4,556 research outputs found
Contact-allergy time
The most commonly used techniques for the in vivo evaluation of the cellular
immune response include intracutaneous testing with microbial recall antigens
or sensitization with neoantigens. The reliability of these tests for the individual
patient usually is low due to the lack of standardization and quantification.
Moreover only the efferent branch of the immune response can be judged.
The dinitrochlorobenzene-contact allergy time (DNCB-CAT) is a quantitative
approach for the assessment of the cellular immune response. 2% DNCBointment
is applied on the upper arm in a 1 cm2 area. On the following days
patch-testing with 0.05% DNCB-ointment is done on the homolateral forearm
in alternating localizations till an allergic contact dermatitis reaction appears.
As assessed in patients with malignant melanoma (MM, n=\\5) and with
lymphoproliferative disorders (LD, η = 25), the DNCB-CAT correlates with
the age of the patients and can be expressed by a formula given by the age
(years) Ï factor (MM = 0.16; LD = 0.17) + constant figure (MM = 5.5;
LD = 4.3). There was no significant difference between the two groups or subgroups
investigated.
By DNCB-CAT quantitative analysis of the cellular immune response in
vivo is possible. It is an appropriate model for further investigations of the
cellular immunity under different clinical, histological, prognostic, and therapeutic
aspects
A FIRST DETERMINATION OF THE SURFACE DENSITY OF GALAXY CLUSTERS AT VERY LOW X--RAY FLUXES
We present the first results of a serendipitous search for clusters of
galaxies in deep ROSAT-PSPC pointed observations at high galactic latitude. The
survey is being carried out using a Wavelet based Detection Algorithm which is
not biased against extended, low surface brightness sources. A new
flux--diameter limited sample of 10 cluster candidates has been created from
surveyed area. Preliminary CCD observations have revealed
that a large fraction of these candidates correspond to a visible enhancement
in the galaxy surface density, and several others have been identified from
other surveys. We believe these sources to be either low--moderate redshift
groups or intermediate to high redshift clusters. We show X-ray and optical
images of some of the clusters identified to date. We present, for the first
time, the derived number density of the galaxy clusters to a flux limit of (0.5--2.0 keV). This extends the -- of previous cluster surveys by more than one decade in flux.
Results are compared to theoretical predictions for cluster number counts.Comment: uuencoded compressed Postscript, 7 pages including 4 figures.
Accepted for publication in Ap. J. Letters
The hot gas content of fossil galaxy clusters
We investigate the properties of the hot gas in four fossil galaxy systems
detected at high significance in the Planck Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ) survey.
XMM-Newton observations reveal overall temperatures of kT ~ 5-6 keV and yield
hydrostatic masses M500,HE > 3.5 x 10e14 Msun, confirming their nature as bona
fide massive clusters. We measure the thermodynamic properties of the hot gas
in X-rays (out to beyond R500 in three cases) and derive their individual
pressure profiles out to R ~ 2.5 R500 with the SZ data. We combine the X-ray
and SZ data to measure hydrostatic mass profiles and to examine the hot gas
content and its radial distribution. The average Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW)
concentration parameter, c500 = 3.2 +/- 0.4, is the same as that of relaxed
`normal' clusters. The gas mass fraction profiles exhibit striking variation in
the inner regions, but converge to approximately the cosmic baryon fraction
(corrected for depletion) at R500. Beyond R500 the gas mass fraction profiles
again diverge, which we interpret as being due to a difference in gas clumping
and/or a breakdown of hydrostatic equilibrium in the external regions. Overall
our observations point to considerable radial variation in the hot gas content
and in the gas clumping and/or hydrostatic equilibrium properties in these
fossil clusters, at odds with the interpretation of their being old, evolved
and undisturbed. At least some fossil objects appear to be dynamically young.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in A&
Spatial Multiplexing of QPSK Signals with a Single Radio: Antenna Design and Over-the-Air Experiments
The paper describes the implementation and performance analysis of the first
fully-operational beam-space MIMO antenna for the spatial multiplexing of two
QPSK streams. The antenna is composed of a planar three-port radiator with two
varactor diodes terminating the passive ports. Pattern reconfiguration is used
to encode the MIMO information onto orthogonal virtual basis patterns in the
far-field. A measurement campaign was conducted to compare the performance of
the beam-space MIMO system with a conventional 2-by-?2 MIMO system under
realistic propagation conditions. Propagation measurements were conducted for
both systems and the mutual information and symbol error rates were estimated
