A Morphological Assessment of Bovine Chondrocytes Cultured on Poly(Ethyl Methacrylate)/Tetrahydrofurfuryl Methacrylate

A heterocyclic methacrylate polymer system, PEMA/THFMA, has shown potential as a biomaterial for cartilage repair in a rabbit model and has properties making it suitable for use clinically. The ability of the polymer system, PEMA/THFMA, and a related system, PEMA/HEMA, to support chondrocytes in vitro was assessed by scanning electron microscopy. Chondrocytes adhered to the surface of the PEMA/THFMA by day one, having a rounded morphology and clustered appearance opposed to the Thermanox® control, where the cells had spread out and become fibroblastic in appearance. The chondrocytes divided rapidly on the PEMA/ THFMA system by day three and had completely covered the surface by day seven. In contrast, chondrocytes did not adhere well to the more hydrophilic PEMA/ HEMA system. A few cells were seen on the surface by day one and by days three and seven, there was no evidence of cell growth or spreading across the surface. In conclusion, the PEMA/THFMA system can support chondrocytes in vitro, whereas the PEMA/HEMA system does not

Dense Molecular Gas and the Role of Star Formation in the Host Galaxies of Quasi-Stellar Objects

New millimeter-wave CO and HCN observations of the host galaxies of infrared-excess Palomar Green quasi-stellar objects (PG QSOs) previously detected in CO are presented. These observations are designed to assess the validity of using the infrared luminosity to estimate star formation rates of luminous AGN by determining the relative significance of dust-heating by young, massive stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in QSO hosts and IRAS galaxies with warm, AGN-like infrared colors. The HCN data show the PG QSO host IZw1 and most of the warm IRAS galaxies to have high L_IR / L'_HCN (>1600) relative to the cool IRAS galaxy population for which the median L_IR / L'_HCN ~ 890(+440,-470). If the assumption is made that the infrared emission from cool IRAS galaxies is reprocessed light from embedded star-forming regions, then high values of L_IR / L'_HCN are likely the result of dust heating by the AGN. Further, if the median ratio of L'_HCN / L'_CO ~ 0.06 observed for Seyfert galaxies and IZw1 is applied to the PG QSOs not detected in HCN, then the derived L_IR / L'_HCN correspond to a stellar contribution to the production of L_IR of ~ 7-39%, and star formation rates ~ 2-37 M_sun/yr are derived for the QSO hosts. Alternatively, if the far-infrared is adopted as the star formation component of the total infrared in cool galaxies, the stellar contributions in QSO hosts to their L_FIR are up to 35% higher than the percentages derived for L_IR. This raises the possibility that the L_FIR in several of the PG QSO hosts, including IZw1, could be due entirely to dust heated by young, massive stars. Finally, there is no evidence that the global HCN emission is enhanced relative to CO in galaxies hosting luminous AGN.Comment: LaTex, 31 pages, including 9 postscript figures, AJ, in press (December 2006

Fit for purpose? Pattern cutting and seams in wearables development

This paper describes how a group of practitioners and researchers are working across disciplines at Nottingham Trent University in the area of Technical Textiles. It introduces strands of ongoing enquiry centred around the development and application of stretch sensors on the body, focusing on how textile and fashion knowledge are being reflexively revealed in the collaborative development of seamful wearable concepts, and on the tensions between design philosophies as revealed by definitions of purpose. We discuss the current research direction of the Aeolia project, which seeks to exploit the literal gaps found in pattern cutting for fitted stretch garments towards experiential forms and potential interactions. Normative goals of fitness for purpose and seamlessness are interrogated and the potential for more integrated design processes, which may at first appear ‘upside down’, is discussed

