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Jets of active galactic nuclei are potential accelerators of ultra high-energy cosmic rays. Supernovae can occur inside these jets and contribute to cosmic ray acceleration, particularly of heavy nuclei, but that contribution has been hardly investigated so far. We carried out a first dedicated exploration of the role of supernovae inside extragalactic jets in the production of ultra high-energy cosmic rays. We characterized the energy budget of supernova-jet interactions, and the maximum possible energies of the particles accelerated in those events, likely dominated by heavy nuclei. This allowed us to assess whether these interactions can be potential acceleration sites of ultra high-energy cosmic rays, or at least of their seeds. For that, we estimated the cosmic ray luminosity for different galaxy types, and compared the injection rate of cosmic ray seeds into the jet with that due to galactic cosmic ray entrainment. Since the supernova is fueled for a long time by the luminosity of the jet, the energy of a supernova-jet interaction can be several orders of magnitude greater than that of an isolated supernova. Thus, despite the low rate of supernovae expected to occur in the jet, they could still provide more seeds for accelerating ultra high-energy particles than cosmic ray entrainment from the host galaxy. Moreover, these interactions can create sufficiently efficient accelerators to be a source of cosmic rays with energies $\gtrsim 10$~EeV. Supernova-jet interactions can contribute significantly to the production of ultra high-energy cosmic rays, either directly by accelerating these particles themselves or indirectly by providing pre-accelerated seeds., Comment: 4 pages, Letter accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (in press)

We report on the presence of very rapid hard X-ray variability in the $\gamma$-ray binary LS I +61 303. The results were obtained by analysing NuSTAR data, which show two achromatic strong flares on ks time-scales before apastron. The Swift-BAT orbital X-ray light curve is also presented, and the NuSTAR data are put in the context of the system orbit. The spectrum and estimated physical conditions of the emitting region indicate that the radiation is synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons, likely produced in a shocked pulsar wind. The achromaticity suggests that losses are dominated by escape or adiabatic cooling in a relativistic flow, and the overall behaviour in hard X-rays can be explained by abrupt changes in the size of the emitting region and/or its motion relative to the line of sight, with Doppler boosting potentially being a prominent effect. The rapid changes of the emitter could be the result of different situations such as quick changes in the intra-binary shock, variations in the re-accelerated shocked pulsar wind outside the binary, or strong fluctuations in the location and size of the Coriolis shock region. Although future multi-wavelength observations are needed to further constrain the physical properties of the high-energy emitter, this work already provides important insight into the complex dynamics and radiation processes in LS I +61-303., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Gamma-ray binary systems, a subclass of high-mass X-ray binaries, show non-thermal emissions from radio to TeV. While efficient electron acceleration is considered to take place in them, the nature of the acceleration mechanism and the physical environments in these systems have been a long-standing question. In this work, we report on long-term recurrent patterns in the short-term variability of the soft X-ray emission of LS 5039, one of the brightest gamma-ray binary systems. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) observed LS 5039 four times from 2018 to 2021. By comparing them with the previous Suzaku and NuSTAR long-exposure observations, we studied the long-term evolution of the orbital light curve in the soft X-ray band. Although the observations by NICER and Suzaku are separated by $\sim$14 years, i.e., more than 10^3 orbits, the orbital light curves show remarkable consistency after calculating their running averages with a window width 70 ks. Furthermore, all of the light curves show short-term variability with a time scale of $\sim$10 ks. Since the column density did not vary when the flux changed abruptly, such a short-term variability seems to be an intrinsic feature of the X-ray emission. We propose that the short-term variability is caused by clumps (or inhomogeneities) of the companion star wind impacting the X-ray production site. The observed time scale matches well with the lifetime of the clumps interacting with the pulsar wind and the dynamical time scale of the relativistic intrabinary shock in the pulsar wind scenario., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Context: Massive colliding-wind binaries (CWBs) can be non-thermal sources. The emission produced in their wind-collision region (WCR) encodes information of both the shocks properties and the relativistic electrons accelerated in them. The recently discovered system Apep, a unique massive system hosting two Wolf-Rayet stars, is the most powerful synchrotron radio emitter among the known CWBs, being an exciting candidate to investigate the non-thermal processes associated with stellar wind shocks. Aims: We intend to break the degeneracy between the relativistic particle population and the magnetic field strength in the WCR of Apep by probing its hard X-ray spectrum, where inverse-Compton (IC) emission is expected to dominate. Methods: We observe Apep with NuSTAR for 60 ks and combine this with a re-analysis of a deep archival XMM-Newton observation to better constrain the X-ray spectrum. We use a non-thermal emission model to derive physical parameters from the results. Results: We detect hard X-ray emission consistent with a power-law component. This is compatible with IC emission produced in the WCR for a magnetic field of 100-160 mG and a fraction of ~1.5e-4 of the total wind kinetic power being converted into relativistic electron acceleration. Conclusions: This is the first time that the non-thermal emission from a CWB is detected both in radio and high energies. This allows us to derive the most robust constraints of the particle acceleration efficiency and magnetic field intensity in a CWB so far, reducing the typical uncertainty of a few orders of magnitude to just within a factor of two. This constitutes an important step forward in our characterisation of the physical properties of CWBs., Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Gamma-ray binary systems, a subclass of high-mass X-ray binaries, show nonthermal emissions from radio to TeV. While efficient electron acceleration is considered to take place in them, the nature of the acceleration mechanism and the physical environments in these systems have been a long-standing question. In this work, we report on long-term recurrent patterns in the short-term variability of the soft X-ray emission of LS 5039, one of the brightest gamma-ray binary systems. The Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) observed LS 5039 four times from 2018 to 2021. By comparing them with the previous Suzaku and NuSTAR long-exposure observations, we studied the long-term evolution of the orbital light curve in the soft X-ray band. Although the observations by NICER and Suzaku are separated by ∼14 yr, i.e., more than 103 orbits, the orbital light curves show remarkable consistency after calculating their running averages with a window width ≳70 ks. Furthermore, all of the light curves show short-term variability with a timescale of ∼10 ks. Since the column density did not vary when the flux changed abruptly, such a short-term variability seems to be an intrinsic feature of the X-ray emission. We propose that the short-term variability is caused by clumps (or inhomogeneities) of the companion star wind impacting the X-ray production site. The observed timescale matches well with the lifetime of the clumps interacting with the pulsar wind and the dynamical timescale of the relativistic intrabinary shock in the pulsar wind scenario.

[Context] Massive colliding-wind binaries (CWBs) can be non-thermal sources. The emission produced in their wind-collision region (WCR) encodes information of both the shock properties and the relativistic electrons accelerated in them. The recently discovered system Apep, a unique massive system hosting two Wolf-Rayet stars, is the most powerful synchrotron radio emitter among the known CWBs. It is an exciting candidate in which to investigate the non-thermal processes associated with stellar wind shocks., [Aims] We intend to break the degeneracy between the relativistic particle population and the magnetic field strength in the WCR of Apep by probing its hard X-ray spectrum, where inverse-Compton (IC) emission is expected to dominate., [Methods] We observed Apep with NuSTAR for 60 ks and combined this with a reanalysis of a deep archival XMM-Newton observation to better constrain the X-ray spectrum. We used a non-thermal emission model to derive physical parameters from the results., [Results] We detect hard X-ray emission consistent with a power-law component from Apep. This is compatible with IC emission produced in the WCR for a magnetic field of ≈105–190 mG, corresponding to a magnetic-to-thermal pressure ratio in the shocks of ≈0.007–0.021, and a fraction of ∼1.5 × 10−4 of the total wind kinetic power being transferred to relativistic electrons., [Conclusions] The non-thermal emission from a CWB is detected for the first time in radio and at high energies. This allows us to derive the most robust constraints so far for the particle acceleration efficiency and magnetic field intensity in a CWB, reducing the typical uncertainty of a few orders of magnitude to just within a factor of a few. This constitutes an important step forward in our characterisation of the physical properties of CWBs.

[Context] Jets of active galactic nuclei are potential accelerators of ultra high-energy cosmic rays. Supernovae can occur inside these jets and contribute to cosmic ray acceleration, particularly of heavy nuclei, but that contribution has been hardly investigated so far., [Aims] We carried out a first dedicated exploration of the role of supernovae inside extragalactic jets in the production of ultra high-energy cosmic rays., [Methods] We characterized the energy budget of supernova-jet interactions, and the maximum possible energies of the particles accelerated in those events, likely dominated by heavy nuclei. This allowed us to assess whether these interactions can be potential acceleration sites of ultra high-energy cosmic rays, or at least of their seeds. For that, we estimated the cosmic ray luminosity for different galaxy types, and compared the injection rate of cosmic ray seeds into the jet with that due to galactic cosmic ray entrainment., [Results] Since the supernova is fueled for a long time by the luminosity of the jet, the energy of a supernova-jet interaction can be several orders of magnitude greater than that of an isolated supernova. Thus, despite the low rate of supernovae expected to occur in the jet, they could still provide more seeds for accelerating ultra high-energy particles than cosmic ray entrainment from the host galaxy. Moreover, these interactions can create sufficiently efficient accelerators to be a source of cosmic rays with energies ≳10 EeV., [Conclusions] Supernova-jet interactions can contribute significantly to the production of ultra high-energy cosmic rays, either directly by accelerating these particles themselves or indirectly by providing pre-accelerated seeds.

We aim to interpret the radio emission of stellar bow shocks and assess under which conditions it could be either thermal or non-thermal, and how to use the observational data to infer their physical properties. We used an extended non-thermal emission model for stellar bow shocks for which we incorporated a consistent calculation of the thermal emission from the forward shock. We fitted this model to the available radio data, including largely unexplored data at low frequencies. In addition, we used a simplified one-zone model to estimate the gamma-ray emission from particles escaping the bow shocks. We can only explain the radio data from (BD+43{\deg}3654 and BD+60{\deg}2522) assuming a hard electron energy distribution below $\sim$1 GeV, a high efficiency of conversion of (shocked) wind kinetic power into relativistic electrons, and a relatively high magnetic-to-thermal pressure ratio. In the other systems, the interpretation of the observed flux density is ambiguous, although a non-thermal scenario is also favoured. We also show how complementary observations at other frequencies can allow us to place stronger constraints in the model. We also estimated the gamma-ray fluxes from the HII regions around the bow shocks of BD+43{\deg}3654 and BD+60{\deg}2522, and obtained luminosities at GeV energies of $\sim 10^{33}$~erg\,s$^{-1}$ and $10^{32}$~erg\,s$^{-1}$, respectively. Stellar bow shocks can potentially be very efficient particle accelerators. This work provides multi-wavelength predictions of their emission and demonstrates the key role of low-frequency radio observations in unveiling particle acceleration processes. The prospects of detections with next-generation observatories such as SKA and ngVLA are promising. Finally, BD+43{\deg}3654 may be detected in GeV in the near future, while bow shocks in general may turn out to be non-negligible sources of low-energy cosmic rays., Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in Section 2 of Astronomy and Astrophysics: Astrophysical processes

Binary systems that host a massive star and a non-accreting pulsar can be powerful non-thermal emitters. The relativistic pulsar wind and the non-relativistic stellar outflows interact along the orbit, producing ultrarelativistic particles that radiate from radio to gamma rays. To properly characterize the physics of these sources, and better understand their emission and impact on the environment, careful modelling of the outflow interactions, spanning a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, is needed. Full 3-dimensional approaches are very computationally expensive, but simpler approximate approaches, while still realistic at the semi-quantitative level, are available. We present here the results of calculations done with a quasi 3-dimensional scheme to compute the evolution of the interacting flows in a region spanning in size up to a thousand times the size of the binary. In particular, we analyze for the first time the role of different eccentricities in the large scale evolution of the shocked flows. We find that the higher the eccentricity, the closer the flows behave like a one-side outflow, which becomes rather collimated for eccentricity values $\gtrsim 0.75$. The simulations also unveil that the pulsar and the stellar winds become fully mixed within the grid for low eccentricity systems, presenting a more stochastic behavior at large scales than in the highly eccentric systems., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures

Context. There is a population of runaway stars that move at extremely high speeds with respect to their surroundings. The fast motion and the stellar wind of these stars, plus the wind-medium interaction, can lead to particle acceleration and non-thermal radiation. Aims. We characterise the interaction between the winds of fast runaway stars and their environment, in particular to establish their potential as cosmic-ray accelerators and non-thermal emitters. Methods. We model the hydrodynamics of the interaction between the stellar wind and the surrounding material. We self-consistently calculate the injection and transport of relativistic particles in the bow shock using a multi-zone code, and compute their broadband emission from radio to $\gamma$-rays. Results. Both the forward and reverse shocks are favourable sites for particle acceleration, although the radiative efficiency of particles is low and therefore the expected fluxes are in general rather faint. Conclusions. We show that high-sensitivity observations in the radio band can be used to detect the non-thermal radiation associated with bow shocks from hypervelocity and semi-relativistic stars. Hypervelocity stars are expected to be modest sources of sub-TeV cosmic rays, accounting perhaps for a $\sim 0.1$% of that of galactic cosmic rays., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication section 2. Astrophysical processes of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Gamma Cygni is a young supernova remnant located in the Cygnus region. MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes detected TeV emission (MAGIC J2019+408) to the north-west of this remnant, about 5 arcmin from its border. We want to identify the radio sources within the region encompassing gamma Cygni and MAGIC J2019+408 to shed light on their nature and investigate if these radio sources could be potential contributors to gamma-ray emission. We carried out a detailed study of the data we obtained with a survey of the Cygnus region at 325 and 610 MHz with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). We detected several radio sources in the region where the radio and the TeV emission overlap, as well as several areas of enhanced radio emission. In particular, two of these areas of diffuse enhanced emission may correspond to the supernova remnant interacting with a high density region, which seems to be the best candidate for the MAGIC source. Another two radio sources, which may or may not contribute to the gamma rays, are also spatially coincident with the emission peak of the MAGIC TeV source. One of them displays a rather peculiar extended morphology whose nature is completely unknown. We have identified the radio sources overlapping gamma Cygni and MAGIC J2019+408 and have shown that their potential gamma-ray contribution is likely not dominant. In addition, some of the studied sources show peculiar physical characteristics that deserve deeper multi-wavelength observations., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The interaction of jets in High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) with the strong winds driven by the hot companion star in the vicinity of the compact object is fundamental to understand the jet dynamics, non-thermal emission and long-term stability. However, the role of the jet magnetic field in this process is unclear. We study the dynamical role of weak and moderate-to-strong toroidal magnetic fields during the first hundreds of seconds of jet propagation, focusing on the magnetized flow dynamics and the mechanisms of energy conversion. We have developed the code L\'ostrego v1.0, a new 3D RMHD code to simulate astrophysical plasmas in Cartesian coordinates. Using this tool, we performed the first 3D RMHD numerical simulations of relativistic magnetized jets propagating through the clumpy stellar wind in a HMXB. The overall morphology and dynamics of weakly magnetized jet models is similar to previous hydrodynamical simulations, where the jet head generates a strong shock in the ambient medium and the initial over-pressure with respect to the stellar wind drives one or more recollimation shocks. In the time scales of our simulations, these jets are ballistic and seem to be more stable against internal instabilities than jets with the same power in the absence of fields. However, moderate-to-strong toroidal magnetic fields favour the development of current-driven instabilities and the disruption of the jet within the binary. A detailed analysis of the energy distribution in the relativistic outflow and the ambient medium reveals that both magnetic and internal energies can contribute to the effective acceleration of the jet. We certify that the jet feedback into the ambient medium is highly dependent on the jet energy distribution at injection, where hotter, more dilute and/or more magnetized jets are more efficient, as anticipated by feedback studies in the case of jets in active galaxies., Comment: 28 pages, 23 figures. Abstract shortened for arXiv. Accepted for publication in A&A

