Durham University

About: Durham University is a education organization based out in Durham, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 39385 authors who have published 82311 publications receiving 3110994 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Durham & Gallery of Durham University.

Cellular senescence drives age-dependent hepatic steatosis.

Abstract: The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) increases with age. Cellular senescence refers to a state of irreversible cell-cycle arrest combined with the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and mitochondrial dysfunction. Senescent cells contribute to age-related tissue degeneration. Here we show that the accumulation of senescent cells promotes hepatic fat accumulation and steatosis. We report a close correlation between hepatic fat accumulation and markers of hepatocyte senescence. The elimination of senescent cells by suicide gene-meditated ablation of p16Ink4a-expressing senescent cells in INK-ATTAC mice or by treatment with a combination of the senolytic drugs dasatinib and quercetin (D+Q) reduces overall hepatic steatosis. Conversely, inducing hepatocyte senescence promotes fat accumulation in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we show that mitochondria in senescent cells lose the ability to metabolize fatty acids efficiently. Our study demonstrates that cellular senescence drives hepatic steatosis and elimination of senescent cells may be a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce steatosis.

In the realm of the Hubble tension - a review of solutions

Abstract: The $\Lambda$CDM model provides a good fit to a large span of cosmological data but harbors areas of phenomenology. With the improvement of the number and the accuracy of observations, discrepancies among key cosmological parameters of the model have emerged. The most statistically significant tension is the $4-6\sigma$ disagreement between predictions of the Hubble constant $H_0$ by early time probes with $\Lambda$CDM model, and a number of late time, model-independent determinations of $H_0$ from local measurements of distances and redshifts. The high precision and consistency of the data at both ends present strong challenges to the possible solution space and demand a hypothesis with enough rigor to explain multiple observations--whether these invoke new physics, unexpected large-scale structures or multiple, unrelated errors. We present a thorough review of the problem, including a discussion of recent Hubble constant estimates and a summary of the proposed theoretical solutions. Some of the models presented are formally successful, improving the fit to the data in light of their additional degrees of freedom, restoring agreement within $1-2\sigma$ between {\it Planck} 2018, using CMB power spectra data, BAO, Pantheon SN data, and R20, the latest SH0ES Team measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_0 = 73.2 \pm 1.3{\rm\,km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ at 68\% confidence level). Reduced tension might not simply come from a change in $H_0$ but also from an increase in its uncertainty due to degeneracy with additional physics, pointing to the need for additional probes. While no specific proposal makes a strong case for being highly likely or far better than all others, solutions involving early or dynamical dark energy, neutrino interactions, interacting cosmologies, primordial magnetic fields, and modified gravity provide the best options until a better alternative comes along.[Abridged]

A Spectroscopic catalog of 10 distant rich clusters of galaxies

Abstract: We present spectroscopic observations of galaxies in the fields of 10 distant clusters for which we have previously presented deep imaging with WFPC2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. The clusters span the redshift range z=0.37-0.56 and are the subject of a detailed ground- and space-based study to investigate the evolution of galaxies as a function of environment and epoch. The data presented here include positions, photometry, redshifts, spectral line strengths, and classifications for 657 galaxies in the fields of the 10 clusters. The catalog is composed of 424 cluster members across the 10 clusters and 233 field galaxies, with detailed morphological information from our WFPC2 images for 204 of the cluster galaxies and 71 in the field. We illustrate some basic properties of the catalog, including correlations between the morphological and spectral properties of our large sample of cluster galaxies. A direct comparison of the spectral properties of the high-redshift cluster and field populations suggests that the phenomenon of strong Balmer lines in otherwise passive galaxies (commonly called E + A but renamed here as the k + a class) shows an order-of-magnitude increase in the rich cluster environment compared with a more modest increase in the field population. This suggests that the process or processes involved in producing k + a galaxies are either substantially more effective in the cluster environment or that this environment prolongs the visibility of this phase. A more detailed analysis and modeling of these data is presented in Poggianti et al.

Herwig 7.0/Herwig++ 3.0 release note

Abstract: A major new release of the Monte Carlo event generator Herwig++ (version 3.0) is now available. This release marks the end of distinguishing Herwig++ and HERWIG development and therefore constitutes the first major release of version 7 of the Herwig event generator family. The new version features a number of significant improvements to the event simulation, including: built-in NLO hard process calculation for virtually all Standard Model processes, with matching to both angular-ordered and dipole shower modules via both subtractive (MC@NLO-type) and multiplicative (Powheg-type) algorithms; QED radiation and spin correlations in the angular-ordered shower; a consistent treatment of perturbative uncertainties within the hard process and parton showering. Several of the new features will be covered in detail in accompanying publications, and an update of the manual will follow in due course.

Electron-transporting materials for organic electroluminescent and electrophosphorescent devices

Abstract: One of the requirements for efficient organic electroluminescent devices (OLEDs) is balanced charge injection from the two electrodes and efficient transport of both holes and electrons within the luminescent layer in the device structure. Many of the common luminescent conjugated polymers, e.g. derivatives of poly(phenylenevinylene) and poly(fluorene), are predominantly hole transporters (i.e. p-dopable). This article gives a brief overview of organic electroluminescence and electrophosphorescence and provides a more detailed consideration of ways in which electron transport in these systems has been enhanced by the incorporation of electron-deficient (i.e. n-dopable) small molecules and polymers into the devices, either as blends or by covalent attachment of sub-units to the luminophore or as an additional electron-transporting, hole-blocking (ETHB) layer adjacent to the cathode. The chemical structures of these systems are presented and their roles are assessed. Most of these ETHB molecules are electron-deficient aromatic nitrogen-containing heterocycles, e.g. derivatives of 1,3,4-oxadiazole, pyridine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, quinoline, etc. Non-aromatic thiophene-S,S-dioxide derivatives are also discussed. The article is written from an organic chemist's perspective.