Synthesis of extracellular matrix components by human ciliary muscle cells in culture

The production and spatial organization of connective tissue components in ciliary muscle cell cultures was studied with immunohistochemical and ultrastructural methods. Antibodies against collagen types IV and VI, fibronectin and laminin were used. Laminin stains as pericellular network surrounding individual muscle cells. Type IV collagen shows positive cytoplasmic staining and only small foci of extracellular immunofluorescence. Staining for type VI collagen and fibronectin is seen near the ends of the bipolar cells, while the lateral sides of the cells remain unstained. Electronmicroscopy shows that cultured ciliary muscle cells are surrounded by an incomplete basal lamina. In addition, bundles of 5-20 nm thick extracellular microfibrils are seen. The bundles are oriented parallel to the axis of the cells and are in close contact with the cell membrane in areas where membrane-bound dense bands are formed. Immunoelectronmicroscopy indicates that the bundles contain fibronectin and type VI collagen fibrils. While the fibronectin fibrils approach the cell membrane directly, type VI collagen fibrils are usually separated from the cell membrane by fine fibrillous material of different nature. Quality and spatial organization of the extracellular material in ciliary muscle cell cultures shows marked similarities with the extracellular matrix of ciliary muscle in situ

Modeling the Kinematics of Distant Galaxies

Evolution of galaxies is one of the most actual topics in astrophysics. Among the most important factors determining the evolution are two galactic components which are difficult or even impossible to detect optically: the gaseous disks and the dark matter halo. We use deep Hubble Space Telescope images to construct a two-component (bulge + disk) model for stellar matter distribution of galaxies. Properties of the galactic components are derived using a three-dimensional galaxy modeling software, which also estimates disk thickness and inclination angle. We add a gas disk and a dark matter halo and use hydrodynamical equations to calculate gas rotation and dispersion profiles in the resultant gravitational potential. We compare the kinematic profiles with the Team Keck Redshift Survey observations. In this pilot study, two galaxies are analyzed deriving parameters for their stellar components; both galaxies are found to be disk-dominated. Using the kinematical model, the gas mass and stellar mass ratio in the disk are estimated.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Baltic Astronom

When renormalizability is not sufficient: Coulomb problem for vector bosons

The Coulomb problem for vector bosons W incorporates a known difficulty; the boson falls on the center. In QED the fermion vacuum polarization produces a barrier at small distances which solves the problem. In a renormalizable SU(2) theory containing vector triplet (W^+,W^-,gamma) and a heavy fermion doublet F with mass M the W^- falls on F^+, to distances r ~ 1/M, where M can be made arbitrary large. To prevent the collapse the theory needs additional light fermions, which switch the ultraviolet behavior of the theory from the asymptotic freedom to the Landau pole. Similar situation can take place in the Standard Model. Thus, the renormalizability of a theory is not sufficient to guarantee a reasonable behavior at small distances for non-perturbative problems, such as a bound state problem.Comment: Four page

Structure and mass distribution of spiral galaxies at intermediate redshifts

Using the HST archive WFPC2 observations and rotation curves measeured by Vogt et al. (1996), we constructed self-consistent light and mass distribution models for three disk galaxies at redshifts z = 0.15, 0.90 and 0.99. The models consist of three components: the bulge, the disk and the dark matter. Spatial density distribution parameters for the components were calculated. After applying k-corrections, mass-to-light ratios for galactic disks within the maximum disk assumption are M/L_B = 4.4, 1.2 and 1.2, respectively. Corresponding central densities of dark matter halos within a truncated isothermal model are 0.0092, 0.028 and 0.015 in units M_sol/pc^3. The light distribution of galaxies in outer parts is steeper than a simple exponential disk

Alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8

We study the alignment of galaxies relative to their local environment in SDSS-DR8 and, using these data, we discuss evolution scenarios for different types of galaxies. We defined a vector field of the direction of anisotropy of the local environment of galaxies. We summed the unit direction vectors of all close neighbours of a given galaxy in a particular way to estimate this field. We found the alignment angles between the spin axes of disc galaxies, or the minor axes of elliptical galaxies, and the direction of anisotropy. The distributions of cosines of these angles are compared to the random distributions to analyse the alignment of galaxies. Sab galaxies show perpendicular alignment relative to the direction of anisotropy in a sparse environment, for single galaxies and galaxies of low luminosity. Most of the parallel alignment of Scd galaxies comes from dense regions, from 2...3 member groups and from galaxies with low luminosity. The perpendicular alignment of S0 galaxies does not depend strongly on environmental density nor luminosity; it is detected for single and 2...3 member group galaxies, and for main galaxies of 4...10 member groups. The perpendicular alignment of elliptical galaxies is clearly detected for single galaxies and for members of < 11 member groups; the alignment increases with environmental density and luminosity. We confirm the existence of fossil tidally induced alignment of Sab galaxies at low z. The alignment of Scd galaxies can be explained via the infall of matter to filaments. S0 galaxies may have encountered relatively massive mergers along the direction of anisotropy. Major mergers along this direction can explain the alignment of elliptical galaxies. Less massive, but repeated mergers are possibly responsible for the formation of elliptical galaxies in sparser areas and for less luminous elliptical galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Noncommuting spherical coordinates

Restricting the states of a charged particle to the lowest Landau level introduces a noncommutativity between Cartesian coordinate operators. This idea is extended to the motion of a charged particle on a sphere in the presence of a magnetic monopole. Restricting the dynamics to the lowest energy level results in noncommutativity for angular variables and to a definition of a noncommuting spherical product. The values of the commutators of various angular variables are not arbitrary but are restricted by the discrete magnitude of the magnetic monopole charge. An algebra, isomorphic to angular momentum, appears. This algebra is used to define a spherical star product. Solutions are obtained for dynamics in the presence of additional angular dependent potentials.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex4 fil