29,904 research outputs found
An Analysis of crime statistics to tourist areas and non-tourist areas in New Orleans
The economic impact of travel and tourism to New Orleans, Louisiana is immense. In New Orleans, tourism is one of the leading industries which accounts for the city’s economic recovery in Post-Katrina New Orleans. Tourism was one of the major industries to the New Orleans economy and accounted for 35% or $210 million of the City of New Orleans’ annual operating budget (New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation, 2008). Yet, tourism leaders and officials are plagued with the negative perception of crime as New Orleans tops U.S. cities as the murder capital of the United States (McCarthy, 2007). The negative perception of crime through the media, in spite of law enforcement officials and tourism leaders suggesting that the crimes are isolated to poor neighborhoods, deter leisure travelers and convention business from selecting New Orleans as a tourist destination (Tatko-Peterson, 2008). This study will examine the types, times, and number of crimes committed in the tourism police district as compared to other police districts in New Orleans to determine if more crimes occurred in the tourist police district than in other police districts. The results will be used to help New Orleans tourist organizations determine the best methods to address negative reports by the media and address meeting planners and tourists fear of safety
Evidence of Two Distinct Dynamic Critical Exponents in Connection with Vortex Physics
The dynamic critical exponent is determined from numerical simulations
for the three-dimensional (3D) lattice Coulomb gas (LCG) and the 3D XY models
with relaxational dynamics. It is suggested that the dynamics is characterized
by two distinct dynamic critical indices and related to the
divergence of the relaxation time by and
, where is the correlation length and the
wavevector. The values determined are and for the
3D LCG and and for the 3D XY model. It is argued
that the nonlinear exponent relates to , whereas the usual
Hohenberg-Halperin classification relates to . Possible implications for the
interpretation of experiments are pointed out. Comparisons with other existing
results are discussed.Comment: to appear in PR
IL-36 Induces Bisphosphonate-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw-Like Lesions in Mice by Inhibiting TGF-β-Mediated Collagen Expression
Long-term administration of nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates can induce detrimental side effects such as bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) in human. Although inflammation is known to be associated with BRONJ development, the detailed underlying mechanism remains unknown. Here, we report that the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-36α is, in part, responsible for the BRONJ development. We found a notably higher level of IL-36α and lower level of collagen in the BRONJ lesions in mice. We also found that IL-36α remarkably suppressed TGF-β-mediated expression of Collα1 and α-Sma via the activation of Erk signaling pathway in mouse gingival mesenchymal stem cells. When IL-36 signaling was abrogated in vivo, development of BRONJ lesions was ameliorated in mice. Taken together, we showed the pathologic role of IL-36α in BRONJ development by inhibiting collagen expression and demonstrated that IL-36α could be a potential marker and a therapeutic target for the prevention and treatment of BRONJ
Time variability of X-ray sources in the M 31 centre field
We present an extension to our XMM-Newton X-ray source catalogue of M 31,
containing 39 newly found sources. In order to classify and identify more of
the sources we search for X-ray time variability in XMM-Newton archival data of
the M 31 centre field.
As a source list we used our extended catalogue based on observations
covering the time span from June 2000 to July 2004. We then determined the flux
or at least an upper limit at the source positions for each observation.
Deriving the flux ratios for the different observations and searching for the
maximum flux difference we determined variability factors. We also calculated
the significance of the flux ratios.
Using hardness ratios, X-ray variability and cross correlations with
catalogues in the X-ray, optical, infrared and radio regimes, we detected three
super soft source candidates, one supernova remnant and six supernova remnant
candidates, one globular cluster candidate, three X-ray binaries and four X-ray
binary candidates. Additionally we identified one foreground star candidate and
classified fifteen sources with hard spectra, which may either be X-ray
binaries or Crab-like supernova remnants in M 31 or background active galactic
nuclei. The remaining five sources stay unidentified or without classification.
