HAT-P-27b: A hot Jupiter transiting a G star on a 3 day orbit

We report the discovery of HAT-P-27b, an exoplanet transiting the moderately bright G8 dwarf star GSC 0333-00351 (V=12.214). The orbital period is 3.039586 +/- 0.000012 d, the reference epoch of transit is 2455186.01879 +/- 0.00054 (BJD), and the transit duration is 0.0705 +/- 0.0019 d. The host star with its effective temperature 5300 +/- 90 K is somewhat cooler than the Sun, and is more metal-rich with a metallicity of +0.29 +/- 0.10. Its mass is 0.94 +/- 0.04 Msun and radius is 0.90 +/- 0.04 Rsun. For the planetary companion we determine a mass of 0.660 +/- 0.033 MJ and radius of 1.038 +0.077 -0.058 RJ. For the 30 known transiting exoplanets between 0.3 MJ and 0.8 MJ, a negative correlation between host star metallicity and planetary radius, and an additional dependence of planetary radius on equilibrium temperature are confirmed at a high level of statistical significance.Comment: Submitted to ApJ on 2011-01-18. 12 pages, 7 figures, 7 table

The Next Generation Transit Survey—Prototyping Phase

We present the prototype telescope for the Next Generation Transit Survey, which was built in the UK in 2008/2009 and tested on La Palma in the Canary Islands in 2010. The goals for the prototype system were severalfold: to determine the level of systematic noise in an NGTS-like system; demonstrate that we can perform photometry at the (sub) millimagnitude level on transit timescales across a wide-field; show that it is possible to detect transiting super-Earth and Neptune-sized exoplanets and prove the technical feasibility of the proposed planet survey. We tested the system for around 100 nights and met each of the goals above. Several key areas for improvement were highlighted during the prototyping phase. They have been subsequently addressed in the final NGTS facility, which was recently commissioned at ESO Cerro Paranal, Chile

Measuring β-diversity by remote sensing: a challenge for biodiversity monitoring

Biodiversity includes multiscalar and multitemporal structures and processes, with different levels of functional organization, from genetic to ecosystemic levels. One of the mostly used methods to infer biodiversity is based on taxonomic approaches and community ecology theories. However, gathering extensive data in the field is difficult due to logistic problems, especially when aiming at modelling biodiversity changes in space and time, which assumes statistically sound sampling schemes. In this context, airborne or satellite remote sensing allows information to be gathered over wide areas in a reasonable time. Most of the biodiversity maps obtained from remote sensing have been based on the inference of species richness by regression analysis. On the contrary, estimating compositional turnover (β‐diversity) might add crucial information related to relative abundance of different species instead of just richness. Presently, few studies have addressed the measurement of species compositional turnover from space. Extending on previous work, in this manuscript, we propose novel techniques to measure β‐diversity from airborne or satellite remote sensing, mainly based on: (1) multivariate statistical analysis, (2) the spectral species concept, (3) self‐organizing feature maps, (4) multidimensional distance matrices, and the (5) Rao's Q diversity. Each of these measures addresses one or several issues related to turnover measurement. This manuscript is the first methodological example encompassing (and enhancing) most of the available methods for estimating β‐diversity from remotely sensed imagery and potentially relating them to species diversity in the field

WASP-38b: a transiting exoplanet in an eccentric, 6.87d period orbit

Aims: We report the discovery of WASP-38b, a long period transiting planet in an eccentric 6.871815 day orbit. The transit epoch is 2 455 335.92050 ± 0.00074 (HJD) and the transit duration is 4.663 h. Methods: WASP-38b's discovery was enabled due to an upgrade to the SuperWASP-North cameras. We performed a spectral analysis of the host star HD 146389/BD+10 2980 that yielded Teff = 6150 ± 80 K, log g = 4.3 ± 0.1, v sin i = 8.6 ± 0.4 km s-1, M* = 1.16 ± 0.04 Mʘand R* = 1.33 ± 0.03 Rʘ, consistent with a dwarf of spectral type F8. Assuming a main-sequence mass-radius relation for the star, we fitted simultaneously the radial velocity variations and the transit light curves to estimate the orbital and planetary parameters. Results: The planet has a mass of 2.69 ± 0.06 MJup and a radius of 1.09 ± 0.03 RJup giving a density, ρp = 2.1 ± 0.1 ρJ. The high precision of the eccentricity e = 0.0314 ± 0.0044 is due to the relative transit timing from the light curves and the RV shape. The planet equilibrium temperature is estimated at 1292 ± 33 K. WASP-38b is the longest period planet found by SuperWASP-North and with a bright host star (V = 9.4 mag), is a good candidate for followup atmospheric studies

Precise masses for the transiting planetary system HD 106315 with HARPS

Funding: UK Science and Tecnology Facilities Council STFC ST/M001296/1 (ACC)Context. The multi-planetary system HD 106315 was recently found in K2 data. The planets have periods of Pb ~ 9.55 and Pc ~ 21.06 days, and radii of rb = 2.44 ± 0.17 R⊕ and rc = 4.35 ± 0.23 R⊕ . The brightness of the host star (V = 9.0 mag) makes it an excellent target for transmission spectroscopy. However, to interpret transmission spectra it is crucial to measure the planetary masses. Aims. We obtained high precision radial velocities for HD 106315 to determine the mass of the two transiting planets discovered with Kepler K2. Our successful observation strategy was carefully tailored to mitigate the effect of stellar variability. Methods. We modelled the new radial velocity data together with the K2 transit photometry and a new ground-based partial transit of HD 106315c to derive system parameters. Results. We estimate the mass of HD 106315b to be 12.6 ± 3.2 M⊕ and the density to be 4.7 ± 1.7 g cm-3, while for HD 106315c we estimate a mass of 15.2 ± 3.7 M⊕ and a density of 1.01 ± 0.29 g cm-3. Hence, despite planet c having a radius almost twice as large as planet b, their masses are consistent with one another. Conclusions. We conclude that HD 106315c has a thick hydrogen-helium gaseous envelope. A detailed investigation of HD 106315b using a planetary interior model constrains the core mass fraction to be 5–29%, and the water mass fraction to be 10–50%. An alternative, not considered by our model, is that HD 106315b is composed of a large rocky core with a thick H–He envelope. Transmission spectroscopy of these planets will give insight into their atmospheric compositions and also help constrain their core compositions.PostprintPeer reviewe

SuperWASP dispositions and false positive catalogue

SuperWASP, the Northern hemisphere WASP observatory, has been observing the skies from La Palma since 2004. In that time, more than 50 planets have been discovered with data contributions from SuperWASP. In the process of validating planets, many false-positive candidates have also been identified. The TESS telescope is set to begin observations of the northern sky in 2019. Similar to the WASP survey, the TESS pixel size is relatively large (13 arcsec for WASP and 21 arcsec for TESS), making it susceptible to many blended signals and false detections caused principally by grazing and blended stellar eclipsing binary systems. In order to reduce duplication of effort on targets, we present a catalogue of 1 041 Northern hemisphere SuperWASP targets that have been rejected as planetary transits through follow-up observation

Pattern of care and effectiveness of treatment for glioblastoma patients in the real world: Results from a prospective population-based registry. Could survival differ in a high-volume center?

BACKGROUND: As yet, no population-based prospective studies have been conducted to investigate the incidence and clinical outcome of glioblastoma (GBM) or the diffusion and impact of the current standard therapeutic approach in newly diagnosed patients younger than aged 70 years. METHODS: Data on all new cases of primary brain tumors observed from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010, in adults residing within the Emilia-Romagna region were recorded in a prospective registry in the Project of Emilia Romagna on Neuro-Oncology (PERNO). Based on the data from this registry, a prospective evaluation was made of the treatment efficacy and outcome in GBM patients. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-seven GBM patients (median age, 64 y; range, 29-84 y) were enrolled. The median overall survival (OS) was 10.7 months (95% CI, 9.2-12.4). The 139 patients 64aged 70 years who were given standard temozolomide treatment concomitant with and adjuvant to radiotherapy had a median OS of 16.4 months (95% CI, 14.0-18.5). With multivariate analysis, OS correlated significantly with KPS (HR = 0.458; 95% CI, 0.248-0.847; P = .0127), MGMT methylation status (HR = 0.612; 95% CI, 0.388-0.966; P = .0350), and treatment received in a high versus low-volume center (HR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.328-0.986; P = .0446). CONCLUSIONS: The median OS following standard temozolomide treatment concurrent with and adjuvant to radiotherapy given to (72.8% of) patients aged 6470 years is consistent with findings reported from randomized phase III trials. The volume and expertise of the treatment center should be further investigated as a prognostic factor

miRNAs Expression Analysis in Paired Fresh/Frozen and Dissected Formalin Fixed and Paraffin Embedded Glioblastoma Using Real-Time PCR

miRNAs are small molecules involved in gene regulation. Each tissue shows a characteristic miRNAs epression profile that could be altered during neoplastic transformation. Glioblastoma is the most aggressive brain tumour of the adult with a high rate of mortality. Recognizing a specific pattern of miRNAs for GBM could provide further boost for target therapy. The availability of fresh tissue for brain specimens is often limited and for this reason the possibility of starting from formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissue (FFPE) could very helpful even in miRNAs expression analysis. We analysed a panel of 19 miRNAs in 30 paired samples starting both from FFPE and Fresh/Frozen material. Our data revealed that there is a good correlation in results obtained from FFPE in comparison with those obtained analysing miRNAs extracted from Fresh/Frozen specimen. In the few cases with a not good correlation value we noticed that the discrepancy could be due to dissection performed in FFPE samples. To the best of our knowledge this is the first paper demonstrating that the results obtained in miRNAs analysis using Real-Time PCR starting from FFPE specimens of glioblastoma are comparable with those obtained in Fresh/Frozen samples

Advanced Virgo Plus: Future Perspectives

While completing the commissioning phase to prepare the Virgo interferometer for the next joint Observation Run (O4), the Virgo collaboration is also finalizing the design of the next upgrades to the detector to be employed in the following Observation Run (O5). The major upgrade will concern decreasing the thermal noise limit, which will imply using very large test masses and increased laser beam size. But this will not be the only upgrade to be implemented in the break between the O4 and O5 observation runs to increase the Virgo detector strain sensitivity. The paper will cover the challenges linked to this upgrade and implications on the detector's reach and observational potential, reflecting the talk given at 12th Cosmic Ray International Seminar - CRIS 2022 held in September 2022 in Napoli