Measurement of the Integrated Faraday Rotations of BL Lac Objects

We present the results of multi-frequency polarization VLA observations of radio sources from the complete sample of northern, radio-bright BL Lac objects compiled by H. Kuhr and G. Schmidt. These were used to determine the integrated rotation measures of 18 objects, 15 of which had never been measured previously, which hindered analysis of the intrinsic polarization properties of objects in the complete sample. These measurements make it possible to correct the observed orientations of the linear polarizations of these sources for the effect of Faraday rotation. The most probable origin for Faraday rotation in these objects is the Galactic interstellar medium. The results presented complete measurements of the integrated rotation measures for all 34 sources in the complete sample of BL Lac objects.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Histopathology of Fusarium wilt of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi race 3. I. Modes of tissue colonization and pathogen peculiarities

Light and transmission electron microscope studies of naturally infected or inoculated staghorn sumac plants by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi race 3 are reported. Diverse extrinsic material (including latex in some instances) or elements occurred in vessel lumina. Some of this material labelled for pectin, often in association with tyloses, as did other opaque matter in paratracheal cells, related to alterations of their protective layer. Pronounced alterations of pit membranes of bordered pits occurred, with their outer portions disrupted into bodies of opaque matter, strongly labelled for cellulose, and their middle portions as unlabelled shreds. Similarly labelled opaque bodies occasionally occurred on vessel walls and lumina. Direct penetration of host cell secondary walls by the pathogen occurred, but these were degraded to any extent only following intramural invasion. Vessel walls, at all stages of infection, were lined with variously structured matter: in their thinnest forms, by single or paired, equidistant or widely spaced opaque bands, and in their thickest forms as alternating opaque and less opaque layers. Other thin elements, often enclosing opaque material, vesicular structures, or occasionally particles of ribosomal appearance were also delineated by similar but frequently infolded bands. These elements were sometimes observed to be confluent with fungal cells and to label for chitin. Many fungal elements were bound by only a thin or defective lucent wall layer, practically unlabelled for chitin, or by a locally thickened, labelled one; labelling for this substrate was also frequently associated with the fungal cell outer opaque wall layer or with some outer extracellular matter. Fine filamentous structures, connected to fungal cells, to the vessel lining matter, and to these other elements, extended into host walls. The lining itself generally did not label for cellulose or chitin. These observations are discussed in comparison with similar observations made regarding other wilt diseases that we have studied.Nous rapportons des observations microscopiques et ultrastructurales de l’infection par le F. oxysporum f. sp. callistephi race 3 de plants de vinaigrier inoculés ou infectés naturellement. Des structures ou du matériel étrangers aux éléments vasculaires ont été illustrés. Ce matériel ainsi que la matière liée à l’altération de la couche dite protectrice des cellules de parenchyme se sont marqués pour la pectine. Des corps opaques apposés aux parois des vaisseaux, présents dans leur lumière ou dans les cellules de parenchyme voisines, ont réagi pour la cellulose. La partie mitoyenne des membranes de ponctuation aréolées était altérée en lambeaux non marqués pour la cellulose et leur partie externe en corps opaques marqués. La pénétration des parois secondaires des cellules hôtes par le champignon a eu lieu, mais ces parois étaient fortement altérées seulement une fois colonisées de façon intralamellaire. Les parois vasculaires, à tous les stades de la maladie, étaient recouvertes de matière étrangère : dans les cas les plus prononcés, de couches de diverses épaisseurs, formées de strates d’opacité différente, et, dans leur plus simple expression, de lamelles opaques, simples ou jumelées mais souvent divergentes; des éléments, encadrés de lamelles semblables et souvent incurvées, et contenant de la matière opaque, des structures vésiculaires ou occasionnellement des particules semblables à des ribosomes garnissaient également les parois vasculaires. Ces éléments, inégalement marqués pour la chitine, étaient à l’occasion liés à des cellules du champignon. La couche translucide de ces cellules était souvent mince ou absente, pratiquement non marquée pour ce substrat, ou localement épaissie et alors fortement marquée, comme aussi occasionnellement leur couche pariétale externe et la matière extracellulaire semblable. Des structures filamenteuses rattachées aux cellules du champignon, comme au recouvrement des parois vasculaires et aux autres éléments, piquaient les parois cellulaires de l’hôte. Ces recouvrements ne se sont généralement pas marqués pour la cellulose ou la chitine. Ces observations se comparent avantageusement à celles concernant les autres maladies à flétrissement que nous avons étudiées

A Search for Nitrogen Enriched Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release

A search for nitrogen-rich quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS EDR) catalog has yielded 16 candidates, including five with very prominent emission, but no cases with nitrogen emission as strong as in Q0353-383. The quasar Q0353-383 has long been known to have extremely strong nitrogen intercombination lines at lambda 1486 and lambda 1750 Angstroms, implying an anomalously high nitrogen abundance of about 15 times solar. It is still the only one of its kind known. A preliminary search through the EDR using the observed property of the weak C IV emission seen in Q0353-383 resulted in a sample of 23 objects with unusual emission or absorption-line properties, including one very luminous redshift 2.5 star-forming galaxy. We present descriptions, preliminary emission-line measurements, and spectra for all the objects discussed here.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures, submitted to AJ; final refereed versio

Histopathology of Fusarium wilt of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi race 3. II. Characteristics of opaque matter associated with extensive host cell and cell wall alterations

Light and transmission electron microscopy observations of staghorn sumac plants inoculated or naturally infected with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi are reported. One aspect of infection was the presence of large intercellular masses of opaque matter (OM) in middle lamellae between ray cells and/or fibres, often bypassing several intercellular areas; similar OM confluent with the intercellular OM also occurred in secondary walls and in the periphery of numerous cells. A gradual increase in the abundance of the OM in host tissues vertically from the inoculation point and then radially was noted over infection time and was related to host wall and cell alterations. In the region of recently deposited tissue, the OM was associated with pronounced cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy. The OM was delimited by thin, compact bands, and when it was less compact, displayed opaque particles and other fine structures. No indications were obtained that it contained or had contained intact or altered organelles. The DNA probe bound to OM in middle lamellae and in cell periplasmic areas, and to material of a similar texture lining vessel walls. Samples from Fusarium-infected plants, incubated on an agar medium before fixing to determine from which elements the pathogens could develop, displayed bodies as the sole elements present in mature xylem cells and in intercellular areas. These bodies were delimited by membranous structures and profiles of a wall layer and contained opaque particles and areas of fine structures. Certain inter- or intracellular fungal cells in the same tissue frequently had similar content. In the light of these observations it is proposed that the OM is primarily of a pathogen rather than of a host origin.On rapporte des observations en microscopie (photonique et électronique à transmission) de l’infection de plants de vinaigrier inoculés ou naturellement infectés par le Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi. L’un des aspects étudiés concerne la présence de matière opaque (MO) s’étant infiltrée dans les lamelles mitoyennes divisant les cellules de rayons et des fibres ou entre celles-ci, y longeant plusieurs espaces intercellulaires. Des liens ont été observés entre la MO intercellulaire et celle présente à l’occasion dans les parois secondaires et les espaces périplasmiques des cellules hôtes. Il y a eu augmentation graduelle de la MO vers l’écorce comme vers le sommet de la tige, et des altérations pariétales et cellulaires reliées à cette matière en fonction du temps après l’inoculation. On a noté dans la zone externe du xylème, en présence de la MO, l’hypertrophie et l’hyperplasie des cellules. La MO était encadrée par des lamelles minces et compactes, et, lorsque moins dense, elle est révélée contenir des particules opaques et autres fines structures; aucun indice de la présence antérieure ou actuelle d’organites intacts ou altérés dans la MO n’a été relevé. Cette MO, comme celle d’apparence semblable accolée aux parois vasculaires, a capté l’anticorps monoclonal contre l'ADN complexée à l’or colloïdal. Dans les plants atteints de la fusariose, placés sur un milieu de culture gélosé avant d’être fixés pour y déceler les formes particulières de l’agent pathogène présentes, seuls des corps bien définis se trouvaient dans les cellules du xylème rendu à maturité et dans les espaces intercellulaires. Ces corps étaient entourés de structures membranaires ou d’amorces de parois et pourvus de particules opaques et d’îlots de fines structures. Certaines cellules du champignon présentes dans ou entre les cellules dans le même tissu, montraient le même genre de contenu. C0 la faveur de ces observations, nous postulons que la matière en question provient d’abord de l’agent pathogène et non de l’hôte

Histopathology of Fusarium wilt of staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi race 3. III. Host cell and tissue reactions

