4,513 research outputs found
X-ray reverberation in 1H0707-495 revisited
The narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy 1H0707-495 has previously been identified as
showing time lags between flux variations in the soft- (0.3-1 keV) and
medium-energy (1-4 keV) X-ray bands that oscillate between positive and
negative values as a function of the frequency of the mode of variation. Here
we measure and analyse the lags also between a harder X-ray band (4-7.5 keV)
and the soft and medium bands, using existing XMM-Newton data, and demonstrate
that the entire spectrum of lags, considering both the full energy range,
0.3-7.5 keV, and the full frequency range, 10^-5 < nu < 10^-2 Hz, are
inconsistent with previous claims of arising as reverberation associated with
the inner accretion disk. Instead we demonstrate that a simple reverberation
model, in which scattering or reflection is present in all X-ray bands,
explains the full set of lags without requiring any ad hoc explanation for the
time lag sign changes. The range of time delays required to explain the
observed lags extends up to about 1800 s in the hard band. The results are
consistent with reverberation caused by scattering of X-rays passing through an
absorbing medium whose opacity decreases with increasing energy and that
partially-covers the source. A high covering factor of absorbing and scattering
circumnuclear material is inferred.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Supersymmetric Kaluza-Klein reductions of M-waves and MKK-monopoles
We investigate the Kaluza-Klein reductions to ten dimensions of the purely
gravitational half-BPS M-theory backgrounds: the M-wave and the Kaluza-Klein
monopole. We determine the moduli space of smooth (supersymmetric) Kaluza-Klein
reductions by classifying the freely-acting spacelike Killing vectors which
preserve some Killing spinor. As a consequence we find a wealth of new
supersymmetric IIA configurations involving composite and/or bound-state
configurations of waves, D0 and D6-branes, Kaluza-Klein monopoles in type IIA
and flux/nullbranes, and some other new configurations. Some new features
raised by the geometry of the Taub-NUT space are discussed, namely the
existence of reductions with no continuous moduli. We also propose an
interpretation of the flux 5-brane in terms of the local description (close to
the branes) of a bound state of D6-branes and ten-dimensional Kaluza-Klein
monopoles.Comment: 36 pages (v2: Reference added, "draft" mode disabled; v3: two
singular reductions discarded, appendix on spin structures added, references
updated
Three-dimensional bone evaluation after surgical treatment with plasma rich in growth factors of Medication Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (MRONJ): A report of 3 cases
Introduction: Medication Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (MRONJ) is an adverse effect of antiresorptive and antiangiogenic agents that consists of progressive bone destruction in the maxillofacial area. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect on bone volume of a surgical protocol using plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) for successfully treating MRONJ. Methods: Three patients were treated combining surgical debridement with PRGF. Cone bean computed tomography scans were taken prior to surgery and 12months after to measure bone volume changes. Biopsies were taken for histology analysis during surgery. Results: All patients showed a complete soft tissue and bone healing with pain, discomfort, and neural symptoms resolution for a follow up period of 30months. A total of 12 to 30% of bone volume gain was found at 12months after surgery. Conclusions: PRGF in combination with surgery may be effective in treating MRONJ. Future trials must be performed to confirm these results, including bone volume analysis
Measurement of Photon Statistics with Live Photoreceptor Cells
We analyzed the electrophysiological response of an isolated rod
photoreceptor of Xenopus laevis under stimulation by coherent and
pseudo-thermal light sources. Using the suction electrode technique for single
cell recordings and a fiber optics setup for light delivery allowed
measurements of the major statistical characteristics of the rod response. The
results indicate differences in average responses of rod cells to coherent and
pseudo-thermal light of the same intensity and also differences in
signal-to-noise ratios and second order intensity correlation functions. These
findings should be relevant for interdisciplinary studies seeking applications
of quantum optics in biology.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Coulomb Blockade and Kondo Effect in a Quantum Hall Antidot
We propose a general capacitive model for an antidot, which has two localized
edge states with different spins in the quantum Hall regime. The capacitive
coupling of localized excess charges, which are generated around the antidot
due to magnetic flux quantization, and their effective spin fluctuation can
result in Coulomb blockade, h/(2e) Aharonov-Bohm oscillations, and the Kondo
effect. The resultant conductance is in qualitative agreement with recent
experimental data.Comment: 3 figures, to appear in Physical Review Letter
Towards unified understanding of conductance of stretched monatomic contacts
When monatomic contacts are stretched, their conductance behaves in
qualitatively different ways depending on their constituent atomic elements.
Under a single assumption of resonance formation, we show that various
conductance behavior can be understood in a unified way in terms of the
response of the resonance to stretching. This analysis clarifies the crucial
roles played by the number of valence electrons, charge neutrality, and orbital
shapes.Comment: 2 figure
Determination of Leptospira borgpetersenii serovar Javanica and Leptospira interrogans serovar Bataviae as the persistent Leptospira serovars circulating in the urban rat populations in peninsular Malaysia
Background: Leptospirosis is an emerging infectious disease of global significance, and is endemic in tropical countries, including Malaysia. Over the last decade, a dramatic increase of human cases was reported; however, information on the primary vector, the rat, and the Leptospira serovars circulating among the rat population is limited. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to isolate Leptospira and characterise the serovars circulating in the urban rat populations from selected main cities in Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: Rat trappings were carried out between October 2011 to February 2014 in five urban cities which were chosen as study sites to represent different geographical locations in Peninsular Malaysia. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and PCR were carried out to identify the Leptospiral serogroup and determine the pathogenic status of the isolates, respectively while pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-PCR were used to characterize the isolates. Results: Three rat species were identified from the three hundred and fifty seven rats captured with Rattus rattus, being the dominant rat species (285, 80 %) followed by Rattus norgevicus (53, 15 %) and Rattus exulans (19, 5 %). Only 39 samples (11.0 %) were positive by culture and further confirmed as pathogenic Leptospira by PCR. Significant associations were shown between host infection with locality, season, host-age and species. Based on MAT, two serogroups were identified in the population namely; L. borgpetersenii serogroup Javanica (n = 16) and L. interrogans serogroup Bataviae (n = 23). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) distinguished the two serovars in the urban rat populations: L. borgpetersenii serovar Javanica (41 %), and L. interrogans serovar Bataviae (59 %). RAPD-PCR yielded 14 distinct patterns and was found to be more discriminative than PFGE. Conclusions: This study confirms two Leptospira serovars circulating among the urban rats population in Peninsular Malaysia namely; L. borgpetersenii serovar Javanica and L. interrogans serovars Bataviae. Despite the low number of isolates obtained from the rat population, this study suggests that rodent control programs and disease surveillance may help to reduce the possible risk of disease transmission
First-Principles Study on Electron Conduction in Sodium Nanowire
We present detailed first-principles calculations of the electron-conduction
properties of a three-sodium-atom nanowire suspended between semi-infinite
crystalline Na(001) electrodes during its elongation. Our investigations reveal
that the conductance is ~1 G0 before the nanowire breaks and only one channel
with the characteristic of the orbital of the center atom in the nanowire
contributes to the electron conduction. Moreover, the channel fully opens
around the Fermi level, and the behavior of the channel-current density is
insensitive to the structural deformation of the nanowire. These results verify
that the conductance trace as a function of the electrode spacing exhibits a
flat plateau at ~1 G0 during elongation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Magnetic Quantum Dot: A Magnetic Transmission Barrier and Resonator
We study the ballistic edge-channel transport in quantum wires with a
magnetic quantum dot, which is formed by two different magnetic fields B^* and
B_0 inside and outside the dot, respectively. We find that the electron states
located near the dot and the scattering of edge channels by the dot strongly
depend on whether B^* is parallel or antiparallel to B_0. For parallel fields,
two-terminal conductance as a function of channel energy is quantized except
for resonances, while, for antiparallel fields, it is not quantized and all
channels can be completely reflected in some energy ranges. All these features
are attributed to the characteristic magnetic confinements caused by nonuniform
fields.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter
T145 Comprehensive flow cytometry tracking of regulatory T cells and other lymphocyte subsets during HD IL-2 therapy for melanoma
High dose IL-2 (HD IL-2) has been extensively used as an immunotherapy against metastatic melanoma However, why HD IL-2 is effective only in a subset of patients and whether predictive biomarkers, before or early during the course of therapy, can be used to improve response rates remain unresolved. In addition, it has been found that IL-2 therapy potently expands CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ T-regulatory cells (Tregs) but how Treg cell levels, phenotype, and function change and whether specific subsets of Tregs are activated and expanded during HD IL-2 therapy is remain unclear. In this study, we performed comprehensive multi-parameter FACS analysis of patient blood before and two days after the last bolus of IL-2 infusion during cycle 1 of HD IL-2 therapy. Two lymphocyte subsets were found to expand the most during the first cycle of IL-2 therapy: CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs expressing an activation marker, inducible costimulator (ICOS), and CD3-CD56hiCD16loPerforin+ NK cells. ICOS+ Tregs expressed significantly higher levels of CD25, Foxp3 and had a more activated phenotype than ICOS− Tregs as indicated by lower levels of CD45RA and CD127 expression. Further phenotypic characterization revealed a more suppressive phenotype on ICOS+ Treg with higher expression levels of CD39, CD73, and TGF-β/LAP than ICOS− Treg. ICOS+ Tregs were also the predominant Treg cells that secreted IL-10 and have potent T-cell suppressor function. Majority of ICOS+ Tregs from HD IL-2-treated patients were Ki67+ and exhibited an enhanced proliferative response to IL-2 ex vivo relative to ICOS− Tregs. Functional analysis revealed that ICOS+ Tregs secreted little IFN- and IL-2 in comparison to CD4+Foxp3 – cells. Furthermore, analysis on 38 IL-2-treated patients at MD Anderson, we found that non-responders had a significantly higher degree of ICOS+ Treg expansion than responders during the first cycle of IL-2 therapy, while no significant changes in the ICOS− or bulk Treg population. In conclusion, our data suggests that tracking changes in ICOS+ Tregs early during the course of HD IL-2 therapy may be a new predictive biomarker of clinical outcome
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