Extensive periosteal new bone formation in a skeleton from post-Medieval Chichester, England: A probable case of metastatic prostatic carcinoma

An elderly male skeleton from a site in Chichester, UK, was found with a widespread periosteal reaction, principally affecting the axial skeleton and the pelvis. Radiography showed the presence of sclerosing infiltrates, mainly involving the lumbar vertebrae and pelvis. The differential diagnosis is discussed, reaching the conclusion that hypertrophic osteo-arthopathy (HOA) is the only reasonable alternative condition likely to produce such a widespread periosteal reaction as found here. HOA does not produce secondary deposits in the skeleton, however, and we conclude that his is most likely a case of prostatic carcinoma

A palaeoepidemiological investigation of osteomata, with reference to medieval Poland

The osteoma, among other forms of benign neoplastic disease, has received little palaeopathological or palaeoepidemiological interest largely because of its asymptomatic nature. This is problematic because these tumours are regarded as common occurrences in bioarchaeological contexts, despite there being scant data to support these claims. This investigation presents a palaeoepidemiological enquiry into osteomata. Five hundred ninety individuals from six skeletal assemblages from Poland, dating from the 9th to 17th century, were macroscopically surveyed for osteomata. This was followed by a palaeoepidemiological analysis, looking at sex‐ and age‐specific prevalence. Ninety‐three osteomata were observed in 67 individuals. The sex‐specific prevalence was 13.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.7–18.1) for males and 11.6% (95% CI 7.9–16.2) for females. The age‐specific prevalence for middle adults was 2.1% (95% CI: 0.6–5.2) and 5.3% (95% CI: 2.5–9.8) for mature adults. The results indicated the prevalence of benign tumours was similar between males and females and seemed to increase with age. This case study adds to a sparse area of palaeo‐oncological research and calls for further future investigation

Malignancy in three medieval Polish osteological collections

This paper presents the archaeological skeletal remains of four adult females presenting with cranial lesions typical of malignant neoplastic disease. The four cases were sourced from three medieval Polish skeletal assemblages: Milicz (12–13th century), Pawłów Trzebnicki (15–16th century), and Gródek nad Bugiem (13–15th century). The observed pathological skeletal changes were evaluated with a comprehensive macroscopic analysis of the skeleton, and radiography of the affected bones. The observed osteolytic lesions were largely limited to the crania and were multiple and varied in size; further internal lesions were revealed with radiography. Three cases were differentially diagnosed as highly consistent with metastatic carcinoma, and the fourth case was differentially diagnosed as typical of multiple myeloma. This report adds to the scant number of palaeopathological examples of malignant neoplasms in Poland and it discusses the possible impact of cancer on medieval lives, as well as possible factors in the occurrence of malignant neoplasms in medieval Poland

Transfer RNA Genes Affect Chromosome Structure and Function via Local Effects

The genome is packaged and organized in an ordered, non-random manner and specific chromatin segments contact nuclear substructures to mediate this organization. Transfer RNA genes (tDNAs) are binding sites for transcription factors and architectural proteins and are thought to play an important role in the organization of the genome. In this study, we investigate the role of tDNAs in genomic organization and chromosome function by editing a chromosome so that it lacks any tDNAs. Surprisingly our analyses of this tDNA-less chromosome show that loss of tDNAs does not grossly affect chromatin architecture or chromosome tethering and mobility. However, loss of tDNAs affects local nucleosome positioning and the binding of SMC proteins at these loci. The absence of tDNAs also leads to changes in centromere clustering and a reduction in the frequency of long-range HML-HMR heterochromatin clustering with concomitant effects on gene silencing. We propose that the tDNAs primarily affect local chromatin structure that result in effects on long-range chromosome architecture

Fermi Large Area Telescope Observations of the Cygnus Loop Supernova Remnant

We present an analysis of the gamma-ray measurements by the Large Area Telescope(LAT) onboard the \textit{Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope} in the region of the supernova remnant(SNR) Cygnus Loop(G74.0$-$8.5). We detect significant gamma-ray emission associated with the SNR in the energy band 0.2--100 GeV. The gamma-ray spectrum shows a break in the range 2--3 GeV. The gamma-ray luminosity is $\sim$ $1 \times 10^{33}$erg s$^{-1}$ between 1--100 GeV, much lower than those of other GeV-emitting SNRs. The morphology is best represented by a ring shape, with inner/outer radii 0$^\circ$.7 $\pm$ 0$^\circ$.1 and 1$^\circ$.6 $\pm$ 0$^\circ$.1. Given the association among X-ray rims, \halpha filaments and gamma-ray emission, we argue that gamma rays originate in interactions between particles accelerated in the SNR and interstellar gas or radiation fields adjacent to the shock regions. The decay of neutral pions produced in nucleon-nucleon interactions between accelerated hadrons and interstellar gas provides a reasonable explanation for the gamma-ray spectrum.Comment: accepted by ApJ, 34 pages, 6 figure

The CHEOPS mission

The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) was selected on October 19, 2012, as the first small mission (S-mission) in the ESA Science Programme and successfully launched on December 18, 2019, as a secondary passenger on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. CHEOPS is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with important contributions by ten additional ESA Member States. CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to search for transits of exoplanets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. As a follow-up mission, CHEOPS is mainly dedicated to improving, whenever possible, existing radii measurements or provide first accurate measurements for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys. The expected photometric precision will also allow CHEOPS to go beyond measuring only transits and to follow phase curves or to search for exo-moons, for example. Finally, by unveiling transiting exoplanets with high potential for in-depth characterisation, CHEOPS will also provide prime targets for future instruments suited to the spectroscopic characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres. To reach its science objectives, requirements on the photometric precision and stability have been derived for stars with magnitudes ranging from 6 to 12 in the V band. In particular, CHEOPS shall be able to detect Earth-size planets transiting G5 dwarf stars (stellar radius of 0.9R(circle dot)) in the magnitude range 6 <= V <= 9 by achieving a photometric precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration time. In the case of K-type stars (stellar radius of 0.7R(circle dot)) of magnitude in the range 9 <= V <= 12, CHEOPS shall be able to detect transiting Neptune-size planets achieving a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours of integration time. This precision has to be maintained over continuous periods of observation for up to 48 hours. This precision and stability will be achieved by using a single, frame-transfer, back-illuminated CCD detector at the focal plane assembly of a 33.5 cm diameter, on-axis Ritchey-Chretien telescope. The nearly 275 kg spacecraft is nadir-locked, with a pointing accuracy of about 1 arcsec rms, and will allow for at least 1 Gbit/day downlink. The sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude enables having the Sun permanently on the backside of the spacecraft thus minimising Earth stray light. A mission duration of 3.5 years in orbit is foreseen to enable the execution of the science programme. During this period, 20% of the observing time is available to the wider community through yearly ESA call for proposals, as well as through discretionary time approved by ESA's Director of Science. At the time of this writing, CHEOPS commissioning has been completed and CHEOPS has been shown to fulfill all its requirements. The mission has now started the execution of its science programme