14,674 research outputs found
Histone H1 is essential for mitotic chromosome architecture and segregation in Xenopus laevis egg extracts.
During cell division, condensation and resolution of chromosome arms and the assembly of a functional kinetochore at the centromere of each sister chromatid are essential steps for accurate segregation of the genome by the mitotic spindle, yet the contribution of individual chromatin proteins to these processes is poorly understood. We have investigated the role of embryonic linker histone H1 during mitosis in Xenopus laevis egg extracts. Immunodepletion of histone H1 caused the assembly of aberrant elongated chromosomes that extended off the metaphase plate and outside the perimeter of the spindle. Although functional kinetochores assembled, aligned, and exhibited poleward movement, long and tangled chromosome arms could not be segregated in anaphase. Histone H1 depletion did not significantly affect the recruitment of known structural or functional chromosomal components such as condensins or chromokinesins, suggesting that the loss of H1 affects chromosome architecture directly. Thus, our results indicate that linker histone H1 plays an important role in the structure and function of vertebrate chromosomes in mitosis
Atmospheric Sulfur Photochemistry on Hot Jupiters
We develop a new 1D photochemical kinetics code to address stratospheric
chemistry and stratospheric heating in hot Jupiters. Here we address optically
active S-containing species and CO2 at 1200 < T < 2000 K. HS (mercapto) and S2
are highly reactive species that are generated photochemically and
thermochemically from H2S with peak abundances between 1-10 mbar. S2 absorbs UV
between 240 and 340 nm and is optically thick for metallicities [SH] > 0 at T >
1200 K. HS is probably more important than S2, as it is generally more abundant
than S2 under hot Jupiter conditions and it absorbs at somewhat redder
wavelengths. We use molecular theory to compute an HS absorption spectrum from
sparse available data and find that HS should absorb strongly between 300 and
460 nm, with absorption at the longer wavelengths being temperature sensitive.
When the two absorbers are combined, radiative heating (per kg of gas) peaks at
100 microbars, with a total stratospheric heating of about 8 x 10^4 W/m^2 for a
jovian planet orbiting a solar-twin at 0.032 AU. Total heating is insensitive
to metallicity. The CO2 mixing ratio is a well-behaved quadratic function of
metallicity, ranging from 1.6 x 10^-8 to 1.6 x 10^-4 for -0.3 < [M/H] < 1.7.
CO2 is insensitive to insolation, vertical mixing, temperature (1200 < T <2000
K), and gravity. The photochemical calculations confirm that CO2 should prove a
useful probe of planetary metallicity.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Lett. in press; important revision includes
effect of updated thermodynamic data and a new opacity sourc
Three flavour Quark matter in chiral colour dielectric model
We investigate the properties of quark matter at finite density and
temperature using the nonlinear chiral extension of Colour Dielectric Model
(CCM). Assuming that the square of the meson fields devlop non- zero vacuum
expectation value, the thermodynamic potential for interacting three flavour
matter has been calculated. It is found that remain zero
in the medium whereas changes in the medium. As a result, and
quark masses decrease monotonically as the temperature and density of the quark
matter is increased.In the present model, the deconfinement density and
temperature is found to be lower compared to lattice results. We also study the
behaviour of pressure and energy density above critical temperature.Comment: Latex file. 5 figures available on request. To appear in Phys. Rev.
From Soft Walls to Infrared Branes
Five dimensional warped spaces with soft walls are generalizations of the
standard Randall-Sundrum compactifications, where instead of an infrared brane
one has a curvature singularity (with vanishing warp factor) at finite proper
distance in the bulk. We project the physics near the singularity onto a
hypersurface located a small distance away from it in the bulk. This results in
a completely equivalent description of the soft wall in terms of an effective
infrared brane, hiding any singular point. We perform explicitly this
calculation for two classes of soft wall backgrounds used in the literature.
The procedure has several advantages. It separates in a clean way the physics
of the soft wall from the physics of the five dimensional bulk, facilitating a
more direct comparison with standard two-brane warped compactifications.
