3,678 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Frequent somatic mutations of GNAQ in uveal melanoma and blue naevi.
BRAF and NRAS are common targets for somatic mutations in benign and malignant neoplasms that arise from melanocytes situated in epithelial structures, and lead to constitutive activation of the mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase pathway. However, BRAF and NRAS mutations are absent in a number of other melanocytic neoplasms in which the equivalent oncogenic events are currently unknown. Here we report frequent somatic mutations in the heterotrimeric G protein alpha-subunit, GNAQ, in blue naevi (83%) and ocular melanoma of the uvea (46%). The mutations occur exclusively in codon 209 in the Ras-like domain and result in constitutive activation, turning GNAQ into a dominant acting oncogene. Our results demonstrate an alternative route to MAP kinase activation in melanocytic neoplasia, providing new opportunities for therapeutic intervention
Structural and core parameters of the hot B subdwarf KPD 0629-0016 from CoRoT g-mode asteroseismology
Context. The asteroseismic exploitation of long period, g-mode hot B subdwarf pulsators (sdBVs), undermined so far by limitations associated with ground-based observations, has now become possible, thanks to high quality data obtained from space such as those recently gathered with the CoRoT (COnvection, ROtation, and planetary Transits) satellite. Aims. We propose a detailed seismic analysis of the sdBVs star KPD 0629-0016, the first compact pulsator monitored with CoRoT, using the g-mode pulsations recently uncovered by that space-borne observatory during short run SRa03.
Methods. We use a forward modeling approach on the basis of our latest sdB models, which are now suitable for the accurate com- putation of the g-mode pulsation properties. The simultaneous match of the independent periods observed in KPD 0629-0016 with those of the models leads objectively to the identification of the pulsation modes and, more importantly, to the determination of the structural and core parameters of the star.
Results. The optimal model we found closely reproduces the 18 observed periods retained in our analysis at a 0.23% level on av- erage. These are identified as low-degree (l = 1 and 2), intermediate-order (k = −9 through −74) g-modes. The structural and core parameters for KPD 0629-0016 are the following (formal fitting errors only): Teff = 26 290 ± 530 K, log g = 5.450 ± 0.034, M∗ = 0.471 ± 0.002 M⊙, log (Menv/M∗) = −2.42 ± 0.07, log (1 − Mcore/M∗) = −0.27 ± 0.01, and Xcore(C+O) = 0.41 ± 0.01. We addition- ally derive an age of 42.6 ± 1.0 Myr after the zero-age extreme horizontal branch, the radius R = 0.214 ± 0.009 R⊙, the luminosity L = 19.7 ± 3.2 L⊙, the absolute magnitude MV = 4.23 ± 0.13, the reddening index E(B − V) = 0.128 ± 0.023, and the distance d = 1190 ± 115 pc.
Conclusions. The advent of high-precision time-series photometry from space with instruments like CoRoT now allows as demon- strated with KPD 0629-0016 the full exploitation of g-modes as deep probes of the internal structure of these stars, in particular for determining the mass of the convective core and its chemical composition.Peer reviewe
Signal Detection by Human Observers
Contains reports on three research projects.United States Air Force (Contract AF19(604)-1728
On the Apparent Orbital Inclination Change of the Extrasolar Transiting Planet TrES-2b
On June 15, 2009 UT the transit of TrES-2b was detected using the University
of Arizona's 1.55 meter Kuiper Telescope with 2.0-2.5 millimag RMS accuracy in
the I-band. We find a central transit time of
HJD, an orbital period of days, and an
inclination angle of , which is consistent with our
re-fit of the original I-band light curve of O'Donovan et al. (2006) where we
find . We calculate an insignificant inclination
change of over the last 3 years, and as
such, our observations rule out, at the level, the apparent
change of orbital inclination to as
predicted by Mislis and Schmitt (2009) and Mislis et al. (2010) for our epoch.
Moreover, our analysis of a recently published Kepler Space Telescope light
curve (Gilliland et al. 2010) for TrES-2b finds an inclination of for a similar epoch. These Kepler results definitively
rule out change in as a function of time. Indeed, we detect no significant
changes in any of the orbital parameters of TrES-2b.Comment: 19 pages, 1 table, 7 figures. Re-submitted to ApJ, January 14, 201
A Tentative Detection of a Starspot During Consecutive Transits of an Extrasolar Planet from the Ground: No Evidence of a Double Transiting Planet System Around TrES-1
There have been numerous reports of anomalies during transits of the planet
TrES-1b. Recently, Rabus and coworkers' analysis of HST observations lead them
to claim brightening anomalies during transit might be caused by either a
second transiting planet or a cool starspot. Observations of two consecutive
transits are presented here from the University of Arizona's 61-inch Kuiper
Telescope on May 12 and May 15, 2008 UT. A 5.4 +/- 1.7 mmag (0.54 +/- 0.17%)
brightening anomaly was detected during the first half of the transit on May 12
and again in the second half of the transit on May 15th. We conclude that this
is a tentative detection of a r greater than or equal to 6 earth radii starspot
rotating on the surface of the star. We suggest that all evidence to date
suggest TrES-1 has a spotty surface and there is no need to introduce a second
transiting planet in this system to explain these anomalies. We are only able
to constrain the rotational period of the star to 40.2 +22.9 -14.6 days, due to
previous errors in measuring the alignment of the stellar spin axis with the
planetary orbital axis. This is consistent with the previously observed P_obs =
33.2 +22.3 -14.3 day period. We note that this technique could be applied to
other transiting systems for which starspots exist on the star in the transit
path of the planet in order to constrain the rotation rate of the star.
(abridged)Comment: 21 pages, 3 tables, 6 figures, Accepted to Ap
- …