Rat pial microvascular responses to melatonin during bilateral common carotid artery occlusion and reperfusion

The present study assessed the in vivo rat pial microvascular responses induced by melatonin during brain hypoperfusion and reperfusion (RE) injury. Pial microcirculation of male Wistar rats was visualized by fluorescence microscopy through a closed cranial window. Hypoperfusion was induced by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO, 30 min); thereafter, pial microcirculation was observed for 60 min. Arteriolar diameter, permeability increase, leukocyte adhesion to venular walls, perfused capillary length (PCL), and capillary red blood cell velocity (V(RBC) ) were investigated by computerized methods. Melatonin (0.5, 1, 2 mg/kg b.w.) was intravenously administered 10 min before BCCAO and at the beginning of RE. Pial arterioles were classified in five orders according to diameter, length, and branchings. In control group, BCCAO caused decrease in order 2 arteriole diameter (by 17.5 ± 3.0% of baseline) that was reduced by 11.8 ± 1.2% of baseline at the end of RE, accompanied by marked leakage and leukocyte adhesion. PCL and capillary V(RBC) decreased. At the end of BCCAO, melatonin highest dosage caused order 2 arteriole diameter reduction by 4.6 ± 2.0% of baseline. At RE, melatonin at the lower dosages caused different arteriolar responses. The highest dosage caused dilation in order 2 arteriole by 8.0 ± 1.5% of baseline, preventing leakage and leukocyte adhesion, while PCL and V(RBC) increased. Luzindole (4 mg/kg b.w.) prior to melatonin caused order 2 arteriole constriction by 12.0 ± 1.5% of baseline at RE, while leakage, leukocyte adhesion, PCL and V(RBC) were not affected. Prazosin (1 mg/kg b.w.) prior to melatonin did not significantly change melatonin's effects. In conclusion, melatonin caused different responses during hypoperfusion and RE, modulating pial arteriolar tone likely by MT1 and MT2 melatonin receptors while preventing blood-brain barrier changes through its free radical scavenging action

Observability of the virialization phase of spheroidal galaxies with radio arrays

In the standard galaxy formation scenario plasma clouds with a high thermal energy content must exist at high redshifts since the protogalactic gas is shock heated to the virial temperature, and extensive cooling, leading to efficient star formation, must await the collapse of massive haloes (as indicated by the massive body of evidence, referred to as downsizing). Massive plasma clouds are potentially observable through the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects and their free-free emission. We find that the detection of substantial numbers of galaxy-scale thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich signals is achievable by blind surveys with next generation radio telescope arrays such as EVLA, ALMA and SKA. This population is even detectable with the 10 per cent SKA, and wide field of view options at high frequency on any of these arrays would greatly increase survey speed. An analysis of confusion effects and of the contamination by radio and dust emissions shows that the optimal frequencies are those in the range 10-35 GHz. Predictions for the redshift distributions of detected sources are also worked out

Evolution of Galaxy Star Formation and Metallicity: Impact on Double Compact Object Mergers

In this paper, we study the impact of different galaxy statistics and empirical metallicity scaling relations on the merging rates and properties of compact object binaries. Firstly, we analyze the similarities and differences of using the star formation rate functions versus stellar mass functions as galaxy statistics for the computation of cosmic star formation rate density. We then investigate the effects of adopting the Fundamental Metallicity Relation versus a classic Mass Metallicity Relation to assign metallicity to galaxies with given properties. We find that when the Fundamental Metallicity Relation is exploited, the bulk of the star formation occurs at relatively high metallicities, even at high redshift; the opposite holds when the Mass Metallicity Relation is employed, since in this case the metallicity at which most of the star formation takes place strongly decreases with redshift. We discuss the various reasons and possible biases giving rise to this discrepancy. Finally, we show the impact of these different astrophysical prescriptions on the merging rates and properties of compact object binaries; specifically, we present results for the redshift-dependent merging rates and for the chirp mass and time delay distributions of the merging binaries

Rat Pial Microvascular Responses to Transient Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion and Reperfusion: Quercetin’s Mechanism of Action

The aim of the present study was to assess quercetin’s mechanism of action in rat pial microvessels during transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) and reperfusion. Rat pial microcirculation was visualized using fluorescence microscopy through a closed cranial window. Pial arterioles were classified in five orders of branchings. In ischemic rats, 30 min BCCAO and 60 min reperfusion caused arteriolar diameter decrease, microvascular leakage, leukocyte adhesion in venules, and reduction of capillary perfusion. Quercetin highest dose determined dilation in all arteriolar orders, by 40 ± 4% of baseline in order 2 vessels, and prevented microvascular permeability [0.15 ± 0.02 normalized gray levels (NGL)], leukocyte adhesion, and capillary failure. Protein kinase C (PKC) inhibition exerted by chelerythrine prior to quercetin attenuated quercetin-induced effects: order 2 arterioles dilated by 19.0 ± 2.4% baseline, while there was an increase in permeability (0.40 ± 0.05 NGL) and leukocyte adhesion with a marked decrease in capillary perfusion. Tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibition by tyrphostin 47 prior to quercetin lessened smaller pial arterioles responses, dilating by 20.7 ± 2.5% of baseline, while leakage increased (0.39 ± 0.04 NGL) sustained by slight leukocyte adhesion and ameliorated capillary perfusion. Inhibition of endothelium nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) by NG-nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME) prior to PKC or TK reduced the quercetin’s effects on pial arteriolar diameter and leakage. eNOS inhibition by L-NAME reduced quercetin effects on pial arteriolar diameter and leakage. Finally, combined inhibition of PKC and TK prior to quercetin abolished quercetin-induced effects, decreasing eNOS expression, while blocking ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels by glibenclamide suppressed arteriolar dilation. In conclusion, the protective effects of quercetin could be due to different mechanisms resulting in NO release throughout PKC and TK intracellular signaling pathway activation

