The Balloon-Borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) 2005: A 10 deg^2 Survey of Star Formation in Cygnus X

We present Cygnus X in a new multi-wavelength perspective based on an unbiased BLAST survey at 250, 350, and 500 μm, combined with rich data sets for this well-studied region. Our primary goal is to investigate the early stages of high-mass star formation. We have detected 184 compact sources in various stages of evolution across all three BLAST bands. From their well-constrained spectral energy distributions, we obtain the physical properties mass, surface density, bolometric luminosity, and dust temperature. Some of the bright sources reaching 40 K contain well-known compact H_(II) regions. We relate these to other sources at earlier stages of evolution via the energetics as deduced from their position in the luminosity-mass (L-M) diagram. The BLAST spectral coverage, near the peak of the spectral energy distribution of the dust, reveals fainter sources too cool (~10 K) to be seen by earlier shorter-wavelength surveys like IRAS. We detect thermal emission from infrared dark clouds and investigate the phenomenon of cold "starless cores" more generally. Spitzer images of these cold sources often show stellar nurseries, but these potential sites for massive star formation are "starless" in the sense that to date there is no massive protostar in a vigorous accretion phase. We discuss evolution in the context of the L-M diagram. Theory raises some interesting possibilities: some cold massive compact sources might never form a cluster containing massive stars, and clusters with massive stars might not have an identifiable compact cold massive precursor

The MIPSGAL View of Supernova Remnants in the Galactic Plane

We report the detection of Galactic supernova remnants (SNRs) in the mid-infrared (at 24 and 70 μm), in the coordinate ranges 10° < l < 65° and 285° < l < 350°, |b| < 1°, using MIPS aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. We search for infrared counterparts to SNRs in Green's catalog and identify 39 out of 121, i.e., a detection rate of about 32%. Such a relatively low detection fraction is mainly due to confusion with nearby foreground/background sources and diffuse emission. The SNRs in our sample show a linear trend in [F_8/F_(24)] versus [F_(70)/F_(24)]. We compare their infrared fluxes with their corresponding radio flux at 1.4 GHz and find that most remnants have a ratio of 70 μm to 1.4 GHz which is similar to those found in previous studies of SNRs (with the exception of a few that have ratios closer to those of H II regions). Furthermore, we retrieve a slope close to unity when correlating infrared (24 and 70 μm) with 1.4 GHz emission. Our survey is more successful in detecting remnants with bright X-ray emission, which we find is well correlated with the 24 μm morphology. Moreover, by comparing the power emitted in the X-ray, infrared, and radio, we conclude that the energy released in the infrared is comparable to the cooling in the X-ray range

Severe resistant hypocalcemia in multiple myeloma after zoledronic acid administration: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Hypercalcemia is one of the most common metabolic abnormalities encountered in any form of malignancy. Hypocalcemia, however, is a rare manifestation, especially in cancers with bone involvement. Here we present a case of hypocalcemia in a patient with multiple myeloma that was refractory to treatment. CASE PRESENTATION: A 73-year-old African American woman recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma, presented with a 2-day history of fever, vomiting and hypocalcemia. Ten days prior to admission she received zoledronic acid, Velcade(®) (bortezomib), Revlimid(®) (lenalidomide) and dexamethasone. Treatment was started with intravenous antibiotics and calcium gluconate boluses. After 24 hours of treatment her calcium level became undetectable (<5mg/dL). Continuous intravenous calcium gluconate infusions in addition to boluses were started. She remained persistently hypocalcemic and eventually developed tonic–clonic seizures. Vitamin D levels were found to be low and intravenous paricalcitol was initiated, which improved her calcium level. CONCLUSIONS: Underlying vitamin D deficiency can precipitate severe hypocalcemia in patients with multiple myeloma receiving bisphosphonates. This warrants baseline screening for vitamin D deficiency in these patients

Flavor violating decays of the Higgs bosons in the THDM-III

We calculate the branching ratios for the decays of neutral Higgs bosons ($h^{0},H^{0},A^{0}$) into pairs of fermions, including flavor violating processes, in the context of the General Two Higgs Doublet Model III.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 6 tables. Text clarifying equations and references added, typos correction

Expanded Very Large Array Observations of the Nebula Around G79.29+0.46

We have observed the radio nebula surrounding the Galactic luminous blue variable candidate G79.29+0.46 with the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) at 6 cm. These new radio observations allow a morphological comparison between the radio emission, which traces the ionized gas component, and the mid-IR emission, a tracer of the dust component. The InfraRed Array Camera (8 μm) and the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (24 μm and 70 μm) images have been reprocessed and compared with the EVLA map. We confirm the presence of a second shell at 24 μm and also provide evidence for its detection at 70 μm. The differences between the spatial morphology of the radio and mid-IR maps indicate the existence of two dust populations, the cooler one emitting mostly at longer wavelengths. Analysis of the two dusty, nested shells have provided us with an estimate of the characteristic timescales for shell ejection, providing important constraints for stellar evolutionary models. Finer details of the ionized gas distribution can be appreciated thanks to the improved quality of the new 6 cm image, most notably the highly structured texture of the nebula. Evidence of interaction between the nebula and the surrounding interstellar medium can be seen in the radio map, including brighter features that delineate regions where the shell structure is locally modified. In particular, the brighter filaments in the southwest region appear to frame the shocked southwestern clump reported from CO observations

Process-based and correlative modeling of desert mistletoe distribution: a multiscalar approach

Because factors affecting distributional areas of species change as scale (extent and grain) changes, different environmental and biological factors must be integrated across geographic ranges at different resolutions, to understand fully the patterns and processes underlying species' ranges. We expected climate factors to be more important at coarse resolutions and biotic factors at finer resolutions. We used data on occurrence of a parasitic plant (Phoradendron californicum), restricted to parts of the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, to analyze how climate and mobility factors explain its distributional area. We developed analyses at five spatial resolutions (1, 5, 10, 20, 50 km) within the distributional area of the disperser species, and compared ecological niche models from three commonly used correlative methods with a process-based model that estimates colonization and extinction rates in a metapopulation framework. Correlative models improved when layers associated with hosts and disperser were used as predictors, in comparison with models based on climate only; however, they tended to overfit to data as more layers were added. Dispersal-related parameters were more relevant at finer resolutions (1–5 km), but importance of extinction-related parameters did not change with scale. We observed greater coincidence between correlative and process-based models when based only on dimensions of the abiotic niche (i.e., climate), but a clearer and more comprehensive mechanistic understanding was derived from the process-based algorithm

The X-ray Luminosities of HH Objects

The recent detection of X-ray emission from HH 2 and HH 154 with the Chandra and XMM-Newton satellites (respectively) have opened up an interesting, new observational possibility in the field of Herbig-Haro objects. In order to be able to plan further X-ray observations of other HH objects, it is now of interest to be able to estimate their X-ray luminosities in order to choose which objects to observe. This paper describes a simple, analytic model for predicting the X-ray luminosity of a bow shock from the parameters of the flow (i.e., the size of the bow shock, its velocity, and the pre-shock density). The accuracy of the analytic model is analyzed through a comparison with the predictions obtained from axisymmetric, gasdynamic simulations of the leading working surface of an HH jet. We find that our analytic model reproduces the observed X-ray luminosities of HH 2 and HH 154, and we propose that HH~80/81 is a good candidate for future observations with Chandra.Comment: 10 pages (8 text, 2 figures