17,293 research outputs found
Radiance and Doppler shift distributions across the network of the quiet Sun
The radiance and Doppler-shift distributions across the solar network provide
observational constraints of two-dimensional modeling of transition-region
emission and flows in coronal funnels. Two different methods, dispersion plots
and average-profile studies, were applied to investigate these distributions.
In the dispersion plots, we divided the entire scanned region into a bright and
a dark part according to an image of Fe xii; we plotted intensities and Doppler
shifts in each bin as determined according to a filtered intensity of Si ii. We
also studied the difference in height variations of the magnetic field as
extrapolated from the MDI magnetogram, in and outside network. For the
average-profile study, we selected 74 individual cases and derived the average
profiles of intensities and Doppler shifts across the network. The dispersion
plots reveal that the intensities of Si ii and C iv increase from network
boundary to network center in both parts. However, the intensity of Ne viii
shows different trends, namely increasing in the bright part and decreasing in
the dark part. In both parts, the Doppler shift of C iv increases steadily from
internetwork to network center. The average-profile study reveals that the
intensities of the three lines all decline from the network center to
internetwork region. The binned intensities of Si ii and Ne viii have a good
correlation. We also find that the large blue shift of Ne viii does not
coincide with large red shift of C iv. Our results suggest that the network
structure is still prominent at the layer where Ne viii is formed in the quiet
Sun, and that the magnetic structures expand more strongly in the dark part
than in the bright part of this quiet Sun region.Comment: 10 pages,9 figure
Upflows in the upper transition region of the quiet Sun
We investigate the physical meaning of the prominent blue shifts of Ne VIII,
which is observed to be associated with quiet-Sun network junctions (boundary
intersections), through data analyses combining force-free-field extrapolations
with EUV spectroscopic observations. For a middle-latitude region, we
reconstruct the magnetic funnel structure in a sub-region showing faint
emission in EIT-Fe 195. This funnel appears to consist of several smaller
funnels that originate from network lanes, expand with height and finally merge
into a single wide open-field region. However, the large blue shifts of Ne VIII
are generally not associated with open fields, but seem to be associated with
the legs of closed magnetic loops. Moreover, in most cases significant upflows
are found in both of the funnel-shaped loop legs. These quasi-steady upflows
are regarded as signatures of mass supply to the coronal loops rather than the
solar wind. Our observational result also reveals that in many cases the
upflows in the upper transition region (TR) and the downflows in the middle TR
are not fully cospatial. Based on these new observational results, we suggest
different TR structures in coronal holes and in the quiet Sun.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, will appear in the Proceedings of the Solar wind
12 conferenc
The role of Joule heating in the formation of nanogaps by electromigration
We investigate the formation of nanogaps in gold wires due to
electromigration. We show that the breaking process will not start until a
local temperature of typically 400 K is reached by Joule heating. This value is
rather independent of the temperature of the sample environment (4.2-295 K).
Furthermore, we demonstrate that the breaking dynamics can be controlled by
minimizing the total series resistance of the system. In this way, the local
temperature rise just before break down is limited and melting effects are
prevented. Hence, electrodes with gaps < 2 nm are easily made, without the need
of active feedback. For optimized samples, we observe quantized conductance
steps prior the gap formation.Comment: including 7 figure
Differential Distribution of Ca2+-Activated K+ Channel Splice Variants among Hair Cells along the Tonotopic Axis of the Chick Cochlea
AbstractSummary We have cloned from the receptor epithelium of the chick cochlea a family of alternatively spliced cDNAs derived from cslo, which encodes a Ca2+-activated K+ channel like those shown to help determine the resonant frequency of electrically tuned hair cells. Our results from PCRs using template RNAs from both tonotopically subdivided receptor epithelia and single hair cells demonstrate differential exon usage along the frequency axis of the epithelium at multiple splice sites in cslo. We also show that single hair cells express more than one splice variant at a given splice site. Since channel isoforms encoded by differentially spliced slo transcripts in other species are functionally heterogeneous, these data suggest that differential processing of slo transcripts may account, at least in part, for the systematic variation in hair-cell membrane properties along the frequency axis of electrically tuned auditory receptor epithelia
Non-Hausdorff Symmetries of C*-algebras
Symmetry groups or groupoids of C*-algebras associated to non-Hausdorff
spaces are often non-Hausdorff as well. We describe such symmetries using
crossed modules of groupoids. We define actions of crossed modules on
C*-algebras and crossed products for such actions, and justify these
definitions with some basic general results and examples.Comment: very minor changes. To appear in Math. An
Trypanosoma brucei PRMT1 Is a Nucleic Acid Binding Protein with a Role in Energy Metabolism and the Starvation Stress Response.
In Trypanosoma brucei and related kinetoplastid parasites, transcription of protein coding genes is largely unregulated. Rather, mRNA binding proteins, which impact processes such as transcript stability and translation efficiency, are the predominant regulators of gene expression. Arginine methylation is a posttranslational modification that preferentially targets RNA binding proteins and is, therefore, likely to have a substantial impact on T. brucei biology. The data presented here demonstrate that cells depleted of T. brucei PRMT1 (TbPRMT1), a major type I protein arginine methyltransferase, exhibit decreased virulence in an animal model. To understand the basis of this phenotype, quantitative global proteomics was employed to measure protein steady-state levels in cells lacking TbPRMT1. The approach revealed striking changes in proteins involved in energy metabolism. Most prominent were a decrease in glycolytic enzyme abundance and an increase in proline degradation pathway components, changes that resemble the metabolic remodeling that occurs during T. brucei life cycle progression. The work describes several RNA binding proteins whose association with mRNA was altered in TbPRMT1-depleted cells, and a large number of TbPRMT1-interacting proteins, thereby highlighting potential TbPRMT1 substrates. Many proteins involved in the T. brucei starvation stress response were found to interact with TbPRMT1, prompting analysis of the response of TbPRMT1-depleted cells to nutrient deprivation. Indeed, depletion of TbPRMT1 strongly hinders the ability of T. brucei to form cytoplasmic mRNA granules under starvation conditions. Finally, this work shows that TbPRMT1 itself binds nucleic acids in vitro and in vivo, a feature completely novel to protein arginine methyltransferases.IMPORTANCETrypanosoma brucei infection causes human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness, a disease with a nearly 100% fatality rate when untreated. Current drugs are expensive, toxic, and highly impractical to administer, prompting the community to explore various unique aspects of T. brucei biology in search of better treatments. In this study, we identified the protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT), TbPRMT1, as a factor that modulates numerous aspects of T. brucei biology. These include glycolysis and life cycle progression signaling, both of which are being intensely researched toward identification of potential drug targets. Our data will aid research in those fields. Furthermore, we demonstrate for the first time a direct association of a PRMT with nucleic acids, a finding we believe could translate to other organisms, including humans, thereby impacting research in fields as distant as human cancer biology and immune response modulation. Copyright © 2018 Kafková et al
Simpson's Paradox, Lord's Paradox, and Suppression Effects are the same phenomenon – the reversal paradox
This article discusses three statistical paradoxes that pervade epidemiological research: Simpson's paradox, Lord's paradox, and suppression. These paradoxes have important implications for the interpretation of evidence from observational studies. This article uses hypothetical scenarios to illustrate how the three paradoxes are different manifestations of one phenomenon – the reversal paradox – depending on whether the outcome and explanatory variables are categorical, continuous or a combination of both; this renders the issues and remedies for any one to be similar for all three. Although the three statistical paradoxes occur in different types of variables, they share the same characteristic: the association between two variables can be reversed, diminished, or enhanced when another variable is statistically controlled for. Understanding the concepts and theory behind these paradoxes provides insights into some controversial or contradictory research findings. These paradoxes show that prior knowledge and underlying causal theory play an important role in the statistical modelling of epidemiological data, where incorrect use of statistical models might produce consistent, replicable, yet erroneous results
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