferation induced by PDGF require histone deacetylase activity

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are key regulatory enzymes involved in the control of gene expression and their inhibition by specific drugs has been widely correlated to cell cycle arrest, terminal differentiation, and apoptosis. Here, we investigated whether HDAC activ- ity was required for PDGF-dependent signal transduction and cellular proliferation. Exposure of PDGF-stimulated NIH3T3 fibroblasts to the HDAC inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA) potently repressed the expression of a group of genes correlated to PDGF-dependent cel- lular growth and pro-survival activity. Moreover, we show that TSA interfered with STAT3-dependent transcriptional activity induced by PDGF. Still, neither phosphorylation nor nuclear translocation and DNA-binding in vitro and in vivo of STAT3 were affected by using TSA to interfere with PDGF stimulation. Finally, TSA treatment resulted in the suppression of PDGF-dependent cellular prolif- eration without affecting cellular survival of NIH3T3 cells. Our data indicate that inhibition of HDAC activity antagonizes the mitogenic effect of PDGF, suggesting that these drugs may specifically act on the expression of STAT-dependent, PDGF-responsive genes

Measurements with the ELI-NP cavity Beam Position Monitor Read-out Electronics at FLASH

The Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics Gamma Beam System (ELI-NP GBS) will be installed and commissioned starting within the next year in Magurele, Romania. It will generate gamma beam through Compton back-scattering of a recirculated laser and a multi-bunch electron beam, produced by a 720 MeV LINAC. In order to obtain bunch by bunch position measurements, four cavity beam position monitors (cBPM) near the two interaction points are foreseen. Extensive tests on the cBPM readout electronics, recently developed by Instrumentation Technologies and acquired for ELI-NP GBS, were performed in laboratory at INFN-LNF and at FLASH in DESY, during the user operation. In the latter case, three cBPMs installed along the LINAC, with similar features as the ones of ELI-NP GBS, were used as measuring devices and signal sources for the read-out electronics under test. We present here the measurements collected and the related analysis, with a particular focus on the beam position measurement resolution

Coordinated On-line Junction Temperature Estimation and Prognostic of SiC Power Modules

The long-term reliability of power modules is a key factor for most of power electronics applications. Previous work was dedicated to the online monitoring of junction temperature of SiC power MOSFETs via on-state resistance measurement. Among several advantages, temperature monitoring avoids the components failure due to instantaneous thermal overstress. Moreover, as the on resistance tends to grow with the age of the component, temperature monitoring inherently behaves as a precursor of failure, because temperature will be overestimated progressively throughout the lifetime of the component. In this paper the systematic detection of aging of the power semiconductors is proposed, still using the direct measurement of the on-state resistance. A new joint methodology is proposed, based on the initial commissioning of the module both for temperature monitoring and aging evaluation. The identification and monitoring technique is tested on a SiC MOSFET power module

Are all Gamma Ray Bursts like GRB 980425, GRB 030329 and GRB 031203?

We study the probability that three GRBs (980425, 030329, 031203) are found within z=0.17, given the luminosity functions consistent with the log N-log S relationship for classical cosmological bursts (i.e., those observed by BATSE). We show that, in order for the probability of these three low-z events to be non-negligible (thus making it more likely that they belong to the same class of the classical cosmological bursts), the bursts' luminosity function must be a broken powerlaw. By reasoning in analogy with beamed AGNs, we show that observations are consistent with the expectations if GRB 980425 and GRB 031203 are indeed normal bursts seen sideways. Within this model, no bright burst within z=0.17 should be observed by a HETE--like instrument within the next \sim 20 yr.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Accepted for publication in ApJ

Activation of the Erk8 Mitogen-activated Protein (MAP) Kinase by RET/PTC3, a Constitutively Active Form of the RET Proto-oncogene

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases have a central role in several biological functions, including cell adhesion and spreading, chemotaxis, cell cycle progression, differentiation, and apoptosis. Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 8 (Erk8) is a large MAP kinase whose activity is controlled by serum and the c-Src non-receptor tyrosine kinase. Here, we show that RET/PTC3, an activated form of the RET proto-oncogene, was able to activate Erk8, and we demon- strate that such MAP kinase participated in RET/PTC3-dependent stimulation of the c-jun promoter. By using RET/PTC3 molecules mutated in specific tyrosine autophosphorylation sites, we charac- terized Tyr981, a known binding site for c-Src, as a major determi- nant of RET/PTC3-induced Erk8 activation, although, surprisingly, the underlying mechanism did not strictly depend on the activity of Src. In contrast, we present evidence that RET/PTC3 acts on Erk8 through Tyr981-mediated activation of c-Abl. Furthermore, we localized the region responsible for the modulation of Erk8 activity by the RET/PTC3 and Abl oncogenes in the Erk8 C-terminal domain. Altogether, these results support a role for Erk8 as a novel effector of RET/PTC3 and, therefore, RET biological functions

THE LOWER NERETVA BASIN AS A PATHOLOGICAL TOPOS: PRESS REPORTS AND POLITICIZATION OF THE MEMORIES OF THE AGE OF CHOLERA IN 1886

U ovom smo radu analizirali Poneretvlje kao prostor koji je tijekom povijesti oblikovan u mit o patološkom toposu. Polazeći od činjenice da je temporalnost ključna za razumijevanje elemenata koji sudjeluju u konceptualiziranju mitova, ovo smo područje analizirali u vrijeme njegove izloženosti epidemiji kolere 1886. godine. Pokazalo se da je upravo to vrijeme donijelo pomak u poimanju etiologije bolesti, što je posljedično utjecalo i na promjenu u stoljećima stvaranim predodžbama o dolini Neretve kao nezdravom području. U ovom radu Neretvanska se dolina spoznavala i prikazala kao nedovršen prostor svekolikih transformacija, habitat izložen višestrukim društvenim izvedbama, živo dokumentiranim u tiskovinama. Argumenti o elementarnoj nepogodi u njihovu su sadržaju moralno i politički nabijeni, što je velikim dijelom podudarno i s leksikom današnjih tiskovina u sličnim okolnostima. Prostor Neretvanske doline nametnuo se time kao slojevit antropološki koncept, kao višeznačna ekološki i društveno konstruirana stvarnost, unutar koje povijest funkcionira kao dragocjen izvor znanja podložan prilagodbi današnjice.The lower Neretva basin as a space that has undergone historical transformation into a myth of a pathological topos has been analyzed. Starting from the fact that temporality is essential for understanding of the elements that partake in conceptualization of a myth, we have analyzed the state of this area as it was during its exposure to an epidemic of cholera in 1886. There is evidence that at this time exactly a step forward was made in comprehension of the etiology of the disease, which resulted in the change of centuries-long concepts of the Neretva basin as an unhealthy area. In this paper the Neretva basin was understood and presented as a field of unfolding of all kinds of transformations, a habitat exposed to manifold social arrangements, lushly documented in newspapers and other printed material. The arguments about the natural disaster in these texts are ethically and politically coloured, which to a large extent corresponds to the vocabulary of current print media on similar occasions. Thus, the area of the Neretva basin imposes itself as a multilayered anthropological concept, a multi-semantic ecologically and socially constituted reality, within which history functions as a valuable source of knowledge pliable to contemporary usage