224 research outputs found
Protease production and enzymatic soaking of salt-preserved buffalo hides for leather processing
Response surface methodological (RSM) optimization of protease by Pseudomonas aeruginosa MCM B327, increased 1.3-fold activity with 1% inoculum having cell density of 27.57 x 109 cells mL-1 at pH 7, 300C and 72 h of incubation. Protease enzyme recovered from P. aeruginosa showed characteristic activities against diverse proteins of hide. Enzyme was found to be active with substrates e.g. casein, Bovine serum albumin, gelatin, elastin, haemoglobin but inactive against keratin and collagen. During leather manufacturing, non-collagenase and non-keratinase activities have advantageous in a quality leather and hair saving process, respectively. Increased proteolytic enzyme concentration (0.1-0.5%) in soaking process showed increased water penetration because of hydrolysis of albumin and elastin proteins as indicated by opened fibers in histopathological sections. These findings suggest, protease secreted by P. aeruginosa may have application in soaking operation of leather processing for minimizing harmful deharing chemicals and processing time
Search for cold gas in z>2 damped Lyman-alpha systems: 21-cm and H_2 absorption
(Abridged) We present the results of a systematic GBT and GMRT survey for
21-cm absorption in a sample of 10 DLAs at 2<z_abs<3.4. Analysis of L-band VLBA
images of the background QSOs are also presented. We detect 21-cm absorption in
only one DLA (at z_abs = 3.1745 towards J1337+3152). Combining our data with
the data from the literature (a sample of 28 DLAs) and assuming the measured
core fraction at milliarcsecond scale to represent the gas covering factor, we
find that the HI gas in DLAs at z> 2 is predominantly constituted by WNM. The
detection rate of 21-cm absorption seems to be higher for systems with higher
N(HI) or metallicity. However, no clear correlation is found between the
integrated 21-cm optical depth (or spin temperature) and either N(HI),
metallicity or velocity spread of the low ionization species. There are 13 DLAs
in our sample for which high resolution optical spectra covering the expected
wavelength range of H_2 absorption are available. We report the detection of
H_2 molecules in the z_abs = 3.3871 21-cm absorber towards J0203+1134 (PKS
0201+113). In 8 cases, neither H_2 nor 21-cm absorption are detected. The lack
of 21-cm and H_2 absorption in these systems can be explained if most of the HI
in these DLAs originate from low density high temperature gas. In one case we
have a DLA with 21-cm absorption not showing H_2 absorption. In two cases, both
species are detected but do not originate from the same velocity component. In
the remaining 2 cases 21-cm absorption is not detected despite the presence of
H_2 with evidence for the presence of cold gas. All this is consistent with the
idea that the H_2 components seen in DLAs are compact (with sizes of < 15 pc)
and contain only a small fraction (i.e typically <10%) of the total N(HI)
measured in the DLAs.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Massive, Absorption-selected Galaxies at Intermediate Redshifts
The nature of absorption-selected galaxies and their connection to the
general galaxy population have been open issues for more than three decades,
with little information available on their gas properties. Here we show, using
detections of carbon monoxide (CO) emission with the Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), that five of seven high-metallicity,
absorption-selected galaxies at intermediate redshifts, ,
have large molecular gas masses, and high molecular gas fractions (. Their modest star
formation rates (SFRs), yr, then
imply long gas depletion timescales, Gyr. The
high-metallicity absorption-selected galaxies at appear
distinct from populations of star-forming galaxies at both ,
during the peak of star formation activity in the Universe, and lower
redshifts, . Their relatively low SFRs, despite the large
molecular gas reservoirs, may indicate a transition in the nature of star
formation at intermediate redshifts, .Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal
Letters. Minor changes to match the version in press in ApJ
QSO 0347-383 and the invariance of m_p/m_e in the course of cosmic time
The variation of the dimensionless fundamental physical constant mu = m_p/m_e
(the proton to electron mass ratio) can be constrained via observation of Lyman
and Werner lines of molecular hydrogen in the spectra of damped Lyman alpha
systems (DLAs) in the line of sight to distant QSOs. Drawing on VLT-UVES high
resolution data sets of QSO 0347-383 and its DLA obtained in 2009 our analysis
yields dmu/mu = (4.3 +/- 7.2) * 10^-6 at z_abs =3.025. We apply corrections for
the observed offsets between discrete spectra and for the first time we find
indications for inter-order distortions. Current analyses tend to underestimate
the impact of systematic errors. Based on the scatter of the measured redshifts
and the corresponding low significance of the redshift-sensitivity correlation
we estimate the limit of accuracy of line position measurements to about 220
m/s, consisting of roughly 150 m/s due to the uncertainty of the absorption
line fit and about 150 m/s allocated to systematics related to instrumentation
and calibration.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Constraining the variation of fundamental constants at z ~ 1.3 using 21-cm absorbers
We present high resolution optical spectra obtained with the Ultraviolet and
Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) and 21-cm
absorption spectra obtained with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) and
the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) of five quasars along the line of sight of which
21-cm absorption systems at 1.17 < z < 1.56 have been detected previously. We
also present milliarcsec scale radio images of these quasars obtained with the
Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA). We use the data on four of these systems to
constrain the time variation of x = g_p*alpha^2/mu where g_p is the proton
gyromagnetic factor, alpha is the fine structure constant, and mu is the
proton-to-electron mass ratio. We carefully evaluate the systematic
uncertainties in redshift measurements using cross-correlation analysis and
repeated Voigt profile fitting. In two cases we also confirm our results by
analysing optical spectra obtained with the Keck telescope. We find the
weighted and the simple means of Delta_x / x to be respectively -(0.1 +/-
1.3)x10^-6 and (0.0 +/- 1.5)x10^-6 at the mean redshift of = 1.36
corresponding to a look back time of ~ 9 Gyr. This is the most stringent
constraint ever obtained on Delta_x / x. If we only use the two systems towards
quasars unresolved at milliarcsec scales, we get the simple mean of Delta_x / x
= + (0.2 +/- 1.6)x10^-6. Assuming constancy of other constants we get
Delta_alpha / alpha = (0.0 +/- 0.8)x10^-6 which is a factor of two better than
the best constraints obtained so far using the Many Multiplet Method. On the
other hand assuming alpha and g_p have not varied we derive Delta_mmu / mu =
(0.0 +/- 1.5)x10^-6 which is again the best limit ever obtained on the
variation of mu over this redshift range. [Abridged]Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRA
Inflationary Cosmology and Oscillating Universes in Loop Quantum Cosmology
We study oscillatory universes within the context of Loop Quantum Cosmology.
