The Dwarf Galaxy Population of the Dorado group down to Mv=-11

We present V and I CCD photometry of suspected low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies detected in a survey covering ~2.4 deg^2 around the central region of the Dorado group of galaxies. The low-surface brightness galaxies were chosen based on their sizes and magnitudes at the limiting isophote of 26.0V\mu. The selected galaxies have magnitudes brighter than V=20 (Mv=-11 for an assumed distance to the group of 17.2 Mpc), with central surface brightnesses \mu0>22.5 V mag/arcsec^2, scale lengths h>2'', and diameters > 14'' at the limiting isophote. Using these criteria, we identified 69 dwarf galaxy candidates. Four of them are large very low-surface brightness galaxies that were detected on a smoothed image, after masking high surface brightness objects. Monte Carlo simulations performed to estimate completeness, photometric uncertainties and to evaluate our ability to detect extended low-surface brightness galaxies show that the completeness fraction is, on average, > 80% for dwarf galaxies with $-17<M_{V}<-10.5$ and 22.5<\mu0<25.5 V mag/arcsec^2, for the range of sizes considered by us (D>14''). The V-I colors of the dwarf candidates vary from -0.3 to 2.3 with a peak on V-I=0.98, suggesting a range of different stellar populations in these galaxies. The projected surface density of the dwarf galaxies shows a concentration towards the group center similar in extent to that found around five X-ray groups and the elliptical galaxy NGC1132 studied by Mulchaey and Zabludoff (1999), suggesting that the dwarf galaxies in Dorado are probably physically associated with the overall potential well of the group.Comment: 32 pages, 16 postscript figures and 3 figures in GIF format, aastex v5.0. To appear in The Astronomical Journal, January 200

NONLINEAR NON-LOCAL BOUNDARY-VALUE PROBLEMS AND PERTURBED HAMMERSTEIN INTEGRAL EQUATIONS

AbstractMotivated by some non-local boundary-value problems (BVPs) that arise in heat-flow problems, we establish new results for the existence of non-zero solutions of integral equations of the form$$u(t)=\gamma(t)\alpha[u]+\int_{G}k(t,s)f(s,u(s))\,\mathrm{d}s,$$where $G$ is a compact set in $\mathbb{R}^{n}$. Here $\alpha[u]$ is a positive functional and $f$ is positive, while $k$ and $\gamma$ may change sign, so positive solutions need not exist. We prove the existence of multiple non-zero solutions of the BVPs under suitable conditions. We show that solutions of the BVPs lose positivity as a parameter decreases. For a certain parameter range not all solutions can be positive, but for one of the boundary conditions we consider we show that there are positive solutions for certain types of nonlinearity. We also prove a uniqueness result

Research in the general area of non-linear dynamical systems Final report, 8 Jun. 1965 - 8 Jun. 1967

Nonlinear dynamical systems research on systems stability, invariance principles, Liapunov functions, and Volterra and functional integral equation

‘Better off, as judged by themselves’:A reply to Cass Sunstein

This paper is a reply to Sunstein’s comment on my paper ‘Do people really want to be nudged towards healthy lifestyles?’ The central claim of that paper was that, in their book Nudge, Thaler and Sunstein switch between two different interpretations of the ‘better off, as judged by themselves’ criterion, and that consistent use of one or other interpretation would have blunted the persuasive power of the book. In this reply, I defend that claim against Sunstein’s counter-arguments

Discovery of a Galaxy Cluster in the Foreground of the Wide-Separation Quasar Pair UM425

We report the discovery of a cluster of galaxies in the field of UM425, a pair of quasars separated by 6.5arcsec. Based on this finding, we revisit the long-standing question of whether this quasar pair is a binary quasar or a wide-separation lens. Previous work has shown that both quasars are at z=1.465 and show broad absorption lines. No evidence for a lensing galaxy has been found between the quasars, but there were two hints of a foreground cluster: diffuse X-ray emission observed with Chandra, and an excess of faint galaxies observed with the Hubble Space Telescope. Here we show, via VLT spectroscopy, that there is a spike in the redshift histogram of galaxies at z=0.77. We estimate the chance of finding a random velocity structure of such significance to be about 5%, and thereby interpret the diffuse X-ray emission as originating from z=0.77, rather than the quasar redshift. The mass of the cluster, as estimated from either the velocity dispersion of the z=0.77 galaxies or the X-ray luminosity of the diffuse emission, would be consistent with the theoretical mass required for gravitational lensing. The positional offset between the X-ray centroid and the expected location of the mass centroid is about 40kpc, which is not too different from offsets observed in lower redshift clusters. However, UM425 would be an unusual gravitational lens, by virtue of the absence of a bright primary lensing galaxy. Unless the mass-to-light ratio of the galaxy is at least 80 times larger than usual, the lensing hypothesis requires that the galaxy group or cluster plays a uniquely important role in producing the observed deflections. Based on observations performed with the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory, Paranal, Chile.Comment: 12 pages, accepted by ApJ 2005, May 1

