1,052 research outputs found
The Red-Sequence Luminosity Function in Galaxy Clusters since z~1
We use a statistical sample of ~500 rich clusters taken from 72 square
degrees of the Red-Sequence Cluster Survey (RCS-1) to study the evolution of
~30,000 red-sequence galaxies in clusters over the redshift range 0.35<z<0.95.
We construct red-sequence luminosity functions (RSLFs) for a well-defined,
homogeneously selected, richness limited sample. The RSLF at higher redshifts
shows a deficit of faint red galaxies (to M_V=> -19.7) with their numbers
increasing towards the present epoch. This is consistent with the `down-sizing`
picture in which star-formation ended at earlier times for the most massive
(luminous) galaxies and more recently for less massive (fainter) galaxies. We
observe a richness dependence to the down-sizing effect in the sense that, at a
given redshift, the drop-off of faint red galaxies is greater for poorer (less
massive) clusters, suggesting that star-formation ended earlier for galaxies in
more massive clusters. The decrease in faint red-sequence galaxies is
accompanied by an increase in faint blue galaxies, implying that the process
responsible for this evolution of faint galaxies is the termination of
star-formation, possibly with little or no need for merging. At the bright end,
we also see an increase in the number of blue galaxies with increasing
redshift, suggesting that termination of star-formation in higher mass galaxies
may also be an important formation mechanism for higher mass ellipticals. By
comparing with a low-redshift Abell Cluster sample, we find that the
down-sizing trend seen within RCS-1 has continued to the local universe.Comment: ApJ accepted. 11 pages, 5 figure
The star formation properties of disk galaxies: Halpha imaging of galaxies in the Coma supercluster
We present integrated H alpha measurements obtained from imaging observations
of 98 late-type galaxies, primarily selected in the Coma supercluster. These
data, combined with H alpha photometry from the literature, include a magnitude
selected sample of spiral (Sa to Irr) galaxies belonging to the "Great Wall"
complete up to mp=15.4, thus composed of galaxies brighter than Mp=-18.8
(H0=100 km Mpc^-1 s^-1). The frequency distribution of the H alpha E.W.,
determined for the first time from an optically complete sample, is
approximately gaussian peaking at E.W. ~25 A. We find that, at the present
limiting luminosity, the star formation properties of spiral+Irr galaxies
members of the Coma and A1367 clusters do not differ significantly from those
of the isolated ones belonging to the Great Wall. The present analysis confirms
the well known increase of the current massive star formation rate (SFR) with
Hubble type. Moreover perhaps a more fundamental anticorrelation exists between
the SFR and the mass of disk galaxies: low-mass spirals and dwarf systems have
present SFRs ~50 times higher than giant spirals. This result is consistent
with the idea that disk galaxies are coeval, evolve as "closed systems" with
exponentially declining SFR and that the mass of their progenitor protogalaxies
is the principal parameter governing their evolution. Massive systems having
high initial efficiency of collapse, or a short collapse time-scale, have
retained little gas to feed the present epoch of star formation. These findings
support the conclusions of Gavazzi & Scodeggio (1996) who studyed the
color-mass relation of a local galaxy sample and agree with the analysis by
Cowie et al. (1996) who traced the star formation history of galaxies up to
z>1.Comment: 13 pages (LateX) + 24 figures + 4 tables. To appear in Astronomical
Journal, April 1998 issu
ADP-Ribosylation Factor-Like 2 (ARL2) regulates cilia stability and development of outer segments in rod photoreceptor neurons
