The Relationship of Hard X-ray and Optical Line Emission in Low Redshift Active Galactic Nuclei

In this paper we assess the relationship of the population of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) selected by hard X-rays to the traditional population of AGN with strong optical emission lines. First, we study the emission-line properties of a new hard X-ray selected sample of 47 local AGN (classified optically as both Type 1 and Type 2 AGN). We find that the hard X- ray (3-20 keV) and [OIII]$\lambda$5007 optical emission-line luminosities are well-correlated over a range of about four orders-of-magnitude in luminosity (mean luminosity ratio 2.15 dex with a standard deviation of $\sigma$ = 0.51 dex). Second, we study the hard X-ray properties of a sample of 55 local AGN selected from the literature on the basis of the flux in the [OIII] line. The correlation between the hard X-ray (2-10 keV) and [OIII] luminosity for the Type 1 AGN is consistent with what is seen in the hard X-ray selected sample. However, the Type 2 AGN have a much larger range in the luminosity ratio, and many are very weak in hard X-rays (as expected for heavily absorbed AGN). We then compare the hard X-ray (3-20 keV) and [OIII] luminosity functions of AGN in the local universe. These have similar faint-end slopes with a luminosity ratio of 1.60 dex (0.55 dex smaller than the mean value for individual hard X-ray selected AGN). We conclude that at low redshift, selection by narrow optical emission- lines will recover most AGN selected by hard X-rays (with the exception of BL Lac objects). However, selection by hard X-rays misses a significant fraction of the local AGN population with strong emission lines

Stability and flexibility of heterometallic formate perovskites with the dimethylammonium cation: pressure-induced phase transitions

We report the high-pressure properties of two heterometallic perovskite-type metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) templated by dimethylammonium (NH2(CH3)2, DMA+) with the general formula [DMA]MI0.5CrIII0.5(HCOO)3, where MI = Na+ (DMANaCr) and K+ (DMAKCr). The high-pressure Raman scattering studies show crystal instabilities in the 4.0-4.4 GPa and 2.0-2.5 GPa ranges for DMANaCr and DMAKCr, respectively. The mechanism is similar in the two compounds and involves strong deformation of the metal-formate framework, especially pronounced for the subnetwork of CrO6 octahedra, accompanied by substantial compressibility of the DMA+ cations. Comparison with previous high-pressure Raman studies of sodium-chromium heterometallic MOFs show that the stability depends on the templated cation and increases as follows: ammonium < imidazolium < DMA+. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to get a better understanding of the structural properties leading to the existence of phase transitions. We calculate the energy of the hydrogen bonds (HBs) between the DMA+ cation and the metal formate cage, revealing a stronger interaction in the DMAKCr compound due to a HB arrangement that primarily involves the energetically preferred bonding to KO6 octahedra. This material however also has a smaller structural tolerance factor (TF) and a higher vibrational entropy than DMANaCr. This indicates a more flexible crystal structure, explaining the lower phase transition pressure, as well as the previously observed phase transition at 190 K, which is absent in the DMANaCr compound. The DFT high-pressure simulations show the largest contraction to be along the trigonal axis, leading to a minimal distortion of the HBs formed between the DMA+ cations and the metal-formate sublattice

Specialized antigen-presenting cells. Splenic-dendritic cells and peritoneal-exudate cells induced by mycobacteria activate effector T cells that are resistant to suppression

We have tested the ability of several types of trinitrophenyl (TNP)-labeled Ia+ cells to induce contact hypersensitivity (CS) after intravenous injection. Most labeled cell types (spleen cells, splenic macrophages, various types of peritoneal-exudate cells) not only fail to induce CS after this type of inoculation but, rather, activate T suppressor cells leading to specific immunological tolerance. Occasionally, some of these immunizing cells managed to bypass the T suppressor system and induced CS. In these cases the response was short-lived and could be blocked by concomitant injection of trinitrobenzelsulphonic acid (TNBS), a potent inducer of T suppressor cells. In sharp contrast to these results, TNP-labeled splenic dendritic cells and TNP-labeled peritoneal-exudate cells induced by complete Freund\u27s adjuvant had the following distinctive features: (a) They were always able to sensitize when injected intravenously, and the degree of sensitization they produced was roughly equivalent to that achieved by cutaneous application of picryl chloride, the chemically reactive form of TNP. (b) The response they elicited was long lived (i.e., lasted for \u3e3 wk). (c) Their sensitizing capacity could not be blocked by the concomitant injection of TNBS. (d) They elicited a response that could be adoptively transferred to untreated, normal recipients. These results indicate that the type of cell that first presents antigen to the immune system plays an important, even essential, role in determining the strength and duration of the subsequent immune response. In particular, the results suggest that some special antigen-presenting cells can induce a response that is relatively resistant to host suppressor mechanisms. Evidence that they do so by activating contrasuppressor cells is discussed

