ABSTRACT Luminous quasars at can be studied in detail with the current generation of telescopes and provide us with unique information on the first gigayear of the universe. Thus far, these studies ...have been statistically limited by the number of quasars known at these redshifts. Such quasars are rare, and therefore, wide-field surveys are required to identify them, and multiwavelength data are required to separate them efficiently from their main contaminants, the far more numerous cool dwarfs. In this paper, we update and extend the selection for the quasars presented in Bañados et al. (2014) using the Pan-STARRS1 (PS1) survey. We present the PS1 distant quasar sample, which currently consists of 124 quasars in the redshift range that satisfy our selection criteria. Of these quasars, 77 have been discovered with PS1, and 63 of them are newly identified in this paper. We present the composite spectra of the PS1 distant quasar sample. This sample spans a factor of ∼20 in luminosity and shows a variety of emission line properties. The number of quasars at presented in this work almost doubles the previously known quasars at these redshifts, marking a transition phase from studies of individual sources to statistical studies of the high-redshift quasar population, which was impossible with earlier, smaller samples.
Surgery is a valuable option for pharmacologically intractable epilepsy. However, significant post-operative improvements are not always attained. This is due in part to our incomplete understanding ...of the seizure generating (ictogenic) capabilities of brain networks. Here we introduce an in silico, model-based framework to study the effects of surgery within ictogenic brain networks. We find that factors conventionally determining the region of tissue to resect, such as the location of focal brain lesions or the presence of epileptiform rhythms, do not necessarily predict the best resection strategy. We validate our framework by analysing electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings from patients who have undergone epilepsy surgery. We find that when post-operative outcome is good, model predictions for optimal strategies align better with the actual surgery undertaken than when post-operative outcome is poor. Crucially, this allows the prediction of optimal surgical strategies and the provision of quantitative prognoses for patients undergoing epilepsy surgery.
We study the case of a bright (L > L
) barred spiral galaxy from the rich cluster A3558 in the Shapley supercluster core (z = 0.05) undergoing ram-pressure stripping. Integral-field spectroscopy with ...Wide Field Spectrograph (WiFeS) at the 2.3-m Australian National University telescope, complemented by imaging in ultraviolet (GALEX), B and R European Southern Observatory (ESO) 2.2-m WFI, Hα (Magellan), K (United Kingdom Infrared Telescope), 24 and 70 μm (Spitzer), allows us to reveal the impact of ram pressure on the interstellar medium. With these data we study in detail the kinematics and the physical conditions of the ionized gas and the properties of the stellar populations. We observe one-sided extraplanar ionized gas along the full extent of the galaxy disc, extending ∼13 kpc in projection from it. Narrow-band Hα imaging resolves this outflow into a complex of knots and filaments, similar to those seen in other cluster galaxies undergoing ram-pressure stripping. The gas velocity field is complex with the extraplanar gas showing signature of rotation, while the stellar velocity field is regular and the K-band image shows a symmetric stellar distribution. We use line-ratio diagnostics to ascertain the origin of the observed emission. In all parts of the galaxy, we find a significant contribution from shock excitation, as well as emission powered by star formation. Shock-ionized gas is associated with the turbulent gas outflow and highly attenuated by dust (A
v
= 1.5-2.3 mag). All these findings cover the whole phenomenology of early-stage ram-pressure stripping. Intense, highly obscured star formation is taking place in the nucleus, probably related to the bar, and in a region 12 kpc south-west (SW) from the centre. These two regions account for half of the total star formation in the galaxy, which overall amounts to 7.2 ± 2.2 M yr−1. In the SW region we identify a starburst characterized by a ∼5× increase in the star formation rate over the last ∼100 Myr, possibly related to the compression of the interstellar gas by the ram pressure. The scenario suggested by the observations is supported and refined by ad hoc N-body/hydrodynamical simulations which identify a rather narrow temporal range for the onset of ram-pressure stripping around t ∼ 60 Myr ago, and an angle between the galaxy rotation axis and the intracluster medium wind of ∼45°. The ram pressure is therefore acting at an intermediate angle between face-on and edge-on. Taking into account that the galaxy is found ∼1 Mpc from the cluster centre in a relatively low density region, this study shows that ram-pressure stripping still acts efficiently on massive galaxies well outside the cluster cores, as also recently observed in the Virgo cluster.
A large number of promising candidate disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer disease (AD) continue to advance into phase II and phase III testing. However, most completed trials have failed to ...demonstrate efficacy, and there is growing concern that methodologic difficulties may contribute to these clinical trial failures. The optimal time to intervene with such treatments is probably in the years prior to the onset of dementia, before the neuropathology has progressed to the advanced stage corresponding to clinical dementia.
An international task force of individuals from academia, industry, nonprofit foundations, and regulatory agencies was convened to discuss optimal trial design in early (predementia) AD.
General consensus was reached on key principles involving the scope of the AD diagnosis, the selection of subjects for trials, outcome measures, and analytical methods.
A consensus has been achieved in support of the testing of candidate treatments in the early (predementia) AD population.
Abstract
The standard model of particle physics currently provides our best description of fundamental particles and their interactions. The theory predicts that the different charged leptons, the ...electron, muon and tau, have identical electroweak interaction strengths. Previous measurements have shown that a wide range of particle decays are consistent with this principle of lepton universality. This article presents evidence for the breaking of lepton universality in beauty-quark decays, with a significance of 3.1 standard deviations, based on proton–proton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are of processes in which a beauty meson transforms into a strange meson with the emission of either an electron and a positron, or a muon and an antimuon. If confirmed by future measurements, this violation of lepton universality would imply physics beyond the standard model, such as a new fundamental interaction between quarks and leptons.
The enantioselective oxidative C-H functionalization of tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives is achieved through the merger of photoredox and asymmetric anion-binding catalysis. This combination of two ...distinct catalysis concepts introduces a potentially general approach to asymmetric transformations in oxidative photocatalysis.
The impacts of the partitioning of potentially toxic metals (PTM) within the estuarine environment is highly complex, but is of key significance owing to increases in populations living within such ...sensitive environments. Although empirical data exist for the partitioning of metals between the dissolved and particulate phases, little is known regarding the impacts of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) upon the flocculation of particles within such a dynamic system nor the resultant influence on the distribution of metals between the particulate and dissolved phases. This prevents regulators from fully understanding the fate and risks associated with metals in estuaries. This study provides data associated with the simulation of 3 settlings typical of the turbulent mixing found in estuaries and partitioning of copper, cadmium, nickel, arsenic, lead and zinc for 3 salinities (0, 15, 30 PSU) reflecting the full salinity range from freshwater to seawater. Experiments were completed with and without the presence of EPS, using kaolin as the mineral particulate. The results showed significant differences between salinity, PTMs and turbulence for the experiments with and without EPS present. Overall, salinity was the main factor controlling the PTM partitioning to sediment, however the flocculation process did impact on the PTM distribution and with the addition of EPS the impact was more pronounced. The data highlighted the importance of taking account of EPS within any estuarine sediment process modelling, for relying on simple partitioning with corrections for salinity would likely lead to significant bias.
Variations in partitioning coefficient, Kp, for 6 potentially toxic metals (PTMs) at three catchment salinities for slack water at low tide (low turbulent shear stress, τ = 0.10 Pa). Solid bars show Kp for mineral-only sediment (biotic case); Outlined bars show Kp for sediment containing EPS (biotic case). Display omitted
•Turbulence shear stress impacts on trace element partitioning•Naturally occurring biopolymers significantly impact trace element partitioning•Biopolymer increases partition coefficients for some metals by orders of magnitude•Saline waters prone to partitioning changes for elements with biopolymer present•Rate of particulate PTM deposition likely to vary by two orders of magnitude across tidal cycles
Ethanol-Paired Conditioned Stimuli (CS) can increase ethanol-responding either in extinction or occurring at low rates late in a session. To examine the generality of CS-induced increases in ...ethanol-responding, we examined whether a CS could increase responding suppressed by Conditioned-Taste-Aversion (CTA), which presumably suppresses responding by changing ethanol's valence from positive to negative. Rats were trained to respond for ethanol under a Random Interval (RI) schedule. We then removed the lever and paired Random-Time ethanol deliveries with illumination of a stimulus light (i.e., CS) for 10 sessions. Results were compared with a Truly Random Control group, in which the light and ethanol deliveries occurred independently. In a subsequent experiment, rats were treated similarly, except the light served as a discriminative stimulus, as the lever was extended and ethanol deliveries were available under a RI during light presentations. After this training, the lever was returned and rats again responded for ethanol. Subsequently, sessions were followed by LiCl administration. When responding reached low levels, LiCl administration stopped and the light was occasionally illuminated during the session. Responding during the light presentation was compared to responding during the period preceding light presentation. Responding partially recovered across 10 sessions and was greater during light presentations than in the period before it in all three groups. Increases were not reliably different between the groups, indicating that explanations for these increases such as CS-induced increases in motivation or approach toward the light are unlikely to be correct. The most likely explanation for these light-induced increases is that during sessions in which the light had been presented previously, LiCl had never been presented and thus, the light had come to signal that ethanol was safe to drink.
•An ethanol-paired CS increased ethanol-responding that had been suppressed by a conditioned-taste-aversion.•Such increases could support the notion that ethanol-paired conditioned stimuli increase ethanol-seeking by increasing motivation to drink.•These increases are not easily explained by dishabituation, nor by the CS acting as a US representation.•The most consistent explanation is that the CS serves as a signal when ethanol ingestion is safe.
Conditioned stimuli (CS) associated with alcohol ingestion are thought to play a role in relapse by producing a craving that in turn increases motivation to drink which increases ethanol-seeking and ...disrupts other ongoing behavior. Alternatively, such CS may provide information indicating a likely increase in the density of the paired unconditioned stimulus and simultaneously elicit behavior that may be incompatible with other ongoing behavior, i.e., approach toward the CS. To explore these possibilities, rats were trained to respond for ethanol or food in two different components of the same session after which a light above the ethanol-lever was lighted twice during each component and each light presentation was followed by ethanol delivery. The duration of this CS was 10 s initially and then increased to 30 s, then to 100 s, and finally returned to 30 s. The change in responding for ethanol or food was compared to a matched period immediately preceding CS presentation. The CS presentation increased responding to ethanol, and this effect
increases
with longer CS presentations. In contrast, the CS presentation decreased responding to food, and this effect
decreases
with longer CS presentations. These results appear to support the informational account of CS action rather than simply a change in the motivation to seek and consume ethanol. This suggests that craving as it is commonly understood likely represents multiple behavioral processes, not simply increased desire for alcohol and that reports of craving likely reflect labeling based upon past experiences rather than a cause of future drug-taking.
The Boeing team has designed, fabricated, and is currently testing a 5-kWh/100-kW flywheel energy-storage system (FESS) utilizing a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) bearing suspension/damping ...system. Primary design features include: a robust rotor design utilizing a composite rim combined with a metallic hub to create a 164-kg rotor assembly without critical resonances within the normal operating range, a closed-loop passive HTS bearing suspension/damping system, and a brushless 100-kW motor/generator. The Boeing FESS provides true isolation for the critical load as the 3-phase 480-V AC input power is converted to 600-V DC and re-inverted to clean, 3-phase 480-V AC output power by the inverter power electronics. When fully charged, the system is capable of responding within 4 ms for the uninterruptible protection of critical digital loads. Low losses and stable operation were demonstrated at rotational speeds exceeding 15,000 rpm.
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