31,475 research outputs found
Differential Astrometry over 15 degrees
We observed the pair of radio sources 1150+812 and 1803+784 in November 1993
with a VLBI array, simultaneously recording at 8.4 and 2.3 GHz. We determined
the angular separation between the two sources with submilliarcsecond accuracy
by using differential techniques. This result demonstrates the feasibility of
high precision differential astrometry for radio sources separated in the sky
by almost 15 degrees, and opens the avenue to its application to larger samples
of radio sources.Comment: 6 pages, latex2e, 2 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the
EVN/JIVE Symposium No. 4, New Astronomy Reviews (eds. Garret, M. Campbell,
R., and Gurvits, L.
Synchronization in interacting Scale Free Networks
We study the fluctuations of the interface, in the steady state, of the
Surface Relaxation Model (SRM) in two scale free interacting networks where a
fraction of nodes in both networks interact one to one through external
connections. We find that as increases the fluctuations on both networks
decrease and thus the synchronization reaches an improvement of nearly
when . The decrease of the fluctuations on both networks is due mainly to
the diffusion through external connections which allows to reducing the load in
nodes by sending their excess mostly to low-degree nodes, which we report have
the lowest heights. This effect enhances the matching of the heights of low-and
high-degree nodes as increases reducing the fluctuations. This effect is
almost independent of the degree distribution of the networks which means that
the interconnection governs the behavior of the process over its topology.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Added a relevant reference.Typos fixe
Multi-wavelength differential astrometry of the S5 polar cap sample
We report on the status of our S5 polar cap astrometry program. Since 1997 we
have observed all the 13 radio sources of the complete S5 polar cap sample at
the wavelengths of 3.6 cm, 2 cm and 7 mm. Images of the radio sources at 3.6
and 2 cm have already been published reporting morphological changes.
Preliminary astrometric analyses have been carried out at three frequencies
with precisions in the relative position determination ranging from 80 to 20
microarcseconds. We report also on the combination of our phase-delay global
astrometry results with the microarcsecond-precise optical astrometry that will
be provided by future space-based instruments.Comment: 2 pages. 1 figure. Proceedings of the 7th European VLBI Network
Symposium held in Toledo, Spain on October 12-15, 2004. Editors: R.
Bachiller, F. Colomer, J.-F. Desmurs, P. de Vicente (Observatorio Astronomico
Nacional), p. 323-324. Needs evn2004.cl
Application of magnetically induced hyperthermia on the model protozoan Crithidia fasciculata as a potential therapy against parasitic infections
Magnetic hyperthermia is currently an EU-approved clinical therapy against
tumor cells that uses magnetic nanoparticles under a time varying magnetic
field (TVMF). The same basic principle seems promising against trypanosomatids
causing Chagas disease and sleeping sickness, since therapeutic drugs available
display severe side effects and drug-resistant strains. However, no
applications of this strategy against protozoan-induced diseases have been
reported so far. In the present study, Crithidia fasciculata, a widely used
model for therapeutic strategies against pathogenic trypanosomatids, was
targeted with Fe_{3}O_{4} magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in order to remotely
provoke cell death using TVMFs. The MNPs with average sizes of d approx. 30 nm
were synthesized using a precipitation of FeSO_{4}4 in basic medium. The MNPs
were added to Crithidia fasciculata choanomastigotes in exponential phase and
incubated overnight. The amount of uploaded MNPs per cell was determined by
magnetic measurements. Cell viability using the MTT colorimetric assay and flow
cytometry showed that the MNPs were incorporated by the cells with no
noticeable cell-toxicity effects. When a TVMF (f = 249 kHz, H = 13 kA/m) was
applied to MNP-bearing cells, massive cell death was induced via a
non-apoptotic mechanism. No effects were observed by applying a TVMF on control
(without loaded MNPs) cells. No macroscopic rise in temperature was observed in
the extracellular medium during the experiments. Scanning Electron Microscopy
showed morphological changes after TVMF experiments. These data indicate (as a
proof of principle) that intracellular hyperthermia is a suitable technology to
induce the specific death of protozoan parasites bearing MNPs. These findings
expand the possibilities for new therapeutic strategies that combat parasitic
infections.Comment: 9 pages, four supplementary video file
Evidence of defect-induced ferromagnetism in ZnFeO thin films
X-ray absorption near-edge and grazing incidence X-ray fluorescence
spectroscopy are employed to investigate the electronic structure of
ZnFeO thin films. The spectroscopy techniques are used to determine
the non-equilibrium cation site occupancy as a function of depth and oxygen
pressure during deposition and its effects on the magnetic properties. It is
found that low deposition pressures below 10 mbar cause iron
superoccupation of tetrahedral sites without Zn inversion, resulting in
an ordered magnetic phase with high room temperature magnetic moment.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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