The 2HWC HAWC Observatory Gamma Ray Catalog

We present the first catalog of TeV gamma-ray sources realized with the recently completed High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory (HAWC). It is the most sensitive wide field-of-view TeV telescope currently in operation, with a 1-year survey sensitivity of ~5-10% of the flux of the Crab Nebula. With an instantaneous field of view >1.5 sr and >90% duty cycle, it continuously surveys and monitors the sky for gamma ray energies between hundreds GeV and tens of TeV. HAWC is located in Mexico at a latitude of 19 degree North and was completed in March 2015. Here, we present the 2HWC catalog, which is the result of the first source search realized with the complete HAWC detector. Realized with 507 days of data and represents the most sensitive TeV survey to date for such a large fraction of the sky. A total of 39 sources were detected, with an expected contamination of 0.5 due to background fluctuation. Out of these sources, 16 are more than one degree away from any previously reported TeV source. The source list, including the position measurement, spectrum measurement, and uncertainties, is reported. Seven of the detected sources may be associated with pulsar wind nebulae, two with supernova remnants, two with blazars, and the remaining 23 have no firm identification yet.Comment: Submitted 2017/02/09 to the Astrophysical Journa

The Sensitivity of HAWC to High-Mass Dark Matter Annihilations

The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a wide field-of-view detector sensitive to gamma rays of 100 GeV to a few hundred TeV. Located in central Mexico at 19 degrees North latitude and 4100 m above sea level, HAWC will observe gamma rays and cosmic rays with an array of water Cherenkov detectors. The full HAWC array is scheduled to be operational in Spring 2015. In this paper, we study the HAWC sensitivity to the gamma-ray signatures of high-mass (multi- TeV) dark matter annihilation. The HAWC observatory will be sensitive to diverse searches for dark matter annihilation, including annihilation from extended dark matter sources, the diffuse gamma-ray emission from dark matter annihilation, and gamma-ray emission from non-luminous dark matter subhalos. Here we consider the HAWC sensitivity to a subset of these sources, including dwarf galaxies, the M31 galaxy, the Virgo cluster, and the Galactic center. We simulate the HAWC response to gamma rays from these sources in several well-motivated dark matter annihilation channels. If no gamma-ray excess is observed, we show the limits HAWC can place on the dark matter cross-section from these sources. In particular, in the case of dark matter annihilation into gauge bosons, HAWC will be able to detect a narrow range of dark matter masses to cross-sections below thermal. HAWC should also be sensitive to non-thermal cross-sections for masses up to nearly 1000 TeV. The constraints placed by HAWC on the dark matter cross-section from known sources should be competitive with current limits in the mass range where HAWC has similar sensitivity. HAWC can additionally explore higher dark matter masses than are currently constrained.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in PR

Cardiogenesis with a focus on vasculogenesis and angiogenesis

The initial intraembryonic vasculogenesis occurs in the cardiogenic mesoderm. Here, a cell population of proendocardial cells detaches from the mesoderm that subsequently generates the single endocardial tube by forming vascular plexuses. In the course of embryogenesis, the endocardium retains vasculogenic, angiogenic and haematopoietic potential. The coronary blood vessels that sustain the rapidly expanding myocardium develop in the course of the formation of the cardiac loop by vasculogenesis and angiogenesis from progenitor cells of the proepicardial serosa at the venous pole of the heart as well as from the endocardium and endothelial cells of the sinus venosus. Prospective coronary endothelial cells and progenitor cells of the coronary blood vessel walls (smooth muscle cells, perivascular cells) originate from different cell populations that are in close spatial as well as regulatory connection with each other. Vasculo‐ and angiogenesis of the coronary blood vessels are for a large part regulated by the epicardium and epicardium‐derived cells. Vasculogenic and angiogenic signalling pathways include the vascular endothelial growth factors, the angiopoietins and the fibroblast growth factors and their receptors

Daily monitoring of TeV gamma-ray emission from Mrk 421, Mrk 501, and the Crab Nebula with HAWC

