2,465 research outputs found
Dust in Hot Plasma of Nearby Dusty Elliptical Galaxies Observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope
We report on mid- and far-IR Spitzer observations of 7 nearby dusty
elliptical galaxies by using the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) and
Infrared Spectrograph (IRS). Our sample galaxies are known to contain an
excessive amount of interstellar dust against sputtering destruction in hot
plasma filling the interstellar space of elliptical galaxies. In order to study
the origin and the properties of the excess dust in the hot plasma, we selected
galaxies with a wide range of X-ray luminosities but similar optical luminos
ities for our Spitzer Guest Observers (GO1) program. The 7 galaxies are
detected at the MIPS 24 um, 70 um, and 160 um bands; the far- to mid-IR flux
ratios of relatively X-ray-bright elliptical galaxies are lower than those of
X-ray-faint galaxies. From the IRS spectra, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
(PAH) emission features are detected significantly from 5 of the 7 galaxies; t
he emission intensities are weaker as the X-ray luminosity of the galaxy is
larger. We have found a correlation between the far- to mid-IR flux ratio and
the equivalent width of the PAH emission feature. We have obtained apparent
spatial correspondence between mid-IR and X-ray distributions in the outer
regions for the three X-ray-brightest galaxies in our sample. Possible
interpretations for our observational results are discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Publications of the
Astronomical Society of Japa
Indoor Air Monitoring of Ethanol and Benzene in a Pilot Winery Using Active Sampling
Acute indoor concentrations of benzene and ethanol were evaluated in the California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo’s pilot winery workroom. Air samples were collected during four different wine-making activities: fermentation, fermentation with Brix content testing, post-alcoholic fermentation pressing, and storage/finishing. Average workroom benzene concentrations ranged from 0.05 to 0.12 mg/m3. Ethanol concentrations in the winery workroom varied with the activity, ranging from 0.9 to 12 mg/m3. Pressing and fermentation with Brix content testing both led to higher indoor ethanol concentrations than fermentation without Brix content testing and storage/finishing.
Tracer gas decay air exchange tests were conducted to determine the air exchange rate of the winery workroom. A single-space mass-balance model was used to estimate the air exchange rate for the entire workroom. The calculated air exchange rates were correlated with wind speeds and wind direction to create a linear model estimating air exchange rates based on wind speed. These air exchange rates and the indoor concentrations of ethanol were used with the single-space mass-balance model to calculate an ethanol emission rate for each activity. Total estimated ethanol emissions for the four activities were 3.1 lbs. ethanol per 1000 gallons of wine produced
Search for the Infrared Emission Features from Deuterated Interstellar Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
We report the results of a search for emission features from interstellar
deuterated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the 4um region with the
Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI. No significant excess emission is seen in
4.3-4.7um in the spectra toward the Orion Bar and M17 after the subtraction of
line emission from the ionized gas. A small excess of emission remains at
around 4.4 and 4.65um, but the ratio of their intensity to that of the band
emission from PAHs at 3.3-3.5um is estimated as 2-3%. This is an order of
magnitude smaller than the values previously reported and also those predicted
by the model of deuterium depletion onto PAHs. Since the subtraction of the
ionized gas emission introduces an uncertainty, the deuterated PAH features are
also searched for in the reflection nebula GN 18.14.0, which does not show
emission lines from ionized gas. We obtain a similar result that excess
emission in the 4um region, if present, is about 2% of the PAH band emission in
the 3um region. The present study does not find evidence for the presence of
the large amount of deuterated PAHs that the depletion model predicts. The
results are discussed in the context of deuterium depletion in the interstellar
medium.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Ap
Unusual Carbonaceous Dust Distribution in PN G095.2+00.7
We investigate the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features in the young
Galactic planetary nebula PN G095.2+00.7 based on mid-infrared observations.
The near- to mid-infrared spectra obtained with the AKARI/IRC and the
Spitzer/IRS show the PAH features as well as the broad emission feature at 12
{\mu}m usually seen in proto-planetary nebulae (pPNe). The spatially resolved
spectra obtained with Subaru/COMICS suggest that the broad emission around 12
{\mu}m is distributed in a shell-like structure, but the unidentified infrared
band at 11.3 {\mu}m is selectively enhanced at the southern part of the nebula.
The variation can be explained by a difference in the amount of the UV
radiation to excite PAHs, and does not necessarily require the chemical
processing of dust grains and PAHs. It suggests that the UV self-extinction is
important to understand the mid-infrared spectral features. We propose a
mechanism which accounts for the evolutionary sequence of the mid-infrared dust
features seen in a transition from pPNe to PNe.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Properties of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in local elliptical galaxies revealed by the Infrared Spectrograph on Spitzer
We performed mid-infrared spectroscopic observations of 18 local dusty
elliptical galaxies by using the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board Spitzer.
