152 research outputs found
Measurements of integral muon intensity at large zenith angles
High-statistics data on near-horizontal muons collected with Russian-Italian
coordinate detector DECOR are analyzed. Precise measurements of muon angular
distributions in zenith angle interval from 60 to 90 degrees have been
performed. In total, more than 20 million muons are selected. Dependences of
the absolute integral muon intensity on zenith angle for several threshold
energies ranging from 1.7 GeV to 7.2 GeV are derived. Results for this region
of zenith angles and threshold energies have been obtained for the first time.
The dependence of integral intensity on zenith angle and threshold energy is
well fitted by a simple analytical formula.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Features of Muon Arrival Time Distributions of High Energy EAS at Large Distances From the Shower Axis
In view of the current efforts to extend the KASCADE experiment
(KASCADE-Grande) for observations of Extensive Air Showers (EAS) of primary
energies up to 1 EeV, the features of muon arrival time distributions and their
correlations with other observable EAS quantities have been scrutinised on
basis of high-energy EAS, simulated with the Monte Carlo code CORSIKA and using
in general the QGSJET model as generator. Methodically various correlations of
adequately defined arrival time parameters with other EAS parameters have been
investigated by invoking non-parametric methods for the analysis of
multivariate distributions, studying the classification and misclassification
probabilities of various observable sets. It turns out that adding the arrival
time information and the multiplicity of muons spanning the observed time
distributions has distinct effects improving the mass discrimination. A further
outcome of the studies is the feature that for the considered ranges of primary
energies and of distances from the shower axis the discrimination power of
global arrival time distributions referring to the arrival time of the shower
core is only marginally enhanced as compared to local distributions referring
to the arrival of the locally first muon.Comment: 24 pages, Journal Physics G accepte
The Calcitonin and Glucocorticoids Combination: Mechanistic Insights into Their Class-Effect Synergy in Experimental Arthritis
PMCID: PMC3564948This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Lateral Gene Expression in Drosophila Early Embryos Is Supported by Grainyhead-Mediated Activation and Tiers of Dorsally-Localized Repression
The general consensus in the field is that limiting amounts of the transcription factor Dorsal establish dorsal boundaries of genes expressed along the dorsal-ventral (DV) axis of early Drosophila embryos, while repressors establish ventral boundaries. Yet recent studies have provided evidence that repressors act to specify the dorsal boundary of intermediate neuroblasts defective (ind), a gene expressed in a stripe along the DV axis in lateral regions of the embryo. Here we show that a short 12 base pair sequence (“the A-box”) present twice within the ind CRM is both necessary and sufficient to support transcriptional repression in dorsal regions of embryos. To identify binding factors, we conducted affinity chromatography using the A-box element and found a number of DNA-binding proteins and chromatin-associated factors using mass spectroscopy. Only Grainyhead (Grh), a CP2 transcription factor with a unique DNA-binding domain, was found to bind the A-box sequence. Our results suggest that Grh acts as an activator to support expression of ind, which was surprising as we identified this factor using an element that mediates dorsally-localized repression. Grh and Dorsal both contribute to ind transcriptional activation. However, another recent study found that the repressor Capicua (Cic) also binds to the A-box sequence. While Cic was not identified through our A-box affinity chromatography, utilization of the same site, the A-box, by both factors Grh (activator) and Cic (repressor) may also support a “switch-like” response that helps to sharpen the ind dorsal boundary. Furthermore, our results also demonstrate that TGF-β signaling acts to refine ind CRM expression in an A-box independent manner in dorsal-most regions, suggesting that tiers of repression act in dorsal regions of the embryo
Neutrino Interactions at Ultrahigh Energies
We report new calculations of the cross sections for deeply inelastic
neutrino-nucleon scattering at neutrino energies between 10^{9}\ev and
10^{21}\ev. We compare with results in the literature and assess the
reliability of our predictions. For completeness, we briefly review the cross
sections for neutrino interactions with atomic electrons, emphasizing the role
of the -boson resonance in interactions for neutrino
energies in the neighborhood of 6.3\pev. Adopting model predictions for
extraterrestrial neutrino fluxes from active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray
bursters, and the collapse of topological defects, we estimate event rates in
large-volume water \v{C}erenkov detectors and large-area ground arrays.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures, uses RevTeX and boxedep
Sensitivity of the IceCube Detector to Astrophysical Sources of High Energy Muon Neutrinos
We present the results of a Monte-Carlo study of the sensitivity of the
planned IceCube detector to predicted fluxes of muon neutrinos at TeV to PeV
energies. A complete simulation of the detector and data analysis is used to
study the detector's capability to search for muon neutrinos from sources such
as active galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. We study the effective area and the
angular resolution of the detector as a function of muon energy and angle of
incidence. We present detailed calculations of the sensitivity of the detector
to both diffuse and pointlike neutrino emissions, including an assessment of
the sensitivity to neutrinos detected in coincidence with gamma-ray burst
observations. After three years of datataking, IceCube will have been able to
detect a point source flux of E^2*dN/dE = 7*10^-9 cm^-2s^-1GeV at a 5-sigma
significance, or, in the absence of a signal, place a 90% c.l. limit at a level
E^2*dN/dE = 2*10^-9 cm^-2s^-1GeV. A diffuse E-2 flux would be detectable at a
minimum strength of E^2*dN/dE = 1*10^-8 cm^-2s^-1sr^-1GeV. A gamma-ray burst
model following the formulation of Waxman and Bahcall would result in a 5-sigma
effect after the observation of 200 bursts in coincidence with satellite
observations of the gamma-rays.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, 6 table
Coordination of microtubule and microfilament dynamics by Drosophila Rho1, Spire, and Cappuccino
The actin nucleation factors Spire and Cappuccino regulate the onset of ooplasmic
streaming in Drosophila1-5. Although this streaming event is microtubule-based, actin
assembly is required for its timing. It is not understood how the interaction of
microtubules and microfilaments is mediated in this context. Here we demonstrate that
Cappuccino and Spire have microtubule and microfilament crosslinking activity. The spire
locus encodes several distinct protein isoforms (SpireA, SpireC, and SpireD). SpireD was
recently shown to nucleate actin, but the activity of the other isoforms has not been
addressed. We find that SpireD does not have crosslinking activity, while SpireC is a
potent crosslinker. We show that SpireD binds to Cappuccino and inhibits Factin/
microtubule crosslinking, and activated Rho1 abolishes this inhibition, establishing a
mechanistic basis for the regulation of Capu and Spire activity. We propose that Rho1,
cappuccino and spire are elements of a conserved developmental cassette that is capable of
directly mediating crosstalk between microtubules and microfilaments
Multiple Interferon Stimulated Genes Synergize with the Zinc Finger Antiviral Protein to Mediate Anti-Alphavirus Activity
The zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) is a host factor that mediates inhibition of viruses in the Filoviridae, Retroviridae and Togaviridae families. We previously demonstrated that ZAP blocks replication of Sindbis virus (SINV), the prototype Alphavirus in the Togaviridae family at an early step prior to translation of the incoming genome and that synergy between ZAP and one or more interferon stimulated genes (ISGs) resulted in maximal inhibitory activity. The present study aimed to identify those ISGs that synergize with ZAP to mediate Alphavirus inhibition. Using a library of lentiviruses individually expressing more than 350 ISGs, we screened for inhibitory activity in interferon defective cells with or without ZAP overexpression. Confirmatory tests of the 23 ISGs demonstrating the largest infection reduction in combination with ZAP revealed that 16 were synergistic. Confirmatory tests of all potentially synergistic ISGs revealed 15 additional ISGs with a statistically significant synergistic effect in combination with ZAP. These 31 ISGs are candidates for further mechanistic studies. The number and diversity of the identified ZAP-synergistic ISGs lead us to speculate that ZAP may play an important role in priming the cell for optimal ISG function
A Possible Violation of the Equivalence Principle by Neutrinos
We consider the effect of a long range, flavor changing tensor interaction of
possible gravitational origin. Neutrino mixing experiments provide the most
sensitive probe to date for such forces---testing the equivalence principle at
levels below . Here we justify and generalize a formalism for
describing such effects. The constraints from neutrino mixing experiments on
gravitationally induced mixing are calculated. Our detailed analysis of the
atmospheric neutrino data confirms a remarkable result: the atmospheric
neutrino data implies the same size force as does the solar neutrino data.
Additional tests of this suggestive result are discussed.Comment: 45 pages of text, 5 figures available upon request to
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