A programmable bioreactor using a voice-coil actuator was developed to enable research on the effects of periodic vibratory stimulus on human and porcine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We ...hypothesized that low frequency vibrations would result in a cartilage phenotype and higher frequency vibrations would result in a bone phenotype. The mechanical stimulation protocol is adjusted from a computer external to the incubator via a USB cable. Once programmed, the embedded microprocessor and sensor system on the bioreactor execute the protocol independent of the computer. In each test, a sinusoidal stimulus was applied to a culture plate in 1-min intervals with a 15-min rest following each, for a total of 15 h per day for 10 days. Frequencies of 1 and 100 Hz were applied to cultures of both human and porcine umbilical cord-derived MSCs. Chondrogenesis was determined by Alcian blue staining for glycosaminoglycans and an increased differentiation index (ratio of mRNA for collagen II and collagen I). Osteogenic differentiation was indicated with Alizarin red for calcium staining and increased bone morphogenetic protein 2 mRNA. One-hertz stimulation resulted in a cartilage phenotype for both human and porcine MSCs, while 100-Hz stimulation resulted in a bone phenotype.
High-dimensional quantum key distribution (HDQKD) is a promising avenue to address the inherent limitations of basic QKD protocols. However, experimental realizations of HDQKD to date have relied on ...indeterministic photon sources that limit the achievable key rate. In this paper, we demonstrate a full emulation of a HDQKD system using a single colloidal giant quantum dot (gQD) as a deterministic, compact and room-temperature single-photon source (SPS). We demonstrate a practical protocol by encoding information in a high-dimensional space (\(d = 3\)) of the orbital angular momentum of the photons. Our experimental configuration incorporates two spatial light modulators for encoding and decoding the spatial information carried by individual photons. Our experimental demonstration establishes the feasibility of utilizing high radiative quantum yield gQDs as practical SPSs for HDQKD. We also demonstrate experimentally secure qudit transmission exceeding one secure bit per photon, thus already beating the traditional d=2 QKD capacity.
We present a distillation of weather and sky condition data collected from September 2001 to November 2004 at the University of California White Mountain Research Station, Barcroft Facility. Our ...conclusion is that Barcroft is an excellent site for microwave observation because of a cold microwave zenith temperature, low precipitable water, and a high percentage of clear days. The solar intensity was above 80% of the theoretical maximum 66% of the time. About 71% of the daytime, the cloud cover was acceptable for observing. Median precipitable water vapor was estimated to be 1.75mm. We measure a median opacity at 225GHz of 0.11, which corresponds to a transmission of 89.6%. Zenith sky temperatures were determined to be 9.0±0.2K and 10.0±0.6K in Q-band (38–46GHz) and W-band (81–98GHz), respectively. We also demonstrate a correlation between measurements of precipitable water vapor from a weatherstation and a 225GHz radiometer.
In this work, photometric and spectroscopic analyses of a very low-luminosity Type IIb supernova (SN) 2016iyc have been performed. SN 2016iyc lies near the faint end among the distribution of similar ...supernovae (SNe). Given lower ejecta mass (\(M_{\rm ej}\)) and low nickel mass (\(M_{\rm Ni}\)) from the literature, combined with SN 2016iyc lying near the faint end, one-dimensional stellar evolution models of 9 - 14 M\(_{\odot}\) zero-age main-sequence (ZAMS) stars as the possible progenitors of SN 2016iyc have been performed using the publicly available code MESA. Moreover, synthetic explosions of the progenitor models have been simulated using the hydrodynamic evolution codes STELLA and SNEC. The bolometric luminosity light curve and photospheric velocities produced through synthetic explosions of ZAMS stars of mass in the range 12 - 13 M\(_{\odot}\) having a pre-supernova radius \(R_{\mathrm{0}} =\) (240 - 300) R\(_{\odot}\), with \(M_{\rm ej} =\) (1.89 - 1.93) M\(_{\odot}\), explosion energy \(E_{\rm exp} = \) (0.28 - 0.35) \(\times 10^{51}\) erg, and \(M_{\rm Ni} < 0.09\) M\(_{\odot}\), are in good agreement with observations; thus, SN 2016iyc probably exploded from a progenitor near the lower mass limits for SNe IIb. Finally, hydrodynamic simulations of the explosions of SN 2016gkg and SN 2011fu have also been performed to compare intermediate- and high-luminosity examples among well-studied SNe IIb. The results of progenitor modelling and synthetic explosions for SN 2016iyc, SN 2016gkg, and SN 2011fu exhibit a diverse range of mass for the possible progenitors of SNe IIb.
