The Pattern of Correlated X-ray Timing and Spectral Behavior in GRS 1915+105

From data obtained from the PCA in the 2-11 keV and 11-30.5 keV energy range, GRS 1915+105 is seen during RXTE observations between 1996 May and October on two separate branches in a hardness intensity diagram. On the hard branch, GRS 1915+105 exhibits narrow quasi-periodic oscillations ranging from 0.5 to 6 Hz with ${\Delta \nu \over \nu} \sim 0.2$. The QPOs are observed over intensities ranging from about 6,000 to 20,000 counts s$^{-1}$ in the 2 - 12.5 keV energy band, indicating a strong dependence on source intensity. Strong harmonics are seen, especially, at lower frequencies. As the QPO frequency increases, the harmonic feature weakens and disappears. On the soft branch, narrow QPOs are absent and the low frequency component of the power density spectrum is approximated by a power-law, with index $\sim -1.25$ for low count rates and $\sim -1.5$ for high count rates (\gta 18000 cts/s). Occasionally, a broad peaked feature in the 1-6 Hz frequency range is also observed on this branch. The source was probably in the very high state similar to those of other black hole candidates. Thermal-viscous instabilities in accretion disk models do not predict the correlation of the narrow QPO frequency and luminosity unless the fraction of luminosity from the disk decreases with the total luminosity.Comment: ApJ Lett accepte

Double Core Evolution X. Through the Envelope Ejection Phase

The evolution of binary systems consisting of an asymptotic giant branch star of mass equal to 3 M_sun or 5 M_sun, and a main sequence star of mass equal to 0.4 M_sun or 0.6 M_sun with orbital periods > 200 days has been followed from the onset through the late stages of the common envelope phase. Using a nested grid technique, the three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of an asymptotic giant branch star with radii approximately 1 A.U. indicate that a significant fraction of the envelope gas is unbound (about 31% and 23% for binaries of 3 M_sun and 0.4 M_sun, and 5 M_sun and 0.6 M_sun respectively) by the ends of the simulations, and that the efficiency of the mass ejection process is about 40%. While the original volume of the giant is virtually evacuated in the late stages, most of the envelope gas remains marginally bound on the grid. At the ends of our simulations, when the orbital decay timescale exceeds about 5 years, the giant core and companion orbit one another with a period of about 1 day (2.4 days for a binary involving a more evolved giant), although this is an upper limit to the final orbital period. For a binary of 5 M_sun and 0.4 M_sun, the common envelope may not be completely ejected.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figures, accepted to Ap

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

Mono- or Double-Site Phosphorylation Distinctly Regulates the Proapoptotic Function of Bax

Bax is the major multidomain proapoptotic molecule that is required for apoptosis. It has been reported that phosphorylation of Bax at serine(S) 163 or S184 activates or inactivates its proapoptotic function, respectively. To uncover the mechanism(s) by which phosphorylation regulates the proapoptotic function of Bax, a series of serine (S)→ alanine/glutamate (A/E) Bax mutants, including S163A, S184A, S163E, S184E, S163E/S184A (EA), S163A/S184E (AE), S163A/S184A (AA) and S163E/S184E (EE), were created to abrogate or mimic, respectively, either single or double-site phosphorylation. The compound Bax mutants (i.e. EA and AE) can flesh out the functional contribution of individual phosphorylation site(s). WT and each of these Bax mutants were overexpressed in Bax−/− MEF or lung cancer H157 cells and the proapoptotic activities were compared. Intriguingly, expression of any of Bax mutants containing the mutation S→A at S184 (i.e. S184A, EA or AA) represents more potent proapoptotic activity as compared to WT Bax in association with increased 6A7 epitope conformational change, mitochondrial localization/insertion and prolonged half-life. In contrast, all Bax mutants containing the mutation S→E at S184 (i.e. S184E, AE or EE) have a mobility-shift and fail to insert into mitochondrial membranes with decreased protein stability and less apoptotic activity. Unexpectedly, mutation either S→A or S→E at S163 site does not significantly affect the proapoptotic activity of Bax. These findings indicate that S184 but not S163 is the major phosphorylation site for functional regulation of Bax's activity. Therefore, manipulation of the phosphorylation status of Bax at S184 may represent a novel strategy for cancer treatment

Age-associated changes in microRNAs affect the differentiation potential of human mesenchymal stem cells: Novel role of miR-29b-1-5p expression

Age-associated osteoporosis is widely accepted as involving the disruption of osteogenic stem cell populations and their functioning. Maintenance of the local bone marrow (BM) microenvironment is critical for regulating proliferation and differentiation of the multipotent BM mesenchymal stromal/stem cell (BMSC) population with age. The potential role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in modulating BMSCs and the BM microenvironment has recently gained attention. However, miRNAs expressed in rapidly isolated BMSCs that are naïve to the non-physiologic standard tissue culture conditions and reflect a more accurate in vivo profile have not yet been reported. Here we directly isolated CD271 positive (+) BMSCs within hours from human surgical BM aspirates without culturing and performed microarray analysis to identify the age-associated changes in BMSC miRNA expression. One hundred and two miRNAs showed differential expression with aging. Target prediction and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses revealed that the up-regulated miRNAs targeting genes in bone development pathways were considerably enriched. Among the differentially up-regulated miRNAs the novel passenger strand miR-29b-1-5p was abundantly expressed as a mature functional miRNA with aging. This suggests a critical arm-switching mechanism regulates the expression of the miR-29b-1-5p/3p pair shifting the normally degraded arm, miR-29b-1-5p, to be the dominantly expressed miRNA of the pair in aging. The normal guide strand miR-29b-1-3p is known to act as a pro-osteogenic miRNA. On the other hand, overexpression of the passenger strand miR-29b-1-5p in culture-expanded CD271+ BMSCs significantly down-regulated the expression of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (CXCL12)/ C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (SDF-1(CXCL12)/CXCR4) axis and other osteogenic genes including bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2). In contrast, blocking of miR-29b-1-5p function using an antagomir inhibitor up-regulated expression of BMP-2 and RUNX2 genes. Functional assays confirmed that miR-29b-1-5p negatively regulates BMSC osteogenesis in vitro. These novel findings provide evidence of a pathogenic anti-osteogenic role for miR-29b-1-5p and other miRNAs in age-related defects in osteogenesis and bone regeneration

Energy, Environment and the Sustainability of Economic Development in China

Whether the high economic growth of China is sustainable is the matter of interest to the public, government and academic circle of China and meanwhile it catches the attention of the world because the development of China has been exerting increasing impact on the world economy. Since the high economic growth of China has been promoted by heavy and chemical industry (HCI) to a great extent, which resulted in high consumption of energy resource, high consumption of mineral resources and high emission of pollutants (the “triple highness”), the sustainability of high economic growth of China depends on a sustainable growth road for China’s HCI and effective control on the “triple highness”. We find that the contributing factors of the “triple highness” are not the growth of HCI itself but the small scale and out dated technology. We conclude that the “triple highness” can be effectively controlled if some proper measures are adopted and the high growth of China can be sustainable