Field-aligned currents in Saturn's magnetosphere: local time dependence of southern summer currents in the dawn sector between midnight and noon

We examine and compare the magnetic field perturbations associated with field-aligned ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling currents at Saturn, observed by the Cassini spacecraft during two sequences of highly inclined orbits in 2006/2007 and 2008 under late southern summer conditions. These sequences explore the southern currents in the dawn-noon and midnight sectors, respectively, thus allowing investigation of possible origins of the local time (LT) asymmetry in auroral Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) emissions, which peak in power at ~8 h LT in the dawn-noon sector. We first show that the dawn-noon field data generally have the same four-sheet current structure as found previously in the midnight data and that both are similarly modulated by “planetary period oscillation” (PPO) currents. We then separate the averaged PPO-independent (e.g., subcorotation) and PPO-related currents for both LT sectors by using the current system symmetry properties. Surprisingly, we find that the PPO-independent currents are essentially identical within uncertainties in the dawn-dusk and midnight sectors, thus providing no explanation for the LT dependence of the SKR emissions. The main PPO-related currents are, however, found to be slightly stronger and narrower in latitudinal width at dawn-noon than at midnight, leading to estimated precipitating electron powers, and hence emissions, that are on average a factor of ~1.3 larger at dawn-noon than at midnight, inadequate to account for the observed LT asymmetry in SKR power by a factor of ~2.7. Some other factors must also be involved, such as a LT asymmetry in the hot magnetospheric auroral source electron population

Field-aligned currents in Saturn's northern nightside magnetosphere: Evidence for interhemispheric current flow associated with planetary period oscillations

We investigate the magnetic perturbations associated with field-aligned currents observed on 34 Cassini passes over the premidnight northern auroral region during 2008. These are found to be significantly modulated not only by the northern planetary-period oscillation (PPO) system, similar to the southern currents by the southern PPO system found previously, but also by the southern PPO system as well, thus providing the first clear evidence of PPO-related interhemispheric current flow. The principal field-aligned currents of the two PPO systems are found to be co-located in northern ionospheric colatitude, together with the currents of the PPO-independent (subcorotation) system, located between the vicinity of the open-closed field boundary and field lines mapping to ~9 Saturn radius (Rs) in the equatorial plane. All three systems are of comparable magnitude, ~3 MA in each PPO half-cycle. Smaller PPO-related field-aligned currents of opposite polarity also flow in the interior region, mapping between ~6 and ~9 Rs in the equatorial plane, carrying a current of ~ ±2 MA per half-cycle, which significantly reduce the oscillation amplitudes in the interior region. Within this interior region the amplitudes of the northern and southern oscillations are found to fall continuously with distance along the field lines from the corresponding hemisphere, thus showing the presence of cross-field currents, with the southern oscillations being dominant in the south, and modestly lower in amplitude than the northern oscillations in the north. As in previous studies, no oscillations related to the opposite hemisphere are found on open field lines in either hemisphere

All-optical GeV electron bunch generation in a laser-plasma accelerator via truncated-channel injection.

We describe a simple scheme, truncated-channel injection, to inject electrons directly into the wakefield driven by a high-intensity laser pulse guided in an all-optical plasma channel. We use this approach to generate dark-current-free 1.2 GeV, 4.5% relative energy spread electron bunches with 120 TW laser pulses guided in a 110 mm-long hydrodynamic optical-field-ionized plasma channel. Our experiments and particle-in-cell simulations show that high-quality electron bunches were only obtained when the drive pulse was closely aligned with the channel axis, and was focused close to the density down ramp formed at the channel entrance. Start-to-end simulations of the channel formation, and electron injection and acceleration show that increasing the channel length to 410 mm would yield 3.65 GeV bunches, with a slice energy spread ∼5×10^{-4}

