213 research outputs found
Applicability of Modified Effective-Range Theory to positron-atom and positron-molecule scattering
We analyze low-energy scattering of positrons on Ar atoms and N2 molecules
using Modified Effective-Range Theory (MERT) developped by O'Malley, Spruch and
Rosenberg [Journal of Math. Phys. 2, 491 (1961)]. We use formulation of MERT
based on exact solutions of Schroedinger equation with polarization potential
rather than low-energy expansions of phase shifts into momentum series. We show
that MERT describes well experimental data, provided that effective-range
expansion is performed both for s- and p-wave scattering, which dominate in the
considered regime of positron energies (0.4 - 2 eV). We estimate the values of
the s-wave scattering lenght and the effective range for e+ - Ar and e+ - N2
collisions.Comment: RevTeX, 4 pages, 2 figure
Effects of S-wave thresholds
The opening of a new S-wave threshold is frequently accompanied by an abrupt
dip in the magnitude of an amplitude for an already-open channel. One familiar
example is the behavior of the I=0 S-wave scattering amplitude at threshold. Numerous other examples of this phenomenon in recent data
are noted, and a unified description of the underlying dynamics is sought.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures. Two additional references; typographic
correction. To be published in Phys. Rev.
Plagiarism Among Applicants for Faculty Positions
To the Editor. Recently, Dr. DiPiro published an article in the Journal1 that discussed several aspects pertinent to the process of faculty recruitment, emphasizing an individual\u27s “fit” within the culture of the hiring institution. In the present article, we discuss another aspect of “fitness” that became evident to our search committee during the 2010-2011 academic year..
Cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions
Individual recognition is considered to have been fundamental in the evolution of complex social systems and is thought to be a widespread ability throughout the animal kingdom. Although robust evidence for individual recognition remains limited, recent experimental paradigms that examine cross-modal processing have demonstrated individual recognition in a range of captive non-human animals. It is now highly relevant to test whether cross-modal individual recognition exists within wild populations and thus examine how it is employed during natural social interactions. We address this question by testing audio–visual cross-modal individual recognition in wild African lions (Panthera leo) using an expectancy-violation paradigm. When presented with a scenario where the playback of a loud-call (roaring) broadcast from behind a visual block is incongruent with the conspecific previously seen there, subjects responded more strongly than during the congruent scenario where the call and individual matched. These findings suggest that lions are capable of audio–visual cross-modal individual recognition and provide a useful method for studying this ability in wild populations
Parental Reflective Functioning Affects Sensitivity to Distress in Mothers with Postpartum Depression
Parental reflective functioning (PRF) refers to the capacity of caregivers to reflect upon their children’s internal mental states and intentions, which is seen as crucial for parental sensitivity, defined as the adequate behavioral response to an infant’s signals. In this study, the effect of maternal PRF on sensitivity during the mother–infant interaction was examined in a clinical sample of 50 mothers who were experiencing postpartum depression and their infants aged three to 10 months. Mother and infant were exposed to emotional distress using the still-face procedure. It was hypothesized that low levels of PRF are associated with a decrease in maternal sensitivity in response to distress. Maternal PRF was assessed using the parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRF). The subscales measured interest and curiosity in mental states, certainty about mental states (i.e., the recognition of the opacity of mental states), and pre-mentalizing modes (i.e., non-mentalizing modes), whereas sensitivity was evaluated using the maternal behavior Q-sort (Mini-MBQS-V). The results revealed a significant overall decrease in maternal sensitivity. As expected, the higher the scores on the pre-mentalizing modes, which indicated low levels of mentalizing through the mothers’ repudiation or defense against it, the greater the decreases in sensitivity. No effects with respect to the interest and curiosity in mental states or the certainty about mental states were found. Our findings determined that the pre-mentalizing modes are predictive of sensitivity to distress in mothers with postpartum depression
Oscillator Strengths and Damping Constants for Atomic Lines in the J and H Bands
We have built a line list in the near-infrared J and H bands (1.00-1.34,
1.49-1.80 um) by gathering a series of laboratory and computed line lists.
Oscillator strengths and damping constants were computed or obtained by fitting
the solar spectrum.
The line list presented in this paper is, to our knowledge, the most complete
one now available, and supersedes previous lists.Comment: Accepted, Astrophysical Journal Supplement, tentatively scheduled for
the Sep. 1999 Vol. 124 #1 issue. Text and tables also available at
http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~jorge
A measles virus-based vaccine induces robust chikungunya virus-specific CD4<sup>+</sup> T-cell responses in a phase II clinical trial
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is an alphavirus transmitted by mosquitos that causes a debilitating disease characterized by fever and long-lasting polyarthralgia. To date, no vaccine has been licensed, but multiple vaccine candidates are under evaluation in clinical trials. One of these vaccines is based on a measles virus vector encoding for the CHIKV structural genes C, E3, E2, 6K, and E1 (MV-CHIK), which proved safe in phase I and II clinical trials and elicited CHIKV-specific antibody responses in adult measles seropositive vaccine recipients. Here, we predicted T-cell epitopes in the CHIKV structural genes and investigated whether MV-CHIK vaccination induced CHIKV-specific CD4+ and/or CD8+ T-cell responses. Immune-dominant regions containing multiple epitopes in silico predicted to bind to HLA class II molecules were found for four of the five structural proteins, while no such regions were predicted for HLA class I. Experimentally, CHIKV-specific CD4+ T-cells were detected in six out of twelve participants after a single MV-CHIK vaccination and more robust responses were found 4 weeks after two vaccinations (ten out of twelve participants). T-cells were mainly directed against the three large structural proteins C, E2 and E1. Next, we sorted and expanded CHIKV-specific T cell clones (TCC) and identified human CHIKV T-cell epitopes by deconvolution. Interestingly, eight out of nine CD4+ TCC recognized an epitope in accordance with the in silico prediction. CHIKV-specific CD8+ T-cells induced by MV-CHIK vaccination were inconsistently detected. Our data show that the MV-CHIK vector vaccine induced a functional transgene-specific CD4+ T cell response which, together with the evidence of neutralizing antibodies as correlate of protection for CHIKV, makes MV-CHIK a promising vaccine candidate in the prevention of chikungunya.</p
Improved Color-Temperature Relations and Bolometric Corrections for Cool Stars
We present new grids of colors and bolometric corrections for F-K stars
having 4000 K < Teff < 6500 K, 0.0 < log g < 4.5 and -3.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.0. A
companion paper extends these calculations into the M giant regime. Colors are
tabulated for Johnson U-V and B-V; Cousins V-R and V-I; Johnson-Glass V-K, J-K
and H-K; and CIT/CTIO V-K, J-K, H-K and CO. We have developed these
color-temperature (CT) relations by convolving synthetic spectra with
photometric filter-transmission-profiles. The synthetic spectra have been
computed with the SSG spectral synthesis code using MARCS stellar atmosphere
models as input. Both of these codes have been improved substantially,
especially at low temperatures, through the incorporation of new opacity data.
