Gravity modes as a way to distinguish between hydrogen- and helium-burning red giant stars

Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion. Outstanding issues in our understanding of red giants include uncertainties in the amount of mass lost at the surface before helium ignition and the amount of internal mixing from rotation and other processes. Progress is hampered by our inability to distinguish between red giants burning helium in the core and those still only burning hydrogen in a shell. Asteroseismology offers a way forward, being a powerful tool for probing the internal structures of stars using their natural oscillation frequencies. Here we report observations of gravity-mode period spacings in red giants that permit a distinction between evolutionary stages to be made. We use high-precision photometry obtained by the Kepler spacecraft over more than a year to measure oscillations in several hundred red giants. We find many stars whose dipole modes show sequences with approximately regular period spacings. These stars fall into two clear groups, allowing us to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars (period spacing mostly ～ 50 seconds) and those that are also burning helium (period spacing ～ 100 to 300 seconds).     

Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Spin-orbit (SO) coupling--the interaction between a quantum particle's spin and its momentum--is ubiquitous in physical systems. In condensed matter systems, SO coupling is crucial for the spin-Hall effect and topological insulators; it contributes to the electronic properties of materials such as GaAs, and is important for spintronic devices. Quantum many-body systems of ultracold atoms can be precisely controlled experimentally, and would therefore seem to provide an ideal platform on which to study SO coupling. Although an atom's intrinsic SO coupling affects its electronic structure, it does not lead to coupling between the spin and the centre-of-mass motion of the atom. Here, we engineer SO coupling (with equal Rashba and Dresselhaus strengths) in a neutral atomic Bose-Einstein condensate by dressing two atomic spin states with a pair of lasers. Such coupling has not been realized previously for ultracold atomic gases, or indeed any bosonic system. Furthermore, in the presence of the laser coupling, the interactions between the two dressed atomic spin states are modified, driving a quantum phase transition from a spatially spin-mixed state (lasers off) to a phase-separated state (above a critical laser intensity). We develop a many-body theory that provides quantitative agreement with the observed location of the transition. The engineered SO coupling--equally applicable for bosons and fermions--sets the stage for the realization of topological insulators in fermionic neutral atom systems.     

Shank3 mutant mice display autistic-like behaviours and striatal dysfunction

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a range of disorders that share a core of neurobehavioural deficits characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions, deficits in communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. The neurological basis and circuitry mechanisms underlying these abnormal behaviours are poorly understood. SHANK3 is a postsynaptic protein, whose disruption at the genetic level is thought to be responsible for the development of 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan-McDermid syndrome) and other non-syndromic ASDs. Here we show that mice with Shank3 gene deletions exhibit self-injurious repetitive grooming and deficits in social interaction. Cellular, electrophysiological and biochemical analyses uncovered defects at striatal synapses and cortico-striatal circuits in Shank3 mutant mice. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for SHANK3 in the normal development of neuronal connectivity and establish causality between a disruption in the Shank3 gene and the genesis of autistic-like behaviours in mice.     

Meta-analysis of CO2 conversion,energy efficiency,and other performance data of plasma-catalysis reactors with the open access PIONEER database

This paper brings the comparison of performances of CO₂ conversion by plasma and plasma-assisted catalysis based on the data collected from literature in this field, organised in an open access online database. This tool is open to all users to carry out their own analyses, but also to contributors who wish to add their data to the database in order to improve the relevance of the comparisons made, and ultimately to improve the efficiency of CO₂ conversion by plasma-catalys...     

Synthesis, Crystal Structure, Fluorescent and Thermal Properties of Sodium Tridecafluorodizirconate Na5Zr2F13 Compound

1 INTRODUCTION Considerable research effort on the heavy metal fluoride glasses like barium, zirconium fluoride and a series of rare-earth fluorozirconate compounds du- ring the last two decades was initiated by the broad optical transmission window of these glasses and thereby the potential for ultralow-loss optical fi- bers[1~10]. The fluorozirconate of alkali metals was first reported in 1938[11], and most of the sodium and potassium fluorozirconates were reported amongthe 1940s and 19…     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of a New Zn(II) Nitronyl Nitroxide Complex [Zn(NIT4Py)(PDA)(H2O)3]

1 INTRODUCTION Nitronyl nitroxides, independently or in combina- tion with metal ions, have been one of the most wi- dely studied systems in molecular magnetism for understanding radical-radical or metal-radical inte- ractions as well as for synthesizing organic ferroma- gnets and metal-radical magnetic materials[1～4]. Up to now, lots of metal-radical complexes have been reported[5～8]. On the other hand, cooperative inter- molecular interactions, such as coordination bonds, hydrogen bon…     

Correlation Study on Sweetness of Amino Acid with Different Configurations and Quantum Chemical Parameters

1 INTRODUCTION Since the introduction of QSAR by Hansch and Fujita in 1964, Deutsch and Hansch have quickly used it in the study of nitrophenylamine sweet reagents. They found good correlation between their distribution coefficients in octanol/water system and sweetness degree. Subsequently, they detected that vibration of aroma-substituent compounds has so- mething to do with sweetness. Henceforth, statistic correlations between structure and sweetness ofseries compounds have been inv…     

Crystallization and Preliminary Crystallographic Studies of Luffaculin 1, a Ribosome-inactivating Protein from the Seeds of Luffa Acutangula

1 INTRODUCTION The ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are RNA N-glycosidases[1, 2] which inactivate ribosomes by cleaving a single N–C glycosidic bond between adenine and ribose at A4324 in the 28s rRNA of rat. Because of the removal of one adenine from rRNA, elongation factorⅡ(EF-2) can not bind to the 60S subunit, so RIPs can arrest protein synthesis. RIPs can be classified into three types based on the struc- tures of genes and mature proteins[3]. Type 1 RIPs with molec…     

Studies on the Reaction Mechanism of Br2 ＋ I2 = 2IBr

1 INTRODUCTION Interhalogen compounds have played an impor- tant role in environment and chemical engineering production. During the course of ozone exhaustion induced by sunlight in polar region, Br2, BrCl and HOBr are all precursors of Br atom[1]. Lately, scien- tists have detected that the content of BrCl in polar region sunlight was 35 ppt, larger than that of Br2 (25 ppt). Previous studies suggested that the con- centration of BrCl and O3 exhibits obvious negative correlation: w…     

Synthesis and Crystal Structural Characterization of a Thiosemicarbazone Derived from 4-Acylpyrazolone

1 INTRODUCTION Pyrazol-5-one derivatives form an important class of organic compounds due to their structural che- mistry and biological activities as analgesic, antipy- retic, anti-inflammatory and hyperglycemic agents[1～4]. Even the simplest pyrazol-5-one derivatives like antipyrine and amidopyrine are widely used in anal- gesic medicine[5, 6]. On the other hand, thiosemicar- bazones, especially heterocyclic thiosemicarbazones, have been the subject of extensive investigations be- cause…