4,496 research outputs found
The Cocoon Nebula and its ionizing star: do stellar and nebular abundances agree?
(Abridged) Main sequence massive stars embedded in an HII region should have
the same chemical abundances as the surrounding nebular gas+dust. The Cocoon
nebula, a close-by Galactic HII region ionized by a narrow line B0.5 V single
star (BD+46 3474), is an ideal target to perform a detailed comparison of
nebular and stellar abundances in the same Galactic HII region. We investigate
the chemical content of O, N and S in the Cocoon nebula from two different
points of view: an empirical analysis of the nebular spectrum and a detailed
spectroscopic analysis of its ionizing B-type star using state-of-the-art
stellar atmosphere modeling. By comparing the stellar and nebular abundances,
we aim to indirectly address the long-standing problem of the discrepancy found
between abundances obtained from collisionally excited lines (CELs) and optical
recombination lines in photoionized nebulae. We collect spatially resolved
spectroscopy of the Cocoon nebula and a high resolution optical spectrum of its
ionizing star. Standard nebular techniques are used to compute the physical
conditions and gaseous abundances of O, N and S. We perform a self-consistent
spectroscopic abundance analysis of BD+46 3474 based on the atmosphere code
FASTWIND to determine the stellar parameters and Si, O, and N abundances. The
Cocoon nebula and its ionizing star, located at a distance of 800+-80 pc, have
a very similar chemical composition as the Orion nebula and other B-type stars
in the solar vicinity. This result agrees with the high degree of homogeneity
of the present-day composition of the solar neighbourhood as derived from the
study of the local cold-gas ISM. The comparison of stellar and nebular CELs
abundances in the Cocoon nebula indicates that O and N gas+dust nebular values
are in better agreement with stellar ones assuming small temperature
fluctuations, of the order of those found in the Orion nebula.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 13 pages, 7 tables and 6 figure
Catalogue of the morphological features in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (SG)
A catalogue of the morphological features for the complete Spitzer Survey of
Stellar Structure in Galaxies (SG), including 2352 nearby galaxies, is
presented. The measurements are made using 3.6 m images, largely tracing
the old stellar population; at this wavelength the effects of dust are also
minimal. The measured features are the sizes, ellipticities, and orientations
of bars, rings, ringlenses, and lenses. Measured in a similar manner are also
barlenses (lens-like structures embedded in the bars), which are not lenses in
the usual sense, being rather the more face-on counterparts of the boxy/peanut
structures in the edge-on view. In addition, pitch angles of spiral arm
segments are measured for those galaxies where they can be reliably traced.
More than one pitch angle may appear for a single galaxy. All measurements are
made in a human-supervised manner so that attention is paid to each galaxy. We
used isophotal analysis, unsharp masking, and fitting ellipses to measured
structures. We find that the sizes of the inner rings and lenses normalized to
barlength correlate with the galaxy mass: the normalized sizes increase toward
the less massive galaxies; it has been suggested that this is related to the
larger dark matter content in the bar region in these systems. Bars in the low
mass galaxies are also less concentrated, likely to be connected to the mass
cut-off in the appearance of the nuclear rings and lenses. We also show
observational evidence that barlenses indeed form part of the bar, and that a
large fraction of the inner lenses in the non-barred galaxies could be former
barlenses in which the thin outer bar component has dissolved.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in A&
HuR biological function involves RRM3-mediated dimerization and RNA binding by all three RRMs
HuR/ELAVL1 is an RNA-binding protein involved in differentiation and stress response that acts primarily by stabilizing messenger RNA (mRNA) targets. HuR comprises three RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) where the structure and RNA binding of RRM3 and of full-length HuR remain poorly understood. Here, we report crystal structures of RRM3 free and bound to cognate RNAs. Our structural, NMR and biochemical data show that RRM3 mediates canonical RNA interactions and reveal molecular details of a dimerization interface localized on the α-helical face of RRM3. NMR and SAXS analyses indicate that the three RRMs in full-length HuR are flexibly connected in the absence of RNA, while they adopt a more compact arrangement when bound to RNA. Based on these data and crystal structures of tandem RRM1,2-RNA and our RRM3-RNA complexes, we present a structural model of RNA recognition involving all three RRM domains of full-length HuR. Mutational analysis demonstrates that RRM3 dimerization and RNA binding is required for functional activity of full-length HuR in vitro and to regulate target mRNAs levels in human cells, thus providing a fine-tuning for HuR activity in vivo.España, MINECO BFU2015-71017España, Junta de AndalucĂa CVI-BIO198; P11-CVI7216 to I.D.M
A Meiotic Checkpoint Alters Repair Partner Bias to Permit Inter-sister Repair of Persistent DSBs
Accurate meiotic chromosome segregation critically depends on the formation of inter-homolog crossovers initiated by double-strand breaks (DSBs). Inaccuracies in this process can drive aneuploidy and developmental defects, but how meiotic cells are protected from unscheduled DNA breaks remains unexplored. Here we define a checkpoint response to persistent meiotic DSBs in C. elegans that phosphorylates the synaptonemal complex (SC) to switch repair partner from the homolog to the sister chromatid. A key target of this response is the core SC component SYP-1, which is phosphorylated in response to ionizing radiation (IR) or unrepaired meiotic DSBs. Failure to phosphorylate (syp-16A) or dephosphorylate (syp-16D) SYP-1 in response to DNA damage results in chromosome non-dysjunction, hyper-sensitivity to IR-induced DSBs, and synthetic lethality with loss of brc-1BRCA1. Since BRC-1 is required for inter-sister repair, these observations reveal that checkpoint-dependent SYP-1 phosphorylation safeguards the germline against persistent meiotic DSBs by channelling repair to the sister chromatid.Cancer Research UK FC0010048UK Medical Research Council FC0010048Wellcome Trust FC0010048Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad BFU2016-75058-PEuropean Research Council ERC2014 AdG669898 TARLOO
Statistical analysis of Ni nanowires breaking processes: a numerical simulation study
A statistical analysis of the breaking behavior of Ni nanowires is presented.
