989 research outputs found
INTEGRAL high energy behaviour of 4U 1812-12
The low mass X-ray binary system 4U 1812-12 was monitored with the INTEGRAL
observatory in the period 2003-2004 and with BeppoSAX on April 20, 2000. We
report here on the spectral and temporal analysis of both persistent and burst
emission. The full data set confirms the persistent nature of this burster, and
reveals the presence of emission up to 200 keV. The persistent spectrum is well
described by a comptonization (CompTT) model plus a soft blackbody component.
The source was observed in a hard spectral state with a 1-200 keV luminosity of
2*10^(36) ergs/s and L/LEdd~1% and no meaningful flux variation has been
revealed, as also confirmed by a 2004 RXTE observation. We have also detected 4
bursts showing double peaked profiles and blackbody spectra with temperatures
ranging from 1.9 to 3.1 keV.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication by A&
Targeting Endoplasmic Reticulum and/or Mitochondrial Ca2+ Fluxes as Therapeutic Strategy for HCV Infection.
Chronic hepatitis C is characterized by metabolic disorders and by a microenvironment in the liver dominated by oxidative stress, inflammation and regeneration processes that can in the long term lead to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Several lines of evidence suggest that mitochondrial dysfunctions play a central role in these processes. However, how these dysfunctions are induced by the virus and whether they play a role in disease progression and neoplastic transformation remains to be determined. Most javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@5b15fc8d studies performed so far have shown that several of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) proteins also localize to mitochondria, but the consequences of these interactions on mitochondrial functions remain contradictory and need to be confirmed in the context of productively replicating virus and physiologically relevant javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@5e13485c and javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@73aee95e model systems. In the past decade we have been proposing a temporal sequence of events in the HCV-infected cell whereby the primary alteration is localized at the mitochondria-associated ER membranes and causes release of Ca javax.xml.bind.JAXBElement@476155bf from the ER, followed by uptake into mitochondria. This ensues successive mitochondrial dysfunction leading to the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and a progressive metabolic adaptive response consisting in decreased oxidative phosphorylation and enhanced aerobic glycolysis and lipogenesis. Here we resume the major results provided by our group in the context of HCV-mediated alterations of the cellular inter-compartmental calcium flux homeostasis and present new evidence suggesting targeting of ER and/or mitochondrial calcium transporters as a novel therapeutic strategy
The 3rd IBIS/ISGRI soft gamma-ray survey catalog
In this paper we report on the third soft gamma-ray source catalog obtained
with the IBIS/ISGRI gamma-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite. The
scientific dataset is based on more than 40 Ms of high quality observations
performed during the first three and a half years of Core Program and public
IBIS/ISGRI observations. Compared to previous IBIS/ISGRI surveys, this catalog
includes a substantially increased coverage of extragalactic fields, and
comprises more than 400 high-energy sources detected in the energy range 17-100
keV, including both transients and faint persistent objects which can only be
revealed with longer exposure times.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Suppl.; 11 pages; 4 figures Minor
changes to conten
Discovery of the INTEGRAL X/Gamma-ray transient IGR J00291+5934: a Comptonised accreting ms pulsar ?
We report the discovery of a high-energy transient with the IBIS/ISGRI
detector on board the INTEGRAL observatory. The source, namely IGR J00291+5934,
was first detected on 2nd December 2004 in the routine monitoring of the
IBIS/ISGRI 20--60 keV images. The observations were conducted during Galactic
Plane Scans, which are a key part of the INTEGRAL Core Programme observations.
