RHESSI Spectral Fits of Swift GRBs

One of the challenges of the Swift era has been accurately determining Epeak for the prompt GRB emission. RHESSI, which is sensitive from 30 keV to 17 MeV, can extend spectral coverage above the Swift-BAT bandpass. Using the public Swift data, we present results of joint spectral fits for 26 bursts co-observed by RHESSI and Swift-BAT through May 2007. We compare these fits to estimates of Epeak which rely on BAT data alone. A Bayesian Epeak estimator gives better correspondence with our measured results than an estimator relying on correlations with the Swift power law indices.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. To appear in the proceedings of Gamma Ray Bursts 2007, Santa Fe, New Mexico, November 5-9 200

Neuroprotective role for RORA in Parkinson’s disease revealed by analysis of post-mortem brain and a dopaminergic cell line

Parkinson's disease (PD) is almost twice as prevalent in men, which has largely been attributed to neuroprotective effect of oestradiol in women. RORA (retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor alpha) regulates the transcription of central aromatase, the enzyme responsible for local oestradiol synthesis, simultaneously, RORA expression is regulated by sex hormones. Moreover, RORA protects neurones against oxidative stress, a key mechanism contributing to the loss of dopaminergic neurones in PD. Therefore, we hypothesized that there would be sex differences in RORA expression in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc), which could contribute to sex differences observed in PD prevalence and pathogenesis. In a case control study, qPCR and western blot analyses were used to quantify gene and protein expression in the SNpc of post-mortem brains (n = 14 late-stage PD and 11 age and sex matched controls). The neuroprotective properties of a RORA agonist were then investigated directly using a cell culture toxin-based model of PD coupled with measures of viability, mitochondrial function and apoptosis. RORA was expressed at significantly higher levels in the SNpc from control females' brains compared to males. In PD, we found a significant increase in SNpc RORA expression in male PD compared to female PD. Treatment with a RORA agonist showed a significant neuroprotection in our cell culture model of PD and revealed significant effects on intracellular factors involved in neuronal survival and demise. This study is the first to demonstrate a sex specific pattern of RORA protein and gene expression in the SNpc of controls post-mortem human brains, and to show that this is differentially altered in male and female PD subjects, thus supporting a role for RORA in sex-specific aspects of PD. Furthermore, our in vitro PD model indicates mechanisms whereby a RORA agonist exerts its neuroprotective effect, thereby highlighting the translational potential for RORA ligands in PD

Spin-dynamics of the low-dimensional magnet (CH3)2NH2CuCl3

Dimethylammonium copper (II) chloride (also known as DMACuCl3 or MCCL) is a low dimensional S=1/2 quantum spin system proposed to be an alternating ferro-antiferromagnetic chain with similar magnitude ferromagnetic (FM) and antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange interactions. Subsequently, it was shown that the existing bulk measurements could be adequately modeled by considering DMACuCl3 as independent AFM and FM dimer spin pairs. We present here new inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the spin-excitations in single crystals of DMACuCl3. These results show significant quasi-one-dimensional coupling, however the magnetic excitations do not propagate along the expected direction. We observe a band of excitations with a gap of 0.95 meV and a bandwidth of 0.82 meV.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures included in text, submitted to proceedings of International Conference on Neutron Scattering, December 200

Pituitary Adenylate-Cyclase Activating Polypeptide Regulates Hunger- and Palatability-Induced Binge Eating

While pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) signaling in the hypothalamic ventromedial nuclei (VMN) has been shown to regulate feeding, a challenge in unmasking a role for this peptide in obesity is that excess feeding can involve numerous mechanisms including homeostatic (hunger) and hedonic-related (palatability) drives. In these studies, we first isolated distinct feeding drives by developing a novel model of binge behavior in which homeostatic-driven feeding was temporally separated from feeding driven by food palatability. We found that stimulation of the VMN, achieved by local microinjections of AMPA, decreased standard chow consumption in food-restricted rats (e.g., homeostatic feeding); surprisingly, this manipulation failed to alter palatable food consumption in satiated rats (e.g., hedonic feeding). In contrast, inhibition of the nucleus accumbens (NAc), through local microinjections of GABA receptor agonists baclofen and muscimol, decreased hedonic feeding without altering homeostatic feeding. PACAP microinjections produced the site-specific changes in synaptic transmission needed to decrease feeding via VMN or NAc circuitry. PACAP into the NAc mimicked the actions of GABA agonists by reducing hedonic feeding without altering homeostatic feeding. In contrast, PACAP into the VMN mimicked the actions of AMPA by decreasing homeostatic feeding without affecting hedonic feeding. Slice electrophysiology recordings verified PACAP excitation of VMN neurons and inhibition of NAc neurons. These data suggest that the VMN and NAc regulate distinct circuits giving rise to unique feeding drives, but that both can be regulated by the neuropeptide PACAP to potentially curb excessive eating stemming from either drive

PACAP and Cocaine Reinstatement: A Neuropeptide Expressed by Corticostriatal Neurons that Regulates Nucleus Accumbens Astrocytes

