221 research outputs found
Label-free detection of anticancer drug paclitaxel in living cells by confocal Raman microscopy
Confocal Raman microscopy, a non-invasive, label-free, and high spatial resolution imaging technique is employed to trace the anticancer drug paclitaxel in living Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7) cells. The Raman images were treated by K-mean cluster analysis to detect the drug in cells. Distribution of paclitaxel in cells is verified by calculating the correlation coefficient between the reference spectrum of the drug and the whole Raman image spectra. A time dependent gradual diffusion of paclitaxel all over the cell is observed suggesting a complementary picture of the pharmaceutical action of this drug based on rapid binding of free tubulin to crystallized paclitaxel. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4794871
The Evolution of the Kinematics of Nebular Shells in Planetary Nebulae in the Milky Way Bulge
We study the line widths in the [\ion{O}{3}]5007 and H lines
for two groups of planetary nebulae in the Milky Way bulge based upon
spectroscopy obtained at the Observatorio Astron\'omico Nacional in the Sierra
San Pedro M\'artir (OAN-SPM) using the Manchester Echelle Spectrograph. The
first sample includes objects early in their evolution, having high H
luminosities, but [\ion{O}{3}]. The second
sample comprises objects late in their evolution, with \ion{He}{2} . These planetary nebulae represent evolutionary
phases preceeding and following those of the objects studied by Richer et al.
(2008). Our sample of planetary nebulae with weak [\ion{O}{3}]5007 has
a line width distribution similar to that of the expansion velocities of the
envelopes of AGB stars, and shifted to systematically lower values as compared
to the less evolved objects studied by Richer et al. (2008). The sample with
strong \ion{He}{2} has a line width distribution
indistinguishable from that of the more evolved objects from Richer et al.
(2008), but a distribution in angular size that is systematically larger and so
they are clearly more evolved. These data and those of Richer et al. (2008)
form a homogeneous sample from a single Galactic population of planetary
nebulae, from the earliest evolutionary stages until the cessation of nuclear
burning in the central star. They confirm the long-standing predictions of
hydrodynamical models of planetary nebulae, where the kinematics of the nebular
shell are driven by the evolution of the central star.Comment: accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Thermo-mechanical behaviour of a compacted swelling clay
Compacted unsaturated swelling clay is often considered as a possible buffer
material for deep nuclear waste disposal. An isotropic cell permitting
simultaneous control of suction, temperature and pressure was used to study the
thermo-mechanical behaviour of this clay. Tests were performed at total
suctions ranging from 9 to 110 MPa, temperature from 25 to 80 degrees C,
isotropic pressure from 0.1 to 60 MPa. It was observed that heating at constant
suction and pressure induces either swelling or contraction. The results from
compression tests at constant suction and temperature evidenced that at lower
suction, the yield pressure was lower, the elastic compressibility parameter
and the plastic compressibility parameter were higher. On the other hand, at a
similar suction, the yield pressure was slightly influenced by the temperature;
and the compressibility parameters were insensitive to temperature changes. The
thermal hardening phenomenon was equally evidenced by following a
thermo-mechanical path of loading-heating-cooling-reloading
P9 - C.F.A.O : MISE AU POINT DâUN PROTOCOLE DâĂVALUATION DES CONTRAINTES MĂCANIQUES POUR LES COIFFES PĂRIPHĂRIQUES « TOUT CĂRAMIQUE »
Planetary Nebula Abundances and Morphology: Probing the Chemical Evolution of the Milky Way
This paper presents a homogeneous study of abundances in a sample of 79
northern galactic planetary nebulae whose morphological classes have been
uniformly determined. Ionic abundances and plasma diagnostics were derived from
selected optical line strengths in the literature, and elemental abundances
were estimated with the Ionization Correction Factor developed by Kingsbourgh &
Barlow (1994). We compare the elemental abundances to the final yields obtained
from stellar evolution models of low-and intermediate-mass stars, and we
confirm that most Bipolar planetary nebulae have high nitrogen and helium
abundance, and are the likely progeny of stars with main-sequence mass larger
than 3 solar masses. We derive =0.27, and discuss the implication of such
a high ratio in connection with the solar neon abundance. We determine the
galactic gradients of oxygen and neon, and found Delta log (O/H)/Delta R=-0.01
dex/kpc$ and Delta log (Ne/H)/Delta R=-0.01 dex/kpc. These flat PN gradients do
not reconcile with galactic metallicity gradients flattening with time.Comment: The Astrophysical Journal, in pres
Spectroscopy of planetary nebulae in M33
Spectroscopic observations of 48 emission-line objects of M33 have been
obtained with the multi-object, wide field, fibre spectrograph AF2/WYFFOS at
the 4.2m WHT telescope (La Palma, Spain). Line intensities and logarithmic
extinction, cbeta, are presented for 42 objects. Their location in the Sabbadin
& D'Odorico diagnostic diagram (Halpha/[SII] vs Hlapha/[NII]) suggests that
>70% of the candidates are Planetary Nebulae (PNe). Chemical abundances and
nebular physical parameters have been derived for the three of the six PNe
where the 4363A [OIII] emission line was measurable. These are disc PNe,
located within a galactocentric distance of 4.1 kpc, and, to date, they are the
farthest PNe with a direct chemical abundance determination. No discrepancy in
the Helium, Oxygen and Argon abundances has been found in comparison with
corresponding abundances of PNe in our Galaxy. Only a lower limit to the
sulphur abundance has been obtained since we could not detect any [SIII] line.
