Chandra and XMM-Newton Observations of the Abell 3391/Abell 3395 Intercluster Filament

We present Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations of the Abell 3391/Abell 3395 intercluster filament. It has been suggested that the galaxy clusters Abell 3395, Abell 3391, and the galaxy group ESO-161 located between the two clusters, are in alignment along a large-scale intercluster filament. We find that the filament is aligned close to the plane of the sky, in contrast to previous results. We find a global projected filament temperature kT = $4.45_{-0.55}^{+0.89}$~keV, electron density $n_e=1.08^{+0.06}_{-0.05} \times 10^{-4}$~cm$^{-3}$, and $M_{\rm gas} = 2.7^{+0.2}_{-0.1} \times 10^{13}$~M$_\odot$. The thermodynamic properties of the filament are consistent with that of intracluster medium (ICM) of Abell 3395 and Abell 3391, suggesting that the filament emission is dominated by ICM gas that has been tidally disrupted during an early stage merger between these two clusters. We present temperature, density, entropy, and abundance profiles across the filament. We find that the galaxy group ESO-161 may be undergoing ram pressure stripping in the low density environment at or near the virial radius of both clusters due to its rapid motion through the filament.Comment: 13 Pages, 12 Figures, 5 Tables. Submitted to ApJ, comments are welcom

FROM INEQUALITY TO INFLAMMATION: EXPLORING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFFECTIVE PROCESSING

From influencing our social interactions to molding our physical and mental health, how our brain processes affective stimuli plays a crucial role in healthy human functioning. Utilizing results from 3 unique studies, the current dissertation aims to contribute empirical support for newer theoretical assertions that affective processing is significantly influenced by prior as well as internal physiological information to support allostasis. In Chapter 2, I explore how one’s contextual history may differentially shape how the brain processes affective information by examining the link between socioeconomic position and efficiency within the allostatic interoceptive network. In Chapter 3, I explore inflammation as one source of physiological information that can influence affective processing. In Chapter 4, I examine how shifting inflammation may alter affective processing via changes in motivated behavior. This dissertation closes with a synthesis of the studies discussed and a discussion of 3 future studies that aim to respond to the remaining outstanding questions.Doctor of Philosoph

Probing the Electrostatic and Steric Requirements for Substrate Binding in Human Platelet-Type 12-Lipoxygenase.

Human platelet ALOX12 (hALOX12 or h12-LOX) has been implicated in a variety of human diseases. The present study investigates the active site of hALOX12 to more thoroughly understand how it positions the substrate and achieves nearly perfect regio- and stereospecificities (i.e., 100 ± 5% of the 12(S)-hydroperoxide product), utilizing site-directed mutagenesis. Specifically, we have determined that Arg402 is not as important in substrate binding as previously seen for hALOX15 but that His596 may play a role in anchoring the carboxy terminal of the arachidonic acid during catalysis. In addition, Phe414 creates a π-stacking interaction with a double bond of arachidonic acid (Δ11), and Ala417/Val418 define the bottom of the cavity. However, the influence of Ala417/Val418 on the profile is markedly less for hALOX12 than that seen in hALOX15. Mutating these two residues to larger amino acids (Ala417Ile/Val418Met) only increased the generation of 15-HpETE by 24 ± 2%, but conversely, smaller residues at these positions converted hALOX15 to almost 100% hALOX12 reactivity [Gan et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 25412-25418]. However, we were able to increase 15-HpETE to 46 ± 3% by restricting the width of the active site with the Ala417Ile/Val418Met/Ser594Thr mutation, indicating both depth and width of the active site are important. Finally, residue Leu407 is shown to play a critical role in positioning the substrate correctly, as seen by the increase of 15-HpETE to 21 ± 1% for the single Leu407Gly mutant. These results outline critical differences between the active site requirements of hALOX12 relative to hALOX15 and explain both their product specificity and inhibitory differences

Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients in the Western Mediterranean Sea (2004-2017)

Abstract. Long-term time-series are a fundamental prerequisite to understand and detect climate shifts and trends. Understanding the complex interplay of changing ocean variables and the biological implication for marine ecosystems requires extensive data collection for monitoring and hypothesis testing and validation of modelling products. In marginal seas, such as Mediterranean Sea, there are still monitoring gaps, both in time and in space. To contribute filling these gaps, an extensive dataset of dissolved inorganic nutrients profiles (nitrate, NO3; phosphate, PO4 ; and silicate, SiO2) have been collected between 2004 and 2017 in the Western Mediterranean Sea and subjected to quality control techniques to provide to the scientific community a publicly available, long-term, quality controlled, internally consistent biogeochemical data product. The database includes 27 870 stations of dissolved inorganic nutrients sampled during 24 cruises, including temperature and salinity. Details of the quality control (primary and secondary quality control) applied are reported. The data are available in PANGAEA (https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.904172, Belgacem et al. 2019) Keywords: Mediterranean Sea, Dissolved Inorganic Nutrient, biogeochemistr

Life of a PAI: Mediation by willingness and ability for beneficiary community engagement

Improving the performance of Poverty Alleviation Interventions (PAIs) is crucial to justify the resources they consume, and for how they pitch and then address aspirations of the beneficiary community. In this paper, we work from the accepted premise that engagement response of the beneficiary community is central to the performance of such interventions. ‘Willingness to engage’ and ‘ability to engage’ are articulated as two dimensions that shape this response with examples and a discussion on how research has related with these constructs. We argue how willingness and ability have an evolving interface over the PAI lifecycle, and examine a drinking water and sanitation PAI in East India. Our propositions from this inductive study culminate in a theory of community response mediation. We suggest that willingness and ability fully mediate each other's effect on community engagement response with implications for how PAIs are resourced, designed and delivered

Muscular cystic hydatidosis: case report

BACKGROUND: Hydatidosis is a zoonosis caused by Echinococcus granulosus, and ingesting eggs released through the faeces from infected dogs infects humans. The location of the hydatid cysts is mostly hepatic and/or pulmonary, whereas musculoskeletal hydatidosis is very rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We report an unusual case of primary muscular hydatidosis in proximity of the big adductor in a young Sicilian man. The patient, 34 years old, was admitted to the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases for ultrasonographic detection, with successive confirmation by magnetic resonance imaging, of an ovular mass (13 × 8 cm) in the big adductor of the left thigh, cyst-like, and containing several small cystic formations. Serological tests for hydatidosis gave negative results. A second drawing of blood was done 10 days after the first one and showed an increase in the antibody titer for hydatidosis. The patient was submitted to surgical excision of the lesion with perioperatory prophylaxis with albendazole. The histopathological examination of the bioptic material was not diriment in the diagnosis, therefore further tests were performed: additional serological tests for hydatidosis for the evaluation of IgE and IgG serotype (Western Blot and REAST), and molecular analysis of the excised material. These more specific serological tests gave positive results for hydatidosis, and the sequencing of the polymerase chain reaction products from the cyst evidenced E. granulosus DNA, genotype G1. Any post-surgery complications was observed during 6 following months. CONCLUSION: Cystic hydatidosis should always be considered in the differential diagnosis of any cystic mass, regardless of its location, also in epidemiological contests less suggestive of the disease. The diagnosis should be achieved by taking into consideration the clinical aspects, the epidemiology of the disease, the imaging and immunological tests but, as demonstrated in this case, without neglecting the numerous possibilities offered by new serological devices and modern day molecular biology techniques

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO