130 research outputs found
Mission Concept for the Single Aperture Far-Infrared (SAFIR) Observatory
The Single Aperture Far-InfraRed (SAFIR) Observatory's science goals are
driven by the fact that the earliest stages of almost all phenomena in the
universe are shrouded in absorption by and emission from cool dust and gas that
emits strongly in the far-infrared and submillimeter. Over the past several
years, there has been an increasing recognition of the critical importance of
this spectral region to addressing fundamental astrophysical problems, ranging
from cosmological questions to understanding how our own Solar System came into
being. The development of large, far-infrared telescopes in space has become
more feasible with the combination of developments for the James Webb Space
Telescope and of enabling breakthroughs in detector technology. We have
developed a preliminary but comprehensive mission concept for SAFIR, as a 10
m-class far-infrared and submillimeter observatory that would begin development
later in this decade to meet the needs outlined above. Its operating
temperature (<4K) and instrument complement would be optimized to reach the
natural sky confusion limit in the far-infrared with diffraction-limited
peformance down to at least 40 microns. This would provide a point source
sensitivity improvement of several orders of magnitude over that of Spitzer or
Herschel, with finer angular resolution, enabling imaging and spectroscopic
studies of individual galaxies in the early universe. We have considered many
aspects of the SAFIR mission, including the telescope technology, detector
needs and technologies, cooling method and required technology developments,
attitude and pointing, power systems, launch vehicle, and mission operations.
The most challenging requirements for this mission are operating temperature
and aperture size of the telescope, and the development of detector arrays.Comment: 36 page
Curvature of the universe and the dark energy potential
The flatness of an accelerating universe model (characterized by a dark
energy scalar field ) is mimicked from a curved model that is filled
with, apart from the cold dark matter component, a quintessencelike scalar
field . In this process, we characterize the original scalar potential
and the mimicked scalar potential associated to the scalar
fields and , respectively. The parameters of the original model are
fixed through the mimicked quantities that we relate to the present
astronomical data, such that the equation state parameter and the
dark energy density parameter .Comment: References 7 and 8 have been corrected: (7) Riess et al. 1998, AJ,
116, 1009 and (8) Perlmutter et al. 1999, ApJ, 517, 56
Significant out-of-sample classification from methylation profile scoring for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
We conducted DNA methylation association analyses using Illumina 450K data from whole blood for an Australian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) case–control cohort (782 cases and 613 controls). Analyses used mixed linear models as implemented in the OSCA software. We found a significantly higher proportion of neutrophils in cases compared to controls which replicated in an independent cohort from the Netherlands (1159 cases and 637 controls). The OSCA MOMENT linear mixed model has been shown in simulations to best account for confounders. When combined in a methylation profile score, the 25 most-associated probes identified by MOMENT significantly classified case–control status in the Netherlands sample (area under the curve, AUC = 0.65, CI95% = [0.62–0.68], p = 8.3 × 10−22). The maximum AUC achieved was 0.69 (CI95% = [0.66–0.71], p = 4.3 × 10−34) when cell-type proportion was included in the predictor
Magnetohydrodynamic Waves in an Asymmetric Magnetic Slab
Analytical models of solar atmospheric magnetic structures have been crucial for our understanding of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) wave behaviour and in the development of the field of solar magneto-seismology. Here, an analytical approach is used to derive the dispersion relation for MHD waves in a magnetic slab of homogeneous plasma enclosed on its two sides by non-magnetic, semi-infinite plasma with different densities and temperatures. This generalises the classic magnetic slab model, which is symmetric about the slab. The dispersion relation, unlike that governing a symmetric slab, cannot be decoupled into the well-known sausage and kink modes, i.e. the modes have mixed properties. The eigenmodes of an asymmetric magnetic slab are better labelled as quasi-sausage and quasi-kink modes. Given that the solar atmosphere is highly inhomogeneous, this has implications for MHD mode identification in a range of solar structures. A parametric analysis of how the mode properties (in particular the phase speed, eigenfrequencies, and amplitudes) vary in terms of the introduced asymmetry is conducted. In particular, avoided crossings occur between quasi-sausage and quasi-kink surface modes, allowing modes to adopt different properties for different parameters in the external region
Mapping of summer crops in the State of Paraná, Brazil, through the 10-day spot vegetation NDVI composites
Regions of the genome that affect agronomic performance in two-row barley
Quantitative trait locus (QTL) main effects and QTL by environment (QTL × E) interactions for seven agronomic traits (grain yield, days to heading, days to maturity, plant height, lodging severity, kernel weight, and test weight) were investigated in a two-row barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cross, Harrington/TR306. A 127-point base map was constructed from markers (mostly RFLP) scored in 146 random double-haploid (DH) lines from the Harrington/TR306 cross. Field experiments involving the two parents and 145 random DH lines were grown in 1992 and/or 1993 at 17 locations in North America. Analysis of QTL was based on simple and composite interval mapping. Primary QTL were declared at positions where both methods gave evidence for QTL. The number of primary QTL ranged from three to six per trait, collectively explaining 34 to 52% of the genetic variance. None of these primary QTL showed major effects, but many showed effects that were consistent across environments. The addition of secondary QTL gave models that explained 39 to 80% of the genetic variance. The QTL were dispersed throughout the barley genome and some were detected in regions where QTL have been found in previous studies. Eight chromosome regions contained pleiotropic loci and/or linked clusters of loci that affected multiple traits. One region on chromosome 7 affected all traits except days to heading. This study was an intensive effort to evaluate QTL in a narrow-base population grown in a large set of environments. The results reveal the types and distributions of QTL effects manipulated by plant breeders and provide opportunities for future testing of marker-assisted selection
Informações geoambientais derivadas de imagens de radar (R99B/SIPAM) e ópticas (LANDSAT/TM5) em jazimento de minério de ferro em Carajás
Genome-wide meta-analyses reveal novel loci for verbal short-term memory and learning
Understanding the genomic basis of memory processes may help in combating neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, we examined the associations of common genetic variants with verbal short-term memory and verbal learning in adults without dementia or stroke (N = 53,637). We identified novel loci in the intronic region of CDH18, and at 13q21 and 3p21.1, as well as an expected signal in the APOE/APOC1/TOMM40 region. These results replicated in an independent sample. Functional and bioinformatic analyses supported many of these loci and further implicated POC1. We showed that polygenic score for verbal learning associated with brain activation in right parieto-occipital region during working memory task. Finally, we showed genetic correlations of these memory traits with several neurocognitive and health outcomes. Our findings suggest a role of several genomic loci in verbal memory processes
The Theory of Brown Dwarfs and Extrasolar Giant Planets
Straddling the traditional realms of the planets and the stars, objects below
the edge of the main sequence have such unique properties, and are being
discovered in such quantities, that one can rightly claim that a new field at
the interface of planetary science and and astronomy is being born. In this
review, we explore the essential elements of the theory of brown dwarfs and
giant planets, as well as of the new spectroscopic classes L and T. To this
end, we describe their evolution, spectra, atmospheric compositions, chemistry,
physics, and nuclear phases and explain the basic systematics of
substellar-mass objects across three orders of magnitude in both mass and age
and a factor of 30 in effective temperature. Moreover, we discuss the
distinctive features of those extrasolar giant planets that are irradiated by a
central primary, in particular their reflection spectra, albedos, and transits.
Aspects of the latest theory of Jupiter and Saturn are also presented.
Throughout, we highlight the effects of condensates, clouds, molecular
abundances, and molecular/atomic opacities in brown dwarf and giant planet
atmospheres and summarize the resulting spectral diagnostics. Where possible,
the theory is put in its current observational context.Comment: 67 pages (including 36 figures), RMP RevTeX LaTeX, accepted for
publication in the Reviews of Modern Physics. 30 figures are color. Most of
the figures are in GIF format to reduce the overall size. The full version
with figures can also be found at:
http://jupiter.as.arizona.edu/~burrows/papers/rm
Dinâmica do uso e cobertura da terra no sudeste de Roraima utilizando técnicas de detecção de mudanças
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