Dynamical classification of Trans-Neptunian Objects detected by the Dark Energy Survey

FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQThe outer solar system contains a large number of small bodies (known as trans-Neptunian objects or TNOs) that exhibit diverse types of dynamical behavior. The classification of bodies in this distant region into dynamical classes-subpopulations that expe1594113FINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFINANCIADORA DE ESTUDOS E PROJETOS - FINEPFUNDAÇÃO CARLOS CHAGAS FILHO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DO RIO DE JANEIRO - FAPERJCONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQSem informaçãoSem informação465376/2014-2Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Educati

The DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP) IV: Constraints on the shape distribution of bright TNOs

We present the methods and results from the discovery and photometric measurement of 26 bright (VR $>$ 24 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) during the first year (2019-20) of the DECam Ecliptic Exploration Project (DEEP). The DEEP survey is an observational TNO survey with wide sky coverage, high sensitivity, and a fast photometric cadence. We apply a computer vision technique known as a progressive probabilistic Hough transform to identify linearly-moving transient sources within DEEP photometric catalogs. After subsequent visual vetting, we provide a photometric and astrometric catalog of our TNOs. By modeling the partial lightcurve amplitude distribution of the DEEP TNOs using Monte Carlo techniques, we find our data to be most consistent with an average TNO axis ratio b/a $<$ 0.5, implying a population dominated by non-spherical objects. Based on ellipsoidal gravitational stability arguments, we find our data to be consistent with a TNO population containing a high fraction of contact binaries or other extremely non-spherical objects. We also discuss our data as evidence that the expected binarity fraction of TNOs may be size-dependent

Place-based governance and leadership in decentralised school systems: evidence from England

Relatively few studies have explored the ways in which 'middle tier' institutional arrangements in education, such as school districts and local authorities, are responding to New Public Management reforms characterized by centralization, decentralization, marketization and disintermediation (Lubienski, 2014). This paper analyses these issues, drawing on governance (Tenbensel, 2017) and path dependency theories (Streeck and Thelen, 2005), together with evidence from five locality case studies in England (Greany and Higham, 2018; Greany, 2018). It finds that the process and impact of 'middle tier' disintermediation is uneven and often fraught, with significant implications for place-based coherence, equity and legitimacy. It shows how national hierarchical mechanisms work in concert to require and/or incentivise change across local school systems, most obviously by reducing the remit and capacity of traditional Local Authorities. This process can open up new opportunities for emerging and existing actors to work together through network and community forms of governance to counteract the negative impact of fragmentation, a process that Munby and Fullan (2016) dub 'middle out' change. However, responses and outcomes vary widely across the five localities and productive 'middle out' change is by no means a given, so the article analyses the processes at work and their impact across different contexts. It concludes by assessing implications for research, policy and practice in contemporary education systems

Space-time variation of malaria incidence in Yunnan province, China

Abstract Background Understanding spatio-temporal variation in malaria incidence provides a basis for effective disease control planning and monitoring. Methods Monthly surveillance data between 1991 and 2006 for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria across 128 counties were assembled for Yunnan, a province of China with one of the highest burdens of malaria. County-level Bayesian Poisson regression models of incidence were constructed, with effects for rainfall, maximum temperature and temporal trend. The model also allowed for spatial variation in county-level incidence and temporal trend, and dependence between incidence in June–September and the preceding January–February. Results Models revealed strong associations between malaria incidence and both rainfall and maximum temperature. There was a significant association between incidence in June–September and the preceding January–February. Raw standardised morbidity ratios showed a high incidence in some counties bordering Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, and counties in the Red River valley. Clusters of counties in south-western and northern Yunnan were identified that had high incidence not explained by climate. The overall trend in incidence decreased, but there was significant variation between counties. Conclusion Dependence between incidence in summer and the preceding January–February suggests a role of intrinsic host-pathogen dynamics. Incidence during the summer peak might be predictable based on incidence in January–February, facilitating malaria control planning, scaled months in advance to the magnitude of the summer malaria burden. Heterogeneities in county-level temporal trends suggest that reductions in the burden of malaria have been unevenly distributed throughout the province

A search of the full six years of the Dark Energy Survey for outer solar system objects

We present a search for outer solar system objects in the 6 yr of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The DES covered a contiguous 5000 deg2 of the southern sky with ≈80,000 3 deg2 exposures in the grizY filters between 2013 and 2019. This search yielded 812 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), one Centaur and one Oort cloud comet, 458 reported here for the first time. We present methodology that builds upon our previous search on the first 4 yr of data. All images were reprocessed with an optimized detection pipeline that leads to an average completeness gain of 0.47 mag per exposure, as well as improved transient catalog production and algorithms for linkage of detections into orbits. All objects were verified by visual inspection and by the "sub-threshold significance,"the signal-to-noise ratio in the stack of images in which its presence is indicated by the orbit, but no detection was reported. This yields a pure catalog complete to r ≈ 23.8 mag and distances 29 150 au, q > 30 au) are consistent with the null hypothesis of azimuthal isotropy; and nonresonant TNOs with q > 38 au, a > 50 au show a significant tendency to be sunward of major mean-motion resonances

Association between the ACCN1 Gene and Multiple Sclerosis in Central East Sardinia

Multiple genome screens have been performed to identify regions in linkage or association with Multiple Sclerosis (MS, OMIM 126200), but little overlap has been found among them. This may be, in part, due to a low statistical power to detect small genetic effects and to genetic heterogeneity within and among the studied populations. Motivated by these considerations, we studied a very special population, namely that of Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy. This is an isolated, old, and genetically homogeneous population with high prevalence of MS. Our study sample includes both nuclear families and unrelated cases and controls. A multi-stage study design was adopted. In the first stage, microsatellites were typed in the 17q11.2 region, previously independently found to be in linkage with MS. One significant association was found at microsatellite D17S798. Next, a bioinformatic screening of the region surrounding this marker highlighted an interesting candidate MS susceptibility gene: the Amiloride-sensitive Cation Channel Neuronal 1 (ACCN1) gene. In the second stage of the study, we resequenced the exons and the 3′ untranslated (UTR) region of ACCN1, and investigated the MS association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) identified in that region. For this purpose, we developed a method of analysis where complete, phase-solved, posterior-weighted haplotype assignments are imputed for each study individual from incomplete, multi-locus, genotyping data. The imputed assignments provide an input to a number of proposed procedures for testing association at a microsatellite level or of a sequence of SNPs. These include a Mantel-Haenszel type test based on expected frequencies of pseudocase/pseudocontrol haplotypes, as well as permutation based tests, including a combination of permutation and weighted logistic regression analysis. Application of these methods allowed us to find a significant association between MS and the SNP rs28936 located in the 3′ UTR segment of ACCN1 with p = 0.0004 (p = 0.002, after adjusting for multiple testing). This result is in tune with several recent experimental findings which suggest that ACCN1 may play an important role in the pathogenesis of MS

Synchronous Rotation in the (136199) Eris–Dysnomia System

We combine photometry of Eris from a 6 month campaign on the Palomar 60 inch telescope in 2015, a 1 month Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 campaign in 2018, and Dark Energy Survey data spanning 2013–2018 to determine a light curve of definitive period 15.771 ± 0.008 days (1σ formal uncertainties), with nearly sinusoidal shape and peak-to-peak flux variation of 3%. This is consistent at part-per-thousand precision with the P = 15.785 90 ± 0.00005 day sidereal period of Dysnomia's orbit around Eris, strengthening the recent detection of synchronous rotation of Eris by Szakáts et al. with independent data. Photometry from Gaia are consistent with the same light curve. We detect a slope of 0.05 ± 0.01 mag per degree of Eris's brightness with respect to illumination phase averaged across g, V, and r bands, intermediate between Pluto's and Charon's values. Variations of 0.3 mag are detected in Dysnomia's brightness, plausibly consistent with a double-peaked light curve at the synchronous period. The synchronous rotation of Eris is consistent with simple tidal models initiated with a giant-impact origin of the binary, but is difficult to reconcile with gravitational capture of Dysnomia by Eris. The high albedo contrast between Eris and Dysnomia remains unexplained in the giant-impact scenario

Multiple sclerosis genomic map implicates peripheral immune cells and microglia in susceptibility

We analyzed genetic data of 47,429 multiple sclerosis (MS) and 68,374 control subjects and established a reference map of the genetic architecture of MS that includes 200 autosomal susceptibility variants outside the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), one chromosome X variant, and 32 variants within the extended MHC. We used an ensemble of methods to prioritize 551 putative susceptibility genes that implicate multiple innate and adaptive pathways distributed across the cellular components of the immune system. Using expression profiles from purified human microglia, we observed enrichment for MS genes in these brain-resident immune cells, suggesting that these may have a role in targeting an autoimmune process to the central nervous system, although MS is most likely initially triggered by perturbation of peripheral immune responses

Physical and Functional Interaction of NCX1 and EAAC1 Transporters Leading to Glutamate-Enhanced ATP Production in Brain Mitochondria

Glutamate is emerging as a major factor stimulating energy production in CNS. Brain mitochondria can utilize this neurotransmitter as respiratory substrate and specific transporters are required to mediate the glutamate entry into the mitochondrial matrix. Glutamate transporters of the Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters (EAATs) family have been previously well characterized on the cell surface of neuronal and glial cells, representing the primary players for glutamate uptake in mammalian brain. Here, by using western blot, confocal microscopy and immunoelectron microscopy, we report for the first time that the Excitatory Amino Acid Carrier 1 (EAAC1), an EAATs member, is expressed in neuronal and glial mitochondria where it participates in glutamate-stimulated ATP production, evaluated by a luciferase-luciferin system. Mitochondrial metabolic response is counteracted when different EAATs pharmacological blockers or selective EAAC1 antisense oligonucleotides were used. Since EAATs are Na+-dependent proteins, this raised the possibility that other transporters regulating ion gradients across mitochondrial membrane were required for glutamate response. We describe colocalization, mutual activity dependency, physical interaction between EAAC1 and the sodium/calcium exchanger 1 (NCX1) both in neuronal and glial mitochondria, and that NCX1 is an essential modulator of this glutamate transporter. Only NCX1 activity is crucial for such glutamate-stimulated ATP synthesis, as demonstrated by pharmacological blockade and selective knock-down with antisense oligonucleotides. The EAAC1/NCX1-dependent mitochondrial response to glutamate may be a general and alternative mechanism whereby this neurotransmitter sustains ATP production, since we have documented such metabolic response also in mitochondria isolated from heart. The data reported here disclose a new physiological role for mitochondrial NCX1 as the key player in glutamate-induced energy production

Photometric Properties of Jupiter Trojans Detected by the Dark Energy Survey

The Jupiter Trojans are a large group of asteroids that are coorbiting with Jupiter near its L4 and L5 Lagrange points. The study of Jupiter Trojans is crucial for testing different models of planet formation that are directly related to our understanding of solar system evolution. In this work, we select known Jupiter Trojans listed by the Minor Planet Center from the full six years data set (Y6) of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to analyze their photometric properties. The DES data allow us to study Jupiter Trojans with a fainter magnitude limit than previous studies in a homogeneous survey with griz band measurements. We extract a final catalog of 573 unique Jupiter Trojans. Our sample include 547 asteroids belonging to L5. This is one of the largest analyzed samples for this group. By comparing with the data reported by other surveys we found that the color distribution of L5 Trojans is similar to that of L4 Trojans. We find that L5 Trojans' g - i and g - r colors become less red with fainter absolute magnitudes, a trend also seen in L4 Trojans. Both the L4 and L5 clouds consistently show such a color-size correlation over an absolute magnitude range 11 < H < 18. We also use DES colors to perform taxonomic classifications. C- and P-type asteroids outnumber D-type asteroids in the L5 Trojans DES sample, which have diameters in the 5-20 km range. This is consistent with the color-size correlation