199 research outputs found
Convergent cascade catalyzed by monooxygenase - alcohol dehydrogenase fusion applied in organic media
With the aim of applying redox-neutral cascade reactions in organic media, fusions of a type II flavin-containing monooxy-genase (FMO-E) and horse liver alcohol dehydrogenase (HLADH) were designed. The enzyme orientation and expression vector were found to influence the overall fusion enzyme activity. The resulting bi-functional enzyme retained the catalytic properties of both individual enzymes. The lyophilized cell free extract containing the bifunctional enzyme was applied for the convergent cascade reaction consisting of cyclobutanone and 1,4-butanediol in different micro-aqueous media with only 5% (v/v) aqueous buffer without any addition of external cofactor. Methyl tert-butyl ether and cyclopentyl methyl ether were found to be the best organic media for the synthesis of γ-butyrolactone resulting in ~27% analytical yield
A Sample of [CII] Clouds Tracing Dense Clouds in Weak FUV Fields observed by Herschel
The [CII] fine--structure line at 158um is an excellent tracer of the warm
diffuse gas in the ISM and the interfaces between molecular clouds and their
surrounding atomic and ionized envelopes. Here we present the initial results
from Galactic Observations of Terahertz C+ (GOTC+), a Herschel Key Project
devoted to study the [CII] fine structure emission in the galactic plane using
the HIFI instrument. We use the [CII] emission together with observations of CO
as a probe to understand the effects of newly--formed stars on their
interstellar environment and characterize the physical and chemical state of
the star-forming gas. We collected data along 16 lines--of--sight passing near
star forming regions in the inner Galaxy near longitudes 330 degrees and 20
degrees. We identify fifty-eight [CII] components that are associated with
high--column density molecular clouds as traced by 13CO emission. We combine
[CII], 12CO, and 13CO observations to derive the physical conditions of the
[CII]--emitting regions in our sample of high--column density clouds based on
comparison with results from a grid of Photon Dominated Region (PDR) models.
From this unbiased sample, our results suggest that most of [CII] emission
originates from clouds with H2 volume densities between 10e3.5 and 10e5.5 cm^-3
and weak FUV strength (CHI_0=1-10). We find two regions where our analysis
suggests high densities >10e5 cm^-3 and strong FUV fields (CHI=10e4-10e6),
likely associated with massive star formation. We suggest that [CII] emission
in conjunction with CO isotopes is a good tool to differentiate between regions
of massive star formation (high densities/strong FUV fields) and regions that
are distant from massive stars (lower densities/weaker FUV fields) along the
line--of--sightComment: To be published in A&A HIFI Special Editio
[12CII] and [13CII] 158 mum emission from NGC 2024: Large column densities of ionized carbon
Context: We analyze the NGC 2024 HII region and molecular cloud interface
using [12CII] and [13CII] observations. Aims: We attempt to gain insight into
the physical structure of the interface layer between the molecular cloud and
the HII region. Methods. Observations of [12CII] and [13CII] emission at 158
{\mu}m with high spatial and spectral resolution allow us to study the detailed
structure of the ionization front and estimate the column densities and
temperatures of the ionized carbon layer in the PDR. Results: The [12CII]
emission closely follows the distribution of the 8 mum continuum. Across most
of the source, the spectral lines have two velocity peaks similar to lines of
rare CO isotopes. The [13CII] emission is detected near the edge-on ionization
front. It has only a single velocity component, which implies that the [12CII]
line shape is caused by self-absorption. An anomalous hyperfine line-intensity
ratio observed in [13CII] cannot yet be explained. Conclusions: Our analysis of
the two isotopes results in a total column density of N(H)~1.6\times10^23 cm^-2
in the gas emitting the [CII] line. A large fraction of this gas has to be at a
temperature of several hundred K. The self-absorption is caused by a cooler
(T<=100 K) foreground component containing a column density of N(H)~10^22
cm^-2
Molecular Tracers of Filamentary CO Emission Regions Surrounding the Central Galaxies of Clusters
Optical emission is detected from filaments around the central galaxies of
clusters of galaxies. These filaments have lengths of tens of kiloparsecs. The
emission is possibly due to heating caused by the dissipation of mechanical
energy and by cosmic ray induced ionisation. CO millimeter and submillimeter
line emissions as well as H infrared emission originating in such
filaments surrounding NGC~1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster, have
been detected. Our aim is to identify those molecular species, other than CO,
that may emit detectable millimeter and submillimeter line features arising in
these filaments, and to determine which of those species will produce emissions
that might serve as diagnostics of the dissipation and cosmic ray induced
ionisation. The time-dependent UCL photon-dominated region modelling code was
used in the construction of steady-state models of molecular filamentary
emission regions at appropriate pressures, for a range of dissipation and
cosmic ray induced ionisation rates and incident radiation fields.HCO and
CH emissions will potentially provide information about the cosmic ray
induced ionisation rates in the filaments. HCN and, in particular, CN are
species with millimeter and submillimeter lines that remain abundant in the
warmest regions containing molecules. Detections of the galaxy cluster
filaments in HCO, CH, and CN emissions and further detections of
them in HCN emissions would provide significant constraints on the dissipation
and cosmic ray induced ionisation rates.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted in A&
The origin of the [C II] emission in the S140 PDRs - new insights from HIFI
Using Herschel's HIFI instrument we have observed [C II] along a cut through
S140 and high-J transitions of CO and HCO+ at two positions on the cut,
corresponding to the externally irradiated ionization front and the embedded
massive star forming core IRS1. The HIFI data were combined with available
ground-based observations and modeled using the KOSMA-tau model for photon
dominated regions. Here we derive the physical conditions in S140 and in
particular the origin of [C II] emission around IRS1. We identify three
distinct regions of [C II] emission from the cut, one close to the embedded
source IRS1, one associated with the ionization front and one further into the
