104 research outputs found
Spatially-Correlated Microstructure and Superconductivity in Polycrystalline Boron-Doped Diamond
Scanning tunneling spectroscopies are performed below 100~mK on
nano-crystalline boron-doped diamond films characterized by Transmission
Electron Microscopy and transport measurements. We demonstrate a strong
correlation between the local superconductivity strength and the granular
structure of the films. The study of the spectral shape, amplitude and
temperature dependence of the superconductivity gap enables us to differentiate
intrinsically superconducting grains that follow the BCS model, from grains
showing a different behavior involving the superconducting proximity effect
Stellar Evolutionary Effects on the Abundances of PAH and SN-Condensed Dust in Galaxies
Spectral and photometric observations of nearby galaxies show a correlation
between the strength of their mid-IR aromatic features, attributed to PAH
molecules, and their metal abundance, leading to a deficiency of these features
in low-metallicity galaxies. In this paper, we suggest that the observed
correlation represents a trend of PAH abundance with galactic age, reflecting
the delayed injection of carbon dust into the ISM by AGB stars in the final
post-AGB phase of their evolution. AGB stars are the primary sources of PAHs
and carbon dust in galaxies, and recycle their ejecta back to the interstellar
medium only after a few hundred million years of evolution on the main
sequence. In contrast, more massive stars that explode as Type II supernovae
inject their metals and dust almost instantaneously after their formation. We
first determined the PAH abundance in galaxies by constructing detailed models
of UV-to-radio SED of galaxies that estimate the contribution of dust in
PAH-free HII regions, and PAHs and dust from photodissociation regions, to the
IR emission. All model components: the galaxies' stellar content, properties of
their HII regions, and their ionizing and non-ionizing radiation fields and
dust abundances, are constrained by their observed multiwavelength spectrum.
After determining the PAH and dust abundances in 35 nearby galaxies using our
SED model, we use a chemical evolution model to show that the delayed injection
of carbon dust by AGB stars provides a natural explanation to the dependence of
the PAH content in galaxies with metallicity. We also show that larger dust
particles giving rise to the far-IR emission follow a distinct evolutionary
trend closely related to the injection of dust by massive stars into the ISM.Comment: ApJ, 69 pages, 46 figures, Accepte
ISOCAM view of the starburst galaxies M82, NGC253, and NGC1808
We present results of mid-infrared 5.0-16.5 micron spectrophotometric imaging
of the starburst galaxies M82, NGC253, and NGC1808 from the ISOCAM instrument
on board the Infrared Space Observatory. The mid-infrared spectra of the three
galaxies are very similar in terms of features present. The > 11 micron
continuum attributed to very small dust grains (VSGs) exhibits a large spread
in intensity relative to the short-wavelength emission. We find that the 15
micron dust continuum flux density correlates well with the fine-structure
[ArII] 6.99 micron line flux and thus provides a good quantitative indicator of
the level of star formation activity. By contrast, the 5-11 micron region
dominated by emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) has a nearly
invariant shape. Variations in the relative intensities of the PAH features are
nevertheless observed, at the 20%-100% level. We illustrate extinction effects
on the shape of the mid-infrared spectrum of obscured starbursts, emphasizing
the differences depending on the applicable extinction law and the consequences
for the interpretation of PAH ratios and extinction estimates. The relative
spatial distributions of the PAH, VSG, and [ArII] 6.99 micron emission between
the three galaxies exhibit remarkable differences. The < 1 kpc size of the
mid-infrared source is much smaller than the optical extent of our sample
galaxies and 70%-100% of the IRAS 12 micron flux is recovered within the ISOCAM
< 1.5 arcmin squared field of view, indicating that the nuclear starburst
dominates the total mid-infrared emission while diffuse light from quiescent
disk star formation contributes little.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics; Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12 appear after Sect.
Failure of feedback as a putative common mechanism of spreading depolarizations in migraine and stroke
The stability of cortical function depends critically on proper regulation.
Under conditions of migraine and stroke a breakdown of transmembrane chemical
gradients can spread through cortical tissue. A concomitant component of this
emergent spatio-temporal pattern is a depolarization of cells detected as slow
voltage variations. The velocity of ~3 mm/min indicates a contribution of
diffusion. We propose a mechanism for spreading depolarizations (SD) that rests
upon a nonlocal or non-instantaneous feedback in a reaction-diffusion system.
Depending upon the characteristic space and time scales of the feedback, the
propagation of cortical SD can be suppressed by shifting the bifurcation line,
which separates the parameter regime of pulse propagation from the regime where
a local disturbance dies out. The optimisation of this feedback is elaborated
for different control schemes and ranges of control parameters
Static Pressure of Hot Gas: Its Effect on the Gas Disks of Galaxies
The static pressure of the hot gas that fills clusters and groups of galaxies
can affect significantly the volume density and thickness of the gas disks in
galaxies. In combination with the dynamic pressure, the static pressure allows
several observed peculiarities of spiral galaxies surrounded by a hot medium to
be explained.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures. This is a slightly modified version of the paper
published in Astronomy Letters 2008, Vol. 34, No 11, p. 73
Metal enrichment processes
There are many processes that can transport gas from the galaxies to their
environment and enrich the environment in this way with metals. These metal
enrichment processes have a large influence on the evolution of both the
galaxies and their environment. Various processes can contribute to the gas
transfer: ram-pressure stripping, galactic winds, AGN outflows, galaxy-galaxy
interactions and others. We review their observational evidence, corresponding
simulations, their efficiencies, and their time scales as far as they are known
to date. It seems that all processes can contribute to the enrichment. There is
not a single process that always dominates the enrichment, because the
efficiencies of the processes vary strongly with galaxy and environmental
properties.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science
Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view",
Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 17; work done by an international team at the
International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S.
Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke
Cold gas accretion in galaxies
Evidence for the accretion of cold gas in galaxies has been rapidly
accumulating in the past years. HI observations of galaxies and their
environment have brought to light new facts and phenomena which are evidence of
ongoing or recent accretion:
1) A large number of galaxies are accompanied by gas-rich dwarfs or are
surrounded by HI cloud complexes, tails and filaments. It may be regarded as
direct evidence of cold gas accretion in the local universe. It is probably the
same kind of phenomenon of material infall as the stellar streams observed in
the halos of our galaxy and M31. 2) Considerable amounts of extra-planar HI
have been found in nearby spiral galaxies. While a large fraction of this gas
is produced by galactic fountains, it is likely that a part of it is of
extragalactic origin. 3) Spirals are known to have extended and warped outer
layers of HI. It is not clear how these have formed, and how and for how long
the warps can be sustained. Gas infall has been proposed as the origin. 4) The
majority of galactic disks are lopsided in their morphology as well as in their
kinematics. Also here recent accretion has been advocated as a possible cause.
In our view, accretion takes place both through the arrival and merging of
gas-rich satellites and through gas infall from the intergalactic medium (IGM).
The infall may have observable effects on the disk such as bursts of star
formation and lopsidedness. We infer a mean ``visible'' accretion rate of cold
gas in galaxies of at least 0.2 Msol/yr. In order to reach the accretion rates
needed to sustain the observed star formation (~1 Msol/yr), additional infall
of large amounts of gas from the IGM seems to be required.Comment: To appear in Astronomy & Astrophysics Reviews. 34 pages.
Full-resolution version available at
http://www.astron.nl/~oosterlo/accretionRevie
Milestones in the Observations of Cosmic Magnetic Fields
Magnetic fields are observed everywhere in the universe. In this review, we
concentrate on the observational aspects of the magnetic fields of Galactic and
extragalactic objects. Readers can follow the milestones in the observations of
cosmic magnetic fields obtained from the most important tracers of magnetic
fields, namely, the star-light polarization, the Zeeman effect, the rotation
measures (RMs, hereafter) of extragalactic radio sources, the pulsar RMs, radio
polarization observations, as well as the newly implemented sub-mm and mm
polarization capabilities.
(Another long paragraph is omitted due to the limited space here)Comment: Invited Review (ChJA&A); 32 pages. Sorry if your significant
contributions in this area were not mentioned. Published pdf & ps files (with
high quality figures) now availble at http://www.chjaa.org/2002_2_4.ht
Hemodynamic Traveling Waves in Human Visual Cortex
Functional MRI (fMRI) experiments rely on precise characterization of the blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal. As the spatial resolution of fMRI reaches the sub-millimeter range, the need for quantitative modelling of spatiotemporal properties of this hemodynamic signal has become pressing. Here, we find that a detailed physiologically-based model of spatiotemporal BOLD responses predicts traveling waves with velocities and spatial ranges in empirically observable ranges. Two measurable parameters, related to physiology, characterize these waves: wave velocity and damping rate. To test these predictions, high-resolution fMRI data are acquired from subjects viewing discrete visual stimuli. Predictions and experiment show strong agreement, in particular confirming BOLD waves propagating for at least 5–10 mm across the cortical surface at speeds of 2–12 mm s-1. These observations enable fundamentally new approaches to fMRI analysis, crucial for fMRI data acquired at high spatial resolution
Further evidence of psychological factors underlying choice of elective cesarean delivery (ECD) by primigravidae
Objective: Requests for elective cesarean delivery (ECD) have increased in Iran. While some sociodemographic and fear-related factors have been linked with this choice, psychological factors such as self-esteem, stress, and health beliefs are under-researched. Methods: A total of 342 primigravidae (mean age = 25 years) completed questionnaires covering psychological dimensions such as self-esteem, perceived stress, marital relationship quality, perceived social support, and relevant health-related beliefs. Results: Of the sample, 214 (62.6%) chose to undergo ECD rather than vaginal delivery (VD). This choice was associated with lower self-esteem, greater perceived stress, belief in higher susceptibility to problematic birth and barriers to an easy birth, along with lower perceived severity of ECD, fewer perceived benefits from VD, lower self-efficacy and a lower feeling of preparedness. No differences were found for marital relationship quality or perceived social support. Conclusions: The pattern suggests that various psychological factors such as self-esteem, self-efficacy, and perceived stress underpin the decision by primigravidae to have an ECD
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