9,047 research outputs found
Accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars: 10 years of INTEGRAL observations
During the last 10 years, INTEGRAL made a unique contribution to the study of
accreting millisecond X-ray pulsars (AMXPs), discovering three of the 14
sources now known of this class. Besides increasing the number of known AMXPs,
INTEGRAL also carried out observations of these objects above 20 keV,
substantially advancing our understanding of their behaviour. We present here a
review of all the AMXPs observed with INTEGRAL and discuss the physical
interpretation of their behaviour in the X-ray domain. We focus in particular
on the lightcurve profile during outburst, as well as the timing, spectral, and
thermonuclear type-I X-ray bursts properties.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures. Proceedings of "An INTEGRAL view of the
high-energy sky (the first 10 years)" the 9th INTEGRAL Workshop, October
15-19, 2012, Paris, Franc
Spectral and timing properties of the accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar IGR J17498-2921
We analyze the spectral and timing properties of IGR J17498-2921 and the
characteristics of X-ray bursts to constrain the physical processes responsible
for the X-ray production in this class of sources. The broad-band average
spectrum is well-described by thermal Comptonization with an electron
temperature of kT_e ~ 50 keV, soft seed photons of kT_bb ~ 1 keV, and Thomson
optical depth \taut ~ 1 in a slab geometry. The slab area corresponds to a
black body radius of R_bb ~9 km. During the outburst, the spectrum stays
remarkably stable with plasma and soft seed photon temperatures and scattering
optical depth that are constant within the errors. This behavior has been
interpreted as indicating that the X-ray emission originates above the neutron
star (NS) surface in a hot slab (either the heated NS surface or the accretion
shock). The INTEGRAL, RXTE, and Swift data reveal the X-ray pulsation at a
period of 2.5 milliseconds up to ~65 keV. The pulsed fraction is consistent
with being constant, i.e. energy independent and has a typical value of 6-7%.
The nearly sinusoidal pulses show soft lags that seem to saturate near 10 keV
at a rather small value of ~ -60\mu s with those observed in other accreting
pulsars. The short burst profiles indicate that there is a hydrogen-poor
material at ignition, which suggests either that the accreted material is
hydrogen-deficient, or that the CNO metallicity is up to a factor of about two
times solar. However, the variation in the burst recurrence time as a function
of \dot{m} (inferred from the X-ray flux) is much smaller than predicted by
helium-ignition models.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. arXiv admin
note: text overlap with arXiv:1012.022
The transitional millisecond pulsar IGR J18245-2452 during its 2013 outburst at X-rays and soft gamma-rays
IGR~J18245--2452/PSR J1824--2452I is one of the rare transitional accreting
millisecond X-ray pulsars, showing direct evidence of switches between states
of rotation powered radio pulsations and accretion powered X-ray pulsations,
dubbed transitional pulsars. IGR~J18245--2452 is the only transitional pulsar
so far to have shown a full accretion episode, reaching an X-ray luminosity of
~erg~s permitting its discovery with INTEGRAL in 2013. In
this paper, we report on a detailed analysis of the data collected with the
IBIS/ISGRI and the two JEM-X monitors on-board INTEGRAL at the time of the 2013
outburst. We make use of some complementary data obtained with the instruments
on-board XMM-Newton and Swift in order to perform the averaged broad-band
spectral analysis of the source in the energy range 0.4 -- 250~keV. We have
found that this spectrum is the hardest among the accreting millisecond X-ray
pulsars. We improved the ephemeris, now valid across its full outburst, and
report the detection of pulsed emission up to keV in both the ISGRI
() and Fermi/GBM () bandpass. The alignment of the
ISGRI and Fermi GBM 20 -- 60 keV pulse profiles are consistent at a $\sim25\
\mu$s level. We compared the pulse profiles obtained at soft X-rays with \xmm\
with the soft \gr-ray ones, and derived the pulsed fractions of the fundamental
and first harmonic, as well as the time lag of the fundamental harmonic, up to
s, as a function of energy. We report on a thermonuclear X-ray burst
detected with \Integ, and using the properties of the previously type-I X-ray
burst, we show that all these events are powered primarily by helium ignited at
a depth of g cm. For such a helium
burst the estimated recurrence time of d is in
agreement with the observations.Comment: 10 pages, 6 Figures, 3 Tables Astronomy and Astrophysics Journal,
