Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series最新文献

New emission branching fraction (BF) measurements for 183 lines of the second spectrum of chromium (Cr II) and new radiative lifetime measurements from laser-induced fluorescence for 8 levels of Cr⁺ are reported. The goals of this study are to improve transition probability measurements in Cr II and reconcile solar and stellar Cr abundance values based on Cr I and Cr II lines. Eighteen spectra from three Fourier Transform Spectrometers supplemented with ultraviolet spectra from a high-resolution echelle spectrometer are used in the BF measurements. Radiative lifetimes from this study and earlier publications are used to convert the BFs into absolute transition probabilities. These new laboratory data are applied to determine the Cr abundance log ε in the Sun and metal-poor star HD 84937. The mean result in the Sun is 〈logε (Cr II)〉 = 5.624±0.009 compared to 〈logε(Cr I)〉 = 5.644 ± 0.006 on a scale with the hydrogen abundance log ε(H) = 12 and with the uncertainty representing only line-to-line scatter. A Saha (ionization balance) test on the photosphere of HD 84937 is also performed, yielding 〈logε(Cr II)〉 = 3.417 ± 0.006 and 〈log ε(Cr I, lower level excitation potential E. P. >30 eV)〉 = 3.3743±30.011 for this dwarf star. We find a correlation of Cr with the iron-peak element Ti, suggesting an associated nucleosynthetic production. Four iron-peak elements (Cr along with Ti, V, and Sc) appear to have a similar (or correlated) production history-other iron-peak elements appear not to be associated with Cr.

Rhythmic events in female reproductive physiology, including ovulation, are tightly controlled by the circadian timing system. The molecular clock, a feedback loop oscillator of clock gene transcription factors, dictates rhythms of gene expression in the hypothalamo-pituitary-ovarian axis. Circadian disruption due to environmental factors (eg, shift work) or genetic manipulation of the clock has negative impacts on fertility. Although the central pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus classically regulates the timing of ovulation, we have shown that this rhythm also depends on phasic sensitivity to LH. We hypothesized that this rhythm relies on clock function in a specific cellular compartment of the ovarian follicle. To test this hypothesis we generated mice with deletion of the Bmal1 locus in ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) (Granulosa Cell Bmal1 KO; GCKO) or theca cells (TCs) (Theca Cell Bmal1 KO; TCKO). Reproductive cycles, preovulatory LH secretion, ovarian morphology and behavior were not grossly altered in GCKO or TCKO mice. We detected phasic sensitivity to LH in wild-type littermate control (LC) and GCKO mice but not TCKO mice. This decline in sensitivity to LH is coincident with impaired fertility and altered patterns of LH receptor (Lhcgr) mRNA abundance in the ovary of TCKO mice. These data suggest that the TC is a pacemaker that contributes to the timing and amplitude of ovulation by modulating phasic sensitivity to LH. The TC clock may play a critical role in circadian disruption-mediated reproductive pathology and could be a target for chronobiotic management of infertility due to environmental circadian disruption and/or hormone-dependent reprogramming in women.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are likely responsible for the family of infrared emission features seen in a wide variety of astrophysical environments. A potentially important subclass of these materials are PAHs whose edges contain excess H atoms (H_n-PAHs). This type of compound may be present in space, but it has been difficult to assess this possibility because of a lack of suitable laboratory spectra to assist with analysis of astronomical data. We present 4000-500 cm^-1 (2.5-20 µm) infrared spectra of 23 H_n-PAHs and related molecules isolated in argon matrices under conditions suitable for interpretation of astronomical data. Spectra of molecules with mixed aromatic and aliphatic domains show characteristics that distinguish them from fully aromatic PAH equivalents. Two major changes occur as PAHs become more hydrogenated: (1) aromatic C-H stretching bands near 3.3 µm weaken and are replaced with stronger aliphatic bands near 3.4 µm, and (2) aromatic C-H out-of-plane bending mode bands in the 11-15 µm region shift and weaken concurrent with growth of a strong aliphatic -CH₂-deformation mode near 6.9 µm. Implications for interpreting astronomical spectra are discussed with emphasis on the 3.4 and 6.9 µm features. Laboratory data is compared with emission spectra from IRAS 21282+5050, an object with normal PAH emission features, and IRAS 22272+5435 and IRAS 0496+3429, two protoplanetary nebulae with abnormally large 3.4 µm features. We show that 'normal' PAH emission objects contain relatively few H_n-PAHs in their emitter populations, but less evolved protoplanetary nebulae may contain significant abundances of these molecules.