We investigate the K- and L-band dayside emission of the hot-Jupiter HD 189733b with three nights of secondary eclipse data obtained with the SpeX instrument on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. ...The observations for each of these three nights use equivalent instrument settings and the data from one of the nights have previously been reported by Swain et al. We describe an improved data analysis method that, in conjunction with the multi-night data set, allows increased spectral resolution (R ~ 175) leading to high-confidence identification of spectral features. We confirm the previously reported strong emission at ~3.3 Delta *mm and, by assuming a 5% vibrational temperature excess for methane, we show that non-LTE emission from the methane Delta *n3 branch is a physically plausible source of this emission. We consider two possible energy sources that could power non-LTE emission and additional modeling is needed to obtain a detailed understanding of the physics of the emission mechanism. The validity of the data analysis method and the presence of strong 3.3 Delta *mm emission are independently confirmed by simultaneous, long-slit, L-band spectroscopy of HD 189733b and a comparison star.
Galectin-3–binding protein (gal3bp) and its receptor/ligand, galectin-3 (gal3), are secreted proteins that initiate signaling cascades in several diseases, and recent human proteomic data suggest ...they may play a role in venous thrombosis (VT). We hypothesized that gal3bp and gal3 may promote VT. Using a mouse stasis model of VT, we found that gal3bp and gal3 were localized on vein wall, red blood cells, platelets, and microparticles, whereas leukocytes expressed gal3 only. Gal3 was dramatically increased during early VT and gal3bp:gal3 colocalized in the leukocyte/endothelial cell interface, where leukocytes were partially attached to the vein wall. Thrombus size correlated with elevated gal3 and interleukin-6 (IL-6) vein wall levels. Recombinant gal3 promoted VT and increased vein wall IL-6 mRNA. Although recombinant gal3 restored the VT size in gal3−/− mice, it had no effect on IL6−/− mice, suggesting that gal3:gal3bp promotes VT through IL-6. Moreover, significantly fewer activated neutrophils were present in the gal3−/− vein walls. In a group of human patients, elevated circulating gal3bp correlated with acute VT. In conclusion, gal3bp:gal3 play a critical role in VT, likely via IL-6 and PMN-mediated thrombotic mechanisms, and may be a potential biomarker in human VT.
•We determined the location of gal3bp and gal3 and their role in promoting VT and leukocyte/endothelial cell interactions for the first time.•Gal3bp and gal3 have the potential to be used as targets for future VT therapies.
We have measured the dayside spectrum of HD 189733b between 1.5 and 2.5 is a subset of m using the NICMOS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The emergent spectrum contains significant ...modulation, which we attribute to the presence of molecular bands seen in absorption. We find that water (H2O), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) are needed to explain the observations, and we are able to estimate the mixing ratios for these molecules. We also find temperature decreases with altitude in the ~0.01 < P< ~1 bar region of the dayside near-infrared photosphere and set an upper limit to the dayside abundance of methane (CH4) at these pressures.
Using the NICMOS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have measured the dayside spectrum of HD 209458b between 1.5 and 2.5 Delta *mm. The emergent spectrum is dominated by features due to the ...presence of methane (CH4) and water vapor (H2O), with smaller contributions from carbon dioxide (CO2). Combining this near-infrared spectrum with existing mid-infrared measurements shows the existence of a temperature inversion and confirms the interpretation of previous photometry measurements. We find a family of plausible solutions for the molecular abundance and detailed temperature profile. Observationally resolving the ambiguity between abundance and temperature requires either (1) improved wavelength coverage or spectral resolution of the dayside emission spectrum or (2) a transmission spectrum where abundance determinations are less sensitive to the temperature structure.
To determine whether F-fluorodeoxyglucose (F-FDG) micro-positron emission tomography (micro-PET) can predict abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) rupture.
An infrarenal AAA model is needed to study ...inflammatory mechanisms that drive rupture. F-FDG PET can detect vascular inflammation in animal models and patients.
After exposing Sprague-Dawley rats to intra-aortic porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) (12 U/mL), AAA rupture was induced by daily, subcutaneous, β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN, 300 mg/kg, N = 24) administration. Negative control AAA animals (N = 15) underwent daily saline subcutaneous injection after PPE exposure. BAPN-exposed animals that did not rupture served as positive controls nonruptured AAA (NRAAA) 14d, N = 9. Rupture was witnessed using radiotelemetry. Maximum standard uptakes for F-FDG micro-PET studies were determined. Aortic wall PAI-1, uPA, and tPA concentrations were determined by western blot analyses. Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and MIP-2 were determined by Bio-Plex bead array. Neutrophil and macrophage populations per high-power field were quantified. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activities were determined by zymography.
When comparing ruptured AAA (RAAA) to NRAAA 14d animals, increased focal F-FDG uptakes were detected at subsequent sites of rupture (P = 0.03). PAI-1 expression was significantly less in RAAA tissue (P = 0.01), with comparable uPA and decreased tPA levels (P = 0.02). IL-1β (P = 0.04), IL-6 (P = 0.001), IL-10 (P = 0.04), and MIP-2 (P = 0.02) expression, neutrophil (P = 0.02) and macrophage presence (P = 0.002), and MMP9 (P < 0.0001) activity were increased in RAAA tissue.
With this AAA rupture model, increased prerupture F-FDG uptake on micro-PET imaging was associated with increased inflammation in the ruptured AAA wall. F-FDG PET imaging may be used to monitor inflammatory changes before AAA rupture.
Blind-source separation techniques are used to extract the transmission spectrum of the hot-Jupiter HD189733b recorded by the Hubble/NICMOS instrument. Such a "blind" analysis of the data is based on ...the concept of independent component analysis. The detrending of Hubble/NICMOS data using the sole assumption that nongaussian systematic noise is statistically independent from the desired light-curve signals is presented. By not assuming any prior or auxiliary information but the data themselves, it is shown that spectroscopic errors only about 10%-30% larger than parametric methods can be obtained for 11 spectral bins with bin sizes of ~0.09 mu m. This represents a reasonable trade-off between a higher degree of objectivity for the non-parametric methods and smaller standard errors for the parametric de-trending. Results are discussed in light of previous analyses published in the literature. The fact that three very different analysis techniques yield comparable spectra is a strong indication of the stability of these results.
Context. The influence of binarity on the late stages of stellar evolution remains an open issue. Aims. While the first binary post-AGB stars were serendipitously discovered, the distinct ...characteristics of their spectral energy distribution (SED) allowed us to launch a more systematic search for binaries. We selected post-AGB objects, which exhibit a broad dust excess starting either at H or K, pointing to the presence of a gravitationally bound dusty disc in the system. We initiated an extensive multiwavelength study of those systems and here report on our radial velocity and photometric monitoring results for six stars of early F type, which are pulsators of small amplitude. Methods. To determine the radial velocity of low signal-to-noise ratio time-series data, we constructed dedicated autocorrelation masks based on high signal-to-noise ratio spectra, used in our published chemical studies. The radial velocity variations were analysed in detail to differentiate between pulsational variability and variability caused by orbital motion. When available, the photometric monitoring data were used to complement the time series of radial velocity data and to establish the nature of the pulsation. Finally, orbital minimalisation was performed to constrain the orbital elements. Results. All of the six objects are binaries with orbital periods ranging from 120 to 1800 days. Five systems have non-circular orbits. The mass functions range from 0.004 to 0.57 $M_{\odot}$ and the companions are probably unevolved objects of (very) low initial mass. We argue that these binaries must have evolved through a phase of strong binary interaction when the primary was a cool supergiant. Although the origin of the circumstellar disc is not well understood, the disc is generally believed to have formed during this strong interaction phase. The eccentric orbits of these highly evolved objects remain poorly understood. In one object, the line-of-sight grazes the edge of the puffed-up inner rim of the disc. Conclusions. These results corroborate our earlier statement that evolved objects in binary stars create a Keplerian dusty circumbinary disc. With the measured orbits and mass functions, we conclude that the circumbinary discs seem to have a major impact on the evolution of a significant fraction of binary systems.
We present here new transmission spectra of the hot Jupiter HD-189733b using the SpeX instrument on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. We obtained two nights of observations where we recorded the ...primary transit of the planet in the J, H, and K bands simultaneously, covering a spectral range from 0.94 to 2.42 mu m. We used Fourier analysis and other detrending techniques validated previously on other data sets to clean the data. We tested the statistical significance of our results by calculating the autocorrelation function, and we found that, after the detrending, autocorrelative noise is diminished at most frequencies. Additionally, we repeated our analysis on the out-of-transit data only, showing that the residual telluric contamination is well within the error bars. While these techniques are very efficient when multiple nights of observations are combined together, our results prove that even one good night of observations is enough to provide statistically meaningful data. Our observed spectra are consistent with space-based data recorded in the same wavelength interval by multiple instruments, indicating that ground-based facilities are becoming a viable and complementary option to spaceborne observatories. The best fit to the features in our data was obtained with water vapor. Our error bars are not small enough to address the presence of additional molecules; however, by combining the information contained in other data sets with our results, it is possible to explain all the available observations with a modeled atmospheric spectrum containing water vapor, methane, carbon monoxide, and hazes/clouds.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common cardiovascular disease with a major effect on quality of life, and safe and effective therapeutic measures to efficiently reduce existent thrombus burden are ...scarce. Using a comprehensive targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based metabololipidomics approach, we established temporal clusters of endogenously biosynthesized specialized proresolving mediators (SPMs) and proinflammatory and prothrombotic lipid mediators during DVT progression in mice. Administration of resolvin D4 (RvD4), an SPM that was enriched at the natural onset of thrombus resolution, significantly reduced thrombus burden, with significantly less neutrophil infiltration and more proresolving monocytes in the thrombus, as well as an increased number of cells in an early apoptosis state. Moreover, RvD4 promoted the biosynthesis of other D-series resolvins involved in facilitating resolution of inflammation. Neutrophils from RvD4-treated mice were less susceptible to an ionomycin-induced release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a meshwork of decondensed chromatin lined with histones and neutrophil proteins critical for DVT development. These results suggest that delivery of SPMs, specifically RvD4, modulates the severity of thrombo-inflammatory disease in vivo and improves thrombus resolution.
•Specialized pro-resolving mediators are temporally biosynthesized during venous thrombosis progression.•Resolvin D4 reduces venous thrombosis burden in mice.
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