77 research outputs found
IRAS 19135+3937: An SRd variable as interacting binary surrounded by a circumbinary disc
Semi-regular (SR) variables are not a homogeneous class and their variability
is often explained due to pulsations and/or binarity. This study focuses on
IRAS 19135+3937, an SRd variable with an infra-red excess indicative of a dusty
disc. A time-series of high-resolution spectra, UBV photometry as well as a
very accurate light curve obtained by the Kepler satellite, allowed us to study
the object in unprecedented detail. We discovered it to be a binary with a
period of 127 days. The primary has a low surface gravity and an atmosphere
depleted in refractory elements. This combination of properties unambiguously
places IRAS 19135+3937 in the subclass of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch stars
with dusty discs.
We show that the light variations in this object can not be due to
pulsations, but are likely caused by the obscuration of the primary by the
circumbinary disc during orbital motion. Furthermore, we argue that the
double-peaked Fe emission lines provide evidence for the existence of a gaseous
circumbinary Keplerian disc inside the dusty disc. A secondary set of
absorption lines has been detected near light minimum, which we attribute to
the reflected spectrum of the primary on the disc wall, which segregates due to
the different Doppler shift. This corroborates the recent finding that
reflection in the optical by this type of discs is very efficient. The system
also shows a variable Halpha profile indicating a collimated outflow
originating around the companion. IRAS 19135+3937 thus encompasses all the
major emergent trends about evolved disc systems, that will eventually help to
place these objects in the evolutionary context.Comment: Accepted to MNRA
Entanglement dynamics of two qubits under the influence of external kicks and Gaussian pulses
We have investigated the dynamics of entanglement between two spin-1/2 qubits
that are subject to independent kick and Gaussian pulse type external magnetic
fields analytically as well as numerically. Dyson time ordering effect on the
dynamics is found to be important for the sequence of kicks. We show that
"almost-steady" high entanglement can be created between two initially
unentangled qubits by using carefully designed kick or pulse sequences
Reduced binding of human antibodies to cells from GGTA1/CMAH KO pigs
Xenotransplantation using genetically modified pig organs could solve the donor organ shortage problem. Two inactivated genes that make humans unique from pigs are GGTA1 and CMAH, the products of which produce the carbohydrate epitopes, aGal and Neu5Gc that attract preformed human antibody. When the GGTA1 and CMAH genes were deleted in pigs, human antibody binding was reduced in preliminary analysis. We analyzed the binding of human IgM and IgG from 121 healthy human serum samples for binding to GGTA1 KO and GGTA1/CMAH KO peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We analyzed a sub population for reactivity toward genetically modified pig PBMCs as compared to chimpanzee and human PBMCs. Deletion of the GGTA1 and CMAH genes in pigs improved the crossmatch results beyond those observed with chimpanzees. Sorting the 121 human samples tested against the GGTA1/CMAH KO pig PBMCs did not reveal a distinguishing feature such as blood group, age or gender. Modification of genes to make pig carbohydrates more similar to humans has improved the crossmatch with human serum significantly
Dark Matter and the Chemical Evolution of Irregular Galaxies
We present three types of chemical evolution models for irregular galaxies:
closed-box with continuous star formation rates (SFRs), closed-box with
bursting SFRs, and O-rich outflow with continuous SFRs. We discuss the chemical
evolution of the irregular galaxies NGC 1560 and II Zw 33, and a ``typical''
irregular galaxy. The fraction of low-mass stars needed by our models is larger
than that derived for the solar vicinity, but similar to that found in globular
clusters. For our typical irregular galaxy we need a mass fraction of about 40%
in the form of substellar objects plus non baryonic dark matter inside the
Holmberg radius, in good agreement with the results derived for NGC 1560 and II
Zw 33 where we do have an independent estimate of the mass fraction in non
baryonic dark matter. Closed-box models are better than O-rich outflow models
in explaining the C/O and Z/O observed values for our typical irregular galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure, uses emulateapj.sty package. ApJ in press. New
models were added. The order of Tables has been correcte
Multi-Wavelength Monitoring of the Changing-Look AGN NGC 2617 during State Changes
