3,364 research outputs found
An Application of Kerr Blackhole Fly-Wheel Model to Statistical Properties of QSOs/AGNs
The aim of this work is to demonstrate the properties of the magnetospheric
model around Kerr blackholes (BHs), so-called the fly-wheel (rotation driven)
model. The fly-wheel engine of the BH-accretion disk system is applied to the
statistics of QSOs/AGNs. In the model, the central BH is assumed to be formed
at and obtains nearly maximum but finite rotation energy (
extreme Kerr BH) at the formation stage. The inherently obtained rotation
energy of the Kerr BH is released through an magnetohydrodynamic process. This
model naturally leads finite lifetime of AGN activity.
Nitta et al. (1991) clarified individual evolution of Kerr BH fly-wheel
engine which is parametrized by BH mass, initial Kerr parameter, magnetic field
near the horizon and a dimension-less small parameter. We impose a statistical
model for the initial mass function (IMF) of ensemble of BHs by the
Press-Schechter formalism. By the help of additional assumptions, we can
discuss the evolution of the luminosity function and the spatial number density
of QSOs/AGNs.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures Fig.7 has been replace
Facial Identification at a Virtual Reality Airport
Person identification at airports requires the comparison of a passport photograph with its bearer. In psychology, this process is typically studied with static pairs of face photographs that require identity-match (same person shown) versus mismatch (two different people) decisions, but this approach provides a limited proxy for studying how environment and social interaction factors affect this task. In this study, we explore the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) as a solution to this problem, by examining the identity matching of avatars in a VR airport. We show that facial photographs of real people can be rendered into VR avatars in a manner that preserves image and identity information (Experiments 1 to 3). We then show that identity matching of avatar pairs reflects similar cognitive processes to the matching of face photographs (Experiments 4 and 5). This pattern holds when avatar matching is assessed in a VR airport (Experiments 6 and 7). These findings demonstrate the feasibility of VR as a new method for investigating face matching in complex environments
Inhibition of ABCB1 (MDR1) Expression by an siRNA Nanoparticulate Delivery System to Overcome Drug Resistance in Osteosarcoma
Background: The use of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in treating osteosarcoma has improved patients’ average 5 year survival rate from 20% to 70% in the past 30 years. However, for patients who progress after chemotherapy, its effectiveness diminishes due to the emergence of multi-drug resistance (MDR) after prolonged therapy.
Methodology/Principal Findings: In order to overcome both the dose-limiting side effects of conventional chemotherapeutic agents and the therapeutic failure resulting from MDR, we designed and evaluated a novel drug delivery system for MDR1 siRNA delivery. Novel biocompatible, lipid-modified dextran-based polymeric nanoparticles were used as the platform for MDR1 siRNA delivery; and the efficacy of combination therapy with this system was evaluated. In this study, multi-drug resistant osteosarcoma cell lines (KHOSR2 and U-2OSR2) were treated with the MDR1 siRNA nanocarriers and MDR1 protein (P-gp) expression, drug retention, and immunofluoresence were analyzed. Combination therapy of the MDR1 siRNA loaded nanocarriers with increasing concentrations of doxorubicin was also analyzed. We observed that MDR1 siRNA loaded dextran nanoparticles efficiently suppresses P-gp expression in the drug resistant osteosarcoma cell lines. The results also demonstrated that this approach may be capable of reversing drug resistance by increasing the amount of drug accumulation in MDR cell lines.
Conclusions/Significance: Lipid-modified dextran-based polymeric nanoparticles are a promising platform for siRNA delivery. Nanocarriers loaded with MDR1 siRNA are a potential treatment strategy for reversing MDR in osteosarcoma
Relativistic Heavy-Ion Physics: Experimental Overview
The field of relativistic heavy-ion physics is reviewed with emphasis on new
results and highlights from the first run of the Relativistic Heavy-Ion
Collider at BNL and the 15 year research programme at the SPS at CERN and the
AGS at BNL.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures. Invited Talk at the Fourth International
Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma, (ICPAQGP-2001)
Jaipur, India, November 26-30, 200
Phase-space dependence of particle-ratio fluctuations in Pb+Pb collisions from 20A to 158A GeV beam energy
A novel approach, the identity method, was used for particle identification
and the study of fluctuations of particle yield ratios in Pb+Pb collisions at
the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). This procedure allows to unfold the
moments of the unknown multiplicity distributions of protons (p), kaons (K),
pions () and electrons (e). Using these moments the excitation function of
the fluctuation measure [A,B] was measured, with A and
B denoting different particle types. The obtained energy dependence of
agrees with previously published NA49 results on the related
measure . Moreover, was found to depend
on the phase space coverage for [K,p] and [K,] pairs. This feature most
likely explains the reported differences between measurements of NA49 and those
of STAR in central Au+Au collisions
Measurement of event-by-event transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations using strongly intensive measures and in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron
Results from the NA49 experiment at the CERN SPS are presented on
event-by-event transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations of charged
particles, produced at forward rapidities in central Pb+Pb interactions at beam
momenta 20, 30, 40, 80, and 158 GeV/c, as well as in systems of
different size (, C+C, Si+Si, and Pb+Pb) at 158 GeV/c. This publication
extends the previous NA49 measurements of the strongly intensive measure
by a study of the recently proposed strongly intensive measures of
fluctuations and . In the explored kinematic
region transverse momentum and multiplicity fluctuations show no significant
energy dependence in the SPS energy range. However, a remarkable system size
dependence is observed for both and , with the
largest values measured in peripheral Pb+Pb interactions. The results are
compared with NA61/SHINE measurements in collisions, as well as with
predictions of the UrQMD and EPOS models.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, to be submitted to PR
Pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A and 30A GeV: Evidence for the onset of deconfinement
Results on charged pion and kaon production in central Pb+Pb collisions at
20A and 30A GeV are presented and compared to data at lower and higher
energies. A rapid change of the energy dependence is observed around 30A GeV
for the yields of pions and kaons as well as for the shape of the transverse
mass spectra. The change is compatible with the prediction that the threshold
for production of a state of deconfined matter at the early stage of the
collisions is located at low SPS energies.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Energy Dependence of Multiplicity Fluctuations in Heavy Ion Collisions at the CERN SPS
Multiplicity fluctuations of positively, negatively and all charged hadrons
in the forward hemisphere were studied in central Pb+Pb collisions at 20A, 30A,
40A, 80A and 158A GeV. The multiplicity distributions and their scaled
variances are presented in dependence of collision energy as well as of
rapidity and transverse momentum. The distributions have bell-like shape and
their scaled variances are in the range from 0.8 to 1.2 without any significant
structure in their energy dependence. No indication of the critical point in
fluctuations are observed. The string-hadronic model UrQMD significantly
overpredicts the mean, but approximately reproduces the scaled variance of the
multiplicity distributions. The predictions of the statistical hadron-resonance
gas model obtained within the grand-canonical and canonical ensembles disagree
with the measured scaled variances. The narrower than Poissonian multiplicity
fluctuations measured in numerous cases may be explained by the impact of
conservation laws on fluctuations in relativistic systems.Comment: 26 pages, 34 figures, updated version including referee comment
Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application
The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise
predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached
based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used
by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The
corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at
the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details
of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007
pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE
measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described
and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM
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