Modeling of Exoplanet Atmospheres

Spectrally characterizing exoplanet atmospheres will be one of the fastest moving astronomical disciplines in the years to come. Especially the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will provide spectral measurements from the near- to mid-infrared of unprecedented precision. With other next generation instruments on the horizon, it is crucial to possess the tools necessary for interpretating observations. To this end I wrote the petitCODE, which solves for the self-consistent atmospheric structures of exoplanets, assuming chemical and radiative-convective equilibrium. The code includes scattering, and models clouds. The code outputs the planet’s observable emission and transmission spectra. In addition, I constructed a spectral retrieval code, which derives the full posterior probability distribution of atmospheric parameters from observations. I used petitCODE to systematically study the atmospheres of hot jupiters and found, e.g., that their structures depend strongly on the type of their host stars. Moreover, I found that C/O ratios around unity can lead to atmospheric inversions. Next, I produced synthetic observations of prime exoplanet targets for JWST, and studied how well we will be able to distinguish various atmospheric scenarios. Finally, I verified the implementation of my retrieval code using mock JWST observations

Additional file 1: of Identification and analysis of genomic islands in Burkholderia cenocepacia AU 1054 with emphasis on pathogenicity islands

Table S1. List of putative virulence factors in AU 1054 generated by COG ID match with known VFs in the strain J2315, and information of known virulence factors in the J2315 were obtained from Ref. 4 and 48. Table S2. List of virulence factors identified in AU 1054 by screening attenuated virulence, which is extracted from Ref. 49. Table S3. Feature analysis of 16 GIs exclusively predicted by the cumulative GC profile. Table S4. Feature analysis of 22 GIs exclusively predicted by the IslandViewer tool. (DOCX 46 kb

miR-375-3p damaged osteogenesis by inducing cell apoptosis.

<p>(A) Relative expression levels of RUNX2 in MC3T3-E1 cells treated with miR-375-3p mimics. (B) Relative expression levels of SOST in MC3T3-E1 cells treated with miR-375-3p mimics. (C) Representative TUNEL staining images of MC3T3-E1 cells. More TUNEL positive staining cells (Red) were found after the cells were transfected with miR-375-3p mimics. (D) Quantification of TUNEL-positive cells. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01. n = 3/group.</p

miR-375-3p targeted LRP5 and β-catenin.

<p>(A) The binding sites between miR-375-3p and the 3’UTR of LRP5 and β-catenin. (B) The relative luciferase activity of MC3T3-E1 cells transfected with luciferase-wild type (or mutant) LRP5 plasmids and miR-375-3p mimics. (C) The relative luciferase activity of MC3T3-E1 cells transfected with luciferase-wild type (or mutant) β-catenin plasmids and miR-375-3p mimics. * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01, NS, not significant. n = 3/group.</p

The examples of region of interests.

<p>The examples of region of interests.</p

miR-375-3p arrested the expression of LRP5 and β-catenin.

<p>(A) Relative expression levels of LRP5 in MC3T3-E1 cells upon transfection of miR-375-3p mimics or inhibitors. (B) Relative expression levels of β-catenin in MC3T3-E1 cells upon transfection of miR-375-3p mimics or inhibitors. (C) Representative staining images of MC3T3-E1 cells. Less green cells were found after the cells were transfected with miR-375-3p mimics. * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01. n = 3/group.</p

Loss of function of LRP5 resulted in damaged osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

<p>(A) The relative absorbance of MC3T3-E1 cells transfected with a serial dilution of siLRP5 in the WST-1-based colorimetric assay. (B) Representative 3D images of bone microstructure in the knee-joints in LRP5 WT and KO mice. (C) Quantification of trabecular bone volume fraction (BV/TV) in the knee-joints in WT or KO mice was determined from the μCT measurement. (D) Relative expression levels of SMAD7 in the bone tissues of mice. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, n = 3/group.</p

Sequences of all primers.

<p>Sequences of all primers.</p

The baseline of mice.

<p>The baseline of mice.</p

The expression dynamics of effectors of miR-375-3p during osteogenesis.

<p>(A) Relative expression levels of LRP5 during MC3T3-E1 differentiation and osteogenesis. (B) Relative expression levels of β-catenin during MC3T3-E1 differentiation. (C) Relative expression levels of β-catenin in bone tissues from osteoporotic patients and their controls. * p < 0.05. ** p < 0.01.</p