100 research outputs found
A cascaded coding scheme for error control and its performance analysis
A coding scheme is investigated for error control in data communication systems. The scheme is obtained by cascading two error correcting codes, called the inner and outer codes. The error performance of the scheme is analyzed for a binary symmetric channel with bit error rate epsilon <1/2. It is shown that if the inner and outer codes are chosen properly, extremely high reliability can be attained even for a high channel bit error rate. Various specific example schemes with inner codes ranging form high rates to very low rates and Reed-Solomon codes as inner codes are considered, and their error probabilities are evaluated. They all provide extremely high reliability even for very high bit error rates. Several example schemes are being considered by NASA for satellite and spacecraft down link error control
Chromosome Scaffold is a Double-Stranded Assembly of Scaffold Proteins
Poonperm, R., Takata, H., Hamano, T. et al. Chromosome Scaffold is a Double-Stranded Assembly of Scaffold Proteins. Sci Rep 5, 11916 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11916
On the Origin of Lyman- Blobs at High Redshift: Kinematic Evidence for a Hyperwind Galaxy at z = 3.1
We present deep optical spectroscopy of an extended Ly emission-line
blob located in an over-dense region at redshift ; `blob 1' of
Steidel et al. (2000). The origin of such Ly blobs has been debated for
some time; two of the most plausible models are (1) that it comes from a
dust-enshrouded, extreme starburst galaxy with a large-scale galactic outflow
(superwind/hyperwind) or (2) that it is the cooling radiation of proto-galaxies
in dark matter halos. Examination of the kinematic properties of the Ly
emission-line gas should allow us to determine its nature. With this
motivation, we performed optical spectroscopy of `blob 1' using the Subaru
Telescope, and found that its kinematic properties can be well explained in
terms of superwind activity.Comment: 12 pages, including 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
The Lactic Acid Bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici Suppresses Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Inducing IL-10-Producing Regulatory T Cells
BACKGROUND: Certain intestinal microflora are thought to regulate the systemic immune response. Lactic acid bacteria are one of the most studied bacteria in terms of their beneficial effects on health and autoimmune diseases; one of which is Multiple sclerosis (MS) which affects the central nervous system. We investigated whether the lactic acid bacterium Pediococcus acidilactici, which comprises human commensal bacteria, has beneficial effects on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of MS. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: P. acidilactici R037 was orally administered to EAE mice to investigate the effects of R037. R037 treatment suppressed clinical EAE severity as prophylaxis and therapy. The antigen-specific production of inflammatory cytokines was inhibited in R037-treated mice. A significant increase in the number of CD4(+) Interleukin (IL)-10-producing cells was observed in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and spleens isolated from R037-treated naive mice, while no increase was observed in the number of these cells in the lamina propria. Because only a slight increase in the CD4(+)Foxp3(+) cells was observed in MLNs, R037 may primarily induce Foxp3(-) IL10-producing T regulatory type 1 (Tr1) cells in MLNs, which contribute to the beneficial effect of R037 on EAE. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: An orally administered single strain of P. acidilactici R037 ameliorates EAE by inducing IL10-producing Tr1 cells. Our findings indicate the therapeutic potential of the oral administration of R037 for treating multiple sclerosis
Hyper-luminous Dust Obscured Galaxies discovered by the Hyper Suprime-Cam on Subaru and WISE
We present the photometric properties of a sample of infrared (IR) bright
dust obscured galaxies (DOGs). Combining wide and deep optical images obtained
with the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru Telescope and all-sky mid-IR
(MIR) images taken with Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we
discovered 48 DOGs with and , where
, , and [22] represent AB magnitude in the -band,
-band, and 22 m, respectively, in the GAMA 14hr field
( 9 deg). Among these objects, 31 ( 65 %) show power-law
spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in the near-IR (NIR) and MIR regime, while
the remainder show a NIR bump in their SEDs. Assuming that the redshift
distribution for our DOGs sample is Gaussian, with mean and sigma = 1.99
0.45, we calculated their total IR luminosity using an empirical relation
between 22 m luminosity and total IR luminosity. The average value of the
total IR luminosity is (3.5 1.1) L, which
