51 research outputs found
Quantification of Sympathetic Transduction in Type 2 Diabetes Patients
Type 2 Diabetes patients (T2D) have been shown to have greater alpha-adrenergic sensitivity. How this impacts the transduction of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) to arterial blood pressure under resting conditions using spontaneous fluctuations in MSNA, as well as during stressors known to elicit sympatho-excitation (e.g., cold pressor test (CPT)) is unclear. PURPOSE: We tested the hypothesis that T2D patients would exhibit greater sympathetic transduction compared to age and BMI-matched, healthy controls. METHODS: MSNA (microneurography), heart rate (ECG), and beat-to-beat arterial blood pressure (finger photoplethysmography) were continuously recorded during a 10 minute baseline period, and in response to a 2minute CPT in six T2D patients and six age and BMI-matched, healthy controls (CON).To quantify sympathetic transduction at rest, normalized burst heights were divided into four quartiles (smallest to largest), related to the corresponding peak change in mean arterial pressure (MAP) within those quartiles and a slope was determined. To quantify sympathetic transduction in response to a stressor, the change in MAP was related to the change in MSNA from rest to the last minute of CPT. RESULTS: There were no differences in resting sympathetic transduction between groups (CON slope: 0.0103±0.0023 mmHg/AU, T2D slope: 0.0095±0.0016 mmHg/AU; p=0.78). Indeed, signal averaging of MSNA bursts indicated a similar peak increase in blood pressure in CON (+4.2±0.6 mmHg) and T2D (+4.0±0.9 mmHg) (p=0.66). Although the peak increase in blood pressure to CPT tended to be higher in T2D (T2D: +31.6±3.4 mmHg, CON: +21.4±3.7 mmHg; p=0.096), the Δ MAP/ Δ MSNA relationship during CPT was not different between groups (CON: 0.4158±0.21, T2D: 0.1862±0.05; p=0.36). CONCLUSIONS: Despite clear sympathetically-mediated increases in blood pressure in T2D patients and healthy CON subjects both at rest and during the CPT, neither of the methodologies used to estimate sympathetic transduction, with respect to changes in arterial blood pressure, detected group differences
A dust component 2 kpc above the plane in NGC 891
The halo of NGC 891 has been the subject of studies for more than a decade.
One of its most striking features is the large asymmetry in H emission.
In this letter, we will take a quantitative look at this asymmetry at different
wavelengths for the first time. We suggest that NGC 891 is intrinsically almost
symmetric and the large asymmetry in H emission is mostly due to dust
attenuation. We will quantify the additional optical depth needed to cause the
observed asymmetry in this model. By comparing large strips on the North East
side of the galaxy with strips covering the same area in the South West we can
quantify and analyze the asymmetry in the different wavelengths. From the 24
m emission we find that the intrinsic asymmetry in star formation in NGC
891 is small i.e., . The additional asymmetry in H is modeled
as additional symmetric dust attenuation which extends up to 40\arcsec
(1.9 kpc) above the plane of the galaxy with a mid-plane value of =0.8
and a scale height of 0.5 kpcComment: A&A in press. 5 pages, 3 figure
Augmented pressor and sympathetic responses to skeletal muscle metaboreflex activation in type 2 diabetes patients
Previous studies have reported exaggerated increases in arterial blood pressure during exercise in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients. However, little is known regarding the underlying neural mechanism(s) involved. We hypothesized that T2D patients would exhibit an augmented muscle metaboreflex activation and this contributes to greater pressor and sympathetic responses during exercise. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) were measured in 16 patients with T2D (8 normotensive and 8 hypertensive) and 10 healthy controls. Graded isolation of the muscle metaboreflex was achieved by postexercise ischemia (PEI) following static handgrip performed at 30% and 40% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC). A cold pressor test (CPT) was also performed as a generalized sympathoexcitatory stimulus. Increases in MAP and MSNA during 30 and 40% MVC handgrip were augmented in T2D patients compared with controls ( P < 0.05), and these differences were maintained during PEI (MAP: 30% MVC PEI: T2D, Δ16 ± 2 mmHg vs. controls, Δ8 ± 1 mmHg; 40% MVC PEI: T2D, Δ26 ± 3 mmHg vs. controls, Δ16 ± 2 mmHg, both P < 0.05). MAP and MSNA responses to handgrip and PEI were not different between normotensive and hypertensive T2D patients ( P > 0.05). Interestingly, MSNA responses were also greater in T2D patients compared with controls during the CPT ( P < 0.05). Collectively, these findings indicate that muscle metaboreflex activation is augmented in T2D patients and this contributes, in part, to augmented pressor and sympathetic responses to exercise in this patient group. Greater CPT responses suggest that a heightened central sympathetic reactivity may be involved. </jats:p
Stellar populations across the NGC4244 truncated galactic disk
We use HST/ACS to study the resolved stellar populations of the nearby,
nearly edge-on galaxy NGC4244 across its outer disk surface density break. The
stellar photometry allows us to study the distribution of different stellar
populations and reach very low equivalent surface brightnesses. We find that
the break occurs at the same radius for young, intermediate age, and old stars.
