22 research outputs found
Realities Seen and Unseen: A Perspective on the Canadian Context as it Relates to Women and Men in Theological Education
The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients (CRAFT) survey
We are developing a purely commensal survey experiment for fast (<5s)
transient radio sources. Short-timescale transients are associated with the
most energetic and brightest single events in the Universe. Our objective is to
cover the enormous volume of transients parameter space made available by
ASKAP, with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity and field of view. Fast
timescale transients open new vistas on the physics of high brightness
temperature emission, extreme states of matter and the physics of strong
gravitational fields. In addition, the detection of extragalactic objects
affords us an entirely new and extremely sensitive probe on the huge reservoir
of baryons present in the IGM. We outline here our approach to the considerable
challenge involved in detecting fast transients, particularly the development
of hardware fast enough to dedisperse and search the ASKAP data stream at or
near real-time rates. Through CRAFT, ASKAP will provide the testbed of many of
the key technologies and survey modes proposed for high time resolution science
with the SKA.Comment: accepted for publication in PAS
VAST: An ASKAP Survey for Variables and Slow Transients
The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) will give us an
unprecedented opportunity to investigate the transient sky at radio
wavelengths. In this paper we present VAST, an ASKAP survey for Variables and
Slow Transients. VAST will exploit the wide-field survey capabilities of ASKAP
to enable the discovery and investigation of variable and transient phenomena
from the local to the cosmological, including flare stars, intermittent
pulsars, X-ray binaries, magnetars, extreme scattering events, interstellar
scintillation, radio supernovae and orphan afterglows of gamma ray bursts. In
addition, it will allow us to probe unexplored regions of parameter space where
new classes of transient sources may be detected. In this paper we review the
known radio transient and variable populations and the current results from
blind radio surveys. We outline a comprehensive program based on a multi-tiered
survey strategy to characterise the radio transient sky through detection and
monitoring of transient and variable sources on the ASKAP imaging timescales of
five seconds and greater. We also present an analysis of the expected source
populations that we will be able to detect with VAST.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. Submitted for publication in Pub. Astron. Soc.
Australi
Sub-second periodicity in a fast radio burst
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration flashes of radio waves that
are visible at distances of billions of light-years. The nature of their
progenitors and their emission mechanism remain open astrophysical questions.
Here we report the detection of the multi-component FRB 20191221A and the
identification of a periodic separation of 216.8(1) ms between its components
with a significance of 6.5 sigmas. The long (~3 s) duration and nine or more
components forming the pulse profile make this source an outlier in the FRB
population. Such short periodicity provides strong evidence for a neutron-star
origin of the event. Moreover, our detection favours emission arising from the
neutron-star magnetosphere, as opposed to emission regions located further away
from the star, as predicted by some models.Comment: Updated to conform to the accepted versio
Classical and general relativistic post-Keplerian effects in binary pulsars hosting fast rotating main sequence stars
Replacement of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae acetyl-CoA synthetases by alternative pathways for cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthesis
Cytosolic acetyl-coenzyme A is a precursor for many biotechnologically relevant compounds produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this yeast, cytosolic acetyl-CoA synthesis and growth strictly depend on expression of either the Acs1 or Acs2 isoenzyme of acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS). Since hydrolysis of ATP to AMP and pyrophosphate in the ACS reaction constrains maximum yields of acetyl-CoA-derived products, this study explores replacement of ACS by two ATP-independent pathways for acetyl-CoA synthesis. After evaluating expression of different bacterial genes encoding acetylating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (A-ALD) and pyruvate-formate lyase (PFL), acs1? acs2? S. cerevisiae strains were constructed in which A-ALD or PFL successfully replaced ACS. In A-ALD-dependent strains, aerobic growth rates of up to 0.27 h?1 were observed, while anaerobic growth rates of PFL-dependent S. cerevisiae (0.20 h?1) were stoichiometrically coupled to formate production. In glucose-limited chemostat cultures, intracellular metabolite analysis did not reveal major differences between A-ALD-dependent and reference strains. However, biomass yields on glucose of A-ALD- and PFL-dependent strains were lower than those of the reference strain. Transcriptome analysis suggested that reduced biomass yields were caused by acetaldehyde and formate in A-ALD- and PFL-dependent strains, respectively. Transcript profiles also indicated that a previously proposed role of Acs2 in histone acetylation is probably linked to cytosolic acetyl-CoA levels rather than to direct involvement of Acs2 in histone acetylation. While demonstrating that yeast ACS can be fully replaced, this study demonstrates that further modifications are needed to achieve optimal in vivo performance of the alternative reactions for supply of cytosolic acetyl-CoA as a product precursor.BT/BiotechnologyApplied Science
Pubertal mammary gland development: Insights from mouse models
During puberty the mammary gland develops from a rudimentary tree to a branched epithelial network of ducts which can support alveolar development and subsequent milk production during pregnancy and lactation. This process involves growth, proliferation, migration, branching, invasion, apoptosis and above all, tight regulation which allows these processes to take place simultaneously during the course of just a few weeks to create an adult gland. The process is under hormonal control and is thus coordinated with reproductive development. Mouse models, with overexpressed or knocked-out genes, have highlighted a number of pubertal mammary gland phenotypes and given significant insight into the regulatory mechanisms controlling this period of development. Here we review the published findings of the wide range of gene-manipulated mammary mouse models, documenting the common pubertal mammary gland phenotypes observed, and summarizing their contribution to our current understanding of how pubertal mammary gland development occurs