90 research outputs found
The gas distribution in the outer regions of galaxy clusters
We present the analysis of a local (z = 0.04 - 0.2) sample of 31 galaxy
clusters with the aim of measuring the density of the X-ray emitting gas in
cluster outskirts. We compare our results with numerical simulations to set
constraints on the azimuthal symmetry and gas clumping in the outer regions of
galaxy clusters. We exploit the large field-of-view and low instrumental
background of ROSAT/PSPC to trace the density of the intracluster gas out to
the virial radius. We perform a stacking of the density profiles to detect a
signal beyond r200 and measure the typical density and scatter in cluster
outskirts. We also compute the azimuthal scatter of the profiles with respect
to the mean value to look for deviations from spherical symmetry. Finally, we
compare our average density and scatter profiles with the results of numerical
simulations. As opposed to some recent Suzaku results, and confirming previous
evidence from ROSAT and Chandra, we observe a steepening of the density
profiles beyond \sim r500. Comparing our density profiles with simulations, we
find that non-radiative runs predict too steep density profiles, whereas runs
including additional physics and/or treating gas clumping are in better
agreement with the observed gas distribution. We report for the first time the
high-confidence detection of a systematic difference between cool-core and
non-cool core clusters beyond \sim 0.3r200, which we explain by a different
distribution of the gas in the two classes. Beyond \sim r500, galaxy clusters
deviate significantly from spherical symmetry, with only little differences
between relaxed and disturbed systems. We find good agreement between the
observed and predicted scatter profiles, but only when the 1% densest clumps
are filtered out in the simulations. [Abridged]Comment: The data for the average profiles and individual clusters can be
downloaded at:
http://www.isdc.unige.ch/~deckert/newsite/The_Planck_ROSAT_project.htm
A portable and affordable extensional rheometer for field testing
Extensional shear testing is often needed to characterise the behaviour of complex fluids found in industry and nature. Traditional extensional rheometers are typically expensive, fragile and heavy and are only suited to making measurements in a laboratory environment. For some applications, it is necessary to make in situ rheological measurements where, for example, fluid properties change rapidly over time or where laboratory facilities are unavailable. This paper reports the development and validation of an inexpensive, lightweight and robust 'open source' extensional rheometer, Seymour II. Validation was carried out experimentally and computationally. Measurements on a Newtonian fluid (492 mPa s Brookfield silicone oil) yielded results of 510ββΒ±ββ51 mPa s; these are comfortably within the range ofββΒ±10% which other authors have quoted for extensional techniques using laboratory rheometers. Comparison of the observed filament thinning dynamics to those obtained using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) gave good qualitative agreement. Use of Seymour II at the University of Cambridge Botanic Gardens revealed that the mucilage of the 'crane flower', , was a viscoelastic fluid whose extensional response could be described by a two-mode Giesekus equation. Engineering drawings and image analysis code for Seymour II are available for download at the project website, www.seymourII.org/.Support for a summer internship for NP from ENSTA, a PhD studentship for MPB from Sandvik Hyperion and Ceratizit, and a PhD studentship for OMM from Chemours
Entropy amplification from energy feedback in simulated galaxy groups and clusters
We use hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters and groups to study the
effect of pre-heating on the entropy structure of the ICM. Our simulations
account for non-gravitational heating of the gas either by imposing a minimum
entropy floor at redshift z=3, or by considering feedback by galactic winds
powered by supernova (SN) energy. In the adiabatic simulations we find that the
entropy is increased out to the external regions as a consequence of the
transition from clumpy to smooth accretion induced by extra heating. This
result is in line with the predictions of the semi-analytical model by Voit et
al. However, the introduction of radiative cooling substantially reduces this
entropy amplification effect. While galactic winds of increasing strength are
effective in regulating star formation, they have a negligible effect on the
entropy profile of cluster-sized halos. Only in models where the action of the
winds is complemented with diffuse heating corresponding to a pre-collapse
entropy do we find a sizable entropy amplification out to the virial radius of
the groups. Observational evidence for entropy amplification in the outskirts
of galaxy clusters and groups therefore favours a scenario for feedback that
distributes heating energy in a more diffuse way than predicted by the model
for galactic winds from SN explosions explored here.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures to appear in MNRAS. Full resolution preprint
available at
http://adlibitum.oat.ts.astro.it/clustersim/EntrAmpl/borgani_2.ps.g
Clinical Opportunities for Germline Pharmacogenetics and Management of Drug-Drug Interactions in Patients With Advanced Solid Cancers.
PURPOSE: Precision medicine approaches, including germline pharmacogenetics (PGx) and management of drug-drug interactions (DDIs), are likely to benefit patients with advanced cancer who are frequently prescribed multiple concomitant medications to treat cancer and associated conditions. Our objective was to assess the potential opportunities for PGx and DDI management within a cohort of adults with advanced cancer. METHODS: Medication data were collected from the electronic health records for 481 subjects since their first cancer diagnosis. All subjects were genotyped for variants with clinically actionable recommendations in Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium guidelines for 13 pharmacogenes. DDIs were defined as concomitant prescription of strong inhibitors or inducers with sensitive substrates of the same drug-metabolizing enzyme and were assessed for six major cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes. RESULTS: Approximately 60% of subjects were prescribed at least one medication with Clinical Pharmacogenetics Implementation Consortium recommendations, and approximately 14% of subjects had an instance for actionable PGx, defined as a prescription for a drug in a subject with an actionable genotype. The overall subject-level prevalence of DDIs and serious DDIs were 50.3% and 34.8%, respectively. Serious DDIs were most common for CYP3A, CYP2D6, and CYP2C19, occurring in 24.9%, 16.8%, and 11.7% of subjects, respectively. When assessing PGx and DDIs together, approximately 40% of subjects had at least one opportunity for a precision medicine-based intervention and approximately 98% of subjects had an actionable phenotype for at least one CYP enzyme. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrate numerous clinical opportunities for germline PGx and DDI management in adults with advanced cancer
Localized massive halo properties in Bahamas and Macsis simulations: scalings, log-normality, and covariance
Using tens of thousands of halos realized in the BAHAMAS and MACSIS simulations produced with a consistent astrophysics treatment that includes AGN feedback, we validate a multi-property statistical model for the stellar and hot gas mass behavior in halos hosting groups and clusters of galaxies. The large sample size allows us to extract fine-scale mass--property relations (MPRs) by performing local linear regression (LLR) on individual halo stellar mass () and hot gas mass () as a function of total halo mass (). We find that: 1) both the local slope and variance of the MPRs run with mass (primarily) and redshift (secondarily); 2) the conditional likelihood, is accurately described by a multivariate, log-normal distribution, and; 3) the covariance of and at fixed is generally negative, reflecting a partially closed baryon box model for high mass halos. We validate the analytical population model of Evrard et al. (2014), finding sub-percent accuracy in the log-mean halo mass selected at fixed property, or , when scale-dependent MPR parameters are employed. This work highlights the potential importance of allowing for running in the slope and scatter of MPRs when modeling cluster counts for cosmological studies. We tabulate LLR fit parameters as a function of halo mass at , and 1 for two popular mass conventions
A new double radio relic in PSZ1 G096.89+24.17 and a radio relic mass-luminosity relation
Radio relics are diffuse synchrotron sources in galaxy clusters that are believed to trace large-scale shock waves. We have discovered a new double radio relic system in PSZ1 G096.89+24.17 (z = 0.3) and have carried out a full-polarization radio observation using theWesterbork Synthesis Radio Telescope at 1.4 GHz. The observation revealed the presence of two relics located on the two diametrically opposite sides of the cluster and hints of a central radio halo. The linear sizes of the relics are ~0.9 and ~1.4 Mpc. We carried out an analysis of all known double radio relics by using radio, X-ray and Sunyaev-Zel'dovich data. We find that the radio luminosity of double relics is a steep function of the cluster mass, with L<inf>R</inf> a M<sup>2.83Β±0.39</sup>. If we include single radio relics, this relation is maintained. This dependence has implications for the origin of magnetic fields at the relic's locations
An Investigation to Validate the Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) Test to Identify Children with Specific Language Impairment
The extraordinarily high incidence of grammatical language impairments in developmental disorders suggests that this uniquely human cognitive function is "fragile". Yet our understanding of the neurobiology of grammatical impairments is limited. Furthermore, there is no "gold-standard" to identify grammatical impairments and routine screening is not undertaken. An accurate screening test to identify grammatical abilities would serve the research, health and education communities, further our understanding of developmental disorders, and identify children who need remediation, many of whom are currently un-diagnosed. A potential realistic screening tool that could be widely administered is the Grammar and Phonology Screening (GAPS) test--a 10 minute test that can be administered by professionals and non-professionals alike. Here we provide a further step in evaluating the validity and accuracy (sensitivity and specificity) of the GAPS test in identifying children who have Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
Expression and Processing of a Small Nucleolar RNA from the Epstein-Barr Virus Genome
Small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) are localized within the nucleolus, a sub-nuclear compartment, in which they guide ribosomal or spliceosomal RNA modifications, respectively. Up until now, snoRNAs have only been identified in eukaryal and archaeal genomes, but are notably absent in bacteria. By screening B lymphocytes for expression of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) induced by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), we here report, for the first time, the identification of a snoRNA gene within a viral genome, designated as v-snoRNA1. This genetic element displays all hallmark sequence motifs of a canonical C/D box snoRNA, namely C/Cβ²- as well as D/Dβ²-boxes. The nucleolar localization of v-snoRNA1 was verified by in situ hybridisation of EBV-infected cells. We also confirmed binding of the three canonical snoRNA proteins, fibrillarin, Nop56 and Nop58, to v-snoRNA1. The C-box motif of v-snoRNA1 was shown to be crucial for the stability of the viral snoRNA; its selective deletion in the viral genome led to a complete down-regulation of v-snoRNA1 expression levels within EBV-infected B cells. We further provide evidence that v-snoRNA1 might serve as a miRNA-like precursor, which is processed into 24 nt sized RNA species, designated as v-snoRNA124pp. A potential target site of v-snoRNA124pp was identified within the 3β²-UTR of BALF5 mRNA which encodes the viral DNA polymerase. V-snoRNA1 was found to be expressed in all investigated EBV-positive cell lines, including lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL). Interestingly, induction of the lytic cycle markedly up-regulated expression levels of v-snoRNA1 up to 30-fold. By a computational approach, we identified a v-snoRNA1 homolog in the rhesus lymphocryptovirus genome. This evolutionary conservation suggests an important role of v-snoRNA1 during Ξ³-herpesvirus infection
Type 1 Fimbriae, a Colonization Factor of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli, Are Controlled by the Metabolic Sensor CRP-cAMP
Type 1 fimbriae are a crucial factor for the virulence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli during the first steps of infection by mediating adhesion to epithelial cells. They are also required for the consequent colonization of the tissues and for invasion of the uroepithelium. Here, we studied the role of the specialized signal transduction system CRP-cAMP in the regulation of type 1 fimbriation. Although initially discovered by regulating carbohydrate metabolism, the CRP-cAMP complex controls a major regulatory network in Gram-negative bacteria, including a broad subset of genes spread into different functional categories of the cell. Our results indicate that CRP-cAMP plays a dual role in type 1 fimbriation, affecting both the phase variation process and fimA promoter activity, with an overall repressive outcome on fimbriation. The dissection of the regulatory pathway let us conclude that CRP-cAMP negatively affects FimB-mediated recombination by an indirect mechanism that requires DNA gyrase activity. Moreover, the underlying studies revealed that CRP-cAMP controls the expression of another global regulator in Gram-negative bacteria, the leucine-responsive protein Lrp. CRP-cAMP-mediated repression is limiting the switch from the non-fimbriated to the fimbriated state. Consistently, a drop in the intracellular concentration of cAMP due to altered physiological conditions (e.g. growth in presence of glucose) increases the percentage of fimbriated cells in the bacterial population. We also provide evidence that the repression of type 1 fimbriae by CRP-cAMP occurs during fast growth conditions (logarithmic phase) and is alleviated during slow growth (stationary phase), which is consistent with an involvement of type 1 fimbriae in the adaptation to stress conditions by promoting biofilm growth or entry into host cells. Our work suggests that the metabolic sensor CRP-cAMP plays a role in coupling the expression of type 1 fimbriae to environmental conditions, thereby also affecting subsequent attachment and colonization of host tissues
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