119 research outputs found
Electromagnetic Counterparts of Compact Binary Mergers
The first detection of a binary neutron star merger through gravitational
waves and photons marked the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy with
gravitational waves, and it greatly increased our insight in different fields
of astrophysics and fundamental physics. However, many open questions on the
physical process involved in a compact binary merger still remain and many of
these processes concern plasma physics. With the second generation of
gravitational wave interferometers approaching their design sensitivity, the
new generation under design study, and new X-ray detectors under development,
the high energy Universe will become more and more a unique laboratory for our
understanding of plasma in extreme conditions. In this review, we discuss the
main electromagnetic signals expected to follow the merger of two compact
objects highlighting the main physical processes involved and some of the most
important open problems in the field.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures. Published by the Journal of Plasma Physic
A luminosity distribution for kilonovae based on short gamma-ray burst afterglows
The combined detection of a gravitational-wave signal, kilonova, and short
gamma-ray burst (sGRB) from GW170817 marked a scientific breakthrough in the
field of multi-messenger astronomy. But even before GW170817, there have been a
number of sGRBs with possible associated kilonova detections. In this work, we
re-examine these "historical" sGRB afterglows with a combination of
state-of-the-art afterglow and kilonova models. This allows us to include
optical/near-infrared synchrotron emission produced by the sGRB as well as
ultraviolet/optical/near-infrared emission powered by the radioactive decay of
-process elements (i.e., the kilonova). Fitting the lightcurves, we derive
the velocity and the mass distribution as well as the composition of the
ejected material. The posteriors on kilonova parameters obtained from the fit
were turned into distributions for the peak magnitude of the kilonova emission
in different bands and the time at which this peak occurs. From the sGRB with
an associated kilonova, we found that the peak magnitude in H bands falls in
the range [-16.2, -13.1] ( of confidence) and occurs within after the sGRB prompt emission. In g band instead we obtain a peak
magnitude in range [-16.8, -12.3] occurring within the first after
the sGRB prompt. From the luminosity distributions of GW170817/AT2017gfo,
kilonova candidates GRB130603B, GRB050709 and GRB060614 (with the possible
inclusion of GRB150101B) and the upper limits from all the other sGRBs not
associated with any kilonova detection we obtain for the first time a kilonova
luminosity function in different bands.Comment: Published in MNRAS, 24 pages, 14 figure
The GRETOBAPE gas-phase reaction network: the importance of being exothermic
The gas-phase reaction networks are the backbone of astrochemical models.
However, due to their complexity and non-linear impact on the astrochemical
modeling, they can be the first source of error in the simulations if incorrect
reactions are present. Over time, following the increasing number of species
detected, astrochemists have added new reactions, based on laboratory
experiments and quantum mechanics (QM) computations as well as reactions
inferred by chemical intuition and similarity principle. However, sometimes no
verification of their feasibility in the interstellar conditions, namely their
exothermicity, was performed. In this work, we present a new gas-phase reaction
network, GRETOBAPE, based on the KIDA2014 network and updated with several
reactions, cleaned from endothermic reactions not explicitly recognized as
such. To this end, we characterized all the species in the GRETOBAPE network
with accurate QM calculations. We found that 5% of the reactions in the
original network are endothermic although most of them are reported as
barrierless. The reaction network of Si-bearing species is the most impacted by
the endothermicity cleaning process. We also produced a cleaned reduced
network, GRETOBAPE-red, to be used to simulate astrochemical situations where
only C-, O-, N- and S- bearing species with less than 6 atoms are needed.
Finally, the new GRETOBAPE network, its reduced version, as well as the
database with all the molecular properties are made publicly available. The
species properties database can be used in the future to test the feasibility
of possibly new reactions.Comment: ApJS submitte
Coupling of the oxygen-linked interaction energy for inositol hexakisphosphate and bezafibrate binding to human HbA0.
