Dynamics and nucleation of dislocations in crystals

Hydrogen-poor superluminous supernovae (SLSNe-I) have been predominantly found in low-metallicity, star-forming dwarf galaxies. Here we identify Gaia17biu/SN 2017egm as an SLSN-I occurring in a "normal" spiral galaxy (NGC 3191) in terms of stellar mass (several times 10^10 M_sun) and metallicity (roughly Solar). At redshift z=0.031, Gaia17biu is also the lowest redshift SLSN-I to date, and the absence of a larger population of SLSNe-I in dwarf galaxies of similar redshift suggests that metallicity is likely less important to the production of SLSNe-I than previously believed. With the smallest distance and highest apparent brightness for an SLSN-I, we are able to study Gaia17biu in unprecedented detail. Its pre-peak near-ultraviolet to optical color is similar to that of Gaia16apd and among the bluest observed for an SLSN-I while its peak luminosity (M_g = -21 mag) is substantially lower than Gaia16apd. Thanks to the high signal-to-noise ratios of our spectra, we identify several new spectroscopic features that may help to probe the properties of these enigmatic explosions. We detect polarization at the ~0.5% level that is not strongly dependent on wavelength, suggesting a modest, global departure from spherical symmetry. In addition, we put the tightest upper limit yet on the radio luminosity of an SLSN-I with <5.4x10^26 erg/s/Hz (at 10 GHz), which is almost a factor of 40 better than previous upper limits and one of the few measured at an early stage in the evolution of an SLSN-I. This limit largely rules out an association of this SLSNe-I with known populations of gamma-ray burst (GRB) like central engines.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. Ancillary ASCII tables added: TRL.txt -- blackbody temperature, radius and luminosity; uvw2uvm2uvw1uvu.txt -- UV photometry; BgVri.txt -- optical photometry; zJHK.txt -- NIR photometr

Comparing non‐tidal ocean loading around the southern North Sea with subdaily GPS/GLONASS data

Observing subdaily surface deformations is important to the interpretation of rapidly developing transient events. However, it is not known whether GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) is able to identify millimeter‐level transient displacements over various subdaily timescales. We studied non‐tidal ocean loading (NTOL) using 18 GNSS stations along the southern North Sea for November–December 2013, and compared 3‐hourly GPS/GLONASS displacements with NTOL predictions. It was found that they overall agreed well with a mean correlation coefficient of 0.6 and their vertical differences had an RMS of 5.7 mm, but a 10‐mm subsidence prediction for December 5th could only be marginally detected. Hence the spatial coherence among the loading signatures at the 18 stations was harnessed to improve subdaily GNSS, and then the predicted displacements of 5–10‐mm over the subdaily timescales could be discriminated successfully. We envision that adding Galileo/BeiDou signals to GPS/GLONASS can further improve the resolution of subdaily GNSS, which can also enhance the spatial coherence of transient signals captured by regional GNSS stations

Open-Label Extension of a Randomized Trial Investigating Safety and Efficacy of rhPTH(1-84) in Hypoparathyroidism

Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is a rare disease, often inadequately controlled by conventional treatment. PARALLAX was a mandatory post-marketing trial assessing pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of different dosing regimens of recombinant human parathyroid hormone 1-84 (rhPTH[1-84]) for treating HypoPT. The present study (NCT03364738) was a phase 4, 1-yr open-label extension of PARALLAX. Patients received only 2 doses of rhPTH(1-84) in PARALLAX and were considered treatment-naive at the start of the current study. rhPTH(1-84) was initiated at 50 μg once daily, with doses adjusted based on albumin-corrected serum calcium levels. Albumin-corrected serum calcium (primary outcome measure), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), adverse events, and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) were assessed. The mean age of the 22 patients included was 50.0 yr; 81.8% were women, and 90.9% were White. By the end of treatment (EOT), 95.5% of patients had albumin-corrected serum calcium values in the protocol-defined range of 1.88 mmol/L to the upper limit of normal. Serum phosphorus was within the healthy range, and albumin-corrected serum calcium-phosphorus product was below the upper healthy limit throughout, while mean 24-h urine calcium excretion decreased from baseline to EOT. Mean supplemental doses of calcium and active vitamin D were reduced from baseline to EOT (2402-855 mg/d and 0.8-0.2 μg/d, respectively). Mean serum bone turnover markers, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, procollagen type I N-terminal propeptide, and type I collagen C-telopeptide increased 2-5 fold from baseline to EOT. The HCRU, disease-related symptoms and impact on HRQoL improved numerically between baseline and EOT. Nine patients (40.9%) experienced treatment-related adverse events; no deaths were reported. Treatment with rhPTH(1-84) once daily for 1 yr improved HRQoL, maintained eucalcemia in 95% of patients, normalized serum phosphorus, and decreased urine calcium excretion. The effects observed on urine calcium and the safety profile are consistent with previous findings. CLINICAL TRIAL IDENTIFIER: NCT03364738

The First Data Release of CNIa0.02 -- A Complete Nearby (Redshift <0.02) Sample of Type Ia Supernova Light Curves

The CNIa0.02 is a complete, nearby sample of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) multiband light curves, and it is volume-limited with host-galaxy redshift z_host<0.02. The scientific goal of CNIa0.02 is to infer the distributions of key properties (e.g., the luminosity function) of local SNe Ia in a complete and unbiased fashion in order to study SN explosion physics. We spectroscopically classify any SN candidate detected (discovered or recovered) by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) that reaches peak brightness <16.5 mag. Since ASAS-SN scans the full sky and does not target specific galaxies, the sample is effectively unbiased by host-galaxy properties. We obtain multiband photometric observations starting from the time of discovery. In the first data release (DR1), we present the optical light curves obtained for 240 SNe (including 182 with multiband data), and we derive parameters such as the peak fluxes and dm15.Comment: to be submitte

A Linear Relation between the Color Stretch sBV and the Rising Color Slope s0*(B−V) of Type Ia Supernovae

Using data from the Complete Nearby (redshift zhost B − V color curves of Type Ia supernovae: the color stretch sBV and the rising color slope  after the peak, and this relation applies to the full range of sBV. The sBV parameter is known to be tightly correlated with the peak luminosity, especially for fast decliners (dim Type Ia supernovae), and the luminosity correlation with sBV is markedly better than with the classic light-curve width parameters such as Δm15(B). Thus, our new linear relation can be used to infer peak luminosity from . Unlike sBV (or Δm15(B)), the measurement of  does not rely on a well-determined time of light-curve peak or color maximum, making it less demanding on the light-curve coverage than past approaches.</p

Chinese and Italian cities “at work” on memory and imagination

This book is born from the will to undertake a joint research path on the general theme of transformation and renewal of urban contexts, deepening the case of historical Chinese and Italian cities. The research collected case studies and theoretical elaborations, focusing on the Chinese city of Shanghai and Chongqing and other Italian urban realities, filtering contents around thematic nodes such as memory, narration and reflection on new urban models. In particular, the initial idea emerged from shared reflections between Chinese and Italian scientific professors responsible for international agreements established between the Department of Architecture and the Design of Sapienza University of Rome and Chinese remarkable institutions. Indeed, the present research, promoted and directed by Dina Nencini, was joined by Anna Irene Del Monaco of Sapienza and Shaoming Lu of Shanghai Jiaotong University. All they, in turn, have involved other scholars already engaged in their previous and current studies on akin research issues and active in teaching and researching at University of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tsinghua University in Beijing, University of Chongqing, University of Naples Federico II, IUAV University of Venice and Polytechnic of Milan. The book directly and indirectly draws on a series of questions about the “memory work” walking a theoretical path which has a relevant milestone in Lieu de memorie (Pierre Nora 1984) and the 1996 Trienniale di Milano entitled “Identità, differenze: Triennale di Milano, XIX Esposizione internazionale: integrazione e pluralità nelle forme del nostro tempo: le culture tra effimero e duraturo” (Identity, Differences: Triennale of Milan, XIX International Exposition: Integration and plurality in the forms of our time: cultures between ephemeral and enduring). Particularly, the exhibition was conceived within the framework of a conceptual pendulum, the postmodernism of Jean-François Lyotard’s wishing to leave universal values and the Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutic narrative, in bringing towards the mimesis the three following categories: prefiguration, configuration, reflection.1 And observing that “The inhabitant, like the reader, welcomes the building with its expectations, resistances and controversies”. Ricoeur’s interests are concentrated also on the concepts of architecture and narratives supporting also the idea that “to design architecture is like to work with memory since a built space is a condensed time.”2 Then, along the almost twenty-years-long conceptual path, the “memory work” in architecture has developed from removing modernity to absorbing modernity. The latest one, absorbing modernity, was the conceptual approach proposed by Cino Zucchi in the Italian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale of 2014 entitled “Innesti/Grafting”. Therefore, within a kaleidoscopic framework, the book highlights differences and analogies on seven emerging issues grounded on the research work of Italian and Chinese scholars combined in pairs. Providing evidence of the comparative methodological approach is the most original purpose this volume intends to pursue. Also because it reveals the different challenges and possible overlapping areas of interests within two different architectural and urban cultural domain. Hence, the book collects essays by Chinese and Italian scholars in pair, as it is evident in the index structure, endowing analogies and complementarities, and bringing together theoretical studies and on-field case studies