844 research outputs found
Second-trimester Maternal Serum Quadruple Test for Down Syndrome Screening: A Taiwanese Population-based Study
SummaryObjectiveTo assess the usefulness of quadruple test screening for Down syndrome in Taiwan.Materials and MethodsMaternal serum concentrations of a-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, unconjugated estriol, and inhibin A were measured in 21,481 pregnant women from 15 to 20 weeks of gestation.ResultsOf the 21,481 women, 977 returned values greater than the high-risk cut-off value (1 in 270). Most of these women (86.2%) decided to have an invasive procedure for genetic diagnosis. Nine cases of Down syndrome and 19 cases of other chromosomal anomalies were detected prenatally. Two children with Down syndrome were diagnosed after delivery even though a low estimated risk was determined following the quadruple test. The detection rate was 81.8% (nine out of 11 cases), with a 4.4% false-positive rate. The median multiple of the median value for a-fetoprotein, human chorionic gonadotropin, unconjugated estriol and inhibin A were 0.87, 2.34, 0.77 and 2.16, respectively, in affected cases.ConclusionThis is the first study of the quadruple test for Down syndrome in a Chinese population. Our findings suggested that the second-trimester quadruple test provides an effective screening tool for Down syndrome in Taiwan
Observations of Coronal Mass Ejections with the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter
The Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter (CoMP) measures not only the
polarization of coronal emission, but also the full radiance profiles of
coronal emission lines. For the first time, CoMP observations provide
high-cadence image sequences of the coronal line intensity, Doppler shift and
line width simultaneously in a large field of view. By studying the Doppler
shift and line width we may explore more of the physical processes of CME
initiation and propagation. Here we identify a list of CMEs observed by CoMP
and present the first results of these observations. Our preliminary analysis
shows that CMEs are usually associated with greatly increased Doppler shift and
enhanced line width. These new observations provide not only valuable
information to constrain CME models and probe various processes during the
initial propagation of CMEs in the low corona, but also offer a possible
cost-effective and low-risk means of space weather monitoring.Comment: 6 figures. Will appear in the special issue of Coronal Magnetism,
Sol. Phy
Characterization of halogen-bridged binuclear metal complexes as hybridized two-band materials
We study the electronic structure of halogen-bridged binuclear metal (MMX)
complexes with a two-band Peierls-Hubbard model. Based on a symmetry argument,
various density-wave states are derived and characterized. The ground-state
phase diagram is drawn within the Hartree-Fock approximation, while the thermal
behavior is investigated using a quantum Monte Carlo method. All the
calculations conclude that a typical MMX compound Pt_2(CH_3CS_2)_4I should
indeed be regarded as a d-p-hybridized two-band material, where the oxidation
of the halogen ions must be observed even in the ground state, whereas another
MMX family (NH_4)_4[Pt_2(P_2O_5H_2)_4X] may be treated as single-band
materials.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures embedded, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Doping and temperature dependence of incommensurate antiferromagnetism in underdoped lanthanum cuprates
The doping, temperature and energy dependence of the dynamical spin structure
factors of the underdoped lanthanum cuprates in the normal state is studied
within the t-J model using the fermion-spin transformation technique.
Incommensurate peaks are found at ,
at relatively low temperatures with linearly
increasing with doping at the beginning and then saturating at higher dopings.
These peaks broaden and weaken in amplitude with temperature and energy, in
good agreement with experiments. The theory also predicts a rotation of these
peaks by at even higher temperatures, being shifted to .Comment: 11 pages, PDF file, six figures are included, accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Magnetism in the dilute Kondo lattice model
The one dimensional dilute Kondo lattice model is investigated by means of
bosonization for different dilution patterns of the array of impurity spins.
