Abstract
The largest structures in the cosmic web probe the dynamical nature of dark energy through their integrated Sachs–Wolfe imprints. In the strength of the signal, typical cosmic voids have ...shown good consistency with expectation AISW = ΔTdata/ΔTtheory = 1, given the substantial cosmic variance. Discordantly, large-scale hills in the gravitational potential, or supervoids, have shown excess signals. In this study, we mapped out 87 new supervoids in the total 5000 deg2 footprint of the Dark Energy Survey at 0.2 < $z$ < 0.9 to probe these anomalous claims. We found an excess imprinted profile with AISW ≈ 4.1 ± 2.0 amplitude. The combination with independent BOSS data reveals an ISW imprint of supervoids at the 3.3σ significance level with an enhanced AISW ≈ 5.2 ± 1.6 amplitude. The tension with ΛCDM predictions is equivalent to 2.6σ and remains unexplained.
Abstract
We perform a joint analysis of intrinsic alignments and cosmology using tomographic weak lensing, galaxy clustering, and galaxy–galaxy lensing measurements from Year 1 (Y1) of the Dark ...Energy Survey. We define early- and late-type subsamples, which are found to pass a series of systematics tests, including for spurious photometric redshift error and point spread function correlations. We analyse these split data alongside the fiducial mixed Y1 sample using a range of intrinsic alignment models. In a fiducial non-linear alignment model analysis, assuming a flat Λ cold dark matter cosmology, we find a significant difference in intrinsic alignment amplitude, with early-type galaxies favouring $A_\mathrm{IA} = 2.38^{+0.32}_{-0.31}$ and late-type galaxies consistent with no intrinsic alignments at $0.05^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$. The analysis is repeated using a number of extended model spaces, including a physically motivated model that includes both tidal torquing and tidal alignment mechanisms. In multiprobe likelihood chains in which cosmology, intrinsic alignments in both galaxy samples and all other relevant systematics are varied simultaneously, we find the tidal alignment and tidal torquing parts of the intrinsic alignment signal have amplitudes $A_1 = 2.66 ^{+0.67}_{-0.66}$, $A_2=-2.94^{+1.94}_{-1.83}$, respectively, for early-type galaxies and $A_1 = 0.62 ^{+0.41}_{-0.41}$, $A_2 = -2.26^{+1.30}_{-1.16}$ for late-type galaxies. In the full (mixed) Y1 sample the best constraints are $A_1 = 0.70 ^{+0.41}_{-0.38}$, $A_2 = -1.36 ^{+1.08}_{-1.41}$. For all galaxy splits and IA models considered, we report cosmological parameter constraints consistent with the results of the main DES Y1 cosmic shear and multiprobe cosmology papers.
Abstract Kinins are generated within inflammatory tissue microenvironments, where they exert diverse functions, including cell proliferation, leukocyte activation, cell migration, endothelial cell ...activation and nociception. These pleiotropic functions depend on signaling through two cross talking receptors, the constitutively expressed kinin receptor 2 (B2R) and the inducible kinin receptor 1 (B1R). We have reviewed evidence, which supports the concept that kinin receptors, especially kinin receptor 1, are promising targets for cancer therapy, since (1) many tumor cells express aberrantly high levels of these receptors; (2) some cancers produce kinins and use them as autocrine factors to stimulate their growth; (3) activation of kinin receptors leads to activation of macrophages, dendritic cells and other cells from the tumor microenvironment; (4) kinins have pro-angiogenic properties; (5) kinin receptors have been implicated in cancer migration, invasion and metastasis; and (6) selective antagonists for either B1R or B2R have shown anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and anti-migratory properties. The multiple cross talks between kinin receptors and renin–angiotensin system (RAS) as well as its implications for targeting KKS or RAS for the treatment of malignancies are also discussed. It is expected that B1R antagonists would interfere less with housekeeping functions and therefore would be attractive compounds to treat selected types of cancer. Reliable clinical studies are needed to establish the translatability of these data to human settings and the usefulness of kinin receptor antagonists.
We investigate the inner regions of the Milky Way using data from APOGEE and
Gaia
EDR3. Our inner Galactic sample has more than 26 500 stars within |
X
Gal
|< 5 kpc, |
Y
Gal
|< 3.5 kpc, |
Z
Gal
|< 1 ...kpc, and we also carry out the analysis for a foreground-cleaned subsample of 8000 stars that is more representative of the bulge–bar populations. These samples allow us to build chemo-dynamical maps of the stellar populations with vastly improved detail. The inner Galaxy shows an apparent chemical bimodality in key abundance ratios
α
/Fe, C/N, and Mn/O, which probe different enrichment timescales, suggesting a star formation gap (quenching) between the high- and low-
α
populations. Using a joint analysis of the distributions of kinematics, metallicities, mean orbital radius, and chemical abundances, we can characterize the different populations coexisting in the innermost regions of the Galaxy for the first time. The chemo-kinematic data dissected on an eccentricity–|
Z
|
max
plane reveal the chemical and kinematic signatures of the bar, the thin inner disc, and an inner thick disc, and a broad metallicity population with large velocity dispersion indicative of a pressure-supported component. The interplay between these different populations is mapped onto the different metallicity distributions seen in the eccentricity–|
Z
|
max
diagram consistently with the mean orbital radius and
V
ϕ
distributions. A clear metallicity gradient as a function of |
Z
|
max
is also found, which is consistent with the spatial overlapping of different populations. Additionally, we find and chemically and kinematically characterize a group of counter-rotating stars that could be the result of a gas-rich merger event or just the result of clumpy star formation during the earliest phases of the early disc that migrated into the bulge. Finally, based on 6D information, we assign stars a probability value of being on a bar orbit and find that most of the stars with large bar orbit probabilities come from the innermost 3 kpc, with a broad dispersion of metallicity. Even stars with a high probability of belonging to the bar show chemical bimodality in the
α
/Fe versus Fe/H diagram. This suggests bar trapping to be an efficient mechanism, explaining why stars on bar orbits do not show a significant, distinct chemical abundance ratio signature.
We perform a comprehensive study of Milky Way (MW) satellite galaxies to constrain the fundamental properties of dark matter (DM). This analysis fully incorporates inhomogeneities in the spatial ...distribution and detectability of MW satellites and marginalizes over uncertainties in the mapping between galaxies and DM halos, the properties of the MW system, and the disruption of subhalos by the MW disk. Our results are consistent with the cold, collisionless DM paradigm and yield the strongest cosmological constraints to date on particle models of warm, interacting, and fuzzy dark matter. At 95% confidence, we report limits on (i) the mass of thermal relic warm DM, m_{WDM}>6.5 keV (free-streaming length, λ_{fs}≲10h^{-1} kpc), (ii) the velocity-independent DM-proton scattering cross section, σ_{0}<8.8×10^{-29} cm^{2} for a 100 MeV DM particle mass DM-proton coupling, c_{p}≲(0.3 GeV)^{-2}, and (iii) the mass of fuzzy DM, m_{ϕ}>2.9×10^{-21} eV (de Broglie wavelength, λ_{dB}≲0.5 kpc). These constraints are complementary to other observational and laboratory constraints on DM properties.
Chemodynamics of the Milky Way Anders, F; Chiappini, C; Santiago, B X ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
04/2014, Volume:
564
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Context. The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) features the first multi-object high-resolution fiber spectrograph in the near-infrared ever built, thus making the survey ...unique in its capabilities: APOGEE is able to peer through the dust that obscures stars in the Galactic disc and bulge in the optical wavelength range. Here we explore the APOGEE data included as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey's 10th data release (SDSS DR10). Aims. The goal of this paper is to a) investigate the chemo-kinematic properties of the Milky Way disc by exploring the first year of APOGEE data; and b) to compare our results to smaller optical high-resolution samples in the literature, as well as results from lower resolution surveys such as the Geneva-Copenhagen Survey (GCS) and the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE). Methods. We select a high-quality (HQ) sample in terms of chemistry (amounting to around 20 000 stars) and, after computing distances and orbital parameters for this sample, we employ a number of useful subsets to formulate constraints on Galactic chemical and chemodynamical evolution processes in the solar neighbourhood and beyond (e.g., metallicity distributions - MDFs, a/Fe vs. Fe/H diagrams, and abundance gradients). Results. Our red giant sample spans distances as large as 10 kpc from the Sun. Given our chemical quality requirements, most of the stars are located between 1 and 6 kpc from the Sun, increasing by at least a factor of eight the studied volume with respect to the most recent chemodynamical studies based on the two largest samples obtained from RAVE and the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE). We find remarkable agreement between the MDF of the recently published local (d < 100 pc) high-resolution high-S/N HARPS sample and our local HQ sample (d < 1 kpc). The local MDF peaks slightly below solar metallicity, and exhibits an extended tail towards Fe/H= -1, whereas a sharper cutoff is seen at larger metallicities (the APOGEE sample shows a slight overabundance of stars with metallicities larger than Asymptotically = to+0.3 with respect to the HARPS sample). Both samples also compare extremely well in an a/Fe vs. Fe/H diagram. The APOGEE data also confirm the existence of a gap in the abundance diagram. When expanding our sample to cover three different Galactocentric distance bins (inner disc, solar vicinity and outer disc), we find the high-a/Fe stars to be rare towards the outer zones (implying a shorter scale-length of the thick disc with respect to the thin disc), as previously suggested in the literature. Finally, we measure the gradients in Fe/H and a/Fe, and their respective MDFs, over a range of 6 < R < 11 kpc in Galactocentric distance, and a 0 < z < 3 kpc range of distance from the Galactic plane. We find a good agreement with the gradients traced by the GCS and RAVE dwarf samples. For stars with 1.5 < z < 3 kpc (not present in the previous samples), we find a positive metallicity gradient and a negative gradient in a/Fe.
Polymer hydrogels have been suggested as dressing materials for the treatment of cutaneous wounds and tissue revitalization. In this work, we report the development of a hydrogel composed of natural ...polymers (sodium alginate and gelatin) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with recognized antimicrobial activity for healing cutaneous lesions. For the development of the hydrogel, different ratios of sodium alginate and gelatin have been tested, while different concentrations of AgNO
precursor (1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 mM) were assayed for the production of AgNPs. The obtained AgNPs exhibited a characteristic peak between 430-450 nm in the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrum suggesting a spheroidal form, which was confirmed by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Fourier Transform Infra-red (FT-IR) analysis suggested the formation of strong intermolecular interactions as hydrogen bonds and electrostatic attractions between polymers, showing bands at 2920, 2852, 1500, and 1640 cm
. Significant bactericidal activity was observed for the hydrogel, with a Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 0.50 µg/mL against
and 53.0 µg/mL against
s. AgNPs were shown to be non-cytotoxic against fibroblast cells. The in vivo studies in female Wister rats confirmed the capacity of the AgNP-loaded hydrogels to reduce the wound size compared to uncoated injuries promoting histological changes in the healing tissue over the time course of wound healing, as in earlier development and maturation of granulation tissue. The developed hydrogel with AgNPs has healing potential for clinical applications.
ABSTRACT
We present a blind time-delay cosmographic analysis for the lens system DES J0408−5354. This system is extraordinary for the presence of two sets of multiple images at different redshifts, ...which provide the opportunity to obtain more information at the cost of increased modelling complexity with respect to previously analysed systems. We perform detailed modelling of the mass distribution for this lens system using three band Hubble Space Telescope imaging. We combine the measured time delays, line-of-sight central velocity dispersion of the deflector, and statistically constrained external convergence with our lens models to estimate two cosmological distances. We measure the ‘effective’ time-delay distance corresponding to the redshifts of the deflector and the lensed quasar $D_{\Delta t}^{\rm eff}=$$3382_{-115}^{+146}$ Mpc and the angular diameter distance to the deflector Dd = $1711_{-280}^{+376}$ Mpc, with covariance between the two distances. From these constraints on the cosmological distances, we infer the Hubble constant H0= $74.2_{-3.0}^{+2.7}$ km s−1 Mpc−1 assuming a flat ΛCDM cosmology and a uniform prior for Ωm as $\Omega _{\rm m} \sim \mathcal {U}(0.05, 0.5)$. This measurement gives the most precise constraint on H0 to date from a single lens. Our measurement is consistent with that obtained from the previous sample of six lenses analysed by the H0 Lenses in COSMOGRAIL’s Wellspring (H0LiCOW) collaboration. It is also consistent with measurements of H0 based on the local distance ladder, reinforcing the tension with the inference from early Universe probes, for example, with 2.2σ discrepancy from the cosmic microwave background measurement.
ABSTRACT
Clusters of galaxies trace the most non-linear peaks in the cosmic density field. The weak gravitational lensing of background galaxies by clusters can allow us to infer their masses. ...However, galaxies associated with the local environment of the cluster can also be intrinsically aligned due to the local tidal gradient, contaminating any cosmology derived from the lensing signal. We measure this intrinsic alignment in Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 redMaPPer clusters. We find evidence of a non-zero mean radial alignment of galaxies within clusters between redshifts 0.1–0.7. We find a significant systematic in the measured ellipticities of cluster satellite galaxies that we attribute to the central galaxy flux and other intracluster light. We attempt to correct this signal, and fit a simple model for intrinsic alignment amplitude (AIA) to the measurement, finding AIA = 0.15 ± 0.04, when excluding data near the edge of the cluster. We find a significantly stronger alignment of the central galaxy with the cluster dark matter halo at low redshift and with higher richness and central galaxy absolute magnitude (proxies for cluster mass). This is an important demonstration of the ability of large photometric data sets like DES to provide direct constraints on the intrinsic alignment of galaxies within clusters. These measurements can inform improvements to small-scale modelling and simulation of the intrinsic alignment of galaxies to help improve the separation of the intrinsic alignment signal in weak lensing studies.
We estimate total mass (M500), intracluster medium (ICM) mass (MICM), and stellar mass (M*) in a Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect (SZE) selected sample of 91 galaxy clusters with masses M500 ≳ 2.5 × 1014 M⊙ ...and redshift 0.2 < z < 1.25 from the 2500 deg^2 South Pole Telescope SPT-SZ survey. The total masses M500 are estimatedfrom the SZE observable, the ICM masses MICM are obtained from the analysis of Chandra X-ray observations, and the stellar masses M* are derived by fitting spectral energy distribution templates to Dark Energy Survey griz optical photometry and WISE or Spitzer near-infrared photometry. We study trends in the stellar mass, the ICM mass, the total baryonic mass, and the cold baryonic fraction with cluster halo mass and redshift. We find significant departures from self-similarity in the mass scaling for all quantities, while the redshift trends are all statistically consistent with zero, indicating that the baryon content of clusters at fixed mass has changed remarkably little over the past ≈9 Gyr. We compare our results to the mean baryon fraction (and the stellar mass fraction) in the field, finding that these values lie above (below) those in cluster virial regions in all but the most massive clusters at low redshift. Using a simple model of the matter assembly of clusters from infalling groups with lower masses and from infalling material from the low-density environment or field surrounding the parent haloes, we show that the measured mass trends without strong redshift trends in the stellar mass scaling relation could be explained by a mass and redshift dependent fractional contribution from field material. Similar analyses of the ICM and baryon mass scaling relations provide evidence for the so-called ‘missing baryons’ outside cluster virial regions.
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