Yet another star in the Albireo system.: The discovery of Albireo Ad

Stars and planetary system

The first Doppler imaging of the active binary prototype RS Canum Venaticorum

We present the first Doppler images of the prototypical active binary star RS Canum Venaticorum, derived from high-resolution spectra observed in 2004, 2016 and 2017, using three different telescopes and observing sites. We apply the least-squares deconvolution technique to all observed spectra to obtain high signal-to-noise line profiles, which are used to derive the surface images of the active K-type component. Our images show a complex spot pattern on the K star, distributed widely in longitude. All star-spots revealed by our Doppler images are located below a latitude of about 70°. In accordance with previous light-curve modelling studies, we find no indication of a polar spot on the K star. Using Doppler images derived from two consecutive rotational cycles, we estimate a surface differential rotation rate of ΔΩ = −0.039 ± 0.003 rad d−1 and α = ΔΩ/Ωeq = −0.030 ± 0.002 for the K star. Given the limited phase coverage during those two rotations, the uncertainty of our differential rotation estimate is presumably higher

The crucial role of surface magnetic fields for stellar dynamos : ϵ Eridani, 61 Cygni A, and the Sun

Funding: SVJ acknowledges the support of the DFG priority programme SPP 1992 “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets (JE 701/5-1)”. RHC’s contribution to this work was supported in part by ERC Synergy Grant WHOLE SUN 810218. RHC benefited from discussions at the ISSI team ‘What determines the dynamo effectively of solar active regions?’. SBS acknowledges funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) under the Lise Meitner grant M 2829-N. MMJ acknowledges support from STFC Consolidated Grant ST/R000824/1. VS acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 682393 AWESoMeStars). AAV acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 817540, ASTROFLOW). Based on observations obtained at the Telescope Bernard Lyot (USR5026) operated by the Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Université de Toulouse (Paul Sabatier), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique of France. Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) data used in this study were obtained via the web site http://wso.stanford.edu, courtesy of J. T. Hoeksema. This work uses data obtained with the TIGRE telescope, located at La Luz observatory, Mexico. TIGRE is a collaboration of the Hamburger Sternwarte, the Universities of Hamburg, Guanajuato and Liège. The Mount Wilson Observatory HK Project was supported by both public and private funds through the Carnegie Observatories, the Mount Wilson Institute, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics starting in 1966 and continuing for over 36 years. These data are the result of the dedicated work of O. Wilson, A. Vaughan, G. Preston, D. Duncan, S. Baliunas, and many others. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2013-2016) under grant agreement No. 312430 (OPTICON).Cool main-sequence stars, such as the Sun, have magnetic fields which are generated by an internal dynamo mechanism. In the Sun, the dynamo mechanism produces a balance between the amounts of magnetic flux generated and lost over the Sun's 11-year activity cycle and it is visible in the Sun's different atmospheric layers using multi-wavelength observations. We used the same observational diagnostics, spanning several decades, to probe the emergence of magnetic flux on the two close by, active- and low-mass K dwarfs: 61 Cygni A and ϵ Eridani. Our results show that 61 Cygni A follows the Solar dynamo with a regular cycle at all wavelengths, while ϵ Eridani represents a more extreme level of the Solar dynamo, while also showing strong Solar-like characteristics. For the first time we show magnetic butterfly diagrams for stars other than the Sun. For the two K stars and the Sun, the rate at which the toroidal field is generated from surface poloidal field is similar to the rate at which toroidal flux is lost through flux emergence. This suggests that the surface field plays a crucial role in the dynamos of all three stars. Finally, for ϵ Eridani, we show that the two chromospheric cycle periods, of ~3 and ~13 years, correspond to two superimposed magnetic cycles.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Insights into the Second Law of Thermodynamics from Anisotropic Gas-Surface Interactions

Thermodynamic implications of anisotropic gas-surface interactions in a closed molecular flow cavity are examined. Anisotropy at the microscopic scale, such as might be caused by reduced-dimensionality surfaces, is shown to lead to reversibility at the macroscopic scale. The possibility of a self-sustaining nonequilibrium stationary state induced by surface anisotropy is demonstrated that simultaneously satisfies flux balance, conservation of momentum, and conservation of energy. Conversely, it is also shown that the second law of thermodynamics prohibits anisotropic gas-surface interactions in "equilibrium", even for reduced dimensionality surfaces. This is particularly startling because reduced dimensionality surfaces are known to exhibit a plethora of anisotropic properties. That gas-surface interactions would be excluded from these anisotropic properties is completely counterintuitive from a causality perspective. These results provide intriguing insights into the second law of thermodynamics and its relation to gas-surface interaction physics.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

