730 research outputs found
Multi-Frequency Study of the B3-VLA Sample II. The Database
We present total flux densities of 1049 radio sources in the frequency range
from 151 MHz to 10.6 GHz. These sources belong to the B3-VLA sample, which is
complete down to 100 mJy at 408 MHz. The data constitute a homogeneous spectral
database for a large sample of radio sources, 50 times fainter than the 3C
catalogue, and will be used to perform a spectral ageing analysis, which is one
of the critical points in understanding the physics and evolution of
extragalactic radio sources.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics Supplement Series, gzipped postscript file also available at
http://multivac.jb.man.ac.uk:8000/ceres/papers/papers.html or
http://gladia.astro.rug.nl:8000/ceres/papers/papers.htm
Are Ancient Durum Wheats Less Toxic to Celiac Patients? A Study of α-Gliadin from Graziella Ra and Kamut
In the present paper, the controversial hypothesis suggesting ancient grains might show lower immunogenic properties and therefore the possibility to introduce them in the diet of wheat-sensitive people, including celiac patients, was investigated. The immunogenic potential of the ancient durum wheats Graziella Ra and Kamut was studied by comparison to the durum accessions Cappelli, Flaminio, Grazia and Svevo. Experiments were carried out with two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) raised against α-gliadin peptides p31â49 and p56â75 (the latter containing the overlapping DQ2-Glia-α1 and DQ2-Glia-α2 epitopes), toxic for celiac patients. For all accessions, a few α-gliadin alleles were also cloned, sequenced and translated into aminoacid sequences. Several aminoacid substitutions or deletions were detected in p31â49, DQ2-Glia-α1 and DQ2-Glia-α2 epitopes, nevertheless, ELISA constantly showed antibody-antigen positive reactions which led us to suggest that mAbs binding was not apparently affected by polymorphisms. Moreover, a few substitutions were also observed in DQ2-Glia-α3 and DQ8-Glia-α1 epitopes. Although some DQ2-Glia-α1 and DQ2-Glia-α2 variants evidenced herein were previously reported to have a diminished or abolished T cell stimulatory capacity, present results cannot confirm that ancient durum wheats would be less CD-toxic. In conclusion, we strongly advice celiac patients from consuming ancient wheats including Graziella Ra or Kamut
Structure of the magnetoionic medium around the FR Class I radio galaxy 3C 449
The goal of this work is to constrain the strength and structure of the
magnetic field associated with the environment of the radio source 3C 449,
using observations of Faraday rotation, which we model with a structure
function technique and by comparison with numerical simulations. We assume that
the magnetic field is a Gaussian, isotropic random variable and that it is
embedded in the hot intra-group plasma surrounding the radio source. For this
purpose, we present detailed rotation measure images for the polarized radio
source 3C 449, previously observed with the Very Large Array at seven
frequencies between 1.365 and 8.385 GHz. We quantify the statistics of the
magnetic-field fluctuations by deriving rotation measure structure functions,
which we fit using models derived from theoretical power spectra. We quantify
the errors due to sampling by making multiple two-dimensional realizations of
the best-fitting power spectrum.We also use depolarization measurements to
estimate the minimum scale of the field variations. We then make
three-dimensional models with a gas density distribution derived from X-ray
observations and a random magnetic field with this power spectrum. Under these
assumptions we find that both rotation measure and depolarization data are
consistent with a broken power-law magnetic-field power spectrum, with a break
at about 11 kpc and slopes of 2.98 and 2.07 at smaller and larger scales
respectively. The maximum and minimum scales of the fluctuations are around 65
and 0.2 kpc, respectively. The average magnetic field strength at the cluster
centre is 3.5 +/-1.2 micro-G, decreasing linearly with the gas density within
about 16 kpc of the nucleus.Comment: 19 pages; 14 figures; accepted for publication on A&A. For a high
quality version use ftp://ftp.eso.org/pub/general/guidetti
An empirical failure model to predict biofouling growth on fired bricks due to microalgae
