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At least 1,495 records · Page 83
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Genome editing in plants using the compact editor CasΦ

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas) systems have been developed as important tools for plant genome engineering. Here, we demonstrate that the hypercompact CasΦ nuclease is able to generate stably inherited gene edits in Arabidopsis, and that CasΦ guide RNAs can be expressed with either the Pol-III U6 promoter or a Pol-II promoter together with ribozyme mediated RNA processing. Using the Arabidopsis fwa epiallele, we show that CasΦ displays higher editing efficiency when the target locus is not DNA methylated, suggesting that CasΦ is sensitive to chromatin environment. Importantly, two CasΦ protein variants, vCasΦ and nCasΦ, both showed much higher editing efficiency relative to the wild-type CasΦ enzyme. Consistently, vCasΦ and nCasΦ yielded offspring plants with inherited edits at much higher rates compared to WTCasΦ. Extensive genomic analysis of gene edited plants showed no off-target editing, suggesting that CasΦ is highly specific. The hypercompact size, T-rich minimal protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), and wide range of working temperatures make CasΦ an excellent supplement to existing plant genome editing systems.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Challenges and Opportunities Specific to Microreactors: Compact and Light-Weight Shielding During Operation and Transportation

The problem of designing a shield for a mobile microreactor has been addressed. The principal challenges encountered in this endeavor are the dual goals of increasing radiation protection and decreasing weight. It is recognized that these two goals are contradictory. Increasing shielding naturally increases weight. Conversely, decreasing weight naturally calls for decreasing material inventory, including possibly decreasing shield mass. The operational and regulatory drivers for shielding and transportation constraints are identified and summarized. The main constraints pertain to volume, mass, radiation dose, material feasibility and availability, and decommissioning expectations. The latter are limits on residual contamination and dose rates after the reactor is removed. Progress toward solving the challenge of shielding a transportable microreactor is made by considering a tungsten tetraboride (WB4) shell surrounding the reactor vessel. The shield and a generic microreactor were modeled using the MCNP code. It was determined that the presence of a 16-cm-thick WB4 shield reduces the dose equivalent rate during operations to 3.6 mrem/h just outside of a concrete vault and dome and soil berm surrounding the reactor, which is very near the occupational dose rate limits. Without the WB4 layer, the dose rate at the same location outside the berm would be 120 mrem/h. Most importantly, the presence of the WB4 shield substantially protects the surrounding concrete and soil from activation, thus decreasing the duration of administrative control for the site following removal of the reactor from 16 to 3.4 years. At that point, the site may be decommissioned and returned to unrestricted public access. A limitation on the incorporation of a WB4 shield as an intrinsic component of a microreactor is that it results in a design that is transportable only by using the largest road conveyances and that the load would require special permits for transit through the U.S. highway system. New directions for further improvements and possibly more effective solutions to the shielding problem of a mobile microreactor are discussed in the conclusion section.

Microreactor↗
DOE OSTI2017

Compact determination of hydrogen isotopes

Scanning calorimetry of a confined, reversible hydrogen sorbent material has been previously proposed as a method to determine compositions of unknown mixtures of diatomic hydrogen isotopologues and helium. Application of this concept could result in greater process knowledge during the handling of these gases. Previously published studies have focused on mixtures that do not include tritium. This paper focuses on modeling to predict the effect of tritium in mixtures of the isotopologues on a calorimetry scan. Furthermore, the model predicts that tritium can be measured with a sensitivity comparable to that observed for hydrogen-deuterium mixtures, and that under so me conditions, it may be possible to determine the atomic fractions of all three isotopes in a gas mixture.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2011

