16,314 research outputs found
Ballerina - Pirouettes in Search of Gamma Bursts
The cosmological origin of gamma ray bursts has now been established with
reasonable certainty. Many more bursts will need to be studied to establish the
typical distance scale, and to map out the large diversity in properties which
have been indicated by the first handful of events. We are proposing Ballerina,
a small satellite to provide accurate positions and new data on the gamma-ray
bursts. We anticipate a detection rate an order of magnitude larger than
obtained from Beppo-SAX.Comment: A&AS in press, proceedings of the Workshop "Gamma Ray Bursts in the
Afterglow Era" in Rome, November 199
Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
Slow-light enhanced optical detection in liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
is theoretically studied. Using a scattering-matrix approach and the
Wigner-Smith delay time concept, we show that optical absorbance benefits both
from slow-light phenomena as well as a high filling factor of the energy
residing in the liquid. Utilizing strongly dispersive photonic crystal
structures, we numerically demonstrate how liquid-infiltrated photonic crystals
facilitate enhanced light-matter interactions, by potentially up to an order of
magnitude. The proposed concept provides strong opportunities for improving
existing miniaturized absorbance cells for optical detection in lab-on-a-chip
systems.Comment: Paper accepted for the "Special Issue OWTNM 2007" edited by A.
Lavrinenko and P. J. Robert
Inflammation and changes in cytokine levels in neurological feline infectious peritonitis.
Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a progressive, fatal, predominantly Arthus-type immune-mediated disease that is triggered when cats are infected with a mutant enteric coronavirus. The disease presents variably with multiple organ failure, seizures, generalized effusion, or shock. Neurological FIP is clinically and pathologically more homogeneous than systemic 'wet' or 'dry' FIP; thus, comparison of cytokine profiles from cats with neurological FIP, wet FIP, and non-FIP neurological disease may provide insight into some baseline characteristics relating to the immunopathogenesis of neurological FIP. This study characterizes inflammation and changes in cytokines in the brain tissue of FIP-affected cats. Cellular infiltrates in cats with FIP included lymphocytes, plasma cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and eosinophils. IL-1 beta, IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, TNF-alpha, macrophage inhibitory protein (MIP)-1 alpha, and RANTES showed no upregulation in the brains of control cats, moderate upregulation in neurological FIP cats, and very high upregulation in generalized FIP cats. Transcription of IFN-gamma appeared upregulated in cats with systemic FIP and slightly downregulated in neurological FIP. In most cytokines tested, variance was extremely high in generalized FIP and much less in neurological FIP. Principal components analysis was performed in order to find the least number of 'components' that would summarize the cytokine profiles in cats with neurological FIP. A large component of the variance (91.7%) was accounted for by levels of IL-6, MIP-1 alpha, and RANTES. These findings provide new insight into the immunopathogenesis of FIP and suggest targets for immune therapy of this disease
Bubble coalescence in breathing DNA: Two vicious walkers in opposite potentials
We investigate the coalescence of two DNA-bubbles initially located at weak
segments and separated by a more stable barrier region in a designed construct
of double-stranded DNA. The characteristic time for bubble coalescence and the
corresponding distribution are derived, as well as the distribution of
coalescence positions along the barrier. Below the melting temperature, we find
a Kramers-type barrier crossing behaviour, while at high temperatures, the
bubble corners perform drift-diffusion towards coalescence. The results are
obtained by mapping the bubble dynamics on the problem of two vicious walkers
in opposite potentials.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
High Q Cavity Induced Fluxon Bunching in Inductively Coupled Josephson Junctions
We consider fluxon dynamics in a stack of inductively coupled long Josephson
junctions connected capacitively to a common resonant cavity at one of the
boundaries. We study, through theoretical and numerical analysis, the
possibility for the cavity to induce a transition from the energetically
favored state of spatially separated shuttling fluxons in the different
junctions to a high velocity, high energy state of identical fluxon modes.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
The prevalence of atrial fibrillation in Greenland:a register-based cross-sectional study based on disease classifications and prescriptions of oral anticoagulants
   Previous studies of the prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Greenland are based on either single-point electrocardiograms (ECGs) or patients admitted with stroke. This study estimates the prevalence of AF based on disease classifications in the electronic medical record system (EMR) and prescriptions of oral anticoagulants (OACs). Patients given a diagnose classification code for AF or atrial flutter or prescribed the vitamin K antagonist Warfarin or the direct-acting oral anticoagulant Rivaroxaban were identified in the EMR. Descriptive data and selected laboratory values were extracted, and a minimum CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc score was calculated for the 790 patients identified in the EMR (66% men). A total prevalence of AF of 1.4% was found in the general population (1.8% among men and 1.0% among women), with a significantly lower prevalence among women younger than 70 years. There was a significant increase in AF-prevalence with advancing age (p<0.001) for both men and women. A minimum CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc was estimated and app. 10% of the patients may be undertreated with OACs. The prevalence of AF found in this study is higher than that found in previous studies in Greenland and comparable to the prevalence found in other Western countries, indicating that AF is common in Greenland
Ultra-thin titanium nitride films for refractory spectral selectivity
We demonstrate a selectively emitting optical Fabry-P\'erot resonator based
on a few-nm-thin continuous metallic titanium nitride film, separated by a
dielectric spacer from an optically thick titanium nitride back-reflector,
which exhibits excellent stability at 1070 K against chemical degradation,
thin-film instabilities and melting point depression. The structure paves the
way to the design and fabrication of refractory thermal emitters using the
well-established processes known from the field of multilayer and rugate
optical filters. We demonstrate that a few-nanometer thick films of titanium
nitride can be stable under operation at temperatures exceeding 1070 K. This
type of selective emitter provides a means towards near-infrared thermal
emission that could potentially be tailored to the accuracy level known from
rugate optical filters.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
- …