504 research outputs found
Immunohistochemical characterization of the 'intimal proliferation' phenomenon in Sneddon's syndrome and essential thrombocythaemia
Cellular changes were immunocytochemically characterized in skin vessels of five patients with idiopathic generalized racemose livedo (Sneddon's syndrome), and one patient with localized racemose livedo associated with essential thrombocythaemia. Antibodies against alpha-smooth muscle-actin, tropomyosin, desmin, vimentin, factor VIII-related antigen, human endothelial cells (CD31), human macrophages (CD68), and HLA-DR positive cells (CR3/43) were used. Conventional light microscopy showed, in all cases, intimal thickening of ascending arteries and arterioles as a result of an accumulation of cells and extracellular hyalinized material. None of the specimens showed infiltration with polymorphonuclear leucocytes or macrophages. The cells in the region of the intimal hyperplasia showed intense positive immunostaining for alpha-smooth muscle actin and tropomyosin. Staining for the intermediate filament desmin was localized to the resident smooth muscle cells of the media, whereas staining for vimentin was found in all types of cells in both the intima and media. Positive immunostaining for factor VIII-related antigen and CD31 was strictly confined to the endothelial cells lining the narrowed lumina of the vessels. No positive staining with either antibody was observed in totally occluded vessels. Cells in the subintimal space did not show reactivity for CD68 in any of the specimens, but two cases showed solitary cells with positive staining for HLA-DR in this region. There were no differences in staining pattern between Sneddon's syndrome and essential thrombocythaemia with any of the antibodies. Our results support the assumption that the 'intimal proliferation' in both diseases is caused by colonization of the subendothelial space with contractile cells of possible smooth muscle origin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS
Kinetic Signatures and Intermittent Turbulence in the Solar Wind Plasma
A connection between kinetic processes and intermittent turbulence is
observed in the solar wind plasma using measurements from the Wind spacecraft
at 1 AU. In particular, kinetic effects such as temperature anisotropy and
plasma heating are concentrated near coherent structures, such as current
sheets, which are non-uniformly distributed in space. Furthermore, these
coherent structures are preferentially found in plasma unstable to the mirror
and firehose instabilities. The inhomogeneous heating in these regions, which
is present in both the magnetic field parallel and perpendicular temperature
components, results in protons at least 3-4 times hotter than under typical
stable plasma conditions. These results offer a new understanding of kinetic
processes in a turbulent regime, where linear Vlasov theory is not sufficient
to explain the inhomogeneous plasma dynamics operating near non-Gaussian
structures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
The redshifted network contrast of transition region emission
Aims: We study the VUV emission of the quiet Sun and the net redshift of
transition region lines in the SUMER spectral range. We aim at establishing a
link with atmospheric processes and interpreting the observed downflow as the
most evident part of the prevailing global coronal mass transport. Methods: We
rank and arrange all pixels of a monochromatic raster scan by radiance and
define equally-sized bins of bright, faint, and medium-bright pixels. Comparing
the bright pixels with the faint pixels, we determine the spectrally-resolved
network contrast for 19 emission lines. We then compare the contrast centroids
of these lines with the position of the line itself. We establish a
relationship between the observed redshift of the network contrast with the
line formation temperature. Results: We find that the network contrast is
offset in wavelength compared to the emission line itself. This offset, if
interpreted as redshift, peaks at middle transition region temperatures and is
10 times higher than the previously reported net redshift of transition region
emission lines. We demonstrate that the brighter pixels are more redshifted,
causing both a significant shift of the network contrast profile and the
well-known net redshift. We show that this effect can be reconstructed from the
radiance distribution. This result is compatible with loop models, which assume
downflows near both footpoints.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Gyrokinetic Simulations of Solar Wind Turbulence from Ion to Electron Scales
The first three-dimensional, nonlinear gyrokinetic simulation of plasma
turbulence resolving scales from the ion to electron gyroradius with a
realistic mass ratio is presented, where all damping is provided by resolved
physical mechanisms. The resulting energy spectra are quantitatively consistent
with a magnetic power spectrum scaling of as observed in \emph{in
situ} spacecraft measurements of the "dissipation range" of solar wind
turbulence. Despite the strongly nonlinear nature of the turbulence, the linear
kinetic \Alfven wave mode quantitatively describes the polarization of the
turbulent fluctuations. The collisional ion heating is measured at
sub-ion-Larmor radius scales, which provides the first evidence of the ion
entropy cascade in an electromagnetic turbulence simulation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
A nonextensive entropy approach to solar wind intermittency
The probability distributions (PDFs) of the differences of any physical
variable in the intermittent, turbulent interplanetary medium are scale
dependent. Strong non-Gaussianity of solar wind fluctuations applies for short
time-lag spacecraft observations, corresponding to small-scale spatial
separations, whereas for large scales the differences turn into a Gaussian
normal distribution. These characteristics were hitherto described in the
context of the log-normal, the Castaing distribution or the shell model. On the
other hand, a possible explanation for nonlocality in turbulence is offered
within the context of nonextensive entropy generalization by a recently
introduced bi-kappa distribution, generating through a convolution of a
negative-kappa core and positive-kappa halo pronounced non-Gaussian structures.
