Constraining spatial pattern of early activity of comet 67P/C-G with 3D modeling of the MIRO observations

Our aim is to investigate early activity (July 2014) of 67P/CG with 3D coma and radiative transfer modeling of MIRO measurements, accounting for nucleus shape, illumination, and orientation of the comet. We investigate MIRO line shape information for spatial distribution of water activity on the nucleus during the onset of activity. During this period we show that MIRO line shape have enough information to clearly isolate contribution from Hapi and Inhotep independently, and compare it to the nominal case of activity from the entire illuminated surface. We also demonstrate that spectral line shapes differ from the 1D model for different viewing geometries and coma conditions relevant to this study. Specifically, line shapes are somewhat sensitive to the location of the terminator in the coma. At last, fitting the MIRO observations we show that the Imhotep region (possible extended source of H$_{2}$O due to CO$_{2}$ activity) contributes only a small fraction of the total number of water molecules into MIRO beam in the early activity. On the other hand, a strong enhancement of water activity from the Hapi region seems required to fit the MIRO line shapes. This is consistent with earlier Rosetta results. Nevertheless, within the assumption of our coma and surface boundary conditions, we cannot get a reasonable fit to all MIRO mapping observations in July 2014, which may illustrate that a more sophisticated coma model or more accurate temperature/velocity distribution is needed.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, submitte

The Eclipsing Double-Lined Spectroscopic Binary System V505 Persei

The recently-discovered eclipsing double-lined spectroscopic binary V505 Persei (SAO 23229) consists of two nearly identical F5 main sequence stars in a 4.2 day orbit. We have obtained both spectroscopic and photometric observations of the binary that densely sample the complete cycle of radial velocity and light variations. These observations have been used to determine the elements of the orbit, to determine individual masses of the stars in the system to a precision of better than 1%, and to estimate an age for the system. The derived properties agree well with current stellar structure models and provide fundamental data for tests of stellar evolution theory

Simulation of Ablating Hypersonic Vehicles with Finite-Rate Surface Chemistry

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140434/1/6.2014-2124.pd

Teaching ultrasound in a curricular course according to certified EFSUMB standards during undergraduate medical education: a prospective study

Background: As a non-invasive and readily available diagnostic tool, ultrasound is one of the most important imaging techniques in medicine. Ultrasound is usually trained during residency preferable according to German Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (DEGUM) standards. Our curriculum calls for undergraduate training in ultrasound of medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate education. An explorative pilot study evaluated the acceptance of this teaching method, and compared it to other practical activities in medical education at Muenster University. Methods: 240 medical students in their 4th year of undergraduate medical education participated in the training and completed a pre- and post-questionnaire for self-assessment of technical knowledge, self-assurance of the procedure, and motivation in performing ultrasound using a Likert scale. Moreover, students were asked about their interest in pursuing a career in internal medicine. To compare this training to other educational activities a standardized online evaluation tool was used. A direct observation of procedural skills assessment (DOPS) for the first time applied on ultrasound aimed to independently assess the success of our teaching method. Results: There was a significant increase in technical knowledge and self-assurance (p < 0.001) of the students’ self-assessments. The clinical relevance and self-motivation of the teaching were evaluated positively. The students’ DOPS results demonstrated proficiency in the understanding of anatomic structures shown in ultrasonographic images, including terminology, machine settings, and transducer frequencies. Conclusions: Training ultrasound according to certified DEGUM standards was successful and should be offered in undergraduate medical education. The evaluation of the course affirmed the necessity, quality and clinical relevance of the course with a top ranking score of hands-on training courses within the educational activities of the Medical Faculty of Muenster.<br

The stellar content of the young open cluster Trumpler 37

With an apparent cluster diameter of 1.5{\deg} and an age of ~4 Myr, Trumpler 37 is an ideal target for photometric monitoring of young stars as well as for the search of planetary transits, eclipsing binaries and other sources of variability. The YETI consortium has monitored Trumpler 37 throughout 2010 and 2011 to obtain a comprehensive view of variable phenomena in this region. In this first paper we present the cluster properties and membership determination as derived from an extensive investigation of the literature. We also compared the coordinate list to some YETI images. For 1872 stars we found literature data. Among them 774 have high probability of being member and 125 a medium probability. Based on infrared data we re-calculate a cluster extinction of 0.9-1.2 mag. We can confirm the age and distance to be 3-5 Myr and ~870 pc. Stellar masses are determined from theoretical models and the mass function is fitted with a power-law index of alpha=1.90 (0.1-0.4 M_sun) and alpha=1.12 (1-10 M_sun).Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, 2 long tables, accepte