We make a comparative study of flat and positively curved universes sourced by
scalar fields with either positive or negative potentials. We investigate how
oscillating universes can set the initial conditions for successful slow-roll
inflation, while ensuring that the semi-classical bounds are satisfied. We
observe rich oscillatory dynamics with negative potentials, although it is
difficult to respect the semi-classical bounds in models of this type.Comment: 7 pages, In Press Int. Mod. Phys.
Search for varying constants of nature from astronomical observation of molecules
The status of searches for possible variation in the constants of nature from
astronomical observation of molecules is reviewed, focusing on the
dimensionless constant representing the proton-electron mass ratio
. The optical detection of H and CO molecules with large
ground-based telescopes (as the ESO-VLT and the Keck telescopes), as well as
the detection of H with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph aboard the Hubble
Space Telescope is discussed in the context of varying constants, and in
connection to different theoretical scenarios. Radio astronomy provides an
alternative search strategy bearing the advantage that molecules as NH
(ammonia) and CHOH (methanol) can be used, which are much more sensitive to
a varying than diatomic molecules. Current constraints are
for redshift , corresponding to
look-back times of 10-12.5 Gyrs, and for
, corresponding to half the age of the Universe (both at 3
statistical significance). Existing bottlenecks and prospects for future
improvement with novel instrumentation are discussed.Comment: Contribution to Workshop "High Performance Clocks in Space" at the
International Space Science Institute, Bern 201
A complete sample of 21-cm absorbers at z~1.3: Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope Survey Using MgII Systems
We present the results of a systematic Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)
survey of 21-cm absorption in a representative and unbiased sample of 35 strong
MgII systems in the redshift range: zabs~1.10-1.45, 33 of which have W_r>1 \AA.
The survey using ~400hrs of telescope time has resulted in 9 new 21-cm
detections and stringent 21-cm optical depth upper limits (median 3-sigma
optical depth per 10 km/s of 0.017) for the remaining 26 systems. This is by
far the largest number of 21-cm detections from any single survey of
intervening absorbers. Prior to our survey no intervening 21-cm system was
known in the above redshift range and only one system was known in the redshift
range 0.7<z<1.5. We discuss the relation between the detectability of 21-cm
absorption and various properties of UV absorption lines. We show that if MgII
systems are selected with the following criteria, MgII doublet ratio <1.3 and
W_r(MgI)/W_r(MgII)>0.3, then a detection rate of 21-cm absorption up to 90% can
be achieved. We estimate n_{21}, the number per unit redshift of 21-cm
absorbers with W_r(Mg(II)>W_o and integrated optical depth Tau_{21}>Tau_o and
show that n_{21} decreases with increasing redshift. In particular, for W_o=1.0
\AA and Tau_o>0.3 km\s, n_{21} falls by a factor 4 from =0.5 to =1.3. The
evolution seems to be stronger for stronger MgII systems. Using a subsample of
systems for which high frequency VLBA images are available, we show that the
effect is not related to the structure of the background radio sources and is
most probably due to the evolution of the cold neutral medium filling factor in
MgII systems. We find no correlation between the velocity spread of the 21-cm
absorption feature and W_r(MgII) at z~1.3.Comment: 22 pages, 8 tables, 12 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
An Imaging and Spectroscopic Study of the z=3.38639 Damped Lyman Alpha System in Q0201+1120: Clues to Star Formation Rate at High Redshift
We present the results of a series of imaging and spectroscopic observations
aimed at identifying and studying the galaxy responsible for the z = 3.38639
damped lya system in the z = 3.61 QSO Q0201+1120. We find that the DLA is part
of a concentration of matter which includes at least four galaxies (probably
many more) over linear comoving dimensions, greater than 5h^-1Mpc. The absorber
may be a 0.7 L* galaxy at an impact parameter of 15 h^-1 kpc, but follow-up
spectroscopy is still required for positive identification. The gas is
turbulent, with many absorption components distributed over approximately 270
km/s and a large spin temperature, T_s greater than 4000K. The metallicity is
relatively high for this redshift, Z(DLA) approximately 1/20 Z(solar). From
consideration of the relative ratios of elements which have different
nucleosynthetic timescales, it would appear that the last major episode of star
formation in this DLA occurred at z greater than 4.3, more than approximately
500 Myr prior to the time when we observe it.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
- …