2,185 research outputs found
The phospholipase iPLA2γ is a major mediator releasing oxidized aliphatic chains from cardiolipin, integrating mitochondrial bioenergetics and signaling
Heart failure–induced activation of phospholipase iPLA2γ generates hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids opening the mitochondrial permeability transition pore
A New H I Survey of Active Galaxies
We have conducted a new Arecibo survey for H I emission for 113 galaxies with
broad-line (type 1) active galactic nuclei (AGNs) out to recession velocities
as high as 35,000 km/s. The primary aim of the study is to obtain sensitive H I
spectra for a well-defined, uniformly selected sample of active galaxies that
have estimates of their black hole masses in order to investigate correlations
between H I properties and the characteristics of the AGNs. H I emission was
detected in 66 out of the 101 (65%) objects with spectra uncorrupted by radio
frequency interference, among which 45 (68%) have line profiles with adequate
signal-to-noise ratio and sufficiently reliable inclination corrections to
yield robust deprojected rotational velocities. This paper presents the basic
survey products, including an atlas of H I spectra, measurements of H I flux,
line width, profile asymmetry, optical images, optical spectroscopic
parameters, as well as a summary of a number of derived properties pertaining
to the host galaxies. To enlarge our primary sample, we also assemble all
previously published H I measurements of type 1 AGNs for which can can estimate
black hole masses, which total an additional 53 objects. The final
comprehensive compilation of 154 broad-line active galaxies, by far the largest
sample ever studied, forms the basis of our companion paper, which uses the H I
database to explore a number of properties of the AGN host galaxies.Comment: To appear in ApJS; 31 pages. Preprint will full-resolution figures
can be downloaded from http://www.ociw.edu/~lho/preprints/ms1.pd
Properties of Active Galaxies Deduced from H I Observations
We completed a new survey for H I emission for a large, well-defined sample
of 154 nearby (z < 0.1) galaxies with type 1 AGNs. We make use of the extensive
database presented in a companion paper to perform a comprehensive appraisal of
the cold gas content in active galaxies and to seek new strategies to
investigate the global properties of the host galaxies and their relationship
to their central black holes (BHs). We show that the BH mass obeys a strong,
roughly linear relation with the host galaxy's dynamical mass. BH mass follows
a looser, though still highly significant, correlation with the maximum
rotation velocity of the galaxy, as expected from the known scaling between
rotation velocity and central velocity dispersion. Neither of these H I-based
correlations is as tight as the more familiar relations between BH mass and
bulge luminosity or velocity dispersion, but they offer the advantage of being
insensitive to the glare of the nucleus and therefore are promising new tools
for probing the host galaxies of both nearby and distant AGNs. We present
evidence for substantial ongoing BH growth in the most actively accreting AGNs.
In these nearby systems, BH growth appears to be delayed with respect to the
assembly of the host galaxy but otherwise has left no detectable perturbation
to its mass-to-light ratio or its global gas content. The host galaxies of type
1 AGNs, including those luminous enough to qualify as quasars, are generally
gas-rich systems, possessing a cold interstellar medium reservoir at least as
abundant as that in inactive galaxies of the same morphological type. This
calls into question current implementations of AGN feedback in models of galaxy
formation that predict strong cold gas depletion in unobscured AGNs. (Abridged)Comment: To appear in ApJ; 14 page
An algorithm for decoherence analyses of lights through three-dimensional periodic microstructures
A transfer-matrix algorithm is presented herein as a beginning to study the
transmission characteristics of coherent light through three-dimensional
periodic microstructures, in which the structures are treated as
two-dimensional-layer stacks and multiple reflections are considered
negligible. The spatial-correlated noise is further introduced layer by layer
to realize the actual decoherence of the light and allows for statistical
investigation of the partial spatially coherent optics in transparent mediums.
Numerical analyses show comparable results to the Gaussian Schell model in
free-space cases, indicating the validity of the algorithms.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
The effects of viewing angle on the mass distribution of exoplanets
We present a mathematical method to statistically decouple the effects of
unknown inclination angles on the mass distribution of exoplanets that have
been discovered using radial-velocity techniques. The method is based on the
distribution of the product of two random variables. Thus, if one assumes a
true mass distribution, the method makes it possible to recover the observed
distribution. We compare our prediction with available radial-velocity data.
Assuming the true mass function is described by a power-law, the minimum mass
function that we recover proves a good fit to the observed distribution at both
mass ends. In particular, it provides an alternative explanation for the
observed low-mass decline, usually explained as sample incompleteness. In
addition, the peak observed near the the low-mass end arises naturally in the
predicted distribution as a consequence of imposing a low-mass cutoff in the
true-distribution. If the low-mass bins below 0.02 M_J are complete, then the
mass distribution in this regime is heavily affected by the small fraction of
lowly inclined interlopers that are actually more massive companions. Finally,
we also present evidence that the exoplanet mass distribution changes form
towards low-mass, implying that a single power law may not adequately describe
the sample population.Comment: ApJ, accepte
Cardiac myocyte-specific knock-out of calcium-independent phospholipase A2γ (iPLA2γ) decreases oxidized fatty acids during ischemia/reperfusion and reduces infarct size
Calcium-independent phospholipase A(2)γ (iPLA(2)γ) is a mitochondrial enzyme that produces lipid second messengers that facilitate opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) and contribute to the production of oxidized fatty acids in myocardium. To specifically identify the roles of iPLA(2)γ in cardiac myocytes, we generated cardiac myocyte-specific iPLA(2)γ knock-out (CMiPLA(2)γKO) mice by removing the exon encoding the active site serine (Ser-477). Hearts of CMiPLA(2)γKO mice exhibited normal hemodynamic function, glycerophospholipid molecular species composition, and normal rates of mitochondrial respiration and ATP production. In contrast, CMiPLA(2)γKO mice demonstrated attenuated Ca(2+)-induced mPTP opening that could be rapidly restored by the addition of palmitate and substantially reduced production of oxidized polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Furthermore, myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in CMiPLA(2)γKO mice (30 min of ischemia followed by 30 min of reperfusion in vivo) dramatically decreased oxidized fatty acid production in the ischemic border zones. Moreover, CMiPLA(2)γKO mice subjected to 30 min of ischemia followed by 24 h of reperfusion in vivo developed substantially less cardiac necrosis in the area-at-risk in comparison with their WT littermates. Furthermore, we found that membrane depolarization in murine heart mitochondria was sensitized to Ca(2+) by the presence of oxidized PUFAs. Because mitochondrial membrane depolarization and calcium are known to activate iPLA(2)γ, these results are consistent with salvage of myocardium after I/R by iPLA(2)γ loss of function through decreasing mPTP opening, diminishing production of proinflammatory oxidized fatty acids, and attenuating the deleterious effects of abrupt increases in calcium ion on membrane potential during reperfusion
XMM-Newton view of galaxy pairs: activation of quiescent black holes?
We report on XMM-Newton observations of three nearby galaxy pairs,
AM0707-273, AM1211-465, and AM2040-674. All six galaxies were previously
classified as HII galaxies based on optical and IR spectroscopic analysis. All
galaxies were detected with XMM-Newton and each member was isolated and
analyzed independently. The X-ray spectra reveal strong evidence of AGN
activity in the NE member of AM1211-465 pair. We measured a luminosity of
1.94(+0.11/-0.15)x10^42 erg/s in the 2-10 keV band and the presence of a
neutral FeK_alpha line with a confidence level of 98.8%. The high nH value,
2.2+/-0.2x10^22 cm^-2, would explain the misclassification of the source.
Marginal evidence of AGN nature was found in the X-ray spectra of AM1211-465SW
and AM0707-273E. The X-ray emission of the three remaining galaxies can be
explained by starburst activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Cytochrome c is an oxidative stress–activated plasmalogenase that cleaves plasmenylcholine and plasmenylethanolamine at the sn-1 vinyl ether linkage
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