Is Centaurus A special? A neutral hydrogen perspective

Due to the proximity, the neutral hydrogen belonging to Centaurus A can be observed at high resolution with good sensitivity. This allows to study the morphology and kinematics in detail in order to understand the evolution of this radio-loud source (e.g. merger history, AGN activity). At the same time, it is important to compare the results to other sources of the same class (i.e. early-type galaxies in general and radio galaxies in particular) to see how Centaurus A fits into the global picture of early-type/radio galaxy evolution. The amount of HI, the morphology of a warped disk with HI clouds surrounding the disk and the regular kinematics of the inner part of the HI disk are not unusual for early-type galaxies. The growing evidence that mergers are not necessarily responsible for AGN activity fits with the observational result that the recent merger event in Centaurus A is not connected to the current phase of activity. Based on these results, we conclude that Centaurus A has typical neutral hydrogen properties for an early-type and radio galaxy and it can therefore - from an HI perspective - be seen as a typical example of its class.Comment: submitted to PASA; 7 pages, 4 figure

Witnessing the transformation of a quasar host galaxy at z=1.6

A significant minority of high redshift radio galaxy (HzRG) candidates show extremely red broad band colours and remain undetected in emission lines after optical `discovery' spectroscopy. In this paper we present deep GTC optical imaging and spectroscopy of one such radio galaxy, 5C 7.245, with the aim of better understanding the nature of these enigmatic objects. Our g-band image shows no significant emission coincident with the stellar emission of the host galaxy, but does reveal faint emission offset by ~3" (26 kpc) therefrom along a similar position angle to that of the radio jets, reminiscent of the `alignment effect' often seen in the optically luminous HzRGs. This offset g-band source is also detected in several UV emission lines, giving it a redshift of 1.609, with emission line flux ratios inconsistent with photoionization by young stars or an AGN, but consistent with ionization by fast shocks. Based on its unusual gas geometry, we argue that in 5C 7.245 we are witnessing a rare (or rarely observed) phase in the evolution of quasar hosts when stellar mass assembly, accretion onto the back hole, and powerful feedback activity has eradicated its cold gas from the central ~20 kpc, but is still in the process of cleansing cold gas from its extended halo.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA

Molecular Gas in Infrared Ultraluminous QSO Hosts

We report CO detections in 17 out of 19 infrared ultraluminous QSO (IR QSO) hosts observed with the IRAM 30m telescope. The cold molecular gas reservoir in these objects is in a range of 0.2--2.1$\times 10^{10}M_\odot$ (adopting a CO-to-${\rm H_2}$ conversion factor $\alpha_{\rm CO}=0.8 M_\odot {\rm (K km s^{-1} pc^2)^{-1}}$). We find that the molecular gas properties of IR QSOs, such as the molecular gas mass, star formation efficiency ($L_{\rm FIR}/L^\prime_{\rm CO}$) and the CO (1-0) line widths, are indistinguishable from those of local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). A comparison of low- and high-redshift CO detected QSOs reveals a tight correlation between L$_{\rm FIR}$ and $L^\prime_{\rm CO(1-0)}$ for all QSOs. This suggests that, similar to ULIRGs, the far-infrared emissions of all QSOs are mainly from dust heated by star formation rather than by active galactic nuclei (AGNs), confirming similar findings from mid-infrared spectroscopic observations by {\it Spitzer}. A correlation between the AGN-associated bolometric luminosities and the CO line luminosities suggests that star formation and AGNs draw from the same reservoir of gas and there is a link between star formation on $\sim$ kpc scale and the central black hole accretion process on much smaller scales.Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Familial psychosis associated with a missense mutation at MACF1 gene combined with the rare duplications DUP3p26.3 and DUP16q23.3, affecting the CNTN6 and CDH13 genes

