409 research outputs found
A radiation driven implosion model for the enhanced luminosity of protostars near HII regions
Context. Molecular clouds near the H II regions tend to harbor more luminous
protostars. Aims. Our aim in this paper is to investigate whether or not
radiation-driven implosion mechanism enhances luminosity of protostars near
regions of high-ionizing fluxes. Methods. We performed numerical simulations to
model collapse of cores exposed to UV radiation from O stars. We investigated
dependence of mass loss rates on the initial density profiles of cores and
variation of UV fluxes. We derived simple analytic estimates of accretion rates
and final masses of protostars. Results. Radiation-driven implosion mechanism
can increase accretion rates of protostars by 1-2 orders of magnitude. On the
other hand, mass loss due to photo-evaporation is not large enough to have a
significant impact on the luminosity. The increase of accretion rate makes
luminosity 1-2 orders higher than those of protostars that form without
external triggering. Conclusions. Radiation-driven implosion can help explain
the observed higher luminosity of protostars in molecular clouds near H II
regions.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Reciprocal Changes in Factor XIII and Retinal Transglutaminase Expressions in the Fish Retina During Optic Nerve Regeneration
[email protected] mammals, fish retinal ganglion cells have the capacity to repair their axons even after optic nerve transection. In the process of fish optic nerve regeneration, a large number of genes have been described as regeneration-associated molecules. Using molecular cloning techniques, we identified two types of cDNA clones belonging to the transglutaminase (TG) family which were upregulation genes; one is cellular factor XIII (cFXIII) and the other is a tissue type TG named retinal transglutaminase (TGR). cFXIII mRNA started to increase in the retinal ganglion cells at 1-2 days, peaked at 5-7 days, and returned to the control level by 20 days post optic nerve injury. In contrast, TGR mRNA started to increase at day 5-10, peaked at day 20, and then gradually decreased by day 40 after nerve injury. To elucidate the molecular involvement of these TGs in optic nerve regeneration, we studied the effects of recombinant TGR protein or overexpression of cFXIII using a retinal explant culture system. cFXIII effectively induced neurite outgrowth only from naïve (intact) retinas. In contrast, the TGR protein significantly enhanced neurite outgrowth only from primed retinas, in which the optic nerve had been crushed 5-7 days previously. These reciprocal expressions of cFXIII and TGR suggest that these two types of TGs are important for the neurite sprouting and axonal elongation processes, respectively, during optic nerve regeneration processes
V1647 Orionis (IRAS 05436-0007) : A New Look at McNeil's Nebula
We present a study of the newly discovered McNeil's nebula in Orion using the
JHKs-band simultaneous observations with the near-infrared (NIR) camera SIRIUS
on the IRSF 1.4m telescope. The cometary infrared nebula is clearly seen
extending toward north and south from the NIR source (V1647 Orionis) that
illuminates McNeil's nebula. The compact nebula has an apparent diameter of
about 70 arcsec. The nebula is blue (bright in J) and has a cavity structure
with two rims extending toward north-east and north-west. The north-east rim is
brighter and sharp, while the north-west rim is diffuse. The north-east rim can
be traced out to ~ 40 arcsec from the location of the NIR source. In contrast,
no cavity structure is seen toward the south, although diffuse nebula is
extended out to ~ 20 arcsec. New NIR photometric data show a significant
variation in the magnitudes (> 0.15 mag) of the source of McNeil's nebula
within a period of one week, that is possibly under the phase of eruptive
variables like FUors or EXors.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures in JPEG format. Accepted for the publication in
PASJ Letter
Anisotropic magnetic properties of CeAgGe single crystal
In order to investigate the anisotropic magnetic properties of
CeAgGe, we have successfully grown the single crystals, for the first
time, by high temperature solution growth (flux) method. We have performed a
detailed study of the grown single crystals by measuring their electrical
resistivity, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat and
magnetoresistance. A clear anisotropy and an antiferromagnetic transition at
= 4.6 K have been observed in the magnetic properties. The magnetic
entropy reaches ln 4 at 20 K indicating that the ground state and the first
excited state are very closely spaced (a quasi-quartet state). From the
specific heat measurements and crystalline electric field (CEF) analysis of the
magnetic susceptibility, we have found the level splitting energies as 5 K and
130 K. The magnetization measurements reveal that the a-axis is the easy axis
of magnetization and the saturation moment is = 1.6 /Ce, corroborating the previous neutron diffraction measurements on a
polycrystalline sample.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Diversification in the Archean Biosphere: Insight from NanoSIMS of Microstructures in the Farrel Quartzite of Australia
