6,147 research outputs found
Astrometry with Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Fundamental Distance Calibrator RR Lyrae
We present an absolute parallax and relative proper motion for the
fundamental distance scale calibrator, RR Lyr. We obtain these with astrometric
data from FGS 3, a white-light interferometer on HST. We find mas. Spectral classifications and VRIJHKTM and DDO51 photometry of
the astrometric reference frame surrounding RR Lyr indicate that field
extinction is low along this line of sight. We estimate =0.07\pm0.03 for
these reference stars. The extinction suffered by RR Lyr becomes one of the
dominant contributors to the uncertainty in its absolute magnitude. Adopting
the average field absorption, =0.07 \pm 0.03, we obtain M_V^{RR} = 0.61
^{-0.11}_{+0.10}. This provides a distance modulus for the LMC, m-M = 18.38 -
18.53^{-0.11}_{+0.10} with the average extinction-corrected magnitude of RR Lyr
variables in the LMC, , remaining a significant uncertainty. We compare
this result to more than 80 other determinations of the distance modulus of the
LMC.Comment: Several typos corrected. To appear in The Astronomical Journal,
January 200
Charge Form Factor and Cluster Structure of Li Nucleus
The charge form factor of Li nucleus is considered on the basis of its
cluster structure. The charge density of Li is presented as a
superposition of two terms. One of them is a folded density and the second one
is a sum of He and the deuteron densities. Using the available
experimental data for He and deuteron charge form factors, a good
agreement of the calculations within the suggested scheme is obtained with the
experimental data for the charge form factor of Li, including those in
the region of large transferred momenta.Comment: 12 pages 5 figure
Endothelin receptor B antagonists decrease glioma cell viability independently of their cognate receptor
Background:
Endothelin receptor antagonists inhibit the progression of many cancers, but research into their influence on glioma has been limited.
Methods:
We treated glioma cell lines, LN-229 and SW1088, and melanoma cell lines, A375 and WM35, with two endothelin receptor type B (ETRB)-specific antagonists, A-192621 and BQ788, and quantified viable cells by the capacity of their intracellular esterases to convert non-fluorescent calcein AM into green-fluorescent calcein. We assessed cell proliferation by labeling cells with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester and quantifying the fluorescence by FACS analysis. We also examined the cell cycle status using BrdU/propidium iodide double staining and FACS analysis. We evaluated changes in gene expression by microarray analysis following treatment with A-192621 in glioma cells. We examined the role of ETRB by reducing its expression level using small interfering RNA (siRNA).
Results:
We report that two ETRB-specific antagonists, A-192621 and BQ788, reduce the number of viable cells in two glioma cell lines in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We describe similar results for two melanoma cell lines. The more potent of the two antagonists, A-192621, decreases the mean number of cell divisions at least in part by inducing a G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Microarray analysis of the effects of A-192621 treatment reveals up-regulation of several DNA damage-inducible genes. These results were confirmed by real-time RT-PCR. Importantly, reducing expression of ETRB with siRNAs does not abrogate the effects of either A-192621 or BQ788 in glioma or melanoma cells. Furthermore, BQ123, an endothelin receptor type A (ETRA)-specific antagonist, has no effect on cell viability in any of these cell lines, indicating that the ETRB-independent effects on cell viability exhibited by A-192621 and BQ788 are not a result of ETRA inhibition.
