A new LMC K-band distance from precision measurements of nearby red clump stars

High-precision (sigma < 0.01) new JHK observations of 226 of the brightest and nearest red clump stars in the solar neighbourhood are used to determine distance moduli for the LMC. The resulting K- and H-band values of 18.47\pm0.02 and 18.49\pm0.06 imply that any correction to the K-band Cepheid PL relation due to metallicity differences between Cepheids in the LMC and in the solar neighborhood must be quite small.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

The EBLM project. II. A very hot, low-mass M dwarf in an eccentric and long period eclipsing binary system from SuperWASP

In this paper, we derive the fundamental properties of 1SWASPJ011351.29+314909.7 (J0113+31), a metal-poor (-0.40 +/- 0.04 dex), eclipsing binary in an eccentric orbit (~0.3) with an orbital period of ~14.277 d. Eclipsing M dwarfs orbiting solar-type stars (EBLMs), like J0113+31, have been identified from WASP light curves and follow-up spectroscopy in the course of the transiting planet search. We present the first binary of the EBLM sample to be fully analysed, and thus, define here the methodology. The primary component with a mass of 0.945 +/- 0.045 Msun has a large radius (1.378 +/- 0.058 Rsun) indicating that the system is quite old, ~9.5 Gyr. The M-dwarf secondary mass of 0.186 +/- 0.010 Msun and radius of 0.209 +/- 0.011 Rsun are fully consistent with stellar evolutionary models. However, from the near-infrared secondary eclipse light curve, the M dwarf is found to have an effective temperature of 3922 +/- 42 K, which is ~600 K hotter than predicted by theoretical models. We discuss different scenarios to explain this temperature discrepancy. The case of J0113+31 for which we can measure mass, radius, temperature and metallicity, highlights the importance of deriving mass, radius and temperature as a function of metallicity for M dwarfs to better understand the lowest mass stars. The EBLM Project will define the relationship between mass, radius, temperature and metallicity for M dwarfs providing important empirical constraints at the bottom of the main sequence.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in A&

Inoculations with Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi Increase Vegetable Yields and Decrease Phoxim Concentrations in Carrot and Green Onion and Their Soils

Background As one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in vegetable production, phoxim (C12H15N2O3PS) is often found as residues in crops and soils and thus poses a potential threat to public health and environment. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi may make a contribution to the decrease of organophosphate residues in crops and/or the degradation in soils, but such effects remain unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings A greenhouse pot experiment studied the influence of AM fungi and phoxim application on the growth of carrot and green onion, and phoxim concentrations in the two vegetables and their soil media. Treatments included three AM fungal inoculations with Glomus intraradices BEG 141, G. mosseae BEG 167, and a nonmycorrhizal control, and four phoxim application rates (0, 200, 400, 800 mg l−1, while 400 mg l−1 rate is the recommended dose in the vegetable production system). Carrot and green onion were grown in a greenhouse for 130 d and 150 d. Phoxim solution (100 ml) was poured into each pot around the roots 14d before plant harvest. Results showed that mycorrhizal colonization was higher than 70%, and phoxim application inhibited AM colonization on carrot but not on green onion. Compared with the nonmycorrhizal controls, both shoot and root fresh weights of these two vegetables were significantly increased by AM inoculations irrespective of phoxim application rates. Phoxim concentrations in shoots, roots and soils were increased with the increase of phoxim application rate, but significantly decreased by the AM inoculations. Soil phosphatase activity was enhanced by both AM inocula, but not affected by phoxim application rate. In general, G. intraradices BEG 141 had more pronounced effects than G. mosseae BEG 167 on the increase of fresh weight production in both carrot and green onion, and the decrease of phoxim concentrations in plants and soils. Conclusions/Significance Our results indicate a promising potential of AM fungi for enhancing vegetable production and reducing organophosphorus pesticide residues in plant tissues and their growth media, as well as for the phytoremediation of organophosphorus pesticide-contaminated soils

Astrometry with the Hubble Space Telescope: Trigonometric Parallaxes of Selected Hyads

We present absolute parallaxes and proper motions for seven members of the Hyades open cluster, pre-selected to lie in the core of the cluster. Our data come from archival astrometric data from FGS 3, and newer data for 3 Hyads from FGS 1R, both white-light interferometers on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We obtain member parallaxes from six individual Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) fields and use the field containing van Altena 622 and van Altena 627 (= HIP 21138) as an example. Proper motions, spectral classifications and VJHK photometry of the stars comprising the astrometric refer- ence frames provide spectrophotometric estimates of reference star absolute parallaxes. Introducing these into our model as observations with error, we determine absolute parallaxes for each Hyad. The parallax of vA 627 is significantly improved by including a perturbation orbit for this previously known spectroscopic binary, now an astrometric binary. Compared to our original (1997) determina- tions, a combination of new data, updated calibration, and improved analysis lowered the individual parallax errors by an average factor of 4.5. Comparing parallaxes of the four stars contained in the Hipparcos catalog, we obtain an average factor of 11 times improvement with the HST . With these new results, we also have better agreement with Hipparcos for the four stars in common. These new parallaxes provide an average distance for these seven members, = 47.5 pc, for the core a \pm 1 - {\sigma} dispersion depth of 3.6 pc, and a minimum depth from individual components of 16.0 \pm 0.9 pc. Absolute magnitudes for each member are compared to established main sequences, with excellent agreement. We obtain a weighted average distance modulus for the core of the Hyades of m-M=3.376 \pm 0.01, a value close to the previous Hipparcos values, m-M=3.33\pm 0.02.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, Astronomical Journal, accepted 2011-3-

Long-term field metal extraction by pelargonium:phytoextraction efficiency in relation to plant maturity

The long length of periods required for effective soil remediation via phytoextraction constitutes a weak point that reduces its industrial use. However, these calculated periods are mainly based on short-term and/or hydroponic controlled experiments. Moreover, only a few studies concern more than one metal, although soils are scarcely polluted by only one element.In this scientific context, the phytoextraction of metals and metalloids (Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu,and As) by Pelargonium was measured after a long-term field experiment. Both bulk and rhizosphere soils were analyzed in order to determine the mechanisms involved in soil-root transfer. First, a strong increase in lead phytoextraction was observed with plant maturity, significantly reducing the length of the period required for remediation. Rhizosphere Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, and As accumulation was observed (compared to bulk soil), indicating metal mobilization by the plant, perhaps in relation to root activity. Moreover, metal phytoextraction and translocation were found to be a function of the metals’ nature. These results, taken altogether, suggest that Pelargonium could be used as a multi-metal hyperaccumulator under multi-metal soil contamination conditions, and they also provide an interesting insight for improving field phytoextraction remediation in terms of the length of time required, promoting this biological technique

KELT-12b: A P ~ 5 day, Highly Inflated Hot Jupiter Transiting A Mildly Evolved Hot Star

We announce the discovery of KELT-12b, a highly inflated Jupiter-mass planet transiting the mildly evolved, V = 10.64 host star TYC 2619-1057-1. We followed up the initial transit signal in the KELT-North survey data with precise ground-based photometry, high-resolution spectroscopy, precise radial velocity measurements, and high-resolution adaptive optics imaging. Our preferred best-fit model indicates that the host star has = 6279 ± 51 K, = 3.89 ± 0.05,[Fe/H] = , = , and = 2.37 ± 0.17 . The planetary companion has = 0.95 ± 0.14 , = , = , and density = g cm −3 , making it one of the most inflated giant planets known. Furthermore, for future follow-up, we report a high-precision time of inferior conjunction in of 2,457,083.660459 ± 0.000894 and period of days. Despite the relatively large separation of ∼0.07 au implied by its ∼5.03-day orbital period, KELT-12b receives significant flux of erg s −1 cm −2 from its host. We compare the radii and insolations of transiting gas giant planets around hot ( K) and cool stars, noting that the observed paucity of known transiting giants around hot stars with low insolation is likely due to selection effects. We underscore the significance of long-term ground-based monitoring of hot stars and space-based targeting of hot stars with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to search for inflated gas giants in longer-period orbits

KELT-11b: A Highly Inflated Sub-Saturn Exoplanet Transiting the V=8 Subgiant HD 93396

We report the discovery of a transiting exoplanet, KELT-11b, orbiting the bright ($V=8.0$) subgiant HD 93396. A global analysis of the system shows that the host star is an evolved subgiant star with $T_{\rm eff} = 5370\pm51$ K, $M_{*} = 1.438_{-0.052}^{+0.061} M_{\odot}$, $R_{*} = 2.72_{-0.17}^{+0.21} R_{\odot}$, log $g_*= 3.727_{-0.046}^{+0.040}$, and [Fe/H]$= 0.180\pm0.075$. The planet is a low-mass gas giant in a $P = 4.736529\pm0.00006$ day orbit, with $M_{P} = 0.195\pm0.018 M_J$, $R_{P}= 1.37_{-0.12}^{+0.15} R_J$, $\rho_{P} = 0.093_{-0.024}^{+0.028}$ g cm$^{-3}$, surface gravity log ${g_{P}} = 2.407_{-0.086}^{+0.080}$, and equilibrium temperature $T_{eq} = 1712_{-46}^{+51}$ K. KELT-11 is the brightest known transiting exoplanet host in the southern hemisphere by more than a magnitude, and is the 6th brightest transit host to date. The planet is one of the most inflated planets known, with an exceptionally large atmospheric scale height (2763 km), and an associated size of the expected atmospheric transmission signal of 5.6%. These attributes make the KELT-11 system a valuable target for follow-up and atmospheric characterization, and it promises to become one of the benchmark systems for the study of inflated exoplanets.Comment: 15 pages, Submitted to AAS Journal