Moreover, consistent soft walls show a sort of universal behavior near the
singularity which is reflected in the effective brane Lagrangian. Thirdly, for
many purposes, a good approximation is obtained by assuming the bulk background
away from the singularity to be the usual Randall-Sundrum metric, thus making
the soft wall backgrounds better analytically tractable. We check the validity
of this procedure by calculating the spectrum of bulk fields and comparing it
to the exact result, finding very good agreement.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, v2: subsection on IR brane potentials and
appendix on fermions added, version to appear in PR
A Unified Theory for the Atmospheres of the Hot and Very Hot Jupiters: Two Classes of Irradiated Atmospheres
We highlight the importance of gaseous TiO and VO opacity on the highly
irradiated close-in giant planets. The atmospheres of these planets naturally
fall into two classes that are somewhat analogous to the M- and L-type dwarfs.
Those that are warm enough to have appreciable opacity due to TiO and VO gases
we term the ``pM Class'' planets, and those that are cooler we term ``pL
Class'' planets. We calculate model atmospheres for these planets, including
pressure-temperature profiles, spectra, and characteristic radiative time
constants. We show that pM Class planets have hot stratospheres 2000 K
and appear ``anomalously'' bright in the mid infrared secondary eclipse, as was
recently found for planets HD 149026b and HD 209458b. This class of planets
absorbs incident flux and emits thermal flux from high in their atmospheres.
Consequently, they will have large day/night temperature contrasts and
negligible phase shifts between orbital phase and thermal emission light
curves, because radiative timescales are much shorter than possible dynamical
timescales. The pL Class planets absorb incident flux deeper in the atmosphere
where atmospheric dynamics will more readily redistribute absorbed energy. This
will lead to cooler day sides, warmer night sides, and larger phase shifts in
thermal emission light curves. Around a Sun-like primary this boundary occurs
at 0.04-0.05 AU. The eccentric transiting planets HD 147506b and HD
17156b alternate between the classes. Thermal emission in the optical from pM
Class planets is significant red-ward of 400 nm, making these planets
attractive targets for optical detection. The difference in the observed
day/night contrast between ups Andromeda b (pM Class) and HD 189733b (pL Class)
is naturally explained in this scenario. (Abridged.)Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journa
The atmospheric circulation of the super Earth GJ 1214b: Dependence on composition and metallicity
We present three-dimensional atmospheric circulation models of GJ 1214b, a
2.7 Earth-radius, 6.5 Earth-mass super Earth detected by the MEarth survey.
Here we explore the planet's circulation as a function of atmospheric
metallicity and atmospheric composition, modeling atmospheres with a low
mean-molecular weight (i.e., H2-dominated) and a high mean-molecular weight
(i.e. water- and CO2-dominated). We find that atmospheres with a low
mean-molecular weight have strong day-night temperature variations at pressures
above the infrared photosphere that lead to equatorial superrotation. For these
atmospheres, the enhancement of atmospheric opacities with increasing
metallicity lead to shallower atmospheric heating, larger day-night temperature
variations and hence stronger superrotation. In comparison, atmospheres with a
high mean-molecular weight have larger day-night and equator-to-pole
temperature variations than low mean-molecular weight atmospheres, but
differences in opacity structure and energy budget lead to differences in jet
structure. The circulation of a water-dominated atmosphere is dominated by
equatorial superrotation, while the circulation of a CO2-dominated atmosphere
is instead dominated by high-latitude jets. By comparing emergent flux spectra
and lightcurves for 50x solar and water-dominated compositions, we show that
observations in emission can break the degeneracy in determining the
atmospheric composition of GJ 1214b. The variation in opacity with wavelength
for the water-dominated atmosphere leads to large phase variations within water
bands and small phase variations outside of water bands. The 50x solar
atmosphere, however, yields small variations within water bands and large phase
variations at other characteristic wavelengths. These observations would be
much less sensitive to clouds, condensates, and hazes than transit
observations.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, accepted to Ap
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