89 research outputs found
Mott Relation for Anomalous Hall and Nernst effects in Ga1-xMnxAs Ferromagnetic Semiconductors
The Mott relation between the electrical and thermoelectric transport
coefficients normally holds for phenomena involving scattering. However, the
anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in ferromagnets may arise from intrinsic spin-orbit
interaction. In this work, we have simultaneously measured AHE and the
anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in Ga1-xMnxAs ferromagnetic semiconductor films,
and observed an exceptionally large ANE at zero magnetic field. We further show
that AHE and ANE share a common origin and demonstrate the validity of the Mott
relation for the anomalous transport phenomena
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis with Long Lived Charged Massive Particles
We consider Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) with long lived charged massive
particles. Before decaying, the long lived charged particle recombines with a
light element to form a bound state like a hydrogen atom. This effect modifies
the nuclear reaction rates during the BBN epoch through the modifications of
the Coulomb field and the kinematics of the captured light elements, which can
change the light element abundances. It is possible that the heavier nuclei
abundances such as Li and Be decrease sizably, while the ratios ,
D/H, and He/H remain unchanged. This may solve the current discrepancy
between the BBN prediction and the observed abundance of Li. If future
collider experiments found signals of a long-lived charged particle inside the
detector, the information of its lifetime and decay properties could provide
insights to understand not only the particle physics models but also the
phenomena in the early universe in turn.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, published version in Physical Review
Simulation of I-V Hysteresis Branches in An Intrinsic Stack of Josephson Junctions in High Superconductors
I-V characteristics of the high T superconductor
BiSrCaCO shows a strong hysteresis, producing many
branches. The origin of hysteresis jumps is studied by use of the model of
multi-layered Josephson junctions proposed by one of the authors (T. K.). The
charging effect at superconducting layers produces a coupling between the next
nearest neighbor phase-differences, which determines the structure of
hysteresis branches. It will be shown that a solution of phase motions is
understood as a combination of rotating and oscillating phase-differences, and
that, at points of hysteresis jumps, there occurs a change in the number of
rotating phase-differences. Effects of dissipation are analyzed. The
dissipation in insulating layers works to damp the phase motion itself, while
the dissipation in superconducting layers works to damp relative motions of
phase-differences. Their effects to hysteresis jumps are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 8 figures. To be appear in Phys.Rev.B Vol.60(1999
Severe sepsis caused by Aeromonas hydrophila in a patient using tocilizumab: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p><it>Aeromonas </it>species do not commonly cause disease in humans. However, when disease is seen, it often occurs in patients with underlying immunosuppression or malignancy and has a high fatality rate.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 72-year-old Japanese woman with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tocilizumab (which has an immunosuppressive effect) presented with severe epigastric pain. She had a fever with chills, hypotension and jaundice. She was diagnosed with acute suppurative cholangitis and treated with cefoperazone-sulbactam and an endoscopic drainage was performed. Jaundice was slightly improved, but the shock state and inflammatory reactions were prolonged as typical of septic shock. On the second day after admission, an electrocardiogram showed ST segment elevation and echocardiography showed ventricular wall dysfunction. Coronary arteries were patent in coronary angiography and she was diagnosed with stress-induced cardiomyopathy. Blood cultures showed <it>Aeromonas hydrophila</it>. A stool culture was negative for <it>A. hydrophila</it>. On day six, her white blood cell count and neutrophils were normalized and cefoperazone-sulbactam treatment was halted. Left ventricular function normalized on day twelve and a laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis was performed on the 16th day of hospitalization. A culture from the bile showed <it>A. hydrophila</it>. Eighteen days after surgery, tocilizumab treatment was restarted and there were no complications. Two months after restarting tocilizumab, our patient is stable without any serious events.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We present a rare case of <it>A. hydrophila </it>sepsis and acute suppurative cholangitis in an elderly patient with gallstones and rheumatoid arthritis using tocilizumab. This clinical course may suggest that preemptive treatment for cholelithiasis prior to using molecular-targeting agents might be feasible in elderly patients.</p
Lightest-neutralino decays in R_p-violating models with dominant lambda^{prime} and lambda couplings
Decays of the lightest neutralino are studied in R_p-violating models with
operators lambda^{prime} L Q D^c and lambda L L E^c involving third-generation
matter fields and with dominant lambda^{prime} and lambda couplings.
