107 research outputs found
Arp 302: Non-starburst Luminous Infrared Galaxies
Arp 302, a luminous infrared source (L_{IR} = 4.2x10^{11} Lsun), consisting
of two spiral galaxies (VV340A and VV340B) with nuclear separation of 40'', has
the highest CO luminosity known. Observations with the BIMA array at 5'' X 7''
resolution reveal that the CO emission is extended over 23.0 kpc in the edge-on
spiral galaxy, VV340A, corresponding to 6.7x10^{10} Msun of H_2. In the
companion face-on galaxy, VV340B, the CO emission is extended over ~10.0 kpc,
with 1.1x10^{10} Msun of H_2. The large CO extent is in strong contrast to
starburst systems, such as Arp 220, in which the CO extent is typically 1
kpc. Furthermore, (H_2) is found to be 6.0 Lsun/Msun throughout
both galaxies. Thus the high IR luminosity of Arp 302 is apparently not due to
starbursts in the nuclear regions, but is due to its unusually large amount of
molecular gas forming stars at a rate similar to giant molecular clouds in the
Milky Way disk. Arp 302 consists of a pair of very gas-rich spiral galaxies
that may be interacting and in a phase before a likely onset of starbursts.Comment: AAS Latex plus two postscript figures. ApJ Letters (accepted
SDSSJ103913.70+533029.7: A Super Star Cluster in the Outskirts of a Galaxy Merger
We describe the serendipitous discovery in the spectroscopic data of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey of a star-like object, SDSSJ103913.70+533029.7, at a
heliocentric radial velocity of +1012 km/s. Its proximity in position and
velocity to the spiral galaxy NGC 3310 suggests an association with the galaxy.
At this distance, SDSSJ103913.70+533029.7 has the luminosity of a super star
cluster and a projected distance of 17 kpc from NGC 3310. Its spectroscopic and
photometric properties imply a mass of > 10^6 solar masses and an age close to
that of the tidal shells seen around NGC 3310, suggesting that it formed in the
event which formed the shells.Comment: Accepted by AJ: 4 figures (1 color
Tradable Pollution Permits and the Regulatory Game
This paper analyzes polluters\u27 incentives to move from a traditional command and control (CAC) environmental regulatory regime to a tradable permits (TPP) regime. Existing work in environmental economics does not model how firms contest and bargain over actual regulatory implementation in CAC regimes, and therefore fail to compare TPP regimes with any CAC regime that is actually observed. This paper models CAC environmental regulation as a bargaining game over pollution entitlements. Using a reduced form model of the regulatory contest, it shows that CAC regulatory bargaining likely generates a regulatory status quo under which firms with the highest compliance costs bargain for the smallest pollution reductions, or even no reduction at all. As for a tradable permits regime, it is shown that all firms are better off under such a regime than they would be under an idealized CAC regime that set and enforced a uniform pollution standard, but permit sellers (low compliance cost firms) may actually be better off under a TPP regime with relaxed aggregate pollution levels. Most importantly, because high cost firms (or facilities) are the most weakly regulated in the equilibrium under negotiated or bargained CAC regimes, they may be net losers in a proposed move to a TPP regime. When equilibrium costs under a TPP regime are compared with equilibrium costs under a status quo CAC regime, several otherwise paradoxical aspects of firm attitudes toward TPP type reforms can be explained. In particular, the otherwise paradoxical pattern of allowances awarded under Phase II of the 1990 Clean Air Act\u27s acid rain program, a pattern tending to favor (in Phase II) cleaner, newer generating units, is explained by the fact that under the status quo regime, a kind of bargained CAC, it was the newer cleaner units that were regulated, and which therefore had higher marginal control costs than did the largely unregulated older, plants. As a normative matter, the analysis here implies that the proper baseline for evaluating TPP regimes such as those contained in the Bush Administration\u27s recent Clear Skies initiative is not idealized, but nonexistent CAC regulatory outcomes, but rather the outcomes that have resulted from the bargaining game set up by CAC laws and regulations
The ansamycin antibiotic, rifamycin SV, inhibits BCL6 transcriptional repression and forms a complex with the BCL6-BTB/POZ domain
BCL6 is a transcriptional repressor that is over-expressed due to chromosomal translocations, or other abnormalities, in ~40% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. BCL6 interacts with co-repressor, SMRT, and this is essential for its role in lymphomas. Peptide or small molecule inhibitors, which prevent the association of SMRT with BCL6, inhibit transcriptional repression and cause apoptosis of lymphoma cells in vitro and in vivo. In order to discover compounds, which have the potential to be developed into BCL6 inhibitors, we screened a natural product library. The ansamycin antibiotic, rifamycin SV, inhibited BCL6 transcriptional repression and NMR spectroscopy confirmed a direct interaction between rifamycin SV and BCL6. To further determine the characteristics of compounds binding to BCL6-POZ we analyzed four other members of this family and showed that rifabutin, bound most strongly. An X-ray crystal structure of the rifabutin-BCL6 complex revealed that rifabutin occupies a partly non-polar pocket making interactions with tyrosine58, asparagine21 and arginine24 of the BCL6-POZ domain. Importantly these residues are also important for the interaction of BLC6 with SMRT. This work demonstrates a unique approach to developing a structure activity relationship for a compound that will form the basis of a therapeutically useful BCL6 inhibitor