Optical and near-infrared photometry, optical spectroscopy, and soft X-ray and UV monitoring of the changing-look active galactic nucleus NGC 2617 show that it continues to have the appearance of a type-1 Seyfert galaxy. An optical light curve for 2010-2017 indicates that the change of type probably occurred between 2010 October and 2012 February and was not related to the brightening in 2013. In 2016 and 2017 NGC 2617 brightened again to a level of activity close to that in 2013 April. However, in 2017 from the end of the March to end of July 2017 it was in very low level and starting to change back to a Seyfert 1.8. We find variations in all passbands and in both the intensities and profiles of the broad Balmer lines. A new displaced emission peak has appeared in Hβ. X-ray variations are well correlated with UV-optical variability and possibly lead by ̃2-3 d. The K band lags the J band by about 21.5 ± 2.5 d and lags the combined B + J bands by ̃25 d. J lags B by about 3 d. This could be because J-band variability arises predominantly from the outer part of the accretion disc, while K-band variability is dominated by thermal re-emission by dust. We propose that spectral-type changes are a result of increasing central luminosity causing sublimation of the innermost dust in the hollow bi-conical outflow. We briefly discuss various other possible reasons that might explain the dramatic changes in NGC 2617.Fil: Oknyansky, V. L.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute; RusiaFil: Gaskell, C. M.. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. University of California. Santa Cruz; Estados UnidosFil: Mikailov, K. M.. Shamakhy Astrophysical Observatory, National Academy of Sciences.
Pirkuli; AzerbaiyánFil: Lipunov, V. M.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University ; RusiaFil: Shatsky, N. I.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Tsygankov, S. S.. Tuorla Observatory, Department of Physics and Astronomy. University of Turku.; FinlandiaFil: Gorbovskoy, E. S.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Tatarnikov, A. M.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Metlov, V. G.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Malanchev, K. L.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Brotherton, M.B.. University of Wyoming; Estados UnidosFil: Kasper, D.. University of Wyoming; Estados UnidosFil: Du, P.. Institute of High Energy Physics. Chinese Academy of Sciences; ChinaFil: Chen, X.. School of Space Science and Physics. Shandong University; ChinaFil: Burlak, M. A.. Sternberg Astronomical Institute. M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University; RusiaFil: Buckley, D. A. H.. The South African Astronomical Observatory; SudáfricaFil: Rebolo, R.. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias; EspañaFil: Serra-Ricart, M.. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias; EspañaFil: Podestá, R.. Universidad Nacional de San Juan; ArgentinaFil: Levato, O. H.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - San Juan. Instituto de Ciencias Astronómicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio. Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Instituto de Ciencias Astronómicas, de la Tierra y del Espacio; Argentin
Variability of Hot Supergiant IRAS 19336-0400 in the Early Phase of its Planetary Nebula Ionization
We present photoelectric and spectral observations of a hot candidate
proto-planetary nebula - early B-type supergiant with emission lines in
spectrum - IRAS 19336-0400. The light and color curves display fast irregular
brightness variations with maximum amplitudes Delta V=0.30 mag, Delta B=0.35
mag, Delta U=0.40 mag and color-brightness correlations. By the variability
characteristics IRAS 19336-0400 appears similar to other hot proto-planetary
nebulae. Based on low-resolution spectra in the range lambda 4000-7500 A we
have derived absolute intensities of the emission lines H_alpha, H_beta,
H_gamma, [SII], [NII], physical conditions in gaseous nebula: n_e=10^4 cm^{-3},
T_e=7000 \pm 1000 K. The emission line H_alpha, H_beta equivalent widths are
found to be considerably variable and related to light changes. By
UBV-photometry and spectroscopy the color excess has been estimated:
E_{B-V}=0.50-0.54. Joint photometric and spectral data analysis allows us to
assume that the star variability is caused by stellar wind variations.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Pis'ma
Astron. Zh. (Astronomy Letters
Creation and manipulation of entanglement in spin chains far from equilibrium
We investigate creation, manipulation, and steering of entanglement in spin
chains from the viewpoint of quantum communication between distant parties. We
demonstrate how global parametric driving of the spin-spin coupling and/or
local time-dependent Zeeman fields produce a large amount of entanglement
between the first and the last spin of the chain. This occurs whenever the
driving frequency meets a resonance condition, identified as "entanglement
resonance". Our approach marks a promising step towards an efficient quantum
state transfer or teleportation in solid state system. Following the reasoning
of Zueco et al. [1], we propose generation and routing of multipartite
entangled states by use of symmetric tree-like structures of spin chains.