Unraveling the Ag+ ion coordination and solvation thermodynamics in the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid

The solvation of the Ag+ ion in the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C4mim][BF4]) ionic liquid (IL) has been studied by means of experimental and theoretical methods with the aim of elucidating the cation coordination structure and thermodynamic properties. Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations showed that the Ag+ ion is coordinated by an average number of four [BF4]− anions in a pseudo-tetrahedral geometry. A high configurational disorder of the first solvation sphere is found, where the anions can be found both in mono- and bidentate coordination mode around the Ag+ ion. Also, a solvational equilibrium is observed as due to [BF4]− anion dissociation along the trajectory. The analysis of X-ray absorption spectroscopy data confirmed the picture provided by the CPMD simulation. Classical molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to obtain the single-ion solvation thermodynamic parameters. The negative water → IL free energy of transfer suggests that the Ag+ ion is more favorably solvated in the [C4mim][BF4] IL than in water. This behavior is due to a balance between the enthalpic and entropic contributions, which allows to find a rationale to the strong solvation capabilities of BF4-based ILs towards Ag+

Tomography-based observational measurements of the halo mass function via the submillimeter magnification bias

Aims: The main goal of this paper is to derive observational constraints on the halo mass fuction (HMF) by performing a tomographic analysis of the magnification bias signal on a sample of background submillimeter galaxies. The results can then be compared with those from a non-tomographic study. Methods: We measure the cross-correlation function between a sample of foreground GAMA galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the range 0.1 < z < 0.8 (and divided up into four bins) and a sample of background submillimeter galaxies from H-ATLAS with photometric redshifts in the range 1.2 < z < 4.0. We model the weak lensing signal within the halo model formalism and carry out a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm to obtain the posterior distribution of all HMF parameters, which we assume to follow the Sheth and Tormen (ST) three-parameter and two-parameter fits. Results: While the observational constraints on the HMF from the non-tomographic analysis are not stringent, there is a remarkable improvement in terms of uncertainty reduction when tomography is adopted. Moreover, with respect to the traditional ST triple of values from numerical simulations, the results from the three-parameter fit predict a higher number density of halos at masses below ∼1012 M⊙ h−1 at 95% credibility. The two-parameter fit yields even more restricting results, with a larger number density of halos below ∼1013 M⊙ h−1 and a lower one above ∼1014 M⊙ h−1, this time at more than 3σ credibility. Our results are therefore in disagreement with the standard N-body values for the ST fit at 2σ and 3σ, respectively

Galaxy cluster mass density profile derived using the submillimetre galaxies magnification bias

Context. The magnification bias is a gravitational lensing eect that produces an increase or decrease in the detection probability of background sources near the position of a lense. The special properties of the submillimetre galaxies (SMGs; steep source number counts, high redshift, and a very low cross-contamination with respect to the optical band) makes them the optimal background sample for magnification bias studies. Aims. We want to study the average mass density profile of tens to hundreds of clusters of galaxies acting as lenses that produce a magnification bias on the SMGs, and to estimate their associated masses and concentrations for dierent richness ranges. The cluster richness is defined as R = L200=L with L200 as the total r-band luminosity within the radius r200. Methods. The background sample is composed of SMGs observed by Herschel with 1:2 < z < 4:0 (mean redshift at 2:3) while the foreground sample is made up of galaxy clusters extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III with photometric redshifts of 0:05 < z < 0:8 (mean redshift at 0:38). Measurements are obtained by stacking the SMG–cluster pairs to estimate the crosscorrelation function using the Davis-Peebles estimator. This methodology allows us to derive the mass density profile for a wide range of angular scales, 2250 arcsec or 101300 kpc for z = 0:38, with a high radial resolution, and in particular to study the inner part of the dark matter halo (<100 kpc). In addition, we also divide the cluster sample into five bins of richness and we analyse the estimated cross-correlation data using dierent combinations of the most common theoretical mass density profiles. Results. It is impossible to fit the data with a single mass density profile at all scales: in the inner part there is a clear excess in the mass density profile with respect to the outer part that we interpret as the galactic halo of the big central galaxy. As for the outer part, the estimated average masses increase with richness from M200c = 5:8 1013 M to M200c = 51:5 1013 M (M200c = 7:1 1013 M for the total sample). With respect to the concentration parameter, its average also increases with richness from C = 0:74 to C = 1:74 (C = 1:72 for the total sample). In the small-scale regions, the obtained average masses fluctuate around M200c = 34 1013 M with average concentration values of around C 4. Conclusions. The total average masses are in perfect agreement with the mass–richness relationship estimated from the cluster catalogue. In the bins of lowest richness, the central galactic halo constitutes 40% of the total mass of the cluster and its relevance decreases for higher richness values. While the estimated average concentration values of the central galactic halos are in agreement with traditional mass–concentration relationships, we find low concentrations for the outer part. Moreover, the concentrations decrease for lower richness values, probably indicating that the group of galaxies cannot be considered to be relaxed systems. Finally, we notice a systematic lack of signal at the transition between the dominance of the cluster halo and the central galactic halo (100 kpc). This feature is also present in previous studies using dierent catalogues and/or methodologies, but is never discussed