Charge ordering of magnetic monopoles in triangular spin ice patterns

Artificial spin ice offers the possibility to investigate a variety of dipolar orderings, spin frustrations and ground states. However, the most fascinating aspect is the realization that magnetic charge order can be established without spin order. We have investigated magnetic dipoles arranged on a honeycomb lattice as a function of applied field, using magnetic force microscopy. For the easy direction with the field parallel to one of the three dipole sublattices we observe at coercivity a maximum of spin frustration and simultaneously a maximum of charge order of magnetic monopoles with alternating charges $\pm$ 3.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

The Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT – VIII. The subpulse modulation of 1198 pulsars

We report on the subpulse modulation properties of 1198 pulsars using the Thousand-Pulsar-Array programme on MeerKAT. About 35 per cent of the analysed pulsars exhibit drifting subpulses that are more pronounced towards the death line, consistent with previous studies. We estimate that this common phenomenon is detectable in 60 per cent of the overall pulsar population if high-quality data were available for all. This large study reveals the evolution of drifting subpulses across the pulsar population in unprecedented detail. In particular, we find that the modulation period P3 follows a V-shaped evolution with respect to the characteristic age τc, such that the smallest P3 values, corresponding to the Nyquist period P3 ≃ 2, are found at τc ≃ 107.5 yr. The V-shaped evolution can be interpreted and reproduced if young pulsars possess aliased fast intrinsic P3, which monotonically increase, ultimately achieving a slow unaliased P3. Enhancement of irregularities in intrinsic subpulse modulation by aliasing in small-τc pulsars would explain their observed less well defined P3’s and weaker spectral features. Modelling these results as rotating subbeams, their circulation must slow down as the pulsar evolves. This is the opposite to that expected if circulation is driven by E × B drift. This can be resolved if the observed P3 periodicity is due to a beat between an E × B system and the pulsar period. As a by-product, we identified the correct periods and spin-down rates for 12 pulsars, for which harmonically related values were reported in the literature

The MeerKAT telescope as a pulsar facility: System verification and early science results from MeerTime

We describe system verification tests and early science results from the pulsar processor (PTUSE) developed for the newly commissioned 64-dish SARAO MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. MeerKAT is a high-gain ( ) low-system temperature ( ) radio array that currently operates at 580–1 670 MHz and can produce tied-array beams suitable for pulsar observations. This paper presents results from the MeerTime Large Survey Project and commissioning tests with PTUSE. Highlights include observations of the double pulsar , pulse profiles from 34 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) from a single 2.5-h observation of the Globular cluster Terzan 5, the rotation measure of Ter5O, a 420-sigma giant pulse from the Large Magellanic Cloud pulsar PSR , and nulling identified in the slow pulsar PSR J0633–2015. One of the key design specifications for MeerKAT was absolute timing errors of less than 5 ns using their novel precise time system. Our timing of two bright MSPs confirm that MeerKAT delivers exceptional timing. PSR exhibits a jitter limit of whilst timing of PSR over almost 11 months yields an rms residual of 66 ns with only 4 min integrations. Our results confirm that the MeerKAT is an exceptional pulsar telescope. The array can be split into four separate sub-arrays to time over 1 000 pulsars per day and the future deployment of S-band (1 750–3 500 MHz) receivers will further enhance its capabilities

The thousand-pulsar-array programme on MeerKAT – I. Science objectives and first results

We report here on initial results from the Thousand-Pulsar-Array (TPA) programme, part of the Large Survey Project ‘MeerTime’ on the MeerKAT telescope. The interferometer is used in the tied-array mode in the band from 856 to 1712 MHz, and the wide band coupled with the large collecting area and low receiver temperature make it an excellent telescope for the study of radio pulsars. The TPA is a 5 year project, which aims at to observing (a) more than 1000 pulsars to obtain high-fidelity pulse profiles, (b) some 500 of these pulsars over multiple epochs, and (c) long sequences of single-pulse trains from several hundred pulsars

Systemic inhibition of tumour angiogenesis by endothelial cell-based gene therapy

Angiogenesis and post-natal vasculogenesis are two processes involved in the formation of new vessels, and both are essential for tumour growth and metastases. We isolated endothelial cells from human blood mononuclear cells by selective culture. These blood outgrowth cells expressed endothelial cell markers and responded correctly to functional assays. To evaluate the potential of blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOECs) to construct functional vessels in vivo, NOD-SCID mice were implanted with Lewis lung carcinoma cells subcutaneously (s.c.). Blood outgrowth endothelial cells were then injected through the tail vein. Initial distribution of these cells occurred throughout the lung, liver, spleen, and tumour vessels, but they were only found in the spleen, liver, and tumour tissue 48 h after injection. By day 24, they were mainly found in the tumour vasculature. Tumour vessel counts were also increased in mice receiving BOEC injections as compared to saline injections. We engineered BOECs to deliver an angiogenic inhibitor directly to tumour endothelium by transducing them with the gene for human endostatin. These cells maintained an endothelial phenotype and decreased tumour vascularisation and tumour volume in mice. We conclude that BOECs have the potential for tumour-specific delivery of cancer gene therapy

XMM-Newton observation of the nearby pulsar B1133+16

We constrain the X-ray properties of the nearby $(360\,{\rm pc})$, old ($5\,{\rm Myr}$) pulsar B1133+16 with $\sim 100\,{\rm ks}$ effective exposure time by {\it XMM-Newton}. The observed pulsar flux in the 0.2-3 keV energy range is $\sim 10^{-14} \, {\rm erg \, cm}^{-2} \, {\rm s}^{-1}$, which results in the recording of $\sim 600$ source counts with the EPIC pn and MOS detectors. The X-ray radiation is dominated by nonthermal radiation and is well described by both a single power-law model (PL) and a sum of blackbody and power-law emission (BB+PL). The BB+PL model results in a spectral photon index $\Gamma=2.4^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$ and a nonthermal flux in the 0.2-3 keV energy range of $(7\pm 2) \times 10^{-15}\, {\rm erg \, cm}^{-2} \, {\rm s}^{-1}$. The thermal emission is consistent with the blackbody emission from a small hot spot with a radius of $R_{\rm pc} \approx 14^{+7}_{-5} \, {\rm m}$ and a temperature of $T_{\rm s} = 2.9^{+0.6}_{-0.4} \, {\rm MK}$. Assuming that the hot spot corresponds to the polar cap of the pulsar, we can use the magnetic flux conservation law to estimate the magnetic field at the surface $B_{\rm s} \approx 3.9 \times 10^{14} \, {\rm G}$. The observations are in good agreement with the predictions of the partially screened gap model, which assumes the existence of small-scale surface magnetic field structures in the polar cap region.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figuers, accepted for publication in Ap