469 research outputs found
A candidate supermassive binary black hole system in the brightest cluster galaxy of RBS 797
The radio source at the center of the cool core galaxy cluster RBS 797
(z=0.35) is known to exhibit a misalignment of its radio jets and lobes
observed at different VLA-scale, with the innermost kpc-scale jets being almost
orthogonal to the radio emission which extends for tens of kpc filling the
X-ray cavities. Gitti et al. suggested that this peculiar radio morphology may
indicate a recurrent activity of the central radio source, where the jet
orientation is changing between the different outbursts due to the effects of
supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs). We aim at unveiling the nuclear radio
properties of the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) in RBS 797 and at
investigating the presence of a SMBBH system in its center. We have performed
new high-resolution observations at 5 GHz with the European VLBI Network (EVN),
reaching an angular resolution of 9x5 mas^2 and a sensitivity of 36
microJy/beam. We report the EVN detection of two compact components in the BCG
of RBS 797, with a projected separation of ~77 pc. We can envisage two possible
scenarios: the two components are two different nuclei in a close binary
system, or they are the core and a knot of its jet. Both interpretations are
consistent with the presence of SMBBHs. Our re-analysis of VLA archival data
seems to favor the first scenario, as we detect two pairs of radio jets
misaligned by ~90 degrees on the same kpc scale emanating from the central
radio core. If the two outbursts are almost contemporaneous, this is clear
evidence of the presence of two active SMBHs, whose radio nuclei are unresolved
at VLA resolution. The nature of the double source detected by our EVN
observations in the BCG of RBS 797 can be established only by future sensitive,
multi-frequency VLBI observations. If confirmed, RBS 797 would be the first
SMBBH system observed at medium-high redshift at VLBI resolution. (abridged)Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, A&A Letter in pres
Thermal Metrics for Data Centers: A Critical Review
Thermal management and air distribution performance are assuming a key role for achieving the energy saving and the IT equipment reliability for data centers (DCs). In recent years, to monitor and to control their variation several thermal performance metrics were introduced. This work presents a critical review on the most important thermal indices for DCs currently used. The main formulas and physical models on which they are based were discussed. Moreover, a critical analysis on the main advantages and drawbacks of each metric is carried out
VLBI observations of nearby radio loud Active Galactic Nuclei
We present an update of the parsec scale properties of the Bologna Complete
Sample consisting of 95 radio sources from the B2 Catalog of Radio Sources and
the Third Cambridge Revised Catalog (3CR), with z < 0.1. Thanks to recent new
data we have now parsec scale images for 76 sources of the sample. Most of them
show a one-sided jet structure but we find a higher fraction of two-sided
sources in comparison with previous flux-limited VLBI surveys. A few peculiar
sources are presented and discussed in more detail.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, Proceedings for "The Universe under the
Microscope" (AHAR 2008), April 2008, to be published in Journal of Physics:
Conference Series by Institute of Physics Publishing; R. Schoedel, A. Eckart,
S. Pfalzner, and E. Ros ed
Italian Science Case for ALMA Band 2+3
The Premiale Project "Science and Technology in Italy for the upgraded ALMA
Observatory - iALMA" has the goal of strengthening the scientific,
technological and industrial Italian contribution to the Atacama Large
Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the largest ground based international
infrastructure for the study of the Universe in the microwave. One of the main
objectives of the Science Working Group (SWG) inside iALMA, the Work Package 1,
is to develop the Italian contribution to the Science Case for the ALMA Band 2
or Band 2+3 receiver. ALMA Band 2 receiver spans from ~67 GHz (bounded by an
opaque line complex of ozone lines) up to 90 GHz which overlaps with the lower
frequency end of ALMA Band 3. Receiver technology has advanced since the
original definition of the ALMA frequency bands. It is now feasible to produce
a single receiver which could cover the whole frequency range from 67 GHz to
116 GHz, encompassing Band 2 and Band 3 in a single receiver cartridge, a so
called Band 2+3 system. In addition, upgrades of the ALMA system are now
foreseen that should double the bandwidth to 16 GHz. The science drivers
discussed below therefore also discuss the advantages of these two enhancements
over the originally foreseen Band 2 system.Comment: 43 pages, 21 figure
Stormy weather in 3C 196.1: nuclear outbursts and merger events shape the environment of the hybrid radio galaxy 3C 196.1
We present a multi-wavelength analysis based on archival radio, optical and
X-ray data of the complex radio source 3C 196.1, whose host is the brightest
cluster galaxy of a cluster. HST data show H+[N II] emission
aligned with the jet 8.4 GHz radio emission. An H+[N II] filament
coincides with the brightest X-ray emission, the northern hotspot. Analysis of
the X-ray and radio images reveals cavities located at galactic- and cluster-
scales. The galactic-scale cavity is almost devoid of 8.4 GHz radio emission
and the south-western H+[N II] emission is bounded (in projection) by
this cavity. The outer cavity is co-spatial with the peak of 147 MHz radio
emission, and hence we interpret this depression in X-ray surface brightness as
being caused by a buoyantly rising bubble originating from an AGN outburst
280 Myrs ago. A \textit{Chandra} snapshot observation allowed us to
constrain the physical parameters of the cluster, which has a cool core with a
low central temperature 2.8 keV, low central entropy index 13 keV
