The Penn State - Torun Centre for Astronomy Planet Search stars. II. Lithium abundance analysis of the Red Giant Clump sample

Using the sample of 348 stars from the PennState-Torun Centre for Astronomy Planet Search, for which uniformly determined atmospheric parameters are available, with chemical abundances and rotational velocities presented here, we investigate various channels of Li enrichment in giants. Our work is based on the HET/HRS spectra. The A(Li) was determined from the 670.8nm line, while we use a more extended set of lines for alpha-elements abundances. In a series of K-S tests, we compare Li-rich giants with other stars in the sample. We also use available IR photometric and kinematical data in search for evidence of mass-loss. We investigate properties of the most Li-abundant giants in more detail by using multi-epoch precise radial velocities. We present Li and alpha-elements abundances, as well as vsini for 348 stars. We detected Li in 92 stars, of which 82 are giants. 11 of them show significant Li abundance A(Li)>1.4 and 7 of them are Li-overabundant objects, according to criterion of A(Li)>1.5 and their location on HR diagram, including two giants with Li abundances close to meteoritic level. For another 271 stars, upper limits of A(Li) are presented. We show that Li-rich giants are among the most massive stars from our sample and show larger than average effective temperatures. They are indistinguishable from the complete sample in terms of their distribution of luminosity, [Fe/H], vsini, and alpha-elements abundances. Our results do not point out to one specific Li enrichment mechanism operating in our sample of giants. On the contrary, in some cases, we cannot identify fingerprints of any of known scenarios. We show, however, that the 4 most Li-rich giant in our sample either have low-mass companions or have RV variations at the level of ~100 m/s, which strongly suggests that the presence of companions is an important factor in the Li-enrichment processes in giants.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 13 figures, 11 tables, 26 page

Tracking Advanced Planetary Systems (TAPAS) with HARPS-N. V.: A Massive Jupiter orbiting the very low metallicity giant star BD+03 2562 and a possible planet around HD~103485

We present two evolved stars from the TAPAS (Tracking Advanced PlAnetary Systems) with HARPS-N project devoted to RV precision measurements of identified candidates within the PennState - Torun Centre for Astronomy Planet Search. Evolved stars with planets are crucial to understand the dependency of the planet formation mechanism on the mass and metallicity of the parent star and to study star-planet interactions. The paper is based on precise radial velocity (RV) measurements, for HD 103485 we collected 57 epochs over 3317 days with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope and its High Resolution Spectrograph and 18 ultra-precise HARPS-N data over 919 days. For BD+03 2562 we collected 46 epochs of HET data over 3380 days and 19 epochs of HARPS-N data over 919 days. We present the analysis of the data and the search for correlations between the RV signal and stellar activity, stellar rotation and photometric variability. Based on the available data, we interpret the RV variations measured in both stars as Keplerian motion. Both stars have masses close to Solar (1.11 and 1.14), very low metallicities ([Fe/H]=-0.50 and -0.71), and, both have Jupiter planetary mass companions (m sin i=7 and 6.4 Mj), in close to terrestrial orbits (1.4 and 1.3~au), with moderate eccentricities (e=0.34 and 0.2). However, we cannot totally exclude that the signal in the case of HD~103485 is due to rotational modulation of active regions. Based on the current data, we conclude that BD+03 2562 has a bona fide planetary companion while for HD 103485 we cannot totally exclude that the best explanation for the RV signal modulations is not the existence of a planet but stellar activity. If, the interpretation remains that both stars have planetary companions they represent systems orbiting very evolved stars with very low metallicities, a challenge to the conditions required for the formation of massive giant gas planets.Comment: Acepted A&A 12 pages, 11 figure

Two Ultra-faint Milky Way Stellar Systems Discovered in Early Data from the DECam Local Volume Exploration Survey

We report the discovery of two ultra-faint stellar systems found in early data from the DECam Local Volume Exploration survey (DELVE). The first system, Centaurus I (DELVE J1238–4054), is identified as a resolved overdensity of old and metal-poor stars with a heliocentric distance of , a half-light radius of , an age of , a metallicity of , and an absolute magnitude of . This characterization is consistent with the population of ultra-faint satellites and confirmation of this system would make Centaurus I one of the brightest recently discovered ultra-faint dwarf galaxies. Centaurus I is detected in Gaia DR2 with a clear and distinct proper motion signal, confirming that it is a real association of stars distinct from the Milky Way foreground; this is further supported by the clustering of blue horizontal branch stars near the centroid of the system. The second system, DELVE 1 (DELVE J1630–0058), is identified as a resolved overdensity of stars with a heliocentric distance of , a half-light radius of , an age of , a metallicity of , and an absolute magnitude of , consistent with the known population of faint halo star clusters. Given the low number of probable member stars at magnitudes accessible with Gaia DR2, a proper motion signal for DELVE 1 is only marginally detected. We compare the spatial position and proper motion of both Centaurus I and DELVE 1 with simulations of the accreted satellite population of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and find that neither is likely to be associated with the LMC