Signatures of field-aligned currents in Saturn's nightside magnetosphere

We report first results of a survey of near-simultaneous and near-conjugate magnetic field perturbations observed over Saturn's northern and southern nightside auroral regions on similar to 40 periapsis passes of the Cassini spacecraft during 2008. Structured azimuthal fields that are generally anti-symmetric north and south were observed at auroral latitudes on all passes, indicative of the signatures of field-aligned currents associated with magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Two basic field patterns are discerned. One is associated exclusively with 'lagging' fields on high-latitude field lines in both hemispheres, while the other includes a transition from 'lagging' to 'leading' fields with decreasing latitude in both hemispheres. The principal field-aligned currents are found to span the region of the open-closed field line boundary and the outer magnetosphere/ring current, with the region of upward current, potentially associated with ionospheric auroral emissions, usually being located on closed field lines just equatorward of the boundary

Glutamine addiction promotes glucose oxidation in triple-negative breast cancer

Glutamine is a conditionally essential nutrient for many cancer cells, but it remains unclear how consuming glutamine in excess of growth requirements confers greater fitness to glutamine-addicted cancers. By contrasting two breast cancer subtypes with distinct glutamine dependencies, we show that glutamine-indispensable triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells rely on a non-canonical glutamine-to-glutamate overflow, with glutamine carbon routed once through the TCA cycle. Importantly, this single-pass glutaminolysis increases TCA cycle fluxes and replenishes TCA cycle intermediates in TNBC cells, a process that achieves net oxidation of glucose but not glutamine. The coupling of glucose and glutamine catabolism appears hard-wired via a distinct TNBC gene expression profile biased to strip and then sequester glutamine nitrogen, but hampers the ability of TNBC cells to oxidise glucose when glutamine is limiting. Our results provide a new understanding of how metabolically rigid TNBC cells are sensitive to glutamine deprivation and a way to select vulnerable TNBC subtypes that may be responsive to metabolic-targeted therapies

Field-aligned currents in Saturn's southern nightside magnetosphere: Subcorotation and planetary period oscillation components

We investigate magnetic data showing the presence of field‐aligned magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling currents on 31 Cassini passes across Saturn's southern postmidnight auroral region. The currents are strongly modulated in magnitude, form, and position by the phase of the southern planetary period oscillations (PPOs). PPO‐independent currents are separated from PPO‐related currents using the antisymmetry of the latter with respect to PPO phase. PPO‐independent downward currents ~1.1 MA per radian of azimuth flow over the polar open field region indicative of significant plasma subcorotation are enhanced in an outer plasma sheet layer of elevated ionospheric conductivity carrying ~0.8 MA rad−1 and close principally in an upward directed current sheet at ~17°–19° ionospheric colatitude carrying ~2.3 MA rad−1 that maps to the outer hot plasma region in Saturn's magnetosphere (equatorial range ~11–16 Saturn radii (RS)) colocated with the UV oval. Subsidiary downward and upward currents ~0.5 MA rad−1 lie at ~19°–20.5° colatitude mapping to the inner hot plasma region, but no comparable currents are detected at larger colatitudes mapping to the cool plasma regime inside ~8 RS. PPO‐related currents at ~17.5°–20° colatitude overlap the main upward and subsidiary downward currents and carry comparable rotating upward and downward currents peaking at ~1.7 MA rad−1. The overall current layer colatitude is also modulated with 1° amplitude in the PPO cycle, maximum equatorward adjacent to the peak upward PPO current and maximum poleward adjacent to peak downward PPO current. This phasing requires the current system to be driven from the planetary atmosphere rather than directly from the magnetosphere

Giant phonon anomalies and central peak due to charge density wave formation in YBa2_2Cu3_3O6.6_{6.6}

The electron-phonon interaction is a major factor influencing the competition between collective instabilities in correlated-electron materials, but its role in driving high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains poorly understood. We have used high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering to monitor low-energy phonons in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ (superconducting $\bf T_c = 61$ K), which is close to a charge density wave (CDW) instability. Phonons in a narrow range of momentum space around the CDW ordering vector exhibit extremely large superconductivity-induced lineshape renormalizations. These results imply that the electron-phonon interaction has sufficient strength to generate various anomalies in electronic spectra, but does not contribute significantly to Cooper pairing. In addition, a quasi-elastic "central peak" due to CDW nanodomains is observed in a wide temperature range above and below $\bf T_c$, suggesting that the gradual onset of a spatially inhomogeneous CDW domain state with decreasing temperature is a generic feature of the underdoped cuprates

Cassini observations of planetary-period oscillations of Saturn's magnetopause

Examination of Cassini magnetic field and plasma data in the outer boundary regions of Saturn's magnetosphere shows that magnetopause oscillations at the planetary period commonly occur, in phase with plasma pressure variations inside the magnetosphere. The peak-to-trough amplitude of the boundary oscillations mapped to the planet-Sun line is estimated to be typically similar to 2 R-S, corresponding to a similar to 10% change in the boundary radius. The change in internal pressure required to produce such motions is estimated to be similar to 40% of the background values. A qualitative physical picture is proposed in which a compressive wave propagates outward through the sub-corotating outer magnetospheric plasma, originating from a corotating source in the nearer-planet region

Intra- and inter-individual genetic differences in gene expression

Genetic variation is known to influence the amount of mRNA produced by a gene. Given that the molecular machines control mRNA levels of multiple genes, we expect genetic variation in the components of these machines would influence multiple genes in a similar fashion. In this study we show that this assumption is correct by using correlation of mRNA levels measured independently in the brain, kidney or liver of multiple, genetically typed, mice strains to detect shared genetic influences. These correlating groups of genes (CGG) have collective properties that account for 40-90% of the variability of their constituent genes and in some cases, but not all, contain genes encoding functionally related proteins. Critically, we show that the genetic influences are essentially tissue specific and consequently the same genetic variations in the one animal may up-regulate a CGG in one tissue but down-regulate the same CGG in a second tissue. We further show similarly paradoxical behaviour of CGGs within the same tissues of different individuals. The implication of this study is that this class of genetic variation can result in complex inter- and intra-individual and tissue differences and that this will create substantial challenges to the investigation of phenotypic outcomes, particularly in humans where multiple tissues are not readily available.

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AXIOM: advanced X-ray imaging of the magnetosphere

Planetary plasma and magnetic field environments can be studied in two complementary ways—by in situ measurements, or by remote sensing. While the former provide precise information about plasma behaviour, instabilities and dynamics on local scales, the latter offers the global view necessary to understand the overall interaction of the magnetospheric plasma with the solar wind. Some parts of the Earth’s magnetosphere have been remotely sensed, but the majority remains unexplored by this type of measurements. Here we propose a novel and more elegant approach employing remote X-ray imaging techniques, which are now possible thanks to the relatively recent discovery of solar wind charge exchange X-ray emissions in the vicinity of the Earth’s magnetosphere. In this article we describe how an appropriately designed and located X-ray telescope, supported by simultaneous in situ measurements of the solar wind, can be used to image the dayside magnetosphere, magnetosheath and bow shock, with a temporal and spatial resolution sufficient to address several key outstanding questions concerning how the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetosphere on a global level. Global images of the dayside magnetospheric boundaries require vantage points well outside the magnetosphere. Our studies have led us to propose ‘AXIOM: Advanced X-ray Imaging of the Magnetosphere’, a concept mission using a Vega launcher with a LISA Pathfinder-type Propulsion Module to place the spacecraft in a Lissajous orbit around the Earth–Moon L1 point. The model payload consists of an X-ray Wide Field Imager, capable of both imaging and spectroscopy, and an in situ plasma and magnetic field measurement package. This package comprises a Proton-Alpha Sensor, designed to measure the bulk properties of the solar wind, an Ion Composition Analyser, to characterise the minor ion populations in the solar wind that cause charge exchange emission, and a Magnetometer, designed to measure the strength and direction of the solar wind magnetic field. We also show simulations that demonstrate how the proposed X-ray telescope design is capable of imaging the predicted emission from the dayside magnetosphere with the sensitivity and cadence required to achieve the science goals of the mission