An Isolated Stellar-Mass Black Hole Detected Through Astrometric Microlensing

We report the first unambiguous detection and mass measurement of an isolated stellar-mass black hole (BH). We used the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to carry out precise astrometry of the source star of the long-duration (t_E ~ 270 days), high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2011-BLG-191/OGLE-2011-BLG-0462, in the direction of the Galactic bulge. HST imaging, conducted at eight epochs over an interval of six years, reveals a clear relativistic astrometric deflection of the background star's apparent position. Ground-based photometry shows a parallactic signature of the effect of the Earth's motion on the microlensing light curve. Combining the HST astrometry with the ground-based light curve and the derived parallax, we obtain a lens mass of 7.1 +/- 1.3 M_Sun and a distance of 1.58 +/- 0.18 kpc. We show that the lens emits no detectable light, which, along with having a mass higher than is possible for a white dwarf or neutron star, confirms its BH nature. Our analysis also provides an absolute proper motion for the BH. The proper motion is offset from the mean motion of Galactic-disk stars at similar distances by an amount corresponding to a transverse space velocity of ~45 km/s, suggesting that the BH received a modest natal 'kick' from its supernova explosion. Previous mass determinations for stellar-mass BHs have come from radial-velocity measurements of Galactic X-ray binaries, and from gravitational radiation emitted by merging BHs in binary systems in external galaxies. Our mass measurement is the first ever for an isolated stellar-mass BH using any technique

Data from: Postglacial climate changes and rise of three ecotypes of harbor porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, in western Palearctic waters

Despite no obvious barriers to gene flow in the marine realm, environmental variation and ecological specializations can lead to genetic differentiation in highly mobile predators. Here, we investigated the genetic structure of the harbor porpoise over the entire species distribution range in western Palearctic waters. Combined analyses of ten microsatellite loci and a 5,085 bases-pairs portion of the mitochondrial genome revealed the existence of three ecotypes, equally divergent at the mitochondrial genome, distributed in the Black Sea, the European continental shelf waters, and a previously overlooked ecotype in the upwelling zones of Iberia and Mauritania. Historical demographic inferences using Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) suggest that these ecotypes diverged during the Last Glacial Maximum (~23–19 kilo-years ago, kyrBP). ABC supports the hypothesis that the Black Sea and upwelling ecotypes share a more recent common ancestor (~14 kyrBP) than either does with the European continental shelf ecotype (~28 kyrBP), suggesting they likely descended from the extinct populations that once inhabited the Mediterranean during the glacial and post-glacial period. We showed that the two Atlantic ecotypes established a narrow admixture zone in the Bay of Biscay during the last millennium, with highly asymmetric gene flow. This study highlights the impacts that climate change may have on the distribution and speciation process in pelagic predators and shows that allopatric divergence can occur in these highly mobile species and be a source of genetic diversity. The data package contains two datasets

Supplementary Material for: International Multi-Specialty Delphi Survey: Identification of Diagnostic Criteria for Hepatic and Renal Cyst Infection

Background: Cyst infection is one of the complications of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and polycystic liver disease. The diagnosis is typically made on a mix of clinical, laboratory and imaging abnormalities but the importance of individual items is uncertain. We aimed to perform a Delphi survey amongst physicians to achieve consensus on diagnostic criteria. Methods: We retrieved diagnostic items from the literature and conducted physician and patient interviews. All items were combined to create the online questionnaire. Participants rated each item during 3 consecutive rounds. Items were rated for diagnostic helpfulness for hepatic and renal cyst infection on a 9-point scale with anchors, from extremely unimportant (n = 1) to extremely important (n = 9). We determined consensus with the disagreement index. The median rating of each item was calculated and categorized into inappropriate (≤3.4), uncertain (3.5-6.4) or appropriate (≥6.5). By combining all items that reached an appropriate consensus rating, we developed a diagnostic algorithm based on expert consensus. Results: We invited 58 physicians to participate in the survey. In total, 35 (60%) responded to round 1 of which 91% (n = 32) and 86% (n = 30) responded to round 2 and 3, respectively. The final panel included 23 nephrologists, 5 hepatologists, a nuclear medicine specialist and an infectious disease physician from 11 countries (male 67%, mean age 47 ± 11 years, median clinical experience 21 years). The panel rated the diagnostic helpfulness of 59 potential items. Ultimately, 22 hepatic and 26 renal items were rated appropriate, including positive blood cultures and fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission CT imaging. Ultrasonography and absence of intracystic bleeding were amongst those deemed uncertain or inappropriate. Subsequently, by combining items rated appropriate, we developed a clinical tool to diagnose hepatic and renal cyst infection.Conclusions: We identified diagnostic items for hepatic and renal cyst infection and developed an expert-based diagnostic algorithm, which may aid physicians in the diagnostic work-up. A prospective study is necessary to validate this algorithm

DUNES survey observational results

VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'DUst around NEarby Stars. The survey observational results.' (bibcode: 2013A&A...555A..11E

46 open clusters GaiaDR2 HR diagrams

VizieR online Data Catalogue associated with article published in journal Astronomy & Astrophysics with title 'Gaia Data Release 2: Observational Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams.' (bibcode: 2018A&A...616A..10G