Report of a European Society of Cardiology-European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions task force on the evaluation of coronary stents in Europe: executive summary

The evaluation for European Union market approval of coronary stents falls under the Medical Device Directive that was adopted in 1993. Specific requirements for the assessment of coronary stents are laid out in supplementary advisory documents. In response to a call by the European Commission to make recommendations for a revision of the advisory document on the evaluation of coronary stents (Appendix 1 of MEDDEV 2.7.1), the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI) established a Task Force to develop an expert advisory report. As basis for its report, the ESC-EAPCI Task Force reviewed existing processes, established a comprehensive list of all coronary drug-eluting stents that have received a CE mark to date, and undertook a systematic review of the literature of all published randomized clinical trials evaluating clinical and angiographic outcomes of coronary artery stents between 2002 and 2013. Based on these data, the TF provided recommendations to inform a new regulatory process for coronary stents. The main recommendations of the task force include implementation of a standardized non-clinical assessment of stents and a novel clinical evaluation pathway for market approval. The two-stage clinical evaluation plan includes recommendation for an initial pre-market trial with objective performance criteria (OPC) benchmarking using invasive imaging follow-up leading to conditional CE-mark approval and a subsequent mandatory, large-scale randomized trial with clinical endpoint evaluation leading to unconditional CE-mark. The data analysis from the systematic review of the Task Force may provide a basis for determination of OPC for use in future studies. This paper represents an executive summary of the Task Force's repor

A Giant Planet Undergoing Extreme-Ultraviolet Irradiation By Its Hot Massive-Star Host

The amount of ultraviolet irradiation and ablation experienced by a planet depends strongly on the temperature of its host star. Of the thousands of extrasolar planets now known, only six have been found that transit hot, A-type stars (with temperatures of 7,300–10,000 kelvin), and no planets are known to transit the even hotter B-type stars. For example, WASP-33 is an A-type star with a temperature of about 7,430 kelvin, which hosts the hottest known transiting planet, WASP-33b (ref. 1); the planet is itself as hot as a red dwarf star of type M (ref. 2). WASP-33b displays a large heat differential between its dayside and nightside2, and is highly inflated–traits that have been linked to high insolation3,4. However, even at the temperature of its dayside, its atmosphere probably resembles the molecule-dominated atmospheres of other planets and, given the level of ultraviolet irradiation it experiences, its atmosphere is unlikely to be substantially ablated over the lifetime of its star. Here we report observations of the bright star HD 195689 (also known as KELT-9), which reveal a close-in (orbital period of about 1.48 days) transiting giant planet, KELT-9b. At approximately 10,170 kelvin, the host star is at the dividing line between stars of type A and B, and we measure the dayside temperature of KELT-9b to be about 4,600 kelvin. This is as hot as stars of stellar type K4 (ref. 5). The molecules in K stars are entirely dissociated, and so the primary sources of opacity in the dayside atmosphere of KELT-9b are probably atomic metals. Furthermore, KELT-9b receives 700 times more extreme-ultraviolet radiation (that is, with wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nanometres) than WASP-33b, leading to a predicted range of mass-loss rates that could leave the planet largely stripped of its envelope during the main-sequence lifetime of the host star (ref. 6)

KELT-18b: Puffy Planet, Hot Host, Probably Perturbed

We report the discovery of KELT-18b, a transiting hot Jupiter in a 2.87-day orbit around the bright ( V = 10.1), hot, F4V star BD+60 1538 (TYC 3865-1173-1). We present follow-up photometry, spectroscopy, and adaptive optics imaging that allow a detailed characterization of the system. Our preferred model fits yield a host stellar temperature of K and a mass of , situating it as one of only a handful of known transiting planets with hosts that are as hot, massive, and bright. The planet has a mass of , a radius of , and a density of , making it one of the most inflated planets known around a hot star. We argue that KELT-18b’s high temperature and low surface gravity, which yield an estimated ∼600 km atmospheric scale height, combined with its hot, bright host, make it an excellent candidate for observations aimed at atmospheric characterization. We also present evidence for a bound stellar companion at a projected separation of ∼1100 au, and speculate that it may have contributed to the strong misalignment we suspect between KELT-18\u27s spin axis and its planet’s orbital axis. The inferior conjunction time is 2457542.524998 ± 0.000416 (BJD TDB ) and the orbital period is 2.8717510 ± 0.0000029 days. We encourage Rossiter–McLaughlin measurements in the near future to confirm the suspected spin–orbit misalignment of this system