We have significantly detected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) features
from 14 out of the 18 galaxies, and thus found that the presence of PAHs is not
rare but rather common in dusty elliptical galaxies. Most of these galaxies
show an unusually weak 7.7 um emission feature relative to 11.3 um and 17 um
emission features. A large fraction of the galaxies also exhibit H2 rotational
line and ionic fine-structure line emissions, which have no significant
correlation with the PAH emissions. The PAH features are well correlated with
the continuum at 35 um, whereas they are not correlated with the continuum at 6
um. We conclude that the PAH emission of the elliptical galaxies is mostly of
interstellar origin rather than of stellar origin, and that the unusual PAH
interband strength ratios are likely to be due to a large fraction of neutral
to ionized PAHs.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the Ap
The monitoring system for the aerogel Cherenkov counter of the BELLE detector
We report on a design and performances of a monitoring system developed for
the aerogel Cherenkov counters (ACC) of the BELLE detector. The system consists
of blue LEDs, a diffuser box, and optical distributors which distribute the LED
light to the ACC modules. The employed LED (NSPB series) has been observed to
have high reliability on the long term stability and the temprature dependence.
The diffuser box is employed to reduce the intrinsic non-uniformity of the LED
light intensity. The overall performances of the present monitoring system on
uniformity and intensity of the light output have been found to satisfy all the
requirements for the monitoring.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX, 13 eps figures, to be published in Nucl. Instrum.
and Meth. A. Postscript file (4.5 MB) is available at
http://www-hep.phys.saga-u.ac.jp/~murakami/paper/xxx_accmon.p
A positive correlation between serum amyloid β levels and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling elderly individuals in Japan
Koji Tsuruga,1 Norio Sugawara,1 Norio Yasui-Furukori,1 Ippei Takahashi,2 Shoko Tsuchimine,1 Ayako Kaneda,1 Shigeyuki Nakaji,2 Kazuhiko Nakamura1 1Department of Neuropsychiatry, 2Department of Social Medicine, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Hirosaki, Japan Background: Amyloid beta (Aβ) levels have been associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As depression is common before the onset of AD, serum Aß levels could be associated with depressive symptoms. The aim of this study was to investigate whether serum Aβ levels are associated with depressive symptoms and/or cognitive function in community-dwelling elderly individuals. Methods: We examined the association between serum Aβ levels and depression among 419 Japanese community-dwelling elderly individuals aged 60 years and over. Subjects were divided into two subgroups: younger elderly between 60 and 69 years old and older elderly over 69 years old. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive function, and symptoms of depression were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The ability to perform activities of daily living was evaluated using the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology Index of Competence. Serum Aβ levels were measured with a human amyloid beta enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: After controlling for potential confounding variables, a multiple linear regression analysis showed that increased levels of serum Aβ40 and Aβ42 were associated with higher CES-D scores in the older elderly subgroup. Under the same condition, multiple regression showed that serum Aβ levels were not associated with MMSE scores among the total subjects, younger elderly, or older elderly. Conclusion: Serum Aβ levels were associated with depressive symptoms in community-dwelling elderly individuals. The present study indicates the possibility that serum Aβ may be involved in the development of late-onset depression. Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, depression, dementia, Japanes
Characterization and Improvement of the Image Quality of the Data Taken with the Infrared Camera (IRC) Mid-Infrared Channels onboard AKARI
Mid-infrared images frequently suffer artifacts and extended point spread
functions (PSFs). We investigate the characteristics of the artifacts and the
PSFs in images obtained with the Infrared Camera (IRC) onboard AKARI at four
mid-infrared bands of the S7 (7{\mu}m), S11 (11{\mu}m), L15 (15{\mu}m), and L24
(24 {\mu}m). Removal of the artifacts significantly improves the reliability of
the ref- erence data for flat-fielding at the L15 and L24 bands. A set of
models of the IRC PSFs is also constructed from on-orbit data. These PSFs have
extended components that come from diffraction and scattering within the
detector arrays. We estimate the aperture correction factors for point sources
and the surface brightness correction factors for diffuse sources. We conclude
that the surface brightness correction factors range from 0.95 to 0.8, taking
account of the extended component of the PSFs. To correct for the extended PSF
effects for the study of faint structures, we also develop an image
reconstruction method, which consists of the deconvolution with the PSF and the
convolution with an appropriate Gaussian. The appropriate removal of the
artifacts, improved flat-fielding, and image reconstruction with the extended
PSFs enable us to investigate de- tailed structures of extended sources in IRC
mid-infrared images.Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PAS
Non-perturbative renormalization factors of bilinear quark operators for Kogut-Susskind fermions and light quark masses in quenched QCD
Light quark masses are computed for Kogut-Susskind fermions by evaluating
non-perturbatively the renormalization factor for bilinear quark operators.
Calculations are carried out in the quenched approximation at \beta=6.0, 6.2,
and 6.4. For the average up and down quark mass we find in the continuum limit, which is significantly larger than
() or () obtained with the
one-loop perturbative renormalization factor.Comment: LATTICE98(matrixelement), 3 pages, 4 eps figure
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