The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER). III. The Mass Function of Young Star Clusters in M33

We measure the star cluster mass function for the Local Group galaxy M33. We use the catalog of stellar clusters selected from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury: Triangulum Extended Region (PHATTER) survey. We analyze 711 clusters in M33 with $\rm 7.0$ 3.0 as determined from color-magnitude diagram fits to individual stars. The M33 cluster mass function is best described by a Schechter function with power law slope $\alpha = -2.06^{+0.14}_{-0.13}$, and truncation mass log($M_c/M_{\odot}$) $= 4.24^{+0.16}_{-0.13}$. The data show strong evidence for a high-mass truncation, thus strongly favoring a Schechter function fit over a pure power law. M33's truncation mass is consistent with the previously identified linear trend between $M_c$, and star formation rate surface density, \SigSFR. We also explore the effect that individual cluster mass uncertainties have on derived mass function parameters, and find evidence to suggest that large cluster mass uncertainties have the potential to bias the truncation mass of fitted mass functions on the one sigma level.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 1 table, Accepted to ApJ (February 2, 2022

The Strategic Exploitation of Limited Information and Opportunity in Networked Markets

This paper studies the effect of constraining interactions within a market. A model is analysed in which boundedly rational agents trade with and gather information from their neighbours within a trade network. It is demonstrated that a trader’s ability to profit and to identify the equilibrium price is positively correlated with its degree of connectivity within the market. Where traders differ in their number of potential trading partners, well-connected traders are found to benefit from aggressive trading behaviour.Where information propagation is constrained by the topology of the trade network, connectedness affects the nature of the strategies employed

Foundations for Esports Curricula in Higher Education

Esports has generated an industry of increasing economic and cultural importance. In recent years, universities and other higher education institutions have responded to its growth by establishing programmes of study which aim to satisfy the needs of innovators operating in the area. However, there is not yet consensus on what an esports curriculum should include. Despite being a technology-driven sector with ethical and professional dimensions that intersect computing, current ACM and IEEE curricula do not mention esports. Furthermore, existing courses tend to provide teaching and training on a wide variety of topics aside from those traditionally in computer science. These include: live events management; psychological research; sports science; marketing; public relations; video (livestream) production; and community management; in addition to coaching and communication. This working group examined the requirements for developing esports studies at universities with a focus on understanding career prospects in esports and on the challenges presented by its interdisciplinary complexity. Thereby, paving the way for a framework to support the design of esports curricula in higher education

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

Do Femtonewton Forces Affect Genetic Function? A Review

Protein-Mediated DNA looping is intricately related to gene expression. Therefore any mechanical constraint that disrupts loop formation can play a significant role in gene regulation. Polymer physics models predict that less than a piconewton of force may be sufficient to prevent the formation of DNA loops. Thus, it appears that tension can act as a molecular switch that controls the much larger forces associated with the processive motion of RNA polymerase. Since RNAP can exert forces over 20 pN before it stalls, a ‘substrate tension switch’ could offer a force advantage of two orders of magnitude. Evidence for such a mechanism is seen in recent in vitro micromanipulation experiments. In this article we provide new perspective on existing theory and experimental data on DNA looping in vitro and in vivo . We elaborate on the connection between tension and a variety of other intracellular mechanical constraints including sequence specific curvature and supercoiling. In the process, we emphasize that the richness and versatility of DNA mechanics opens up a whole new paradigm of gene regulation to explore.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41816/1/10867_2005_Article_9002.pd

A MODEST review

We present an account of the state of the art in the fields explored by the research community invested in 'Modeling and Observing DEnse STellar systems'. For this purpose, we take as a basis the activities of the MODEST-17 conference, which was held at Charles University, Prague, in September 2017. Reviewed topics include recent advances in fundamental stellar dynamics, numerical methods for the solution of the gravitational N-body problem, formation and evolution of young and old star clusters and galactic nuclei, their elusive stellar populations, planetary systems, and exotic compact objects, with timely attention to black holes of different classes of mass and their role as sources of gravitational waves. Such a breadth of topics reflects the growing role played by collisional stellar dynamics in numerous areas of modern astrophysics. Indeed, in the next decade, many revolutionary instruments will enable the derivation of positions and velocities of individual stars in the Milky Way and its satellites and will detect signals from a range of astrophysical sources in different portions of the electromagnetic and gravitational spectrum, with an unprecedented sensitivity. On the one hand, this wealth of data will allow us to address a number of long-standing open questions in star cluster studies; on the other hand, many unexpected properties of these systems will come to light, stimulating further progress of our understanding of their formation and evolution.Comment: 42 pages; accepted for publication in 'Computational Astrophysics and Cosmology'. We are much grateful to the organisers of the MODEST-17 conference (Charles University, Prague, September 2017). We acknowledge the input provided by all MODEST-17 participants, and, more generally, by the members of the MODEST communit

Multiancestry analysis of the HLA locus in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases uncovers a shared adaptive immune response mediated by HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes

Across multiancestry groups, we analyzed Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) associations in over 176,000 individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) versus controls. We demonstrate that the two diseases share the same protective association at the HLA locus. HLA-specific fine-mapping showed that hierarchical protective effects of HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes best accounted for the association, strongest with HLA-DRB1*04:04 and HLA-DRB1*04:07, and intermediary with HLA-DRB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*04:03. The same signal was associated with decreased neurofibrillary tangles in postmortem brains and was associated with reduced tau levels in cerebrospinal fluid and to a lower extent with increased Aβ42. Protective HLA-DRB1*04 subtypes strongly bound the aggregation-prone tau PHF6 sequence, however only when acetylated at a lysine (K311), a common posttranslational modification central to tau aggregation. An HLA-DRB1*04-mediated adaptive immune response decreases PD and AD risks, potentially by acting against tau, offering the possibility of therapeutic avenues