62 research outputs found
Enhanced hippocampal long-term potentiation and spatial learning in aged 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 knock-out mice
Glucocorticoids are pivotal in the maintenance of memory and cognitive functions as well as other essential physiological processes including energy metabolism, stress responses, and cell proliferation. Normal aging in both rodents and humans is often characterized by elevated glucocorticoid levels that correlate with hippocampus-dependent memory impairments. 11ß-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11ß-HSD1) amplifies local intracellular ("intracrine") glucocorticoid action; in the brain it is highly expressed in the hippocampus. We investigated whether the impact of 11ß-HSD1 deficiency in knock-out mice (congenic on C57BL/6J strain) on cognitive function with aging reflects direct CNS or indirect effects of altered peripheral insulin-glucose metabolism. Spatial learning and memory was enhanced in 12 month "middle-aged" and 24 month "aged" 11ß-HSD1<sup>–/–</sup> mice compared with age-matched congenic controls. These effects were not caused by alterations in other cognitive (working memory in a spontaneous alternation task) or affective domains (anxiety-related behaviors), to changes in plasma corticosterone or glucose levels, or to altered age-related pathologies in 11ß-HSD1<sup>–/–</sup> mice. Young 11ß-HSD1<sup>–/–</sup> mice showed significantly increased newborn cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus, but this was not maintained into aging. Long-term potentiation was significantly enhanced in subfield CA1 of hippocampal slices from aged 11ß-HSD1<sup>–/–</sup> mice. These data suggest that 11ß-HSD1 deficiency enhances synaptic potentiation in the aged hippocampus and this may underlie the better maintenance of learning and memory with aging, which occurs in the absence of increased neurogenesis
Fractal Spacetime Structure in Asymptotically Safe Gravity
Four-dimensional Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG) is likely to be an
asymptotically safe theory which is applicable at arbitrarily small distance
scales. On sub-Planckian distances it predicts that spacetime is a fractal with
an effective dimensionality of 2. The original argument leading to this result
was based upon the anomalous dimension of Newton's constant. In the present
paper we demonstrate that also the spectral dimension equals 2 microscopically,
while it is equal to 4 on macroscopic scales. This result is an exact
consequence of asymptotic safety and does not rely on any truncation. Contact
is made with recent Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 20 pages, late
A Minimal Length from the Cutoff Modes in Asymptotically Safe Quantum Gravity
Within asymptotically safe Quantum Einstein Gravity (QEG), the quantum
4-sphere is discussed as a specific example of a fractal spacetime manifold.
The relation between the infrared cutoff built into the effective average
action and the corresponding coarse graining scale is investigated. Analyzing
the properties of the pertinent cutoff modes, the possibility that QEG
generates a minimal length scale dynamically is explored. While there exists no
minimal proper length, the QEG sphere appears to be "fuzzy" in the sense that
there is a minimal angular separation below which two points cannot be resolved
by the cutoff modes.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figur
A solution for galactic disks with Yukawian gravitational potential
We present a new solution for the rotation curves of galactic disks with
gravitational potential of the Yukawa type. We follow the technique employed by
Toomre in 1963 in the study of galactic disks in the Newtonian theory. This new
solution allows an easy comparison between the Newtonian solution and the
Yukawian one. Therefore, constraints on the parameters of theories of
gravitation can be imposed, which in the weak field limit reduce to Yukawian
potentials. We then apply our formulae to the study of rotation curves for a
zero-thickness exponential disk and compare it with the Newtonian case studied
by Freeman in 1970. As an application of the mathematical tool developed here,
we show that in any theory of gravity with a massive graviton (this means a
gravitational potential of the Yukawa type), a strong limit can be imposed on
the mass (m_g) of this particle. For example, in order to obtain a galactic
disk with a scale length of b ~ 10 kpc, we should have a massive graviton of
m_g << 10^{-59} g. This result is much more restrictive than those inferred
from solar system observations.Comment: 7 pages; 1 eps figure; to appear in General Relativity and
Gravitatio
Galaxy rotation curves: the effect of j x B force
Using the Galaxy as an example, we study the effect of j x B force on the
rotational curves of gas and plasma in galaxies. Acceptable model for the
galactic magnetic field and plausible physical parameters are used to fit the
flat rotational curve for gas and plasma based on the observed baryonic
(visible) matter distribution and j x B force term in the static MHD equation
of motion. We also study the effects of varied strength of the magnetic field,
its pitch angle and length scale on the rotational curves. We show that j x B
force does not play an important role on the plasma dynamics in the
intermediate range of distances 6-12 kpc from the centre, whilst the effect is
sizable for larger r (r > 15 kpc), where it is the most crucial.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Science (final
printed version, typos in proofs corrected
Matrix theory of gravitation
A new classical theory of gravitation within the framework of general
relativity is presented. It is based on a matrix formulation of
four-dimensional Riemann-spaces and uses no artificial fields or adjustable
parameters. The geometrical stress-energy tensor is derived from a matrix-trace
Lagrangian, which is not equivalent to the curvature scalar R. To enable a
direct comparison with the Einstein-theory a tetrad formalism is utilized,
which shows similarities to teleparallel gravitation theories, but uses complex
tetrads. Matrix theory might solve a 27-year-old, fundamental problem of those
theories (sec. 4.1). For the standard test cases (PPN scheme,
Schwarzschild-solution) no differences to the Einstein-theory are found.