Drug addiction involves heightened relapse vulnerability arising from persistent drug-induced neuro-adaptations, including a) hypofrontality which is thought to reflect reduced firing of cortical afferents to the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and b) altered glutamate homeostasis in NAcc that likely involves reduced glutamate release and uptake by astrocytes. An important question is whether these forms of pathological plasticity are functionally linked such that reduced corticostriatal firing may result in aberrant regulation of astrocytes in the NAcc. To begin to evaluate this possibility, we first determined whether neurons regulate system xc- (Sxc) activity, a mechanism of non-vesicular glutamate release by astrocytes. We found that the rate of Sxc activity in astrocyte cultures was significantly increased in cells exposed to neuronal conditioned media achieved using neuronal inserts. These experiments demonstrate that releasable neuronal factors significantly upregulate Sxc activity. We hypothesize that the pituitary adenylyl cyclase activating peptide (PACAP) may be the neuronal factor regulating glutamate release by astrocytes involving Sxc. First we determined that PACAP mimics a neuronal insert in that it significantly upregulates Sxc activity in astrocytes. Next, we verified the expression of PACAP in neurons from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) projecting to NAcc. Together, these data support the hypothesis that reduced corticostriatal firing may result in decreased PACAP release in NAcc which could potentially blunt Sxc activity in NAcc astrocytes. To determine whether this would impact relapse vulnerability, we microinjected PACAP into the NAcc and found that this significantly reduced cocaine-primed reinstatement, suggesting that increased PACAP signaling, consistent with other approaches capable of increasing Sxc activity, may blunt relapse vulnerability. In order to determine whether reduced PACAP signaling is sufficient to increase relapse vulnerability, we microinjected the PAC1R inhibitor PACAP6-38 into the NAcc. Preliminary data indicate that this is sufficient to produce an increase in cocaine reinstatement. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that neuropeptide PACAP is a powerful regulator of cocaine-related behaviors, likely through the modulation of glutamate homeostasis as maintained by astrocytes. As a result, an unrecognized consequence of hypofrontality may be impairing neuron-astrocyte interactions in a manner that determines the magnitude of relapse vulnerability

Phonon thermal transport in UO2_2 via self-consistent perturbation theory

Computing thermal transport from first-principles in UO$_2$ is complicated due to the challenges associated with Mott physics. Here we use irreducible derivative approaches to compute the cubic and quartic phonon interactions in UO$_2$ from first-principles, and we perform enhanced thermal transport computations by evaluating the phonon Green's function via self-consistent diagrammatic perturbation theory. Our predicted phonon lifetimes at $T=600$ K agree well with our inelastic neutron scattering measurements across the entire Brillouin zone, and our thermal conductivity predictions agree well with previous measurements. Both the changes due to thermal expansion and self-consistent contributions are nontrivial at high temperatures, though the effects tend to cancel, and interband transitions yield a substantial contribution

Microwave observations of spinning dust emission in NGC6946

We report new cm-wave measurements at five frequencies between 15 and 18GHz of the continuum emission from the reportedly anomalous "region 4" of the nearby galaxy NGC6946. We find that the emission in this frequency range is significantly in excess of that measured at 8.5GHz, but has a spectrum from 15-18GHz consistent with optically thin free-free emission from a compact HII region. In combination with previously published data we fit four emission models containing different continuum components using the Bayesian spectrum analysis package radiospec. These fits show that, in combination with data at other frequencies, a model with a spinning dust component is slightly preferred to those that possess better-established emission mechanisms.Comment: submitted MNRA

Mass Segregation in the Globular Cluster Palomar 5 and its Tidal Tails

We present the stellar main sequence luminosity function (LF) of the disrupted, low-mass, low-concentration globular cluster Palomar 5 and its well-defined tidal tails, which emanate from the cluster as a result of its tidal interaction with the Milky Way. The results of our deep (B ~ 24.5) wide-field photometry unequivocally indicate that preferentially fainter stars were removed from the cluster so that the LF of the cluster's main body exhibits a significant degree of flattening compared to other globular clusters. There is clear evidence of mass segregation, which is reflected in a radial variation of the LFs. The LF of the tidal tails is distinctly enhanced with faint, low-mass stars. Pal 5 exhibits a binary main sequence, and we estimate a photometric binary frequency of roughly 10%. Also the binaries show evidence of mass segregation with more massive binary systems being more strongly concentrated toward the cluster center.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

Further Sunyaev-Zel'dovich observations of two Planck ERCSC clusters with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager

We present follow-up observations of two galaxy clusters detected blindly via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and released in the Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue. We use the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager, a dual-array 14-18 GHz radio interferometer. After radio source subtraction, we find a SZ decrement of integrated flux density -1.08+/-0.10 mJy toward PLCKESZ G121.11+57.01, and improve the position measurement of the cluster, finding the centre to be RA 12 59 36.4, Dec +60 04 46.8, to an accuracy of 20 arcseconds. The region of PLCKESZ G115.71+17.52 contains strong extended emission, so we are unable to confirm the presence of this cluster via the SZ effect.Comment: 4 tables, 3 figures, revised after referee's comments and resubmitted to MNRA