348 research outputs found
Risk factors for high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers (≥1:51,200) in black, HIV-1 negative South African cancer patients: a case control study
Background: Infection with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the necessary causal agent in the
development of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Infection with HIV-1, male gender and older age all increase
risk for KS. However, the geographic distribution of HHV-8 and KS both prior to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic and with HIV/AIDS suggest the presence of an additional co-factor in the development of
KS.
Methods: Between January 1994 and October 1997, we interviewed 2576 black in-patients with
cancer in Johannesburg and Soweto, South Africa. Blood was tested for antibodies against HIV-1
and HHV-8 and the study was restricted to 2191 HIV-1 negative patients. Antibodies against the
latent nuclear antigen of HHV-8 encoded by orf73 were detected with an indirect
immunofluorescence assay. We examined the relationship between high anti-HHV-8 antibody
titers (≥1:51,200) and sociodemographic and behavioral factors using unconditional logistic
regression models. Variables that were significant at p = 0.10 were included in multivariate analysis.
Results: Of the 2191 HIV-1 negative patients who did not have Kaposi's sarcoma, 854 (39.0%)
were positive for antibodies against HHV-8 according to the immunofluorescent assay. Among
those seropositive for HHV-8, 530 (62.1%) had low titers (1:200), 227 (26.6%) had medium titers
(1:51,200) and 97 (11.4%) had highest titers (1:204,800). Among the 2191 HIV-1 negative patients,
the prevalence of high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers (≥1:51,200) was independently associated with
increasing age (ptrend = 0.04), having a marital status of separated or divorced (p = 0.003), using
wood, coal or charcoal as fuel for cooking 20 years ago instead of electricity (p = 0.02) and
consuming traditional maize beer more than one time a week (p = 0.02; p-trend for increasing
consumption = 0.05) although this may be due to chance given the large number of predictors
considered in this analysis.
Conclusions: Among HIV-negative subjects, patients with high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers are
characterized by older age. Other associations that may be factors in the development of high anti-
HHV-8 titers include exposure to poverty or a low socioeconomic status environment and
consumption of traditional maize beer. The relationship between these variables and high anti-
HHV-8 titers requires further, prospective study
The rapid assembly of an elliptical galaxy of 400 billion solar masses at a redshift of 2.3
Stellar archeology shows that massive elliptical galaxies today formed
rapidly about ten billion years ago with star formation rates above several
hundreds solar masses per year (M_sun/yr). Their progenitors are likely the
sub-millimeter-bright galaxies (SMGs) at redshifts (z) greater than 2. While
SMGs' mean molecular gas mass of 5x10^10 M_sun can explain the formation of
typical elliptical galaxies, it is inadequate to form ellipticals that already
have stellar masses above 2x10^11 M_sun at z ~ 2. Here we report
multi-wavelength high-resolution observations of a rare merger of two massive
SMGs at z = 2.3. The system is currently forming stars at a tremendous rate of
2,000 M_sun/yr. With a star formation efficiency an order-of-magnitude greater
than that of normal galaxies, it will quench the star formation by exhausting
the gas reservoir in only ~200 million years. At a projected separation of 19
kiloparsecs, the two massive starbursts are about to merge and form a passive
elliptical galaxy with a stellar mass of ~4x10^11 M_sun. Our observations show
that gas-rich major galaxy mergers, concurrent with intense star formation, can
form the most massive elliptical galaxies by z ~ 1.5.Comment: Appearing in Nature online on May 22 and in print on May 30.
Submitted here is the accepted version (including the Supplementary
Information), see nature.com for the final versio
SDSS-IV MaNGA-resolved Star Formation and Molecular Gas Properties of Green Valley Galaxies: A First Look with ALMA and MaNGA
We study the role of cold gas in quenching star formation in the green valley by analyzing ALMA 12 CO (1-0) observations of three galaxies with resolved optical spectroscopy from the MaNGA survey. We present resolution-matched maps of the star formation rate and molecular gas mass. These data are used to calculate the star formation efficiency (SFE) and gas fraction (f gas ) for these galaxies separately in the central "bulge" regions and outer disks. We find that, for the two galaxies whose global specific star formation rate (sSFR) deviates most from the star formation main sequence, the gas fraction in the bulges is significantly lower than that in their disks, supporting an "inside-out" model of galaxy quenching. For the two galaxies where SFE can be reliably determined in the central regions, the bulges and disks share similar SFEs. This suggests that a decline in f gas is the main driver of lowered sSFR in bulges compared to disks in green valley galaxies. Within the disks, there exist common correlations between the sSFR and SFE and between sSFR and f gas on kiloparsec scales - the local SFE or f gas in the disks declines with local sSFR. Our results support a picture in which the sSFR in bulges is primarily controlled by f gas , whereas both SFE and f gas play a role in lowering the sSFR in disks. A larger sample is required to confirm if the trend established in this work is representative of the green valley as a whole.The work is supported by the Ministry of Science & Technology of Taiwan under the grant MOST 103-2112-M-001-031-MY3 and 106-2112-M-001-034. R.M. and F.B. acknowledge support by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). R.M. acknowledges ERC Advanced Grant 695671 "QUENCH.
Gas Accretion and Star Formation Rates
Cosmological numerical simulations of galaxy evolution show that accretion of
metal-poor gas from the cosmic web drives the star formation in galaxy disks.
