9,831 research outputs found
Characterizing Single Polymeric and Protein Nanoparticles with Surface Plasmon Resonance Imaging Measurements
Near-infrared surface plasmon resonance imaging (SPRI) microscopy is used to detect and characterize the adsorption of single polymeric and protein nanoparticles (PPNPs) onto chemically modified gold thin films in real time. The single-nanoparticle SPRI responses, Î%R_(NP), from several hundred adsorbed nanoparticles are collected in a single SPRI adsorption measurement. Analysis of Î%R_(NP) frequency distribution histograms is used to provide information on the size, material content, and interparticle interactions of the PPNPs. Examples include the measurement of log-normal Î%R_(NP) distributions for mixtures of polystyrene nanoparticles, the quantitation of bioaffinity uptake into and aggregation of porous NIPAm-based (N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel nanoparticles specifically engineered to bind peptides and proteins, and the characterization of the negative single-nanoparticle SPRI response and log-normal Î%R_(NP) distributions obtained for three different types of genetically encoded gas-filled protein nanostructures derived from bacteria
Biomolecular MRI reporters: Evolution of new mechanisms
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a powerful technique for observing the function of specific cells and molecules inside living organisms. However, compared to optical microscopy, in which fluorescent protein reporters are available to visualize hundreds of cellular functions ranging from gene expression and chemical signaling to biomechanics, to date relatively few such reporters are available for MRI. Efforts to develop MRI-detectable biomolecules have mainly focused on proteins transporting paramagnetic metals for T_1 and T_2 relaxation enhancement or containing large numbers of exchangeable protons for chemical exchange saturation transfer. While these pioneering developments established several key uses of biomolecular MRI, such as imaging of gene expression and functional biosensing, they also revealed that low molecular sensitivity poses a major challenge for broader adoption in biology and medicine. Recently, new classes of biomolecular reporters have been developed based on alternative contrast mechanisms, including enhancement of spin diffusivity, interactions with hyperpolarized nuclei, and modulation of blood flow. These novel reporters promise to improve sensitivity and enable new forms of multiplexed and functional imaging
An Extensible Framework for Query Optimization on TripleT-Based RDF Stores
ABSTRACT The RDF data model is a key technology in the Linked Data vision. Given its graph structure, even relatively simple RDF queries often involve a large number of joins. Join evaluation poses a significant performance challenge on all state-of-the-art RDF engines. TripleT is a novel RDF index data structure, demonstrated to be competitive with the current state-of-the-art for join processing. Query optimization on TripleT, however, has not been systematically studied up to this point. In this paper we investigate how the use of (i) heuristics and (ii) data statistics can contribute towards a more intelligent way of generating query plans over TripleT-based RDF stores. We propose a generic framework for query optimization, and show through an extensive empirical study that our framework consistently produces efficient query evaluation plans
The compact central source in the RX J0852-4622 supernova remnant
The central region of the recently discovered supernova remnant RX
J0852.0-4622 was observed with the ACIS detector aboard the Chandra X-ray
Observatory. We found only one relatively bright source, about 4' north of the
SNR center, with a flux of erg s cm in
the 0.5--10 keV band. The position of this point-like source, CXOU
J085201.4-461753, rules out its association with the two bright stars in the
field, HD 76060 and Wray 16-30. Observations of the field with the CTIO 0.9-m
telescope show a star (, ) at about 2\farcs4 from the
nominal X-ray position. We consider association of this star with the X-ray
source unlikely and estimate a limiting magnitude of the optical counterpart as
and . Based on the X-ray-to-optical flux ratio, we
argue that the X-ray source is likely the compact remnant of the supernova
explosion that created the RX J0852.0-4622 SNR. The observed X-ray spectrum of
the source is softer than spectra of magnetospheric radiation of
rotation-powered pulsars, but it is harder than spectra of cooling neutron
stars emitting thermal radiation from the entire surface, similar to the
central compact source of the Cas A SNR. We suggest that CXOU J085201.4-461753
belongs to the growing family of radio-quiet compact central sources,
presumably neutron stars, recently discovered in a number of SNRs.Comment: 4 pages (incl. 2 embedded PS figures), AASTEX, uses emulateapj5.sty.
