Resonance breaking due to dissipation in planar planetary systems

We study the evolution of two planets around a star, in mean-motion resonance and undergoing tidal effect. We derive an integrable analytical model of mean-motion resonances of any order which reproduce the main features of the resonant dynamics. Using this simplified model, we obtain a criterion showing that depending on the balance of the tidal dissipation in both planets, their final period ratio may stay at the resonant value, increase above, or decrease below the resonant value. Applying this criterion to the two inner planets orbiting GJ163, we deduce that the current period ratio (2.97) could be the outcome of dissipation in the 3:1 MMR provided that the innermost planet is gaseous (slow dissipation) while the second one is rocky (faster dissipation). We perform N-body simulations with tidal dissipation to confirm the results of our analytical model. We also apply our criterion on GJ581b, c (5:2 MMR) and reproduce the current period ratio (2.4) if the inner planet is gaseous and the outer is rocky (as for GJ163). Finally, we apply our model to the Kepler mission's statistics. We show that the excess of planets pairs close to first order MMR but in external circulation, i.e., with period ratios P_out/P_in > (p+1)/p for the resonance (p+1):p, can be reproduced by tidal dissipation in the inner planet. There is no need for any other dissipative mechanism, provided that these systems left the resonance with non-negligible eccentricities.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, submitted for publicatio

Discovery of meteorites on a blue-ice field near the Frontier Mountains, North Victoria Land, Antarctica

A high concentration of meteorites were discovered on a blue ice field northeast of the Frontier Mountains. As a result of a systematic search, a total of 42 meteorites were recovered. The current glacial situation has evolved through various stages, which are discussed in relationship to the concentration of meteorites. Ice flow patterns are summarized. The chemical composition and terrestrial ages of the meteorites are discussed

Establishing the facts: Conrad Gessner's epistolae medicinales between the particular and the general.

A town physician in Zurich, famous for his Historia Animalium and his Bibliotheca universalis, Conrad Gessner (1516-1565) was also an indefatigable letter-writer who left an abundant, though largely unpublished and unexplored, correspondence. In this dissertation, I examine his printed and manuscript letters and attempt to show how sixteenth-century epistolary practices shaped early modern knowledge of nature and of medicine. Letter writing and letter-reading represented a central part of early modern scholarly life, one of the means of self-presentation scholars had at their disposal in order to confirm their belonging to the Republic of Letters. This membership was reinforced by a constant flow of exchange of natural artefacts, books, and remedies. But letters did not merely circulate objects: their essential material was news. Medical letters were an important aspect of Gessner's medical practice. Patients and colleagues wrote to ask for epistolary consultations and tell their own case stories, providing him with fuel and experience to share in the exchange of particulars, and with questions he could circulate within the learned community. Standardised into historiae, information was submitted to the consensus of the correspondents' own networks and consolidated into generally agreed facts, capable of becoming the foundation for generalisation. Letters, however, did not cease to exist once their role in the epistolary dialogue was finished: they remained, very materially, among Gessner's notes and bookshelves. He incorporated them in his treatises, or cut and pasted them into his own collections of medical writings. Later, they were collected by his heirs, and turned into a published selection of Medical letters that constituted both a memorial to their master and a monument of knowledge made out of matters of fact, the essential content of early modern knowledge

At-risk serum cholesterol profile at both ends of the nutrition spectrum in West African adults? The Benin study

