High Angular Resolution Observations of the Collimated Jet Source Associated with a Massive Protostar in IRAS 16547-4247

A triple radio source recently detected in association with the luminous infrared source IRAS 16547-4247 has been studied with high angular resolution and high sensitivity with the Very Large Array at 3.6 and 2 cm. Our observations confirm the interpretation that the central object is a thermal radio jet, while the two outer lobes are most probably heavily obscured HH objects. The thermal radio jet is resolved angularly for the first time and found to align closely with the outer lobes. The opening angle of the thermal jet is estimated to be $\sim 25^\circ$, confirming that collimated outflows can also be present in massive protostars. The proper motions of the outer lobes should be measurable over timescales of a few years. Several fainter sources detected in the region are most probably associated with other stars in a young cluster.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure

Liver function as an engineering system

Process Systems Engineering has tackled a wide range of problems including manufacturing, the environment, and advanced materials design. Here we discuss how tools can be deployed to tackle medical problems which involve complex chemical transformations and spatial phenomena looking in particular at the liver system, the body's chemical factory. We show how an existing model has been developed to model distributed behavior necessary to predict the behavior of drugs for treating liver disease. The model has been used to predict the effects of suppression of de novo lipogenesis, stimulation of β-oxidation and a combination of the two. A reduced model has also been used to explore the prediction of behavior of hormones in the blood stream controlling glucose levels to ensure that levels are kept within safe bounds using interval methods. The predictions are made resulting from uncertainty in two key parameters with oscillating input resulting from regular feeding

Typicality vs. probability in trajectory-based formulations of quantum mechanics

Bohmian mechanics represents the universe as a set of paths with a probability measure defined on it. The way in which a mathematical model of this kind can explain the observed phenomena of the universe is examined in general. It is shown that the explanation does not make use of the full probability measure, but rather of a suitable set function deriving from it, which defines relative typicality between single-time cylinder sets. Such a set function can also be derived directly from the standard quantum formalism, without the need of an underlying probability measure. The key concept for this derivation is the {\it quantum typicality rule}, which can be considered as a generalization of the Born rule. The result is a new formulation of quantum mechanics, in which particles follow definite trajectories, but which is only based on the standard formalism of quantum mechanics.Comment: 24 pages, no figures. To appear in Foundation of Physic

Infall and Outflow around the HH 212 protostellar system

HH 212 is a highly collimated jet discovered in H2 powered by a young Class 0 source, IRAS 05413-0104, in the L1630 cloud of Orion. We have mapped around it in 1.33 mm continuum, 12CO ($J=2-1$), 13CO ($J=2-1$), C18O ($J=2-1$), and SO ($J_K = 6_5-5_4$) emission at $\sim$ \arcs{2.5} resolution with the Submillimeter Array. A dust core is seen in the continuum around the source. A flattened envelope is seen in C18O around the source in the equator perpendicular to the jet axis, with its inner part seen in 13CO. The structure and kinematics of the envelope can be roughly reproduced by a simple edge-on disk model with both infall and rotation. In this model, the density of the disk is assumed to have a power-law index of $p=-1.5$ or -2, as found in other low-mass envelopes. The envelope seems dynamically infalling toward the source with slow rotation because the kinematics is found to be roughly consistent with a free fall toward the source plus a rotation of a constant specific angular momentum. A 12CO outflow is seen surrounding the H2 jet, with a narrow waist around the source. Jetlike structures are also seen in 12CO near the source aligned with the H2 jet at high velocities. The morphological relationship between the H2 jet and the 12CO outflow, and the kinematics of the 12CO outflow along the jet axis are both consistent with those seen in a jet-driven bow shock model. SO emission is seen around the source and the H2 knotty shocks in the south, tracing shocked emission around them.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, Accepted by the Ap

Characteristics of long-duration inhibitory postsynaptic potentials in rat neocortical neurons in vitro

1. The characteristics of long-duration inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (l-IPSPs) which are evoked in rat frontal neocortical neurons by local electrical stimulation were investigated with intracellular recordings from anin vitro slice preparation. 2. Stimulation with suprathreshold intensities evoked l-IPSPs with typical durations of 600–900 msec at resting membrane potential. Conductance increases of 15–60% were measured at the peak amplitude of l-IPSPs (150–250 msec poststimulus). 3. The duration of the conductance increases during l-IPSPs displayed a significant voltage dependence, decreasing as the membrance potential was depolarized and increasing with hyperpolarization. 4. The reversal potential of l-IPSPs is significantly altered by reductions in the extracellular potassium concentration. Therefore it is concluded that l-IPSPs in rat neocortical neurons are generated by the activation of a potassium conductance. 5. l-IPSPs exhibit stimulation fatigue. Stimulation with a frequency of 1 Hz produces a complete fatigue of the conductance increases during l-IPSPs after approximately 20 consecutive stimuli. Recovery from this fatigue requires minutes. 6. l-IPSPs are not blocked by bicuculline but are blocked by baclofen

Loss of the thyroid hormone-binding protein Crym renders striatal neurons more vulnerable to mutant huntingtin in Huntington's disease.

The mechanisms underlying preferential atrophy of the striatum in Huntington's disease (HD) are unknown. One hypothesis is that a set of gene products preferentially expressed in the striatum could determine the particular vulnerability of this brain region to mutant huntingtin (mHtt). Here, we studied the striatal protein µ-crystallin (Crym). Crym is the NADPH-dependent p38 cytosolic T3-binding protein (p38CTBP), a key regulator of thyroid hormone (TH) T3 (3,5,3'-triiodo-l-thyronine) transportation. It has been also recently identified as the enzyme that reduces the sulfur-containing cyclic ketimines, which are potential neurotransmitters. Here, we confirm the preferential expression of the Crym protein in the rodent and macaque striatum. Crym expression was found to be higher in the macaque caudate than in the putamen. Expression of Crym was reduced in the BACHD and Knock-in 140CAG mouse models of HD before onset of striatal atrophy. We show that overexpression of Crym in striatal medium-size spiny neurons using a lentiviral-based strategy in mice is neuroprotective against the neurotoxicity of an N-terminal fragment of mHtt in vivo. Thus, reduction of Crym expression in HD could render striatal neurons more susceptible to mHtt suggesting that Crym may be a key determinant of the vulnerability of the striatum. In addition our work points to Crym as a potential molecular link between striatal degeneration and the THs deregulation reported in HD patients

Beta-delayed-neutron studies of 135,136^{135,136}Sb and 140^{140}I performed with trapped ions

Beta-delayed-neutron ($\beta$n) spectroscopy was performed using the Beta-decay Paul Trap and an array of radiation detectors. The $\beta$n branching ratios and energy spectra for $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I were obtained by measuring the time of flight of recoil ions emerging from the trapped ion cloud. These nuclei are located at the edge of an isotopic region identified as having $\beta$n branching ratios that impact the r-process abundance pattern around the A~130 peak. For $^{135,136}$Sb and $^{140}$I, $\beta$n branching ratios of 14.6(11)%, 17.6(28)%, and 7.6(28)% were determined, respectively. The $\beta$n energy spectra obtained for $^{135}$Sb and $^{140}$I are compared with results from direct neutron measurements, and the $\beta$n energy spectrum for $^{136}$Sb has been measured for the first time