1,522 research outputs found
Hemispherical-Directional Reflectance (HDRF) of Windblown Snow-Covered Arctic Tundra at Large Solar Zenith Angles
Ground-based measurements of the hemispherical-directional
reflectance factor (HDRF) of windblown snowcovered
Arctic tundra were measured at large solar zenith angles
(79âŠâ85âŠ) for six sites near the international research base in
Ny-Ă
lesund, Svalbard. Measurements were made with the Gonio
RAdiometric Spectrometer System over the viewing angles 0âŠâ50âŠ
and the azimuth angles 0âŠâ360âŠ, for the wavelength range
400â1700 nm. The HDRF measurements showed good consistency
between sites for near-nadir and backward viewing angles, with a
relative standard deviation of less than 10% between sites where
the snowpack was smooth and the snow depth was greater than
40 cm. The averaged HDRF showed good symmetry with respect
to the solar principal plane and exhibited a forward scattering
peak that was strongly wavelength dependent, with greater than
a factor of 2 increase in the ratio of maximum to minimum HDRF
values for all viewing angles over the wavelength range 400â
1300 nm. The angular effects on the HDRF had minimal influence
for viewing angles less than 15⊠in the backward viewing direction
for the averaged sites and agreed well with another study of snow
HDRF for infrared wavelengths, but showed differences of up to
0.24 in the HDRF for visible wavelengths owing to light-absorbing
impurities measured in the snowpack. The site that had the largest
roughness elements showed the strongest anisotropy in the HDRF,
a large reduction in forward scattering, and a strong asymmetry
with respect to the solar principal plane
Chandra Observations of the QSO Pair Q2345+007: Binary Quasar or Massive Dark Lens?
The components of the wide (7.3") separation quasar pair Q2345+007A,B
(z=2.15) have the most strikingly similar optical spectra seen to date (Steidel
& Sargent 1991) yet no detected lensing mass, making this system the best
candidate known for a massive (1e14 Msun) dark matter lens system. Here we
present results from a 65ksec Chandra observation designed to investigate
whether it is a binary quasar or a gravitational lens. We find no X-ray
evidence for a lensing cluster to a (0.5-2keV) flux limit of 2e-15 cgs, which
is consistent with lensing only for a reduced baryon fraction. Using the
Chandra X-ray observations of the quasars themselves, together with new and
published optical measurements, we use the observed emission properties of the
quasars for further tests between the lens and binary hypotheses. Assuming
similar line-of-sight absorption to the images, we find that their X-ray
continuum slopes are inconsistent (Gamma_A=2.30 and Gamma_B=0.83) as are their
X-ray to optical flux ratios. The probability that B suffers absorption
sufficient to account for these spectral differences is negligible. We present
new optical evidence that the flux ratio of the pair is variable, so the
time-delay in a lens scenario could cause some of the discrepancies. However,
adequately large variations in overall spectral energy distribution are rare in
individual QSOs. All new evidence here weighs strongly toward the binary
interpretation. Q2345+007 thus may represent the highest redshift example known
of interaction-triggered but as-yet unmerged luminous AGN.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, emulateapj style, including 3 tables and 5 figures.
Accepted Feb 1, 2002 for publication in ApJ Main Journal. See also
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~pgreen/Papers.htm
An infrared approach to Reggeization
We present a new approach to Reggeization of gauge amplitudes based on the
universal properties of their infrared singularities. Using the "dipole
formula", a compact ansatz for all infrared singularities of massless
amplitudes, we study Reggeization of singular contributions to high-energy
amplitudes for arbitrary color representations, and any logarithmic accuracy.
We derive leading-logarithmic Reggeization for general cross-channel color
exchanges, and we show that Reggeization breaks down for the imaginary part of
the amplitude at next-to-leading logarithms and for the real part at
next-to-next-to-leading logarithms. Our formalism applies to multiparticle
amplitudes in multi-Regge kinematics, and constrains possible corrections to
the dipole formula starting at three loops.Comment: 4 page
Combined bezafibrate and medroxyprogesterone acetate: potential novel therapy for acute myeloid leukaemia
Background: The majority of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients are over sixty years of age. With current treatment regimens, survival rates amongst these, and also those younger patients who relapse, remain dismal and novel therapies are urgently required. In particular, therapies that have anti-leukaemic activity but that, unlike conventional chemotherapy, do not impair normal haemopoiesis.
Principal Findings: Here we demonstrate the potent anti-leukaemic activity of the combination of the lipid-regulating drug bezafibrate (BEZ) and the sex hormone medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) against AML cell lines and primary AML cells. The combined activity of BEZ and MPA (B/M) converged upon the increased synthesis and reduced metabolism of prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) resulting in elevated levels of the downstream highly bioactive, anti-neoplastic prostaglandin 15-deoxy Î12,14 PGJ2 (15d-PGJ2). BEZ increased PGD2 synthesis via the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and activation of the lipid peroxidation pathway. MPA directed prostaglandin synthesis towards 15d-PGJ2 by inhibiting the PGD2 11ÎČ -ketoreductase activity of the aldo-keto reductase AKR1C3, which metabolises PGD2 to 9α11ÎČ-PGF2α. B/M treatment resulted in growth arrest, apoptosis and cell differentiation in both AML cell lines and primary AML cells and these actions were recapitulated by treatment with 15d-PGJ2. Importantly, the actions of B/M had little effect on the survival of normal adult myeloid progenitors.
Significance: Collectively our data demonstrate that B/M treatment of AML cells elevated ROS and delivered the anti-neoplastic actions of 15d-PGJ2. These observations provide the mechanistic rationale for the redeployment of B/M in elderly and relapsed AML
Null Brane Intersections
We study pairs of planar D-branes intersecting on null hypersurfaces, and
other related configurations. These are supersymmetric and have finite energy
density. They provide open-string analogues of the parabolic orbifold and
null-fluxbrane backgrounds for closed superstrings. We derive the spectrum of
open strings, showing in particular that if the D-branes are shifted in a
spectator dimension so that they do not intersect, the open strings joining
them have no asymptotic states. As a result, a single non-BPS excitation can in
this case catalyze a condensation of massless modes, changing significantly the
underlying supersymmetric vacuum state. We argue that a similar phenomenon can
modify the null cosmological singularity of the time-dependent orbifolds. This
is a stringy mechanism, distinct from black-hole formation and other strong
gravitational instabilities, and one that should dominate at weak string
coupling. A by-product of our analysis is a new understanding of the appearance
of 1/4 BPS threshold bound states, at special points in the moduli space of
toroidally-compactified type-II string theory.Comment: Tex file, uses harvmac, 24 pages with 5 figures. Corrected typos and
added references. Final version to appear in JHE
The Apparent Host Galaxy of PKS 1413+135: HST, ASCA and VLBA Observations
PKS 1413+135 (z=0.24671) is one of very few radio-loud AGN with an apparent
spiral host galaxy. Previous authors have attributed its nearly exponential
infrared cutoff to heavy absorption but have been unable to place tight limits
on the absorber or its location in the optical galaxy. In addition, doubts
remain about the relationship of the AGN to the optical galaxy given the
observed lack of re-emitted radiation. We present new HST, ASCA and VLBA
observations which throw significant new light on these issues. The HST
observations reveal an extrremely red color (V-H = 6.9 mag) for the active
nucleus of PKS 1413+135, requiring both a spectral turnover at a few microns
due to synchrotron aging and a GMC-sized absorber. We derive an intrinsic
column N_H = 4.6^{+2.1}_{-1.6} times 10^{22}cm^{-2} and covering fraction f =
0.12^{+0.07}_{-0.05}. As the GMC is likely in the disk of the optical galaxy,
our sightline is rather unlikely (P ~ 2 times 10^{-4}). The properties of the
GMC typical of GMCs in our own galaxy. The HI absorber appears centered 25
milliarcseconds away from the nucleus, while the X-ray and nearly all of the
molecular absorbers must cover the nucleus, implying a complicated geometry and
cloud structure, with a molecular core along our line of sight to the nucleus.
Interestingly, the HST/NICMOS data require the AGN to be decentered relative to
the optical galaxy by 13 +/- 4 milliarcseconds. This could be interpreted as
suggestive of an AGN location far in the background compared to the optical
galaxy, but it can also be explained by obscuration and/or nuclear structure,
which is more consistent with the observed lack of multiple images.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures; accepted to A
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