N/H appears to be lower than the Galactic value; some possible explanations for
this under-abundance are discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 1 JPEG figure and 3 Postscript figures, Accepted for
publication in A&
Nebular abundances of southern symbiotic stars
We have calculated relative elemental abundances for a sample of 43 symbiotic
stars. Helium abundances and the relative elemental abundances N/O, Ne/O, Ar/O
were derived from new spectra collected in the optical range through low
dispersion spectroscopy. The He ionic abundances were derived taking into
account self-absorption effects in Balmer lines. We found that the symbiotic
stars in the galactic bulge have heavy element abundances showing the same wide
distribution as other bulge objects. In the galactic disk, the symbiotic stars
follow the abundance gradient as derived from different kinds of objects.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, A&A - accepte
Virgo cluster early-type dwarf galaxies with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. II. Early-type dwarfs with central star formation
Despite the common picture of an early-type dwarf (dE) as a quiescent galaxy
with no star formation and little gas, we identify 23 dEs that have blue
central colors caused by recent or ongoing star formation in our sample of 476
Virgo cluster dEs. In addition, 14 objects that were mostly classified as
(candidate) BCDs have similar properties. Among the certain cluster members,
the dEs with blue centers reach a fraction of more than 15% of the dE
population at brighter (B<=16) magnitudes. A spectral analysis of the centers
of 16 galaxies reveals in all cases an underlying old population that dominates
the mass, with M(old)>=90% for all but one object. Therefore the majority of
these galaxies will appear like ordinary dEs within ~one Gigayear or less after
the last episode of star formation. Their overall gas content is less than that
of dwarf irregular galaxies, but higher than that of ordinary dEs. Their
flattening distribution suggests the shape of a thick disk, similar to what has
been found for dEs with disk features in Paper I of this series. Their
projected spatial distribution shows no central clustering, and their
distribution with projected local density follows that of irregular galaxies,
indicative of an unrelaxed population. This is corroborated by their velocity
distribution, which displays two side peaks characteristic of recent infall. We
discuss possible formation mechanisms (ram-pressure stripping, tidally induced
star formation, harassment) that might be able to explain both the disk shape
and the central star formation of the dEs with blue centers.Comment: 16 pages + 15 figures. Accepted for publication in AJ. We recommend
downloading the full resolution version from
http://www.virgo-cluster.com/lisker2006b.ps.g
A Spectroscopic Study of the Near-IR [SIII] Lines in a Sample of HII Galaxies: chemical abundances
A detailed spectroscopic study, from lambda 3700 A to 1 um, was performed for
a sample of 34 HII galaxies in order to derive fundamental parameters for their
HII regions and ionizing sources, as well as gaseous metal abundances. All the
spectra included the nebular [SIII]9069,9532 A lines, given their importance in
the derivation of the S/H abundance and relevant ionization diagnostics. A
systematic method was followed to correct the near-IR [SIII] line fluxes for
the effects of the atmospheric transmission.A comparative analysis of the
predictions of the empirical abundance indicators R23 and S23 has been
performed. The relative hardness of their ionizing sources was studied using
the eta parameter, and exploring the role played by metallicity. For 22
galaxies of the sample a direct value of te[SIII] was derived, along with their
ionic and total S/H abundances. Their ionic and total O/H abundances were
derived using direct determinations of te[OIII].For the rest of the objects,
the total S/H abundance was derived using S23. The abundance range covered by
our sample goes from 1/20 solar up to solar metallicity. The mean S/O ratio
derived is log (S/O)=-1.68+/-0.20 dex, 1 sigma below the solar S/O value. The
S/O abundance ratio shows no significant trend with O/H over the range of
abundance covered in this work, in agreement with previous findings.There is a
trend for HII galaxies with lower gaseous metallicity to present harder
ionizing spectra. We compared the distribution of the ionic ratios O+/O++ vs.
S+/S++ derived for our sample with the predictions of a grid of photoionization
models performed for different stellar effective temperatures. This analysis
indicates that a large fraction of galaxies in our sample seem to be ionized by
extremely hard spectra.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the A&A, minor
gramatical corrections include
The Distribution Of Heavy Elements In Spiral And Elliptical Galaxies
This review recaps significant results as they apply to non-dwarf galaxies,
including the Milky Way, spiral disks and bulges, and elliptical and lenticular
galaxies. Conclusions that span the galaxy types treated here are as follows.
All galaxies, on average, have heavy element abundances (metallicities) that
systematically decrease outward from their galactic centers while their global
metallicities increase with galaxy mass. Abundance gradients are steepest in
normal spirals and are seen to be progressively flatter going in order from
barred spirals, lenticulars, and ellipticals. For spiral galaxies, local
metallicity appears to be correlated with total (disk plus bulge) surface
density. Observed abundance patterns indicate that N production is dominated by
primary processes at low metallicity and secondary processes at high
metallicity; C production increases with increasing metallicity; and O, Ne, S,
and Ar are produced in lockstep independent of metallicity. In elliptical
galaxies, nuclear abundances are in the range [Z/H] = 0.0 to 0.4, but the
element mixture is not scaled-solar. In large elliptical galaxies [Mg/Fe] is in
the range 0.3 to 0.5, decreasing to ~0 in smaller elliptical galaxies. Other
light elements track the Mg enhancement, but the heavier Ca tracks Fe. Velocity
dispersion appears to be a key parameter in the modulation of [Mg/Fe], but the
cause of the connection is unclear.Comment: 55-page manuscript plus 16 figures. Invited review to appear in the
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