787 research outputs found
Galacto-forensic of LMC's orbital history as a probe for the dark matter potential in the outskirt of the Galaxy
The 3D observed velocities of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds(LMC and
SMC) provide an opportunity to probe the Galactic potential in the outskirt of
the Galactic halo. Based on a canonical NFW model of the Galactic potential,
Besla et al.(2007) reconstructed LMC and SMC's orbits and suggested that they
are currently on their first perigalacticon passage about the Galaxy. Motivated
by several recent revisions of the Sun's motion around the Galactic center, we
re-examine the LMC's orbital history and show that it depends sensitively on
the dark-matter's mass distribution beyond its present Galactic distance. We
utilize results of numerical simulations to consider a range of possible
structural and evolutionary models for the Galactic potentials. We find that
within the theoretical and observational uncertainties, it is possible for the
LMC to have had multiple perigalacticon passages on the Hubble time scale,
especially if the Galactic circular velocity at the location of the Sun is
greater than km s. Based on these models, a more accurate
determination of the LMC's motion may be used to determine the dark matter
distribution in the outskirt of the Galactic halo.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Recent Decisions
ACT OF STATE--Act of State Doctrine Not a Bar to Adjudication of a Counterclaim
Robert M. Erickson
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ADMIRALTY--Ship Mortgage Act of 1920--Deficiency Judgment against Mortgagor in Personam Not Precluded by State Law when Vessels were Sold at Public Foreclosure Auction without Prior Appraisal
Jack F. Stringham, II
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ALIENS--Immigration and Naturalization--Restriction of Commuter Aliens\u27 Access to Domestic Employment by Attorney General is Abuse of Discretion
Alan Marchisotto
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EXTRADITION--Principle of Specialty--Specialty does not Preclude Prosecution for Similar Offense when Asylum Nation Would Not Consider it a Breach of Faith
Attorney General of the United States, 462 F.2d 475 (2d Cir. 1972),petition for cert. filed, 41 U.S.L.W. 3114 (U.S. Aug. 26, 1972) (No.332).
James T. Campbell
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JURISDICTION--Forum Selection Clauses--United States Courts will Enforce Forum Selection Clauses in International Towage Contracts Absent Exceptional Circumstances
Ralph C. Oser
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TAXATION--Foreign Tax Credit--Foreign Income Tax Credit Under Section 901 Allowable Only for Taxes Imposed on Net Gain or Profit
David A. Boillo
Constraints on Gamma-ray Emission from the Galactic Plane at 300 TeV
We describe a new search for diffuse ultrahigh energy gamma-ray emission
associated with molecular clouds in the galactic disk. The Chicago Air Shower
Array (CASA), operating in coincidence with the Michigan muon array (MIA), has
recorded over 2.2 x 10^{9} air showers from April 4, 1990 to October 7, 1995.
We search for gamma rays based upon the muon content of air showers arriving
from the direction of the galactic plane. We find no significant evidence for
diffuse gamma-ray emission, and we set an upper limit on the ratio of gamma
rays to normal hadronic cosmic rays at less than 2.4 x 10^{-5} at 310 TeV (90%
confidence limit) from the galactic plane region: (50 degrees < l < 200
degrees); -5 degrees < b < 5 degrees). This limit places a strong constraint on
models for emission from molecular clouds in the galaxy. We rule out
significant spectral hardening in the outer galaxy, and conclude that emission
from the plane at these energies is likely to be dominated by the decay of
neutral pions resulting from cosmic rays interactions with passive target gas
molecules.Comment: Astrophysical Journal, submitted, 11 pages, AASTeX Latex, 3
Postscript figure
Constraints on the relationship between stellar mass and halo mass at low and high redshift
We use a statistical approach to determine the relationship between the
stellar masses of galaxies and the masses of the dark matter halos in which
they reside. We obtain a parameterized stellar-to-halo mass (SHM) relation by
populating halos and subhalos in an N-body simulation with galaxies and
requiring that the observed stellar mass function be reproduced. We find good
agreement with constraints from galaxy-galaxy lensing and predictions of
semi-analytic models. Using this mapping, and the positions of the halos and
subhalos obtained from the simulation, we find that our model predictions for
the galaxy two-point correlation function (CF) as a function of stellar mass
are in excellent agreement with the observed clustering properties in the SDSS
at z=0. We show that the clustering data do not provide additional strong
constraints on the SHM function and conclude that our model can therefore
predict clustering as a function of stellar mass. We compute the conditional
