700 research outputs found
Gamma-Ray Telescopes (in "400 Years of Astronomical Telescopes")
The last half-century has seen dramatic developments in gamma-ray telescopes,
from their initial conception and development through to their blossoming into
full maturity as a potent research tool in astronomy. Gamma-ray telescopes are
leading research in diverse areas such as gamma-ray bursts, blazars, Galactic
transients, and the Galactic distribution of aluminum-26.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures/ in "400 Years of Astronomical Telescopes: A
Review of History, Science and Technology", ed. B.R. Brandl, R. Stuik, & J.K.
Katgert-Merkeli (Exp. Astron. 26, 111-122 [2009]
String Theory on Warped AdS_3 and Virasoro Resonances
We investigate aspects of holographic duals to time-like warped AdS_3
space-times--which include G\"odel's universe--in string theory. Using
worldsheet techniques similar to those that have been applied to AdS_3
backgrounds, we are able to identify space-time symmetry algebras that act on
the dual boundary theory. In particular, we always find at least one Virasoro
algebra with computable central charge. Interestingly, there exists a dense set
of points in the moduli space of these models in which there is actually a
second commuting Virasoro algebra, typically with different central charge than
the first. We analyze the supersymmetry of the backgrounds, finding related
enhancements, and comment on possible interpretations of these results. We also
perform an asymptotic symmetry analysis at the level of supergravity, providing
additional support for the worldsheet analysis.Comment: 24 pages + appendice
High energy emission from microquasars
The microquasar phenomenon is associated with the production of jets by X-ray
binaries and, as such, may be associated with the majority of such systems. In
this chapter we briefly outline the associations, definite, probable, possible,
and speculative, between such jets and X-ray, gamma-ray and particle emission.Comment: Contributing chapter to the book Cosmic Gamma-Ray Sources, K.S. Cheng
and G.E. Romero (eds.), to be published by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
Dordrecht, 2004. (19 pages
Multifrequency Strategies for the Identification of Gamma-Ray Sources
More than half the sources in the Third EGRET (3EG) catalog have no firmly
established counterparts at other wavelengths and are unidentified. Some of
these unidentified sources have remained a mystery since the first surveys of
the gamma-ray sky with the COS-B satellite. The unidentified sources generally
have large error circles, and finding counterparts has often been a challenging
job. A multiwavelength approach, using X-ray, optical, and radio data, is often
needed to understand the nature of these sources. This chapter reviews the
technique of identification of EGRET sources using multiwavelength studies of
the gamma-ray fields.Comment: 35 pages, 22 figures. Chapter prepared for the book "Cosmic Gamma-ray
Sources", edited by K.S. Cheng and G.E. Romero, to be published by Kluwer
Academic Press, 2004. For complete article and higher resolution figures, go
to: http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~muk/mukherjee_multiwave.pd
Age-related decline in associative learning in healthy Chinese adults
10.1371/journal.pone.0080648PLoS ONE811-POLN
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars
Accreting Millisecond X-Ray Pulsars (AMXPs) are astrophysical laboratories
without parallel in the study of extreme physics. In this chapter we review the
past fifteen years of discoveries in the field. We summarize the observations
of the fifteen known AMXPs, with a particular emphasis on the multi-wavelength
observations that have been carried out since the discovery of the first AMXP
in 1998. We review accretion torque theory, the pulse formation process, and
how AMXP observations have changed our view on the interaction of plasma and
magnetic fields in strong gravity. We also explain how the AMXPs have deepened
our understanding of the thermonuclear burst process, in particular the
phenomenon of burst oscillations. We conclude with a discussion of the open
problems that remain to be addressed in the future.Comment: Review to appear in "Timing neutron stars: pulsations, oscillations
and explosions", T. Belloni, M. Mendez, C.M. Zhang Eds., ASSL, Springer;
[revision with literature updated, several typos removed, 1 new AMXP added
Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium
We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars.
Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years,
mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population
to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic
disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily
with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular
interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living
Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org
Depression and sickness behavior are Janus-faced responses to shared inflammatory pathways
It is of considerable translational importance whether depression is a form or a consequence of sickness behavior. Sickness behavior is a behavioral complex induced by infections and immune trauma and mediated by pro-inflammatory cytokines. It is an adaptive response that enhances recovery by conserving energy to combat acute inflammation. There are considerable phenomenological similarities between sickness behavior and depression, for example, behavioral inhibition, anorexia and weight loss, and melancholic (anhedonia), physio-somatic (fatigue, hyperalgesia, malaise), anxiety and neurocognitive symptoms. In clinical depression, however, a transition occurs to sensitization of immuno-inflammatory pathways, progressive damage by oxidative and nitrosative stress to lipids, proteins, and DNA, and autoimmune responses directed against self-epitopes. The latter mechanisms are the substrate of a neuroprogressive process, whereby multiple depressive episodes cause neural tissue damage and consequent functional and cognitive sequelae. Thus, shared immuno-inflammatory pathways underpin the physiology of sickness behavior and the pathophysiology of clinical depression explaining their partially overlapping phenomenology. Inflammation may provoke a Janus-faced response with a good, acute side, generating protective inflammation through sickness behavior and a bad, chronic side, for example, clinical depression, a lifelong disorder with positive feedback loops between (neuro)inflammation and (neuro)degenerative processes following less well defined triggers
Assigning a function to a conserved archaeal metallo-β-lactamase from Haloferax volcanii
The metallo-β-lactamase family of enzymes comprises a large group of proteins with diverse functions in the metabolism of the cell. Among others, this superfamily contains proteins which are involved in DNA and RNA metabolism, acting as nucleases in e.g. repair and maturation. Many proteins have been annotated in prokaryotic genomes as being potential metallo-β-lactamases, but very often the function has not been proven. The protein HVO_2763 from Haloferax volcanii is such a potential metallo-β-lactamase. HVO_2763 has sequence similarity to the metallo-β-lactamase tRNase Z, a tRNA 3′ processing endonuclease. Here, we report the characterisation of this metallo-β-lactamase HVO_2763 in the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii. Using different in vitro assays with the recombinant HVO_2763, we could show that the protein does not have tRNA 3′ processing or exonuclease activity. According to transcriptome analyses of the HVO_2763 deletion strain, expression of proteins involved in membrane transport is downregulated in the mutant. Therefore, HVO_2763 might be involved directly or indirectly in membrane transport
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