11,909 research outputs found
Generalizations of Ripley's K-function with Application to Space Curves
The intensity function and Ripley's K-function have been used extensively in
the literature to describe the first and second moment structure of spatial
point sets. This has many applications including describing the statistical
structure of synaptic vesicles. Some attempts have been made to extend Ripley's
K-function to curve pieces. Such an extension can be used to describe the
statistical structure of muscle fibers and brain fiber tracks. In this paper,
we take a computational perspective and construct new and very general variants
of Ripley's K-function for curves pieces, surface patches etc. We discuss the
method from [Chiu, Stoyan, Kendall, & Mecke 2013] and compare it with our
generalizations theoretically, and we give examples demonstrating the
difference in their ability to separate sets of curve pieces.Comment: 9 pages & 8 figure
Fate and occurrence of alkylphenolic compounds in sewage sludges determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2009 Taylor & Francis.An analytical method has been developed and applied to determine the concentrations of the nonionic alkylphenol polyethoxylate surfactants and their metabolites, alkylphenoxy carboxylates and alkyphenols, in sewage sludges. The compounds were extracted with methanol/acetone (1:1 v/v) from sludge, and concentrated extracts were cleaned by silica solid‐phase extraction prior to determination by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The recoveries, determined by spiking sewage sludge at two concentrations, ranged from 51% to 89% with method detection limits from 6 µg kg−1 to 60 µg kg−1. The methodology was subsequently applied to sludge samples obtained from a carbonaceous activated sludge plant, a nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge plant and a nitrifying/denitrifying activated sludge plant with phosphorus removal. Concentrations of nonylphenolic compounds were two to three times higher than their octyl analogues. Long‐chain nonylphenol polyethoxylates (NP3–12EO) ranged from 16 µg kg−1 to 11754 µg kg−1. The estrogenic metabolite nonylphenol was present at concentrations ranging from 33 µg kg−1 to 6696 µg kg−1.Public Utilities Board of Singapore, Thames Water and Yorkshire Water
The transporter-like protein inebriated mediates hyperosmotic stimuli through intracellular signaling
We cloned the inebriated homologue MasIne from Manduca sexta and expressed it in Xenopus laevis oocytes. MasIne is homologous to neurotransmitter transporters but no transport was observed with a number of putative substrates. Oocytes expressing MasIne respond to hyperosmotic stimulation by releasing intracellular Ca(2+), as revealed by activation of the endogenous Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) current. This Ca(2+) release requires the N-terminal 108 amino acid residues of MasIne and occurs via the inositol trisphosphate pathway. Fusion of the N terminus to the rat gamma-aminobutyric acid transporter (rGAT1) also renders rGAT1 responsive to hyperosmotic stimulation. Immunohistochemical analyses show that MasIne and Drosophila Ine have similar tissue distribution patterns, suggesting functional identity. Inebriated is expressed in tissues and cells actively involved in K(+) transport, which suggests that it may have a role in ion transport, particularly of K(+). We propose that stimulation of MasIne releases intracellular Ca(2+) in native tissues, activating Ca(2+)-dependent K(+) channels, and leading to K(+) transport
Dissociation of mitochondrial depolarization from cytochrome c release during apoptosis induced by photodynamic therapy
Photodynamic therapy (PDT) with the phthalocyanine photosensitizer Pc 4 induces rapid apoptosis in mouse lymphoma (LY-R) cells, initiating with the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria. It has been proposed that the opening of the mitochondrial membrane permeability transition pores, which results in the dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm), is essential for the escape of cytochrome c from mitochondria into the cytosol as well as for apoptotic cell death. Therefore, we have assessed the correlation between the loss of Δψm and the release of cytochrome c following PDT. Treatment of LY-R cells with 300 nM Pc 4 and 60, 90 or 120 mJ/cm2of red light resulted in apoptosis of 80–90% of the cells, accompanied by >20-fold elevation in caspase-3-like activity within one h. At all 3 doses of PDT employed here, the majority of the cytochrome c was released from mitochondria at 15 min after irradiation, as determined by an immunohistochemical method. In contrast, the loss of Δψm following PDT, as monitored by the uptake of JC-1 or Rh-123, depended on the PDT dose and the post-treatment time. In spite of the release of cytochrome c at 15 min after each of the 3 doses, a corresponding loss of Δψm was observed only for those cells that received the highest dose of PDT. Virtually all cells that received one of the lower doses of PDT (300 nM Pc 4 plus 60 or 90 mJ/cm2) maintained normal Δψm. Hence, our results support the conclusion that the release of cytochrome c from mitochondria resulting from Pc 4-PDT-induced photodamage is independent of the loss of Δψm. Therefore, it is important to consider a range of doses of this or other apoptotic stimuli in deciphering the relationship of metabolic responses that contribute to apoptosis. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co
Solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson Relation
We analyze general solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson relation for lattice
Dirac operators and formulate a necessary condition for such operators to have
non-zero index in the topologically nontrivial background gauge fields.Comment: 6 pages, latex, no figures, set T to 1 in eqs. (10)--(13
Stellar Mass to Halo Mass Scaling Relation for X-ray Selected Low Mass Galaxy Clusters and Groups out to Redshift
We present the stellar mass-halo mass scaling relation for 46 X-ray selected
low-mass clusters or groups detected in the XMM-BCS survey with masses
at
redshift . The cluster binding masses are inferred
from the measured X-ray luminosities \Lx, while the stellar masses
of the galaxy populations are estimated using near-infrared imaging from the
SSDF survey and optical imaging from the BCS survey. With the measured \Lx\ and
stellar mass , we determine the best fit stellar mass-halo mass
relation, accounting for selection effects, measurement uncertainties and the
intrinsic scatter in the scaling relation. The resulting mass trend is
, the intrinsic (log-normal) scatter is
, and there is no
significant redshift trend , although
the uncertainties are still large. We also examine within a fixed
projected radius of ~Mpc, showing that it provides a cluster binding mass
proxy with intrinsic scatter of (1 in ). We
compare our scaling relation from the XMM-BCS
clusters with samples of massive, SZE-selected clusters
() and low mass NIR-selected clusters
() at redshift .
After correcting for the known mass measurement systematics in the compared
samples, we find that the scaling relation is in good agreement with the high
redshift samples, suggesting that for both groups and clusters the stellar
content of the galaxy populations within depends strongly on mass but
only weakly on redshift out to .Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Quenched chiral logarithms in lattice QCD with exact chiral symmetry
We examine quenched chiral logarithms in lattice QCD with overlap Dirac
quark. For 100 gauge configurations generated with the Wilson gauge action at on the lattice, we compute quenched quark
propagators for 12 bare quark masses. The pion decay constant is extracted from
the pion propagator, and from which the lattice spacing is determined to be
0.147 fm. The presence of quenched chiral logarithm in the pion mass is
confirmed, and its coefficient is determined to be , in agreement with the theoretical estimate in quenched chiral perturbation
theory. Further, we obtain the topological susceptibility of these 100 gauge
configurations by measuring the index of the overlap Dirac operator. Using a
formula due to exact chiral symmetry, we obtain the mass in quenched
chiral perturbation theory, Mev, and an estimate
of , which is in good agreement with that
determined from the pion mass.Comment: 24 pages, 6 EPS figures; v2: some clarifications added, to appear in
Physical Review
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