Using molecular dynamic simulations, we have determined the time evolution of
both the nanowire atomic structure and its minimum cross section (Sm(t)).
Accumulating thousands of independent breaking events, Sm histograms are built
and used to study the influence of the temperature, the crystalline stretching
direction and the initial nanowire size. The proportion of monomers, dimers and
more complex structures at the latest stages of the breaking process are
calculated, finding important differences among results obtained for different
nanowire orientations and sizes. Three main cases have been observed. (A) [111]
stretching direction and large nanowire sizes: the wire evolves from more
complex structures to monomers and dimers prior its rupture; well ordered
structures is presented during the breaking process. (B) Large nanowires
stretched along the [100] and [110] directions: the system mainly breaks from
complex structures (low probability of finding monomers and dimers), having
disordered regions during their breakage; at room temperature, a huge histogram
peak around Sm=5 appears, showing the presence of long staggered pentagonal Ni
wires with ...-5-1-5-... structure. (C) Initial wire size is small: strong size
effects independently on the temperature and stretching direction. Finally, the
local structure around monomers and dimmers do not depend on the stretching
direction. These configurations differ from those usually chosen in static
studies of conductance.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
DiagnĂłstico geoecolĂłgico como base para el ordenamiento de un territorio: Parque Metropolitano de La Habana
The development of the cities decrease the potencial of green areas. The population require that spaces for its amusement and recreation and also in order to be evident the esthetics and natural values. These aspects will be considered in the planning and management of those places that still keep environment value. According with those ideas the public administration of the city put up the Metropolitan Park of Habana. Its territory had been divided into units of landscape and studied by some gauges or index which allowed to establish the geoecological diagnostic of the territory and to program measures for its planning.El crecimiento de las ciudades reduce el potencial de espacios verdes en ellas, por lo que la demanda de espacios de uso recreativo, con tendencia a resaltar los valores naturales y estéticos, deben ser considerados en la planificación y gestión de aquellos lugares que aun conserven un valor ambiental. Teniendo en cuenta esas premisas, se crea el Parque Mletroplitano de La Habana, en el que se elabora una zonificación basada en un mapa de unidades de paisaje que son analizadas mediante indicadores que permiten establecer el diagnóstico geoecológico de todo el territorio, y programar medidas para su ordenamiento
First observation of the cosmic ray shadow of the Moon and the Sun with KM3NeT/ORCA
This article reports the first observation of the Moon and the Sun shadows in the sky distribution of cosmic-ray induced muons measured by the KM3NeT/ORCA detector. The analysed data-taking period spans from February 2020 to November 2021, when the detector had 6 Detection Units deployed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, each composed of 18 Digital Optical Modules. The shadows induced by the Moon and the Sun were detected at their nominal position with a statistical significance of 4.2
and 6.2
, and an angular resolution of
and
, respectively, consistent with the prediction of
from simulations. This early result confirms the effectiveness of the detector calibration, in time, position and orientation and the accuracy of the event direction reconstruction. This also demonstrates the performance and the competitiveness of the detector in terms of pointing accuracy and angular resolution.Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) ANR-15-CE31-0020Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)Commission Europeenne (FEDER fund), FranceMarie Curie Actions
European Union (EU)Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), FranceLabEx UnivEarthS, France ANR-10-LABX-0023
ANR-18-IDEX-0001Paris ile-de-France Region, FranceGerman Research Foundation (DFG)Greek Ministry of Development-GSRTIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Ministero dell'Universita e della Ricerca (MIUR), PRIN 2017 program Italy NAT-NET 2017W4HA7SMinistry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation, MoroccoArab Fund for Economic and Social DevelopmentNetherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
Netherlands GovernmentNational Science Centre, PolandNational Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS), RomaniaMCIN/AEI PID2021-124591NB-C41
PID2021-124591NB-C42
PID2021-124591NB-C43ERDF A way of making EuropeEuropean Union (EU)Center for Forestry Research & Experimentation (CIEF) ASFAE/2022/023
ASFAE/2022/014Programa Prometeo of the Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEO/2020/019GenT of the Generalitat Valenciana CIDEGENT/2018/034
CIDEGENT/2019/043
CIDEGENT/2020/049
CIDEGENT/2021/23Junta de Andalucia SOMM17/6104/UGR
P18-FR-5057EU: MSC program 101025085Programa Maria Zambrano (Spanish Ministry of Universities - European Union, NextGenerationEU), Spai
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