Generalizations to decays of the lightest neutralino induced by subdominant
lambda^{prime} and lambda couplings are straightforward. Decays with the
top-quark among the particles produced are considered, in addition to those
with an almost massless final state. Phenomenological analyses for examples of
both classes of decays are presented. No specific assumption on the composition
of the lightest neutralino is made, and the formulae listed here can be easily
generalized to study decays of heavier neutralinos. It has been recently
pointed out that, for a sizable coupling lambda^{prime}_{333}, tau-sleptons may
be copiously produced at the LHC as single supersymmetric particles, in
association with top- and bottom-quark pairs. This analysis of neutralino
decays is, therefore, a first step towards the reconstruction of the complete
final state produced in this case.Comment: 40 pages, 11 figures, version to appear in JHE
Graviton Cosmology in Universal Extra Dimensions
In models of universal extra dimensions, gravity and all standard model
fields propagate in the extra dimensions. Previous studies of such models have
concentrated on the Kaluza-Klein (KK) partners of standard model particles.
Here we determine the properties of the KK gravitons and explore their
cosmological implications. We find the lifetimes of decays to KK gravitons, of
relevance for the viability of KK gravitons as dark matter. We then discuss the
primordial production of KK gravitons after reheating. The existence of a tower
of KK graviton states makes such production extremely efficient: for reheat
temperature T_RH and d extra dimensions, the energy density stored in gravitons
scales as T_RH^{2+3d/2}. Overclosure and Big Bang nucleosynthesis therefore
stringently constrain T_RH in all universal extra dimension scenarios. At the
same time, there is a window of reheat temperatures low enough to avoid these
constraints and high enough to generate the desired thermal relic density for
KK WIMP and superWIMP dark matter.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur
Mamld1 Knockdown Reduces Testosterone Production and Cyp17a1 Expression in Mouse Leydig Tumor Cells
MAMLD1 is known to be a causative gene for hypospadias. Although previous studies have indicated that MAMLD1 mutations result in hypospadias primarily because of compromised testosterone production around the critical period for fetal sex development, the underlying mechanism(s) remains to be clarified. Furthermore, although functional studies have indicated a transactivation function of MAMLD1 for the non-canonical Notch target Hes3, its relevance to testosterone production remains unknown. To examine these matters, we performed Mamld1 knockdown experiments.Mamld1 knockdown was performed with two siRNAs, using mouse Leydig tumor cells (MLTCs). Mamld1 knockdown did not influence the concentrations of pregnenolone and progesterone but significantly reduced those of 17-OH pregnenolone, 17-OH progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, androstenedione, and testosterone in the culture media. Furthermore, Mamld1 knockdown significantly decreased Cyp17a1 expression, but did not affect expressions of other genes involved in testosterone biosynthesis as well as in insulin-like 3 production. Hes3 expression was not significantly altered. In addition, while 47 genes were significantly up-regulated (fold change >2.0×) and 38 genes were significantly down-regulated (fold change <0.5×), none of them was known to be involved in testosterone production. Cell proliferation analysis revealed no evidence for compromised proliferation of siRNA-transfected MLTCs.The results, in conjunction with the previous data, imply that Mamld1 enhances Cyp17a1 expression primarily in Leydig cells and permit to produce a sufficient amount of testosterone for male sex development, independently of the Hes3-related non-canonical Notch signaling
First Data Release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program
The Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) is a three-layered
imaging survey aimed at addressing some of the most outstanding questions in
astronomy today, including the nature of dark matter and dark energy. The
survey has been awarded 300 nights of observing time at the Subaru Telescope
and it started in March 2014. This paper presents the first public data release
of HSC-SSP. This release includes data taken in the first 1.7 years of
observations (61.5 nights) and each of the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep layers
