5,590 research outputs found
Are stellar-mass black-hole binaries too quiet for LISA?
The progenitors of the high-mass black-hole mergers observed by LIGO and
Virgo are potential LISA sources and promising candidates for multiband GW
observations. In this letter, we consider the minimum signal-to-noise ratio
these sources must have to be detected by LISA. Our revised threshold of
is higher than previous estimates, which significantly
reduces the expected number of events. We also point out the importance of the
detector performance at high-frequencies and the duration of the LISA mission,
which both influence the event rate substantially.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Published in MNRAS letters. DOI
10.1093/mnrasl/slz10
The Interaction of Genetic Background and Mutational Effects in Regulation of Mouse Craniofacial Shape.
Inbred genetic background significantly influences the expression of phenotypes associated with known genetic perturbations and can underlie variation in disease severity between individuals with the same mutation. However, the effect of epistatic interactions on the development of complex traits, such as craniofacial morphology, is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of three inbred backgrounds (129X1/SvJ, C57BL/6J, and FVB/NJ) on the expression of craniofacial dysmorphology in mice (Mus musculus) with loss of function in three members of the Sprouty family of growth factor negative regulators (Spry1, Spry2, or Spry4) in order to explore the impact of epistatic interactions on skull morphology. We found that the interaction of inbred background and the Sprouty genotype explains as much craniofacial shape variation as the Sprouty genotype alone. The most severely affected genotypes display a relatively short and wide skull, a rounded cranial vault, and a more highly angled inferior profile. Our results suggest that the FVB background is more resilient to Sprouty loss of function than either C57 or 129, and that Spry4 loss is generally less severe than loss of Spry1 or Spry2 While the specific modifier genes responsible for these significant background effects remain unknown, our results highlight the value of intercrossing mice of multiple inbred backgrounds to identify the genes and developmental interactions that modulate the severity of craniofacial dysmorphology. Our quantitative results represent an important first step toward elucidating genetic interactions underlying variation in robustness to known genetic perturbations in mice
Probing the distance and morphology of the Large Magellanic Cloud with RR Lyrae stars
We present a Bayesian analysis of the distances to 15,040 Large Magellanic
Cloud (LMC) RR Lyrae stars using - and -band light curves from the
Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, in combination with new -band
observations from the Dark Energy Camera. Our median individual RR Lyrae
distance statistical error is 1.89 kpc (fractional distance error of 3.76 per
cent). We present three-dimensional contour plots of the number density of LMC
RR Lyrae stars and measure a distance to the core LMC RR Lyrae centre of
,
equivalently . This finding is statistically consistent with and four
times more precise than the canonical value determined by a recent
meta-analysis of 233 separate LMC distance determinations. We also measure a
maximum tilt angle of at a position angle of
, and report highly precise constraints on the , , and RR
Lyrae period--magnitude relations. The full dataset of observed mean-flux
magnitudes, derived colour excess values, and fitted distances for
the 15,040 RR Lyrae stars produced through this work is made available through
the publication's associated online data.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Molecular Line Emission from Massive Protostellar Disks: Predictions for ALMA and the EVLA
We compute the molecular line emission of massive protostellar disks by
solving the equation of radiative transfer through the cores and disks produced
by the recent radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of Krumholz, Klein, & McKee.
We find that in several representative lines the disks show brightness
temperatures of hundreds of Kelvin over velocity channels ~10 km s^-1 wide,
extending over regions hundreds of AU in size. We process the computed
intensities to model the performance of next-generation radio and submillimeter
telescopes. Our calculations show that observations using facilities such as
the EVLA and ALMA should be able to detect massive protostellar disks and
measure their rotation curves, at least in the nearest massive star-forming
regions. They should also detect significant sub-structure and non-axisymmetry
in the disks, and in some cases may be able to detect star-disk velocity
offsets of a few km s^-1, both of which are the result of strong gravitational
instability in massive disks. We use our simulations to explore the strengths
and weaknesses of different observational techniques, and we also discuss how
observations of massive protostellar disks may be used to distinguish between
alternative models of massive star formation.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, emulateapj format, accepted for publication in
ApJ. Resolution of figures severely degraded to fit within size limits.
Download the full paper from
http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~krumholz/recent.htm
Effect of Progressive Weight Loss on Lactate Metabolism: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
OBJECTIVE:Lactate is an intermediate of glucose metabolism that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. This study evaluated the relationship between glucose kinetics and plasma lactate concentration ([LAC]) before and after manipulating insulin sensitivity by progressive weight loss. METHODS:Forty people with obesity (BMI = 37.9 ± 4.3 kg/m2 ) were randomized to weight maintenance (n = 14) or weight loss (n = 19). Subjects were studied before and after 6 months of weight maintenance and before and after 5%, 11%, and 16% weight loss. A hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp procedure in conjunction with [6,6-2 H2 ]glucose tracer infusion was used to assess glucose kinetics. RESULTS:At baseline, fasting [LAC] correlated positively with endogenous glucose production rate (r = 0.532; P = 0.001) and negatively with insulin sensitivity, assessed as the insulin-stimulated glucose disposal (r = -0.361; P = 0.04). Progressive (5% through 16%) weight loss caused a progressive decrease in fasting [LAC], and the decrease in fasting [LAC] after 5% weight loss was correlated with the decrease in endogenous glucose production (r = 0.654; P = 0.002) and the increase in insulin sensitivity (r = -0.595; P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrates the interrelationships among weight loss, hepatic and muscle glucose kinetics, insulin sensitivity, and [LAC], and it suggests that [LAC] can serve as an additional biomarker of glucose-related insulin resistance
Elucidating the electrochemical activity of electrolyte-insoluble polysulfide species in lithium-sulfur batteries
The direct synthesis of Li2 S2 , a proposed solid intermediate in the discharge of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, was accomplished by treating elemental lithium with sulfur in liquid ammonia at -41?? C. The as-synthesized product was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and determined to be a mixture of crystalline Li2 S, amorphous Li2 S2, and higher-order polysulfides (Li2 Sx , x > 2). Monitored filtration followed by a tailored electrochemical approach was used to successfully remove the higher-order polysulfides and yielded a powder, which was determined by XPS to be comprised of 9 mol% insoluble polysulfide species (mainly Li2 S2 ) and 91 mol% Li2 S. This material was discharged galvanostatically in an electrochemical cell and, despite the lack of soluble polysulfide species, was shown to exhibit a discharge plateau at 2.1 V vs. Li/Li+ . This result confirmed the electrochemical reducibility of electrolyte-insoluble polysulfides in Li-S batteries. Moreover, it was determined that the reduction of solid polysulfides was confined to areas where the sulfur-sulfur bonds were in intimate contact with the conductive current collector. Finally, it was observed that commercially available Li2 S samples contain significant quantities of polysulfide-type impurities.ope
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