151 research outputs found
A search for interstellar CH3D: Limits to the methane abundance in Orion-KL
A search has been performed for interstellar CH3D via its J(K) = 1(0) - 0(0) transition at 230 GHz and its J(K) = 2(0) - l(0) and J(K) = 2(1) - 1(1) lines at 465 GHz using the NRAO 12 m and CSO 10 m telescopes towards Orion-KL. This search was done in conjunction with laboratory measurements of all three transitions of CH3D using mm/sub-mm direct absorption spectroscopy. The molecule was not detected down to a 3 sigma level of T(A) less than 0.05 K towards Orion, which suggests an upper limit to the CH3D column density of N less than 6 x 10(exp 18)/sq cm in the hot core region and a fractional abundance (with respect to H2) of less than 6 x 10(exp -6). These measurements suggest that the methane abundance in the Orion hot core is f less than 6 x 10-4, assuming D/H approximately 0.01. Such findings are in agreement with recent hot core chemical models, which suggest CH4/H2 approximately 10(exp -4)
Traumatic Dental Injuries: Clinical Case Presentation and a 10-Year Epidemiological Investigation in an Italian Dental Emergency Service
Traumatic dental injuries (TDIs) are very common in the world population, and international literature reports several studies which helped in the definition of international guidelines. The aim of this study is to present two clinical cases of TDI and to investigate epidemiological and etiological aspects of TDIs in patients treated in Modena, Italy, between January 2010 and December 2020. The presented case reports are two explicative clinical cases of successful TDI management with a long-Term follow-up. The epidemiological analysis was performed on patients who visited the Dental Emergency Service of the Dentistry and Oral-Maxillo-Facial Surgery Unit of Modena (Italy) over a period of 10 years. Data relating to age, gender, type of trauma, and place of accident were collected. Five-hundred-sixty-five TDIs that occurred to patients from 1 to 68 years old were reported, with a total of 860 injured teeth. The peak age at which TDIs are most represented varies between 2 and 3 years old, and they occurred frequently from 1 up to 7 years old. 57.5% were male, while 42.5% were female. The most common trauma resulted to be the uncomplicated crown fracture (20%), immediately followed by lateral luxation (19%), intrusive luxation (18%), avulsion (17%), and complicated crown fracture (15%). TDIs occurred at home in 44% of cases. The need for more prevention training must be highlighted, due to the fact that many TDIs occur at home and in a preschool age
Difficulties in Laboratory Studies and Astronomical Observations of Organic Molecules: Hydroxyacetone and Lactic Acid
For the past 35 years, radio astronomy has revealed a rich organic chemistry in the interstellar gas, which is exceptionally complex towards active star-forming regions. New solar systems condense out of this gas and may influence the evolution of life on newly formed planets. Much of the biologically important functionality is present among the some 130 gas-phase molecules found to date, including alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, amines, amides and even the simplest sugar - glycolaldehyde. Still, many unidentified interstellar radio signals remain, and their identification relies on further laboratory study. The molecules hydroxyacetone and lactic acid are relatively small organic molecules, but possess rather complex rotational spectra owing to their high asymmetry. Hydroxyacetone is particularly problematic because it possess a very low barrier to internal rotation, and exhibits strong coupling of the free-rotor states with the overall rotation of the molecule. As in the case of acetamide, a full decomposition method was employed to order the resultant eigenstates onto normal asymmetric top eigenvectors
Detection of C3O in IRC+10216: Oxygen-Carbon chain chemistry in the outer envelope
The oxygen-bearing species C3O has been identified in the circumstellar envelope of the carbon star IRC +10216. The J = 8-->7, 9-->8, 10-->9, 14-->13, and 15-->14 transitions were detected at 2 and 3 mm using the Arizona Radio Observatory’s 12 m telescope. Measurements of the J = 9-->8, 10-->9, and 12-->11 lines were simultaneously conducted at the IRAM 30 m telescope. The line profiles of C3O are roughly U-shaped, indicating an extended shell distribution for this molecule in IRC +10216. The total column density derived for C3O is 1.2x10^12 cm^-2, at least an order of magnitude higher than that predicted by current chemical models. However, a revised model that includes reactions of atomic oxygen with carbon-chain radicals, such as l-C3H and C4, can reproduce the observed abundance. This model also predicts that C3O arises from a shell source with an outer radius near
r ∼ 30", consistent with the observations. These results suggest that gas phase neutral-neutral chemistry may be
producing the oxygen-bearing molecules present in the outer envelope of IRC +10216.This material is based on work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the NASA Astrobiology
Institute under Cooperative Agreement CAN-02-OSS-02 issued through the Office of Space Science. We also acknowledge support from Spanish MEC under project AYA2003-2785 and from "Comunidad de Madrid" under