The stellar density beyond the break drops sharply by a factor of at least 600
in 5 kpc. The break occurs at the same radius independent of height above the
disk, but is sharpest in the midplane and nearly disappears at large heights.
These results make it unlikely that truncations are caused by a star formation
threshold alone: the threshold would have to keep the same radial position from
less than 100 Myr to 10 Gyr ago, in spite of potential disturbances such as
infall and redistribution of gas by internal processes. A dynamical
interpretation of truncation formation is more likely such as due to angular
momentum redistribution by bars or density waves, or heating and stripping of
stars caused by the bombardment of dark matter sub-halos. The latter
explanation is also in quantitative agreement with the small diffuse component
we see around the galaxy.Comment: ApJ Letters, in press. Five pages, 2 figure
First trimester elevation in circulating endothelin-1 and arterial stiffness are predictive of late pregnancy preeclampsia
Preeclampsia (PE) is characterized by late pregnancy hypertension and proteinuria. PE causes significant morbidity for the maternal-fetal unit. Circulating endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor, is elevated at the time of diagnosis of human PE. In addition, women with PE demonstrate arterial stiffness as early as the end of the first trimester. However, it is unknown if arterial stiffness is associated with a first trimester elevation in ET-1 and post-delivery placental ET-1. We hypothesized that 1) first trimester plasma ET-1 is elevated and is associated with arterial stiffness in women who develop PE; 2) first trimester ET-1 is predictive of PE; and 3) placental ET-1 is increased in PE. To address these questions, we performed a nested case-control study in women at risk for P
Emission-Line Galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope Probing Evolution and Reionization Spectroscopically (PEARS) Grism Survey. II: The Complete Sample
We present a full analysis of the Probing Evolution And Reionization
Spectroscopically (PEARS) slitess grism spectroscopic data obtained with the
Advanced Camera for Surveys on HST. PEARS covers fields within both the Great
Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) North and South fields, making it
ideal as a random survey of galaxies, as well as the availability of a wide
variety of ancillary observations to support the spectroscopic results. Using
the PEARS data we are able to identify star forming galaxies within the
redshift volume 0< z<1.5. Star forming regions in the PEARS survey are
pinpointed independently of the host galaxy. This method allows us to detect
the presence of multiple emission line regions (ELRs) within a single galaxy.