from Monte-Carlo simulations over the measured channel matrices. The results
show the beam-space MIMO system and the conventional MIMO system exhibit
similar finite-constellation capacity and error performance in NLOS scenarios
when there is sufficient scattering in the channel. In comparison, in LOS
channels, the capacity performance is observed to depend on the relative
polarization of the receiving antennas.Comment: 31 pages, 23 figure
Large-scale integration of single-walled carbon nanotubes and graphene into sensors and devices using dielectrophoresis: A review
Device and sensor miniaturization has enabled extraordinary functionality and sensitivity enhancements over the last decades while considerably reducing fabrication costs and energy consumption. The traditional materials and process technologies used today will, however, ultimately run into fundamental limitations. Combining large-scale directed assembly methods with high-symmetry low-dimensional carbon nanomaterials is expected to contribute toward overcoming shortcomings of traditional process technologies and pave the way for commercially viable device nanofabrication. The purpose of this article is to review the guided dielectrophoretic integration of individual single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT)- and graphene-based devices and sensors targeting continuous miniaturization. The review begins by introducing the electrokinetic framework of the dielectrophoretic deposition process, then discusses the importance of high-quality solutions, followed by the site- and type-selective integration of SWNTs and graphene with emphasis on experimental methods, and concludes with an overview of dielectrophoretically assembled devices and sensors to date. The field of dielectrophoretic device integration is filled with opportunities to research emerging materials, bottom-up integration processes, and promising applications. The ultimate goal is to fabricate ultra-small functional devices at high throughput and low costs, which require only minute operation powe
Pericardial Cyst: Unexpected Finding on a Chest Radiograph
<p>[West J Emerg Med. 2011;12(4):579â580.]</p
A skewer survey of the Galactic halo from deep CFHT and INT images
We study the density profile and shape of the Galactic halo using deep
multicolour images from the MENeaCS and CCCP projects, over 33 fields selected
to avoid overlap with the Galactic plane. Using multicolour selection and PSF
homogenization techniques we obtain catalogues of F stars (near-main sequence
turnoff stars) out to Galactocentric distances up to 60kpc. Grouping nearby
lines of sight, we construct the stellar density profiles through the halo in
eight different directions by means of photometric parallaxes. Smooth halo
models are then fitted to these profiles. We find clear evidence for a
steepening of the density profile power law index around R=20 kpc, from -2.50
+- 0.04 to -4.85 +- 0.04, and for a flattening of the halo towards the poles
with best-fit axis ratio 0.63 +- 0.02. Furthermore, we cannot rule out a mild
triaxiality (w>=0.8). We recover the signatures of well-known substructure and
streams that intersect our lines of sight. These results are consistent with
those derived from wider but shallower surveys, and augur well for upcoming,
wide-field surveys of comparable depth to our pencil beam surveys.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 6 table
The dynamics of z~1 clusters of galaxies from the GCLASS survey
We constrain the internal dynamics of a stack of 10 clusters from the GCLASS
survey at 0.87<z<1.34. We determine the stack cluster mass profile M(r) using
the MAMPOSSt algorithm of Mamon et al., the velocity anisotropy profile beta(r)
from the inversion of the Jeans equation, and the pseudo-phase-space density
profiles Q(r) and Qr(r), obtained from the ratio between the mass density
profile and the third power of the (total and, respectively, radial) velocity
dispersion profiles of cluster galaxies. Several M(r) models are statistically
acceptable for the stack cluster (Burkert, Einasto, Hernquist, NFW). The total
mass distribution has a concentration c=r200/r-2=4.0-0.6+1.0, in agreement with
theoretical expectations, and is less concentrated than the cluster
stellar-mass distribution. The stack cluster beta(r) is similar for passive and
star-forming galaxies and indicates isotropic galaxy orbits near the cluster
center and increasingly radially elongated with increasing cluster-centric
distance. Q(r) and Qr(r) are almost power-law relations with slopes similar to
those predicted from numerical simulations of dark matter halos. Combined with
results obtained for lower-z clusters we determine the dynamical evolution of
galaxy clusters, and compare it with theoretical predictions. We discuss
possible physical mechanisms responsible for the differential evolution of
total and stellar mass concentrations, and of passive and star-forming galaxy
orbits [abridged].Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Version accepted for publication in A&A after
minor modification
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