Photoreceptor cells are specialized neurons with a sensory cilium carrying an elaborate membrane structure, the outer segment (OS). Inherited mutations in genes involved in ciliogenesis frequently result in OS malformation and blindness. ADP-ribosylation factor-like 2 (ARL2) has recently been implicated in OS formation through its association with Binder of ARL2 (BART or ARL2BP), a protein linked to inherited blinding disease. To test the role of ARL2 in vision we created a transgenic mouse model expressing a tagged-dominant active form of human ARL2 (ARL2-Q70L) under a rod-specific promoter. Transgenic ARL2-Q70L animals exhibit reduced photoreceptor cell function as early as post-natal day 16 and progressive rod degeneration. We attribute loss of photoreceptor function to the defective OS morphogenesis in the ARL2-Q70L transgenic model. ARL2-Q70L expression results in shortened inner and outer segments, shortened and mislocalized axonemes and cytoplasmic accumulation of rhodopsin. In conclusion, we show that ARL2-Q70L is crucial for photoreceptor neuron sensory cilium development. Future research will expand upon our hypothesis that ARL2-Q70L mutant interferes with microtubule maintenance and tubulin regulation resulting in impaired growth of the axoneme and elaboration of the photoreceptor outer segment
Parkes HI observations of galaxies behind the southern Milky Way. II. The Crux and Great Attractor regions (l ~ 289 degree to 338 degree)
As part of our programme to map the large-scale distribution of galaxies
behind the southern Milky Way, we observed 314 optically-selected,
partially-obscured galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance (ZOA) in the Crux and
Great Attractor (GA) regions. The observations were conducted with the Parkes
64m radio telescope, in a single-pixel pointed mode, reaching an rms noise
level of typically 2-6 mJy over the velocity search range of 400<v<10500km/s. A
total of 162 galaxies were detected. This can be explained by the prominence of
the GA overdensity in the survey regions, which leads to a relatively higher
fraction of nearby galaxies. It is also evident from the quite narrow velocity
distribution (largely confined to 3000-6000km/s) and deviates significantly
from the expectation of a uniform galaxy distribution for the given sensitivity
and velocity range. No systematic differences were found between detections and
non-detections, in terms of latitude, foreground extinction, or environment,
except for the very central part of the rich Norma cluster, where hardly any
galaxies were detected. A detailed investigation of the HI content of the
galaxies reveals strong HI deficiency at the core of the Norma cluster (within
about a 0.4 Abell radius), similar to what has been found in the Coma cluster.
The redshifts obtained by this observing technique result in a substantial
reduction of the so-called redshift ZOA. This is obvious when analysing the
large-scale structure of the new HI data in combination with data from optical
ZOA redshift surveys. The lower latitude detections provide further evidence of
the extension of the Norma Wall, across the ZOA, in particular its bending
towards the Cen-Crux clusters above the Galactic plane at slightly higher
redshift, rather than a straight continuation towards the Centaurus clusters.Comment: 30 pages, 11 figures, including aa.cls; accepted by A
Extragalactic Large-Scale Structures behind the Southern Milky Way. IV. Redshifts Obtained with MEFOS
Abbreviated: As part of our efforts to unveil extragalactic large-scale
structures behind the southern Milky Way, we here present redshifts for 764
galaxies in the Hydra/Antlia, Crux and Great Attractor region (266deg < l <
338deg, |b| < 10deg), obtained with the Meudon-ESO Fibre Object Spectrograph
(MEFOS) at the 3.6-m telescope of ESO. The observations are part of a redshift
survey of partially obscured galaxies recorded in the course of a deep optical
galaxy search behind the southern Milky Way. A total of 947 galaxies have been
observed, a small percentage of the spectra (N=109, 11.5%) were contaminated by
foreground stars, and 74 galaxies (7.8%) were too faint to allow a reliable
redshift determination. With MEFOS we obtained spectra down to the faintest
galaxies of our optical galaxy survey, and hence probe large-scale structures
out to larger distances (v <~ 30000 km/s) than our other redshift follow-ups.
The most distinct large-scale structures revealed in the southern Zone of
Avoidance are discussed in context to known structures adjacent to the Milky
Way.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; accepted for publication in A&A. Tables 1 and 2
will be available in electronic format at the CDS. Figure 1 at full
resolution, and both tables are available at
http://mensa.ast.uct.ac.za/~pwoudt/data/H4462/
Effects of infliximab on markers of inflammation and bone turnover and associations with bone mineral density in patients with ankylosing spondylitis
Using a micro-extruder a new class of polyurethanes, polyacylurethanes (PAUs), based on poly (epsilon-caprol actone) (PCL) oligomers and terephthaloyl diisocyanate was synthesized. These polymers are anticipated to have potential for biodegradable and/or biomedical applications. Therefore, PAUs were synthesized without the use of any, possibly toxic, catalysts. PCL diols of different molecular mass were used, namely 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 2000, 3000 and 4000 g/mol. These diols were synthesized by thermal polymerization at 150 degrees C without the use of any catalyst. The PAUs of terephthaloyl diisocyanate were synthesized by reactive extrusion using a micro-extruder of 5 cm 3 at 130 degrees C. The PAUs obtained were characterized using DSC, GPC, DMTA, SAXS and tensile testing. Surprisingly, PAUs based on PCL chains of 750, 1000, 1250 and 1500 g/mol were found to show microphase separation/micro crystallization as proven by SAXS data combined with DSC. This microphase separation creates elastomeric properties as is known from polyurethanes. In the PAUs based on PCL chains of 2000, 3000 and 4000 g/mol part of the PCL was found to crystallize and no evidence of any phase separation of the acylurethane block was found. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Antibiotic prophylaxis for dental treatment after prosthetic joint replacement: exploring the orthopaedic surgeon's opinion
Background: Antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment is routinely recommended by orthopaedic surgeons to prevent prosthetic joint infection (PJI). This recommendation is at odds with current guidelines. Methods: A postal survey of 9 checkbox or short-answer questions was completed by 633 orthopaedic surgeons. Results: The majority of respondents (n = 186 of 260, 72%) believe that antibiotic prophylaxis is required indefinitely for dental treatment. A small number (n = 43, 15%) seek a dentist's opinion before elective joint replacement. The surgeons reported low numbers of PJIs, although 24% (n = 68 of 280) believed that they were associated with dental treatment. Conclusions: Australian orthopaedic surgeons continue to recommend antibiotic prophylaxis for dental treatment. The recording of PJI in relation to dental procedures into clinical registries would enable the development of consistent guidelines between professional groups responsible for the care of this patient group.Clare M. McNally, Renuka Visvanathan, Sharon Liberali, Robert J. Adam
Semi-Analytical Models for the Formation of Disk Galaxies: I. Constraints from the Tully-Fisher Relation
We present new semi-analytical models for the formation of disk galaxies with
the purpose of investigating the origin of the near-infrared Tully-Fisher (TF)
relation. The models assume that disks are formed by cooling of the baryons
inside dark halos with realistic density profiles, and that the baryons
conserve their specific angular momentum. Only gas with densities above the
critical density given by Toomre's stability criterion is considered eligible
for star formation, and a simple recipe for supernovae feedback is included. We
emphasize the importance of extracting the proper luminosity and velocity
measures from the models, something that has often been ignored in the past.
The observed K-band TF relation has a slope that is steeper than simple
predictions based on dynamical arguments suggest. Taking the stability related
star formation threshold densities into account steepens the TF relation,
decreases its scatter, and yields gas mass fractions that are in excellent
agreement with observations. In order for the TF slope to be as steep as
observed, further physics are required. We argue that the characteristics of
the observed near-infrared TF relation do not reflect systematic variations in
stellar populations, or cosmological initial conditions, but are governed by
feedback. Finally we show that our models provide a natural explanation for the
small amount of scatter that makes the TF relation useful as a cosmological
distance indicator.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
The mass-dependent star formation histories of disk galaxies: infall model versus observations
We introduce a simple model to explore the star formation histories of disk
galaxies. We assume that the disk origins and grows by continuous gas infall.
The gas infall rate is parametrized by the Gaussian formula with one free
parameter: infall-peak time . The Kennicutt star formation law is adopted
to describe how much cold gas turns into stars. The gas outflow process is also
considered in our model. We find that, at given galactic stellar mass ,
model adopting late infall-peak time results in blue colors, low
metallicity, high specific star formation rate and high gas fraction, while gas
outflow rate mainly influences the gas-phase metallicity and star formation
efficiency mainly influences the gas fraction. Motivated by the local observed
scaling relations, we construct a mass-dependent model by assuming low mass
galaxy has later infall-peak time and larger gas outflow rate than
massive systems. It is shown that this model can be in agreement with not only
the local observations, but also the observed correlations between specific
star formation rate and galactic stellar mass at
intermediate redshift . Comparison between the Gaussian-infall model and
exponential-infall model is also presented. It shows that the
exponential-infall model predicts higher star formation rate at early stage and
lower star formation rate later than that of Gaussian-infall. Our results
suggest that the Gaussian infall rate may be more reasonable to describe the
gas cooling process than the exponential infall rate, especially for low-mass
systems.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, ApJ, 2010, 722, 38
- β¦