2,257 research outputs found
Swift-XRT observation of 34 new INTEGRAL/IBIS AGNs: discovery of Compton thick and other peculiar sources
For a significant number of the sources detected at high energies (>10 keV)
by the INTEGRAL/IBIS and Swift/BAT instruments there is either a lack
information about them in the 2-10 keV range or they are totally unidentified.
Herein, we report on a sample of 34 IBIS AGN or AGN candidate objects for which
there is X-ray data in the Swift/XRT archive. Thanks to these X-ray follow up
observations, the identification of the gamma ray emitters has been possible
and the spectral shape in terms of photon index and absorption has been
evaluated for the first time for the majority of our sample sources. The
sample, enlarged to include 4 more AGN already discussed in the literature, has
been used to provide photon index and column density distribution. We obtain a
mean value of 1.88 with a dispersion of 0.12, i.e. typical of an AGN sample.
Sixteen objects (47%) have column densities in excess of 10^{22} cm^{-2} and,
as expected, a large fraction of the absorbed sources are within the Sey 2
sample. We have provided a new diagnostic tool (NH versus
F(2-10)keV/F(20-100)keV softness ratio) to isolate peculiar objects; we find at
least one absorbed Sey 1 galaxy, 3 Compton thick AGN candidates; and one secure
example of a "true" type 2 AGN. Within the sample of 10 still unidentified
objects, 3 are almost certainly AGN of type 2; 3 to 4 have spectral slopes
typical of AGN; and two are located high on the galactic plane and are strong
enough radio emitters so that can be considered good AGN candidates.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, ApJ accepte
The deepest X-ray look at the Universe
The origin of the X-ray background, in particular at hard (2-10 keV)
energies, has been a debated issue for more than 30 years. The Chandra deep
fields provide the deepest look at the X-ray sky and are the best dataset to
study the X-ray background. We searched the Chandra Deep Field South for X-ray
sources with the aid of a dedicated wavelet-based algorithm. We are able to
reconstruct the Log N-Log S source distribution in the soft (0.5-2 keV) and
hard (2-10 keV) bands down to limiting fluxes of 2x10^{-17} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}
and 2x10^{-16} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}, respectively. These are a factor ~5 deeper
than previous investigations. We find that the soft relation continues along
the extrapolation from higher fluxes, almost completely accounting for the soft
X-ray background. On the contrary, the hard distribution shows a flattening
below ~2x10^{-14} erg s^{-1} cm^{-2}. Nevertheless, we can account for >68% of
the hard X-ray background, with the main uncertainty being the sky flux itself.Comment: Accepted for publication on ApJL. Two figures, requires emulateapj5
(included
ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array simulation chain, data reduction software, and archive in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array
The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a worldwide project aimed at building
the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. Within the CTA project,
the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing an
end-to-end prototype of the CTA Small-Size Telescopes with a dual-mirror
(SST-2M) Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M,
is located at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station in Serra La Nave
(Mt. Etna, Sicily) and is currently in the scientific and performance
validation phase. A mini-array of (at least) nine ASTRI telescopes has been
then proposed to be deployed at the Southern CTA site, by means of a
collaborative effort carried out by institutes from Italy, Brazil, and
South-Africa. The CTA/ASTRI team is developing an end-to-end software package
for the reduction of the raw data acquired with both ASTRI SST-2M prototype and
mini-array, with the aim of actively contributing to the global ongoing
activities for the official data handling system of the CTA observatory. The
group is also undertaking a massive Monte Carlo simulation data production
using the detector Monte Carlo software adopted by the CTA consortium.
Simulated data are being used to validate the simulation chain and evaluate the
ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array performance. Both activities are also
carried out in the framework of the European H2020-ASTERICS (Astronomy ESFRI
and Research Infrastructure Cluster) project. A data archiving system, for both
ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array, has been also developed by the CTA/ASTRI
team, as a testbed for the scientific archive of CTA. In this contribution, we
present the main components of the ASTRI data handling systems and report the
status of their development.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC
2017), Bexco, Busan, Korea. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1709.0348
Vernal Keratoconjunctivitis: an update focused on clinical grading system
Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a severe disease with a prevalence of < 1 case out of 10,000 in Europe, which occurs mainly in pediatric age and is characterized by a severe and often bilateral chronic inflammation of the ocular surface. The diagnosis is generally confirmed by the finding at the ocular examination of conjunctival hyperemia, papillary hypertrophy in the tarsal conjunctiva, giant papillae, papillae in the limbus region
Avaliação sorológica de vacinas comerciais polivalentes contra a enterotoxemia em caprinos.
