Abstract
Decayless kink oscillations of solar coronal loops (or decayless oscillations for short) have attracted great attention since their discovery. Coronal bright points (CBPs) are mini-active ...regions and consist of loops with a small size. However, decayless oscillations in CBPs have not been widely reported. In this study, we identified this kind of oscillations in some CBPs using 171 Å images taken by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. After using the motion magnification algorithm to increase oscillation amplitudes, we made time–distance maps to identify the oscillatory signals. We also estimated the loop lengths and velocity amplitudes. We analyzed 23 CBPs and found 31 oscillation events in 16 of them. The oscillation periods range from 1 to 8 minutes (on average about 5 minutes), and the displacement amplitudes have an average value of 0.07 Mm. The average loop length and velocity amplitude are 23 Mm and 1.57 km s
−1
, respectively. Relationships between different oscillation parameters are also examined. Additionally, we performed a simple model to illustrate how these subpixel oscillation amplitudes (less than 0.4 Mm) could be detected. Results of the model confirm the reliability of our data processing methods. Our study shows for the first time that decayless oscillations are common in small-scale loops of CBPs. These oscillations allow for seismological diagnostics of the Alfvén speed and magnetic field strength in the corona.
ABSTRACT Solar prominences are long-lived cool and dense plasma curtains in the hot and rarefied outer solar atmosphere or corona. The physical mechanism responsible for their formation and ...especially for their internal plasma circulation has been uncertain for decades. The observed ubiquitous downflows in quiescent prominences are difficult to interpret because plasma with high conductivity seems to move across horizontal magnetic field lines. Here we present three-dimensional numerical simulations of prominence formation and evolution in an elongated magnetic flux rope as a result of in situ plasma condensations fueled by continuous plasma evaporation from the solar chromosphere. The prominence is born and maintained in a fragmented, highly dynamic state with continuous reappearance of multiple blobs and thread structures that move mainly downward, dragging along mass-loaded field lines. The circulation of prominence plasma is characterized by the dynamic balance between the drainage of prominence plasma back to the chromosphere and the formation of prominence plasma via continuous condensation. Plasma evaporates from the chromosphere, condenses into the prominence in the corona, and drains back to the chromosphere, establishing a stable chromosphere-corona plasma cycle. Synthetic images of the modeled prominence with the Solar Dynamics Observatory Atmospheric Imaging Assembly closely resemble actual observations, with many dynamical threads underlying an elliptical coronal cavity.
We carry out a study of the global three-dimensional (3D) structure of the electron density and temperature of the quiescent inner solar corona (
r
<
1.25
R
⊙
) by means of tomographic ...reconstructions and magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We use differential emission measure tomography (DEMT) and the Alfvén Wave Solar Model (AWSoM), in their latest versions. Two target rotations were selected from the solar minimum between Solar Cycles (SCs) 23 and 24 and the declining phase of SC 24. We report in quantitative detail on the 3D thermodynamic structure of the core and outer layers of the streamer belt, and of the high latitude coronal holes (CH), as revealed by the DEMT analysis. We report on the presence of two types of structures within the streamer belt, loops with temperature decreasing/increasing with height (dubbed down/up loops), as reported first in previous DEMT studies. We also estimate the heating energy flux required at the coronal base to keep these structures stable, found to be of order
10
5
erg
cm
−
2
s
−
1
, consistently with previous DEMT and spectroscopic studies. We discuss how these findings are consistent with coronal dissipation of Alfvén waves. We compare the 3D results of DEMT and AWSoM in distinct magnetic structures. We show that the agreement between the products of both techniques is the best so far, with an overall agreement
≲
20
%
, depending on the target rotation and the specific coronal region. In its current implementation the ASWsoM model cannot reproduce down loops though. Also, in the source region of the fast and slow components of the solar wind, the electron density of the AWSoM model increases with latitude, opposite to the trend observed in DEMT reconstructions.
•The liposome–protein corona varied among healthy subjects as well for identical diseases.•Zeta potential of the hard coronas from breast and gastric cancer were similar.•The liposome–protein corona ...of pancreatic cancer patients was less negative.•The corona from pancreatic cancer patients was more enriched than those of other cancers.•Nanoparticle-based technologies will be aimed at screening for early cancer detection.
