13,484 research outputs found
Calcium in the initiation, progression and as an effector of Alzheimer's disease pathology.
The cause(s) of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (sAD) are complex and currently poorly understood. They likely result from a combination of genetic, environmental, proteomic and lipidomic factors that crucially occur only in the aged brain. Age-related changes in calcium levels and dynamics have the potential to increase the production and accumulation of both amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) and tau pathologies in the AD brain, although these two pathologies themselves can induce calcium dyshomeostasis, particularly at synaptic membranes. This review discuses the evidence for a role for calcium dyshomeostasis in the initiation of pathology, as well as the evidence for these pathologies themselves disrupting normal calcium homeostasis, which lead to synaptic and neuronal dysfunction, synaptotoxicity and neuronal loss, underlying the dementia associated with the disease
The Chemical and Ionization Conditions in Weak Mg II Absorbers
We present an analysis of the chemical and ionization conditions in a sample
of 100 weak Mg II absorbers identified in the VLT/UVES archive of quasar
spectra. Using a host of low ionization lines associated with each absorber in
this sample, and on the basis of ionization models, we infer that the
metallicity in a significant fraction of weak Mg II clouds is constrained to
values of solar or higher, if they are sub-Lyman limit systems. Based on the
observed constraints, we present a physical picture in which weak Mg II
absorbers are predominantly tracing two different astrophysical
processes/structures. A significant population of weak Mg II clouds, those in
which N(Fe II) is much less than N(Mg II), identified at both low (z ~ 1) and
high (z ~ 2) redshift, are potentially tracing gas in the extended halos of
galaxies, analogous to the Galactic high velocity clouds. These absorbers might
correspond to alpha-enhanced interstellar gas expelled from star-forming
galaxies, in correlated supernova events. On the other hand, N(FeII)
approximately equal to N(Mg II) clouds, which are prevalent only at lower
redshifts (z < 1.5), must be tracing Type Ia enriched gas in small, high
metallicity pockets in dwarf galaxies, tidal debris, or other intergalactic
structures.Comment: 35 pages (including tables & figures). Accepted for publication in
ApJ. A high resolution version of the paper is available at
"http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~anand/weakMgII.pdf
Emission from Water Vapor and Absorption from Other Gases at 5-7.5 Microns in Spitzer-IRS Spectra of Protoplanetary Disks
We present spectra of 13 T Tauri stars in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming
region showing emission in Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS)
5-7.5 micron spectra from water vapor and absorption from other gases in these
stars' protoplanetary disks. Seven stars' spectra show an emission feature at
6.6 microns due to the nu_2 = 1-0 bending mode of water vapor, with the shape
of the spectrum suggesting water vapor temperatures > 500 K, though some of
these spectra also show indications of an absorption band, likely from another
molecule. This water vapor emission contrasts with the absorption from warm
water vapor seen in the spectrum of the FU Orionis star V1057 Cyg. The other
six of the thirteen stars have spectra showing a strong absorption band,
peaking in strength at 5.6-5.7 microns, which for some is consistent with
gaseous formaldehyde (H2CO) and for others is consistent with gaseous formic
acid (HCOOH). There are indications that some of these six stars may also have
weak water vapor emission. Modeling of these stars' spectra suggests these
gases are present in the inner few AU of their host disks, consistent with
recent studies of infrared spectra showing gas in protoplanetary disks.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, to appear in the 20 August, 2014, V791 - 2 issue
of the Astrophysical Journa
GGD 37: An Extreme Protostellar Outflow
We present the first Spitzer-IRS spectral maps of the Herbig-Haro flow GGD 37 detected in lines of [Ne III], [O IV], [Ar III], and [Ne v]. The detection of extended [O IV] (55 eV) and some extended emission in [Ne v] (97 eV) indicates a shock temperature in excess of 100,000 K, in agreement with X-ray observations, and a shock speed in excess of 200 km s(-1). The presence of an extended photoionization or collisional ionization region indicates that GGD 37 is a highly unusual protostellar outflow.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under NASA 1407NASA 1257184Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) 960803University of Rochester 31419-5714Astronom
Quantization of Superstrings in Ramond-Ramond Backgrounds
We present a perturbative study of Ramond-Ramond backgrounds in the NSR
formalism. We show how to perform sigma-model computations and discuss in
detail the structure of the BRST charge and picture-changing operators. Contact
terms play a vital role in the analysis. We also give evidence for a two loop
non-renormalization theorem for the background beta functions.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure; uses LaTeX, epsf, hyperref packages; references
adde
Chandra Observations of the QSO Pair Q2345+007: Binary Quasar or Massive Dark Lens?
