ABSTRACT
With the aim of identifying rice (Oryza spp.) germplasm having enhanced grain nutritional value, the mineral nutrient and trace element concentrations (or ionome) of whole (unmilled) grains ...from a set of 1763 rice accessions of diverse geographic and genetic origin were evaluated. Seed for analysis of P, Mg, K, S, Ca, As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Rb, Sr, and Zn concentrations by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was produced over 2 yr in Beaumont, TX, under both flooded and unflooded watering regimes. The distributions of all element concentrations analyzed were skewed toward higher concentration. A significant portion of this ionomic variation has a genetic basis (broad sense heritabilities 0.14–0.75), indicating an ability to breed for improved grain concentration of all elements except possibly Ni. Variation in grain elemental concentrations was not strongly associated with plant height, heading time, or grain shape, suggesting these physiological factors are not of primary importance in controlling ionomic variation in rice grain. Accessions high in specific elements were sometimes found to have similar genetic or geographic origins, suggesting they share a heritable mechanism underlying their enhanced ionomes. For example, accessions with high Ca, Mg, or K were more common in the indica than in the japonica subgroup; low As was most common among temperate japonica accessions; and several lines high in Mo originated in Malaysia or adjacent Brunei.
The pulsar/massive star binary system PSR B1259−63/LS 2883 is one of the best-studied gamma-ray binaries, a class of systems whose bright gamma-ray flaring can provide important insights into ...high-energy physics. Using the Australian Long Baseline Array, we have conducted very long baseline interferometric observations of PSR B1259−63 over 4.4 years, fully sampling the 3.4-year orbital period. From our measured parallax of 0.38 ± 0.05 mas- we use a Bayesian approach to infer a distance of |$2.6^{+0.4}_{-0.3}$| kpc. We find that the binary orbit is viewed at an angle of 154 ± 3° to the line of sight, implying that the pulsar moves clockwise around its orbit as viewed on the sky. Taking our findings together with previous results from pulsar timing observations, all seven orbital elements for the system are now fully determined. We use our measurement of the inclination angle to constrain the mass of the stellar companion to lie in the range 15–31 M_⊙. Our measured distance and proper motion are consistent with the system having originated in the Cen OB1 association and receiving a modest natal kick, causing it to have moved ∼8 pc from its birthplace over the past ∼3 × 10^5 years. The orientation of the orbit on the plane of the sky matches the direction of motion of the X-ray synchrotron-emitting knot observed by the Chandra X-ray Observatory to be moving away from the system.
Neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab showed high pathologic response rates (pRRs) in patients with macroscopic stage III melanoma in the phase 1b OpACIN ( NCT02437279 ) and phase 2 OpACIN-neo ( ...NCT02977052 ) studies
. While the results are promising, data on the durability of these pathologic responses and baseline biomarkers for response and survival were lacking. After a median follow-up of 4 years, none of the patients with a pathologic response (n = 7/9 patients) in the OpACIN study had relapsed. In OpACIN-neo (n = 86), the 2-year estimated relapse-free survival was 84% for all patients, 97% for patients achieving a pathologic response and 36% for nonresponders (P < 0.001). High tumor mutational burden (TMB) and high interferon-gamma-related gene expression signature score (IFN-γ score) were associated with pathologic response and low risk of relapse; pRR was 100% in patients with high IFN-γ score/high TMB; patients with high IFN-γ score/low TMB or low IFN-γ score/high TMB had pRRs of 91% and 88%; while patients with low IFN-γ score/low TMB had a pRR of only 39%. These data demonstrate long-term benefit in patients with a pathologic response and show the predictive potential of TMB and IFN-γ score. Our findings provide a strong rationale for a randomized phase 3 study comparing neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab versus standard adjuvant therapy with antibodies against the programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD-1) in macroscopic stage III melanoma.
ABSTRACT
We present the first 2.5 yr of data from the MeerKAT Pulsar Timing Array (MPTA), part of MeerTime, a MeerKAT Large Survey Project. The MPTA aims to precisely measure pulse arrival times from ...an ensemble of 88 pulsars visible from the Southern hemisphere, with the goal of contributing to the search, detection, and study of nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves as part of the International Pulsar Timing Array. This project makes use of the MeerKAT telescope and operates with a typical observing cadence of 2 weeks using the L-band receiver that records data from 856 to 1712 MHz. We provide a comprehensive description of the observing system, software, and pipelines used and developed for the MeerTime project. The data products made available as part of this data release are from the 78 pulsars that had at least 30 observations between the start of the MeerTime programme in February 2019 and October 2021. These include both sub-banded and band-averaged arrival times and the initial timing ephemerides, noise models, and the frequency-dependent standard templates (portraits) used to derive pulse arrival times. After accounting for detected noise processes in the data, the frequency-averaged residuals of 67 of the pulsars achieved a root-mean-square residual precision of $\lt 1 \, \mu \rm {s}$. We also present a novel recovery of the clock correction waveform solely from pulsar timing residuals and an exploration into preliminary findings of interest to the international pulsar timing community. The arrival times, standards, and full Stokes parameter-calibrated pulsar timing archives are publicly available.
Neutral, circumpulsar debris that enters the magnetospheres of neutron stars can disrupt current flows and electromagnetic radiation and thereby account for some of the intermittency seen in radio ...pulsars. This paper considers asteroids that form from supernova fallback material and how they migrate into the pulsar light cylinder before evaporating, ionizing, and perturbing particle acceleration regions. Such intrusion is expected primarily for pulsars with long spin periods and relatively cool surfaces. We show that debris disks undetectable either directly or through reflex of the neutron star can provide sufficient material over the radio-emitting lifetime of a pulsar to account for nulling and burst phenomena that occur on timescales of seconds to months. The quasi-periodic bursts in B1931+24 may be driven by a large orbiting object that perturbs a debris disk episodically.
The dynamic magnetosphere of Swift J1818.0–1607 Lower, M E; Johnston, S; Shannon, R M ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
03/2021, Letnik:
502, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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ABSTRACT
Radio-loud magnetars display a wide variety of radio-pulse phenomenology seldom seen among the population of rotation-powered pulsars. Spectropolarimetry of the radio pulses from these ...objects has the potential to place constraints on their magnetic topology and unveil clues about the magnetar radio emission mechanism. Here, we report on eight observations of the magnetar Swift J1818.0–1607 taken with the Parkes Ultra-Wideband Low receiver covering a wide frequency range from 0.7 to 4 GHz over a period of 5 months. The magnetar exhibits significant temporal profile evolution over this period, including the emergence of a new profile component with an inverted spectrum, two distinct types of radio emission mode switching, detected during two separate observations, and the appearance and disappearance of multiple polarization modes. These various phenomena are likely a result of ongoing reconfiguration of the plasma content and electric currents within the magnetosphere. Geometric fits to the linearly polarized position angle indicate we are viewing the magnetar at an angle of ∼99○ from the spin axis, and its magnetic and rotation axes are misaligned by ∼112○. While conducting these fits, we found the position angle swing had reversed direction on MJD 59062 compared to observations taken 15 d earlier and 12 d later. We speculate this phenomena may be evidence the radio emission from this magnetar originates from magnetic field lines associated with two co-located magnetic poles that are connected by a coronal loop.
We report the detection of repeat bursts from the source of FRB 171019, one of the brightest fast radio bursts (FRBs) detected in the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) fly's eye ...survey. Two bursts from the source were detected with the Green Bank Telescope in observations centered at 820 MHz. The repetitions are a factor of ∼590 fainter than the ASKAP-discovered burst. All three bursts from this source show no evidence of scattering and have consistent pulse widths. The pulse spectra show modulation that could be evidence for either steep spectra or patchy emission. The two repetitions were the only ones found in an observing campaign for this FRB totaling 1000 hr, which also included ASKAP and the 64 m Parkes radio telescope, over a range of frequencies (720-2000 MHz) at epochs spanning two years. The inferred scaling of repetition rate with fluence of this source agrees with the other repeating source, FRB 121102. The detection of faint pulses from FRB 171019 shows that at least some FRBs selected from bright samples will repeat if follow-up observations are conducted with more sensitive telescopes.
A new Bayesian software package for the analysis of pulsar timing data is presented in the form of temponest which allows for the robust determination of the non-linear pulsar timing solution ...simultaneously with a range of additional stochastic parameters. This includes both red spin noise and dispersion measure variations using either power-law descriptions of the noise, or through a model-independent method that parametrizes the power at individual frequencies in the signal. We use temponest to show that at noise levels representative of current data sets in the European Pulsar Timing Array and International Pulsar Timing Array the linear timing model can underestimate the uncertainties of the timing solution by up to an order of magnitude. We also show how to perform Bayesian model selection between different sets of timing model and stochastic parameters, for example, by demonstrating that in the pulsar B1937+21 both the dispersion measure variations and spin noise in the data are optimally modelled by simple power laws. Finally, we show that not including the stochastic parameters simultaneously with the timing model can lead to unpredictable variation in the estimated uncertainties, compromising the robustness of the scientific results extracted from such analysis.
Which bright fast radio bursts repeat? James, C W; Osłowski, S; Flynn, C ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
06/2020, Letnik:
495, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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ABSTRACT
A handful of fast radio bursts (FRBs) are now known to repeat. However, the question remains – do they all? We report on an extensive observational campaign with the Australian Square ...Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), Parkes, and Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, searching for repeat bursts from FRBs detected by the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients survey. In 383.2 h of follow-up observations covering 27 FRBs initially detected as single bursts, only two repeat bursts from a single FRB, FRB 171019, were detected, which have been previously reported by Kumar et al. We use simulations of repeating FRBs that allow for clustering in burst arrival times to calculate new estimates for the repetition rate of FRB 171019, finding only slight evidence for incompatibility with the properties of FRB 121102. Our lack of repeat bursts from the remaining FRBs set limits on the model of all bursts being attributable to repeating FRBs. Assuming a reasonable range of repetition behaviour, at most 60 per cent (90 per cent confidence limit) of these FRBs have an intrinsic burst distribution similar to FRB 121102. This result is shown to be robust against different assumptions on the nature of repeating FRB behaviour, and indicates that if indeed all FRBs repeat, the majority must do so very rarely.
We report the real-time discovery of a fast radio burst (FRB 131104) with the Parkes radio telescope in a targeted observation of the Carina dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The dispersion measure of the ...burst is 779 cm super(-3) pc, exceeding predictions for the maximum line-of-sight Galactic contribution by a factor of 11. The temporal structure of the burst is characterized by an exponential scattering tail with a timescale of (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) ms at 1582 MHz that scales as frequency to the power (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) (all uncertainties represent 95% confidence intervals). We bound the intrinsic pulse width to be <0.64 ms due to dispersion smearing across a single spectrometer channel. Searches in 78 hr of follow-up observations with the Parkes telescope reveal no additional sporadic emission and no evidence for associated periodic radio emission. We hypothesize that the burst is associated with the Carina dwarf galaxy. Follow-up observations at other wavelengths are necessary to test this hypothesis.
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