11,259 research outputs found
The endolysosomal system in neuronal physiology and pathology
Verhage, M. [Promotor]Weering, J.R.T. van [Copromotor
Gravity or turbulence? -III. Evidence of pure thermal Jeans fragmentation at ~0.1 pc scale
We combine previously published interferometric and single-dish data of
relatively nearby massive dense cores that are actively forming stars to test
whether their `fragmentation level' is controlled by turbulent or thermal
support. We find no clear correlation between the fragmentation level and
velocity dispersion, nor between the observed number of fragments and the
number of fragments expected when the gravitationally unstable mass is
calculated including various prescriptions for `turbulent support'. On the
other hand, the best correlation is found for the case of pure thermal Jeans
fragmentation, for which we infer a core formation efficiency around 13 per
cent, consistent with previous works. We conclude that the dominant factor
determining the fragmentation level of star-forming massive dense cores at 0.1
pc scale seems to be thermal Jeans fragmentation.Comment: accepted in MNRA
Iron-Intercalated Zirconium Diselenide Thin Films from the Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition of [Fe(ηâ”-Câ HâSe)âZr(ηâ”-Câ Hâ )â]â
Transition metal chalcogenide thin films of the type FexZrSe2 have applications in electronic devices, but their use is limited by current synthetic techniques. Here, we demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of Fe-intercalated ZrSe2 thin films on quartz substrates using the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition of the single-source precursor [Fe(η5-C5H4Se)2Zr(η5-C5H5)2]2. Powder X-ray diffraction of the film scraping and subsequent Rietveld refinement of the data showed the successful synthesis of the Fe0.14ZrSe2 phase, along with secondary phases of FeSe and ZrO2. Upon intercalation, a small optical band gap enhancement (Eg(direct)opt = 1.72 eV) is detected in comparison with that of the host material
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : refining the local galaxy merger rate using morphological information
KRVS acknowledges the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for providing funding for this project, as well as the Government of Catalonia for a research travel grant (ref. 2010 BE-00268) to begin this project at the University of Nottingham. PN acknowledges the support of the Royal Society through the award of a University Research Fellowship and the European Research Council, through receipt of a Starting Grant (DEGAS-259586).We use the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey to measure the local Universe mass-dependent merger fraction and merger rate using galaxy pairs and the CAS (concentration, asymmetry, and smoothness) structural method, which identifies highly asymmetric merger candidate galaxies. Our goals are to determine which types of mergers produce highly asymmetrical galaxies and to provide a new measurement of the local galaxy major merger rate. We examine galaxy pairs at stellar mass limits down to M* = 108âMâ with mass ratios of 4:1) the lower mass companion becomes highly asymmetric, whereas the larger galaxy is much less affected. The fraction of highly asymmetric paired galaxies which have a major merger companion is highest for the most massive galaxies and drops progressively with decreasing mass. We calculate that the mass-dependent major merger fraction is fairly constant at âŒ1.3â2 perâcent within 109.5 < M* < 1011.5âMâ, and increases to âŒ4 perâcent at lower masses. When the observability time-scales are taken into consideration, the major merger rate is found to approximately triple over the mass range we consider. The total comoving volume major merger rate over the range 108.0 < M* < 1011.5âMâ is (1.2 ± 0.5) à 10â3 h370 Mpcâ3 Gyrâ1.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
Comparison between Suitable Priors for Additive Bayesian Networks
Additive Bayesian networks are types of graphical models that extend the
usual Bayesian generalized linear model to multiple dependent variables through
the factorisation of the joint probability distribution of the underlying
variables. When fitting an ABN model, the choice of the prior of the parameters
is of crucial importance. If an inadequate prior - like a too weakly
informative one - is used, data separation and data sparsity lead to issues in
the model selection process. In this work a simulation study between two weakly
and a strongly informative priors is presented. As weakly informative prior we
use a zero mean Gaussian prior with a large variance, currently implemented in
the R-package abn. The second prior belongs to the Student's t-distribution,
specifically designed for logistic regressions and, finally, the strongly
informative prior is again Gaussian with mean equal to true parameter value and
a small variance. We compare the impact of these priors on the accuracy of the
learned additive Bayesian network in function of different parameters. We
create a simulation study to illustrate Lindley's paradox based on the prior
choice. We then conclude by highlighting the good performance of the
informative Student's t-prior and the limited impact of the Lindley's paradox.
Finally, suggestions for further developments are provided.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Echelle long-slit optical spectroscopy of evolved stars
We present echelle long-slit optical spectra of a sample of objects evolving
off the AGB, most of them in the pre-planetary nebula (pPN) phase, obtained
with the ESI and MIKE spectrographs at Keck-II and Magellan-I, respectively.
The total wavelength range covered with ESI (MIKE) is ~3900 to 10900 A (~3600
to 7200A). In this paper, we focus our analysis mainly on the Halpha profiles.