After verifying the basic source behaviour, the discovery was announced on 3rd
December. The transient shows a hard Comptonised spectrum, with peak energy
release at about 20 keV and a total luminosity of ~ 0.9E36 erg/s in the 5--100
keV range, assuming a distance of 3 kpc. Following the INTEGRAL announcement of
the discovery of IGR J00291+5934, a number of observations were made by other
instruments. We summarise the results of those observations and, together with
the INTEGRAL data, identifiy IGR J00291+5934 as the 6th member of a class of
accreting X-ray millisecond pulsars.Comment: Accepted for publication as an A&A Letter 24/01/2005. 5 pages, 2
figure
High mobilization of CD133+/CD34+ cells expressing HIF-1α and SDF-1α in septic abdominal surgical patients
Background: The control of endothelial progenitor cells (CD133+/CD34+ EPCs) migrating from bone marrow to peripheral blood is not completely understood. Emerging evidence suggests that stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) mediates egression of EPCs from bone marrow, while the hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) transcriptional system regulates SDF-1α expression. Our study aimed to investigate the time course of circulating CD133+/CD34+ EPCs and its correlation with the expression of HIF-1α protein and SDF-1α in postoperative laparoscopic abdominal septic patients. Methods: Postoperative patients were divided in control (C group) and septic group (S group) operated immediately after the diagnosis of sepsis/septic shock. Blood samples were collected at baseline (0), 1, 3 and 7 postoperative days for CD133+/CD34+ EPCs count expressing or not the HIF-1α and SDF-1α analysis. Results: Thirty-two patients in S group and 39 in C group were analyzed. In C group CD133+/CD34+ EPCs count remained stable throughout the study period, increasing on day 7 (173 [0-421] /μl vs baseline: P = 0.04; vs day 1: P = 0.002). In S group CD133+/CD34+ EPCs count levels were higher on day 3 (vs day 1: P = 0.006 and day 7: P = 0.026). HIF-1α expressing CD133+/CD34+ EPCs count decreased on day 1 as compared with the other days in C group (day 0 vs 1: P = 0.003, days 3 and 7 vs 1: P = 0.008), while it was 321 [0-1418] /μl on day 3 (vs day 1; P = 0.004), and 400 [0-587] /μl on day 7 in S group. SDF-1α levels were higher not only on baseline but also on postoperative day 1 in S vs C group (219 [124-337] pg/ml vs 35 [27-325] pg/ml, respectively; P = 0.01). Conclusion: Our results indicate that sepsis in abdominal laparoscopic patients might constitute an additional trigger of the EPCs mobilization as compared with non-septic surgical patients. A larger mobilization of CD133+/CD34+ EPCs, preceded by enhanced plasmatic SDF-1α, occurs in septic surgical patients regardless of HIF-1α expression therein. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT02589535. Registered 28 October 2015
The enigmatic black-hole candidate and X-ray transient IGR J17091-3624 in its quiescent state as seen with XMM-Newton
We report on two short XMM-Newton observations performed in August 2006 and
February 2007 during the quiescence state of the enigmatic black hole candidate
system IGR J17091-3624. During both observations the source was clearly
detected. Although the errors on the estimated fluxes are large, the source
appears to be brighter by several tens of percents during the February 2007
observation compared to the August 2006 observation. During both observations
the 2-10 keV luminosity of the source was close to ~10^{33} erg/s for an
assumed distance of 10 kpc. However, we note that the distance to this source
is not well constrained and it has been suggested it might be as far as 35 kpc
which would result in an order of magnitude higher luminosities. If the
empirically found relation between the orbital period and the quiescence
luminosity of black hole transients is also valid for IGR J17091-3624, then we
can estimate an orbital period of >100 hours (>4 days) for a distance of 10 kpc
but it could be as large as tens of days if the source is truly much further
away. Such a large orbital period would be similar to GRS 1915+105 which has an
orbital period of ~34 days. Orbital periods this large could possibly be
connected to the fact that both sources exhibit the same very violent and
extreme rapid X-ray variability which has so far not yet been seen from any
other black hole system. Alternatively the orbital period of IGR J17091-3624
might be more in line with the other systems (<100 hours) but we happened to
have observed the source in an episode of elevated accretion which was
significantly higher than its true quiescent accretion rate. In that case, the
absence or presence of extreme short-term variability properties as is seen for
IGR J17091-3624 and GRS 1915+105 is not related to the orbital periods of these
black hole systems.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS letter
The 2009 outburst of H~1743-322 as observed by RXTE
We analyze the RXTE observations of the 2009 outburst of H~1743-322, as well
as the observations of the previous five outbursts for comparison. The
hardness-intensity diagram (HID) shows a complete counter-clockwise q-track for
the 2009 outburst and, interestingly, the track falls in} between a huge one in
2003, with a complete transition to high/soft state, and that of} the failed
outburst in 2008. It leaves the low/hard state but does not reach the leftmost
edge of the overall HID. While the lowest hardness (6--19 keV/3--6 keV) values}
in the HID is about 0.3--0.4 for the 2009 outburst, similar to the ``failed
state transition" seen in the persistent black hole XRB Cyg X-1, the timing
analysis shows that a transition to the high soft state occurred. During the
low/hard state of the 2009 outburst, the inner radius of the accretion disk is
found to be closer to the central black hole and have an anti-correlation with
the disk temperature. These results may be understood as the reprocessing} of
the hot corona on the disk's} soft X-rays, which can lead to an underestimation
of the inner radius of the accretion disk. In the luminosity diagram of the
corona versus the disk, the tracks of the outbursts} in 2003 and 2009 cross the
line which represents a roughly equal contribution to the entire emission from
the thermal and the non-thermal components;} the track of the 2008 outburst has
the turn-over falling} on this line. This may be indicative of an emission
balance between the corona and the disk, which prevents the state transition
from going further than the low/hard state.Comment: accepted by A&
Sphingolipid serum profiling in vitamin D deficient and dyslipidemic obese dimorphic adults
Recent studies on Saudi Arabians indicate a prevalence of dyslipidemia and vitamin D deficiency (25(OH)D) in both normal weight and obese subjects. In the present study the sphingolipid pattern was investigated in 23 normolipidemic normal weight (NW), 46 vitamin D deficient dyslipidemic normal weight (-vitDNW) and 60 vitamin D deficient dyslipidemic obese (-vitDO) men and women by HPTLC-primuline profiling and LC-MS analyses. Results indicate higher levels of total ceramide (Cer) and dihydroceramide (dhCers C18\u201322) and lower levels of total sphingomyelins (SMs) and dihydrosphingomyelin (dhSM) not only in -vitDO subjects compared to NW, but also in \u2013vitDNW individuals. A dependency on body mass index (BMI) was observed analyzing specific Cer acyl chains levels. Lower levels of C20 and 24 were observed in men and C24.2 in women, respectively. Furthermore, LC-MS analyses display dimorphic changes in NW, -vitDNW and \u2013vitDO subjects. In conclusion, LC-MS data identify the independency of the axis high Cers, dhCers and SMs from obesity per se. Furthermore, it indicates that long chains Cers levels are specific target of weight gain and that circulating Cer and SM levels are linked to sexual dimorphism status and can contribute to predict obese related co-morbidities in men and women
XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL observations of the very faint X-ray transient IGRJ17285-2922/XTEJ1728-295 during the 2010 outburst
We report the first broad-band (0.5-150 keV) simultaneous X-ray observations
of the very faint X-ray transient IGRJ17285-2922/XTEJ1728-295 performed with
XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL satellites during its last outburst, started on 2010,
August 28. XMM-Newton observed the source on 2010 September 9-10, for 22ks.
INTEGRAL observations were part of the publicly available Galactic Bulge
program, and overlapped with the times covered by XMM-Newton. The broad-band
spectroscopy resulted in a best-fit with an absorbed power law displaying a
photon index of 1.61+/-0.01, an absorbing column density of (5.10+/-0.05)E21
cm-2, and a flux of 2.4E-10 erg/cm2/s (1-100 keV), corrected for the
absorption. The data did not require either a spectral cut-off (E>50 keV) or an
additional soft component. The slopes of the XMM-Newton and INTEGRAL separate
spectra were compatible, within the uncertainties. The timing analysis does not
show evidence either for X-ray pulsations or for type I X-ray bursts. The broad
band X-ray spectrum as well as the power density spectrum are indicative of a
low hard state in a low mass X-ray binary, although nothing conclusive can be
said about the nature of the compact object (neutron star or black hole). The
results we are reporting here allow us to conclude that IGRJ17285-2922 is a low
mass X-ray binary, located at a distance greater than 4 kpc.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 7 pages, 6 figure, 1 table.
Accepted 2011 April 5. Received 2011 April 5; in original form 2011 February
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