The components of the wide (7.3") separation quasar pair Q2345+007A,B
(z=2.15) have the most strikingly similar optical spectra seen to date (Steidel
& Sargent 1991) yet no detected lensing mass, making this system the best
candidate known for a massive (1e14 Msun) dark matter lens system. Here we
present results from a 65ksec Chandra observation designed to investigate
whether it is a binary quasar or a gravitational lens. We find no X-ray
evidence for a lensing cluster to a (0.5-2keV) flux limit of 2e-15 cgs, which
is consistent with lensing only for a reduced baryon fraction. Using the
Chandra X-ray observations of the quasars themselves, together with new and
published optical measurements, we use the observed emission properties of the
quasars for further tests between the lens and binary hypotheses. Assuming
similar line-of-sight absorption to the images, we find that their X-ray
continuum slopes are inconsistent (Gamma_A=2.30 and Gamma_B=0.83) as are their
X-ray to optical flux ratios. The probability that B suffers absorption
sufficient to account for these spectral differences is negligible. We present
new optical evidence that the flux ratio of the pair is variable, so the
time-delay in a lens scenario could cause some of the discrepancies. However,
adequately large variations in overall spectral energy distribution are rare in
individual QSOs. All new evidence here weighs strongly toward the binary
interpretation. Q2345+007 thus may represent the highest redshift example known
of interaction-triggered but as-yet unmerged luminous AGN.Comment: 15 pages, Latex, emulateapj style, including 3 tables and 5 figures.
Accepted Feb 1, 2002 for publication in ApJ Main Journal. See also
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~pgreen/Papers.htm
Structural defects induced by Fe-ion implantation in TiO2
X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and resonant x-ray emission
spectroscopy (RXES) measurements of pellet and thin film forms of TiO with
implanted Fe ions are presented and discussed. The findings indicate that
Fe-implantation in a TiO pellet sample induces heterovalent cation
substitution (Fe Ti) beneath the surface region. But
in thin film samples, the clustering of Fe atoms is primarily detected. In
addition to this, significant amounts of secondary phases of Fe are
detected on the surface of all doped samples due to oxygen exposure. These
experimental findings are compared with density functional theory (DFT)
calculations of formation energies for different configurations of structural
defects in the implanted TiO:Fe system. According to our calculations, the
clustering of Fe-atoms in TiO:Fe thin films can be attributed to the
formation of combined substitutional and interstitial defects. Further, the
differences due to Fe doping in pellet and thin film samples can ultimately be
attributed to different surface to volume ratios.Comment: 7+ pages, 3 Figure, to appear in J. Appl. Phy
An E7 Surprise
We explore some curious implications of Seiberg duality for an SU(2)
four-dimensional gauge theory with eight chiral doublets. We argue that two
copies of the theory can be deformed by an exactly marginal quartic
superpotential so that they acquire an enhanced E7 flavor symmetry. We argue
that a single copy of the theory can be used to define an E7-invariant
superconformal boundary condition for a theory of 28 five-dimensional free
hypermultiplets. Finally, we derive similar statements for three-dimensional
gauge theories such as an SU(2) gauge theory with six chiral doublets or Nf=4
SQED.Comment: 27 page
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The Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph Survey of T Tauri Stars in Taurus
We present 161 Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra of T Tauri stars and young brown dwarfs in the Taurus star-forming region. All of the targets were selected based on their infrared excess and are therefore surrounded by protoplanetary disks; they form the complete sample of all available IRS spectra of T Tauri stars with infrared excesses in Taurus. We also present the IRS spectra of seven Class 0/I objects in Taurus to complete the sample of available IRS spectra of protostars in Taurus. We use spectral indices that are not significantly affected by extinction to distinguish between envelope-and disk-dominated objects. Together with data from the literature, we construct spectral energy distributions for all objects in our sample. With spectral indices derived from the IRS spectra we infer disk properties such as dust settling and the presence of inner disk holes and gaps. We find a transitional disk frequency, which is based on objects with unusually large 13-31 mu m spectral indices indicative of a wall surrounding an inner disk hole, of about 3%, and a frequency of about 20% for objects with unusually large 10 mu m features, which could indicate disk gaps. The shape and strength of the 10 mu m silicate emission feature suggests weaker 10 mu m emission and more processed dust for very low mass objects and brown dwarfs (spectral types M6-M9). These objects also display weaker infrared excess emission from their disks, but do not appear to have more settled disks than their higher-mass counterparts. We find no difference for the spectral indices and properties of the dust between single and multiple systems.NASANASA through JPL/CaltechNASA through the Spitzer Space TelescopeNational Science Foundation AST-0544588, 0901947Pennsylvania State UniversityEberly College of SciencePennsylvania Space Grant ConsortiumNSFAstronom
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