106 research outputs found
Pulmonary vascular mechanical consequences of ischemic heart failure and implications for right ventricular function
Left heart failure (LHF) is the most common cause of pulmonary hypertension, which confers an increase in morbidity and mortality in this context. Pulmonary vascular resistance has prognostic value in LHF, but otherwise the mechanical consequences of LHF for the pulmonary vasculature and right ventricle (RV) remain unknown. We sought to investigate mechanical mechanisms of pulmonary vascular and RV dysfunction in a rodent model of LHF to address the knowledge gaps in understanding disease pathophysiology. LHF was created using a left anterior descending artery ligation to cause myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. Sham animals underwent thoracotomy alone. Echocardiography demonstrated increased left ventricle (LV) volumes and decreased ejection fraction at 4 wk post-MI that did not normalize by 12 wk post-MI. Elevation of LV diastolic pressure and RV systolic pressure at 12 wk post-MI demonstrated pulmonary hypertension (PH) due to LHF. There was increased pulmonary arterial elastance and pulmonary vascular resistance associated with perivascular fibrosis without other remodeling. There was also RV contractile dysfunction with a 35% decrease in RV end-systolic elastance and 66% decrease in ventricular-vascular coupling. In this model of PH due to LHF with reduced ejection fraction, pulmonary fibrosis contributes to increased RV afterload, and loss of RV contractility contributes to RV dysfunction. These are key pathologic features of human PH secondary to LHF. In the future, novel therapeutic strategies aimed at preventing pulmonary vascular mechanical changes and RV dysfunction in the context of LHF can be tested using this model
Unveiling the Active Nucleus of Centaurus A
We report new HST WFPC2 and NICMOS observations of the center of the nearest
radio galaxy Centaurus A (NGC 5128) and discuss their implications for our
understanding of the active nucleus and jet. We detect the active nucleus in
the near-IR (K and H) and, for the first time, in the optical (I and V),
deriving the spectral energy distribution of the nucleus from the radio to
X-rays. The optical and part of the near-IR emission can be explained by the
extrapolation of the X-ray power law reddened by A_V~14mag, a value consistent
with other independent estimates.
The 20pc-scale nuclear disk discovered by Schreier et al. (1998) is detected
in the [FeII] 1.64mic line and presents a morphology similar to that observed
in Pa alpha with a [FeII]/Pa alpha ratio typical of low ionization Seyfert
galaxies and LINERs. NICMOS 3 Pa alpha observations in a 50"x50" circumnuclear
region suggest enhanced star formation (~0.3Msun/yr) at the edges of the
putative bar seen with ISO, perhaps due to shocks driven into the gas.
The light profile, reconstructed from V, H and K observations, shows that
Centaurus A has a core profile with a resolved break at ~4" and suggests a
black--hole mass of ~10^9 Msun. A linear blue structure aligned with the
radio/X-ray jet may indicate a channel of relatively low reddening in which
dust has been swept away by the jet.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, Astrophysical Journal, in press. High quality
figures available at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~marconi/colpic.htm
Spinning Conformal Correlators
We develop the embedding formalism for conformal field theories, aimed at
doing computations with symmetric traceless operators of arbitrary spin. We use
an index-free notation where tensors are encoded by polynomials in auxiliary
polarization vectors. The efficiency of the formalism is demonstrated by
computing the tensor structures allowed in n-point conformal correlation
functions of tensors operators. Constraints due to tensor conservation also
take a simple form in this formalism. Finally, we obtain a perfect match
between the number of independent tensor structures of conformal correlators in
d dimensions and the number of independent structures in scattering amplitudes
of spinning particles in (d+1)-dimensional Minkowski space.Comment: 46 pages, 3 figures; V2: references added; V3: tiny misprint
corrected in (A.9
Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights to Support Conservation and Management
The goal of a day-long symposium on March 3, 2015, Sturgeon in the Sacramento–San Joaquin Watershed: New Insights to Support Conservation and Management, was to present new information about the physiology, behavior, and ecology of the green (Acipenser medirostris) and white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) to help guide enhanced management and conservation efforts within the Sacramento–San Joaquin watershed. This symposium identified current unknowns and highlighted new electronic tracking technologies and physiological techniques to address these knowledge gaps. A number of presentations, each reviewing ongoing research on the two species, was followed by a round-table discussion, in which each of the participants was asked to share recommendations for future research on sturgeon in the watershed. This article presents an in-depth review of the scientific information presented at the symposium with a summary of recommendations for future research
HST infrared imaging polarimetry of Centaurus A: implications for the unified scheme and the existence of a mis-directed BL Lac nucleus
We report results from HST/NICMOS 2 micron imaging polarimetry of the central
region of Centaurus A. In the vicinity of the nucleus we observe a complex
polarization structure which we explain by a combination of scattering of
