159 research outputs found
Baseline MxA mRNA expression predicts interferon beta response in multiple sclerosis patients
Background Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is a molecule induced after interferon-beta injection, mostly used to evaluate its bioactivity. There is little available data on clinical utility of baseline MxA mRNA status. The objective of the study is to investigate whether baseline MxA mRNA expression can predict relapse and disease progression in multiple sclerosis patients treated with interferon-beta. Methods Baseline blood samples were obtained before the first interferon-beta dose was administered to evaluate MxA mRNA expression using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Demographic and clinical variables were prospectively recorded to define treatment responder and non responder groups. Results 104 patients were included in the study. Baseline MxA mRNA expression was significantly lower in the group of patients who met the definition of responders (1.07 vs 1.95, Student t test, p<0.0001). A threshold of 1.096 was established using Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis to differentiate between responders and non-responders (sensitivity 73.9%, specificity 69.0%). Survival analysis using this threshold showed that time to next relapse (p<0.0001) and to EDSS progression (p = 0.01) were significantly higher in patients with lower MxA titers. Conclusion The results suggest that baseline MxA mRNA levels may be useful for predicting whether multiple sclerosis patients will respond or not to interferon-beta treatment
Spectropolarimetric multi line analysis of stellar magnetic fields
In this paper we study the feasibility of inferring the magnetic field from
polarized multi-line spectra using two methods: The pseudo line approach and
The PCA-ZDI approach. We use multi-line techniques, meaning that all the lines
of a stellar spectrum contribute to obtain a polarization signature. The use of
multiple lines dramatically increases the signal to noise ratio of these
polarizations signatures. Using one technique, the pseudo-line approach, we
construct the pseudo-line as the mean profile of all the individual lines. The
other technique, the PCA-ZDI approach proposed recently by Semel et al. (2006)
for the detection of polarized signals, combines Principle Components Analysis
(PCA) and the Zeeman Do ppler Imaging technique (ZDI). This new method has a
main advantage: the polarized signature is extracted using cross correlations
between the stellar spectra nd functions containing the polarization properties
of each line. These functions are the principal components of a database of
synthetic spectra. The synthesis of the spectra of the database are obtained
using the radiative transfer equations in LTE. The profiles built with the
PCA-ZDI technique are denominated Multi-Zeeman-Signatures. The construction of
the pseudo line as well as the Multi-Zeeman-Signatures is a powerful tool in
the study of stellar and solar magnetic fields. The information of the physical
parameters that governs the line formation is contained in the final polarized
profiles. In particular, using inversion codes, we have shown that the magnetic
field vector can be properly inferred with both approaches despite the magnetic
field regime.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
Surface waves in solar granulation observed with {\sc Sunrise}
Solar oscillations are expected to be excited by turbulent flows in the
intergranular lanes near the solar surface. Time series recorded by the IMaX
instrument aboard the {\sc Sunrise} observatory reveal solar oscillations at
high resolution, which allow studying the properties of oscillations with short
wavelengths. We analyze two times series with synchronous recordings of Doppler
velocity and continuum intensity images with durations of 32\thinspace min and
23\thinspace min, resp., recorded close to the disk center of the Sun to study
the propagation and excitation of solar acoustic oscillations. In the Doppler
velocity data, both the standing acoustic waves and the short-lived,
high-degree running waves are visible. The standing waves are visible as
temporary enhancements of the amplitudes of the large-scale velocity field due
to the stochastic superposition of the acoustic waves. We focus on the
high-degree small-scale waves by suitable filtering in the Fourier domain.
