Models of Star-Planet Magnetic Interaction

Magnetic interactions between a planet and its environment are known to lead to phenomena such as aurorae and shocks in the solar system. The large number of close-in exoplanets that were discovered triggered a renewed interest in magnetic interactions in star-planet systems. Multiple other magnetic effects were then unveiled, such as planet inflation or heating, planet migration, planetary material escape, and even modification of the host star properties. We review here the recent efforts in modelling and understanding magnetic interactions between stars and planets in the context of compact systems. We first provide simple estimates of the effects of magnetic interactions and then detail analytical and numerical models for different representative scenarii. We finally lay out a series of future developments that are needed today to better understand and constrain these fascinating interactions.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, accepted as a chapter in the Handbook of Exoplanet

The potassic sedimentary rocks in Gale Crater, Mars, as seen by ChemCam on board Curiosity

The Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity encountered potassium-rich clastic sedimentary rocks at two sites in Gale Crater, the waypoints Cooperstown and Kimberley. These rocks include several distinct meters thick sedimentary outcrops ranging from fine sandstone to conglomerate, interpreted to record an ancient fluvial or fluvio-deltaic depositional system. From ChemCam Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) chemical analyses, this suite of sedimentary rocks has an overall mean K2O abundance that is more than 5 times higher than that of the average Martian crust. The combined analysis of ChemCam data with stratigraphic and geographic locations reveals that the mean K2O abundance increases upward through the stratigraphic section. Chemical analyses across each unit can be represented as mixtures of several distinct chemical components, i.e., mineral phases, including K-bearing minerals, mafic silicates, Fe-oxides, and Fe-hydroxide/oxyhydroxides. Possible K-bearing minerals include alkali feldspar (including anorthoclase and sanidine) and K-bearing phyllosilicate such as illite. Mixtures of different source rocks, including a potassium-rich rock located on the rim and walls of Gale Crater, are the likely origin of observed chemical variations within each unit. Physical sorting may have also played a role in the enrichment in K in the Kimberley formation. The occurrence of these potassic sedimentary rocks provides additional evidence for the chemical diversity of the crust exposed at Gale Crater

Exercise training increases mitochondrial content and ex vivo mitochondrial function similarly in patients with type 2 diabetes and in control individuals

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: We previously showed that type 2 diabetic patients are characterised by compromised intrinsic mitochondrial function. Here, we examined if exercise training could increase intrinsic mitochondrial function in diabetic patients compared with control individuals. METHODS: Fifteen male type 2 diabetic patients and 14 male control individuals matched for age, BMI and [Formula: see text] enrolled in a 12 week exercise intervention programme. Ex vivo mitochondrial function was assessed by high-resolution respirometry in permeabilised muscle fibres from vastus lateralis muscle. Before and after training, insulin-stimulated glucose disposal was examined during a hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. RESULTS: Diabetic patients had intrinsically lower ADP-stimulated state 3 respiration and lower carbonyl cyanide 4-(trifluoro-methoxy)phenylhydrazone (FCCP)-induced maximal oxidative respiration, both on glutamate and on glutamate and succinate, and in the presence of palmitoyl-carnitine (p < 0.05). After training, diabetic patients and control individuals showed increased state 3 respiration on the previously mentioned substrates (p < 0.05); however, an increase in FCCP-induced maximal oxidative respiration was observed only in diabetic patients (p < 0.05). The increase in mitochondrial respiration was accompanied by a 30% increase in mitochondrial content upon training (p < 0.01). After adjustment for mitochondrial density, state 3 and FCCP-induced maximal oxidative respiration were similar between groups after training. Improvements in mitochondrial respiration were paralleled by improvements in insulin-stimulated glucose disposal in diabetic patients, with a tendency for this in control individuals. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: We confirmed lower intrinsic mitochondrial function in diabetic patients compared with control individuals. Diabetic patients increased their mitochondrial content to the same extent as control individuals and had similar intrinsic mitochondrial function, which occurred parallel with improved insulin sensitivity

Mild Mitochondrial Uncoupling and Calorie Restriction Increase Fasting eNOS, Akt and Mitochondrial Biogenesis

Enhanced mitochondrial biogenesis promoted by eNOS activation is believed to play a central role in the beneficial effects of calorie restriction (CR). Since treatment of mice with dinitrophenol (DNP) promotes health and lifespan benefits similar to those observed in CR, we hypothesized that it could also impact biogenesis. We found that DNP and CR increase citrate synthase activity, PGC-1α, cytochrome c oxidase and mitofusin-2 expression, as well as fasting plasma levels of NO• products. In addition, eNOS and Akt phosphorylation in skeletal muscle and visceral adipose tissue was activated in fasting CR and DNP animals. Overall, our results indicate that systemic mild uncoupling activates eNOS and Akt-dependent pathways leading to mitochondrial biogenesis

Expression of Interest for a Novel Search for CP Violation in the Neutrino Sector: DAEdALUS

Submitted to the DUSEL DirectorateSubmitted to the DUSEL DirectorateDAEdALUS, a Decay-At-rest Experiment for delta_CP studies At the Laboratory for Underground Science, provides a new approach to the search for CP violation in the neutrino sector. The design utilizes low-cost, high-power proton accelerators under development for commercial uses. These provide neutrino beams with energy up to 52 MeV from pion and muon decay-at-rest. The experiment searches for aninu_mu to antinu_e at short baselines corresponding to the atmospheric Delta m^2 region. The antinu_e will be detected, via inverse beta decay, in the 300 kton fiducial-volume Gd-doped water Cherenkov neutrino detector proposed for the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL). DAEdALUS opens new opportunities for DUSEL. It provides a high-statistics, low-background alternative for CP violation searches which matches the capability of the conventional long-baseline neutrino experiment, LBNE. Because of the complementary designs, when DAEdALUS antineutrino data are combined with LBNE neutrino data, the sensitivity of the CP-violation search improves beyond any present proposals, including the proposal for Project X. Also, the availability of an on-site neutrino beam opens opportunities for additional physics, both for the presently planned DUSEL detectors and for new experiments at a future 300 ft campus

Linking Yeast Gcn5p Catalytic Function and Gene Regulation Using a Quantitative, Graded Dominant Mutant Approach

Establishing causative links between protein functional domains and global gene regulation is critical for advancements in genetics, biotechnology, disease treatment, and systems biology. This task is challenging for multifunctional proteins when relying on traditional approaches such as gene deletions since they remove all domains simultaneously. Here, we describe a novel approach to extract quantitative, causative links by modulating the expression of a dominant mutant allele to create a function-specific competitive inhibition. Using the yeast histone acetyltransferase Gcn5p as a case study, we demonstrate the utility of this approach and (1) find evidence that Gcn5p is more involved in cell-wide gene repression, instead of the accepted gene activation associated with HATs, (2) identify previously unknown gene targets and interactions for Gcn5p-based acetylation, (3) quantify the strength of some Gcn5p-DNA associations, (4) demonstrate that this approach can be used to correctly identify canonical chromatin modifications, (5) establish the role of acetyltransferase activity on synthetic lethal interactions, and (6) identify new functional classes of genes regulated by Gcn5p acetyltransferase activity—all six of these major conclusions were unattainable by using standard gene knockout studies alone. We recommend that a graded dominant mutant approach be utilized in conjunction with a traditional knockout to study multifunctional proteins and generate higher-resolution data that more accurately probes protein domain function and influence

Jet energy measurement with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV

The jet energy scale and its systematic uncertainty are determined for jets measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 38 pb-1. Jets are reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm with distance parameters R=0. 4 or R=0. 6. Jet energy and angle corrections are determined from Monte Carlo simulations to calibrate jets with transverse momenta pT≥20 GeV and pseudorapidities {pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy systematic uncertainty is estimated using the single isolated hadron response measured in situ and in test-beams, exploiting the transverse momentum balance between central and forward jets in events with dijet topologies and studying systematic variations in Monte Carlo simulations. The jet energy uncertainty is less than 2. 5 % in the central calorimeter region ({pipe}η{pipe}<0. 8) for jets with 60≤pT<800 GeV, and is maximally 14 % for pT<30 GeV in the most forward region 3. 2≤{pipe}η{pipe}<4. 5. The jet energy is validated for jet transverse momenta up to 1 TeV to the level of a few percent using several in situ techniques by comparing a well-known reference such as the recoiling photon pT, the sum of the transverse momenta of tracks associated to the jet, or a system of low-pT jets recoiling against a high-pT jet. More sophisticated jet calibration schemes are presented based on calorimeter cell energy density weighting or hadronic properties of jets, aiming for an improved jet energy resolution and a reduced flavour dependence of the jet response. The systematic uncertainty of the jet energy determined from a combination of in situ techniques is consistent with the one derived from single hadron response measurements over a wide kinematic range. The nominal corrections and uncertainties are derived for isolated jets in an inclusive sample of high-pT jets. Special cases such as event topologies with close-by jets, or selections of samples with an enhanced content of jets originating from light quarks, heavy quarks or gluons are also discussed and the corresponding uncertainties are determined. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for the neutral Higgs bosons of the minimal supersymmetric standard model in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for neutral Higgs bosons of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) is reported. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The data were recorded in 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1 to 4.8 fb-1. Higgs boson decays into oppositely-charged muon or τ lepton pairs are considered for final states requiring either the presence or absence of b-jets. No statistically significant excess over the expected background is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived. The exclusion limits are for the production cross-section of a generic neutral Higgs boson, φ, as a function of the Higgs boson mass and for h/A/H production in the MSSM as a function of the parameters mA and tan β in the mhmax scenario for mA in the range of 90GeV to 500 GeV. Copyright CERN