Description: The reconstruction of galaxy cluster's gas density profiles is usually performed by assuming spherical symmetry and averaging the observed X-ray emission in circular annuli. In the case of a very inhomogeneous and asymmetric gas distribution, this method has been shown to return biased results in numerical simulations because of the n 2 dependence of the X-ray emissivity. We propose a method to recover the true density profiles in the presence of inhomogeneities, based on the derivation of the azimuthal median of the surface brightness in concentric annuli. We demonstrate the performance of this method with numerical simulations, and apply it to a sample of 31 galaxy clusters in the redshift range 0.04–0.2 observed with ROSAT /Position Sensitive Proportional Counter (PSPC). The clumping factors recovered by comparing the mean and the median are mild and show a slight trend of increasing bias with radius. For R  〈  R 500 , we measure a clumping factor $\sqrt{C} 〈 1.1$ , which indicates that the thermodynamic properties and hydrostatic masses measured in this radial range are only mildly affected by this effect. Comparing our results with three sets of hydrodynamical numerical simulations, we found that non-radiative simulations significantly overestimate the level of inhomogeneities in the intracluster medium, while the runs including cooling, star formation, and AGN feedback reproduce the observed trends closely. Our results indicate that most of the accretion of X-ray-emitting gas is taking place in the diffuse, large-scale accretion patterns rather than in compact structures.

Description: Radio relics in galaxy clusters are associated with powerful shocks that (re)accelerate relativistic electrons. It is widely believed that the acceleration proceeds via diffusive shock acceleration. In the framework of thermal leakage, the ratio of the energy in relativistic electrons to the energy in relativistic protons should be smaller than K e/p  ~ 10 –2 . The relativistic protons interact with the thermal gas to produce -rays in hadronic interactions. Combining observations of radio relics with upper limits from -ray observatories can constrain the ratio K e/p . In this work, we selected 10 galaxy clusters that contain double radio relics, and derive new upper limits from the stacking of -ray observations by Fermi . We modelled the propagation of shocks using a semi-analytical model, where we assumed a simple geometry for shocks and that cosmic ray protons are trapped in the intracluster medium. Our analysis shows that diffusive shock acceleration has difficulties in matching simultaneously the observed radio emission and the constraints imposed by Fermi , unless the magnetic field in relics is unrealistically large ( 〉〉 10 μG). In all investigated cases (also including realistic variations of our basic model and the effect of re-acceleration), the mean emission of the sample is of the order of the stacking limit by Fermi , or larger. These findings put tension on the commonly adopted model for the powering of radio relics, and imply that the relative acceleration efficiency of electrons and protons is at odds with predictions of diffusive shock acceleration, requiring K e/p  ≥ 10 – 10 –2 .

Description: We want to characterize the dynamical state of galaxy clusters detected with the Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effect by Planck and compare them with the dynamical state of clusters selected in X-rays survey. We analysed a representative subsample of the Planck SZ catalogue, containing the 132 clusters with the highest signal to noise ratio and characterize their dynamical state using as an indicator the projected offset between the peak of the X-ray emission and the position of the Brightest cluster galaxy. We compare the distribution of this indicator for the Planck SZ-selected sample and three X-ray-selected samples (HIFLUGCS, MACS and REXCESS). The distributions are significantly different and the fraction of relaxed objects is smaller in the Planck sample (52 ± 4 per cent) than in X-ray samples (~=74 per cent) We interpret this result as an indication of different selection effects affecting X-rays (e.g. ‘cool core bias’) and SZ surveys of galaxy clusters.

Description: We want to characterize the dynamical state of galaxy clusters detected with the Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effect by Planck and compare them with the dynamical state of clusters selected in X-rays survey. We analysed a representative subsample of the Planck SZ catalogue, containing the 132 clusters with the highest signal to noise ratio and characterize their dynamical state using as an indicator the projected offset between the peak of the X-ray emission and the position of the Brightest cluster galaxy. We compare the distribution of this indicator for the Planck SZ-selected sample and three X-ray-selected samples (HIFLUGCS, MACS and REXCESS). The distributions are significantly different and the fraction of relaxed objects is smaller in the Planck sample (52 ± 4 per cent) than in X-ray samples (~=74 per cent) We interpret this result as an indication of different selection effects affecting X-rays (e.g. ‘cool core bias’) and SZ surveys of galaxy clusters.

Description: We study the acceleration of cosmic rays by collisionless structure formation shocks with enzo grid simulations. Data from the Fermi satellite enable the use of galaxy clusters as a testbed for particle acceleration models. Based on advanced cosmological simulations that include different prescriptions for gas and cosmic rays physics, we use the predicted -ray emission to constrain the shock acceleration efficiency. We infer that the efficiency must be on average ≤10 –3 for cosmic shocks, particularly for the $\mathcal {M} \sim 2{\rm -}5$ merger shocks that are mostly responsible for the thermalization of the intracluster medium (ICM). These results emerge, both, from non-radiative and radiative runs including feedback from active galactic nuclei, as well as from zoomed resimulations of a cluster resembling MACSJ1752.0+0440. The limit on the acceleration efficiency we report is lower than what has been assumed in the literature so far. Combined with the information from radio emission in clusters, it appears that a revision of the present understanding of shock acceleration in the ICM is unavoidable.

Description: Aims Mitsugumin-53 (MG53/TRIM72) is an E3-ubiquitin ligase that rapidly accumulates at sites of membrane injury and plays an important role in membrane repair of skeletal and cardiac muscle. MG53 has been implicated in cardiac ischaemia–reperfusion injury, and serum MG53 provides a biomarker of skeletal muscle injury in the mdx mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. We evaluated the clinical utility of MG53 as a biomarker of myocardial injury. Methods and results We performed Langendorff ischaemia–reperfusion injury on wild-type and dysferlin-null murine hearts, using dysferlin deficiency to effectively model more severe outcomes from cardiac ischaemia–reperfusion injury. MG53 released into the coronary effluent correlated strongly and significantly ( r = 0.79–0.85, P 〈 0.0001) with functional impairment after ischaemic injury. We initiated a clinical trial in paediatric patients undergoing corrective heart surgery, the first study of MG53 release with myocardial injury in humans. Unexpectedly, we reveal although MG53 is robustly expressed in rat and mouse hearts, MG53 is scant to absent in human, ovine, or porcine hearts. Absence of MG53 in 11 human heart specimens was confirmed using three separate antibodies to MG53, each subject to epitope mapping and confirmed immunospecificity using MG53-deficient muscle cells. Conclusion MG53 is an effective biomarker of myocardial injury and dysfunction in murine hearts. However, MG53 is not expressed in human heart and therefore does not hold utility as a clinical biomarker of myocardial injury. Although cardioprotective roles for endogenous myocardial MG53 cannot be extrapolated from rodents to humans, potential therapeutic application of recombinant MG53 for myocardial membrane injury prevails.

Description: We present a high-precision mass model of the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.6+ 2223, based on a strong gravitational lensing analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields (HFF) imaging data and spectroscopic follow-up with Gemini/Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs (GMOS) and Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). Our model includes 12 new multiply imaged galaxies, bringing the total to 22, composed of 65 individual lensed images. Unlike the first two HFF clusters, Abell 2744 and MACS J0416.1–2403, MACS J1149 does not reveal as many multiple images in the HFF data. Using the lenstool software package and the new sets of multiple images, we model the cluster with several cluster-scale dark matter haloes and additional galaxy-scale haloes for the cluster members. Consistent with previous analyses, we find the system to be complex, composed of five cluster-scale haloes. Their spatial distribution and lower mass, however, makes MACS J1149 a less powerful lens. Our best-fitting model predicts image positions with an rms of 0.91 arcsec. We measure the total projected mass inside a 200-kpc aperture as (1.840 ± 0.006) x 10 14  M , thus reaching again 1 per cent precision, following our previous HFF analyses of MACS J0416.1–2403 and Abell 2744. In light of the discovery of the first resolved quadruply lensed supernova, SN Refsdal, in one of the multiply imaged galaxies identified in MACS J1149, we use our revised mass model to investigate the time delays and predict the rise of the next image between 2015 November and 2016 January.

Description: We present a high-precision mass model of galaxy cluster Abell 2744, based on a strong gravitational-lensing analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Fields (HFF) imaging data, which now include both Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3 observations to the final depth. Taking advantage of the unprecedented depth of the visible and near-infrared data, we identify 34 new multiply imaged galaxies, bringing the total to 61, comprising 181 individual lensed images. In the process, we correct previous erroneous identifications and positions of multiple systems in the northern part of the cluster core. With the lenstool software and the new sets of multiple images, we model the cluster using two cluster-scale dark matter haloes plus galaxy-scale haloes for the cluster members. Our best-fitting model predicts image positions with an rms error of 0.79 arcsec, which constitutes an improvement by almost a factor of 2 over previous parametric models of this cluster. We measure the total projected mass inside a 200 kpc aperture as (2.162 ± 0.005) x  10 14 M , thus reaching 1 per cent level precision for the second time, following the recent HFF measurement of MACSJ0416.1–2403. Importantly, the higher quality of the mass model translates into an overall improvement by a factor of 4 of the derived magnification factor. Together with our previous HFF gravitational lensing analysis, this work demonstrates that the HFF data enables high-precision mass measurements for massive galaxy clusters and the derivation of robust magnification maps to probe the early Universe.

Description: We present results of a search for the 3.5 keV emission line in our recent very long (~ 1.4 Ms) XMM–Newton observation of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The astrophysical X-ray emission from such dark matter-dominated galaxies is faint, thus they provide a test for the dark matter origin of the 3.5 keV line previously detected in other massive, but X-ray bright objects, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. We do not detect a statistically significant emission line from Draco; this constrains the lifetime of a decaying dark matter particle to  〉 (7–9)  x  10 27  s at 95 per cent CL (combining all three XMM–Newton cameras; the interval corresponds to the uncertainty of the dark matter column density in the direction of Draco). The PN camera, which has the highest sensitivity of the three, does show a positive spectral residual (above the carefully modelled continuum) at E  = 3.54 ± 0.06 keV with a 2.3 significance. The two MOS cameras show less-significant or no positive deviations, consistently within 1 with PN. Our Draco limit on is consistent with previous detections in the stacked galaxy clusters, M31 and the Galactic Centre within their 1 – 2 uncertainties, but is inconsistent with the high signal from the core of the Perseus cluster (which has itself been inconsistent with the rest of the detections). We conclude that this Draco observation does not exclude the dark matter interpretation of the 3.5 keV line in those objects.

Description: Radio relics are Mpc-scale diffuse radio sources at the peripheries of galaxy clusters which are thought to trace outgoing merger shocks. We present XMM–Newton and Suzaku observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 2744 ( z  = 0.306), which reveal the presence of a shock front 1.5 Mpc east of the cluster core. The surface-brightness jump coincides with the position of a known radio relic. Although the surface-brightness jump indicates a weak shock with a Mach number $\mathcal {M}=1.7_{-0.3}^{+0.5}$ , the plasma in the post-shock region has been heated to a very high temperature (~13 keV) by the passage of the shock wave. The low-acceleration efficiency expected from such a weak shock suggests that mildly relativistic electrons have been re-accelerated by the passage of the shock front.