Investigating the propagation and excitation of - and -modes with wave
numbers \thinspace 1/Mm we find that also exploding granules
contribute to the excitation of solar -modes in addition to the contribution
of intergranular lanes.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to appear in a special volume on Sunrise in
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Convective motions and net circular polarization in sunspot penumbrae
We have employed a penumbral model, that includes the Evershed flow and
convective motions inside penumbral filaments, to reproduce the azimuthal
variation of the net circular polarization (NCP) in sunspot penumbrae at
different heliocentric angles for two different spectral lines. The theoretical
net circular polarization fits the observations as satisfactorily as penumbral
models based on flux-tubes. The reason for this is that the effect of
convective motions on the NCP is very small compared to the effect of the
Evershed flow. In addition, the NCP generated by convective upflows cancels out
the NCP generated by the downflows. We have also found that, in order to fit
the observed NCP, the strength of the magnetic field inside penumbral filaments
must be very close to 1000 G. In particular, field-free or weak-field filaments
fail to reproduce both the correct sign of the net circular polarization, as
well as its dependence on the azimuthal and heliocentric angles.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 10 pages, 7
figures (3 in color). Uses emulatedap
Temporal evolution of the Evershed flow in sunspots. II. Physical properties and nature of Evershed clouds
Context: Evershed clouds (ECs) represent the most conspicuous variation of
the Evershed flow in sunspot penumbrae. Aims: We determine the physical
properties of ECs from high spatial and temporal resolution spectropolarimetric
measurements. Methods: The Stokes profiles of four visible and three infrared
spectral lines are subject to inversions based on simple one-component models
as well as more sophisticated realizations of penumbral flux tubes embedded in
a static ambient field (uncombed models). Results: According to the
one-component inversions, the EC phenomenon can be understood as a perturbation
of the magnetic and dynamic configuration of the penumbral filaments along
which these structures move. The uncombed inversions, on the other hand,
suggest that ECs are the result of enhancements in the visibility of penumbral
flux tubes. We conjecture that the enhancements are caused by a perturbation of
the thermodynamic properties of the tubes, rather than by changes in the vector
magnetic field. The feasibility of this mechanism is investigated performing
numerical experiments of thick penumbral tubes in mechanical equilibrium with a
background field. Conclusions: While the one-component inversions confirm many
of the properties indicated by a simple line parameter analysis (Paper I of
this series), we tend to give more credit to the results of the uncombed
inversions because they take into account, at least in an approximate manner,
the fine structure of the penumbra.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Bright points in the quiet Sun as observed in the visible and near-UV by the balloon-borne observatory Sunrise
Bright points (BPs) are manifestations of small magnetic elements in the
solar photosphere. Their brightness contrast not only gives insight into the
thermal state of the photosphere (and chromosphere) in magnetic elements, but
also plays an important role in modulating the solar total and spectral
irradiance. Here we report on simultaneous high-resolution imaging and
spectropolarimetric observations of BPs using Sunrise balloon-borne observatory
data of the quiet Sun at disk center. BP contrasts have been measured between
214 nm and 525 nm, including the first measurements at wavelengths below 388
nm. The histograms of the BP peak brightness show a clear trend toward broader
contrast distributions and higher mean contrasts at shorter wavelengths. At 214
nm we observe a peak brightness of up to five times the mean quiet-Sun value,
the highest BP contrast so far observed. All BPs are associated with a magnetic
signal, although in a number of cases it is surprisingly weak. Most of the BPs
show only weak downflows, the mean value being 240 m/s, but some display strong
down- or upflows reaching a few km/s.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on
September 08 201
Maximum Entropy Limit of Small-scale Magnetic Field Fluctuations in the Quiet Sun
The observed magnetic field on the solar surface is characterized by a very
complex spatial and temporal behavior. Although feature-tracking algorithms
have allowed us to deepen our understanding of this behavior, subjectivity
plays an important role in the identification and tracking of such features. In
this paper, we continue studies Gorobets, A. Y., Borrero, J. M., & Berdyugina,
S. 2016, ApJL, 825, L18 of the temporal stochasticity of the magnetic field on
the solar surface without relying either on the concept of magnetic features or
on subjective assumptions about their identification and interaction. We
propose a data analysis method to quantify fluctuations of the line-of-sight
magnetic field by means of reducing the temporal field's evolution to the
regular Markov process. We build a representative model of fluctuations
converging to the unique stationary (equilibrium) distribution in the long time
limit with maximum entropy. We obtained different rates of convergence to the
equilibrium at fixed noise cutoff for two sets of data. This indicates a strong
influence of the data spatial resolution and mixing-polarity fluctuations on
the relaxation process. The analysis is applied to observations of magnetic
fields of the relatively quiet areas around an active region carried out during
the second flight of the Sunrise/IMaX and quiet Sun areas at the disk center
from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics
Observatory satellite.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
(accepted
Moving Magnetic Features around a Pore
Spectropolarimetric observations from Sunrise II/IMaX obtained in June 2013
are used for a statistical analysis to determine the physical properties of
moving magnetic features (MMFs) observed near a pore. MMFs of the same and
opposite polarity with respect to the pore are found to stream from its border
at an average speed of 1.3 km s and 1.2 km s respectively, with
mainly same-polarity MMFs found further away from the pore. MMFs of both
polarities are found to harbor rather weak, inclined magnetic fields.
Opposite-polarity MMFs are blue-shifted, while same-polarity MMFs do not show
any preference for up- or downflows. Most of the MMFs are found to be of
sub-arcsecond size and carry a mean flux of 1.2 Mx.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
Sunrise: instrument, mission, data and first results
The Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory consists of a 1m aperture Gregory
telescope, a UV filter imager, an imaging vector polarimeter, an image
stabilization system and further infrastructure. The first science flight of
Sunrise yielded high-quality data that reveal the structure, dynamics and
evolution of solar convection, oscillations and magnetic fields at a resolution
of around 100 km in the quiet Sun. After a brief description of instruments and
data, first qualitative results are presented. In contrast to earlier
observations, we clearly see granulation at 214 nm. Images in Ca II H display
narrow, short-lived dark intergranular lanes between the bright edges of
granules. The very small-scale, mixed-polarity internetwork fields are found to
be highly dynamic. A significant increase in detectable magnetic flux is found
after phase-diversity-related reconstruction of polarization maps, indicating
that the polarities are mixed right down to the spatial resolution limit, and
probably beyond.Comment: accepted by ApJ
Light-triggered carotenogenesis in myxococcus xanthus: New paradigms in photosensory signaling, transduction and gene regulation
22 pags., 6 figs. -- This article belongs to the Special Issue Myxobacteria: Physiology and RegulationMyxobacteria are Gram-negative δ-proteobacteria found predominantly in terrestrial habitats and often brightly colored due to the biosynthesis of carotenoids. Carotenoids are lipophilic isoprenoid pigments that protect cells from damage and death by quenching highly reactive and toxic oxidative species, like singlet oxygen, generated upon growth under light. The model myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus turns from yellow in the dark to red upon exposure to light because of the photoinduction of carotenoid biosynthesis. How light is sensed and transduced to bring about regulated carotenogenesis in order to combat photooxidative stress has been extensively investigated in M. xanthus using genetic, biochemical and high-resolution structural methods. These studies have unearthed new paradigms in bacterial light sensing, signal transduction and gene regulation, and have led to the discovery of prototypical members of widely distributed protein families with novel functions. Major advances have been made over the last decade in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying the light-dependent signaling and regulation of the transcriptional response leading to carotenogenesis in M. xanthus. This review aims to provide an up-to-date overview of these findings and their significance.This research was funded by grants PGC2018-094635-B-C21 (to M.E.-A.) and PGC2018-
094635-B-C22 (to S.P) from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)-Spain and European Regional
Development Fund (FEDER), and by grant 20992/PI/18 (to M.E.-A.) from Fundación Séneca (Murcia)-
Spain. The Ministerio de Educación y Cultura-Spain funded Ph.D. fellowships to A.J.M.-G, E.P.-M.
and E.B.-M., and AEI-Spain funded that to R.P.-C
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