The Influence of Metallicity on Star Formation in Protogalaxies

In cold dark matter cosmological models, the first stars to form are believed to do so within small protogalaxies. We wish to understand how the evolution of these early protogalaxies changes once the gas forming them has been enriched with small quantities of heavy elements, which are produced and dispersed into the intergalactic medium by the first supernovae. Our initial conditions represent protogalaxies forming within a fossil H II region, a previously ionized region that has not yet had time to cool and recombine. We study the influence of low levels of metal enrichment on the cooling and collapse of ionized gas in small protogalactic halos using three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations that incorporate the effects of the appropriate chemical and thermal processes. Our previous simulations demonstrated that for metallicities Z < 0.001 Z_sun, metal line cooling alters the density and temperature evolution of the gas by less than 1% compared to the metal-free case at densities below 1 cm-3) and temperatures above 2000 K. Here, we present the results of high-resolution simulations using particle splitting to improve resolution in regions of interest. These simulations allow us to address the question of whether there is a critical metallicity above which fine structure cooling from metals allows efficient fragmentation to occur, producing an initial mass function (IMF) resembling the local Salpeter IMF, rather than only high-mass stars.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, First Stars III conference proceeding

Black Hole Feedback On The First Galaxies

We study how the first galaxies were assembled under feedback from the accretion onto a central black hole (BH) that is left behind by the first generation of metal-free stars through self-consistent, cosmological simulations. X-ray radiation from the accretion of gas onto BH remnants of Population III (Pop III) stars, or from high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), again involving Pop III stars, influences the mode of second generation star formation. We track the evolution of the black hole accretion rate and the associated X-ray feedback starting with the death of the Pop III progenitor star inside a minihalo and following the subsequent evolution of the black hole as the minihalo grows to become an atomically cooling galaxy. We find that X-ray photoionization heating from a stellar-mass BH is able to quench further star formation in the host halo at all times before the halo enters the atomic cooling phase. X-ray radiation from a HMXB, assuming a luminosity close to the Eddington value, exerts an even stronger, and more diverse, feedback on star formation. It photoheats the gas inside the host halo, but also promotes the formation of molecular hydrogen and cooling of gas in the intergalactic medium and in nearby minihalos, leading to a net increase in the number of stars formed at early times. Our simulations further show that the radiative feedback from the first BHs may strongly suppress early BH growth, thus constraining models for the formation of supermassive BHs.Astronom

Power grids vulnerability: a complex network approach

Power grids exhibit patterns of reaction to outages similar to complex networks. Blackout sequences follow power laws, as complex systems operating near a critical point. Here, the tolerance of electric power grids to both accidental and malicious outages is analyzed in the framework of complex network theory. In particular, the quantity known as efficiency is modified by introducing a new concept of distance between nodes. As a result, a new parameter called net-ability is proposed to evaluate the performance of power grids. A comparison between efficiency and net-ability is provided by estimating the vulnerability of sample networks, in terms of both the metrics.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Figure 2 and table II modified. Typos corrected. Version accepted for publication in Chao

Mobility Impacts of the Second Phase of Covid-19: General Considerations and Regulation from Tuscany (Italy) and Kentucky (USA)

he second phase of the virus Covid-19 is about to start a new configuration of accessibility to activities and cities. This phase, which will be able to see different restriction levels both between different countries and between successive periods, is the great challenge that the whole world is facing and which, if not managed in a planned and strategic way, risks turning into a further catastrophe. The social distancing rules imposed will necessarily lead to an escape from public transport in the cities, which could turn into total congestion of city traffic, leading the cities themselves to paralysis. We need a series of countermeasures that define new mobility capable of mitigating the effects of the mobility offer imbalance by intervening quickly, economically, and, in the short term, emergency on the whole transport chain. This article presents some possible actions to be put in place, and some mobility measures actually applied in Tuscany coastal area. © 2020, Springer Nature Switzerland AG

Extended x-ray absorption fine structure study of porous GaSb formed by ion implantation

Porous GaSb has been formed by Ga ion implantation into crystalline GaSb substrates at either room temperature or −180 °C. The morphology has been characterized using scanning electron microscopy and the atomic structure was determined using extended x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Room-temperature implantation at low fluences leads to the formation of ∼20-nm voids though the material remains crystalline. Higher fluences cause the microstructure to evolve into a network of amorphous GaSb rods ∼15 nm in diameter. In contrast, implantation at −180 °C generates large, elongated voids but no rods. Upon exposure to air, the surface of the porous material is readily oxidized yielding Ga₂O₃ and metallic Sb precipitates, the latter resulting from the reduction of unstable Sb₂O₃. We consider and discuss the atomic-scale mechanisms potentially operative during the concurrent crystalline-to-amorphous and continuous-to-porous transformations

Differing requirements for Augmin in male meiotic and mitotic spindle formation in Drosophila

Animal cells divide using a microtubule-based, bipolar spindle. Both somatic, mitotic cells and sperm-producing male meiotic spermatocytes use centrosome-dependent and acentrosomal spindle-forming mechanisms. Here, we characterize the largely undefined, centrosome-independent spindle formation pathway used during male meiosis. Our live and fixed cell analyses of Drosophila spermatocytes reveal that acentrosomal microtubules are nucleated at kinetochores and in the vicinity of chromatin and that together these assemble into functional spindles. Mutational studies indicate that γ-tubulin and its extra-centrosomal targeting complex, Augmin, are vital for this process. In addition, Augmin facilitates efficient spindle assembly in the presence of centrosomes. In contrast to the pronounced recruitment of Augmin on spindles in other cell types, the complex is absent from those of spermatocytes but does accumulate on kinetochores. Polo kinase facilitates this kinetochore recruitment while inhibiting Augmin's spindle association, and this in turn dictates γ-tubulin distribution and spindle density. Polo's negative regulation of Augmin in male meiosis contrasts with its requirement in loading Augmin along mitotic spindles in somatic Drosophila cells. Together our data identify a novel mechanism of acentrosomal spindle formation in spermatocytes and reveal its divergence from that used in mitotic cells

The singular behavior of massive QCD amplitudes

We discuss the structure of infrared singularities in on-shell QCD amplitudes with massive partons and present a general factorization formula in the limit of small parton masses. The factorization formula gives rise to an all-order exponentiation of both, the soft poles in dimensional regularization and the large collinear logarithms of the parton masses. Moreover, it provides a universal relation between any on-shell amplitude with massive external partons and its corresponding massless amplitude. For the form factor of a heavy quark we present explicit results including the fixed-order expansion up to three loops in the small mass limit. For general scattering processes we show how our constructive method applies to the computation of all singularities as well as the constant (mass-independent) terms of a generic massive n-parton QCD amplitude up to the next-to-next-to-leading order corrections.Comment: version to appear in JHEP (sec. 3 with expanded discussion and appendix with added results

Drosophila Klp67A binds prophase kinetochores to subsequently regulate congression and spindle length

The kinesin-8 proteins are a family of microtubule-depolymerising motor molecules, which, despite their highly conserved roles in chromosome alignment and spindle dynamics, remain poorly characterised. Here, we report that the Drosophila kinesin-8 protein, Klp67A, exists in two spatially and functionally separable metaphase pools: at kinetochores and along the spindle. Fixed and live-cell analyses of different Klp67A recombinant variants indicate that this kinesin-8 first collects at kinetochores during prophase and, by metaphase, localises to the kinetochore outerplate. Although the catalytic motor activity of Klp67A is required for efficient kinetochore recruitment at all times, microtubules are entirely dispensable for this process. The tail of Klp67A does not play a role in kinetochore accumulation, but is both necessary and sufficient for spindle association. Using functional assays, we reveal that chromosome position and spindle length are determined by the microtubule-depolymerising motor activity of Klp67A exclusively when located at kinetochores, but not along the spindle. These data reveal that, unlike other metazoan kinesin-8 proteins, Klp67A binds the nascent prophase and mature metaphase kinetochore. From this location, Klp67A uses its motor activity to ensure chromosome alignment and proper spindle length

Drosophila Klp67A binds prophase kinetochores to subsequently regulate congression and spindle length

The kinesin-8 proteins are a family of microtubule-depolymerising motor molecules, which, despite their highly conserved roles in chromosome alignment and spindle dynamics, remain poorly characterised. Here, we report that the Drosophila kinesin-8 protein, Klp67A, exists in two spatially and functionally separable metaphase pools: at kinetochores and along the spindle. Fixed and live-cell analyses of different Klp67A recombinant variants indicate that this kinesin-8 first collects at kinetochores during prophase and, by metaphase, localises to the kinetochore outerplate. Although the catalytic motor activity of Klp67A is required for efficient kinetochore recruitment at all times, microtubules are entirely dispensable for this process. The tail of Klp67A does not play a role in kinetochore accumulation, but is both necessary and sufficient for spindle association. Using functional assays, we reveal that chromosome position and spindle length are determined by the microtubule-depolymerising motor activity of Klp67A exclusively when located at kinetochores, but not along the spindle. These data reveal that, unlike other metazoan kinesin-8 proteins, Klp67A binds the nascent prophase and mature metaphase kinetochore. From this location, Klp67A uses its motor activity to ensure chromosome alignment and proper spindle length