Abstract
While satellite-based global navigation systems have become essential tools in our daily lives, their effectiveness is often hampered by the fact that the signals cannot be accessed in ...underground, indoor, or underwater environments. Recently, a novel navigation system has been invented to address this issue by utilizing the characteristics of the ubiquitous and highly penetrative cosmic-ray muons. This technique, muometric navigation, does not require active signal generation and enables positioning in the aforementioned environments within a reference coordinate defined by the three-dimensional positions of multiple detectors. In its first phase of development, these reference detectors had to be connected to the receivers via a wired configuration to guarantee precise time synchronization. This work describes more versatile, wireless muometric navigation system (MuWNS), which was designed in conjunction with a cost-effective, crystal-oscillator-based grandmaster clock and a performance evaluation is reported for shallow underground/indoor, deep underground and undersea environments. It was confirmed that MuWNS offers a navigation quality almost equivalent to aboveground GPS-based handheld navigation by determining the distance between the reference frame and the receivers within a precision range between 1 and 10 m.
Summary Background Rituximab could be an effective treatment for childhood-onset, complicated, frequently relapsing nephrotic syndrome (FRNS) and steroid-dependent nephrotic syndrome (SDNS). We ...investigated the efficacy and safety of rituximab in patients with high disease activity. Methods We did a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial at nine centres in Japan. We screened patients aged 2 years or older experiencing a relapse of FRNS or SDNS, which had originally been diagnosed as nephrotic syndrome when aged 1–18 years. Patients with complicated FRNS or SDNS who met all other criteria were eligible for inclusion after remission of the relapse at screening. We used a computer-generated sequence to randomly assign patients (1:1) to receive rituximab (375 mg/m2 ) or placebo once weekly for 4 weeks, with age, institution, treatment history, and the intervals between the previous three relapses as adjustment factors. Patients, guardians, caregivers, physicians, and individuals assessing outcomes were masked to assignments. All patients received standard steroid treatment for the relapse at screening and stopped taking immunosuppressive agents by 169 days after randomisation. Patients were followed up for 1 year. The primary endpoint was the relapse-free period. Safety endpoints were frequency and severity of adverse events. Patients who received their assigned intervention were included in analyses. This trial is registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network clinical trials registry, number UMIN000001405. Findings Patients were centrally registered between Nov 13, 2008, and May 19, 2010. Of 52 patients who underwent randomisation, 48 received the assigned intervention (24 were given rituximab and 24 placebo). The median relapse-free period was significantly longer in the rituximab group (267 days, 95% CI 223–374) than in the placebo group (101 days, 70–155; hazard ratio: 0·27, 0·14–0·53; p<0·0001). Ten patients (42%) in the rituximab group and six (25%) in the placebo group had at least one serious adverse event (p=0·36). Interpretation Rituximab is an effective and safe treatment for childhood-onset, complicated FRNS and SDNS. Funding Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
Recent advances in limb regeneration are revealing the molecular events that integrate growth control, cell fate programming, and positional information to yield the exquisite replacement of the ...amputated limb. Parallel progress in several invertebrate and vertebrate models has provided a broader context for understanding the mechanisms and the evolution of regeneration. Together, these discoveries provide a foundation for describing the principles underlying regeneration of complex, multi-tissue structures. As such these findings should provide a wealth of ideas for engineers seeking to reconstitute regeneration from constituent parts or to elicit full regeneration from partial regeneration events.
Recent advances in limb regeneration are revealing the molecular events that integrate growth control, cell fate programming, and positional information to yield the exquisite replacement of the amputated limb. Parallel progress in several invertebrate and vertebrate models has provided a broader context for understanding the mechanisms and the evolution of regeneration. Together, these discoveries provide a foundation for describing the principles underlying regeneration of complex, multi-tissue structures. As such these findings should provide a wealth of ideas for engineers seeking to reconstitute regeneration from constituent parts or to elicit full regeneration from partial regeneration events.
An analysis of atmospheric neutrino data from all four run periods of Super-Kamiokande optimized for sensitivity to the neutrino mass hierarchy is presented. Confidence intervals for Δm322, sin2θ23, ...sin2θ13 and δCP are presented for normal neutrino mass hierarchy and inverted neutrino mass hierarchy hypotheses, based on atmospheric neutrino data alone. Additional constraints from reactor data on θ13 and from published binned T2K data on muon neutrino disappearance and electron neutrino appearance are added to the atmospheric neutrino fit to give enhanced constraints on the above parameters. Over the range of parameters allowed at 90% confidence level, the normal mass hierarchy is favored by between 91.9% and 94.5% based on the combined Super-Kamiokande plus T2K result.
Close encounters between galaxies are expected to be a viable mechanism, as predicted by numerical simulations, by which accretion onto supermassive black holes can be initiated. To test this ...scenario, we construct a sample of 562 galaxies (M * > 2.5 X 1010 M ) in kinematic pairs over the redshift range 0.25 < z < 1.05 that are more likely to be interacting than a well-matched control sample of 2726 galaxies not identified as being in a pair, both from the zCOSMOS 20k spectroscopic catalog. Galaxies that harbor an active galactic nucleus (AGN) are identified on the basis of their X-ray emission (L 0.5-10 keV > 2 X 1042 erg s--1) detected by Chandra. We find a higher fraction of an AGN in galaxies in pairs relative to isolated galaxies of similar stellar mass. Our result is primarily due to an enhancement of AGN activity, by a factor of 1.9 (observed) and 2.6 (intrinsic), for galaxies in pairs of projected separation less than 75 kpc and line-of-sight velocity offset less than 500 km s--1. This study demonstrates that close kinematic pairs are conducive environments for black hole growth, either indicating a causal physical connection or an inherent relation, such as, to enhanced star formation. In the Appendix, we describe a method for estimating the intrinsic fractions of galaxies (either in pairs or the field) hosting an AGN with confidence intervals, and an excess fraction in pairs. We estimate that 17.8+8.4 --7.4% of all moderate-luminosity AGN activity takes place within galaxies undergoing early stages of interaction that leaves open the question as to what physical processes are responsible for fueling the remaining ~80% that may include late-stage mergers.
