Molecules in an infrared cirrus cloud

One of the clouds that form the Polar Loop was observed in the 1(sub 10)-1(sub 11) 4.8 GHz transition of formaldehyde and in J equal to 1-0 transitions of CO-12 and CO-13 at 115 and 110 GHz resp. The cloud consists of several filaments. From the correlation of IRAS 60 and 100 microns intensities a color temperature of the dust of 21 K and a maximum optical depth of 3 x 10(exp -4) were derived. At one local maximum of the 100 micron intensity, the hyperfine structure of formaldehyde could be resolved. Since the infrared optical depth is small, the 100 micron intensity can be used as a measure of dust column density

1420 MHz Continuum Absorption Towards Extragalactic Sources in the Galactic Plane

We present a 21-cm emission-absorption study towards extragalactic sources in the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). We have analyzed HI spectra towards 437 sources with S > 150 mJy, giving us a source density of 0.6 sources per square degree at arcminute resolution. We present the results of a first analysis of the HI temperatures, densities, and feature statistics. Particular emphasis is placed on 5 features with observed spin temperatures below 40 K. We find most spin temperatures in the range from 40 K to 300 K. A simple HI two-component model constrains the bulk of the cold component to temperatures (T_c) between 40 K and 100 K. T_c peaks in the Perseus arm region and clearly drops off with Galactocentric radius, R, beyond that. The HI density follows this trend, ranging from a local value of 0.4 cm^{-3} to less than 0.1 cm^{-3} at R = 20 kpc. We find that HI emission alone on average traces about 75% of the total HI column density, as compared to the total inferred by the emission and absorption. Comparing the neutral hydrogen absorption to CO emission no correlation is found in general, but all strong CO emission is accompanied by a visible HI spectral feature. Finally, the number of spectral HI absorption features per kpc drop off exponentially with increasing R.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, Accepted for March 2004 Ap

Charakterisierung Interferon-gamma-induzierter Gene: Interferon-induzierbares Protein 35, Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ und humanes Guanylat-bindendes Protein 3

[no abstract

La evolución de la autoconsciencia

Trabajo de Fin de Máster en Investigación en Lógica y Filosofía de la Ciencia, curso...[ES] Este ensayo intenta resolver la paradoja lingüística de la autoconsciencia, la cual parece indicar que deben existir nociones de autoconsciencia previas al origen del lenguaje. Así, se buscan sustratos prelingüísticos de autoconsciencia en animales no-humanos dentro de un marco naturalista, siendo el principal objetivo del trabajo identificar los mecanismos cognitivos más relevantes que han permitido el origen de la autoconsciencia, estableciendo el orden en el que surgieron, para así exponer cómo distintos grados de autoconsciencia fueron apareciendo a lo largo de la evolución biológica. Se ha tratado de aunar los conocimientos científicos y filosóficos actuales para elaborar un relato coherente, de carácter especulativo, sobre la evolución de la autoconsciencia. Este relato se basa en la visión de que la autoconsciencia se ha construido a través de mecanismos cognitivos con una función evolutiva definida. Se da especial importancia a la complejización de algunos procesos cognitivos presentes en organismos pluricelulares y se identifican como la principal fuente de los avances más significativos que posibilitaron la aparición de grados más elevados de autoconsciencia. En primer lugar, se describen algunos sustratos primitivos de la autoconsciencia, como los elementos propioceptivos de la percepción o los procesos reaferentes. Después, se intenta exponer cómo animales pluricelulares fueron capaces de analizar mejor su entorno a través de modelos internos, los cuales fueron posteriormente empleados en ‘pausas para tomar decisiones’ para evaluar posibilidades futuras de acción. Se argumenta que a través de la complejización de esas pausas mediante procesos metacognitivos se dio lugar a un grado de autoconsciencia suficiente como para resolver la paradoja lingüística de la autoconsciencia. [EN] This paper attempts to resolve the linguistic paradox of self consciousness, which seems to indicate that there must be notions of self consciousness prior to the origin of language. Thus, we search for pre linguistic substrates of self consciousness in no n human animals within a naturalistic framework, the main objective of the work being to identify the most relevant cognitive mechanisms that have allowed the origin of self consciousness, establishing the order in which they arose, in order to expose how different degrees of self consciousness appeared throughout biological evolution. An attempt has been made to bring together current scientific and philosophical knowledge to develop a coherent speculative account of the evolution of self consciousness. Th is account is based on the view that self consciousness has been constructed through cognitive mechanisms with a defined evolutionary function. Special importance is given to the complexization of some cognitive processes present in multicellular organisms and they are identified as the main source of the most significant advances that made possible the emergence of higher degrees of self consciousness . First, some primitive substrates of self awareness are described, such as proprioceptive elements of perception and reaferent processes. Then, an attempt is made to show how multicellular animals were able to better analyze their environment through internal models, which were subsequently employed in 'decision pauses' to evaluate future possibilities for action. It is argued that through the development of these pauses by metacognitive processes, a sufficient degree of self consciou sness was achieved to resolve the linguistic paradox of self consciou snes

Thiomicrospira arctica sp nov and Thiomicrospira psychrophila sp nov., psychrophilic, obligately chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria isolated from marine Arctic sediments

Two psychrophilic, chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria were isolated from marine Arctic sediments sampled off the coast of Svalbard with thiosulfate as the electron donor and CO(2) as carbon source. Comparative analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences suggested that the novel strains, designated SVAL-D(T) and SVAL-E(T), represent members of the genus Thiomicrospira. Further genotypic (DNA-DNA relatedness, DNA G+C content) and phenotypic characterization revealed that the strains represent members of two novel species. Both organisms are obligately autotrophic and strictly aerobic. Nitrate was not used as an electron acceptor. Chemolithoautotrophic growth was observed with thiosulfate, tetrathionate and sulfur. The temperature limits for growth of both strains were between -2 degrees C and 20.8 degrees C, with optima of 11.5-13.2 degrees C (SVAL-E(T)) and 14.6-15.4 degrees C (SVAL-D(T)), which is about 13-15 degrees C lower than the optima of all other recognized Thiomicrospira species. The maximum growth rate on thiosulfate at 14 degrees C was 0.14 h(-1) for strain SVAL-E(T) and 0.2 h(-1) for strain SVAL-D(T). Major fatty acids of SVAL-D(T) are C(16 : 1), C(18 : 0) and C(16 : 0), and those of SVAL-E(T) are C(16 : 1), C(18 : 1), C(16 : 0) and C(14 : 1). Cells of SVAL-D(T) and SVAL-E(T) are rods, like those of their closest relatives. To our knowledge the novel strains are the first psychrophilic, chemolithoautotrophic, sulfur-oxidizing bacteria so far described. The names Thiomicrospira arctica sp. nov. and Thiomicrospira psychrophila sp. nov. are proposed for SVAL-E(T) (=ATCC 700955(T)=DSM 13458(T)) and SVAL-D(T) (=ATCC 700954(T)=DSM 13453(T)), respectively

Infrared Excess and Molecular Gas in the Galactic Worm GW46.4+5.5

We have carried out high-resolution (~3') HI and CO line observations along one-dimensional cuts through the Galactic worm GW46.4+5.5. By comparing the HI data with IRAS data, we have derived the distributions of I_100 excess and tau_100 excess, which are respectively the 100 mum intensity and 100 mum optical depth in excess of what would be expected from HI emission. In two observed regions, we were able to make a detailed comparison of the infrared excess and the CO emission. We have found that tau_100 excess has a very good correlation with the integrated intensity of CO emission, W_CO, but I_100 excess does not. There are two reasons for the poor correlation between I_100 excess and W_CO: firstly, there are regions with enhanced infrared emissivity without CO, and secondly, dust grains associated with molecular gas have a low infrared emissivity. In one region, these two factors completely hide the presence of molecular gas in the infrared. In the second region, we could identify the area with molecular gas, but I_100 excess significantly underestimates the column density of molecular hydrogen because of the second factor mentioned above. We therefore conclude that tau_100 excess, rather than I_100 excess, is an accurate indicator of molecular content along the line of sight. We derive tau_100/N(H)=(1.00+-0.02)*10^-5~(10^20 cm^-2)^-1, and X=N(H_2)/W_CO=~0.7*10^20 cm^-2 (K km s^-1)^-1. Our results suggest that I_100 excess could still be used to estimate the molecular content if the result is multiplied by a correction factor xi_c=_HI/_H_2 (~2 in the second region), which accounts for the different infrared emissivities of atomic and molecular gas. We also discuss some limitations of this work.Comment: 10 pages, 9 postscript figures, uses aas2pp4.sty to be published in Astrophyslcal Journa

Magnetohydrodynamics of Cloud Collisions in a Multi-phase Interstellar Medium

We extend previous studies of the physics of interstellar cloud collisions by beginning investigation of the role of magnetic fields through 2D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. We study head-on collisions between equal mass, mildly supersonic diffuse clouds. We include a moderate magnetic field and two limiting field geometries, with the field lines parallel (aligned) and perpendicular (transverse) to the colliding cloud motion. We explore both adiabatic and radiative cases, as well as symmetric and asymmetric ones. We also compute collisions between clouds evolved through prior motion in the intercloud medium and compare with unevolved cases. We find that: In the (i) aligned case, adiabatic collisions, like their HD counterparts, are very disruptive, independent of the cloud symmetry. However, when radiative processes are taken into account, partial coalescence takes place even in the asymmetric case, unlike the HD calculations. In the (ii) transverse case, collisions between initially adjacent unevolved clouds are almost unaffected by magnetic fields. However, the interaction with the magnetized intercloud gas during the pre-collision evolution produces a region of very high magnetic energy in front of the cloud. In collisions between evolved clouds with transverse field geometry, this region acts like a ``bumper'', preventing direct contact between the clouds, and eventually reverses their motion. The ``elasticity'', defined as the ratio of the final to the initial kinetic energy of each cloud, is about 0.5-0.6 in the cases we considered. This behavior is found both in adiabatic and radiative cases.Comment: 40 pages in AAS LaTeX v4.0, 13 figures (in degraded jpeg format). Full resolution images as well as mpeg animations are available at http://www.msi.umn.edu:80/Projects/twj/mhd-cc/ . Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Diverse syntrophic partnerships from deep-sea methane vents revealed by direct cell capture and metagenomics

Microorganisms play a fundamental role in the cycling of nutrients and energy on our planet. A common strategy for many microorganisms mediating biogeochemical cycles in anoxic environments is syntrophy, frequently necessitating close spatial proximity between microbial partners. We are only now beginning to fully appreciate the diversity and pervasiveness of microbial partnerships in nature, the majority of which cannot be replicated in the laboratory. One notable example of such cooperation is the interspecies association between anaerobic methane oxidizing archaea (ANME) and sulfate-reducing bacteria. These consortia are globally distributed in the environment and provide a significant sink for methane by substantially reducing the export of this potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. The interdependence of these currently uncultured microbes renders them difficult to study, and our knowledge of their physiological capabilities in nature is limited. Here, we have developed a method to capture select microorganisms directly from the environment, using combined fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunomagnetic cell capture. We used this method to purify syntrophic anaerobic methane oxidizing ANME-2c archaea and physically associated microorganisms directly from deep-sea marine sediment. Metagenomics, PCR, and microscopy of these purified consortia revealed unexpected diversity of associated bacteria, including Betaproteobacteria and a second sulfate-reducing Deltaproteobacterial partner. The detection of nitrogenase genes within the metagenome and subsequent demonstration of 15N2 incorporation in the biomass of these methane-oxidizing consortia suggest a possible role in new nitrogen inputs by these syntrophic assemblages