We report the recent detection by the Fermi γ-ray space telescope of high-energy γ-rays from the radio galaxy NGC 1275 that makes the observation of the very high energy (VHE: E>100 GeV) part of its ...broadband spectrum particularly interesting, especially for the understanding of active galactic nuclei with misaligned multi-structured jets. The radio galaxy NGC 1275 was recently observed by VERITAS at energies above 100 GeV for about 8 hr. No VHE γ-ray emission was detected by VERITAS from NGC 1275. Finally, a 99% confidence level upper limit of 2.1% of the Crab Nebula flux level is obtained at the decorrelation energy of approximately 340 GeV, corresponding to 19% of the power-law extrapolation of the Fermi Large Area Telescope result.
We present two Suzaku observations of the Galactic center microquasar 1E 1740.7-2942 separated by approximately 700 days. The source was observed on both occasions after a transition to the ...spectrally hard state. Significant emission from 1E 1740.7-2942 is detected out to an energy of 300 keV, with no spectral break or turnover evident in the data. We tentatively measure a lower limit to the cutoff energy of {approx}380 keV. The spectra are found to be consistent with a Comptonized corona on both occasions, where the high energy emission is consistent with a hard power-law ({Gamma} {approx} 1.8) with a significant contribution from an accretion disk with a temperature of {approx}0.4 keV at soft X-ray energies. The measured value for the inner radius of the accretion disk is found to be inconsistent with the picture whereby the disk is truncated at large radii in the low-hard state and instead favors a radius close to the ISCO (R{sub in} {approx} 10 - 20 R{sub g}).
A 7-year-old captive female prothonotary warbler (Protonotaria citrea) died following chronic feather and weight loss. At necropsy, the right eye had a 2 x 2 x 1 mm corneal plaque of inspissated ...yellow-tan material and edema of the lower eyelid. Microscopically, both eyes exhibited diffuse, severe pyogranulomatous endophthalmitis with retinal necrosis and detachment. Numerous intralesional branching, gram-positive, beaded, filamentous bacteria formed a thick mat attached to the retinal pigmented epithelium and extending into the pecten. Bacteria were strongly acid-fast positive by Fite's stain but only occasionally acid-fast positive by Ziehl-Neelsen staining, a characteristic consistent with a Nocardia spp. Infected regions demonstrated positive in situ hybridization reactivity with a probe complementary to the 16S rRNA gene of Nocardia spp. There was no evidence of primary bacterial infection in the other organs examined.
We investigate the process-structure-property relationships for 316L stainless steel prototyping utilizing 3-D laser engineered net shaping (LENS), a commercial direct energy deposition additive ...manufacturing process. The study concluded that the resultant physical metallurgy of 3-D LENS 316L prototypes is dictated by the interactive metallurgical reactions, during instantaneous powder feeding/melting, molten metal flow and liquid metal solidification. The study also showed 3-D LENS manufacturing is capable of building high strength and ductile 316L prototypes due to its fine cellular spacing from fast solidification cooling, and the well-fused epitaxial interfaces at metal flow trails and interpass boundaries. However, without further LENS process control and optimization, the deposits are vulnerable to localized hardness variation attributed to heterogeneous microstructure, i.e., the interpass heat-affected zone (HAZ) from repetitive thermal heating during successive layer depositions. Most significantly, the current deposits exhibit anisotropic tensile behavior, i.e., lower strain and/or premature interpass delamination parallel to build direction (axial). This anisotropic behavior is attributed to the presence of interpass HAZ, which coexists with flying feedstock inclusions and porosity from incomplete molten metal fusion. The current observations and findings contribute to the scientific basis for future process control and optimization necessary for material property control and defect mitigation.
They found that in phase II trials, median survival better predicted survival in phase III trials than did response rate, the standard phase II outcome measure. "All the successful treatments for ...extensive SCLC have a predicted power of greater than 0.55 based on our model," T. Timothy Chen said, which suggests that this number might be a reasonable cutoff point for determining whether the regimen should advance to a phase III trial.
Richard Ungerleider, M.D., chief of the Clinical Investigations Branch, said the decision to move from phase II to phase III is based on whether the agent demonstrated the response rate of interest ...that was specified in the phase II protocol. "In a perfect world, all agents meeting the protocol-specified criteria would go on to be tested in a phase III trial," he said.
The mucilaginous gel from the parenchymatous cells in the leaf pulp of Aloe vera has been used since early times for a host of curative purposes. This gel should be distinguished clearly from the ...bitter yellow exudate originating from the bundle sheath cells, which is used for its purgative effects. Aloe vera gel has come to play a prominent role as a contemporary folk remedy, and numerous optimistic, and in some cases extravagant, claims have been made for its medicinal properties. Modern clinical use of the gel began in the 1930s, with reports of successful treatment of X-ray and radium burns, which led to further experimental studies using laboratory animals in the following decades. The reports of these experiments and the numerous favourable case histories did not give conclusive evidence, since although positive results were usually described, much of the work suffered from poor experimental design and insufficiently large test samples. In addition some conflicting or inconsistent results were obtained. With the recent resurgence of interest in Aloe vera gel, however, new experimental work has indicated the possibility of distinct physiological effects. Chemical analysis has shown the gel to contain various carbohydrate polymers, notably either glucomannans or pectic acid, along with a range of other organic and inorganic components. Although many physiological properties of the gel have been described, there is no certain correlation between these and the identified gel components.
The first segment of a two-part series examines the race to patent the human genome sequence. Twenty years ago, the US Patent and Trademark Office held that life forms (and by their extension, their ...genes) were unpatentable because they were products of nature. A 1980 Supreme Court decision reversed that policy, and now over 2,000 patents on genes and partial genes have been issued, and about 10,000 applications have been submitted.
Investigation of the atomic structure of a ... Zr/ZrN interface shows that it is a type-3 incoherent interface (i.e., high-index orientation relationship with a low-index interface plane in only one ...phase), as determined from conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) images, image simulations, and near-coincidence-site atomic modeling of the interface. Long facets and atomic ledges several {111}^sub ZrN^ planes high form at the interface, indicating that such features cannot be used as criteria to define partial coherency at interfaces. These results also indicate that ledgewise growth is possible during the phase transformation from Zr to ZrN. Composition profiles taken across the interface using energy-filtering TEM and the N K-edge show that the composition changes abruptly at the interface, in accord with the structural transformation. Simulation results on an inclined ... Zr/ZrN interface indicate that it is possible to judge whether an interface is inclined and faceted at the same time. A rough interface can look faceted in a HRTEM image due to projection effects, but only under a very strict set of conditions. Conversely, an interface cannot be faceted if it looks rough in an HRTEM image. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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