ABSTRACT
We present a first-look analysis of the JWST ERO data in the SMACS J0723.3-7327 cluster field. We begin by reporting 10 new spectroscopic redshifts from λobs = 1.8–5.2 μm NIRSpec ...medium-resolution (R = λ/Δλ = 1000) data. These are determined via multiple high-SNR emission line detections with five objects at 1 < z < 3 displaying multiple rest-frame near-infrared Hydrogen Paschen lines, and five objects at 5 < z < 9 displaying rest-frame optical Oxygen and Hydrogen Balmer lines. For the five higher-redshift galaxies we extract fluxes in six NIRCam bands spanning λobs = 0.8–5 μm and perform spectral energy distribution fitting in combination with existing HST photometry. The 7 < z < 9 objects exhibit a U-shaped pattern across the F277W, F356W, and F444W bands, indicating a Balmer break seen in emission (Balmer jump) and high-equivalent-width O iii emission. This indicates an extremely young stellar population with the bulk of the current mass having formed within the past 10 Myr. We report robust stellar masses and mean stellar ages from our spectral fitting with the four z > 6 galaxies exhibiting low-stellar masses from log10 (M*/M⊙) = 7.1–8.2, and correspondingly young mean stellar ages of only a few Myr. This work highlights the critical importance of combining large upcoming NIRCam surveys with NIRSpec follow-up to measure the spectroscopic redshifts necessary to robustly constrain physical parameters.
A preliminary study of a promising bi-layer environmental barrier coating (EBC) designed to reduce the susceptibility of SiC composites to hot water vapor erosion is reported. The EBC system ...consisted of a silicon bond coat and a pore-free ytterbium disilicate (YbDS; Yb2Si2O7) topcoat. Both layers were deposited on α-SiC substrates using a recently optimized air plasma spray method. The two layers of the coating system had coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) that were well matched to that of the substrate, while the YbDS has been reported to have a moderate resistance to silicon hydroxide vapor forming reactions in water vapor rich environments. Thermal cycling experiments were conducted between 110 °C and 1316 °C in a flowing 90% H2O/10% O2 atmospheric pressure environment, and resulted in the formation of a thermally grown (silica) oxide (TGO) at the silicon-ytterbium disilicate interface. The TGO layer exhibited linear oxidation kinetics consistent with oxidizer diffusion through the ytterbium silicate layer controlling its thickening rate. The effective diffusion coefficient of the oxidizing species in the YbDS layer was estimated to be 2 × 10−12 m2s−1 at 1316 °C. Slow steam volatilization of the YbDS topcoat resulted in the formation of a thin, partially protective, high CTE ytterbium monosilicate layer on the outside of the YbDS coating. Progressive edge delamination of the coating system was observed with steam exposure time, consistent with water vapor volatilization of the TGO edges that were directly exposed to the environment. This was aided by outward bending of the delaminated region to relax TGO and YbMS surface layer stresses developed during the cooling phase of each thermal cycle.
Display omitted
An air plasma spray process has been used to apply a model tri‐layer Yb2SiO5/Al6Si2O13/Si environmental barrier coating system on SiC test coupons. Significant differences in the thermal expansion of ...the component layers resulted in periodically spaced mud cracks in the Yb2SiO5 and Al6Si2O13 layers. Upon thermal cycling between 1316°C and 110°C in a 90% H2O/10% O2 environment flowing at 4.4 cm/s, it was found that partial delamination occurred with the fracture plane located within a thermally grown oxide (TGO) at the Al6Si2O13–Si interface. Delamination initiated at test coupon edges where the gaseous environment preferentially oxidized the exposed Si bond coat to form β‐cristobalite. Simultaneous ingress of the gaseous environment through mud cracks initiated local formation of β‐cristobalite (SiO2), the thickness of which was greatest directly below mud cracks. Upon cooling, cristobalite transformed from the β to α phase with a large, constrained volume contraction that resulted in severe microfracture of the TGO. Continued thermal cycling eventually propagated delamination cracks and caused partial spallation of the coatings. Formation of the cristobalite TGO appears to be the delamination life‐determining factor in protective coating systems utilizing a Si bond coat.
For centuries, scientists have explored the limits of biological jump height
, and for decades, engineers have designed jumping machines
that often mimicked or took inspiration from biological ...jumpers. Despite these efforts, general analyses are missing that compare the energetics of biological and engineered jumpers across scale. Here we show how biological and engineered jumpers have key differences in their jump energetics. The jump height of a biological jumper is limited by the work its linear motor (muscle) can produce in a single stroke. By contrast, the jump height of an engineered device can be far greater because its ratcheted or rotary motor can 'multiply work' during repeated strokes or rotations. As a consequence of these differences in energy production, biological and engineered jumpers should have divergent designs for maximizing jump height. Following these insights, we created a device that can jump over 30 metres high, to our knowledge far higher than previous engineered jumpers and over an order of magnitude higher than the best biological jumpers. Our work advances the understanding of jumping, shows a new level of performance, and underscores the importance of considering the differences between engineered and biological systems.