The physical picture is very different if a commensurate or incommensurate
doping of the impurity spins is considered. For the commensurate case, the
obtained phase diagram is verified using a non-Abelian density-matrix
renormalization-group algorithm. The paramagnetic phase widens at the expense
of the ferromagnetic phase as the -spins are diluted. For the incommensurate
case, antiferromagnetism is found at low doping, which distinguishes the dilute
Kondo lattice model from the standard Kondo lattice model.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Cosmological constraints on the generalized holographic dark energy
We use the Markov ChainMonte Carlo method to investigate global constraints
on the generalized holographic (GH) dark energy with flat and non-flat universe
from the current observed data: the Union2 dataset of type supernovae Ia
(SNIa), high-redshift Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the observational Hubble data
(OHD), the cluster X-ray gas mass fraction, the baryon acoustic oscillation
(BAO), and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. The most stringent
constraints on the GH model parameter are obtained. In addition, it is found
that the equation of state for this generalized holographic dark energy can
cross over the phantom boundary wde =-1.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: significant text overlap with
arXiv:1105.186
(Sub)mm Interferometry Applications in Star Formation Research
This contribution gives an overview about various applications of (sub)mm
interferometry in star formation research. The topics covered are molecular
outflows, accretion disks, fragmentation and chemical properties of low- and
high-mass star-forming regions. A short outlook on the capabilities of ALMA is
given as well.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, in proceedings to "2nd European School on Jets
from Young Star: High Angular Resolution Observations". A high-resolution
version of the paper can be found at
http://www.mpia.de/homes/beuther/papers.htm
Galaxy Clusters as Reservoirs of Heavy Dark Matter and High-Energy Cosmic Rays: Constraints from Neutrino Observations
Galaxy Clusters (GCs) are the largest reservoirs of both dark matter and
cosmic rays (CRs). Dark matter self-annihilation can lead to a high luminosity
in gamma rays and neutrinos, enhanced by a strong degree of clustering in dark
matter substructures. Hadronic CR interactions can also lead to a high
luminosity in gamma rays and neutrinos, enhanced by the confinement of CRs from
cluster accretion/merger shocks and active galactic nuclei. We show that
IceCube/KM3Net observations of high-energy neutrinos can probe the nature of
GCs and the separate dark matter and CR emission processes, taking into account
how the results depend on the still-substantial uncertainties. Neutrino
observations are relevant at high energies, especially at >10 TeV. Our results
should be useful for improving experimental searches for high-energy neutrino
emission. Neutrino telescopes are sensitive to extended sources formed by dark
matter substructures and CRs distributed over large scales. Recent observations
by Fermi and imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes have placed interesting
constraints on the gamma-ray emission from GCs. We also provide calculations of
the gamma-ray fluxes, taking into account electromagnetic cascades inside GCs,
which can be important for injections at sufficiently high energies. This also
allows us to extend previous gamma-ray constraints to very high dark matter
masses and significant CR injections at very high energies. Using both
neutrinos and gamma rays, which can lead to comparable constraints, will allow
more complete understandings of GCs. Neutrinos are essential for some dark
matter annihilation channels, and for hadronic instead of electronic CRs. Our
results suggest that the multi-messenger observations of GCs will be able to
give useful constraints on specific models of dark matter and CRs. [Abstract
abridged.]Comment: 31 pages, 20 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in JCAP,
references and discussions adde
An Extreme Solar Event of 20 January 2005: Properties of the Flare and the Origin of Energetic Particles
The extreme solar and SEP event of 20 January 2005 is analyzed from two
perspectives. Firstly, we study features of the main phase of the flare, when
the strongest emissions from microwaves up to 200 MeV gamma-rays were observed.
Secondly, we relate our results to a long-standing controversy on the origin of
SEPs arriving at Earth, i.e., acceleration in flares, or shocks ahead of CMEs.
All emissions from microwaves up to 2.22 MeV line gamma-rays during the main
flare phase originated within a compact structure located just above sunspot
umbrae. A huge radio burst with a frequency maximum at 30 GHz was observed,
indicating the presence of a large number of energetic electrons in strong
magnetic fields. Thus, protons and electrons responsible for flare emissions
during its main phase were accelerated within the magnetic field of the active
region. The leading, impulsive parts of the GLE, and highest-energy gamma-rays
identified with pi^0-decay emission, are similar and correspond in time. The
origin of the pi^0-decay gamma-rays is argued to be the same as that of lower
energy emissions. We estimate the sky-plane speed of the CME to be 2000-2600
km/s, i.e., high, but of the same order as preceding non-GLE-related CMEs from
the same active region. Hence, the flare itself rather than the CME appears to
determine the extreme nature of this event. We conclude that the acceleration,
at least, to sub-relativistic energies, of electrons and protons, responsible
for both the flare emissions and the leading spike of SEP/GLE by 07 UT, are
likely to have occurred simultaneously within the flare region. We do not rule
out a probable contribution from particles accelerated in the CME-driven shock
for the leading GLE spike, which seemed to dominate later on.Comment: 34 pages, 14 Postscript figures. Solar Physics, accepted. A typo
corrected. The original publication is available at
http://www.springerlink.co
- …