Two new species and one new combination of Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Muscidae) from China

Two new species of the genus Helina Robineau-Desvoidy, 1830 from Sichuan, China are described and illustrated, i.e. Helina fulvibasicosta Ming-Fu Wang sp. n. and Helina flavipes Ming-Fu Wang&Chen Sun sp. n. After re-examining the holotype, Helina occidentalisinica Feng, Shi & Li, 2005 is transferred to the genus Hebecnema Schnabl

Analysis of Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism in hemoglobin E/β-thalassemia major in Southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ^Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism plays important function in the clinical variability of HbE/β-thalassemia. There is little known about ^Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism in HbE/β-thalassemia major in Southern China. This study aimed to explore the association between HbE/β-thalassemia major and this polymorphism in Southern China.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>The frequency of the ^Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism has been evaluated in 32 patients with HbE/β-thalassemia major from Southern China. Further analysis of the ^Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism revealed the prominent frequency of this polymorphic pattern among HbE/β-thalassemia major patients (65.63%). The presence of this polymorphism was strongly correlated with the increase of HbF synthesis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The frequency of the ^Gγ-158(C→T) polymorphism was relatively high in Southern Chinese patients with HbE/β-thalassemia major, often accompanying with high production of HbF. This feature appears to be different with reports in other races and regions.</p

A Bayesian Approach to Estimate the Size and Structure of the Broad-line Region in Active Galactic Nuclei Using Reverberation Mapping Data

This is the first paper in a series devoted to systematic study of the size and structure of the broad-line region (BLR) in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using reverberation mapping (RM) data. We employ a recently developed Bayesian approach that statistically describes the variabibility as a damped random walk process and delineates the BLR structure using a flexible disk geometry that can account for a variety of shapes, including disks, rings, shells, and spheres. We allow for the possibility that the line emission may respond non-linearly to the continuum, and we detrend the light curves when there is clear evidence for secular variation. We use a Markov Chain Monte Carlo implementation based on Bayesian statistics to recover the parameters and uncertainties for the BLR model. The corresponding transfer function is obtained self-consistently. We tentatively constrain the virial factor used to estimate black hole masses; more accurate determinations will have to await velocity-resolved RM data. Application of our method to RM data with Hbeta monitoring for about 40 objects shows that the assumed BLR geometry can reproduce quite well the observed emission-line fluxes from the continuum light curves. We find that the Hbeta BLR sizes obtained from our method are on average ~20% larger than those derived from the traditional cross-correlation method. Nevertheless, we still find a tight BLR size-luminosity relation with a slope of alpha=0.55\pm0.03 and an intrinsic scatter of ~0.18 dex. In particular, we demonstrate that our approach yields appropriate BLR sizes for some objects (such as Mrk 142 and PG 2130+099) where traditional methods previously encountered difficulties.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; minor reversion to match the published versio

A New Approach to Constrain Black Hole Spins in Active Galaxies Using Optical Reverberation Mapping

A tight relation between the size of the broad-line region (BLR) and optical luminosity has been established in about 50 active galactic nuclei studied through reverberation mapping of the broad Hbeta emission line. The R_blr-L relation arises from simple photoionization considerations. Using a general relativistic model of an optically thick, geometrically thin accretion disk, we show that the ionizing luminosity jointly depends on black hole mass, accretion rate, and spin. The non-monotonic relation between the ionizing and optical luminosity gives rise to a complicated relation between the BLR size and the optical luminosity. We show that the reverberation lag of Hbeta to the varying continuum depends very sensitively to black hole spin. For retrograde spins, the disk is so cold that there is a deficit of ionizing photons in the BLR, resulting in shrinkage of the hydrogen ionization front with increasing optical luminosity, and hence shortened Hbeta lags. This effect is specially striking for luminous quasars undergoing retrograde accretion, manifesting in strong deviations from the canonical R_blr-L relation. This could lead to a method to estimate black hole spins of quasars and to study their cosmic evolution. At the same time, the small scatter of the observed R_blr-L relation for the current sample of reverberation-mapped active galaxies implies that the majority of these sources have rapidly spinning black holes.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in ApJ

Electrical Neutrality and Symmetry Restoring Phase Transitions at High Density in a Two-Flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Model

A general research on chiral symmetry restoring phase transitions at zero temperature and finite chemical potentials under electrical neutrality condition has been conducted in a Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model to describe two-flavor normal quark matter. Depending on that $m_0/\Lambda$, the ratio of dynamical quark mass in vacuum and the 3D momentum cutoff in the loop integrals, is less or greater than 0.413, the phase transition will be second or first order. A complete phase diagram of $u$ quark chemical potential versus $m_0$ is given. With the electrical neutrality constraint, the region where second order phase transition happens will be wider than the one without electrical neutrality limitation. The results also show that, for the value of $m_0/\Lambda$ from QCD phenomenology, the phase transition must be first order.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Expression of Wnt and NCX1 and its correlation with cardiomyocyte apoptosis in mouse with myocardial hypertrophy

AbstractObjectiveTo study the correlation between expression of Wnt and NCX1 and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in mouse with myocardial hypertrophy.MethodsC57B/16 male mice were given the subcutaneous injection of 1 mg/kg isoprenaline to build the myocardial hypertrophy model. After 14 d of model building, mice were executed by cervical vertebra luxation. The ratio of heart weight/body weight (HW/BW) and heart weight/tibia length (HW/TL) was observed and proved using HE staining that detected the size of cardiomyocytes. 40 male C57B/16 mice were randomly divided into the sham group (normal saline) and model group (isoprenaline), with 20 mice in each group. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling was applied to detect the cardiomyocyte apoptosis; while Western blot and immunohistochemistry were employed to detect the expression of Wnt and NCX1. Meanwhile, the correlation between these two proteins and cardiomyocyte apoptosis was explored.ResultsCompared with the sham group, the ratio of HW/BW and HW/TL was increased in the model group, as well as the bigger and hypertrophied cardiomyocytes, decreased number and increased apoptosis of cardiomyocytes, and increased positive expression of Wnt3a, Wnt5a and NCX1 in the cardiac muscle tissue. Besides, there was positive correlation between the expression of Wnt and NCX1 and the cardiomyocyte apoptosis.ConclusionThe expression of Wnt3a, Wnt5a and NCX1 in mouse with myocardial hypertrophy is increased and positively correlated with the cardiomyocyte apoptosis