classifies them as hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs). We also derived
the total IR luminosity function (LF) and IR luminosity density (LD) for a
flux-limited subsample of 18 DOGs with 22 m flux greater than 3.0 mJy and
with -band magnitude brighter than 24 AB magnitude. The derived space
density for this subsample is log = -6.59 0.11 [Mpc]. The
IR LF for DOGs including data obtained from the literature is well fitted by a
double-power law. The derived lower limit for the IR LD for our sample is
3.8 10 [L Mpc] and
its contributions to the total IR LD, IR LD of all ultra-luminous infrared
galaxies (ULIRGs), and that of all DOGs are 3 %, 9 %, and 15 %,
respectively.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, and 3 tables, accepted for publication in PASJ
(Subaru special issue
Different molecular characteristics and antimicrobial resistance profiles of Clostridium difficile in the Asia-Pacific region
Molecular epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) has been extensively studied in North America and Europe; however, limited data on CDI are available in the Asia-Pacific region. A multicentre retrospective study was conducted in this region. C. difficile isolates were subjected to multilocus sequence typing (ST) and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. Totally, 394 isolates were collected from Hangzhou, Hong Kong, China; Busan, South Korea; Fukuoka, Japan; Singapore; Perth, Sydney, Australia; New York, the United States. C. difficile isolates included 337 toxin A-positive/B-positive/binary toxin-negative (A+B+CDT-), 48 A-B+CDT-, and nine A+B+CDT+. Distribution of dominant STs varied geographically with ST17 in Fukuoka (18.6%), Busan (56.0%), ST2 in Sydney (20.4%), Perth (25.8%). The antimicrobial resistance patterns were significantly different among the eight sites (χ2 = 325.64, p \u3c 0.001). Five major clonal complexes correlated with unique antimicrobial resistances. Healthcare-associated (HA) CDI was mainly from older patients with more frequent antimicrobial use and higher A-B+ positive rates. Higher resistance to gatifloxacin, tetracycline, and erythromycin were observed in HA-CDI patients (χ2 = 4.76-7.89, p = 0.005-0.029). In conclusion, multiple C. difficile genotypes with varied antimicrobial resistance patterns have been circulating in the Asia-Pacific region. A-B+ isolates from older patients with prior antimicrobial use were correlated with HA-CDI
Subaru high-z exploration of low-luminosity quasars (SHELLQs). I. Discovery of 15 quasars and bright galaxies at 5.7 < z < 6.9
We report the discovery of 15 quasars and bright galaxies at 5.7 < z < 6.9.
This is the initial result from the Subaru High-z Exploration of Low-Luminosity
Quasars (SHELLQs) project, which exploits the exquisite multiband imaging data
produced by the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Strategic Program survey. The
candidate selection is performed by combining several photometric approaches
including a Bayesian probabilistic algorithm to reject stars and dwarfs. The
spectroscopic identification was carried out with the Gran Telescopio Canarias
and the Subaru Telescope for the first 80 deg2 of the survey footprint. The
success rate of our photometric selection is quite high, approaching 100 % at
the brighter magnitudes (zAB < 23.5 mag). Our selection also recovered all the
known high-z quasars on the HSC images. Among the 15 discovered objects, six
are likely quasars, while the other six with interstellar absorption lines and
in some cases narrow emission lines are likely bright Lyman-break galaxies. The
remaining three objects have weak continua and very strong and narrow Ly alpha
lines, which may be excited by ultraviolet light from both young stars and
quasars. These results indicate that we are starting to see the steep rise of
the luminosity function of z > 6 galaxies, compared with that of quasars, at
magnitudes fainter than M1450 ~ -22 mag or zAB ~24 mag. Follow-up studies of
the discovered objects as well as further survey observations are ongoing.Comment: Published in ApJ (828:26, 2016
A Shock-Induced Pair of Superbubbles in the High-Redshift Powerful Radio Galaxy MRC 0406-244
We present new optical spectroscopy of the high-redshift powerful radio
galaxy MRC 0406244 at redshift of 2.429. We find that the two extensions
toward NW and SE probed in the rest-frame ultraviolet image are heated mainly
by the nonthermal continuum of the active galactic nucleus. However, each
extension shows a shell-like morphology, suggesting that they are a pair of
superbubbles induced by the superwind activity rather than by the interaction
between the radio jet and the ambient gas clouds. If this is the case, the
intense starburst responsible for the formation of superbubbles could occur
yr ago. On the other hand, the age of the radio jets may
be of the order of yr, being much shorter than the starburst age.
