1,607 research outputs found
Fanconi Anemia Complementation Group D2 (FANCD2) Functions Independently of BRCA2- and RAD51-Associated Homologous Recombination in Response to DNA Damage
The BRCA2 breast cancer tumor suppressor is involved in the repair of double strand breaks and broken replication forks by homologous recombination through its interaction with DNA repair protein Rad51. Cells defective in BRCA2-FANCD1 are extremely sensitive to mitomycin C (MMC) similarly to cells deficient in any of the Fanconi anemia (FA) complementation group proteins (FANC). These observations suggest that the FA pathway and the BRCA2 and Rad51 repair pathway may be linked, although a functional connection between these pathways in DNA damage signaling remains to be determined. Here, we systematically investigated the interaction between these pathways. We show that in response to DNA damage, BRCA2-dependent Rad51 nuclear focus formation was normal in the absence of FANCD2 and that FANCD2 nuclear focus formation and mono-ubiquitination appeared normal in BRCA2-deficient cells. We report that the absence of BRCA2 substantially reduced homologous recombination repair of DNA breaks, whereas the absence of FANCD2 had little effect. Furthermore, we established that depletion of BRCA2 or Rad51 had a greater effect on cell survival in response to MMC than depletion of FANCD2 and that depletion of BRCA2 in FANCD2 mutant cells further sensitized these cells to MMC. Our results suggest that FANCD2 mediates double strand DNA break repair independently of Rad51-associated homologous recombination
The Orbit and Position of the X-ray Pulsar XTE J1855-026 - an Eclipsing Supergiant System
A pulse timing orbit has been obtained for the X-ray binary XTE J1855-026
using observations made with the Proportional Counter Array on board the Rossi
X-ray Timing Explorer. The mass function obtained of ~16Mo together with the
detection of an extended near-total eclipse confirm that the primary star is a
supergiant as predicted. The orbital eccentricity is found to be very low with
a best fit value of 0.04 +/- 0.02. The orbital period is also refined to be
6.0724 +/- 0.0009 days using an improved and extended light curve obtained with
RXTE's All Sky Monitor. Observations with the ASCA satellite provide an
improved source location of R.A. = 18h 55m 31.3s}, decl. = -02o 36' 24.0"
(2000) with an estimated systematic uncertainty of less than 12". A
serendipitous new source, AX J1855.4-0232, was also discovered during the ASCA
observations.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Photoemission evidence for a Mott-Hubbard metal-insulator transition in VO
The temperature () dependent metal-insulator transition (MIT) in VO is
investigated using bulk sensitive hard x-ray ( 8 keV) valence band, core
level, and V 2 resonant photoemission spectroscopy (PES). The valence
band and core level spectra are compared with full-multiplet cluster model
calculations including a coherent screening channel. Across the MIT, V 3
spectral weight transfer from the coherent ( final)
states at Fermi level to the incoherent ( final)
states, corresponding to the lower Hubbard band, lead to gap-formation. The
spectral shape changes in V 1 and V 2 core levels as well as the valence
band are nicely reproduced from a cluster model calculations, providing
electronic structure parameters. Resonant-PES finds that the
states resonate across the V 2 threshold in
addition to the and states. The results support
a Mott-Hubbard transition picture for the first order MIT in VO.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. to be published in Phys. Rev.
Collective ferromagnetism in two-component Fermi-degenerate gas trapped in finite potential
Spin asymmetry of the ground states is studied for the trapped
spin-degenerate (two-component) gases of the fermionic atoms with the repulsive
interaction between different components, and, for large particle number, the
asymmetric (collective ferromagnetic) states are shown to be stable because it
can be energetically favorable to increase the fermi energy of one component
rather than the increase of the interaction energy between up-down components.
