Abstract
We present the full results of our decade-long astrometric monitoring programs targeting 31 ultracool binaries with component spectral types M7–T5. Joint analysis of resolved imaging from ...Keck Observatory and
Hubble Space Telescope
and unresolved astrometry from CFHT/WIRCam yields parallactic distances for all systems, robust orbit determinations for 23 systems, and photocenter orbits for 19 systems. As a result, we measure 38 precise individual masses spanning 30–115
. We determine a model-independent substellar boundary that is ≈70
in mass (≈L4 in spectral type), and we validate Baraffe et al. evolutionary model predictions for the lithium-depletion boundary (60
at field ages). Assuming each binary is coeval, we test models of the substellar mass–luminosity relation and find that in the L/T transition, only the Saumon & Marley “hybrid” models accounting for cloud clearing match our data. We derive a precise, mass-calibrated spectral type–effective temperature relation covering 1100–2800 K. Our masses enable a novel direct determination of the age distribution of field brown dwarfs spanning L4–T5 and 30–70
. We determine a median age of 1.3 Gyr, and our population synthesis modeling indicates our sample is consistent with a constant star formation history modulated by dynamical heating in the Galactic disk. We discover two triple-brown-dwarf systems, the first with directly measured masses and eccentricities. We examine the eccentricity distribution, carefully considering biases and completeness, and find that low-eccentricity orbits are significantly more common among ultracool binaries than solar-type binaries, possibly indicating the early influence of long-lived dissipative gas disks. Overall, this work represents a major advance in the empirical view of very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs.
ABSTRACT
We present a large, uniform analysis of young (≈10–150 Myr) ultracool dwarfs, based on new high-precision infrared (IR) parallaxes for 68 objects. We find that low-gravity (
vl-g
) late-M ...and L dwarfs form a continuous sequence in IR color–magnitude diagrams, separate from the field population and from current theoretical models. These
vl-g
objects also appear distinct from young substellar (brown dwarf and exoplanet) companions, suggesting that the two populations may have a different range of physical properties. In contrast, at the L/T transition, young, old, and spectrally peculiar objects all span a relatively narrow range in near-IR absolute magnitudes. At a given spectral type, the IR absolute magnitudes of young objects can be offset from ordinary field dwarfs, with the largest offsets occurring in the
Y
and
J
bands for late-M dwarfs (brighter than the field) and mid-/late-L dwarfs (fainter than the field). Overall, low-gravity (
vl-g
) objects have the most uniform photometric behavior, while intermediate gravity (
int-g
) objects are more diverse, suggesting a third governing parameter beyond spectral type and gravity class. We examine the moving group membership for all young ultracool dwarfs with parallaxes, changing the status of 23 objects (including 8 previously identified planetary-mass candidates) and fortifying the status of another 28 objects. We use our resulting age-calibrated sample to establish empirical young isochrones and show a declining frequency of
vl-g
objects relative to
int-g
objects with increasing age. Notable individual objects in our sample include high-velocity (≳100 km s
−1
)
int-g
objects, very red late-L dwarfs with high surface gravities, candidate disk-bearing members of the MBM20 cloud and
β
Pic moving group, and very young distant interlopers. Finally, we provide a comprehensive summary of the absolute magnitudes and spectral classifications of young ultracool dwarfs, using a combined sample of 102 objects found in the field and as substellar companions to young stars.
We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with replication in 36,180 Chinese individuals and performed further transancestry meta-analyses with data from the Psychiatry Genomics Consortium ...(PGC2). Approximately 95% of the genome-wide significant (GWS) index alleles (or their proxies) from the PGC2 study were overrepresented in Chinese schizophrenia cases, including ∼50% that achieved nominal significance and ∼75% that continued to be GWS in the transancestry analysis. The Chinese-only analysis identified seven GWS loci; three of these also were GWS in the transancestry analyses, which identified 109 GWS loci, thus yielding a total of 113 GWS loci (30 novel) in at least one of these analyses. We observed improvements in the fine-mapping resolution at many susceptibility loci. Our results provide several lines of evidence supporting candidate genes at many loci and highlight some pathways for further research. Together, our findings provide novel insight into the genetic architecture and biological etiology of schizophrenia.