When nanoparticles (NPs) are dispersed in a biofluid, they are covered by a protein corona the composition of which strongly depends on the protein source. Recent studies demonstrated that the type of disease has a crucial role in the protein composition of the NP corona with relevant implications on personalized medicine. Proteomic variations frequently occur in cancer with the consequence that the bio-identity of NPs in the blood of cancer patients may differ from that acquired after administration to healthy volunteers. In this study we investigated the correlation between alterations of plasma proteins in breast, gastric and pancreatic cancer and the biological identity of clinically approved AmBisome-like liposomes as determined by a combination of dynamic light scattering, zeta potential analysis, one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (1D-SDS-PAGE) and semi-quantitative densitometry. While size of liposome–protein complexes was not significantly different between cancer groups, the hard corona from pancreatic cancer patients was significantly less negatively charged. Of note, the hard corona from pancreatic cancer patients was more enriched than those of other cancer types this enrichment being most likely due to IgA and IgG with possible correlations with the autoantibodies productions in cancer. Given the strict relationship between tumor antigen-specific autoantibodies and early cancer detection, our results could be the basis for the development of novel nanoparticle-corona-based screening tests of cancer.
Many recent studies have shown that the way nanoparticles interact with cells and biological molecules can vary greatly in the serum-containing or serum-free culture medium. However, the underlying ...molecular mechanisms of how the so-called "protein corona" formed in serum medium affects nanoparticles' biological responses are still largely unresolved. Thus, it is critical to understand how absorbed proteins on the surfaces of nanoparticles alter their biological effects. In this work, we have demonstrated with both experimental and theoretical approaches that protein BSA coating can mitigate the cytotoxicity of graphene oxide (GO) by reducing its cell membrane penetration. Our cell viability and cellular uptake experiments showed that protein corona decreased cellular uptake of GO, thus significantly mitigating the potential cytotoxicity of GO. The electron microscopy images also confirmed that protein corona reduced the cellular morphological damage by limiting GO penetration into the cell membrane. Further molecular dynamics (MD) simulations validated the experimental results and revealed that the adsorbed BSA in effect weakened the interaction between the phospholipids and graphene surface due to a reduction of the available surface area plus an unfavorable steric effect, thus significantly reducing the graphene penetration and lipid bilayer damaging. These findings provide new insights into the underlying molecular mechanism of this important graphene protein corona interaction with cell membranes, and should have implications in future development of graphene-based biomedical applications.
The Wide-Field Imager for Solar Probe Plus (WISPR) Vourlidas, Angelos; Howard, Russell A.; Plunkett, Simon P. ...
Space science reviews,
12/2016, Letnik:
204, Številka:
1-4
Journal Article, Web Resource
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The Wide-field Imager for Solar PRobe Plus (WISPR) is the sole imager aboard the Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission scheduled for launch in 2018. SPP will be a unique mission designed to orbit as close ...as 7 million km (9.86 solar radii) from Sun center. WISPR employs a 95
∘
radial by 58
∘
transverse field of view to image the fine-scale structure of the solar corona, derive the 3D structure of the large-scale corona, and determine whether a dust-free zone exists near the Sun. WISPR is the smallest heliospheric imager to date yet it comprises two nested wide-field telescopes with large-format (2 K × 2 K) APS CMOS detectors to optimize the performance for their respective fields of view and to minimize the risk of dust damage, which may be considerable close to the Sun. The WISPR electronics are very flexible allowing the collection of individual images at cadences up to 1 second at perihelion or the summing of multiple images to increase the signal-to-noise when the spacecraft is further from the Sun. The dependency of the Thomson scattering emission of the corona on the imaging geometry dictates that WISPR will be very sensitive to the emission from plasma close to the spacecraft in contrast to the situation for imaging from Earth orbit. WISPR will be the first ‘local’ imager providing a crucial link between the large-scale corona and the
in-situ
measurements.
We present spectropolarimetric imaging observations of the solar corona at low frequencies (80 – 240 MHz) using the
Murchison Widefield Array
(MWA). These images are the first of their kind, and we ...introduce an algorithm to mitigate an instrumental artifact by which the total intensity signal contaminates the polarimetric images due to calibration errors. We then survey the range of circular polarization (Stokes
V
) features detected in over 100 observing runs near solar maximum during quiescent periods. First, we detect around 700 compact polarized sources across our dataset with polarization fractions ranging from less than 0.5% to nearly 100%. These sources exhibit a positive correlation between polarization fraction and total intensity, and we interpret them as a continuum of plasma emission noise storm (Type I burst) continua sources associated with active regions. Second, we report a characteristic “bullseye” structure observed for many low-latitude coronal holes in which a central polarized component is surrounded by a ring of the opposite sense. The central component does not match the sign expected from thermal bremsstrahlung emission, and we speculate that propagation effects or an alternative emission mechanism may be responsible. Third, we show that the large-scale polarimetric structure at our lowest frequencies is reasonably well-correlated with the line-of-sight (LOS) magnetic field component inferred from a global potential field source surface (PFSS) model. The boundaries between opposite circular polarization signs are generally aligned with polarity inversion lines in the model at a height roughly corresponding to that of the radio limb. This is not true at our highest frequencies, however, where the LOS magnetic field direction and polarization sign are often not straightforwardly correlated.
In this paper, we study the temperature and density properties of multiple structural components of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using differential emission measure (DEM) analysis. The DEM analysis ...is based on the six-passband EUV observations of solar corona from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the Solar Dynamic Observatory. The structural components studied include the hot channel in the core region (presumably the magnetic flux rope of the CME), the bright loop-like leading front (LF), and coronal dimming in the wake of the CME. We find that the presumed flux rope has the highest average temperature (>8 MK) and density (~1.0 x 10 super(9) cm super(-3)), resulting in an enhanced emission measure over a broad temperature range (3 < or =, slant T(MK) < or =, slant 20). On the other hand, the CME LF has a relatively cool temperature (~2 MK) and a narrow temperature distribution similar to the pre-emption coronal temperature (1 < or =, slant T(MK) < or =, slant 3). The density in the LF, however, is increased by 2%-32% compared with that of the pre-emption corona, depending on the event and location. In coronal dimmings, the temperature is more broadly distributed (1 < or =, slant T(MK) < or =, slant 4), but the density decreases by ~35%-~40%. These observational results show that: (1) CME core regions are significantly heated, presumably through magnetic reconnection; (2) CME LFs are a consequence of compression of ambient plasma caused by the expansion of the CME core region; and (3) the dimmings are largely caused by the plasma rarefaction associated with the eruption.
Upon contact with a biological milieu, nanomaterials tend to interact with biomolecules present in the media, especially proteins, leading to the formation of the so-called "protein corona". As a ...result of these nanomaterial-protein interactions, the bio-identity of the nanomaterial is altered, which is translated into modifications of its behavior, fate, and pharmacological profile. For biomedical applications, it is fundamental to understand the biological behavior of nanomaterials prior to any clinical translation. For these reasons, during the last decade, numerous publications have been focused on the investigation of the protein corona of many different types of nanomaterials. Interestingly, it has been demonstrated that the structure of the protein corona can be divided into hard and soft corona, depending on the affinity of the proteins for the nanoparticle surface. In the present document, we explore the differences between these two protein coronas, review the analysis techniques used for their assessment, and reflect on their relevance for medical purposes.
Understanding interactions occurring at the interface between nanoparticles and biological components is an urgent challenge in nanomedicine due to their effect on the biological fate of ...nanoparticles. After the systemic injection of nanoparticles, a protein corona constructed by blood components surrounds the carrier’s surface and modulates its pharmacokinetics and biodistribution. Biomimicry-based approaches in nanotechnology attempt to imitate what happens in nature in order to transfer specific natural functionalities to synthetic nanoparticles. Several biomimetic formulations have been developed, showing superior in vivo features as a result of their cell-like identity. We have recently designed biomimetic liposomes, called leukosomes, which recapitulate the ability of leukocytes to target inflamed endothelium and escape clearance by the immune system. To gain insight into the properties of leukosomes, we decided to investigate their protein corona in vivo. So far, most information about the protein corona has been obtained using in vitro experiments, which have been shown to minimally reproduce in vivo phenomena. Here we directly show a time-dependent quantitative and qualitative analysis of the protein corona adsorbed in vivo on leukosomes and control liposomes. We observed that leukosomes absorb fewer proteins than liposomes, and we identified a group of proteins specifically adsorbed on leukosomes. Moreover, we hypothesize that the presence of macrophage receptors on leukosomes’ surface neutralizes their protein corona-meditated uptake by immune cells. This work unveils the protein corona of a biomimetic carrier and is one of the few studies on the corona performed in vivo.
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