We combine our dynamical modeling black hole mass measurements from the Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2016 sample with measured cross-correlation time lags and line widths to recover individual scale ...factors, f, used in traditional reverberation mapping analyses. We extend our sample by including prior results from Code for AGN Reverberation and Modeling of Emission Lines (caramel) studies that have utilized our methods. Aiming to improve the precision of black hole mass estimates, as well as uncover any regularities in the behavior of the broad-line region (BLR), we search for correlations between f and other AGN/BLR parameters. We find (i) evidence for a correlation between the virial coefficient log10(fmean,{\sigma}) and black hole mass, (ii) marginal evidence for a similar correlation between log10(frms,{\sigma}) and black hole mass, (iii) marginal evidence for an anti-correlation of BLR disk thickness with log10(fmean,FWHM)and log10(frms,FWHM), and (iv) marginal evidence for an anti-correlation of inclination angle with log10(fmean,FWHM), log10(frms,{\sigma}), and log10(fmean,{\sigma}). Lastly, we find marginal evidence for a correlation between line-profile shape, when using the root-meansquare spectrum, log10(FWHM/{\sigma})rms, and the virial coefficient, log10(frms,{\sigma}), and investigate how BLR properties might be related to line-profile shape using caramel models.
In major advanced economies, including Australia, independent central banks have become established institutions. Yet there are reasons why the sustained presence of such an institution in a ...democratic society should be challenged. This paper considers the arguments usually advanced for central bank independence, and the underlying arguments for a failure of democracy including the standard argument based on the importance of central bank credibility. This argument depends crucially on the role of inflationary expectations on the actual inflation rate. We question whether the standard story is really relevant – and, if not, then independence depends on the argument that politicians may not always act in the best long-term interests of their constituencies but bankers are more likely to. We show that this is a questionable assumption. The post Wold War 2 development of Europe and the emergence of the European Central Bank is examined to illustrate our underlying proposition that Central bank independence is not the result of economic argument, but of political ones leading to suboptimal economic results.
: The risk profile for primary renal graft failure is largely unknown because of its inclusion with secondary failures or its exclusion from analysis. This study compares characteristics of the ...cadaveric transplant recipients who experienced primary failure, secondary failures or survived with a functioning graft for at least 6 months. Medical records of all cadaveric kidney‐transplant patients performed in Israel over a 3‐yr period 1997–2000 were reviewed. Fisher's exact test and multinomial regression models were used to assess the association of demographic, pre‐operative and operative risk factors with the two types of failure outcomes. Of 325 grafts, 54 (16.6%) failed of which half were primary failures. Univariate analysis demonstrated a significant trend of increasing proportion of patients with specific risk factors from the functioning grafts group to the secondary and to the primary graft failure groups. Independent risk factors for primary graft failure included ‘surgical complications’, ‘donor's age ≥60 yr’, ‘waiting for transplant ≥6 yr’, and ‘human leukocyte antigen‐DR (HLA‐DR) mismatch’, based on the multivariate model. These factors may reflect the scarcity of organ donations in Israel, which leads to a prolonged waiting time, higher tolerance for HLA‐DR mismatches, and utilization of kidneys from elderly donors.
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