Isolated stellar-mass BH accrete gas, often at supersonic speeds, and can form outflows that can influence the accreted gas. The latter process, known as mechanical feedback, can significantly affect the accretion rate. We use hydrodynamical simulations to assess the impact of mechanical feedback on the accretion rate when the BH moves supersonically through a uniform medium. We carry out 3D hydrodynamical simulations of outflows fueled by accretion that interact with a uniform medium, probing scales similar to and larger than the accretor gravitational sphere of influence. In the simulations the accretor is at rest and the medium moves at supersonic speeds. The outflow power is assumed to be proportional to the accretion rate. The simulations are run for different outflow-medium motion angles and velocity ratios. The impact of different degrees of outflow collimation, accretor size, and resolution is also investigated. In general, the accretion rate is significantly affected by mechanical feedback. The effect is small for outflows perpendicular to the medium motion, and quickly grows for smaller angles. Moreover, the smaller the medium-to-outflow velocity ratio is, the more accretion decreases. On the other hand, the impact of outflow collimation seems moderate. The effect is enhanced when the accretor size is reduced. For a population of BH with random outflow orientations, the average accretion rate drops by (high-low resolution) ~0.2-0.4 and ~0.1-0.2 for medium-to-outflow velocity ratios of 1/20 and 1/100, respectively, when compared to the corresponding cases without outflow. Our results strongly indicate that, on the considered scales, mechanical feedback can easily reduce the energy available from supersonic accretion by a factor of several. This should be taken into account when studying the mechanical, thermal and non-thermal output of isolated BH., Comment: 11 pages, 19 figures, astronomy and astrophysics, version after proofs

MAXI J1820+070 is a low-mass X-ray binary with a black hole (BH) as a compact object. This binary underwent an exceptionally bright X-ray outburst from 2018 March to October, showing evidence of a non-thermal particle population through its radio emission during this whole period. The combined results of 59.5 h of observations of the MAXI J1820+070 outburst with the H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS experiments at energies above 200 GeV are presented, together with Fermi-LAT data between 0.1 and 500 GeV, and multiwavelength observations from radio to X-rays. Gamma-ray emission is not detected from MAXI J1820+070, but the obtained upper limits and the multiwavelength data allow us to put meaningful constraints on the source properties under reasonable assumptions regarding the non-thermal particle population and the jet synchrotron spectrum. In particular, it is possible to show that, if a high-energy (HE) gamma-ray emitting region is present during the hard state of the source, its predicted flux should be at most a factor of 20 below the obtained Fermi-LAT upper limits, and closer to them for magnetic fields significantly below equipartition. During the state transitions, under the plausible assumption that electrons are accelerated up to ~500 GeV, the multiwavelength data and the gamma-ray upper limits lead consistently to the conclusion that a potential HE and very-HE gamma-ray emitting region should be located at a distance from the BH ranging between 1011 and 1013 cm. Similar outbursts from low-mass X-ray binaries might be detectable in the near future with upcoming instruments such as CTA., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Should Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) exist in nature, they would inevitably accrete baryonic matter in their vicinity. In turn, the consequent emission of high-energy radiation could affect the thermal history of the universe to an extent that can be probed with a number of cosmological observables such as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. However, our understanding of the accretion and radiation emission processes in the context of PBHs is still in its infancy, and very large theoretical uncertainties affect the resulting constraints on the PBH abundance. Building on state-of-the-art literature, in this work we take a step towards the development of a more realistic picture of PBH accretion by accounting for the contribution of outflows. Specifically, we derive CMB-driven constraints on the PBH abundance for various accretion geometries, ionization models and mass distributions in absence and in presence of mechanical feedback and non-thermal emissions due to the outflows. As a result, we show that the presence of such outflows introduces an additional layer of uncertainty that needs to be taken into account when quoting cosmological constraints on the PBH abundance, with important consequences in particular in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observational window.

High-mass microquasar jets, produced in an accreting compact object in orbit around a massive star, must cross a region filled with stellar wind. The combined effects of the wind and orbital motion can strongly affect the jet properties on binary scales and beyond. The study of such effects can shed light on how high-mass microquasar jets propagate and terminate in the interstellar medium. We study for the first time, using relativistic hydrodynamical simulations, the combined impact of the stellar wind and orbital motion on the properties of high-mass microquasar jets on binary scales and beyond. We have performed 3-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, using the PLUTO code, of a microquasar scenario in which a strong weakly relativistic wind from a star interacts with a relativistic jet under the effect of the binary orbital motion. The parameters of the orbit are chosen such that the results can provide insight on the jet-wind interaction in compact systems like for instance Cyg X-1 or Cyg X-3. The wind and jet momentum rates are set to values that may be realistic for these sources and lead to moderate jet bending, which together with the close orbit and jet instabilities could trigger significant jet precession and disruption. For high-mass microquasars with orbit size a ∼ 0.1 AU, and (relativistic) jet power Lj∼1037(M˙w/10−6M⊙yr−1) erg s−1, where M˙w is the stellar wind mass rate, the combined effects of the stellar wind and orbital motion can induce relativistic jet disruption on scales ∼1 AU.

[Context] Isolated stellar-mass black holes accrete gas from their surroundings, often at supersonic speeds, and can form outflows that may influence the accreted gas. The latter process, known as mechanical feedback, can significantly affect the accretion rate., [Aims] We use hydrodynamical simulations to assess the impact of mechanical feedback on the accretion rate when the black hole moves supersonically through a uniform medium., [Methods] We carried out three-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamical simulations of outflows fueled by accretion that interact with a uniform medium, probing scales equivalent to and larger than the accretor gravitational sphere of influence. In the simulations, the accretor is at rest and the medium moves at supersonic speeds. The outflow power is assumed to be proportional to the accretion rate. The simulations were run for different outflow-medium motion angles and velocity ratios. We also investigated the impact of different degrees of outflow collimation, accretor size, and resolution., [Results] In general, the accretion rate is significantly affected by mechanical feedback. There is a minor reduction in accretion for outflows perpendicular to the medium motion, but the reduction quickly becomes more significant for smaller angles. Moreover, the decrease in accretion becomes greater for smaller medium-to-outflow velocity ratios. On the other hand, the impact of outflow collimation seems moderate. Mechanical feedback is enhanced when the accretor size is reduced. For a population of black holes with random outflow orientations, the average accretion rate drops by (low–high resolution) ∼0.2 − 0.4 and ∼0.1 − 0.2 for medium-to-outflow velocity ratios of 1/20 and 1/100, respectively, when compared to the corresponding cases without outflow., [Conclusions] Our results strongly indicate that on the considered scales, mechanical feedback can easily reduce the energy available from supersonic accretion by at least a factor of a few. This aspect should be taken into account when studying the mechanical, thermal, and non-thermal output of isolated black holes.

