1,543 research outputs found
The Energy Spectrum of Primary Cosmic Ray Electrons in Clusters of Galaxies and Inverse Compton Emission
Models for the evolution of the integrated energy spectrum of primary cosmic
ray electrons in clusters of galaxies have been calculated, including the
effects of losses due to inverse Compton (IC), synchrotron, and bremsstrahlung
emission, and Coulomb losses to the intracluster medium (ICM). The combined
time scale for these losses reaches a maximum of ~3e9 yr for electrons with a
Lorentz factor ~300. Only clusters in which there has been a substantial
injection of relativistic electrons since z <~ 1 will have any significant
population of primary cosmic ray electrons at present. In typical models, there
is a broad peak in the electron energy distribution extending to gamma~300, and
a steep drop in the electron population beyond this. In clusters with current
particle injection, there is a power-law tail of higher energy electrons with
an abundance determined by the current rate of injection. A significant
population of electrons with gamma~300, associated with the peak in the
particle loss time, is a generic feature of the models. The IC and synchrotron
emission from these models was calculated. In the models, EUV and soft X-ray
emission are nearly ubiquitous. This emission is produced by electrons with
gamma~300. The spectra are predicted to drop rapidly in going from the EUV to
the X-ray band. The IC emission also extends down the UV, optical, and IR bands
with a fairly flat spectrum. Hard X-ray (HXR) and diffuse radio emission due to
high energy electrons (gamma~10e4) is present only in clusters which have
current particle acceleration. Assuming that the electrons are accelerated in
ICM shocks, one would only expect diffuse HXR/radio emission in clusters which
are currently undergoing a large merger.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, with minor
revisons to wording for clarity and one additional reference. 19 pages with
16 embedded Postscript figures in emulateapj.sty. Abbreviated abstract belo
Elevation of basal intracellular calcium as a central element in the activation of brain macrophages (microglia): suppression of receptor-evoked calcium signaling and control of release function
Microglia-brain macrophages are immune-competent cells of the CNS and respond to pathologic events. Using bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as a tool to activate cultured mouse microglia, we studied alterations in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca 2+]i) and in the receptor-evoked generation of transient calcium signals. LPS treatment led to a chronic elevation of basal [Ca 2+]i along with a suppression of evoked calcium signaling, as indicated by reduced [Ca 2+]i transients during stimulation with UTP and complement factor 5a. Presence of the calcium chelator BAPTA prevented the activation-associated changes in [Ca 2+]i and restored much of the signaling efficacy. We also evaluated downstream consequences of a basal [Ca 2+]i lifting during microglial activation and found BAPTA to strongly attenuate the LPS-induced release of nitric oxide (NO) and certain cytokines and chemokines. Furthermore, microglial treatment with ionomycin, an ionophore elevating basal [Ca 2+]i, mimicked the activation-induced calcium signal suppression but failed to induce release activity on its own. Our findings suggest that chronic elevation of basal [Ca 2+]i attenuates receptor-triggered calcium signaling. Moreover, increased [Ca 2+]i is required, but by itself is not sufficient, for release of NO and certain cytokines and chemokines. Elevation of basal [Ca 2+]i could thus prove a central element in the regulation of executive functions in activated microglia
Plasmodium falciparum EPCR-binding PfEMP1 expression increases with malaria disease severity and is elevated in retinopathy negative cerebral malaria.
Background Expression of group A and the A-like subset of group B Plasmodium falciparumerythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is associated with severe malaria (SM). The diversity of var sequences combined with the challenges of distinct classification of patient pathologies has made studying the role of distinct PfEMP1 variants on malaria disease severity challenging. The application of retinopathy in the recent years has provided a further method to clinically evaluate children with cerebral malaria (CM). The question of whether children with clinical CM but no retinopathy represent a completely different disease process or a subgroup within the spectrum of CM remains an important question in malaria. In the current study, we use newly designed primer sets with the best coverage to date in a large cohort of children with SM to determine the role of var genes in malaria disease severity and especially CM as discriminated by retinopathy. Methods We performed qRT-PCR targeting the different subsets of these var genes on samples from Ugandan children with CM (n = 98, of whom 50 had malarial retinopathy [RP] and 47 did not [RN]), severe malarial anemia (SMA, n = 47), and asymptomatic parasitemia (AP, n = 14). The primers used in this study were designed based on var sequences from 226 Illumina whole genome sequenced P. falciparum field isolates. Results Increasing severity of illness was associated with increasing levels of endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR)-binding PfEMP1. EPCR-binding PfEMP1 transcript levels were highest in children with combined CM and SMA and then decreased by level of disease severity: RP CM \u3e RN CM \u3e SMA \u3e AP. Conclusions The study findings indicate that PfEMP1 binding to EPCR is important in the pathogenesis of SM, including RN CM, and suggest that increased expression of EPCR-binding PfEMP1 is associated with progressively more severe disease. Agents that block EPCR-binding of PfEMP1 could provide novel interventions to prevent or decrease disease severity in malaria
Ringing effects reduction by improved deconvolution algorithm Application to A370 CFHT image of gravitational arcs
We develop a self-consistent automatic procedure to restore informations from
astronomical observations. It relies on both a new deconvolution algorithm
called LBCA (Lower Bound Constraint Algorithm) and the use of the Wiener
filter. In order to explore its scientific potential for strong and weak
gravitational lensing, we process a CFHT image of the galaxies cluster Abell
370 which exhibits spectacular strong gravitational lensing effects. A high
quality restoration is here of particular interest to map the dark matter
within the cluster. We show that the LBCA turns out specially efficient to
reduce ringing effects introduced by classical deconvolution algorithms in
images with a high background. The method allows us to make a blind detection
of the radial arc and to recover morphological properties similar to
thoseobserved from HST data. We also show that the Wiener filter is suitable to
stop the iterative process before noise amplification, using only the
unrestored data.Comment: A&A in press 9 pages 9 figure
Astronomical Data Management
We present a summary of the major contributions to the Special Session on
Data Management held at the IAU General Assembly in Prague in 2006. While
recent years have seen enormous improvements in access to astronomical data,
and the Virtual Observatory aims to provide astronomers with seamless access to
on-line resources, more attention needs to be paid to ensuring the quality and
completeness of those resources. For example, data produced by telescopes are
not always made available to the astronomical community, and new instruments
are sometimes designed and built with insufficient planning for data
management, while older but valuable legacy data often remain undigitised. Data
and results published in journals do not always appear in the data centres, and
astronomers in developing countries sometimes have inadequate access to on-line
resources. To address these issues, an 'Astronomers Data Manifesto' has been
formulated with the aim of initiating a discussion that will lead to the
development of a 'code of best practice' in astronomical data management.Comment: Proceedings of Special Session SPS6 (Astronomical Data Management) at
the IAU GA 2006. To appear in Highlights of Astronomy, Volume 14, ed. K.A.
van der Huch
Interface alloying and magnetic properties of Fe/Rh multilayers
Rh(20 Å)/57Fe(tFe) multilayers with Fe thicknesses tFe of 2, 5, 10, and 15 Å prepared by alternate evaporation in UHV have been investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and SQUID magnetometry. First- and second-order superstructure Bragg peaks (but no higher-order peaks) in small-angle XRD patterns suggest some compositional modulation. Mössbauer spectra taken at 4.2 K are characterized by a distribution P(Bhf) of hyperfine fields Bhf. Peaks observed in the P(Bhf) curves near 17 and 35 T are assigned to an fcc-RhFe interface alloy (~7–24 at. % Fe) with spin-glasslike properties and to a disordered ferromagnetic bcc-FeRh alloy (~96 at. % Fe), respectively. The magnetic transition temperature of the fcc alloy was found to be 23 and 45 K for tFe=2 and 5 Å, respectively, and Bhf follows a T3/2 law. For tFe=2 Å, spin-glasslike behavior was observed by magnetometry. Journal of Applied Physics is copyrighted by The American Institute of Physics
Magnetic Field Evolution in Merging Clusters of Galaxies
We present initial results from the first 3-dimensional numerical
magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of magnetic field evolution in merging
clusters of galaxies. Within the framework of idealized initial conditions
similar to our previous work, we look at the gasdynamics and the magnetic field
evolution during a major merger event in order to examine the suggestion that
shocks and turbulence generated during a cluster/subcluster merger can produce
magnetic field amplification and relativistic particle acceleration and, as
such, may play a role in the formation and evolution of cluster-wide radio
halos. The ICM, as represented by the equations of ideal MHD, is evolved
self-consistently within a changing gravitational potential defined largely by
the collisionless dark matter component represented by an N-body particle
distribution. The MHD equations are solved by the Eulerian, finite-difference
code, ZEUS. The particles are evolved by a standard particle-mesh (PM) code. We
find significant evolution of the magnetic field structure and strength during
two distinct epochs of the merger evolution.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, Figure 2 is color postscript. Accepted for
publication in Ap
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