Therefore, the two events, i.e., the starburst and the radio-jet activities,
are independent phenomena. However, their directions of the expanding motions
could be governed by the rotational motion of the gaseous component in the host
galaxy. This idea appears to explain the alignment effect of MRC 0406244.Comment: 4 pages (emulateapj.sty), Fig. 1 (jpeg) + Fig.2 (eps). Accepted for
publications in ApJ (Letters
A novel method for determining functional LDL receptor activity in familial hypercholesterolemia: Application of the CD3/CD28 assay in lymphocytes
金沢大学附属病院循環器内科Background: The objective of this study was to develop a new and simple method for measuring low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) activity using peripheral lymphocytes enabling us to clinically diagnose familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) and ascertain the involved mutations (such as K790X mutation), that might not be clearly detected in the conventional method. Methods: Our method comprised the following 2 features: first, we used anti-CD3/CD28 beads to stimulate T-lymphocytes to obtain a uniform fraction of lymphocytes and maximum up-regulation of LDLR. Second, we excluded the possibility of overestimation of lymphocyte signals bound only to its surface, by adding heparin to the cultured lymphocytes used for the LDLR assay. Results: Based on the genetic mutation, the FH subjects were divided into 2 groups, K790X, (n = 20) and P664L, (n = 5), and their LDLR activities was measured by this method, which was found to be 55.3 ± 8.9% and 63.9 ± 13.8%, respectively, of that of the control group (n = 15). In comparison, the LDLR activity was 86.1 ± 11.6% (K790X) and 73.3 ± 6.3% (P664L) of that of the control group when measured by the conventional method, indicating that impairment of LDLR function in FH K790X subjects was much more clearly differentiated with our method than with the conventional method (paired t-test, p < 0.0001). The levels of LDLR expression also showed similar tendencies, that is, 89.4 ± 13.2% (K790X) and 76.9 ± 17.4% (P664L) of that of the control group when measured by the conventional method, and 78.1 ± 9.7% (K790X) and 70.3 ± 26.5% (P664L) when measured by our new method. In addition, we confirmed that there was little influence of statin treatment on LDLR activity among the study subjects when our method was used. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that our new method is applicable for measuring LDLR activity, even in subjects with an internally defective allele, and that T-lymphocytes of the FH K790X mutation possess characteristics of that allele. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Discovery of the First Low-Luminosity Quasar at z > 7
We report the discovery of a quasar at z = 7.07, which was selected from the
deep multi-band imaging data collected by the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) Subaru
Strategic Program survey. This quasar, HSC J124353.93+010038.5, has an order of
magnitude lower luminosity than do the other known quasars at z > 7. The
rest-frame ultraviolet absolute magnitude is M1450 = -24.13 +/- 0.08 mag and
the bolometric luminosity is Lbol = (1.4 +/- 0.1) x 10^{46} erg/s. Its spectrum
in the optical to near-infrared shows strong emission lines, and shows evidence
for a fast gas outflow, as the C IV line is blueshifted and there is indication
of broad absorption lines. The Mg II-based black hole mass is Mbh = (3.3 +/-
2.0) x 10^8 Msun, thus indicating a moderate mass accretion rate with an
Eddington ratio 0.34 +/- 0.20. It is the first z > 7 quasar with sub-Eddington
accretion, besides being the third most distant quasar, known to date. The
luminosity and black hole mass are comparable to, or even lower than, those
measured for the majority of low-z quasars discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey, and thus this quasar likely represents a z > 7 counterpart to quasars
commonly observed in the low-z universe.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
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