The SMC X-ray transient XTE J0111.2-7317 : a Be/X-ray binary in a SNR?

We report observations which confirm the identity of the optical/IR counterpart to the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer transient source XTE J0111.2-7317. The counterpart is suggested to be a B0-B2 star (luminosity class III--V) showing an IR excess and strong Balmer emission lines. The distance derived from reddening and systemic velocity measurements puts the source in the SMC. Unusually, the source exhibits an extended asymetric H alpha structure.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figs, accepted by MNRA

Sex Differences in Hemodynamic Response to High Intensity Interval Exercise (HIIE)

There are sex differences in the cardiorespiratory and hemodynamic response to exercise due to inherent differences in heart size, blood volume, and hemoglobin mass that elicit a higher VO2max in men versus women. These alterations in cardiac structure and function may mediate changes in VO2max per the Fick Equation. However, existing data are inconclusive on whether sex differences in training responsiveness exist. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate potential sex differences in the hemodynamic response to HIIE. If men and women reveal discrepant cardiovascular responses to HIIE, this may partially mediate sex differences in VO2max response to HIIT reported. METHODS: Subjects were habitually active men (n=7, age 28 ± 4 yr) and women (n=7, age 23 ± 3 yr). In this randomized, within-subjects crossover design, VO2max was initially tested followed by three subsequent sessions consisting of different HIIE paradigms. RESULTS: Results show a main effect of sex in peak absolute VO24x4 VO210x1 and VO2REHIT (p = 0.022, p = 0.009 and p = 0.005 respectively) and a significant difference in peak VO2 (%VO2max) between REHIT and 4x4 (p = 0.008) and 10x1 (p = 0.001). Results show a main effect of sex in peak absolute SV4x4 and SVREHIT (p = 0.008 and p = 0.006) and a significant difference in peak absolute SV and SV (%SVmax) between REHIT and 4x4 (p = 0.002 and p = 0.002). Results also show a main effect of sex in peak absolute COREHIT (p = 0.042) and a main effect of protocol in peak absolute and relative CO between REHIT and 4x4 (p = 0.022 and p = 0.017). Results show a main effect of sex in mean absolute VO24x4 VO210x1 and VO2REHIT (p = 0.013, p = 0.014 and p = 0.006) and a significant difference in mean absolute VO2 between REHIT and 4x4 (p = 0.018) and 10x1 (p = 0.019). A similar significant difference between REHIT and 4x4, and 10x1 is found when expressed as %VO2max (p = 0.016 and p = 0.010). Results show men reveal higher mean SV4x4, SV10x1 and SVREHIT values than women (p = 0.004, p = 0.019, p = 0.045) and higher CO10x1 values than women (p = 0.046). CONCLUSION: Other than the well-known differences in SV and CO between men and women, our data show no sex differences in acute hemodynamic response to three unique regimens of HIIE. This suggests that reported sex differences in the VO2max adaptation to exercise are not due to a difference in acute cardiac response

Influences on the fraction of hydrophobic and hydrophilic black carbon in the atmosphere

Black carbon (BC) is a short term climate forcer that directly warms the atmosphere, slows convection, and hinders quantification of the effect of greenhouse gases on climate change. The atmospheric lifetime of BC particles with respect to nucleation scavenging in clouds is controlled by their ability to serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). To serve as CCN under typical conditions, hydrophobic BC particles must acquire hygroscopic coatings. However, the quantitative relationship between coatings and hygroscopic properties for ambient BC particles is not known nor is the time scale for hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic conversion. Here we introduce a method for measuring the hygroscopicity of externally and internally mixed BC particles by coupling a single particle soot photometer with a humidified tandem differential mobility analyzer. We test this technique using uncoated and coated laboratory generated model BC compounds and apply it to characterize the hygroscopicity distribution of ambient BC particles. From these data we derive that the observed number fraction of BC that is CCN active at 0.2% supersaturation is generally low in an urban area near sources and that it varies with the trajectory of the airmass. We anticipate that our method can be combined with measures of air parcel physical and photochemical age to provide the first quantitative estimates for characterizing hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic conversion rates in the atmosphere.Peer reviewe

Disc loss and renewal in A0535+26

This paper presents observations of the Be/X-ray binary system A0535+26 revealing the first observed loss of its circumstellar disc, demonstrated by the loss of its JHK infrared excess and optical/IR line emission. However optical/IR spectroscopy reveals the formation of a new inner disc with significant density and emission strength at small radii; the disc has proven to be stable over 5 months in this intermediate state.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRAS, uses mn.st

Optical studies of two LMC X-ray transients : RX J0544.1-7100 and RX J0520.5-6932

We report observations which confirm the identities of the optical counterpart to the transient sources RX J0544.1-7100 and RX J0520.5-6932. The counterparts are suggested to be a B-type stars. Optical data from the observations carried out at ESO and SAAO, together with results from the OGLE data base, are presented. In addition, X-ray data from the RXTE all-sky monitor are investigated for long term periodicities. A strong suggestion for a binary period of 24.4d is seen in RX J0520.5-6932 from the OGLE data.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

A new super-soft X-ray source in the Small Magellanic Cloud: Discovery of the first Be/white dwarf system in the SMC?

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) hosts a large number of Be/X-ray binaries, however no Be/white dwarf system is known so far, although population synthesis calculations predict that they might be more frequent than Be/neutron star systems. XMMUJ010147.5-715550 was found as a new faint super-soft X-ray source (SSS) with a likely Be star optical counterpart. We investigate the nature of this system and search for further high-absorbed candidates in the SMC. We analysed the XMM-Newton X-ray spectrum and light curve, optical photometry, and the I-band OGLE III light curve. The X-ray spectrum is well represented by black-body and white dwarf atmosphere models with highly model-dependent temperature between 20 and 100 eV. The likely optical counterpart AzV 281 showed low near infrared emission during X-ray activity, followed by a brightening in the I-band afterwards. We find further candidates for high-absorbed SSSs with a blue star as counterpart. We discuss XMMUJ010147.5-715550 as the first candidate for a Be/white dwarf binary system in the SMC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by A&

A Free-Form Lensing Grid Solution for A1689 with New Mutiple Images

Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the galaxy cluster Abell 1689 has revealed an exceptional number of strongly lensed multiply-imaged galaxies, including high-redshift candidates. Previous studies have used this data to obtain the most detailed dark matter reconstructions of any galaxy cluster to date, resolving substructures ~25 kpc across. We examine Abell 1689 (hereafter, A1689) non-parametrically, combining strongly lensed images and weak distortions from wider field Subaru imaging, and we incorporate member galaxies to improve the lens solution. Strongly lensed galaxies are often locally affected by member galaxies, however, these perturbations cannot be recovered in grid based reconstructions because the lensing information is too sparse to resolve member galaxies. By adding luminosity-scaled member galaxy deflections to our smooth grid we can derive meaningful solutions with sufficient accuracy to permit the identification of our own strongly lensed images, so our model becomes self consistent. We identify 11 new multiply lensed system candidates and clarify previously ambiguous cases, in the deepest optical and NIR data to date from Hubble and Subaru. Our improved spatial resolution brings up new features not seen when the weak and strong lensing effects are used separately, including clumps and filamentary dark matter around the main halo. Our treatment means we can obtain an objective mass ratio between the cluster and galaxy components, for examining the extent of tidal stripping of the luminous member galaxies. We find a typical mass-to-light ratios of M/L_B = 21 inside the r<1 arcminute region that drops to M/L_B = 17 inside the r<40 arcsecond region. Our model independence means we can objectively evaluate the competitiveness of stacking cluster lenses for defining the geometric lensing-distance-redshift relation in a model independent way.Comment: 23 pages with 25 figures Replced with MNRAS submitted version. Some figures have been corrected and minor text edit

Cytokine Profiles of Stimulated Blood Lymphocytes in Asthmatic and Healthy Adolescents Cross the School Year

T cell cytokines play an important role in mediating airway inflammation in asthma. The predominance of a Th2 cytokine profile, particularly interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is associated with the pathogenesis and course of asthma. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a stressful life event alters the pattern of cytokine release in asthmatic individuals. Thirteen healthy controls and 21 asthmatic adolescents gave blood samples three times over a semester: midsemester, during the week of final examinations, and 2-3 weeks after examinations. Interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were measured from supernatants of cells stimulated with PHA/PMA for 24 h. Cells from asthmatic subjects released significantly more IL-5 during the examination and postexamination periods, whereas cells from healthy controls released significantly more IL-2 during the midsemester and examination periods, thereby indicating a bias for a Th2-like pattern in asthmatics and a Th 1-like pattern in healthy controls. IL-4 and IL-5 production showed a marked decrease during and after examinations in healthy controls, whereas this decline was absent in asthmatics. The ratios of IFN-γ:IL-4 and IFN-γ:IL-5 also revealed significant changes in the profile of cytokine release across the semester. These results indicate differential cytokine responses in asthmatics that may become pronounced during periods of cellular activation

Measurement of two independent phase-shifts using coupled parametric amplifiers

In this article, we demonstrate a scheme capable of two-phase measurement, i.e. the simultaneous measurement of the two phase-shifts occurring in two independent Mach-Zehnder interferometers using one intensity detector. Our scheme utilizes dark-state-enhanced coupled parametric amplifiers in an atomic medium to mix the multiple fields probing the various arms of the interferometers in parallel. The two phase-differences are then encoded in separate continuous-variable parameters in the spectral waveform of the parametrically amplified atom-radiated signal field, which can be directly decoupled in a single intensity measurement. Besides resolving two phase differences in parallel, this method can also be used to increase the channel capacity in optical and quantum communication by the simultaneous use of phase-modulation and amplitude-modulation.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

LensPerfect: Gravitational Lens Massmap Reconstructions Yielding Exact Reproduction of All Multiple Images

We present a new approach to gravitational lens massmap reconstruction. Our massmap solutions perfectly reproduce the positions, fluxes, and shears of all multiple images. And each massmap accurately recovers the underlying mass distribution to a resolution limited by the number of multiple images detected. We demonstrate our technique given a mock galaxy cluster similar to Abell 1689 which gravitationally lenses 19 mock background galaxies to produce 93 multiple images. We also explore cases in which far fewer multiple images are observed, such as four multiple images of a single galaxy. Massmap solutions are never unique, and our method makes it possible to explore an extremely flexible range of physical (and unphysical) solutions, all of which perfectly reproduce the data given. Each reconfiguration of the source galaxies produces a new massmap solution. An optimization routine is provided to find those source positions (and redshifts, within uncertainties) which produce the "most physical" massmap solution, according to a new figure of merit developed here. Our method imposes no assumptions about the slope of the radial profile nor mass following light. But unlike "non-parametric" grid-based methods, the number of free parameters we solve for is only as many as the number of observable constraints (or slightly greater if fluxes are constrained). For each set of source positions and redshifts, massmap solutions are obtained "instantly" via direct matrix inversion by smoothly interpolating the deflection field using a recently developed mathematical technique. Our LensPerfect software is straightforward and easy to use and is made publicly available via our website.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, accepted by ApJ. Software and full-color version of paper available at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~coe/LensPerfect