4,041 research outputs found
Inhibition of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B signaling hampers the vasopressin-dependent stimulation of myogenic differentiation
Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) promotes muscle differentiation, hypertrophy, and regeneration through the combined activation of the calcineurin and Calcium/Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase (CaMK) pathways. The AVP system is impaired in several neuromuscular diseases, suggesting that AVP may act as a physiological factor in skeletal muscle. Since the Phosphoinositide 3-kinases/Protein Kinase B/mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (PI3K/Akt/mTOR) signaling plays a significant role in regulating muscle mass, we evaluated its role in the AVP myogenic effect. In L6 cells AKT1 expression was knocked down, and the AVP-dependent expression of mTOR and Forkhead box O3 (FoxO) was analyzed by Western blotting. The effect of the PI3K inhibitor LY294002 was evaluated by cellular and molecular techniques. Akt knockdown hampered the AVP-dependent mTOR expression while increased the levels of FoxO transcription factor. LY294002 treatment inhibited the AVP-dependent expression of Myocyte Enhancer Factor-2 (MEF2) and myogenin and prevented the nuclear translocation of MEF2. LY294002 also repressed the AVP-dependent nuclear export of histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) interfering with the formation of multifactorial complexes on the myogenin promoter. We demonstrate that the PI3K/Akt pathway is essential for the full myogenic effect of AVP and that, by targeting this pathway, one may highlight novel strategies to counteract muscle wasting in aging or neuromuscular disorders
Nanoscale electron-beam-driven metamaterial light sources
Free-standing and fiber-coupled photonic metamaterials act as nanoscale, free-electron-driven, tuneable light sources: emission occurs at wavelengths determined by structural geometry in response to electron-beam excitation of metamaterial resonant plasmonic modes
VLT/MUSE view of the highly ionized outflow cones in the nearby starburst ESO338-IG04
The Ly line is an important diagnostic for star formation at high
redshift, but interpreting its flux and line profile is difficult because of
the resonance nature of Ly. Trends between the escape of Ly
photons and dust and properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) have been
found, but detailed comparisons between Ly emission and the properties
of the gas in local high-redshift analogs are vital for understanding the
relation between Ly emission and galaxy properties. For the first time,
we can directly infer the properties of the ionized gas at the same location
and similar spatial scales of the extended Ly halo around ESO 338-IG04.
We obtained VLT/MUSE integral field spectra. We used ionization parameter
mapping of the [SII]/[OIII] line ratio and the kinematics of H to study
the ionization state and kinematics of the ISM of ESO338-IG04. The velocity map
reveals two outflows. The entire central area of the galaxy is highly ionized
by photons leaking from the HII regions around the youngest star clusters.
Three highly ionized cones have been identified, of which one is associated
with an outflow. We propose a scenario where the outflows are created by
mechanical feedback of the older clusters, while the highly ionized gas is
caused by the hard ionizing photons emitted by the youngest clusters. A
comparison with the Ly map shows that the (approximately bipolar)
asymmetries observed in the Ly emission are consistent with the base of
the outflows detected in H. No clear correlation with the ionization
cones is found. The mechanical and ionization feedback of star clusters
significantly changes the state of the ISM by creating ionized cones and
outflows. The comparison with Ly suggests that especially the outflows
could facilitate the escape of Ly photons [Abridged].Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters, 4 pages, 2 figure
General relativity as a two-dimensional CFT
The tree-level scattering amplitudes of general relativity encode the full
non-linearity of the Einstein field equations. Yet remarkably compact
expressions for these amplitudes have been found which seem unrelated to a
perturbative expansion of the Einstein-Hilbert action. This suggests an
entirely different description of GR which makes this on-shell simplicity
manifest. Taking our cue from the tree-level amplitudes, we discuss how such a
description can be found. The result is a formulation of GR in terms of a
solvable two-dimensional CFT, with the Einstein equations emerging as quantum
consistency conditions.Comment: 6 pages, no figures. Honorable Mention in the 2015 Gravity Research
Foundation Essay Competitio
Characterizing spiral arm and interarm star formation
Interarm star formation contributes significantly to a galaxy's star
formation budget, and provides an opportunity to study stellar birthplaces
unperturbed by spiral arm dynamics. Using optical integral field spectroscopy
of the nearby galaxy NGC 628 with VLT/MUSE, we construct Halpha maps including
detailed corrections for dust extinction and stellar absorption to identify 391
HII regions at 35pc resolution over 12 kpc^2. Using tracers sensitive to the
underlying gravitational potential, we associate HII regions with either arm
(271) or interarm (120) environments. Using our full spectral coverage of each
region, we find that most HII region physical properties (luminosity, size,
metallicity, ionization parameter) are independent of environment. We calculate
the fraction of Halpha luminosity due to the diffuse ionized gas (DIG)
background contaminating each HII region, and find the DIG surface brightness
to be higher within HII regions compared to the surroundings, and slightly
higher within arm HII regions. Use of the temperature sensitive [SII]/Halpha
line ratio map instead of the Halpha surface brightness to identify HII region
boundaries does not change this result. Using the dust attenuation as a tracer
of the gas, we find depletion times consistent with previous work (2 x 10^9 yr)
with no differences between the arm and interarm, however this is very
sensitive to the DIG correction. Unlike molecular clouds, which can be
dynamically affected by the galactic environment, we see fairly consistent HII
region properties in both arm and interarm environments. This suggests either a
difference in arm star formation and feedback, or a decoupling of dense star
forming clumps from the more extended surrounding molecular gas.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap
Super star cluster feedback driving ionization, shocks and outflows in the halo of the nearby starburst ESO 338-IG04
Stellar feedback strongly affects the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies.
