A large stellar evolution database for population synthesis studies. II. Stellar models and isochrones for an alpha-enhanced metal distribution

[Abridged] We present a large, new set of stellar evolution models and isochrones for an alpha-enhanced metal distribution typical of Galactic halo and bulge stars; it represents a homogeneous extension of our stellar model library for a distribution already presented in Pietrinferni et al.(2004). The effect of the alpha-element enhancement has been properly taken into account in the nuclear network, opacity, equation of state and, for the first time, the bolometric corrections, and color transformations. This allows us to avoid the inconsistent use - common to all alpha-enhanced model libraries currently available - of scaled-solar bolometric corrections and color transformations for alpha-enhanced models and isochrones. We show how bolometric corrections to magnitudes obtained for the U,B portion of stellar spectra for T_{eff}<=6500K, are significantly affected by the metal mixture, especially at the higher metallicities. We also provide complete sets of evolutionary models for low-mass, He-burning stellar structures covering the whole metallicity range, to enable synthetic horizontal branch simulations. We compare our database with several widely used stellar model libraries from different authors, as well as with various observed color magnitude and color-color diagrams (Johnson-Cousins BVI and near infrared magnitudes, Stromgren colors) of Galactic field stars and globular clusters. We also test our isochrones comparing integrated optical colors and Surface Brightness Fluctuation magnitudes with selected globular cluster data. We find a general satisfactory agreement with the empirical constraints.Comment: 46 pages, 20 figures, ApJ in press, the whole database presented in this paper can be foud at http://www.te.astro.it/BASTI/index.ph

Whole-Genome Sequencing Characterization of Virulence Profiles of Listeria monocytogenes Food and Human Isolates and In Vitro Adhesion/Invasion Assessment

none13sìListeria monocytogenes (Lm) is the causative agent of human listeriosis. Lm strains have different virulence potential. For this reason, we preliminarily characterised via Whole-Genome Sequencing (WGS) some Lm strains for their key genomic features and virulence-associated determinants, assigning the clonal complex (CC). Moreover, the ability of the same strains to adhere to and invade human colon carcinoma cell line Caco-2, evaluating the possible correspondence with their genetic virulence profile, was also assessed. The clinical strains typed belonged to clonal complex (CC)1, CC31, and CC101 and showed a very low invasiveness. The Lm strains isolated from food were assigned to CC1, CC7, CC9, and CC121. All CC1 carried the hypervirulence pathogenicity island LIPI-3 in addition to LIPI-1. Premature stop codons in the inlA gene were found only in Lm of food origin belonging to CC9 and CC121. The presence of LIPI2_inlII was observed in all the CCs except CC1. The CC7 strain, belonging to an epidemic cluster, also carried the internalin genes inlG and inlL and showed the highest level of invasion. In contrast, the human CC31 strain lacked the lapB and vip genes and presented the lowest level of invasiveness. In Lm, the genetic determinants of hypo- or hypervirulence are not necessarily predictive of a cell adhesion and/or invasion ability in vitro. Moreover, since listeriosis results from the interplay between host and virulence features of the pathogen, even hypovirulent clones are able to cause infection in immunocompromised people.openGiuditta Fiorella Schiavano * , Collins Njie Ateba , Annalisa Petruzzelli , Veronica Mele , Giulia Amagliani , Fabrizia Guidi , Mauro De Santi , Francesco Pomilio , Giuliana Blasi , Antonietta Gattuso , Stefania Di Lullo , Elena Rocchegiani, Giorgio BrandiSchiavano, GIUDITTA FIORELLA; Njie Ateba, Collins; Petruzzelli, Annalisa; Mele, Veronica; Amagliani, Giulia; Guidi, Fabrizia; DE SANTI, Mauro; Pomilio, Francesco; Blasi, Giuliana; Gattuso, Antonietta; Di Lullo, Stefania; Rocchegiani, Elena; Brandi, Giorgi

Glutathione Depletion Is Linked with Th2 Polarization in Mice with a Retrovirus-Induced Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Murine AIDS: Role of Proglutathione Molecules as Immunotherapeutics

Injection of the LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus into mice causes murine AIDS, a disease characterized by many dysfunctions of immunocompetent cells. To establish whether the disease is characterized by glutathione imbalance, reduced glutathione (GSH) and cysteine were quantified in different organs. A marked redox imbalance, consisting of GSH and/or cysteine depletion, was found in the lymphoid organs, such as the spleen and lymph nodes. Moreover, a significant decrease in cysteine and GSH levels in the pancreas and brain, respectively, was measured at 5 weeks postinfection. The Th2 immune response was predominant at all times investigated, as revealed by the expression of Th1/Th2 cytokines. Furthermore, investigation of the activation status of peritoneal macrophages showed that the expression of genetic markers of alternative activation, namely, Fizz1, Ym1, and Arginase1, was induced. Conversely, expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, a marker of classical activation of macrophages, was detected only when Th1 cytokines were expressed at high levels. In vitro studies revealed that during the very early phases of infection, GSH depletion and the downregulation of interleukin-12 (IL-12) p40 mRNA were correlated with the dose of LP-BM5 used to infect the macrophages. Treatment of LP-BM5-infected mice with N-(N-acetyl-L-cysteinyl)-S-acetylcysteamine (I-152), an N-acetyl-cysteine supplier, restored GSH/cysteine levels in the organs, reduced the expression of alternatively activated macrophage markers, and increased the level of gamma interferon production, while it decreased the levels of Th2 cytokines, such as IL-4 and IL-5. Our findings thus establish a link between GSH deficiency and Th1/Th2 disequilibrium in LP-BM5 infection and indicate that I-152 can be used to restore the GSH level and a balanced Th1/Th2 response in infected mice

Transforming observational data and theoretical isochrones into the ACS/WFC Vega-mag system

We propose a zero-point photometric calibration of the data from the ACS/WFC on board the Hubble Space Telescope, based on a spectrum of Vega and the most up to date in-flight transmission curves of the camera. This calibration is accurate at the level of a few hundredths of a magnitude. The main purpose of this effort is to transform the entire set of evolutionary models by Pietrinferni et al. (2004) into a simple observational photometric system for ACS/WFC data, and make them available to the astronomical community. We provide the zero points for the most used ACS/WFC bands, and give basic recipes for calibrating both the observed data and the models. We also present the Colour Magnitude Diagram (CMD) from ACS data of 5 Galactic globular clusters, spanning the metallicity range -2.2<[Fe/H]<-0.04, and provide fiducial points representing their sequences from several magnitudes below the turnoff to the red giant branch tip. The observed sequences are compared with the models in the newly defined photometric system.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 7 Tables. Accepted (2004 Dec 14) on M.N.R.A.

A large stellar evolution database for population synthesis studies. I. Scaled solar models and isochrones

We present a large and updated stellar evolution database for low-, intermediate- and high-mass stars in a wide metallicity range, suitable for studying Galactic and extragalactic simple and composite stellar populations using population synthesis techniques. The stellar mass range is between \sim0.5Mo and 10Mo with a fine mass spacing. The metallicity [Fe/H] comprises 10 values ranging from -2.27 to 0.40, with a scaled solar metal distribution. The initial He mass fraction ranges from Y=0.245, for the more metal-poor composition, up to 0.303 for the more metal-rich one, with Delta Y/Delta Z\sim 1.4. For each adopted chemical composition, the evolutionary models have been computed without and with overshooting from the Schwarzschild boundary of the convective cores during the central H-burning phase. The whole set of evolutionary models can be used to compute isochrones in a wide age range, from \sim30 Myr to \sim15Gyr. Both evolutionary tracks and isochrones are available in several observational planes, employing updated set of bolometric corrections and color-Te relations computed for this project. The number of points along the models and the resulting isochrones is selected in such a way that interpolation for intermediate metallicities not contained in the grid is straightforward. We compare our isochrones with results from different stellar evolution databases and perform some empirical tests for the reliability of our models. Since this work is devoted to scaled solar compositions, we focus our attention on the Galactic disk populations, employing multicolor photometry of unevolved field MS stars with precise Hipparcos parallaxes, well-studied open clusters and one eclipsing binary system with precise measurements of masses, radii and [Fe/H] of both components.Comment: 57 pages, 26 figures (figs. 3, 4, 6 are at low resolution), ApJ in press, the whole set of evolutionary results can be retrieved at http://www.te.astro.it/BASTI/index.ph

Sea Urchin Granuloma

Sea urchin granuloma is a chronic focal response to the puncture of sea urchin spines, induced by the permanence of prickle remnants in the wound. Until recent years, it was thought to represent a foreign body reaction but, following the description, in 2001, of its several histologic forms, the spectrum of its likely pathogenetic mechanisms has widened to include the immune responses to different non-self antigens. Depending on individual reactivity, in most cases, a limited number of granulomas is observed, however numerous the punctures may be. We report a case with more than 200 lesions and a tuberculoid histologic pattern, indicative of an immune reaction

Centrifugal necrotic keratoacanthoma

Centrifugal necrotic keratoacanthoma is a quite rare variant of keratoacanthoma, with a locally aggressive behavior and no tendency to spontaneous involution. We report a typical case of the nasal-orbital region. Based on its clinical, histological and behavioral picture, centrifugal necrotic keratoacanthoma appears as variant of giant keratoacanthoma and can be regarded as an intermediate form in a spectrum where keratoacanthoma and overt squamous cell carcinoma represent the most benign and the most malignant end, respectively, as also highlighted by analogies between the two lesions recently reported in the field of molecular biology