University of California, Irvine

About: University of California, Irvine is a education organization based out in Irvine, California, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 47031 authors who have published 113602 publications receiving 5521832 citations. The organization is also known as: UC Irvine & UCI.

A redetermination of the hubble constant with the hubble space telescope from a differential distance ladder

Abstract: This is the second of two papers reporting results from a program to determine the Hubble constant to ~5% precision from a refurbished distance ladder based on extensive use of differential measurements. Here we report observations of 240 Cepheid variables obtained with the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) Camera 2 through the F160W filter on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The Cepheids are distributed across six recent hosts of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) and the maser galaxy NGC 4258, allowing us to directly calibrate the peak luminosities of the SNe Ia from the precise, geometric distance measurements provided by the masers. New features of our measurement include the use of the same instrument for all Cepheid measurements across the distance ladder and homogeneity of the Cepheid periods and metallicities, thus necessitating only a differential measurement of Cepheid fluxes and reducing the largest systematic uncertainties in the determination of the fiducial SN Ia luminosity. In addition, the NICMOS measurements reduce the effects of differential extinction in the host galaxies by a factor of ~5 over past optical data. Combined with a greatly expanded set of 240 SNe Ia at z < 0.1 which define their magnitude-redshift relation, we find H 0 = 74.2 ? 3.6 km s?1 Mpc?1, a 4.8% uncertainty including both statistical and systematic errors. To independently test the maser calibration, we use 10 individual parallax measurements of Galactic Cepheids obtained with the HST fine guidance sensor and find similar results. We show that the factor of 2.2 improvement in the precision of H 0 is a significant aid to the determination of the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy, w = P/(?c 2). Combined with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe five-year measurement of ? M h 2, we find w = ?1.12 ? 0.12 independent of any information from high-redshift SNe Ia or baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO). This result is also consistent with analyses based on the combination of high-redshift SNe Ia and BAO. The constraints on w(z) now including high-redshift SNe Ia and BAO are consistent with a cosmological constant and are improved by a factor of 3 due to the refinement in H 0 alone. We show that future improvements in the measurement of H 0 are likely and should further contribute to multi-technique studies of dark energy.

Reactive Oxygen Species: A Breath of Life or Death?

Abstract: New insights into cancer cell-specific biological pathways are urgently needed to promote development of rationally targeted therapeutics. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and their role in cancer cell response to growth factor signaling and hypoxia are emerging as verdant areas of exploration on the road to discovering cancer's Achilles heel. One of the distinguishing and near-universal hallmarks of cancer growth is hypoxia. Unregulated cellular proliferation leads to formation of cellular masses that extend beyond the resting vasculature, resulting in oxygen and nutrient deprivation. The resulting hypoxia triggers a number of critical adaptations that enable cancer cell survival, including apoptosis suppression, altered glucose metabolism, and an angiogenic phenotype. Ironically, recent investigations suggest that oxygen depletion stimulates mitochondria to elaborate increased ROS, with subsequent activation of signaling pathways, such as hypoxia inducible factor 1alpha, that promote cancer cell survival and tumor growth. Because mitochondria are key organelles involved in chemotherapy-induced apoptosis induction, the relationship between mitochondria, ROS signaling, and activation of survival pathways under hypoxic conditions has been the subject of increased study. Insights into mechanisms involved in ROS signaling may offer novel avenues to facilitate discovery of cancer-specific therapies. Preclinical and clinical evaluation of agents that modify ROS signaling in cancer offers a novel avenue for intervention. This review will cover recent work in ROS-mediated signaling in cancer cells and its potential as a target for developmental therapeutics.

A test of climate, sun, and culture relationships from an 1810-year Chinese cave record.

Abstract: A record from Wanxiang Cave, China, characterizes Asian Monsoon (AM) history over the past 1810 years. The summer monsoon correlates with solar variability, Northern Hemisphere and Chinese temperature, Alpine glacial retreat, and Chinese cultural changes. It was generally strong during Europe's Medieval Warm Period and weak during Europe's Little Ice Age, as well as during the final decades of the Tang, Yuan, and Ming Dynasties, all times that were characterized by popular unrest. It was strong during the first several decades of the Northern Song Dynasty, a period of increased rice cultivation and dramatic population increase. The sign of the correlation between the AM and temperature switches around 1960, suggesting that anthropogenic forcing superseded natural forcing as the major driver of AM changes in the late 20th century.