344 research outputs found
Adaptive Strategies in a Poly-Extreme Environment: Differentiation of Vegetative Cells in Serratia ureilytica and Resistance to Extreme Conditions
Poly-extreme terrestrial habitats are often used as analogs to extra-terrestrial environments. Understanding the adaptive strategies allowing bacteria to thrive and survive under these conditions could help in our quest for extra-terrestrial planets suitable for life and understanding how life evolved in the harsh early earth conditions. A prime example of such a survival strategy is the modification of vegetative cells into resistant resting structures. These differentiated cells are often observed in response to harsh environmental conditions. The environmental strain (strain Lr5/4) belonging to Serratia ureilytica was isolated from a geothermal spring in Lirima, Atacama Desert, Chile. The Atacama Desert is the driest habitat on Earth and furthermore, due to its high altitude, it is exposed to an increased amount of UV radiation. The geothermal spring from which the strain was isolated is oligotrophic and the temperature of 54°C exceeds mesophilic conditions (15 to 45°C). Although the vegetative cells were tolerant to various environmental insults (desiccation, extreme pH, glycerol), a modified cell type was formed in response to nutrient deprivation, UV radiation and thermal shock. Scanning (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) analyses of vegetative cells and the modified cell structures were performed. In SEM, a change toward a circular shape with reduced size was observed. These circular cells possessed what appears as extra coating layers under TEM. The resistance of the modified cells was also investigated, they were resistant to wet heat, UV radiation and desiccation, while vegetative cells did not withstand any of those conditions. A phylogenomic analysis was undertaken to investigate the presence of known genes involved in dormancy in other bacterial clades. Genes related to spore-formation in Myxococcus and Firmicutes were found in S. ureilytica Lr5/4 genome; however, these genes were not enough for a full sporulation pathway that resembles either group. Although, the molecular pathway of cell differentiation in S. ureilytica Lr5/4 is not fully defined, the identified genes may contribute to the modified phenotype in the Serratia genus. Here, we show that a modified cell structure can occur as a response to extremity in a species that was previously not known to deploy this strategy. This strategy may be widely spread in bacteria, but only expressed under poly-extreme environmental conditions
Mental Health, ART Adherence, and Viral Suppression Among Adolescents and Adults Living with HIV in South Africa: A Cohort Study.
We followed adolescents and adults living with HIV aged older than 15 years who enrolled in a South African private-sector HIV programme to examine adherence and viral non-suppression (viral load > 400 copies/mL) of participants with (20,743, 38%) and without (33,635, 62%) mental health diagnoses. Mental health diagnoses were associated with unfavourable adherence patterns. The risk of viral non-suppression was higher among patients with organic mental disorders [adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.55, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.22-1.96], substance use disorders (aRR 1.53, 95% CI 1.19-1.97), serious mental disorders (aRR 1.30, 95% CI 1.09-1.54), and depression (aRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.10-1.28) when compared with patients without mental health diagnoses. The risk of viral non-suppression was also higher among males, adolescents (15-19 years), and young adults (20-24 years). Our study highlights the need for psychosocial interventions to improve HIV treatment outcomes-particularly of adolescents and young adults-and supports strengthening mental health services in HIV treatment programmes
Thermodynamic analysis of humidification dehumidification desalination cycles
Humidification–dehumidification desalination (HDH) is a promising technology for small-scale
water production applications. There are several embodiments of this technology which have
been investigated by researchers around the world. However, from a previous literature [1], we
have found that no study carried out a detailed thermodynamic analysis in order to improve and/
or optimize the system performance. In this paper, we analyze the thermodynamic performance
of various HDH cycles by way of a theoretical cycle analysis. In addition, we propose novel high performance variations on those cycles. These high-performance cycles include multi-extraction,
multi-pressure and thermal vapor compression cycles. It is predicted that the systems based on these
novel cycles will have gained output ratio in excess of 5 and will outperform existing HDH systems.King Fahd University of Petroleum and MineralsCenter for Clean Water and Clean Energy at MIT and KFUP
An unusually low density ultra-short period super-Earth and three mini-Neptunes around the old star TOI-561
Based on HARPS-N radial velocities (RVs) and TESS photometry, we present a
full characterisation of the planetary system orbiting the late G dwarf
TOI-561. After the identification of three transiting candidates by TESS, we
discovered two additional external planets from RV analysis. RVs cannot confirm
the outer TESS transiting candidate, which would also make the system
dynamically unstable. We demonstrate that the two transits initially associated
with this candidate are instead due to single transits of the two planets
discovered using RVs. The four planets orbiting TOI-561 include an ultra-short
period (USP) super-Earth (TOI-561 b) with period d, mass
M and radius
R, and three mini-Neptunes: TOI-561 c, with d,
M, R;
TOI-561 d, with d, M,
R; and TOI-561 e, with
d, M,
R. Having a density of g cm, TOI-561 b is the
lowest density USP planet known to date. Our N-body simulations confirm the
stability of the system and predict a strong, anti-correlated, long-term
transit time variation signal between planets d and e. The unusual density of
the inner super-Earth and the dynamical interactions between the outer planets
make TOI-561 an interesting follow-up target
Transform-limited photons from a coherent tin-vacancy spin in diamond
Solid-state quantum emitters that couple coherent optical transitions to
long-lived spin qubits are essential for quantum networks. Here we report on
the spin and optical properties of individual tin-vacancy (SnV) centers in
diamond nanostructures. Through cryogenic magneto-optical and spin
spectroscopy, we verify the inversion-symmetric electronic structure of the
SnV, identify spin-conserving and spin-flipping transitions, characterize
transition linewidths, measure electron spin lifetimes and evaluate the spin
dephasing time. We find that the optical transitions are consistent with the
radiative lifetime limit even in nanofabricated structures. The spin lifetime
is phononlimited with an exponential temperature scaling leading to
10 ms, and the coherence time, reaches the nuclear spin-bath limit upon
cooling to 2.9 K. These spin properties exceed those of other
inversion-symmetric color centers for which similar values require millikelvin
temperatures. With a combination of coherent optical transitions and long spin
coherence without dilution refrigeration, the SnV is a promising candidate for
feasable and scalable quantum networking applications
TOI-1235 b: A Keystone Super-Earth For Testing Radius Valley Emergence Models Around Early M Dwarfs
Small planets on close-in orbits tend to exhibit envelope mass fractions of either effectively zero or up to a few percent depending on their size and orbital period. Models of thermally driven atmospheric mass loss and of terrestrial planet formation in a gas-poor environment make distinct predictions regarding the location of this rocky/nonrocky transition in period–radius space. Here we present the confirmation of TOI-1235 b (P = 3.44 days, ), a planet whose size and period are intermediate between the competing model predictions, thus making the system an important test case for emergence models of the rocky/nonrocky transition around early M dwarfs (R s = 0.630 ± 0.015 , M s = 0.640 ± 0.016 ). We confirm the TESS planet discovery using reconnaissance spectroscopy, ground-based photometry, high-resolution imaging, and a set of 38 precise radial velocities (RVs) from HARPS-N and HIRES. We measure a planet mass of , which implies an iron core mass fraction of % in the absence of a gaseous envelope. The bulk composition of TOI-1235 b is therefore consistent with being Earth-like, and we constrain an H/He envelope mass fraction to be \u3c0.5% at 90% confidence. Our results are consistent with model predictions from thermally driven atmospheric mass loss but not with gas-poor formation, suggesting that the former class of processes remains efficient at sculpting close-in planets around early M dwarfs. Our RV analysis also reveals a strong periodicity close to the first harmonic of the photometrically determined stellar rotation period that we treat as stellar activity, despite other lines of evidence favoring a planetary origin ( days, ) that cannot be firmly ruled out by our data
The Pioneer Anomaly
Radio-metric Doppler tracking data received from the Pioneer 10 and 11
spacecraft from heliocentric distances of 20-70 AU has consistently indicated
the presence of a small, anomalous, blue-shifted frequency drift uniformly
changing with a rate of ~6 x 10^{-9} Hz/s. Ultimately, the drift was
interpreted as a constant sunward deceleration of each particular spacecraft at
the level of a_P = (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-10} m/s^2. This apparent violation of
the Newton's gravitational inverse-square law has become known as the Pioneer
anomaly; the nature of this anomaly remains unexplained. In this review, we
summarize the current knowledge of the physical properties of the anomaly and
the conditions that led to its detection and characterization. We review
various mechanisms proposed to explain the anomaly and discuss the current
state of efforts to determine its nature. A comprehensive new investigation of
the anomalous behavior of the two Pioneers has begun recently. The new efforts
rely on the much-extended set of radio-metric Doppler data for both spacecraft
in conjunction with the newly available complete record of their telemetry
files and a large archive of original project documentation. As the new study
is yet to report its findings, this review provides the necessary background
for the new results to appear in the near future. In particular, we provide a
significant amount of information on the design, operations and behavior of the
two Pioneers during their entire missions, including descriptions of various
data formats and techniques used for their navigation and radio-science data
analysis. As most of this information was recovered relatively recently, it was
not used in the previous studies of the Pioneer anomaly, but it is critical for
the new investigation.Comment: 165 pages, 40 figures, 16 tables; accepted for publication in Living
Reviews in Relativit
Toi-1235 b: A keystone super-earth for testing radius valley emergence models around early m dwarfs
Small planets on close-in orbits tend to exhibit envelope mass fractions of
either effectively zero or up to a few percent depending on their size and
orbital period. Models of thermally-driven atmospheric mass loss and of
terrestrial planet formation in a gas-poor environment make distinct
predictions regarding the location of this rocky/non-rocky transition in
period-radius space. Here we present the confirmation of TOI-1235 b (
days, R), a planet whose size and
period are intermediate between the competing model predictions, thus making
the system an important test case for emergence models of the rocky/non-rocky
transition around early M dwarfs ( R,
M). We confirm the TESS planet discovery using
reconnaissance spectroscopy, ground-based photometry, high-resolution imaging,
and a set of 38 precise radial-velocities from HARPS-N and HIRES. We measure a
planet mass of M which implies an iron core
mass fraction of % in the absence of a gaseous envelope. The
bulk composition of TOI-1235 b is therefore consistent with being Earth-like
and we constrain a H/He envelope mass fraction to be % at 90% confidence.
Our results are consistent with model predictions from thermally-driven
atmospheric mass loss but not with gas-poor formation, which suggests that the
former class of processes remain efficient at sculpting close-in planets around
early M dwarfs. Our RV analysis also reveals a strong periodicity close to the
first harmonic of the photometrically-determined stellar rotation period that
we treat as stellar activity, despite other lines of evidence favoring a
planetary origin ( days,
M) that cannot be firmly ruled out by our data
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