594 research outputs found
Modeling of Interstellar Scintillation Arcs from Pulsar B1133+16
The parabolic arc phenomenon visible in the Fourier analysis of the
scintillation spectra of pulsars provides a new method of investigating the
small scale structure in the ionized interstellar medium (ISM). We report
archival observations of the pulsar B1133+16 showing both forward and reverse
parabolic arcs sampled over 14 months. These features can be understood as the
mutual interference between an assembly of discrete features in the scattered
brightness distribution. By model-fitting to the observed arcs at one epoch we
obtain a ``snap-shot'' estimate of the scattered brightness, which we show to
be highly anisotropic (axial ratio >10:1), to be centered significantly off
axis and to have a small number of discrete maxima, which are coarser the
speckle expected from a Kolmogorov spectrum of interstellar plasma density. The
results suggest the effects of highly localized discrete scattering regions
which subtend 0.1-1 mas, but can scatter (or refract) the radiation by angles
that are five or more times larger.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Astrophysical Journa
An improved model of the Earth's gravitational field: GEM-T1
Goddard Earth Model T1 (GEM-T1), which was developed from an analysis of direct satellite tracking observations, is the first in a new series of such models. GEM-T1 is complete to degree and order 36. It was developed using consistent reference parameters and extensive earth and ocean tidal models. It was simultaneously solved for gravitational and tidal terms, earth orientation parameters, and the orbital parameters of 580 individual satellite arcs. The solution used only satellite tracking data acquired on 17 different satellites and is predominantly based upon the precise laser data taken by third generation systems. In all, 800,000 observations were used. A major improvement in field accuracy was obtained. For marine geodetic applications, long wavelength geoidal modeling is twice as good as in earlier satellite-only GEM models. Orbit determination accuracy has also been substantially advanced over a wide range of satellites that have been tested
The GEM-T2 gravitational model
The GEM-T2 is the latest in a series of Goddard Earth Models of the terrestrial field. It was designed to bring modeling capabilities one step closer towards ultimately determining the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite's radial position to an accuracy of 10-cm RMS (root mean square). It also improves models of the long wavelength geoid to support many oceanographic and geophysical applications. The GEM-T2 extends the spherical harmonic field to include more than 600 coefficients above degree 36 (which was the limit for its predecessor, GEM-T1). Like GEM-T1, it was produced entirely from satellite tracking data, but it now uses nearly twice as many satellites (31 vs. 17), contains four times the number of observations (2.4 million), has twice the number of data arcs (1132), and utilizes precise laser tracking from 11 satellites. The estimation technique for the solution has been augmented to include an optimum data weighting procedure with automatic error calibration for the gravitational parameters. Results for the GEM-T2 error calibration indicate significant improvement over previous satellite-only models. The error of commission in determining the geoid has been reduced from 155 cm in GEM-T1 to 105 cm for GEM-T2 for the 36 x 36 portion of the field, and 141 cm for the entire model. The orbital accuracies achieved using GEM-T2 are likewise improved. Also, the projected radial error on the TOPEX satellite orbit indicates 9.4 cm RMS for GEM-T2, compared to 24.1 cm for GEM-T1
Gravitational model improvement at the Goddard Space Flight Center
Major new computations of terrestrial gravitational field models were performed by the Geodynamics Branch of Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This development has incorporated the present state of the art results in satellite geodesy and have relied upon a more consistent set of reference constants than was heretofore utilized in GSFC's GEM models. The solutions are complete in spherical harmonic coefficients out to degree 50 for the gravity field parameters. These models include adjustment for a subset of 66 ocean tidal coefficients for the long wavelength components of 12 major ocean tides. This tidal adjustment was made in the presence of 550 other fixed ocean tidal terms representing 32 major and minor ocean tides and the Wahr frequency dependent solid earth tidal model. In addition 5-day averaged values for Earth rotation and polar motion were derived for the time period of 1980 onward. Two types of models were computed. These are satellite only models relying exclusively on tracking data and combination models which have incorporated satellite altimetry and surface gravity data. The satellite observational data base consists of over 1100 orbital arcs of data on 31 satellites. A large percentage of these observations were provided by third generation laser stations (less than 5 cm). A calibration of the model accuracy of the GEM-T2 satellite only solution indicated that it was a significant improvement over previous models based solely upon tracking data. The rms geoid error for this field is 110 cm to degree and order 36. This is a major advancement over GEM-T1 whose errors were estimated to be 160 cm. An error propagation using the covariances of the GEM-T2 model for the TOPEX radial orbit component indicates that the rms radial errors are expected to be 12 cm. The combination solution, PGS-3337, is a preliminary effort leading to the development of GEM-T3. PGS-3337 has incorporated global sets of surface gravity data and the Seasat altimetry to produce a model complete to (50,50). A solution for the dynamic ocean topography to degree and order 10 was included as part of this adjustment
Orbital Ferromagnetism and the Chandrasekhar Mass-Limit
In this paper, using both quantum magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and
magnetohydrostatic (MHS) models of a relativistically degenerate magnetic
compact star, the fundamental role of Landau orbital ferromagnetism (LOFER) on
the magneto-gravitational stability of such star is revealed. It is shown that
the previously suggested magnetic equation of state for LOFER with some
generalization of form only within the range and leads to magneto-gravitational stability with
distinct critical value governing the
magnetohydrostatic stability of the compact star. Furthermore, the value of the
parameters and is shown to fundamentally control both the quantum
and Chandrasekhar gravitational collapse mechanisms and the previously
discovered mass-limit on white dwarfs. Current findings can help to understand
the origin of magnetism and its inevitable role on the stability of the
relativistically degenerate super-dense magnetized matter encountered in many
white-dwarfs and neutron stars
The Torino Observatory Parallax Program: White Dwarf Candidates
We present parallax determinations for six white dwarf candidates in the
Torino Observatory Parallax Program. The absolute parallaxes are found with
precisions at the 2-3 milliarcsecond level. For WD 1126+185 we find a distance
incompatible with being a white dwarf, implying an incorrect classification.
