Probing Lorentz and CPT violation with space-based experiments

Space-based experiments offer sensitivity to numerous unmeasured effects involving Lorentz and CPT violation. We provide a classification of clock sensitivities and present explicit expressions for time variations arising in such experiments from nonzero coefficients in the Lorentz- and CPT-violating Standard-Model Extension.Comment: 15 page

Localization of an accessory helicase at the replisome is critical in sustaining efficient genome duplication

Genome duplication requires accessory helicases to displace proteins ahead of advancing replication forks. Escherichia coli contains three helicases, Rep, UvrD and DinG, that might promote replication of protein-bound DNA. One of these helicases, Rep, also interacts with the replicative helicase DnaB. We demonstrate that Rep is the only putative accessory helicase whose absence results in an increased chromosome duplication time. We show also that the interaction between Rep and DnaB is required for Rep to maintain rapid genome duplication. Furthermore, this Rep–DnaB interaction is critical in minimizing the need for both recombinational processing of blocked replication forks and replisome reassembly, indicating that colocalization of Rep and DnaB minimizes stalling and subsequent inactivation of replication forks. These data indicate that E. coli contains only one helicase that acts as an accessory motor at the fork in wild-type cells, that such an activity is critical for the maintenance of rapid genome duplication and that colocalization with the replisome is crucial for this function. Given that the only other characterized accessory motor, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rrm3p, associates physically with the replisome, our demonstration of the functional importance of such an association indicates that colocalization may be a conserved feature of accessory replicative motors

A new method for classifying galaxy SEDs from multiwavelength photometry

We present a new method to classify the broad-band optical–near-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies using three shape parameters (super-colours) based on a principal component analysis of model SEDs. As well as providing a compact representation of the wide variety of SED shapes, the method allows for easy visualization of information loss and biases caused by the incomplete sampling of the rest-frame SED as a function of redshift. We apply the method to galaxies in the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope Infrared Deep Sky Survey Ultra Deep Survey with 0.9 11, declining steadily to 13 per cent at logM∗/M_ = 10. The properties and mass function of the poststarburst galaxies are consistent with a scenario in which gas-rich mergers contribute to the growth of the low- and intermediate-mass range of the red sequence

New simulants for martian regolith: Controlling iron variability

Existing martian simulants are predominantly based on the chemistry of the average ‘global’ martian regolith as defined by data on chemical and mineralogical variability detected by orbiting spacecraft, surface rovers and landers. We have therefore developed new martian simulants based on the known composition of regolith from four different martian surface environments: an early basaltic terrain, a sulfur-rich regolith, a haematite-rich regolith and a contemporary Mars regolith. Simulants have been developed so that the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratios can be adjusted, if necessary, leading to the development of four standard simulants and four Fe-modified simulants. Characterisation of the simulants confirm that all but two (both sulfur-rich) are within 5 wt% of the martian chemistries that they were based on and, unlike previous simulants, they have Fe2+/Fe3+ ratios comparable to those found on Mars. Here we outline the design, production and characterisation of these new martian regolith simulants. These are to be used initially in experiments to study the potential habitability of martian environments in which Fe may be a key energy source

Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers

Correction: Nature Communications 10 (2019): art. 4386 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12095-8Quantifying the genetic correlation between cancers can provide important insights into the mechanisms driving cancer etiology. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics across six cancer types based on a total of 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, here we estimate the pair-wise genetic correlations between breast, colorectal, head/neck, lung, ovary and prostate cancer, and between cancers and 38 other diseases. We observed statistically significant genetic correlations between lung and head/neck cancer (r(g) = 0.57, p = 4.6 x 10(-8)), breast and ovarian cancer (r(g) = 0.24, p = 7 x 10(-5)), breast and lung cancer (r(g) = 0.18, p = 1.5 x 10(-6)) and breast and colorectal cancer (r(g) = 0.15, p = 1.1 x 10(-4)). We also found that multiple cancers are genetically correlated with non-cancer traits including smoking, psychiatric diseases and metabolic characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a significant excess contribution of conserved and regulatory regions to cancer heritability. Our comprehensive analysis of cross-cancer heritability suggests that solid tumors arising across tissues share in part a common germline genetic basis.Peer reviewe