5,588 research outputs found
Arp 65 interaction debris: massive HI displacement and star formation
Context: Pre-merger interactions between galaxies can induce significant
changes in the morphologies and kinematics of the stellar and ISM components.
Large amounts of gas and stars are often found to be disturbed or displaced as
tidal debris. This debris then evolves, sometimes forming stars and
occasionally tidal dwarf galaxies. Here we present results from our HI study of
Arp 65, an interacting pair hosting extended HI tidal debris. Aims: In an
effort to understand the evolution of tidal debris produced by interacting
pairs of galaxies, including in situ star and tidal dwarf galaxy formation, we
are mapping HI in a sample of interacting galaxy pairs. The Arp 65 pair is one
of them. Methods: Our resolved HI 21 cm line survey is being carried out using
the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). We used our HI survey data as well
as available SDSS optical, Spitzer infra-red and GALEX UV data to study the
evolution of the tidal debris and the correlation of HI with the star-forming
regions within it. Results: In Arp 65 we see a high impact pre-merger
interaction involving a pair of massive galaxies (NGC 90 and NGC 93) that have
a stellar mass ratio of ~ 1:3. The interaction, which probably occurred ~ 1.0
-- 2.5 10 yr ago, appears to have displaced a large fraction of
the HI in NGC 90 (including the highest column density HI) beyond its optical
disk. We also find extended ongoing star formation in the outer disk of NGC 90.
In the major star-forming regions, we find the HI column densities to be ~ 4.7
10 cm or lower. But no signature of star formation was
found in the highest column density HI debris, SE of NGC 90. This indicates
conditions within the highest column density HI debris remain hostile to star
formation and it reaffirms that high HI column densities may be a necessary but
not sufficient criterion for star formation.Comment: Accepted in A&
The effects of smoking on obesity: Evidence from Indonesian panel data
Background: It has been known that smoking is negatively related to weight-related outcomes. However, it has been difficult to determine whether the relationship is causal, and if so, how strong it is. We attempted to estimate the approximately causal effects of smoking on weight, body mass index (BMI), and obesity. Methods: The Indonesian Family Life Survey provided a sample of over 9000 men aged 15-55 years - each of them was observed in 1993, 1997, 2000 and 2007. The preferred method was a fixed effects model; that is, we related changes in smoking status or smoking intensity to changes in weight-related outcomes, while controlling for time-varying covariates. We also compared these results to those estimated by ordinary least squares and assessed the importance of controlling for time invariant individual heterogeneity. Results: Although the effects of smoking were precisely estimated in a statistical sense, their size was minuscule: a quitter would gain weight by at most 1 kg, or a smoker would lose weight by the same amount. The results were similar for BMI and obesity. When we did not control for time invariant individual heterogeneity, the size of the relationship was overestimated at least three times. Conclusions: Smoking exerted little influence on weight, and it was important to control for bias stemming from time invariant individual heterogeneity
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Bisphosphonate inhibits the expression of cyclin A2 at the transcriptional level in normal human oral keratinocytes.
Nitrogen-containing bisphosphonates (N-BPs) are the most widely used anti-resorptive agents in the treatment of bone-related diseases. N-BPs inhibit bone resorption by specifically targeting osteoclasts, bone-resorbing cells. However, soft tissue toxicity, such as oral or gastrointestinal (GI) ulcerations has frequently been reported in N-BP users, suggesting that N-BPs may also directly target cells other than osteoclasts. Previously, we reported that BPs inhibit proliferation without inducing the apoptosis of normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOKs). However, the molecular mechanisms through which N-BPs inhibit the proliferation of NHOKs are not yet fully understood. In this study, we performed gene expression profiling in N-BP-treated NHOKs and identified cyclin A2 as one of the most commonly downregulated genes. When the NHOKs were treated with N-BPs, we found that the level of cyclin A2 was suppressed in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, the protein level of cyclin A2 was also significantly lower in oral epithelial cells in N-BP-treated oral mucosal tissue constructs. Cyclin A2 promoter reporter assay revealed that N-BPs inhibited the luciferase activity, indicating that the inhibition of cyclin A2 expression occurs at the transcriptional level. Furthermore, N-BPs did not alter the expression of cyclin A2 in normal human oral fibroblasts (NHOFs), suggesting that the effect of N-BPs on cyclin A2 expression may be cell-type specific. Thus, the findings of our study demonstrate that the inhibition of NHOK proliferation by N-BPs is mediated, at least in part, by the suppression of cyclin A2 expression at the transcriptional level, which may explain the underlying mechanisms of soft tissue toxicity by N-BPs