For WD 2216+484 we find our distance is consistent with a simple DA white dwarf
rather than a composite system as previously proposed in the literature. In
general it is found that the published photometric distance is an overestimate
of the distance found here.Comment: AA paper, 7 pages, 4 figure
The FPR2-induced rise in cytosolic calcium in human neutrophils relies on an emptying of intracellular calcium stores and is inhibited by a gelsolin-derived PIP2-binding peptide
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The molecular basis for neutrophil recognition of chemotactic peptides is their binding to specific G-protein-coupled cell surface receptors (GPCRs). Human neutrophils express two pattern recognition GPCRs, FPR1 and FPR2, which belong to the family of formyl peptide receptors. The high degree of homology between these two receptors suggests that they share many functional and signal transduction properties, although they exhibit some differences with respect to signaling. The aims of this study were to determine whether FPR2 triggers a unique signal that allows direct influx of extracellular calcium without the emptying of intracellular calcium stores, and whether the gelsolin-derived PIP<sub>2</sub>-binding peptide, PBP10, selectively inhibits FPR2-mediated transient rise in intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The transient rise in intracellular Ca<sup>2+ </sup>induced by agonists for FPR1 or FPR2 in human neutrophils occurred also in the presence of a chelator of Ca<sup>2+ </sup>(EGTA). PBP10 inhibited not only FPR2-induced oxidase activity, but also the transient rise in intracellular Ca<sup>2+</sup>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Ca<sup>2+ </sup>signaling mediated <it>via </it>FPR2 follows the same route as FPR1, which involves initial emptying of the intracellular stores. PBP10 inhibits selectively the signals generated by FPR2, both with respect to NADPH-oxidase activity and the transient rise in intracellular Ca<sup>2+ </sup>induced by agonist exposure.</p
Interstellar Holography
The dynamic spectrum of a radio pulsar is an in-line digital hologram of the
ionised interstellar medium. It has previously been demonstrated that such
holograms permit image reconstruction, in the sense that one can determine an
approximation to the complex electric field values as a function of
Doppler-shift and delay, but to date the quality of the reconstructions has
been poor. Here we report a substantial improvement in the method which we have
achieved by simultaneous optimisation of the thousands of coefficients that
describe the electric field. For our test spectrum of PSR B0834+06 we find that
the model provides an accurate representation of the data over the full 63 dB
dynamic range of the observations: residual differences between model and data
are noise-like. The advent of interstellar holography enables detailed
quantitative investigation of the interstellar radio-wave propagation paths for
a given pulsar at each epoch of observation; we illustrate this using our test
data which show the scattering material to be structured and highly
anisotropic. The temporal response of the medium exhibits a scattering tail out
to beyond 100 microsec and a pulse arrival time measurement at this frequency
and this epoch of observation would be affected by a mean delay of 15 microsec
due to multipath propagation in the interstellar medium.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 8 pages, 5 figure
Geopotential models of the Earth from satellite tracking, altimeter and surface gravity observations: GEM-T3 and GEM-T3S
Improved models of the Earth's gravitational field have been developed from conventional tracking data and from a combination of satellite tracking, satellite altimeter and surface gravimetric data. This combination model represents a significant improvement in the modeling of the gravity field at half-wavelengths of 300 km and longer. Both models are complete to degree and order 50. The Goddard Earth Model-T3 (GEM-T3) provides more accurate computation of satellite orbital effects as well as giving superior geoidal representation from that achieved in any previous GEM. A description of the models, their development and an assessment of their accuracy is presented. The GEM-T3 model used altimeter data from previous satellite missions in estimating the orbits, geoid, and dynamic height fields. Other satellite tracking data are largely the same as was used to develop GEM-T2, but contain certain important improvements in data treatment and expanded laser tracking coverage. Over 1300 arcs of tracking data from 31 different satellites have been used in the solution. Reliable estimates of the model uncertainties via error calibration and optimal data weighting techniques are discussed
The Mitochondrial Ca(2+) Uniporter: Structure, Function, and Pharmacology.
Mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake is crucial for an array of cellular functions while an imbalance can elicit cell death. In this chapter, we briefly reviewed the various modes of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake and our current understanding of mitochondrial Ca(2+) homeostasis in regards to cell physiology and pathophysiology. Further, this chapter focuses on the molecular identities, intracellular regulators as well as the pharmacology of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uniporter complex
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