A Gyrochronology and Microvariability Survey of the Milky Way's Older Stars Using Kepler's Two-Wheels Program

Even with the diminished precision possible with only two reaction wheels, the Kepler spacecraft can obtain mmag level, time-resolved photometry of tens of thousands of sources. The presence of such a rich, large data set could be transformative for stellar astronomy. In this white paper, we discuss how rotation periods for a large ensemble of single and binary main- sequence dwarfs can yield a quantitative understanding of the evolution of stellar spin-down over time. This will allow us to calibrate rotation-based ages beyond ~1 Gyr, which is the oldest benchmark that exists today apart from the Sun. Measurement of rotation periods of M dwarfs past the fully-convective boundary will enable extension of gyrochronology to the end of the stellar main-sequence, yielding precise ages ({\sigma} ~10%) for the vast majority of nearby stars. It will also help set constraints on the angular momentum evolution and magnetic field generation in these stars. Our Kepler-based study would be supported by a suite of ongoing and future ground-based observations. Finally, we briefly discuss two ancillary science cases, detection of long-period low-mass eclipsing binaries and microvariability in white dwarfs and hot subdwarf B stars that the Kepler Two-Wheels Program would facilitate.Comment: Kepler white pape

PRE-binding sites in the MDR of CLL: Potential Tumor Suppressor Regulation

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia [CLL] is the most common adult leukemia and is heterogeneous in clinical presentation. CLL cases present with various chromosomal aberrations, including 11q23, 14q32, 17p, and trisomy 12, with the most common abnormality being deletion of 13q14 [1]. Although monoallelic deletion of 13q14 is common, there is a subset of patients who have complete nullisomy at 13q14, a locus that has been hypothesized to contribute to CLL pa thogenesis [2] due to loss of tumor suppressors [DLEU and miR-15a/16-1].We hypothesized that deletion of both copies of 13q14 would lead to uncontrollable proliferation of CLL cells and a poor prognosis. We examined our 13q14 nullisomy for survival, treatment-free survival, lymphocyte doubling time, and the presence of lymphadenopathy. Furthermore, we compared the gene expression profiles between patients with 13q14 monosomy, nullisomy, or normal karyotype. Our results suggest that patients with 13q nullisomy have a higher incidence of bulky lymphadenopathy [16.6% compared to 10% of monosomy patients], a higher frequency of lymphocyte doubling time [27.7% compared to 7.4% of monosomy patients], and a higher rate of needing treatment [50% compared to 18.5% of monosomy patients]. We observed deletion of DLEU1 and HTR2A, consistent with a gene dosage effect, and observed PRE-binding sites on DLEU1. Patients with homozygous deletion of 13q14 had a worse prognosis compared to heterozygotes. Lastly, the DLEU1 locus is a possible “second hit” loss for CLL progression

Sulfur incorporation in high level nuclear waste glass: a S K-edge XAFS investigation

We perform X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy measurements at the sulfur K-edge to elucidate the electronic and geometric bonding of sulfur atoms in borosilicate glass used for the vitrification of high level radioactive liquid waste. The sulfur is incorporated as sulfate, most probably as sodium sulfate, which can be deduced from the X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) by fingerprint comparison with reference compounds. This finding is backed up by Raman spectroscopy investigation. In the extended XAFS data, no second shell beyond the first oxygen layer is visible. We argue that this is due to the sulfate being present as small clusters located into voids of the borosilicate network. Hence, destructive interference of the variable surrounding prohibits the presence of higher shell signals. The knowledge of the sulfur bonding characteristics is essential for further optimization of the glass composition and to balance the requirements of the process and glass quality parameters, viscosity and electrical resistivity on one side, waste loading and sulfur uptake on the other side

Clinicopathological features of extranodal lymphomas: Kuwait experience

A total of 935 patients with extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) diagnosed in the period between January 1985 and December 2000 in Kuwait Cancer Center, serving the whole population of Kuwait, were used to describe the clinicopathological and epidemiological features of extranodal lymphomas in Kuwait. Extranodal lymphomas accounted for 45% of all NHL observed during this time. All NHL cases from Kuwait Cancer registry were analyzed and pathologically reclassified using the latest WHO ( 2000) classification. The most common lymphoma observed was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (58.60%) followed by Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) (3.80%). In the pediatric group, BL comprises more than two thirds of all patients (77.20%). The most common extranodal sites were stomach (19.70%) and skin (17.80%) in the adult group, large intestine (29.80%) and small intestine (19.30%) in the pediatric age group. The majority (73.40%) of adult extranodal lymphomas was in stage IE - IIE and had a very good prognosis. On the contrary, the majority of pediatric extranodal lymphomas were found to be in stage III and IV. Variations in treatment policies ( single agent or combined chemotherapy, radiotherapy, combined modality treatment) adopted and changed during the time period of 16 years of this retrospective study were documented. Copyright (C) 2004 S. Karger AG, Basel

Einfluss der Umnutzung eines 20-jährigen Miscanthusbestands auf die Humusgehalte und -qualität einer Parabraunerde

In einem Feldversuch nahe Freiburg soll der Einfluss einer ackerbaulichen Nutzung nach Miscanthusumbruch auf die Humusgehalte und –qualität einer Parabraunerde untersucht werden. In einem ersten Schritt wurden die Corg-Gehalte einer 20-jährigen Miscanthusfläche räumlich hoch aufgelöst bis 60 cm Tiefe untersucht und mit den Corg-Gehalten einer angrenzenden Ackerfläche verglichen. Mit 75,6 t C ha-1 wurden auf der Miscanthusfläche um 20 Tonnen höhere Corg-Gehalte gemessen als auf der benachbarten Ackerfläche. Dies entspricht somit einer jährlichen Zunahme der Corg-Gehalte von 1 t a-1. Die größte C-Zunahme wurde dabei in den obersten 10 Zentimeters des Bodens ermittelt. In einem Brutversuch mit Oberboden der beiden Versuchsflächen (25°C, 34 Tage) wurden bei Miscanthus 4,3% des organischen C als CO2 freigesetzt. Im Ackerboden waren dies lediglich 2,3% des organischen C. Das deutet auf einen höheren Anteil an labilem C bei Miscanthus hin und wurde durch einen ca. 3-fach höheren Anteil an heißwasserlöslichem C des Miscanthusbodens gegenüber dem Ackerboden bestätigt. 12C/13C-Isotopenmessungen ergaben zudem, dass das im Brutversuch freigesetzte CO2 nahezu vollständig Miscanthus-bürtig war. Auf dem Miscanthusfeld wurde 2015 ein Parzellenversuch etabliert. Auf vier Parzellen wird Miscanthus weiterhin genutzt, auf weiteren vier Parzellen wurde der Miscanthus im Frühjahr 2015 umgebrochen und eine Kleegrasmischung eingesät. Während sich die Corg-Gehalte der Miscanthusparzellen zwischen Frühjahr 2015 und Frühjahr 2016 nicht veränderten, wurde in der Umbruchvariante eine Abnahme der Corg-Gehalte um 2,8 t ha-1 ermittelt