Extreme magnesium isotope fractionation at outcrop scale records the mechanism and rate at which reaction fronts advance

Isotopic fractionation of cationic species during diffusive transport provides novel means of constraining the style and timing of metamorphic transformations. Here we document a major (~1‰) decrease in the Mg isotopic composition of the reaction front of an exhumed contact between rocks of subducted crust and serpentinite, in the Syros mélange zone. This isotopic perturbation extends over a notable length-scale (~1 m), implicating diffusion of Mg through an intergranular fluid network over a period of ~100 kyr. These novel observations confirm models of diffusion-controlled growth of reaction zones formed between rocks of contrasting compositions, such as found at the slab-mantle interface in subduction zones. The results also demonstrate that diffusive processes can result in exotic stable isotope compositions of major elements with implications for mantle xenoliths and complex intrusions

Transit Timing Analysis in the HAT-P-32 System

We present the results of 45 transit observations obtained for the transiting exoplanet HATP- 32b. The transits have been observed using several telescopes mainly throughout the YETI (Young Exoplanet Transit Initiative) network. In 25 cases, complete transit light curves with a timing precision better than 1.4 min have been obtained. These light curves have been used to refine the system properties, namely inclination i, planet-to-star radius ratio Rp/Rs, and the ratio between the semimajor axis and the stellar radius a/Rs. First analyses by Hartman et al. suggests the existence of a second planet in the system, thus we tried to find an additional body using the transit timing variation (TTV) technique. Taking also the literature data points into account, we can explain all mid-transit times by refining the linear ephemeris by 21 ms. Thus, we can exclude TTV amplitudes of more than ∼1.5min

EMMA—mouse mutant resources for the international scientific community

The laboratory mouse is the premier animal model for studying human disease and thousands of mutants have been identified or produced, most recently through gene-specific mutagenesis approaches. High throughput strategies by the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC) are producing mutants for all protein coding genes. Generating a knock-out line involves huge monetary and time costs so capture of both the data describing each mutant alongside archiving of the line for distribution to future researchers is critical. The European Mouse Mutant Archive (EMMA) is a leading international network infrastructure for archiving and worldwide provision of mouse mutant strains. It operates in collaboration with the other members of the Federation of International Mouse Resources (FIMRe), EMMA being the European component. Additionally EMMA is one of four repositories involved in the IKMC, and therefore the current figure of 1700 archived lines will rise markedly. The EMMA database gathers and curates extensive data on each line and presents it through a user-friendly website. A BioMart interface allows advanced searching including integrated querying with other resources e.g. Ensembl. Other resources are able to display EMMA data by accessing our Distributed Annotation System server. EMMA database access is publicly available at http://www.emmanet.org

A Possible Detection of Occultation by a Proto-planetary Clump in GM Cephei

GM Cep in the young (~4 Myr) open cluster Trumpler 37 has been known to be an abrupt variable and to have a circumstellar disk with very active accretion. Our monitoring observations in 2009-2011 revealed the star to show sporadic flare events, each with brightening of < 0.5 mag lasting for days. These brightening events, associated with a color change toward the blue, should originate from an increased accretion activity. Moreover, the star also underwent a brightness drop of ~1 mag lasting for about a month, during which the star became bluer when fainter. Such brightness drops seem to have a recurrence time scale of a year, as evidenced in our data and the photometric behavior of GM Cep over a century. Between consecutive drops, the star brightened gradually by about 1 mag and became blue at peak luminosity. We propose that the drop is caused by obscuration of the central star by an orbiting dust concentration. The UX Orionis type of activity in GM Cep therefore exemplifies the disk inhomogeneity process in transition between grain coagulation and planetesimal formation in a young circumstellar disk.Comment: In submission to the Astrophysical Journal, 4 figure