The X-ray variability and the near-IR to X-ray spectral energy distribution of four low luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxies

We present the results from a study of the X-ray variability and the near-IR to X-ray spectral energy distribution of four low-luminosity, Seyfert 1 galaxies. We compared their variability amplitude and broad band spectrum with those of more luminous AGN in order to investigate whether accretion in low-luminosity AGN operates as in their luminous counterparts. We used archival XMM-Newton and, in two cases, ASCA data to estimate their X-ray variability amplitude and determine their X-ray spectral shape and luminosity. We also used archival HST data to measure their optical nuclear luminosity, and near-IR measurements from the literature, in order to construct their near-IR to X-ray spectra. The X-ray variability amplitude of the four Seyferts is what one would expect, given their black hole masses. Their near-IR to X-ray spectrum has the same shape as the spectrum of quasars which are 10^2-10^5 times more luminous. The objects in our sample are optically classified as Seyfert 1-1.5. This implies that they host a relatively unobscured AGN-like nucleus. They are also of low luminosity and accrete at a low rate. They are therefore good candidates to detect radiation from an inefficient accretion process. However, our results suggest that they are similar to AGN which are 10^2-10^5 times more luminous. The combination of a "radiative efficient accretion disc plus an X-ray producing hot corona" may persist at low accretion rates as well.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Heterometallic perovskite-type metal-organic framework with an ammonium cation: structure, phonons, and optical response of [NH4]Na0.5CrxAl0.5-x(HCOO)3 (x = 0, 0.025 and 0.5).

We report the synthesis, crystal structure, vibrational and luminescence properties of two heterometallic perovskite-type metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) containing the ammonium cation (NH4+, Am+): [NH4][Na0.5Cr0.5(HCOO)3] (AmNaCr) and [NH4][Na0.5Al0.475Cr0.025(HCOO)3] (AmNaAlCr) in comparison to the previously reported [NH4][Na0.5Al0.5(HCOO)3] (AmNaAl). The room-temperature crystal structure of AmNaCr and AmNaAlCr was determined to be R3[combining macron]. The hydrogen bonding (HB) energy calculated using density functional theory (DFT) agrees well with experimental data, and confirms the existence of almost identical H-bonding in AmNaCr and AmNaAl, with three short hydrogen bonds and a longer trifurcated H-bond. Temperature-dependent Raman measurements supported by differential scanning calorimetry show that AmNaCr does not undergo any structural phase transitions in the 80-400 K temperature range. The high-pressure Raman spectra of AmNaCr show the onset of two structural instabilities near 0.5 and 1.5 GPa. The first instability involves weak distortion of the framework, while the second leads to irreversible amorphization of the sample. High-pressure DFT simulations show that the unit cell of the AmNaCr compound contracts along the c axis, which leads to a shortening of the trifurcated H-bond. The optical properties show that both studied crystals exhibit Cr3+-based emission characteristic of intermediate ligand field strength

Feedback in the local LBG Analog Haro 11 as probed by far-UV and X-ray observations

