X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21, its wind nebula, and similar systems

We detected X-ray emission from PSR B1800-21 and its synchrotron nebula with the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The pulsar's observed flux is (1.4+/-0.2) 10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-6 keV band. The spectrum can be described by a two-component PL+BB model, suggesting a mixture of thermal and magnetospheric emission. For a plausible hydrogen column density n_{H}=1.4 10^{22} cm^{-2}, the PL component has a slope Gamma=1.4+/-0.6 and a luminosity L_{psr}^{nonth}=4 10^{31}(d/4 kpc)^2 ergs s^{-1}. The properties of the thermal component (kT=0.1-0.3 keV, L^{bol}=10^{31}-10^{33} ergs s^{-1}) are very poorly constrained because of the strong interstellar absorption. The compact, 7''\times4'', inner pulsar-wind nebula (PWN), elongated perpendicular to the pulsar's proper motion, is immersed in a fainter asymmetric emission. The observed flux of the PWN is (5.5+/-0.6) 10^{-14} ergs cm^{-2} s^{-1} in the 1-8 keV band. The PWN spectrum fits by a PL model with Gamma=1.6+/-0.3, L=1.6 10^{32} (d/4 kpc})^2 ergs s^{-1}. The shape of the inner PWN suggests that the pulsar moves subsonically and X-ray emission emerges from a torus associated with the termination shock in the equatorial pulsar wind. The inferred PWN-pulsar properties (e.g., the PWN X-ray efficiency, L_{pwn}/\dot{E}~10^{-4}; the luminosity ratio, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}=4; the pulsar wind pressure at the termination shock, p_s=10^{-9} ergs cm^{-3}) are very similar to those of other subsonically moving Vela-like objects detected with Chandra (L_{pwn}/\dot{E}=10^{-4.5}-10^{-3.5}, L_{pwn}/L_{psr}^{nonth}~5, p_s=10^{-10}-10^{-8} ergs cm^{-1}).Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables; submitted to ApJ. Version with the high-resolution figures is available at http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/green/B1800/B1800_ApJ.pd

Characteristics of events with metric-to-decahectometric type II radio bursts associated with CMEs and flares in relation to SEP events

A gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) event is thought to happen when particles are accelerated at a shock due to a fast coronal mass ejection (CME). To quantify what kind of solar eruptions can result in such SEP events, we have conducted detailed investigations on the characteristics of CMEs, solar flares and m-to-DH wavelength type II radio bursts (herein after m-to-DH type II bursts) for SEP-associated and non-SEP-associated events, observed during the period of 1997-2012. Interestingly, 65% of m-to-DH type II bursts associated with CMEs and flares produced SEP events. The SEP-associated CMEs have higher sky-plane mean speed, projection corrected speed, and sky-plane peak speed than those of non-SEP-associated CMEs respectively by 30%, 39%, and 25%, even though the two sets of CMEs achieved their sky-plane peak speeds at nearly similar heights within LASCO field of view. We found Pearson's correlation coefficients between the speeds of CMEs speeds and logarithmic peak intensity of SEP events are cc = 0.62 and cc = 0.58, respectively. We also found that the SEP-associated CMEs are on average of three times more decelerated (-21.52 m/s2) than the non-SEP-associated CMEs (-5.63 m/s2). The SEP-associated m type II bursts have higher frequency drift rate and associated shock speed than those of the non-SEP-associated events by 70% and 25% respectively. The average formation heights of m and DH type II radio bursts for SEP-associated events are lower than for non-SEP-associated events. 93% of SEP-associated events originate from the western hemisphere and 65% of SEP-associated events are associated with interacting CMEs. The obtained results indicate that, at least for the set of CMEs associated with m-to-DH type II bursts, SEP-associated CMEs are more energetic than those not associated with SEPs, thus suggesting that they are effective particle accelerators.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication by ApS

Effect of age and cytoskeletal elements on the indentation-dependent mechanical properties of chondrocytes.

Articular cartilage chondrocytes are responsible for the synthesis, maintenance, and turnover of the extracellular matrix, metabolic processes that contribute to the mechanical properties of these cells. Here, we systematically evaluated the effect of age and cytoskeletal disruptors on the mechanical properties of chondrocytes as a function of deformation. We quantified the indentation-dependent mechanical properties of chondrocytes isolated from neonatal (1-day), adult (5-year) and geriatric (12-year) bovine knees using atomic force microscopy (AFM). We also measured the contribution of the actin and intermediate filaments to the indentation-dependent mechanical properties of chondrocytes. By integrating AFM with confocal fluorescent microscopy, we monitored cytoskeletal and biomechanical deformation in transgenic cells (GFP-vimentin and mCherry-actin) under compression. We found that the elastic modulus of chondrocytes in all age groups decreased with increased indentation (15-2000 nm). The elastic modulus of adult chondrocytes was significantly greater than neonatal cells at indentations greater than 500 nm. Viscoelastic moduli (instantaneous and equilibrium) were comparable in all age groups examined; however, the intrinsic viscosity was lower in geriatric chondrocytes than neonatal. Disrupting the actin or the intermediate filament structures altered the mechanical properties of chondrocytes by decreasing the elastic modulus and viscoelastic properties, resulting in a dramatic loss of indentation-dependent response with treatment. Actin and vimentin cytoskeletal structures were monitored using confocal fluorescent microscopy in transgenic cells treated with disruptors, and both treatments had a profound disruptive effect on the actin filaments. Here we show that disrupting the structure of intermediate filaments indirectly altered the configuration of the actin cytoskeleton. These findings underscore the importance of the cytoskeletal elements in the overall mechanical response of chondrocytes, indicating that intermediate filament integrity is key to the non-linear elastic properties of chondrocytes. This study improves our understanding of the mechanical properties of articular cartilage at the single cell level

