842 research outputs found
Improved Constraints on the Acceleration History of the Universe and the Properties of the Dark Energy
We extend and apply a model-independent analysis method developed earlier by
Daly & Djorgovski to new samples of supernova standard candles, radio galaxy
and cluster standard rulers, and use it to constrain physical properties of the
dark energy as functions of redshift. Similar results are obtained for the
radio galaxy and supernova data sets. The first and second derivatives of the
distance are compared directly with predictions in a standard model based on
General Relativity. The good agreement indicates that General Relativity
provides an accurate description of the data on look-back time scales of about
ten billion years. The first and second derivatives are combined to obtain the
acceleration parameter, assuming only the validity of the Robertson-Walker
metric, independent of a theory of gravity and of the physical nature of the
dark energy. The acceleration of the universe at the current epoch is indicated
by the analysis. The effect of non-zero space curvature on q(z) is explored. We
solve for the pressure, energy density, equation of state, and potential and
kinetic energy of the dark energy as functions of redshift assuming that
General Relativity is the correct theory of gravity, and the results indicate
that a cosmological constant in a spatially flat universe provides a good
description of each of these quantities over the redshift range from zero to
about one. We define a new function, the dark energy indicator, in terms of the
first and second derivatives of the coordinate distance and show how this can
be used to measure deviations of w from -1 and to obtain a new and independent
measure of Omega.Comment: 46 pages, submitted for publicatio
Far Ultraviolet Emission in the A2597 and A2204 Brightest Cluster Galaxies
We use the Hubble Space Telescope ACS/SBC and Very Large Telescope FORS
cameras to observe the Brightest Cluster Galaxies in Abell 2597 and Abell 2204
in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) F150LP and optical U, B, V, R, I Bessel filters.
The FUV and U band emission is enhanced in bright, filamentary structures
surrounding the BCG nuclei. These filaments can be traced out to 20 kpc from
the nuclei in the FUV. Excess FUV and U band light is determined by removing
emission due to the underlying old stellar population and mapped with 1 arcsec
spatial resolution over the central 20 kpc regions of both galaxies. We find
the FUV and U excess emission to be spatially coincident and a stellar
interpretation requires the existence of a significant amount of 10000-50000 K
stars. Correcting for nebular continuum emission and dust intrinsic to the BCG
further increases the FUV to U band emission ratio and implies that stars alone
may not suffice to explain the observations. However, lack of detailed
information on the gas and dust distribution and extinction law in these
systems prevents us from ruling out a purely stellar origin. Non-stellar
processes, such as the central AGN, Scattering, Synchrotron and Bremsstrahlung
emission are investigated and found to not be able to explain the FUV and U
band measurements in A2597. Contributions from non-thermal processes not
treated here should be investigated. Comparing the FUV emission to the optical
H-alpha line emitting nebula shows good agreement on kpc-scales in both A2597
and A2204. In concordance with an earlier investigation by O'Dea et al. (2004)
we find that O-stars can account for the ionising photons necessary to explain
the observed H-alpha line emission.Comment: accepted by mnra
Chandra Discovery of a 300 kpc X-ray Jet in the GPS Quasar PKS1127-145
We have discovered an X-ray jet with Chandra imaging of the z=1.187
radio-loud quasar PKS1127-145. In this paper we present the Chandra X-ray data,
follow-up VLA observations, and optical imaging using the HST WFPC2. The X-ray
jet contains 273+/-5 net counts in 27ksec and extends ~30 arcsec, from the
quasar core, corresponding to a minimum projected linear size of ~330/h_50 kpc.
The evaluation of the X-ray emission processes is complicated by the observed
offsets between X-ray and radio brightness peaks. We discuss the problems posed
by these observations to jet models. In addition, PKS1127-145 is a Giga-Hertz
Peaked Spectrum radio source, a member of the class of radio sources suspected
to be young or ``frustrated'' versions of FRI radio galaxies. However the
discovery of an X-ray and radio jet extending well outside the host galaxy of
PKS1127-145 suggests that activity in this and other GPS sources may be
long-lived and complex.Comment: 22 pages, 11 ps figures, 1 figure in a JPG file, 3 tables. AASTEX.
Accepted by The Astrophysical Journa
STIS spectroscopy of the emission line gas in the nuclei of nearby FR-I galaxies
We present the results of the analysis of a set of medium resolution spectra,
obtained by the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space
Telescope, of the emission line gas present in the nuclei of a complete sample
of 21 nearby, early-type galaxies with radio jets (the UGC FR-I Sample). For
each galaxy nucleus we present spectroscopic data in the region of H-alpha and
the dervived kinematics.
We find that in 67% of the nuclei the gas appears to be rotating and, with
one exception, the cases where rotation is not seen are either face on or have
complex central morphologies. We find that in 62% of the nuclei the fit to the
central spectrum is improved by the inclusion of a broad component. The broad
components have a mean velocity dispersion of 1349 +/- 345 km\s and are
redshifted from the narrow line components (assuming an origin in H-alpha) by
486 +/- 443 km\s.Comment: 119 pages, 26 figures, ApJS Accepted, version with full figures
available at http://www.astro.columbia.edu/~jake/pub/fr1datapaper.pd
Organoids and bioengineered intestinal models: Potential solutions to the Cryptosporidium culturing dilemma
Cryptosporidium is a major cause of severe diarrhea-related disease in children in developing countries, but currently no vaccine or effective treatment exists for those who are most at risk of serious illness. This is partly due to the lack of in vitro culturing methods that are able to support the entire Cryptosporidium life cycle, which has led to research in Cryptosporidium biology lagging behind other protozoan parasites. In vivo models such as gnotobiotic piglets are complex, and standard in vitro culturing methods in transformed cell lines, such as HCT-8 cells, have not been able to fully support fertilization occurring in vitro. Additionally, the Cryptosporidium life cycle has also been reported to occur in the absence of host cells. Recently developed bioengineered intestinal models, however, have shown more promising results and are able to reproduce a whole cycle of infectivity in one model system. This review evaluates the recent advances in Cryptosporidium culturing techniques and proposes future directions for research that may build upon these successes
HST/STIS Spectroscopy of the Lyman-Alpha Emission Line in the Central Dominant Galaxies in A426, A1795, and A2597: Constraints on Clouds in the Intracluster Medium
We report on HST/STIS spectra of the Lyman-alpha emission in the central
dominant galaxies in three rich clusters of galaxies. We find evidence for a
population of clouds in the intracluster medium.We detect 10 Ly-alpha
absorption systems towards the nucleus of NGC1275 with columns of N(HI)
1E12-1E14 cm-2. The detected absorption features are most consistent with
associated nuclear absorption systems. There is very little nuclear absorption
at the systemic velocity in NGC1275. This implies that the large columns
detected in the 21 cm line towards the parsec scale radio source avoid the line
of sight to the nucleus. This gas may be located in a circumnuclear disk or
torus. We detect at least one and possibly two absorption features towards the
extended Ly-alpha in A426. We do not detect absorption towards the extended
Ly-alpha emission in A1795, and A2597 with upper limits N(HI) 1E13 cm-2 for
optically thin absorbers. Our data constrain the covering factor of any high
column density gas in the ICM to be less than 25%. Our results suggest that the
lack of observed intermediate temperature gas is not explained by obscuration.
In addition, the low columns of gas on the 100 kpc scales in the ICM suggests
that (1) the rate at which cold gas accumulates in the ICM on these scales is
very low, and (2) the dense nebulae in the central 10 kpc must have cooled or
been deposited in situ.Comment: 6 figure
Emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli among Australian chickens in the absence of fluoroquinolone use
In a structured survey of all major chicken-meat producers in Australia, we investigated the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and genomic characteristics of Campylobacter jejuni (nâ=â108) and C. coli (nâ=â96) from cecal samples of chickens at slaughter (nâ=â200). The majority of the C. jejuni (63%) and C. coli (86.5%) samples were susceptible to all antimicrobials. Fluoroquinolone resistance was detected among both C. jejuni (14.8%) and C. coli (5.2%), although this only included three sequence types (STs) and one ST, respectively. Multidrug resistance among strains of C. jejuni (0.9%) and C. coli (4.1%) was rare, and fluoroquinolone resistance, when present, was never accompanied by resistance to any other agent. Comparative genome analysis demonstrated that Australian isolates were found dispersed on different branches/clusters within the international collection. The major fluoroquinolone-resistant STs of C. jejuni (ST7323, ST2083, and ST2343) and C. coli (ST860) present in Australian chickens were similar to those of international isolates and have been reported previously in humans and animals overseas. The detection of a subpopulation of Campylobacter isolates exclusively resistant to fluoroquinolone was unexpected since most critically important antimicrobials such as fluoroquinolones are excluded from use in Australian livestock. A number of factors, including the low level of resistance to other antimicrobials, the absence of fluoroquinolone use, the adoption of measures for preventing spread of contagion between flocks, and particularly the genomic identities of isolates, all point to humans, pest species, or wild birds as being the most plausible source of organisms. This study also demonstrates the need for vigilance in the form of surveillance for AMR based on robust sampling to manage AMR risks in the food chain
Research Weaving: Visualizing the Future of Research Synthesis
We propose a new framework for research synthesis of both evidence and influence, named research weaving. It summarizes and visualizes information content, history, and networks among a collection of documents on any given topic. Research weaving achieves this feat by combining the power of two methods: systematic mapping and bibliometrics. Systematic mapping provides a snapshot of the current state of knowledge, identifying areas needing more research attention and those ready for full synthesis. Bibliometrics enables researchers to see how pieces of evidence are connected, revealing the structure and development of a field. We explain how researchers can use some or all of these tools to gain a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the scientific literature
An infrared survey of brightest cluster galaxies: Paper I
We report on an imaging survey with the Spitzer Space Telescope of 62
brightest cluster galaxies with optical line emission. These galaxies are
located in the cores of X-ray luminous clusters selected from the ROSAT All-Sky
Survey. We find that about half of these sources have a sign of excess infrared
emission; 22 objects out of 62 are detected at 70 microns, 18 have 8 to 5.8
micron flux ratios above 1.0 and 28 have 24 to 8 micron flux ratios above 1.0.
Altogether 35 of 62 objects in our survey exhibit at least one of these signs
of infrared excess. Four galaxies with infrared excesses have a 4.5/3.6 micron
flux ratio indicating the presence of hot dust, and/or an unresolved nucleus at
8 microns. Three of these have high measured [OIII](5007A)/Hbeta flux ratios
suggesting that these four, Abell 1068, Abell 2146, and Zwicky 2089, and
R0821+07, host dusty active galactic nuclei (AGNs). 9 objects (including the
four hosting dusty AGNs) have infrared luminosities greater than 10^11 L_sol
and so can be classified as luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs). Excluding the
four systems hosting dusty AGNs, the excess mid-infrared emission in the
remaining brightest cluster galaxies is likely related to star formation.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ
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