ALBERT

Beschreibung: This article has been accepted for publication in Geophysical Journal International ©:The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. All rights reserved

Beschreibung: The application of a physics-based earthquake simulator to Central Italy allowed the compilation of a synthetic seismic catalogue spanning 100 000 yr, containing more than 300 000 M ≥ 4.0 simulated earthquakes, without the limitations that real catalogues suffer in terms of completeness, homogeneity and time duration. The seismogenic model upon which we applied the simulator code was derived from version 3.2.1 of the Database of Individual Seismogenic Sources (DISS; http://diss.rm.ingv.it/diss/), selecting, and modifying where appropriate, all the fault systems that are recognized in the portion of Central Italy considered in this study, with a total of 54 faults. Besides tectonic stress loading and static stress transfer as in the previous versions, the physical model on which the latest version of our simulation algorithm is based also includes the Rate and State constitutive law that helps to reproduce Omori’s law. One further improvement in our code was also the introduction of trapezoidalshaped faults that perform better than known faults. The resulting synthetic seismic catalogue exhibits typical magnitude, space and time features which are comparable to those in real observations. These features include the total seismic moment rate, the earthquake magnitude distribution, and the short- and medium-term earthquake clustering. A typical aspect of the observed seismicity in Central Italy, aswell as across thewhole Italian landmass and elsewhere, is the occurrence of earthquake sequences characterized by multiple main shocks of similar magnitude. These sequences are different from the usual earthquake clusters and aftershock sequences, since they have at least two main shocks of similar magnitude. Therefore, special attentionwas devoted to verifyingwhether the simulated catalogue includes this notable aspect. For this purpose, we developed a computer code especially for this work to count the number of multiple events contained in a seismic catalogue under a quantitative definition. We found that the last version of the simulator code produces a slightly larger number of multiple events than the previous versions, but not as large as in the real catalogue. A possible reason for this drawback is the lack of components such as pore-pressure changes due to fluid-diffusion in the adopted physical model.

Beschreibung: Published

Beschreibung: 526–542

Beschreibung: 6T. Studi di pericolosità sismica e da maremoto

Beschreibung: JCR Journal

Beschreibung: Deep-towed geophysical surveys require precise knowledge of navigational parameters such as instrument position and orientation because navigational uncertainties reflect in the data and therefore in the inferred geophysical properties of the subseafloor. We address this issue for the case of electrical conductivity inferred from controlled source electromagnetic data. We show that the data error is laterally variable due to irregular motion during deep towing, but also due to lateral variations in conductivity, including those resulting from topography. To address this variability and quantify the data error prior to inversion, we propose a 2-D perturbation study. Our workflow enables stable and geologically reliable results for multicomponent and multifrequency inversions. An error estimation workflow is presented, which comprises the assessment of navigational uncertainties, perturbation of navigational parameters, and forward modelling of electric field amplitudes for a homogeneous and then a heterogeneous subseafloor conductivity model. Some navigational uncertainties are estimated from variations of direct measurements. Other navigational parameters required for inversion are derived from the measured quantities and their error is calculated by means of error propagation. Some navigational parameters show direct correlation with the measured electric fields. For example, the antenna dip correlates with the vertical electric field and the depth correlates with the horizontal electric field. For the perturbation study each standard deviation is added to the navigational parameters. Forward models are run for each perturbation. Amplitude deviations are summed in quadrature with the stacking error for a total, laterally varying, data error. The error estimation is repeated for a heterogeneous subseafloor model due to the large conductivity range (several orders of magnitude), which affects the forward model. The approach enables us to utilize data from several components (multiple electric fields, frequencies and receivers) in the inversion to constrain the final model and reduce ambiguity. The final model is geologically reasonable, in this case enabling the identification of conductive metal sulphide deposits on the seafloor.

Beschreibung: Background: The giant squid (Architeuthis dux; Steenstrup, 1857) is an enigmatic giant mollusc with a circumglobal distribution in the deep ocean, except in the high Arctic and Antarctic waters. The elusiveness of the species makes it difficult to study. Thus, having a genome assembled for this deep-sea-dwelling species will allow several pending evolutionary questions to be unlocked. Findings: We present a draft genome assembly that includes 200 Gb of Illumina reads, 4 Gb of Moleculo synthetic long reads, and 108 Gb of Chicago libraries, with a final size matching the estimated genome size of 2.7 Gb, and a scaffold N50 of 4.8 Mb. We also present an alternative assembly including 27 Gb raw reads generated using the Pacific Biosciences platform. In addition, we sequenced the proteome of the same individual and RNA from 3 different tissue types from 3 other species of squid (Onychoteuthis banksii, Dosidicus gigas, and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) to assist genome annotation. We annotated 33,406 protein-coding genes supported by evidence, and the genome completeness estimated by BUSCO reached 92%. Repetitive regions cover 49.17% of the genome. Conclusions: This annotated draft genome of A. dux provides a critical resource to investigate the unique traits of this species, including its gigantism and key adaptations to deep-sea environments.

Beschreibung: Parasites are arguably among the strongest drivers of natural selection, constraining hosts to evolve resistance and tolerance mechanisms. Although, the genetic basis of adaptation to parasite infection has been widely studied, little is known about how epigenetic changes contribute to parasite resistance and eventually, adaptation. Here, we investigated the role of host DNA methylation modifications to respond to parasite infections. In a controlled infection experiment, we used the three-spined stickleback fish, a model species for host-parasite studies, and their nematode parasite Camallanus lacustris. We showed that the levels of DNA methylation are higher in infected fish. Results furthermore suggest correlations between DNA methylation and shifts in key fitness and immune traits between infected and control fish, including respiratory burst and functional trans-generational traits such as the concentration of motile sperm. We revealed that genes associated with metabolic, developmental and regulatory processes (cell death and apoptosis) were differentially methylated between infected and control fish. Interestingly, genes such as the neuropeptide FF receptor 2 and the integrin alpha 1 as well as molecular pathways including the Th1 and Th2 cell differentiation were hypermethylated in infected fish, suggesting parasite-mediated repression mechanisms of immune responses. Altogether, we demonstrate that parasite infection contributes to genome-wide DNA methylation modifications. Our study brings novel insights into the evolution of vertebrate immunity and suggests that epigenetic mechanisms are complementary to genetic responses against parasite-mediated selection.

Beschreibung: International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 351 “Izu–Bonin–Mariana (IBM) Arc Origins” drilled Site U1438, situated in the north-western region of the Philippine Sea. Here volcaniclastic sediments and the igneous basement of the proto-IBM volcanic arc were recovered. To gain a better understanding of the magmatic processes and evolution of the proto-IBM arc, we studied melt inclusions hosted in fresh igneous minerals and sampled from 30- to 40-Ma-old deposits, reflecting the maturation of arc volcanism following subduction initiation at 52 Ma. We performed a novel statistical analysis on the major element composition of 237 representative melt inclusions selected from a previously published dataset, covering the full age range between 30 and 40 Ma. In addition, we analysed volatiles (H2O, S, F and Cl) and P2O5 by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) for a subset of 47 melt inclusions selected from the dataset. Based on statistical analysis of the major element composition of melt inclusions and by considering their trace and volatile element compositions, we distinguished five main clusters of melt inclusions, which can be further separated into a total of eight subclusters. Among the eight subclusters, we identified three major magma types: (1) enriched medium-K magmas, which form a tholeiitic trend (30–38 Ma); (2) enriched medium-K magmas, which form a calc-alkaline trend (30–39 Ma); and (3) depleted low-K magmas, which form a calc-alkaline trend (35–40 Ma). We demonstrate that (1) the eruption of depleted low-K calc-alkaline magmas occurred prior to 40 Ma and ceased sharply at 35 Ma; (2) the eruption of depleted low-K calc-alkaline magmas, enriched medium-K calc-alkaline magmas and enriched medium-K tholeiitic magmas overlapped between 35 and 38 − 39 Ma; and (3) the eruption of enriched medium-K tholeiitic and enriched medium-K calc-alkaline magmas became predominant thereafter at the proto-IBM arc. Identification of three major magma types are distinct from the previous work, in which enriched medium-K calc-alkaline magmas and depleted low-K calc-alkaline magmas were not identified. This indicates the usefulness of our statistical analysis as a powerful tool to partition a mixture of multivariable geochemical datasets, such as the composition of melt inclusions in this case. Our data suggest that a depleted mantle source had been replaced by an enriched mantle source due to convection beneath the proto-IBM arc from >40 to 35 Ma. Finally, thermodynamic modelling indicates that the overall geochemical variation of melt inclusions assigned to each cluster can be broadly reproduced either by crystallisation differentiation assuming P = 50 MPa (∼2-km deep) and ∼2 wt % H2O (almost saturated H2O content at 50 MPa) or P = 300 MPa (∼15-km deep) and ∼6 wt % H2O (almost saturated H2O content at 300 MPa). Assuming oxygen fugacity (fO2) of log fO2 equal to + 1 relative to nickel-nickel oxide (NNO) buffer best reproduces the overall geochemical variation of melt inclusions, but assuming a more oxidising conditions (log fO2 = +1 to + 2 NNO) likely reproduces the geochemical variation of enriched medium-K and calc-alkaline melt inclusions (30 − 39 Ma).

Beschreibung: The present study quantified prey preferences by adult males and females of the mysid Mesopodopsis wooldridgei fed the calanoid copepods Pseudodiaptomus hessei and Paracartia longipatella at varying proportions. Both sexes of M. wooldridgei showed a lack of prey switching and a strong preference for the smaller, less active P. longipatella irrespective of density. Given a lack of low-density prey refuge, this finding may have important implications for the distribution of P. longipatella in estuaries along the eastern seaboard of South Africa. Results of the present study contribute to a growing body of literature that suggests that selective predation may play an important role in structuring plankton prey populations in shallow water ecosystems.

Beschreibung: The two toothed jaws of cichlid fishes provide textbook examples of convergent evolution. Tooth phenotypes such as enlarged molar-like teeth used to process hard-shelled molluscs have evolved numerous times independently during cichlid diversification. While the ecological benefit of molar-like teeth to crush prey is known, it is unclear whether the same molecular mechanisms underlie these convergent traits. To identify genes involved in the evolution and development of enlarged cichlid teeth, we performed RNA-seq on the serially homologous toothed oral and pharyngeal jaws as well as the fourth toothless gill arch of Astatoreochromis alluaudi. We identified 27 genes that are highly upregulated on both tooth-bearing jaws compared to the toothless gill arch. Most of these genes have never been reported to play a role in tooth formation. Two of these genes (unk, rpfA) are not found in other vertebrate genomes but are present in all cichlid genomes. They also cluster genomically with two other highly expressed tooth genes (odam, scpp5) that exhibit conserved expression during vertebrate odontogenesis. Unk and rpfA were confirmed via in situ hybridization to be expressed in developing teeth of Astatotilapia burtoni. We then examined expression of the cluster's four genes in six evolutionarily independent and phylogenetically disparate cichlid species pairs each with a large- and a small-toothed species. Odam and unk commonly and scpp5 and rpfA always showed higher expression in larger-toothed cichlid jaws. Convergent trophic adaptations across cichlid diversity are associated with the repeated developmental deployment of this genomic cluster containing conserved and novel cichlid-specific genes.

Beschreibung: The Earth’s magnetotail region provides a unique environment for the study of plasma turbulence. We investigate the turbulence developed in an exhaust produced by magnetic reconnection in the terrestrial magnetotail region. Magnetic and velocity spectra show broad-band fluctuations corresponding to the inertial range, with Kolmorogov scaling of −5/3, indicative of a well-developed turbulent cascade. We examine the mixed, third-order structure functions, and obtain a linear scaling in the inertial range. This linear scaling of the third-order structure functions implies a scale-invariant cascade of energy through the inertial range. A Politano–Pouquet third-order analysis gives an estimate of the incompressive energy transfer rate of ${sim}10^{7}~mathrm{J, kg^{-1}, s^{-1}}$. This is four orders of magnitude higher than the values typically measured in the 1-au solar wind, suggesting that the turbulence cascade plays an important role as a pathway of energy dissipation during reconnection events in the tail region.

Beschreibung: X-ray observations of shocked gas in novae can provide a useful probe of the dynamics of the ejecta. Here we report on X-ray observations of the nova V959 Mon, which was also detected in GeV gamma-rays with the Fermi satellite. We find that the X-ray spectra are consistent with a two-temperature plasma model with non-solar abundances. We interpret the X-rays as due to shock interaction between the slow equatorial torus and the fast polar outflow that were inferred from radio observations of V959 Mon. We further propose that the hotter component, responsible for most of the flux, is from the reverse shock driven into the fast outflow. We find a systematic drop in the column density of the absorber between days 60 and 140, consistent with the expectations for such a picture. We present intriguing evidence for a delay of around 40 d in the expulsion of the ejecta from the central binary. Moreover, we infer a relatively small (a few times 10−6 M⊙) ejecta mass ahead of the shock, considerably lower than the mass of 104 K gas inferred from radio observations. Finally, we infer that the dominant X-ray shock was likely not radiative at the time of our observations, and that the shock power was considerably higher than the observed X-ray luminosity. It is unclear why high X-ray luminosity, closer to the inferred shock power, is never seen in novae at early times, when the shock is expected to have high enough density to be radiative.

