168 research outputs found
Laser Noise Reduction in Air
Fluctuations of the white-light supercontinuum produced by ultrashort laser
pulses in selfguided filaments (spatio-temporal solitons) in air are
investigated. We demonstrate that correlations exist within the white-light
supercontinuum, and that they can be used to significantly reduce the laser
intensity noise by filtering the spectrum. More precisely, the fundamental
wavelength is anticorrelated with the wings of the continuum, while conjugated
wavelength pairs on both sides of the continuum are strongly correlated.
Spectral filtering of the continuum reduces the laser intensity noise by 1.2
dB, showing that fluctuations are rejected to the edges of the spectrum.Comment: 8 page
Biphasic decay kinetics suggest progressive slowing in turnover of latently HIV-1 infected cells during antiretroviral therapy
BACKGROUND: Mathematical models based on kinetics of HIV-1 plasma viremia after initiation of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) inferred HIV-infected cells to decay exponentially with constant rates correlated to their strength of virus production. To further define in vivo decay kinetics of HIV-1 infected cells experimentally, we assessed infected cell-classes of distinct viral transcriptional activity in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of five patients during 1 year after initiation of cART RESULTS: In a novel analytical approach patient-matched PCR for unspliced and multiply spliced viral RNAs was combined with limiting dilution analysis at the single cell level. This revealed that HIV-RNA+ PBMC can be stratified into four distinct viral transcriptional classes. Two overlapping cell-classes of high viral transcriptional activity, suggestive of a virion producing phenotype, rapidly declined to undetectable levels. Two cell classes expressing HIV-RNA at low and intermediate levels, presumably insufficient for virus production and occurring at frequencies exceeding those of productively infected cells matched definitions of HIV-latency. These cells persisted during cART. Nevertheless, during the first four weeks of therapy their kinetics resembled that of productively infected cells. CONCLUSIONS: We have observed biphasic decays of latently HIV-infected cells of low and intermediate viral transcriptional activity with marked decreases in cell numbers shortly after initiation of therapy and complete persistence in later phases. A similar decay pattern was shared by cells with greatly enhanced viral transcriptional activity which showed a certain grade of levelling off before their disappearance. Thus it is conceivable that turnover/decay rates of HIV-infected PBMC may be intrinsically variable. In particular they might be accelerated by HIV-induced activation and reactivation of the viral life cycle and slowed down by the disappearance of such feedback-loops after initiation of cART
Elliptic flow at SPS and RHIC: from kinetic transport to hydrodynamics
Anisotropic transverse flow is studied in Pb+Pb and Au+Au collisions at SPS
and RHIC energies. The centrality and transverse momentum dependence at
midrapidity of the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 is calculated in the
hydrodynamic and low density limits. Hydrodynamics is found to agree well with
the RHIC data for semicentral collisions up to transverse momenta of 1-1.5
GeV/c, but it considerably overestimates the measured elliptic flow at SPS
energies. The low density limit LDL is inconsistent with the measured magnitude
of v_2 at RHIC energies and with the shape of its p_t-dependence at both RHIC
and SPS energies. The success of the hydrodynamic model points to very rapid
thermalization in Au+Au collisions at RHIC and provides a serious challenge for
kinetic approaches based on classical scattering of on-shell particles.Comment: 7 pages incl. 5 figures; submitted to Physics Letters B; Ref. 4 and a
few typos corrected; no changes in content
Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of the 3 Brightest and Hardest Short Gamma-Ray Bursts Observed with the FGST Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor
From July 2008 to October 2009, the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) on board
the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (FGST) has detected 320 Gamma-Ray Bursts
(GRBs). About 20% of these events are classified as short based on their T90
duration below 2 s. We present here for the first time time-resolved
spectroscopy at timescales as short as 2 ms for the three brightest short GRBs
observed with GBM. The time-integrated spectra of the events deviate from the
Band function, indicating the existence of an additional spectral component,
which can be fit by a power-law with index ~-1.5. The time-integrated Epeak
values exceed 2 MeV for two of the bursts, and are well above the values
observed in the brightest long GRBs. Their Epeak values and their low-energy
power-law indices ({\alpha}) confirm that short GRBs are harder than long ones.
We find that short GRBs are very similar to long ones, but with light curves
contracted in time and with harder spectra stretched towards higher energies.
In our time-resolved spectroscopy analysis, we find that the Epeak values range
from a few tens of keV up to more than 6 MeV. In general, the hardness
evolutions during the bursts follows their flux/intensity variations, similar
to long bursts. However, we do not always see the Epeak leading the light-curve
rises, and we confirm the zero/short average light-curve spectral lag below 1
MeV, already established for short GRBs. We also find that the time-resolved
low-energy power-law indices of the Band function mostly violate the limits
imposed by the synchrotron models for both slow and fast electron cooling and
may require additional emission processes to explain the data. Finally, we
interpreted these observations in the context of the current existing models
and emission mechanisms for the prompt emission of GRBs.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 9 tables, Accepted for publication in the
Astrophysical Journal September, 23 2010 (Submitted May, 16 2010)
Corrections: 1 reference updated, figure 10 captio
Analysis of the first RHIC results in the String Fusion Model
First results from RHIC on charged multiplicities, evolution of
multiplicities with centrality, particle ratios and transverse momentum
distributions in central and minimum bias collisions, are analyzed in a string
model which includes hard collisions, collectivity in the initial state
considered as string fusion, and rescattering of the produced secondaries.
Multiplicities and their evolution with centrality are successfully reproduced.
Transverse momentum distributions in the model show a larger -tail than
experimental data, disagreement which grows with increasing centrality.
Discrepancies with particle ratios appear and are examined comparing with
previous features of the model at SPS.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, 1 table, 4 eps figures included using epsfig; final
version, comments and explanations extended, references added and updated,
Fig. 1 enlarged, results and conclusions unchange
Prevalence of renal impairment and its association with cardiovascular risk factors in a general population: results of the Swiss SAPALDIA study
Background. Impaired renal function is evolving as an independent marker of the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Little is known about the prevalence of impaired renal function and its relationship to cardiovascular risk factors in the Swiss general population. Methods. SAPALDIA comprises a random sample of the Swiss population established in 1991, originally to investigate the health effects of long-term exposure to air pollution. Participants were reassessed in 2002/3 and blood measurements were obtained (n = 6317). Renal function was estimated using the Cockcroft-Gault equation and the modified MDRD (four-component) equation incorporating age, race, gender and serum creatinine level. Results. The estimated prevalence of impaired renal function [estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min/1.73 m2] differed substantially between men and women, particularly at higher ages, and amounted to 13% [95% confidence interval (CI) 10-16%] and 36% (95% CI 32-40%) in men and women, respectively, of 65 years or older. Smoking, obesity, blood lipid levels, high systolic blood pressure and hyperuricaemia were all more common in men when compared with women. These cardiovascular risk factors were also associated independently with creatinine in both women and men. Women were less likely to receive cardiovascular drugs, in particular angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and β-blockers, when compared with men of the same age. Conclusion. Moderate renal impairment seems to be prevalent in the general population, with an apparent excess in females which is not explained by conventional cardiovascular risk factors. The unexpected finding questions the validity of the prediction equations, in particular in female
Temporal Deconvolution study of Long and Short Gamma-Ray Burst Light curves
The light curves of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are believed to result from
internal shocks reflecting the activity of the GRB central engine. Their
temporal deconvolution can reveal potential differences in the properties of
the central engines in the two populations of GRBs which are believed to
originate from the deaths of massive stars (long) and from mergers of compact
objects (short). We present here the results of the temporal analysis of 42
GRBs detected with the Gamma-ray Burst Monitor onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray
Space Telescope. We deconvolved the profiles into pulses, which we fit with
lognormal functions. The distributions of the pulse shape parameters and
intervals between neighboring pulses are distinct for both burst types and also
fit with lognormal functions. We have studied the evolution of these parameters
in different energy bands and found that they differ between long and short
bursts. We discuss the implications of the differences in the temporal
properties of long and short bursts within the framework of the internal shock
model for GRB prompt emission.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figure
Partonic effects on the elliptic flow at relativistic heavy ion collisions
The elliptic flow in heavy ion collisions at RHIC is studied in a multiphase
transport model. By converting the strings in the high energy density regions
into partons, we find that the final elliptic flow is sensitive to the parton
scattering cross section. To reproduce the large elliptic flow observed in
Au+Au collisions at GeV requires a parton scattering cross
section of about 6 mb. We also study the dependence of the elliptic flow on the
particle multiplicity, transverse momentum, and particle mass.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, revtex, text added to detail the procedure for
conversions between hadrons and parton
Population genomics of Francisella tularensis subsp. holarctica and its implication on the eco-epidemiology of tularemia in Switzerland
Whole genome sequencing (WGS) methods provide new possibilities in the field of molecular epidemiology. This is particularly true for monomorphic organisms where the discriminatory power of traditional methods (e.g., restriction enzyme length polymorphism typing, multi locus sequence typing etc.) is inadequate to elucidate complex disease transmission patterns, as well as resolving the phylogeny at high resolution on a micro-geographic scale. In this study, we present insights into the population structure of; Francisella tularensis; subsp.; holarctica; , the causative agent of tularemia in Switzerland. A total of 59; Fth; isolates were obtained from castor bean ticks (; Ixodes ricinus); , animals and humans and a high resolution phylogeny was inferred using WGS methods. The majority of the; Fth; population in Switzerland belongs to the west European B.11 clade and shows an extraordinary genetic diversity underlining the old evolutionary history of the pathogen in the alpine region. Moreover, a new B.11 subclade was identified which was not described so far. The combined analysis of the epidemiological data of human tularemia cases with the whole genome sequences of the 59 isolates provide evidence that ticks play a pivotal role in transmitting; Fth; to humans and other vertebrates in Switzerland. This is further underlined by the correlation of disease risk estimates with climatic and ecological factors influencing the survival of ticks
Follow-up of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA 2) 1991-2003: methods and characterization of participants
Summary.: Objectives: The Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) was designed to investigate the health effects from long-term exposure to air pollution. Methods: The health assessment at recruitment (1991) and at the first reassessment (2001-3) consisted of an interview about respiratory health, occupational and other exposures, spirometry, a methacholine bronchial challenge test, end-expiratory carbon monoxide (CO) measurement and measurement for atopy. A bio bank for DNA and blood markers was established. Heart rate variability was measured using a 24-hour ECG (Holter) in a random sample of participants aged 50years and older. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and particulates in ambient air have been monitored in all study areas since 1991. Residential histories collected over the 11year follow-up period coupled with GIS modelling will provide individual long-term air pollutant exposure estimates. Results: Of 9651 participants examined in 1991, 8715 could be traced for the cohort study and 283 died. Basic information about health status was obtained for 8047 individuals (86% of alive persons), 6528 individuals (70%) agreed to the health examination and 5973 subjects (62%) completed the entire protocol. Non-participants in the reassessment were on average younger than participants and more likely to have been smokers and to have reported respiratory symptoms in the first assessment. Average weight had increased by 5.5kg in 11years and 28% of smokers in 1991 had quit by the time of the reassessmen
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