The energetics of signal propagation between different functional domains (i.e. the binding sites for O2, inositol hexakisphospate (IHP), and bezafibrate (BZF)) of human HbA0 was analyzed at different heme ligation states and through the use of a stable, partially heme ligated intermediate. Present data allow three main conclusions to be drawn, and namely: (i) IHP and BZF enhance each others binding as the oxygenation proceeds, the coupling free energy going from close to zero in the deoxy state to -3.4 kJ/mol in the oxygenated form; (ii) the simultaneous presence of IHP and BZF stabilizes the hemoglobin T quaternary structure at very low O2 pressures, but as oxygenation proceeds it does not impair the transition toward the R structure, which indeed occurs also under these conditions; (iii) under room air pressure (i.e. pO2 = 150 torr), IHP and BZF together induce the formation of an asymmetric dioxygenated hemoglobin tetramer, whose features appear reminiscent of those suggested for transition state species (i.e. T- and R-like tertiary conformation(s) within a quaternary R-like structure)
Spectral index-flux relation for investigating the origins of steep decay in γ-ray bursts
γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived transients releasing a large amount of energy (10 − 10 erg) in the keV-MeV energy range. GRBs are thought to originate from internal dissipation of the energy carried by ultra-relativistic jets launched by the remnant of a massive star’s death or a compact binary coalescence. While thousands of GRBs have been observed over the last thirty years, we still have an incomplete understanding of where and how the radiation is generated in the jet. Here we show a relation between the spectral index and the flux found by investigating the X-ray tails of bright GRB pulses via time-resolved spectral analysis. This relation is incompatible with the long standing scenario which invokes the delayed arrival of photons from high-latitude parts of the jet. While the alternative scenarios cannot be firmly excluded, the adiabatic cooling of the emitting particles is the most plausible explanation for the discovered relation, suggesting a proton-synchrotron origin of the GRB emission.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under the AHEAD2020 project (Grant agreement n. 871158). G. Ghir. acknowledges the support from the ASI-Nustar Grant (1.05.04.95). M.B., P.D., and G.G. acknowledge support from PRIN-MIUR 2017 (Grant 20179ZF5KS). G.O. acknowledges financial contribution from the agreement ASI-INAF n.2017-14-H.0. S.A. acknowledges the PRIN-INAF “Towards the SKA and CTA era: discovery, localization, and physics of transient sources” and the ERC Consolidator Grant “MAGNESIA” (nr. 817661). M.G.B. and P.D. acknowledge ASI Grant I/004/11/3. O.S.S. acknowledges the INAF-Prin 2017 (1.05.01.88.06) and the Italian Ministry for University and Research Grant “FIGARO” (1.05.06.13) for support. G.O. and S.R. are thankful to INAF—Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera for kind hospitality during the completion of this work. This work made use of data supplied by the UK Swift Science Data Centre at the University of Leicester
Spectral index-flux relation for investigating the origins of steep decay in -ray bursts
-ray bursts (GRBs) are short-lived transients releasing a large
amount of energy ( erg) in the keV-MeV energy range. GRBs are
thought to originate from internal dissipation of the energy carried by
ultra-relativistic jets launched by the remnant of a massive star's death or a
compact binary coalescence. While thousands of GRBs have been observed over the
last thirty years, we still have an incomplete understanding of where and how
the radiation is generated in the jet. Here we show a relation between the
spectral index and the flux found by investigating the X-ray tails of bright
GRB pulses via time-resolved spectral analysis. This relation is incompatible
with the long standing scenario which invokes the delayed arrival of photons
from high-latitude parts of the jet. While the alternative scenarios cannot be
firmly excluded, the adiabatic cooling of the emitting particles is the most
plausible explanation for the discovered relation, suggesting a
proton-synchrotron origin of the GRB emission.Comment: Published in Nature Communication
Mycobacterial and Human Ferrous Nitrobindins: Spectroscopic and Reactivity Properties
Structural and functional properties of ferrous Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mt-Nb) and human (Hs-Nb) nitrobindins (Nbs) were investigated. At pH 7.0 and 25.0 °C, the unliganded Fe(II) species is penta-coordinated and unlike most other hemoproteins no pH-dependence of its coordination was detected over the pH range between 2.2 and 7.0. Further, despite a very open distal side of the heme pocket (as also indicated by the vanishingly small geminate recombination of CO for both Nbs), which exposes the heme pocket to the bulk solvent, their reactivity toward ligands, such as CO and NO, is significantly slower than in most hemoproteins, envisaging either a proximal barrier for ligand binding and/or crowding of H2O molecules in the distal side of the heme pocket which impairs ligand binding to the heme Fe-atom. On the other hand, liganded species display already at pH 7.0 and 25 °C a severe weakening (in the case of CO) and a cleavage (in the case of NO) of the proximal Fe-His bond, suggesting that the ligand-linked movement of the Fe(II) atom onto the heme plane brings about a marked lengthening of the proximal Fe-imidazole bond, eventually leading to its rupture. This structural evidence is accompanied by a marked enhancement of both ligands dissociation rate constants. As a whole, these data clearly indicate that structural-functional relationships in Nbs strongly differ from what observed in mammalian and truncated hemoproteins, suggesting that Nbs play a functional role clearly distinct from other eukaryotic and prokaryotic hemoproteins
A bright megaelectronvolt emission line in -ray burst GRB 221009A
The highly variable and energetic pulsed emission of a long gamma-ray burst
(GRB) is thought to originate from local, rapid dissipation of kinetic or
magnetic energy within an ultra-relativistic jet launched by a newborn compact
object, formed during the collapse of a massive star. The spectra of GRB pulses
are best modelled by power-law segments, indicating the dominance of
non-thermal radiation processes. Spectral lines in the X-ray and soft
-ray regime for the afterglow have been searched for intensively, but
never confirmed. No line features ever been identified in the high energy
prompt emission. Here we report the discovery of a highly significant () narrow emission feature at around MeV in the brightest ever GRB
221009A. By modelling its profile with a Gaussian, we find a roughly constant
width MeV and temporal evolution both in energy ( MeV
to MeV) and luminosity ( erg/s to erg/s) over 80 seconds. We interpret this feature as a blue-shifted
annihilation line of relatively cold ()
electron-positron pairs, which could have formed within the jet region where
the brightest pulses of the GRB were produced. A detailed understanding of the
conditions that can give rise to such a feature could shed light on the so far
poorly understood GRB jet properties and energy dissipation mechanism.Comment: Submitte
Hypoalbuminemia as a predictor of acute kidney injury during colistin treatment
This study aimed to assess the predictors of acute kidney injury (AKI) during colistin therapy in a cohort of patients with bloodstream infections (BSI) due to colistin-susceptible Gram-negative bacteria, focusing on the role of serum albumin levels. The study consisted of two parts: (1) a multicentre retrospective clinical study to assess the predictors of AKI during colistin therapy, defined according to the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria; and (2) bioinformatic and biochemical characterization of the possible interaction between human serum albumin and colistin. Among the 170 patients included in the study, 71 (42%), 35 (21%), and 11 (6%) developed KDIGO stage 1 (K1-AKI), KDIGO stage 2 (K2-AKI), and KDIGO stage 3 (K3-AKI), respectively. In multivariable analyses, serum albumin <2.5 g/dL was independently associated with K1-AKI (subdistribution hazard ratio [sHR] 1.85, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17\u20132.93, p = 0.009) and K2-AKI (sHR 2.37, 95% CI 1.15\u20134.87, p = 0.019). Bioinformatic and biochemical analyses provided additional information nurturing the discussion on how hypoalbuminemia favors development of AKI during colistin therapy. In conclusion, severe hypoalbuminemia independently predicted AKI during colistin therapy in a large cohort of patients with BSI due to colistin-susceptible Gram-negative bacteria. Further study is needed to clarify the underlying causal pathways
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