PEPSI deep spectra. III. A chemical analysis of the ancient planet-host star Kepler-444

We obtained an LBT/PEPSI spectrum with very high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the K0V host Kepler-444, which is known to host 5 sub-Earth size rocky planets. The spectrum has a resolution of R=250,000, a continuous wavelength coverage from 4230 to 9120A, and S/N between 150 and 550:1 (blue to red). We performed a detailed chemical analysis to determine the photospheric abundances of 18 chemical elements, in order to use the abundances to place constraints on the bulk composition of the five rocky planets. Our spectral analysis employs the equivalent width method for most of our spectral lines, but we used spectral synthesis to fit a small number of lines that require special care. In both cases, we derived our abundances using the MOOG spectral analysis package and Kurucz model atmospheres. We find no correlation between elemental abundance and condensation temperature among the refractory elements. In addition, using our spectroscopic stellar parameters and isochrone fitting, we find an age of 10+/-1.5 Gyr, which is consistent with the asteroseismic age of 11+/-1 Gyr. Finally, from the photospheric abundances of Mg, Si, and Fe, we estimate that the typical Fe-core mass fraction for the rocky planets in the Kepler-444 system is approximately 24 per cent. If our estimate of the Fe-core mass fraction is confirmed by more detailed modeling of the disk chemistry and simulations of planet formation and evolution in the Kepler-444 system, then this would suggest that rocky planets in more metal-poor and alpha-enhanced systems may tend to be less dense than their counterparts of comparable size in more metal-rich systems.Comment: in press, 11 pages, 3 figures, data available from pepsi.aip.d

Investigation of warm fog properties and fog modification concepts

Warm fog seeding to determine potential of various sized and unsized hygroscopic chemicals for fog dissipatio

Coordinating Hydrologic and Legal Systems for Groundwater Management

A procedure is presented for developing a hydrologically and legally feasible groundwater management strategy for an area in a reasonable use state. Characteristics of the strategy are: Sustained yield, and drought and litigation protection

Water for the 21st Century, Will it Be There?

One of Arkansas\u27 major water management goals is to provide adequate water for agriculture, the economic mainstay of the state. Effective water management requires inputs from engineering, economics, law, administration, and environmental concern, all in a matrix of public education, participation and communications. Groundwater levels in eastern Arkansas have been dropping for decades as irrigation for rice, other row crops, and fish farming have increased substantially. Additional surface water supplies are available from the adjacent rivers but there are competition, conflict of use, and jurisdictional problems involved. A critical path sequence chart was designed to include all the research steps necessary to accomplish the goal of assuring adequate agricultural water. The paper discusses each of the steps involved, the status of research on each step, its source of funding, and how it will be used

Tracking the evolution of alternatively spliced exons within the Dscam family

BACKGROUND: The Dscam gene in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, contains twenty-four exons, four of which are composed of tandem arrays that each undergo mutually exclusive alternative splicing (4, 6, 9 and 17), potentially generating 38,016 protein isoforms. This degree of transcript diversity has not been found in mammalian homologs of Dscam. We examined the molecular evolution of exons within this gene family to locate the point of divergence for this alternative splicing pattern. RESULTS: Using the fruit fly Dscam exons 4, 6, 9 and 17 as seed sequences, we iteratively searched sixteen genomes for homologs, and then performed phylogenetic analyses of the resulting sequences to examine their evolutionary history. We found homologs in the nematode, arthropod and vertebrate genomes, including homologs in several vertebrates where Dscam had not been previously annotated. Among these, only the arthropods contain homologs arranged in tandem arrays indicative of mutually exclusive splicing. We found no homologs to these exons within the Arabidopsis, yeast, tunicate or sea urchin genomes but homologs to several constitutive exons from fly Dscam were present within tunicate and sea urchin. Comparing the rate of turnover within the tandem arrays of the insect taxa (fruit fly, mosquito and honeybee), we found the variants within exons 4 and 17 are well conserved in number and spatial arrangement despite 248–283 million years of divergence. In contrast, the variants within exons 6 and 9 have undergone considerable turnover since these taxa diverged, as indicated by deeply branching taxon-specific lineages. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that at least one Dscam exon array may be an ancient duplication that predates the divergence of deuterostomes from protostomes but that there is no evidence for the presence of arrays in the common ancestor of vertebrates. The different patterns of conservation and turnover among the Dscam exon arrays provide a striking example of how a gene can evolve in a modular fashion rather than as a single unit

Generational Differences in Information Technology Use and Political Involvement

A structural equation model analysis of data from a 2003 national random sample survey (n = 478) on informational technology (IT) reveals important direct and indirect effects of generational demographic and attitudinal differences on electronic forms of political participation. Younger respondents reported more support for IT and fewer technological disadvantages compared to older respondents. Younger respondents showed more desire for public IT availability and e-political participation, whereas older respondents preferred traditional electoral involvement. The more educated held more favorable views of IT generally and of public IT access more specifically. Bettereducated respondents were more active civically in both traditional and electronic forms of participation. Supportive technological views led to greater e-political participation and stronger interest in e-elections. Respondents with less concern and fear about IT were more likely to act as digital citizens and were more involved in epolitics and e-elections. Proponents of public IT access were more supportive of eelections. Our model suggests that e-citizenry will compound existing social divisions, as non-electronic voices are marginalized and electronic voices are amplified

Coherent Patterning of Matter Waves with Subwavelength Localization

We propose the Subwavelength Localization via Adiabatic Passage (SLAP) technique to coherently achieve state-selective patterning of matter waves well beyond the diffraction limit. The SLAP technique consists in coupling two partially overlapping and spatially structured laser fields to three internal levels of the matter wave yielding state-selective localization at those positions where the adiabatic passage process does not occur. We show that by means of this technique matter wave localization down to the single nanometer scale can be achieved. We analyze in detail the potential implementation of the SLAP technique for nano-lithography with an atomic beam of metastable Ne* and for coherent patterning of a two-component 87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure