361 research outputs found
Power-Law Decay of Standing Waves on the Surface of Topological Insulators
We propose a general theory on the standing waves (quasiparticle interference
pattern) caused by the scattering of surface states off step edges in
topological insulators, in which the extremal points on the constant energy
contour of surface band play the dominant role. Experimentally we image the
interference patterns on both BiTe and BiSe films by measuring
the local density of states using a scanning tunneling microscope. The observed
decay indices of the standing waves agree excellently with the theoretical
prediction: In BiSe, only a single decay index of -3/2 exists; while in
BiTe with strongly warped surface band, it varies from -3/2 to -1/2 and
finally to -1 as the energy increases. The -1/2 decay indicates that the
suppression of backscattering due to time-reversal symmetry does not
necessarily lead to a spatial decay rate faster than that in the conventional
two-dimensional electron system. Our formalism can also explain the
characteristic scattering wave vectors of the standing wave caused by
non-magnetic impurities on BiTe.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
New symmetries for the Ablowitz-Ladik hierarchies
In the letter we give new symmetries for the isospectral and non-isospectral
Ablowitz-Ladik hierarchies by means of the zero curvature representations of
evolution equations related to the Ablowitz-Ladik spectral problem. Lie
algebras constructed by symmetries are further obtained. We also discuss the
relations between the recursion operator and isospectral and non-isospectral
flows. Our method can be generalized to other systems to construct symmetries
for non-isospectral equations.Comment: 11 page
The LEGUE Input Catalogue for Dark Night Observing in the LAMOST Pilot Survey
We outline the design of the dark nights portion of the LAMOST Pilot Survey,
which began observations in October 2011. In particular, we focus on Milky Way
stellar candidates that are targeted for the LEGUE (LAMOST Experiment for
Galactic Understanding and Exploration) survey. We discuss the regions of sky
in which spectroscopic candidates were selected, and the motivations for
selecting each of these sky areas. Some limitations due to the unique design of
the telescope are discussed, including the requirement that a bright (V < 8)
star be placed at the center of each plate for wavefront sensing and active
optics corrections. The target selection categories and scientific goals
motivating them are briefly discussed, followed by a detailed overview of how
these selection functions were realized. We illustrate the difference between
the overall input catalog - Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) photometry - and
the final targets selected for LAMOST observation.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in RA
CXCL9 Is a Potential Biomarker of Immune Infiltration Associated With Favorable Prognosis in ER-Negative Breast Cancer
The chemokine CXCL9 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 9) has been reported to be required for antitumour immune responses following immune checkpoint blockade. In this study, we sought to investigate the potential value of CXCL9 according to immune responses in patients with breast cancer (BC). A variety of open-source databases and online tools were used to explore the expression features and prognostic significance of CXCL9 in BC and its correlation with immune-related biomarkers followed by subsequent verification with immunohistochemistry experiments. The CXCL9 mRNA level was found to be significantly higher in BC than in normal tissue and was associated with better survival outcomes in patients with ER-negative tumours. Moreover, CXCL9 is significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration and immune-related biomarkers, including CTLA4, GZMB, LAG3, PDCD1 and HAVCR2. Finally, we performed immunohistochemistry with breast cancer tissue samples and observed that CXCL9 is highly expressed in the ER-negative subgroup and positively correlated with the immune-related factors LAG3, PD1, PDL1 and CTLA4 to varying degrees. These findings suggest that CXCL9 is an underlying biomarker for predicting the status of immune infiltration in ER-negative breast cancer
LAMOST Experiment for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (LEGUE) The survey science plan
We describe the current plans for a spectroscopic survey of millions of stars
in the Milky Way galaxy using the Guo Shou Jing Telescope (GSJT, formerly the
Large Area Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope - LAMOST). The survey will
obtain spectra for 2.5 million stars brighter than during dark/grey
time, and 5 million stars brighter than or on nights that are
moonlit or have low transparency. The survey will begin in fall of 2012, and
will run for at least four years. The telescope design constrains the optimal
declination range for observations to , and site
conditions lead to an emphasis on stars in the direction of the Galactic
anticenter. The survey is divided into three parts with different target
selection strategies: disk, anticenter, and spheroid. The resulting dataset
will be used to study the merger history of the Milky Way, the substructure and
evolution of the disks, the nature of the first generation of stars through
identification of the lowest metallicity stars, and star formation through
study of open clusters and the OB associations. Detailed design of the LEGUE
survey will be completed after a review of the results of the pilot survey in
summer 2012.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in RA
Cyr61/CCN1 Is Regulated by Wnt/ÎČ-Catenin Signaling and Plays an Important Role in the Progression of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Abnormal activation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway has been implicated in carcinogenesis. Transcription of Wnt target genes is regulated by nuclear ÎČ-catenin, whose over-expression is observed in Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) tissue. Cyr61, a member of the CCN complex family of multifunctional proteins, is also found over-expressed in many types of tumor and plays dramatically different roles in tumorigenesis. In this study, we investigated the relationship between Cyr61 and ÎČ-catenin in HCC. We found that while Cyr61 protein was not expressed at a detectable level in the liver tissue of healthy individuals, its expression level was elevated in the HCC and HCC adjacent tissues and was markedly increased in cancer-adjacent hepatic cirrhosis tissue. Over-expression of Cyr61 was positively correlated with increased levels of ÎČ-catenin in human HCC samples. Activation of ÎČ-catenin signaling elevated the mRNA level of Cyr61 in HepG2 cells, while inhibition of ÎČ-catenin signaling reduced both mRNA and protein levels of Cyr61. We identified two TCF4-binding elements in the promoter region of human Cyr61 gene and demonstrated that ÎČ-catenin/TCF4 complex specifically bound to the Cyr61 promoter in vivo and directly regulated its promoter activity. Furthermore, we found that over-expression of Cyr61 in HepG2 cells promoted the progression of HCC xenografts in SCID mice. These findings indicate that Cyr61 is a direct target of ÎČ-catenin signaling in HCC and may play an important role in the progression of HCC
Increasing the X-ray Diffraction Power of Protein Crystals by Dehydration: The Case of Bovine Serum Albumin and a Survey of Literature Data
Serum albumin is one of the most widely studied proteins. It is the most abundant protein in plasma with a typical concentration of 5 g/100 mL and the principal transporter of fatty acids in plasma. While the crystal structures of human serum albumin (HSA) free and in complex with fatty acids, hemin, and local anesthetics have been characterized, no crystallographic models are available on bovine serum albumin (BSA), presumably because of the poor diffraction power of existing hexagonal BSA crystals. Here, the crystallization and diffraction data of a new BSA crystal form, obtained by the hanging drop method using MPEG 5K as precipitating agent, are presented. The crystals belong to space group C2, with unit-cell parameters a = 216.45 Ă
, b = 44.72 Ă
, c = 140.18 Ă
, ÎČ = 114.5°. Dehydration was found to increase the diffraction limit of BSA crystals from ~8 Ă
to 3.2 Ă
, probably by improving the packing of protein molecules in the crystal lattice. These results, together with a survey of more than 60 successful cases of protein crystal dehydration, confirm that it can be a useful procedure to be used in initial screening as a method of improving the diffraction limits of existing crystals
A Genome-Wide Gene Function Prediction Resource for Drosophila melanogaster
Predicting gene functions by integrating large-scale biological data remains a challenge for systems biology. Here we present a resource for Drosophila melanogaster gene function predictions. We trained function-specific classifiers to optimize the influence of different biological datasets for each functional category. Our model predicted GO terms and KEGG pathway memberships for Drosophila melanogaster genes with high accuracy, as affirmed by cross-validation, supporting literature evidence, and large-scale RNAi screens. The resulting resource of prioritized associations between Drosophila genes and their potential functions offers a guide for experimental investigations
Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of âs = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pTâ„20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60â€pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2â€{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration
Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector
The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets
containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass
energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The
measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1.
The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary
decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from
the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is
used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive
b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the
range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet
cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the
range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets
and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are
compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed
between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG +
Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet
cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive
cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse
momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version published in European Physical Journal
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