Stabilizacja win jabłkowych zawierających skleikowaną skrobię

A method of the stabilisation of apple wines containing gelatinized starch and dextrin has been developed. The method depends on the hydrolysis of these ingredients with amylolytic enzymes contained in "Pektopol P" at the storage cellar temperature of approximately 15°C for one week, followed by the inactivation of introduced enzymes by short pasteurisation at 87-90°C.W pracy badano przyczyny braku stabilności fizykochemicznej win jabłkowych, jaka niekiedy występuje w produkcji przemysłowej. Stwierdzono, że częstą przyczyną braku stabilności win jabłkowych jest obecność w nich skleikowanej skrobi i dekstryn. W związku z tym w pracy badano: wygląd, uziarnienie i niektóre właściwości fizyczne skrobi z jabłek otrzymanych w polskich warunkach klimatycznych, adaptowano metody do oznaczania skrobi, opracowano metody stabilizacji win jabłkowych zawierających skleikowaną skrobię i dekstryny. Stwierdzono, że skrobia z badlimych jabłek posiada średnicę ziaren 1-15 μ, początkową temperaturę rozpuszczania amylozy 50-55°C, początkową temperaturę kleikowania ok. 90°C. Udział ziaren drobnych o średnicy 2-5 μ wynosi ok. 80%. W pracy stwierdzono przydatność zmodyfikowanej przez autorów jodometrycznej metody Williamsa i współpracowników do oznaczania skrobi w jabłkach oraz moszczach i winach. Przy oznaczaniu zawartości skleikowanej skrobi w moszczach i winach konieczne jest jej wstępne wytrącenie etanolem na gorąco (80°C) i wydzielenie z roztworu. Przy oznaczaniu skrobi (ziarnistej) w miazdze jabłkowej, moszczach, wymagane jest wstępne wydzielenie jej drogą wymywania i frakcjonowanego wirowania. Wina jabłkowe zawierające skleikowaną skrobię i dekstryny można stabilizować hydrolizą enzymatyczną wykorzystując enzymy amylolityczne ,,Pektopolu P", w temperaturze leżakowania w ciągu 1 tygodnia z późniejszą inaktywacją wprowadzonych enzymów, pasteryzacją momentalną w temperaturze 87-90°C. Dawkę preparatu ustalano w próbach wstępnych. W warunkach przemysłowych do stabilizacji wina stosowano dawkę „Pektopolu P" 0,25 g/l. Stabilizacja na ciepło tym preparatem pogarsza jakość win. Stabilizację drogą wychładzania w temperaturze -3 do -4°C w czasie 3 do 4 dni z filtracją w tej temperaturze oceniono jako mniej przydatną ze względu na trudności w procesie filtracji

Integrated NY-ESO-1 antibody and CD8+ T-cell responses correlate with clinical benefit in advanced melanoma patients treated with ipilimumab

Ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody against cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), has been shown to improve survival in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma. It also enhances immunity to NY-ESO-1, a cancer/testis antigen expressed in a subset of patients with melanoma. To characterize the association between immune response and clinical outcome, we first analyzed NY-ESO-1 serum antibody by ELISA in 144 ipilimumab-treated patients with melanoma and found 22 of 140 (16%) seropositive at baseline and 31 of 144 (22%) seropositive following treatment. These NY-ESO-1–seropositive patients had a greater likelihood of experiencing clinical benefit 24 wk after ipilimumab treatment than NY-ESO-1–seronegative patients (P = 0.02, relative risk = 1.8, two-tailed Fisher test). To understand why some patients with NY-ESO-1 antibody failed to experience clinical benefit, we analyzed NY-ESO-1–specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses by intracellular multicytokine staining in 20 NY-ESO-1–seropositive patients and found a surprising dissociation between NY-ESO-1 antibody and CD8 responses in some patients. NY-ESO-1–seropositive patients with associated CD8+ T cells experienced more frequent clinical benefit (10 of 13; 77%) than those with undetectable CD8+ T-cell response (one of seven; 14%; P = 0.02; relative risk = 5.4, two-tailed Fisher test), as well as a significant survival advantage (P = 0.01; hazard ratio = 0.2, time-dependent Cox model). Together, our data suggest that integrated NY-ESO-1 immune responses may have predictive value for ipilimumab treatment and argue for prospective studies in patients with established NY-ESO-1 immunity. The current findings provide a strong rationale for the clinical use of modulators of immunosuppression with concurrent approaches to favor tumor antigen-specific immune responses, such as vaccines or adoptive transfer, in patients with cancer