ALBERT

Description: Uptake of nitrogen (N) by sequential root regions in six tree species was measured in roots of 16- to 26-month-old seedlings at 50 and 1500 µM NH 4 NO 3 concentration, at the cell level using oscillating microelectrodes and at the root region level using enriched 15 N application. Our objective was to determine the root regions making the greatest contribution to total N uptake in each species as measured by the two contrasting techniques. White and condensed tannin zones were the regions with the smallest surface area in all species, but these zones often had the highest net flux of NH 4 + and NO 3 – . For most species, little variation was found among root regions in N flux calculated using a 15 N mass balance approach, but where significant differences existed, high N flux was observed in white, cork or woody zones. When N fluxes measured by each of the two methods were multiplied by the estimated surface area or biomass of each root region, the effect of root region size had the greatest influence on regional N uptake. Root regions of greatest overall N uptake were the cork and woody zones, on average. Total N uptake may thus be greatest in older regions of tree seedling roots, despite low rates of uptake per unit area.

Description: Recent observations have probed the formation histories of nearby elliptical galaxies by tracking correlations between the stellar population parameters, age and metallicity, and the structural parameters that enter the Fundamental Plane, size R e , and velocity dispersion . These studies have found intriguing correlations between these four parameters. In this work, we make use of a semi-analytic model, based on halo merger trees extracted from the Bolshoi cosmological simulation, that predicts the structural properties of spheroid-dominated galaxies based on an analytic model that has been tested and calibrated against an extensive suite of hydrodynamic+ N -body binary merger simulations. We predict the R e , , luminosity, age, and metallicity of spheroid-dominated galaxies, enabling us to compare directly to observations. Our model predicts a strong correlation between age and for early-type galaxies, and no significant correlation between age and radius, in agreement with observations. In addition, we predict a strong correlation between metallicity and , and a weak correlation between metallicity and R e , in qualitative agreement with observations. We find that the correlations with arise as a result of the strong link between and the galaxy's assembly time. Minor mergers produce a large change in radius while leaving nearly the same, which explains the weaker trends with radius.

Description: Keratoconus, a common inherited ocular disorder resulting in progressive corneal thinning, is the leading indication for corneal transplantation in the developed world. Genome-wide association studies have identified common SNPs 100 kb upstream of ZNF469 strongly associated with corneal thickness. Homozygous mutations in ZNF469 and PR domain-containing protein 5 ( PRDM5 ) genes result in brittle cornea syndrome (BCS) Types 1 and 2, respectively. BCS is an autosomal recessive generalized connective tissue disorder associated with extreme corneal thinning and a high risk of corneal rupture. Some individuals with heterozygous PRDM5 mutations demonstrate a carrier ocular phenotype, which includes a mildly reduced corneal thickness, keratoconus and blue sclera. We hypothesized that heterozygous variants in PRDM5 and ZNF469 predispose to the development of isolated keratoconus. We found a significant enrichment of potentially pathologic heterozygous alleles in ZNF469 associated with the development of keratoconus ( P = 0.00102) resulting in a relative risk of 12.0. This enrichment of rare potentially pathogenic alleles in ZNF469 in 12.5% of keratoconus patients represents a significant mutational load and highlights ZNF469 as the most significant genetic factor responsible for keratoconus identified to date.

Description: We use a large suite of hydrodynamical simulations of binary galaxy mergers to construct and calibrate a physical prescription for computing the effective radii and velocity dispersions of spheroids. We implement this prescription within a semi-analytic model embedded in merger trees extracted from the Bolshoi cold dark matter N -body simulation, accounting for spheroid growth via major and minor mergers and disc instabilities. We find that without disc instabilities, our model does not predict sufficient numbers of intermediate-mass early-type galaxies in the local Universe. Spheroids also form earlier in models with spheroid growth via disc instabilities. Our model correctly predicts the normalization, slope, and scatter of the low-redshift size–mass and Fundamental Plane relations for early-type galaxies. It predicts a degree of curvature in the Faber–Jackson relation that is not seen in local observations, but this could be alleviated if higher mass spheroids have more bottom-heavy initial mass functions. The model also correctly predicts the observed strong evolution of the size–mass relation for spheroids out to higher redshifts, as well as the slower evolution in the normalization of the Faber–Jackson relation. We emphasize that these are genuine predictions of the model since it was tuned to match hydrodynamical simulations and not these observations.