MAXIJ1820+070 is a low-mass X-ray binary with a black hole (BH) as a compact object. This binary underwent an exceptionally bright X-ray outburst from 2018 March to October, showing evidence of a non-thermal particle population through its radio emission during this whole period. The combined results of 59.5 h of observations of the MAXI J1820+070 outburst with the H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS experiments at energies above 200 GeV are presented, together with Fermi-LAT data between 0.1 and 500 GeV, and multiwavelength observations from radio to X-rays. Gamma-ray emission is not detected from MAXI J1820+070, but the obtained upper limits and the multiwavelength data allow us to put meaningful constraints on the source properties under reasonable assumptions regarding the non-thermal particle population and the jet synchrotron spectrum. In particular, it is possible to show that, if a high-energy (HE) gamma-ray emitting region is present during the hard state of the source, its predicted flux should be at most a factor of 20 below the obtained Fermi-LAT upper limits, and closer to them for magnetic fields significantly below equipartition. During the state transitions, under the plausible assumption that electrons are accelerated up to similar to 500 GeV, the multiwavelength data and the gamma-ray upper limits lead consistently to the conclusion that a potential HE and very-HE gamma-ray emitting region should be located at a distance from the BH ranging between 10(11) and 10(13) cm. Similar outbursts from low-mass X-ray binaries might be detectable in the near future with upcoming instruments such as CTA.

[Context] Relativistic jets are ubiquitous in the Universe. In microquasars, especially in high-mass X-ray binaries, the interaction of jets with the strong winds driven by the massive and hot companion star in the vicinity of the compact object is fundamental for understanding the jet dynamics, nonthermal emission, and long-term stability. However, the role of the jet magnetic field in this process is unclear. In particular, it is still debated whether the magnetic field favors jet collimation or triggers more instabilities that can jeopardize the jet evolution outside the binary. [Aims] We study the dynamical role of weak and moderate to strong toroidal magnetic fields during the first several hundred seconds of jet propagation through the stellar wind, focusing on the magnetized flow dynamics and the mechanisms of energy conversion. [Methods] We developed the code Lóstrego v1.0, a new 3D relativistic magnetohydrodynamics code to simulate astrophysical plasmas in Cartesian coordinates. Using this tool, we performed the first 3D relativistic magnetohydrodynamics numerical simulations of relativistic magnetized jets propagating through the clumpy stellar wind in a high-mass X-ray binary. To highlight the effect of the magnetic field in the jet dynamics, we compared the results of our analysis with those of previous hydrodynamical simulations. [Result] The overall morphology and dynamics of weakly magnetized jet models is similar to previous hydrodynamical simulations, where the jet head generates a strong shock in the ambient medium and the initial overpressure with respect to the stellar wind drives one or more recollimation shocks. On the timescales of our simulations (i.e., ta

Therecently discovered massive binary system Apep is the most powerful synchrotron emitter among the known Galactic colliding-wind binaries. This makes this particular system of great interest to investigate stellar winds and the non-thermal processes associated with their shocks. This source was detected at various radio bands, and in addition the wind-collision region was resolved by means of very-long baseline interferometric observations. We use a non-thermal emission model for colliding-wind binaries to derive physical properties of this system. The observed morphology in the resolved maps allows us to estimate the system projection angle on the sky to be. The observed radio flux densities also allow us to characterise both the intrinsic synchrotron spectrum of the source and its modifications due to free-free absorption in the stellar winds at low frequencies; from this, we derive mass-loss rates of the stars of and. Finally, the broadband spectral energy distribution is calculated for different combinations of the remaining free parameters, namely the intensity of the magnetic field and the injected power in non-thermal particles. We show that the degeneracy of these two parameters can be solved with observations in the high-energy domain, most likely in the hard X-rays but also possibly in -rays under favourable conditions.

High-mass gamma-ray binaries are powerful nonthermal galactic sources, some of them hosting a pulsar whose relativistic wind interacts with a likely inhomogeneous stellar wind. So far, modeling these sources including stellar wind inhomogeneities has been done using either simple analytical approaches or heavy numerical simulations, none of which allow for an exploration of the parameter space that is both reasonably realistic and general. Applying different semi-analytical tools together, we study the dynamics and high-energy radiation of a pulsar wind colliding with a stellar wind with different degrees of inhomogeneity to assess the related observable effects. We computed the arrival of clumps to the pulsar wind-stellar wind interaction structure using a Monte Carlo method and a phenomenological clumpy-wind model. The dynamics of the clumps that reach deep into the pulsar wind zone was computed using a semi-analytical approach. This approach allows for the characterization of the evolution of the shocked pulsar wind region in times much shorter than the orbital period. With this three-dimensional information about the emitter, we applied analytical adiabatic and radiative models to compute the variable high-energy emission produced on binary scales. An inhomogeneous stellar wind induces stochastic hour-timescale variations in the geometry of the two-wind interaction structure on binary scales. Depending on the degree of stellar wind inhomogeneity, 10-100% level hour-scale variability in the X-rays and gamma rays is predicted, with the largest variations occurring roughly once per orbit. Our results, based on a comprehensive approach, show that present X-ray and future very-high-energy instrumentation can allow us to trace the impact of a clumpy stellar wind on the shocked pulsar wind emission in a gamma-ray binary., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures Accepted in A&A on October 23, 2022

Should Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) exist in nature, they would inevitably accrete baryonic matter in their vicinity. In turn, the consequent emission of high-energy radiation could affect the thermal history of the universe to an extent that can be probed with a number of cosmological observables such as the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. However, our understanding of the accretion and radiation emission processes in the context of PBHs is still in its infancy, and very large theoretical uncertainties affect the resulting constraints on the PBH abundance. Building on state-of-the-art literature, in this work we take a step towards the development of a more realistic picture of PBH accretion by accounting for the contribution of outflows. Specifically, we derive CMB-driven constraints on the PBH abundance for various accretion geometries, ionization models and mass distributions in absence and in presence of mechanical feedback and non-thermal emissions due to the outflows. As a result, we show that the presence of such outflows introduces an additional layer of uncertainty that needs to be taken into account when quoting cosmological constraints on the PBH abundance, with important consequences in particular in the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observational window., Comment: 34 pages, 8 figures

MAXI J1820+070 is a low-mass X-ray binary with a black hole as a compact object. This binary underwent an exceptionally bright X-ray outburst from March to October 2018, showing evidence of a non-thermal particle population through its radio emission during this whole period. The combined results of 59.5 hours of observations of the MAXI J1820+070 outburst with the H.E.S.S., MAGIC and VERITAS experiments at energies above 200 GeV are presented, together with Fermi-LAT data between 0.1 and 500 GeV, and multiwavelength observations from radio to X-rays. Gamma-ray emission is not detected from MAXI J1820+070, but the obtained upper limits and the multiwavelength data allow us to put meaningful constraints on the source properties under reasonable assumptions regarding the non-thermal particle population and the jet synchrotron spectrum. In particular, it is possible to show that, if a high-energy gamma-ray emitting region is present during the hard state of the source, its predicted flux should be at most a factor of 20 below the obtained Fermi-LAT upper limits, and closer to them for magnetic fields significantly below equipartition. During the state transitions, under the plausible assumption that electrons are accelerated up to ~ 500 GeV, the multiwavelength data and the gamma-ray upper limits lead consistently to the conclusion that a potential high-energy and very-high-energy gamma-ray emitting region should be located at a distance from the black hole ranging between 10^11 and 10^13 cm. Similar outbursts from low-mass X-ray binaries might be detectable in the near future with upcoming instruments such as CTA., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Binary systems that host a massive star and a non-accreting pulsar can be powerful non-thermal emitters. The relativistic pulsar wind and the non-relativistic stellar outflows interact along the orbit, producing ultrarelativistic particles that radiate from radio to gamma rays. To properly characterize the physics of these sources, and better understand their emission and impact on the environment, careful modelling of the outflow interactions, spanning a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, is needed. Full 3-dimensional approaches are very computationally expensive, but simpler approximate approaches, while still realistic at the semi-quantitative level, are available. We present here the results of calculations done with a quasi 3-dimensional scheme to compute the evolution of the interacting flows in a region spanning in size up to a thousand times the size of the binary. In particular, we analyze for the first time the role of different eccentricities in the large scale evolution of the shocked flows. We find that the higher the eccentricity, the closer the flows behave like a one-side outflow, which becomes rather collimated for eccentricity values $\gtrsim 0.75$. The simulations also unveil that the pulsar and the stellar winds become fully mixed within the grid for low eccentricity systems, presenting a more stochastic behavior at large scales than in the highly eccentric systems., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures

Context. There is a population of runaway stars that move at extremely high speeds with respect to their surroundings. The fast motion and the stellar wind of these stars, plus the wind-medium interaction, can lead to particle acceleration and non-thermal radiation. Aims. We characterise the interaction between the winds of fast runaway stars and their environment, in particular to establish their potential as cosmic-ray accelerators and non-thermal emitters. Methods. We model the hydrodynamics of the interaction between the stellar wind and the surrounding material. We self-consistently calculate the injection and transport of relativistic particles in the bow shock using a multi-zone code, and compute their broadband emission from radio to $\gamma$-rays. Results. Both the forward and reverse shocks are favourable sites for particle acceleration, although the radiative efficiency of particles is low and therefore the expected fluxes are in general rather faint. Conclusions. We show that high-sensitivity observations in the radio band can be used to detect the non-thermal radiation associated with bow shocks from hypervelocity and semi-relativistic stars. Hypervelocity stars are expected to be modest sources of sub-TeV cosmic rays, accounting perhaps for a $\sim 0.1$% of that of galactic cosmic rays., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication section 2. Astrophysical processes of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Gamma Cygni is a young supernova remnant located in the Cygnus region. MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov) telescopes detected TeV emission (MAGIC J2019+408) to the north-west of this remnant, about 5 arcmin from its border. We want to identify the radio sources within the region encompassing gamma Cygni and MAGIC J2019+408 to shed light on their nature and investigate if these radio sources could be potential contributors to gamma-ray emission. We carried out a detailed study of the data we obtained with a survey of the Cygnus region at 325 and 610 MHz with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). We detected several radio sources in the region where the radio and the TeV emission overlap, as well as several areas of enhanced radio emission. In particular, two of these areas of diffuse enhanced emission may correspond to the supernova remnant interacting with a high density region, which seems to be the best candidate for the MAGIC source. Another two radio sources, which may or may not contribute to the gamma rays, are also spatially coincident with the emission peak of the MAGIC TeV source. One of them displays a rather peculiar extended morphology whose nature is completely unknown. We have identified the radio sources overlapping gamma Cygni and MAGIC J2019+408 and have shown that their potential gamma-ray contribution is likely not dominant. In addition, some of the studied sources show peculiar physical characteristics that deserve deeper multi-wavelength observations., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

The interaction of jets in High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs) with the strong winds driven by the hot companion star in the vicinity of the compact object is fundamental to understand the jet dynamics, non-thermal emission and long-term stability. However, the role of the jet magnetic field in this process is unclear. We study the dynamical role of weak and moderate-to-strong toroidal magnetic fields during the first hundreds of seconds of jet propagation, focusing on the magnetized flow dynamics and the mechanisms of energy conversion. We have developed the code L\'ostrego v1.0, a new 3D RMHD code to simulate astrophysical plasmas in Cartesian coordinates. Using this tool, we performed the first 3D RMHD numerical simulations of relativistic magnetized jets propagating through the clumpy stellar wind in a HMXB. The overall morphology and dynamics of weakly magnetized jet models is similar to previous hydrodynamical simulations, where the jet head generates a strong shock in the ambient medium and the initial over-pressure with respect to the stellar wind drives one or more recollimation shocks. In the time scales of our simulations, these jets are ballistic and seem to be more stable against internal instabilities than jets with the same power in the absence of fields. However, moderate-to-strong toroidal magnetic fields favour the development of current-driven instabilities and the disruption of the jet within the binary. A detailed analysis of the energy distribution in the relativistic outflow and the ambient medium reveals that both magnetic and internal energies can contribute to the effective acceleration of the jet. We certify that the jet feedback into the ambient medium is highly dependent on the jet energy distribution at injection, where hotter, more dilute and/or more magnetized jets are more efficient, as anticipated by feedback studies in the case of jets in active galaxies., Comment: 28 pages, 23 figures. Abstract shortened for arXiv. Accepted for publication in A&A

Isolated stellar-mass BH accrete gas, often at supersonic speeds, and can form outflows that can influence the accreted gas. The latter process, known as mechanical feedback, can significantly affect the accretion rate. We use hydrodynamical simulations to assess the impact of mechanical feedback on the accretion rate when the BH moves supersonically through a uniform medium. We carry out 3D hydrodynamical simulations of outflows fueled by accretion that interact with a uniform medium, probing scales similar to and larger than the accretor gravitational sphere of influence. In the simulations the accretor is at rest and the medium moves at supersonic speeds. The outflow power is assumed to be proportional to the accretion rate. The simulations are run for different outflow-medium motion angles and velocity ratios. The impact of different degrees of outflow collimation, accretor size, and resolution is also investigated. In general, the accretion rate is significantly affected by mechanical feedback. The effect is small for outflows perpendicular to the medium motion, and quickly grows for smaller angles. Moreover, the smaller the medium-to-outflow velocity ratio is, the more accretion decreases. On the other hand, the impact of outflow collimation seems moderate. The effect is enhanced when the accretor size is reduced. For a population of BH with random outflow orientations, the average accretion rate drops by (high-low resolution) ~0.2-0.4 and ~0.1-0.2 for medium-to-outflow velocity ratios of 1/20 and 1/100, respectively, when compared to the corresponding cases without outflow. Our results strongly indicate that, on the considered scales, mechanical feedback can easily reduce the energy available from supersonic accretion by a factor of several. This should be taken into account when studying the mechanical, thermal and non-thermal output of isolated BH., Comment: 11 pages, 19 figures, astronomy and astrophysics, version after proofs

The foremost cause of death of breast cancer (BC) patients is metastasis, and the first site to which BC predominantly metastasizes is the axillary lymph node (ALN). Thus, ALN status is a key prognostic indicator at diagnosis. The immune system has an essential role in cancer progression and dissemination, so its evaluation in ALNs could have significant applications. In the present study we aimed to investigate the association of clinical-pathological and immune variables in the primary tumour and non-metastatic ALNs (ALNs-) of a cohort of luminal A and triple-negative BC (TNBC) patients with cancer-specific survival (CSS) and time to progression (TTP).We analysed the differences in the variables between patients with different outcomes, created univariate and multivariate Cox regression models, validated them by bootstrapping and multiple imputation of missing data techniques, and used Kaplan-Meier survival curves for a 10-years follow-up.We found some clinical-pathological variables at diagnosis (tumour diameter, TNBC molecular profile and presence of ALN metastasis), and the levels of several immune markers in the two studied sites, to be associated with worse CSS and TTP. Nevertheless, only CD68 and CD83 in ALNs- were confirmed as independent prognostic factors for TTP.The study identified the importance of macrophage and dendritic cell markers as prognostic factors of relapse for BC. We highlight the importance of studying the immune response in ALNs-, which could be relevant to the prediction of BC patients' outcome.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to The Japanese Breast Cancer Society.

Anti-TNF biologics have been shown to markedly improve the quality of life for patients with Crohn's disease (CD), yet one-third of patients fail to benefit from this treatment. Patients with CD develop a characteristic wrapping of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in the inflamed intestinal area, termed creeping fat, and it is known that adipose tissue expansion influences the efficacy of anti-TNF drugs. We questioned whether anti-TNF therapies impact the creeping fat in CD, which might affect the outcome of the disease. Adipose tissue biopsies were obtained from a cohort of 14 patients with CD that received anti-TNF drugs and from 29 non-anti-TNF-treated patients (control group) matched by sex, age, and body mass index undergoing surgical interventions for symptomatic complications. We found that anti-TNF therapies restored adipose tissue morphology and suppressed immune cell infiltration in the creeping fat. Additionally, anti-TNF treatments appeared to markedly improve the pro-inflammatory phenotype of adipose-tissue macrophages and adipose-tissue-derived stem cells. Our study provides evidence that anti-TNF medications influence immune cells and progenitor cells in the creeping of patients with CD, suppressing inflammation. We propose that perilesional VAT should be considered when administering anti-TNF therapy in patients with CD.

Complete digital pathology transformation for primary histopathological diagnosis is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. Its advantages are clear with more efficient workflows, but there are many technical and functional difficulties to be faced. The Catalan Health Institute (ICS) has started its DigiPatICS project, aiming to deploy digital pathology in an integrative, holistic, and comprehensive way within a network of 8 hospitals, over 168 pathologists, and over 1 million slides each year. We describe the bidding process and the careful planning that was required, followed by swift implementation in stages. The purpose of the DigiPatICS project is to increase patient safety and quality of care, improving diagnosis and the efficiency of processes in the pathological anatomy departments of the ICS through process improvement, digital pathology, and artificial intelligence tools.

The recently discovered massive binary system Apep is the most powerful synchrotron emitter among the known Galactic colliding-wind binaries. This makes this particular system of great interest to investigate stellar winds and the non-thermal processes associated with their shocks. This source was detected at various radio bands, and in addition the wind-collision region was resolved by means of very-long baseline interferometric observations. We use a non-thermal emission model for colliding-wind binaries to derive physical properties of this system. The observed morphology in the resolved maps allows us to estimate the system projection angle on the sky to be $\psi \approx 85^\circ$. The observed radio flux densities also allow us to characterise both the intrinsic synchrotron spectrum of the source and its modifications due to free--free absorption in the stellar winds at low frequencies; from this we derive mass-loss rates of the stars of $\dot{M}_\mathrm{WN} \approx 4\times10^{-5}$ $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and $\dot{M}_\mathrm{WC} \approx 2.9\times10^{-5}$ $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Finally, the broadband spectral energy distribution is calculated for different combinations of the remaining free parameters, namely the intensity of the magnetic field and the injected power in non-thermal particles. We show that the degeneracy of these two parameters can be solved with observations in the high-energy domain, most likely in the hard X-rays but also possibly in $\gamma$-rays under favourable conditions., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. This version has been accepted for publication in PASA after improvements and updates in the discussion of the results

High-mass microquasar jets, produced in an accreting compact object in orbit around a massive star, must cross a region filled with stellar wind. The combined effects of the wind and orbital motion can strongly affect the jet properties on binary scales and beyond. The study of such effects can shed light on how high-mass microquasar jets propagate and terminate in the interstellar medium. We study for the first time, using relativistic hydrodynamical simulations, the combined impact of the stellar wind and orbital motion on the properties of high-mass microquasar jets on binary scales and beyond. We have performed 3-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, using the PLUTO code, of a microquasar scenario in which a strong weakly relativistic wind from a star interacts with a relativistic jet under the effect of the binary orbital motion. The parameters of the orbit are chosen such that the results can provide insight on the jet-wind interaction in compact systems like for instance Cyg~X-1 or Cyg~X-3. The wind and jet momentum rates are set to values that may be realistic for these sources and lead to moderate jet bending, which together with the close orbit and jet instabilities could trigger significant jet precession and disruption. For high-mass microquasars with orbit size $a\sim 0.1$~AU, and (relativistic) jet power $L_j\sim 10^{37}(\dot M_w/10^{-6}\,{\rm M}_\odot\,{\rm yr}^{-1})$~erg~s$^{-1}$, where $\dot M_w$ is the stellar wind mass rate, the combined effects of the stellar wind and orbital motion can induce relativistic jet disruption on scales $\sim 1$~AU., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, MNRAS accepted

Several supersonic runaway pulsar wind nebulae (sPWNe) with jet-like extended structures have been recently discovered in X-rays. If these structures are the product of electrons escaping the system and diffusing into the surrounding interstellar medium, they can produce a radio halo extending for several arcmin around the source. We model the expected radio emission in this scenario in the Lighthouse Nebula sPWN. We assume a constant particle injection rate during the source lifetime, and isotropic diffusion into the surrounding medium. Our predictions strongly depend on the low- and high-energy cutoffs given in the particle distribution. Our results indicate that extended radio emission can be detected from the Lighthouse Nebula without the need to invoke extreme values for the model parameters. We provide synthetic synchrotron maps that can be used to constrain these results with observations by current highly sensitive radio instruments., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

High-mass microquasar jets, produced in an accreting compact object in orbit around a massive star, must cross a region filled with stellar wind. The combined effects of the wind and orbital motion can strongly affect the jet properties on binary scales and beyond. The study of such effects can shed light on how high-mass microquasar jets propagate and terminate in the interstellar medium. We study for the first time, using relativistic hydrodynamical simulations, the combined impact of the stellar wind and orbital motion on the properties of high-mass microquasar jets on binary scales and beyond. We have performed 3-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, using the PLUTO code, of a microquasar scenario in which a strong weakly relativistic wind from a star interacts with a relativistic jet under the effect of the binary orbital motion. The parameters of the orbit are chosen such that the results can provide insight on the jet-wind interaction in compact systems like for instance Cyg~X-1 or Cyg~X-3. The wind and jet momentum rates are set to values that may be realistic for these sources and lead to moderate jet bending, which together with the close orbit and jet instabilities could trigger significant jet precession and disruption. For high-mass microquasars with orbit size $a\sim 0.1$~AU, and (relativistic) jet power $L_j\sim 10^{37}(\dot M_w/10^{-6}\,{\rm M}_\odot\,{\rm yr}^{-1})$~erg~s$^{-1}$, where $\dot M_w$ is the stellar wind mass rate, the combined effects of the stellar wind and orbital motion can induce relativistic jet disruption on scales $\sim 1$~AU., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, MNRAS accepted

The recently discovered massive binary system Apep is the most powerful synchrotron emitter among the known Galactic colliding-wind binaries. This makes this particular system of great interest to investigate stellar winds and the non-thermal processes associated with their shocks. This source was detected at various radio bands, and in addition the wind-collision region was resolved by means of very-long baseline interferometric observations. We use a non-thermal emission model for colliding-wind binaries to derive physical properties of this system. The observed morphology in the resolved maps allows us to estimate the system projection angle on the sky to be $\psi \approx 85^\circ$. The observed radio flux densities also allow us to characterise both the intrinsic synchrotron spectrum of the source and its modifications due to free--free absorption in the stellar winds at low frequencies; from this we derive mass-loss rates of the stars of $\dot{M}_\mathrm{WN} \approx 4\times10^{-5}$ $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and $\dot{M}_\mathrm{WC} \approx 2.9\times10^{-5}$ $\mathrm{M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. Finally, the broadband spectral energy distribution is calculated for different combinations of the remaining free parameters, namely the intensity of the magnetic field and the injected power in non-thermal particles. We show that the degeneracy of these two parameters can be solved with observations in the high-energy domain, most likely in the hard X-rays but also possibly in $\gamma$-rays under favourable conditions., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. This version has been accepted for publication in PASA after improvements and updates in the discussion of the results

