The beam switching cylindrical array, which is a unique system, has been designed and developed to cover 360° in azimuth plane by generating 16 beams with specified elevation coverage.In this design, ...the concept of fast aperture selection (4 x 4) in microseconds from the total cylindrical array has been realised successfully to meet the requirement of point-to-multipoint communication. The components of the array, viz., radiating elements, powder dividers, switches, etc., are designed in printed circuit type, and hence, objectives of lightweight and ease of reproducibility are achieved. The lightweight of the array makes it accessible for easy mounting at a specified height for achieving longer communication range. Finally, a low-loss radome is incorporated to protect the array from environmental conditions. The various parameters, viz., return loss, gain, and switched-beam radiation patterns were measured over a bandwidth of 300 MHz in L- band and typical measured results are presented in this paper.
Two female patients, 54 and 38 years-old with refractory ventricular tachycardia were undertaken to electrophysiologic study for diagnosis and radiofrequency ablation of their arrhythmias. The ...tachycardias were only inducible with intravenous isoproterenol infusion. The site of the origin of ventricular tachycardia was localized in the right ventricular outflow tract in both cases. Radiofrequency current was delivered at 40V (40-60s) in each patient and was followed by complete abolition of ventricular arrhythmias.
A 8-year-old female patient with refractory incessant atrial tachycardia, very symptomatic and with left ventricular ejection fraction of 0.25. Electrophysiological study and endocardial mapping ...localized the site of the origin of atrial tachycardia in the superior right atrium. In this site 2 applications of radiofrequency current (25V, 20 and 50 seconds) resulted in termination of the atrial tachycardia. She was discharged off antiarrhythmic drugs and after 2 months ejection fraction was 0.52. She was completely asymptomatic 6 months after ablation procedure.
Context.
Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun. This small, low-mass, mid M dwarf is known to host an Earth-mass exoplanet with an orbital period of 11.2 days within the habitable zone, as ...well as a long-period planet candidate with an orbital period of close to 5 yr.
Aims.
We report on the analysis of a large set of observations taken with the ESPRESSO spectrograph at the VLT aimed at a thorough evaluation of the presence of a third low-mass planetary companion, which started emerging during a previous campaign.
Methods.
Radial velocities (RVs) were calculated using both a cross-correlation function (CCF) and a template matching approach. The RV analysis includes a component to model Proxima’s activity using a Gaussian process (GP). We use the CCF’s full width at half maximum to help constrain the GP, and we study other simultaneous observables as activity indicators in order to assess the nature of any potential RV signals.
Results.
We detect a signal at 5.12 ± 0.04 days with a semi-amplitude of 39 ± 7 cm s
−1
. The analysis of subsets of the ESPRESSO data, the activity indicators, and chromatic RVs suggest that this signal is not caused by stellar variability but instead by a planetary companion with a minimum mass of 0.26 ± 0.05
M
⊕
(about twice the mass of Mars) orbiting at 0.029 au from the star. The orbital eccentricity is well constrained and compatible with a circular orbit.
The use of spinal cord stimulation for chronic pain after lumbar spine surgery is increasing, yet rigorous evidence of its efficacy is lacking.
To investigate the efficacy of spinal cord burst ...stimulation, which involves the placement of an implantable pulse generator connected to electrodes with leads that travel into the epidural space posterior to the spinal cord dorsal columns, in patients with chronic radiculopathy after surgery for degenerative lumbar spine disorders.
This placebo-controlled, crossover, randomized clinical trial in 50 patients was conducted at St Olavs University Hospital in Norway, with study enrollment from September 5, 2018, through April 28, 2021. The date of final follow-up was May 20, 2022.
Patients underwent two 3-month periods with spinal cord burst stimulation and two 3-month periods with placebo stimulation in a randomized order. Burst stimulation consisted of closely spaced, high-frequency electrical stimuli delivered to the spinal cord. The stimulus consisted of a 40-Hz burst mode of constant-current stimuli with 4 spikes per burst and an amplitude corresponding to 50% to 70% of the paresthesia perception threshold.
The primary outcome was difference in change from baseline in the self-reported Oswestry Disability Index (ODI; range, 0 points no disability to 100 points maximum disability; the minimal clinically important difference was 10 points) score between periods with burst stimulation and placebo stimulation. The secondary outcomes were leg and back pain, quality of life, physical activity levels, and adverse events.
Among 50 patients who were randomized (mean age, 52.2 SD, 9.9 years; 27 54% were women), 47 (94%) had at least 1 follow-up ODI score and 42 (84%) completed all stimulation randomization periods and ODI measurements. The mean ODI score at baseline was 44.7 points and the mean changes in ODI score were -10.6 points for the burst stimulation periods and -9.3 points for the placebo stimulation periods, resulting in a mean between-group difference of -1.3 points (95% CI, -3.9 to 1.3 points; P = .32). None of the prespecified secondary outcomes showed a significant difference. Nine patients (18%) experienced adverse events, including 4 (8%) who required surgical revision of the implanted system.
Among patients with chronic radicular pain after lumbar spine surgery, spinal cord burst stimulation, compared with placebo stimulation, after placement of a spinal cord stimulator resulted in no significant difference in the change from baseline in self-reported back pain-related disability.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03546738.
With the full data sample of 772×106 BB¯ pairs recorded by the Belle detector at the KEKB electron-positron collider, the decay B¯→D*τ−ν¯τ is studied with the hadronic τ decays τ−→π−ντ and τ−→ρ−ντ. ...The τ polarization Pτ(D*) in two-body hadronic τ decays is measured, as well as the ratio of the branching fractions R(D*)=B(B¯→D*τ−ν¯τ)/B(B¯→D*ℓ−ν¯ℓ), where ℓ− denotes an electron or a muon. Our results, Pτ(D*)=−0.38±0.51(stat)−0.16+0.21(syst) and R(D*)=0.270±0.035(stat)−0.025+0.028(syst), are consistent with the theoretical predictions of the standard model. The polarization values of Pτ(D*)>+0.5 are excluded at the 90% confidence level.
We present a new measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element |Vcb| from B0→D*−ℓ+νℓ decays, reconstructed with the full Belle data set of 711 fb−1 integrated luminosity. Two form ...factor parametrizations, originally conceived by the Caprini-Lellouch-Neubert (CLN) and the Boyd, Grinstein and Lebed (BGL) groups, are used to extract the product F(1)ηEW|Vcb| and the decay form factors, where F(1) is the normalization factor and ηEW is a small electroweak correction. In the CLN parametrization we find F(1)ηEW|Vcb|=(35.06±0.15±0.56)×10−3, ρ2=1.106±0.031±0.007, R1(1)=1.229±0.028±0.009, R2(1)=0.852±0.021±0.006. For the BGL parametrization we obtain F(1)ηEW|Vcb|=(34.93±0.23±0.59)×10−3, which is consistent with the world average when correcting for F(1)ηEW. The branching fraction of B0→D*−ℓ+νℓ is measured to be B(B0→D*−ℓ+νℓ)=(4.90±0.02±0.16)%. We also present a new test of lepton flavor universality violation in semileptonic B decays, B(B0→D*−e+ν)B(B0→D*−μ+ν)=1.01±0.01±0.03. The errors quoted correspond to the statistical and systematic uncertainties, respectively. This is the most precise measurement of F(1)ηEW|Vcb| and form factors to date and the first experimental study of the BGL form factor parametrization in an experimental measurement.
Cells employ transcription-coupled repair (TCR) to eliminate transcription-blocking DNA lesions. DNA damage-induced binding of the TCR-specific repair factor CSB to RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) ...triggers RNAPII ubiquitylation of a single lysine (K1268) by the CRL4
ubiquitin ligase. How CRL4
is specifically directed towards K1268 is unknown. Here, we identify ELOF1 as the missing link that facilitates RNAPII ubiquitylation, a key signal for the assembly of downstream repair factors. This function requires its constitutive interaction with RNAPII close to K1268, revealing ELOF1 as a specificity factor that binds and positions CRL4
for optimal RNAPII ubiquitylation. Drug-genetic interaction screening also revealed a CSB-independent pathway in which ELOF1 prevents R-loops in active genes and protects cells against DNA replication stress. Our study offers key insights into the molecular mechanisms of TCR and provides a genetic framework of the interplay between transcriptional stress responses and DNA replication.
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