PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Blasi

Publications and source records attributed to P Blasi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

The Effect of a Nonthermal Tail on the Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect in Clusters of Galaxies.

We study the spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background radiation induced by the effect in clusters of galaxies when the target electrons have a modified Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution with a high-energy nonthermal tail. Bremsstrahlung radiation from this type of electron distribution may explain the suprathermal X-ray emission observed in some clusters such as the Coma Cluster and A2199 and serve as an alternative to the classical but problematic inverse Compton scattering interpretation. We show that the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect can be used as a powerful tool to probe the electron distribution in clusters of galaxies and discriminate among these different interpretations of the X-ray excess. The existence of a nonthermal tail can have important consequences for cluster-based estimators of cosmological parameters.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays from Young Neutron Star Winds.

The long-held notion that the highest energy cosmic rays are of distant extragalactic origin is challenged by observations that events above approximately 1020 eV do not exhibit the expected high-energy cutoff from photopion production off the cosmic microwave background. We suggest that these unexpected ultra-high-energy events are due to iron nuclei accelerated from young strongly magnetized neutron stars through relativistic MHD winds. We find that neutron stars whose initial spin periods are shorter than approximately 10 ms and whose surface magnetic fields are in the 1012-1014 G range can accelerate iron cosmic rays to greater than approximately 1020 eV. These ions can pass through the remnant of the supernova explosion that produced the neutron star without suffering significant spallation reactions or energy loss. For plausible models of the Galactic magnetic field, the trajectories of the iron ions curve sufficiently to be consistent with the observed, largely isotropic arrival directions of the highest energy events.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Stochastic Acceleration and Nonthermal Radiation in Clusters of Galaxies.

We calculate the distribution of electrons in clusters of galaxies, which results from thermalization processes in the presence of stochastic acceleration due to plasma waves. We show that the electron distribution can deviate from a Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution because of the effect of the stochastic energy gain, provided that waves can be sustained against damping. The bremsstrahlung emission of the nonthermal tail of electrons can result in a flux of hard X-rays that is compatible with the ones recently detected in some clusters of galaxies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1996

Construction of a YAC contig covering human chromosome 6p22.

A contig covering human chromosome 6p22 that consists of 134 YAC clones aligned based on the presence/absence of 52 DNA markers is presented. This contig overlaps with the 6p23 contig at its telomeric end and with the 6p21.3 contig at its centromeric end. The order of loci within the contig resolves the relative positions of several genetically mapped markers. Among the additional markers used here, there are eight novel PCR assays. The 12 known genes and anonymous ESTs located within the contig establish a first step toward a transcriptional map of this region. The instability of YAC clones observed during this work is also discussed.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1992

Disequilibrium of multiple DNA markers on the human Y chromosome.

We characterized four DNA polymorphisms on the Y chromosomes of 123 males from five Caucasian populations. Three markers on the male specific portion of the chromosome varied appreciably in frequency among the populations. When combined, these markers define a limited number of haplotypes compared with the maximum expected on the basis of random association. The associations found in the five groups are qualitatively similar and are thus considered to be relatively stable on an evolutionary time-scale and possibly to predate the divergence of Caucasian populations. However, the haplotype frequencies varied markedly among populations, even between weakly isolated areas such as northern vs. southern Sardinia. This may indicate rapid progression towards fixation of alternative types of Y chromosomes. We also report data suggesting that the same associations no longer hold when examining a marker as close as 275 bp from the boundary of the pseudoautosomal region on the Y chromosome.

Alleles↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An application of INAA and PIXE on the analysis of nutritional and toxicological elements in samples of drinkable water.

Multielemental detection using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Proton-Induced X-Ray Emission (PIXE) of drinkable water of Florence (Italy) is described. The concentrations of 52 elements were measured. No chemical treatment was performed on the samples, before or after irradiation. On the basis of an appropriate combination of the two analytical techniques, a procedure for aluminum determination was developed. Results are briefly discussed from a methodological point of view.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