We have re-analyzed FUSE data and obtained new Chandra observations of Haro 11, a local (D_L=88 Mpc) UV luminous galaxy. Haro 11 has a similar far-UV luminosity (10^10.3 L_\odot), UV surface brightness (10^9.4 L_\odot kpc^-2), SFR, and metallicity to that observed in Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs). We show that Haro 11 has extended, soft thermal (kT~0.68 keV) X-ray emission with a luminosity and size which scales with the physical properties (e.g. SFR, stellar mass) of the host galaxy. An enhanced alpha/Fe, ratio of ~4 relative to solar abundance suggests significant supernovae enrichment. These results are consistent with the X-ray emission being produced in a shock between a supernovae driven outflow and the ambient material. The FUV spectra show strong absorption lines similar to those observed in LBG spectra. A blueshifted absorption component is identified as a wind outflowing at ~200-280 km/s. OVI\lambda\lambda1032,1038 emission, the dominant cooling mechanism for coronal gas at T~10^5.5 K is also observed. If associated with the outflow, the luminosity of the OVI emission suggests that <20% of the total mechanical energy from the supernovae and solar winds is being radiated away. This implies that radiative cooling through OVI is not significantly inhibiting the growth of the outflowing gas. In contradiction to the findings of Bergvall et al 2006, we find no convincing evidence of Lyman continuum leakage in Haro 11. We conclude that the wind has not created a `tunnel' allowing the escape of a significant fraction of Lyman continuum photons and place a limit on the escape fraction of f_{esc}<2%. Overall, both Haro 11 and a previously observed LBG analogue VV 114, provide an invaluable insight into the X-ray and FUV properties of high redshift LBGs.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 40 pages, 17 figure

Modeling the Redshift Evolution of the Normal Galaxy X-ray Luminosity Function

Emission from X-ray binaries (XRBs) is a major component of the total X-ray luminosity of normal galaxies, so X-ray studies of high redshift galaxies allow us to probe the formation and evolution of X-ray binaries on very long timescales. In this paper, we present results from large-scale population synthesis models of binary populations in galaxies from z = 0 to 20. We use as input into our modeling the Millennium II Cosmological Simulation and the updated semi-analytic galaxy catalog by Guo et al. (2011) to self-consistently account for the star formation history (SFH) and metallicity evolution of each galaxy. We run a grid of 192 models, varying all the parameters known from previous studies to affect the evolution of XRBs. We use our models and observationally derived prescriptions for hot gas emission to create theoretical galaxy X-ray luminosity functions (XLFs) for several redshift bins. Models with low CE efficiencies, a 50% twins mass ratio distribution, a steeper IMF exponent, and high stellar wind mass loss rates best match observational results from Tzanavaris & Georgantopoulos (2008), though they significantly underproduce bright early-type and very bright (Lx > 10d41) late-type galaxies. These discrepancies are likely caused by uncertainties in hot gas emission and SFHs, AGN contamination, and a lack of dynamically formed Low-mass XRBs. In our highest likelihood models, we find that hot gas emission dominates the emission for most bright galaxies. We also find that the evolution of the normal galaxy X-ray luminosity density out to z = 4 is driven largely by XRBs in galaxies with X-ray luminosities between 10d40 and 10d41 erg/s.Comment: Accepted into ApJ, 17 pages, 3 tables, 7 figures. Text updated to address referee's comment