Development of recombinant PRRS vaccine candidates produced by using the baculovirus expression system

The Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive Syndrome (PRRS) is one of the viral diseases with the greatest impact in the swine industry, causing great economic losses due to causes abortions, infertility, pneumonia and even mortality in the farms.Currently there are two types of commercial vaccines based on live modified PRRS virus (MLV) or based on killed virus (KV). These vaccines are not able to tackle the disease. On one hand, they cannot raise universal immunity against the circulating serotypes of the virus, and, on the other hand, they are unsafe because of the risk of mutating into virulent forms when interacting with circulating viruses.For this reason, ADL-Bionatur Solutions is developing an alternative recombinant vaccine, aimed to be safer than current vaccines and with greater protective capacity and universality. To do this, the design of the vaccine candidates has been based on pontentiating the cell-mediated component of the immune response, while addressing humoral immunity against more conserved antigens of the virus.The expression of vaccine candidates was carried out by using the ADL-Bionatur' FLYLIFE platform, which allows the expression of recombinant proteins in larvae of Trichoplusia ni (T.ni) infected with a baculovirus expression vector. For this purpose, recombinant baculoviruses were generated and the expression of the proteins of interest was studied in T.ni. Subsequently, the solubilization and purification protocols were optimized for optimizing the recovery of the proteins of interest.The results showed that the proteins of interest were correctly expressed in larvae of T.ni. The solubilization and purification protocols were developed and optimized allowing a good recovery performance and a purity higher than 80%, which will allow carrying out in vivo efficacy assays

Removal of lead, mercury and nickel using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Objective. In this study the biomass of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was used to remove lead, mercury and nickel in the form of ions dissolved in water. Materials and methods. Synthetic solutions were prepared containing the three heavy metals, which were put in contact with viable microorganisms at different conditions of pH, temperature, aeration and agitation. Results. Both individual variables and the interaction effects influenced the biosorption process. Throughout the experimental framework it was observed that the biomass of Saccharomyces cerevisiae removed a higher percentage of lead (86.4%) as compared to mercury and nickel (69.7 and 47.8% respectively). When the pH was set at a value of 5 the effect was positive for all three metals. Conclusions. pH was the variable that had a greater influence on the biosorption of lead on the biomass of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The affinity of the heavy metals for the biomass followed the order Pb>Hg>Ni

Quasars Clustering at z approx 3 on Scales less sim 10 h^{-1} Mpc

We test the hypothesis whether high redshift QSOs would preferentially appear in small groups or pairs, and if they are associated with massive, young clusters. We carried out a photometric search for \Ly emitters on scales $\lesssim 10 h^{-1}$ Mpc, in the fields of a sample of 47 $z\approx3$ known QSOs. Wide and narrow band filter color-magnitude diagrams were generated for each of the $6'.6\times6'.6$ fields. A total of 13 non resolved objects with a significant color excess were detected as QSO candidates at a redshift similar to that of the target. All the candidates are significantly fainter than the reference QSOs, with only 2 of them within 2 magnitudes of the central object. Follow-up spectroscopic observations have shown that 5, i.e., about 40% of the candidates, are QSOs at the same redshift of the target; 4 are QSOs at different z (two of them probably being a lensed pair at z = 1.47); 2 candidates are unresolved HII galaxies at z$\sim$0.3; one unclassified and one candidate turned out to be a CCD flaw. These data indicate that at least 10% of the QSOs at z$\sim$3 do have companions. We have also detected a number of resolved, rather bright \Ly Emitter Candidates. Most probably a large fraction of them might be bright galaxies with [OII] emission, at z$\approx$ 0.3. The fainter population of our candidates corresponds to the current expectations. Thus, there are no strong indication for the existence of an overdensity of \Ly galaxies brighter than m $\approx$ 25 around QSOs at $z\approx$ 3.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, tar gzip LaTex file, accepted to appear in Ap