covers about 108, 26, and 4 square degrees down to depths of i~26.4, ~26.5, and
~27.0 mag, respectively (5sigma for point sources). All the layers are observed
in five broad bands (grizy), and the Deep and UltraDeep layers are observed in
narrow bands as well. We achieve an impressive image quality of 0.6 arcsec in
the i-band in the Wide layer. We show that we achieve 1-2 per cent PSF
photometry (rms) both internally and externally (against Pan-STARRS1), and ~10
mas and 40 mas internal and external astrometric accuracy, respectively. Both
the calibrated images and catalogs are made available to the community through
dedicated user interfaces and database servers. In addition to the pipeline
products, we also provide value-added products such as photometric redshifts
and a collection of public spectroscopic redshifts. Detailed descriptions of
all the data can be found online. The data release website is
https://hsc-release.mtk.nao.ac.jp/.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, 7 tables, moderate revision, accepted for
publication in PAS
Clinical significance in the number of involved lymph nodes in patients that underwent surgery for pathological stage III-N2 non-small cell lung cancer
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>This study investigated whether the number of involved lymph nodes is associated with the prognosis in patients that underwent surgery for pathological stage (p-stage) III/N2 NSCLC.</p> <p>Subjects</p> <p>This study evaluated 121 patients with p-stage III/N2 NSCLC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The histological types included 65 adenocarcinomas, 39 squamous cell carcinomas and 17 others. The average number of dissected lymph nodes was 23.8 (range: 6-55). The average number of involved lymph nodes was 5.9 (range: 1-23). The 5-year survival rate of the patients was 51.0% for single lymph node positive, 58.9% for 2 lymph nodes positive, 34.2% for 3 lymph nodes positive, and 30.0% for 4 lymph nodes positive, and 20.4% for more than 5 lymph nodes positive. The patients with either single or 2 lymph nodes positive had a significantly more favorable prognosis than the patients with more than 5 lymph nodes positive. A multivariate analysis revealed that the number of involved lymph nodes was a significant independent prognostic factor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Surgery appears to be preferable as a one arm of multimodality therapy in p-stage III/N2 patients with single or 2 involved lymph nodes. The optimal incorporation of surgery into the multimodality approach therefore requires further clinical investigation.</p
Dendritic cell vaccination as postremission treatment to prevent or delay relapse in acute myeloid leukemia
Relapse is a major problem in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and adversely impacts survival.
In this phase II study, we investigated the effect of vaccination with dendritic cells (DCs)
electroporated with Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) mRNA as post-remission treatment in 30 AML
patients at very high risk of relapse. There was a demonstrable anti-leukemic response in 13
patients. Nine patients achieved molecular remission as demonstrated by normalization
of WT1 transcript levels, 5 of which are sustained after a median follow-up of 109.4 months.
Disease stabilization was achieved in 4 other patients. Five-year overall survival (OS) was
higher in responders than in non-responders (53.8% vs. 25.0%; P=0.01). In patients
receiving DCs in first complete remission (CR1), there was a vaccine-induced relapse
reduction rate of 25% and the 5-year relapse-free survival was higher in responders than in
non-responders (50% vs. 7.7%; P65 years who received DCs
in CR1, 5-year OS was 69.2% and 30.8% respectively, as compared to 51.7% and 18% in
the Swedish Acute Leukemia Registry (SALR). Long-term clinical response was correlated
with increased circulating frequencies of poly-epitope WT1-specific CD8+ T-cells. Long-term
OS was correlated with interferon-γ+ and tumor necrosis factor-α+ WT1-specific responses in delayed type hypersensitivity-infiltrating CD8+ T-lymphocytes. In conclusion, vaccination of
AML patients with WT1 mRNA-electroporated DCs can be an effective strategy to prevent or
delay relapse after standard chemotherapy, translating into improved OS rates, which are
correlated with the induction of WT1-specific CD8+ T-cell response. This trial was registered
at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT00965224
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