20 research outputs found
Opening a new window to other worlds with spectropolarimetry
A high level of diversity has already been observed among the planets of our
own Solar System. As such, one expects extrasolar planets to present a wide
range of distinctive features, therefore the characterisation of Earth- and
super Earth-like planets is becoming of key importance in scientific research.
The SEARCH (Spectropolarimetric Exoplanet AtmospheRe CHaracerisation) mission
proposal of this paper represents one possible approach to realising these
objectives. The mission goals of SEARCH include the detailed characterisation
of a wide variety of exoplanets, ranging from terrestrial planets to gas
giants. More specifically, SEARCH will determine atmospheric properties such as
cloud coverage, surface pressure and atmospheric composition, and may also be
capable of identifying basic surface features. To resolve a planet with a semi
major axis of down to 1.4AU and 30pc distant SEARCH will have a mirror system
consisting of two segments, with elliptical rim, cut out of a parabolic mirror.
This will yield an effective diameter of 9 meters along one axis. A phase mask
coronagraph along with an integral spectrograph will be used to overcome the
contrast ratio of star to planet light. Such a mission would provide invaluable
data on the diversity present in extrasolar planetary systems and much more
could be learned from the similarities and differences compared to our own
Solar System. This would allow our theories of planetary formation, atmospheric
accretion and evolution to be tested, and our understanding of regions such as
the outer limit of the Habitable Zone to be further improved.Comment: 23 pages, accepted for publication in Experimental Astronom
Measurement of angular correlations of jets at root s=1.96 TeV and determination of the strong coupling at high momentum transfers
We present a measurement of the average value of a new observable at hadron colliders that is sensitive
to QCD dynamics and to the strong coupling constant, while being only weakly sensitive to parton
distribution functions. The observable measures the angular correlations of jets and is defined as the
number of neighboring jets above a given transverse momentum threshold which accompany a given jet
within a given distance ïżœR in the plane of rapidity and azimuthal angle. The ensemble average over all
jets in an inclusive jet sample is measured and the results are presented as a function of transverse
momentum of the inclusive jets, in different regions of ïżœR and for different transverse momentum
requirements for the neighboring jets. The measurement is based on a data set corresponding to an
integrated luminosity of 0.7 fbâ1 collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider in pÂŻp
collisions at
â
s = 1.96 TeV. The results are well described by a perturbative QCD calculation in next-toleading
order in the strong coupling constant, corrected for non-perturbative effects. From these results,
we extract the strong coupling and test the QCD predictions for its running over a range of momentum
transfers of 50â400 GeV
The O-polysaccharide of Escherichia coli F5, which is structurally related to that of E. coli O28ab, provides cells only weak protection against bacteriophage attack
High-throughput LPS profiling as a tool for revealing of bacteriophage infection strategies
Escherichia coli bacteriophage Gostya9, representing a new species within the genus T5virus
Phages in nature
Bacteriophages or phages are the most abundant organisms in the biosphere and they are a ubiquitous feature of prokaryotic existence. A bacteriophage is a virus which infects a bacterium. Archaea are also infected by viruses, whether these should be referred to as âphagesâ is debatable, but they are included as such in the scope this article. Phages have been of interest to scientists as tools to understand fundamental molecular biology, as vectors of horizontal gene transfer and drivers of bacterial evolution, as sources of diagnostic and genetic tools and as novel therapeutic agents. Unraveling the biology of phages and their relationship with their hosts is key to understanding microbial systems and their exploitation. In this article we describe the roles of phages in different host systems and show how modeling, microscopy, isolation, genomic and metagenomic based approaches have come together to provide unparalleled insights into these small but vital constituents of the microbial world