A peculiar source in the Galactic center known as the Dusty S-cluster Object (DSO/G2) moves on a highly eccentric orbit around the supermassive black hole with the pericenter passage in the spring of ...2014. Its nature has been uncertain mainly because of the lack of any information about its intrinsic geometry. For the first time, we use near-infrared polarimetric imaging data to obtain constraints about the geometrical properties of the DSO. We find out that DSO is an intrinsically polarized source, based on the significance analysis of polarization parameters, with the degree of the polarization of ~30% and an alternating polarization angle as it approaches the position of Sgr A*. Since the DSO exhibits a near-infrared excess of K
s-L′ > 3 and remains rather compact in emission-line maps, its main characteristics may be explained with the model of a pre-main-sequence star embedded in a non-spherical dusty envelope.
A simple, sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the determination of terbutaline sulphate and tetracycline hydrochloride drugs in pure form and pharmaceutical ...formulations. The proposed method is based on the formation of binary complexes between these drugs and eosin Y in aqueous acetate buffered medium. Under the optimum conditions, the binary complexes showed absorption maxima at 545 nm. Beer's law was rectilinear over concentration range of 0.5-10 and 5-45 μg/mL, R2 were 0.9984 and 0.9988, RSD were ≤ 0.72 and ≤ 0.19 (n=5) with average recovery % 101.42 % and 100.08 % and the average recovery values of pharmaceutical formulations 101.48 and 98.01 for above drugs respectively. The limit of detection (LOD) were 0.030 and 0.613 μg/mL and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were 0.103 and 2.00 μg/mL with molar absorptivity values 3.169 103 and 6.347 103 l. mol-1. cm-1 and the relative standard deviation values ≤0.720 and ≤ 0.19 for both drugs respectively. No interference was observed from the excipients that are commonly present in pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of terbutaline sulphate tablet and tetracycline hydrochloride capsule in their dosage forms.
A sensitive, simple, and accurate spectrophotometric method was developed for the quantitative determination of some primary aliphatic and aromatic amines, that is, ethylamine, 1,2-diaminopropane, ...aniline, p-aminophenol, and benzidine. The method is based on the interaction of these amines in aqueous medium with 7,7′,8,8′-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) reagent in the presence of a buffer solution and surfactant (in the case of aromatic amines) to form charge-transfer complexes measurable at maximum wavelengths ranging between 323 and 511 nm. Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentration ranges of 0.025 and 3.0 μg/mL and the molar absorptivity is ranged between 8.977 × 103 and 5.8034 × 104 L·mol−1·cm−1 for these amines. The method was applied for the determination of benzidine in the river, sea, and tap waters. The TCNQ complexes with the previously mentioned amines were formed in the ratio of 1 : 1 amine : TCNQ, and their stability constants ranged between 8.78 × 104 and 1.844 × 105 L·mol−1.
Context.
Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has rapidly reached maturity, becoming a fundamental observing window for modern astrophysics. The coalescences of a few tens of black hole (BH) binaries ...have been detected, while the number of events possibly including a neutron star (NS) is still limited to a few. On 2019 August 14, the LIGO and Virgo interferometers detected a high-significance event labelled S190814bv. A preliminary analysis of the GW data suggests that the event was likely due to the merger of a compact binary system formed by a BH and a NS.
Aims.
In this paper, we present our extensive search campaign aimed at uncovering the potential optical and near infrared electromagnetic counterpart of S190814bv. We found no convincing electromagnetic counterpart in our data. We therefore use our non-detection to place limits on the properties of the putative outflows that could have been produced by the binary during and after the merger.
Methods.
Thanks to the three-detector observation of S190814bv, and given the characteristics of the signal, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations delivered a relatively narrow localisation in low latency – a 50% (90%) credible area of 5 deg
2
(23 deg
2
) – despite the relatively large distance of 267 ± 52 Mpc. ElectromagNetic counterparts of GRAvitational wave sources at the VEry Large Telescope collaboration members carried out an intensive multi-epoch, multi-instrument observational campaign to identify the possible optical and near infrared counterpart of the event. In addition, the ATLAS, GOTO, GRAWITA-VST, Pan-STARRS, and VINROUGE projects also carried out a search on this event. In this paper, we describe the combined observational campaign of these groups.
Results.
Our observations allow us to place limits on the presence of any counterpart and discuss the implications for the kilonova (KN), which was possibly generated by this NS–BH merger, and for the strategy of future searches. The typical depth of our wide-field observations, which cover most of the projected sky localisation probability (up to 99.8%, depending on the night and filter considered), is
r
∼ 22 (resp.
K
∼ 21) in the optical (resp. near infrared). We reach deeper limits in a subset of our galaxy-targeted observations, which cover a total ∼50% of the galaxy-mass-weighted localisation probability. Altogether, our observations allow us to exclude a KN with large ejecta mass
M
≳ 0.1
M
⊙
to a high (> 90%) confidence, and we can exclude much smaller masses in a sub-sample of our observations. This disfavours the tidal disruption of the neutron star during the merger.
Conclusions.
Despite the sensitive instruments involved in the campaign, given the distance of S190814bv, we could not reach sufficiently deep limits to constrain a KN comparable in luminosity to AT 2017gfo on a large fraction of the localisation probability. This suggests that future (likely common) events at a few hundred megaparsecs will be detected only by large facilities with both a high sensitivity and large field of view. Galaxy-targeted observations can reach the needed depth over a relevant portion of the localisation probability with a smaller investment of resources, but the number of galaxies to be targeted in order to get a fairly complete coverage is large, even in the case of a localisation as good as that of this event.
We present a brief overview of results obtained from near-infrared polarized observations of Sgr A*, which is associated with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The ...observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics instrument at the VLT UT4 in the infrared Ks-band from 2004 to 2012. Several polarized flares have been observed in this time interval which allow us to determine the statistical properties of NIR linearly polarized light from Sgr A*. Linear polarization at 2.2 μm and its variations can help us to constrain the physical conditions of the accretion process around this supermassive black hole.
A 3-D mid-infrared view of the central parsec Moultaka, J.; Eckart, A.; Mužić, K. ...
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union,
10/2013, Letnik:
9, Številka:
S303
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We present a mid-infrared 3D view of the central parsec using ISAAC spectrograph (ESO/VLT) with its spectroscopic mode. We mapped the central parsec in L- and M-bands by using 27 and 21 slit ...positions, respectively, that allowed us to build two data cubes of the region in these spectral domains. We also use an original method to distinguish the contribution of the foreground extinction to the absorbed spectra from that of the local extinction in both wavelength ranges. We find that there are residual water and CO ices in the central parsec as well as hydrocarbons and gaseous CO implying very low temperatures of the order of tens of Kelvin in the local environment of Sgr A*.
Myotubular myopathy (MTM) is a devastating pediatric neuromuscular disorder of phosphoinositide (PIP) metabolism resulting from mutations of the PIP phosphatase MTM1 for which there are no ...treatments. We have previously shown phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI3P) accumulation in animal models of MTM. Here, we tested the hypothesis that lowering PI3P levels may prevent or reverse the MTM disease process. To test this, we targeted class II and III PI3 kinases (PI3Ks) in an MTM1-deficient mouse model. Muscle-specific ablation of Pik3c2b, but not Pik3c3, resulted in complete prevention of the MTM phenotype, and postsymptomatic targeting promoted a striking rescue of disease. We confirmed this genetic interaction in zebrafish, and additionally showed that certain PI3K inhibitors prevented development of the zebrafish mtm phenotype. Finally, the PI3K inhibitor wortmannin improved motor function and prolonged lifespan of the Mtm1-deficient mice. In all, we have identified Pik3c2b as a genetic modifier of Mtm1 mutation and demonstrated that PIK3C2B inhibition is a potential treatment strategy for MTM. In addition, we set the groundwork for similar reciprocal inhibition approaches for treating other PIP metabolic disorders and highlight the importance of modifier gene pathways as therapeutic targets.
Objective
: Understanding molecular pathway mechanisms of the formation of vestibular schwannoma may lead to potential therapeutic targets.
Study Design
: We performed gene expression profiling of 49 ...schwannomas (36 sporadic and 13 NF2-associated cases) and 7 normal control vestibular nerves.
Results
: We identified over 4,000 differentially expressed genes between control and schwannoma with network analysis uncovering proliferation and antiapoptotic pathways previously not implicated in vestibular schwannomas. Using several distinct clustering technologies, we could not reproducibly identify subtypes of schwannomas suggesting that our schwannoma cohort was molecularly distinct from normal tissue yet highly similar among themselves. At the molecular level the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling network was overexpressed in our schwannoma cohort and evaluated for therapeutic targeting. Testing compounds BEZ235 and PKI-587 both novel dual inhibitors of PI3K and mTOR attenuated tumor growth in a preclinical cell line model of schwannoma (HEI-293). In vitro findings demonstrated that ablation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway with next generation inhibitors lead to decreased cell viability and increased cell death.
Conclusion
: The discovery of novel molecular targets in vestibular schwannoma by transcriptional profiling as compared with appropriate controls may lead to effective therapeutic strategies and shed insight into the molecular ontogeny of this tumor.
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