58 research outputs found
Climate and atmospheric models of rocky planets: habitability and observational properties
The quest for atmospheric spectral signatures that may witness biological
activity in exoplanets is focused on rocky planets. The best targets for
future, challenging spectroscopic observations will be selected among
potentially habitable planets. Surface habitability can be quantified and
explored with climate and atmospheric models according to temperature-based
criteria. The conceptual, modellistic, technological and interpretative
complexity of the problem requires to develop flexible climate and atmospheric
models suited for a comprehensive exploration of observationally unconstrained
parameters, and to simulate and interpret definitely non-terrestrial
conditions. We present a summary and preliminary results on the work we are
performing on multi-parametric explorations of the habitability and
observational properties of rocky planets.Comment: to appear on MemSAIt, vol 94. Proceedings of the Hack100 Conference:
Past, Present and Future of Astrophysical Spectroscopy, 6-10 June 2022,
Trieste, Ital
The MAGIC Experiment and Its First Results
With its diameter of 17m, the MAGIC telescope is the largest Cherenkov
detector for gamma ray astrophysics. It is sensitive to photons above an energy
of 30 GeV. MAGIC started operations in October 2003 and is currently taking
data. This report summarizes its main characteristics, its rst results and its
potential for physics.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the Proceedings of the 6th
International Symposium ''Frontiers of Fundamental and Computational
Physics'' (FFP6), Udine (Italy), Sep. 26-29, 200
Evaluation of Microbiome-Host Relationships in the Zebrafish Gastrointestinal System Reveals Adaptive Immunity Is a Target of Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Phthalate (DEHP) Exposure
To improve physical characteristics of plastics such as flexibility and durability, producers enrich materials with phthalates such as di-2-(ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP). DEHP is a high production volume chemical associated with metabolic and immune disruption in animals and humans. To reveal mechanisms implicated in phthalate-related disruption in the gastrointestinal system, male and female zebrafish were fed DEHP (3 ppm) daily for two months. At the transcriptome level, DEHP significantly upregulated gene networks in the intestine associated with helper T cells' (Th1, Th2, and Th17) specific pathways. The activation of gene networks associated with adaptive immunity was linked to the suppression of networks for tight junction, gap junctional intercellular communication, and transmembrane transporters, all of which are precursors for impaired gut integrity and performance. On a class level, DEHP exposure increased Bacteroidia and Gammaproteobacteria and decreased Verrucomicrobiae in both the male and female gastrointestinal system. Further, in males there was a relative increase in Fusobacteriia and Betaproteobacteria and a relative decrease in Saccharibacteria. Predictive algorithms revealed that the functional shift in the microbiome community, and the metabolites they produce, act to modulate intestinal adaptive immunity. This finding suggests that the gut microbiota may contribute to the adverse effects of DEHP on the host by altering metabolites sensed by both intestinal and immune Th cells. Our results suggest that the microbiome-gut-immune axis can be modified by DEHP and emphasize the value of multiomics approaches to study microbiome-host interactions following chemical perturbations
MAGIC observations of very high energy gamma-rays from HESS J1813-178
Recently, the HESS collaboration has reported the detection of gamma-ray
emission above a few hundred GeV from eight new sources located close to the
Galactic Plane. The source HESS J1813-178 has sparked particular interest, as
subsequent radio observations imply an association with SNR G12.82-0.02.
Triggered by the detection in VHE gamma-rays, a positionally coincident source
has also been found in INTEGRAL and ASCA data. In this Letter we present MAGIC
observations of HESS J1813-178, resulting in the detection of a differential
gamma-ray flux consistent with a hard-slope power law, described as dN/(dA dt
dE) = (3.3+/-0.5)*10^{-12} (E/TeV)^{-2.1+/-0.2} cm^(-2)s^(-1)TeV^(-1). We
briefly discuss the observational technique used, the procedure implemented for
the data analysis, and put this detection in the perspective of multifrequency
observations.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter
Discovery of Very High Energy -Rays from Markarian~180 Triggered by an Optical Outburst
The high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae object Markarian~180 (Mrk~180) was
observed to have an optical outburst in 2006 March, triggering a Target of
Opportunity observation with the MAGIC telescope. The source was observed for
12.4 hr and very high energy -ray emission was detected with a
significance of 5.5 . An integral flux above 200 GeV of
was measured, corresponding to
11% of the Crab Nebula flux. A rather soft spectrum with a photon index of
has been determined. No significant flux variation was found.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letters, minor revision
Genome sequences of four cluster P mycobacteriophages
Four bacteriophages infecting Mycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 (three belonging to subcluster P1 and one belonging to subcluster P2) were isolated from soil and sequenced. All four phages are similar in the left arm of their genomes, but the P2 phage differs in the right arm. All four genomes contain features of temperate phages
Variable Very High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from the Microquasar LS I +61 303
Microquasars are binary star systems with relativistic radio-emitting jets.
They are potential sources of cosmic rays and laboratories for elucidating the
physics of relativistic jets. Here we report the detection of variable
gamma-ray emission above 100 gigaelectron volts from the microquasar LS I +61
303. Six orbital cycles were recorded. Several detections occur at a similar
orbital phase, suggesting the emission is periodic. The strongest gamma-ray
emission is not observed when the two stars are closest to one another,
implying a strong orbital modulation of the emission or the absorption
processes.Comment: 11 pages with 4 figure
Observation of Gamma Rays from the Galactic Center with the MAGIC Telescope
Recently, the Galactic Center has been reported to be a source of very high
energy (VHE) gamma-rays by the VERITAS, CANGAROO and HESS experiments. The
energy spectra as measured by these experiments show substantial differences.
In this Letter we present MAGIC observations of the Galactic Center, resulting
in the detection of a differential gamma-ray flux consistent with a steady,
hard-slope power law, described as dN/(dA dt dE) = (2.9+/-0.6)*10^{-12}
(E/TeV)^{-2.2+/-0.2} cm^{-2}s^{-1}TeV^{-1}. The gamma-ray source is centered at
(Ra, Dec)=(17h 45m 20s, -29deg 2'. This result confirms the previous
measurements by the HESS experiment and indicates a steady source of TeV
gamma-rays. We briefly describe the observational technique used, the procedure
implemented for the data analysis, and discuss the results in the perspective
of different models proposed for the acceleration of the VHE gamma-rays.Comment: ApJL submitte
Variable Very High Energy Gamma-ray Emission from the Microquasar LS I +61 303
Microquasars are binary star systems with relativistic radio-emitting jets.
They are potential sources of cosmic rays and laboratories for elucidating the
physics of relativistic jets. Here we report the detection of variable
gamma-ray emission above 100 gigaelectron volts from the microquasar LS I +61
303. Six orbital cycles were recorded. Several detections occur at a similar
orbital phase, suggesting the emission is periodic. The strongest gamma-ray
emission is not observed when the two stars are closest to one another,
implying a strong orbital modulation of the emission or the absorption
processes.Comment: 11 pages with 4 figure
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