Several supersonic runaway pulsar wind nebulae (sPWNe) with jet-like extended structures have been recently discovered in X-rays. If these structures are the product of electrons escaping the system and diffusing into the surrounding interstellar medium, they can produce a radio halo extending for several arcmin around the source. We model the expected radio emission in this scenario in the Lighthouse Nebula sPWN. We assume a constant particle injection rate during the source lifetime, and isotropic diffusion into the surrounding medium. Our predictions strongly depend on the low- and high-energy cutoffs given in the particle distribution. Our results indicate that extended radio emission can be detected from the Lighthouse Nebula without the need to invoke extreme values for the model parameters. We provide synthetic synchrotron maps that can be used to constrain these results with observations by current highly sensitive radio instruments., Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A

Binary systems that host a massive star and a non-accreting pulsar can be powerful non-thermal emitters. The relativistic pulsar wind and the non-relativistic stellar outflows interact along the orbit, producing ultrarelativistic particles that radiate from radio to gamma rays. To properly characterize the physics of these sources, and better understand their emission and impact on the environment, careful modeling of the outflow interactions, spanning a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, is needed. Full three-dimensional approaches are very computationally expensive, but simpler approximate approaches, while still realistic at the semi-quantitative level, are available. We present here the results of calculations done with a quasi three-dimensional scheme to compute the evolution of the interacting flows in a region spanning in size up to a thousand times the size of the binary. In particular, we analyze for the first time the role of different eccentricities in the large scale evolution of the shocked flows. We find that the higher the eccentricity, the closer the flows behave like a one-side outflow, which becomes rather collimated for eccentricity values >0.75. The simulations also unveil that the pulsar and the stellar winds become fully mixed within the grid for low eccentricity systems, presenting a more stochastic behavior at large scales than in the highly eccentric systems.

Several supersonic runaway pulsar wind nebulae (sPWNe) with jet-like extended structures have been recently discovered in X-rays. If these structures are the product of electrons escaping the system and diffusing into the surrounding interstellar medium, they can produce a radio halo extending for several arcmins around the source. We model the expected radio emission in this scenario in the Lighthouse Nebula sPWN. We assume a constant particle injection rate during the source lifetime, and isotropic diffusion into the surrounding medium. Our predictions strongly depend on the low-and high-energy cutoffs given in the particle distribution. Our results indicate that extended radio emission can be detected from the Lighthouse Nebula without the need to invoke extreme values for the model parameters. We provide synthetic synchrotron maps that can be used to constrain these results with observations by current highly sensitive radio instruments.

Binary systems of Population III can evolve to microquasars when one of the stars collapses into a black hole. When the compact object accretes matter at a rate greater than the Eddington rate, powerful jets and winds driven by strong radiation pressure should form. We investigate the structure of the jet-wind system for a model of Population III microquasar on scales beyond the jet-wind formation region. Using relativistic hydrodynamic simulations we find that the ratio of kinetic power between the jet and the disk wind determines the configuration of the system. When the power is dominated by the wind, the jet fills a narrow channel, collimated by the dense outflow. When the jet dominates the power of the system, part of its energy is diverted turning the wind into a quasi-equatorial flow, while the jet widens. From the results of our simulations, we implement semi-analytical calculations of the impact of the quasi-equatorial wind on scales of the order of the size of the binary system. Our results indicate that Population III microquasars might inject gamma rays and relativistic particles into the early intergalactic medium, contributing to its reionization at large distances from the binary system.

Context LS 5039 is a powerful high-mass gamma-ray binary that probably hosts a young non-accreting pulsar. However, despite the wealth of data available, the means by which the non-thermal emitter is powered are still unknown. Aims. We use a dynamical-radiative numerical model, and multiwavelength data, to constrain the properties of a hypothetical pulsar wind that would power the non-thermal emitter in LS 5039. Methods. We ran simulations of an ultrarelativistic (weakly magnetized) cold e±-wind that Compton scatters stellar photons and that dynamically interacts with the stellar wind. The effects of energy losses on the unshocked e±-wind dynamics, and the geometry of the two-wind contact discontinuity, are computed for different wind models. The predicted unshocked e±-wind radiation at periastron, when expected to be the highest, is compared to LS 5039 data. Results. The minimum possible radiation from an isotropic cold e±-wind overpredicts the X-ray to gamma-ray fluxes at periastron by a factor of ∼3. In the anisotropic (axisymmetric) wind case X-ray and ≳ 100 MeV data are not violated by wind radiation if the wind axis is at ≲ 20-40° from the line of sight (chance probability of ≲ 6-24%), depending on the anisotropic wind model, or if the wind Lorentz factor ∈ 102 - 103, in which case the wind power can be higher, but it requires e±-multiplicities of ∼106 and 109 for a 10-2 s and 10 s pulsar period, respectively. Conclusions. The studied model predicts that a weakly magnetized cold pulsar e±-wind in LS 5039 should be strongly anisotropic, with either a wind Lorentz factor ∈ 102 - 103 and very high multiplicities or with a fine-tuned wind orientation. A weakly magnetized, cold baryon-dominated wind would be a possible alternative, but then the multiplicities should be rather low, while the baryon-to-e± energy transfer should be very efficient at wind termination. A strongly magnetized cold wind seems to be the most favorable option as it is consistent with rec

Simple Summary Emerging evidence points to succinate as an important oncometabolite in cancer development; however, the contribution of the succinate-SUCNR1 axis to cancer progression remains unclear. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is associated with disease and treatment-related morbidity so there is an urgent need for innovation in treatment and diagnosis practices. Our aim was to evaluate the potential of the succinate-related pathway as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HNSCC. The circulating succinate levels are increased in HNSCC, being a potential noninvasive biomarker for HNSCC diagnosis. Moreover, the succinate receptor (SUCNR1) and genes related to succinate metabolism, which are predominantly expressed in the tumoral mucosa as compared with healthy tissue, are positively associated with plasma succinate. Remarkably, we found that SUCNR1 and SDHA expression levels predict prognosis. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is characterized by high rates of mortality and treatment-related morbidity, underscoring the urgent need for innovative and safe treatment strategies and diagnosis practices. Mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of cancer and can lead to the accumulation of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates, such as succinate, which function as oncometabolites. In addition to its role in cancer development through epigenetic events, succinate is an extracellular signal transducer that modulates immune response, angiogenesis and cell invasion by activating its cognate receptor SUCNR1. Here, we explored the potential value of the circulating succinate and related genes in HNSCC diagnosis and prognosis. We determined the succinate levels in the serum of 66 pathologically confirmed, untreated patients with HNSCC and 20 healthy

© 2021 American Society for Investigative Pathology Breast cancer (BC) comprises four immunohistochemical surrogate subtypes of which triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has the highest risk of mortality. Axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) are the regions where BC cells first establish before distant metastasis, and the presence of tumor cells in the ALN causes an immune tolerance profile that contrasts with that of the nonmetastatic ALN (ALN−). However, few studies have compared the immune components of the ALNs− in BC subtypes. The present study aimed to determine whether differences between immune populations in the primary tumor and ALNs− were associated with the luminal A or TNBC subtype. We evaluated a retrospective cohort of 144 patients using paraffin-embedded biopsies. The TNBC samples tended to have a higher histologic grade and proliferation index and had higher levels of immune markers compared with luminal A in primary tumors and ALNs−. Two methods for validating the multivariate analysis found that histologic grade, intratumoral S100 dendritic cells, and CD8 T lymphocytes and CD57 natural killer cells in the ALNs− were factors associated with TNBC, whereas CD83 dendritic cells in the ALNs− were associated with the luminal A subtype. In conclusion, we found that intratumoral regions and ALNs− of TNBC contained higher concentrations of markers related to immune tolerance than luminal A. This finding partially explains the worse prognosis of patients with TNBC.

