9,435 research outputs found
Photophoretic Structuring of Circumstellar Dust Disks
We study dust accumulation by photophoresis in optically thin gas disks.
Using formulae of the photophoretic force that are applicable for the free
molecular regime and for the slip-flow regime, we calculate dust accumulation
distances as a function of the particle size. It is found that photophoresis
pushes particles (smaller than 10 cm) outward. For a Sun-like star, these
particles are transported to 0.1-100 AU, depending on the particle size, and
forms an inner disk. Radiation pressure pushes out small particles (< 1 mm)
further and forms an extended outer disk. Consequently, an inner hole opens
inside ~0.1 AU. The radius of the inner hole is determined by the condition
that the mean free path of the gas molecules equals the maximum size of the
particles that photophoresis effectively works on (100 micron - 10 cm,
depending on the dust property). The dust disk structure formed by
photophoresis can be distinguished from the structure of gas-free dust disk
models, because the particle sizes of the outer disks are larger, and the inner
hole radius depends on the gas density.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, Accepted by ApJ; corrected a typo in the author
nam
A Potent CD1d-binding Glycolipid for iNKT-Cell-based Therapy Against Human Breast Cancer
Background/Aim: Invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT) stimulated by CD1d-binding glycolipids have been shown to exert antitumor effects by a number of studies in a mouse model. Breast cancer is a devastating disease, with different types of breast cancer recurring locally or distant as metastatic/advanced disease following initial treatment. The aim of this study was to examine the tumoricidal effect of a CD1d-binding glycolipid, called 7DW8-5, against a highly invasive human breast cancer cell line both in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: Parental MDA-MB-231 cells and MDA-MB-231 cells transduced with human CD1d were labeled with carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE), followed by loading with glycolipids. After co-culturing with human iNKT cells, the cells were permeabilized and stained with Alexa Flour 647-conjugated antibody to active caspase-3, and analyzed using a BD LSR II. For the in vivo tumoricidal effect, MDA-MB-231 cells transduced with human CD1d and luciferase genes were injected into the mammary fat pad of female NOD/SCID/IL2rγnull (NSG) mice, followed by the injection of human iNKT cells with or without 7DW8-5, and the levels of luminescence were analyzed with whole-body imaging. Results: Human iNKT cells could kill CD1d-expressing human breast cancer cells in vitro in the presence of 7DW8-5, but not α-GalCer. As for in vivo, the adoptive transfer of human iNKT cells into tumor-challenged NSG mice significantly inhibited the growth of CD1d+ MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells in the presence of 7DW8-5. Conclusion: CD1d-binding, glycolipid-based iNKT-cell therapy is suggested as a potent and effective treatment against breast cancer in humans
Chemical Equilibrium Abundances in Brown Dwarf and Extrasolar Giant Planet Atmospheres
We calculate detailed chemical abundance profiles for a variety of brown
dwarf and extrasolar giant planet atmosphere models, focusing in particular on
Gliese 229B, and derive the systematics of the changes in the dominant
reservoirs of the major elements with altitude and temperature. We assume an
Anders and Grevesse (1989) solar composition of 27 chemical elements and track
330 gas--phase species, including the monatomic forms of the elements, as well
as about 120 condensates. We address the issue of the formation and composition
of clouds in the cool atmospheres of substellar objects and explore the rain
out and depletion of refractories. We conclude that the opacity of clouds of
low--temperature (900 K), small--radius condensibles (specific chlorides
and sulfides), may be responsible for the steep spectrum of Gliese 229B
observed in the near infrared below 1 \mic. Furthermore, we assemble a
temperature sequence of chemical transitions in substellar atmospheres that may
be used to anchor and define a sequence of spectral types for substellar
objects with Ts from 2200 K to 100 K.Comment: 57 pages total, LaTeX, 14 figures, 5 tables, also available in
uuencoded, gzipped, and tarred form via anonymous ftp at
www.astrophysics.arizona.edu (cd to pub/burrows/chem), submitted to Ap.
Dust in the Photospheric Environment: Unified Cloudy Models of M, L, and T Dwarfs
We address the problem of how dust forms and how it could be sustained in the
static photospheres of cool dwarfs for a long time. In the cool and dense gas,
dust forms easily at the condensation temperature, T_cond, and the dust can be
in detailed balance with the ambient gas so long as it remains smaller than the
critical radius, r_cr. However, dust will grow larger and segregate from the
gas when it will be larger than r_cr somewhere at the lower temperature, which
we refer to as the critical temperature, T_cr. Then, the large dust grains will
precipitate below the photosphere and only the small dust grains in the region
of T_cr < T < T_cond can be sustained in the photosphere. Thus a dust cloud is
formed. Incorporating the dust cloud, non-grey model photo- spheres in
radiative-convective equilibrium are extended to T_eff as low as 800K. Observed
colors and spectra of cool dwarfs can consistently be accounted for by a single
grid of our cloudy models. This fact in turn can be regarded as supporting
evidence for our basic assumption on the cloud formation.Comment: 50 pages with 14 postscript figures, to be published in Astrophys.
The Theorem of Jentzsch--Szeg\H{o} on an analytic curve. Application to the irreducibility of truncations of power series
The theorem of Jentzsch--Szeg\H{o} describes the limit measure of a sequence
of discrete measures associated to the zeroes of a sequence of polynomials in
one variable. Following the presentation of this result by Andrievskii and
Blatt in their book, we extend this theorem to compact Riemann surfaces, then
to analytic curves over an ultrametric field. The particular case of the
projective line over an ultrametric field gives as corollaries information
about the irreducibility of the truncations of a power series in one variable.Comment: 16 pages; the application to irreducibility and the final example
have been correcte
Large orbital magnetic moments in carbon nanotubes generated by resonant transport
The nonequilibrium Green's function method is used to study the ballistic
transport in metallic carbon nanotubes when a current is injected from the
electrodes with finite bias voltages. We reveal, both analytically and
numerically, that large loop currents circulating around the tube are induced,
which come from a quantum mechanical interference and are much larger than the
current along the tube axis when the injected electron is resonant with a
time-reversed pair of degenerate states, which are, in fact, inherent in the
zigzag and chiral nanotubes. This results in large orbital magnetic moments,
making the nanotube a molecular solenoid.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; typos correcte
The Spectrum of the Brown Dwarf Gliese 229B
We present a spectrum of the cool (T_eff = 900 K) brown dwarf Gliese 229B.
This spectrum, with a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio per spectral
resolution element (> 30), spans the wavelength range from 0.837 microns to 5.0
microns. We identify a total of four different major methane absorption
features, including the fundamental band at 3.3 microns, at least four steam
bands, and two neutral cesium features. We confirm the recent detection of
carbon monoxide (CO) in excess of what is predicted by thermochemical
equilibrium calculations. Carbon is primarily involved in a chemical balance
between methane and CO at the temperatures and pressures present in the outer
parts of a brown dwarf. At lower temperatures, the balance favors methane,
while in the deeper, hotter regions, the reaction reverses to convert methane
into CO. The presence of CO in the observable part of the atmosphere is
therefore a sensitive indicator of vertical flows. The high signal-to-noise
ratio in the 1 to 2.5 microns region permits us to place constraints on the
quantity of dust in the atmosphere of the brown dwarf. We are unable to
reconcile the observed spectrum with synthetic spectra that include the
presences of dust. The presence of CO but lack of dust may be a clue to the
location of the boundaries of the outer convective region of the atmosphere:
The lack of dust may mean that it is not being conveyed into the photosphere by
convection, or that it exists in patchy clouds. If the dust is not in clouds,
but rather sits below the outer convective region, we estimate that the
boundary between outer convective and inner radiative layers is between 1250 K
and 1600 K, in agreement with recent models.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Extrasolar Giant Planets under Strong Stellar Irradiation
We investigate the effects on extrasolar giant planets [EGPs] of intense
irradiation by their parent stars, describing the issues involved in treating
the model atmosphere problem correctly. We treat the radiative transfer in
detail, allowing the flux from the parent star to interact with all relevant
depths of the planetary atmosphere, with no need for a pre-assumed albedo. We
present a low-resolution optical and near-IR spectrum of a close-in EGP,
focusing on the differences from an isolated planet.
In our dust-free planetary atmospheres we find that Rayleigh scattering
increases the EGP's flux by orders of magnitude shortward of the CaII H&K
doublet (393 nm), and the spectral features of the parent star are exactly
reflected. In the optical and near-IR the thermal absorption of the planet
takes over, but the absorption features are changed by the irradiation. The
inclusion of dust increases the reflected flux in the blue; the stellar
spectral lines can be seen blueward of H-beta (486 nm).Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, LaTex, accepted in ApJ
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