Husimi Maps in Lattices
We build upon previous work that used coherent states as a measurement of the
local phase space and extended the flux operator by adapting the Husimi
projection to produce a vector field called the Husimi map. In this article, we
extend its definition from continuous systems to lattices. This requires making
several adjustments to incorporate effects such as group velocity and multiple
bands. Several phenomena which uniquely occur in lattice systems, like
group-velocity warping and internal Bragg diffraction, are explained and
demonstrated using Husimi maps. We also show that scattering points between
bands and valleys can be identified in the divergence of the Husimi map
Giant Shapiro Resonances in a Flux Driven Josephson Junction Necklace
We present a detailed study of the dynamic response of a ring of equally
spaced Josephson junctions to a time-periodic external flux, including
screening current effects. The dynamics are described by the resistively
shunted Josephson junction model, appropriate for proximity effect junctions,
and we include Faraday's law for the flux. We find that the time-averaged
characteristics show novel {\em subharmonic giant Shapiro voltage resonances},
which strongly depend on having phase slips or not, on , on the inductance
and on the external drive frequency. We include an estimate of the possible
experimental parameters needed to observe these quantized voltage spikes.Comment: 8 pages RevTeX, 3 figures available upon reques
Mass accretion rates of clusters of galaxies: CIRS and HeCS
We use a new spherical accretion recipe tested on N-body simulations to
measure the observed mass accretion rate (MAR) of 129 clusters in the Cluster
Infall Regions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (CIRS) and in the Hectospec
Cluster Survey (HeCS). The observed clusters cover the redshift range of
and the mass range of . Based on three-dimensional mass profiles of simulated
clusters reaching beyond the virial radius, our recipe returns MARs that agree
with MARs based on merger trees. We adopt this recipe to estimate the MAR of
real clusters based on measurements of the mass profile out to .
We use the caustic method to measure the mass profiles to these large radii. We
demonstrate the validity of our estimates by applying the same approach to a
set of mock redshift surveys of a sample of 2000 simulated clusters with a
median mass of as well as a sample
of 50 simulated clusters with a median mass of : the median MARs based on the caustic mass profiles of
the simulated clusters are unbiased and agree within with the median
MARs based on the real mass profile of the clusters. The MAR of the CIRS and
HeCS clusters increases with the mass and the redshift of the accreting
cluster, which is in excellent agreement with the growth of clusters in the
CDM model.Comment: 25 pages, 19 figures, 7 table
The Extended Shapes of Galactic Satellites
We are exploring the extended stellar distributions of Galactic satellite
galaxies and globular clusters. For seven objects studied thus far, the
observed profile departs from a King function at large r, revealing a ``break
population'' of stars. In our sample, the relative density of the ``break''
correlates to the inferred M/L of these objects. We discuss opposing hypotheses
for this trend: (1) Higher M/L objects harbor more extended dark matter halos
that support secondary, bound, stellar ``halos''. (2) The extended populations
around dwarf spheroidals (and some clusters) consist of unbound, extratidal
debris from their parent objects, which are undergoing various degrees of tidal
disruption. In this scenario, higher M/L ratios reflect higher degrees of
virial non-equilibrium in the parent objects, thus invalidating a precept
underlying the use of core radial velocities to obtain masses.Comment: 8 pages, including 2 figures Yale Cosmology Workshop: The Shapes of
Galaxies and Their Halo
Quantum effects in a superconducting glass model
We study disordered Josephson junctions arrays with long-range interaction
and charging effects. The model consists of two orthogonal sets of positionally
disordered parallel filaments (or wires) Josephson coupled at each crossing
and in the presence of a homogeneous and transverse magnetic field. The large
charging energy (resulting from small self-capacitance of the ultrathin wires)
introduces important quantum fluctuations of the superconducting phase within
each filament. Positional disorder and magnetic field frustration induce
spin-glass like ground state, characterized by not having long-range order of
the phases. The stability of this phase is destroyed for sufficiently large
charging energy. We have evaluated the temperature vs charging energy phase
diagram by extending the methods developed in the theory of infinite-range spin
glasses, in the limit of large magnetic field. The phase diagram in the
different temperature regimes is evaluated by using variety of methods, to wit:
semiclassical WKB and variational methods, Rayleigh-Schr\"{o}dinger
perturbation theory and pseudospin effective Hamiltonians. Possible
experimental consequences of these results are briefly discussed.Comment: 17 pages REVTEX. Two Postscript figures can be obtained from the
authors. To appear in PR
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