Integral field spectroscopy with SINFONI of VVDS galaxies. II. The mass-metallicity relation at 1.2 < z < 1.6

This work aims to provide a first insight into the mass-metallicity (MZ) relation of star-forming galaxies at redshift z~1.4. To reach this goal, we present a first set of nine VVDS galaxies observed with the NIR integral-field spectrograph SINFONI on the VLT. Oxygen abundances are derived from empirical indicators based on the ratio between strong nebular emission-lines (Halpha, [NII]6584 and [SII]6717,6731). Stellar masses are deduced from SED fitting with Charlot & Bruzual (2007) population synthesis models, and star formation rates are derived from [OII]3727 and Halpha emission-line luminosities. We find a typical shift of 0.2-0.4 dex towards lower metallicities for the z~1.4 galaxies, compared to the MZ-relation in the local universe as derived from SDSS data. However, this small sample of eight galaxies does not show any clear correlation between stellar mass and metallicity, unlike other larger samples at different redshift (z~0, z~0.7, and z~2). Indeed, our galaxies lie just under the relation at z~2 and show a small trend for more massive galaxies to be more metallic (~0.1 logarithmic slope). There are two possible explanations to account for these observations. First, the most massive galaxies present higher specific star formation rates when compared to the global VVDS sample which could explain the particularly low metallicity of these galaxies as already shown in the SDSS sample. Second, inflow of metal-poor gas due to tidal interactions could also explain the low metallicity of these galaxies as two of these three galaxies show clear signatures of merging in their velocity fields. Finally, we find that the metallicity of 4 galaxies is lower by ~0.2 to 0.4 dex if we take into account the N/O abundance ratio in their metallicity estimate.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted in A&A Comments: Comments: more accurate results with better stellar mass estimate

Estimation and Validation of Oceanic Mass Circulation from the GRACE Mission

Since the launch of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) in March 2002, the Earth's surface mass variations have been monitored with unprecedented accuracy and resolution. Compared to the classical spherical harmonic solutions, global high-resolution mascon solutions allows the retrieval of mass variations with higher spatial and temporal sampling (2 degrees and 10 days). We present here the validation of the GRACE global mascon solutions by comparing mass estimates to a set of about 100 ocean bottom pressure (OSP) records, and show that the forward modelling of continental hydrology prior to the inversion of the K-band range rate data allows better estimates of ocean mass variations. We also validate our GRACE results to OSP variations modelled by different state-of-the-art ocean general circulation models, including ECCO (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean) and operational and reanalysis from the MERCATOR project

The Crab pulsar light curve in the soft gamma ray range: FIGARO II results

The FIGARO II experiment (a large area, balloon borne, crystal scintillator detector working from 0.15 to 4.3 MeV) observed the Crab pulsar on 1990 Jul. 9 for about seven hours. The study of the pulse profile confirms some structures detected with a low significance during the shorter observation of 1986, and adds new important elements to the picture. In particular, between the two main peaks, two secondary peaks appear centered at phase values 0.1 and 0.3, in the energy range 0.38 to 0.49 MeV; in the same energy range, a spectral feature at 0.44 MeV, interpreted as a redshifted positron annihilation line, was observed during the same balloon flight in the phase interval including the second main peak and the neighboring secondary peak. If the phase interval considered is extended to include also the other secondary peak, the significance of the spectral line appears to increase

Is it possible to test directly General Relativity in the gravitational field of the Moon?

In this paper the possibility of measuring some general relativistic effects in the gravitational field of the Moon via selenodetic missions, with particular emphasis to the future Japanese SELENE mission, is investigated. For a typical selenodetic orbital configuration the post-Newtonian Lense-Thirring gravitomagnetic and the Einstein's gravitoelectric effects on the satellites orbits are calculated and compared to the present-day orbit accuracy of lunar missions. It turns out that for SELENE's Main Orbiter, at present, the gravitoelectric periselenium shift, which is the largest general relativistic effect, is 1 or 2 orders of magnitude smaller than the experimental sensitivity. The systematic error induced by the mismodelled classical periselenium precession due to the first even zonal harmonic J2 of the Moon's non-spherical gravitational potential is 3 orders of magnitude larger than the general relativistic gravitoelectric precession. The estimates of this work could be used for future lunar missions having as their goals relativistic measurements as well.Comment: Latex2e, 7 pages, no figures, ets2000.cls and art12.sty used. Major rewriting in introduction. References adde

