The recently introduced discrete persistent structure extractor (DisPerSE, Sousbie, Paper I) is implemented on realistic 3D cosmological simulations and observed redshift catalogues; it is found that ...DisPerSE traces very well the observed filaments, walls and voids seen both in simulations and in observations. In either setting, filaments are shown to connect on to haloes, outskirt walls, which circumvent voids, as is topologically required by the Morse theory. Indeed this algorithm returns the optimal critical set while operating directly on the particles. DisPerSE, as illustrated here, assumes nothing about the geometry of the survey or its homogeneity, and yields a natural (topologically motivated) self-consistent criterion for selecting the significance level of the identified structures. It is shown that this extraction is possible even for very sparsely sampled point processes, as a function of the persistence ratio (a measure of the significance of topological connections between critical points). Hence, astrophysicists should be in a position to trace precisely the locus of filaments, walls and voids from such samples and assess the confidence of the post-processed sets as a function of this threshold, which can be expressed relative to the expected amplitude of shot noise. In a cosmic framework, this criterion is shown to level with the friends-of-friends structure finder for the identification of peaks, while it also identifies the connected filaments and walls, and quantitatively recovers the full set of topological invariants (number of holes, etc.) directly from the particles, and at no extra cost as a function of the persistence threshold. This criterion is found to be sufficient even if one particle out of two is noise, when the persistence ratio is set to 3σ or more. The algorithm is also implemented on the SDSS catalogue and used to locate interesting configurations of the filamentary structure. In this context, we carried the identification of an 'optically faint' cluster at the intersection of filaments through the recent observation of its X-ray counterpart by Suzaku.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
A simple new method for estimating temporally stable power spectra is introduced to provide a unified basis for computing an interference-free spectrum, the fundamental frequency (F0), as well as ...aperiodicity estimation. F0 adaptive spectral smoothing and cepstral liftering based on consistent sampling theory are employed for interference-free spectral estimation. A perturbation spectrum, calculated from temporally stable power and interference-free spectra, provides the basis for both F0 and aperiodicity estimation. The proposed approach eliminates ad-hoc parameter tuning and the heavy demand on computational power, from which STRAIGHT has suffered in the past.
Context. We present the results from Suzaku observations of the merging cluster of galaxies CIZA J2242.8+5301 at z = 0.192. Aims. To study the physics of gas heating and particle acceleration in ...cluster mergers, we investigated the X-ray emission from CIZA J2242.8+5301, which hosts two giant radio relics in the northern and southern part of the cluster. Methods. We analyzed data from three-pointed Suzaku observations of CIZA J2242.8+5301 to derive the temperature distribution in four different directions. Results. The intracluster medium (ICM) temperature shows a remarkable drop from 8.5-0.6+0.8 keV to 2.7-0.4+0.7 keV across the northern radio relic. The temperature drop is consistent with a Mach number ℳn = 2.7+0.7-0.4 and a shock velocity vshock:n = 2300-400+700 km s-1. We also confirm the temperature drop across the southern radio relic. However, the ICM temperature beyond this relic is much higher than beyond the northern relic, which gives a Mach number ℳs = 1.7+0.4-0.3 and shock velocity vshock:s = 2040-410+550 km s-1. These results agree with other systems showing a relationship between the radio relics and shock fronts which are induced by merging activity. We compare the X-ray derived Mach numbers with the radio derived Mach numbers from the radio spectral index under the assumption of diffusive shock acceleration in the linear test particle regime. For the northern radio relic, the Mach numbers derived from X-ray and radio observations agree with each other. Based on the shock velocities, we estimate that CIZA J2242.8+5301 is observed approximately 0.6 Gyr after core passage. The magnetic field pressure at the northern relic is estimated to be 9% of the thermal pressure.
