965 research outputs found
The overmassive black hole in NGC 1277: new constraints from molecular gas kinematics
We report the detection of CO(1-0) emission from NGC 1277, a lenticular
galaxy in the Perseus Cluster. NGC 1277 has previously been proposed to host an
overmassive black hole (BH) compared to the galaxy bulge luminosity (mass),
based on stellar-kinematic measurements. The CO(1-0) emission, observed with
the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) using both, a more compact
(2.9-arcsec resolution) and a more extended (1-arcsec resolution)
configuration, is likely to originate from the dust lane encompassing the
galaxy nucleus at a distance of 0.9 arcsec (~320 pc). The double-horned CO(1-0)
profile found at 2.9-arcsec resolution traces of
molecular gas, likely orbiting in the dust lane at $\sim 550\ \mathrm{km\
s^{-1}}\sim 2\times 10^{10}\
M_\odot\sim
1.7\times 10^{10}\ M_\odotM/L_V=6.3\sim 5\times 10^{9}\ M_\odotM/L_V=10$. While the molecular gas reservoir
may be associated with a low level of star formation activity, the extended
2.6-mm continuum emission is likely to originate from a weak AGN, possibly
characterized by an inverted radio-to-millimetre spectral energy distribution.
Literature radio and X-ray data indicate that the BH in NGC 1277 is also
overmassive with respect to the Fundamental Plane of BH activity.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS on 20 January
2016; updated version including minor changes and note added in proo
Preditores da qualidade de vida e Incapacidade funcional em doentes com lombalgia crónica em tratamento diferenciado
A lombalgia constitui uma causa frequente de morbilidade e de incapacidade e é um
motivo frequente de procura dos cuidados de saúde. O presente estudo teve por
objectivo identificar os preditores da qualidadede vida e da incapacidade funcional
em doentes com lombalgia crónica submetidos a tratamento convencional
(fisioterapia) e tratamento por acupunctura e, contribuir ainda para um maior
conhecimento dos factores psicológicos na lombalgia. Os resultados mostraram que
no grupo de acupunctura, os preditores da qualidadede vida foram as habilitações,
depressão, ansiedade, satisfação com as despesas, incapacidade funcional e
pertencer a uma família extrema, enquanto que no grupo de fisioterapia, os
preditores foram a depressão, ansiedade, incapacidade funcional e consequências
da doença. Ao nível da incapacidade funcional, os preditores foram a duração da
doença, coerência da doença e qualidadede vida, no grupo de acupunctura,
enquanto que a qualidadede vida e as estratégias de alívio activo da dor foram os
preditores da incapacidade funcional no grupo de fisioterapia. As implicações do
trabalho ao nível da qualidadede vida e incapacidade funcional dos doentes com
lombalgia bem como as limitações do estudo são apresentadas e debatidas
Cold gas in the Intra Cluster Medium: implications for flow dynamics and powering optical nebulae
We show that the mechanical energy injection rate generated as the
intra-cluster medium (ICM) flows around cold clouds may be sufficient to power
the optical and near infra-red emission of nebulae observed in the central
regions of a sample of seven galaxy clusters. The energy injection rate is
extremely sensitive to the velocity difference between the ICM and cold clouds,
which may help to explain why optical and infra-red luminosity is often larger
than expected in systems containing AGNs. We also find that mass recycling is
likely to be important for the dynamics of the ICM. This effect will be
strongest in the central regions of clusters where there is more than enough
cold gas for its evaporation to contribute significantly to the density of the
hot phase.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Probing DNA conformational changes with high temporal resolution by Tethered Particle Motion
The Tethered Particle Motion (TPM) technique informs about conformational
changes of DNA molecules, e.g. upon looping or interaction with proteins, by
tracking the Brownian motion of a particle probe tethered to a surface by a
single DNA molecule and detecting changes of its amplitude of movement. We
discuss in this context the time resolution of TPM, which strongly depends on
the particle-DNA complex relaxation time, i.e. the characteristic time it takes
to explore its configuration space by diffusion. By comparing theory,
simulations and experiments, we propose a calibration of TPM at the dynamical
level: we analyze how the relaxation time grows with both DNA contour length
(from 401 to 2080 base pairs) and particle radius (from 20 to 150~nm). Notably
we demonstrate that, for a particle of radius 20~nm or less, the hydrodynamic
friction induced by the particle and the surface does not significantly slow
down the DNA. This enables us to determine the optimal time resolution of TPM
in distinct experimental contexts which can be as short as 20~ms.Comment: Improved version, to appear in Physical Biology. 10 pages + 10 pages
of supporting materia
Energetics of the molecular gas in the H_2 luminous radio galaxy 3C 326: Evidence for negative AGN feedback
We present a detailed analysis of the gas conditions in the H_2 luminous radio galaxy 3C 326 N at z ~ 0.1, which has a low star-formation
rate (SFR ~ 0.07 M_⊙ yr^(−1)) in spite of a gas surface density similar to those in starburst galaxies. Its star-formation efficiency
is likely a factor ~ 10−50 lower than those of ordinary star-forming galaxies. Combining new IRAM CO emission-line interferometry
with existing Spitzer mid-infrared spectroscopy, we find that the luminosity ratio of CO and pure rotational H_2 line emission is factors
10−100 lower than what is usually found. This suggests that most of the molecular gas is warm. The Na D absorption-line profile of
3C 326 N in the optical suggests an outflow with a terminal velocity of ~−1800 km s^(−1) and a mass outflow rate of 30−40 M_⊙ yr^(−1),
which cannot be explained by star formation. The mechanical power implied by the wind, of order 10^(43) erg s^(−1), is comparable to the
bolometric luminosity of the emission lines of ionized and molecular gas. To explain these observations, we propose a scenario where
a small fraction of the mechanical energy of the radio jet is deposited in the interstellar medium of 3C 326 N, which powers the outflow,
and the line emission through a mass, momentum and energy exchange between the different gas phases of the ISM. Dissipation times
are of order 10^(7−8) yrs, similar or greater than the typical jet lifetime. Small ratios of CO and PAH surface brightnesses in another 7 H_2
luminous radio galaxies suggest that a similar form of AGN feedback could be lowering star-formation efficiencies in these galaxies
in a similar way. The local demographics of radio-loud AGN suggests that secular gas cooling in massive early-type galaxies of
≥ 10^(11) M_⊙ could generally be regulated through a fundamentally similar form of “maintenance-phase” AGN feedback
In-depth inhomogeneities in CIGS solar cells: identifying regions for performance limitations by PIXE and EBS
When considering materials to be used as active layers in solar cells, an important required parameter is the proper knowledge of their elemental composition. It should be heavily controlled during growth in order to obtain the desired bandgap and to decrease recombination defects and then increase the solar cell electrical performance. Ion beam analytical techniques and, in particular particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) and elastic backscattering spectrometry (EBS), are quite suitable to determine the thickness and composition of such active layers. Furthermore, if these techniques are performed using a nuclear microprobe, lateral and in-depth inhomogeneities can be clearly observed from 2D maps. In many cases, composition variations can be detected from the classical 2D maps obtained from the PIXE spectra. In this work, it is shown how the in-depth variations can also be studied when considering 2D maps reconstructed from the EBS spectra. Such variations are derived from processing conditions and can be related to: i) composition, ii) thickness, iii) roughness, iv) other non-trivial issues. Examples obtained on Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based cells are presented and discussed. Furthermore, the combination of ion beam analytical techniques such as PIXE and EBS is shown to be a competitive and alternative method to those more used and established techniques such as X-ray fluorescence for checking the average composition of the solar cells active layers or SIMS for the determination of elemental depth profile.publishe
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