New Observations and a New Interpretation of CO(3--2) in IRAS F10214+4724

New observations with the IRAM interferometer of CO(3--2) from the highly luminous galaxy IRAS F10214+4724 show the source is 1.5'' x <= 0.9'' ; they display no evidence of any velocity gradient. This size, together with optical and IR data that show the galaxy is probably gravitationally lensed, lead to a new model for the CO distribution. In contrast to many lensed objects, we have a good estimate of the intrinsic CO and far IR surface brightnesses, so we can derive the CO and far IR/sub-mm magnifications. The CO is magnified 10 times and has a true radius of 400 pc. and the far IR is magnified 13 times and has a radius of 250 pc. The true far IR luminosity is 4 to 7e12 Lsun and the molecular gas mass is 2e10 Msun . This is nearly an order of magnitude less than previously estimated. Because the far IR magnification is lower than the mid and near IR magnification, the intrinsic spectral energy distribution now peaks in the far infrared. That is, nearly all of the energy of this object is absorbed and re-emitted in the far infrared. In CO luminosity, molecular gas content, CO linewidth, and corrected far IR luminosity, 10214+472 is a typical, warm, IR ultraluminous galaxy.Comment: 18 pages, including 3 figures, of gzipped, uuencoded postscript. To be published Ap.J. Letter

Novel Heterozygous Deletion in Retinol Dehydrogenase 12 (RDH12) Causes Familial Autosomal Dominant Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Mutations in the retinol dehydrogenase 12 (RDH12) gene are primarily associated with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) type 13, a severe early onset autosomal recessive retinal dystrophy. Only one family with a heterozygous variant, associated with mild retinitis pigmentosa (RP), has been reported. We report a novel heterozygous variant [(c.759del; p.(Phe254Leufs∗24)], resulting in a frameshift and premature termination identified in two unrelated individuals with familial autosomal dominant RP. Both heterozygous variants are associated with a late onset RP phenotype, suggesting a possible genotype-phenotype correlation

The Molecular Interstellar Medium in Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies

We present CO observations of a large sample of ultraluminous IR galaxies out to z = 0.3. Most of the galaxies are interacting, but not completed mergers. All but one have high CO(1-0) luminosities, log(Lco [K-km/s-pc^2]) = 9.92 +/- 0.12. The dispersion in Lco is only 30%, less than that in the FIR luminosity. The integrated CO intensity correlates Strongly with the 100 micron flux density, as expected for a black body model in which the mid and far IR radiation are optically thick. We use this model to derive sizes of the FIR and CO emitting regions and the enclosed dynamical masses. Both the IR and CO emission originate in regions a few hundred parsecs in radius. The median value of Lfir/Lco = 160 Lsun/(K-km/s-pc^2), within a factor of two of the black body limit for the observed FIR temperatures. The entire ISM is a scaled up version of a normal galactic disk with densities a factor of 100 higher, making even the intercloud medium a molecular region. Using three different techniques of H2 mass estimation, we conclude that the ratio of gas mass to Lco is about a factor of four lower than for Galactic molecular clouds, but that the gas mass is a large fraction of the dynamical mass. Our analysis of CO emission reduces the H2 mass from previous estimates of 2-5e10 Msun to 0.4-1.5e10 Msun, which is in the range found for molecular gas rich spiral galaxies. A collision involving a molecular gas rich spiral could lead to an ultraluminous galaxy powered by central starbursts triggered by the compression of infalling preexisting GMC's.Comment: 34 pages LaTeX with aasms.sty, 14 Postscript figures, submitted to ApJ Higher quality versions of Figs 2a-f and 7a-c available by anonymous FTP from ftp://sbast1.ess.sunysb.edu/solomon/

The structure of Onsala 1 star forming region

We present new high-sensitivity high-resolution mm-wave observations of the Onsala 1 ultra-compact HII region that bring to light the internal structure of this massive star forming cloud. The 1.2 mm continuum map obtained with the IRAM 30-m radiotelescope (~11" resolution) shows a centrally peaked condensation of 1' size (~0.5 pc at the assumed distance of 1.8 kpc) which has been further investigated at higher resolution in the 3 mm continuum and in the emission lines of H13CO+ J=1--0 and SiO J=2--1 with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer. The 3 mm data, with a resolution of ~5" X 4", displays a unresolved continuum source at the peak of the extended 1.2 mm emission and closely associated with the ultra-compact HII region. The H13CO+ map traces the central condensation in good agreement with previous NH_3 maps of Zheng et al. (1985). However, the velocity field of this central condensation, which was previously thought to arise in a rapidly rotating structure, is better explained in terms of the dense and compact component of a bipolar outflow. This interpretation is confirmed by SiO and CO observations of the full region. In fact, our new SiO data unveils the presence of multiple (at least 4) outflows in the region. In particular, there is an important center of outflow activity in the region at about 1' north of the UCHII region. Indeed the different outflows are related to different members of the Onsala 1 cluster. The data presented here support a scenario in which the phases of massive star formation begin much later in the evolution of a cluster and/or UCHII region last for much longer than 10^5 yrs.Comment: 6 pages and 3 figure