Opinia członków ZRM dotycząca funkcjonowania systemu teletransmisji EKG

Wstęp. Do istotnych elementów pracy personelu ZRM należy zarówno sporządzanie elektronicznej dokumentacji medycznej (składającej się na elektroniczny rekord pacjenta), jak i udostępnianie zawartych w niej danych, co możliwe jest dzięki wdrożeniu rozwiązań telemedycznych, takich jak system teletransmisji EKG. Ponieważ opinia pracowników może warunkować wykorzystywanie wdrożonych systemów, duże znaczenie mają poglądy personelu nt. przydatności opracowanych rozwiązań oraz wynikających z nich korzyści. Cel pracy. Celem pracy było ustalenie opinii członków ZRM (P oraz S) dotyczącej funkcjonowania systemu teletransmisji EKG. Materiał i metoda. Na potrzeby badania (przeprowadzonego metodą sondażu diagnostycznego) przygotowano kwestionariusz ankiety składający się z 18 pytań. W badaniu udział wzięło 115 członków ZRM pracujących w KPR (w tym 82 ratowników medycznych, 21 pielęgniarek oraz 12 lekarzy). Wyniki. Wykonywanie teletransmisji EKG zadeklarowało 93,91% (n=108) respondentów. Ze stwierdzeniem, że bezpośredni transport pacjenta do OKI znacznie skraca czas rozpoczęcia inwazyjnego leczenia w porównaniu do przewiezienia chorego do najbliższego SOR zdecydowanie lub raczej zgadza się 99,13% ankietowanych. 87,83% (n=101) respondentów jest zdecydowanie lub raczej zadowolonych z możliwości wykonywania teletransmisji EKG. Wdrożony system oceniony został jako zdecydowanie lub raczej przydatny przez 93,91% członków ZRM. Wśród respondentów 91,30% osób jest zdecydowanie lub raczej pozytywnie nastawionych wobec wdrażania oraz rozwijania w systemie PRM rozwiązań telemedycznych. Wnioski. Ratownicy medyczni i pielęgniarki znamiennie statystycznie częściej deklarują wykonywanie teletransmisji ECG podczas pracy zawodowej w porównaniu do lekarzy. Ratownicy medyczni i pielęgniarki istotnie statystycznie częściej postrzegają system teletransmisji ECG jako przydatny w opiece nad pacjentem z podejrzeniem Ostrego Zespołu Wieńcowego w porównaniu do lekarzy. Ratownicy medyczni istotnie statystycznie częściej uważają, że wdrożenie systemu teletransmisji ECG wpływa na poprawę jakości pracy ZRM w porównaniu do lekarzy. Ratownicy medyczni znamiennie statystycznie częściej są zadowoleni z możliwości wykonywania teletransmisji ECG w porównaniu do lekarz.Introduction. Filling in the electronic medical documentation (which the electronic patient record is comprising of) and sharing data (which are included in documents) are important elements of Medical Rescue Team (MRT) staff’s work. That’s possible due to implementation telemedicine solutions like ECG teletransmission. The personnel’s opinions can affect the use of systems. That is the reason, the staff’s opinion on usefulness and benefits of systems is very important. The purpose of the study. The aim of the study is to establish the MRT (Basic: BMRT and Specialist: SMRT) staff’s opinion on the subject of functioning of ECG teletransmission system in Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in Cracow. Material and method. The survey questionnaire (which contains 18 questions) was prepared for the needs of the study (carried out by a method of diagnostic survey). 115 MRT employees of EMS in Cracow (82 paramedics, 21 nurses and 12 doctors) took part in the research. Results. 93,91% respondents declared making an ECG teletransmission. 99,13% participants definitely or rather agree with the statement that direct patient transport to the interventional cardiology unit significantly shortens the time of invasive treatment. 87,83% MRT members are definitely or rather satisfied with the possibility of using ECG teletransmission system. 93,91% MRT employees evaluate the implemented system as definitely or ra-ther useful. 91,30% respondents are definitely or rather positive about the implementing and developing the telemedicine in EMS in Poland. Conclusions. Medical rescuers and nurses significantly more often declare Electrocardiograpfy teletransmissions during their professional work than doctors. Medical rescuers and nurses significantly more often perceive the ECG teletransmission system as useful in the care of a patient with suspected Acute Coronary Syndrome compared to doctors. Medical rescuers are statistically signifi-cantly more likely to believe that the implementation of the ECG teletransmission system improves the quality of work of the Medical Rescue Team as compared to physicians. Medical rescuers are statistically significantly more often satisfied with the possibility of ECG teletransmission in comparison to physicians

A Hard X-ray Study of the Normal Star-Forming Galaxy M83 with NuSTAR

We present results from sensitive, multi-epoch NuSTAR observations of the late-type star-forming galaxy M83 (d=4.6 Mpc), which is the first investigation to spatially resolve the hard (E>10 keV) X-ray emission of this galaxy. The nuclear region and ~ 20 off-nuclear point sources, including a previously discovered ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) source, are detected in our NuSTAR observations. The X-ray hardnesses and luminosities of the majority of the point sources are consistent with hard X-ray sources resolved in the starburst galaxy NGC 253. We infer that the hard X-ray emission is most likely dominated by intermediate accretion state black hole binaries and neutron star low-mass X-ray binaries (Z-sources). We construct the X-ray binary luminosity function (XLF) in the NuSTAR band for an extragalactic environment for the first time. The M83 XLF has a steeper XLF than the X-ray binary XLF in NGC 253, consistent with previous measurements by Chandra at softer X-ray energies. The NuSTAR integrated galaxy spectrum of M83 drops quickly above 10 keV, which is also seen in the starburst galaxies NGC253, NGC 3310 and NGC 3256. The NuSTAR observations constrain any AGN to be either highly obscured or to have an extremely low luminosity of $_{\sim}^<$10$^{38}$ erg/s (10-30 keV), implying it is emitting at a very low Eddington ratio. An X-ray point source consistent with the location of the nuclear star cluster with an X-ray luminosity of a few times 10$^{38}$ erg/s may be a low-luminosity AGN but is more consistent with being an X-ray binary.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ (25 pages, 17 figures