An Enhanced Visualization Process Model for Incremental Visualization

With today’s technical possibilities, a stable visualization scenario can no longer be assumed as a matter of course, as underlying data and targeted display setup are much more in flux than in traditional scenarios. Incremental visualization approaches are a means to address this challenge, as they permit the user to interact with, steer, and change the visualization at intermediate time points and not just after it has been completed. In this paper, we put forward a model for incremental visualizations that is based on the established Data State Reference Model, but extends it in ways to also represent partitioned data and visualization operators to facilitate intermediate visualization updates. In combination, partitioned data and operators can be used independently and in combination to strike tailored compromises between output quality, shown data quantity, and responsiveness—i.e., frame rates. We showcase the new expressive power of this model by discussing the opportunities and challenges of incremental visualization in general and its usage in a real world scenario in particular

89 New Ultracool Dwarf Co-Moving Companions Identified With The Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

We report the identification of 89 new systems containing ultracool dwarf companions to main sequence stars and white dwarfs, using the citizen science project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 and cross-reference between Gaia and CatWISE2020. Thirty-two of these companions and thirty-three host stars were followed up with spectroscopic observations, with companion spectral types ranging from M7-T9 and host spectral types ranging from G2-M9. These systems exhibit diverse characteristics, from young to old ages, blue to very red spectral morphologies, potential membership to known young moving groups, and evidence of spectral binarity in 9 companions. Twenty of the host stars in our sample show evidence for higher order multiplicity, with an additional 11 host stars being resolved binaries themselves. We compare this sample's characteristics with those of the known stellar binary and exoplanet populations, and find our sample begins to fill in the gap between directly imaged exoplanets and stellary binaries on mass ratio-binding energy plots. With this study, we increase the population of ultracool dwarf companions to FGK stars by $\sim$42\%, and more than triple the known population of ultracool dwarf companions with separations larger than 1,000 au, providing excellent targets for future atmospheric retrievals.Comment: 61 pages, 11 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for publication in A

Spitzer Follow-up of Extremely Cold Brown Dwarfs Discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

We present Spitzer follow-up imaging of 95 candidate extremely cold brown dwarfs discovered by the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project, which uses visually perceived motion in multi-epoch WISE images to identify previously unrecognized substellar neighbors to the Sun. We measure Spitzer [3.6]-[4.5] color to phototype our brown dwarf candidates, with an emphasis on pinpointing the coldest and closest Y dwarfs within our sample. The combination of WISE and Spitzer astrometry provides quantitative confirmation of the transverse motion of 75 of our discoveries. Nine of our motion-confirmed objects have best-fit linear motions larger than 1"/yr; our fastest-moving discovery is WISEA J155349.96+693355.2 (total motion ~2.15"/yr), a possible T type subdwarf. We also report a newly discovered wide-separation (~400 AU) T8 comoving companion to the white dwarf LSPM J0055+5948 (the fourth such system to be found), plus a candidate late T companion to the white dwarf LSR J0002+6357 at 5.5' projected separation (~8,700 AU if associated). Among our motion-confirmed targets, five have Spitzer colors most consistent with spectral type Y. Four of these five have exceptionally red Spitzer colors suggesting types of Y1 or later, adding considerably to the small sample of known objects in this especially valuable low-temperature regime. Our Y dwarf candidates begin bridging the gap between the bulk of the Y dwarf population and the coldest known brown dwarf.Comment: accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Solar neutrino detection sensitivity in DARWIN via electron scattering

We detail the sensitivity of the proposed liquid xenon DARWIN observatory to solar neutrinos via elastic electron scattering. We find that DARWIN will have the potential to measure the fluxes of five solar neutrino components: pp, 7Be, 13N, 15O and pep. The precision of the 13N, 15O and pep components is hindered by the double-beta decay of 136Xe and, thus, would benefit from a depleted target. A high-statistics observation of pp neutrinos would allow us to infer the values of the electroweak mixing angle, sin 2θw, and the electron-type neutrino survival probability, Pee, in the electron recoil energy region from a few keV up to 200 keV for the first time, with relative precision of 5% and 4%, respectively, with 10 live years of data and a 30 tonne fiducial volume. An observation of pp and 7Be neutrinos would constrain the neutrino-inferred solar luminosity down to 0.2%. A combination of all flux measurements would distinguish between the high- (GS98) and low-metallicity (AGS09) solar models with 2.1–2.5σ significance, independent of external measurements from other experiments or a measurement of 8B neutrinos through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in DARWIN. Finally, we demonstrate that with a depleted target DARWIN may be sensitive to the neutrino capture process of 131Xe

Excitation functions for the production of long-lived residue nuclides in the reaction natBi(p;xn,yp)Z

Experimental and theoretical studies were performed to complete the data sets on the production of residue nuclides in natural Bi irradiated with protons. For the long-lived and difficult to measure isotopes108mAg,10Be,26Al as well as129I and36Cl, chemical systems had been developed aimed to isolate them from the bismuth matrix. The separation methods are based on distillation, precipitation and ion exchange. From the content of the radionuclides determined by accelerator mass spectrometry and γ-spectrometry, the production cross sections in the proton energy range from 100 to 2600 MeV were calculated. The experimental results were compared with theoretical predictions. Significant deviations between experiment and theory over the whole energy range were observed with increasing discrepancies for the production of the lighter residue nuclides

Necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin as first-line therapy in patients with stage IV non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (INSPIRE): an open-label, randomised, controlled phase 3 study.

BACKGROUND: Necitumumab is a second-generation recombinant human immunoglobulin G1 EGFR monoclonal antibody that competitively inhibits ligand binding. We aimed to compare necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin with pemetrexed and cisplatin alone in patients with previously untreated, stage IV, non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). METHODS: We did this randomised, open-label, controlled phase 3 study at 103 sites in 20 countries. Patients aged 18 years or older, with an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2 and adequate organ function, were randomly assigned 1:1 to treatment with a block randomisation scheme (block size of four) via a telephone-based interactive voice-response system or interactive web-response system. Patients received either cisplatin 75 mg/m(2) and pemetrexed 500 mg/m(2) on day 1 of a 3-week cycle for a maximum of six cycles alone, or with necitumumab 800 mg on days 1 and 8. Necitumumab was continued after the end of chemotherapy until disease progression or unacceptable toxic effects. Randomisation was stratified by smoking history, ECOG performance status, disease histology, and geographical region. Patients and study investigators were not masked to group assignment. The primary endpoint was overall survival. Efficacy analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00982111. FINDINGS: Between Nov 11, 2009, and Feb 2, 2011, we randomly assigned 633 patients to receive either necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin (n=315) or pemetrexed and cisplatin alone (n=318). Enrolment was stopped on Feb 2, 2011, after a recommendation from the independent data monitoring committee. There was no significant difference in overall survival between treatment groups, with a median overall survival of 11.3 months (95% CI 9.5-13.4) in the necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin group versus 11.5 months (10.1-13.1) in the pemetrexed and cisplatin group (hazard ratio 1.01 [95% CI 0.84-1.21]; p=0.96). The incidence of grade 3 or worse adverse events, including deaths, was higher in the necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin group than in the pemetrexed and cisplatin group; in particular, deaths regarded as related to study drug were reported in 15 (5%) of 304 patients in the necitumumab group versus nine (3%) of 312 patients in the pemetrexed and cisplatin group. Serious adverse events were likewise more frequent in the necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin group than in the pemetrexed and cisplatin group (155 [51%] of 304 vs 127 [41%] of 312 patients). Patients in the necitumumab plus pemetrexed and cisplatin group had more grade 3-4 rash (45 [15%] of 304 vs one [<1%] of 312 patients in the pemetrexed and cisplatin alone group), hypomagnesaemia (23 [8%] vs seven [2%] patients), and grade 3 or higher venous thromboembolic events (23 [8%] vs 11 [4%] patients) than did those in the pemetrexed and cisplatin alone group. INTERPRETATION: Our findings show no evidence to suggest that the addition of necitumumab to pemetrexed and cisplatin increases survival of previously untreated patients with stage IV non-squamous NSCLC. Unless future studies identify potentially useful predictive biomarkers, necitumumab is unlikely to provide benefit in this patient population when combined with pemetrexed and cisplatin. FUNDING: Eli Lilly and Company

Transgenic overexpression of the alpha-synuclein interacting protein synphilin-1 leads to behavioral and neuropathological alterations in mice.

Synphilin-1 has been identified as an interacting protein of alpha-synuclein, Parkin, and LRRK2, proteins which are mutated in familial forms of Parkinson disease (PD). Subsequently, synphilin-1 has also been shown to be an intrinsic component of Lewy bodies in sporadic PD. In order to elucidate the role of synphilin-1 in the pathogenesis of PD, we generated transgenic mice overexpressing wild-type and mutant (R621C) synphilin-1 driven by a mouse prion protein promoter. Transgenic expression of both wild-type and the R621C variant synphilin-1 resulted in increased dopamine levels of the nigrostriatal system in 3-month-old mice. Furthermore, we found pathological ubiquitin-positive inclusions in cerebellar sections and dark-cell degeneration of Purkinje cells. Both transgenic mouse lines showed significant reduction of motor skill learning and motor performance. These findings suggest a pathological role of overexpressed synphilin-1 in vivo and will help to further elucidate the mechanisms of protein aggregation and neuronal cell death

A Wide Planetary Mass Companion Discovered through the Citizen Science Project Backyard Worlds: Planet 9

Through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project we discovered a late-type L dwarf co-moving with the young K0 star BD+60 1417 at a projected separation of 37″ or 1662 au. The secondary - CWISER J124332.12+600126.2 (W1243) - is detected in both the CatWISE2020 and 2MASS reject tables. The photometric distance and CatWISE proper motion both match that of the primary within ∼1σ and our estimates for a chance alignment yield a zero probability. Follow-up near-infrared spectroscopy reveals W1243 to be a very red 2MASS (J-K s = 2.72), low surface gravity source that we classify as L6-L8γ. Its spectral morphology strongly resembles that of confirmed late-type L dwarfs in 10-150 Myr moving groups as well as that of planetary mass companions. The position on near- and mid-infrared color-magnitude diagrams indicates the source is redder and fainter than the field sequence, a telltale sign of an object with thick clouds and a complex atmosphere. For the primary we obtained new optical spectroscopy and analyzed all available literature information for youth indicators. We conclude that the Li i abundance, its loci on color-magnitude and color-color diagrams, and the rotation rate revealed in multiple TESS sectors are all consistent with an age of 50-150 Myr. Using our re-evaluated age of the primary and the Gaia parallax, along with the photometry and spectrum for W1243, we find T eff = 1303 ± 31 K, log g = 4.3 ± 0.17 cm s-2, and a mass of 15 ± 5 M Jup. We find a physical separation of ∼1662 au and a mass ratio of ∼0.01 for this system. Placing it in the context of the diverse collection of binary stars, brown dwarfs, and planetary companions, the BD+60 1417 system falls in a sparsely sampled area where the formation pathway is difficult to assess