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Uranus ring occultation observations: 1977–2006
No full textThe Uranian rings were discovered serendipitously on 10 March 1977 during a stellar occultation (Elliot et al., 1977a; Millis et al., 1977), and a rich set of subsequent Earth-based occultations revealed that these narrow and sharp-edged rings were eccentric and inclined, precessing under the gravitational influence of the oblate central planet. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the observed characteristics of narrow rings and sharp edges (Nicholson et al., 2018) and their associated dynamics (Longaretti, 2018), but ever since their discovery, the Uranian rings have posed dynamical puzzles that resist simple explanations. The observational basis to address these questions for the Uranus system rests largely on occultation measurements of the narrow rings spanning nearly 30 years, beginning in 1977 and concluding most recently in 2006. Nearly all of these occultation data sets are available in digital form on NASA’s Planetary Data System (PDS) Ring-Moon Systems node, but many of them have not been previously published or described in detail. This paper serves as a guide to the PDS archive and provides essential information about the observations and the methods used to determine the ring widths, mean optical depths, and occultation event times from individual occultation profiles. Additional detail is provided in the Supplementary Online Material accompanying this publication. In a companion paper (French et al., 2023b), we make use of these observations to determine the Uranus ring orbits, pole direction, and gravity field, and the orbital characteristics and masses of three small Uranian moons – Cressida, Ophelia, and Cordelia – from their forced normal modes on the rings
Verbal problem-solving in agenesis of the corpus callosum: Analysis using semantic similarity
No full textObjective: Previous studies demonstrated that individuals with agenesis of the corpus callosum (AgCC) experience difficulties in novel and complex problem-solving. The present study investigated verbal problem-solving, deductive reasoning, and semantic inference in AgCC. Method: Capacity for semantic inference was tested in 25 individuals with AgCC and normal-range intelligence compared to 29 neurotypical controls. The Word Context Test (WCT) of Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System was used, employing a novel method of analysis (semantic similarity) to detect trial-by-trial progress toward a solution. Results: With respect to the typical WCT scores, persons with AgCC had fewer total consecutive correct responses. In addition, semantic similarity to the correct word was significantly lower overall in persons with AgCC than in controls. Conclusion: These findings indicated that individuals with AgCC who have intelligence in the normal range are less able at the WCT taking all trials into account, although they often solve the problem eventually. This outcome is consistent with previous research indicating that callosal absence in AgCC results in a restricted imagination for possibilities, limiting their problem-solving and inferential capacities. The results also highlight the usefulness of semantic similarity as a means of scoring the WCT
Verification & validation of lifting line α- and Γ-formulations for 3-D planforms under viscous flows
No full textMany adaptations of the lifting-line theory have been developed since its conception to aid in preliminary aerodynamic wing design, but they typically fall into two main formulations, named α- and Γ-formulation, which differ in terms of the control points chordwise location and the variable updated during the iterative scheme. This paper assess the advantages and drawbacks of both formulations through the implementation of the respective methods and application of standard verification and validation procedures. Verification showed that the Γ-method poorly converges for wings with nonstraight quarter-chord lines, while the α-method presents adequate convergence rates and uncertainties for all geometries; it also showed that the Γ-method agrees best with analytic results from the cassic lifting-line theory, indicating that it tends to overpredict wing lift. Validation and comparison to other modern lifting-line methods was done for similar geometries, and not only corroborated the poor converge and lift overprediction of the Γ-method, but also showed that the α-method presented the closest results to experimental data for almost all cases tested, concluding that this formulation is typically superior regardless of the wing geometry. These results indicate that the implemented α-method has a greater potential for the extension of the lifting-line theory to more geometrically complex lifting surfaces other than fixed wings with straight quarter-chord lines and wakes constrained to the planform plane
