On the properties of the RHESSI intermediate-duration gamma-ray bursts

The intermediate-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) identified in the data of the RHESSI satellite are investigated with respect to their spectral lags, peak count rates, redshifts, supernova observations, and star formation rates of their host galaxies. Standard statistical tests like Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Student t-test are used. It is discussed whether these bursts belong to the group of so-called short or long GRBs, or if they significantly differ from both groups.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Characterization of biomass burning emissions from cooking fires, peat, crop residue, and other fuels with high-resolution proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry

We deployed a high-resolution proton-transferreaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer (PTR-TOF-MS) to measure biomass-burning emissions from peat, crop residue, cooking fires, and many other fire types during the fourth Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME-4) laboratory campaign. A combination of gas standard calibrations and composition sensitive, mass-dependent calibration curves was applied to quantify gas-phase non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) observed in the complex mixture of fire emissions. We used several approaches to assign the best identities to most major “exact masses”, including many high molecular mass species. Using these methods, approximately 80–96% of the total NMOC mass detected by the PTR-TOFMS and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was positively or tentatively identified for major fuel types. We report data for many rarely measured or previously unmeasured emissions in several compound classes including aromatic hydrocarbons, phenolic compounds, and furans; many of these are suspected secondary organic aerosol precursors. A large set of new emission factors (EFs) for a range of globally significant biomass fuels is presented. Measurements show that oxygenated NMOCs accounted for the largest fraction of emissions of all compound classes. In a brief study of various traditional and advanced cooking methods, the EFs for these emissions groups were greatest for open threestone cooking in comparison to their more advanced counterparts. Several little-studied nitrogen-containing organic compounds were deteched from many fuel types, that together accounted for 0.1-8.7% of the fuel nitrogen, and some may play a role in new particle formation

Lake Water Salinity and Periphytic Diatom Succession in Three Subarctic Lakes, Yukon Territory, Canada

Seasonal changes in water chemistry and periphytic diatom assemblages were monitored for a saline, a subsaline, and freshwater lake in the central Yukon Territory. Athalassic saline lakes, such as these, are believed to be extremely rare in arctic regions. All three study lakes exhibited a gradual shoreline retreat over the season (28 May to 22 August 1992) due to evaporative water loss. As the season progressed, the saline lake exhibited a marked increase in conductivity and salinity, similar to changes observed for inland salt lakes in more southern regions. The seasonal changes in water chemistry were less pronounced in the subsaline and freshwater lakes. The periphytic diatom populations of the saline lake closely tracked changes in the lake's salinity, exhibiting a successional shift from taxa with low salt tolerances (e.g., Nitzschia cf. commutata and N. cf. palea) to those with high salt tolerances (e.g., Amphora acutiuscula) over the study period. Periphytic diatoms in the subsaline and freshwater lakes also exhibited marked successional changes, shifting to almost complete dominance by a single species (Cocconeis placentula and Achnanthes minutissima respectively), but these shifts were not related to lake water salinity alone.Key words: lakes, diatoms, seasonal succession, saline, subarctic, YukonOn a observé les variations saisonnières dans la composition chimique de l'eau et les assemblages de diatomées périphytoniques, dans un lac salin, un lac subsalin et un lac d'eau douce dans le centre du Territoire du Yukon. On croit que de tels les lacs salins ne venant pas de la mer, sont très rares dans la région arctique. Les trois lacs étudiés ont tous montré un retrait du rivage dû à la perte d'eau par évaporation au cours de la saison (du 28 mai au 22 août 1992). Au fur et à mesure que la saison avançait, le lac salin montrait une augmentation marquée de conductivité et de salinité semblable à celle observée dans les lacs intérieurs salins de régions plus au sud. Les changements saisonniers dans la composition chimique de l'eau étaient moins prononcés pour les lacs subsalin et d'eau douce. Les populations de diatomées périphytoniques du lac salin variaient directement en fonction des changements de salinité du lac, montrant des changements de succession allant de taxa à faible tolérance au sel (e.g., Nitzschia cf. commutata et N. cf. palea) à des taxa à forte tolérance au sel (e.g., Amphora acutiuscala) pendant la période d'étude. Les diatomées périphytoniques dans les lacs subsalin et d'eau douce ont aussi montré des changements de succession marqués, allant jusqu'à la domination presque complète d'une seule espèce (Cocconeis placentula et Achnanthes minutissima respectivement); ces changements n'étaient cependant pas reliés uniquement à la variation de salinité de l'eau des lacs.Mots clés: lacs, diatomées, succession saisonnière, salin, subarctique, Yuko