[eng] Psychosis is a highly heritable and heterogeneous psychiatric condition. Its genetic architecture is thought to be the result of the joint effect of common and rare variants. Families with high prevalence are an interesting approach to shed light on the rare variant's contribution without the need of collecting large cohorts. To unravel the genomic architecture of a family enriched for psychosis, with four affected individuals, we applied a system genomic approach based on karyotyping, genotyping by whole-exome sequencing to search for rare single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and SNP array to search for copy-number variants (CNVs). We identified a rare non-synonymous variant, g.39914279 C > G, in the MACF1 gene, segregating with psychosis. Rare variants in the MACF1 gene have been previously detected in SCZ patients. Besides, two rare CNVs, DUP3p26.3 and DUP16q23.3, were also identified in the family affecting relevant genes (CNTN6 and CDH13, respectively). We hypothesize that the co-segregation of these duplications with the rare variant g.39914279 C > G of MACF1 gene precipitated with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder

The conserved ASTN2/BRINP1 locus at 9q33.133.2 is associated with major psychiatric disorders in a large pedigree from Southern Spain

[eng] We investigated the genetic causes of major mental disorders (MMDs) including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder I, major depressive disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, in a large family pedigree from Alpujarras, South of Spain, a region with high prevalence of psychotic disorders. We applied a systematic genomic approach based on karyotyping (n = 4), genotyping by genome-wide SNP array (n = 34) and whole-genome sequencing (n = 12). We performed genome-wide linkage analysis, family-based association analysis and polygenic risk score estimates. Significant linkage was obtained at chromosome 9 (9q33.1-33.2, LOD score = 4.11), a suggestive region that contains five candidate genes ASTN2, BRINP1, C5, TLR4 and TRIM32, previously associated with MMDs. Comprehensive analysis associated the MMD phenotype with genes of the immune system with dual brain functions. Moreover, the psychotic phenotype was enriched for genes involved in synapsis. These results should be considered once studying the genetics of psychiatric disorders in other families, especially the ones from the same region, since founder effects may be related to the high prevalence

Genomic evaluations with many more genotypes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genomic evaluations in Holstein dairy cattle have quickly become more reliable over the last two years in many countries as more animals have been genotyped for 50,000 markers. Evaluations can also include animals genotyped with more or fewer markers using new tools such as the 777,000 or 2,900 marker chips recently introduced for cattle. Gains from more markers can be predicted using simulation, whereas strategies to use fewer markers have been compared using subsets of actual genotypes. The overall cost of selection is reduced by genotyping most animals at less than the highest density and imputing their missing genotypes using haplotypes. Algorithms to combine different densities need to be efficient because numbers of genotyped animals and markers may continue to grow quickly.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Genotypes for 500,000 markers were simulated for the 33,414 Holsteins that had 50,000 marker genotypes in the North American database. Another 86,465 non-genotyped ancestors were included in the pedigree file, and linkage disequilibrium was generated directly in the base population. Mixed density datasets were created by keeping 50,000 (every tenth) of the markers for most animals. Missing genotypes were imputed using a combination of population haplotyping and pedigree haplotyping. Reliabilities of genomic evaluations using linear and nonlinear methods were compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Differing marker sets for a large population were combined with just a few hours of computation. About 95% of paternal alleles were determined correctly, and > 95% of missing genotypes were called correctly. Reliability of breeding values was already high (84.4%) with 50,000 simulated markers. The gain in reliability from increasing the number of markers to 500,000 was only 1.6%, but more than half of that gain resulted from genotyping just 1,406 young bulls at higher density. Linear genomic evaluations had reliabilities 1.5% lower than the nonlinear evaluations with 50,000 markers and 1.6% lower with 500,000 markers.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Methods to impute genotypes and compute genomic evaluations were affordable with many more markers. Reliabilities for individual animals can be modified to reflect success of imputation. Breeders can improve reliability at lower cost by combining marker densities to increase both the numbers of markers and animals included in genomic evaluation. Larger gains are expected from increasing the number of animals than the number of markers.</p

Bats in the anthropogenic matrix: Challenges and opportunities for the conservation of chiroptera and their ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes

Intensification in land-use and farming practices has had largely negative effects on bats, leading to population declines and concomitant losses of ecosystem services. Current trends in land-use change suggest that agricultural areas will further expand, while production systems may either experience further intensification (particularly in developing nations) or become more environmentally friendly (especially in Europe). In this chapter, we review the existing literature on how agricultural management affects the bat assemblages and the behavior of individual bat species, as well as the literature on provision of ecosystem services by bats (pest insect suppression and pollination) in agricultural systems. Bats show highly variable responses to habitat conversion, with no significant change in species richness or measures of activity or abundance. In contrast, intensification within agricultural systems (i.e., increased agrochemical inputs, reduction of natural structuring elements such as hedges, woods, and marshes) had more consistently negative effects on abundance and species richness. Agroforestry systems appear to mitigate negative consequences of habitat conversion and intensification, often having higher abundances and activity levels than natural areas. Across biomes, bats play key roles in limiting populations of arthropods by consuming various agricultural pests. In tropical areas, bats are key pollinators of several commercial fruit species. However, these substantial benefits may go unrecognized by farmers, who sometimes associate bats with ecosystem disservices such as crop raiding. Given the importance of bats for global food production, future agricultural management should focus on “wildlife-friendly” farming practices that allow more bats to exploit and persist in the anthropogenic matrix so as to enhance provision of ecosystem services. Pressing research topics include (1) a better understanding of how local-level versus landscape-level management practices interact to structure bat assemblages, (2) the effects of new pesticide classes and GM crops on bat populations, and (3) how increased documentation and valuation of the ecosystem services provided by bats could improve attitudes of producers toward their conservation

Lipid (per) oxidation in mitochondria:an emerging target in the ageing process?

Lipids are essential for physiological processes such as maintaining membrane integrity, providing a source of energy and acting as signalling molecules to control processes including cell proliferation, metabolism, inflammation and apoptosis. Disruption of lipid homeostasis can promote pathological changes that contribute towards biological ageing and age-related diseases. Several age-related diseases have been associated with altered lipid metabolism and an elevation in highly damaging lipid peroxidation products; the latter has been ascribed, at least in part, to mitochondrial dysfunction and elevated ROS formation. In addition, senescent cells, which are known to contribute significantly to age-related pathologies, are also associated with impaired mitochondrial function and changes in lipid metabolism. Therapeutic targeting of dysfunctional mitochondrial and pathological lipid metabolism is an emerging strategy for alleviating their negative impact during ageing and the progression to age-related diseases. Such therapies could include the use of drugs that prevent mitochondrial uncoupling, inhibit inflammatory lipid synthesis, modulate lipid transport or storage, reduce mitochondrial oxidative stress and eliminate senescent cells from tissues. In this review, we provide an overview of lipid structure and function, with emphasis on mitochondrial lipids and their potential for therapeutic targeting during ageing and age-related disease

A lambda = 1.3 mm and 2 mm molecular line survey towards M82

We study the chemical complexity towards the central parts of the starburst galaxy M82, and investigate the role of certain molecules as tracers of the physical processes in the galaxy circumnuclear region. We carried out a spectral line survey with the IRAM-30m telescope towards the northeastern molecular lobe of M82. It covers the frequency range between 129.8 GHz and 175.0 GHz in the 2 mm atmospheric window, and between 241.0 GHz and 260.0 GHz in the 1.3 mm atmospheric window. Sixty-nine spectral features corresponding to 18 different molecular species are identified. In addition, three hydrogen recombination lines are detected. The species NO, H2S, H2CS, NH2CN, and CH3CN are detected for the first time in this galaxy. Assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium, we determine the column densities of all the detected molecules. We also calculated upper limits to the column densities of fourteen other important, but undetected, molecules, such as SiO, HNCO, or OCS. We compare the chemical composition of the two starburst galaxies M82 and NGC253. This comparison enables us to establish the chemical differences between the products of the strong photon-dominated regions (PDRs) driving the heating in M82, and the large-scale shocks that influence the properties of the molecular clouds in the nucleus of NGC253. Overall, both sources have different chemical compositions. Some key molecules highlight the different physical processes dominating both central regions. Examples include CH3CCH, c-C3H2, or CO+, the abundances of which are clearly higher in M82 than in NGC253, pointing at photodissociating regions. On the other hand, species such as CH2NH, NS, SiO, and HOCO+ have abundances of up to one order of magnitude higher in NGC253 than in M82.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 19 pages, 8 figures, 3 table