The far-infrared/submillimeter properties of galaxies located behind the Bullet cluster

The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS) takes advantage of gravitational lensing by massive galaxy clusters to sample a population of high-redshift galaxies which are too faint to be detected above the confusion limit of current far-infrared/submillimeter telescopes. Measurements from 100–500 μm bracket the peaks of the far-infrared spectral energy distributions of these galaxies, characterizing their infrared luminosities and star formation rates. We introduce initial results from our science demonstration phase observations, directed toward the Bullet cluster (1E0657-56). By combining our observations with LABOCA 870 μm and AzTEC 1.1 mm data we fully constrain the spectral energy distributions of 19 MIPS 24 μm-selected galaxies which are located behind the cluster. We find that their colors are best fit using templates based on local galaxies with systematically lower infrared luminosities. This suggests that our sources are not like local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies in which vigorous star formation is contained in a compact highly dust-obscured region. Instead, they appear to be scaled up versions of lower luminosity local galaxies with star formation occurring on larger physical scales

Pasts and pagan practices: moving beyond Stonehenge

Theorizing the past is not restricted to archaeology and interpretations of 'past' both influence and are themselves constituted within politicized understandings of self, community and in certain instances, spirituality. 'The past in the imagination of the present' is appropriated, variously, to give meaning to the present or to justify actions and interpret experiences. Summer solstice at Stonehenge, with an estimated 21,000 celebrants in 2005, is only the most publicized appropriation (by pagans and other adherents of alternative spirituality and partying) of a 'sacred site'; and conflicts and negotiations occurring throughout Britain are represented in popular and academic presentations of this 'icon of Britishness'. This paper presents work from the Sacred Sites, Contested Rites/Rights Project (http://www.sacredsites.org.uk) project, a collaboration of archaeology and anthropology informed by pagan and alternative approaches and standpoints investigating and theorizing discourse and practice of heritage management and pagan site users. Whether in negotiations around the Stonehenge solstice access or in dealing with numerous other sites, boundaries between groups or discourses are not clearly drawn - discursive communities merge and re-emerge. But clearly 'past' and 'site' are increasingly important within today's Britain, even as television archaeology increases its following, and pagan numbers continue to grow.</p

The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS): Overview

The Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS) will conduct deep PACS and SPIRE imaging of ∼40 massive clusters of galaxies. The strong gravitational lensing power of these clusters will enable us to penetrate through the confusion noise, which sets the ultimate limit on our ability to probe the Universe with Herschel. Here we present an overview of our survey and a summary of the major results from our science demonstration phase (SDP) observations of the Bullet cluster (z = 0.297). The SDP data are rich and allow us to study not only the background high-redshift galaxies (e.g., strongly lensed and distorted galaxies at z = 2.8 and 3.2) but also the properties of cluster-member galaxies. Our preliminary analysis shows a great diversity of far-infrared/submillimeter spectral energy distributions (SEDs), indicating that we have much to learn with Herschel about the properties of galaxy SEDs. We have also detected the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (SZ) effect increment with the SPIRE data. The success of this SDP program demonstrates the great potential of the Herschel Lensing Survey to produce exciting results in a variety of science areas

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive, neurodegenerative condition that has increasingly been linked with mitochondrial dysfunction and inhibition of the electron transport chain. This inhibition leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species and depletion of cellular energy levels, which can consequently cause cellular damage and death mediated by oxidative stress and excitotoxicity. A number of genes that have been shown to have links with inherited forms of PD encode mitochondrial proteins or proteins implicated in mitochondrial dysfunction, supporting the central involvement of mitochondria in PD. This involvement is corroborated by reports that environmental toxins that inhibit the mitochondrial respiratory chain have been shown to be associated with PD. This paper aims to illustrate the considerable body of evidence linking mitochondrial dysfunction with neuronal cell death in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) of PD patients and to highlight the important need for further research in this area

Índice padronizado de precipitação aplicado às condições de seca no Estado do Espírito Santo.

O Índice Padronizado de Precipitação (SPI) é um dos métodos mais utilizados para quantificação da seca. A fim de verificar a possibilidade de utilização do SPI no monitoramento das deficiências e excessos de precipitação na escala mensal, no Estado do Espírito Santo objetivou-se, neste trabalho, verificar o ajuste das séries temporais dessa variável meteorológica à distribuição gama em cinco localidades do Estado. Por meio dos testes de aderência Kolmogorov-Smirnov e qui-quadrado, as séries mensais de precipitação pluvial das localidades sob análise podem ser consideradas oriundas de uma população com distribuição gama incompleta, permitindo o uso do SPI no monitoramento das condições de seca meteorológica. Através de análises de autocorrelação e correlação-cruzada, observou-se que a principal característica das séries do SPI é sua grande variabilidade espaço-temporal, a qual indica que em uma mesma região meses extremamente secos podem ser precedidos e/ou seguidos de meses úmidos ou normais, e que distintos casos de seca podem ocorrer de forma aleatória, entre as localidades e em um mesmo período

Deep Herschel view of obscured star formation in the Bullet cluster

We use deep, five band (100–500 μm) data from the Herschel Lensing Survey (HLS) to fully constrain the obscured star formation rate, SFR_(FIR), of galaxies in the Bullet cluster (z = 0.296), and a smaller background system (z = 0.35) in the same field. Herschel detects 23 Bullet cluster members with a total SFRFIR = 144±14 M_☉ yr^(-1). On average, the background system contains brighter far-infrared (FIR) galaxies, with ~50% higher SFRFIR (21 galaxies; 207 ± 9 M_☉ yr^(-1)). SFRs extrapolated from 24 μm flux via recent templates (SFR_(24 µm)) agree well with SFRFIR for ~60% of the cluster galaxies. In the remaining ~40%, SFR24 µm underestimates SFR_(FIR) due to a significant excess in observed S_(100)/S_(24) (rest frame S_(75)/S_(18)) compared to templates of the same FIR luminosity

Changes in the gut microbiota of mice orally exposed to methylimidazolium ionic liquids

Ionic liquids are salts used in a variety of industrial processes, and being relatively non-volatile, are proposed as environmentally-friendly replacements for existing volatile liquids. Methylimidazolium ionic liquids resist complete degradation in the environment, likely because the imidazolium moiety does not exist naturally in biological systems. However, there is limited data available regarding their mammalian effects in vivo. This study aimed to examine the effects of exposing mice separately to 2 different methylimidazolium ionic liquids (BMI and M8OI) through their addition to drinking water. Potential effects on key target organs-the liver and kidney-were examined, as well as the gut microbiome. Adult male mice were exposed to drinking water containing ionic liquids at a concentration of 440 mg/L for 18 weeks prior to examination of tissues, serum, urine and the gut microbiome. Histopathology was performed on tissues and clinical chemistry on serum for biomarkers of hepatic and renal injury. Bacterial DNA was isolated from the gut contents and subjected to targeted 16S rRNA sequencing. Mild hepatic and renal effects were limited to glycogen depletion and mild degenerative changes respectively. No hepatic or renal adverse effects were observed. In contrast, ionic liquid exposure altered gut microbial composition but not overall alpha diversity. Proportional abundance of Lachnospiraceae, Clostridia and Coriobacteriaceae spp. were significantly greater in ionic liquid-exposed mice, as were predicted KEGG functional pathways associated with xenobiotic and amino acid metabolism. Exposure to ionic liquids via drinking water therefore resulted in marked changes in the gut microbiome in mice prior to any overt pathological effects in target organs. Ionic liquids may be an emerging risk to health through their potential effects on the gut microbiome, which is implicated in the causes and/or severity of an array of chronic disease in humans