Objective:
A multicenter retrospective cohort study was performed to compare the outcomes of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) versus open gastrectomy (OG) for scirrhous gastric cancer (GC) as a unique ...subtype also known as type 4 gastric cancer or linitis plastica.
Background:
Although data on the efficacy and safety of LG as an alternative to OG are emerging, the applicability of LG to scirrhous GC remains unclear.
Methods:
Patients with clinical type 4 GC undergoing gastrectomy at 13 hospitals from 2005 to 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. As the primary endpoint, we compared overall survival (OS) between the LG and OG groups. To adjust for confounding factors, we used multivariate Cox regression analysis for the main analyses and propensity-score matching for sensitivity analysis. Short-term outcomes and recurrence-free survival were also compared.
Results:
A total of 288 patients (LG, 62; OG, 226) were included in the main analysis. Postoperative complications occurred in 25.8% and 30.1%, respectively (
P
= 0.44). No significant difference in recurrence-free survival was observed (
P
= 0.72). The 5-year OS rates were 32.4% and 31.6% in the LG and OG groups, respectively (
P
= 0.60). The hazard ratio (LG/OG) for OS was 0.98 (95% confidence interval CI, 0.65–1.43) in the multivariate regression analysis. In the sensitivity analyses after propensity-score matching, the hazard ratio for OS was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.58–1.45).
Conclusions:
Considering the hazard ratios and 95% CIs for OS, LG for scirrhous GC was not associated with worse survival than that for OG.
We report the electron flux modulations without corresponding magnetic fluctuations from unique multipoint satellite observations of the Arase (Exploration of Energization and Radiation in Geospace) ...and the Van Allen Probe (Radiation Belt Storm Probe RBSP)‐B satellites. On 30 March 2017, both Arase and RBSP‐B observed periodic fluctuations in the relativistic electron flux with energies ranging from 500 keV to 2 MeV when they were located near the magnetic equator in the morning and dusk local time sectors, respectively. Arase did not observe Pc5 pulsations, while they were observed by RBSP‐B. The clear dispersion signature of the relativistic electron fluctuations observed by Arase indicates that the source region is limited to the postnoon to the dusk sector. This is confirmed by RBSP‐B and ground‐magnetometer observations, where Pc5 pulsations are observed to drift‐resonate with relativistic electrons on the duskside. Thus, Arase observed the drift‐resonance signatures “remotely,” whereas RBSP‐B observed them “locally.”
Plain Language Summary
Magnetohydrodynamic waves in the outer radiation belt with periods of ~150–250 s occasionally cause the acceleration of energetic electrons drifting eastward around the Earth. We examined the longitudinal distributions of the interaction region in which magnetohydrodynamic waves with periods of ~150–250 s interacted with energetic electrons on 30 March 2017, using simultaneously observed data by multisatellite observations from the Arase and the Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP)‐B satellites. Both satellites observed radiation belts at different local times but at almost the same Earth radii. The Arase satellite located in the dawn sector observed energetic electron flux modulations that had clear energy dispersion signatures, while magnetohydrodynamic waves with the same period were not identified. However, the RBSP‐B located in the dusk sector simultaneously observed magnetohydrodynamic waves and the energetic electron modulations with the characteristics of the interaction. This multipoint measurement indicates that the interaction region is limited from the postnoon to the dusk sector.
Key Points
Arase observed flux modulations of relativistic electrons at 04 MLT without variations in the ambient magnetic and electric fields
Time‐of‐flight analysis from the energy dispersion of relativistic electrons identified the drift‐resonant region to be 14–18 MLT
The interactions between Pc5 waves and relativistic electrons occurred at a limited local time even though the estimated m number is small
THE FIRST FERMI LAT SUPERNOVA REMNANT CATALOG Acero, F.; Ajello, M.; Baldini, L. ...
The Astrophysical journal. Supplement series,
05/2016, Letnik:
224, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
ABSTRACT To uniformly determine the properties of supernova remnants (SNRs) at high energies, we have developed the first systematic survey at energies from 1 to 100 GeV using data from the Fermi ...Large Area Telescope (LAT). Based on the spatial overlap of sources detected at GeV energies with SNRs known from radio surveys, we classify 30 sources as likely GeV SNRs. We also report 14 marginal associations and 245 flux upper limits. A mock catalog in which the positions of known remnants are scrambled in Galactic longitude allows us to determine an upper limit of 22% on the number of GeV candidates falsely identified as SNRs. We have also developed a method to estimate spectral and spatial systematic errors arising from the diffuse interstellar emission model, a key component of all Galactic Fermi LAT analyses. By studying remnants uniformly in aggregate, we measure the GeV properties common to these objects and provide a crucial context for the detailed modeling of individual SNRs. Combining our GeV results with multiwavelength (MW) data, including radio, X-ray, and TeV, we demonstrate the need for improvements to previously sufficient, simple models describing the GeV and radio emission from these objects. We model the GeV and MW emission from SNRs in aggregate to constrain their maximal contribution to observed Galactic cosmic rays.
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