Based on the time variability results we suggest six sources, which were
formerly classified as "hard", to be X-ray binary candidates. The
classification of one other source (XMMM31 J004236.7+411349) as a supernova
remnant, has to be rejected due to the distinct time variability we found. We
now classify this source as a foreground star.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Distinct roles in autophagy and importance in infectivity of the two ATG4 cysteine peptidases of leishmania major
Macroautophagy in Leishmania, which is important for the cellular remodeling required during differentiation, relies upon the hydrolytic activity of two ATG4 cysteine peptidases (ATG4.1 and ATG4.2). We have investigated the individual contributions of each ATG4 to Leishmania major by generating individual gene deletion mutants (Δatg4.1 and Δatg4.2); double mutants could not be generated, indicating that ATG4 activity is required for parasite viability. Both mutants were viable as promastigotes and infected macrophages in vitro and mice, but Δatg4.2 survived poorly irrespective of infection with promastigotes or amastigotes, whereas this was the case only when promastigotes of Δatg4.1 were used. Promastigotes of Δatg4.2 but not Δatg4.1 were more susceptible than wild type promastigotes to starvation and oxidative stresses, which correlated with increased reactive oxygen species levels and oxidatively damaged proteins in the cells as well as impaired mitochondrial function. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine reversed this phenotype, reducing both basal and induced autophagy and restoring mitochondrial function, indicating a relationship between reactive oxygen species levels and autophagy. Deletion of ATG4.2 had a more dramatic effect upon autophagy than did deletion of ATG4.1. This phenotype is consistent with a reduced efficiency in the autophagic process in Δatg4.2, possibly due to ATG4.2 having a key role in removal of ATG8 from mature autophagosomes and thus facilitating delivery to the lysosomal network. These findings show that there is a level of functional redundancy between the two ATG4s, and that ATG4.2 appears to be the more important. Moreover, the low infectivity of Δatg4.2 demonstrates that autophagy is important for the virulence of the parasite
Older, Less Regulated Medical Marijuana Programs Have Much Greater Enrollment Rates Than Newer ‘Medicalized’ Programs
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have passed laws implementing medical marijuana programs. The nineteen programs that were in operation as of October 2014 collectively had over one million participants. All states (including D.C.) with medical marijuana laws require physicians directly or indirectly to authorize the use of marijuana at their discretion, yet little is known about how medical marijuana programs vary regarding adherence to basic principles of medical practice and associated rates of enrollment. To explore this, we analyzed marijuana programs according to seven components of traditional medical care and pharmaceutical regulation. We then examined enrollment rates, while controlling for potentially confounding state characteristics. We found that fourteen of the twenty-four programs were nonmedical and collectively enrolled 99.4 percent of participants nationwide, with enrollment rates twenty times greater than programs deemed to be “medicalized.” Policy makers implementing or amending medical marijuana programs should consider the powerful relationship between less regulation and greater enrollment. Researchers should consider variations across programs when assessing programs’ population-level effects
Observational Constraints on Superbubble X-ray Energy Budgets
The hot, X-ray-emitting gas in superbubbles imparts energy and enriched
material to the interstellar medium (ISM) and generates the hot ionized medium,
the ISM's high-temperature component. The evolution of superbubble energy
budgets is not well understood, however, and the processes responsible for
enhanced X-ray emission in superbubbles remain a matter of debate. We present
Chandra ACIS-S observations of two X-ray-bright superbubbles in the Large
Magellanic Cloud (LMC), DEM L50 (N186) and DEM L152 (N44), with an emphasis on
disentangling the true superbubble X-ray emission from non-related diffuse
emission and determining the spatial origin and spectral variation of the X-ray
emission. An examination of the superbubble energy budgets shows that on the
order of 50% of the X-ray emission comes from regions associated with supernova
remnant (SNR) impacts. We find some evidence of mass-loading due to swept-up
clouds and metallicity enrichment, but neither mechanism provides a significant
contribution to the X-ray luminosities. We also find that one of the
superbubbles, DEM L50, is likely not in collisional ionization equilibrium. We
compare our observations to the predictions of the standard Weaver et al. model
and to 1-D hydrodynamic simulations including cavity supernova impacts on the
shell walls. Our observations show that mass-loading due to thermal evaporation
from the shell walls and SNR impacts are the dominant source of enhanced X-ray
luminosities in superbubbles. These two processes should affect most
superbubbles, and their contribution to the X-ray luminosity must be considered
when determining the energy available for transport to the ISM.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
A Gravitational Redshift Determination of the Mean Mass of White Dwarfs. DA Stars
We measure apparent velocities (v_app) of the Halpha and Hbeta Balmer line
cores for 449 non-binary thin disk normal DA white dwarfs (WDs) using optical
spectra taken for the ESO SN Ia Progenitor surveY (SPY; Napiwotzki et al.
2001). Assuming these WDs are nearby and co-moving, we correct our velocities
to the Local Standard of Rest so that the remaining stellar motions are random.
By averaging over the sample, we are left with the mean gravitational redshift,
: we find = = 32.57 +/- 1.17 km/s. Using the mass-radius
relation from evolutionary models, this translates to a mean mass of 0.647
+0.013 -0.014 Msun. We interpret this as the mean mass for all DAs. Our results
are in agreement with previous gravitational redshift studies but are
significantly higher than all previous spectroscopic determinations except the
recent findings of Tremblay & Bergeron (2009). Since the gravitational redshift
method is independent of surface gravity from atmosphere models, we investigate
the mean mass of DAs with spectroscopic Teff both above and below 12000 K; fits
to line profiles give a rapid increase in the mean mass with decreasing Teff.
Our results are consistent with no significant change in mean mass: ^hot =
0.640 +/- 0.014 Msun and ^cool = 0.686 +0.035 -0.039 Msun.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 14 pages, 12 figure
Universal subgap optical conductivity in quasi-one-dimensional Peierls systems
Quasi-one-dimensional Peierls systems with quantum and thermal lattice
fluctuations can be modeled by a Dirac-type equation with a Gaussian-correlated
off-diagonal disorder. A powerful new method gives the exact disorder-averaged
Green function used to compute the optical conductivity. The strong subgap tail
of the conductivity has a universal scaling form. The frequency and temperature
dependence of the calculated spectrum agrees with experiments on KCP(Br) and
trans-polyacetylene.Comment: 11 pages (+ 3 figures), LATEX (REVTEX 3.0
Tunable nano Peltier cooling device from geometric effects using a single graphene nanoribbon
Based on the phenomenon of curvature-induced doping in graphene we propose a
class of Peltier cooling devices, produced by geometrical effects, without
gating. We show how a graphene nanorib- bon laid on an array of curved nano
cylinders can be used to create a targeted and tunable cooling device. Using
two different approaches, the Nonequlibrium Green's Function (NEGF) method and
experimental inputs, we predict that the cooling power of such a device can
approach the order of kW/cm2, on par with the best known techniques using
standard superlattice structures. The struc- ture proposed here helps pave the
way toward designing graphene electronics which use geometry rather than gating
to control devices.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
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