Description: Niemann–Pick C1 (NPC1) disease is a rare, neurodegenerative lysosomal cholesterol storage disorder, typified by progressive cognitive and motor function impairment. Affected individuals usually succumb to the disease in adolescence. 2-Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) has emerged as a promising intervention that reduces lipid storage and prolongs survival in NPC1 disease animal models. A barrier to the development of HP-β-CD and other treatments for NPC disease has been the lack of validated biochemical measures to evaluate efficacy. Here we explored whether cholesterol homeostatic responses resulting from HP-β-CD-mediated redistribution of sequestered lysosomal cholesterol could provide biomarkers to monitor treatment. Upon direct CNS delivery of HP-β-CD, we found increases in plasma 24( S )-HC in two independent NPC1 disease animal models, findings that were confirmed in human NPC1 subjects receiving HP-β-CD. Since circulating 24( S )-HC is almost exclusively CNS-derived, the increase in plasma 24( S )-HC provides a peripheral, non-invasive measure of the CNS effect of HP-β-CD. Our findings suggest that plasma 24( S )-HC, along with the other cholesterol-derived markers examined in this study, can serve as biomarkers that will accelerate development of therapeutics for NPC1 disease.

Description: This work follows Lykins et al. discussion of classic plasma cooling function at low density and solar metallicity. Here, we focus on how the cooling function changes over a wide range of density ( n H 〈10 12 cm –3 ) and metallicity ( Z  〈 30 Z ). We find that high densities enhance the ionization of elements such as hydrogen and helium until they reach local thermodynamic equilibrium. By charge transfer, the metallicity changes the ionization of hydrogen when it is partially ionized. We describe the total cooling function as a sum of four parts: those due to H&He, the heavy elements, electron–electron bremsstrahlung and grains. For the first three parts, we provide a low-density limit cooling function, a density dependence function, and a metallicity-dependent function. These functions are given with numerical tables and analytical fit functions. We discuss grain cooling only in the interstellar medium case. We then obtain a total cooling function that depends on density, metallicity and temperature. As expected, collisional de-excitation suppresses the heavy elements cooling. Finally, we provide a function giving the electron fraction, which can be used to convert the cooling function into a cooling rate.

Description: As proliferating cells transit from interphase into M-phase, chromatin undergoes extensive reorganization, and topoisomerase (topo) IIα, the major isoform of this enzyme present in cycling vertebrate cells, plays a key role in this process. In this study, a human cell line conditional null mutant for topo IIα and a derivative expressing an auxin-inducible degron (AID)-tagged version of the protein have been used to distinguish real mitotic chromosome functions of topo IIα from its more general role in DNA metabolism and to investigate whether topo IIβ makes any contribution to mitotic chromosome formation. We show that topo IIβ does contribute, with endogenous levels being sufficient for the initial stages of axial shortening. However, a significant effect of topo IIα depletion, seen with or without the co-depletion of topo IIβ, is the failure of chromosomes to hypercompact when delayed in M-phase. This requires much higher levels of topo II protein and is impaired by drugs or mutations that affect enzyme activity. A prolonged delay at the G2/M border results in hyperefficient axial shortening, a process that is topo IIα-dependent. Rapid depletion of topo IIα has allowed us to show that its function during late G2 and M-phase is truly required for shaping mitotic chromosomes.