Prominent Halpha emission is detected in half of the objects, most of which
show broad Halpha wings (up to ~4000 km/s). In the majority of the
Halpha-emission sources, fast, post-AGB winds are revealed by P-Cygni profiles.
In ~37% of the objects Halpha is observed in absorption. In almost all cases,
the absorption profile is partially filled with emission, leading to complex,
structured profiles that are interpreted as an indication of incipient post-AGB
mass-loss. All sources in which Halpha is seen mainly in absorption have F-G
type central stars, whereas sources with intense Halpha emission span a larger
range of spectral types from O to G. Shocks may be an important excitation
agent of the close stellar surroundings for objects with late type central
stars. Sources with pure emission or P Cygni Halpha profiles have larger J-K
color excess than objects with Halpha mainly in absorption, which suggests the
presence of warm dust near the star in the former. The two classes of profile
sources also segregate in the IRAS color-color diagram in a way that intense
Halpha-emitters have dust grains with a larger range of temperatures.
(abridged)Comment: 68 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJS (abstract
abridged
Reduction of the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) leads to visual impairment in vertebrates
In vertebrates, mitochondria are tightly preserved energy producing organelles, which sustain nervous system development and function. The understanding of proteins that regulate their homoeostasis in complex animals is therefore critical and doing so via means of systemic analysis pivotal to inform pathophysiological conditions associated with mitochondrial deficiency. With the goal to decipher the role of the ATPase inhibitory factor 1 (IF1) in brain development, we employed the zebrafish as elected model reporting that the Atpif1aâ/â zebrafish mutant, pinotage (pnttq209), which lacks one of the two IF1 paralogous, exhibits visual impairment alongside increased apoptotic bodies and neuroinflammation in both brain and retina. This associates with increased processing of the dynamin-like GTPase optic atrophy 1 (OPA1), whose ablation is a direct cause of inherited optic atrophy. Defects in vision associated with the processing of OPA1 are specular in Atpif1â/â mice thus confirming a regulatory axis, which interlinks IF1 and OPA1 in the definition of mitochondrial fitness and specialised brain functions. This study unveils a functional relay between IF1 and OPA1 in central nervous system besides representing an example of how the zebrafish model could be harnessed to infer the activity of mitochondrial proteins during development
Black Holes in Ho\v{r}ava Gravity with Higher Derivative Magnetic Terms
We consider Horava gravity coupled to Maxwell and higher derivative magnetic
terms. We construct static spherically symmetric black hole solutions in the
low-energy approximation. We calculate the horizon locations and temperatures
in the near-extremal limit, for asymptotically flat and (anti-)de Sitter
spaces. We also construct a detailed balanced version of the theory, for which
we find projectable and non-projectable, non-perturbative solutions.Comment: 17 pages. v2: Up to date with published version; some minor remarks
and more reference
The GB4.0 Platform, an All-In-One Tool for CRISPR/Cas-Based Multiplex Genome Engineering in Plants
CRISPR/Cas ability to target several loci simultaneously (multiplexing) is a game-changer in plant breeding. Multiplexing not only accelerates trait pyramiding but also can unveil traits hidden by functional redundancy. Furthermore, multiplexing enhances dCas-based programmable gene expression and enables cascade-like gene regulation. However, the design and assembly of multiplex constructs comprising tandemly arrayed guide RNAs (gRNAs) requires scarless cloning and is still troublesome due to the presence of repetitive sequences, thus hampering a more widespread use. Here we present a comprehensive extension of the software-assisted cloning platform GoldenBraid (GB), in which, on top of its multigene cloning software, we integrate new tools for the Type IIS-based easy and rapid assembly of up to six tandemly-arrayed gRNAs with both Cas9 and Cas12a, using the gRNA-tRNA-spaced and the crRNA unspaced approaches, respectively. As stress tests for the new tools, we assembled and used for Agrobacterium-mediated stable transformation a 17 Cas9-gRNAs construct targeting a subset of the Squamosa-Promoter Binding Protein-Like (SPL) gene family in Nicotiana tabacum. The 14 selected genes are targets of miR156, thus potentially playing an important role in juvenile-to-adult and vegetative-to-reproductive phase transitions. With the 17 gRNAs construct we generated a collection of Cas9-free SPL edited T plants harboring up to 9 biallelic mutations and showing leaf juvenility and more branching. The functionality of GB-assembled dCas9 and dCas12a-based CRISPR/Cas activators and repressors using single and multiplexing gRNAs was validated using a Luciferase reporter with the Solanum lycopersicum Mtb promoter or the Agrobacterium tumefaciens nopaline synthase promoter in transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. With the incorporation of the new web-based tools and the accompanying collection of DNA parts, the GB4.0 genome edition turns an all-in-one open platform for plant genome engineering
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