We present results from daily monitoring of gamma rays in the energy range $\sim0.5$ to $\sim100$ TeV with the first 17 months of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. Its wide field of view of 2 steradians and duty cycle of $>95$% are unique features compared to other TeV observatories that allow us to observe every source that transits over HAWC for up to $\sim6$ hours each sidereal day. This regular sampling yields unprecedented light curves from unbiased measurements that are independent of seasons or weather conditions. For the Crab Nebula as a reference source we find no variability in the TeV band. Our main focus is the study of the TeV blazars Markarian (Mrk) 421 and Mrk 501. A spectral fit for Mrk 421 yields a power law index $\Gamma=2.21 \pm0.14_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm0.20_{\mathrm{sys}}$ and an exponential cut-off $E_0=5.4 \pm 1.1_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 1.0_{\mathrm{sys}}$ TeV. For Mrk 501, we find an index $\Gamma=1.60\pm 0.30_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 0.20_{\mathrm{sys}}$ and exponential cut-off $E_0=5.7\pm 1.6_{\mathrm{stat}} \pm 1.0_{\mathrm{sys}}$ TeV. The light curves for both sources show clear variability and a Bayesian analysis is applied to identify changes between flux states. The highest per-transit fluxes observed from Mrk 421 exceed the Crab Nebula flux by a factor of approximately five. For Mrk 501, several transits show fluxes in excess of three times the Crab Nebula flux. In a comparison to lower energy gamma-ray and X-ray monitoring data with comparable sampling we cannot identify clear counterparts for the most significant flaring features observed by HAWC.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

VAMOS: a Pathfinder for the HAWC Gamma-Ray Observatory

VAMOS was a prototype detector built in 2011 at an altitude of 4100m a.s.l. in the state of Puebla, Mexico. The aim of VAMOS was to finalize the design, construction techniques and data acquisition system of the HAWC observatory. HAWC is an air-shower array currently under construction at the same site of VAMOS with the purpose to study the TeV sky. The VAMOS setup included six water Cherenkov detectors and two different data acquisition systems. It was in operation between October 2011 and May 2012 with an average live time of 30%. Besides the scientific verification purposes, the eight months of data were used to obtain the results presented in this paper: the detector response to the Forbush decrease of March 2012, and the analysis of possible emission, at energies above 30 GeV, for long gamma-ray bursts GRB111016B and GRB120328B.Comment: Accepted for pubblication in Astroparticle Physics Journal (20 pages, 10 figures). Corresponding authors: A.Marinelli and D.Zaboro

Transcriptomic profiling of urine extracellular vesicles reveals alterations of CDH3 in prostate cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are emerging structures with promising properties for intercellular communication. In addition, the characterization of EV in biofluids is an attractive source of non-invasive diagnostic, prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Here we show that urinary EV (uEV) from prostate cancer (PCa) patients exhibit genuine and differential physical and biological properties compared to benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). Importantly, transcriptomics characterization of uEVs led us to define the decreased abundance of Cadherin 3, type 1 (CDH3) transcript in uEV from PCa patients. Tissue and cell line analysis strongly suggested that the status of CDH3 in uEVs is a distal reflection of changes in the expression of this cadherin in the prostate tumor. CDH3 was negatively regulated at the genomic, transcriptional, and epigenetic level in PCa. Our results reveal that uEVs could represent a non-invasive tool to inform about the molecular alterations in PCa

Galactic Gamma-Ray Diffuse Emission at TeV energies with HAWC Data

The Galactic gamma-ray diffuse emission (GDE) is emitted by cosmic rays (CRs), ultra-relativistic protons and electrons, interacting with gas and electromagnetic radiation fields in the interstellar medium. Here we present the analysis of TeV diffuse emission from a region of the Galactic Plane over the range in longitude of $l\in[43^\circ,73^\circ]$, using data collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) detector. Spectral, longitudinal and latitudinal distributions of the TeV diffuse emission are shown. The radiation spectrum is compatible with the spectrum of the emission arising from a CR population with an "index" similar to that of the observed CRs. When comparing with the \texttt{DRAGON} \textit{base model}, the HAWC GDE flux is higher by about a factor of two. Unresolved sources such as pulsar wind nebulae and TeV halos could explain the excess emission. Finally, deviations of the Galactic CR flux from the locally measured CR flux may additionally explain the difference between the predicted and measured diffuse fluxes

