Multiple colonization and dispersal events hide the early origin and induce a lack of genetic structure of the moss Bryum argenteum in Antarctica.

The dispersal routes of taxa with transoceanic disjunctions remain poorly understood, with the potential roles of Antarctica not yet demonstrated. Mosses are suitable organisms to test direct intra‐Antarctic dispersal, as major component of the extant Antarctic flora, with the cosmopolitan moss Bryum argenteum as ideal target species. We analyzed the genetic structure of B. argenteum to provide an evolutionary time frame for its radiation and shed light into its historical biogeography in the Antarctic region. We tested two alternative scenarios: (a) intra‐Antarctic panmixia and (b) intra‐Antarctic genetic differentiation. Furthermore, we tested for evidence of the existence of specific intra‐Antarctic dispersal routes. Sixty‐seven new samples (40 collected in Antarctica) were sequenced for ITS nrDNA and rps4 cpDNA regions, and phylogenetic trees of B. argenteum were constructed, with a focus on its Southern Hemisphere. Combining our new nrDNA dataset with previously published datasets, we estimated time‐calibrated phylogenies based on two different substitution rates (derived from angiosperms and bryophytes) along with ancestral area estimations. Minimum spanning network and pairwise genetic distances were also calculated. B. argenteum was potentially distributed across Africa and Antarctica soon after its origin. Its earliest intra‐Antarctic dispersal and diversification occurred during a warming period in the Pliocene. On the same timescale, a radiation took place involving a dispersal event from Antarctica to the sub‐Antarctic islands. A more recent event of dispersal and diversification within Antarctica occurred during a warm period in the Pleistocene, creating favorable conditions also for its colonization outside the Antarctic continent worldwide. We provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that contemporary populations of B. argenteum in Antarctica integrate a history of both multiple long‐range dispersal events and local persistence combined with in situ diversification. Our data support the hypothesis that B. argenteum has been characterized by strong connectivity within Antarctica, suggesting the existence of intra‐Antarctic dispersal routes

Analysis of Rotation Curves in the framework of R^n gravity

We present an analysis of a devised sample of Rotation Curves (RCs), aimed at checking the consequences of a modified f(R) gravity on galactic scales. Originally motivated by the the dark energy mystery, this theory may serve as a possibility of explaining the observed non-Keplerian profiles of galactic RCs in terms of a break-down of the Einstein General Relativity. We show that in general the power-law f(R) version could fit well the observations with reasonable values for the mass model parameters, encouraging further investigation on R^n gravity from both observational and theoretical points of view.Comment: Accepted for publication on Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.So

Recent Star Formation in Sextans A

We investigate the relationship between the spatial distributions of stellar populations and of neutral and ionized gas in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy Sextans A. This galaxy is currently experiencing a burst of localized star formation, the trigger of which is unknown. We have resolved various populations of stars via deep UBV(RI)_C imaging over an area with diameter \sim 5.'3. We have compared our photometry with theoretical isochrones appropriate for Sextans A, in order to determine the ages of these populations. We have mapped out the history of star formation, most accurately for times \lesssim 100 Myr. We find that star formation in Sextans A is correlated both in time and space, especially for the most recent (\lesssim 12 Myr) times. The youngest stars in the galaxy are forming primarily along the inner edge of the large H I shell. Somewhat older populations, \lesssim 50 Myr, are found inward of the youngest stars. Progressively older star formation, from \sim 50--100 Myr, appears to have some spatially coherent structure and is more centrally concentrated. The oldest stars we can accurately sample appear to have approximately a uniform spatial distribution, which extends beyond a surface brightness of \mu_B \simeq 25.9 mag arcsec^{-2} (or, a radius r \simeq 2.'3$). Although other processes are also possible, our data provides support for a mechanism of supernova-driven expansion of the neutral gas, resulting in cold gas pileup and compression along the H I shell and sequential star formation in recent times.Comment: 64 pages, 22 figures, to appear in A

Warp or lag? The ionized and neutral hydrogen gas in the edge-on dwarf galaxy UGC 1281

The properties of gas in the halos of galaxies constrain global models of the interstellar medium. Kinematical information is of particular interest since it is a clue to the origin of the gas. Until now mostly massive galaxies have been investigated for their halo properties. Here we report on deep HI and H{\alpha} observations of the edge-on dwarf galaxy UGC 1281 in order to determine the existence of extra-planar gas and the kinematics of this galaxy. This is the first time a dwarf galaxy is investigated for its gaseous halo characteristics. We have obtained H{\alpha} integral field spectroscopy using PPAK at Calar Alto and deep HI observations with the WSRT of this edge-on dwarf galaxy. These observations are compared to 3D models in order to determine the distribution of HI in the galaxy. We find that UGC 1281 has H{\alpha} emission up to 25"(655 pc) in projection above the plane and in general a low H{\alpha} flux. Compared to other dwarf galaxies UGC 1281 is a normal dwarf galaxy with a slowly rising rotation curve that flattens off at 60 km/s and a central depression in its HI distribution. Its HI extends 70" (1.8 kpc) in projection from the plane. This gas can be explained by either a warp partially in the line-of-sight warp or a purely edge-on warp with rotational velocities that decline with a vertical gradient of 10.6 \pm 3.7 km/s/kpc. The line-of-sight warp model is the preferred model as it is conceptually simpler. In either model the warp starts well within the optical radius.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 14 figure

Impurities in s=1s=1 Heisenberg Antiferromagnets

The $s=1$ Heisenberg Antiferromagnet is studied in the presence of two kinds of local impurities. First, a perturbed antiferromagnetic bond with $J'\ne J$ at the center of an even-length open chain is considered. Using the density matrix renormalization group method we find that, for sufficiently strong or weak $J'$, a bound state is localized at the impurity site, giving rise to an energy level in the Haldane gap. The energy of the bound state is in agreement with perturbative results, based on $s=1/2$ chain-end excitations, both in the weak and strong coupling limit. In a region around the uniform limit, $J'=J$, no states are found with energy below the Haldane gap. Secondly, a $s=1/2$ impurity at the center of an otherwise even-length open chain is considered. The coupling to the $s=1/2$ impurity is varied. Bound states in the Haldane gap are found {\it only} for sufficiently weak (antiferromagnetic) coupling. For a $s=1/2$ impurity coupled with a strong (antiferromagnetic) bond, {\it no} states are found in the Haldane. Our results are in good qualitative agreement with recent experiments on doped NENP and Y$_2$BaNiO$_5$.Comment: 29 pages, RevTeX 3.0, 12 uuencoded postscript figures include

Local galaxy flows within 5 Mpc

We present Hubble Space Telescope/WFPC2 images of sixteen dwarf galaxies as part of our snapshot survey of nearby galaxy candidates. We derive their distances from the luminosity of the tip of the red giant branch stars with a typical accuracy of ~12%. The resulting distances are 4.26 Mpc (KKH 5), 4.74 Mpc (KK 16), 4.72 Mpc (KK 17), 4.66 Mpc (ESO 115-021), 4.43 Mpc (KKH 18), 3.98 Mpc (KK 27), 4.61 Mpc (KKH 34), 4.99 Mpc (KK 54), 4.23 Mpc (ESO 490-017), 4.90 Mpc (FG 202), 5.22 Mpc (UGC 3755), 5.18 Mpc (UGC 3974), 4.51 Mpc (KK 65), 5.49 Mpc (UGC 4115), 3.78 Mpc (NGC 2915), and 5.27 Mpc (NGC 6503). Based on distances and radial velocities of 156 nearby galaxies, we plot the local velocity-distance relation, which has a slope of H_0 = 73 km/(c * Mpc) and a radial velocity dispersion of 85 km/s. When members of the M81 and CenA groups are removed, and distance errors are taken into account, the radial velocity dispersion drops to sigma_v=41 km/s. The local Hubble flow within 5 Mpc exibits a significant anisotropy, with two infall peculiar velocity regions directed towards the Supergalactic poles. However, two observed regions of outflow peculiar velocity, situated on the Supergalactic equator, are far away (~50 degr.) from the Virgo/anti-Virgo direction, which disagrees with a spherically symmetric Virgo-centric flow. About 63% of galaxies within 5 Mpc belong to known compact and loose groups. Apart from them, we found six new probable groups, consisting entirely of dwarf galaxies.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures. A&A Accepted. High resolution Figures 1 and 2 (9616k) are available at http://www.sao.ru/~sme/figs.tar.g

A new scheme of radiation transfer in H II regions including transient heating of grains

A new scheme of radiation transfer for understanding infrared spectra of H II regions, has been developed. This scheme considers non-equilibrium processes (e. g. transient heating of the very small grains, VSG; and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, PAH) also, in addition to the equilibrium thermal emission from normal dust grains (BG). The spherically symmetric interstellar dust cloud is segmented into a large number of "onion skin" shells in order to implement the non-equilibrium processes. The scheme attempts to fit the observed SED originating from the dust component, by exploring the following parameters : (i) geometrical details of the dust cloud, (ii) PAH size and abundance, (iii) composition of normal grains (BG), (iv) radial distribution of all dust (BG, VSG & PAH). The scheme has been applied to a set of five compact H II regions (IRAS 18116- 1646, 18162-2048, 19442+2427, 22308+5812 & 18434-0242) whose spectra are available with adequate spectral resolution. The best fit models and inferences about the parameters for these sources are presented.Comment: 16 pages total including 3 tables and 2 figure

The correlation between immune subtypes and consensus molecular subtypes in colorectal cancer identifies novel tumour microenvironment profiles, with prognostic and therapeutic implications

Background Solid tumour growth is the consequence of a complex interplay between cancer cells and their microenvironment. Recently, a new global transcriptomic immune classification of solid tumours has identified six immune subtypes (ISs) (C1–C6). Our aim was to specifically characterise ISs in colorectal cancer (CRC) and assess their interplay with the consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs). Methods Clinical and molecular information, including CMSs and ISs, were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) (N = 625). Immune cell populations, differential gene expression and gene set enrichment analysis were performed to characterise ISs in the global CRC population by using CMSs. Results Only 5 ISs were identified in CRC, predominantly C1 wound healing (77%) and C2 IFN-γ dominant (17%). CMS1 showed the highest proportion of C2 (53%), whereas C1 was particularly dominant in CMS2 (91%). CMS3 had the highest representation of C3 inflammatory (7%) and C4 lymphocyte depleted ISs (4%), whereas all C6 TGF-β dominant cases belonged to CMS4 (2.3%). Prognostic relevance of ISs in CRC substantially differed from that reported for the global TCGA, and ISs had a greater ability to stratify the prognosis of CRC patients than CMS classification. C2 had higher densities of CD8, CD4 activated, follicular helper T cells, regulatory T cells and neutrophils and the highest M1/M2 polarisation. C2 had a heightened activation of pathways related to the immune system, apoptosis and DNA repair, mTOR signalling and oxidative phosphorylation, whereas C1 was more dependent of metabolic pathways. Conclusions The correlation of IS and CMS allows a more precise categorisation of patients with relevant clinical and biological implications, which may be valuable tools to improve tailored therapeutic interventions in CRC patients.This work was funded by projects DTS15/00157 , PI16/01827 and CIBER-ONC CB16/12/00442 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III ( Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, Spain ) and cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF, European Union), and approved by the Ethics Committee or our Institution. BS is funded by AECC (Spain). MCR is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and SEOM (Spain) CCP and BRC are funded by CAM (Programa de Empleo Juvenil (YEI)

Optical BVI Imaging and HI Synthesis Observations of the Dwarf Irregular Galaxy ESO 364-G 029

As part of an effort to enlarge the number of well-studied Magellanic-type galaxies, we obtained broadband optical imaging and neutral hydrogen radio synthesis observations of the dwarf irregular galaxy ESO 364-G 029. The optical morphology characteristically shows a bar-like main body with a one-sided spiral arm, an approximately exponential light distribution, and offset photometric and kinematic centers. The HI distribution is mildly asymmetric and, although slightly offset from the photometric center, roughly follows the optical brightness distribution, extending to over 1.2 Holmberg radii (where mu_B = 26.5 mag/arcsec^2). In particular, the highest HI column densities closely follow the bar, one-arm spiral, and a third optical extension. The rotation is solid-body in the inner parts but flattens outside of the optical extent. The total HI flux F_HI = 23.1 pm 1.2 Jy km/s, yielding a total HI mass M_HI= (6.4 pm 1.7) x 10^8 Msun (for a distance D = 10.8 pm 1.4 Mpc) and a total HI mass-to-blue-luminosity ratio M_HI/L_B = (0.96 pm 0.14) Msun / Lsun,B (distance independent). The HI data suggest a very complex small-scale HI structure, with evidence of large shells and/or holes, but deeper observations are required for a detailed study. Follow-up observations are also desirable for a proper comparison with the Large Magellanic Cloud, where despite an optical morphology very similar to ESO 364-G 029 the HI bears little resemblance to the optical.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, accepted by A&