Non-adiabatic pulsations in ESTER models

One of the greatest challenges in interpreting the pulsations of rapidly rotating stars is mode identification, i.e. correctly matching theoretical modes to observed pulsation frequencies. Indeed, the latest observations as well as current theoretical results show the complexity of pulsation spectra in such stars, and the lack of easily recognisable patterns. In the present contribution, the latest results on non-adiabatic effects in such pulsations are described, and we show how these come into play when identifying modes. These calculations fully take into account the effects of rapid rotation, including centrifugal distortion, and are based on models from the ESTER project, currently the only rapidly rotating models in which the energy conservation equation is satisfied, a prerequisite for calculating non-adiabatic effects. Non-adiabatic effects determine which modes are excited and play a key role in the near-surface pulsation-induced temperature variations which intervene in multi-colour amplitude ratios and phase differences, as well as line profile variations.Comment: Proceedings for the Joint TASC2 & KASC9 Workshop, Terceira, Azores, 201

Stellar acoustic radii, mean densities and ages from seismic inversion techniques

Context. Determining stellar characteristics such as the radius, the mass or the age is crucial when studying stellar evolution, exoplanetary systems or characterising stellar populations in the Galaxy. Asteroseismology is the golden path to accurately obtain these characteristics. In this context, a key question is how to make these methods less model-dependant. Aims. Building on the work of Reese et al. (2012), we wish to extend the SOLA inversion technique to new stellar global characteristics in addition to the mean density. The goal is to provide a general framework in which to estimate these characteristics as accurately as possible in low mass main sequence stars. Methods. First, we describe our framework and discuss the reliability of the inversion technique and the possible sources of error.We then apply this methodology to the acoustic radius, an age indicator based on the sound speed derivative and the mean density and compare it to estimates based on the average large and small frequency separations. These inversions are carried out for several test cases which include: various metallicities, different mixing-lengths, non-adiabatic effects and turbulent pressure. Results. We observe that the SOLA method yields accurate results in all test cases whereas results based on the large and small frequency separations are less accurate and more sensitive to surface effects and structural differences in the models. If we include the surface corrections of Kjeldsen et al. (2008), we obtain results of comparable accuracy for the mean density. Overall, the mean density and acoustic radius inversions are more robust than the inversions for the age indicator. Moreover, the current approach is limited to relatively young stars with radiative cores. Increasing the number of observed frequencies improves the reliability and accuracy of the method

The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2024: phenotypes around the world.

The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used resource that comprehensively organizes and defines the phenotypic features of human disease, enabling computational inference and supporting genomic and phenotypic analyses through semantic similarity and machine learning algorithms. The HPO has widespread applications in clinical diagnostics and translational research, including genomic diagnostics, gene-disease discovery, and cohort analytics. In recent years, groups around the world have developed translations of the HPO from English to other languages, and the HPO browser has been internationalized, allowing users to view HPO term labels and in many cases synonyms and definitions in ten languages in addition to English. Since our last report, a total of 2239 new HPO terms and 49235 new HPO annotations were developed, many in collaboration with external groups in the fields of psychiatry, arthrogryposis, immunology and cardiology. The Medical Action Ontology (MAxO) is a new effort to model treatments and other measures taken for clinical management. Finally, the HPO consortium is contributing to efforts to integrate the HPO and the GA4GH Phenopacket Schema into electronic health records (EHRs) with the goal of more standardized and computable integration of rare disease data in EHRs

Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior.

The genetic architecture of human reproductive behavior-age at first birth (AFB) and number of children ever born (NEB)-has a strong relationship with fitness, human development, infertility and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, very few genetic loci have been identified, and the underlying mechanisms of AFB and NEB are poorly understood. We report a large genome-wide association study of both sexes including 251,151 individuals for AFB and 343,072 individuals for NEB. We identified 12 independent loci that are significantly associated with AFB and/or NEB in a SNP-based genome-wide association study and 4 additional loci associated in a gene-based effort. These loci harbor genes that are likely to have a role, either directly or by affecting non-local gene expression, in human reproduction and infertility, thereby increasing understanding of these complex traits

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Fast rotation and acoustic modes

International audienceIn this contribution, we describe recent progress in modelling acoustic pulsations of rapidly rotating stars. We then go on to describe very recent attempts at interpreting pulsation spectra in two observed stars. These make use of multi-colour mode visibilities, mode excitation, and pulsation frequencies in order to con-strain the identification of the observed modes

Fast rotation and acoustic modes

International audienceIn this contribution, we describe recent progress in modelling acoustic pulsations of rapidly rotating stars. We then go on to describe very recent attempts at interpreting pulsation spectra in two observed stars. These make use of multi-colour mode visibilities, mode excitation, and pulsation frequencies in order to con-strain the identification of the observed modes

Stellar acoustic radii and ages from seismic inversion techniques

Context: Determining stellar characteristics such as the radius, mass or age is crucial for the study of stellar evolution, exoplanetary systems or the characterisation of stellar populations in the Galaxy. Asteroseismology is currently the most promising tool to accurately determine these characteristics. However, a key question is how to reduce the model dependence of asteroseismic methods. Method: We extend the SOLA inversion technique to new global characteristics in addition to the mean density (see Reese et al. 2012). We apply our methodology to the acoustic radius and an age indicator based on the sound speed derivative. The results from SOLA inversions are compared with estimates based on the small and large frequency separations for several test cases, including differing mixing-lengths, and the presence or absence of non-adiabatic effects or turbulent pressure. Results: We show that SOLA inversions yield accurate results in all test cases, unlike the other techniques which are more sensitive to surface effects. We observe that the acoustic radius and mean density inversions are more robust than the age indicator inversions, which are limited to relatively young stars with radiative cores

Constraining mixing processes in 16CygA using Kepler data and seismic inversion techniques

Constraining additional mixing processes is a central problem in stellar physics. Indeed, their impact on determined stellar ages is non-negligible and thus strongly affects our studies of stellar evolution, galactic history, and exoplanetary systems. However, the quality of the Kepler data allows us to use new seismic tools to constrain these processes. In this talk, we will show a particularly efficient method for constraining chemical mixing in stellar interiors using custom-made structural integrated quantities. These quantities are designed to probe particular regions of the stellar interior and are estimated via the SOLA inversion method (Pijpers and Thompson 1994). They help us determine the values of parameters describing extra mixing processes. Inversions of such quantities have been originally described for the mean density in Reese et al. (2012) and have been extended to the acoustic radius and a first indicator of core conditions in Buldgen et al. (2015). A more efficient indicator for core conditions has now been derived and successfully tested using test cases similar to the 16Cyg binary system (Buldgen et al. in prep.). In this talk, we will show how our technique applies to the system 16Cyg and constrains additional mixing processes using the above structural indicators. Additional indicators and further studies will lead to seismically constrained chemical profiles for stars observed by Kepler, thereby helping us to disentangle the problem of additional mixing processes and ultimately to provide better stellar ages