mass function, which yields the average number of galaxies with stellar masses
in the range [m, m+dm] that reside in a halo of mass M. We study the redshift
dependence of the SHM relation and show that, for low mass halos, the SHM ratio
is lower at higher redshift. The derived SHM relation is used to predict the
stellar mass dependent galaxy CF and bias at high redshift. Our model predicts
that not only are massive galaxies more biased than low mass ones at all
redshifts, but the bias increases more rapidly with increasing redshift for
massive galaxies than for low mass ones. We present convenient fitting
functions for the SHM relation as a function of redshift, the conditional mass
function, and the bias as a function of stellar mass and redshift.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures, discussion enlarged, one more figure, updated
references, accepted for publication in Ap
Very high energy observations of the BL Lac objects 3C 66A and OJ 287
Using the Solar Tower Atmospheric Cherenkov Effect Experiment (STACEE), we
have observed the BL Lac objects 3C 66A and OJ 287. These are members of the
class of low-frequency-peaked BL Lac objects (LBLs) and are two of the three
LBLs predicted by Costamante and Ghisellini to be potential sources of very
high energy (>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. The third candidate, BL Lacertae,
has recently been detected by the MAGIC collaboration. Our observations have
not produced detections; we calculate a 99% CL upper limit of flux from 3C 66A
of 0.15 Crab flux units and from OJ 287 our limit is 0.52 Crab. These limits
assume a Crab-like energy spectrum with an effective energy threshold of 185
GeV.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
Building galaxies by accretion and in-situ star formation
We examine galaxy formation in a cosmological AMR simulation, which includes
two high resolution boxes, one centered on a 3 \times 10^14 M\odot cluster, and
one centered on a void. We examine the evolution of 611 massive (M\ast >
10^10M\odot) galaxies. We find that the fraction of the final stellar mass
which is accreted from other galaxies is between 15 and 40% and increases with
stellar mass. The accreted fraction does not depend strongly on environment at
a given stellar mass, but the galaxies in groups and cluster environments are
older and underwent mergers earlier than galaxies in lower density
environments. On average, the accreted stars are ~2.5 Gyrs older, and ~0.15 dex
more metal poor than the stars formed in-situ. Accreted stellar material
typically lies on the outskirts of galaxies; the average half-light radius of
the accreted stars is 2.6 times larger than that of the in-situ stars. This
leads to radial gradients in age and metallicity for massive galaxies, in
qualitative agreement with observations. Massive galaxies grow by mergers at a
rate of approximately 2.6% per Gyr. These mergers have a median (mass-weighted)
mass ratio less than 0.26 \pm 0.21, with an absolute lower limit of 0.20, for
galaxies with M\ast ~ 10^12 M\odot. This suggests that major mergers do not
dominate in the accretion history of massive galaxies. All of these results
agree qualitatively with results from SPH simulations by Oser et al. (2010,
2012).Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRA
Reduced LIMK2 expression in colorectal cancer reflects its role in limiting stem cell proliferation
Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major contributor to cancer mortality and morbidity. LIM kinase 2 (LIMK2) promotes tumour cell invasion and metastasis. The objectives of this study were to determine how LIMK2 expression is associated with CRC progression and patient outcome, and to use genetically modified Drosophila and mice to determine how LIMK2 deletion affects gastrointestinal stem cell regulation and tumour development.<p></p>
Design: LIMK2 expression and activity were measured by immunostaining tumours from CRC-prone mice, human CRC cell lines and 650 human tumours. LIMK knockdown in Drosophila or Limk2 deletion in mice allowed for assessment of their contributions to gastrointestinal stem cell homeostasis and tumour development.<p></p>
Results: LIMK2 expression was reduced in intestinal tumours of cancer-prone mice, as well as in human CRC cell lines and tumours. Reduced LIMK2 expression and substrate phosphorylation were associated with shorter patient survival. Genetic analysis in Drosophila midgut and intestinal epithelial cells isolated from genetically modified mice revealed a conserved role for LIMK2 in constraining gastrointestinal stem cell proliferation. Limk2 deletion increased colon tumour size in a colitis-associated colorectal mouse cancer model.<p></p>
Conclusions: This study revealed that LIMK2 expression and activity progressively decrease with advancing stage, and supports the hypothesis that there is selective pressure for reduced LIMK2 expression in CRC to relieve negative constraints imposed upon gastrointestinal stem cells.<p></p>
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