The radio properties of a complete, X-ray selected sample of nearby, massive elliptical galaxies

We investigate the radio properties of a complete sample of nearby, massive, X-ray bright elliptical and S0 galaxies. Our sample contains 18 galaxies with ROSAT All-Sky Survey X-ray fluxes Fx_(0.1-2.4 keV) > 3 x 10^(-12) erg/s/cm^2, within a distance of 100 Mpc. For these galaxies, we have complete (18/18) VLA radio and Chandra X-ray coverage. Nuclear radio emission is detected from 17/18 of the galaxies. Ten of the galaxies exhibit extended radio emission; of these ten, all but one also exhibit clear evidence of interaction of the radio source with the surrounding, X-ray emitting gas. Among the seven galaxies with unresolved radio sources, one has clear, and one has small, cavity-like features in the Chandra X-ray images; a third has a disturbed X-ray morphology. Using a radio luminosity limit equivalent to L_(1.4 Ghz) > 10^(23) W/Hz to calculate the radio-loud fraction, we find that this misses the majority of the radio detected galaxies in the sample. We determine integrated radio-to-X-ray flux ratios for the galaxies, GRx, which are shown to span a large range (factor of 100). We calculate the mass-weighted cooling times within 1 kpc, and find hints for an anticorrelation with the radio luminosity. We also calculate limits on k/f, where k is the ratio of the total particle energy to that of relativistic electrons radiating in the range 10 MHz-10 GHz and f is the volume filling factor of the plasma in the cavity. The k/f distribution is also broad, reflecting previous results for larger galaxy clusters. Lowering the X-ray flux limit, at the expense of less complete VLA and Chandra coverage, increases the size of our sample to 42 galaxies. Nuclear radio activity is detected in at least 34/42 of this extended sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 19 pages, 11 Figures and 7 Table

Randomized Trial on the 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way Website, A Web-based Program to Improve Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in Rural Communities

The Internet is a new technology for health communication in communities. The 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way website intended to increase fruits and vegetables (FV) consumption was evaluated in a rural region enrolling 755 adults (65% Hispanic, 9% Native American, 88% female) in a randomized pretest–posttest controlled trial in 2002–2004. A total of 473 (63%) adults completed a 4-month follow-up. The change in daily intake on a food frequency questionnaire (control: mean = − 0.26 servings; intervention: mean = 0.38; estimated difference = 0.64, SD = 0.52, t(df = 416) = 1.22, p = 0.223) and single item (13.9% eating 5+ servings at pretest, 19.8% posttest for intervention; 17.4%, 13.8% for controls; odds ratio (OR) = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.07, 3.17) was in the expected direction but significant only for the single item. Website use was low and variable (logins: M = 3.3, range = 1 to 39.0; total time: M = 22.2 minutes, range = 0 to 322.7), but it was associated positively with fruit and vegetable intake (total time: Spearman r = 0.14, p = 0.004 for food frequency; Spearman r = 0.135, p = 0.004 for single item). A nutrition website may improve FV intake. The comparison on the food frequency measure may have been undermined by its high variability. Websites may be successful in community settings only when they are used enough by adults to influence them

Models of Neocortical Layer 5b Pyramidal Cells Capturing a Wide Range of Dendritic and Perisomatic Active Properties

The thick-tufted layer 5b pyramidal cell extends its dendritic tree to all six layers of the mammalian neocortex and serves as a major building block for the cortical column. L5b pyramidal cells have been the subject of extensive experimental and modeling studies, yet conductance-based models of these cells that faithfully reproduce both their perisomatic Na+-spiking behavior as well as key dendritic active properties, including Ca2+ spikes and back-propagating action potentials, are still lacking. Based on a large body of experimental recordings from both the soma and dendrites of L5b pyramidal cells in adult rats, we characterized key features of the somatic and dendritic firing and quantified their statistics. We used these features to constrain the density of a set of ion channels over the soma and dendritic surface via multi-objective optimization with an evolutionary algorithm, thus generating a set of detailed conductance-based models that faithfully replicate the back-propagating action potential activated Ca2+ spike firing and the perisomatic firing response to current steps, as well as the experimental variability of the properties. Furthermore, we show a useful way to analyze model parameters with our sets of models, which enabled us to identify some of the mechanisms responsible for the dynamic properties of L5b pyramidal cells as well as mechanisms that are sensitive to morphological changes. This automated framework can be used to develop a database of faithful models for other neuron types. The models we present provide several experimentally-testable predictions and can serve as a powerful tool for theoretical investigations of the contribution of single-cell dynamics to network activity and its computational capabilities

Search for high-mass diboson resonances with boson-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for narrow resonances decaying into WW, WZ, or ZZ boson pairs using 20.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Diboson resonances with masses in the range from 1.3 to 3.0 TeV are sought after using the invariant mass distribution of dijets where both jets are tagged as a boson jet, compatible with a highly boosted W or Z boson decaying to quarks, using jet mass and substructure properties. The largest deviation from a smoothly falling background in the observed dijet invariant mass distribution occurs around 2 TeV in the WZ channel, with a global significance of 2.5 standard deviations. Exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are set on the production cross section times branching ratio for the WZ final state of a new heavy gauge boson, W′, and for the WW and ZZ final states of Kaluza-Klein excitations of the graviton in a bulk Randall-Sundrum model, as a function of the resonance mass. W′ bosons with couplings predicted by the extended gauge model in the mass range from 1.3 to 1.5 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level

Search for low-scale gravity signatures in multi-jet final states with the ATLAS detector at √s=8 TeV

A search for evidence of physics beyond the Standard Model in final states with multiple high-transverse-momentum jets is performed using 20.3 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at √s=8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. No significant excess of events beyond Standard Model expectations is observed, and upper limits on the visible cross sections for non-Standard Model production of multi-jet final states are set. A wide variety of models for black hole and string ball production and decay are considered, and the upper limit on the cross section times acceptance is as low as 0.16 fb at the 95% confidence level. For these models, excluded regions are also given as function of the main model parameters

A search for tt̄ resonances using lepton-plus-jets events in proton-proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for new particles that decay into top quark pairs is reported. The search is performed with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb−¹ of proton-proton collision data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The lepton-plus-jets final state is used, where the top pair decays to W+bW−b̄, with one W boson decaying leptonically and the other hadronically. The invariant mass spectrum of top quark pairs is examined for local excesses or deficits that are inconsistent with the Standard Model predictions. No evidence for a top quark pair resonance is found, and 95% confidence-level limits on the production rate are determined for massive states in benchmark models. The upper limits on the cross-section times branching ratio of a narrow Z′ boson decaying to top pairs range from 4.2 pb to 0.03 pb for resonance masses from 0.4 TeV to 3.0 TeV. A narrow leptophobic topcolour Z′ boson with mass below 1.8 TeV is excluded. Upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching ratio for a broad colour-octet resonance with Γ/m = 15% decaying to tt̄. These range from 4.8 pb to 0.03 pb for masses from 0.4 TeV to 3.0 TeV. A Kaluza-Klein excitation of the gluon in a Randall-Sundrum model is excluded for masses below 2.2 TeV

Search for TeV-scale gravity signatures in high-mass final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at sqrt [ s ] = 13TeV

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in final states with at least one high transverse momentum charged lepton (electron or muon) and two additional high transverse momentum leptons or jets, is performed using 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 at √s = 13 TeV. The upper end of the distribution of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of leptons and jets is sensitive to the production of high-mass objects. No excess of events beyond Standard Model predictions is observed. Exclusion limits are set for models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions

Search for high-mass new phenomena in the dilepton final state using proton–proton collisions at View the MathML sources=13TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is conducted for both resonant and non-resonant high-mass new phenomena in dielectron and dimuon final states. The search uses View the MathML source3.2fb−1 of proton–proton collision data, collected at View the MathML sources=13TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015. The dilepton invariant mass is used as the discriminating variable. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed; therefore limits are set on the signal model parameters of interest at 95% credibility level. Upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching ratio for resonances decaying to dileptons, and the limits are converted into lower limits on the resonance mass, ranging between 2.74 TeV and 3.36 TeV, depending on the model. Lower limits on the ℓℓqqℓℓqq contact interaction scale are set between 16.7 TeV and 25.2 TeV, also depending on the mode

Combination of searches for WW, WZ, and ZZ resonances in pp collisions at s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider has performed searches for new, heavy bosons decaying to WW, WZ and ZZ final states in multiple decay channels using 20.3 fb-1 of pp collision data at s=8 TeV. In the current study, the results of these searches are combined to provide a more stringent test of models predicting heavy resonances with couplings to vector bosons. Direct searches for a charged diboson resonance decaying to WZ in the ℓνℓ'ℓ' (ℓ=μ, e), ℓℓqq-, ℓνqq- and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WZ bosons are compared with predictions of an extended gauge model with a heavy W' boson. In addition, direct searches for a neutral diboson resonance decaying to WW and ZZ in the ℓℓqq-, ℓνqq-, and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WW and ZZ bosons are compared with predictions for a heavy, spin-2 graviton in an extended Randall-Sundrum model where the Standard Model fields are allowed to propagate in the bulk of the extra dimension

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead