106 research outputs found
Apollo asteroids (1566) Icarus and 2007 MK6: Icarus family members?
Although it is more complicated to search for near-Earth object (NEO)
families than main belt asteroid (MBA) families, since differential orbital
evolution within a NEO family can cause current orbital elements to drastically
differ from each other, we have found that Apollo asteroids (1566) Icarus and
the newly discovered 2007 MK6 are almost certainly related. Specifically, their
orbital evolutions show a similar profile, time shifted by only ~1000 yr, based
on our time-lag theory. The dynamical relationship between Icarus and 2007 MK6
along with a possible dust band, the Taurid-Perseid meteor swarm, implies the
first detection of an asteroidal NEO family, namely the "Icarus asteroid
family".Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, to appear on Astrophysical Journal Letters
(journal info added
The Multiple Origin of Blue Straggler Stars: Theory vs. Observations
In this chapter we review the various suggested channels for the formation
and evolution of blue straggler stars (BSSs) in different environments and
their observational predictions. These include mass transfer during binary
stellar evolution - case A/B/C and D (wind Roche-lobe overflow) mass transfer,
stellar collisions during single and binary encounters in dense stellar
cluster, and coupled dynamical and stellar evolution of triple systems. We also
explore the importance of the BSS and binary dynamics in stellar clusters. We
review the various observed properties of BSSs in different environments (halo
and bulge BSSs, BSSs in globular clusters and BSSs in old open clusters), and
compare the current observations with the theoretical predictions for BSS
formation. We try to constrain the likely progenitors and processes that play a
role in the formation of BSSs and their evolution. We find that multiple
channels of BSS formation are likely to take part in producing the observed
BSSs, and we point out the strengths and weaknesses of each the formation
channel in respect to the observational constraints. Finally we point out
directions to further explore the origin of BSS, and highlight eclipsing binary
BSSs as important observational tool.Comment: Chapter 11, in Ecology of Blue Straggler Stars, H.M.J. Boffin, G.
Carraro & G. Beccari (Eds), Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Springe
Automatic composition of music by means of Grammatical Evolution
This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in APL Quote Quad, http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/604444.602249Proceedings of the 2002 conference on APL: array processing languages: lore, problems, and applications (Madrid)This work describes how grammatical evolution may be applied to the domain of automatic
composition. Our goal is to test this technique as an alternate tool for automatic composition. The
AP440 auxiliary processor will be used to play music, thus we shall use a grammar that generates
AP440 melodies. Grammar evolution will use fitness functions defined from several well-known single
melodies to automatically generate AP440 compositions that are expected to sound like those composed
by human musicians.This paper has been sponsored by the Spanish Interdepartmental Commission of Science and
Technology (CICYT), project numbers TEL1999-0181 and TIC2001-0685-C02-1
Rossiter-McLaughlin Effect Measurements for WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31
We present new measurements of the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect for three
WASP planetary systems, WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31, from a combined analysis
of their complete sets of photometric and spectroscopic data. We find a low
amplitude RM effect for WASP-16 (Teff = 5700 \pm 150K), suggesting that the
star is a slow rotator and thus of an advanced age, and obtain a projected
alignment angle of lambda = -4.2 degrees +11.0 -13.9. For WASP-25 (Teff =
5750\pm100K) we detect a projected spin-orbit angle of lambda = 14.6 degrees
\pm6.7. WASP-31 (Teff = 6300\pm100K) is found to be well-aligned, with a
projected spin-orbit angle of lambda = 2.8degrees \pm3.1. A circular orbit is
consistent with the data for all three systems, in agreement with their
respective discovery papers. We consider the results for these systems in the
context of the ensemble of RM measurements made to date. We find that whilst
WASP-16 fits the hypothesis of Winn et al. (2010) that 'cool' stars (Teff <
6250K) are preferentially aligned, WASP-31 has little impact on the proposed
trend. We bring the total distribution of the true spin-orbit alignment angle,
psi, up to date, noting that recent results have improved the agreement with
the theory of Fabrycky & Tremaine (2007) at mid-range angles. We also suggest a
new test for judging misalignment using the Bayesian Information Criterion,
according to which WASP-25 b's orbit should be considered to be aligned.Comment: 20 pages, 14 tables, 10 figures. Accepted to MNRA
Three-Dimensional Regulation of Radial Glial Functions by Lis1-Nde1 and Dystrophin Glycoprotein Complexes
Lis1-Nde1 integrates cerebral cortical neurogenesis with neuronal migration by stabilizing the basal-lateral surface of radial glial cells
Subependymal giant cell astrocytomas are characterized by mTORC1 hyperactivation, a very low somatic mutation rate, and a unique gene expression profile
Subependymal giant-cell astrocytomas (SEGAs) are slow-growing brain tumors that are a hallmark feature seen in 5–10% of patients with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC). Though histologically benign, they can cause serious neurologic symptoms, leading to death if untreated. SEGAs consistently show biallelic loss of TSC1 or TSC2. Herein, we aimed to define other somatic events beyond TSC1/TSC2 loss and identify potential transcriptional drivers that contribute to SEGA formation. Paired tumor-normal whole-exome sequencing was performed on 21 resected SEGAs from 20 TSC patients. Pathogenic variants in TSC1/TSC2 were identified in 19/21 (90%) SEGAs. Copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (size range: 2.2–46 Mb) was seen in 76% (16/21) of SEGAs (44% chr9q and 56% chr16p). An average of 1.4 other somatic variants (range 0–7) per tumor were identified, unlikely of pathogenic significance. Whole transcriptome RNA-sequencing analyses revealed 190 common differentially expressed genes in SEGA (n = 16, 13 from a prior study) in pairwise comparison to each of: low grade diffuse gliomas (n = 530) and glioblastoma (n = 171) from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) consortium, ganglioglioma (n = 10), TSC cortical tubers (n = 15), and multiple normal tissues. Among these, homeobox transcription factors (TFs) HMX3, HMX2, VAX1, SIX3; and TFs IRF6 and EOMES were all expressed >12-fold higher in SEGAs (FDR/q-value < 0.05). Immunohistochemistry supported the specificity of IRF6, VAX1, SIX3 for SEGAs in comparison to other tumor entities and normal brain. We conclude that SEGAs have an extremely low somatic mutation rate, suggesting that TSC1/TSC2 loss is sufficient to drive tumor growth. The unique and highly expressed SEGA-specific TFs likely reflect the neuroepithelial cell of origin, and may also contribute to the transcriptional and epigenetic state that enables SEGA growth following two-hit loss of TSC1 or TSC2 and mTORC1 activation
Star Formation and Dynamics in the Galactic Centre
The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places
in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre
(GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in
the vicinity of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Despite the hostile
environment, several tens of early-type stars populate the central parsec of
our Galaxy. A fraction of them lie in a thin ring with mild eccentricity and
inner radius ~0.04 pc, while the S-stars, i.e. the ~30 stars closest to the
SMBH (<0.04 pc), have randomly oriented and highly eccentric orbits. The
formation of such early-type stars has been a puzzle for a long time: molecular
clouds should be tidally disrupted by the SMBH before they can fragment into
stars. We review the main scenarios proposed to explain the formation and the
dynamical evolution of the early-type stars in the GC. In particular, we
discuss the most popular in situ scenarios (accretion disc fragmentation and
molecular cloud disruption) and migration scenarios (star cluster inspiral and
Hills mechanism). We focus on the most pressing challenges that must be faced
to shed light on the process of star formation in the vicinity of a SMBH.Comment: 68 pages, 35 figures; invited review chapter, to be published in
expanded form in Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U. and Treves, A.,
'Astrophysical Black Holes'. Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer 201
The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets
This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all objects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun’s centre, equal to half of Mercury’s perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground- and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics
Dynamical Evolution of Planetary Systems
Planetary systems can evolve dynamically even after the full growth of the
planets themselves. There is actually circumstantial evidence that most
planetary systems become unstable after the disappearance of gas from the
protoplanetary disk. These instabilities can be due to the original system
being too crowded and too closely packed or to external perturbations such as
tides, planetesimal scattering, or torques from distant stellar companions. The
Solar System was not exceptional in this sense. In its inner part, a crowded
system of planetary embryos became unstable, leading to a series of mutual
impacts that built the terrestrial planets on a timescale of ~100 My. In its
outer part, the giant planets became temporarily unstable and their orbital
configuration expanded under the effect of mutual encounters. A planet might
have been ejected in this phase. Thus, the orbital distributions of planetary
systems that we observe today, both solar and extrasolar ones, can be different
from the those emerging from the formation process and it is important to
consider possible long-term evolutionary effects to connect the two.Comment: Review to appear as a chapter in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", ed. H.
Deeg & J.A. Belmont
Populations of planets in multiple star systems
Astronomers have discovered that both planets and binaries are abundant
throughout the Galaxy. In combination, we know of over 100 planets in binary
and higher-order multi-star systems, in both circumbinary and circumstellar
configurations. In this chapter we review these findings and some of their
implications for the formation of both stars and planets. Most of the planets
found have been circumstellar, where there is seemingly a ruinous influence of
the second star if sufficiently close (<50 AU). Hosts of hot Jupiters have been
a particularly popular target for binary star studies, showing an enhanced rate
of stellar multiplicity for moderately wide binaries (>100 AU). This was
thought to be a sign of Kozai-Lidov migration, however recent studies have
shown this mechanism to be too inefficient to account for the majority of hot
Jupiters. A couple of dozen circumbinary planets have been proposed around both
main sequence and evolved binaries. Around main sequence binaries there are
preliminary indications that the frequency of gas giants is as high as those
around single stars. There is however a conspicuous absence of circumbinary
planets around the tightest main sequence binaries with periods of just a few
days, suggesting a unique, more disruptive formation history of such close
stellar pairs.Comment: Invited review chapter, accepted for publication in "Handbook of
Exoplanets", ed. H. Deeg & J. A. Belmont
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