Comet P/2021 HS (PANSTARRS) and the Challenge of Detecting Low-activity Comets
No full textJupiter-family comet (JFC) P/2021 HS (PANSTARRS) only exhibits a coma within a few weeks of its perihelion passage at 0.8 au, which is atypical for a comet. Here we present an investigation into the underlying cause using serendipitous survey detections and targeted observations. We find that the detection of the activity is caused by an extremely faint coma being enhanced by the forward scattering effect owing to the comet reaching a phase angle of ∼140°. The coma morphology is consistent with sustained, sublimation-driven activity produced by a small active area, ∼700 m², one of the smallest values ever measured on a comet. The phase function of the nucleus shows a phase coefficient of 0.035 ± 0.002 mag deg⁻¹, implying an absolute magnitude of H = 18.31 ± 0.04 and a phase slope of G = − 0.13, with color consistent with typical JFC nuclei. Thermal observations suggest a nucleus diameter of 0.6–1.1 km, implying an optical albedo of 0.04–0.23, which is higher than typical cometary nuclei. An unsuccessful search for dust trail and meteor activity confirms minimal dust deposit along the orbit, totaling ≲10⁸ kg. As P/2021 HS is dynamically unstable, similar to typical JFCs, we speculate that it has an origin in the trans-Neptunian region and that its extreme depletion of volatiles is caused by a large number of previous passages to the inner solar system. The dramatic discovery of the cometary nature of P/2021 HS highlights the challenges of detecting comets with extremely low activity levels. Observations at high phase angle, where forward scattering is pronounced, will help identify such comets
Accretion-induced Collapse of Dark Matter-admixed Rotating White Dwarfs: Dynamics and Gravitational-wave Signals
No full textWe present two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the accretion-induced collapse (AIC) of rotating white dwarfs admixed with an extended component of dark matter (DM) comprising sub-gigaelectronvolt degenerate fermionic DM particles. We find that the DM component follows the collapse of the normal matter (NM) component to become a bound DM core. Thus, we demonstrate how a DM-admixed neutron star could form through DM-admixed AIC (DMAIC) for the first time, with the dynamics of DM taken into account. The gravitational-wave (GW) signature from the DMAIC shows distinctive features. In the diffusive DM limit, the DM admixture indirectly suppresses the post-bounce spectral peak of the NM GWs. In the compact DM limit, the collapse dynamics of the DM in a Milky Way event generate GWs that are strong enough to be detectable by Advanced LIGO as continuous low-frequency (<1000 Hz) signals after the NM core bounce. Our study not only is the first-ever computation of GW from a collapsing DM object but also provides the key features to identify DM in AIC events through future GW detections
How do circadian rhythms and neural synchrony shape networked cooperation?
No full textThis study investigates the effects of temporal changes at the individual and social levels and their impact on cooperation in social networks. A theoretical framework is proposed to explain the probability of cooperation as a function of endogenously driven periodic temporal variation and neural synchrony modeled as a diffusion process. Agents are simulated playing a prisoner’s dilemma game, with and without evolution, in a two-player setting and on networks. Most importantly, we find that temporal variation and synchrony influence cooperation patterns in a non-trivial way and can enhance or suppress cooperation, depending on exact parameter values. Furthermore, some of our results point to promising future research on human subjects. Specifically, we find that cooperators can dramatically increase their payoff—as opposed to defectors—if neural synchrony is present. Furthermore, the more heterogeneous the synchrony between two agents, the less they cooperate. In a network setting, neural synchrony inhibits cooperation, and variation in circadian patterns counteracts this effect.
Call: Hidden Order Behind Cooperation in Social Systems
Fundamental quantum limit for linear measurements with instability
No full textThe fundamental quantum limit, or the quantum Cramér-Rao bound, defines the sensitivity limit for quantum measurements. For linear measurement systems, such as gravitational-wave detectors, it is inversely proportional to the noise spectrum of the dynamical variable that couples to the measured signal. Defining a physically meaningful spectrum, however, requires that the system is stable and a steady state exists. We relax such a stability requirement and prove that the fundamental quantum limit can be derived simply by considering the open-loop dynamics in the Fourier domain
The Local Cluster Survey II: disc-dominated cluster galaxies with suppressed star formation
No full textWe investigate the role of dense environments in suppressing star formation by studying log₁₀(M_⋆/M_⊙) > 9.7 star-forming galaxies in nine clusters from the Local Cluster Survey (0.0137 < z < 0.0433) and a large comparison field sample drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We compare the star-formation rate (SFR) versus stellar mass relation as a function of environment and morphology. After carefully controlling for mass, we find that in all environments, the degree of SFR suppression increases with increasing bulge-to-total (B/T) ratio. In addition, the SFRs of cluster and infall galaxies at a fixed mass are more suppressed than their field counterparts at all values of B/T. These results suggest a quenching mechanism that is linked to bulge growth that operates in all environments and an additional mechanism that further reduces the SFRs of galaxies in dense environments. We limit the sample to B/T ≤ 0.3 galaxies to control for the trends with morphology and find that the excess population of cluster galaxies with suppressed SFRs persists. We model the timescale associated with the decline of SFRs in dense environments and find that the observed SFRs of the cluster core galaxies are consistent with a range of models including: a mechanism that acts slowly and continuously over a long (2-5 Gyr) timescale, and a more rapid (< 1 Gyr) quenching event that occurs after a delay period of 1-6 Gyr. Quenching may therefore start immediately after galaxies enter clusters
Gaussian process hydrodynamics
No full textWe present a Gaussian process (GP) approach, called Gaussian process hydrodynamics (GPH) for approximating the solution to the Euler and Navier-Stokes (NS) equations. Similar to smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), GPH is a Lagrangian particle-based approach that involves the tracking of a finite number of particles transported by a flow. However, these particles do not represent mollified particles of matter but carry discrete/partial information about the continuous flow. Closure is achieved by placing a divergence-free GP prior ξ on the velocity field and conditioning it on the vorticity at the particle locations. Known physics (e.g., the Richardson cascade and velocity increment power laws) is incorporated into the GP prior by using physics-informed additive kernels. This is equivalent to expressing ξ as a sum of independent GPs ξl, which we call modes, acting at different scales (each mode ξl self-activates to represent the formation of eddies at the corresponding scales). This approach enables a quantitative analysis of the Richardson cascade through the analysis of the activation of these modes, and enables us to analyze coarse-grain turbulence statistically rather than deterministically. Because GPH is formulated by using the vorticity equations, it does not require solving a pressure equation. By enforcing incompressibility and fluid-structure boundary conditions through the selection of a kernel, GPH requires significantly fewer particles than SPH. Because GPH has a natural probabilistic interpretation, the numerical results come with uncertainty estimates, enabling their incorporation into an uncertainty quantification (UQ) pipeline and adding/removing particles (quanta of information) in an adapted manner. The proposed approach is suitable for analysis because it inherits the complexity of state-of-the-art solvers for dense kernel matrices and results in a natural definition of turbulence as information loss. Numerical experiments support the importance of selecting physics-informed kernels and illustrate the major impact of such kernels on the accuracy and stability. Because the proposed approach uses a Bayesian interpretation, it naturally enables data assimilation and predictions and estimations by mixing simulation data and experimental data
Bacterial Argonaute nucleases reveal different modes of DNA targeting in vitro and in vivo
No full textProkaryotic Argonaute proteins (pAgos) are homologs of eukaryotic Argonautes (eAgos) and are also thought to play a role in cell defense against invaders. However, pAgos are much more diverse than eAgos and little is known about their functional activities and target specificities in vivo. Here, we describe five pAgos from mesophilic bacteria that act as programmable DNA endonucleases and analyze their ability to target chromosomal and invader DNA. In vitro, the analyzed proteins use small guide DNAs for precise cleavage of single-stranded DNA at a wide range of temperatures. Upon their expression in Escherichia coli, all five pAgos are loaded with small DNAs preferentially produced from plasmids and chromosomal regions of replication termination. One of the tested pAgos, EmaAgo from Exiguobacterium marinum, can induce DNA interference between homologous sequences resulting in targeted processing of multicopy plasmid and genomic elements. EmaAgo also protects bacteria from bacteriophage infection, by loading phage-derived guide DNAs and decreasing phage DNA content and phage titers. Thus, the ability of pAgos to target multicopy elements may be crucial for their protective function. The wide spectrum of pAgo activities suggests that they may have diverse functions in vivo and paves the way for their use in biotechnology