The resulting synthetic colors have been put onto the observational systems by
applying color calibrations derived from models and photometry of field stars
which have Teffs determined by the infrared-flux method. The color calibrations
have zero points and slopes which change most of the original synthetic colors
by less than 0.02 mag and 5%, respectively. The adopted Teff scale (Bell &
Gustafsson 1989) is confirmed by the extraordinary agreement between the
predicted and observed angular diameters of the field stars. We have also
derived empirical CT relations from the field-star photometry. Except for the
coolest dwarfs (Teff < 5000 K), our calibrated, solar-metallicity model colors
are found to match these and other empirical relations quite well. Our
calibrated, 4 Gyr, solar-metallicity isochrone also provides a good match to
color-magnitude diagrams of M67. We regard this as evidence that our calibrated
colors can be applied to many astrophysical problems, including modelling the
integrated light of galaxies. (abridged)Comment: To appear in the March 2000 issue of the Astronomical Journal. 72
pages including 16 embedded postscript figures (one page each) and 6 embedded
postscript tables (18 pages total
Measurement of neutron capture on Ca at thermal and thermonuclear energies
At the Karlsruhe pulsed 3.75\,MV Van de Graaff accelerator the thermonuclear
Ca(n,)Ca(8.72\,min) cross section was measured by the
fast cyclic activation technique via the 3084.5\,keV -ray line of the
Ca-decay. Samples of CaCO enriched in Ca by 77.87\,\% were
irradiated between two gold foils which served as capture standards. The
capture cross-section was measured at the neutron energies 25, 151, 176, and
218\,keV, respectively. Additionally, the thermal capture cross-section was
measured at the reactor BR1 in Mol, Belgium, via the prompt and decay
-ray lines using the same target material. The
Ca(n,)Ca cross-section in the thermonuclear and thermal
energy range has been calculated using the direct-capture model combined with
folding potentials. The potential strengths are adjusted to the scattering
length and the binding energies of the final states in Ca. The small
coherent elastic cross section of Ca+n is explained through the nuclear
Ramsauer effect. Spectroscopic factors of Ca have been extracted from
the thermal capture cross-section with better accuracy than from a recent (d,p)
experiment. Within the uncertainties both results are in agreement. The
non-resonant thermal and thermonuclear experimental data for this reaction can
be reproduced using the direct-capture model. A possible interference with a
resonant contribution is discussed. The neutron spectroscopic factors of
Ca determined from shell-model calculations are compared with the values
extracted from the experimental cross sections for Ca(d,p)Ca and
Ca(n,)Ca.Comment: 15 pages (uses Revtex), 7 postscript figures (uses psfig), accepted
for publication in PRC, uuencoded tex-files and postscript-files also
available at ftp://is1.kph.tuwien.ac.at/pub/ohu/Ca.u
MUC4 activates HER2 signalling and enhances the motility of human ovarian cancer cells
The mucin MUC4 is a high molecular weight transmembrane glycoprotein. It consists of a mucin-type subunit (MUC4α) and a transmembrane growth factor-like subunit (MUC4β). The mucin MUC4 is overexpressed in many epithelial malignancies including ovarian cancer, suggesting a possible role in the pathogenesis of these cancers. In this study, we investigated the functional role of MUC4 in the human ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3. The mucin MUC4 was ectopically expressed by stable transfection, and its expression was examined by western blot and confocal microscopy analyses. The in vitro studies demonstrated an enhanced motility of MUC4-expressing SKOV3 cells compared with the vector-transfected cells. The mucin MUC4 expression was associated with apparent changes in actin organisation, leading to the formation of microspike, lammelopodia and filopodia-like cellular projections. An enhanced protein expression and activation of HER2, a receptor tyrosine kinase, was also seen, although no significant change was observed in HER-2 transcript levels in the MUC4-transfected SKOV3 cells. Reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation revealed an interaction of MUC4 with HER2. Further, the MUC4-overexpressing SKOV3 cells exhibited an increase in the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK), Akt and ERK, downstream effectors of HER2. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that MUC4 plays a role in ovarian cancer cell motility, in part, by altering actin arrangement and potentiating HER2 downstream signalling in these cells
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