ALBERT

Description: We present multiband Period–Luminosity (PL) relations for first-overtone mode Cepheids in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We derive optical band PL relations and the Wesenheit function using VI mean magnitudes from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-III) survey. We cross-match OGLE-III first-overtone mode Cepheids to the 2MASS and SAGE-SMC catalogues to derive PL relations at near-infrared ( JHK s ) and mid-infrared (3.6 and 4.5 μm) wavelengths. We test for possible non-linearities in these PL relations using robust statistical tests and find a significant break only in the optical band PL relations at 2.5 d for first-overtone mode Cepheids. We do not find statistical evidence for a non-linearity in these PL relations at 1 d. The multiband PL relations for fundamental-mode Cepheids in the SMC also exhibit a break at 2.5 d. We suggest that the period break around 2.5 d is related to sharp changes in the light-curve parameters for SMC Cepheids. We also derive new optical and mid-infrared band PL relations for first-overtone mode Cepheids in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We compare multiband PL relations for first-overtone mode Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds and find a significant difference in the slope of the V -band PL relations but not for I -band PL relations. The slope of PL relations are found to be consistent in most of the infrared bands. A relative distance modulus of μ = 0.49 ± 0.02 mag between the two clouds is estimated using multiband PL relations for the first-overtone mode Cepheids in the SMC and LMC.

Description: We present a light-curve analysis of fundamental-mode Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) Cepheids based on the Fourier decomposition technique. We have compiled light-curve data for Galactic and LMC Cepheids in optical ( VI ), near-infrared ( JHK s ) and mid-infrared (3.6 and 4.5 μm) bands from the literature and determined the variation of their Fourier parameters as a function of period and wavelength. We observed a decrease in Fourier amplitude parameters and an increase in Fourier phase parameters with increasing wavelengths at a given period. We also found a decrease in the skewness and acuteness parameters as a function of wavelength at a fixed period. We applied a binning method to analyse the progression of the mean Fourier parameters with period and wavelength. We found that for periods longer than about 20 d, the values of the Fourier amplitude parameters increase sharply for shorter wavelengths as compared to wavelengths longer than the J band. We observed the variation of the Hertzsprung progression with wavelength. The central period of the Hertzsprung progression was found to increase with wavelength in the case of the Fourier amplitude parameters and decrease with increasing wavelength in the case of phase parameters. We also observed a small variation of the central period of the progression between the Galaxy and LMC, presumably related to metallicity effects. These results will provide useful constraints for stellar pulsation codes that incorporate stellar atmosphere models to produce Cepheid light curves in various bands.

Description: We present a detailed statistical analysis of possible non-linearities in the period–luminosity (PL), period–Wesenheit (PW) and period–colour (PC) relations for Cepheid variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) at optical ( VI ) and near-infrared ( JHK s ) wavelengths. We test for the presence of possible non-linearities and determine their statistical significance by applying a variety of robust statistical tests ( F -test, random-walk, testimator and the Davies test) to optical data from third phase of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment and near-infrared data from Large Magellanic Cloud Near-Infrared Synoptic Survey. For fundamental-mode Cepheids, we find that the optical PL, PW and PC relations are non-linear at 10 d. The near-infrared PL and the $W^H_{V,I}$ relations are non-linear around 18 d; this break is attributed to a distinct variation in mean Fourier amplitude parameters near this period for longer wavelengths as compared to optical bands. The near-infrared PW relations are also non-linear except for the $W_{H,K_s}$ relation. For first-overtone mode Cepheids, a significant change in the slope of PL, PW and PC relations is found around 2.5 d only at optical wavelengths. We determine a global slope of –3.212 ± 0.013 for the $W^H_{V,I}$ relation by combining our LMC data with observations of Cepheids in Supernovae host galaxies. We find this slope to be consistent with the corresponding LMC relation at short periods, and significantly different to the long-period value. We do not find any significant difference in the slope of the global-fit solution using a linear or non-linear LMC PL relation as calibrator, but the linear version provides a two times better constraint on the slope and metallicity coefficient.

Description: We analyse Galactic, Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud Cepheids and RR Lyrae variables in terms of period–colour (PC) and amplitude–colour (AC) diagrams at the phases of maximum and minimum light. We compiled Galactic Cepheids V - and I -band data from the literature. We make use of optical bands light-curve data from OGLE-III survey for Cepheids and RR Lyrae variables in the Magellanic Clouds. We apply the F -statistical test to check the significance of any variation in the slope of PC and AC relations for Cepheid variables. The PC relation at maximum light for Galactic Cepheids with periods longer than about 7 d is shallow and the corresponding AC relation is flat for the entire period range. For the fundamental mode Cepheids in the Magellanic Clouds, we find significant breaks in the PC and AC relations at both maximum and minimum light for periods around 10 d. The PC relation at maximum light for the Magellanic Clouds is flat for Cepheids with periods greater than 10 d. First overtone Cepheids with periods less than 2.5 d have a shallow PC relation at minimum light. For fundamental mode RR Lyraes, we confirm earlier work supporting a flat PC relation at minimum light and a significant relation between amplitude and colour at maximum light. We find that no such relations exist for first overtone RR Lyrae stars. These findings are in agreement with stellar photosphere/hydrogen ionization front interaction considerations. These non-linearities can provide strong constraints for models of stellar pulsation and evolution.

Description: One of the most important functional features of nuclear factor TDP-43 is its ability to bind UG-repeats with high efficiency. Several cross-linking and immunoprecipitation (CLIP) and RNA immunoprecipitation-sequencing (RIP-seq) analyses have indicated that TDP-43 in vivo can also specifically bind loosely conserved UG/GU-rich repeats interspersed by other nucleotides. These sequences are predominantly localized within long introns and in the 3'UTR of various genes. Most importantly, some of these sequences have been found to exist in the 3'UTR region of TDP-43 itself. In the TDP-43 3'UTR context, the presence of these UG-like sequences is essential for TDP-43 to autoregulate its own levels through a negative feedback loop. In this work, we have compared the binding of TDP-43 with these types of sequences as opposed to perfect UG-stretches. We show that the binding affinity to the UG-like sequences has a dissociation constant (K d ) of ~110 nM compared with a K d of 8 nM for straight UGs, and have mapped the region of contact between protein and RNA. In addition, our results indicate that the local concentration of UG dinucleotides in the CLIP sequences is one of the major factors influencing the interaction of these RNA sequences with TDP-43.