Interannual variations in degree-2 Earth's gravity coefficients C-2,C-0, C-2,C-2, and S-2,S-2 reveal large-scale mass transfers of climatic origin

ISI Document Delivery No.: 208EO Times Cited: 0 Cited Reference Count: 24 Cited References: Boening C, 2012, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V39, DOI 10.1029/2012GL053055 CAZENAVE A, 2012, MAR GEOD S1, V35, P82 Chao BF, 2003, GEOCHEM GEOPHY GEOSY, V4, DOI 10.1029/2003GC000589 Chen JL, 2005, J GEODESY, V78, P535, DOI 10.1007/s00190-004-0417-y Cheng M., 2013, J GEOPHYS RES SOLID, V118, P1, DOI 10. 1002/jgrb. 50058 Cheng MK, 2004, J GEOPHYS RES-SOL EA, V109, DOI 10.1029/2004JB003028 Cox CM, 2002, SCIENCE, V297, P831, DOI 10.1126/science.1072188 Desai SD, 2002, J GEOPHYS RES-OCEANS, V107, DOI 10.1029/2001JC001224 Dickey JO, 2002, SCIENCE, V298, P1975, DOI 10.1126/science.1077777 Doll P, 2003, J HYDROL, V270, P105, DOI 10.1016/S0022-1694(02)00283-4 Forste C, 2008, J GEODESY, V82, P331, DOI 10.1007/s00190-007-0183-8 Gu GJ, 2011, J CLIMATE, V24, P2258, DOI 10.1175/2010JCLI3727.1 Ishii M, 2009, J OCEANOGR, V65, P287, DOI 10.1007/s10872-009-0027-7 Levitus S, 2012, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V39, DOI 10.1029/2012GL051106 Llovel W, 2011, GLOBAL PLANET CHANGE, V75, P76, DOI 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2010.10.008 Lyard F, 2006, OCEAN DYNAM, V56, P394, DOI 10.1007/s10236-006-0086-x Marcus SL, 2009, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V36, DOI 10.1029/2009GL041130 Milly PCD, 2002, J HYDROMETEOROL, V3, P283, DOI 10.1175/1525-7541(2002)0032.0.CO;2 Nerem RS, 2011, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V38, DOI 10.1029/2011GL047879 Pavlis NK, 2012, J GEOPHYS RES-SOL EA, V117, DOI 10.1029/2011JB008916 Pearlman MR, 2002, ADV SPACE RES, V30, P135, DOI 10.1016/S0273-1177(02)00277-6 Roy K, 2011, GEOPHYS RES LETT, V38, DOI 10.1029/2011GL047282 Syed TH, 2009, J HYDROMETEOROL, V10, P22, DOI 10.1175/2008JHM993.1 Zhang Y, 1997, J CLIMATE, V10, P1004, DOI 10.1175/1520-0442(1997)0102.0.CO;2 Meyssignac, B. Lemoine, J. M. Cheng, M. Cazenave, A. Gegout, P. Maisongrande, P. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES); NASA [NNX12AK13G] This work was supported by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The CSR time series was produced by NASA's MEaSUREs program under JPL contract. M. K. Cheng is supported by NASA grant NNX12AK13G. The altimeter products used here were produced by Ssalto/Duacs and distributed by AVISO with support from CNES. 0 AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION WASHINGTON GEOPHYS RES LETTSeveral recent studies have shown evidences for large water transfers in the climate system at interannual to decadal time scales, in particular during El Nino-Southern Oscillation events. In this study, we investigate further these water transfers and their signature in the gravity field. We analyze variations of the low-degree spherical harmonics C-2,C-0 (Earth's oblateness), C-2,C-2, and S-2,S-2 (eccentricity at the Earth's equator) from satellite laser ranging data during the 19 year period 1993-2012. We also estimate the water mass transfers in the climate system using satellite altimetry corrected for the steric effect, atmospheric reanalysis, and land hydrology models. We find a large signal in the water mass redistribution during the 1997/1998 El Nino which is consistent with an increase of the ocean mass in the tropical Pacific, a decrease of water storage in the Amazon Basin, and an increase of water storage in the Congo Basin

