Normal frames for non-Riemannian connections

The principal properties of geodesic normal coordinates are the vanishing of the connection components and first derivatives of the metric components at some point. It is well-known that these hold only at points where the connection has vanishing torsion and non-metricity. However, it is shown that normal frames, possessing the essential features of normal coordinates, can still be constructed when the connection is non-Riemannian.Comment: 4 pages, plain TeX. To appear in Class. Quantum Gra

On Waylen's regular axisymmetric similarity solutions

We review the similarity solutions proposed by Waylen for a regular time-dependent axisymmetric vacuum space-time, and show that the key equation introduced to solve the invariant surface conditions is related by a Baecklund transform to a restriction on the similarity variables. We further show that the vacuum space-times produced via this path automatically possess a (possibly homothetic) Killing vector, which may be time-like.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX2

Self-Calibration of Cameras with Euclidean Image Plane in Case of Two Views and Known Relative Rotation Angle

The internal calibration of a pinhole camera is given by five parameters that are combined into an upper-triangular $3\times 3$ calibration matrix. If the skew parameter is zero and the aspect ratio is equal to one, then the camera is said to have Euclidean image plane. In this paper, we propose a non-iterative self-calibration algorithm for a camera with Euclidean image plane in case the remaining three internal parameters --- the focal length and the principal point coordinates --- are fixed but unknown. The algorithm requires a set of $N \geq 7$ point correspondences in two views and also the measured relative rotation angle between the views. We show that the problem generically has six solutions (including complex ones). The algorithm has been implemented and tested both on synthetic data and on publicly available real dataset. The experiments demonstrate that the method is correct, numerically stable and robust.Comment: 13 pages, 7 eps-figure

Interactions of Cbl with Grb2 and phosphatidylinositol 3\u27-kinase in activated Jurkat cells

T-cell receptor (TCR) cross-linking increases tyrosine phosphorylation of multiple proteins, only a few of which have been identified. One of the most rapidly tyrosine-phosphorylated polypeptides is the 120-kDa product of the proto-oncogene c-cbl, a cytosolic and cytoskeletal protein containing multiple proline-rich motifs that are potential binding sites for proteins containing Src homology 3 (SH3) domains. We report here that in cultured Jurkat T cells, Cbl is coprecipitated with antibody against the adapter protein Grb2. Upon activation of Jurkat T cells via the TCR-CD3 complex, we find that high-affinity binding of Cbl requires the N-terminal SH3 domain of GST-Grb2 fusion protein but after cross-linking of the TCR-CD3 and CD4 receptors, Cbl binds equally to its SH2 domain. Grb2 antisera also precipitated p85 from serum-starved cells, while TCR activation increased p85 and tyrosine-phosphorylated Cbl but not Cbl protein in Grb2 immunocomplexes. Phosphatidylinositol (PI) 3-kinase activity was immunoprecipitated from serum-starved cells with Cbl and to a lesser extent with Grb2 antisera, and TCR cross-linking increased this activity severalfold. The PI 3-kinase activity associated with Cbl amounted to 5 to 10% of the total cellular activity that could be precipitated by p85 antisera. The Ras exchange factor Son-of-sevenless 1 (Sos-1) was not found in anti-Cbl immunoprecipitates from activated cells, and Cbl was not detectable in anti-Sos-1 precipitates, supporting the likelihood that Sos-Grb2 and Cbl-Grb2 are present as distinct complexes. Taken together, these data suggest that Cbl function in Jurkat T cells involves its constitutive association with Grb2 and its recruitment of PI 3-kinase in response to TCR activation

Geology and Petroleum Prospectivity of the Sea of Hebrides Basin and Minch Basin, Offshore Northwest Scotland

Funding: This work was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (RG12649-12). Acknowledgements: The work contained in this paper contains work conducted during a PhD study undertaken as part of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Oil and Gas. We are also grateful to IHS Markit for provision of, and permission to publish examples from, their 2D seismic data volumes and gravity and magnetics database, and to Schlumberger for their donation of Petrel seismic interpretation software licences to Aberdeen University. We also thank Geognostics for the kind permission to use the Frogtech Geoscience, 2016 depth to basement map (SEEBASE) of offshore northwest Scotland. We acknowledge the UKOilandGasData.com website, owned by UK National Data Repository administered by Schlumberger, for access to the seismic data volumes and released UK well database. We are also grateful to the UK National Onshore Data Library who kindly provided seismic data (UKOGL request 100891 and 100890) to the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Iain Scotchman and Dr. Clayton Grove are thanked for constructive and helpful reviews, which have improved this paper. Laura-Jane would also like to personally thank the late Professor Bernard Owens, who passed away in July 2019, for his informative discussion on Carboniferous outliers along the west coast early on in her PhD. The views held within this paper do not necessarily represent the views of IHS Markit.Peer reviewedPostprin

Bordetella Holmesii-Like Organisms Associated with Septicemia, Endocarditis, and Respiratory Failure

We recovered an unusual bacterial strain from blood or sputum of three patients with septicemia, endocarditis, and/or respiratory failure. The three isolates were thin, curved, gram-negative, light brown, pigment-producing bacilli with variable catalase activity. They were asaccharolytic, oxidasenegative, nonmotile, and fastidious. Identification was not possible on the basis of these characteristics alone or in combination with cellular fatty acid profiles. Nucleic acid amplification and sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that all three isolates were identical and most closely related to the emerging pathogen Bordetella holmesii, diverging from the published sequence at three nucleotide positions (99.8% similarity). Isolation of a B. holmesii-like pathogen from sputum suggests that, in addition to producing septicemia, the organism may inhabit the respiratory tract like other Bordetella species

Origin of two-band chorus in the radiation belt of Earth.

Naturally occurring chorus emissions are a class of electromagnetic waves found in the space environments of the Earth and other magnetized planets. They play an essential role in accelerating high-energy electrons forming the hazardous radiation belt environment. Chorus typically occurs in two distinct frequency bands separated by a gap. The origin of this two-band structure remains a 50-year old question. Here we report, using NASA's Van Allen Probe measurements, that banded chorus waves are commonly accompanied by two separate anisotropic electron components. Using numerical simulations, we show that the initially excited single-band chorus waves alter the electron distribution immediately via Landau resonance, and suppress the electron anisotropy at medium energies. This naturally divides the electron anisotropy into a low and a high energy components which excite the upper-band and lower-band chorus waves, respectively. This mechanism may also apply to the generation of chorus waves in other magnetized planetary magnetospheres

Activity of the DNA minor groove cross-linking agent SG2000 (SJG-136) against canine tumours

BACKGROUND: Cancer is the leading cause of death in older dogs and its prevalence is increasing. There is clearly a need to develop more effective anti-cancer drugs in dogs. SG2000 (SJG-136) is a sequence selective DNA minor groove cross-linking agent. Based on its in vitro potency, the spectrum of in vivo and clinical activity against human tumours, and its tolerability in human patients, SG2000 has potential as a novel therapeutic against spontaneously occurring canine malignancies. RESULTS: In vitro cytotoxicity was assessed using SRB and MTT assays, and in vivo activity was assessed using canine tumour xenografts. DNA interstrand cross-linking (ICL) was determined using a modification of the single cell gel electrophoresis (comet) assay. Effects on cell cycle distribution were assessed by flow cytometry and measurement of γ-H2AX by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry. SG2000 had a multi-log differential cytotoxic profile against a panel of 12 canine tumour cell lines representing a range of common tumour types in dogs. In the CMeC-1 melanoma cell line, DNA ICLs increased linearly with dose following a 1 h treatment. Peak ICL was achieved within 1 h and no removal was observed over 48 h. A relationship between DNA ICL formation and cytotoxicity was observed across cell lines. The formation of γ-H2AX foci was slow, becoming evident after 4 h and reaching a peak at 24 h. SG2000 exhibited significant anti-tumour activity against two canine melanoma tumour models in vivo. Anti-tumour activity was observed at 0.15 and 0.3 mg/kg given i.v. either once, or weekly x 3. Dose-dependent DNA ICL was observed in tumours (and to a lower level in peripheral blood mononuclear cells) at 2 h and persisted at 24 h. ICL increased following the second and third doses in a repeated dose schedule. At 24 h, dose dependent γ-H2AX foci were more numerous than at 2 h, and greater in tumours than in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. SG2000-induced H2AX phosphorylation measured by immunohistochemistry showed good correspondence, but less sensitivity, than measurement of foci. CONCLUSIONS: SG2000 displayed potent activity in vitro against canine cancer cell lines as a result of the formation and persistence of DNA ICLs. SG2000 also had significant in vivo antitumour activity against canine melanoma xenografts, and the comet and γ-H2AX foci methods were relevant pharmacodynamic assays. The clinical testing of SG2000 against spontaneous canine cancer is warranted. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12917-015-0534-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

The Halo Masses of Galaxies to z ∼3: A Hybrid Observational and Theoretical Approach

© 2018. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. We use a hybrid observational/theoretical approach to study the relation between galaxy kinematics and the derived stellar and halo masses of galaxies up to z =3 as a function of stellar mass, redshift, and morphology. Our observational sample consists of a concatenation of 1125 galaxies with kinematic measurements at 0.4 < z < 3 from long-slit and integral field studies. We investigate several ways to measure halo masses from observations based on results from semi-analytical models, showing that galaxy halo masses can be retrieved with a scatter of ∼0.4 dex by using only stellar masses. We discover a third parameter, relating to the time of the formation of the halo, that reduces the scatter in the relation between the stellar and halo masses such that systems forming earlier have a higher stellar mass-to-halo mass ratio, which we also find observationally. We find that this scatter correlates with morphology such that early-type or older stellar systems have higher M ∗/M halo ratios. We furthermore show, using this approach and through weak lensing and abundance matching, that the ratio of stellar to halo mass does not significantly evolve with redshift at 1 < z < 3. This is evidence for the regulated hierarchical assembly of galaxies such that the ratio of stellar to dark matter mass remains approximately constant since z =2. We use these results to show that the dark matter accretion rate evolves from dM halo/d t ∼4000 yr-1 at z ∼2.5 to a few 100 yr-1 by z ∼0.5

Factors Influencing Performance of Internet-Based Biosurveillance Systems Used in Epidemic Intelligence for Early Detection of Infectious Diseases Outbreaks

Background: Internet-based biosurveillance systems have been developed to detect health threats using information available on the Internet, but system performance has not been assessed relative to end-user needs and perspectives. Method and Findings Infectious disease events from the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) weekly international epidemiological bulletin published in 2010 were used to construct the gold-standard official dataset. Data from six biosurveillance systems were used to detect raw signals (infectious disease events from informal Internet sources): Argus, BioCaster, GPHIN, HealthMap, MedISys and ProMED-mail. Crude detection rates (C-DR), crude sensitivity rates (C-Se) and intrinsic sensitivity rates (I-Se) were calculated from multivariable regressions to evaluate the systems’ performance (events detected compared to the gold-standard) 472 raw signals (Internet disease reports) related to the 86 events included in the gold-standard data set were retrieved from the six systems. 84 events were detected before their publication in the gold-standard. The type of sources utilised by the systems varied significantly (p<0001). I-Se varied significantly from 43% to 71% (p = 0001) whereas other indicators were similar (C-DR: p = 020; C-Se, p = 013). I-Se was significantly associated with individual systems, types of system, languages, regions of occurrence, and types of infectious disease. Conversely, no statistical difference of C-DR was observed after adjustment for other variables. Conclusion: Although differences could result from a biosurveillance system's conceptual design, findings suggest that the combined expertise amongst systems enhances early detection performance for detection of infectious diseases. While all systems showed similar early detection performance, systems including human moderation were found to have a 53% higher I-Se (p = 00001) after adjustment for other variables. Overall, the use of moderation, sources, languages, regions of occurrence, and types of cases were found to influence system performance