241 research outputs found
The Optical-Near-IR Spectrum of the M87 Jet From HST Observations
We present 1998 HST observations of M87 which yield the first single-epoch
optical and radio-optical spectral index images of the jet at
resolution. We find , comparable to previous
measurements, and (),
slightly flatter than previous workers. Reasons for this discrepancy are
discussed. These observations reveal a large variety of spectral slopes. Bright
knots exhibit flatter spectra than interknot regions. The flattest spectra
(; comparable to or flatter than ) are
found in two inner jet knots (D-East and HST-1) which contain the fastest
superluminal components. In knots A, B and C, and are
essentially anti-correlated. Near the flux maxima of knots HST-1 and F, changes
in lag changes in , but in knots D and E, the opposite
relationship is observed. This is further evidence that radio and optical
emissions in the M87 jet come from substantially different physical regions.
The delays observed in the inner jet are consistent with localized particle
acceleration, with for optically emitting electrons in
knots HST-1 and F, and for optically emitting electrons
in knots D and E. Synchrotron models yield \nu_B \gsim 10^{16} Hz for knots
D, A and B, and somewhat lower values, Hz, in
other regions. If X-ray emissions from knots A, B and D are co-spatial with
optical and radio emission, we can strongly rule out the ``continuous
injection'' model. Because of the short lifetimes of X-ray synchrotron emitting
particles, the X-ray emission likely fills volumes much smaller than the
optical emission regions.Comment: Text 17 pages, 3 Tables, 11 figures, accepted by Ap
Communications in cellular automata
The goal of this paper is to show why the framework of communication
complexity seems suitable for the study of cellular automata. Researchers have
tackled different algorithmic problems ranging from the complexity of
predicting to the decidability of different dynamical properties of cellular
automata. But the difference here is that we look for communication protocols
arising in the dynamics itself. Our work is guided by the following idea: if we
are able to give a protocol describing a cellular automaton, then we can
understand its behavior
Calibrating mid-infrared emission as a tracer of obscured star formation on HII-region scales in the era of JWST
Measurements of the star formation activity on cloud scales are fundamental
to uncovering the physics of the molecular cloud, star formation, and stellar
feedback cycle in galaxies. Infrared (IR) emission from small dust grains and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely used to trace the obscured
component of star formation. However, the relation between these emission
features and dust attenuation is complicated by the combined effects of dust
heating from old stellar populations and an uncertain dust geometry with
respect to heating sources. We use images obtained with NIRCam and MIRI as part
of the PHANGS--JWST survey to calibrate dust emission at 21, and the
emission in the PAH-tracing bands at 3.3, 7.7, 10, and 11.3 as
tracers of obscured star formation. We analyse 20000 optically selected
HII regions across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies, and benchmark their IR
emission against dust attenuation measured from the Balmer decrement. We model
the extinction-corrected H flux as the sum of the observed H
emission and a term proportional to the IR emission, with as the
proportionality coefficient. A constant leads to extinction-corrected
H estimates which agree with those obtained with the Balmer decrement
with a scatter of 0.1 dex for all bands considered. Among these bands,
21 emission is demonstrated to be the best tracer of dust
attenuation. The PAH-tracing bands underestimate the correction for bright HII
regions, since in these environments the ratio of PAH-tracing bands to 21 decreases, signalling destruction of the PAH molecules. For fainter HII
regions all bands suffer from an increasing contamination from the diffuse
infrared background.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Probing genetic control of swine responses to PRRSV infection: current progress of the PRRS host genetics consortium
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the role of host genetics in resistance to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) infection, and the effects of PRRS on pig health and related growth, are goals of the PRRS Host Genetics Consortium (PHGC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The project uses a nursery pig model to assess pig resistance/susceptibility to primary PRRSV infection. To date, 6 groups of 200 crossbred pigs from high health farms were donated by commercial sources. After acclimation, the pigs were infected with PRRSV in a biosecure facility and followed for 42 days post infection (dpi). Blood samples were collected at 0, 4, 7, 10, 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 dpi for serum and whole blood RNA gene expression analyses; weekly weights were recorded for growth traits. All data have been entered into the PHGC relational database. Genomic DNAs from all PHGC1-6 pigs were prepared and genotyped with the Porcine SNP60 SNPchip.