Beschreibung: Enabling efficient injection of light into single-mode fibres (SMFs) is a key requirement in realizing diffraction-limited astronomical spectroscopy on ground-based telescopes. SMF-fed spectrographs, facilitated by the use of adaptive optics (AO), offer distinct advantages over comparable seeing-limited designs, including higher spectral resolution within a compact and stable instrument volume, and a telescope independent spectrograph design. iLocater is an extremely precise radial velocity (EPRV) spectrograph being built for the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). We have designed and built the front-end fibre injection system, or acquisition camera, for the SX (left) primary mirror of the LBT. The instrument was installed in 2019 and underwent on-sky commissioning and performance assessment. In this paper, we present the instrument requirements, acquisition camera design, as well as results from first-light measurements. Broad-band SMF coupling in excess of 35 per cent (absolute) in the near-infrared (0.97–1.31 ${mu { m m}}$) was achieved across a range of target magnitudes, spectral types, and observing conditions. Successful demonstration of on-sky performance represents both a major milestone in the development of iLocater and in making efficient ground-based SMF-fed astronomical instruments a reality.

Beschreibung: The origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs) still remains a mystery, even with the increased number of discoveries in the last 3 yr. Growing evidence suggests that some FRBs may originate from magnetars. Large, single-dish telescopes such as Arecibo Observatory (AO) and Green Bank Telescope (GBT) have the sensitivity to detect FRB 121102-like bursts at gigaparsec distances. Here, we present searches using AO and GBT that aimed to find potential radio bursts at 11 sites of past gamma-ray bursts that show evidence for the birth of a magnetar. We also performed a search towards GW170817, which has a merger remnant whose nature remains uncertain. We place $10sigma$ fluence upper limits of ≈0.036 Jy ms at 1.4 GHz and ≈0.063 Jy ms at 4.5 GHz for the AO data and fluence upper limits of ≈0.085 Jy ms at 1.4 GHz and ≈0.098 Jy ms at 1.9 GHz for the GBT data, for a maximum pulse width of ≈42 ms. The AO observations had sufficient sensitivity to detect any FRB of similar luminosity to the one recently detected from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154. Assuming a Schechter function for the luminosity function of FRBs, we find that our non-detections favour a steep power-law index (α ≲ −1.1) and a large cut-off luminosity (L0 ≳ 1041 erg s−1).

Beschreibung: We report the results from a detailed timing and spectral study of a transient X-ray pulsar, 4U 1901+03 during its 2019 outburst. We performed broadband spectroscopy in the 1–70 $ m keV$ energy band using four observations made with Swift and NuSTAR at different intensity levels. Our timing results reveal the presence of highly variable pulse profiles dependent on both luminosity and energy. Our spectroscopy results showed the presence of a cyclotron resonance scattering feature (CRSF) at ∼ 30 keV. This feature at 30 keV is highly luminosity and pulse phase dependent. Phase-averaged spectra during the last two observations, made close to the declining phase of the outburst, showed the presence of this feature at around $30~ m {keV}$. The existence of CRSF at 30 keV during these observations is well supported by an abrupt change in the shape of pulse profiles found close to this energy. We also found that 30 keV feature was significantly detected in the pulse phase-resolved spectra of observations made at relatively high luminosities. Moreover, all spectral fit parameters showed a strong pulse phase dependence. In line with the previous findings, an absorption feature at around $10~ m {keV}$ is significantly observed in the phase-averaged X-ray spectra of all observations and also showed a strong pulse phase dependence.

Beschreibung: EPIC 216747137 is a new HW Virginis system discovered by the Kepler spacecraft during its K2 ‘second life’. Like the other HW Vir systems, EPIC 216747137 is a post-common-envelope eclipsing binary consisting of a hot subluminous star and a cool low-mass companion. The short orbital period of 3.87 h produces a strong reflection effect from the secondary (∼9 per cent in the R band). Together with AA Dor and V1828 Aql, EPIC 216747137 belongs to a small subgroup of HW Vir systems with a hot evolved sdOB primary. We find the following atmospheric parameters for the hot component: Teff = 40400 ± 1000 K, log g = 5.56 ± 0.06, and log(N(He)/N(H)) = −2.59 ± 0.05. The sdOB rotational velocity v sin  i = 51 ± 10 km s−1 implies that the stellar rotation is slower than the orbital revolution and the system is not synchronized. When we combine photometric and spectroscopic results with the Gaia parallax, the best solution for the system corresponds to a primary with a mass of about 0.62 M⊙ close to, and likely beyond, the central helium exhaustion, while the cool M-dwarf companion has a mass of about 0.11 M⊙.

Beschreibung: Past Suzaku, XMM–Newton, and NuSTAR observations of the nearby (z = 0.03233) bright Seyfert 2 galaxy MCG-03-58-007 revealed the presence of two deep and blue-shifted iron K-shell absorption line profiles. These could be explained with the presence of two phases of a highly ionized, high column density accretion disc wind outflowing with vout1 ∼ −0.1c and vout2 ∼ −0.2c. Here we present two new observations of MCG-03-58-007: one was carried out in 2016 with Chandra and one in 2018 with Swift. Both caught MCG-03-58-007 in a brighter state ($F_{{mathrm{2}-10, keV}} sim 4 imes 10^{-12}$ erg cm−2 s−1) confirming the presence of the fast disc wind. The multi-epoch observations of MCG-03-58-007 covering the period from 2010 to 2018 were then analysed. These data show that the lower velocity component outflowing with vout1 ∼ −0.072 ± 0.002c is persistent and detected in all the observations, although it is variable in column density in the range NH ∼ 3–8 × 1023 cm−2. In the 2016 Swift observation we detected again the second faster component outflowing with vout2 ∼ −0.2c, with a column density ($N_{mbox{H}}=7.0^{+5.6}_{-4.1}imes 10^{23}$ cm−2), similar to that seen during the Suzaku observation. However during the Chandra observation 2 yr earlier, this zone was not present (NH 〈 1.5 × 1023 cm−2), suggesting that this faster zone is intermittent. Overall the multi-epochs observations show that the disc wind in MCG-03-58-007 is not only powerful, but also extremely variable, hence placing MCG-03-58-007 among unique disc winds such as the one seen in the famous QSO PDS456. One of the main results of this investigation is the consideration that these winds could be extremely variable, sometime appearing and sometime disappearing; thus to reach solid and firm conclusions about their energetics multiple observations are mandatory.

