Fast Rotation and Trailing Fragments of the Active Asteroid P/2012 F5 (Gibbs)

While having a comet-like appearance, P/2012 F5 (Gibbs) has an orbit native to the Main Asteroid Belt, and physically is a km-sized asteroid which recently (mid 2011) experienced an impulsive mass ejection event. Here we report new observations of this object obtained with the Keck II telescope on UT 2014 August 26. The data show previously undetected 200-m scale fragments of the main nucleus, and reveal a rapid nucleus spin with a rotation period of 3.24 $\pm$ 0.01 hr. The existence of large fragments and the fast nucleus spin are both consistent with rotational instability and partial disruption of the object. To date, many fast rotators have been identified among the minor bodies, which, however, do not eject detectable fragments at the present-day epoch, and also fragmentation events have been observed, but with no rotation period measured. P/2012 F5 is unique in that for the first time we detected fragments and quantified the rotation rate of one and the same object. The rapid spin rate of P/2012 F5 is very close to the spin rates of two other active asteroids in the Main Belt, 133P/Elst-Pizarro and (62412), confirming the existence of a population of fast rotators among these objects. But while P/2012 F5 shows impulsive ejection of dust and fragments, the mass loss from 133P is prolonged and recurrent. We believe that these two types of activity observed in the rapidly rotating active asteroids have a common origin in the rotational instability of the nucleus.Comment: To appear in the 2015 March 20 issue of ApJ Letter

xURLLC in 6G with meshed RAN

5G Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications Technology (URLLC) will not be able to provide extremely reliable low latency services to the complex networks in 6G. Moreover, URLLC that began with 5G has to be refined and improved in 6G to provide xURLCC (extreme URLCC) with sub-millisecond latency, for supporting diverse mission-critical applications. This paper aims to highlight the importance of peer-to-peer mesh connectivity for services that require xURLLC. Deploying mesh connectivity among RAN nodes would add significant value to the current 5G New Radio (5G NR) enabling 6G to increase flexibility and reliability of the networks while reducing the inherent latency introduced by the core network. To provide a mesh connectivity in RAN, the nodes should be able to communicate with each other directly and be independent from the mobile core network so that data can be directly exchanged between base stations (gNBs) whereas certain aspects of signalling procedure including data session establishment will be managed by RAN itself. In this paper, we introduce several architectural choices for a mesh network topology that could potentially be crucial to a number of applications. In addition, three possible options to create mesh connectivity in RAN are provided, and their pros and cons are discussed in detail

The 2016 outburst of PSR J1119-6127: cooling & a spin-down dominated glitch

We report on the aftermath of a magnetar outburst from the young, high-magnetic-field radio pulsar PSR J1119-6127 that occurred on 2016 July 27. We present the results of a monitoring campaign using the Neil Gehrels Swift X-ray Telescope, NuSTAR, and XMM-Newton. After reaching a peak luminosity of ~300 times the quiescent luminosity, the pulsar's X-ray flux declined by factor of ~50 on a time scale of several months. The X-ray spectra are well described by a blackbody and a hard power-law tail. After an initial rapid decline during the first day of the outburst, we observe the blackbody temperature rising from kT = 0.9 keV to 1.05 keV during the first two weeks of the outburst, before cooling to 0.9 keV. During this time, the blackbody radius decreases monotonically by a factor of ~4 over a span of nearly 200 days. We also report a heretofore unseen highly pulsed hard X-ray emission component, which fades on a similar timescale to the soft X-ray flux, as predicted by models of relaxation of magnetospheric current twists. The previously reported spin-up glitch which accompanied this outburst was followed by a period of enhanced and erratic torque, leading to a net spin-down of $\sim3.5\times10^{-4}$ Hz, a factor of ~24 over-recovery. We suggest that this and other radiatively loud magnetar-type glitch recoveries are dominated by magnetospheric processes, in contrast to conventional radio pulsar glitch recoveries which are dominated by internal physics.Comment: Submitted to Ap

Effect of Paclobutrazol on the Reproductive System of Semperula maculata

Among all the biological processes in the living organisms, reproduction is a important life process for survival and continuation of every race and species on the earth. Present study was designed to investigate the effect of Paclobutrazol on the reproductive system of terrestrial slug Semperula maculata. The animals were exposed for pre-determined median lethal concentration (3362.15 ppm) of Paclobutrazol upto 96 hours. Histological and biochemical estimation especially protein content from selected reproductive organs were carried out against effective dose of PBZ. Obtained results were interpreted for reproduction and potency.&nbsp

The Rise of SN 2014J in the Nearby Galaxy M82

We report on the discovery of SN 2014J in the nearby galaxy M82. Given its proximity, it offers the best opportunity to date to study a thermonuclear supernova (SN) over a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Optical, near-IR, and mid-IR observations on the rising light curve, orchestrated by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory, show that SN 2014J is a spectroscopically normal Type Ia supernova (SN Ia), albeit exhibiting high-velocity features in its spectrum and heavily reddened by dust in the host galaxy. Our earliest detections start just hours after the fitted time of explosion. We use high-resolution optical spectroscopy to analyze the dense intervening material and do not detect any evolution in the resolved absorption features during the light curve rise. Similar to other highly reddened SNe Ia, a low value of total-to-selective extinction, R_V ≲ 2, provides the best match to our observations. We also study pre-explosion optical and near-IR images from Hubble Space Telescope with special emphasis on the sources nearest to the SN location

Amoebicidal activity of CG-10213 Go and other nitroimidazoles against axenically grown Entamoeba Histolytica

This article does not have an abstract

Simultaneous X-ray, gamma-ray, and Radio Observations of the repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102

We undertook coordinated campaigns with the Green Bank, Effelsberg, and Arecibo radio telescopes during Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton observations of the repeating fast radio burst FRB 121102 to search for simultaneous radio and X-ray bursts. We find 12 radio bursts from FRB 121102 during 70 ks total of X-ray observations. We detect no X-ray photons at the times of radio bursts from FRB 121102 and further detect no X-ray bursts above the measured background at any time. We place a 5$\sigma$ upper limit of $3\times10^{-11}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ on the 0.5--10 keV fluence for X-ray bursts at the time of radio bursts for durations $<700$ ms, which corresponds to a burst energy of $4\times10^{45}$ erg at the measured distance of FRB 121102. We also place limits on the 0.5--10 keV fluence of $5\times10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ and $1\times10^{-9}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ for bursts emitted at any time during the XMM-Newton and Chandra observations, respectively, assuming a typical X-ray burst duration of 5 ms. We analyze data from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Gamma-ray Burst Monitor and place a 5$\sigma$ upper limit on the 10--100 keV fluence of $4\times10^{-9}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ ($5\times10^{47}$ erg at the distance of FRB 121102) for gamma-ray bursts at the time of radio bursts. We also present a deep search for a persistent X-ray source using all of the X-ray observations taken to date and place a 5$\sigma$ upper limit on the 0.5--10 keV flux of $4\times10^{-15}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ ($3\times10^{41}$ erg~s$^{-1}$ at the distance of FRB 121102). We discuss these non-detections in the context of the host environment of FRB 121102 and of possible sources of fast radio bursts in general.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, published in Ap