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FMFMET, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective: To test the hypothesis that dynamic load at baseline can predict radiographic disease progression in patients with medial compartment knee osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: During 1991–93 ...baseline data were collected by assessment of pain, radiography, and gait analysis in 106 patients referred to hospital with medial compartment knee OA. At the six year follow up, 74 patients were again examined to assess radiographic changes. Radiographic disease progression was defined as more than one grade narrowing of minimum joint space of the medial compartment. Results: In the 32 patients showing disease progression, pain was more severe and adduction moment was higher at baseline than in those without disease progression (n=42). Joint space narrowing of the medial compartment during the six year period correlated significantly with the adduction moment at entry. Adduction moment correlated significantly with mechanical axis (varus alignment) and negatively with joint space width and pain score. Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of progression of knee OA increased 6.46 times with a 1% increase in adduction moment. Conclusions: The results suggest that the baseline adduction moment of the knee, which reflects the dynamic load on the medial compartment, can predict radiographic OA progression at the six year follow up in patients with medial compartment knee OA.
Precise measurement of neutrino–nucleus interactions with an accelerator neutrino beam is highly important for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. To measure muon-neutrino ...charged-current interactions with nuclear-emulsion-based hybrid detector, muon track matching among the detectors are essential. We describe the design and performance of a newly developed scintillation tracker for the muon track matching in the neutrino–nucleus interaction measurement with nuclear emulsion detectors. The muon tracks are reconstructed using the scintillation tracker and another detector called Baby MIND, then, they are matched with the tracks in nuclear emulsion detectors.
The scintillation tracker consists of four layers of horizontally and vertically aligned scintillator bars, covering an area of 1m×1m. In the layer, 24mm-wide plastic scintillator bars are specially arranged with deliberate gaps between each other. By recognizing the hit pattern of the four layers, a precise positional resolution of 2.5mm is achieved while keeping the number of readout channels as small as 256. The efficiency of the track matching is evaluated to be more than 97% for forward-going muons, and the positional and angular resolutions of the scintillation tracker are 2.5mm and 20–40mrad respectively. The results demonstrate the usefulness of the design of the scintillation tracker for the muon track matching in the nuclear-emulsion-based neutrino–nucleus interaction measurements.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
A new type of cold/ultracold neutron detector that can realize a spatial resolution of less than 100 nm was developed using nuclear emulsion. The detector consists of a fine-grained nuclear emulsion ...coating and a 50-nm thick
10
B
4
C
layer for the neutron conversion. The detector was exposed to cold and ultracold neutrons (UCNs) at the J-PARC. Detection efficiencies were measured as (0.163 ± 0.015 (stat) ± 0.013 (sys))% and (10.3 ± 1.3 (stat) ± 1.1 (sys))% for cold and ultracold neutrons consistently with the
10
B content in the converter. Positions of individual neutrons can be determined by observing secondary particle tracks recorded in the nuclear emulsion. The spatial resolution of incident neutrons were found to be in the range of 11–99 nm in the angle region of tan
θ
≤
1.9
, where
θ
is the angle between a recorded track and the normal direction of the converter layer. The achieved spatial resolution corresponds to the improvement of one or two orders of magnitude compared with conventional techniques and it is comparable with the wavelength of UCNs.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract Ghrelin induces orexigenic behavior by activation of growth hormone secretagogue 1 receptors (GHSRs) in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) as well as hypothalamus, suggesting the involvement ...of mesolimbic dopamine system in the action of ghrelin. The present study aimed to identify neuronal mechanisms by which peripherally administered ghrelin regulates the mesolimbic dopamine system under different food-consumptive states. Ghrelin was administered to rats peripherally (3 nmol, i.v.) as well as locally into the VTA (0.3 nmol). Dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell (NAc) was measured by microdialysis. Peripheral administration of ghrelin decreased dopamine levels in the NAc when food was removed following ghrelin administration. This inhibitory effect was mediated through GABAA and N-methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptors in the VTA. In contrast, when animals consumed food following ghrelin administration, dopamine levels increased robustly. This stimulatory effect was mediated through NMDA receptors, but not through GABAA receptors, in the VTA. Importantly, both the inhibitory and stimulatory effects of ghrelin primarily required activation of GHSRs in the VTA. Furthermore, local injection of ghrelin into the VTA induced dopamine release in the NAc and food consumption, supporting the local action of ghrelin in the VTA. In conclusion, peripherally administered ghrelin activates GHSRs in the VTA, and induces bimodal effects on mesolimbic dopamine neurotransmission depending on food-consumptive states.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Abstract
A nuclear emulsion film is a three-dimensional tracking device that is widely used in cosmic-ray and high-energy physics experiments. Scanning with a wide angle acceptance is crucial for ...obtaining track information in emulsion films. This study presents a new method developed for wide angle acceptance and high-speed track recognition of nuclear emulsion films for neutrino–nucleus interaction measurements. The nuclear emulsion technique can be used to measure tracks of charged particles from neutrino interactions with a low momentum threshold. The detection of the particles with a wide angle acceptance is essential for obtaining detailed information on the interactions in the sub- and multi-GeV neutrino energy region. In the new method developed for a neutrino interaction measurement in J-PARC called NINJA, the angle acceptance is covered up to |tan θx(y)| < 5.0 (80% of all solid angles) with $150\, \mathrm{m^2/year}$. This method can also be used to improve the angle accuracy and recognition efficiency of the tracks.
Aims
To elucidate varicella zoster virus (VZV)‐specific cell‐mediated immunity and humoral immunogenicity against live attenuated Oka varicella zoster vaccine concurrently vaccinated with 23‐valent ...pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) in elderly people with diabetes mellitus.
Methods
This double‐blind randomized controlled single‐centre study of 60–70‐year‐old people with diabetes compared immunity and safety profiles 3 months after one dose of varicella zoster vaccine or placebo. PPSV23 was immunized simultaneously. Primary analysis evaluated cell‐mediated immunity using the VZV skin test. Secondary analyses were a VZV interferon–γ enzyme‐linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay and immunoadherence haemagglutination test. Adverse experiences were recorded using diary questionnaires.
Results
By intent‐to‐treat analysis, 27 participants with diabetes who had been administered the vaccine were compared with 27 participants who were given a placebo. Changes in skin test scores were 0.41 ± 0.80 and 0.11 ± 0.93 (P = 0.2155), and geometric mean fold rises of the ELISPOT counts were 1.2 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2, 7.9 and 1.2 (95% CI 0.2, 7.3) (P = 0.989) in the vaccine and placebo groups, respectively. The geometric mean titre did not increase 3 months after vaccination in either group. No vaccination‐related severe adverse experience was reported and no participant developed herpes zoster.
Discussion
Our previous results demonstrated that varicella zoster vaccine safely enhanced VZV‐specific immunity in elderly people with or without diabetes. The results of this study showed that varicella zoster vaccine can be used safely, but it cannot boost virus‐specific immunity in elderly people with diabetes when administered with concurrent PPSV23. Alternative strategies are needed to prevent VZV‐associated diseases in this population.
What's new?
This first randomized, double‐blind placebo‐controlled study evaluated cell‐mediated immunity (CMI) to live varicella zoster vaccine in 60‐70‐year‐old patients with diabetes simultaneously immunized with pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23).
Primary outcomes were CMI‐assessed by varicella zoster virus (VZV) skin test. Secondary outcomes were VZV interferon‐gamma ELISPOT assay, immunoadherence hemagglutination test and adverse experiences.
By intent‐to‐treat analysis, the vaccine was used safely but did not boost VZV‐specific immunity in elderly patients with diabetes compared to placebo.
Our earlier report described that live varicella zoster vaccine enhanced CMI to VZV in elderly patients with or without diabetes.
Concurrent PPSV23 administration might affect immune response.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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