Beschreibung: Fundamental Plane (FP) of elliptical galaxies can be used to predict the intrinsic size of galaxies and has a number of plausible application to study cosmology and galaxy physics. We present a detailed analysis of the FP of the SDSS-III BOSS LOWZ and CMASS galaxies. For the standard FP, we find a strong redshift evolution for the mean residual and show that it is primarily driven by the redshift evolution of the surface brightness of the galaxies. After correcting for the redshift evolution, the FP residuals are strongly correlated with the galaxy properties and some observational systematics. We show that the variations in the FP between the central and satellite galaxies, which have been observed in the literature, can primarily be explained by the correlation of the FP with the galaxy luminosity. We also measure the cross-correlations of the FP residuals with the galaxy density field. The amplitude of the cross-correlations depends on the galaxy properties and environment with brighter and redder galaxies showing stronger correlation. In general, galaxies in denser environments (higher galaxy bias) show stronger correlations. We also compare FP amplitude with the amplitudes of intrinsic alignments (IA) of galaxy shapes, finding the two to be correlated. Finally, using the FP residuals, we also study the impact of IA on the constraint of growth rate using redshift-space distortions (RSD). We do not observe any significant trends in measurements of the growth rate f as function of the amplitude of FP–density correlations, resulting in null detection of the effects of IA on the RSD measurements.

Beschreibung: The two established techniques for measuring black hole spin in X-ray binaries often yield conflicting results, which must be resolved before either method may be deemed robust. In practice, black hole spin measurements based on fitting the accretion disc continuum effectively do not marginalize over the colour-correction factor fcol. This factor parametrizes spectral hardening of the disc continuum by the disc atmosphere, whose true properties are poorly constrained. We incorporate reasonable systematic uncertainties in fcol into the eight (non-maximal) black hole spin measurements vetted by the disc continuum fitting community. In most cases, an fcol uncertainty of ±0.2–0.3 dominates the black hole spin error budget. We go on to demonstrate that plausible departures in fcol values from those adopted by the disc continuum fitting practitioners can bring the discrepant black hole spins into agreement with those from iron line modelling. Systematic uncertainties in fcol, such as the effects of strong magnetization, should be better understood before dismissing their potentially dominant impact on the black hole spin error budget.

Beschreibung: In Pop III stellar models, convection-induced mixing between H- and He-rich burning layers can induce a burst of nuclear energy and thereby substantially alter the subsequent evolution and nucleosynthesis in the first massive stars. We investigate H–He shell and core interactions in 26 stellar evolution simulations with masses 15–140, M⊙, using five sets of mixing assumptions. In 22 cases H–He interactions induce local nuclear energy release in the range $sim 10^{9}!-!10^{13.5}, mathrm{L}_{odot }$. The luminosities on the upper end of this range amount to a substantial fraction of the layer’s internal energy over a convective advection time-scale, indicating a dynamic stellar response that would violate 1D stellar evolution modelling assumptions. We distinguish four types of H–He interactions depending on the evolutionary phase and convective stability of the He-rich material. H-burning conditions during H–He interactions give 12C/13C ratios between ≈ 1.5 to ∼1000 and [C/N] ratios from ≈ −2.3 to ≈ 3 with a correlation that agrees well with observations of CEMP (carbon-enhanced metal-poor) no stars. We also explore Ca production from hot CNO breakout and find the simulations presented here likely cannot explain the observed Ca abundance in the most Ca-poor CEMP-no star. We describe the evolution leading to H–He interactions, which occur during or shortly after core-contraction phases. Three simulations without an H–He interaction are computed to Fe-core infall and a $140, mathrm{M}_{odot }$ simulation becomes pair unstable. We also discuss present modelling limitations and the need for 3D hydrodynamic models to fully understand these stellar evolutionary phases.

Beschreibung: We present the spectrum analysis of the hot Am star HR 3383 (A1 Vm). Hubble Space Telescope STIS and Nordic Optical Telescope SOFIN data are modelled with synthetic spectra, and abundances are investigated for 78 elements. Most light elements up through oxygen show deficiencies, compared to solar abundances, followed by the general trend of increasing abundance enhancement with atomic number that levels off at a 30-fold enhancement at the lanthanide group and heavier elements. The derived element distribution is generally consistent with what is observed in other hot Am stars. Abundances for HR 3383 are also similar to what is seen for the cooler HgMn stars, with the exception of the platinum-group elements that generally show dramatic enhancements in the HgMn stars. Current theory and calculations are able to predict most observed abundances and abundance trends through the iron group. The large number of derived element abundances in this study provides a constraint for theoretical calculations attempting to explain the heavy element abundances in chemically peculiar stars. This paper includes a comprehensive description of spectral lines useful for an abundance analysis of late B and A type stars, and comments are provided on the atomic data. New data for hyperfine structure components for three lines in Lu iii and a single line in Lu ii are presented, based on laboratory spectra. In addition to the stellar spectrum, lines from the interstellar medium are noted for several of the strongest Fe ii ultraviolet transitions.

Beschreibung: We present Bayesian active galactic nucleus (AGN) Decomposition Analysis for Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Spectra, an open source spectral analysis code designed for automatic detailed deconvolution of AGN and host galaxy spectra, implemented in python, and designed for the next generation of large-scale surveys. The code simultaneously fits all spectral components, including power-law continuum, stellar line-of-sight velocity distribution, Fe ii emission, as well as forbidden (narrow), permitted (broad), and outflow emission line features, all performed using Markov chain Monte Carlo to obtain robust uncertainties and autocorrelation analysis to assess parameter convergence. Our code also utilizes multiprocessing for batch fitting large samples of spectra while efficiently managing memory and computation resources and is currently being used in a cluster environment to fit thousands of SDSS spectra. We use our code to perform a correlation analysis of 63 SDSS type 1 AGNs with evidence of strong non-gravitational outflow kinematics in the [O iii] λ5007 emission feature. We confirm findings from previous studies that show the core of the [O iii] profile is a suitable surrogate for stellar velocity dispersion σ*, however there is evidence that the core experiences broadening that scales with outflow velocity. We find sufficient evidence that σ*, [O iii] core dispersion, and the non-gravitational outflow dispersion of the [O iii] profile form a plane whose fit results in a scatter of ∼0.1 dex. Finally, we discuss the implications, caveats, and recommendations when using the [O iii] dispersion as a surrogate for σ* for the MBH−σ* relation.

Beschreibung: The splashback radius (Rsp) of dark matter haloes has recently been detected using weak gravitational lensing and cross-correlations with galaxies. However, different methods have been used to measure Rsp and to assess the significance of its detection. In this paper, we use simulations to study the precision and accuracy to which we can detect the splashback radius with 3D density, 3D subhalo, and weak lensing profiles. We study how well various methods and tracers recover Rsp by comparing it with the value measured directly from particle dynamics. We show that estimates of Rsp from density and subhalo profiles correspond to different percentiles of the underlying Rsp distribution of particle orbits. At low accretion rates, a second caustic appears and can bias results. Finally, we show that upcoming lensing surveys may be able to constrain the Rsp–Γdyn relation directly.

Beschreibung: The Protein Ensemble Database (PED) (https://proteinensemble.org), which holds structural ensembles of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), has been significantly updated and upgraded since its last release in 2016. The new version, PED 4.0, has been completely redesigned and reimplemented with cutting-edge technology and now holds about six times more data (162 versus 24 entries and 242 versus 60 structural ensembles) and a broader representation of state of the art ensemble generation methods than the previous version. The database has a completely renewed graphical interface with an interactive feature viewer for region-based annotations, and provides a series of descriptors of the qualitative and quantitative properties of the ensembles. High quality of the data is guaranteed by a new submission process, which combines both automatic and manual evaluation steps. A team of biocurators integrate structured metadata describing the ensemble generation methodology, experimental constraints and conditions. A new search engine allows the user to build advanced queries and search all entry fields including cross-references to IDP-related resources such as DisProt, MobiDB, BMRB and SASBDB. We expect that the renewed PED will be useful for researchers interested in the atomic-level understanding of IDP function, and promote the rational, structure-based design of IDP-targeting drugs.

Beschreibung: We present the conditional H i (neutral hydrogen) mass function (HIMF) conditioned on observed optical properties, Mr (r-band absolute magnitude), and Cur (u − r colour), for a sample of 7709 galaxies from Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (40 per cent data release – α.40) which overlaps with a common volume in SDSS DR7. Based on the conditional HIMF, we find that the luminous red, luminous blue, and faint blue populations dominate the total HIMF at the high-mass end, knee, and the low-mass end, respectively. We use the conditional HIMF to derive the underlying distribution function of ΩH i (H i density parameter), p(ΩH i), in the colour–magnitude plane of galaxies. The distribution, p(ΩH i), peaks in the blue cloud at $mathit{ M_{{r}}}^{ext{max}}=-19.25, mathit{ C_{{ur}}}^{ext{max}}=1.44$ but is skewed. It has a long tail towards faint blue galaxies, and luminous red galaxies. We argue that p(ΩH i) can be used to reveal the underlying relation between cold gas, stellar mass, and the star formation rate in an unbiased way, that is, the derived relation does not suffer from survey or sample selection.

Beschreibung: Extragalactic studies have demonstrated that there is a moderately tight (≈0.3 dex) relationship between galaxy stellar mass (M⋆) and star formation rate (SFR) that holds for star-forming galaxies at M⋆ ∼ 3 × 108–1011 M⊙, i.e. the ‘star formation main sequence’. However, it has yet to be determined whether such a relationship extends to even lower mass galaxies, particularly at intermediate or higher redshifts. We present new results using observations for 714 narrow-band H α-selected galaxies with stellar masses between 106 and 1010 M⊙ (average of 108.2 M⊙) at z ≈ 0.07–0.5. These galaxies have sensitive ultraviolet (UV) to near-infrared photometric measurements and optical spectroscopy. The latter allows us to correct our H α SFRs for dust attenuation using Balmer decrements. Our study reveals that: (1) for low-SFR galaxies, our H α SFRs systematically underpredict compared to far-UV measurements, consistent with other studies; (2) at a given stellar mass (≈108 M⊙), log (specific SFR) evolves as A log (1 + z) with A = 5.26 ± 0.75, and on average, specific SFR increases with decreasing stellar mass; (3) the SFR–M⋆ relation holds for galaxies down to ∼106 M⊙ (∼1.5 dex below previous studies), and over lookback times of up to 5 Gyr, follows a redshift-dependent relation of log (SFR) ∝ α log (M⋆/M⊙) + β z with α = 0.60 ± 0.01 and β = 1.86 ± 0.07; and (4) the observed dispersion in the SFR–M⋆ relation at low stellar masses is ≈0.3 dex. Accounting for survey selection effects using simulated galaxies, we estimate that the true dispersion is ≈0.5 dex.

Beschreibung: The Oef category gathers rapidly rotating and evolved O-stars displaying a centrally reversed He ii λ 4686 emission line. The origin of the variability of their photospheric and wind spectral lines is debated, with rotational modulation or pulsations as the main contenders. To shed new light on this question, we analysed high-quality and high-cadence Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite photometric time series for five Oef stars. We also collected a new time series of spectra for one target (λ Cep) which had been the subject of specific debates in the last years. These observations reveal the variety of Oef behaviours. While space-based photometric data reveal substantial red noise components in all targets, only ζ Pup seems to display a long-lived periodicity. In our sample, stars exhibit a dominant signal at low frequencies but it appears relatively short-lived. This is reminiscent of rotational modulations by transient photospheric spots, though this scenario is challenged by the case of HD 14 442, whose 1.230 d−1 signal significantly exceeds the critical rotational frequency. In parallel, no evidence of persistent p mode non-radial pulsations is found in either photometry or spectroscopy of the stars, only temporary excitation of g mode pulsations could offer an alternative explanation for the dominant signals. Finally, the revised luminosities of the stars using GAIA-DR2 show that they are not all supergiants as ζ Pup. The question then arises whether the Oef peculiarity denotes a homogeneous class of objects after all.

Beschreibung: Motivation As genomic data becomes more abundant, efficient algorithms and data structures for sequence alignment become increasingly important. The suffix array is a widely used data structure to accelerate alignment, but the binary search algorithm used to query, it requires widespread memory accesses, causing a large number of cache misses on large datasets. Results Here, we present Sapling, an algorithm for sequence alignment, which uses a learned data model to augment the suffix array and enable faster queries. We investigate different types of data models, providing an analysis of different neural network models as well as providing an open-source aligner with a compact, practical piecewise linear model. We show that Sapling outperforms both an optimized binary search approach and multiple widely used read aligners on a diverse collection of genomes, including human, bacteria and plants, speeding up the algorithm by more than a factor of two while adding

Beschreibung: The size–mass galaxy distribution is a key diagnostic for galaxy evolution. Massive compact galaxies are potential surviving relics of a high-redshift phase of star formation. Some of these could be nearly unresolved in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) imaging and thus not included in galaxy samples. To overcome this, a sample was selected from the combination of SDSS and UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) photometry to r 〈 17.8. This was done using colour–colour selection, and then by obtaining accurate photometric redshifts (photo-z) using scaled flux matching (SFM). Compared to spectroscopic redshifts (spec-z), SFM obtained a 1σ scatter of 0.0125 with only 0.3 per cent outliers (|Δln (1 + z)| 〉 0.06). A sample of 163 186 galaxies was obtained with 0.04 〈 z 〈 0.15 over $2300, { m deg}^2$ using a combination of spec-z and photo-z. Following Barro et al. log Σ1.5 = log M* − 1.5log r50, maj was used to define compactness. The spectroscopic completeness was 76 per cent for compact galaxies (log Σ1.5 〉 10.5) compared to 92 per cent for normal-sized galaxies. This difference is primarily attributed to SDSS ‘fibre collisions’ and not the completeness of the main galaxy sample selection. Using environmental overdensities, this confirms that compact quiescent galaxies are significantly more likely to be found in high-density environments compared to normal-sized galaxies. By comparison with a high-redshift sample from 3D-HST, log Σ1.5 distribution functions show significant evolution, with this being a compelling way to compare with simulations such as EAGLE. The number density of compact quiescent galaxies drops by a factor of about 30 from z ∼ 2 to log (n/Mpc−3) = − 5.3 ± 0.4 in the SDSS–UKIDSS sample. The uncertainty is dominated by the steep cut off in log Σ1.5, which is demonstrated conclusively using this complete sample.

Beschreibung: We present a deep XMM−Newton observation of the extremely massive, rapidly rotating, relativistic-jet-launching spiral galaxy 2MASX J23453268−0449256. Diffuse X-ray emission from the hot gaseous halo around the galaxy is robustly detected out to a radius of 160 kpc, corresponding roughly to 35 per cent of the virial radius (≈450 kpc). We fit the X-ray emission with the standard isothermal β model, and it is found that the enclosed gas mass within 160 kpc is $1.15_{-0.24}^{+0.22} imes 10^{11} , m {M}_{odot }$. Extrapolating the gas mass profile out to the virial radius, the estimated gas mass is $8.25_{-1.77}^{+1.62} imes 10^{11} , m {M}_{odot }$, which makes up roughly 65 per cent of the total baryon mass content of the galaxy. When the stellar mass is considered and accounting for the statistical and systematic uncertainties, the baryon mass fraction within the virial radius is $0.121_{-0.043}^{+0.043}$, in agreement with the universal baryon fraction. The baryon mass fraction is consistent with all baryons falling within r200, or with only half of the baryons falling within r200. Similar to the massive spiral galaxies NGC 1961 and NGC 6753, we find a low value for the metal abundance of ≈ 0.1 Z⊙, which appears uniform with radius. We also detect diffuse X-ray emission associated with the northern and southern lobes, possibly attributed to inverse Compton scattering of cosmic microwave background photons. The estimated energy densities of the electrons and magnetic field in these radio lobes suggest that they are electron-dominated by a factor of 10−200, depending on the choice of the lower cut-off energy of the electron spectrum.

Beschreibung: Separating galactic foreground emission from maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and quantifying the uncertainty in the CMB maps due to errors in foreground separation are important for avoiding biases in scientific conclusions. Our ability to quantify such uncertainty is limited by our lack of a model for the statistical distribution of the foreground emission. Here, we use a deep convolutional generative adversarial network (DCGAN) to create an effective non-Gaussian statistical model for intensity of emission by interstellar dust. For training data we use a set of dust maps inferred from observations by the Planck satellite. A DCGAN is uniquely suited for such unsupervised learning tasks as it can learn to model a complex non-Gaussian distribution directly from examples. We then use these simulations to train a second neural network to estimate the underlying CMB signal from dust-contaminated maps. We discuss other potential uses for the trained DCGAN, and the generalization to polarized emission from both dust and synchrotron.

Beschreibung: We present correlations involving central intensity ratio (CIR) of 52 early-type galaxies, including 24 ellipticals and 28 lenticulars, selected from low-density environment in the nearby (

Beschreibung: In the cold neutral medium, high out-of-equilibrium temperatures are created by intermittent dissipation processes, including shocks, viscous heating, and ambipolar diffusion. The high-temperature excursions are thought to explain the enhanced abundance of CH+ observed along diffuse molecular sightlines. Intermittent high temperatures should also have an impact on H2 line luminosities. We carry out simulations of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in molecular clouds including heating and cooling, and post-process them to study H2 line emission and hot-gas chemistry, particularly the formation of CH+. We explore multiple magnetic field strengths and equations of state. We use a new H2 cooling function for $n_{ext{H}}le 10^5, {ext{cm}}^{-3}$, $Tle 5000, {ext{K}}$, and variable H2 fraction. We make two important simplifying assumptions: (i) the H2/H fraction is fixed everywhere and (ii) we exclude from our analysis regions where the ion–neutral drift velocity is calculated to be greater than 5 km s−1. Our models produce H2 emission lines in accord with many observations, although extra excitation mechanisms are required in some clouds. For realistic root-mean-square (rms) magnetic field strengths (≈10 μG) and velocity dispersions, we reproduce observed CH+ abundances. These findings contrast with those of Valdivia et al. (2017) Comparison of predicted dust polarization with observations by Planck suggests that the mean field is ≳5 µG, so that the turbulence is sub-Alfvénic. We recommend future work treating ions and neutrals as separate fluids to more accurately capture the effects of ambipolar diffusion on CH+ abundance.

Beschreibung: HD 38206 is an A0V star in the Columba association, hosting a debris disc first discovered by IRAS. Further observations by Spitzer and Herschel showed that the disc has two components, likely analogous to the asteroid and Kuiper belts of the Solar system. The young age of this star makes it a prime target for direct imaging planet searches. Possible planets in the system can be constrained using the debris disc. Here, we present the first ALMA observations of the system’s Kuiper belt and fit them using a forward modelling MCMC approach. We detect an extended disc of dust peaking at around 180 au with a width of 140 au. The disc is close to edge on and shows tentative signs of an asymmetry best fit by an eccentricity of $0.25^{+0.10}_{-0.09}$. We use the fitted parameters to determine limits on the masses of planets interior to the cold belt. We determine that a minimum of four planets are required, each with a minimum mass of 0.64 MJ, in order to clear the gap between the asteroid and Kuiper belts of the system. If we make the assumption that the outermost planet is responsible for the stirring of the disc, the location of its inner edge and the eccentricity of the disc, then we can more tightly predict its eccentricity, mass, and semimajor axis to be $e_{ m {p}}=0.34^{+0.20}_{-0.13}$, $m_{ m {p}}=0.7^{+0.5}_{-0.3}, m {it M}_{ m {J}}$, and $a_{ m {p}}=76^{+12}_{-13}, m {au}$.

Beschreibung: Long-period variability in luminous red giants has several promising applications, all of which require models able to accurately predict pulsation periods. Linear pulsation models have proven successful in reproducing the observed periods of overtone modes in evolved red giants, but they fail to accurately predict their fundamental mode (FM) periods. Here, we use a 1D hydrodynamic code to investigate the long-period variability of M-type asymptotic giant branch stars in the non-linear regime. We examine the period and stability of low-order radial pulsation modes as a function of mass and radius, and find overtone mode periods in complete agreement with predictions from linear pulsation models. In contrast, non-linear models predict an earlier onset of dominant FM pulsation, and shorter periods at large radii. Both features lead to a substantially better agreement with observations that we verify against OGLE and Gaia data for the Magellanic Clouds. We provide simple analytical relations describing the non-linear FM period–mass–radius relation. Differences with respect to linear predictions originate from the readjustment of the envelope structure induced by large-amplitude pulsation. We investigate the impact of turbulent viscosity on linear and non-linear pulsation, and probe possible effects of varying metallicity and carbon abundance.