Furthermore, we study the effect of decoherence on the resulting spin
entanglement between the corresponding terminal spins.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure
A flare in the optical spotted in the changing-look Seyfert NGC 3516
We present observations from the short-term intensive optical campaign (from
Sep2019 to Jan2020) of the changing-look Seyfert NGC 3516. This active galactic
nucleus is known to have strong optical variability and has changed its type in
the past. It has been in the low-activity state in the optical since 2013, with
some rebrightening from the end of 2015 to the beginning of 2016, after which
it remained dormant. We aim to study the photometric and spectral variability
of NGC 3516 from the new observations in U- and B-bands and examine the
profiles of the optical broad emission lines in order to demonstrate that this
object may be entering a new state of activity. NGC 3516 has been monitored
intensively for the past 4 months with an automated telescope in U and B
filters, enabling accurate photometry of 0.01 precision. Spectral observations
were triggered when an increase in brightness was spotted. We support our
analysis of past-episodes of violent variability with the UV and X-ray
long-term light curves constructed from the archival Swift data. An increase of
the photometric magnitude is seen in both U and B filters to a maximum
amplitude of 0.25mag and 0.1 mag, respectively. During the flare, we observe
stronger forbidden high-ionization iron lines than reported before, as well as
the complex broad Ha and Hb lines. This is especially seen in Ha which appears
to be double-peaked. It seems that a very broad component of ~10,000 km/s in
width in the Balmer lines is appearing. The trends in the optical, UV, and
X-ray light curves are similar, with the amplitudes of variability being
significantly larger in the case of UV and X-ray bands. The increase of the
continuum emission, the variability of the coronal lines, and the very broad
component in the Balmer lines may indicate that the AGN of NGC 3516 is finally
leaving the low-activity state in which it has been for the last ~3 years.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted in A&A (corrected after receiving
comments from the language editor
Gene Expression Profiles of Chicken Embryo Fibroblasts in Response to Salmonella Enteritidis Infection
The response of chicken to non-typhoidal Salmonella infection is becoming well characterised but the role of particular cell types in this response is still far from being understood. Therefore, in this study we characterised the response of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEFs) to infection with two different S. Enteritidis strains by microarray analysis. The expression of chicken genes identified as significantly up- or down-regulated (≥3-fold) by microarray analysis was verified by real-time PCR followed by functional classification of the genes and prediction of interactions between the proteins using Gene Ontology and STRING Database. Finally the expression of the newly identified genes was tested in HD11 macrophages and in vivo in chickens. Altogether 19 genes were induced in CEFs after S. Enteritidis infection. Twelve of them were also induced in HD11 macrophages and thirteen in the caecum of orally infected chickens. The majority of these genes were assigned different functions in the immune response, however five of them (LOC101750351, K123, BU460569, MOBKL2C and G0S2) have not been associated with the response of chicken to Salmonella infection so far. K123 and G0S2 were the only 'non-immune' genes inducible by S. Enteritidis in fibroblasts, HD11 macrophages and in the caecum after oral infection. The function of K123 is unknown but G0S2 is involved in lipid metabolism and in β-oxidation of fatty acids in mitochondria
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