The nature of early life on Earth is difficult to assess because potential Early Archean biosignatures are commonly poorly preserved. Interpretations of such materials have been contested, and abiotic or epigenetic derivations have been proposed (summarized in [1]). Yet, an understanding of Archean life is of astrobiological importance, as knowledge of early evolutionary processes on Earth could provide insight to development of life on other planets. A recently-discovered assemblage of organic microstructures in approx.3 Ga charts of the Farrel Quartzite (FQ) of Australia [2-4] includes unusual spindle-like forms and a variety of spheroids. If biogenicity and syngeneity of these forms could be substantiated, the FQ assemblage would provide a new view of Archean life. Our work uses NanoSIMS to further assess the biogenicity and syngeneity of FQ microstructures. In prior NanoSIMS studies [5-6], we gained an understanding of nano-scale elemental distributions in undisputed microfossils from the Neoproterozoic Bitter Springs Formation of Australia. Those results provide a new tool with which to evaluate poorly preserved materials that we might find in Archean sediments and possibly in extraterrestrial materials. We have applied this tool to the FQ forms
Young Brown Dwarfs in the Core of the W3 Main Star-Forming Region
We present the results of deep and high-resolution (FWHM ~ 0".35) JHK NIR
observations with the Subaru telescope, to search for very low mass young
stellar objects (YSOs) in the W3 Main star-forming region. The NIR survey
covers an area of ~ 2.6 arcmin^2 with 10-sigma limiting magnitude exceeding 20
mag in the JHK bands. The survey is sensitive enough to provide unprecedented
details in W3 IRS 5 region and reveals a census of the stellar population down
to objects below the hydrogen-burning limit. We construct JHK color-color (CC)
and J-H/J and H-K/K color-magnitude (CM) diagrams to identify very low
luminosity YSOs and to estimate their masses. Based on these CC and CM
diagrams, we identified a rich population of embedded YSO candidates with
infrared excesses (Class I and Class II), associated with the W3 Main region. A
large number of red sources (H-K > 2) have also been detected around W3 Main.
We argue that these red stars are most probably pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars
with intrinsic color excesses. Based on the comparison between theoretical
evolutionary models of very low-mass PMS objects with the observed CM diagram,
we find there exists a substantial substellar population in the observed
region. The mass function (MF) does not show the presence of cutoff and sharp
turnover around the substellar limit, at least at the hydrogen-burning limit.
Furthermore, the MF slope indicates that the number ratio of young brown dwarfs
and hydrogen-burning stars in the W3 Main is probably higher than those in
Trapezium and IC 348. The presence of mass segregation, in the sense that
relatively massive YSOs lie near the cluster center, is seen. The estimated
dynamical evolution time indicates that the observed mass segregation in the W3
Main may be the imprint of the star formation process.Comment: 39 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
"Nano" Scale Biosignatures and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
A critical step in the search for remnants of potential life forms on other planets lies in our ability to recognize indigenous fragments of ancient microbes preserved in some of Earth's oldest rocks. To this end, we are building a database of nano-scale chemical and morphological characteristics of some of Earth's oldest organic microfossils. We are primarily using the new technology of Nano-Secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) which provides in-situ, nano-scale elemental analysis of trace quantities of organic residues. The initial step was to characterize element composition of well-preserved, organic microfossils from the late Proterozoic (0.8 Ga) Bitter Springs Formation of Australia. Results from that work provide morphologic detail and nitrogen/carbon ratios that appear to reflect the well-established biological origin of these 0.8 Ga fossils
Nonuniform Spin Triplet Superconductivity due to Antisymmetric Spin-Orbit Coupling in Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor CePtSi
We show that the nonuniform state (Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO)
state) of the spin triplet superconductivity in noncentrosymmetric systems is
stabilized by antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling even if the magnetic field is
absent. The transition temperature of the spin triplet superconductivity is
reduced by the antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling in general. This pair breaking
effect is shown to be similar to the Pauli pair breaking effect due to magnetic
field for the spin singlet superconductivity, in which FFLO state is stabilized
near the Pauli limit (or Chandrasekhar-Clogston limit) of external magnetic
field. Since there are gapless excitations in nonuniform superconducting state,
some physical quantities such as specific heat and penetration depth should
obey the power low temperature-dependences. We discuss the possibility of the
realization of nonuniform state in CePtSi.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Emergent Nodal Excitations due to the Coexistence of Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism: Cases with and without Inversion Symmetry
We argue the emergence of nodal excitations due to the coupling with static
antiferromagnetic order in fully-gapped superconducting states in both cases
with and without inversion symmetry. This line node structure is not
accompanied with the sign change of the superconducting gap, in contrast to
usual unconventional Cooper pairs with higher angular momenta. In the case
without inversion symmetry, the stability of the nodal excitations crucially
depends on the direction of the antiferromagnetic staggered magnetic moment. A
possible realization of this phenomenon in CePtSi is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure
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