Kepler-22b: A 2.4 Earth-radius Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Sun-like Star

A search of the time-series photometry from NASA's Kepler spacecraft reveals a transiting planet candidate orbiting the 11th magnitude G5 dwarf KIC 10593626 with a period of 290 days. The characteristics of the host star are well constrained by high-resolution spectroscopy combined with an asteroseismic analysis of the Kepler photometry, leading to an estimated mass and radius of 0.970 +/- 0.060 MSun and 0.979 +/- 0.020 RSun. The depth of 492 +/- 10ppm for the three observed transits yields a radius of 2.38 +/- 0.13 REarth for the planet. The system passes a battery of tests for false positives, including reconnaissance spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and centroid motion. A full BLENDER analysis provides further validation of the planet interpretation by showing that contamination of the target by an eclipsing system would rarely mimic the observed shape of the transits. The final validation of the planet is provided by 16 radial velocities obtained with HIRES on Keck 1 over a one year span. Although the velocities do not lead to a reliable orbit and mass determination, they are able to constrain the mass to a 3{\sigma} upper limit of 124 MEarth, safely in the regime of planetary masses, thus earning the designation Kepler-22b. The radiative equilibrium temperature is 262K for a planet in Kepler-22b's orbit. Although there is no evidence that Kepler-22b is a rocky planet, it is the first confirmed planet with a measured radius to orbit in the Habitable Zone of any star other than the Sun.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Genetic determinants of telomere length from 109,122 ancestrally diverse whole-genome sequences in TOPMed

Genetic studies on telomere length are important for understanding age-related diseases. Prior GWASs for leukocyte TL have been limited to European and Asian populations. Here, we report the first sequencing-based association study for TL across ancestrally diverse individuals (European, African, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino) from the NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We used whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of whole blood for variant genotype calling and the bioinformatic estimation of telomere length in n = 109,122 individuals. We identified 59 sentinel variants (p < 5 × 10−9) in 36 loci associated with telomere length, including 20 newly associated loci (13 were replicated in external datasets). There was little evidence of effect size heterogeneity across populations. Fine-mapping at OBFC1 indicated that the independent signals colocalized with cell-type-specific eQTLs for OBFC1 (STN1). Using a multi-variant gene-based approach, we identified two genes newly implicated in telomere length, DCLRE1B (SNM1B) and PARN. In PheWAS, we demonstrated that our TL polygenic trait scores (PTSs) were associated with an increased risk of cancer-related phenotypes

Isolamento de Lactobacillusacidophilus a partir de fezes de bezerros Isolation of Lactobacillusacidophilus from calves feces

Este experimento foi realizado para isolar, caracterizar e identificar estirpes de Lactobacillusacidophilus, a partir de fezes de bezerros com 1 - 3 dias de idade, coletadas diretamente no reto. Os seguintes testes para caracterização dos isolados foram feitos: morfologia celular, teste de gram, catalase, produção de gás a partir da glicose, crescimento a 15 e 45ºC, redução do "Litmus milk", crescimento no meio com 4 e 8% de cloreto de sódio, hidrólise de arginina, redução do nitrato e fermentação de diferentes "carboidratos". De um total de 526 "isolados" iniciais, 12 (2,28%) estirpes de Lactobacillusacidophlilus foram identificadas.<br>This work was carried out to isolate, characterize and identify Lactobacillusacidophilus strain from calves feces with 1- 3 days of age, collected directly from the rectum. The following tests for the characterization of the isolates were done: cellular morphology, gran test, catalase, gas production from glucose, growth at 15 and 45ºC, Litmus milk reduction, growth in culture medium with 4 and 8% sodium chloride, arginine hydrolysis, nitrate reduction and fermentation of several "carbohydrates". From a total of 526 initial isolates, 12 (2.28%) strain of Lactobacillusacidophillus were identified

Betelgeuse – Challenging our Understanding for more than 2000 years

As a bright, colorful and variable star, Betelgeuse has attracted popular interest from the earliest times. As a prototypical evolved supergiant, it has been investigated with many photometric and spectroscopic techniques. With hundreds of focused studies, many measurements remain puzzling after decades of reflection. We begin our exploration of the Betelgeuse story with an illustrated historical tour of observations and some thoughts on interpretive paths