accepted for publication on the 13th of April 201
Swift J1734.5-3027: a new long type-I X-ray bursting source
Swift J1734.5-3027 is a hard X-ray transient discovered by Swift while
undergoing an outburst in September 2013. Archival observations showed that
this source underwent a previous episode of enhanced X-ray activity in May-June
2013. In this paper we report on the analysis of all X-ray data collected
during the outburst in September 2013, the first that could be intensively
followed-up by several X-ray facilities. Our data-set includes INTEGRAL, Swift,
and XMM-Newton observations. From the timing and spectral analysis of these
observations, we show that a long type-I X-ray burst took place during the
source outburst, making Swift J1734.5-3027 a new member of the class of
bursting neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries. The burst lasted for about 1.9
ks and reached a peak flux of (6.01.8)10 erg cm
s in the 0.5-100 keV energy range. The estimated burst fluence in the
same energy range is (1.100.10)10 erg cm. By
assuming that a photospheric radius expansion took place during the first
200 s of the burst and that the accreted material was predominantly
composed by He, we derived a distance to the source of 7.21.5 kpc.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&
INTEGRAL and RXTE observations of accreting millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 in outburst
Simultaneous observations of the accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR
J00291+5934 by International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory and Rossi X-ray
Timing Explorer during the 2004 December outburst are analysed. The average
spectrum is well described by thermal Comptonization with an electron
temperature of 50 keV and Thomson optical depth tau_T ~ 1 in a slab geometry.
The spectral shape is almost constant during the outburst. We detect a spin-up
of the pulsar with nudot=8.4x10E-13 Hz/s. The ISGRI data reveal the pulsation
of X-rays at a period of 1.67 milliseconds up to ~150 keV. The pulsed fraction
is shown to increase from 6 per cent at 6 keV to 12--20 per cent at 100 keV.
This is naturally explained by the action of the Doppler effect the
exponentially cutoff Comptonization spectrum from the hot spot. The nearly
sinusoidal pulses show soft lags with complex energy dependence, increasing up
to 7 keV, then decreasing to 15 keV, and seemingly saturating at higher
energies.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication on A&
The X-ray spectrum of the bursting atoll source 4U~1728-34 observed with INTEGRAL
We present for the first time a study of the 3-200 keV broad band spectra of
the bursting atoll source 4U 1728-34 (GX 354-0) along its hardness intensity
diagram. The analysis was done using the INTEGRAL public and Galactic Center
deep exposure data ranging from February 2003 to October 2004. The spectra are
well described by a thermal Comptonization model with an electron temperature
from 35 keV to 3 keV and Thomson optical depth, tau_T, from 0.5 to 5 in a slab
geometry. The source undergoes a transition from an intermediate/hard to a soft
state where the source luminosity increases from 2 to 12% of Eddington. We have
also detected 36 type I X-ray bursts two of which show photospheric radius
expansion. The energetic bursts with photospheric radius expansion occurred at
an inferred low mass accretion rate per unit area of \dot m ~ 1.7x10E3 g/cm2/s,
while the others at a higher one between 2.4x10E3 - 9.4x10E3 g/cm2/s. For
4U1728-34 the bursts' total fluence, and the bursts' peak flux are
anti-correlated with the mass accretion rate. The type I X-ray bursts involve
pure helium burning either during the hard state, or during the soft state of
the source.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, and 2 tables. Accepted for publication in A&
Arsenic trioxide downregulates cancer procoagulant activity in MCF-7 and WM-115 cell lines in vitro
© 2015 Termedia Sp. z o. o. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.THE AIM OF THE STUDY: To analyze human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and human malignant melanoma cell line WM-115 in order to characterize the cellular expression of CP and to evaluate whether ATO may affect this activity, as well as the viability of the cells.MATERIAL AND METHODS: The inhibitory effect of arsenic trioxide on the proliferation of MCF-7 and WM-115 cells were measured with MTT test. The activity of cancer procoagulant after ATO exposure was determined by a specific three-stage chromogenic assay.RESULTS: ATO decreased the CP activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner in MCF-7 cells with no effect on cell proliferation at the same time. However, it affected the CP activity of WM-115 cells in a different way. Reduction in CP activity was followed by an increase after 48 h incubation. The cells viability results showed dose-and time-correlated response within high arsenic concentrations.CONCLUSIONS: Arsenic trioxide downregulates the CP expression in human breast cancer and melanoma cells.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
The ephemeris, orbital decay, and masses of 10 eclipsing HMXBs
We take advantage of more than 10 years of monitoring of the eclipsing HMXB
systems LMC X-4, Cen X-3, 4U 1700-377, 4U 1538-522, SMC X-1, IGR J18027-2016,
Vela X-1, IGR J17252-3616, XTE J1855-026, and OAO 1657-415 with the ASM
on-board RXTE and ISGRI on-board INTEGRAL to update their ephemeris. These
results are used to refine previous measurements of the orbital period decay of
all sources (where available) and provide the first accurate values of the
apsidal advance in Vela X-1 and 4U 1538-522. Updated values for the masses of
the neutron stars hosted in the ten HMXBs are also provided, as well as the
long-term lightcurves folded on the sources best determined orbital parameters.
These lightcurves reveal complex eclipse ingresses and egresses, that are
understood mostly as being due to the presence of accretion wakes. The results
reported in this paper constitute a database to be used for population and
evolutionary studies of HMXBs, as well as theoretical modelling of long-term
accretion in wind-fed X-ray binaries.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&
A Double Outburst from IGR J00291+5934: Implications for Accretion Disk Instability Theory
The accretion-powered millisecond pulsar IGR J00291+5934 underwent two ~10 d
long outbursts during 2008, separated by 30 d in quiescence. Such a short
quiescent period between outbursts has never been seen before from a neutron
star X-ray transient. X-ray pulsations at the 599 Hz spin frequency are
detected throughout both outbursts. For the first time, we derive a pulse phase
model that connects two outbursts, providing a long baseline for spin frequency
measurement. Comparison with the frequency measured during the 2004 outburst of
this source gives a spin-down during quiescence of -4(1)x10^-15 Hz/s,
approximately an order of magnitude larger than the long-term spin-down
observed in the 401 Hz accretion-powered pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658. If this
spin-down is due to magnetic dipole radiation, it requires a 2x10^8 G field
strength, and its high spin-down luminosity may be detectable with the Fermi
Large Area Telescope. Alternatively, this large spin-down could be produced by
gravitational wave emission from a fractional mass quadrupole moment of Q/I =
1x10^{-9}. The rapid succession of the outbursts also provides a unique test of
models for accretion in low-mass X-ray binaries. Disk instability models
generally predict that an outburst will leave the accretion disk too depleted
to fuel a second outburst after such a brief quiescence. We suggest a
modification in which the outburst is shut off by the onset of a propeller
effect before the disk is depleted. This model can explain the short quiescence
and the unusually slow rise of the light curve of the second 2008 outburst.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures; accepted by Ap
Spectral and timing properties of IGR J00291+5934 during its 2015 outburst
We report on the spectral and timing properties of the accreting millisecond
X-ray pulsar IGR J00291+5934 observed by XMM-Newton and NuSTAR during its 2015
outburst. The source is in a hard state dominated at high energies by a
comptonization of soft photons ( keV) by an electron population with
kT keV, and at lower energies by a blackbody component with
kT keV. A moderately broad, neutral Fe emission line and four narrow
absorption lines are also found. By investigating the pulse phase evolution, we
derived the best-fitting orbital solution for the 2015 outburst. Comparing the
updated ephemeris with those of the previous outbursts, we set a
confidence level interval s/s s/s on the orbital period derivative. Moreover, we
investigated the pulse profile dependence on energy finding a peculiar
behaviour of the pulse fractional amplitude and lags as a function of energy.
We performed a phase-resolved spectroscopy showing that the blackbody component
tracks remarkably well the pulse-profile, indicating that this component
resides at the neutron star surface (hot-spot).Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
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