Various cell reactions occurred in staghorn sumac plants inoculated with Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi. Light and transmission electron microscopy observations and results of cytochemical tests showed: 1) increased laticifers and latex production in the phloem; 2) tylosis formation; 3) host cell wall modifications, including appositions or other cell wall thickenings; and 4) unusual cross wall formation in some cells, and cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Tylosis walls labelled for pectin and cellulose and many displayed inner suberin-like layers. These layers were also noted in cells of the medullary sheath and in many cells with dense content and thickened walls in the barrier zones that had formed. These zones also contained fibres with newly-formed gelatinous-like layers. In the vicinity of these cells, host cell walls were frequently altered, associated with opaque matter. Many small particles present in chains also occurred in some of these cells, which contained only remnants of host cytoplasm. Light microscopy observations showed that pronounced tissue proliferation and aberrant cells occurred in the outer xylem in the infected plants. Unusual neoplasmic tissue also formed from cells surrounding the pith and medullary sheath, and it spanned directly across the pre-existing xylem tissue and burst as large mounds on the stems.Diverses réactions cellulaires ont été observées chez des plants de vinaigrier inoculés par le Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. callistephi. Ces effets ont été notés au moyen de la microscopie photonique et électronique à transmission et par des tests cytochimiques. Ainsi, on a observé la formation de nombreux canaux de latex dans le liber et de thylles dans les éléments de vaisseaux, des épaississements ou autres modifications des parois cellulaires, des cloisons adventives dans certaines cellules et de l’hyperplasie et de l’hypertrophie cellulaires dans certains tissus. Les parois des thylles se sont marquées pour la pectine et la cellulose, sauf les couches lucides apparemment subérisées présentes dans plusieurs de ces thylles. Ces couches étaient également présentes dans les cellules de la couche médullaire ainsi que dans plusieurs cellules de parenchyme et même des fibres. Des barrières de protection se sont formées et elles étaient composées de cellules de parenchyme avec des parois épaissies et à contenu de forte densité et de fibres avec des parois additionnelles dites gélatineuses. Des altérations pariétales prononcées, reliées à de la matière opaque, se trouvaient dans ces cellules ou dans les parois avoisinantes. Plusieurs particules interreliées occupaient certaines cellules infectées pourvues de seulement quelques traces de cytoplasme altéré. Tel qu’observée en microscopie photonique, une zone de prolifération de cellules plus ou moins bien différenciées était visible à la marge extérieure du xylème. Du côté de la moelle et de la couche médullaire, une multiplication accrue de cellules provenant de ces tissus a également été notée. Ces masses tissulaires inusitées avaient découpé le xylème, formant avec celui-ci un genre de muraille et émergeant en monticules sur la tige

The Cop Number of the One-Cop-Moves Game on Planar Graphs

Cops and robbers is a vertex-pursuit game played on graphs. In the classical cops-and-robbers game, a set of cops and a robber occupy the vertices of the graph and move alternately along the graph's edges with perfect information about each other's positions. If a cop eventually occupies the same vertex as the robber, then the cops win; the robber wins if she can indefinitely evade capture. Aigner and Frommer established that in every connected planar graph, three cops are sufficient to capture a single robber. In this paper, we consider a recently studied variant of the cops-and-robbers game, alternately called the one-active-cop game, one-cop-moves game or the lazy-cops-and-robbers game, where at most one cop can move during any round. We show that Aigner and Frommer's result does not generalise to this game variant by constructing a connected planar graph on which a robber can indefinitely evade three cops in the one-cop-moves game. This answers a question recently raised by Sullivan, Townsend and Werzanski.Comment: 32 page

Observing the build-up of the colour-magnitude relation at redshift ~0.8

We analyse the rest-frame (U-V) colour-magnitude relation for 2 clusters at redshift 0.7 and 0.8, drawn from the ESO Distant Cluster Survey. By comparing with the population of red galaxies in the Coma cluster, we show that the high redshift clusters exhibit a deficit of passive faint red galaxies. Our results show that the red-sequence population cannot be explained in terms of a monolithic and synchronous formation scenario. A large fraction of faint passive galaxies in clusters today has moved onto the red sequence relatively recently as a consequence of the fact that their star formation activity has come to an end at z<0.8.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proc. of IAU Colloq. 195: "Outskirts of Galaxy Clusters: Intense Life in the Suburbs" -- minor typos correcte

Linear and nonlinear optical properties of carbon nanotube-coated single-mode optical fiber gratings

This paper was published in OPTICS LETTERS and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OL.36.002104. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law[EN] Single-wall carbon nanotube deposition on the cladding of optical fibers has been carried out to fabricate an all-fiber nonlinear device. Two different nanotube deposition techniques were studied. The first consisted of repeatedly immersing the optical fiber into a nanotube supension, increasing the thickness of the coating in each step. The second deposition involved wrapping a thin film of nanotubes around the optical fiber. For both cases, interaction of transmitted light through the fiber core with the external coating was assisted by the cladding mode resonances of a tilted fiber Bragg grating. Ultrafast nonlinear effects of the nanotube-coated fiber were measured by means of a pump-probe pulses experiment. © 2011 Optical Society of America.This work was financially supported by the European Commission under the FP7 EURO-FOS Network of Excellence (ICT-2007-2-224402), the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia SINADEC project (TEC2008-06333), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The work of G. E. Villanueva was supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia Formación de Profesorado Universitario programs. The work of P. Pérez-Millán was supported by the Juan de la Cierva program, JCI-2009-05805.Villanueva Ibáñez, GE.; Jakubinek, M.; Simard, B.; Oton Nieto, CJ.; Matres Abril, J.; Shao, L.; Pérez Millán, P.... (2011). Linear and nonlinear optical properties of carbon nanotube-coated single-mode optical fiber gratings. Optics Letters. 36(11):2104-2106. https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.36.002104S210421063611Sakakibara, Y., Rozhin, A. G., Kataura, H., Achiba, Y., & Tokumoto, M. (2005). Carbon Nanotube-Poly(vinylalcohol) Nanocomposite Film Devices: Applications for Femtosecond Fiber Laser Mode Lockers and Optical Amplifier Noise Suppressors. Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, 44(4A), 1621-1625. doi:10.1143/jjap.44.1621Chow, K. K., Yamashita, S., & Song, Y. W. (2009). A widely tunable wavelength converter based on nonlinear polarization rotation in a carbon-nanotube-deposited D-shaped fiber. Optics Express, 17(9), 7664. doi:10.1364/oe.17.007664Set, S. Y., Yaguchi, H., Tanaka, Y., & Jablonski, M. (2004). Ultrafast Fiber Pulsed Lasers Incorporating Carbon Nanotubes. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 10(1), 137-146. doi:10.1109/jstqe.2003.822912Chow, K. K., Tsuji, M., & Yamashita, S. (2010). Single-walled carbon-nanotube-deposited tapered fiber for four-wave mixing based wavelength conversion. Applied Physics Letters, 96(6), 061104. doi:10.1063/1.3304789Chow, K. K., & Yamashita, S. (2009). Four-wave mixing in a single-walled carbon-nanotube-deposited D-shaped fiber and its application in tunable wavelength conversion. Optics Express, 17(18), 15608. doi:10.1364/oe.17.015608Choi, S. Y., Rotermund, F., Jung, H., Oh, K., & Yeom, D.-I. (2009). Femtosecond mode-locked fiber laser employing a hollow optical fiber filled with carbon nanotube dispersion as saturable absorber. Optics Express, 17(24), 21788. doi:10.1364/oe.17.021788Chan, C.-F., Chen, C., Jafari, A., Laronche, A., Thomson, D. J., & Albert, J. (2007). Optical fiber refractometer using narrowband cladding-mode resonance shifts. Applied Optics, 46(7), 1142. doi:10.1364/ao.46.001142Kingston, C. T., Jakubek, Z. J., Dénommée, S., & Simard, B. (2004). Efficient laser synthesis of single-walled carbon nanotubes through laser heating of the condensing vaporization plume. Carbon, 42(8-9), 1657-1664. doi:10.1016/j.carbon.2004.02.020Jakubinek, M. B., Johnson, M. B., White, M. A., Guan, J., & Simard, B. (2010). Novel Method to Produce Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Films and Their Thermal and Electrical Properties. Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, 10(12), 8151-8157. doi:10.1166/jnn.2010.3014Vallaitis, T., Koos, C., Bonk, R., Freude, W., Laemmlin, M., Meuer, C., … Leuthold, J. (2008). Slow and fast dynamics of gain and phase in a quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier. Optics Express, 16(1), 170. doi:10.1364/oe.16.00017

The Weiss conjecture on admissibility of observation operators for contraction semigroups

We prove the conjecture of George Weiss for contraction semigroups on Hilbert spaces, giving a characterization of infinite-time admissible observation functionals for a contraction semigroup, namely that such a functional C is infinite-time admissible if and only if there is an M > 0 such that parallel to IC(sI - A)(-1)parallel to less than or equal to M/root Re s for all s in the open right half-plane. Here A denotes the infinitesimal generator of the semigroup. The result provides a simultaneous generalization of several celebrated results from the theory of Hardy spaces involving Carleson measures and Hankel operators