Search for: All records

Microtubule-kinesin active fluids are distinguished from conventional passive fluids by their unique ability to consume local fuel, ATP, to generate internal active stress. This stress drives internal flow autonomously and promotes micromixing, without the need for external pumps. When confined within a looped boundary, these active fluids can spontaneously self-organize into river-like flows. However, the influence of a moving boundary on these flow behaviors has remained elusive. Here, we investigate the role of a moving boundary on the flow kinematics of active fluids. We confined the active fluid within a thin cuboidal boundary with one side serving as a mobile boundary. Our data reveals that when the boundary's moving speed does not exceed the intrinsic flow speed of the active fluid, the fluid is dominated by chaotic, turbulence-like flows. The velocity correlation length of the flow is close to the intrinsic vortex size induced by the internal active stress. Conversely, as the boundary's moving speed greatly exceeds that of the active fluid, the flow gradually transitions to a conventional cavity flow pattern. In this regime, the velocity correlation length increases and saturates to those of water. Our work elucidates the intricate interplay between a moving boundary and active fluid behavior. *We acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (NSF-CBET-2045621). 

Diffusion State Distance (DSD) is a data-dependent metric that compares data points using a data-driven diffusion process and provides a powerful tool for learning the underlying structure of high-dimensional data. While finding the exact nearest neighbors in the DSD metric is computationally expensive, in this paper, we propose a new random-walk based algorithm that empirically finds approximate k-nearest neighbors accurately in an efficient manner. Numerical results for real-world protein-protein interaction networks are presented to illustrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed algorithm. The set of approximate k-nearest neighbors performs well when used to predict proteins’ functional labels. 

Background While increased CD8 counts and low CD4/CD8 ratio during treated HIV correlate with immunosenescence, their additional predictive values to identify individuals with HIV at higher risk of clinical events remain controversial. Methods We selected treatment-naive individuals initiating ART from ACTG studies 384, 388, A5095, A5142, A5202, and A5257 who had achieved viral suppression at year 2. We examined the effect of CD8+ T cell counts and CD4/CD8 at year 2 on the probability of AIDS and serious non-AIDS events in years 3
7. We used inverse probability weighting methods to address informative censoring, combined with multivariable logistic regression models. Findings We analyzed 5133 participants with a median age of 38 years; 959 (19%) were female, pre-ART median CD4 counts were 249 (Q1-Q3 91
372) cell/µL. Compared to participants with CD8 counts between 500/µL and 1499/µL, those with >1500/µL had a higher risk of clinical events during years 3
7 (aOR 1.75; 95%CI 1.33
2.32). CD4/CD8 ratio was not predictive of greater risk of events through year 7. Additional analyses revealed consistent CD8 count effect sizes for the risk of AIDS events and noninfectious non-AIDS events, but opposite effects for the risk of severe infections, which were more frequent among individuals with CD8 counts <500/µL (aOR 1.70; 95%CI 1.09
2.65). Interpretation The results of this analysis with pooled data from clinical trials support the value of the CD8 count as a predictor of clinical progression. People with very high CD8 counts during suppressive ART might benefit from closer monitoring and may be a target population for novel interventions. 

Context.NGC 1068 is the most observed radio-quiet active galactic nucleus (AGN) in polarimetry, yet its high-energy polarization has never been probed before due to a lack of dedicated polarimeters. Aims.Using the first X-ray polarimeter sensitive enough to measure the polarization of AGNs, we want to probe the orientation and geometric arrangement of (sub)parsec-scale matter around the X-ray source. Methods.We used the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) satellite to measure, for the first time, the 2–8 keV polarization of NGC 1068. We pointed IXPE at the target for a net exposure time of 1.15 Ms, in addition to using twoChandrasnapshots of ∼10 ks each in order to account for the potential impact of several ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) within IXPE’s field of view. Results.We measured a 2–8 keV polarization degree of 12.4% ± 3.6% and an electric vector polarization angle of 101° ± 8° at a 68% confidence level. If we exclude the spectral region containing bright Fe K lines and other soft X-ray lines where depolarization occurs, the polarization fraction rises to 21.3% ± 6.7% in the 3.5–6.0 keV band, with a similar polarization angle. The observed polarization angle is found to be perpendicular to the parsec-scale radio jet. Using a combinedChandraand IXPE analysis plus multiwavelength constraints, we estimated that the circumnuclear “torus” may sustain a half-opening angle of 50–55° (from the vertical axis of the system). Conclusions.Thanks to IXPE, we have measured the X-ray polarization of NGC 1068 and found comparable results, both in terms of the polarization angle orientation with respect to the radio jet and the torus half-opening angle, to the X-ray polarimetric measurement achieved for the other archetypal Compton-thick AGN: the Circinus galaxy. Probing the geometric arrangement of parsec-scale matter in extragalactic objects is now feasible thanks to X-ray polarimetry. 

We describe WiSER, a clean-slate search engine designed to exploit high-performance SSDs with the philosophy "read as needed". WiSER utilizes many techniques to deliver high throughput and low latency with a relatively small amount of main memory; the techniques include an optimized data layout, a novel two-way cost-aware Bloom filter, adaptive prefetching, and space-time trade-offs. In a system with memory that is significantly smaller than the working set, these techniques increase storage space usage (up to 50%), but reduce read amplification by up to 3x, increase query throughput by up to 2.7x, and reduce latency by 16x when compared to the state-of-the-art Elasticsearch. We believe that the philosophy of "read as needed" can be applied to more applications as the read performance of storage devices keeps improving. 

Abstract We report the observation of gravitational waves from two binary black hole coalescences during the fourth observing run of the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA detector network, GW241011 and GW241110. The sources of these two signals are characterized by rapid and precisely measured primary spins, nonnegligible spin–orbit misalignment, and unequal mass ratios between their constituent black holes. These properties are characteristic of binaries in which the more massive object was itself formed from a previous binary black hole merger and suggest that the sources of GW241011 and GW241110 may have formed in dense stellar environments in which repeated mergers can take place. As the third-loudest gravitational-wave event published to date, with a median network signal-to-noise ratio of 36.0, GW241011 furthermore yields stringent constraints on the Kerr nature of black holes, the multipolar structure of gravitational-wave generation, and the existence of ultralight bosons within the mass range 10⁻¹³–10⁻¹²eV. 

A bio-orthogonal chemistry-based approach for fluorescent labelling of ribosomal RNA is described. It involves an adenosine analogue modified with trans -cyclooctene and masked 5′-phosphate group using aryl phosphoramidate. The incorporation into rRNA has been confirmed using agarose gel electrophoresis, as well as a highly sensitive UHPLC-MS/MS method. Fluorescent labelling of rRNA has been achieved in live HeLa cells via an inverse electron demand Diels–Alder reaction with a tetrazine conjugated to an Oregon Green fluorophore. This communication describes the stepwise approach that led to the development and characterization of the probe. The results demonstrate a new strategy towards development of future fluorescent probes to investigate the biochemistry of nucleic acids.