Search for H₃⁺ isotopologues toward CRL 2136 IRS 1

Context. Deuterated interstellar molecules frequently have abundances relative to their main isotopologues much higher than the overall elemental D-to-H ratio in the cold dense interstellar medium. H₃⁺ and its isotopologues play a key role in the deuterium fractionation; however, the abundances of these isotopologues have not been measured empirically with respect to H₃⁺ to date. Aims. Our aim was to constrain the relative abundances of H₂D⁺ and D₃⁺ in the cold outer envelope of the hot core CRL 2136 IRS 1. Methods. We carried out three observations targeting H₃⁺ and its isotopologues using the spectrographs CRIRES at the VLT, iSHELL at IRTF, and EXES on board SOFIA. In addition, the CO overtone band at 2.3 μm was observed by iSHELL to characterize the gas on the line of sight. Results. The H₃⁺ ion was detected toward CRL 2136 IRS 1 as in previous observations. Spectroscopy of lines of H₂D⁺ and D₃⁺ resulted in non-detections. The 3σ upper limits of N(H₂D⁺)/N(H₃⁺) and N(D₃⁺)/N(H₃⁺) are 0.24 and 0.13, respectively. The population diagram for CO is reproduced by two components of warm gas with the temperatures 58 and 530 K, assuming a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) distribution of the rotational levels. Cold gas (<20 K) makes only a minor contribution to the CO molecular column toward CRL 2136 IRS 1. Conclusions. The critical conditions for deuterium fractionation in a dense cloud are low temperature and CO depletion. Given the revised cloud properties, it is no surprise that H₃⁺ isotopologues are not detected toward CRL 2136 IRS 1. The result is consistent with our current understanding of how deuterium fractionation proceeds

Hoxd11 specifies a program of metanephric kidney development within the intermediate mesoderm of the mouse embryo

AbstractThe mammalian kidney consists of an array of tubules connected to a ductal system that collectively function to control water/salt balance and to remove waste from the organisms' circulatory system. During mammalian embryogenesis, three kidney structures form within the intermediate mesoderm. The two most anterior structures, the pronephros and the mesonephros, are transitory and largely non-functional, while the most posterior, the metanephros, persists as the adult kidney. We have explored the mechanisms underlying regional specific differentiation of the kidney forming mesoderm. Previous studies have shown a requirement for Hox11 paralogs (Hoxa11, Hoxc11 and Hoxd11) in metanephric development. Mice lacking all Hox11 activity fail to form metanephric kidney structures. We demonstrate that the Hox11 paralog expression is restricted in the intermediate mesoderm to the posterior, metanephric level. When Hoxd11 is ectopically activated in the anterior mesonephros, we observe a partial transformation to a metanephric program of development. Anterior Hoxd11+ cells activate Six2, a transcription factor required for the maintenance of metanephric tubule progenitors. Additionally, Hoxd11+ mesonephric tubules exhibit an altered morphology and activate several metanephric specific markers normally confined to distal portions of the functional nephron. Collectively, our data support a model where Hox11 paralogs specify a metanephric developmental program in responsive intermediate mesoderm. This program maintains tubule forming progenitors and instructs a metanephric specific pattern of nephron differentiation

Search for H₃⁺ isotopologues toward CRL 2136 IRS 1

Context. Deuterated interstellar molecules frequently have abundances relative to their main isotopologues much higher than the overall elemental D-to-H ratio in the cold dense interstellar medium. H₃⁺ and its isotopologues play a key role in the deuterium fractionation; however, the abundances of these isotopologues have not been measured empirically with respect to H₃⁺ to date. Aims. Our aim was to constrain the relative abundances of H₂D⁺ and D₃⁺ in the cold outer envelope of the hot core CRL 2136 IRS 1. Methods. We carried out three observations targeting H₃⁺ and its isotopologues using the spectrographs CRIRES at the VLT, iSHELL at IRTF, and EXES on board SOFIA. In addition, the CO overtone band at 2.3 μm was observed by iSHELL to characterize the gas on the line of sight. Results. The H₃⁺ ion was detected toward CRL 2136 IRS 1 as in previous observations. Spectroscopy of lines of H₂D⁺ and D₃⁺ resulted in non-detections. The 3σ upper limits of N(H₂D⁺)/N(H₃⁺) and N(D₃⁺)/N(H₃⁺) are 0.24 and 0.13, respectively. The population diagram for CO is reproduced by two components of warm gas with the temperatures 58 and 530 K, assuming a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) distribution of the rotational levels. Cold gas (<20 K) makes only a minor contribution to the CO molecular column toward CRL 2136 IRS 1. Conclusions. The critical conditions for deuterium fractionation in a dense cloud are low temperature and CO depletion. Given the revised cloud properties, it is no surprise that H₃⁺ isotopologues are not detected toward CRL 2136 IRS 1. The result is consistent with our current understanding of how deuterium fractionation proceeds

Evidence for Diverse Biogeochemical Drivers of Boreal Forest New Particle Formation

New particle formation (NPF) is an important contributor to particle number in many locations, but the chemical drivers for this process are not well understood. Daytime NPF events occur regularly in the springtime Finnish boreal forest and strongly impact aerosol abundance. In April 2014 size-resolved chemical measurements of ambient nanoparticles were made using the Time-of-Flight Thermal Desorption Chemical ionization Mass Spectrometer and we report results from two NPF events. While growth overall was dominated by terpene oxidation products, newly formed 20-70nm particles showed enhancement in apparent alkanoic acids. The events occurred on days with rapid transport of marine air, which correlated with low background aerosol loading and higher gas phase methanesulfonic acid levels. These results are broadly consistent with previous studies on Nordic NPF but indicate that further attention should be given to the sources and role of non-terpenoid organics and the possible contribution of transported marine compounds in this process. Plain Language Summary Clouds are an enormously important part of the climate system because they control the radiation entering and leaving the Earth. Clouds form as water condenses onto small particles called cloud condensation nuclei. These particles can be directly emitted from the Earth's surface, like sea spray, for example, or they can form in the atmosphere out of precursor gases. We have measured the composition of these atmosphere-formed particles to understand better how this process works in the Nordic boreal forest. We found that a diverse mix of processes and molecules are likely involved, possibly including the transport of materials from the ocean. While these results will ultimately lead to a better understanding of ocean-land-cloud interactions, they currently indicate that more work is needed to learn the processes involved.Peer reviewe

Space charge in drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture

Using prototype modules of the ALICE Transition Radiation Detector we investigate space charge effects and the dependence of the pion rejection performance on the incident angle of the ionizing particle. The average pulse height distributions in the drift chambers operated with the Xe,CO2(15%) mixture provide quantitative information on the gas gain reduction due to space charge accumulating during the drift of the primary ionization. Our results demonstrate that the pion rejection performance of a TRD is better for tracks which are not at normal incidence to the anode wires. We present detailed simulations of detector signals, which reproduce the measurements and lend strong support to our interpretation of the measurements in terms of space charge effects.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Nucl.Instrum.Meth. A. Data files available at http://www-alice.gsi.de/tr

Quantitative ultrasound tissue characterization in shoulder and thigh muscles – a new approach

BACKGROUND: The echogenicity patterns of ultrasound scans contain information of tissue composition in muscles. The aim was: (1) to develop a quantitative ultrasound image analysis to characterize tissue composition in terms of intensity and structure of the ultrasound images, and (2) to use the method for characterization of ultrasound images of the supraspinatus muscle, and the vastus lateralis muscle. METHODS: Computerized texture analyses employing first-order and higher-order grey-scale statistics were developed to objectively characterize ultrasound images of m. supraspinatus and m. vastus lateralis from 9 healthy participants. RESULTS: The mean grey-scale intensity was higher in the vastus lateralis muscle (p < 0.05) than in the supraspinatus muscle (average value of middle measuring site 51.4 compared to 35.0). Furthermore, the number of spatially connected and homogeneous regions (blobs) was higher in the vastus lateralis (p < 0.05) than in the supraspinatus (average for m. vastus lateralis: 0.092 mm(-2 )and for m. supraspinatus: 0.016 mm(-2)). CONCLUSION: The higher intensity and the higher number of blobs in the vastus lateralis muscle indicates that the thigh muscle contained more non-contractile components than the supraspinatus muscle, and that the muscle was coarser. The image analyses supplemented each other and gave a more complete description of the tissue composition in the muscle than the mean grey-scale value alone

Enhancement of atmospheric H2SO4/H2O nucleation: Organic oxidation products versus amines

Atmospheric H2SO4 / H2O nucleation influencing effects have been studied in the flow tube IfT-LFT (Institute for Tropospheric Research – Laminar Flow Tube) at 293 ± 0.5 K and a pressure of 1 bar using synthetic air as the carrier gas. The presence of a possible background amine concentration in the order of 107–108 molecule cm−3 throughout the experiments has to be taken into account. In a first set of investigations, ozonolysis of olefins (tetramethylethylene, 1-methyl-cyclohexene, α-pinene and limonene) for close to atmospheric concentrations, served as the source of OH radicals and possibly other oxidants initiating H2SO4 formation starting from SO2. The oxidant generation is inevitably associated with the formation of organic oxidation products arising from the parent olefins. These products (first generation mainly) showed no clear effect on the number of nucleated particles within a wide range of experimental conditions for H2SO4 concentrations higher than ~107 molecule cm−3. Also the early growth process of the nucleated particles was not significantly influenced by the organic oxidation products in line with the expected growth by organic products using literature data. An additional, H2SO4-independent process of particle (nano-CN) formation was observed in the case of α-pinene and limonene ozonolysis for H2SO4 concentrations smaller than ~107 molecule cm−3. Furthermore, the findings confirm the appearance of an additional oxidant for SO2 beside OH radicals, very likely stabilized Criegee Intermediates (sCI). A second set of experiments has been performed in the presence of added amines in the concentrations range of a few 107–1010 molecule cm−3 applying photolytic OH radical generation for H2SO4 production without addition of other organics. All amines showed significant nucleation enhancement with increasing efficiency in the order pyridine < aniline < dimethylamine < trimethylamine. This result supports the idea of H2SO4 cluster stabilization by amines due to strong H2SO4↔amine interactions. On the other hand, this study indicates that for organic oxidation products (in presence of the possible amine background as stated) a distinct H2SO4 / H2O nucleation enhancement can be due to increased H2SO4 formation caused by additional organic oxidant production (sCI) rather than by stabilization of H2SO4 clusters due to H2SO4↔organics interactions