Submitted to ApJ Letter
Rapid Suppression of the Spin Gap in Zn-doped CuGeO_3 and SrCu_2O_3
The influence of non-magnetic impurities on the spectrum and dynamical spin
structure factor of a model for CuGeO is studied. A simple extension to
Zn-doped is also discussed. Using Exact Diagonalization
techniques and intuitive arguments we show that Zn-doping introduces states in
the Spin-Peierls gap of CuGeO. This effect can beunderstood easily in the
large dimerization limit where doping by Zn creates ``loose'' S=1/2 spins,
which interact with each other through very weak effective antiferromagnetic
couplings. When the dimerization is small, a similar effect is observed but now
with the free S=1/2 spins being the resulting S=1/2 ground state of severed
chains with an odd number of sites. Experimental consequences of these results
are discussed. It is interesting to observe that the spin correlations along
the chains are enhanced by Zn-doping according to the numerical data presented
here. As recent numerical calculations have shown, similar arguments apply to
ladders with non-magnetic impurities simply replacing the tendency to
dimerization in CuGeO by the tendency to form spin-singlets along the rungs
in SrCuO.Comment: 7 pages, 8 postscript figures, revtex, addition of figure 8 and a
section with experimental predictions, submmited to Phys. Rev. B in May 199
The Compact Central Object in the Supernova Remnant G266.2-1.2
We observed the compact central object CXOU J085201.4--461753 in the
supernova remnant G266.2--1.2 (RX J0852.0--4622) with the Chandra ACIS detector
in timing mode. The spectrum of this object can be described by a blackbody
model with the temperature kT=404 eV and radius of the emitting region R=0.28
km, at a distance of 1 kpc. Power-law and thermal plasma models do not fit the
source spectrum. The spectrum shows a marginally significant feature at 1.68
keV. Search for periodicity yields two candidate periods, about 301 ms and 33
ms, both significant at a 2.1 sigma level; the corresponding pulsed fractions
are 13% and 9%, respectively. We find no evidence for long-term variability of
the source flux, nor do we find extended emission around the central object. We
suggest that CXOU J085201.4--461753 is similar to CXOU J232327.9+584842, the
central source of the supernova remnant Cas A. It could be either a neutron
star with a low or regular magnetic field, slowly accreting from a fossil disk,
or, more likely, an isolated neutron star with a superstrong magnetic field. In
either case, a conservative upper limit on surface temperature of a 10 km
radius neutron star is about 90 eV, which suggests accelerated cooling for a
reasonable age of a few thousand years.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 13 pages, 1 figur
Structure of the C-terminal domain of the arginine repressor protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
The structure of the core domain of the arginine repressor protein from M. tuberculosis has been determined with (1.85â
Ă
resolution) and without (2.15â
Ă
resolution) the arginine corepressor bound. Three additional arginine molecules have been found to bind to the core domain hexamer at high (0.2â
M) arginine concentration
Protein Nanostructures Produce Self-Adjusting Hyperpolarized Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast through Physical Gas Partitioning
Signal amplification strategies are critical for overcoming the intrinsically poor sensitivity of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) reporters in noninvasive molecular detection. A mechanism widely used for signal enhancement is chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) of nuclei between a dilute sensing pool and an abundant detection pool. However, the dependence of CEST amplification on the relative size of these spin pools confounds quantitative molecular detection with a larger detection pool typically making saturation transfer less efficient. Here we show that a recently discovered class of genetically encoded nanoscale reporters for ^(129)Xe magnetic resonance overcomes this fundamental limitation through an elastic binding capacity for NMR-active nuclei. This approach pairs high signal amplification from hyperpolarized spins with ideal, self-adjusting saturation transfer behavior as the overall spin ensemble changes in size. These reporters are based on gas vesicles, i.e., microbe-derived, gas-filled protein nanostructures. We show that the xenon fraction that partitions into gas vesicles follows the ideal gas law, allowing the signal transfer under hyperpolarized xenon chemical exchange saturation transfer (Hyper-CEST) imaging to scale linearly with the total xenon ensemble. This conceptually distinct elastic response allows the production of quantitative signal contrast that is robust to variability in the concentration of xenon, enabling virtually unlimited improvement in absolute contrast with increased xenon delivery, and establishing a unique principle of operation for contrast agent development in emerging biochemical and in vivo applications of hyperpolarized NMR and magnetic resonance imaging
Emission Features and Source Counts of Galaxies in Mid-Infrared
In this work we incorporate the newest ISO results on the mid-infrared
spectral-energy-distributions (MIR SEDs) of galaxies into models for the number
counts and redshift distributions of MIR surveys. A three-component model, with
empirically determined MIR SED templates of (1) a cirrus/PDR component (2) a
starburst component and (3) an AGN component, is developed for infrared
(3--120\micron) SEDs of galaxies. The model includes a complete IRAS 25\micron
selected sample of 1406 local galaxies (; Shupe et al. 1998a).
Results based on these 1406 spectra show that the MIR emission features cause
significant effects on the redshift dependence of the K-corrections for fluxes
in the WIRE 25\micron band and ISOCAM 15\micron band. This in turn will affect
deep counts and redshift distributions in these two bands, as shown by the
predictions of two evolution models (a luminosity evolution model with
and a density evolution model with ).
The dips-and-bumps on curves of MIR number counts, caused by the emission
features, should be useful indicators of evolution mode. The strong emission
features at --8\micron will help the detections of relatively high
redshift () galaxies in MIR surveys. On the other hand, determinations
of the evolutionary rate based on the slope of source counts, and studies on
the large scale structures using the redshift distribution of MIR sources, will
have to treat the effects of the MIR emission features carefully. We have also
estimated a 15\micron local luminosity function from the predicted 15\micron
fluxes of the 1406 galaxies using the bivariate (15\micron vs. 25\micron
luminosities) method. This luminosity function will improve our understanding
of the ISOCAM 15\micron surveys.Comment: 24 pages, 14 EPS figures. Accepted by Ap
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