The Arp 220 merger on kpc scales

For the first time we study the Eastern nucleus in greater detail and search for the more extended emission in the molecular gas in different CO line transitions of the famous ULIRG Arp 220. Furthermore we present a model of the merger in Arp 220 on large scales with the help of the CO data and an optical and near-infrared composite HST image of the prototypical ULIRG. Using the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) we obtained CO(2-1) and (1-0) data at wavelengths of 1 and 3 mm in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2006 at different beam sizes and spatial resolutions. The simulations of the merger in Arp 220 were performed with the Identikit modeling tool. The model parameters that describe the galaxy merger best give a mass ratio of 1:2 and result in a merger of ~6x10^8 yrs. The low resolution CO(1-0) PdBI observations suggest that there are indications for emission ~10" towards the south, as well as to the north and to the west of the two nuclei.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ, 14 pages 10 figure

The faint counterparts of MAMBO mm sources near the NTT Deep Field

We discuss identifications for 18 sources from our MAMBO 1.2mm survey of the region surrounding the NTT Deep Field. We have obtained accurate positions from Very Large Array 1.4GHz interferometry and in a few cases IRAM mm interferometry, and have also made deep BVRIzJK imaging at ESO. We find thirteen 1.2mm sources associated with optical/near-infrared objects in the magnitude range K=19.0 to 22.5, while five are blank fields at K>22. The median redshift of the radio-identified mm sources is ~2.6 from the radio/mm estimator, and the median optical/near-infrared photometric redshifts for the objects with counterparts ~2.1. This suggests that those radio-identified mm sources without optical/near-infrared counterparts tend to lie at higher redshifts than those with optical/near-infrared counterparts. Compared to published identifications of objects from 850micron surveys of similar depth, the median K and I magnitudes of our counterparts are roughly two magnitudes fainter and the dispersion of I-K colors is less. Real differences in the median redshifts, residual mis-identifications with bright objects, cosmic variance, and small number statistics are likely to contribute to this significant difference, which also affects redshift measurement strategies. We discuss basic properties of the near-infrared/(sub)mm/radio spectral energy distributions of our galaxies and of interferometrically identified submm sources from the literature. From a comparison with submm objects with CO-confirmed spectroscopic redshifts we argue that roughly two thirds of the (sub)mm galaxies are at z>~2.5. This fraction is probably larger when including sources without radio counterparts. (abridged)Comment: 45 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by ApJ. The resolution of figures 2 and 3 has been degraded. A higher quality pdf version of this paper is available at http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~dannerb

A Combined EIS-NVSS Survey Of Radio Sources (CENSORS) III: Spectroscopic observations

The Combined EIS-NVSS Survey Of Radio Sources (CENSORS) is a 1.4GHz radio survey selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) and complete to a flux-density of 7.2mJy. It targets the ESO Imaging Survey (EIS) Patch D, which is a 3 by 2 square degree field centred on 09 51 36.0, -21 00 00 (J2000). This paper presents the results of spectroscopic observations of 143 of the 150 CENSORS sources. The primary motivation for these observations is to achieve sufficient spectroscopic completeness so that the sample may be used to investigate the evolution of radio sources. The observations result in secure spectroscopic redshifts for 63% of the sample and likely redshifts (based on a single emission line, for example) for a further 8%. Following the identification of the quasars and star-forming galaxies in the CENSORS sample, estimated redshifts are calculated for the remainder of the sample via the K-z relation for radio galaxies. Comparison of the redshift distribution of the CENSORS radio sources to distributions predicted by the various radio luminosity function evolution models of Dunlop & Peacock 1990, results in no good match. This demonstrates that this sample can be used to expand upon previous work in that field.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. This version has some reduced resolution figures and 13 associated gif files. A version with all figures incorporated (at full resolution) is available at http://www.roe.ac.uk/~pnb/papers/censors_spectro.pd