This study presents CHISEL (Computer-assisted Histopathological Image Segmentation and EvaLuation), an end-to-end system capable of quantitative evaluation of benign and malignant (breast cancer) digitized tissue samples with immunohistochemical nuclear staining of various intensity and diverse compactness. It stands out with the proposed seamless segmentation based on regions of interest cropping as well as the explicit step of nuclei cluster splitting followed by a boundary refinement. The system utilizes machine learning and recursive local processing to eliminate distorted (inaccurate) outlines. The method was validated using two labeled datasets which proved the relevance of the achieved results. The evaluation was based on the IISPV dataset of tissue from biopsy of breast cancer patients, with markers of T cells, along with Warwick Beta Cell Dataset of DAB&H-stained tissue from postmortem diabetes patients. Based on the comparison of the ground truth with the results of the detected and classified objects, we conclude that the proposed method can achieve better or similar results as the state-of-the-art methods. This system deals with the complex problem of nuclei quantification in digitalized images of immunohistochemically stained tissue sections, achieving best results for DAB&H-stained breast cancer tissue samples. Our method has been prepared with user-friendly graphical interface and was optimized to fully utilize the available computing power, while being accessible to users with fewer resources than needed by deep learning techniques.

Gamma-ray binaries are systems that emit non-thermal radiation peaking at energies above 1 MeV. One proposed scenario to explain their emission consists of a pulsar orbiting a massive star, with particle acceleration taking place in shocks produced by the interaction of the stellar and pulsar winds. We develop a semi-analytical model of the non-thermal emission of the colliding-wind structure including the dynamical effects of orbital motion. We apply the model to a general case and to LS 5039. The model consists of a one-dimensional emitter the geometry of which is affected by Coriolis forces owing to orbital motion. Two particle accelerators are considered: one at the two-wind standoff location, and the other one at the turnover produced by the Coriolis force. Synchrotron and inverse Compton emission is studied, accounting for Doppler boosting and absorption processes associated to the massive star. If both accelerators are provided with the same energy budget, most of the radiation comes from the region of the Coriolis turnover and beyond, up to a few orbital separations from the binary system. The model allows us to reproduce some of the LS 5039 emission features, but not all of them. In particular, the MeV radiation is probably too high to be explained by our model alone, the GeV flux is recovered but not its modulation, and the radio emission beyond the Coriolis turnover is too low. The predicted system inclination is consistent with the presence of a pulsar in the binary. The model is quite successful in reproducing the overall non-thermal behavior of LS 5039. Some improvements are suggested to better explain the phenomenology observed in this source, like accounting for particle reacceleration beyond the Coriolis turnover, unshocked pulsar wind emission, and the three-dimensional extension of the emitter., Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics

We conducted an observational campaign towards one of the most massive and luminous colliding wind binaries in the Galaxy, HD~93129A, close to its periastron passage in 2018. During this time the source was predicted to be in its maximum of high-energy emission. Here we present our data analysis from the X-ray satellites \textit{Chandra} and \textit{NuSTAR} and the $\gamma$-ray satellite \textit{AGILE}. High-energy emission coincident with HD~93129A was detected in the X-ray band up to $\sim$18~keV, whereas in the $\gamma$-ray band only upper limits were obtained. We interpret the derived fluxes using a non-thermal radiative model for the wind-collision region. We establish a conservative upper limit for the fraction of the wind kinetic power that is converted into relativistic electron acceleration, $f_\mathrm{NT,e} < 0.02$. In addition, we set a lower limit for the magnetic field in the wind-collision region as $B_\mathrm{WCR} > 0.3$~G. We also argue a putative interpretation of the emission from which we estimate $f_\mathrm{NT,e} \approx 0.006$ and $B_\mathrm{WCR} \approx 0.5$~G. We conclude that multi-wavelength, dedicated observing campaigns during carefully selected epochs are a powerful tool for characterising the relativistic particle content and magnetic field intensity in colliding wind binaries., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Dark matter may consist, at least partially, of primordial black holes formed during the radiation-dominated era. The radiation produced by accretion onto primordial black holes leaves characteristic signatures on the properties of the medium at high redshift, before and after Hydrogen recombination. Therefore, reliable modelling of accretion onto these objects is required to obtain robust constraints on their abundance. We investigate the effect of mechanical feedback, i.e. the impact of outflows (winds and/or jets) on the medium, on primordial black hole accretion, and thereby on the associated radiation. Using analytical and numerical calculations, we study for the first time whether outflows can reduce the accretion rate of primordial black holes with masses similar to those detected by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration. Despite the complexity of the accretion rate evolution, mechanical feedback is able to significantly reduce the primordial black hole accretion rate, at least by an order of magnitude, when outflows are aligned with the motion of the compact object. If the outflow is perpendicular to the direction of motion, the effect is less important but still non-negligible. Outflows from primordial black holes, even rather weak ones, can significantly decrease the accretion rate, effectively weakening abundance constraints on these objects. Our results motivate further numerical simulations with a more realistic setup, which would yield more precise quantitative predictions., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics (version after proofs; very minor changes)

Cosmic reionization put an end to the dark ages that came after the recombination era. Observations seem to favor the scenario where massive stars generating photons in low-mass galaxies were responsible for the bulk of reionization. Even though a possible contribution from accretion disks of active galactic nuclei (AGN) has been widely considered, they are currently thought to have had a minor role in reionization. Our aim is to study the possibility that AGN contributed to reionization not only through their accretion disks, but also through ionizing photons coming from the AGN jets interacting with the IGM. We adopt an empirically derived AGN luminosity function at $z\simeq6$, use X-ray observations to correct it for the presence of obscured sources, and estimate the density of jetted AGN. We then use analytical calculations to derive the fraction of jet energy that goes into ionizing photons. Finally, we compute the contribution of AGN jets to the H II volume filling factor at redshifts $z\simeq15-5$. We show that the contribution of the AGN jet lobes to the reionization of the Universe at $z\sim6$ might have been as high as $\gtrsim 10$\% of that of star-forming galaxies, under the most favorable conditions of jetted and obscuration fraction. The contribution of AGN to the reionization, while most likely not dominant, could have been higher than previously assumed, thanks to the radiation originated in the jet lobes., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

The persistent gamma-ray source 4FGL J0647.7-4418 is tentatively associated in the latest Fermi catalogue with the sub-dwarf O-type X-ray binary HD 49798. However, an AGN candidate is also mentioned as an alternative identification in updated versions of the catalogue accompanying paper. If the first association were correct, this would add HD 49798 to the handful of currently known gamma-ray binaries and, therefore, represent a significant breakthrough not only because of a new member addition, but also because of the apparent white dwarf companion in this system. Despite these perspectives, here we show that the stellar association is likely wrong and that the proposed AGN object, well inside the Fermi 95% confidence ellipse, is a more conceivable counterpart candidate to the Fermi source due to its strong blazar similarities., Comment: 7 pages, 9 Figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS