345 research outputs found
A Business Goal Driven Approach for Understanding and Specifying Information Security Requirements
In this paper we present an approach for specifying and prioritizing\ud
information security requirements in organizations. It is important\ud
to prioritize security requirements since hundred per cent security is\ud
not achievable and the limited resources available should be directed to\ud
satisfy the most important ones. We propose to link explicitly security\ud
requirements with the organization’s business vision, i.e. to provide business\ud
rationale for security requirements. The rationale is then used as a\ud
basis for comparing the importance of different security requirements.\ud
A conceptual framework is presented, where the relationships between\ud
business vision, critical impact factors and valuable assets (together with\ud
their security requirements) are shown
Stellar and circumstellar evolution of long period variable stars
In a first paper, HIPPARCOS astrometric and kinematic data were used to
calibrate both infrared K and IRAS luminosities at the same time as kinematic
parameters of Long Period Variable stars (LPVs). Individual estimated absolute
magnitudes and a probabilistic assignation to galactic populations were deduced
from these calibrations for each LPV of our sample. Here we propose a scenario
of simultaneous stellar and circumstellar evolution according to the galactic
populations. The transitory states of S and Tc stars allow us to confirm the
location of the first dredge-up at . There is also evidence
suggesting that a previous enrichment in s-elements from a more evolved
companion may accelerate the evolution along the AGB. The possible evolution to
OH LPVs is included in this scenario, and any of these stars may have a mass at
the limit of the capability for a C enrichment up to C/O > 1.
A list of bright massive LPVs with peculiar envelope and luminosity
properties is proposed as Hot Bottom Burning candidates. The He-shell flash
star, R Cen, is found to be exceptionally bright and could become, before
leaving the AGB, a C-rich LPV brighter than the usual luminosity limit of
carbon stars.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
Genome sequence and analysis of the tuber crop potato
Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world’s most important non-grain food crop and is central to global food security. It is clonally propagated, highly heterozygous, autotetraploid, and suffers acute inbreeding depression. Here we use a homozygous doubled-monoploid potato clone to sequence and assemble 86% of the 844-megabase genome. We predict 39,031 protein-coding genes and present evidence for at least two genome duplication events indicative of a palaeopolyploid origin. As the first genome sequence of an asterid, the potato genome reveals 2,642 genes specific to this large angiosperm clade. We also sequenced a heterozygous diploid clone and show that gene presence/absence variants and other potentially deleterious mutations occur frequently and are a likely cause of inbreeding depression. Gene family expansion, tissue-specific expression and recruitment of genes to new pathways contributed to the evolution of tuber development. The potato genome sequence provides a platform for genetic improvement of this vital cro
Polarisation properties of Milky-Way-like galaxies
(Abridged) We study the polarisation properties, magnetic field strength, and
synchrotron emission scale-height of Milky-Way-like galaxies in comparison with
other spiral galaxies. We use our 3D-emission model of the Milky Way Galaxy for
viewing the Milky Way from outside at various inclinations as spiral galaxies
are observed. When seen edge-on the synchrotron emission from the Milky Way has
an exponential scale-height of about 0.74 kpc, which is much smaller than the
values obtained from previous models. We find that current analysis methods
overestimate the scale-height of synchrotron emission of galaxies by about 10%
at an inclination of 80 degree and about 40% at an inclination of 70 degree
because of contamination from the disk. The observed RMs for face-on galaxies
derived from high-frequency polarisation measurements approximate to the
Faraday depths (FDs) when scaled by a factor of two. For edge-on galaxies, the
observed RMs are indicative of the orientation of the large-scale magnetic
field, but are not well related with the FDs. Assuming energy equipartition
between the magnetic field and particles for the Milky Way results in an
average magnetic-field strength, which is about two times larger than the
intrinsic value for a K factor of 100. The number distribution of the
integrated polarisation percentages of a large sample of unresolved
Milky-Way-like galaxies peaks at about 4.2% at 4.8 GHz and at about 0.8% at
1.4GHz. Integrated polarisation angles rotated by 90 degree align very well
with the position angles of the major axes, implying that unresolved galaxies
do not have intrinsic RMs.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The POlarised GLEAM Survey (POGS) II: Results from an all-sky rotation measure synthesis survey at long wavelengths
The low-frequency linearly polarised radio source population is largely unexplored. However, a renaissance in low-frequency polarimetry has been enabled by pathfinder and precursor instruments for the Square Kilometre Array. In this second paper from the POlarised GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky MWA Survey-the POlarised GLEAM Survey, or POGS-we present the results from our all-sky MWA Phase I Faraday Rotation Measure survey. Our survey covers nearly the entire Southern sky in the Declination range to at a resolution between around three and seven arcminutes (depending on Declination) using data in the frequency range 169-231 MHz. We have performed two targeted searches: the first covering 25 489 square degrees of sky, searching for extragalactic polarised sources; the second covering the entire sky South of Declination, searching for known pulsars. We detect a total of 517 sources with 200 MHz linearly polarised flux densities between 9.9 mJy and 1.7 Jy, of which 33 are known radio pulsars. All sources in our catalogues have Faraday rotation measures in the range to rad m-2. The Faraday rotation measures are broadly consistent with results from higher-frequency surveys, but with typically more than an order of magnitude improvement in the precision, highlighting the power of low-frequency polarisation surveys to accurately study Galactic and extragalactic magnetic fields. We discuss the properties of our extragalactic and known-pulsar source population, how the sky distribution relates to Galactic features, and identify a handful of new pulsar candidates among our nominally extragalactic source population
The POlarised GLEAM Survey (POGS) II: Results from an All-Sky Rotation Measure Synthesis Survey at Long Wavelengths
The low-frequency linearly-polarised radio source population is largely
unexplored. However, a renaissance in low-frequency polarimetry has been
enabled by pathfinder and precursor instruments for the Square Kilometre Array.
In this second paper from the POlarised GaLactic and Extragalactic All-Sky
Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) Survey -- the POlarised GLEAM Survey, or POGS
-- we present the results from our all-sky MWA Phase I Faraday Rotation Measure
survey. Our survey covers nearly the entire Southern sky in the Declination
range to at a resolution between around three and
seven arcminutes (depending on Declination) using data in the frequency range
169231 MHz. We have performed two targeted searches: the first covering
25,489 square degrees of sky, searching for extragalactic polarised sources;
the second covering the entire sky South of Declination ,
searching for known pulsars. We detect a total of 517 sources with 200 MHz
linearly-polarised flux densities between 9.9 mJy and 1.7 Jy, of which 33 are
known radio pulsars. All sources in our catalogues have Faraday rotation
measures in the range rad m to rad m. The
Faraday rotation measures are broadly consistent with results from
higher-frequency surveys, but with typically more than an order of magnitude
improvement in the precision, highlighting the power of low-frequency
polarisation surveys to accurately study Galactic and extragalactic magnetic
fields. We discuss the properties of our extragalactic and known-pulsar source
population, how the sky distribution relates to Galactic features, and identify
a handful of new pulsar candidates among our nominally extragalactic source
population.Comment: Replacement of previous version. Only change is minor updates to
catalogues (see ancillary files) which now contain bib code of finalised
manuscript (published in PASA). Manuscript has 31 pages, 10 figures, 5
tables. Four Appendices are included in the ancillary material, showing
further Figures, continuum spectra for a handful of selected sources, and RM
spectra for all 517 source
Assignment of genetic linkage maps to diploid Solanum tuberosum pachytene chromosomes by BAC-FISH technology
A cytogenetic map has been developed for diploid potato (Solanum tuberosum), in which the arms of the 12 potato bivalents can be identified in pachytene complements using multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a set of 60 genetically anchored bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones from the RHPOTKEY BAC library. This diagnostic set of selected BACs (five per chromosome) hybridizes to euchromatic regions and corresponds to well-defined loci in the ultradense genetic map, and with these probes a new detailed and reliable pachytene karyotype could be established. Chromosome size has been estimated both from microscopic length measurements and from 4′,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole fluorescence-based DNA content measurements. In both approaches, chromosome 1 is the largest (100–115 Mb) and chromosome 11 the smallest (49–53 Mb). Detailed measurements of mega-base-pair to micrometer ratios have been obtained for chromosome 5, with average values of 1.07 Mb/μm for euchromatin and 3.67 Mb/μm for heterochromatin. In addition, our FISH results helped to solve two discrepancies in the potato genetic map related to chromosomes 8 and 12. Finally, we discuss the significance of the potato cytogenetic map for extended FISH studies in potato and related Solanaceae, which will be especially beneficial for the potato genome-sequencing project
Monocytes of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia show alterations in cholesterol metabolism
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Elevated plasma cholesterol promotes the formation of atherosclerotic lesions in which monocyte-derived lipid-laden macrophages are frequently found. To analyze, if circulating monocytes already show increased lipid content and differences in lipoprotein metabolism, we compared monocytes from patients with Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) with those from healthy individuals.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cholesterol and oxidized cholesterol metabolite serum levels of FH and of healthy, gender/age matched control subjects were measured by combined gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy. Monocytes from patients with FH and from healthy subjects were isolated by antibody-assisted density centrifugation. Gene expression profiles of isolated monocytes were measured using Affymetrix HG-U 133 Plus 2.0 microarrays. We compared monocyte gene expression profiles from FH patients with healthy controls using a Welch T-test with correction for multiple testing (p < 0.05; Benjamini Hochberg correction, False Discovery Rate = 0.05). The differential expression of FH associated genes was validated at the mRNA level by qRT-PCR and/or at the protein level by Western Blot or flow cytometry. Functional validation of monocyte scavenger receptor activities were done by binding assays and dose/time dependent uptake analysis using native and oxidized LDL.