Conclusion:
While ETRB antagonists reduce the viability of glioma cells in vitro, it appears unlikely that this effect is mediated by ETRB inhibition or cross-reaction with ETRA. Instead, we present evidence that A-192621 affects glioma and melanoma viability by activating stress/DNA damage response pathways, which leads to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. This is the first evidence linking ETRB antagonist treatment to enhanced expression of DNA damage-inducible genes
Non-conservative Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables
We suggest a new mechanism to account for the loss of angular momentum in
binaries with non-conservative mass exchange. It is shown that in some cases
the loss of matter can result in increase of the orbital angular momentum of a
binary. If included into consideration in evolutionary calculations, this
mechanism appreciably extends the range of mass ratios of components for which
mass exchange in binaries is stable. It becomes possible to explain the
existence of some observed cataclysmic binaries with high donor/accretor mass
ratio, which was prohibited in conservative evolution models.Comment: LaTeX, 32 pages, to be published in Astron. Z
Accuracy and repeatability of wrist joint angles in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system
© 2019, The Author(s). The hand-wrist region is reported as the most common injury site in boxing. Boxers are at risk due to the amount of wrist motions when impacting training equipment or their opponents, yet we know relatively little about these motions. This paper describes a new method for quantifying wrist motion in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system. Surrogate testing procedure utilising a polyamide hand and forearm shape, and in vivo testing procedure utilising 29 elite boxers, were used to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the system. 2D kinematic analysis was used to calculate wrist angles using photogrammetry, whilst the data from the electromagnetic tracking system was processed with visual 3D software. The electromagnetic tracking system agreed with the video-based system (paired t tests) in both the surrogate ( 0.9). In the punch testing, for both repeated jab and hook shots, the electromagnetic tracking system showed good reliability (ICCs > 0.8) and substantial reliability (ICCs > 0.6) for flexion–extension and radial-ulnar deviation angles, respectively. The results indicate that wrist kinematics during punching activities can be measured using an electromagnetic tracking system
Higher-order multipole amplitudes in charmonium radiative transitions
Using 24 million decays in CLEO-c, we have searched
for higher multipole admixtures in electric-dipole-dominated radiative
transitions in charmonia. We find good agreement between our data and
theoretical predictions for magnetic quadrupole (M2) amplitudes in the
transitions and ,
in striking contrast to some previous measurements. Let and
denote the normalized M2 amplitudes in the respective aforementioned decays,
where the superscript refers to the angular momentum of the . By
performing unbinned maximum likelihood fits to full five-parameter angular
distributions, we determine the ratios and , where
the theoretical predictions are independent of the charmed quark magnetic
moment and are and .Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures, acceptance updat
Dalitz Plot Analysis of Ds to K+K-pi+
We perform a Dalitz plot analysis of the decay Ds to K+K-pi+ with the CLEO-c
data set of 586/pb of e+e- collisions accumulated at sqrt(s) = 4.17 GeV. This
corresponds to about 0.57 million D_s+D_s(*)- pairs from which we select 14400
candidates with a background of roughly 15%. In contrast to previous
measurements we find good agreement with our data only by including an
additional f_0(1370)pi+ contribution. We measure the magnitude, phase, and fit
fraction of K*(892) K+, phi(1020)pi+, K0*(1430)K+, f_0(980)pi+, f_0(1710)pi+,
and f_0(1370)pi+ contributions and limit the possible contributions of other KK
and Kpi resonances that could appear in this decay.Comment: 21 Pages,available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
submitted to PR
Listening In on the Past: What Can Otolith δ18O Values Really Tell Us about the Environmental History of Fishes?
Oxygen isotope ratios from fish otoliths are used to discriminate marine stocks and reconstruct past climate, assuming that variations in otolith δ18O values closely reflect differences in temperature history of fish when accounting for salinity induced variability in water δ18O. To investigate this, we exploited the environmental and migratory data gathered from a decade using archival tags to study the behaviour of adult plaice (Pleuronectes platessa L.) in the North Sea. Based on the tag-derived monthly distributions of the fish and corresponding temperature and salinity estimates modelled across three consecutive years, we first predicted annual otolith δ18O values for three geographically discrete offshore sub-stocks, using three alternative plausible scenarios for otolith growth. Comparison of predicted vs. measured annual δ18O values demonstrated >96% correct prediction of sub-stock membership, irrespective of the otolith growth scenario. Pronounced inter-stock differences in δ18O values, notably in summer, provide a robust marker for reconstructing broad-scale plaice distribution in the North Sea. However, although largely congruent, measured and predicted annual δ18O values of did not fully match. Small, but consistent, offsets were also observed between individual high-resolution otolith δ18O values measured during tag recording time and corresponding δ18O predictions using concomitant tag-recorded temperatures and location-specific salinity estimates. The nature of the shifts differed among sub-stocks, suggesting specific vital effects linked to variation in physiological response to temperature. Therefore, although otolith δ18O in free-ranging fish largely reflects environmental temperature and salinity, we counsel prudence when interpreting otolith δ18O data for stock discrimination or temperature reconstruction until the mechanisms underpinning otolith δ18O signature acquisition, and associated variation, are clarified
Search for D0 to p e- and D0 to pbar e+
Using data recorded by CLEO-c detector at CESR, we search for simultaneous
baryon and lepton number violating decays of the D^0 meson, specifically, D^0
--> p-bar e^+, D^0-bar --> p-bar e^+, D^0 --> p e^- and D^0-bar --> p e^-. We
set the following branching fraction upper limits: D^0 --> p-bar e^+ (D^0-bar
--> p-bar e^+) p e^- (D^0-bar --> p e^-) < 1.2 *
10^{-5}, both at 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
submitted to PRD. Comments: changed abstract, added reference for section 1,
vertical axis in Fig.5 changed (starts from 1.5 rather than 2.0), fixed typo
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