261 research outputs found
Sub-arcsecond imaging of SiO in the HH 211 protostellar jet
We present images of the HH 211 molecular jet in the SiO v=0, J=1-0 line at
43 GHz made with the Very Large Array at approximately 0.5 arcsec resolution.
The SiO emission appears to trace primarily internal bowshocks in the outflow,
suggesting that the dust and molecular gas are accelerated via prompt
entrainment at internal working surfaces in the jet. There is also some
evidence for limb-brightening of the SiO emission, indicating that SiO emission
may also arise from entrainment in the jet's boundary layer. Excitation
temperatures of >~150-200 K are inferred from the SiO emission. Enhancements in
the SiO abundance of ~10^6 over interstellar values are observed, and the
possible origin of the SiO is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures. Needs aastex, epsfig, times.sty. To appear in
the Astrophysical Journal, July 200
A survey of SiO 5-4 emission towards outflows from low-luminosity protostellar candidates
We have observed the SiO J=5--4 line towards a sample of 25 low-luminosity
(L* < 10^3 Lsun) protostellar outflow systems. The line was detected towards 7
of the 25 sources, a detection rate of 28 per cent. The majority (5 out of 7)
of sources detected were of class 0 status. We detected a higher fraction of
class 0 sources compared with the class I and II sources, although given the
small numbers involved the significance of this result should be regarded as
tentative. Most of the detected sources showed emission either at or close to
the central position, coincident with the protostar. In four cases (HH211,
HH25MMS, V-380 OriNE and HH212) emission was also detected at positions away
from the center, and was stronger than that observed at the centre position.
SiO abundances of 10^(-8) to 8x10^(-7) are derived from LTE analysis. For 2
sources we have additional transitions which we use to conduct statistical
equilibrium modeling to estimate the gas density in the SiO-emitting regions.
For HH25MMS these results suggest that the SiO emission arises in a
higher-density region than the methanol previously observed. We find that the
most likely explanation for the preferential detection of SiO emission towards
class 0 sources is the greater density of those environments, reinforced by
higher shock velocities. We conclude that while not all class 0 sources exhibit
SiO emission, SiO emission is a good signpost for the presence of class 0
sources.Comment: 21 pages, inc 10 B&W figures. Uses emulateapj5.sty. Accepted for
publication in ApJ, scheduled for 1 March 2004 issu
Low Velocity Ionized Winds from Regions Around Young O Stars
We have observed seven ultracompact HII regions in hydrogen recombination
lines in the millimeter band. Toward four of these regions, there is a high
velocity (full width to half maximum 60-80 km/s) component in the line
profiles. The high velocity gas accounts for 35-70% of the emission measure
within the beam. We compare these objects to an additional seven similar
sources we have found in the literature. The broad recombination line objects
(BRLOs) make up about 30% of all sources in complexes containing ultracompact
HII regions. Comparison of spectral line and continuum data implies that the
BRLOs coincide with sources with rising spectral indices, >=0.4 up to 100 GHz.
Both the number of BRLOs and their frequency of occurrence within HII region
complexes, when coupled with their small size and large internal motions, mean
that the apparent contradiction between the dynamical and population lifetimes
for BRLOs is even more severe than for ultracompact HII regions. We evaluate a
number of models for the origin of the broad recombination line emission. The
lifetime, morphology, and rising spectral index of the sources argue for photo-
evaporated disks as the cause for BRLOs. Existing models for such regions,
however, do not account for the large amounts of gas observed at supersonic
velocities.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figure
A trio of new Local Group galaxies with extreme properties
We report on the discovery of three new dwarf galaxies in the Local Group.
These galaxies are found in new CFHT/MegaPrime g,i imaging of the south-western
quadrant of M31, extending our extant survey area to include the majority of
the southern hemisphere of M31's halo out to 150 kpc. All these galaxies have
stellar populations which appear typical of dwarf spheroidal (dSph) systems.
