Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales: update 2016

In 2016, the order Mononegavirales was emended through the addition of two new families (Mymonaviridae and Sunviridae), the elevation of the paramyxoviral subfamily Pneumovirinae to family status (Pneumoviridae), the addition of five free-floating genera (Anphevirus, Arlivirus, Chengtivirus, Crustavirus, and Wastrivirus), and several other changes at the genus and species levels. This article presents the updated taxonomy of the order Mononegavirales as now accepted by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV)

Properties of the Top Quark

The top quark was discoverd at the CDF and D0 experiments in 1995. As the partner of the bottom quark its properties within the Standard Model are fully defined. Only the mass is a free parameter. The measurement of the top quark mass and the verification of the expected properties have been an important topic of experimental top quark physics since. In this review the recent results on top quark properties obtained by the Tevatron experiments CDF and D0 are summarised. At the advent of the LHC special emphasis is given to the basic measurement methods and the dominating systematic uncertainties.Comment: Habilitation thesis, revised and updated for publication in EPJ

Energetic particle influence on the Earth's atmosphere

This manuscript gives an up-to-date and comprehensive overview of the effects of energetic particle precipitation (EPP) onto the whole atmosphere, from the lower thermosphere/mesosphere through the stratosphere and troposphere, to the surface. The paper summarizes the different sources and energies of particles, principally galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), solar energetic particles (SEPs) and energetic electron precipitation (EEP). All the proposed mechanisms by which EPP can affect the atmosphere are discussed, including chemical changes in the upper atmosphere and lower thermosphere, chemistry-dynamics feedbacks, the global electric circuit and cloud formation. The role of energetic particles in Earth’s atmosphere is a multi-disciplinary problem that requires expertise from a range of scientific backgrounds. To assist with this synergy, summary tables are provided, which are intended to evaluate the level of current knowledge of the effects of energetic particles on processes in the entire atmosphere

Search for TeV-scale gravity signatures in high-mass final states with leptons and jets with the ATLAS detector at sqrt [ s ] = 13TeV

A search for physics beyond the Standard Model, in final states with at least one high transverse momentum charged lepton (electron or muon) and two additional high transverse momentum leptons or jets, is performed using 3.2 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2015 at √s = 13 TeV. The upper end of the distribution of the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of leptons and jets is sensitive to the production of high-mass objects. No excess of events beyond Standard Model predictions is observed. Exclusion limits are set for models of microscopic black holes with two to six extra dimensions

Search for high-mass new phenomena in the dilepton final state using proton–proton collisions at View the MathML sources=13TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is conducted for both resonant and non-resonant high-mass new phenomena in dielectron and dimuon final states. The search uses View the MathML source3.2fb−1 of proton–proton collision data, collected at View the MathML sources=13TeV by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC in 2015. The dilepton invariant mass is used as the discriminating variable. No significant deviation from the Standard Model prediction is observed; therefore limits are set on the signal model parameters of interest at 95% credibility level. Upper limits are set on the cross-section times branching ratio for resonances decaying to dileptons, and the limits are converted into lower limits on the resonance mass, ranging between 2.74 TeV and 3.36 TeV, depending on the model. Lower limits on the ℓℓqqℓℓqq contact interaction scale are set between 16.7 TeV and 25.2 TeV, also depending on the mode

Combination of searches for WW, WZ, and ZZ resonances in pp collisions at s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider has performed searches for new, heavy bosons decaying to WW, WZ and ZZ final states in multiple decay channels using 20.3 fb-1 of pp collision data at s=8 TeV. In the current study, the results of these searches are combined to provide a more stringent test of models predicting heavy resonances with couplings to vector bosons. Direct searches for a charged diboson resonance decaying to WZ in the ℓνℓ'ℓ' (ℓ=μ, e), ℓℓqq-, ℓνqq- and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WZ bosons are compared with predictions of an extended gauge model with a heavy W' boson. In addition, direct searches for a neutral diboson resonance decaying to WW and ZZ in the ℓℓqq-, ℓνqq-, and fully hadronic final states are combined and upper limits on the rate of production times branching ratio to the WW and ZZ bosons are compared with predictions for a heavy, spin-2 graviton in an extended Randall-Sundrum model where the Standard Model fields are allowed to propagate in the bulk of the extra dimension

Novel Loci for Adiponectin Levels and Their Influence on Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Traits : A Multi-Ethnic Meta-Analysis of 45,891 Individuals

J. Kaprio, S. Ripatti ja M.-L. Lokki työryhmien jäseniä.Peer reviewe

Complex behavior in solution of homodimeric SecA

SecA, a homodimeric protein involved in protein export in Escherichia coli, exists in the cell both associated with the membrane translocation apparatus and free in the cytosol. SecA is a multifunctional protein involved in protein localization and regulation of its own expression. To carry out these functions, SecA interacts with a variety of proteins, phospholipids, nucleotides, and nucleic acid and shows two enzymic activities. It is an ATPase and a helicase. Its role during protein localization involves interaction with the precursor polypeptides to be exported, the cytosolic chaperone SecB, and the SecY subunit of the membrane-associated translocase, as well as with acidic phospholipids. At the membrane, SecA undergoes a cycle of binding and hydrolysis of ATP coupled to conformational changes that result in translocation of precursors through the cytoplasmic membrane. The helicase activity of SecA and its affinity for its mRNA are involved in regulation of its own expression. SecA has been reported to exist in at least two conformational states during its functional cycle. Here we have used analytical centrifugation, as well as column chromatography coupled with multiangle light scatter, to show that in solution SecA undergoes at least two monomer-dimer equilibrium reactions that are sensitive to temperature and to concentration of salt

Complex behavior in solution of homodimeric SecA

SecA, a homodimeric protein involved in protein export in Escherichia coli, exists in the cell both associated with the membrane translocation apparatus and free in the cytosol. SecA is a multifunctional protein involved in protein localization and regulation of its own expression. To carry out these functions, SecA interacts with a variety of proteins, phospholipids, nucleotides, and nucleic acid and shows two enzymic activities. It is an ATPase and a helicase. Its role during protein localization involves interaction with the precursor polypeptides to be exported, the cytosolic chaperone SecB, and the SecY subunit of the membrane-associated translocase, as well as with acidic phospholipids. At the membrane, SecA undergoes a cycle of binding and hydrolysis of ATP coupled to conformational changes that result in translocation of precursors through the cytoplasmic membrane. The helicase activity of SecA and its affinity for its mRNA are involved in regulation of its own expression. SecA has been reported to exist in at least two conformational states during its functional cycle. Here we have used analytical centrifugation, as well as column chromatography coupled with multiangle light scatter, to show that in solution SecA undergoes at least two monomer-dimer equilibrium reactions that are sensitive to temperature and to concentration of salt