Low HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), using as cut-offs 1.03 mmol/L in men and 1.29 mmol/L in women, was observed in more than 25% apparently healthy adults (n = 541) in a cross-sectional study on nutrition transition and cardiometabolic risk factors (CMRF) in Benin, West Africa. Both overweight/obesity (35.3%) and underweight (11.3%) were present, displaying the double burden of malnutrition. We examined in more depth the association of low HDL-C with nutrition and with other CMRF. Metabolic syndrome components were assessed, plus the ratio of total cholesterol (TC)/HDL-C and serum homocysteine. Insulin resistance was based on Homeostasis Model Assessment. We also measured BMI and body composition by bio-impedance. Dietary quality was appraised with two non-consecutive 24 h recalls. Low HDL-C was associated with much higher TC/HDL-C and more abdominal obesity in men and women and with more insulin resistance in women. The rate of low HDL-C was highest (41.9%) among the overweight/obese subjects (BMI ≥ 25), but it also reached 31.1% among the underweight (BMI < 18.5), compared with 17.3% among normal-weight subjects (p < 0.001). Lower dietary micronutrient adequacy, in particular, in vitamins A, B3, B12, zinc and calcium, was associated with low HDL-C when controlling for several confounders. This suggests that at-risk lipoprotein cholesterol may be associated with either underweight or overweight/obesity and with poor micronutrient intake

Improving Assessment of Drug Safety Through Proteomics: Early Detection and Mechanistic Characterization of the Unforeseen Harmful Effects of Torcetrapib.

BackgroundEarly detection of adverse effects of novel therapies and understanding of their mechanisms could improve the safety and efficiency of drug development. We have retrospectively applied large-scale proteomics to blood samples from ILLUMINATE (Investigation of Lipid Level Management to Understand its Impact in Atherosclerotic Events), a trial of torcetrapib (a cholesterol ester transfer protein inhibitor), that involved 15 067 participants at high cardiovascular risk. ILLUMINATE was terminated at a median of 550 days because of significant absolute increases of 1.2% in cardiovascular events and 0.4% in mortality with torcetrapib. The aims of our analysis were to determine whether a proteomic analysis might reveal biological mechanisms responsible for these harmful effects and whether harmful effects of torcetrapib could have been detected early in the ILLUMINATE trial with proteomics.MethodsA nested case-control analysis of paired plasma samples at baseline and at 3 months was performed in 249 participants assigned to torcetrapib plus atorvastatin and 223 participants assigned to atorvastatin only. Within each treatment arm, cases with events were matched to controls 1:1. Main outcomes were a survey of 1129 proteins for discovery of biological pathways altered by torcetrapib and a 9-protein risk score validated to predict myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure, or death.ResultsPlasma concentrations of 200 proteins changed significantly with torcetrapib. Their pathway analysis revealed unexpected and widespread changes in immune and inflammatory functions, as well as changes in endocrine systems, including in aldosterone function and glycemic control. At baseline, 9-protein risk scores were similar in the 2 treatment arms and higher in participants with subsequent events. At 3 months, the absolute 9-protein derived risk increased in the torcetrapib plus atorvastatin arm compared with the atorvastatin-only arm by 1.08% (P=0.0004). Thirty-seven proteins changed in the direction of increased risk of 49 proteins previously associated with cardiovascular and mortality risk.ConclusionsHeretofore unknown effects of torcetrapib were revealed in immune and inflammatory functions. A protein-based risk score predicted harm from torcetrapib within just 3 months. A protein-based risk assessment embedded within a large proteomic survey may prove to be useful in the evaluation of therapies to prevent harm to patients.Clinical trial registrationURL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00134264

Planets in Mean-Motion Resonances and the System Around HD45364

In some planetary systems, the orbital periods of two of its members present a commensurability, usually known by mean-motion resonance. These resonances greatly enhance the mutual gravitational influence of the planets. As a consequence, these systems present uncommon behaviors, and their motions need to be studied with specific methods. Some features are unique and allow us a better understanding and characterization of these systems. Moreover, mean-motion resonances are a result of an early migration of the orbits in an accretion disk, so it is possible to derive constraints on their formation. Here we review the dynamics of a pair of resonant planets and explain how their orbits evolve in time. We apply our results to the HD 45365 planetary system.Comment: invited review, 17 pages, 6 figure

