2,278 research outputs found
The Imprint of Galaxy Formation on X-ray Clusters
It is widely believed that structure in the Universe evolves hierarchically,
as primordial density fluctuations, amplified by gravity, collapse and merge to
form progressively larger systems. The structure and evolution of X-ray
clusters, however, seems at odds with this hierarchical scenario for structure
formation. Poor clusters and groups, as well as most distant clusters detected
to date, are substantially fainter than expected from the tight relations
between luminosity, temperature and redshift predicted by these models. Here we
show that these discrepancies arise because, near the centre, the entropy of
the hot, diffuse intracluster medium (ICM) is higher tha possible if the ICM
is heated at modest redshift (z \ltsim 2) but prior to cluster collapse,
indicating that the formation of galaxies precedes that of clusters and that
most clusters have been assembled very recently.Comment: 5 pages, plus 2 postscript figures (one in colour), accepted for
publication in Natur
Bulk Axions, Brane Back-reaction and Fluxes
Extra-dimensional models can involve bulk pseudo-Goldstone bosons (pGBs)
whose shift symmetry is explicitly broken only by physics localized on branes.
Reliable calculation of their low-energy potential is often difficult because
it requires details of the stabilization of the extra dimensions. In rugby ball
solutions, for which two compact extra dimensions are stabilized in the
presence of only positive-tension brane sources, the effects of brane
back-reaction can be computed explicitly. This allows the calculation of the
shape of the low-energy pGB potential and response of the extra dimensional
geometry as a function of the perturbing brane properties. If the
pGB-dependence is a small part of the total brane tension a very general
analysis is possible, permitting an exploration of how the system responds to
frustration when the two branes disagree on what the proper scalar vacuum
should be. We show how the low-energy potential is given by the sum of brane
tensions (in agreement with common lore) when only the brane tensions couple to
the pGB. We also show how a direct brane coupling to the flux stabilizing the
extra dimensions corrects this result in a way that does not simply amount to
the contribution of the flux to the brane tensions. We calculate the mass of
the would-be zero mode, and briefly describe several potential applications,
including a brane realization of `natural inflation,' and a dynamical mechanism
for suppressing the couplings of the pGB to matter localized on the branes.
Since the scalar can be light enough to be relevant to precision tests of
gravity (in a technically natural way) this mechanism can be relevant to
evading phenomenological bounds.Comment: 36 pages, JHEP styl
Manufacturing with light - micro-assembly of opto-electronic microstructures
Optical micromanipulation allows the movement and patterning of discrete micro-particles within a liquid environment. However, for manufacturing applications it is desirable to remove the liquid, leaving the patterned particles in place. In this work, we have demonstrated the use of optoelectronic tweezers (OET) to manipulate and accurately assemble Sn62Pb36Ag2 solder microspheres into tailored patterns. A technique based on freeze-drying technology was then developed that allows the assembled patterns to be well preserved and fixed in place after the liquid medium in the OET device is removed. After removing the liquid from the OET device and subsequently heating the assembled pattern and melting the solder microspheres, electrical connections between the microspheres were formed, creating a permanent conductive bridge between two isolated metal electrodes. Although this method is demonstrated with 40 Β΅m diameter solder beads arranged with OET, it could be applied to a great range of discrete components from nanowires to optoelectronic devices, thus overcoming one of the basic hurdles in using optical micromanipulation techniques in a manufacturing micro-assembly setting
Inflation on the Brane with Vanishing Gravity
Many existing models of brane inflation suffer from a steep irreducible
gravitational potential between the branes that causes inflation to end too
early. Inspired by the fact that point masses in 2+1 D exert no gravitational
force, we propose a novel unwarped and non-supersymmetric setup for inflation,
consisting of 3-branes in two extra dimensions compactified on a sphere. The
size of the sphere is stabilized by a combination of a bulk cosmological
constant and a magnetic flux. Computing the 4D effective potential between
probe branes in this background, we find a non-zero contribution only from
exchange of level-1 KK modes of the graviton and radion. Identifying antipodal
points on the 2-sphere projects out these modes, eliminating entirely the
troublesome gravitational contribution to the inflationary potential.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, JHEP forma
How to minimise the effect of tumour cell content in detection of aberrant genetic markers in neuroblastoma
Background:Clinical heterogeneity reflects the complexity of genetic events associated with neuroblastoma (NB). To identify the status of all described genetic loci with possible prognostic interest, high-throughput approaches have been used, but only with tumour cell content >60%. In some tumours, necrotic, haemorrhagic and/or calcification areas influence the low amount of neuroblasts. We evaluated the effect of tumour cell content in the detection of relevant aberrant genetic markers (AGM) diagnosed by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) on tissue microarrays (TMA) in NB.Methods:Two hundred and thirty-three MYCN non-amplified primary NB included in 12 TMAs were analysed.Results:Presence of AGM reduced event-free survival (EFS) (P=0.004) as well as overall survival (OS) (P=0.004) of patients in the whole cohort. There were no differences in prognostic impact of presence of AGM according to tumour cell content.Conclusion:We propose the use of FISH to diagnose AGM of all NB samples having the above-mentioned areas to determine patient risk
Prevalence and Determinants of Obesity among Primary School Children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Childhood obesity has increased dramatically and has become a public health concern worldwide. Childhood obesity is likely to persist through adulthood and may lead to early onset of NCDs. However, there is paucity of data on obesity among primary school children in Tanzania. This study assessed the prevalence and determinants of obesity among primary school children in Dar es Salaam. A cross sectional study was conducted among school age children in randomly selected schools in Dar es Salaam. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurements were taken using standard procedures. Body Mass Index (BMI) was calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters (kg/m2). Child obesity was defined as BMI at or above 95th percentile for age and sex. Socio-demographic characteristics of children were determined using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to determine association between independent variables with obesity among primary school children in Dar es Salaam. A total of 446 children were included in the analysis. The mean age of the participants was 11.1Β±2.0 years and 53.1% were girls. The mean BMI, SBP and DBP were 16.6Β±4.0 kg/m2, 103.9Β±10.3mmHg and 65.6Β±8.2mmHg respectively. The overall prevalence of child obesity was 5.2% and was higher among girls (6.3%) compared to boys (3.8%). Obese children had significantly higher mean values for age (p=0.042), systolic and diastolic blood pressures (all p<0.001). Most obese children were from households with fewer children (p=0.019) and residing in urban areas (p=0.002). Controlling for other variables, age above 10 years (AOR=3.3, 95% CI=1.5-7.2), female sex (AOR=2.6, 95% CI=1.4-4.9), urban residence (AOR=2.5, 95% CI=1.2-5.3) and having money to spend at school (AOR=2.6, 95% CI=1.4-4.8) were significantly associated with child obesity. The prevalence of childhood obesity in this population was found to be low. However, children from urban schools and girls were proportionately more obese compared to their counterparts. Primary preventive measures for childhood obesity should start early in childhood and address socioeconomic factors of parents contributing to childhood obesity
Hsp90 orchestrates transcriptional regulation by Hsf1 and cell wall remodelling by MAPK signalling during thermal adaptation in a pathogenic yeast
Acknowledgments We thank Rebecca Shapiro for creating CaLC1819, CaLC1855 and CaLC1875, Gillian Milne for help with EM, Aaron Mitchell for generously providing the transposon insertion mutant library, Jesus Pla for generously providing the hog1 hst7 mutant, and Cathy Collins for technical assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD
Scalar-field Pressure in Induced Gravity with Higgs Potential and Dark Matter
A model of induced gravity with a Higgs potential is investigated in detail
in view of the pressure components related to the scalar-field excitations. The
physical consequences emerging as an artifact due to the presence of these
pressure terms are analysed in terms of the constraints parting from energy
density, solar-relativistic effects and galactic dynamics along with the dark
matter halos.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, Minor revision, Published in JHE
Telomeric expression sites are highly conserved in trypanosoma brucei
Subtelomeric regions are often under-represented in genome sequences of eukaryotes. One of the best known examples of the use of telomere proximity for adaptive purposes are the bloodstream expression sites (BESs) of the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei. To enhance our understanding of BES structure and function in host adaptation and immune evasion, the BES repertoire from the Lister 427 strain of T. brucei were independently tagged and sequenced. BESs are polymorphic in size and structure but reveal a surprisingly conserved architecture in the context of extensive recombination. Very small BESs do exist and many functioning BESs do not contain the full complement of expression site associated genes (ESAGs). The consequences of duplicated or missing ESAGs, including ESAG9, a newly named ESAG12, and additional variant surface glycoprotein genes (VSGs) were evaluated by functional assays after BESs were tagged with a drug-resistance gene. Phylogenetic analysis of constituent ESAG families suggests that BESs are sequence mosaics and that extensive recombination has shaped the evolution of the BES repertoire. This work opens important perspectives in understanding the molecular mechanisms of antigenic variation, a widely used strategy for immune evasion in pathogens, and telomere biology
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