Tel Aviv University

About: Tel Aviv University is a education organization based out in Tel Aviv, Israel. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 47791 authors who have published 115959 publications receiving 3904391 citations. The organization is also known as: TAU & Universiṭat Tel-Aviv.

Lattice dynamics and hyperfine interactions in ZnO and ZnSe at high external pressures.

Abstract: The II-VI semiconductors ZnO and ZnSe have been investigated by x-ray and $^{67}\mathrm{ssbauer}$ spectroscopy at high external pressures. In ZnSe, the recoilfree fraction f increases from f=0.50% at ambient pressure to 1.19% at 6.1 GPa. It then decreases to f=0.92% as the pressure is further raised to 8.2 GPa. This decrease of f is caused by softening of phonon modes which occurs far below the crystallographic phase transition (13.5 GPa). In the high-pressure phase of ZnO (NaCl structure), low-frequency acoustic-phonon modes become harder and high-frequency optic modes become softer as compared to ZnO (wurtzite structure). Modern theoretical Hartree-Fock cluster and full potential scalar-relativistic linearized-augmented plane-wave calculations have been performed. These calculations reveal that in both systems covalent contributions to the chemical bond determine the change of the s electron density \ensuremath{\rho}(0) at the Zn nucleus between the different crystallographic phases as well as the electric-field-gradient tensor in ZnO (wurtzite). In particular, \ensuremath{\rho}(0) in ZnO (NaCl phase) is reduced compared to \ensuremath{\rho}(0) in ZnO (wurtzite phase) by -1.15e/${\mathit{a}}_{0}^{3}$. Thus, contrary to observation for ZnSe, the electrical conductivity in ZnO (NaCl phase) is not expected to increase in comparison with the low-pressure wurtzite structure. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

The paradoxical increase of Mediterranean extreme daily rainfall in spite of decrease in total values

Abstract: ] Earlier reports indicated some specific isolated regionsexhibiting a paradoxical increase of extreme rainfall in spite ofdecrease in the totals. Here, we conduct a coherent study of thefull-scale of daily rainfall categories over a relatively largesubtropical region- the Mediterranean- in order to assess whetherthis paradoxical behavior is real and its extent. We show that thetorrential rainfall in Italy exceeding 128 mm/d has increasedpercentage-wise by a factor of 4 during 1951–1995 with strongpeaks in El-Nino years. In Spain, extreme categories at both tails ofthe distribution (light: 0-4 mm/d and heavy/torrential: 64 mm/d andup) increased significantly. No significant trends were found inIsrael and Cyprus. The consequent redistribution of the dailyrainfall categories -torrential/heavy against the moderate/lightintensities - is of utmost interest particularly in the semi-aridsub-tropical regions for purposes of water management, soilerosion and flash floods impacts. I

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons at LEP

Abstract: The four LEP collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, have searched for the neutral Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). The data of the four collaborations are statistically combined and examined for their consistency with the background hypothesis and with a possible Higgs boson signal. The combined LEP data show no significant excess of events which would indicate the production of Higgs bosons. The search results are used to set upper bounds on the cross-sections of various Higgs-like event topologies. The results are interpreted within the MSSM in a number of “benchmark” models, including CP-conserving and CP-violating scenarios. These interpretations lead in all cases to large exclusions in the MSSM parameter space. Absolute limits are set on the parameter cosβ and, in some scenarios, on the masses of neutral Higgs bosons.

Functional link between ataxia-telangiectasia and Nijmegen breakage syndrome gene products

Abstract: Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) and Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) are recessive genetic disorders with susceptibility to cancer and similar cellular phenotypes1. The protein product of the gene responsible for A-T, designated ATM, is a member of a family of kinases characterized by a carboxy-terminal phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-like domain2,3. The NBS1 protein is specifically mutated in patients with Nijmegen breakage syndrome and forms a complex with the DNA repair proteins Rad50 and Mre114,5,6,7. Here we show that phosphorylation of NBS1, induced by ionizing radiation, requires catalytically active ATM. Complexes containing ATM and NBS1 exist in vivo in both untreated cells and cells treated with ionizing radiation. We have identified two residues of NBS1, Ser 278 and Ser 343 that are phosphorylated in vitro by ATM and whose modification in vivo is essential for the cellular response to DNA damage. This response includes S-phase checkpoint activation, formation of the NBS1/Mre11/Rad50 nuclear foci and rescue of hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation. Together, these results demonstrate a biochemical link between cell-cycle checkpoints activated by DNA damage and DNA repair in two genetic diseases with overlapping phenotypes.

Reverberation Mapping of High-Luminosity Quasars: First Results

Abstract: Reverberation mapping of nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs) has led to estimates of broad-line region (BLR) sizes and central object masses for some 37 objects to date. However, successful reverberation mapping has yet to be performed for quasars of either high luminosity (above Lopt ~ 1046 ergs s-1) or high redshift (z 0.3). Over the past 6 years, we have carried out, at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope, rest-frame ultraviolet spectrophotometric monitoring of a sample of six quasars at redshifts z = 2.2-3.2, with luminosities of Lopt ~ 1046.4-1047.6 ergs s-1, an order of magnitude greater than those of previously mapped quasars. The six quasars, together with an additional five having similar redshift and luminosity properties, were monitored photometrically at the Wise Observatory during the past decade. All 11 quasars monitored show significant continuum variations of order 10%-70%. This is about a factor of 2 smaller variability than for lower luminosity quasars monitored over the same rest-frame period. In the six objects that have been spectrophotometrically monitored, significant variability is detected in the C IV ?1550 broad emission line. In several cases the variations track the continuum variations in the same quasar, with amplitudes comparable to, or even greater than, those of the corresponding continua. In contrast, no significant Ly? variability is detected in any of the four objects in which it was observed. Thus, UV lines may have different variability trends in high-luminosity and low-luminosity AGNs. For one quasar, S5 0836+71 at z = 2.172, we measure a tentative delay of 595 days between C IV and UV continuum variations, corresponding to a rest-frame delay of 188 days and a central black hole mass of 2.6 ? 109 M?.