The PDFs of solar wind scalar field differences are computed from WIND and ACE
data for different time lags and compared with the characteristics of the
theoretical bi-kappa functional, well representing the overall scale dependence
of the spatial solar wind intermittency. The observed PDF characteristics for
increased spatial scales are manifest in the theoretical distribution
functional by enhancing the only tuning parameter , measuring the
degree of nonextensivity where the large-scale Gaussian is approached for
. The nonextensive approach assures for experimental studies
of solar wind intermittency independence from influence of a priori model
assumptions. It is argued that the intermittency of the turbulent fluctuations
should be related physically to the nonextensive character of the
interplanetary medium counting for nonlocal interactions via the entropy
generalization.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys.
Computation of Kolmogorov's Constant in Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence
In this paper we calculate Kolmogorov's constant for magnetohydrodynamic
turbulence to one loop order in perturbation theory using the direct
interaction approximation technique of Kraichnan. We have computed the
constants for various , i.e., fluid to magnetic energy ratios
when the normalized cross helicity is zero. We find that increases from
1.47 to 4.12 as we go from fully fluid case to a situation when , then it decreases to 3.55 in a fully magnetic limit .
When , we find that .Comment: Latex, 10 pages, no figures, To appear in Euro. Phys. Lett., 199
On Collisionless Electron-Ion Temperature Equilibration in the Fast Solar Wind
We explore a mechanism, entirely new to the fast solar wind, of electron
heating by lower hybrid waves to explain the shift to higher charge states
observed in various elements in the fast wind at 1 A.U. relative to the
original coronal hole plasma. This process is a variation on that previously
discussed for two temperature accretion flows by Begelman & Chiueh. Lower
hybrid waves are generated by gyrating minor ions (mainly alpha-particles) and
become significant once strong ion cyclotron heating sets in beyond 1.5 R_sun.
In this way the model avoids conflict with SUMER electron temperature
diagnostic measurements between 1 and 1.5 R_sun. The principal requirement for
such a process to work is the existence of density gradients in the fast solar
wind, with scale length of similar order to the proton inertial length. Similar
size structures have previously been inferred by other authors from radio
scintillation observations and considerations of ion cyclotron wave generation
by global resonant MHD waves.Comment: 32 pages including 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted by Ap
Magnetic moment non-conservation in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence models
The fundamental assumptions of the adiabatic theory do not apply in presence
of sharp field gradients as well as in presence of well developed
magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. For this reason in such conditions the magnetic
moment is no longer expected to be constant. This can influence particle
acceleration and have considerable implications in many astrophysical problems.
Starting with the resonant interaction between ions and a single parallel
propagating electromagnetic wave, we derive expressions for the magnetic moment
trapping width (defined as the half peak-to-peak difference in the
particle magnetic moment) and the bounce frequency . We perform
test-particle simulations to investigate magnetic moment behavior when
resonances overlapping occurs and during the interaction of a ring-beam
particle distribution with a broad-band slab spectrum.
We find that magnetic moment dynamics is strictly related to pitch angle
for a low level of magnetic fluctuation, , where is the constant and uniform background magnetic field.
Stochasticity arises for intermediate fluctuation values and its effect on
pitch angle is the isotropization of the distribution function .
This is a transient regime during which magnetic moment distribution
exhibits a characteristic one-sided long tail and starts to be influenced by
the onset of spatial parallel diffusion, i.e., the variance
grows linearly in time as in normal diffusion. With strong fluctuations
isotropizes completely, spatial diffusion sets in and
behavior is closely related to the sampling of the varying magnetic field
associated with that spatial diffusion.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR
SUMER: Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation
The SUMER (solar ultraviolet measurements of emitted radiation) experiment is described. It will study flows, turbulent motions, waves, temperatures and densities of the plasma in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. Structures and events associated with solar magnetic activity will be observed on various spatial and temporal scales. This will contribute to the understanding of coronal heating processes and the solar wind expansion. The instrument will take images of the Sun in EUV (extreme ultra violet) light with high resolution in space, wavelength and time. The spatial resolution and spectral resolving power of the instrument are described. Spectral shifts can be determined with subpixel accuracy. The wavelength range extends from 500 to 1600 angstroms. The integration time can be as short as one second. Line profiles, shifts and broadenings are studied. Ratios of temperature and density sensitive EUV emission lines are established
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