A recently optimized air plasma spray process has been used to deposit a model tri-layer Yb2SiO5/Al6Si2O13/Si environmental barrier coating (EBC) system on α-SiC substrates using low power deposition ...parameters to reduce silicon losses, improve interface adherence and decrease defect concentrations. During cooling, tensile stresses developed in the ytterbium monosilicate layer since its coefficient of thermal expansion exceeded that of the substrate. These stresses drove vertical mud cracks that underwent crack branching either within the Al6Si2O13 (mullite) layer or at one of its interfaces. Upon subsequent thermal cycling between temperatures of 1316 °C and 110 °C in a 90% H2O + 10% O2 environment, the branched mud cracks propagated into the Si bond coat and grew laterally along the mid-plane of this layer. The faces of the branched cracks were accessible to the steam environment resulting in the formation of a cristobalite surface layer, which mud cracked due to repeated β ↔ α cristobalite phase transformations during thermal cycling. After extended cycling, these cracks linked to cause partial spallation of the coating. The crack branching phenomenon was analyzed using finite element analysis, and the crack trajectory was assessed in terms of the crack driving force controlling kinking from the tip of the mud cracks. A comparison between the present optimized deposition process (performed at low deposition power) with a previous study of a non-optimized process (performed at high power) highlights the importance of reducing the crack driving force and controlling microstructural defects. Finite element simulations provided an effective means to quantify the susceptibility of coating design to failure by the various cracking modalities.
Display omitted
Vγ9Vδ2 T cells respond in a TCR-dependent fashion to both microbial and host-derived pyrophosphate compounds (phosphoantigens, or P-Ag). Butyrophilin-3A1 (BTN3A1), a protein structurally related to ...the B7 family of costimulatory molecules, is necessary but insufficient for this process. We performed radiation hybrid screens to uncover direct TCR ligands and cofactors that potentiate BTN3A1’s P-Ag sensing function. These experiments identified butyrophilin-2A1 (BTN2A1) as essential to Vγ9Vδ2 T cell recognition. BTN2A1 synergised with BTN3A1 in sensitizing P-Ag-exposed cells for Vγ9Vδ2 TCR-mediated responses. Surface plasmon resonance experiments established Vγ9Vδ2 TCRs used germline-encoded Vγ9 regions to directly bind the BTN2A1 CFG-IgV domain surface. Notably, somatically recombined CDR3 loops implicated in P-Ag recognition were uninvolved. Immunoprecipitations demonstrated close cell-surface BTN2A1-BTN3A1 association independent of P-Ag stimulation. Thus, BTN2A1 is a BTN3A1-linked co-factor critical to Vγ9Vδ2 TCR recognition. Furthermore, these results suggest a composite-ligand model of P-Ag sensing wherein the Vγ9Vδ2 TCR directly interacts with both BTN2A1 and an additional ligand recognized in a CDR3-dependent manner.
Display omitted
•Radiation hybrids identify BTN2A1 as crucial for Vγ9Vδ2 phosphoantigen (P-Ag) sensing•BTN2A1 binds directly to the T cell receptor via germline-encoded regions of Vγ9•Cell-surface BTN2A1 associates directly with BTN3A1 independent of P-Ag stimulation•The Vγ9-BTN2A1 interaction modality suggests an additional CDR3-dependent TCR ligand
Karunakaran et al. find that butyrophilin 2A1 (BTN2A1) associates with BTN3A1 on the cell surface and binds directly to germline-encoded regions of the Vγ9 chain of the Vγ9Vδ2 TCR. Thus, BTN2A1 collaborates with BTN3A1 to potentiate Vγ9Vδ2 T cell recognition, playing an essential role in phosphoantigen sensing.
ABSTRACT
We present a study designed to measure the average Lyman-continuum escape fraction (〈fesc〉) of star-forming galaxies at z ≃ 3.5. We assemble a sample of 148 galaxies from the VANDELS ...spectroscopic survey at 3.35 ≤ zspec ≤ 3.95, selected to minimize line-of-sight contamination of their photometry. For this sample, we use ultra-deep, ground-based, U-band imaging and Hubble Space Telescope V-band imaging to robustly measure the distribution of $\mathcal {R_{\rm obs}}\, =(L_{\rm LyC}/L_{\rm UV})_{\rm obs}$. We then model the $\mathcal {R_{\rm obs}}$ distribution as a function of 〈fesc〉, carefully accounting for attenuation by dust, the intergalactic medium and the circumgalactic medium. A maximum likelihood fit to the $\mathcal {R_{\rm obs}}$ distribution returns a best-fitting value of $\langle f_{\rm esc}\rangle =0.07^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$, a result confirmed using an alternative Bayesian inference technique (both techniques exclude 〈fesc〉 = 0.0 at >3σ). By splitting our sample in two, we find evidence that 〈fesc〉 is positively correlated with Ly α equivalent width (Wλ(Ly α)), with high and low Wλ(Lyα) subsamples returning values of $\langle f_{\rm esc}\rangle =0.12^{+0.06}_{-0.04}$ and $\langle f_{\rm esc} \rangle =0.02^{+0.02}_{-0.01}$, respectively. In contrast, we find evidence that 〈fesc〉 is anticorrelated with intrinsic UV luminosity and UV dust attenuation; with low UV luminosity and dust attenuation subsamples both returning best fits in the range 0.10 ≤ 〈fesc〉 ≤ 0.22. We do not find a clear correlation between fesc and galaxy stellar mass, suggesting stellar mass is not a primary indicator of fesc. Although larger samples are needed to further explore these trends, our results suggest that it is entirely plausible that the low dust, low-metallicity galaxies found at z ≥ 6 will display the 〈fesc〉 ≥ 0.1 required to drive reionization.
