Precession of neutrino-cooled accretion disks in gamma-ray burst engines

We study the precession of accretion disks in the context of gamma-ray burst inner engines. With an accretion disk model that allows for neutrino cooling, we evaluate the possible periods of disk precession and nutation due to the Lense-Thirring effect. Assuming jet ejection perpendicular to the disk midplane and a typical intrinsic time dependence for the burst, we find possible gamma-ray light curves with temporal microstructure similar to what is observed in some subsamples. We conclude that the precession and nutation of a neutrino-cooled accretion disk in the burst engine might be responsible for some events, especially those with a slow rise and a fast decay.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The Iturin and Fengycin Families of Lipopeptides Are Key Factors in Antagonism of Bacillus subtilis Toward Podosphaera fusca

Podosphaera fusca is the main causal agent of cucurbit powdery mildew in Spain. Four Bacillus subtilis strains, UMAF6614, UMAF6619, UMAF6639, and UMAF8561, with proven ability to suppress the disease on melon in detached leaf and seedling assays, were subjected to further analyses to elucidate the mode of action involved in their biocontrol performance. Cell-free supernatants showed antifungal activities very close to those previously reported for vegetative cells. Identification of three lipopeptide antibiotics, surfactin, fengycin, and iturin A or bacillomycin, in butanolic extracts from cell-free culture filtrates of these B. subtilis strains pointed out that antibiosis could be a major factor involved in their biocontrol ability. The strong inhibitory effect of purified lipopeptide fractions corresponding to bacillomycin, fengycin, and iturin A on P. fusca conidia germination, as well as the in situ detection of these lipopeptides in bacterial-treated melon leaves, provided interesting evidence of their putative involvement in the antagonistic activity. Those results were definitively supported by site-directed mutagenesis analysis, targeted to suppress the biosynthesis of the different lipopeptides. Taken together, our data have allowed us to conclude that the iturin and fengycin families of lipopeptides have a major role in the antagonism of B. subtilis toward P. fusca.

Orbital and Suborbital‐Scale Variations of Productivity and Sea Surface Conditions in the Gulf of Alaska During the Past 54,000 Years: Impact of Iron Fertilization by Icebergs and Meltwater

As a high-nutrient and low-chlorophyll region, the modern Gulf of Alaska (GoA) is strongly impacted by the limitation of iron. Paleostudies along the Alaskan slope have mainly focused on reconstructing environmental conditions over the past 18 ka. Based on micropaleontological, biogeochemical, and sedimentological parameters, we explore a sediment record covering the past 54 ka at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Site U1419 to understand the impact of orbital- and suborbital-scale climate variability on productivity and sea-surface conditions. Close to the Cordilleran Ice Sheet (CIS), Site U1419 is ideally located to elucidate how the evolution of a large ice mass and glacial processes affected orbital- and suborbital-scale changes in nutrients (e.g., iron) supply. Meltwater discharge from the northern CIS impacted sea surface dynamics of GoA coastal waters. The corresponding increases in bulk biogenic concentrations during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and MIS 2 (54–17 ka) suggests a direct impact from iron fertilization. The lack of a consistent relationship between productivity and SST suggests that cooling of surface waters was not the dominant control on primary producers. The inundation of the subaerially exposed continental shelf during the last deglacial (17–10 ka) warming could have served as a major micronutrient source, accounting for a deglacial peak in production. Low productivity after the last deglaciation suggests reduced iron availability, which we link to reduced meltwater inputs from smaller ice masses onshore. Our multiproxy approach reveals a more comprehensive picture of late Quaternary productivity variations compared to earlier studies along the Alaskan margin. The impact of tidewater glaciers and meltwater discharge on past marine productivity and nutrient budget dynamics of high-latitude coastal regions is discussed

Fostering place-based coalitions between social movements and science for sustainable urban environments: a case of embedded agency

The objective of this paper is to contribute to an important debate concerning the interaction between place-based social movements and the science, technology and innovation system. Our central proposition is that place-based social movements can facilitate unique local heterogeneous alliances with key actors of the science and technology system. A process of bricolage can emerge from these alliances whereby social movements are supported by the technical knowledge of the science community, and in turn, the priorities of the scientists are influenced by the agendas of the social movements, leading to new forms of knowledge production. We build on this to argue that these place-based engagements can create significant agency towards changes in socio technical and socio ecological systems in urban environments, especially in societies where regulatory oversight is weaker and social movements in areas that overlap science, technology and innovation are a common expression of civil society demand for change. Our argument is developed through a study of a social movement in defence of an urban wetland in Bogota

The Iturin and Fengycin Families of Lipopeptides Are Key Factors in Antagonism of Bacillus subtilis Toward Podosphaera fusca

Podosphaera fusca is the main causal agent of cucurbit powdery mildew in Spain. Four Bacillus subtilis strains, UMAF6614, UMAF6619, UMAF6639, and UMAF8561, with proven ability to suppress the disease on melon in detached leaf and seedling assays, were subjected to further analyses to elucidate the mode of action involved in their biocontrol performance. Cell-free supernatants showed antifungal activities very close to those previously reported for vegetative cells. Identification of three lipopeptide antibiotics, surfactin, fengycin, and iturin A or bacillomycin, in butanolic extracts from cell-free culture filtrates of these B. subtilis strains pointed out that antibiosis could be a major factor involved in their biocontrol ability. The strong inhibitory effect of purified lipopeptide fractions corresponding to bacillomycin, fengycin, and iturin A on P. fusca conidia germination, as well as the in situ detection of these lipopeptides in bacterial-treated melon leaves, provided interesting evidence of their putative involvement in the antagonistic activity. Those results were definitively supported by site-directed mutagenesis analysis, targeted to suppress the biosynthesis of the different lipopeptides. Taken together, our data have allowed us to conclude that the iturin and fengycin families of lipopeptides have a major role in the antagonism of B. subtilis toward P. fusca.

A model for the electromagnetic spectrum of the inner jets of Cen A

Centaurus A, the closest active galaxy, has been detected from radio to high-energy gamma-rays. The synchrotron radiation by extremely high energy protons may be a suitable mechanism to explain the MeV to GeV emission detected by the instruments of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory, as coming from the inner jets. This scenario requires a relatively large magnetic field of about 10^4 G that could be present only close to the central black hole. We investigate the spectral energy distribution (SED) resulting from a one-zone compact acceleration region, where both leptonic and hadronic relativistic populations arise. We present here results of such a model, where we have considered synchrotron radiation by primary electrons and protons, inverse Compton interactions, and gamma-ray emission originated by the inelastic hadronic interactions between relativistic protons and cold nuclei within the jets themselves. Photo-meson production by relativistic hadrons were also taken into account, as well as the effects of secondary particles injected by all interactions. The internal and external absorption of gamma rays is shown to be of great relevance to shape the observable SED, which was also recently constrained by the results of HESS.Comment: 13 pages (ref. style), submitted to MNRAS on December 04, 2008. Waiting for revie

Effects of N-acetyl-seryl-asparyl-lysyl-proline on blood pressure, renal damage, and mortality in systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a high prevalence of hypertension. NZBWF1 (SLE-Hyp) mice develop hypertension that can be prevented by modulating T cells. The peptide N-acetyl-seryl-aspartyl-lysyl-proline (Ac-SDKP) decreases renal damage and improves renal function in a model of SLE without hypertension (MRL/lpr). However, it is not known whether Ac-SDKP prevents hypertension in NZBWF1 mice. We hypothesized that in SLE-Hyp, Ac-SDKP prevents hypertension and renal damage by modulating T cells. Animals were divided into four groups: (1) control + vehicle, (2) control + Ac-SDKP, (3) SLE + vehicle, and (4) SLE + Ac-SDKP Systolic blood pressure (SBP), albuminuria, renal fibrosis, and T-cell phenotype were analyzed. SBP was higher in SLE compared to control mice and was not decreased by Ac-SDKP treatment. Half of SLE mice developed an acute and severe form of hypertension accompanied by albuminuria followed by death. Ac-SDKP delayed development of severe hypertension, albuminuria, and early mortality, but this delay did not reach statistical significance. Ac-SDKP prevented glomerulosclerosis, but not interstitial fibrosis in SLE-Hyp mice. SLE-Hyp mice showed a decrease in helper and cytotoxic T cells as well as an increase in double negative lymphocytes and T helper 17 cells, but these cells were unaffected by Ac-SDKP In conclusion, Ac-SDKP prevents kidney damage, without affecting blood pressure in an SLE animal model. However, during the acute relapse of SLE, Ac-SDKP might also delay the manifestation of an acute and severe form of hypertension leading to early mortality. Ac-SDKP is a potential tool to treat renal damage in SLE-Hyp mice

A sex-structured model of Wolbachia invasion to design sex-biased release strategies in Aedes spp mosquitoes populations

Laboratory experiments as well as some field essays have revealed that the intracellular bacterium Wolbachia, deliberately introduced in Aedes spp female mosquitoes, drastically reduces their vector competence for dengue virus and other pathogens. However, female mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia still need to ingest human blood while male mosquitoes, either wild or Wolbachia-carrying, do not bite people. Moreover, Wolbachia-carrying females may transmit the virus to people during blood-feeding, even though with a far less probability than the wild ones. Therefore, massive releases of Wolbachia-carrying females may increase both the nuisance and the epidemiological risk among human residents. In this paper, we propose a sex-structured model of Wolbachia invasion that brings forward the possibility of developing male-biased release strategies of Wolbachia-carriers leading to Wolbachia invasion. Thanks to this model, we study the minimal amount of mosquitoes necessary to complete this task, according to the relative sex-ratio of the released mosquitoes and to the release schedule. We also pay attention to the estimate of the time needed to achieve the ultimate population replacement

Preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) over CuOx/CeO2 coated microchannel reactor

The general aspects of the synthesis and characterization results of a CuOx/CeO2 catalyst were presented. In addition the principal steps for manufacturing a microchannel reactor and for the coating of the CuOx/CeO2 catalyst onto the microchannels walls, were also summarized. The catalytic activity of this microchannel reactor during the preferential oxidation of CO (CO-PROX) was evaluated employing a feed-stream that simulates a reformate off-gas after the WGS unit. Two activation atmospheres were studied (H2/N2 and O2/N 2). The reducing pretreatment improved the resistance to deactivation by formation of carbonaceous species over the catalyst surface at high temperatures. The presence of H2O and CO2 in the feed-stream was also analyzed indicating that the adsorption of CO2 inhibited the conversion of CO at lower temperatures because these compounds modified the active sites through the formation of carbonaceous species on the catalyst surface. Finally, the experimental results of the microreactor performance were compared with CFD simulations that were carried out using a kinetic for the CuOx/CeO2 powder catalyst. The experimental results were reasonably well described by the model, thus confirming its validity.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación ENE2009-14522-C05-01, ENE2009-14522-C05-03Junta de Andalucía P09-TEP-545