High-dispersion absorption-line spectroscopy of AE Aqr

High-dispersion time-resolved spectroscopy of the unique magnetic cataclysmic variable AE Aqr is presented. A radial velocity analysis of the absorption lines yields K2= 168.7 ± 1 km s−1. Substantial deviations of the radial velocity curve from a sinusoid are interpreted in terms of intensity variations over the secondary star's surface. A complex rotational velocity curve as a function of orbital phase is detected which has a modulation frequency of twice the orbital frequency, leading to an estimate of the binary inclination angle that is close to 70°. The minimum and maximum rotational velocities are used to indirectly derive a mass ratio of q= 0.6 and a radial velocity semi-amplitude of the white dwarf of K1= 101 ± 3 km s−1. We present an atmospheric temperature indicator, based on the absorption-line ratio of Fe I and Cr I lines, whose variation indicates that the secondary star varies from K0 to K4 as a function of orbital phase. The ephemeris of the system has been revised, using more than 1000 radial velocity measurements, published over nearly five decades. From the derived radial velocity semi-amplitudes and the estimated inclination angle, we calculate that the masses of the stars are M1= 0.63 ± 0.05 M⊙; M2= 0.37 ± 0.04 M⊙, and their separation is a= 2.33 ± 0.02 R⊙. Our analysis indicates the presence of a late-type star whose radius is larger, by a factor of nearly 2, than the radius of a normal main-sequence star of the same mass. Finally, we discuss the possibility that the measured variations in the rotational velocity, temperature and spectral type of the secondary star as functions of orbital phase may, like the radial velocity variations, be attributable to regions of enhanced absorption on the star's surface

Spatial Analysis of Expression Patterns Predicts Genetic Interactions at the Mid-Hindbrain Boundary

The isthmic organizer mediating differentiation of mid- and hindbrain during vertebrate development is characterized by a well-defined pattern of locally restricted gene expression domains around the mid-hindbrain boundary (MHB). This pattern is established and maintained by a regulatory network between several transcription and secreted factors that is not yet understood in full detail. In this contribution we show that a Boolean analysis of the characteristic spatial gene expression patterns at the murine MHB reveals key regulatory interactions in this network. Our analysis employs techniques from computational logic for the minimization of Boolean functions. This approach allows us to predict also the interplay of the various regulatory interactions. In particular, we predict a maintaining, rather than inducing, effect of Fgf8 on Wnt1 expression, an issue that remained unclear from published data. Using mouse anterior neural plate/tube explant cultures, we provide experimental evidence that Fgf8 in fact only maintains but does not induce ectopic Wnt1 expression in these explants. In combination with previously validated interactions, this finding allows for the construction of a regulatory network between key transcription and secreted factors at the MHB. Analyses of Boolean, differential equation and reaction-diffusion models of this network confirm that it is indeed able to explain the stable maintenance of the MHB as well as time-courses of expression patterns both under wild-type and various knock-out conditions. In conclusion, we demonstrate that similar to temporal also spatial expression patterns can be used to gain information about the structure of regulatory networks. We show, in particular, that the spatial gene expression patterns around the MHB help us to understand the maintenance of this boundary on a systems level