1,702 research outputs found
The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) Light Curve Server v1.0
The All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) is working towards
imaging the entire visible sky every night to a depth of V~17 mag. The present
data covers the sky and spans ~2-5~years with ~100-400 epochs of observation.
The data should contain some ~1 million variable sources, and the ultimate goal
is to have a database of these observations publicly accessible. We describe
here a first step, a simple but unprecedented web interface
https://asas-sn.osu.edu/ that provides an up to date aperture photometry light
curve for any user-selected sky coordinate. Because the light curves are
produced in real time, this web tool is relatively slow and can only be used
for small samples of objects. However, it also imposes no selection bias on the
part of the ASAS-SN team, allowing the user to obtain a light curve for any
point on the celestial sphere. We present the tool, describe its capabilities,
limitations, and known issues, and provide a few illustrative examples.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PAS
Dental treatment and risk of variant CJD - a case control study
Abstract
Objective: Knowledge of risk factors for variant CJD (vCJD) remains limited, but transmission of prion proteins via re-useable medical devices, including dental instruments, or enhanced susceptibility following trauma to the oral cavity is a concern. This study aimed to identify whether previous dental treatment is a risk factor for development of vCJD.
Design: Case control study
Methods: Risk factor questionnaires completed by interview with relatives of 130 vCJD patients and with relatives of 66 community and 53 hospital controls were examined by a dental surgeon. Responses regarding dental treatments were analysed.
Results: We did not find a statistically significant excess of risk of vCJD associated with dental treatments with the exception of extractions in an unmatched analysis of vCJD cases with community controls (p=0.02). However, this result may be explained by multiple testing.
Conclusions: This is the first published study to date to examine potential links between vCJD and dental treatment. There was no convincing evidence found of an increased risk of variant CJD associated with reported dental treatment. However, the power of the study is restricted by the number of vCJD cases to date and does not preclude the possibility that some cases have resulted from secondary transmission via dental procedures. Due to the limitations of the data available, more detailed analyses of dental records are required to fully exclude the possibility of transmission via dental treatment
Cross infection control measures and the treatment of patients at risk of Creutzfeldt Jakob disease in UK general dental practice
AIMS: To determine the suitability of key infection control measures currently employed in UK dental practice for delivery of dental care to patients at risk of prion diseases. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects: Five hundred dental surgeons currently registered with the General Dental Council of the UK. Data collection: Structured postal questionnaire. Analysis: Frequencies, cross-tabulations and chi-squared analysis. RESULTS: The valid response rate to the questionnaire was 69%. 33% of practices had no policy on general disinfection and sterilisation procedures. Only 10 of the 327 responding practices (3%) possessed a vacuum autoclave. 49% of dentists reported using the BDA medical history form but less than 25% asked the specific questions recommended by the BDA to identify patients at risk of iatrogenic or familial CJD. However, 63% of practitioners would refer such patients, if identified, to a secondary care facility. Of the 107 practitioners who were prepared to provide dental treatment, 75 (70%) would do so using routine infection control procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Most of the dental practices surveyed were not actively seeking to identify patients at risk of prion diseases. In many cases, recommended procedures for providing safe dental care for such patients were not in place
Critical dimensions of the diffusion equation
We study the evolution of a random initial field under pure diffusion in
various space dimensions. From numerical calculations we find that the
persistence properties of the system show sharp transitions at critical
dimensions d1 ~ 26 and d2 ~ 46. We also give refined measurements of the
persistence exponents for low dimensions.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Structural insights into how Prp5 proofreads the pre-mRNA branch site
During the splicing of introns from precursor messenger RNAs (pre-mRNAs), the U2 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) must undergo stable integration into the spliceosomal A complex-a poorly understood, multistep process that is facilitated by the DEAD-box helicase Prp5 (refs. 1-4). During this process, the U2 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) forms an RNA duplex with the pre-mRNA branch site (the U2-BS helix), which is proofread by Prp5 at this stage through an unclear mechanism5. Here, by deleting the branch-site adenosine (BS-A) or mutating the branch-site sequence of an actin pre-mRNA, we stall the assembly of spliceosomes in extracts from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae directly before the A complex is formed. We then determine the three-dimensional structure of this newly identified assembly intermediate by cryo-electron microscopy. Our structure indicates that the U2-BS helix has formed in this pre-A complex, but is not yet clamped by the HEAT domain of the Hsh155 protein (Hsh155HEAT), which exhibits an open conformation. The structure further reveals a large-scale remodelling/repositioning of the U1 and U2 snRNPs during the formation of the A complex that is required to allow subsequent binding of the U4/U6.U5 tri-snRNP, but that this repositioning is blocked in the pre-A complex by the presence of Prp5. Our data suggest that binding of Hsh155HEAT to the bulged BS-A of the U2-BS helix triggers closure of Hsh155HEAT, which in turn destabilizes Prp5 binding. Thus, Prp5 proofreads the branch site indirectly, hindering spliceosome assembly if branch-site mutations prevent the remodelling of Hsh155HEAT. Our data provide structural insights into how a spliceosomal helicase enhances the fidelity of pre-mRNA splicing
Lorentz-breaking effects in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
In this work, we study the effects of breaking Lorentz symmetry in
scalar-tensor theories of gravity taking torsion into account. We show that a
space-time with torsion interacting with a Maxwell field by means of a
Chern-Simons-like term is able to explain the optical activity in syncrotron
radiation emitted by cosmological distant radio sources. Without specifying the
source of the dilaton-gravity, we study the dilaton-solution. We analyse the
physical implications of this result in the Jordan-Fierz frame. We also analyse
the effects of the Lorentz breaking in the cosmic string formation process. We
obtain the solution corresponding to a cosmic string in the presence of torsion
by keeping track of the effects of the Chern-Simons coupling and calculate the
charge induced on this cosmic string in this framework. We also show that the
resulting charged cosmic string gives us important effects concerning the
background radiation.The optical activity in this case is also worked out and
discussed.Comment: 10 pages, no figures, ReVTex forma
Identification and characterization of an irreversible inhibitor of CDK2
Irreversible inhibitors that modify cysteine or lysine
residues within a protein kinase ATP binding site offer, through their distinctive mode of action, an alternative to ATP-competitive agents. 4-((6-(Cyclohexylmethoxy)-
9H-purin-2-yl)amino)benzenesulfonamide (NU6102) is a potent and selective ATP-competitive inhibitor of CDK2 in which the sulfonamide moiety is positioned close to a pair of lysine residues. Guided by the CDK2/NU6102 structure, we designed 6-(cyclohexylmethoxy)-N-(4-(vinylsulfonyl)phenyl)-9H-purin-2-amine (NU6300), which binds covalently to CDK2 as shown by a co-complex crystal
structure. Acute incubation with NU6300 produced a durable inhibition of Rb phosphorylation in SKUT-1B cells, consistent with it acting as an irreversible CDK2 inhibitor. NU6300 is the first covalent CDK2 inhibitor to be described, and illustrates the potential of vinyl sulfones for the design of more potent and selective compounds
Magnetic susceptibility of EuTe/PbTe Heisenberg superlattices: experimental and theoretical studies
We report results on the temperature dependence of the susceptibilities of a
set of MBE-grown short-period EuTe/PbTe antiferromagnetic superlattices having
different EuTe layer thicknesses. In-plane and orthogonal susceptibilities have
been measured and display a strong anisotropy at low temperature, confirming
the occurrence of a magnetic phase transition in the thicker samples, as seen
also in neutron diffraction studies. We suggest that dipolar interactions
stabilize antiferromagnetic long-range order in an otherwise isotropic system
and we present numerical and analytical results for the low-temperature
orthogonal susceptibility.Comment: 30 pages, 8 ps figures, RevTe
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