The purpose of this study was to provide an empirical failure model predicting the microalgae growth on fired bricks surfaces. It was developed through a numerical fitting of experimental data present in literature. It considered the substrate properties related to biofouling (i.e. porosity and roughness) of different bricks under several environmental conditions (i.e. relative humidity and temperature). Results shows that the model is able to simulate the microalgae biofouling by explicitly taking into account such influencing factor. Finally, this empirical failure model is validated on a different dataset from literature and applied to time varying temperature
Polarization Properties of Extragalactic Radio Sources and Their Contribution to Microwave Polarization Fluctuations
We investigate the statistical properties of the polarized emission of
extragalactic radio sources and estimate their contribution to the power
spectrum of polarization fluctuations in the microwave region. The basic
ingredients of our analysis are the NVSS polarization data, the multifrequency
study of polarization properties of the B3-VLA sample (Mack et al. 2002) which
has allowed us to quantify Faraday depolarization effects, and the 15 GHz
survey by Taylor et al. (2001), which has provided strong constraints on the
high-frequency spectral indices of sources. The polarization degree of both
steep- and flat-spectrum at 1.4 GHz is found to be anti-correlated with the
flux density. The median polarization degree at 1.4 GHz of both steep- and
flat-spectrum sources brighter than mJy is . The data by Mack et al. (2002) indicate a substantial mean Faraday
depolarization at 1.4 GHz for steep spectrum sources, while the depolarization
is undetermined for most flat/inverted-spectrum sources. Exploiting this
complex of information we have estimated the power spectrum of polarization
fluctuations due to extragalactic radio sources at microwave frequencies. We
confirm that extragalactic sources are expected to be the main contaminant of
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarization maps on small angular scales. At
frequencies GHz the amplitude of their power spectrum is expected to be
comparable to that of the -mode of the CMB. At higher frequencies, however,
the CMB dominates.Comment: 10 pages, A&A in pres
Long-term monitoring of Molonglo calibrators
Before and after every 12 hour synthesis observation, the Molonglo
Observatory Synthesis Telescope (MOST) measures the flux densities of ~5
compact extragalactic radio sources, chosen from a list of 55 calibrators. From
1984 to 1996, the MOST made some 58 000 such measurements. We have developed an
algorithm to process this dataset to produce a light curve for each source
spanning this thirteen year period. We find that 18 of the 55 calibrators are
variable, on time scales between one and ten years. There is the tendency for
sources closer to the Galactic Plane to be more likely to vary, which suggests
that the variability is a result of refractive scintillation in the Galactic
interstellar medium. The sources with the flattest radio spectra show the
highest levels of variability, an effect possibly resulting from differing
orientations of the radio axes to the line of sight.Comment: 18 pages, 9 embedded EPS files. To appear in Publications of the
Astronomical Society of Australia. Data available electronically at
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/astrop/scan
The ATESP 5 GHz radio survey. II. Physical properties of the faint radio population
One of the most debated issues about sub-mJy radio sources, which are
responsible for the steepening of the 1.4 GHz source counts, is the origin of
their radio emission. Particularly interesting is the possibility of combining
radio spectral index information with other observational properties to assess
whether the sources are triggered by star formation or nuclear activity. The
aim of this work is to study the optical and near infrared properties of a
complete sample of 131 radio sources with S>0.4 mJy, observed at both 1.4 and 5
GHz as part of the ATESP radio survey. We use deep multi-colour (UBVRIJK)
images, mostly taken in the framework of the ESO Deep Public Survey, to
optically identify and derive photometric redshifts for the ATESP radio
sources. Deep optical coverage and extensive colour information are available
for 3/4 of the region covered by the radio sample. Typical depths of the images
are U~25, B~26, V~25.4, R~25.5, I~24.3, 19.5<K_s<20.2, J<22.2. Optical/near
infrared counterparts are found for ~78% (66/85) of the radio sources in the
region covered by the deep multi-colour imaging, and for 56 of these reliable
estimates of the redshift and type are derived. We find that many of the
sources with flat radio spectra are characterised by high radio-to-optical
ratios (R>1000), typical of classical powerful radio galaxies and quasars.