1162 Ha, [OIII] and/or [OII] emission lines have been identified in the PEARS
sample of ~906 galaxies down to a limiting flux of ~1e-18 erg/s/cm^2. The ELRs
have also been compared to the properties of the host galaxy, including
morphology, luminosity, and mass. From this analysis we find three key results:
1) The computed line luminosities show evidence of a flattening in the
luminosity function with increasing redshift; 2) The star forming systems show
evidence of disturbed morphologies, with star formation occurring predominantly
within one effective (half-light) radius. However, the morphologies show no
correlation with host stellar mass; and 3) The number density of star forming
galaxies with M_* > 1e9} M_sun decreases by an order of magnitude at z<0.5
relative to the number at 0.5<z<0.9 in support of the argument for galaxy
downsizing.Comment: Submitted. 48 pages. 19 figures. Accepted to Ap
The DiskMass Survey. II. Error Budget
We present a performance analysis of the DiskMass Survey. The survey uses
collisionless tracers in the form of disk stars to measure the surface-density
of spiral disks, to provide an absolute calibration of the stellar
mass-to-light ratio, and to yield robust estimates of the dark-matter halo
density profile in the inner regions of galaxies. We find a disk inclination
range of 25-35 degrees is optimal for our measurements, consistent with our
survey design to select nearly face-on galaxies. Uncertainties in disk
scale-heights are significant, but can be estimated from radial scale-lengths
to 25% now, and more precisely in the future. We detail the spectroscopic
analysis used to derive line-of-sight velocity dispersions, precise at low
surface-brightness, and accurate in the presence of composite stellar
populations. Our methods take full advantage of large-grasp integral-field
spectroscopy and an extensive library of observed stars. We show that the
baryon-to-total mass fraction (F_b) is not a well-defined observational
quantity because it is coupled to the halo mass model. This remains true even
when the disk mass is known and spatially-extended rotation curves are
available. In contrast, the fraction of the rotation speed supplied by the disk
at 2.2 scale lengths (disk maximality) is a robust observational indicator of
the baryonic disk contribution to the potential. We construct the error-budget
for the key quantities: dynamical disk mass surface-density, disk stellar
mass-to-light ratio, and disk maximality (V_disk / V_circular). Random and
systematic errors in these quantities for individual galaxies will be ~25%,
while survey precision for sample quartiles are reduced to 10%, largely devoid
of systematic errors outside of distance uncertainties.Comment: To appear in ApJ; 88 pages, 4 tables, 18 figures. High-resolution
version available at
http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~mab/publications/DMS_II_preprint.pd
Host Galaxy Extinction of SNIa: Co-evolution of ISM Structure and Extinction Law with Star-Formation
This paper presents a mechanism that may modify the extinction law for SNIa
observed at higher redshift. Starting from the observations that (1) SNIa occur
predominantly in spiral galaxies, (2) star-formation ejects ISM out of the
plane of spirals, (3) star-formation alters the extinction properties of the
dust in the ISM, and (4) there is substantially more star-formation at higher
redshift, I propose that spiral galaxies have a dustier halo in the past than
they do now. The ejected material's lower value of will lead to a lower
average value () for SNIa observed at higher redshift.
Two relations in SNIa observations indicate evolution of the average :
the relation of observed with inclination of the host galaxy at low
redshift and the matching of the distribution of extinction values () for
SNIa in different redshift intervals. The inclination effect does point to a
halo with lower values. In contrast, the distributions of values
match best for a evolution that mimics the relation of SNIa
dimming with redshift attributed to the cosmological constant. However, even in
the worse case scenario, the evolution can not fully explain the
dimming of SNIa: host galaxy extinction law evolution is not a viable
alternative to account for the dimming of SNIa.
Future observations of SNIa --multi-color lightcurves and spectra-- will
solve separately for values of and for each SNIa . Solving for
evolution of (and ) with redshift will be important for the
coming generation of cosmological SNIa measurements and has the bonus science
of insight into the distribution of dust-rich ISM in the host galaxies in the
distant past.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted by MNRA
JWST NIRCam Photometry: A Study of Globular Clusters Surrounding Bright Elliptical Galaxy VV 191a at z=0.0513
James Webb Space Telescope NIRCam images have revealed 443 globular cluster
(GC) candidates around the elliptical galaxy VV 191a. NIRCam
broadband observations are made at 0.9-4.5 m using filters F090W, F150W,
F356W, and F444W. Using photometry, the data is analyzed to present
color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) that suggest a fairly uniform population of
GCs. Color histograms show a unimodal color distribution that is well fit by a
single Gaussian, using color to primarily trace the metallicity. The findings
show the sample's globular cluster luminosity function (GCLF) does not reach
the turnover value and is, therefore, more luminous than what is typically
expected, with an absolute AB magnitude, mag, reaching
within nearly one magnitude of the classical turnover value. We attribute this
to the completeness in the sample. Models show that the mass estimate of the
GCs detected tends to be more massive, reaching upward of . However, the results show that current GC models do not quite align
with the data. We find that the models appear to be bluer than the JWST data in
the reddest (F356W-F444W) filters and redder than the data in the bluest
(F090W-F150W) filters and may need to be revised to improve the modeling of
near-IR colors of old, metal-poor stellar populations.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
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