Salivary gland branching morphogenesis: a quantitative systems analysis of the Eda/Edar/NFκB paradigm
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ectodysplasin-A appears to be a critical component of branching morphogenesis. Mutations in mouse <it>Eda </it>or human <it>EDA </it>are associated with absent or hypoplastic sweat glands, sebaceous glands, lacrimal glands, salivary glands (SMGs), mammary glands and/or nipples, and mucous glands of the bronchial, esophageal and colonic mucosa. In this study, we utilized <it>Eda</it><sup><it>Ta </it></sup>(Tabby) mutant mice to investigate how a marked reduction in functional Eda propagates with time through a defined genetic subcircuit and to test the proposition that canonical NFκB signaling is sufficient to account for the differential expression of developmentally regulated genes in the context of <it>Eda </it>polymorphism.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The quantitative systems analyses do not support the stated hypothesis. For most NFκB-regulated genes, the observed time course of gene expression is nearly unchanged in Tabby (<it>Eda</it><sup><it>Ta</it></sup>) as compared to wildtype mice, as is NFκB itself. Importantly, a subset of genes is dramatically differentially expressed in Tabby (<it>Edar</it>, <it>Fgf8</it>, <it>Shh</it>, <it>Egf</it>, <it>Tgfa</it>, <it>Egfr</it>), strongly suggesting the existence of an alternative Eda-mediated transcriptional pathway pivotal for SMG ontogeny. Experimental and <it>in silico </it>investigations have identified C/EBPα as a promising candidate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In Tabby SMGs, upregulation of the Egf/Tgfα/Egfr pathway appears to mitigate the potentially severe abnormal phenotype predicted by the downregulation of Fgf8 and Shh. Others have suggested that the buffering of the phenotypic outcome that is coincident with variant Eda signaling could be a common mechanism that permits viable and diverse phenotypes, normal and abnormal. Our results support this proposition. Further, if branching epithelia use variations of a canonical developmental program, our results are likely applicable to understanding the phenotypes of other branching organs affected by <it>Eda </it>(<it>EDA</it>) mutation.</p
First bounds on the very high energy gamma-ray emission from Arp 220
Using the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov Telescope (MAGIC), we
have observed the nearest ultra-luminous infrared galaxy Arp 220 for about 15
hours. No significant signal was detected within the dedicated amount of
observation time. The first upper limits to the very high energy -ray
flux of Arp 220 are herein reported and compared with theoretical expectations.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
Strangelet Search in AuAu Collisions at 200 GeV
We have searched for strangelets in a triggered sample of 61 million central
(top 4%) Au+Au collisions at \sNN = 200 GeV near beam rapidities at the STAR
detector. We have sensitivity to metastable strangelets with lifetimes of order
, in contrast to limits over ten times longer in AGS studies and
longer still at the SPS. Upper limits of a few 10^{-6} to 10^{-7} per central
Au+Au collision are set for strangelets with mass GeV/c^{2}.Comment: As publishe
Minijet deformation and charge-independent angular correlations on momentum subspace in Au-Au collisions at = 130 GeV
First measurements of charge-independent correlations on angular difference
variables (pseudorapidity) and (azimuth)
are presented for primary charged hadrons with transverse momentum GeV/ and from Au-Au collisions at
GeV. Strong charge-independent angular correlations are
observed associated with jet-like structures and elliptic flow. The width of
the jet-like peak on increases by a factor 2.3 from
peripheral to central collisions, suggesting strong coupling of semi-hard
scattered partons to a longitudinally-expanding medium. New methods of jet
analysis introduced here provide evidence for nonperturbative QCD medium
effects in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Azimuthal anisotropy in Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV
The results from the STAR Collaboration on directed flow (v_1), elliptic flow
(v_2), and the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the anisotropic azimuthal distribution
of particles from Au+Au collisions at sqrtsNN = 200 GeV are summarized and
compared with results from other experiments and theoretical models. Results
for identified particles are presented and fit with a Blast Wave model.
Different anisotropic flow analysis methods are compared and nonflow effects
are extracted from the data. For v_2, scaling with the number of constituent
quarks and parton coalescence is discussed. For v_4, scaling with v_2^2 and
quark coalescence is discussed.Comment: 26 pages. As accepted by Phys. Rev. C. Text rearranged, figures
modified, but data the same. However, in Fig. 35 the hydro calculations are
corrected in this version. The data tables are available at
http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications/ by searching for "flow" and
then this pape
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