Search results for "RAYS"
showing 10 items of 1136 documents
Some genotypic and environmental conditions of the host in cutaneous malignant melanoma
2006
The factors involving the development of melanoma vary according to the phenotype and environment conditions experienced by the host MC1R variant alleles that are associated with increased melanoma risk are likely to sensitize melanocytes to DNA damage by ultraviolet (UV) exposure, and the interactions between UV radiation and the genome induce melanoma. In fact, the non-functional MC1R cells have a very slow rate of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers removal. The most significant mutations induced by UV in the skin occur in the CDKN2A gene being the major target of UV, that encodes 2 distinct proteins cell cycle regulators: p16INK4A and p14ARF. Inactivation of both tumor suppressors results in …
Simultaneous radio and X-ray observations of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 13+1
2004
We present the results of two simultaneous X-ray/radio observations of the low-mass X-ray binary GX 13+1, performed in July/August 1999 with the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer and the Very Large Array. In X-rays the source was observed in two distinct spectral states; a soft state, which had a corresponding 6 cm flux density of ~0.25 mJy, and a hard state, which was much brighter at 1.3-7.2 mJy. For the radio bright observation we measured a delay between changes in the X-ray spectral hardness and the radio brightness of ~40 minutes, similar to what has been found in the micro-quasar GRS 1915+105. We compare our results with those of GRS 1915+105 and the atoll/Z-type neutron star X-ray binarie…
EDGE: explorer of diffuse emission and gamma-ray burst explosions
2009
How structures on various scales formed and evolved from the early Universe up to present time is a fundamental question of astrophysical cosmology. EDGE will trace the cosmic history of the baryons from the early generations of massive star by Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) explosions, through the period of cluster formation, down to very low redshifts, when between a third and one half of the baryons are expected to reside in cosmic filaments undergoing gravitational collapse by dark matter (Warm Hot Intragalactic Medium: WHIM). In addition EDGE, with its unprecedented observational capabilities, will provide key results on several other topics. The science is feasible with a medium class mission …
Color stabilizes textbook visual processing
2011
We report that pages with color illustrations elicit more homogeneous duration of fixations in 12 elementary school children. For six first graders, we compared the reading of the color cover and a greyscale illustrated text page of an abcbook. For six second grade pupils, we demonstrated a color and a greyscale fairytale book page. The fixations we recorded are concordant with the duration for preschoolers reported elsewhere. Average duration of fixations on a page with color elements are shorter than on greyscale ones, 425 (SE=13.4) and 461 (18.3) ms, respectively. The correlation analysis lends support that a color page is processed differently than its greyscale version. Fixation durati…
iGEMS : an integrated model for identification of alternative exon usage events
2016
DNA microarrays and RNAseq are complementary methods for studying RNA molecules. Current computational methods to determine alternative exon usage (AEU) using such data require impractical visual inspection and still yield high false-positive rates. Integrated Gene and Exon Model of Splicing (iGEMS) adapts a gene-level residuals model with a gene size adjusted false discovery rate and exon-level analysis to circumvent these limitations. iGEMS was applied to two new DNA microarray datasets, including the high coverage Human Transcriptome Arrays 2.0 and performance was validated using RT-qPCR. First, AEU was studied in adipocytes treated with (n = 9) or without (n = 8) the anti-diabetes drug,…
A multiscale method for gamma/h discrimination in extensive air showers
2011
We present a new method for the identification of extensive air showers initiated by different primaries. The method uses the multiscale concept and is based on the analysis of multifractal behaviour and lacunarity of secondary particle distributions together with a properly designed and trained artificial neural network. The separation technique is particularly suited for being applied when the topology of the particle distribution in the shower front is as largely detailed as possible. Here, our method is discussed and applied to a set of fully simulated vertical showers in the experimental framework of ARGO-YBJ, taking advantage of both the space and time distribution of the detected sec…
Modeling an X-ray Flare on Proxima Centauri: evidence of two flaring loop components and of two heating mechanisms at work
2003
We model in detail a flare observed on Proxima Centauri with the EPIC-PN on board XMM-Newton at high statistics and high time resolution and coverage. Time-dependent hydrodynamic loop modeling is used to describe the rise and peak of the light curve, and a large fraction of the decay, including its change of slope and a secondary maximum, over a duration of more than 2 hours. The light curve, the emission measure and the temperature derived from the data allow us to constrain the loop morphology and the heating function and to show that this flare can be described with two components: a major one triggered by an intense heat pulse injected in a single flaring loop with half-length ~1.0 10^{…
The Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: a consolidated design for the system requirement review of the preliminary definition phase
2023
The Athena X-ray Integral Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer, studied since 2015 for flying in the mid-30s on the Athena space X-ray Observatory, a versatile observatory designed to address the Hot and Energetic Universe science theme, selected in November 2013 by the Survey Science Committee. Based on a large format array of Transition Edge Sensors (TES), it aims to provide spatially resolved X-ray spectroscopy, with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV (up to 7 keV) over an hexagonal field of view of 5 arc minutes (equivalent diameter). The X-IFU entered its System Requirement Review (SRR) in June 2022, at about the same time when ESA called for an overall X-IFU redesign (i…
Ballistic Deficit Pulse Processing in Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride Pixel Detectors for High-Flux X-ray Measurements.
2022
High-flux X-ray measurements with high-energy resolution and high throughput require the mitigation of pile-up and dead time effects. The reduction of the time width of the shaped pulses is a key approach, taking into account the distortions from the ballistic deficit, non-linearity, and time instabilities. In this work, we will present the performance of cadmium–zinc–telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) pixel detectors equipped with digital shapers faster than the preamplifier peaking times (ballistic deficit pulse processing). The effects on energy resolution, throughput, energy-linearity, time stability, charge sharing, and pile-up are shown. The results highlight the absence of time instabilities …
Broadband observations of the X-ray burster 4U1705-44 with Beppo SAX
2016
4U 1705-44 is one of the most-studied type I X-ray burster and Atoll sources. This source represents a perfect candidate to test different models proposed to self-consistently track the physical changes occurring between different spectral states because it shows clear spectral state transitions. The broadband coverage, the sensitivity and energy resolution of the BeppoSAX satellite offers the opportunity to disentangle the components that form the total X-ray spectrum and to study their changes according to the spectral state. Using two BeppoSAX observations carried out in August and October 2000, respectively, for a total effective exposure time of about 100 ks, we study the spectral evol…