The Inside-out Growth of the Galactic Disk

© 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.. We quantify the inside-out growth of the Milky Way's low-α stellar disk, modeling the ages, metallicities, and Galactocentric radii of APOGEE red clump stars with 6 kpc < R < 13 kpc. The current stellar distribution differs significantly from that expected from the star formation history due to the redistribution of stars through radial orbit mixing. We propose and fit a global model for the Milky Way disk, specified by an inside-out star formation history, radial orbit mixing, and an empirical, parametric model for its chemical evolution. We account for the spatially complex survey selection function, and find that the model fits all data well. We find distinct inside-out growth of the Milky Way disk; the best-fit model implies that the half-mass radius of the Milky Way disk has grown by 43% over the last 7 Gyr. Yet, such inside-out growth still results in a present-day age gradient weaker than 0.1 Gyr kpc-1. Our model predicts the half-mass and half-light sizes of the Galactic disk at earlier epochs, which can be compared to the observed redshift-size relations of disk galaxies. We show that radial orbit migration can reconcile the distinct disk-size evolution with redshift, also expected from cosmological simulations, with the modest present-day age gradients seen in the Milky Way and other galaxies

The chicken eggshell membrane: a versatile, sustainable, biological material for translational biomedical applications

Naturally derived materials are often preferred to than synthetic materials for biomedical applications due to their innate biological characteristics, relative availability, sustainability, and agreement with conscientious end-users. The chicken eggshell membrane (ESM) is an abundant resource with a defined structural profile, chemical composition, and validated morphological and mechanical characteristics. These unique properties have not only allowed the ESM to be exploited within the food industry, but has also led to it be considered for other novel translational applications such as tissue regeneration and replacement, filtration aids and barrier devices, and environmental health engagement. However, challenges still exist in order to enhance the native ESM: the need to improve its mechanical properties, the ability to combine/join fragments of ESM together, and the addition or incorporation of drugs/growth factors to advance its therapeutic capacity. This review article provides a succinct background to the native ESM, its extraction, isolation, and consequent physical, mechanical and biological characterisation including possible approaches to enhancement. Moreover, it also highlights current applications of the ESM in regenerative medicine and hints at future novel applications in which this novel biomaterial could be exploited to beneficial use

Yield Strength of Transparent MgAl2O4 Nano-Ceramic at High Pressure and Temperature

We report here experimental results of yield strength and stress relaxation measurements of transparent MgAl2O4 nano-ceramics at high pressure and temperature. During compression at ambient temperature, the differential strain deduced from peak broadening increased significantly with pressure up to 2 GPa, with no clear indication of strain saturation. However, by then, warming the sample above 400°C under 4 GPa, stress relaxation was obviously observed, and all subsequent plastic deformation cycles are characterized again by peak broadening. Our results reveal a remarkable reduction in yield strength as the sintering temperature increases from 400 to 900°C. The low temperature for the onset of stress relaxation has attracted attention regarding the performance of transparent MgAl2O4 nano-ceramics as an engineering material

An Antireflective Nanostructure Array Fabricated by Nanosilver Colloidal Lithography on a Silicon Substrate

An alternative method is presented for fabricating an antireflective nanostructure array using nanosilver colloidal lithography. Spin coating was used to produce the multilayered silver nanoparticles, which grew by self-assembly and were transformed into randomly distributed nanosilver islands through the thermodynamic action of dewetting and Oswald ripening. The average size and coverage rate of the islands increased with concentration in the range of 50–90 nm and 40–65%, respectively. The nanosilver islands were critically affected by concentration and spin speed. The effects of these two parameters were investigated, after etching and wet removal of nanosilver residues. The reflection nearly disappeared in the ultraviolet wavelength range and was 17% of the reflection of a bare silicon wafer in the visible range

Effective Interventions and Decline of Antituberculosis Drug Resistance in Eastern Taiwan, 2004–2008

BACKGROUND: The Taiwan health authority recently launched several tuberculosis (TB) control interventions, which may have an impact on the epidemic of drug-resistant TB. We conducted a population-based antituberculosis drug resistance surveillance program in Eastern Taiwan to measure the proportions of notified TB patients with anti-TB drug resistance and the trend from 2004 to 2008. METHODS AND FINDINGS: All culture-positive TB patients were enrolled. Drug susceptibility testing results of the first isolate of each TB patient in each treatment course were analyzed. In total, 2688 patients were included, of which 2176 (81.0%) were new TB cases and 512 (19.0%) were previously treated cases. Among the 2176 new TB cases, 97 (4.5%) were retreated after the first episode of TB treatment within the study period. The proportion of new patients with any resistance, isoniazid resistance but not multidrug-resistant TB (resistant to at least isoniazid and rifampin, MDR-TB), and MDR-TB was 16.4%, 7.5%, and 4.0%, respectively, and that among previously treated cases was 30.9%, 7.9%, and 17.6%, respectively. The combined proportion of any resistance decreased from 23.3% in 2004 to 14.3% in 2008, and that of MDR-TB from 11.5% to 2.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of TB patients with drug-resistant TB in Eastern Taiwan remains substantial. However, an effective TB control program has successfully driven the proportion of drug resistance among TB patients downward

Cosmological evolution of metallicity correlation functions from the Auriga simulations

We study the cosmological evolution of the two-point correlation functions of galactic gas-phase metal distributions using the 28 simulated galaxies from the Auriga Project. Using mock observations of the z = 0 snapshots to mimic our past work, we show that the correlation functions of the simulated mock observations are well matched to the correlation functions measured from local galaxy surv e ys. This comparison suggests that the simulations capture the processes important for determining metal correlation lengths, the key parameter in metallicity correlation functions. We investigate the evolution of metallicity correlations o v er cosmic time using the true simulation data, showing that individual galaxies undergo no significant systematic evolution in their metal correlation functions from z ∼3 to today. In addition, the fluctuations in metal correlation length are correlated with but lag ahead fluctuations in star formation rate. This suggests that re-arrangement of metals within galaxies occurs at a higher cadence than star formation activity, and is more sensitive to the changes of environment, such as g alaxy mergers, g as inflo ws/outflo ws, and fly-bys

Chasing the impact of the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger on the formation of the Milky Way thick disc

We employ our Bayesian Machine Learning framework BINGO (Bayesian INference for Galactic archaeOlogy) to obtain high-quality stellar age estimates for 68 360 red giant and red clump stars present in the 17th data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the APOGEE-2 high-resolution spectroscopic survey. By examining the denoised age-metallicity relationship of the Galactic disc stars, we identify a drop in metallicity with an increase in [Mg/Fe] at an early epoch, followed by a chemical enrichment episode with increasing [Fe/H] and decreasing [Mg/Fe]. This result is congruent with the chemical evolution induced by an early-epoch gas-rich merger identified in the Milky Way-like zoom-in cosmological simulation Auriga. In the initial phase of the merger of Auriga 18 there is a drop in metallicity due to the merger diluting the metal content and an increase in the [Mg/Fe] of the primary galaxy. Our findings suggest that the last massive merger of our Galaxy, the Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus, was likely a significant gas-rich merger and induced a starburst, contributing to the chemical enrichment and building of the metal-rich part of the thick disc at an early epoch

All-sky visible and near infrared space astrometry

The era of all-sky space astrometry began with the Hipparcos mission in 1989 and provided the first very accurate catalogue of apparent magnitudes, positions, parallaxes and proper motions of 120 000 bright stars at the milliarcsec (or milliarcsec per year) accuracy level. Hipparcos has now been superseded by the results of the Gaia mission. The second Gaia data release contained astrometric data for almost 1.7 billion sources with tens of microarcsec (or microarcsec per year) accuracy in a vast volume of the Milky Way and future data releases will further improve on this. Gaia has just completed its nominal 5-year mission (July 2019), but is expected to continue in operations for an extended period of an additional 5 years through to mid 2024. Its final catalogue to be released ∼ 2027, will provide astrometry for ∼ 2 billion sources, with astrometric precisions reaching 10 microarcsec. Why is accurate astrometry so important? The answer is that it provides fundamental data which underpin much of modern observational astronomy as will be detailed in this White Paper. All-sky visible and Near-InfraRed (NIR) astrometry with a wavelength cutoff in the K-band is not just focused on a single or small number of key science cases. Instead, it is extremely broad, answering key science questions in nearly every branch of astronomy while also providing a dense and accurate visible-NIR reference frame needed for future astronomy facilities

Chinese herb mix Tiáo-Gēng-Tāng possesses antiaging and antioxidative effects and upregulates expression of estrogen receptors alpha and beta in ovariectomized rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Herb mixtures are widely used as an alternative to hormonal therapy in China for treatment of the menopausal syndrome. However, composition of these herb mixtures are complex and their working mechanism is often unknown. This study investigated the effect of Tiáo-Gēng-Tāng (TG-decoction), a Chinese herbal mixture extract, in balancing female hormones, regulating expression of estrogen receptors (ERs), and preventing aging-related tissue damage.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Ovariectomized 5-month-old female rats were used to model menopause and treated with either TG-decoction or conjugated estrogen for 8 weeks. Estradiol (E₂), luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) were measured in serum and in the hypothalamus. Hypothalamic expression of estrogen receptor (ER) alpha and beta were studied by real-time PCR and western blotting. Total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), oxidation indicator superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and tissue damage parameter malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured using standard assays. Aging-related ultrastructural alterations in mitochondria were studied in all animals by transmission electron microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>TG-decoction-treatment elevated E₂and lowered FSH in serum of ovariectomized rats. The potency and efficacy of TG-decoction on the hypothalamus was generally weaker than that of conjugated estrogens. However, TG-decoction was superior in upregulating expression of ERα and β. TG-decoction increased hypothalamic SOD and T-AOC levels and decreased MDAlevels and mitochondrial damage in hypothalamic neurons.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>TG-decoction balances female hormones similarly to conjugated estrogens but less effectively. However, it is superior in up regulating ERα and β and exhibits antioxidative antiaging activities. Whilst it shares similar effects with estrogen, TG-decoction also seems to have distinctive and more complex functions and activities.</p

Analysis of human meiotic recombination events with a parent-sibling tracing approach

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Meiotic recombination ensures that each child inherits distinct genetic materials from each parent, but the distribution of crossovers along meiotic chromosomes remains difficult to identify. In this study, we developed a parent-sibling tracing (PST) approach from previously reported methods to identify meiotic crossover sites of GEO GSE6754 data set. This approach requires only the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data of the pedigrees of both parents and at least two of children.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to other SNP-based algorithms (identity by descent or pediSNP), fewer uninformative SNPs were derived with the use of PST. Analysis of a GEO GSE6754 data set containing 2,145 maternal and paternal meiotic events revealed that the pattern and distribution of paternal and maternal recombination sites vary along the chromosomes. Lower crossover rates near the centromeres were more prominent in males than in females. Based on analysis of repetitive sequences, we also showed that recombination hotspots are positively correlated with SINE/MIR repetitive elements and negatively correlated with LINE/L1 elements. The number of meiotic recombination events was positively correlated with the number of shorter tandem repeat sequences.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The advantages of the PST approach include the ability to use only two-generation pedigrees with two siblings and the ability to perform gender-specific analyses of repetitive elements and tandem repeat sequences while including fewer uninformative SNP regions in the results.</p