ABSTRACT We present a new, detailed analysis of the morphologies and molecular gas fractions (MGFs) for a complete sample of 65 local luminous infrared galaxies from Great Observatories All-Sky ...Luminous Infrared Galaxies (LIRG) Survey using high resolution I-band images from The Hubble Space Telescope, the University of Hawaii 2.2 m Telescope and the Pan-STARRS1 Survey. Our classification scheme includes single undisturbed galaxies, minor mergers, and major mergers, with the latter divided into five distinct stages from pre-first pericenter passage to final nuclear coalescence. We find that major mergers of molecular gas-rich spirals clearly play a major role for all sources with however, below this luminosity threshold, minor mergers and secular processes dominate. Additionally, galaxies do not reach until late in the merger process when both disks are near final coalescence. The mean MGF ( ) for non-interacting and early-stage major merger LIRGs is 18 2%, which increases to 33 3%, for intermediate stage major merger LIRGs, consistent with the hypothesis that, during the early-mid stages of major mergers, most of the initial large reservoir of atomic gas (HI) at large galactocentric radii is swept inward where it is converted into molecular gas (H2).
The flow characteristics of circulating water in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer were experimentally evaluated using a small cell and two-phase flow theory. Results revealed that when a ...two-phase flow of circulating water at the anode is either slug or annular, then mass transport of the water for the anode reaction is degraded, and that the concentration overvoltage increases at higher current density compared to that when the flow is bubbly. In a serpentine-dual flow field, when both phases of the two-phase flow are assumed laminar, then the increase in pressure drop caused by the increase in gas production can be explained relatively well using the Lockhart–Martinelli method with the Chisholm parameter. The optimal flow rate of circulating water was also discussed based on mass balance analysis.
Summary
Background
Vonoprazan, a potassium‐competitive acid blocker, is expected to improve the healing of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD)‐induced gastric ulcers compared with proton pump ...inhibitors (PPIs).
Aim
To compare the healing status of ESD‐induced gastric ulcers and the incidence of post‐ESD bleeding between subjects treated with vonoprazan for 5 weeks and those treated with PPIs for 8 weeks.
Methods
Patients in the vonoprazan group (n = 75) were prospectively enrolled, whereas patients in the PPI group (n = 150) were selected for a 2:1 matched historical control cohort according to baseline characteristics including gastric ulcer size immediately following ESD, age, sex and status of Helicobacter pylori infection. Two controls per case of vonoprazan‐treated group were matched with a margin of 20% in terms of ulcer size and a margin of 5 years in terms of their age.
Results
Although a higher number of completely healed ulcers was observed in the PPI group (95/150, 63.3%) than that in the vonoprazan group (14/75, 18.7%; P < 0.001), the ulcer size reduction rates, which were 96.0 ± 6.7% in the vonoprazan group and 94.7 ± 11.6% in the PPI group, were not significantly different (P = 0.373). The post‐ESD bleeding incidence in the vonoprazan group (1/75, 1.3%) was less than that in the PPI group (15/150, 10.0%; P = 0.01). The factors affecting post‐ESD bleeding incidence were the type of acid secretion inhibitor (P = 0.016) and use of an anti‐thrombotic agent (P = 0.014).
Conclusion
Vonoprazan significantly reduced post‐endoscopic submucosal dissection bleeding compared with PPIs.
PurposeTo determine the correlation of the degree of aniseikonia with the retinal displacements and metamorphopsia in patients that have undergone successful epiretinal membrane (ERM) ...surgery.MethodsSubjects were 28 eyes with an ERM in 28 patients. The New Aniseikonia Test (NAT) and M-CHARTS were used to quantify the degree of preoperative and postoperative aniseikonia and metamorphopsia. We also evaluated the distance between the intersections of 2 sets of retinal vessels situated vertically or horizontally by using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images in 28 patients.ResultsThe vertical score of M-CHARTS (MV) was not significantly improved, but the horizontal score of M-CHARTS (MH) was significantly improved at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively. The preoperative NAT score was significantly correlated with the preoperative MH. The NAT score at 3 months was significantly correlated with the MH at 3 months and the MV at 3 months. The preoperative NAT score was significantly correlated with the ratio of the vertical retinal displacement at 1 month and at 3 months after surgery. However, the NAT scores did not improve significantly at any postoperative times.ConclusionsThe degree of aniseikonia was significantly correlated with the degree of metamorphopsia and the tangential displacement of the retina after ERM surgery. Aniseikonia is difficult to improve and metamorphopsia may be a more sensitive parameter to detect the functional recovery after successful ERM surgery.
The incidence of stress-induced psychological and somatic diseases has been increasing rapidly, and it is important to clarify the neurophysiological mechanisms of stress response in order to ...establish effective stress management methods. We previously reported that the prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays an important role in stress response. In the present study, we employed near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) to investigate the characteristics of PFC activity during mental arithmetic tasks. A two-channel NIRS device was used to measure hemoglobin (Hb) concentration changes in the bilateral PFC during a mental arithmetic task (2 min) in normal adults. Simultaneously, EEG was used to also measure bilateral PFC activity during the same task. We evaluated concentration changes of oxy-Hb induced by the task while analyzing α wave changes using power spectrum analysis. It was observed that oxy-Hb in the bilateral PFC increased significantly during the task (p < 0.05), while α wave power in the PFC decreased significantly (p < 0.01). The present results indicate that mental stress tasks caused the activation of the bilateral PFC. Simultaneous measurements of NIRS and EEG are useful for evaluating the neurophysiological mechanism of stress responses in the brain.
ABSTRACT Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually strong hard X-ray emission. The Suzaku observatory detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called "softness dips" in a ...∼100 ks observation in 2011. All the softness dip events show symmetric softness-ratio variations, and some of them have flat bottoms apparently due to saturation. The softness dip spectra are best described by either ∼40% or ∼70% partial covering absorption to kT ∼ 12 keV plasma emission by matter with a neutral hydrogen column density of ∼(2−8) × 1021 cm−2, while the spectrum outside these dips is almost free of absorption. This result suggests the presence of two distinct X-ray-emitting spots in the γ Cas system, perhaps on a white dwarf (WD) companion with dipole mass accretion. The partial covering absorbers may be blobs in the Be stellar wind, the Be disk, or rotating around the WD companion. Weak correlations of the softness ratios to the hard X-ray flux suggest the presence of stable plasmas at kT ∼ 0.9 and 5 keV, which may originate from the Be or WD winds. The formation of a Be star and WD binary system requires mass transfer between two stars; γ Cas may have experienced such activity in the past.
The design and performance of the XL-Calibur anticoincidence shield Iyer, N.K.; Kiss, M.; Pearce, M. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2023, Letnik:
1048
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The XL-Calibur balloon-borne hard X-ray polarimetry mission comprises a Compton-scattering polarimeter placed at the focal point of an X-ray mirror. The polarimeter is housed within a BGO ...anticoincidence shield, which is needed to mitigate the considerable background radiation present at the observation altitude of ∼40 km. This paper details the design, construction and testing of the anticoincidence shield, as well as the performance measured during the week-long maiden flight from Esrange Space Centre to the Canadian Northwest Territories in July 2022. The in-flight performance of the shield followed design expectations, with a veto threshold <100 keV and a measured background rate of ∼0.5 Hz (20–40 keV). This is compatible with the scientific goals of the mission, where %-level minimum detectable polarisation is sought for a Hz-level source rate.
Nitrogen (N) or neon (Ne) in the divertor and argon (Ar) puffing in the first wall have been proposed to reduce the local power loads on tungsten (W) plasma facing components. The impurities sputter ...and modify the W surface, which can affect hydrogen (H, D, T) transport in W. In this study, mixed D+Ne or D+Ar ion driven permeation experiments were performed to investigate the influence of Ne or Ar impurities on D transport. The D permeation flux for mixed irradiation was lower in comparison to D-only irradiation at T>500K, opposite to trends observed for N. The reason for the observed decrease in permeation flux was interpreted to arise from combined effects of sputtering and possible precipitation. The lag times for D+Ne case was slower than D-only case, while D+Ar was faster. This indicates Ne precipitation effects may influence the H transport in W similar to helium.
Several mutations in the surfactant protein C (SP-C) gene (SFTPC) have been reported as causing familial pulmonary fibrosis (FPF). However, the genetic background and clinical features of FPF are ...still not fully understood. We identified one Japanese kindred, in which at least six individuals over three generations were diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. We examined the patients radiologically and histopathologically and sequenced their SFTPC and ABCA3 genes. We also established a cell line stably expressing the mutant gene. All the patients had similar radiological and histopathological characteristics. Their histopathological pattern was that of usual interstitial pneumonia, showing numerous fibroblastic foci even in areas without abnormal radiological findings on chest high-resolution computed tomography. No child had respiratory symptoms in the kindred. Sequencing of SFTPC showed a novel heterozygous mutation, c.298G>A (G100S), in the BRICHOS domain of proSP-C, which co-segregated with the disease. However, in the ABCA3 gene, no mutation was found. In vitro expression of the mutant gene revealed that several endoplasmic reticulum stress-related proteins were strongly expressed. The mutation increases endoplasmic reticulum stress and induces apoptotic cell death compared with wild-type SP-C in alveolar type II cells, supporting the significance of this mutation in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.
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