Measurement of nuclear effects in neutrino interactions with minimal dependence on neutrino energy

We present a phenomenological study of nuclear effects in neutrino charged-current interactions, using transverse kinematic imbalances in exclusive measurements. Novel observables with minimal dependence on neutrino energy are proposed to study quasielastic scattering, and especially resonance production. They should be able to provide direct constraints on nuclear effects in neutrino- and antineutrino-nucleus interactions.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, accepted version by PR

Expansion of pinched hypersurfaces of the Euclidean and hyperbolic space by high powers of curvature

We prove convergence results for expanding curvature flows in the Euclidean and hyperbolic space. The flow speeds have the form $F^{-p}$, where $p>1$ and $F$ is a positive, strictly monotone and 1-homogeneous curvature function. In particular this class includes the mean curvature $F=H$. We prove that a certain initial pinching condition is preserved and the properly rescaled hypersurfaces converge smoothly to the unit sphere. We show that an example due to Andrews-McCoy-Zheng can be used to construct strictly convex initial hypersurfaces, for which the inverse mean curvature flow to the power $p>1$ loses convexity, justifying the necessity to impose a certain pinching condition on the initial hypersurface.Comment: 18 pages. We included an example for the loss of convexity and pinching. In the third version we dropped the concavity assumption on F. Comments are welcom

Point-contact study of the LuNi2B2C borocarbide superconducting film

We present point-contact (PC) Andreev-reflection measurements of a superconducting epitaxial c-axis oriented nickel borocarbide film LuNi2B2C (Tc=15.9 K). The averaged value of the superconducting gap is found to be 2.6 +/-0.2 meV in the one-gap approach, whereas the two-gap approach results in 2.14+/-0.36 meV and 3.0+/-0.27 meV. The better fit of the Andreev-reflection spectra for the LuNi2B2C - Cu PC obtained by the two-gap approach provides evidence for multiband superconductivity in LuNi2B2C. For the first time, PC electron-phonon interaction (EPI) spectra have been measured for this compound. They demonstrate pronounced phonon maximum at 8.5+/-0.4meV and a second shallow one at 15.8+/-0.6 meV. The electron-phonon coupling constant estimated from the PC EPI spectra turned out to be small (~ 0.1), like in other superconducting rare-earth nickel borocarbides. Possible reasons for this are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, V2: figs. 2 & 5 captions are corrected, and new Refs. 4, 6, 12, 13, 14 are adde

The Johnson-Segalman model with a diffusion term in Couette flow

We study the Johnson-Segalman (JS) model as a paradigm for some complex fluids which are observed to phase separate, or ``shear-band'' in flow. We analyze the behavior of this model in cylindrical Couette flow and demonstrate the history dependence inherent in the local JS model. We add a simple gradient term to the stress dynamics and demonstrate how this term breaks the degeneracy of the local model and prescribes a much smaller (discrete, rather than continuous) set of banded steady state solutions. We investigate some of the effects of the curvature of Couette flow on the observable steady state behavior and kinetics, and discuss some of the implications for metastability.Comment: 14 pp, to be published in Journal of Rheolog

Bound States of String Networks and D-branes

We show the existence of non-threshold bound states of (p, q) string networks and D3-branes, preserving 1/4 of the full type IIB supersymmetry, interpreted as string networks dissolved in D3-branes. We also write down the expression for the mass density of the system and discuss the extension of the construction to other Dp-branes. Differences in our construction of string networks with the ones interpreted as dyons in N=4 gauge theories are also pointed out.Comment: 11 pages, latex, minor modifications (version to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.

Discovery of a new INTEGRAL source: IGR J19140+0951

IGR J19140+0951 (formerly known as IGR J19140+098) was discovered with the INTEGRAL satellite in March 2003. We report the details of the discovery, using an improved position for the analysis. We have performed a simultaneous study of the 5-100 keV JEM-X and ISGRI spectra from which we can distinguish two different states. From the results of our analysis we propose that IGR J19140+0951 is a persistent Galactic X-ray binary, probably hosting a neutron star although a black hole cannot be completely ruled out.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A