Stellar feedback in the first galaxies likely plays a major role in enabling
the escape of LyC photons, which contribute to the re-ionization of the
Universe. Nearby starburst galaxies serve as local analogues allowing for a
spatially resolved assessment of the feedback processes in these galaxies. We
characterize the feedback effects from the star clusters in the local
high-redshift analogue ESO 338-IG04 on the ISM and compare the results with the
properties of the most massive clusters. We use high quality VLT/MUSE optical
integral field data to derive the physical properties of the ISM such as
ionization, density, shocks, and perform new fitting of the spectral energy
distributions of the brightest clusters in ESO 338-IG04 from HST imaging. ESO
338-IG04 has a large ionized halo which we detect to a distance of 9 kpc. We
identify 4 Wolf-Rayet (WR) clusters based on the blue and red WR bump. We
follow previously identified ionization cones and find that the ionization of
the halo increases with distance. Analysis of the galaxy kinematics shows two
complex outflows driven by the numerous young clusters in the galaxy. We find a
ring of shocked emission traced by an enhanced [OI]/H ratio surrounding
the starburst and at the end of the outflow. Finally we detect nitrogen
enriched gas associated with the outflow, likely caused by the WR stars in the
massive star clusters. Photo-ionization dominates the central starburst and
sets the ionization structure of the entire halo, resulting in a density
bounded halo, facilitating the escape of LyC photons. Outside the central
starburst, shocks triggered by an expanding super bubble become important. The
shocks at the end of the outflow suggest interaction between the hot outflowing
material and the more quiescent halo gas.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 22 pages, 15
figure
Using nonlinear optical networks for optimization: primer of the ant colony algorithm
Using nonlinear Erbium doped optical fiber network we have implemented an optimization algorithm for the famous problem of finding the shortest path on the map for the ant colony to travel to the foraging area
Plasmonic amplifier of the evanescent field of free electrons
We show experimentally for the first time that free electron evanescent fields can be amplified by a plasmonic nanolayer in much that same way as optical evanescent fields are amplified in the poor-man's super-lens
Monitoring and recording changes in natural landscapes: A case study from two coastal wetlands in se italy
This study analyzed and evaluated the changes that occurred in two coastal wetlands, characterized by complex and fragmented landscape patterns, in Southern Italy, which were moni-tored over a period of seven years from 2007 to 2014. Furthermore, the performances of two Land Cover (LC) and habitat taxonomies, compared for their suitability in mapping the identified changes, were assessed. A post-mapping method was adopted to detect the habitat/LC changes that occurred in the study period. Various changes were identified, both inter-class changes (class conversions) and intra-class changes (class modifications), and quantified by means of transition matrices. Conversions were easily mapped, while the modification mapping depended on the taxonomy adopted: the Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) allowed the detection of morpho-structural changes in woody vegetation, but the European Nature Information System (EUNIS) showed a higher thematic resolution for the salt marsh types. The detected changes were related to specific impacts, pressures and underlying factors. Landscape indices highlighted different trends in landscape richness and complexity in the two sites. Changes are occurring very quickly in the observed coastal sites and the ongoing dynamics are strictly related to their small size and complexity. For effective monitoring and detection of change in these environments, the coupling of EUNIS and LCCS is suggested
Comparison of MODIS and ETA profiles of atmospheric parameters in coastal zones with radiosonde data
The quality of atmospheric profiles gathered by the spaceborne Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard the Terra platform and those predicted by the ETA atmospheric circulation model are assessed against corresponding radiosonde (RS)measurements. The analysis is carried out on a statistical basis taking as reference the radiosoundings collected at two coastal
stations, namely Ajaccio (France) and Pratica di Mare (Italy), during the spring 2000. The examined days were characterized by smooth and slow variations of the
atmospheric conditions so that a temporal lag up to about three hours between RS and MODIS profiles could be considered for comparison purposes. Both ETA predictions and MODIS retrievals compare well with RS data and their relative agreement is good. Although, as expected, the profiles of the analyzed quantities, namely temperature and moisture for both MODIS and ETA outputs and horizontal wind components predicted by ETA model, could not follow the largest fluctuations measured by RS, their averages are reproduced with a satisfactory degree of reliability. These results encourage the perspective to exploit remote measurements from the MODIS sensor of atmospheric temperature and water vapour as input to operative
circulation models, such as ETA, for reliable forecasts and detailed monitoring on global scale of the atmospheric structure and dynamics
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