However, the matrix theory exhibits novel, interesting vacuum solutions.Comment: 24 page
Observational Constraints on the Modified Gravity Model (MOG) Proposed by Moffat: Using the Magellanic System
A simple model for the dynamics of the Magellanic Stream (MS), in the
framework of modified gravity models is investigated. We assume that the galaxy
is made up of baryonic matter out of context of dark matter scenario. The model
we used here is named Modified Gravity (MOG) proposed by Moffat (2005). In
order to examine the compatibility of the overall properties of the MS under
the MOG theory, the observational radial velocity profile of the MS is compared
with the numerical results using the fit method. In order to obtain
the best model parameters, a maximum likelihood analysis is performed. We also
compare the results of this model with the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) halo model
and the other alternative gravity model that proposed by Bekenstein (2004), so
called TeVeS. We show that by selecting the appropriate values for the free
parameters, the MOG theory seems to be plausible to explain the dynamics of the
MS as well as the CDM and the TeVeS models.Comment: 14 pages, 3 Figures, accepted in Int. J. Theor. Phy
Minimum mass of galaxies from BEC or scalar field dark matter
Many problems of cold dark matter models such as the cusp problem and the
missing satellite problem can be alleviated, if galactic halo dark matter
particles are ultra-light scalar particles and in Bose-Einstein condensate
(BEC), thanks to a characteristic length scale of the particles. We show that
this finite length scale of the dark matter can also explain the recently
observed common central mass of the Milky Way satellites ()
independent of their luminosity, if the mass of the dark matter particle is
about .Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, accepted in JCA
The role of Background Independence for Asymptotic Safety in Quantum Einstein Gravity
We discuss various basic conceptual issues related to coarse graining flows
in quantum gravity. In particular the requirement of background independence is
shown to lead to renormalization group (RG) flows which are significantly
different from their analogs on a rigid background spacetime. The importance of
these findings for the asymptotic safety approach to Quantum Einstein Gravity
(QEG) is demonstrated in a simplified setting where only the conformal factor
is quantized. We identify background independence as a (the ?) key prerequisite
for the existence of a non-Gaussian RG fixed point and the renormalizability of
QEG.Comment: 2 figures. Talk given by M.R. at the WE-Heraeus-Seminar "Quantum
Gravity: Challenges and Perspectives", Bad Honnef, April 14-16, 2008; to
appear in General Relativity and Gravitatio
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The final SDSS-IV/SPIDERS X-ray point source spectroscopic catalogue
Aims. We look to provide a detailed description of the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Sources (SPIDERS) survey, an SDSS-IV programme aimed at obtaining spectroscopic classification and redshift measurements for complete samples of sufficiently bright X-ray sources.
Methods. We describe the SPIDERS X-ray Point Source Spectroscopic Catalogue, considering its store of 11 092 observed spectra drawn from a parent sample of 14 759 ROSAT and XMM sources over an area of 5129 deg2 covered in SDSS-IV by the eBOSS survey.
Results. This programme represents the largest systematic spectroscopic observation of an X-ray selected sample. A total of 10 970 (98.9%) of the observed objects are classified and 10 849 (97.8%) have secure redshifts. The majority of the spectra (10 070 objects) are active galactic nuclei (AGN), 522 are cluster galaxies, and 294 are stars.
Conclusions. The observed AGN redshift distribution is in good agreement with simulations based on empirical models for AGN activation and duty cycle. Forming composite spectra of type 1 AGN as a function of the mass and accretion rate of their black holes reveals systematic differences in the H-beta emission line profiles. This study paves the way for systematic spectroscopic observations of sources that are potentially to be discovered in the upcoming eROSITA survey over a large section of the sky
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