Beschreibung: We provide an empirical list of the Galactic dispersion measure (DMGal) contribution to the extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs) along 72 sightlines. It is independent of any model of the Galaxy, i.e. we do not assume the density of the disc or the halo, spatial extent of the halo, baryonic mass content, or any such external constraints to measure DMGal. We use 21-cm, UV, EUV, and X-ray data to account for different phases, and find that DMGal is dominated by the hot phase probed by X-ray absorption. We improve upon the measurements of N($ m{O},{small VII}$) and f$_{ m O,{small VII}}$ compared to previous studies, thus providing a better estimate of the hot phase contribution. The median DMGal = 64$^{+20}_{-23}$ cm−3 pc, with a 68 per cent (90 per cent) confidence interval of 33–172 (23–660) cm−3 pc. The DMGal does not appear to follow any trend with the Galactic longitude or latitude, and there is a large scatter around the values predicted by simple disc + spherical halo models. Our measurements provide more complete and accurate estimates of DMGal independent from the previous studies. We provide a table and a code to retrieve DMGal for any FRB localized in the sky.

Beschreibung: New Swift monitoring observations of the variable, radio-quiet quasar, PDS 456, are presented. A bright X-ray flare was captured in 2018 September, the flux increasing by a factor of 4 and with a doubling time-scale of 2 d. From the light crossing argument, the coronal size is inferred to be ≲30 gravitational radii for a black hole mass of 109 M⊙ and the total flare energy exceeds 1051 erg. A hardening of the X-ray emission accompanied the flare, with the photon index decreasing from Γ = 2.2 to Γ = 1.7 and back again. The flare is produced in the X-ray corona, the lack of any optical or UV variability being consistent with a constant accretion rate. Simultaneous XMM–Newton and NuSTAR observations were performed, 1–3 d after the flare peak and during the decline phase. These caught PDS 456 in a bright, bare state, where no disc wind absorption features are apparent. The hard X-ray spectrum shows a high energy roll-over, with an e-folding energy of $E_{ m fold}=51^{+11}_{-8}$ keV. The deduced coronal temperature, of kT = 13 keV, is one of the coolest measured in any AGN and PDS 456 lies well below the predicted pair annihilation line in X-ray corona. The spectral variability, becoming softer when fainter following the flare, is consistent with models of cooling X-ray coronae. Alternatively, an increase in a non-thermal component could contribute towards the hard X-ray flare spectrum.

Beschreibung: We present the analysis of archival Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of the interacting galaxies NGC 4038/39 (a.k.a. the Antennae) at a distance of 18.1 Mpc. Up to 38 young star-forming complexes with evident contribution from Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars are unveiled. We use publicly available templates of Galactic WR stars in conjunction with available photometric extinction measurements to quantify and classify the WR population in each star-forming region, on the basis of its nearly Solar oxygen abundance. The total estimated number of WR stars in the Antennae is 4053 ± 84, of which there are 2021 ± 60 WNL and 2032 ± 59 WC-types. Our analysis suggests a global WC to WN-type ratio of 1.01 ± 0.04, which is consistent with the predictions of the single star evolutionary scenario in the most recent bpass stellar population synthesis models.

Beschreibung: We assess the robustness of the two highest rungs of the ‘cosmic distance ladder’ for Type Ia supernovae and the determination of the Hubble–Lemaître constant. In this analysis, we hold fixed Rung 1 as the distance to the LMC determined to 1 per cent using detached eclipsing binary stars. For Rung 2, we analyse two methods, the TRGB and Cepheid distances for the luminosity calibration of Type Ia supernovae in nearby galaxies. For Rung 3, we analyse various modern digital supernova samples in the Hubble flow, such as the Calán-Tololo, CfA, CSP, and Supercal data sets. This metadata analysis demonstrates that the TRGB calibration yields smaller H0 values than the Cepheid calibration, a direct consequence of the systematic difference in the distance moduli calibrated from these two methods. Selecting the three most independent possible methodologies/bandpasses (B, V, J), we obtain H0 = 69.9 ± 0.8 and H0= 73.5 ± 0.7 $, m km, s^{-1} , Mpc^{-1}$from the TRGB and Cepheid calibrations, respectively. Adding in quadrature the systematic uncertainty in the TRGB and Cepheid methods of 1.1 and 1.0 $, m km, s^{-1} , Mpc^{-1}$, respectively, this subset reveals a significant 2.0σ systematic difference in the calibration of Rung 2. If Rung 1 and Rung 2 are held fixed, the different formalisms developed for standardizing the supernova peak magnitudes yield consistent results, with a standard deviation of 1.5 $, m km, s^{-1} , Mpc^{-1}$, that is, Type Ia supernovae are able to anchor Rung 3 with 2 per cent precision. This study demonstrates that Type Ia supernovae have provided a remarkably robust calibration of R3 for over 25 yr.

Beschreibung: Massive galaxy clusters undergo strong evolution from z ∼ 1.6 to z ∼ 0.5, with overdense environments at high-z characterized by abundant dust-obscured star formation and stellar mass growth which rapidly give way to widespread quenching. Data spanning the near- to far-infrared (IR) can directly trace this transformation; however, such studies have largely been limited to the massive galaxy end of cluster populations. In this work, we present ‘total light’ stacking techniques spanning $3.4!-!500, mu$m aimed at revealing the total cluster emission, including low-mass members and potential intracluster dust. We detail our procedures for WISE, Spitzer, and Herschel imaging, including corrections to recover the total stacked emission in the case of high fractions of detected galaxies. We apply our techniques to 232 well-studied log$, M_{200}/mathrm{M}_{odot }sim 13.8$ clusters in multiple redshift bins, recovering extended cluster emission at all wavelengths. We measure the averaged IR radial profiles and spectral energy distributions (SEDs), quantifying the total stellar and dust content. The near-IR profiles are well described by an NFW model with a high (c ∼ 7) concentration. Dust emission is similarly concentrated, albeit suppressed at $rlesssim 0.3,$Mpc. The measured SEDs lack warm dust, consistent with the colder SEDs of low-mass galaxies. We derive total stellar masses consistent with the theoretical Mhalo−M⋆ relation and specific star formation rates that evolve strongly with redshift, echoing that of log$, M_{star }/mathrm{M}_{odot }gtrsim 10$ cluster galaxies. Separating out the massive population reveals the majority of cluster far-IR emission ($sim 70!-!80{{ m per cent}}$) is provided by the low-mass constituents, which differs from field galaxies. This effect may be a combination of mass-dependent quenching and excess dust in low-mass cluster galaxies.

