4,196 research outputs found
Globules and pillars seen in the [CII] 158 micron line with SOFIA
Molecular globules and pillars are spectacular features, found only in the
interface region between a molecular cloud and an HII-region. Impacting
Far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation creates photon dominated regions (PDRs) on
their surfaces that can be traced by typical cooling lines. With the GREAT
receiver onboard SOFIA we mapped and spectrally resolved the [CII] 158 micron
atomic fine-structure line and the highly excited 12CO J=11-10 molecular line
from three objects in Cygnus X (a pillar, a globule, and a strong IRAS source).
We focus here on the globule and compare our data with existing Spitzer data
and recent Herschel Open-Time PACS data. Extended [CII] emission and more
compact CO-emission was found in the globule. We ascribe this emission mainly
to an internal PDR, created by a possibly embedded star-cluster with at least
one early B-star. However, external PDR emission caused by the excitation by
the Cyg OB2 association cannot be fully excluded. The velocity-resolved [CII]
emission traces the emission of PDR surfaces, possible rotation of the globule,
and high-velocity outflowing gas. The globule shows a velocity shift of ~2 km/s
with respect to the expanding HII-region, which can be understood as the
residual turbulence of the molecular cloud from which the globule arose. This
scenario is compatible with recent numerical simulations that emphazise the
effect of turbulence. It is remarkable that an isolated globule shows these
strong dynamical features traced by the [CII]-line, but it demands more
observational studies to verify if there is indeed an embedded cluster of
B-stars.Comment: Letter accepted by A&A (SOFIA special issue
Comparative Genomic Analysis of the Class \u3ci\u3eEpsilonproteobacteria\u3c/i\u3e and Proposed Reclassification to Epsilonbacteraeota (phyl. nov.)
The Epsilonproteobacteria is the fifth validly described class of the phylum Proteobacteria, known primarily for clinical relevance and for chemolithotrophy in various terrestrial and marine environments, including deep-sea hydrothermal vents. As 16S rRNA gene repositories have expanded and protein marker analysis become more common, the phylogenetic placement of this class has become less certain. A number of recent analyses of the bacterial tree of life using both 16S rRNA and concatenated marker gene analyses have failed to recover the Epsilonproteobacteria as monophyletic with all other classes of Proteobacteria. In order to address this issue, we investigated the phylogenetic placement of this class in the bacterial domain using 16S and 23S rRNA genes, as well as 120 single-copy marker proteins. Single- and concatenated-marker trees were created using a data set of 4,170 bacterial representatives, including 98 Epsilonproteobacteria. Phylogenies were inferred under a variety of tree building methods, with sequential jackknifing of outgroup phyla to ensure robustness of phylogenetic affiliations under differing combinations of bacterial genomes. Based on the assessment of nearly 300 phylogenetic tree topologies, we conclude that the continued inclusion of Epsilonproteobacteria within the Proteobacteria is not warranted, and that this group should be reassigned to a novel phylum for which we propose the name Epsilonbacteraeota (phyl. nov.). We further recommend the reclassification of the order Desulfurellales (Deltaproteobacteria) to a novel class within this phylum and a number of subordinate changes to ensure consistency with the genome-based phylogeny. Phylogenomic analysis of 658 genomes belonging to the newly proposed Epsilonbacteraeota suggests that the ancestor of this phylum was an autotrophic, motile, thermophilic chemolithotroph that likely assimilated nitrogen from ammonium taken up from the environment or generated from environmental nitrate and nitrite by employing a variety of functional redox modules. The emergence of chemoorganoheterotrophic lifestyles in several Epsilonbacteraeota families is the result of multiple independent losses of various ancestral chemolithoautotrophic pathways. Our proposed reclassification of this group resolves an important anomaly in bacterial systematics and ensures that the taxonomy of Proteobacteria remains robust, specifically as genome-based taxonomies become more common
TeV Particle Astrophysics II: Summary comments
A unifying theme of this conference was the use of different approaches to
understand astrophysical sources of energetic particles in the TeV range and
above. In this summary I review how gamma-ray astronomy, neutrino astronomy and
(to some extent) gravitational wave astronomy provide complementary avenues to
understanding the origin and role of high-energy particles in energetic
astrophysical sources.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; Conference summary talk for "TeV Particle
Astrophysics II" at University of Wisconsin, Madison, 28-31 August 200
Logarithmic corrections and soft photon phenomenology in the multipole model of the nucleon form factors
We analyzed the presently available experimental data on nucleon
electromagnetic form factors within a multipole model based on dispersion
relations. A good fit of the data is achieved by considering the coefficients
of the multipole expansions as logarithmic functions of the momentum transfer
squared. The superconvergence relations, applied to this coefficients, makes
the model agree with unitary constraints and pQCD asymptotics for the Dirac and
Pauli form factors. The soft photon emission is proposed as a mechanism
responsible for the difference between the Rosenbluth, polarization and
beam--target--asymmetry data. It is shown, that the experimentally measured
cross sections depend not only on the Dirac and Pauli form factors, but also on
the average number of the photons emitted. For proton this number is shown to
be different for different types of experimental measurements and then
estimated phenomenologically. For neutron the same mechanism predicts, that the
data form different types of experiments must coincide with high accuracy. A
joint fit of all the experimental data reproduce the dependence with the
accuracy . Predictions of the model, that 1) the ratios of the
proton form factors are different for Rosenbluth, polarization and
beam--target--asymmetry experiments and 2) similar ratios are nearly the same
for neutron, can be used for experimental verification of the model.Comment: 14 pages in 2-column format, 4 figures, references added, typos
corrected, minor changes in the text, accepted in Eur. Phys. Journal
Experimental loophole-free violation of a Bell inequality using entangled electron spins separated by 1.3 km
For more than 80 years, the counterintuitive predictions of quantum theory
have stimulated debate about the nature of reality. In his seminal work, John
Bell proved that no theory of nature that obeys locality and realism can
reproduce all the predictions of quantum theory. Bell showed that in any local
realist theory the correlations between distant measurements satisfy an
inequality and, moreover, that this inequality can be violated according to
quantum theory. This provided a recipe for experimental tests of the
fundamental principles underlying the laws of nature. In the past decades,
numerous ingenious Bell inequality tests have been reported. However, because
of experimental limitations, all experiments to date required additional
assumptions to obtain a contradiction with local realism, resulting in
loopholes. Here we report on a Bell experiment that is free of any such
additional assumption and thus directly tests the principles underlying Bell's
inequality. We employ an event-ready scheme that enables the generation of
high-fidelity entanglement between distant electron spins. Efficient spin
readout avoids the fair sampling assumption (detection loophole), while the use
of fast random basis selection and readout combined with a spatial separation
of 1.3 km ensure the required locality conditions. We perform 245 trials
testing the CHSH-Bell inequality and find . A
null hypothesis test yields a probability of that a local-realist
model for space-like separated sites produces data with a violation at least as
large as observed, even when allowing for memory in the devices. This result
rules out large classes of local realist theories, and paves the way for
implementing device-independent quantum-secure communication and randomness
certification.Comment: Raw data will be made available after publicatio
EN-BIRTH Data Collector Training - Handbook and Manual
The EN-BIRTH study aims to validate selected newborn and maternal indicators for routine facility-based tracking of coverage and quality of care for use at district, national and global levels. The item contains the EN-BIRTH_Trainer's Manual (14 June 2017) and EN-BIRTH_Training Handbook (23 May 2017)
Absent cervical spine pedicle and associated congenital spinal abnormalities - a diagnostic trap in a setting of acute trauma: case report
BACKGROUND: Congenital spinal abnormalities can easily be misdiagnosed on plain radiographs. Additional imaging is warranted in doubtful cases, especially in a setting of acute trauma. Case Presentation This patient presented at the emergency unit of our university hospital after a motor vehicle accident and was sent to our radiology department for imaging of the cervical spine. Initial clinical examination and plain radiographs of the cervical spine were performed but not conclusive. Additional CT of the neck helped establish the right diagnosis. CONCLUSION: CT as a three-dimensional imaging modality with the possibility of multiplanar reconstructions allows for the exact diagnosis and exclusion of acute traumatic lesions of the cervical spine, especially in cases of doubtful plain radiographs and when congenital spinal abnormalities like absent cervical spine pedicle with associated spina bifida may insinuate severe trauma
Multi-Element Abundance Measurements from Medium-Resolution Spectra. IV. Alpha Element Distributions in Milky Way Dwarf Satellite Galaxies
We derive the star formation histories of eight dwarf spheroidal (dSph) Milky
Way satellite galaxies from their alpha element abundance patterns. Nearly 3000
stars from our previously published catalog (Paper II) comprise our data set.
The average [alpha/Fe] ratios for all dSphs follow roughly the same path with
increasing [Fe/H]. We do not observe the predicted knees in the [alpha/Fe] vs.
[Fe/H] diagram, corresponding to the metallicity at which Type Ia supernovae
begin to explode. Instead, we find that Type Ia supernova ejecta contribute to
the abundances of all but the most metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -2.5) stars. We have
also developed a chemical evolution model that tracks the star formation rate,
Types II and Ia supernova explosions, and supernova feedback. Without metal
enhancement in the supernova blowout, massive amounts of gas loss define the
history of all dSphs except Fornax, the most luminous in our sample. All six of
the best-fit model parameters correlate with dSph luminosity but not with
velocity dispersion, half-light radius, or Galactocentric distance.Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ; very minor
editorial corrections in v
A four-helix bundle stores copper for methane oxidation
Methane-oxidising bacteria (methanotrophs) require large quantities of copper for the membrane-bound (particulate) methane monooxygenase (pMMO). Certain methanotrophs are also able to switch to using the iron-containing soluble MMO (sMMO) to catalyse methane oxidation, with this switchover regulated by copper. MMOs are Nature’s primary biological mechanism for suppressing atmospheric levels of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Furthermore, methanotrophs and MMOs have enormous potential in bioremediation and for biotransformations producing bulk and fine chemicals, and in bioenergy, particularly considering increased methane availability from renewable sources and hydraulic fracturing of shale rock. We have discovered and characterised a novel copper storage protein (Csp1) from the methanotroph Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b that is exported from the cytosol, and stores copper for pMMO. Csp1 is a tetramer of 4-helix bundles with each monomer binding up to 13 Cu(I) ions in a previously unseen manner via mainly Cys residues that point into the core of the bundle. Csp1 is the first example of a protein that stores a metal within an established protein-folding motif. This work provides a detailed insight into how methanotrophs accumulate copper for the oxidation of methane. Understanding this process is essential if the wide-ranging biotechnological applications of methanotrophs are to be realised. Cytosolic homologues of Csp1 are present in diverse bacteria thus challenging the dogma that such organisms do not use copper in this location
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