Flat-spectrum sources with low R values are preferentially identified with
early type galaxies, where the radio emission is most probably triggered by
low-luminosity active galactic nuclei. Considering both early type galaxies and
quasars as sources with an active nucleus, such sources largely dominate our
sample (78%). Flat-spectrum sources associated with early type galaxies are
quite compact (d<10-30 kpc), suggesting core-dominated radio emission.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted for pubblication in A&
The ATESP Radio Survey II. The Source Catalogue
This paper is part of a series reporting the results of the Australia
Telescope ESO Slice Project (ATESP) radio survey obtained at 1400 MHz with the
Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) over the region covered by the ESO
Slice Project (ESP) galaxy redshift survey. The survey consists of 16 radio
mosaics with ~8"x14" resolution and uniform sensitivity (1sigma noise level ~79
microJy) over the whole area of the ESP redshift survey (~26 sq. degrees at
decl. -40 degr). Here we present the catalogue derived from the ATESP survey.
We detected 2960 distinct radio sources down to a flux density limit of ~0.5
mJy (6sigma), 1402 being sub-mJy sources. We describe in detail the procedure
followed for the source extraction and parameterization. The internal accuracy
of the source parameters was tested with Monte Carlo simulations and possible
systematic effects (e.g. bandwidth smearing) have been quantified.Comment: 14 pages, 14 Postscript figures, Accepted for publication in A&A
Suppl. Corrected typos and added Journal Referenc
Study of tributary inflows in Lake Iseo with a rotating physical model
The influence of Coriolis force on the currents of large lakes is well acknowledged; very few contributions, however, investigate this
aspect in medium-size lakes where its relevance could be questionable. In order to study the area of influence of the two major tributary
rivers in Lake Iseo, a rotating vertically distorted physical model of the northern part of this lake was prepared and used, respecting both
Froude and Rossby similarity. The model has a horizontal length scale factor of 8000 and a vertical scale factor of 500 and was used both
in homogeneous and in thermally stratified conditions. We explored the pattern of water circulation in front of the entrance mouth for dif-
ferent hydrologic scenarios at the beginning of spring and in summer. We neglected the influence of winds. The primary purposes of the
model were twofold: i) to increase our level of knowledge of the hydrodynamics of Lake Iseo by verifying the occurrence of dynamical
effects related to the Earthâs rotation on the plume of the two tributaries that enter the northern part of the lake and ii) to identify the areas
of the lake that can be directly influenced by the tributariesâ waters, in order to provide guidance on water quality monitoring in zones of
relevant environmental and touristic value. The results of the physical model confirm the relevant role played by the Coriolis force in the
northern part of the lake. Under ordinary flow conditions, the model shows a systematic deflection of the inflowing waters towards the
western shore of the lake. The inflow triggers a clockwise gyre within the Lovere bay, to the West of the inflow, and a slow counter-clockwise
gyre, to the East of the inflow, that returns water towards the river mouth along the eastern shore. For discharges with higher return period,
when only the contribution by Oglio River is relevant, the effect of the Earthâs rotation weakens in the entrance zone and the plume has a
more rectilinear pattern, whilst in the far field the current driven by the inflows keeps moving along the western shore. On the basis of
these results one could expect that the north-western part of the lake between Castro and Lovere, although not aligned with the tributariesâ
axes, is more sensitive to accumulation effects related to river-borne pollution. The results obtained with the physical model are critically
compared with data obtained from different sources: the trajectory of a lagrangian drogue; a map of reflectivity data from the lake floor;
a map of water turbidity at the intrusion depth. The findings are also confirmed by the results of a 3D numerical model of the lake
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