cm and a short cooling time of 500 Myr, which is of the age
of the Universe at this redshift. By fitting jumps in the X-ray density we
found Mach numbers between 1.4 and 1.6, consistent with a shock origin. We also
found compelling evidence of a past merger, indicated by a morphology
reminiscent of gas sloshing in the X-ray residual image. Finally, we computed
the pressures, enthalpies and jet powers associated with
the cavities: erg,
erg s for the inner cavity and erg,
erg s for the outer cavity.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, ApJ accepte
New molecular data attest to the absence of cospeciation patterns between Placobdella costata (Fr. Müller, 1846) (Hirudinea) and freshwater turtles (Emys spp.) in Italy
The only Palearctic representative of the leech genus Placobdella Blanchard, 1893 is P. costata, an ectoparasite of freshwater
turtles. To date, no conclusive evidence about the possible presence of coevolutionary patterns between this leech and its turtle
hosts is available due to the paucity of DNA sequence data available for P. costata; moreover, comparative host data is also
mostly lacking, making any inferences more difficult. The discovery of new populations of the species in northern Italy and
Sicily allowed us to generate novel mitochondrial DNA sequences and to compare the topology of the resulting phylogenetic
trees with the phylogeny of the turtle hosts occurring in the study area, i.e., Emys orbicularis and E. trinacris. The branching
pattern of the phylogenetic tree for P. costata is not congruent with that of its turtle hosts, thus suggesting the lack of
coevolutionary or cospeciation phenomena between these taxa. The lack of a coevolutionary pattern might be ascribed to
the different dispersal ability of Placobdella costata and Emys spp. and to the host generality of the leech, as confirmed by the
occurrence of P. costata on aquatic turtles belonging to the genus Mauremys in areas where Emys spp. are rare or absent.
A single leech cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 haplotype was found in each study region, and the overall nucleotide
diversity was very low throughout the investigated distribution. This apparent lack of a clear phylogeographical pattern was
unexpected in the P. costata populations occurring in the circum-Mediterranean areas, where the occurrence of high
haplotype and nucleotide diversity is customary for most terrestrial and freshwater species. Based on the available data, we
suggest a recent, post-glacial origin of the studied P. costata populations
Energetic charged particle fluxes relevant to Ganymede's polar region
The JEDI instrument made measurements of energetic charged particles near Ganymede during a close encounter with that moon. Here we find ion flux levels are similar close to Ganymede itself but outside its magnetosphere and on near wake and open field lines. But energetic electron flux levels are more than a factor of 2 lower on polar and near-wake field lines than on nearby Jovian field lines at all energies reported here. Flux levels are relevant to the weathering of the surface, particularly processes that affect the distribution of ice, since surface brightness has been linked to the open-closed field line boundary. For this reason, we estimate the sputtering rates expected in the polar regions due to energetic heavy ions. Other rates, such as those related to radiolysis by plasma and particles that can reach the surface, need to be added to complete the picture of charged particle weathering
ALMA FITS header keywords: a study from the archive User perspective
ALMA products are stored in the Science Archive in the form of FITS images.
It is a common idea that the FITS image headers should collect in their
keywords all the information that an archive User might want to search for in
order to quickly select, compare, or discard datasets. With this perspective in
mind, we first present a short description of the current status of the ALMA
FITS archive and images. We realized that at the moment most of the parameters
that could be useful for a general User are still missing in the archived data.
We then provide a CASA task generating the image header keywords that we
suggest to be relevant for the scientific exploitation of the ALMA archival
data. The proposed tool could be also applied to several types of
interferometer data and part of it is implemented in a web interface. An
example of the scientific application of the keywords is also discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, ALMA Memo 613
https://library.nrao.edu/public/memos/alma/main/memo613.pd
Training convolutional neural networks to score pneumonia in slaughtered pigs
The slaughterhouse can act as a valid checkpoint to estimate the prevalence and the economic impact of diseases in farm animals. At present, scoring lesions is a challenging and time‐consuming activity, which is carried out by veterinarians serving the slaughter chain. Over recent years, artificial intelligence(AI) has gained traction in many fields of research, including livestock production. In particular, AI‐based methods appear able to solve highly repetitive tasks and to consistently analyze large amounts of data, such as those collected by veterinarians during postmortem inspection in high‐throughput slaughterhouses. The present study aims to develop an AI‐based method capable of recognizing and quantifying enzootic pneumonia‐like lesions on digital images captured from slaughtered pigs under routine abattoir conditions. Overall, the data indicate that the AI‐based method proposed herein could properly identify and score enzootic pneumonia‐like lesions without interfering with the slaughter chain routine. According to European legislation, the application of such a method avoids the handling of carcasses and organs, decreasing the risk of microbial contamination, and could provide further alternatives in the field of food hygiene
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