Unfortunately, the observational support for this theoretical prediction is
still indirect, and modeling and analysis are required to identify hints as
actual signs of star-formation feeding from metal-poor gas accretion. Thus, a
meticulous interpretation of the observations is crucial, and this
observational review begins with a simple theoretical description of the
physical process and the key ingredients it involves, including the properties
of the accreted gas and of the star-formation that it induces. A number of
observations pointing out the connection between metal-poor gas accretion and
star-formation are analyzed, specifically, the short gas consumption time-scale
compared to the age of the stellar populations, the fundamental metallicity
relationship, the relationship between disk morphology and gas metallicity, the
existence of metallicity drops in starbursts of star-forming galaxies, the
so-called G dwarf problem, the existence of a minimum metallicity for the
star-forming gas in the local universe, the origin of the alpha-enhanced gas
forming stars in the local universe, the metallicity of the quiescent BCDs, and
the direct measurements of gas accretion onto galaxies. A final section
discusses intrinsic difficulties to obtain direct observational evidence, and
points out alternative observational pathways to further consolidate the
current ideas.Comment: Invited review to appear in Gas Accretion onto Galaxies, Astrophysics
and Space Science Library, eds. A. J. Fox & R. Dav\'e, to be published by
Springe
Gas Accretion and Galactic Chemical Evolution: Theory and Observations
This chapter reviews how galactic inflows influence galaxy metallicity. The
goal is to discuss predictions from theoretical models, but particular emphasis
is placed on the insights that result from using models to interpret
observations. Even as the classical G-dwarf problem endures in the latest round
of observational confirmation, a rich and tantalizing new phenomenology of
relationships between , , SFR, and gas fraction is emerging both in
observations and in theoretical models. A consensus interpretation is emerging
in which star-forming galaxies do most of their growing in a quiescent way that
balances gas inflows and gas processing, and metal dilution with enrichment.
Models that explicitly invoke this idea via equilibrium conditions can be used
to infer inflow rates from observations, while models that do not assume
equilibrium growth tend to recover it self-consistently. Mergers are an overall
subdominant mechanism for delivering fresh gas to galaxies, but they trigger
radial flows of previously-accreted gas that flatten radial gas-phase
metallicity gradients and temporarily suppress central metallicities. Radial
gradients are generically expected to be steep at early times and then
flattened by mergers and enriched inflows of recycled gas at late times.
However, further theoretical work is required in order to understand how to
interpret observations. Likewise, more observational work is needed in order to
understand how metallicity gradients evolve to high redshifts.Comment: Invited review to appear in Gas Accretion onto Galaxies, Astrophysics
and Space Science Library, eds. A. J. Fox & R. Dav\'e, to be published by
Springer. 29 pages, 2 figure
Large-scale production of cellulose-binding domains : adsorption studies using CBD-FITC conjugates
A method for the gram-scale production of cellulose-binding domains (CBD) through the proteolytic digestion of a commercial nzymatic preparation (Celluclast) was developed. The CBD obtained, isolated
from Trichoderma reesei cellobiohydrolase I, is highly pure and heavily glycosylated. The purified peptide has a molecular weight of 8.43 kDa, comprising the binding module, a part of the linker, and about 30%
glycosidic moiety. Its properties may thus be different from recombinant ones expressed in bacteria. CBDfluorescein isothiocyanate conjugates were used to study the CBD-cellulose interaction. The presence of
fluorescent peptides adsorbed on crystalline and amorphous cellulose fibers suggests that amorphous regions have a higher concentration of binding sites. The adsorption is reversible, but desorption is a very
slow process.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT
Optical Atomic Clock Comparison through Turbulent Air
We use frequency comb-based optical two-way time-frequency transfer (O-TWTFT)
to measure the optical frequency ratio of state-of-the-art ytterbium and
strontium optical atomic clocks separated by a 1.5 km open-air link. Our
free-space measurement is compared to a simultaneous measurement acquired via a
noise-cancelled fiber link. Despite non-stationary, ps-level time-of-flight
variations in the free-space link, ratio measurements obtained from the two
links, averaged over 30.5 hours across six days, agree to ,
showing that O-TWTFT can support free-space atomic clock comparisons below the
level
A dusty star-forming galaxy at <i>z</i> = 6 revealed by strong gravitational lensing
Since their discovery, submillimetre-selected galaxies have revolutionized the field of galaxy formation and evolution. From the hundreds of square degrees mapped at submillimetre wavelengths, only a handful of sources have been confirmed to lie at z > 5 and only two at z ≥ 6. All of these submillimetre galaxies are rare examples of extreme starburst galaxies with star formation rates of ≳1,000 M⊙ yr−1 and therefore are not representative of the general population of dusty star-forming galaxies. Consequently, our understanding of the nature of these sources, at the earliest epochs, is still incomplete. Here, we report the spectroscopic identification of a gravitationally amplified (μ = 9.3 ± 1.0) dusty star-forming galaxy at z = 6.027. After correcting for gravitational lensing, we derive an intrinsic less-extreme star formation rate of 380 ± 50 M⊙ yr−1 for this source and find that its gas and dust properties are similar to those measured for local ultra luminous infrared galaxies, extending the local trends to a poorly explored territory in the early Universe. The star-formation efficiency of this galaxy is similar to those measured in its local analogues, despite a ~12 Gyr difference in cosmic time
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