nuclear light and dichroic polarization associated with the dust lane. The
scattered nuclear radiation is found in an angular region which extends over ~
70 degrees and thus it does not originate from a highly collimated beam, but is
associated with more omni-directional nuclear illumination. These observations
also show the presence of an unresolved, highly polarized (P = 11.1 %) nuclear
source whose polarization angle PA = 148.2 degrees is perpendicular to the jet
axis. We set an upper limit of 0.04'' (~0.8 pc) to its extent. The observed
nuclear polarization is naturally accounted for if we are observing scattered
light from an otherwise obscured nucleus provided that both the scattering
region and the occulting torus are extremely compact, with an outer radius of
less than ~ 1 pc. Alternatively, we might be directly seeing the infrared
counterpart of the radio core, similar to those found in other low luminosity
radio-galaxies observed with HST. We discuss these results in the framework of
the FRI / BL Lac unifying model.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Two Epidemiologic Patterns of Norovirus Outbreaks: Surveillance in England and Wales, 1992–2000
In the period 1992–2000, the Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre collected standardized epidemiologic data on 1,877 general outbreaks of Norovirus (formerly “Norwalk-like virus”) infection in England and Wales. Seventy-nine percent of general outbreaks occurred in health-care institutions, i.e., hospitals (40%) and residential-care facilities (39%). When compared with outbreaks in other settings, those in health-care institutions were unique in exhibiting a winter peak (p<0.0001); these outbreaks were also associated with significantly higher death rates and prolonged duration but were smaller in size and less likely to be foodborne. These data suggest that Norovirus infection has considerable impact on the health service and the vulnerable populations residing in institutions such as hospitals and residential homes. A distinct outbreak pattern in health-care institutions suggests a combination of host, virologic, and environmental factors that mediate these divergent epidemiologic patterns
Cysteinyl-tRNA Deacylation Can Be Uncoupled from Protein Synthesis
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (ARSs) are critical components of protein translation, providing ribosomes with aminoacyl-tRNAs. In return, ribosomes release uncharged tRNAs as ARS substrates. Here, we show that tRNA deacylation can be uncoupled from protein synthesis in an amino acid specific manner. While tRNAs coupled to radiolabeled Met, Leu Lys, or Ser are stable in cells following translation inhibition with arsenite, radiolabeled Cys is released from tRNA at a high rate. We discuss possible translation independent functions for tRNACys
Peering through the dust: Evidence for a supermassive Black Hole at the nucleus of Centaurus A from VLT IR spectroscopy
We used the near infrared spectrometer ISAAC at the ESO 'Very Large
Telescope' to map the velocity field of Centaurus A (NGC 5128) at several
position angles and locations in the central 20" of the galaxy. The high
spatial resolution (~0.5") velocity fields from both ionized and molecular gas
(PaBeta, [FeII], BrGamma, and H2) are not compromised by either excitation
effects or obscuration. We identify three distinct kinematical systems: (i) a
rotating 'nuclear disk' of ionized gas, confined to the inner 2", the
counterpart of the PaAlpha feature previously revealed by HST/NICMOS imaging;
(ii) a ring-like system with a ~6" inner radius detected only in H2, likely the
counterpart of the 100pc-scale structure detected in CO by other authors; (iii)
a normal extended component of gas rotating in the galactic potential. The
nuclear disk is in keplerian rotation around a central mass concentration, dark
(M/L>20 Msun/LsunK) and point-like at the spatial resolution of the data
(R<0.25" ~4pc). We interpret this mass concentration as a supermassive black
hole. Its dynamical mass based on the line velocities and disk inclination
(i>15deg) is M=2(+3.0;-1.4) 10^8 Msun. The ring-like system is probably
characterized by non-circular motions; a 'figure-of-8' pattern observed in the
H2 position-velocity diagram might provide kinematical evidence for the
presence of a nuclear bar.Comment: 43 pages, 19 figures, Astrophysical Journal in press, higher quality
figures available at http://www.arcetri.astro.it/~marconi/pubs.htm
Superconducting Nanocircuits for Topologically Protected Qubits
For successful realization of a quantum computer, its building blocks
(qubits) should be simultaneously scalable and sufficiently protected from
environmental noise. Recently, a novel approach to the protection of
superconducting qubits has been proposed. The idea is to prevent errors at the
"hardware" level, by building a fault-free (topologically protected) logical
qubit from "faulty" physical qubits with properly engineered interactions
between them. It has been predicted that the decoupling of a protected logical
qubit from local noises would grow exponentially with the number of physical
qubits. Here we report on the proof-of-concept experiments with a prototype
device which consists of twelve physical qubits made of nanoscale Josephson
junctions. We observed that due to properly tuned quantum fluctuations, this
qubit is protected against magnetic flux variations well beyond linear order,
in agreement with theoretical predictions. These results demonstrate the
feasibility of topologically protected superconducting qubits.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figure
- …