Foram avaliadas as respostas sorológicas a cinco vacinas comerciais polivalentes que continham o toxóide épsilon do Clostridium perfringens tipo D na sua formulação. Para isso, foram utilizados 84 caprinos jovens, divididos aleatoriamente em seis grupos experimentais com 14 animais em cada grupo. Os caprinos do Grupo Controle não receberam nenhuma dose de vacina e os dos Grupos 1 ao 5 receberam duas doses de vacina com intervalo de quatro semanas entre elas. A primeira dose de vacina foi aplicada aos 45 (± 3) dias de vida dos animais (início do experimento - dia zero) e a segunda aos 75 (± 3 ? dia 30). As amostras de sangue para a realização dos testes sorológicos foram colhidas antes (dia zero), e nos dias 30, 60, 90, 120 e 150 após o início do experimento. Utilizou-se a técnica de ELISA Indireto para quantificação dos anticorpos antitoxina épsilon do C. perfringens tipo D. De maneira geral ocorreu um aumento nos valores médios do título de anticorpos séricos dos caprinos no dia 60 em resposta às duas doses de vacina recebidas nos dias zero e 30, sendo que o maior número de animais considerados protegidos também foi detectado neste dia. Apenas cinco caprinos jovens do Grupo 1 e um do Grupo 3 permaneceram com títulos de anticorpos considerados protetores até o dia 150. Diante dos resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que as vacinas avaliadas apresentaram baixa capacidade de estimular uma resposta imune protetora nos caprinos avaliados
A Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) Replication of the Sunscreen Persuasion Paradigm
Activity in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during persuasive messages predicts future message-consistent behavior change, but there are significant limitations to the types of persuasion processes that can be invoked inside an MRI scanner. For instance, real world persuasion often involves multiple people in conversation. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) allows us to move out of the scanner and into more ecologically valid contexts. As a first step, the current study used fNIRS to replicate an existing fMRI persuasion paradigm (i.e. the sunscreen paradigm) to determine if mPFC shows similar predictive value with this technology. Consistent with prior fMRI work, activity in mPFC was significantly associated with message-consistent behavior change, above and beyond self-reported intentions. There was also a difference in this association between previous users and non-users of sunscreen. Activity differences based on messages characteristics were not observed. Finally, activity in a region of right dorsolateral PFC (dlPFC), which has been observed with counterarguing against persuasive messages, correlated negatively with future behavior. The current results suggest it is reasonable to use fNIRS to examine persuasion paradigms that go beyond what is possible in the MRI scanner environment
1SXPS: A deep Swift X-ray Telescope point source catalog with light curves and spectra
We present the 1SXPS (Swift-XRT Point Source) catalog of 151,524 X-ray
point-sources detected by the Swift-XRT in 8 years of operation. The catalog
covers 1905 square degrees distributed approximately uniformly on the sky. We
analyze the data in two ways. First we consider all observations individually,
for which we have a typical sensitivity of ~3e-13 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Then
we co-add all data covering the same location on the sky: these images have a
typical sensitivity of ~9e-14 erg/cm2/s (0.3--10 keV). Our sky coverage is
nearly 2.5 times that of 3XMM-DR4, although the catalog is a factor of ~1.5
less sensitive. The median position error is 5.5" (90% confidence), including
systematics. Our source detection method improves on that used in previous XRT
catalogs and we report >68,000 new X-ray sources. The goals and observing
strategy of the Swift satellite allow us to probe source variability on
multiple timescales, and we find ~30,000 variable objects in our catalog. For
every source we give positions, fluxes, time series (in four energy bands and
two hardness ratios), estimates of the spectral properties, spectra and
spectral fits for the brightest sources, and variability probabilities in
multiple energy bands and timescales.Comment: 27 pages, 19 figures; accepted for publication in ApJS. The
accompanying website, http://www.swift.ac.uk/1SXPS is live; the Vizier entry
should be available shortl
SLCO3A1 expression is a major determinant of atazanavir PBMC penetration in HIV-infected patients
Avaliação sorológica de vacinas comerciais polivalentes contra a enterotoxemia em caprinos.
Foram avaliadas as respostas sorológicas a cinco vacinas comerciais polivalentes que continham o toxóide épsilon do Clostridium perfringens tipo D na sua formulação. Para isso, foram utilizados 84 caprinos jovens, divididos aleatoriamente em seis grupos experimentais com 14 animais em cada grupo. Os caprinos do Grupo Controle não receberam nenhuma dose de vacina e os dos Grupos 1 ao 5 receberam duas doses de vacina com intervalo de quatro semanas entre elas. A primeira dose de vacina foi aplicada aos 45 (± 3) dias de vida dos animais (início do experimento - dia zero) e a segunda aos 75 (± 3 ? dia 30). As amostras de sangue para a realização dos testes sorológicos foram colhidas antes (dia zero), e nos dias 30, 60, 90, 120 e 150 após o início do experimento. Utilizou-se a técnica de ELISA Indireto para quantificação dos anticorpos antitoxina épsilon do C. perfringens tipo D. De maneira geral ocorreu um aumento nos valores médios do título de anticorpos séricos dos caprinos no dia 60 em resposta às duas doses de vacina recebidas nos dias zero e 30, sendo que o maior número de animais considerados protegidos também foi detectado neste dia. Apenas cinco caprinos jovens do Grupo 1 e um do Grupo 3 permaneceram com títulos de anticorpos considerados protetores até o dia 150. Diante dos resultados obtidos, concluiu-se que as vacinas avaliadas apresentaram baixa capacidade de estimular uma resposta imune protetora nos caprinos avaliados
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