Bogoliubov modes of a dipolar condensate in a cylindrical trap

The calculation of properties of Bose-Einstein condensates with dipolar interactions has proven a computationally intensive problem due to the long range nature of the interactions, limiting the scope of applications. In particular, the lowest lying Bogoliubov excitations in three dimensional harmonic trap with cylindrical symmetry were so far computed in an indirect way, by Fourier analysis of time dependent perturbations, or by approximate variational methods. We have developed a very fast and accurate numerical algorithm based on the Hankel transform for calculating properties of dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates in cylindrically symmetric traps. As an application, we are able to compute many excitation modes by directly solving the Bogoliubov-De Gennes equations. We explore the behavior of the excited modes in different trap geometries. We use these results to calculate the quantum depletion of the condensate by a combination of a computation of the exact modes and the use of a local density approximation

Static and Dry Friction due to Multiscale Surface Roughness

It is shown on the basis of scaling arguments that a disordered interface between two elastic solids will quite generally exhibit static and "dry friction" (i.e., kinetic friction which does not vanish as the sliding velocity approaches zero), because of Tomlinson model instabilities that occur for small length scale asperities. This provides a possible explanation for why static and "dry" friction are virtually always observed, and superlubricity almost never occurs

Pathogenicity of proteinase 3-anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody in granulomatosis with polyangiitis: Implications as biomarker and future therapies

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a rare but serious necrotizing auto-immune vasculitis. GPA is mostly associated with the presence of Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Antibody (ANCA) targeting proteinase 3 (PR3-ANCA), a serine protease contained in neutrophil granules but also exposed at the membrane. PR3-ANCAs have a proven fundamental role in GPA: they bind neutrophils allowing their auto-immune activation responsible for vasculitis lesions. PR3-ANCAs bind neutrophil surface on the one hand by their Fab binding PR3 and on the other by their Fc binding Fc gamma receptors. Despite current therapies, GPA is still a serious disease with an important mortality and a high risk of relapse. Furthermore, although PR3-ANCAs are a consistent biomarker for GPA diagnosis, relapse management currently based on their level is inconsistent. Indeed, PR3-ANCA level is not correlated with disease activity in 25% of patients suggesting that not all PR3-ANCAs are pathogenic. Therefore, the development of new biomarkers to evaluate disease activity and predict relapse and new therapies is necessary. Understanding factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity, i.e. their potential to induce auto-immune activation of neutrophils, offers interesting perspectives in order to improve GPA management. Most relevant factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity are involved in their interaction with neutrophils: level of PR3 autoantigen at neutrophil surface, epitope of PR3 recognized by PR3-ANCA, isotype and glycosylation of PR3-ANCA. We detailed in this review the advances in understanding these factors influencing PR3-ANCA pathogenicity in order to use them as biomarkers and develop new therapies in GPA as part of a personalized approach

An Iterated Global Mascon Solution with Focus on Land Ice Mass Evolution

Land ice mass evolution is determined from a new GRACE global mascon solution. The solution is estimated directly from the reduction of the inter-satellite K-band range rate observations taking into account the full noise covariance, and formally iterating the solution. The new solution increases signal recovery while reducing the GRACE KBRR observation residuals. The mascons are estimated with 10-day and 1-arc-degree equal area sampling, applying anisotropic constraints for enhanced temporal and spatial resolution of the recovered land ice signal. The details of the solution are presented including error and resolution analysis. An Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) adaptive filter is applied to the mascon solution time series to compute timing of balance seasons and annual mass balances. The details and causes of the spatial and temporal variability of the land ice regions studied are discussed

LAGEOS-type Satellites in Critical Supplementary Orbit Configuration and the Lense-Thirring Effect Detection

In this paper we analyze quantitatively the concept of LAGEOS--type satellites in critical supplementary orbit configuration (CSOC) which has proven capable of yielding various observables for many tests of General Relativity in the terrestrial gravitational field, with particular emphasis on the measurement of the Lense--Thirring effect.Comment: LaTex2e, 20 pages, 7 Tables, 6 Figures. Changes in Introduction, Conclusions, reference added, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit