Dynamical evolution and chronology of the Hygiea asteroid family

The asteroid (10) Hygiea is the fourth largest asteroid of the Main Belt, by volume and mass, and it is the largest member of its own family. Previous works investigated the long-term effects of close encounters with (10) Hygiea of asteroids in the orbital region of the family, and analyzed the taxonomical and dynamical properties of members of this family. In this paper we apply the high-quality SDSS-MOC4 taxonomic scheme of DeMeo and Carry (2013) to members of the Hygiea family core and halo, we obtain an estimate of the minimum time and number of encounter necessary to obtain a $3\sigma$ (or 99.7%) compatible frequency distribution function of changes in proper $a$ caused by close encounters with (10) Hygiea, we study the behavior of asteroids near secular resonance configurations, in the presence and absence of the Yarkovsky force, and obtain a first estimate of the age of the family based on orbital diffusion by the Yarkovsky and YORP effects with two methods. The Hygiea family is at least 2 Byr old, with an estimated age of $T = 3200^{+380}_{-120}$ Myr and a relatively large initial ejection velocity field, according to the approach of Vokrouhlick\'{y} et al. (2006a, b). Surprisingly, we found that the family age can be shortened by $\simeq$ 25% if the dynamical mobility caused by close encounters with (10) Hygiea is also accounted for, which opens interesting new research lines for the dynamical evolution of families associated with massive bodies. In our taxonomical analysis of the Hygiea asteroid family, we also identified a new V-type candidate: the asteroid (177904) (2005 SV5). If confirmed, this could be the fourth V-type object ever to be identified in the outer main belt.Comment: 13 page, 15 figures, and 4 table

Dynamical evolution of V-type asteroids in the central main belt

V-type asteroids are associated with basaltic composition, and are supposed to be fragments of crust of differentiated objects. Most V-type asteroids in the main belt are found in the inner main belt, and are either current members of the Vesta dynamical family (Vestoids), or past members that drifted away. However, several V-type photometric candidates have been recently identified in the central and outer main belt. The origin of this large population of V-type objects is not well understood. Since it seems unlikely that Vestoids crossing the 3J:-1A mean-motion resonance with Jupiter could account for the whole population of V-type asteroids in the central and outer main belt, origin from local sources, such as the parent bodies of the Eunomia, and of the Merxia and Agnia asteroid families, has been proposed as an alternative mechanism. In this work we investigated the dynamical evolution of the V-type photometric candidates in the central main belt, under the effect of gravitational and non-gravitational forces. Our results show that dynamical evolution from the parent bodies of the Eunomia and Merxia/Agnia families on timescales of 2 Byr or more could be responsible for the current orbital location of most of the low-inclined V-type asteroids.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The Rafita asteroid family

The Rafita asteroid family is an S-type group located in the middle main belt, on the right side of the 3J:-1A mean-motion resonance. The proximity of this resonance to the family left side in semi-major axis caused many former family members to be lost. As a consequence, the family shape in the $(a,1/D)$ domain is quite asymmetrical, with a preponderance of objects on the right side of the distribution. The Rafita family is also characterized by a leptokurtic distribution in inclination, which allows the use of methods of family age estimation recently introduced for other leptokurtic families such as Astrid, Hansa, Gallia, and Barcelona. In this work we propose a new method based on the behavior of an asymmetry coefficient function of the distribution in the $(a,1/D)$ plane to date incomplete asteroid families such as Rafita. By monitoring the time behavior of this coefficient for asteroids simulating the initial conditions at the time of the family formation, we were able to estimate that the Rafita family should have an age of $490\pm200$ Myr, in good agreement with results from independent methods such as Monte Carlo simulations of Yarkovsky and Yorp dynamical induced evolution and the time behaviour of the kurtosis of the $\sin{(i)}$ distribution. Asteroids from the Rafita family can reach orbits similar to 8\% of the currently known near Earth objects. $\simeq$1\% of the simulated objects are present in NEO-space during the final 10 Myr of the simulation, and thus would be comparable to objects in the present-day NEO population.Comment: Accepted 2017 January 19. Received 2017 January 17; in original form 2016 September

On the oldest asteroid families in the main belt

Asteroid families are groups of minor bodies produced by high-velocity collisions. After the initial dispersions of the parent bodies fragments, their orbits evolve because of several gravitational and non-gravitational effects,such as diffusion in mean-motion resonances, Yarkovsky and YORP effects, close encounters of collisions, etc. The subsequent dynamical evolution of asteroid family members may cause some of the original fragments to travel beyond the conventional limits of the asteroid family. Eventually, the whole family will dynamically disperse and no longer be recognizable. A natural question that may arise concerns the timescales for dispersion of large families. In particular, what is the oldest still recognizable family in the main belt? Are there any families that may date from the late stages of the Late Heavy Bombardment and that could provide clues on our understanding of the primitive Solar System? In this work, we investigate the dynamical stability of seven of the allegedly oldest families in the asteroid main belt. Our results show that none of the seven studied families has a nominally mean estimated age older than 2.7 Gyr, assuming standard values for the parameters describing the strength of the Yarkovsky force. Most "paleo-families" that formed between 2.7 and 3.8 Gyr would be characterized by a very shallow size-frequency distribution, and could be recognizable only if located in a dynamically less active region (such as that of the Koronis family). V-type asteroids in the central main belt could be compatible with a formation from a paleo-Eunomia family.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A multi-domain approach to asteroid families identification

Previous works have identified families halos by an analysis in proper elements domains, or by using Sloan Digital Sky Survey-Moving Object Catalog data, fourth release (SDSS-MOC4) multi-band photometry to infer the asteroid taxonomy, or by a combination of the two methods. The limited number of asteroids for which geometric albedo was known until recently discouraged in the past the extensive use of this additional parameter, which is however of great importance in identifying an asteroid taxonomy. The new availability of geometric albedo data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission for about 100,000 asteroids significantly increased the sample of objects for which such information, with some errors, is now known. In this work we proposed a new method to identify families halos in a multi-domain space composed by proper elements, SDSS-MOC4 (a*,i-z) colors, and WISE geometric albedo for the whole main belt (and the Hungaria and Cybele orbital regions). Assuming that most families were created by the breakup of an undifferentiated parent body, they are expected to be homogeneous in colors and albedo. The new method is quite effective in determining objects belonging to a family halo, with low percentages of likely interlopers, and results that are quite consistent in term of taxonomy and geometric albedo of the halo members.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Study of Single- and Double-Averaged Second-Order Models to Evaluate Third-Body Perturbation Considering Elliptic Orbits for the Perturbing Body

The equations for the variations of the Keplerian elements of the orbit of a spacecraft perturbed by a third body are developed using a single average over the motion of the spacecraft, considering an elliptic orbit for the disturbing body. A comparison is made between this approach and the more used double averaged technique, as well as with the full elliptic restricted three-body problem. the disturbing function is expanded in Legendre polynomials up to the second order in both cases. the equations of motion are obtained from the planetary equations, and several numerical simulations are made to show the evolution of the orbit of the spacecraft. Some characteristics known from the circular perturbing body are studied: circular, elliptic equatorial, and frozen orbits. Different initial eccentricities for the perturbed body are considered, since the effect of this variable is one of the goals of the present study. the results show the impact of this parameter as well as the differences between both models compared to the full elliptic restricted three-body problem. Regions below, near, and above the critical angle of the third-body perturbation are considered, as well as different altitudes for the orbit of the spacecraft.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Inst Nacl Pesquisas Espaciais, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, BR-12231280 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, BR-12231280 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, BrazilCNPq: 150195/2012-5CNPq: 304700/2009-6FAPESP: 2011/09310-7FAPESP: 2011/08171-3Web of Scienc

Limb amputation secondary to pseudoamniotic band syndrome after selective fetoscopic laser photocoagulation: case report

Pseudoamniotic band syndrome (PABS) is a rare iatrogenic complication that occurs after invasive procedures in monochorionic twins for treatment of twin-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). Selective fetoscopic laser photocoagulation (SFLP) is a commonly performed procedure for the treatment of severe TTTS that may lead to complications such as preterm labor, preterm rupture of membranes, cerebral lesions and fetal death. PABS has been reported to occur in up to 3% of cases of TTTS treated with laser, leading to limb abnormalities. There are no identifiable risk factors and antenatal detection of PABS is rare, but possible.  Thus, obstetricians should be aware of this possibility in pregnancies treated by laser therapy for TTTS.  The authors report a case of a monochorionic biamniotic twin pregnancy submitted to SFLP for TTTS at 19 weeks of gestation with postnatal diagnosis of PABS, presenting with amputation of a fetal limb.

Knowledge is at the Edge! How to Search in Distributed Machine Learning Models

With the advent of the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 an enormous amount of data is produced at the edge of the network. Due to a lack of computing power, this data is currently send to the cloud where centralized machine learning models are trained to derive higher level knowledge. With the recent development of specialized machine learning hardware for mobile devices, a new era of distributed learning is about to begin that raises a new research question: How can we search in distributed machine learning models? Machine learning at the edge of the network has many benefits, such as low-latency inference and increased privacy. Such distributed machine learning models can also learn personalized for a human user, a specific context, or application scenario. As training data stays on the devices, control over possibly sensitive data is preserved as it is not shared with a third party. This new form of distributed learning leads to the partitioning of knowledge between many devices which makes access difficult. In this paper we tackle the problem of finding specific knowledge by forwarding a search request (query) to a device that can answer it best. To that end, we use a entropy based quality metric that takes the context of a query and the learning quality of a device into account. We show that our forwarding strategy can achieve over 95% accuracy in a urban mobility scenario where we use data from 30 000 people commuting in the city of Trento, Italy.Comment: Published in CoopIS 201

Resistência a medicamentos biológicos – Estudo preliminar sobre a prevalência de anticorpos anti-infliximab

Inhibitors of Tumor Necrosis Factor (iTNF) (infliximab (IFX), adalimumab, etanercept, certolizumab pegol and golimumab), prove to be very useful in the therapeutic approach to chronic inflammatory diseases. The initial response to treatment with these drugs is acceptable for approximately 60-70% of patients. However, there is a significant percentage of patients who do not respond to this therapy. These non-responders can be due to an inadequate concentration of the drug in plasmatic samples and/ or presence of anti-drug antibodies in circulation.This study was design to determine, in patients undergoing therapy with IFX, the % of those who had sub-therapeutic concentration of the drug and the % of those that evidenced the presence of antiinfliximab antibodies (AcIFX).177 plasmatic samples were evaluated for determination of IFX and 146 for determination of AcIFX. The results show that 22% of the samples have sub-therapeutic levels of IFX. The prevalence of AcIFX obtained was 23% with 7.5% of these samples with optimal level of IFX. The implementation of a laboratory monitoring program of these drugs is based on the need to ensure the effectiveness of treatment with these drugs, and provide the rational use of these therapeutic drugs, that are very expensive.Os inibidores do Fator de Necrose Tumoral (iTNF), (infliximab (IFX), adalimumab, etanercept, Certolizumab Pegol e Golimumab), revelam-se muito úteis na abordagem terapêutica das doenças inflamatórias crónicas. A resposta inicial à terapêutica com estes fármacos revela-se aceitável para cerca de 60-70% dos doentes. Contudo, existe uma % significativa de doentes que não responde a esta terapêutica. Estas resistências podem dever-se a uma inadequada concentração plasmática do fármaco e/ou presença de anticorpos anti-fármaco em circulação.Este estudo teve por objectivo determinar, em doentes sujeitos a terapêutica com IFX, as pecentagens dos que apresentavam concentrações sub-terapêuticas de fármaco e dos que evidenciavam presença de Ac. anti-infliximab (AcIFX).Foram avaliadas 177 amostras plasmáticas para doseamento do IFX e 146 para doseamento dos AcIFX. Os resultados mostram que 22% das amostras apresentam concentrações sub-terapêuticas de IFX. A prevalência dos AcIFX obtida foi de 23% com 7.5% destas amostras com concentrações óptimas de IFX. A implementação de um programa de monitorização laboratorial destes fármacos resulta da necessidade de garantir, por um lado, a eficácia do tratamento com estes fármacos e, por outro, o uso racional destes medicamentos, cujo custo é bastante elevado