cloud. The line emission can be understood in terms of a clumpy model of
photon-dominated regions. At the position of IRS1, we identify at least two
distinct components contributing to the [C II] emission, one of them a small,
hot component, which can possibly be identified with the irradiated outflow
walls. This is consistent with the fact that the [C II] peak at IRS1 coincides
with shocked H2 emission at the edges of the outflow cavity. We note that
previously available observations of IRS1 can be well reproduced by a
single-component KOSMA-tau model. Thus it is HIFI's unprecedented spatial and
spectral resolution, as well as its sensitivity which has allowed us to uncover
an additional hot gas component in the S140 region.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (HIFI special
issue
Characterization of the KATRIN cryogenic pumping section
The KArlsruhe TRItium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment aims to determine the effective anti-electron neutrino mass with a sensitivity of 0.2 eV/c by using the kinematics of tritium -decay. It is crucial to have a high signal rate which is achieved by a windowless gaseous tritium source producing 10 -electrons per second. These are guided adiabatically to the spectrometer section where their energy is analyzed. In order to maintain a low background rate below 0.01 cps, one essential criteria is to permanently reduce the flow of neutral tritium molecules between the source and the spectrometer section by at least 14 orders of magnitude. A differential pumping section downstream from the source reduces the tritium flow by seven orders of magnitude, while at least another factor of 10 is achieved by the cryogenic pumping section where tritium molecules are adsorbed on an approximately 3 K cold argon frost layer. In this paper, the results of the cryogenic pumping section commissioning measurements using deuterium are discussed. The cryogenic pumping section surpasses the requirement for the flow reduction of 10 by more than one order of magnitude. These results verify the predictions of previously published simulations
Radiation thermo-chemical models of protoplanetary disks I. Hydrostatic disk structure and inner rim
This paper introduces a new disk code, called ProDiMo, to calculate the
thermo-chemical structure of protoplanetary disks and to interpret gas emission
lines from UV to sub-mm. We combine frequency-dependent 2D dust continuum
radiative transfer, kinetic gas-phase and UV photo-chemistry, ice formation,
and detailed non-LTE heating & cooling balance with the consistent calculation
of the hydrostatic disk structure. We include FeII and CO ro-vibrational line
heating/cooling relevant for the high-density gas close to the star, and apply
a modified escape probability treatment. The models are characterized by a high
degree of consistency between the various physical, chemical and radiative
processes, where the mutual feedbacks are solved iteratively. In application to
a T Tauri disk extending from 0.5AU to 500AU, the models are featured by a
puffed-up inner rim and show that the dense, shielded and cold midplane
(z/r<0.1, Tg~Td) is surrounded by a layer of hot (5000K) and thin (10^7 to 10^8
cm^-3) atomic gas which extends radially to about 10AU, and vertically up to
z/r~0.5. This layer is predominantly heated by the stellar UV (e.g.
PAH-heating) and cools via FeII semi-forbidden and OI 630nm optical line
emission. The dust grains in this "halo" scatter the star light back onto the
disk which impacts the photo-chemistry. The more distant regions are
characterized by a cooler flaring structure. Beyond 100AU, Tgas decouples from
Tdust even in the midplane and reaches values of about Tg~2Td. Our models show
that the gas energy balance is the key to understand the vertical disk
structure. Models calculated with the assumption Tg=Td show a much flatter disk
structure.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, 120 equations, accepted by A&A, download a
high-resolution version from http://www.roe.ac.uk/~ptw/prodimo1_article.pd
Strong CH+ J=1-0 emission and absorption in DR21
We report the first detection of the ground-state rotational transition of
the methylidyne cation CH+ towards the massive star-forming region DR21 with
the HIFI instrument onboard the Herschel satellite. The line profile exhibits a
broad emission line, in addition to two deep and broad absorption features
associated with the DR21 molecular ridge and foreground gas. These observations
allow us to determine a CH+ J=1-0 line frequency of 835137 +/- 3 MHz, in good
agreement with a recent experimental determination. We estimate the CH+ column
density to be a few 1e13 cm^-2 in the gas seen in emission, and > 1e14 cm^-2 in
the components responsible for the absorption, which is indicative of a high
line of sight average abundance [CH+]/[H] > 1.2x10^-8. We show that the CH+
column densities agree well with the predictions of state-of-the-art C-shock
models in dense UV-illuminated gas for the emission line, and with those of
turbulent dissipation models in diffuse gas for the absorption lines.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&
Gas morphology and energetics at the surface of PDRs: new insights with Herschel observations of NGC 7023
We investigate the physics and chemistry of the gas and dust in dense
photon-dominated regions (PDRs), along with their dependence on the
illuminating UV field. Using Herschel-HIFI observations, we study the gas
energetics in NGC 7023 in relation to the morphology of this nebula. NGC 7023
is the prototype of a PDR illuminated by a B2V star and is one of the key
targets of Herschel. Our approach consists in determining the energetics of the
region by combining the information carried by the mid-IR spectrum (extinction
by classical grains, emission from very small dust particles) with that of the
main gas coolant lines. In this letter, we discuss more specifically the
intensity and line profile of the 158 micron (1901 GHz) [CII] line measured by
HIFI and provide information on the emitting gas. We show that both the [CII]
emission and the mid-IR emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
arise from the regions located in the transition zone between atomic and
molecular gas. Using the Meudon PDR code and a simple transfer model, we find
good agreement between the calculated and observed [CII] intensities. HIFI
observations of NGC 7023 provide the opportunity to constrain the energetics at
the surface of PDRs. Future work will include analysis of the main coolant line
[OI] and use of a new PDR model that includes PAH-related species.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters
(Herschel HIFI special issue), 5 pages, 5 figure
- …