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using microarray analysis we found in FH patients a significant up-regulation of 1,617 genes and a down-regulation of 701 genes compared to monocytes from healthy individuals. These include genes of proteins that are involved in the uptake, biosynthesis, disposition, and cellular efflux of cholesterol. In addition, plasma from FH patients contains elevated amounts of sterols and oxysterols. An increased uptake of oxidized as well as of native LDL by FH monocytes combined with a down-regulation of NPC1 and ABCA1 explains the lipid accumulation observed in these cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our data demonstrate that circulating FH monocytes show differences in cell physiology that may contribute to the early onset of atherosclerosis in this disease.</p
A hybrid BAC physical map of potato: a framework for sequencing a heterozygous genome
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Potato is the world's third most important food crop, yet cultivar improvement and genomic research in general remain difficult because of the heterozygous and tetraploid nature of its genome. The development of physical map resources that can facilitate genomic analyses in potato has so far been very limited. Here we present the methods of construction and the general statistics of the first two genome-wide BAC physical maps of potato, which were made from the heterozygous diploid clone RH89-039-16 (RH).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>First, a gel electrophoresis-based physical map was made by AFLP fingerprinting of 64478 BAC clones, which were aligned into 4150 contigs with an estimated total length of 1361 Mb. Screening of BAC pools, followed by the KeyMaps <it>in silico </it>anchoring procedure, identified 1725 AFLP markers in the physical map, and 1252 BAC contigs were anchored the ultradense potato genetic map. A second, sequence-tag-based physical map was constructed from 65919 whole genome profiling (WGP) BAC fingerprints and these were aligned into 3601 BAC contigs spanning 1396 Mb. The 39733 BAC clones that overlap between both physical maps provided anchors to 1127 contigs in the WGP physical map, and reduced the number of contigs to around 2800 in each map separately. Both physical maps were 1.64 times longer than the 850 Mb potato genome. Genome heterozygosity and incomplete merging of BAC contigs are two factors that can explain this map inflation. The contig information of both physical maps was united in a single table that describes hybrid potato physical map.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The AFLP physical map has already been used by the Potato Genome Sequencing Consortium for sequencing 10% of the heterozygous genome of clone RH on a BAC-by-BAC basis. By layering a new WGP physical map on top of the AFLP physical map, a genetically anchored genome-wide framework of 322434 sequence tags has been created. This reference framework can be used for anchoring and ordering of genomic sequences of clone RH (and other potato genotypes), and opens the possibility to finish sequencing of the RH genome in a more efficient way via high throughput next generation approaches.</p
Type Ia Supernovae and the Hubble Constant
The focus of this review is the work that has been done during the 1990s on
using Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) to measure the Hubble constant (). SNe
Ia are well suited for measuring . A straightforward maximum-light color
criterion can weed out the minority of observed events that are either
intrinsically subluminous or substantially extinguished by dust, leaving a
majority subsample that has observational absolute-magnitude dispersions of
less than mag.
Correlations between absolute magnitude and one or more distance-independent SN
Ia or parent-galaxy observables can be used to further standardize the absolute
magnitudes to better than 0.2 mag. The absolute magnitudes can be calibrated in
two independent ways --- empirically, using Cepheid-based distances to parent
galaxies of SNe Ia, and physically, by light curve and spectrum fitting. At
present the empirical and physical calibrations are in agreement at or -19.5. Various ways that have been used to match
Cepheid-calibrated SNe Ia or physical models to SNe Ia that have been observed
out in the Hubble flow have given values of distributed throughout the
range 54 to 67 km/s Mpc. Astronomers who want a consensus value of
from SNe Ia with conservative errors could, for now, use km/s
Mpc^{-1}$.Comment: 46 pages. Hard copies of figures, all from the published literature,
can be obtained from the author. With permission, from the Annual Review of
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 36, copyright 1998, by Annual Review
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