430 research outputs found
Estimation of aerosol water and chemical composition from AERONET Sunâsky radiometer measurements at Cabauw, the Netherlands
Remote sensing of aerosols provides important information on atmospheric
aerosol abundance. However, due to the hygroscopic nature of aerosol
particles observed aerosol optical properties are influenced by atmospheric
humidity, and the measurements do not unambiguously characterize the aerosol
dry mass and composition, which complicates the comparison with aerosol
models. In this study we derive aerosol water and chemical composition by a
modeling approach that combines individual measurements of remotely sensed
aerosol properties (e.g., optical thickness, single-scattering albedo,
refractive index and size distribution) from an AERONET (Aerosol Robotic
Network) Sunâsky radiometer with radiosonde measurements of relative
humidity. The model simulates water uptake by aerosols based on the chemical
composition (e.g., sulfates, ammonium, nitrate, organic matter and black
carbon) and size distribution. A minimization method is used to calculate
aerosol composition and concentration, which are then compared to in situ
measurements from the Intensive Measurement Campaign At the Cabauw Tower
(IMPACT, May 2008, the Netherlands). Computed concentrations show good
agreement with campaign-average (i.e., 1â14 May) surface observations (mean
bias is 3% for PM<sub>10</sub> and 4â25% for the individual compounds). They
follow the day-to-day (synoptic) variability in the observations and are in
reasonable agreement for daily average concentrations (i.e., mean bias is
5% for PM<sub>10</sub> and black carbon, 10% for the inorganic salts and
18% for organic matter; root-mean-squared deviations are 26% for
PM<sub>10</sub> and 35â45% for the individual compounds). The modeled water
volume fraction is highly variable and strongly dependent on composition.
During this campaign we find that it is >0.5 at approximately 80% relative humidity
(RH) when the aerosol composition is dominated by hygroscopic inorganic salts, and
<0.1 when RH is below 40%, especially when the composition is
dominated by less hygroscopic compounds such as organic matter. The
scattering enhancement factor (f(RH), the ratio of the scattering coefficient
at 85% RH and its dry value at 676 nm) during 1â14 May is
2.6 ± 0.5. The uncertainty in AERONET (real) refractive index
(0.025â0.05) is the largest source of uncertainty in the modeled aerosol
composition and leads to an uncertainty of 0.1â0.25 (50â100%) in aerosol
water volume fraction. Our methodology performs relatively well at Cabauw,
but a better performance may be expected for regions with higher aerosol
loading where the uncertainties in the AERONET inversions are smaller
Far-Infrared Properties of Spitzer-selected Luminous Starbursts
We present SHARC-2 350 micron data on 20 luminous z ~ 2 starbursts with
S(1.2mm) > 2 mJy from the Spitzer-selected samples of Lonsdale et al. and
Fiolet et al. All the sources were detected, with S(350um) > 25 mJy for 18 of
them. With the data, we determine precise dust temperatures and luminosities
for these galaxies using both single-temperature fits and models with power-law
mass--temperature distributions. We derive appropriate formulae to use when
optical depths are non-negligible. Our models provide an excellent fit to the
6um--2mm measurements of local starbursts. We find characteristic
single-component temperatures T1 ~ 35.5+-2.2 K and integrated infrared (IR)
luminosities around 10^(12.9+-0.1) Lsun for the SWIRE-selected sources.
Molecular gas masses are estimated at 4 x 10^(10) Msun, assuming
kappa(850um)=0.15 m^2/kg and a submillimeter-selected galaxy (SMG)-like
gas-to-dust mass ratio. The best-fit models imply >~2 kpc emission scales. We
also note a tight correlation between rest-frame 1.4 GHz radio and IR
luminosities confirming star formation as the predominant power source. The
far-IR properties of our sample are indistinguishable from the purely
submillimeter-selected populations from current surveys. We therefore conclude
that our original selection criteria, based on mid-IR colors and 24 um flux
densities, provides an effective means for the study of SMGs at z ~ 1.5--2.5.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, edited to match published version in ApJ 717,
29-39 (2010
Recruitment, augmentation and apoptosis of rat osteoclasts in 1,25-(OH)2D3 response to short-term treatment with 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3in vivo
Background
Although much is known about the regulation of osteoclast (OC) formation and activity, little is known about OC senescence. In particular, the fate of of OC seen after 1,25-(OH)2D3 administration in vivo is unclear. There is evidence that the normal fate of OC is to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death). We have investigated the effect of short-term application of high dose 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25-(OH)2D3) on OC apoptosis in an experimental rat model.
Methods
OC recruitment, augmentation and apoptosis was visualised and quantitated by staining histochemically for tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), double staining for TRAP/ED1 or TRAP/DAPI, in situ DNA fragmentation end labelling and histomorphometric analysis.
Results
Short-term treatment with high-dose 1,25-(OH)2D3 increased the recruitment of OC precursors in the bone marrow resulting in a short-lived increase in OC numbers. This was rapidly followed by an increase in the number of apoptotic OC and their subsequent removal. The response of OC to 1,25-(OH)2D3 treatment was dose and site dependent; higher doses producing stronger, more rapid responses and the response in the tibiae being consistently stronger and more rapid than in the vertebrae.
Conclusions
This study demonstrates that (1) after recruitment, OC are removed from the resorption site by apoptosis (2) the combined use of TRAP and ED1 can be used to identify OC and their precursors in vivo (3) double staining for TRAP and DAPI or in situ DNA fragmentation end labelling can be used to identify apoptotic OC in vivo
Cluster-cluster aggregation and calculated SAXS patterns: application to concentration dependence of fractal parameters
Planck's Dusty GEMS: Gravitationally lensed high-redshift galaxies discovered with the Planck survey
We present an analysis of 11 bright far-IR/submm sources discovered through a
combination of the Planck survey and follow-up Herschel-SPIRE imaging. Each
source has a redshift z=2.2-3.6 obtained through a blind redshift search with
EMIR at the IRAM 30-m telescope. Interferometry obtained at IRAM and the SMA,
and optical/near-infrared imaging obtained at the CFHT and the VLT reveal
morphologies consistent with strongly gravitationally lensed sources.
Additional photometry was obtained with JCMT/SCUBA-2 and IRAM/GISMO at 850 um
and 2 mm, respectively. All objects are bright, isolated point sources in the
18 arcsec beam of SPIRE at 250 um, with spectral energy distributions peaking
either near the 350 um or the 500 um bands of SPIRE, and with apparent
far-infrared luminosities of up to 3x10^14 L_sun. Their morphologies and sizes,
CO line widths and luminosities, dust temperatures, and far-infrared
luminosities provide additional empirical evidence that these are strongly
gravitationally lensed high-redshift galaxies. We discuss their dust masses and
temperatures, and use additional WISE 22-um photometry and template fitting to
rule out a significant contribution of AGN heating to the total infrared
luminosity. Six sources are detected in FIRST at 1.4 GHz. Four have flux
densities brighter than expected from the local far-infrared-radio correlation,
but in the range previously found for high-z submm galaxies, one has a deficit
of FIR emission, and 6 are consistent with the local correlation. The global
dust-to-gas ratios and star-formation efficiencies of our sources are
predominantly in the range expected from massive, metal-rich, intense,
high-redshift starbursts. An extensive multi-wavelength follow-up programme is
being carried out to further characterize these sources and the intense
star-formation within them.Comment: A&A accepte
Volume fraction dependence and reorganization in clusterâcluster aggregation processes
Simultaneous monitoring of amorphous and crystalline phases in silicalite precursor gels. An in situ hydrothermal and time-resolved small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering study
Mapping the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect toward MACS J0717.5+3745 with NIKA
Measurement of the gas velocity distribution in galaxy clusters provides
insight into the physics of mergers, through which large scale structures form
in the Universe. Velocity estimates within the intracluster medium (ICM) can be
obtained via the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect, but its observation is
challenging both in term of sensitivity requirement and control of systematic
effects, including the removal of contaminants. In this paper we report
resolved observations, at 150 and 260 GHz, of the SZ effect toward the triple
merger MACS J0717.5+3745 (z=0.55), using data obtained with the NIKA camera at
the IRAM 30m telescope. Assuming that the SZ signal is the sum of a thermal
(tSZ) and a kinetic (kSZ) component and by combining the two NIKA bands, we
extract for the first time a resolved map of the kSZ signal in a cluster. The
kSZ signal is dominated by a dipolar structure that peaks at -5.1 and +3.4
sigma, corresponding to two subclusters moving respectively away and toward us
and coincident with the cold dense X-ray core and a hot region undergoing a
major merging event. We model the gas electron density and line-of-sight
velocity of MACS J0717.5+3745 as four subclusters. Combining NIKA data with
X-ray observations from XMM-Newton and Chandra, we fit this model to constrain
the gas line-of-sight velocity of each component, and we also derive, for the
first time, a velocity map from kSZ data (i.e. that is model-dependent). Our
results are consistent with previous constraints on the merger velocities, and
thanks to the high angular resolution of our data, we are able to resolve the
structure of the gas velocity. Finally, we investigate possible contamination
and systematic effects with a special care given to radio and submillimeter
galaxies. Among the sources that we detect with NIKA, we find one which is
likely to be a high redshift lensed submillimeter galaxy.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted in A&
Impact of the International Prognostic Scoring System cytogenetic risk groups on the outcome of patients with primary myelodysplastic syndromes undergoing allogeneic stem cell transplantation from human leukocyte antigen-identical siblings: a retrospective analysis of the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation-Chronic Malignancies Working Party
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