On the robustness of the Hβ\beta Lick index as a cosmic clock in passive early-type galaxies

We examine the H$\beta$ Lick index in a sample of $\sim 24000$ massive ($\rm log(M/M_{\odot})>10.75$) and passive early-type galaxies extracted from SDSS at z<0.3, in order to assess the reliability of this index to constrain the epoch of formation and age evolution of these systems. We further investigate the possibility of exploiting this index as "cosmic chronometer", i.e. to derive the Hubble parameter from its differential evolution with redshift, hence constraining cosmological models independently of other probes. We find that the H$\beta$ strength increases with redshift as expected in passive evolution models, and shows at each redshift weaker values in more massive galaxies. However, a detailed comparison of the observed index with the predictions of stellar population synthesis models highlights a significant tension, with the observed index being systematically lower than expected. By analyzing the stacked spectra, we find a weak [NII]$\lambda6584$ emission line (not detectable in the single spectra) which anti-correlates with the mass, that can be interpreted as a hint of the presence of ionized gas. We estimated the correction of the H$\beta$ index by the residual emission component exploiting different approaches, but find it very uncertain and model-dependent. We conclude that, while the qualitative trends of the observed H$\beta$-z relations are consistent with the expected passive and downsizing scenario, the possible presence of ionized gas even in the most massive and passive galaxies prevents to use this index for a quantitative estimate of the age evolution and for cosmological applications.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Main Journa

An improved measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations from the correlation function of galaxy clusters at z∼0.3z \sim 0.3

We detect the peak of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the two-point correlation function of a spectroscopic sample of $25226$ clusters selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Galaxy clusters, as tracers of massive dark matter haloes, are highly biased structures. The linear bias $b$ of the sample considered in this work, that we estimate from the projected correlation function, is $b \sigma_8 = 1.72 \pm 0.03$. Thanks to the high signal in the cluster correlation function and to the accurate spectroscopic redshift measurements, we can clearly detect the BAO peak and determine its position, $s_p$, with high accuracy, despite the relative paucity of the sample. Our measurement, $s_p = 104 \pm 7 \, \mathrm{Mpc} \, h^{-1}$, is in good agreement with previous estimates from large galaxy surveys, and has a similar uncertainty. The BAO measurement presented in this work thus provides a new strong confirmation of the concordance cosmological model and demonstrates the power and promise of galaxy clusters as key probes for cosmological applications based on large scale structures.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure, accepted for publication in MNRA

Enzymatic Inactivation of Oxysterols in Breast Tumor Cells Constraints Metastasis Formation by Reprogramming the Metastatic Lung Microenvironment

Recent evidence indicates that immune cells contribute to the formation of tumor metastases by regulating the pre-metastatic niche. Whether tumor-derived factors involved in primary tumor formation play a role in metastasis formation is poorly characterized. Oxysterols act as endogenous regulators of lipid metabolism through the interaction with the nuclear Liver X Receptors-(LXR)alpha and LXR beta. In the context of tumor development, they establish a pro-tumor environment by dampening antitumor immune responses, and by recruiting pro-angiogenic and immunosuppressive neutrophils. However, the ability of LXR/oxysterol axis to promote tumor invasion and metastasis by exploiting immune cells, is still up to debate. In this study we provide evidence that oxysterols participate in the primary growth of orthotopically implanted 4T1 breast tumors by establishing a tumor-promoting microenvironment. Furthermore, we show that oxysterols are involved in the metastatic spread of 4T1 breast tumors, since their enzymatic inactivation mediated by the sulfotransferase 2B1b, reduces the number of metastatic cells in the lungs of tumor-bearing mice. Finally, we provide evidence that oxysterols support the metastatic cascade by modifying the lung metastatic niche, particularly allowing the recruitment of tumor-promoting neutrophils. These results identify a possible new metastatic pathway to target in order to prevent metastasis formation in breast cancer patients

Role of metformin and AKT axis modulation in the reversion of hypoxia induced TMZ-resistance in glioma cells

Hypoxia is a key driver of tumor adaptation promoting tumor progression and resistance to therapy. Hypoxia related pathways might represent attractive targets for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), that up to date is characterized by a poor prognosis. Primary aim of this study was to investigate the role of hypoxia and hypoxia-related modifications in the effect of temozolomide (TMZ) given alone or in association with the antidiabetic agent Metformin (MET) or the PI3K/mTOR blocker, BEZ235. The study was conducted in the TMZ responsive U251 and resistant T98 GBM cells. Our results showed that during hypoxia, TMZ plus MET reduced viability of U251 cells affecting also CD133 and CD90 expressing cells. This effect was associated with a reduction of HIF-1\u3b1 activity, VEGF release and AKT activation. In T98 TMZ-resistant cells, TMZ plus MET exerted similar effects on HIF-1\u3b1. However, in this cell line, TMZ plus MET failed to reduce CD133 positive cells and AKT phosphorylation. Nevertheless, the administration of the dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor BEZ235 potentiated the effect of TMZ plus MET on cell viability, inducing a pro-apoptotic phenotype during hypoxic condition also in T98 cells, suggesting the block of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway as a complementary target to further overcome GBM resistance during hypoxia. In conclusion, we proposed TMZ plus MET as suitable treatment to revert TMZ-resistance also during hypoxia, an effect potentiated by the inhibition of PI3K/mTOR axis

Atividade antioxidante e compostos fenólicos de cinco acessos de pimentas Capsicum chinense.

Pimentas além de serem popularmente utilizadas como condimentos, representam uma fonte significativa de compostos antioxidantes. A espécie de pimentas Capsicum chinense, originária do Brasil apresenta mais de 40 variedades, sendo que muitas ainda são desconhecidas quanto as suas potencialidades. Neste trabalho foram caracterizados quanto à atividade antioxidante e ao teor de compostos fenólicos, cinco genótipos de pimenta C. chinense do Banco Ativo de Germoplasma da Embrapa Amazônia Oriental, visando identificar as variedades promissoras para serem utilizadas em futuros programas de melhoramento genético. A atividade antioxidante foi determinada através dos ensaios de DPPH e ABTS e os compostos fenólicos através do reagente de Follin Ciocalteau. Em relação ao teor de compostos fenólicos a variedade (PCL-02) destacou-se das demais com 12710 mgEAG/100g de pimenta. Houve diferença significativa ao nível de 5% nos resultados das três análises para as cinco variedades de pimenta analisada, demonstrando que a intensidade desta ação antioxidante é diferenciada em cada uma das variedades

A methodology to select galaxies just after the quenching of star formation

We propose a new methodology aimed at finding star-forming galaxies in the phase which immediately follows the star-formation (SF) quenching, based on the use of high- to lowionization emission line ratios. These ratios rapidly disappear after the SF halt, due to the softening of the UV ionizing radiation. We focus on [O III] λ5007/Hα and [Ne III] λ3869/[O II] λ3727, studying them with simulations obtained with the CLOUDY photoionization code. If a sharp quenching is assumed, we find that the two ratios are very sensitive tracers as they drop by a factor of ~ 10 within ~10 Myr from the interruption of the SF; instead, if a smoother and slower SF decline is assumed (i.e. an exponentially declining SF history with e-folding time τ = 200 Myr), they decrease by a factor of ~2 within ~80 Myr. We mitigate the ionization- metallicity degeneracy affecting our methodology using pairs of emission line ratios separately related to metallicity and ionization, adopting the [N II] λ6584/[O II] λ3727 ratio as metallicity diagnostic. Using a Sloan Digital Sky Survey galaxy sample, we identify 10 examples among the most extreme quenching candidates within the [O III] λ5007/Hα versus [N II] λ6584/[O II] λ3727 plane, characterized by low [O III] λ5007/Hα, faint [Ne III] λ3869, and by blue dust-corrected spectra and (u - r) colours, as expected if the SF quenching has occurred in the very recent past. Our results also suggest that the observed fractions of quenching candidates can be used to constrain the quenching mechanism at work and its time-scales

Optimal strategies : theoretical approaches to the parametrization of the dark energy equation of state

The absence of compelling theoretical model requires the parameterizing the dark energy to probe its properties. The parametrization of the equation of state of the dark energy is a common method. We explore the theoretical optimization of the parametrization based on the Fisher information matrix. As a suitable parametrization, it should be stable at high redshift and should produce the determinant of the Fisher matrix as large as possible. For the illustration, we propose one parametrization which can satisfy both criteria. By using the proper parametrization, we can improve the constraints on the dark energy even for the same data. We also show the weakness of the so-called principal component analysis method.Comment: 7pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, To match the version accepted by AS

The halo 3-point correlation function: a methodological analysis

Upcoming galaxy surveys will provide us with an unprecedented view of the Large -Scale Structure of the Universe and the realistic chance to extract valuable astrophysical and cosmological information from higher-order clustering statistics. This perspective poses new challenges, requiring both accurate and efficient estimators and a renewed assessment of possible systematic errors in the theoretical models and likelihood assumptions. This work investigates these issues in relation to the analysis of the 3-point correlation function (3PCF) in configuration space. We measure the 3PCF of 300 halo catalogs from the MINERVA simulations covering a total volume of 1000h-3Gpc3. Each 3PCF measurement includes all possible triangular configurations with sides between 20 and 130h-1 Mpc. In the first place, we test different estimates of the covariance matrix, a crucial aspect of the analysis. We compare the covariance computed numerically from the limited but accurate benchmark simulations set to the one obtained from 10000 approximate halo catalogs generated with the PINOCCHIO code. We demonstrate that the two numerically-estimated covariance matrices largely match, confirming the validity of approximate methods based on Lagrangian Perturbation Theory for generating mocks suitable for covariance estimation. We also compare the numerical covariance with a theoretical prediction in the Gaussian approximation. We find a good match between the two for separations above 40h-1 Mpc. We test the 3PCF tree-level model in Perturbation Theory. The model is adopted in a likelihood analysis aimed at the determination of bias parameters. We find that, for our sample of halos at redshift z = 1, the tree-level model performs well for separations r &gt; 40h-1 Mpc. Results obtained with this scale cut are robust against different choices of covariance matrix. We compare to the analogous analysis of the halo bispectrum already presented in a previous publication, finding a remarkable agreement between the two statistics. We notice that such comparison relies, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, on a robust and consistent covariance estimate and on the inclusion of essentially all measurable configurations in Fourier as in configuration space. We then test different assumptions to build the model defining a robust combination of hypotheses that lead to unbiased parameter estimates. Our results confirm the importance of 3PCF, supplying a solid recipe for its inclusion in likelihood analyses. Moreover, it opens the path for further improvements, especially in modelling, to extract information from non-linear regimes