1,034 research outputs found
Characterization of monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to bovine enteric coronavirus: Establishment of an efficient ELISA for antigen detection in feces
Monoclonal antibodies to bovine enteric coronavirus (BEC) were produced. Additionally, polyclonal antibodies were made in rabbits and guinea pigs and extracted from the yolk of immunized hens. The antibodies were characterized by neutralization test, hemagglutination inhibition test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting. Neutralizing antibody titers of polyclonal antisera ranged from 1:1280 to 1:40 000. Only one out of 908 hybridoma colonies tested secreted antibodies with neutralizing activity. By ELISA, polyclonal sera exhibited high background reactions that could be significantly reduced by treatment with kaolin in the case of rabbit sera.
Attempts to establish an ELISA for BEC antigen detection based on polyclonal sera failed due to low sensitivity and specificity. Optimal results were achieved when a mixture of two monoclonal antibodies was coated onto microplates for antigen capture, while rabbit hyperimmune serum served as detecting antibodies in an indirect assay.
The combination of the two monoclonal antibodies did not increase sensitivity synergistically, but in a compensatory fashion, probably because of epitope differences between BEC field strain
Response of the warm absorber cloud to a variable nuclear flux in active galactic nuclei
Recent modeling of the warm absorber in active galactic nuclei has proved the
usefulness of constant total (gas plus radiation) pressure models, which are
highly stratified in temperature and density. We explore the consistency of
those models when the typical variation of the flux from the central source is
taken into account. We perform a variability study of the warm absorber
response, based on timescales and our photoionization code TITAN. We show that
the ionization and recombination timescales are much shorter than the dynamical
timescale. Clouds very close to the central black hole will maintain their
equilibrium since the characteristic variability timescales of the nuclear
source are longer than cloud timescales. For more distant clouds, the density
structure has no time to vary, in response to the variations of the temperature
or ionization structure, and such clouds will show the departure from the
constant pressure equilibrium. We explore the impact of this departure on the
observed properties of the transmitted spectrum and soft X-ray variability: (i)
non uniform velocities, of the order of sound speed, appear due to pressure
gradients, up to typical values of 100 km/s. These velocities lead to the
broadening of lines. This broadening is usually observed and very difficult to
explain otherwise. (ii) Energy-dependent fractional variability amplitude in
soft X-ray range has a broader hump around ~ 1-2 keV, and (iv) the plot of the
equivalent hydrogen column density vs. ionization parameter is steeper than for
equilibrium clouds. The results have the character of a preliminary study and
should be supplemented in the future with full time-dependent radiation
transfer and dynamical computations.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication by Astronomy &
Astrophysic
On the orbital period of the cataclysmic variable RZ Leonis
In this research note we present a time-resolved study of the Balmer emission
lines of RZ Leo. From the analysis of the radial velocities we find an orbital
period of 0.07651(26) d. This is in excellent agreement with the
photometrically determined periods in quiescence and during the early stages of
superoutburst. A comparison of the recently determined superhump period gives
an excess of ~0.03, which is a typical value for an SU UMa star of this period.Comment: 3 pages, 6 figures, A&A, accepte
On the origin of bimodal duration distribution of Gamma Ray Bursts
The modified version of a bullet model for gamma ray bursts is studied. The
central engine of the source produces multiple sub-jets that are contained
within a cone. The emission of photons in the source frame of a sub-jet either
takes part in an infinitesimally thin shell, or during its expansion for a
finite time. The analysis of the observed profiles of GRBs taken by BATSE leads
us to the conclusion that the latter possibility is much more favored. We also
study the statistical distribution of GRBs, in the context of their bimodality
of durations, taking into account the detector's capability of observing the
signal above a certain flux limit. The model with shells emitting for a finite
time is able to reproduce only one class of bursts, short or long, depending on
the adopted physical parameters. Therefore we suggest that the GRB bimodality
is intrinsically connected with two separate classes of sources.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures; accepted by MNRAS. Small changes to match the
corre cted proof
The properties of active galaxies at the extreme of eigenvector 1
Eigenvector 1 (EV1) is the formal parameter which allows the introduction of
some order in the properties of the unobscured type 1 active galaxies. We aim
to understand the nature of this parameter by analyzing the most extreme
examples of quasars with the highest possible values of the corresponding
eigenvalues . We selected the appropriate sources from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and performed detailed modeling, including various
templates for the Fe II pseudo-continuum and the starlight contribution to the
spectrum. Out of 27 sources with larger than 1.3 and with the
measurement errors smaller than 20\% selected from the SDSS quasar catalog,
only six sources were confirmed to have a high value of , defined as
being above 1.3. All other sources have of approximately 1. Three
of the high objects have a very narrow H line, below 2100 km
s but three sources have broad lines, above 4500 km s, that do
not seem to form a uniform group, differing considerably in black hole mass and
Eddington ratio; they simply have a very similar EW([OIII]5007) line.
Therefore, the interpretation of the EV1 remains an open issue.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (in press
Stellar populations in hosts of giant radio galaxies and their neighbouring galaxies
Context: Giant radio galaxies (with projected linear size of radio structure
larger than 0.7 Mpc) are very rare and unusual objects. Only 5% of
extended radio sources reach such sizes. Understanding of the processes
responsible for their large sizes is crucial to further our knowledge about the
radio source's evolution.
Aims: We check the hypothesis that giants become extremely large due to the
specific history of their host galaxy formation, as well as in the context of
the cluster or group of galaxies where they evolve. Therefore we study the star
formation histories in their host galaxies and in galaxies located in their
neighbourhood.
Methods: We studied 41 giant-size radio galaxies as well as galaxies located
within a radius of 5 Mpc around giants to verify whether the external
conditions of the intergalactic medium somehow influence the internal evolution
of galaxies in the group/cluster. We compared the results with a control sample
of smaller-sized Fanaroff--Riley type II radio galaxies and their neighbouring
galaxies. We fit stellar continua in all galaxy spectra using the spectral
synthesis code STARLIGHT and provide statistical analysis of the results.
Results: We find that hosts of giant radio galaxies have a larger amount of
intermediate age stellar populations compared with smaller-sized FRII radio
sources. The same result is also visible when we compare neighbouring galaxies
located up to 1.5 Mpc around giants and FRIIs. This may be evidence that star
formation in groups with giants was triggered due to global processes occurring
in the ambient intergalactic medium. These processes may also contribute to
mechanisms responsible for the extremely large sizes of giants.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, to be publish in A&
The Nature of the Emission Components in the Quasar/NLS1 PG1211+143
We present the study of the emission properties of the quasar PG1211+143,
which belongs to the class of Narrow Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. On the basis of
observational data analyzed by us and collected from the literature, we study
the temporal and spectral variability of the source in the optical/UV/X-ray
bands and we propose a model that explains the spectrum emitted in this broad
energy range. In this model, the intrinsic emission originating in the warm
skin of the accretion disk is responsible for the spectral component that is
dominant in the softest X-ray range. The shape of reflected spectrum as well as
Fe K line detected in hard X-rays require the reflecting medium to be mildly
ionized (xi~500). We identify this reflector with the warm skin of the disk and
we show that the heating of the skin is consistent with the classical alpha
P_{tot} prescription, while alpha P_{gas} option is at least two orders of
magnitude too low to provide the required heating. We find that the mass of the
central black hole is relatively small (M_BH~10^7- 10^8 Msun, which is
consistent with the Broad Line Region mapping results and characteristic for
NLS1 class.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap
The puzzle of the soft X-ray excess in AGN: absorption or reflection?
The 2-10 keV continuum of AGN is generally well represented by a single power
law. However, at smaller energies the continuum displays an excess with respect
to the extrapolation of this power law, called the ''soft X-ray excess''. Until
now this soft X-ray excess was attributed, either to reflection of the hard
X-ray source by the accretion disk, or to the presence of an additional
comptonizing medium, giving a steep spectrum. An alternative solution proposed
by Gierlinski and Done (2004) is that a single power law well represents both
the soft and the hard X-ray emission and the impression of the soft X-ray
excess is due to absorption of a primary power law by a relativistic wind. We
examine the advantages and drawbacks of reflection versus absorption models,
and we conclude that the observed spectra can be well modeled, either by
absorption (for a strong excess), or by reflection (for a weak excess). However
the physical conditions required by the absorption models do not seem very
realistic: we would prefer an ''hybrid model''.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, abstracts SF2A-2005, published by EDP-Sciences
Conference Serie
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