PRICIT project S-0505/ESP-0237 (ASTROCAM). E. D. T. thanks NSF for a graduate research fellowship, and M. A. acknowledges Spanish MEC for a predoctoral grant AP2003-4619.Peer reviewe
The Distribution, Excitation and Formation of Cometary Molecules: Methanol, Methyl Cyanide and Ethylene Glycol
We present an interferometric and single dish study of small organic species
toward Comets C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and C/2002 T7 (LINEAR) using the BIMA
interferometer at 3 mm and the ARO 12m telescope at 2 mm. For Comet Hale-Bopp,
both the single-dish and interferometer observations of CH3OH indicate an
excitation temperature of 105+/-5 K and an average production rate ratio
Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O)~1.3% at ~1 AU. Additionally, the aperture synthesis
observations of CH3OH suggest a distribution well described by a spherical
outflow and no evidence of significant extended emission. Single-dish
observations of CH3CN in Comet Hale-Bopp indicate an excitation temperature of
200+/-10 K and a production rate ratio of Q(CH3CN)/Q(H2O)~0.017% at ~1 AU. The
non-detection of a previously claimed transition of cometary (CH2OH)2 toward
Comet Hale-Bopp with the 12m telescope indicates a compact distribution of
emission, D<9'' (<8500 km). For the single-dish observations of Comet T7
LINEAR, we find an excitation temperature of CH3OH of 35+/-5 K and a CH3OH
production rate ratio of Q(CH3OH)/Q(H2O)~1.5% at ~0.3 AU. Our data support
current chemical models that CH3OH, CH3CN and (CH2OH)2 are parent nuclear
species distributed into the coma via direct sublimation off cometary ices from
the nucleus with no evidence of significant production in the outer coma.Comment: accepted for publication in Ap
Coupling the dynamics and the molecular chemistry in the Galactic center
The physical conditions of the Galactic center (GC) clouds moving with
non-circular velocities are not well-known. We have studied the physical
conditions of these clouds with the aim of better understanding the origin of
the outstanding physical conditions of the GC molecular gas and the possible
effect of the large scale dynamics on these physical conditions.Using published
CO(1-0) data, we have selected a set of clouds belonging to all the kinematical
components seen in the longitude-velocity diagram of the GC. We have done a
survey of dense gas in all the components using the J=2-1 lines of CS and SiO
as tracers of high density gas and shock chemistry. We have detected CS and SiO
emission in all the kinematical components. The gas density and the SiO
abundance of the clouds in non-circular orbits are similar those in the nuclear
ring (GCR). Therefore, in all the kinematical components there are dense clouds
that can withstand the tidal shear. However, there is no evidence of star
formation outside the GCR. The high relative velocity and shear expected in the
dust-lanes along the bar major axis could inhibit the star formation process,
as observed in other galaxies. The high SiO abundances derived in the
non-circular velocity clouds are likely due to the large-scale shocks that
created the dust lanesComment: One figure as an independent PDF file. Accepted by A&
Understanding the chemical complexity in Circumstellar Envelopes of C-Rich AGB stars: The case of IRC +10216
Abstract The circumstellar envelopes of carbon-rich AGB stars show a chemical complexity that is exemplified by the prototypical object IRC +10216, in which about 60 different molecules have been detected to date. Most of these species are carbon chains of the type C n H, C n H 2 , C n N, HC n N. We present the detection of new species (CH 2 CHCN, CH 2 CN, H 2 CS, CH 3 CCH and C 3 O) achieved thanks to the systematic observation of the full 3 mm window with the IRAM 30m telescope plus some ARO 12m observations. All these species, known to exist in the interstellar medium, are detected for the first time in a circumstellar envelope around an AGB star. These five molecules are most likely formed in the outer expanding envelope rather than in the stellar photosphere. A pure gas phase chemical model of the circumstellar envelope is reasonably successful in explaining the derived abundances, and additionally allows to elucidate the chemical formation routes and to predict the spatial distribution of the detected species
PABPN1 gene therapy for oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy
International audienceOculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD) is an autosomal dominant, late-onset muscle disorder characterized by ptosis, swallowing difficulties, proximal limb weakness and nuclear aggregates in skeletal muscles. OPMD is caused by a trinucleotide repeat expansion in the PABPN1 gene that results in an N-terminal expanded polyalanine tract in polyA-binding protein nuclear 1 (PABPN1). Here we show that the treatment of a mouse model of OPMD with an adeno-associated virus-based gene therapy combining complete knockdown of endogenous PABPN1 and its replacement by a wild-type PABPN1 substantially reduces the amount of insoluble aggregates, decreases muscle fibrosis, reverts muscle strength to the level of healthy muscles and normalizes the muscle transcriptome. The efficacy of the combined treatment is further confirmed in cells derived from OPMD patients. These results pave the way towards a gene replacement approach for OPMD treatment
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