Dissipation in planar resonant planetary systems

Close-in planetary systems detected by the Kepler mission present an excess of periods ratio that are just slightly larger than some low order resonant values. This feature occurs naturally when resonant couples undergo dissipation that damps the eccentricities. However, the resonant angles appear to librate at the end of the migration process, which is often believed to be an evidence that the systems remain in resonance. Here we provide an analytical model for the dissipation in resonant planetary systems valid for low eccentricities. We confirm that dissipation accounts for an excess of pairs that lie just aside from the nominal periods ratios, as observed by the Kepler mission. In addition, by a global analysis of the phase space of the problem, we demonstrate that these final pairs are non-resonant. Indeed, the separatrices that exist in the resonant systems disappear with the dissipation, and remains only a circulation of the orbits around a single elliptical fixed point. Furthermore, the apparent libration of the resonant angles can be explained using the classical secular averaging method. We show that this artifact is only due to the severe damping of the amplitudes of the eigenmodes in the secular motion.Comment: 18 pages, 20 figures, accepted to A&

Prédiction de l’insulino-résistance par les ratios de lipoprotéines chez les adultes béninois

Des controverses subsistent sur force prédictive de l’insulino-résistance par les ratios de lipoprotéines chez les Afro-américains. L’objectif est de déterminer la force prédictive de l’insulino-résistance (IR) par les ratios triglycérides-par-HDL-cholestérol (TG/HDL-C) et cholestérol total-par-HDL-cholestérol (CT/HDL-C) chez des adultes béninois. L’étude est de type transversal, issue d’une enquête longitudinale sur le risque cardiométabolique et a inclut 416 sujets âgés de 29 à 69 ans. Les mesures anthropométriques et les dosages de la glycémie à jeun, de l’insulinémie, du CT, du HDL-C et des TG sont réalisés. L’IR est définie par le 75ème percentile des valeurs de « l’indice d’évaluation de modèle d'homéostasie pour l’insulino-résistance» (HOMA IR). Les valeurs prédictives de l’IR par les ratios TG/HDL-C et CT/HDL-C sont déterminées par les aires sous les courbes (AUC) de la « fonction d’efficacité du récepteur» (ROC). Les concentrations plasmatiques moyennes des lipides ont été en général plus élevées chez les IR que chez les non IR sauf pour les triglycérides : 0,9±0,5 mmol/L versus 0,8±0,4 mmol/L (p=0,138) chez les femmes, le cholestérol total : 4,7±1,7 mmol/L versus 4,3±1,2 mmol/L (p=0,161) et le HDL-Cholestérol : 1,2±0,5 mmol/L versus 1,34±0,5 mmol/L (p=0,105) chez les hommes. Les AUC ROC de prédiction de l’IR par le TG/HDL-C sont inférieures à 0,70 chez les femmes et les hommes, les obèses et les non obèses. L’AUC ROC de prédiction de l’IR par le CT/HDL-C est supérieure à 0,70 seulement chez les femmes : 0,71 (0,64-0,78). Le ratio TG/HDL-C n’est pas un prédicteur de l’IR dans la population d’étude alors que le ratio CT/HDL-C prédit l’IR chez les femmes seulement. Ces résultats contribueront au dépistage précoce de l’IR chez les femmes aux fins de la mise en place de mesures préventives.Mots clés : Prédiction, insulino-résistance, lipoprotéines, dyslipidémies, Bénin

Structural and dynamical properties of liquid Si. An orbital-free molecular dynamics study

Several static and dynamic properties of liquid silicon near melting have been determined from an orbital free {\em ab-initio} molecular dynamics simulation. The calculated static structure is in good agreement with the available X-ray and neutron diffraction data. The dynamical structure shows collective density excitations with an associated dispersion relation which closely follows recent experimental data. It is found that liquid silicon can not sustain the propagation of shear waves which can be related to the power spectrum of the velocity autocorrelation function. Accurate estimates have also been obtained for several transport coefficients. The overall picture is that the dynamic properties have many characteristics of the simple liquid metals although some conspicuous differences have been found.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure