Testing the cores of first ascent red-giant stars using the period spacing of g modes

In the context of the determination of stellar properties using asteroseismology, we study the influence of rotation and convective-core overshooting on the properties of red-giant stars. We used models in order to investigate the effects of these mechanisms on the asymptotic period spacing of gravity modes ($\Delta \Pi_1$) of red-giant stars that ignite He burning in degenerate conditions (M$\lesssim$2.0 M$_{\odot}$). We also compare the predictions of these models with Kepler observations. For a given $\Delta\nu$, $\Delta \Pi_1$ depends not only on the stellar mass, but also on mixing processes that can affect the structure of the core. We find that in the case of more evolved red-giant-branch (RGB) stars and regardless of the transport processes occurring in their interiors, the observed $\Delta \Pi_1$ can provide information as to their stellar luminosity, within ~10-20%. In general, the trends of $\Delta \Pi_1$ with respect to mass and metallicity that are observed in Kepler red-giant stars are well reproduced by the models.Comment: 5pages, 6 figure

Constraining angular momentum transport processes in stellar interiors with red-giant stars in the open cluster NGC6819

Clusters are excellent test benches for verification and improvement of stellar evolution theory. The recent detection of solar-like oscillations in G-K giants in the open cluster NGC6819 with Kepler provides us with independent constraints on the masses and radii of stars on the red giant branch, as well as on the distance to clusters and their ages. We present, for NGC6819, evolutionary models by considering rotation-induced mixing ; and the theoretical low-l frequencies of our stellar models.Comment: Submitted to EPJ Web of Conferences, to appear in the Proceedings of the 3rd CoRoT Symposium, Kepler KASC7 joint meeting; 2 pages, 1 figur

Test and characterization of multigap resistive plate chambers for the EEE project

The Extreme Energy Events project is based on the deployment of cosmic-ray telescopes in Italian high schools with the active contribution of students and teachers. Each telescope is made by three Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers readout by strips. With around 50 telescopes already built and others under construction, specific systems to test and characterize the chambers are needed. In this article I will present a flexible and software-configurable solution to perform chamber efficiency studies with a set of scintillators and hardware to automatically scan detector strips to identify electrical issues. Both systems can provide accurate information but at the same time they can be easily operated by students

LA PRIMA LEGGE ITALIANA "CONTRO LA VIOLENZA SESSUALE". UN DIBATTITO LUNGO VENT'ANNI (1976 - 1996)

La presente ricerca indaga il dibattito sociale, culturale e politico che ha anticipato la legge n. 66 Norme penali contro la violenza sessuale, licenziata dal Parlamento italiano nel febbraio 1996 e che, a quasi settant’anni dall’entrata in vigore del Codice penale Rocco, modificò la normativa vigente in materia di reati sessuali. Quel risultato arrivò a conclusione di un dibattito ventennale che visse due fasi principali: la prima coincise con il decennio degli anni Settanta ed ebbe come protagonista il movimento femminista, la seconda prese avvio all’inizio degli anni Ottanta e spostò il baricentro della discussione all’interno delle aule parlamentari. Nel lavoro di analisi proposto sono state seguite tre direttrici principali. Innanzitutto si è indagato il ruolo giocato dal movimento femminista nell’accendere i riflettori sul tema dello stupro e nel rompere il muro di silenzio che lo aveva relegato a questione privata. In secondo luogo si è tentato di fotografare il fermento sociale e culturale che accompagnò l’iniziativa femminista contribuendo a diffondere nella società civile italiana una nuova consapevolezza sul tema della violenza e degli abusi sessuali. L’attenzione si è infine soffermata sulla pluralità di approcci, punti di vista ed interpretazioni che animarono il dibattito parlamentare sulla riforma in materia di reati sessuali con l’intento di portare alla luce le ragioni più o meno nascoste che per cinque legislature impedirono alle forze politiche di approdare ad una soluzione condivisa.This research aims to investigate the social, cultural and political debate that has anticipated law no. 66 Norme penali contro la violenza sessuale, dismissed by the Italian Parliament in February 1996. That result amended the current law in sex offenses and it was the final step of a twenty-year debate during which the Italian feminist movement played a crucial role. This research has three principle objectives. Firstly, it investigates the role played by the Italian feminist movement in bringing to light the subject of rape and breaking the wall of silence that had relegated it to a private sphere. Secondly, it aims to photograph the social and cultural turmoil raised by the feminist initiative which spread a new awareness about violence and sexual abuses in the Italian civil society. Thirdly, the research analyses the plurality of opinions and points of view that animated the parliamentary debate and prevented political forces from reaching a shared approach on the reform of criminal sex offenses

Frequency and wavenumber selective excitation of spin waves through coherent energy transfer from elastic waves

Using spin-wave tomography (SWaT), we have investigated the excitation and the propagation dynamics of optically-excited magnetoelastic waves, i.e. hybridized modes of spin waves and elastic waves, in a garnet film. By using time-resolved SWaT, we reveal the excitation dynamics of magnetoelastic waves through coherent-energy transfer between optically-excited pure-elastic waves and spin waves via magnetoelastic coupling. This process realizes frequency and wavenumber selective excitation of spin waves at the crossing of the dispersion relations of spin waves and elastic waves. Finally, we demonstrate that the excitation mechanism of the optically-excited pure-elastic waves, which are the source of the observed magnetoelastic waves, is dissipative in nature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Effect and in silico characterization of genetic variants associated with severe spermatogenic disorders in a large Iberian cohort

Background: Severe spermatogenic failure (SpF) represents the most extreme manifestation of male infertility, as it decreases drastically the semen quality leading to either severe oligospermia (SO, <5 million spermatozoa/mL semen) or non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA, complete lack of spermatozoa in the ejaculate without obstructive causes). Objectives: The main objective of the present study is to analyze in the Iberian population the effect of 6 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) previously associated with NOA in Han Chinese through genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and to establish their possible functional relevance in the development of specific SpF patterns. Materials and methods: We genotyped 674 Iberian infertile men (including 480 NOA and 194 SO patients) and 1058 matched unaffected controls for the GWAS-associated variants PRMT6-rs12097821, PEX10-rs2477686, CDC42BPA-rs3000811, IL17A-rs13206743, ABLIM1-rs7099208, and SOX5-rs10842262. Their association with SpF, SO, NOA, and different NOA phenotypes was evaluated by logistic regression models, and their functional relevance was defined by comprehensive interrogation of public resources. Results: ABLIM1-rs7099208 was associated with SpF under both additive (OR = 0.86, p = 0.036) and dominant models (OR = 0.78, p = 0.026). The CDC42BPA-rs3000811 minor allele frequency was significantly increased in the subgroup of NOA patients showing maturation arrest (MA) of germ cells compared to the remaining NOA cases under the recessive model (OR = 4.45, p = 0.044). The PEX10-rs2477686 SNP was associated with a negative testicular sperm extraction (TESE) outcome under the additive model (OR = 1.32, p = 0.034). The analysis of functional annotations suggested that these variants affect the testis-specific expression of nearby genes and that lincRNA may play a role in SpF. Conclusions: Our data support the association of three previously reported NOA risk variants in Asians (ABLIM1-rs7099208, CDC42BPA-rs3000811, and PEX10-rs2477686) with different manifestations of SpF in Iberians of European descent, likely by influencing gene expression and lincRNA deregulation.We thank the National DNA Bank Carlos III (University of Salamanca, Spain) for supplying part of the control DNA samples from Spain, as well as all patients and controls for kindly agreeing to their essential collaboration. This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation (ref. SAF2016- 78722-R) the “Ramón y Cajal” program (ref. RYC-2014- 16458) and the “Juan de la Cierva Incorporación” program (ref. IJC2018- 038026-I), which include FEDER funds. AG-J was recipient of a grant from the "Plan Propio" program of the University of Granada ("Becas de Iniciación a la Investigación para estudiantes de Grado,” conv. 2019). SL received support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grants FIS-ISCIII DTS18/00101, co-funded by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)—a way to build Europe) and from Generalitat de Catalunya (grant 2017SGR191). SL is sponsored by the “Researchers Consolidation Program” from the SNS-Dpt. Salut Generalitat de Catalunya (Exp. CES09/020). JG was partially funded by FCT/MCTES, through national funds attrib-uted to Center for Toxicogenomics and Human Health—ToxOmics (UIDB/00009/2020). PIM is supported by the FCT post-doctoral fel-lowship (SFRH/BPD/120777/2016), financed from the Portuguese State Budget of the Ministry for Science, Technology and High Education and from the European Social Fund, available through the Programa Operacional do Capital Humano

Non-classical circulating monocytes expressing high levels of microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase-1 tag an aberrant IFN-response in systemic sclerosis

