Black hole spin inferred from 3:2 epicyclic resonance model of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations

Estimations of black hole spin in the three Galactic microquasars GRS 1915+105, GRO J1655-40, and XTE J1550-564 have been carried out based on spectral and timing X-ray measurements and various theoretical concepts. Among others, a non-linear resonance between axisymmetric epicyclic oscillation modes of an accretion disc around a Kerr black hole has been considered as a model for the observed high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (HF QPOs). Estimates of spin predicted by this model have been derived based on the geodesic approximation of the accreted fluid motion. Here we assume accretion flow described by the model of a pressure-supported torus and carry out related corrections to the mass-spin estimates. We find that for dimensionless black hole spin a<0.9, the resonant eigenfrequencies are very close to those calculated for the geodesic motion. Their values slightly grow with increasing torus thickness. These findings agree well with results of a previous study carried out in the pseudo-Newtonian approximation. The situation becomes different for a>0.9, in which case the resonant eigenfrequencies rapidly decrease as the torus thickness increases. We conclude that the assumed non-geodesic effects shift the lower limit of the spin, implied for the three microquasars by the epicyclic model and independently measured masses, from a~0.7 to a~0.6. Their consideration furthermore confirms compatibility of the model with the rapid spin of GRS 1915+105 and provides highly testable predictions of the QPO frequencies. Individual sources with a moderate spin (a<0.9) should exhibit a smaller spread of the measured 3:2 QPO frequencies than sources with a near-extreme spin (a~1). This should be further examined using the large amount of high-resolution data expected to become available with the next generation of X-ray instruments, such as the proposed Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT).Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysic

Constitutively active Lyn kinase causes a cutaneous small vessel vasculitis and liver fibrosis syndrome

Neutrophilic inflammation is a hallmark of many monogenic autoinflammatory diseases; pathomechanisms that regulate extravasation of damaging immune cells into surrounding tissues are poorly understood. Here we identified three unrelated boys with perinatal-onset of neutrophilic cutaneous small vessel vasculitis and systemic inflammation. Two patients developed liver fibrosis in their first year of life. Next-generation sequencing identified two de novo truncating variants in the Src-family tyrosine kinase, LYN, p.Y508*, p.Q507* and a de novo missense variant, p.Y508F, that result in constitutive activation of Lyn kinase. Functional studies revealed increased expression of ICAM-1 on induced patient-derived endothelial cells (iECs) and of β2-integrins on patient neutrophils that increase neutrophil adhesion and vascular transendothelial migration (TEM). Treatment with TNF inhibition improved systemic inflammation; and liver fibrosis resolved on treatment with the Src kinase inhibitor dasatinib. Our findings reveal a critical role for Lyn kinase in modulating inflammatory signals, regulating microvascular permeability and neutrophil recruitment, and in promoting hepatic fibrosis

Influência do resfriamento dinâmico na medição da tensão limite de escoamento

Non-Newtonian fluids may present several complex characteristics, such as viscoelasticity, plasticity and thixotropy. Understanding the behaviour of these materials is essential to facilitate its applicability, since many of them are present in daily life, such as gels, chocolate, and mayonnaise. The material studied on the present work was an waxy crude oil. The oil, present in reservoirs located in deep water, when subjected to low temperatures during production shutdowns, precipitates its paraffin, creating a structure which may be very resistant to flow. Thus, the formed material may represent a great difficulty to production restart. The design of pumps and compressors used in these systems depend on a rheological property called yield stress and therefore, it is essential to obtain reliable values of this rheological parameter. However, the complex behaviour, and the dependence of the crude oil characteristics on the shearing and temperature history make this a challenging task. Besides these, other factors may influence the measurement of yield stress, as the effect of wall slip and if the cooling is static or dynamic. This work shows the variation of yield stress for tests with dynamic cooling. The imposition of a stress during cooling caused the reduction in yield stress 0. Increasing the imposed stress, 0 decreased until it reached a minimum. Next, it was noticed an increase in yield stress with increasing imposed stress. The experiments carried out in this work were made in a commercial stress control rheometer. The effect of wall slip was tested by comparing smooth and rough geometries and it was verified signs of its presence, with the reduction of yield stress for smooth geometries. The equation of Weissenberg-Rabinowitsch, used for correction of the inhomogeneity of the shear stress along the radius geometry, seemed to be not necessary for the demonstrated results.Fluidos não newtonianos podem apresentar diversas características complexas, como a viscoelasticidade, plasticidade e tixotropia. Entender o comportamento de materiais tão complexos é fundamental para facilitar sua aplicabilidade, já que muitos estão presentes no cotidiano das pessoas, como géis, chocolate e maionese. O material estudado no presente trabalho foi um petróleo parafínico. O petróleo, presente em bacias localizadas em águas profundas, quando submetido a baixas temperaturas durante paradas de produção, precipita suas parafinas dando origem a uma estrutura que pode ser muito resistente ao escoamento. Dessa forma, o material formado pode representar uma grande dificuldade para o reinício da produção. O dimensionamento das bombas e compressores utilizados para retomada da produção depende de uma propriedade reológica denominada tensão limite de escoamento e, por isso, é fundamental obter valores confiáveis desse parâmetro reológico. No entanto, o comportamento complexo, e a dependência das características do petróleo com o histórico de cisalhamento e temperatura tornam a tarefa desafiadora. Outros fatores podem influenciar na medição da tensão limite de escoamento, como o efeito do escorregamento na parede do sensor da geometria e se o resfriamento é estático ou dinâmico. Este trabalho mostra a variação da tensão limite de escoamento para ensaios com resfriamento dinâmico. A imposição de tensão durante o resfriamento causou a redução da tensão limite de escoamento 0. Elevando-se a tensão imposta, 0 reduziu até atingir um valor mínimo. Em seguida, percebeu-se um aumento da tensão limite de escoamento com o aumento da tensão imposta. Os experimentos realizados neste trabalho foram feitos em um reômetro comercial do tipo tensão controlada (“stress controlled”). O efeito de escorregamento da amostra foi testado comparando geometrias com superfícies lisas e ranhuradas e foi possível verificar sinais de sua presença, com a redução da tensão limite de escoamento para geometrias lisas. A equação de Weissenberg-Rabinowitsch, utilizada para correção da não homogeneidade da tensão de cisalhamento ao longo do raio da geometria, mostrou-se não necessária para os resultados demonstrados

The impact of metabolic endotoxaemia on the browning process in human adipocytes

Background Dysfunctional adipose tissue (AT) is known to contribute to the pathophysiology of metabolic disease, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This dysfunction may occur, in part, as a consequence of gut-derived endotoxaemia inducing changes in adipocyte mitochondrial function and reducing the proportion of BRITE (brown-in-white) adipocytes. Therefore, the present study investigated whether endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide; LPS) directly contributes to impaired human adipocyte mitochondrial function and browning in human adipocytes, and the relevant impact of obesity status pre and post bariatric surgery. Methods Human differentiated abdominal subcutaneous (AbdSc) adipocytes from participants with obesity and normal-weight participants were treated with endotoxin to assess in vitro changes in mitochondrial function and BRITE phenotype. Ex vivo human AbdSc AT from different groups of participants (normal-weight, obesity, pre- and 6 months post-bariatric surgery) were assessed for similar analyses including circulating endotoxin levels. Results Ex vivo AT analysis (lean & obese, weight loss post-bariatric surgery) identified that systemic endotoxin negatively correlated with BAT gene expression (p < 0.05). In vitro endotoxin treatment of AbdSc adipocytes (lean & obese) reduced mitochondrial dynamics (74.6% reduction; p < 0.0001), biogenesis (81.2% reduction; p < 0.0001) and the BRITE phenotype (93.8% reduction; p < 0.0001). Lean AbdSc adipocytes were more responsive to adrenergic signalling than obese AbdSc adipocytes; although endotoxin mitigated this response (92.6% reduction; p < 0.0001). Conclusions Taken together, these data suggest that systemic gut-derived endotoxaemia contributes to both individual adipocyte dysfunction and reduced browning capacity of the adipocyte cell population, exacerbating metabolic consequences. As bariatric surgery reduces endotoxin levels and is associated with improving adipocyte functionality, this may provide further evidence regarding the metabolic benefits of such surgical interventions.</p

Additional file 1 of The impact of metabolic endotoxaemia on the browning process in human adipocytes

Additional file 1: Table S1. Primer sequences. Sequences of primers used during qRT-PCR. Figure S1. Artificial neural network inference of brown and inflammatory genes pre- and post-bariatric surgery. A network map showing the strength and direction of interactions between genes measured before and after bariatric surgery. Figure S2. UCP1 expression in lean and obese subcutaneous and omental adipose tissue. Gene expression of UCP1 in subcutaneous and omental adipose tissue from lean participants and participants with obesity. Figure S3. Inflammatory markers are increased with BMI. Bar graphs showing the expression of inflammatory genes across participants divided into lean, overweight and obese cohorts. Figure S4. Artificial neural network inference of brown and inflammatory genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue. A network map showing the strength and direction of interactions between genes in subcutaneous adipose tissue. Figure S5. Artificial neural network inference of brown and inflammatory genes in omental adipose tissue. A network map showing the strength and direction of interactions between genes in omental adipose tissue. Figure S6. AP2 gene expression during differentiation with LPS treatment. Gene expression of AP2 demonstrating that differentiation of adipocytes is not affected by cellular treatments. Figure S7. Effect of LPS on inflammation in primary human adipocytes. Expression of inflammatory genes in primary human adipocytes following LPS treatment