Three‐dimensional (3‐D) images of two ceramic‐matrix textile composites were captured by X‐ray micron‐resolution computed tomography (μCT) on a synchrotron beamline. Compared to optical images of ...sections, CT data reveal comprehensive geometrical information about the fiber tows; information at smaller scales, on matrix voids, individual fibers, and fiber coatings, can also be extracted but image artifacts can compromise interpretation. A statistical analysis of the shape and positioning of the fiber tows in the 3‐D woven architecture is performed, based on a decomposition of the spatial variations of any geometrical characteristic of the tows into non‐stochastic periodic trends and non‐periodic stochastic deviations. The periodic trends are compiled by exploiting the nominal translational invariance of the textile, a process that maximizes the information content of the relatively small specimens that can be imaged at high resolution. The stochastic deviations (or geometrical defects in the textile) are summarized in terms of the standard deviation of any characteristic at a single point along the axis of a tow and correlations between the values of deviations at two different points on the same or different tows. The tow characteristics analyzed consist of the coordinates of the centroids of a tow, together with the area, aspect ratio, and orientation of its cross‐section. The tabulated statistics are sufficient to calibrate a probabilistic generator (detailed elsewhere) that can create virtual specimens of any size that are individually distinct but share the statistical characteristics of the small specimens analyzed by X‐ray μCT. The data analysis presented herein forms the first step in formulating a virtual test of textile composites, by providing the statistical information required for realistic description of the textile reinforcement.
ABSTRACT
We report a robust sample of 10 massive quiescent galaxies at redshift, z > 3, selected using the first data from the JWST Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science programme. Three of these ...galaxies are at 4 < z < 5, constituting the best evidence to date for quiescent galaxies significantly before z = 4. These extreme galaxies have stellar masses in the range log10(M*/M⊙) = 10.1–11.1, and formed the bulk of their mass around z ≃ 10, with two objects having star formation histories that suggest they had already reached log10(M*/M⊙) > 10 by z ≳ 8. We report number densities for our sample, demonstrating that, based on the small area of JWST imaging so far available, previous work appears to have underestimated the number of quiescent galaxies at 3 < z < 4 by a factor of 3–5, due to a lack of ultra-deep imaging data at $\lambda \gt 2\, \mu$m. This result deepens the existing tension between observations and theoretical models, which already struggle to reproduce previous estimates of z > 3 quiescent galaxy number densities. Upcoming wider-area JWST imaging surveys will provide larger samples of such galaxies and more robust number densities, as well as providing opportunities to search for quiescent galaxies at z > 5. The galaxies we report are excellent potential targets for JWST NIRSpec spectroscopy, which will be required to understand in detail their physical properties, providing deeper insights into the processes responsible for forming massive galaxies and quenching star formation during the first billion years.
ABSTRACT
We study the rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) continuum slopes (β) of galaxies at redshifts 8 < z < 16 (〈z〉 = 10), using a combination of JWST ERO and ERS NIRCam imaging and ground-based ...near-infrared imaging of the COSMOS field. The combination of JWST and ground-based imaging provides a wide baseline in both redshift and absolute UV magnitude (−22.6 < MUV < −17.9), sufficient to allow a meaningful comparison to previous results at lower redshift. Using a power-law fitting technique, we find that our full sample (median MUV = −19.3 ± 1.3) returns an inverse-variance weighted mean value of 〈β〉 = −2.10 ± 0.05, with a corresponding median value of β = −2.29 ± 0.09. These values imply that the UV colours of galaxies at z > 8 are, on average, no bluer than the bluest galaxies in the local universe (e.g. NGC 1705; β = −2.46). We find evidence for a β − MUV relation, such that brighter UV galaxies display redder UV slopes ($\rm {d}\beta / \rm {d} M_{\rm UV} = -0.17 \pm 0.05$). Comparing to results at lower redshift, we find that the slope of our β − MUV relation is consistent with the slope observed at z ≃ 5 and that, at a given MUV, our 8 < z < 16 galaxies are bluer than their z ≃ 5 counterparts, with an inverse-variance weighted mean offset of 〈Δβ〉 = −0.38 ± 0.09. We do not find strong evidence that any objects in our sample display ultra-blue UV continuum slopes (i.e. β ≲ −3) that would require their UV emission to be dominated by ultra-young, dust-free stellar populations with high Lyman-continuum escape fractions. Comparing our results to the predictions of theoretical galaxy formation models, we find that the galaxies in our sample are consistent with the young, metal-poor, and moderately dust-reddened galaxies expected at z > 8.
PDF
