242 research outputs found
Sequencing of Proteins Extracted from Stones
Proteins from urinary tract and gallbladder stones were extracted and characterized to determine the composition of the matrix and possibly unravel the role of the organic phase in stone formation. Proteins from crushed stones were extracted by electrodialysis and concentrated in the Amicon centricon cartridge or by lyophilization after dialysis against distilled water. Aliquots were first analyzed by isoelectric focusing in gel and if suitable subjected to two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis. The most promising spots were harvested and the N-terminal amino acids sequenced, thus providing maximum information with minimum expenditure of material. The 2D separations and amino acid sequences of several protein extracts demonstrated similarities and differences in composition and achieved the identification or demonstration of previously and recently detected polypeptides
The Matrix of Urinary Tract Stones: Protein Composition, Antigenicity, and Ultrastructure
We have extracted proteins from urinary tract stones by electrodialysis and have developed antisera to the core and the shell of a renal stone. The protein composition varies between stones but is identical in the core and the shell of the same stone. One stone antigen is present in the urine of normal individuals and stone formers, as well as in cholesterol gallstone extracts. Electron microscopy of the core of a urate-calcium oxalate stone before and after demineralization reveals a fibrillar structure associated with mineral deposits, as well as aggregates of crystals
A Cationic Protein from a Urate-Calcium Oxalate Stone: Isolation and Purification of a Shared Protein
A protein extracted from a urate - calcium oxalate stone by electrodialysis is also excreted in the urine which served as the source material for its purification by FPLC after separation on an ACA44 column. It has an amino acid composition appropriate for a cationic protein. One peptide obtained by cyanogen bromide cleavage has significant (approximately 60%) homology with CD59 protein (protectin). Both proteins have wide distribution, the unknown having been found in bile, cholesterol gallstones, and the wall of the aorta. However, the two proteins appear to be immunologically different
Urinary Stone Proteins: An Update
The discovery of an organic component in kidney stones dates back to 1684. More than 150 years elapsed before the incrustation of this organic component, which is now called the matrix, was proposed as the mechanism of stone formation. The composition of the matrix remained largely unknown until the development of electron microscopy and the advances in biochemistry combined in the 1950\u27s to usher in the modern era of renal stone matrix investigation. Composed mainly of selectively incorporated proteins generally characterized by high glutamic and aspartic acid content and the frequent occurrence of y-carboxyglutamic acid, the matrix dis-plays a variable and complex composition and shares a few proteins in many stones. The embryonic stone may . first appear in the renal tubules where it can acquire the blood and cell membrane proteins recently found by analysis of stone protein extracts. The combination of supersaturation, an appropriate environment, the avail-ability of calcium binding proteins which may be abnormal, and the incorporation of proteins extracted from leukocytes and cell wall membranes may induce stone formation
Technique for detecting warm-hot intergalactic gas in quasar UV spectra
The ionizing spectral energy distribution of quasars exhibits a steepening of
the distribution shortward of ~ 1200 A. The change of the power-law index from
approximately -1 (near-UV) to -2 (far-UV) has so far been interpreted as being
intrinsic to quasars. We consider the possibility that the steepening may
result from a tenuous absorption component that is anticorrelated with large
mass overdensities. UV sensitive satellites, whose detectors can extend down to
1000 A, can set a useful limit to such an absorption component through the
search of a flux increase in the window 1050-1190 A (observer frame) with
respect to an extrapolation of the continuum above 1230 A. Since the recent
FUSE or HST-STIS data do not show any obvious discontinuity in this region,
this effectively rules out the possibility that intergalactic HI absorption is
very important, and it is concluded that most if not all of the steepening is
intrinsic to quasars. A smaller flux discontinuity of order 1% cannot, however,
be ruled out yet and would still be consistent with the warm-hot intergalactic
component if it amounts to 30% of the baryonic mass, as predicted by some
models of large scale structure formation, provided its temperature lies around
10^{5.5} K.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures and 1 table, accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal, typos corrected and correction for the faulty scaling
of variable n_H^0 with redshif
Quasar 3C 298: a test-case for meteoritic nanodiamond 3.5 ”m emission
Aims. We calculate the dust emission expected at 3.43 and 3.53 ”m if meteoritic (i.e. hydrogenated) nanodiamonds are responsible for most of the far-UV break observed in quasars.
Methods. We integrate the UV flux that hydrogenated nanodiamonds must absorb to reproduce the far-UV break. Based on laboratory spectra of H-terminated diamond surfaces, we analyse the radiative energy budget and derive theoretically the IR emission profiles expected for possible C-H surface stretch modes of the diamonds.
Results. Using as test case a spectrum of 3C 298 provided by the Spitzer Observatory, we do not find evidence of these emission bands.