We formulate the Thomas-Fermi equations and show the algebraic methods to solve
them. From the Thomas-Fermi solutions, we find three kinds of ground states in
finite system: 1) paramagnetic (spin-symmetric), 2) ferromagnetic (equilibrium)
and 3) ferromagnetic (nonequilibrium) states. We show the density profiles and
the critical atom numbers for these states obtained analytically, and, in
ferromagnetic states, the spin-asymmetries are shown to occur in the central
regions of the trapped gas, and grows up with increasing particle number. Based
on the obtained results, we discuss the experimental conditions and current
difficulties to realize the ferromagnetic states of the trapped atom gas, which
should be overcome.Comment: submit to PR
X-ray Signatures of an Ionized Reprocessor in the Seyfert galaxy Ton S 180
We discuss the hard X-ray properties of the Seyfert galaxy Ton S 180, based
upon the analysis of ASCA data. We find the X-ray flux varied by a factor ~2 on
a time scale of a few thousand seconds. The source showed significantly higher
amplitude of variability in the 0.5-2 keV band than in the 2-10 keV band. The
continuum is adequately parameterized as a Gamma ~ 2.5 power-law across the
0.6--10 keV band . We confirm the recent discovery of an emission line of high
equivalent width, due to Fe K-shell emission from highly-ionized material.
These ASCA data show the Fe line profile to be broad and asymmetric and
tentatively suggest it is stronger during the X-ray flares, consistent with an
origin from the inner parts of an accretion disk. The X-ray spectrum is complex
below 2 keV, possibly due to emission from a blend of soft X-ray lines, which
would support the existence of an ionized reprocessor, most likely due to a
relatively high accretion rate in this source.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures. LaTeX with encapsulated postscript. To appear in
the Astrophysical Journa
Superfield description of 5D supergravity on general warped geometry
We provide a systematic and practical method of deriving 5D supergravity
action described by 4D superfields on a general warped geometry, including a
non-BPS background. Our method is based on the superconformal formulation of 5D
supergravity, but is easy to handle thanks to the superfield formalism. We
identify the radion superfield in the language of 5D superconformal gravity,
and clarify its appearance in the action. We also discuss SUSY breaking effects
induced by a deformed geometry due to the backreaction of the radius
stabilizer.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, LaTeX, final version to appear in JHE
Influence of severe plastic deformation on the precipitation hardening of a FeSiTi steel
The combined strengthening effects of grain refinement and high precipitated
volume fraction (~6at.%) on the mechanical properties of FeSiTi alloy subjected
to SPD processing prior to aging treatment were investigated by atom probe
tomography and scanning transmission electron microscopy. It was shown that the
refinement of the microstructure affects the precipitation kinetics and the
spatial distribution of the secondary hardening intermetallic phase, which was
observed to nucleate heterogeneously on dislocations and sub-grain boundaries.
It was revealed that alloys successively subjected to these two strengthening
mechanisms exhibit a lower increase in mechanical strength than a simple
estimation based on the summation of the two individual strengthening
mechanisms
Determination of the Fermion Pair Size in a Resonantly Interacting Superfluid
Fermionic superfluidity requires the formation of pairs. The actual size of
these fermion pairs varies by orders of magnitude from the femtometer scale in
neutron stars and nuclei to the micrometer range in conventional
superconductors. Many properties of the superfluid depend on the pair size
relative to the interparticle spacing. This is expressed in BCS-BEC crossover
theories, describing the crossover from a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) type
superfluid of loosely bound and large Cooper pairs to Bose-Einstein
condensation (BEC) of tightly bound molecules. Such a crossover superfluid has
been realized in ultracold atomic gases where high temperature superfluidity
has been observed. The microscopic properties of the fermion pairs can be
probed with radio-frequency (rf) spectroscopy. Previous work was difficult to
interpret due to strong and not well understood final state interactions. Here
we realize a new superfluid spin mixture where such interactions have
negligible influence and present fermion-pair dissociation spectra that reveal
the underlying pairing correlations. This allows us to determine the
spectroscopic pair size in the resonantly interacting gas to be 2.6(2)/kF (kF
is the Fermi wave number). The pairs are therefore smaller than the
interparticle spacing and the smallest pairs observed in fermionic superfluids.
This finding highlights the importance of small fermion pairs for superfluidity
at high critical temperatures. We have also identified transitions from fermion
pairs into bound molecular states and into many-body bound states in the case
of strong final state interactions.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures; Figures updated; New Figures added; Updated
discussion of fit function
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