A
bstract
The forward
η
mesons production has been observed by the Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment in proton-proton collision at
s
= 13 TeV. This paper presents the measurement of the ...inclusive production rate of
η
in
p
T
<
1
.
1 GeV/c, expressed as a function of the Feynman-
x
variable. These results are compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models commonly used for the modelling of the air showers produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This is both the first measurement of
η
mesons from LHCf and the first time a particle containing strange quarks has been observed in the forward region for high-energy collisions. These results will provide a powerful constraint on hadronic interaction models for the purpose of improving the understanding of the processes underlying the air showers produced in the Earth’s atmosphere by ultra-energetic cosmic rays.
We present measurements of the microlensing optical depth and event rate toward the Galactic Bulge (GB) based on two years of the MOA-II survey. Our event rate and optical depth analysis uses 474 ...events with well-defined microlensing parameters. We find that the event rate is maximized at low latitudes and a longitude of l approximately 1degrees. The main difference is the lack of long duration events in the RCG sample due to a known selection effect. Our results are consistent with previous optical depth measurements, but they are somewhat lower than previous all-source measurements, and slightly higher than previous RCG optical depth measurements. This suggests that the previously observed difference in optical depth measurements between all-source and RCG samples may largely be due to statistical fluctuations. These event rate measurements toward the central GB are necessary to predict the microlensing event rate and to optimize the survey fields in future space missions such as Wide Field Infrared Space Telescope.
STUDY QUESTION
What percentage of cases with non-syndromic hypospadias can be ascribed to mutations in known causative/candidate/susceptibility genes or submicroscopic copy-number variations (CNVs) ...in the genome?
SUMMARY ANSWER
Monogenic and digenic mutations in known causative genes and cryptic CNVs account for >10% of cases with non-syndromic hypospadias. While known susceptibility polymorphisms appear to play a minor role in the development of this condition, further studies are required to validate this observation.
WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY
Fifteen causative, three candidate, and 14 susceptible genes, and a few submicroscopic CNVs have been implicated in non-syndromic hypospadias.
STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION
Systematic mutation screening and genome-wide copy-number analysis of 62 patients.
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS
The study group consisted of 57 Japanese and five Vietnamese patients with non-syndromic hypospadias. Systematic mutation screening was performed for 25 known causative/candidate/susceptibility genes using a next-generation sequencer. Functional consequences of nucleotide alterations were assessed by in silico assays. The frequencies of polymorphisms in the patient group were compared with those in the male general population. CNVs were analyzed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization and characterized by fluorescence in situ hybridization.
MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE
Seven of 62 patients with anterior or posterior hypospadias carried putative pathogenic mutations, such as hemizygous mutations in AR, a heterozygous mutation in BNC2, and homozygous mutations in SRD5A2 and HSD3B2. Two of the seven patients had mutations in multiple genes. We did not find any rare polymorphisms that were abundant specifically in the patient group. One patient carried mosaic dicentric Y chromosome.
LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION
The patient group consisted solely of Japanese and Vietnamese individuals and clinical and hormonal information of the patients remained rather fragmentary. In addition, mutation analysis focused on protein-altering substitutions.
WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS
Our data provide evidence that pathogenic mutations can underlie both mild and severe hypospadias and that HSD3B2 mutations cause non-syndromic hypospadias as a sole clinical manifestation. Most importantly, this is the first report documenting possible oligogenicity of non-syndromic hypospadias.
STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTERESTS
This study was funded by the Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; by the Grant-in-Aid from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; by the Grants from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, from the National Center for Child Health and Development and from the Takeda Foundation. The authors have no competing interests to disclose.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
Not applicable.
A
bstract
The forward
η
mesons production has been observed by the Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment in proton-proton collision at
$$ \sqrt{s} $$
s
= 13 TeV. This paper presents the ...measurement of the inclusive production rate of
η
in
p
T
<
1
.
1 GeV/c, expressed as a function of the Feynman-
x
variable. These results are compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models commonly used for the modelling of the air showers produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This is both the first measurement of
η
mesons from LHCf and the first time a particle containing strange quarks has been observed in the forward region for high-energy collisions. These results will provide a powerful constraint on hadronic interaction models for the purpose of improving the understanding of the processes underlying the air showers produced in the Earth’s atmosphere by ultra-energetic cosmic rays.
Essentials
Manufacturing platelets from a donor‐independent source is highlighted in transfusion medicine.
We examined the differentiation of adipose tissue‐derived stromal cells (ASCs) into ...platelets.
Endogenous thrombopoietin (TPO) induced ASCs differentiation into megakaryocytes and platelets.
TPO secretion from ASCs was due to an interaction of transferrin with its receptor CD71.
Summary
Background
Ex vivo production of megakaryocytes (MKs) and platelets from a donor‐independent source is currently of intense interest in transfusion medicine. Adipose tissue‐derived stromal cells (ASCs) constitute an attractive candidate cell source, because inducing these cells into MK lineages requires no gene transfer and only endogenous transcription factors containing p45NF‐E2/Maf, an MK‐inducing factor.
Objectives
To examine whether ASCs differentiate into MK lineages by using endogenous thrombopoietin (TPO), a primary cytokine that drives MK lineages.
Methods
TPO levels were measured by quantitative real‐time PCR and ELISA. To investigate the effects of endogenous TPO on MK and platelet production, surface marker expression and functions for platelets were analyzed in ASC‐derived cells cultured in the presence or absence of recombinant TPO. Based on a screening test, the role of transferrin receptor CD71 in TPO production and MK differentiation was examined with anti‐CD71 antibody, small interfering RNA (siRNA) against CD71 (siRNA‐CD71), and CD71‐positive/negative cells.
Results
ASCs secreted TPO during MK differentiation, and the endogenous TPO facilitated MK and platelet production from ASCs. TPO secretion from ASCs occurred in a transferrin‐dependent manner. ASCs treated with anti‐CD71 antibody or transfected with siRNA‐CD71 produced markedly less TPO. The TPO levels and MK yield were significantly higher when CD71‐positive ASCs were used than when CD71‐negative ASCs were used.
Conclusions
CD71 might be an appropriate marker for MK progenitor cells among human ASCs, because of the higher capacity of CD71‐positive cells to produce TPO and their ability to differentiate into MKs. These findings could help to establish an efficient method for platelet production.
ABSTRACT The X17.0 solar flare of 2005 September 7 released high-energy neutrons that were detected by the Solar Neutron Telescope (SNT) at Sierra Negra, Mexico. In three separate and independent ...studies of this solar neutron event, several of its unique characteristics were studied; in particular, a power-law energy spectra was estimated. In this paper, we present an alternative analysis, based on improved numerical simulations of the detector using GEANT4, and a different technique for processing the SNT data. The results indicate that the spectral index that best fits the neutron flux is around 3, in agreement with previous works. Based on the numerically calculated neutron energy deposition on the SNT, we confirm that the detected neutrons might have reached an energy of 1 GeV, which implies that 10 GeV protons were probably produced; these could not be observed at Earth, as their parent flare was an east limb event.
We present the analysis of four candidate short-duration binary microlensing events from the 2006-2007 MOA Project short-event analysis. Three of these events are determined to be microlensing ...events, while the fourth is most likely caused by stellar variability. One of these events, MOA-bin-1, is due to a planet, and it is the first example of a planetary event in which the stellar host is only detected through binary microlensing effects. This is one of the most massive and widest separation planets found by microlensing. The scarcity of such wide-separation planets also has implications for interpretation of the isolated planetary mass objects found by this analysis. In particular, if the entire isolated planet sample found by Sumi et al. consists of planets bound in wide orbits around stars, we find that it is likely that the median orbital semimajor axis is <30 AU.
•Wind erosion reveals Saheki crater fan stratigraphy.•A distributary network of fluvial channels fed extensive mudflow overbank deposits.•The fans are up to 850m thick and contain 550km3 of ...sediment.•Fan-forming discharges derived from annual or episodic melting of crater rim snow.•Thousands of years were required to deposit the fans.
The deflated surfaces of the alluvial fans in Saheki crater reveal the most detailed record of fan stratigraphy and evolution found, to date, on Mars. During deposition of at least the uppermost 100m of fan deposits, discharges from the source basin consisted of channelized flows transporting sediment (which we infer to be primarily sand- and gravel-sized) as bedload coupled with extensive overbank mud-rich flows depositing planar beds of sand-sized or finer sediment. Flow events are inferred to have been of modest magnitude (probably less than ∼60m3/s), of short duration, and probably occupied only a few distributaries during any individual flow event. Occasional channel avulsions resulted in the distribution of sediment across the entire fan. A comparison with fine-grained alluvial fans in Chile’s Atacama Desert provides insights into the processes responsible for constructing the Saheki crater fans: sediment is deposited by channelized flows (transporting sand through boulder-sized material) and overbank mudflows (sand size and finer) and wind erosion leaves channels expressed in inverted topographic relief. The most likely source of water was snowmelt released after annual or epochal accumulation of snow in the headwater source basin on the interior crater rim during the Hesperian to Amazonian periods. We infer the Saheki fans to have been constructed by many hundreds of separate flow events, and accumulation of the necessary snow and release of meltwater may have required favorable orbital configurations or transient global warming.
We present the MOA Collaboration light-curve data for the planetary microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-0954, which was previously announced in a paper by the KMTNet and OGLE Collaborations. The MOA ...data cover the caustic exit, which was not covered by the KMTNet or Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) data, and they provide a more reliable measurement of the finite source effect. The MOA data also provide a new source color measurement that reveals a lens-source relative proper motion of rel = 11.8 0.8 mas yr−1, which compares to the value of rel = 18.4 1.7 mas yr−1 reported in the KMTNet-OGLE paper. This new MOA value for rel has an a priori probability that is a factor of 100 times larger than the previous value, and it does not require a lens system distance of DL < 1 kpc. Based on the corrected source color, we find that the lens system consists of a planet of mass orbiting a star at an orbital separation of and a distance of .
We report the discovery of a gas-giant planet orbiting a low-mass host star in the microlensing event MOA-bin-29 that occurred in 2006. We find five degenerate solutions with the planet/host-star ...mass ratio of q ∼ 10−2. The Einstein radius crossing time of all models are relatively short (∼4-7 days), which indicates that the mass of host star is likely low. The measured lens-source proper motion is 5-9 mas yr−1 depending on the models. Since only finite source effects are detected, we conduct a Bayesian analysis in order to obtain the posterior probability distribution of the lens physical properties. As a result, we find the lens system is likely to be a gas-giant orbiting a brown dwarf or a very late M-dwarf in the Galactic bulge. The probability distributions of the physical parameters for the five degenerate models are consistent within the range of error. By combining these probability distributions, we conclude that the lens system is a gas giant with a mass of orbiting a brown dwarf with a mass of at a projected star-planet separation of . The lens distance is , i.e., likely within the Galactic bulge.
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