Conclusions. While diamonds without surface adsorbates remain a viable candidate for explaining the far-UV break observed in quasars, hydrogenated nanodiamonds appear to be ruled out, as they would give rise to IR emission bands, which have not been observed so far
The black holes of radio galaxies during the "Quasar Era": Masses, accretion rates, and evolutionary stage
We present an analysis of the AGN broad-line regions of 6 powerful radio
galaxies at z>~2 (HzRGs) with rest-frame optical imaging spectroscopy obtained
at the VLT. All galaxies have luminous (L(H-alpha)=few x 10^44 erg s^-1),
spatially unresolved H-alpha line emission with FWHM>= 10,000 km s^-1 at the
position of the nucleus, suggesting their AGN are powered by supermassive black
holes with masses of few x 10^9 M_sun and accretion luminosities of a few
percent of the Eddington luminosity. In two galaxies we also detect the BLRs in
H-beta, suggesting relatively low extinction of A_V~1 mag, which agrees with
constraints from X-ray observations. By relating black hole and bulge mass, we
find a possible offset towards higher black-hole masses of at most ~0.6 dex
relative to nearby galaxies at a given host mass, although each individual
galaxy is within the scatter of the local relationship. If not entirely from
systematic effects, this would then suggest that the masses of the host
galaxies have increased by at most a factor ~4 since z~2 relative to the
black-hole masses, perhaps through accretion of satellite galaxies or because
of a time lag between star formation in the host galaxy and AGN fueling. We
also compare the radiative and mechanical energy output (from jets) of our
targets with predictions of recent models of "synthesis" or "grand unified" AGN
feedback, which postulate that AGN with similar radiative and mechanical energy
output rates to those found in our HzRGs may be nearing the end of their period
of active growth. We discuss evidence that they may reach this stage at the
same time as their host galaxies.Comment: A&A in pres
Extended High-Ionization Nuclear Emission-Line Region in the Seyfert Galaxy NGC 4051
We present an optical spectroscopic analysis of the well-known Seyfert galaxy
NGC 4051. The high-ionization nuclear emission-line region (HINER) traced by
[Fe X]6374 is found to be spatially extended to a radius of 3a rcseconds (150
pc) west and southwest from the nucleus; NGC 4051 is the third example which
has an extended HINER.
The nuclear spectrum shows that the flux of [Fe X]6374 is stronger than that
of [Fe VII] 6087 in our observation. This property cannot be interpreted in
terms of a simple one-zone photoionization model.
In order to understand what happens in the nuclear region in NGC 4051, we
investigate the physical condition of the nuclear emission-line region in
detail using new photoionization models in which the following three
emission-line components are taken into account; (1) optically thick,
ionization-bounded clouds; (2) optically thin, matter-bounded clouds; and (3) a
contamination component which emits H and H lines. Here the
observed extended HINER is considered to be associated with the low-density,
matter-bounded clouds. Candidates of the contamination component are either the
broad-line region (BLR) or nuclear star forming regions or both. The complexity
of the excitation condition found in NGC 4051 can be consistently understood if
we take account of these contamination components.Comment: 16 pages, including figures. To Appear in the Astronomical Journal
February 2000 Issu
Quasar 3C298: a test-case for meteoritic nanodiamond 3.5 microns emission
We calculate the dust emission expected at 3.43 and 3.53 microns if
meteoritic (i.e. hydrogenated) nanodiamonds are responsible for most of the
far-UV break observed in quasars.
We integrate the UV flux that hydrogenated nanodiamonds must absorb to
reproduce the far-UV break. Based on laboratory spectra of H-terminated diamond
surfaces, we analyse the radiative energy budget and derive theoretically the
IR emission profiles expected for possible C-H surface stretch modes of the
diamonds.
Using as test case a spectrum of 3C298 provided by the Spitzer Observatory,
we do not find evidence of these emission bands.
While diamonds without surface adsorbates remain a viable candidate for
explaining the far-UV break observed in quasars, hydrogenated nanodiamonds
appear to be ruled out, as they would giverise to IR emission bands, which have
not been observed so far.Comment: To appear in A&A Letters, 4 pages, 2 figure
On the nature of Seyfert galaxies with high [OIII]5007 blueshifts
We have studied the properties of Seyfert galaxies with high [OIII]5007
blueshifts (`blue outliers'), originally identified because of their strong
deviation from the M_BH - sigma relation of normal, narrow-line Seyfert 1
(NLS1) and broad-line Seyfert 1 (BLS1) galaxies. These blue outliers turn out
to be important test-beds for models of the narrow-line region (NLR), for
mechanisms of driving large-scale outflows, for links between NLS1 galaxies and
radio galaxies, and for orientation-dependent NLS1 models. We report the
detection of a strong correlation of line blueshift with ionization potential
in each galaxy, including the measurement of coronal lines with radial
velocities up to 500--1000 km/s. All [OIII] blue outliers have narrow widths of
their broad Balmer lines and high Eddington ratios. While the presence of
non-shifted low-ionization lines signifies the presence of a classical outer
quiescent NLR in blue outliers, we also report the absence of any second,
non-blueshifted [OIII] component from a classical inner NLR. These results
place tight constraints on NLR models. We favor a scenario in which the NLR
clouds are entrained in a decelerating wind which explains the strong
stratification and the absence of a zero-blueshift inner NLR of blue outliers.
The origin of the wind remains speculative at this time (collimated radio
plasma, thermal winds, radiatively accelerated clouds). It is perhaps linked to
the high Eddington ratios of blue outliers. Similar, less powerful winds could
be present in all Seyfert galaxies, but would generally only affect the coronal
line region (CLR), or level off even before reaching the CLR. Similarities
between blue outliers in NLS1 galaxies and (compact) radio sources are briefly
discussed.Comment: ApJ in press (scheduled for June 20 issue); incl. 4 colour figures.
This, and related paper showing that NLS1 galaxies follow the M-sigma
relation based on [SII], is also available at
http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/~skomossa
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