Searching for galactic sources in the Swift GRB catalog

Since the early 1990s Gamma Ray Bursts have been accepted to be of extra-galactic origin due to the isotropic distribution observed by BATSE and the redshifts observed via absorption line spectroscopy. Nevertheless, upon further examination at least one case turned out to be of galactic origin. This particular event presented a Fast Rise, Exponential Decay (FRED) structure which leads us to believe that other FRED sources might also be Galactic. This study was set out to estimate the most probable degree of contamination by galactic sources that certain samples of FREDs have. In order to quantify the degree of anisotropy the average dipolar and quadripolar moments of each sample of GRBs with respect to the galactic plane were calculated. This was then compared to the probability distribution of simulated samples comprised of a combination of isotropically generated sources and galactic sources. We observe that the dipolar and quadripolar moments of the selected subsamples of FREDs are found more than two standard deviations outside those of random isotropically generated samples.The most probable degree of contamination by galactic sources for the FRED GRBs of the Swift catalog detected until February 2011 that do not have a known redshift is about 21 out of 77 sources which is roughly equal to 27%. Furthermore we observe, that by removing from this sample those bursts that may have any type of indirect redshift indicator and multiple peaks gives the most probable contamination increases up to 34% (17 out of 49 sources). It is probable that a high degree of contamination by galactic sources occurs among the single peak FREDs observed by Swift.Comment: Published to A&A, 4 pages, 5 figures, this arXiv version includes appended table with all the bursts considered in this stud

The obscured hyper-energetic GRB 120624B hosted by a luminous compact galaxy at z = 2.20

Gamma-ray bursts are the most luminous explosions that we can witness in the Universe. Studying the most extreme cases of these phenomena allows us to constrain the limits for the progenitor models. In this Letter, we study the prompt emission, afterglow, and host galaxy of GRB 120624B, one of the brightest GRBs detected by Fermi, to derive the energetics of the event and characterise the host galaxy in which it was produced. Following the high-energy detection we conducted a multi-wavelength follow-up campaign, including near-infrared imaging from HAWKI/VLT, optical from OSIRIS/GTC, X-ray observations from the Chandra X-ray Observatory and at sub-millimetre/millimetre wavelengths from SMA. Optical/nIR spectroscopy was performed with X-shooter/VLT. We detect the X-ray and nIR afterglow of the burst and determine a redshift of z = 2.1974 +/- 0.0002 through the identification of emission lines of [OII], [OIII] and H-alpha from the host galaxy of the GRB. This implies an energy release of Eiso = (3.0+/-0.2)x10^54 erg, amongst the most luminous ever detected. The observations of the afterglow indicate high obscuration with AV > 1.5. The host galaxy is compact, with R1/2 < 1.6 kpc, but luminous, at L ~ 1.5 L* and has a star formation rate of 91 +/- 6 Msol/yr as derived from H-alpha. As other highly obscured GRBs, GRB 120624B is hosted by a luminous galaxy, which we also proof to be compact, with a very intense star formation. It is one of the most luminous host galaxies associated with a GRB, showing that the host galaxies of long GRBs are not always blue dwarf galaxies, as previously thought.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in A&

Torakalna hernijacija kralješnične moždine

Herniation of the spinal cord through a dural defect is a rather rare deformity and very easily misdiagnosed as retromedullary occult intraspinal arachnoid cyst or meningocele. The possible origin of the dural defect can be traumatic, iatrogenic or unknown, so in these cases, congenital with great probability. On the thoracal part of the spinal column it shows a rather characteristic and misleading appearance. The anomaly leads to progressive Brown-Sequard syndrome, and the case history can be extremely long. Surgical repair of the dural defect results in improvement, or even complete recovery, if performed in time. These are the facts that emphasize the importance of early diagnosis.Hernijacija kralježnične moždine kroz duralne defekte prilično je rijetka deformacija koja se vrlo lako pogrešno dijagnosticira kao retromedularna okultna intraspinalna arahnoidna cista ili kao meningokela. Uzrok duralnog defekta može biti traumatski, jatrogeni ili nepoznat, a u ovim je slučajevima vrlo vjerojatno prirođen. Torakalni dio kralježnice pokazuje prilično karakterističan izgled, no koji može zavarati. Poremećaj uzrokuje pojavu progresivnog Brown-Séquardova sindroma, a anamneza može biti izrazito dugotrajna. Ako se provede na vrijeme, kirurško zatvaranje duralnog defekta dovodi do poboljšanja, pa čak i do potpunog oporavka, .to upućuje na važnost rane dijagnoze

Analysis of the Swift Gamma-Ray Bursts duration

Two classes of gamma-ray bursts have been identified in the BATSE catalogs characterized by durations shorter and longer than about 2 seconds. There are, however, some indications for the existence of a third type of burst. Swift satellite detectors have different spectral sensitivity than pre-Swift ones for gamma-ray bursts. Therefore it is worth to reanalyze the durations and their distribution and also the classification of GRBs. Using The First BAT Catalog the maximum likelihood estimation was used to analyzed the duration distribution of GRBs. The three log-normal fit is significantly (99.54 % probability) better than the two for the duration distribution. Monte-Carlo simulations also confirm this probability (99.2 %).Comment: NANJING GAMMA-RAY BURST CONFERENCE 200