The first of these galaxies, Andromeda XVIII, is the most distant Local Group
dwarf discovered in recent years, at ~1.4 Mpc from the Milky Way (~ 600 kpc
from M31). The second galaxy, Andromeda XIX, a satellite of M31, is the most
extended dwarf galaxy known in the Local Group, with a half-light radius of r_h
~ 1.7 kpc. This is approximately an order of magnitude larger than the typical
half-light radius of many Milky Way dSphs, and reinforces the difference in
scale sizes seen between the Milky Way and M31 dSphs (such that the M31 dwarfs
are generally more extended than their Milky Way counterparts). The third
galaxy, Andromeda XX, is one of the faintest galaxies so far discovered in the
vicinity of M31, with an absolute magnitude of order M_V ~ -6.3. Andromeda
XVIII, XIX and XX highlight different aspects of, and raise important questions
regarding, the formation and evolution of galaxies at the extreme faint-end of
the luminosity function. These findings indicate that we have not yet sampled
the full parameter space occupied by dwarf galaxies, although this is an
essential pre-requisite for successfully and consistently linking these systems
to the predicted cosmological dark matter sub-structure.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures (ApJ preprint format). Accepted for publication
in Ap
An epidemic Zika virus isolate suppresses antiviral immunity by disrupting antigen presentation pathways
Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as an important global health threat, with the recently acquired capacity to cause severe neurological symptoms and to persist within host tissues. We previously demonstrated that an early Asian lineage ZIKV isolate induces a highly activated CD8 T cell response specific for an immunodominant epitope in the ZIKV envelope protein in wild-type mice. Here we show that a contemporary ZIKV isolate from the Brazilian outbreak severely limits CD8 T cell immunity in mice and blocks generation of the immunodominant CD8 T cell response. This is associated with a more sustained infection that is cleared between 7- and 14-days post-infection. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that infection with the Brazilian ZIKV isolate reduces the cross-presentation capacity of dendritic cells and fails to fully activate the immunoproteasome. Thus, our study provides an isolate-specific mechanism of host immune evasion by one Brazilian ZIKV isolate, which differs from the early Asian lineage isolate and provides potential insight into viral persistence associated with recent ZIKV outbreaks
A cluster of outflows in the Vulpecula Rift
We present CO, CO and CO (J=32) observations of a new
cluster of outflows in the Vulpecula Rift with HARP-B on the JCMT. The mass
associated with the outflows, measured using the CO HARP-B observations
and assuming a distance to the region of 2.3 kpc, is 129 \msol{}, while the
mass associated with the dense gas from CO observations is 458 \msol{}
and the associated sub-millimeter core has a mass of 327 112 \msol{}
independently determined from Bolocam 1.1mm data. The outflow-to-core mass
ratio is therefore 0.4, making this region one of the most efficient
observed thus far with more than an order of magnitude more mass in the outflow
than would be expected based on previous results. The kinetic energy associated
with the flows, 94 ergs, is enough to drive the turbulence in
the local clump, and potentially unbind the local region altogether. The
detection of SiO (J=87) emission toward the outflows indicates that the flow
is still active, and not simply a fossil flow. We also model the SEDs of the
four YSOs associated with the molecular material, finding them all to be of mid
to early B spectral type. The energetic nature of the outflows and significant
reservoir of cold dust detected in the sub-mm suggest that these intermediate
mass YSOs will continue to accrete and become massive, rather than reach the
main sequence at their current mass.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures and 3 tables. Accepted to MNRAS. A
higher-resolution version of figure 1 will be included in the published
version and is available from the authors upon request. Updated with red and
blue wings swapped to match doppler shif
Cyclophilin D Regulates Antiviral CD8+ T Cell Survival in a Cell-Extrinsic Manner
CD8+ T cell–mediated immunity is critical for host defense against viruses and requires mitochondria-mediated type I IFN (IFN-I) signaling for optimal protection. Cyclophilin D (CypD) is a mitochondrial matrix protein that modulates the mitochondrial permeability transition pore, but its role in IFN-I signaling and CD8+ T cell responses to viral infection has not been previously explored. In this study, we demonstrate that CypD plays a critical extrinsic role in the survival of Ag-specific CD8+ T cell following acute viral infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus in mice. CypD deficiency resulted in reduced IFN-I and increased CD8+ T cell death, resulting in a reduced antiviral CD8+ T cell response. In addition, CypD deficiency was associated with an increase in pathogen burden at an early time-point following infection. Furthermore, our data demonstrate that transfer of wild-type macrophages (expressing CypD) to CypD-deficient mice can partially restore CD8+ T cell responses. These results establish that CypD plays an extrinsic role in regulating optimal effector CD8+ T cell responses to viral infection. Furthermore, this suggests that, under certain circumstances, inhibition of CypD function may have a detrimental impact on the host’s ability to respond to viral infection
Toll-Like Receptor 3 Signaling on Macrophages Is Required for Survival Following Coxsackievirus B4 Infection
Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) has been proposed to play a central role in the early recognition of viruses by sensing double stranded RNA, a common intermediate of viral replication. However, several reports have demonstrated that TLR3 signaling is either dispensable or even harmful following infection with certain viruses. Here, we asked whether TLR3 plays a role in the response to coxsackievirus B4 (CB4), a prevalent human pathogen that has been associated with pancreatitis, myocarditis and diabetes. We demonstrate that TLR3 signaling on macrophages is critical to establish protective immunity to CB4. TLR3 deficient mice produced reduced pro-inflammatory mediators and are unable to control viral replication at the early stages of infection resulting in severe cardiac damage. Intriguingly, the absence of TLR3 did not affect the activation of several key innate and adaptive cellular effectors. This suggests that in the absence of TLR3 signaling on macrophages, viral replication outpaces the developing adaptive immune response. We further demonstrate that the MyD88-dependent signaling pathways are not only unable to compensate for the loss of TLR3, they are also dispensable in the response to this RNA virus. Our results demonstrate that TLR3 is not simply part of a redundant system of viral recognition, but rather TLR3 plays an essential role in recognizing the molecular signatures associated with specific viruses including CB4
The remnants of galaxy formation from a panoramic survey of the region around M31
In hierarchical cosmological models, galaxies grow in mass through the
continual accretion of smaller ones. The tidal disruption of these systems is
expected to result in loosely bound stars surrounding the galaxy, at distances
that reach times the radius of the central disk. The number,
luminosity and morphology of the relics of this process provide significant
clues to galaxy formation history, but obtaining a comprehensive survey of
these components is difficult because of their intrinsic faintness and vast
extent. Here we report a panoramic survey of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We
detect stars and coherent structures that are almost certainly remnants of
dwarf galaxies destroyed by the tidal field of M31. An improved census of their
surviving counterparts implies that three-quarters of M31's satellites brighter
than await discovery. The brightest companion, Triangulum (M33), is
surrounded by a stellar structure that provides persuasive evidence for a
recent encounter with M31. This panorama of galaxy structure directly confirms
the basic tenets of the hierarchical galaxy formation model and reveals the
shared history of M31 and M33 in the unceasing build-up of galaxies.Comment: Published in Nature. Supplementary movie available at
https://www.astrosci.ca/users/alan/PANDAS/Latest%20news%3A%20movie%20of%20orbit.htm
Oxygen-rich dust production in IC 10
We report the detection of oxygen-rich circumstellar envelopes in stars of
the nearby (700 kpc) starburst galaxy IC 10. The star formation history and the
chemical environment of this galaxy makes it an ideal target to observe dust
production by high-mass stars in a low-metallicity environment. The goal of
this study is to identify oxygen-rich stars in IC 10 and to constrain their
nature between asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs), red supergiants (RSGs),
and other infrared bright sources. We examine the mass-loss rate of the stars
and compare to results obtained for the Magellanic Clouds. Our objectives are
to (1) assess whether RSGs can be significant dust producers in IC 10, and (2),
solve the discrepancy between the star formation history of IC 10 and the
relatively low number of RSGs detected in the optical. We search for silicate
dust in emission by using the spectral map observed with the Infrared
Spectrograph on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The optical (UBVRI) and
infrared (JHK, Spitzer/IRAC and Spitzer/MIPS) photometry is used to assert the
membership of the stars to IC 10 and disentangle between AGBs and RSGs.
Radiative models are used to infer mass-loss rates and stellar luminosities.
The luminosity and colors of at least 9 silicate emission sources are
consistent with stars within IC 10. Furthermore, the photometry of 2 of these
sources is consistent with RSGs. We derive dust mass-loss rates similar to the
values found in the Magellanic Clouds. Accounting for the sample completeness,
RSGs are not important contributors to the dust mass budget in IC 10.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
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