Functional Diversity and Structural Disorder in the Human Ubiquitination Pathway

The ubiquitin-proteasome system plays a central role in cellular regulation and protein quality control (PQC). The system is built as a pyramid of increasing complexity, with two E1 (ubiquitin activating), few dozen E2 (ubiquitin conjugating) and several hundred E3 (ubiquitin ligase) enzymes. By collecting and analyzing E3 sequences from the KEGG BRITE database and literature, we assembled a coherent dataset of 563 human E3s and analyzed their various physical features. We found an increase in structural disorder of the system with multiple disorder predictors (IUPred - E1: 5.97%, E2: 17.74%, E3: 20.03%). E3s that can bind E2 and substrate simultaneously (single subunit E3, ssE3) have significantly higher disorder (22.98%) than E3s in which E2 binding (multi RING-finger, mRF, 0.62%), scaffolding (6.01%) and substrate binding (adaptor/substrate recognition subunits, 17.33%) functions are separated. In ssE3s, the disorder was localized in the substrate/adaptor binding domains, whereas the E2-binding RING/HECT-domains were structured. To demonstrate the involvement of disorder in E3 function, we applied normal modes and molecular dynamics analyses to show how a disordered and highly flexible linker in human CBL (an E3 that acts as a regulator of several tyrosine kinase-mediated signalling pathways) facilitates long-range conformational changes bringing substrate and E2-binding domains towards each other and thus assisting in ubiquitin transfer. E3s with multiple interaction partners (as evidenced by data in STRING) also possess elevated levels of disorder (hubs, 22.90% vs. non-hubs, 18.36%). Furthermore, a search in PDB uncovered 21 distinct human E3 interactions, in 7 of which the disordered region of E3s undergoes induced folding (or mutual induced folding) in the presence of the partner. In conclusion, our data highlights the primary role of structural disorder in the functions of E3 ligases that manifests itself in the substrate/adaptor binding functions as well as the mechanism of ubiquitin transfer by long-range conformational transitions. © 2013 Bhowmick et al

Specialized dynamical properties of promiscuous residues revealed by simulated conformational ensembles

The ability to interact with different partners is one of the most important features in proteins. Proteins that bind a large number of partners (hubs) have been often associated with intrinsic disorder. However, many examples exist of hubs with an ordered structure, and evidence of a general mechanism promoting promiscuity in ordered proteins is still elusive. An intriguing hypothesis is that promiscuous binding sites have specific dynamical properties, distinct from the rest of the interface and pre-existing in the protein isolated state. Here, we present the first comprehensive study of the intrinsic dynamics of promiscuous residues in a large protein data set. Different computational methods, from coarse-grained elastic models to geometry-based sampling methods and to full-atom Molecular Dynamics simulations, were used to generate conformational ensembles for the isolated proteins. The flexibility and dynamic correlations of interface residues with a different degree of binding promiscuity were calculated and compared considering side chain and backbone motions, the latter both on a local and on a global scale. The study revealed that (a) promiscuous residues tend to be more flexible than nonpromiscuous ones, (b) this additional flexibility has a higher degree of organization, and (c) evolutionary conservation and binding promiscuity have opposite effects on intrinsic dynamics. Findings on simulated ensembles were also validated on ensembles of experimental structures extracted from the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Additionally, the low occurrence of single nucleotide polymorphisms observed for promiscuous residues indicated a tendency to preserve binding diversity at these positions. A case study on two ubiquitin-like proteins exemplifies how binding promiscuity in evolutionary related proteins can be modulated by the fine-tuning of the interface dynamics. The interplay between promiscuity and flexibility highlighted here can inspire new directions in protein-protein interaction prediction and design methods. © 2013 American Chemical Society

Age-Related Declines in Lower Limb Muscle Function are Similar in Power and Endurance Athletes of Both Sexes: A Longitudinal Study of Master Athletes

The age-related decline in muscle function, particularly muscle power, is associated with increased risk of important clinical outcomes. Physical activity is an important determinant of muscle function, and different types of physical activity e.g. power-based versus endurance-based exercise appear to have differential effects on muscle power. Cross-sectional studies suggest that participation in power-based exercise is associated with greater muscle power across adulthood but this has not been investigated longitudinally. We recruited eighty-nine male and female power and endurance master athletes (sprint and distance runners respectively, baseline age 35–90y). Using jumping mechanography, we measured lower limb muscle function during a vertical jump including at least two testing sessions longitudinally over 4.5 ± 2.4y. We examined effects of time, discipline (power/endurance) and sex in addition to two- and three-way interactions using linear mixed-effects models. Peak relative power, relative force and jump height, but not Esslingen Fitness Index (indicating peak power relative to sex and age-matched reference data) declined with time. Peak power, force, height and EFI were greater in power than endurance athletes. There were no sex, discipline or sex*discipline interactions with time for any variable, suggesting that changes were similar over time for athletes of both sexes and disciplines. Advantages in lower limb muscle function in power athletes were maintained with time, in line with previous cross-sectional studies. These results suggest that improvements in lower limb function in less active older individuals following power-based training persist with continued adherence, although this requires further investigation in interventional studies

Self-Organization and Regulation of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins with Folded N-Termini

How do mostly disordered proteins coordinate the specific assembly of very large signal transduction protein complexes? A newly emerging hypothesis may provide some clues towards a molecular mechanism