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results have affirmed that all challenged pigs become PRRSV infected with peak viremia being observed between 4-21 dpi. Multivariate statistical analyses of viral load and weight data have identified PHGC pigs in different virus/weight categories. Sera are now being compared for factors involved in recovery from infection, including speed of response and levels of immune cytokines. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are underway to identify genes and chromosomal locations that identify PRRS resistant/susceptible pigs and pigs able to maintain growth while infected with PRRSV.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, the PHGC project will enable researchers to discover and verify important genotypes and phenotypes that predict resistance/susceptibility to PRRSV infection. The availability of PHGC samples provides a unique opportunity to continue to develop deeper phenotypes on every PRRSV infected pig.</p
Protein crystals in adenovirus type 5-infected cells: requirements for intranuclear crystallogenesis, structural and functional analysis
Intranuclear crystalline inclusions have been observed in the nucleus of epithelial cells infected with Adenovirus serotype 5 (Ad5) at late steps of the virus life cycle. Using immuno-electron microscopy and confocal microscopy of cells infected with various Ad5 recombinants modified in their penton base or fiber domains, we found that these inclusions represented crystals of penton capsomers, the heteromeric capsid protein formed of penton base and fiber subunits. The occurrence of protein crystals within the nucleus of infected cells required the integrity of the fiber knob and part of the shaft domain. In the knob domain, the region overlapping residues 489–492 in the FG loop was found to be essential for crystal formation. In the shaft, a large deletion of repeats 4 to 16 had no detrimental effect on crystal inclusions, whereas deletion of repeats 8 to 21 abolished crystal formation without altering the level of fiber protein expression. This suggested a crucial role of the five penultimate repeats in the crystallisation process. Chimeric pentons made of Ad5 penton base and fiber domains from different serotypes were analyzed with respect to crystal formation. No crystal was found when fiber consisted of shaft (S) from Ad5 and knob (K) from Ad3 (heterotypic S5-K3 fiber), but occurred with homotypic S3K3 fiber. However, less regular crystals were observed with homotypic S35-K35 fiber. TB5, a monoclonal antibody directed against the Ad5 fiber knob was found by immunofluorescence microscopy to react with high efficiency with the intranuclear protein crystals in situ. Data obtained with Ad fiber mutants indicated that the absence of crystalline inclusions correlated with a lower infectivity and/or lower yields of virus progeny, suggesting that the protein crystals might be involved in virion assembly. Thus, we propose that TB5 staining of Ad-infected 293 cells can be used as a prognostic assay for the viability and productivity of fiber-modified Ad5 vectors
Star Formation Laws and Efficiencies across 80 Nearby Galaxies
We measure empirical relationships between the local star formation rate
(SFR) and properties of the star-forming molecular gas on 1.5 kpc scales across
80 nearby galaxies. These relationships, commonly referred to as "star
formation laws," aim at predicting the local SFR surface density from various
combinations of molecular gas surface density, galactic orbital time, molecular
cloud free-fall time, and the interstellar medium dynamical equilibrium
pressure. Leveraging a multiwavelength database built for the PHANGS survey, we
measure these quantities consistently across all galaxies and quantify
systematic uncertainties stemming from choices of SFR calibrations and the
CO-to-H conversion factors. The star formation laws we examine show 0.3-0.4
dex of intrinsic scatter, among which the molecular Kennicutt-Schmidt relation
shows a 10% larger scatter than the other three. The slope of this
relation ranges , implying that the molecular gas
depletion time remains roughly constant across the environments probed in our
sample. The other relations have shallower slopes (),
suggesting that the star formation efficiency (SFE) per orbital time, the SFE
per free-fall time, and the pressure-to-SFR surface density ratio (i.e., the
feedback yield) may vary systematically with local molecular gas and SFR
surface densities. Last but not least, the shapes of the star formation laws
depend sensitively on methodological choices. Different choices of SFR
calibrations can introduce systematic uncertainties of at least 10-15% in the
star formation law slopes and 0.15-0.25 dex in their normalization, while the
CO-to-H conversion factors can additionally produce uncertainties of 20-25%
for the slope and 0.10-0.20 dex for the normalization.Comment: 10 pages main text + 2 appendices. ApJL in press. Data products
available at
https://www.canfar.net/storage/list/phangs/RELEASES/Sun_etal_2023 . Slides
summarizing key results can be found at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5gsegexeo9n0t05/Sun_et_PHANGS_2023.pptx?dl=
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