We present a near-infrared (0.9-2.4 mu m) spectroscopic study of 73 field ultracool dwarfs having spectroscopic and/or kinematic evidence of youth ( approximately 10-300 Myr). Our sample is composed ...of 48 low-resolution (R approximately 100) spectra and 41 moderate-resolution spectra (R gap 750-2000). First, we establish a method for spectral typing M5-L7 dwarfs at near-IR wavelengths that is independent of gravity. We find that both visual and index-based classification in the near-IR provides consistent special types with optical special types, though with a small systematic offset in the case of visual classification at J and K band. Second, we examine features in the spectra of ~10 Myr ultracool dwarfs to define a set of gravity-sensitive indices based on FeH, VO, K I, Na I, and H-band continuum shape. We then create an index-based method for classifying the gravities of M6-L5 dwarfs that provides consistent results with gravity classifications from optical spectroscopy. Our index-based classification can distinguish between young and dusty objects. Guided by the resulting classifications, we propose a set of low-gravity spectral standards for the near-IR. Finally, we estimate the ages corresponding to our gravity classifications.
We have discovered using Pan-STARRS1 an extremely red late-L dwarf, which has (J - K) sub(MKO) = 2.78 and (J - K) sub(2MASS) = 2.84, making it the reddest known field dwarf and second only to 2MASS ...J1207-39b among substellar companions. Near-IR spectroscopy shows a spectral type of L7 + or - 1 and reveals a triangular H-band continuum and weak alkali (K I and Na I) lines, hallmarks of low surface gravity. Near-IR astrometry from the Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program gives a distance of 24.6 + or - 1.4 pc and indicates a much fainter J-band absolute magnitude than field L dwarfs. The position and kinematics of PSO J318.5-22 point to membership in the beta Pic moving group. Evolutionary models give a temperature of (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) K and a mass of (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) M sub(Jup), making PSO J318.5-22 one of the lowest mass free-floating objects in the solar neighborhood. This object adds to the growing list of low-gravity field L dwarfs and is the first to be strongly deficient in methane relative to its estimated temperature. Comparing their spectra suggests that young L dwarfs with similar ages and temperatures can have different spectral signatures of youth. For the two objects with well constrained ages (PSO J318.5-22 and 2MASS J0355+11), we find their temperatures are approximate400 K cooler than field objects of similar spectral type but their luminosities are similar, i.e., these young L dwarfs are very red and unusually cool but not "underluminous." Altogether, PSO J318.5-22 is the first free-floating object with the colors, magnitudes, spectrum, luminosity, and mass that overlap the young dusty planets around HR 8799 and 2MASS J1207-39.
Radial glia, the neural stem cells of the neocortex, are located in two niches: the ventricular zone and outer subventricular zone. Although outer subventricular zone radial glia may generate the ...majority of human cortical neurons, their molecular features remain elusive. By analyzing gene expression across single cells, we find that outer radial glia preferentially express genes related to extracellular matrix formation, migration, and stemness, including TNC, PTPRZ1, FAM107A, HOPX, and LIFR. Using dynamic imaging, immunostaining, and clonal analysis, we relate these molecular features to distinctive behaviors of outer radial glia, demonstrate the necessity of STAT3 signaling for their cell cycle progression, and establish their extensive proliferative potential. These results suggest that outer radial glia directly support the subventricular niche through local production of growth factors, potentiation of growth factor signals by extracellular matrix proteins, and activation of self-renewal pathways, thereby enabling the developmental and evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex.
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•oRG and vRG cells represent molecularly distinct subpopulations of human radial glia•oRG transcriptional state first emerges in VZ during early cortical development•Single oRG cells generate hundreds of daughter cells of diverse types•Molecular profile suggests that oRG cells sustain proliferative niche in primate OSVZ
Single-cell transcriptomics reveals molecular distinctions between human radial glia residing in the ventricular and outer subventricular zones, suggesting that outer radial glia may generate a self-sustaining proliferative niche that supports primate brain expansion during development of the cerebral cortex.
•PFAS exposures are associated with dysregulated lipid and sterol homeostasis.•A mixture of 5 PFAS increased cholesterol and bile acids in mice.•Female mice displayed increased liver ...injury.•Circulating PFOA were increased in exposed females compared to males.
Epidemiological studies have shown Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to be associated with diseases of dysregulated lipid and sterol homeostasis such as steatosis and cardiometabolic disorders. However, the majority of mechanistic studies rely on single chemical exposures instead of identifying mechanisms related to the toxicity of PFAS mixtures.
The goal of the current study is to investigate mechanisms linking exposure to a PFAS mixture with alterations in lipid metabolism, including increased circulating cholesterol and bile acids.
Male and female wild-type C57BL/6J mice were fed an atherogenic diet used in previous studies of pollutant-accelerated atherosclerosis and exposed to water containing a mixture of 5 PFAS representing legacy, replacement, and alternative subtypes (i.e., PFOA, PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and GenX), each at a concentration of 2 mg/L, for 12 weeks. Changes at the transcriptome and metabolome level were determined by RNA-seq and high-resolution mass spectrometry, respectively.
We observed increased circulating cholesterol, sterol metabolites, and bile acids due to PFAS exposure, with some sexual dimorphic effects. PFAS exposure increased hepatic injury, demonstrated by increased liver weight, hepatic inflammation, and plasma alanine aminotransferase levels. Females displayed increased lobular and portal inflammation compared to the male PFAS-exposed mice. Hepatic transcriptomics analysis revealed PFAS exposure modulated multiple metabolic pathways, including those related to sterols, bile acids, and acyl carnitines, with multiple sex-specific differences observed. Finally, we show that hepatic and circulating levels of PFOA were increased in exposed females compared to males, but this sexual dimorphism was not the same for other PFAS examined.
Exposure of mice to a mixture of PFAS results in PFAS-mediated modulation of cholesterol levels, possibly through disruption of enterohepatic circulation.
Atmospheric modeling of low-gravity (VL-G) young brown dwarfs remains challenging. The presence of very thick clouds is a possible source of this challenge, because of their extremely red ...near-infrared (NIR) spectra, but no cloud models provide a good fit to the data with a radius compatible with the evolutionary models for these objects. We show that cloudless atmospheres assuming a temperature gradient reduction caused by fingering convection provide a very good model to match the observed VL-G NIR spectra. The sequence of extremely red colors in the NIR for atmospheres with effective temperatures from ∼2000 K down to ∼1200 K is very well reproduced with predicted radii typical of young low-gravity objects. Future observations with NIRSPEC and MIRI on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will provide more constraints in the mid-infrared, helping to confirm or refute whether or not the NIR reddening is caused by fingering convection. We suggest that the presence or absence of clouds will be directly determined by the silicate absorption features that can be observed with MIRI. JWST will therefore be able to better characterize the atmosphere of these hot young brown dwarfs and their low-gravity exoplanet analogs.
We present 2.12-2.23 Delta *mm high contrast integral field spectroscopy of the extrasolar planet HR 8799 b. Our observations were obtained with OSIRIS on the Keck II telescope and sample the 2.2 ...Delta *mm CH4 feature, which is useful for spectral classification and as a temperature diagnostic for ultracool objects. The spectrum of HR 8799 b is relatively featureless, with little or no methane absorption, and does not exhibit the strong CH4 seen in T dwarfs of similar absolute magnitudes. The spectrum is consistent with field objects from early-L to T4 (3 Delta *s confidence level), with a best-fitting type of T2. A similar analysis of the published 1-4 Delta *mm photometry shows the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) matches L5-L8 field dwarfs, especially the reddest known objects which are believed to be young and/or very dusty. Overall, we find that HR 8799 b has a spectral type consistent with L5-T2, although its SED is atypical compared to most field objects. We fit the 2.2 Delta *mm spectrum and the infrared SED using the Hubeny & Burrows, Burrows et al., and Ames-Dusty model atmosphere grids, which incorporate non-equilibrium chemistry, non-solar metallicities, and clear and cloudy variants. No models agree with all of the data, but those with intermediate clouds produce significantly better fits. The largest discrepancy occurs in the J band, which is highly suppressed in HR 8799 b. Models with high eddy diffusion coefficients and high metallicities are somewhat preferred over those with equilibrium chemistry and solar metallicity. The best-fitting effective temperatures range from 1300 to 1700 K with radii between ~0.3 and 0.5 R Jup. These values are inconsistent with evolutionary model-derived values of 800-900 K and 1.1-1.3 R Jup based on the luminosity of HR 8799 b and the age of HR 8799, a discrepancy that probably results from imperfect atmospheric models or the limited range of physical parameters covered by the models. The low temperature inferred from evolutionary models indicates that HR 8799 b is ~400 K cooler than field L/T transition objects, providing further evidence that the L/T transition is gravity-dependent. With an unusually dusty photosphere, an exceptionally low luminosity for its spectral type, and hints of extreme secondary physical parameters, HR 8799 b appears to be unlike any class of field brown dwarf currently known.
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