The TeV Sun Rises: Discovery of Gamma rays from the Quiescent Sun with HAWC

We report the first detection of a TeV gamma-ray flux from the solar disk (6.3$\sigma$), based on 6.1 years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory. The 0.5--2.6 TeV spectrum is well fit by a power law, dN/dE = $A (E/1 \text{ TeV})^{-\gamma}$, with $A = (1.6 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{-12}$ TeV$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ and $\gamma = -3.62 \pm 0.14$. The flux shows a strong indication of anticorrelation with solar activity. These results extend the bright, hard GeV emission from the disk observed with Fermi-LAT, seemingly due to hadronic Galactic cosmic rays showering on nuclei in the solar atmosphere. However, current theoretical models are unable to explain the details of how solar magnetic fields shape these interactions. HAWC's TeV detection thus deepens the mysteries of the solar-disk emission.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures including supplementary material. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Horizontal muon track identification with neural networks in HAWC

Nowadays the implementation of artificial neural networks in high-energyphysics has obtained excellent results on improving signal detection. In thiswork we propose to use neural networks (NNs) for event discrimination in HAWC.This observatory is a water Cherenkov gamma-ray detector that in recent yearshas implemented algorithms to identify horizontal muon tracks. However, thesealgorithms are not very efficient. In this work we describe the implementationof three NNs: two based on image classification and one based on objectdetection. Using these algorithms we obtain an increase in the number ofidentified tracks. The results of this study could be used in the future toimprove the performance of the Earth-skimming technique for the indirectmeasurement of neutrinos with HAWC.<br

Clinical validation of risk scoring systems to predict risk of delayed bleeding after EMR of large colorectal lesions

[Background and Aims]: The Endoscopic Resection Group of the Spanish Society of Endoscopy (GSEED-RE) model and the Australian Colonic Endoscopic Resection (ACER) model were proposed to predict delayed bleeding (DB) after EMR of large superficial colorectal lesions, but neither has been validated. We validated and updated these models.[Methods]: A multicenter cohort study was performed in patients with nonpedunculated lesions ≥20 mm removed by EMR. We assessed the discrimination and calibration of the GSEED-RE and ACER models. Difficulty performing EMR was subjectively categorized as low, medium, or high. We created a new model, including factors associated with DB in 3 cohort studies.[Results]: DB occurred in 45 of 1034 EMRs (4.5%); it was associated with proximal location (odds ratio [OR], 2.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31-6.16), antiplatelet agents (OR, 2.51; 95% CI, .99-6.34) or anticoagulants (OR, 4.54; 95% CI, 2.14-9.63), difficulty of EMR (OR, 3.23; 95% CI, 1.41-7.40), and comorbidity (OR, 2.11; 95% CI, .99-4.47). The GSEED-RE and ACER models did not accurately predict DB. Re-estimation and recalibration yielded acceptable results (GSEED-RE area under the curve [AUC], .64 [95% CI, .54-.74]; ACER AUC, .65 [95% CI, .57-.73]). We used lesion size, proximal location, comorbidity, and antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy to generate a new model, the GSEED-RE2, which achieved higher AUC values (.69-.73; 95% CI, .59-.80) and exhibited lower susceptibility to changes among datasets.[Conclusions]: The updated GSEED-RE and ACER models achieved acceptable prediction levels of DB. The GSEED-RE2 model may achieve better prediction results and could be used to guide the management of patients after validation by other external groups. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT 03050333.)Research support for this study was received from “La Caixa/Caja Navarra” Foundation (ID 100010434;project PR15/11100006)