Beschreibung: We present the Emission Line Galaxy (ELG) sample of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IV Data Release 16. We describe the observations and redshift measurement for the 269 243 observed ELG spectra, and then present the large-scale structure catalogues, used for the cosmological analysis, and made of 173 736 reliable spectroscopic redshifts between 0.6 and 1.1. We perform a spherically averaged baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) measurement in configuration space, with density field reconstruction: the data two-point correlation function shows a feature consistent with that of the BAO, the BAO model being only weakly preferred over a model without BAO (Δχ2 〈 1). Fitting a model constrained to have a BAO feature provides a 3.2 per cent measurement of the spherically averaged BAO distance DV(zeff)/rdrag = 18.23 ± 0.58 at the effective redshift zeff = 0.845.

Beschreibung: We report the result of searching for globular clusters (GCs) around 55 Milky Way (MW) satellite dwarf galaxies within the distance of 450 kpc from the Galactic Centre except for the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the Sagittarius dwarf. For each dwarf, we analyse the stellar distribution of sources in Gaia DR2, selected by magnitude, proper motion, and source morphology. Using the kernel density estimation of stellar number counts, we identify 11 possible GC candidates. Cross-matched with existing imaging data, all 11 objects are known either GCs or galaxies and only Fornax GC 1–6 among them are associated with the targeted dwarf galaxy. Using simulated GCs, we calculate the GC detection limit $M_{ m V}^{ m lim}$ that spans the range from $M_{ m V}^{ m lim}sim -7$ for distant dwarfs to $M_{ m V}^{ m lim}sim 0$ for nearby systems. Assuming a Gaussian GC luminosity function, we compute that the completeness of the GC search is above 90 per cent for most dwarf galaxies. We construct the 90 per cent credible intervals/upper limits on the GC specific frequency SN of the MW dwarf galaxies: 12 〈 SN 〈 47 for Fornax, SN 〈 20 for the dwarfs with −12 〈 MV 〈 −10, SN 〈 30 for the dwarfs with −10 〈 MV 〈 −7, and SN 〈 90 for the dwarfs with MV 〉 −7. Based on SN, we derive the probability of galaxies hosting GCs given their luminosity, finding that the probability of galaxies fainter than MV = −9 to host GCs is lower than 0.1.

Beschreibung: Observations of ultraviolet (UV) metal absorption lines have provided insight into the structure and composition of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) around galaxies. We compare these observations with the low-redshift (z ≤ 0.3) CGM around dwarf galaxies in high-resolution cosmological zoom-in runs in the FIRE-2 (Feedback In Realistic Environments) simulation suite. We select simulated galaxies that match the halo mass, stellar mass, and redshift of the observed samples. We produce absorption measurements using trident for UV transitions of C iv, O vi, Mg ii, and Si iii. The FIRE equivalent width (EW) distributions and covering fractions for the C iv ion are broadly consistent with observations inside 0.5Rvir, but are underpredicted for O vi, Mg ii, and Si iii. The absorption strengths of the ions in the CGM are moderately correlated with the masses and star formation activity of the galaxies. The correlation strengths increase with the ionization potential of the ions. The structure and composition of the gas from the simulations exhibit three zones around dwarf galaxies characterized by distinct ion column densities: the discy interstellar medium, the inner CGM (the wind-dominated regime), and the outer CGM (the IGM accretion-dominated regime). We find that the outer CGM in the simulations is nearly but not quite supported by thermal pressure, so it is not in hydrostatic equilibrium, resulting in halo-scale bulk inflow and outflow motions. The net gas inflow rates are comparable to the star formation rate of the galaxy, but the bulk inflow and outflow rates are greater by an order of magnitude, with velocities comparable to the virial velocity of the halo. These roughly virial velocities (${sim } 100 , m km, s^{-1}$) produce large EWs in the simulations. This supports a picture for dwarf galaxies in which the dynamics of the CGM at large scales are coupled to the small-scale star formation activity near the centre of their haloes.

Beschreibung: Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a powerful approach for discovering sequence variants in cancer cells but its time effectiveness is limited by the complexity and issues of WES data analysis. Here we present iWhale, a customizable pipeline based on Docker and SCons, reliably detecting somatic variants by three complementary callers (MuTect2, Strelka2 and VarScan2). The results are combined to obtain a single variant call format file for each sample and variants are annotated by integrating a wide range of information extracted from several reference databases, ultimately allowing variant and gene prioritization according to different criteria. iWhale allows users to conduct a complex series of WES analyses with a powerful yet customizable and easy-to-use tool, running on most operating systems (macOs, GNU/Linux and Windows). iWhale code is freely available at https://github.com/alexcoppe/iWhale and the docker image is downloadable from https://hub.docker.com/r/alexcoppe/iwhale.

Beschreibung: The Cepheid Leavitt Law (LL), also known as the Period–Luminosity relation, is a crucial tool for assembling the cosmic distance ladder. By combining data from the OGLE-IV catalogue with mid-infrared photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have determined the 3.6 and 4.5 $mu$m LLs for the Magellanic Clouds using ∼5000 fundamental-mode classical Cepheids. Mean magnitudes were determined using a Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) template fitting procedure, with template light curves constructed from a subsample of these Cepheids with fully phased, well-sampled light curves. The dependence of the Large Magellanic Cloud LL coefficients on various period cuts was tested, in addition to the linearity of the relationship. The zero-point of the LL was calibrated using the parallaxes of Milky Way Cepheids from the Hubble Space Telescope and Gaia Data Release 2. Our final calibrated relations are M[3.6] = −3.246(±0.008)(log (P) − 1.0) − 5.784(±0.030) and M[4.5] = −3.162(±0.008)(log (P) − 1.0) − 5.751(±0.030).

Beschreibung: Ecosystem-based Fisheries Management is a holistic management approach that integrates the dynamics of an entire ecosystem, including societal dimensions. However, this approach seldom lives up to its promise because economic and social objectives are rarely specified. To fill this gap, we explored how an ecosystem model could better integrate economic and social objectives, using the coral reef ecosystem around Hawai`i as a case study. After meeting with stakeholders and conducting a literature review of policy/strategy documents, we identified societal and ecological objectives and associated performance indicators for which data existed. We developed a social–ecological system conceptual framework to illustrate the relationships between ecological and social state components. This framework was the foundation for the development of the final social–ecological system model which we simulated using an Ecopath with Ecosim model. We simulated four gear/species restrictions for the reef-based fishery, two fishing scenarios associated with the opening of hypothetical no-take Marine Protected Areas for the deepwater-based fishery, and a Constant Effort (No Action) scenario. Despite limitations in the model, our approach shows that when social and economic objectives and social–ecological relationships are defined, we can quantify the trade-offs among the identified societal objectives to support managers in choosing among alternative interventions.