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CHEOPS and TESS view of the ultra-short-period super-Earth TOI-561 b
Get PDFFunding: J.A.P. and A.Br. were supported by the SNSA. J.A.E. and Y.A. acknowledge the support of the Swiss National Fund under grant 200020_172746. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (project SPICE DUNE, grant agreement No 947634). A.C.C. and T.G.W. acknowledge support from STFC consolidated grant numbers ST/R000824/1 and ST/V000861/1, and UKSA grant number ST/R003203/1. L.Ca. acknowledges financial support from the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften; L.Ca. acknowledges support from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019 under Grant Agreement no. 860470 (CHAMELEON). S.G.S. acknowledges support from FCT through FCT contract nr. CEECIND/00826/2018 and POPH/FSE (EC). This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (project FOUR ACES; grant agreement No 724427). It has also been carried out in the frame of the National Centre for Competence in Research PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). D.Eh. and A.De. acknowledge financial support from the SNSF for project 200021_200726. K.W.F.L. acknowledges support by DFG grants RA714/14-1 within the DFG Schwerpunkt SPP 1992, “Exploring the Diversity of Extrasolar Planets”. M.L. acknowledges support of the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant number PCEFP2_194576. We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund through grants ESP2016-80435-C2-1-R, ESP2016-80435-C2-2-R, PGC2018-098153-B-C33, PGC2018-098153-B-C31, ESP2017-87676-C5-1-R, MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia Maria de Maeztu-Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. The MOC activities have been supported by the ESA contract No. 4000124370. S.C.C.B. acknowledges support from FCT through FCT contracts nr. IF/01312/2014/CP1215/CT0004. This work was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through national funds and by FEDER through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacão by these grants: UID/FIS/04434/2019, UIDB/04434/2020, UIDP/04434/2020, PTDC/FIS-AST/32113/2017 & POCI-01-0145-FEDER-032113, PTDC/FIS-AST/28953/2017 & POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028953, PTDC/FIS-AST/28987/2017 & POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028987, O.D.S.D. is supported in the form of work contract (DL 57/2016/CP1364/CT0004) funded by national funds through FCT. B.-O.D. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (PP00P2-190080). M.F. gratefully acknowledges the support of the Swedish National Space Agency (DNR 65/19, 174/18). D.G. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the CRT foundation under Grant No. 2018.2323 “Gaseousor rocky? Unveiling the nature of small worlds”. M.G. is an F.R.S.-FNRS Senior Research Associate. S.H. gratefully acknowledges CNES funding through the grant 837319. P.M. acknowledges support from STFC research grant number ST/M001040/1. V.Na., I.Pa., G.Pi., R.Ra. and G.Sc. acknowledge support from CHEOPS ASI-INAF agreement n. 2019-29-HH.0. This work was also partially supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation (PI Queloz, grant number 327127). I.R.I. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Regional Development Fund through grant PGC2018-098153-B- C33, as well as the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya/CERCA programme. Gy.M.Sz. acknowledges the support of the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office (NKFIH) grant K-125015, a PRODEX Experiment Agreement No. 4000137122, the Lendület LP2018-7/2021 grant of the Hungarian Academy of Science and the support of the city of Szombathely. V.V.G. is an F.R.S-FNRS Research Associate. N.A.W. acknowledges UKSA grant ST/R004838/1.Context . Ultra-short-period planets (USPs) are a unique class of super-Earths with an orbital period of less than a day, and hence they are subject to intense radiation from their host star. These planets cannot retain a primordial H/He atmosphere, and most of them are indeed consistent with being bare rocky cores. A few USPs, however, show evidence for a heavyweight envelope, which could be a water layer resilient to evaporation or a secondary metal-rich atmosphere sustained by outgassing of the molten volcanic surface. Much thus remains to be learned about the nature and formation of USPs. Aims . The prime goal of the present work is to refine the bulk planetary properties of the recently discovered TOI-561 b through the study of its transits and occultations. This is crucial in order to understand the internal structure of this USP and to assess the presence of an atmosphere. Methods . We obtained ultra-precise transit photometry of TOI-561 b with CHEOPS, and performed a joint analysis of these data along with three archival visits from CHEOPS and four TESS sectors. Results . Our analysis of TOI-561 b transit photometry put strong constraints on its properties. In particular, we restrict the uncertainties on the planetary radius at ~2% retrieving Rp = 1.42 ± 0.02 R⊕. This result informs our internal structure modelling of the planet, which shows that the observations are consistent with a negligible H/He atmosphere; however, other lighter materials are required, in addition to a pure iron core and a silicate mantle, to explain the observed density. We find that this can be explained by the inclusion of a water layer in our model. Additionally, we ran a grid of forward models with a water-enriched atmosphere to explain the transit radius. We searched for variability in the measured Rp/R★ over time, which could trace changes in the structure of the planetary envelope. However, no temporal variations are recovered within the present data precision. In addition to the transit event, we tentatively detect an occultation signal in the TESS data with an eclipse depth L = 27.40−11.35+10.87 ppm. We use models of outgassed atmospheres from the literature to explain this eclipse signal. We find that the thermal emission from the planet can mostly explain the observation. Based on this, we predict that near- to mid-infrared observations with the James Webb Space Telescope should be able to detect silicate species in the atmosphere of the planet. This could also reveal important clues about the planetary interior and help disentangle planet formation and evolution models.Peer reviewe
Commercial tensions and international relations : Louis XIV and the struggle for hegemony from the peace of Nijmegen to the outbreak of the Nine Years’ War
No full textLouis XIV’s invasion of the Rhineland in September 1688, aimed at securing a lasting peace following the Truce of Ratisbon, instead triggered the Nine Years’ War (1688–1697), a pivotal moment in his extensive reign. In contrast to earlier conflicts - such as the War of Devolution (1667–1668), the Dutch War (1672–1678), and the War of the Reunions (1683–1684) - which had reinforced French dominance in Europe, this war depleted France’s resources and culminated in unfavourable peace terms, marking the onset of the reign’s decline. This study re-evaluates the war’s origins by foregrounding the role of commercial relations in the deteriorating diplomatic relations between France and its neighbours in the 1680s, offering a counterpoint to traditional historiographical emphases on political, dynastic, and religious drivers. Utilising French archival materials, it underscores the critical yet underexplored influence of commerce in escalating tensions with Spain, the Dutch Republic, and England. French protectionist measures, including tariffs and naval interventions to bolster commercial interests, contributed to the general alienation of key powers that led to the formation of coalitions such as the League of Augsburg in 1686 and eventually to the outbreak of hostilities in 1688-1689. While political and dynastic ambitions often eclipsed economic motives, this thesis contends that commercial rivalries, embedded in the competitive dynamics of the period, were inherent in the diplomatic failures precipitating war. By reassessing Louis XIV’s policies, this work presents his decisions as pragmatic responses to mutual antagonisms rather than solely aggressive unilateral actions, providing a more nuanced understanding of his strategic calculations
Bat genomes illuminate adaptations to viral tolerance and disease resistance
Get PDFFunding: M.H. was supported by the German Research Foundation (HI1423/5-1) and the LOEWE-Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics, funded by the Hessen State Ministry of Higher Education, Research and the Arts (LOEWE/1/10/519/03/03.001(0014)/52); T.B. by the German Research Foundation (INST 269/768-1); L.M.D. by the National Science Foundation (NSF-IOS 2032063 and 2031906, and NSF-DEB 1838273); T.M.L. by the National Science Foundation (award ID 2010853); A.T.I. by a Key grant from the National Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (Z23C010001) and a National Science Foundation Research Fund for International Excellent Young Scientists (RFIS-II, 82350610279); B.K.L. by the Royal Ontario Museum Governors, the National Science Foundation (DEB-0344430) and the Toronto Zoological Society; A. Banerjee by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (RGPIN-2022-03010) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Center for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies, Early Career Investigator grant (PEE-183995) and CIHR Infection and Immunity, Early Career Research Support (PTT-192089); V.G. by a PGS-D scholarship funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (569587-2022); S.C.V. by a UKRI Future Leaders fellowship (MR/T021985/1), an ERC Consolidator grant (101001702; BATSPEAK) and a Max Planck Research Group award from the Max Planck Society; S.J.P. by a Junior Chair grant from the Institut Universitaire de France; E.M. by the Max Planck Society; A.K. and J.B.P. by the Robert Koch Institute; E.C.T. by Irish Research Council Laureate Award IRCLA/2017/58 and Science Foundation Ireland Future Frontiers 19/FFP/6790; D. - G.K. by an EMBO postdoctoral fellowship (ALTF 1089-2021). The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization receives operational funding from the government of Saskatchewan through Innovation Saskatchewan and the Ministry of Agriculture, and funding for its Containment Level 3 facility (InterVac) from the Canada Foundation for Innovation through the Major Science Initiatives. We thank the Long Read Team of the DRESDEN-concept Genome Center, the DFG NGS Competence Center, which is part of the Center for Molecular and Cellular Bioengineering, Technische Universität Dresden, and of the MPI-CBG. We also thank the core facility of the Zhejiang University–University of Edinburgh Institute.Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Bats have been suggested to harbour more zoonotic viruses than any other mammalian order1. Infections in bats are largely asymptomatic2,3, indicating limited tissue-damaging inflammation and immunopathology. To investigate the genomic basis of disease resistance, the Bat1K project generated reference-quality genomes of ten bat species, including potential viral reservoirs. Here we describe a systematic analysis covering 115 mammalian genomes that revealed that signatures of selection in immune genes are more prevalent in bats than in other mammalian orders. We found an excess of immune gene adaptations in the ancestral chiropteran branch and in many descending bat lineages, highlighting viral entry and detection factors, and regulators of antiviral and inflammatory responses. ISG15, which is an antiviral gene contributing to hyperinflammation during COVID-19 (refs. 4,5), exhibits key residue changes in rhinolophid and hipposiderid bats. Cellular infection experiments show species-specific antiviral differences and an essential role of protein conjugation in antiviral function of bat ISG15, separate from its role in secretion and inflammation in humans. Furthermore, in contrast to humans, ISG15 in most rhinolophid and hipposiderid bats has strong anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. Our work reveals molecular mechanisms that contribute to viral tolerance and disease resistance in bats.Peer reviewe
The Romans and the rational : a cognitive approach to late Republican ritual infrastructure
No full textThis project uses recent findings from cognitive scientific research, particularly in the fields of evolutionary, behavioural, and experimental psychology, to pursue new insights about religious ritual of the late Roman Republic. The primary goals of this thesis include identifying intuitive and rational motivations to engage in ritual practice based on circumstantial stimuli, evaluating perceived and ‘actual’ efficacy of ritual, and considering the suite of Roman rituals as a form of technology. Three chapters respectively consider Divination, Pollution, and Purification in terms of rational, non-fideistic reasons to rely on ritual practice. A concluding chapter synthesises the previous chapters’ arguments and offers an original model for a Ritual Immune System (RIS) to describe the infrastructure of procedures for threat detection, prevention, and mitigation. The overarching findings of this project relate to (Dis)Order, anxiolysis, perceived contamination threats, and viewing Roman state ritual as a system of meticulous, procedural technologies that could be ‘actually’ efficacious by creating cognitive and social benefits for its participants
Proteomic signatures of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility in Mexican free-tailed bats and their application to viral surveillance
Get PDFFunding: The original experimental bat work was supported by the US Geological Survey’s Ecosystems Management Area. The use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government. Proteomic analyses and field studies were supported by the National Institutes of Health (P20GM134973, R01AI185127), Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation, and Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA, Subaward No. 29018, part of a USDA Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement with RCSA Federal Award No. 58-3022-0-005). Bat Conservation International provided in-kind support for field sampling at Bracken Cave Preserve. SCV was supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship (MR/T021985/1). DJB and AVS were supported by the National Science Foundation (DBI 2515340).The increasing emergence of virulent pathogens necessitates novel approaches to predict and manage infectious disease risks. The importance of integrating observational and experimental approaches to studying host–pathogen interactions has long been recognized, as captive studies can mechanistically test hypotheses derived from field studies and identify causal factors shaping host susceptibility or tolerance of infection. However, captive experiments can also determine biomarkers of infection outcomes that could improve later interpretation of field data and identify at-risk hosts in wild populations. Such work could be especially useful in preempting or managing risks of pathogen spillover or spillback. SARS-CoV-2 emerged in humans in late 2019 and was rapidly followed by spillback into naïve wildlife, leading to both mortality events and novel enzootic cycles. Of special concern is whether SARS-CoV-2 could establish in bats in the Americas, given that sarbecoviruses coevolved with rhinolophid bats in the Eastern Hemisphere, and as coronavirus infection may exacerbate effects of white-nose syndrome. Here, we leverage residual plasma samples from a previous SARS-CoV-2 challenge study of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) to identify candidate protein biomarkers of susceptibility and test whether these can predict coronavirus risks in wild bats. We generated plasma proteomes from captive (n = 20; four resistant, five susceptible, 11 unchallenged) and wild (n = 15) bats using the S-Trap method and LC-MS/MS, identifying 475 proteins using data-independent acquisition and a species-specific genome annotation generated by the Bat1K Project. Receiver operator characteristic curves identified 27 potential biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility (AUC ≥ 0.8), and subsequent enrichment analyses of these proteins suggested downregulation of blood clotting and upregulation of complement activation and humoral immunity in susceptible bats. We then mined plasma proteomes from wild bats (sampled in 2022 from Bracken Cave Preserve, the largest known Mexican free-tailed bat population) to show that all candidate biomarkers were present in this population, with coefficients of variation ranging from 16 to 150% per protein. We detected coronaviruses in 20% of wild bats, with two cases of potential SARS-CoV-2 spillback. We demonstrate that at least four of these candidate susceptibility biomarkers classified bats with and without coronavirus infection in the wild. Our results inform the possible immune strategies underlying SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility in bats and give a preliminary example of how captive challenge studies can be coupled with field studies to inform zoonotic and conservation risks.Peer reviewe
Impossible worlds are here to stay
Get PDFFunding: Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant RPG-2023-235, 'What If? Knowing by Imagining' (WIKI).I address objections to impossible worlds (IWs) by Timothy Williamson and Kit Fine. Two species of IWs Mark Jago and I had in our Impossible Worlds book were FDE worlds (worlds used in the semantics of the nonclassical logic of First Degree Entailment) and open worlds (worlds not closed under any non-trivial logical consequence relation). Williamson attacks the idea that propositional contents are sets of open worlds; but we explicitly disavowed that very idea. He endorses uses of IWs we developed, except he calls these ‘pseudo-worlds’. In Angellic Content (AC), Fine champions a truthmaker semantics and in Constructing the Impossible advocates its superiority over IWs. But his semantics also includes states that are IWs, as characterized in the literature: representations of absolute impossibilities. They are like Barwise and Perry’s situations — which is how FDE worlds have been interpreted for decades. A key difference between AC and FDE is that only the latter validates ‘absorption principles’ one may find unwelcome in a characterization of propositional content. But a more topic-sensitive FDE can make them fail. Williamson has also objected to the idea of giving truth(making) and falsity(making) conditions separately, as in both AC and FDE. But FDE can work with truth conditions only and the compatibility semantics for negation. AC can work the same way.Peer reviewe
Realizability in tropical geometry and unobstructedness of Lagrangian submanifolds
Get PDFFunding: This paper was supported by EPSRC grant N03189X/1 at the University of Cambridge and ERC grant 850713 (Homological mirror symmetry, Hodge theory, and symplectic topology) at the University of Edinburgh.We say that a tropical subvariety V ⊂ ℝn is B-realizable if it can be lifted to an analytic subset of (Λ∗)n. When V is a smooth curve or hypersurface, there always exists a Lagrangian submanifold lift LV ⊂ (ℂ∗)n. We prove that whenever LV has well-defined Floer cohomology, we can find for each point of V a Lagrangian torus brane whose Lagrangian intersection Floer cohomology with LV is nonvanishing. Assuming an appropriate homological mirror symmetry result holds for toric varieties, it follows that whenever LV is a Lagrangian submanifold that can be made unobstructed by a bounding cochain, the tropical subvariety V is B-realizable. As an application, we show that the Lagrangian lift of a genus-0 tropical curve is unobstructed, thereby giving a purely symplectic argument for Nishinou and Siebert’s proof that genus-0 tropical curves are B-realizable. We also prove that tropical curves inside tropical abelian surfaces are B-realizable.Peer reviewe
Antinatalism, theism, and meaning in life
No full textInfluentially, David Benatar argues that life’s lack of meaning sub specie aeternitatis (SSA) undermines the value of bringing new children into the world. While non-theists like Benatar often believe that rational inquiry, moral striving, and creating beauty can make life deeply meaningful, they generally lack a compelling conception of meaning-SSA that can hold against Benatar’s pessimistic view. On the other hand, Supernaturalist accounts of meaning can establish a more encompassing and optimistic vision of life’s meaning that can resist Benatar’s logic. Supernaturalist accounts can make procreation permissible even when the prospective child’s life is likely to be suboptimal. We favorably examine a theologically Christian approach to SSA-meaning to illustrate one such account capable of resisting Benatar’s antinatalist conclusions. Although the doctrine of hell presents a major problem for many Christian accounts of meaning, we argue Christian universalism, the view that all humans will eventually enjoy an eternal life in heaven, successfully overcomes this problem. Overall, Benatar’s antinatalist argument relies on a narrow vision of meaning’s evaluative role, which a variety of Supernaturalist perspectives can analogously resist by appealing to alternative, cosmic evaluative frameworks.Peer reviewe
Whole-exome sequencing in children with dyslexia implicates rare variants in CLDN3 and ion channel genes
No full textFunding: KM is supported by a Medical Research Scotland scholarship [PhD-50010-2019]. This work was supported by Action Medical Research Action/The Chief Scientist Office (CSO), Scotland grant [GN2614] and a Royal Society Grant [UF100463]. Computational resources and technical support were provided by the Research Computing at the James Hutton Institute for the UK’s Crop Diversity Bioinformatics HPC” (BBSRC grants BB/S019669/1 and BB/X019683/1). The recruitment of the Discovery cohort was supported by Wellcome Trust Grants [076566/Z/05/Z and 075491/Z/04] and a Waterloo Foundation Grant [797–1720]. Recruitment and analysis of the Replication cohorts was supported by Wellcome Trust Programme Grants [082498], and European Research Council Advanced Grant [694189]. SEF is supported by the Max Planck Society.Dyslexia is a specific difficulty in learning to read that affects 5–10% of school-aged children and is strongly influenced by genetic factors. While previous studies have identified common genetic variants associated with dyslexia, the role of rare variants has only recently begun to emerge from pedigree studies and has yet to be systematically tested in larger cohorts. Here, we present a whole-exome sequencing (WES) study of 53 individuals with dyslexia, followed by an analysis in 38 cases with reading difficulties and 82 controls assessed with reading measures. Of the 22 genes that had high-impact variants filtered through stringent bioinformatic approaches in at least three dyslexia cases, five genes were validated in the follow-up analysis: CACNA1D, CACNA1G, CLDN3, CNGB1, and CP. Notably, a specific variant (7-73769649-G-A; c.C401T; p.P134L) in the CLDN3 gene was identified in six independent cases, showing a four-fold higher frequency compared to population reference datasets. CACNA1D and CACNA1G encode subunits of voltage-gated calcium channels expressed in neurons, and variants in both genes have been implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and epilepsy. Segregation analyses in available family members were consistent with patterns of dominant inheritance with variable expressivity. In total, high-impact variants in the five genes of interest were found in 26% (N = 14) of individuals of the discovery cohort. Overall, our findings support the involvement of rare variants in developmental dyslexia and indicate that larger WES studies may uncover additional associated genes.Peer reviewe
The catalytic enantioselective [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement cascade of allylic ethers
No full textFunding: The research leading to these results has received funding from the Royal Society (Newton Fellowship to T.K.), EPSRC (T.K., K.K., EP/T023643/1; A.D.S., K.K., EP/W007517; E.H.E.F., EP/R513155/1; E.H.E.F., M.N.G., EP/W003724/1), UKRI (T.L.-A., ART-AI CDT, EP/S023437/1), The Carlsberg Foundation (M.J.) and the EaSI-CAT Centre for Doctoral Training (J.O'Y.).The catalytic enantioselective [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement of allylic ethers constitutes a recognized synthetic challenge as it is traditionally considered to arise from a non-concerted reaction pathway via formation and recombination of radical pairs. Here we show a catalytic enantioselective solution to this challenge, demonstrating that [1,2]-Wittig products are generated via an alternative reaction cascade to traditional dogma. The developed process employs a chiral bifunctional iminophosphorane catalyst to promote an initial enantioselective [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. A subsequent base-promoted, stereoconvergent, fragmentation–recombination process that proceeds with high enantiospecificity and retention of configuration, formally equivalent to a Woodward–Hoffmann forbidden thermal [1,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement, generates [1,2]-Wittig products in up to 97:3 enantiomeric ratio. Supported by extensive quantum chemistry calculations, this chirality transfer process will have broad implications for fundamental stereocontrol in organic transformations.Peer reviewe
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