Description: The long and complex history of southern Africa makes it a geological nexus for understanding how crust forms, evolves and survives plate tectonic processes over billions of years. The goal of this study is to characterize the crustal thickness, composition, and Moho impedance contrasts across the Kaapvaal and Zimbabwe Cratons and surrounding mobile belts, which range in age from Archean to Palaeozoic. We use data gathered from the 1997–1999 Southern Africa Seismic Experiment, the Africa Array (2006–2007) and the Global Seismographic Network (1993–2009) to generate P -wave receiver function Gaussian-weighted common conversion point stacks across the region in order to provide a continuous 3-D image of crustal variations throughout southern Africa. We observe thickened crust associated with mobile belts and the intrusion of the Bushveld Complex relative to the less-deformed cratons. The southern Kaapvaal and eastern Zimbabwe Cratons have a well-defined Moho with an average depth of ~34 km and Vp / Vs of ~1.73, indicative of felsic average crustal composition. We explain the felsic composition observed in the Kaapvaal Craton in the context of significant crustal modification related to the deposition of the Ventersdorp lavas. We find that the Bushveld Province, the site of the world's largest layered mafic intrusion, has a thick (〉40 km) crust with a Vp / Vs 〉 1.8, indicative of a mafic average crustal composition. The magnitude of Moho conversions beneath the Bushveld Province is variable, with the lowest amplitude conversion appearing between the eastern and western limbs of the Bushveld Complex, indicative of mafic underplating beneath the region. In the Limpopo Belt and western Zimbabwe Craton, we observe low amplitude Moho conversions beneath the Okavango Dyke Swarm, and attribute this to the reworking of the crust by mafic underplating and intrusion during the Jurassic rifting of Gondwanaland. The Namaqua-Natal event thickened the crust and created a gradational transition from crust to mantle as seen by low amplitude Ps arrivals from receiver functions. Evidence for the presence of a mafic lower crust beneath the Namaqua-Natal Belt is observed in high Vp / Vs values (~1.8) and a high concentration of granulite xenoliths in kimberlite intrusions. In contrast to past interpretations for craton formation that suggest sharp Moho boundaries and low Vp / Vs ratios are characteristic of undisturbed cratons, we propose that these crustal properties are more controlled by tectonic events that later modify the existing cratonic crust. We cannot rule out secular crustal formation variations in the early Earth, but we propose that the southern African cratonic crust has been too heavily modified by later tectonic events to be used in arguments for secular variation, as may be the case for other cratons as well. Thus, it is important to consider the regional geological history of cratons to ensure that secular variation is not confused with the effects of later tectonic deformation and crustal modification.

Description: We announce a new facility in the spectral code cloudy that enables tracking the evolution of a cooling parcel of gas with time. For gas cooling from temperatures relevant to galaxy clusters, earlier calculations estimated the [Fe  xiv ] 5303/[Fe  x ] 6375 luminosity ratio, a critical diagnostic of a cooling plasma, to slightly less than unity. By contrast, our calculations predict a ratio of ~3. We revisit recent optical coronal line observations along the X-ray cool arc around NGC 4696 by Canning et al., which detected [Fe  x ] 6375, but not [Fe  xiv ] 5303. We show that these observations are not consistent with predictions of cooling flow models. Differential extinction could in principle account for the observations, but it requires extinction levels ( A V  〉 3.625) incompatible with previous observations. The non-detection of [Fe  xiv ] implies a temperature ceiling of 2.1 million K. Assuming cylindrical geometry and transonic turbulent pressure support, we estimate the gas mass at ~1 million M . The coronal gas is cooling isochorically. We propose that the coronal gas has not condensed out of the intracluster medium, but instead is the conductive or mixing interface between the X-ray plume and the optical filaments. We present a number of emission lines that may be pursued to test this hypothesis and constrain the amount of intermediate-temperature gas in the system.

Description: Modern spectral synthesis codes need the thermally averaged free–free Gaunt factor defined over a very wide range of parameter space in order to produce an accurate prediction for the spectrum emitted by an ionized plasma. Until now no set of data exists that would meet this need in a fully satisfactory way. We have therefore undertaken to produce a table of very accurate non-relativistic Gaunt factors over a much wider range of parameters than has ever been produced before. We first produced a table of non-averaged Gaunt factors, covering the parameter space 10 log i  = –20 to +10 and 10 log w  = –30 to +25. We then continued to produce a table of thermally averaged Gaunt factors covering the parameter space 10 log 2  = –6 to +10 and 10 log u  = –16 to +13. Finally, we produced a table of the frequency integrated Gaunt factor covering the parameter space 10 log 2  = –6 to +10. All the data presented in this paper are available online.