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex disease that affects the connective tissue, causing fibrosis. SSc patients show altered immune cell composition and activation in the peripheral blood (PB). PB monocytes (Mos) are recruited into tissues where they differentiate into macrophages, which are directly involved in fibrosis. To understand the role of CD14+ PB Mos in SSc, a single-cell transcriptome analysis (scRNA-seq) was conducted on 8 SSc patients and 8 controls. Using unsupervised clustering methods, CD14+ cells were assigned to 11 clusters, which added granularity to the known monocyte subsets: classical (cMos), intermediate (iMos) and non-classical Mos (ncMos) or type 2 dendritic cells. NcMos were significantly overrepresented in SSc patients and showed an active IFN-signature and increased expression levels of PTGES, in addition to monocyte motility and adhesion markers. We identified a SSc-related cluster of IRF7+ STAT1+ iMos with an aberrant IFN-response. Finally, a depletion of M2 polarised cMos in SSc was observed. Our results highlighted the potential of PB Mos as biomarkers for SSc and provided new possibilities for putative drug targets for modulating the innate immune response in SSc.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBUA This work was supported by the grant P18-RT-4442 funded by Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucía. “Red de Investigación Cooperativa Orientada a Resultados en Salud'' (RICOR, RD21/0002/003). 115565. LBC was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Juan de la Cierva Incorporación' program (Grant ref. IJC2018-038026-I, funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501,100,011,033), which includes FEDER funds. MAH is a recipient of a Miguel Servet fellowship (CP21/00132) from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation). GV-M was funded by the Grant PRE2019-087586 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501,100,011,033 and by “ESF Investing in your future”

Common genetic variation in KATNAL1 non-coding regions is involved in the susceptibility to severe phenotypes of male infertility

Versión Open Access de la web de la revistaBackground: Previous studies in animal models evidenced that genetic mutations of KATNAL1, resulting in dysfunction of its encoded protein, lead to male infertility through disruption of microtubule remodelling and premature germ cell exfoliation. Subsequent studies in humans also suggested a possible role of KATNAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the development of male infertility as a consequence of severe spermatogenic failure. Objectives: The main objective of the present study is to evaluate the effect of the common genetic variation of KATNAL1 in a large and phenotypically well-characterised cohort of infertile men because of severe spermatogenic failure. Materials and methods: A total of 715 infertile men because of severe spermatogenic failure, including 210 severe oligospermia and 505 non-obstructive azoospermia patients, as well as 1058 unaffected controls were genotyped for three KATNAL1 single-nucleotide polymorphism taggers (rs2077011, rs7338931 and rs2149971). Case-control association analyses by logistic regression assuming different models and in silico functional characterisation of risk variants were conducted. Results: Genetic associations were observed between the three analysed taggers and different severe spermatogenic failure groups. However, in all cases, the haplotype model (rs2077011*C | rs7338931*T | rs2149971*A) better explained the observed associations than the three risk alleles independently. This haplotype was associated with non-obstructive azoospermia (adjusted p = 4.96E-02, odds ratio = 2.97), Sertoli-cell only syndrome (adjusted p = 2.83E-02, odds ratio = 5.16) and testicular sperm extraction unsuccessful outcomes (adjusted p = 8.99E-04, odds ratio = 6.13). The in silico analyses indicated that the effect on severe spermatogenic failure predisposition could be because of an alteration of the KATNAL1 splicing pattern. Conclusions: Specific allelic combinations of KATNAL1 genetic polymorphisms may confer a risk of developing severe male infertility phenotypes by favouring the overrepresentation of a short non-functional transcript isoform in the testis.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the Spanish National Plan for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation, Grant/Award Number: SAF2016-78722-R;PID2020-120157RB-I00; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Grant/Award Number: DTS18/00101; Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant/Award Number: 2017SGR191; Ramón y Cajal, Grant/Award Number: RYC-2014-16458; Juan de la Cierva Incorporación, Grant/Award Number: IJC2018-038026-I; Andalusian Government, Grant/Award Number: PY20_00212;B-CTS-584-UGR20; FCT post-doctoral fellowship, Grant/Award Number: SFRH/BPD/120777/2016; FCT/MCTES, Grant/Award Numbers: UID/BIM/00009/2016, UIDB/00009/2020; ISCIII SNS/Dpt. Salut Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant/Award Number: CES09/02

The AGB bump: a calibrator for the core mixing

The efficiency of convection in stars affects many aspects of their evolution and remains one of the key-open questions in stellar modelling. In particular, the size of the mixed core in core-He-burning low-mass stars is still uncertain and impacts the lifetime of this evolutionary phase and, e.g., the C/O profile in white dwarfs. One of the known observables related to the Horizontal Branch (HB) and Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) evolution is the AGB bump. Its luminosity depends on the position in mass of the helium-burning shell at its first ignition, that is affected by the extension of the central mixed region. In this preliminary work we show how various assumptions on near-core mixing and on the thermal stratification in the overshooting region affect the luminosity of the AGB bump, as well as the period spacing of gravity modes in core-He-burning models.Comment: Submitted to EPJ Web of Conferences, to appear in the Proceedings of the 3rd CoRoT Symposium, Kepler KASC7 joint meeting; 2 pages, 2 figure