MAGNETIC FIELDS IN LARGE-DIAMETER H II REGIONS REVEALED BY THE FARADAY ROTATION OF COMPACT EXTRAGALACTIC RADIO SOURCES

We present a study of the line-of-sight magnetic fields in five large-diameter Galactic H II regions. Using the Faraday rotation of background polarized radio sources, as well as dust-corrected H{alpha} surface brightness as a probe of electron density, we estimated the strength and orientation of the magnetic field along 93 individual sight lines through the H II regions. Each of the H II regions displayed a coherent magnetic field. The magnetic field strength (line-of-sight component) in the regions ranges from 2 to 6 {mu}G, which is similar to the typical magnetic field strength in the diffuse interstellar medium. We investigated the relationship between magnetic field strength and electron density in the five H II regions. The slope of magnetic field versus density in the low-density regime (0.8 cm{sup -3} < n{sub e} <30 cm{sup -3}) is very slightly above zero. We also calculated the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure, {beta}{sub th}, for each data point, which fell in the range 1.01 < {beta}{sub th} < 25. Finally, we studied the orientation of the magnetic field in the solar neighborhood (d < 1.1 kpc) using our data from five H II regions along with existing measurements of the line-of-sight magnetic field strength from polarized pulsars whose distances have been determined from their annual parallax. We identify a net direction for the magnetic field in the solar neighborhood, but find no evidence for a preferred vertical direction of the magnetic field above or below the Galactic plane.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A LARGE POPULATION OF MASSIVE COMPACT POST-STARBURST GALAXIES AT z > 1: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE SIZE EVOLUTION AND QUENCHING MECHANISM OF QUIESCENT GALAXIES

We study the growth of the red sequence through the number density and structural evolution of a sample of young and old quiescent galaxies at 0 < z < 2. The galaxies are selected from the NEWFIRM Medium-Band Survey in the Cosmic Evolution Survey field. We find a large population of massive young recently quenched ({sup p}ost-starburst{sup )} galaxies at z > 1 that are almost non-existent at z < 1; their number density is 5 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} Mpc{sup -3} at z = 2, whereas it is a factor of 10 less at z = 0.5. The observed number densities of young and old quiescent galaxies at z > 1 are consistent with a simple model in which all old quiescent galaxies were once identified as post-starburst galaxies. We find that the overall population of quiescent galaxies have smaller sizes and slightly more elongated shapes at higher redshift, in agreement with other recent studies. Interestingly, the most recently quenched galaxies at 1 < z < 2 are not larger, and possibly even smaller, than older galaxies at those redshifts. This result is inconsistent with the idea that the evolution of the average size of quiescent galaxies is largely driven by continuous transformations of larger, star-forming galaxies: in that case, the youngest quiescent galaxies would also be the largest. Instead, mergers or other mechanisms appear to be required to explain the size growth of quiescent galaxies from z = 2 to the present.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A RAY-TRACING ALGORITHM FOR SPINNING COMPACT OBJECT SPACETIMES WITH ARBITRARY QUADRUPOLE MOMENTS. II. NEUTRON STARS

A moderately spinning neutron star acquires an oblate shape and a spacetime with a significant quadrupole moment. These two properties affect its apparent surface area for an observer at infinity, as well as the light curve arising from a hot spot on its surface. In this paper, we develop a ray-tracing algorithm to calculate the apparent surface areas of moderately spinning neutron stars making use of the Hartle-Thorne metric. This analytic metric allows us to calculate various observables of the neutron star in a way that depends only on its macroscopic properties and not on the details of its equation of state. We use this algorithm to calculate the changes in the apparent surface area, which could play a role in measurements of neutron-star radii and, therefore, in constraining their equation of state. We show that whether a spinning neutron star appears larger or smaller than its non-rotating counterpart depends primarily on its equatorial radius. For neutron stars with radii {approx}10 km, the corrections to the Schwarzschild spacetime cause the apparent surface area to increase with spin frequency. In contrast, for neutron stars with radii {approx}15 km, the oblateness of the star dominates the spacetime corrections and causes the apparent surface area to decrease with increasing spin frequency. In all cases, the change in the apparent geometric surface area for the range of observed spin frequencies is {approx}<5% and hence only a small source of error in the measurement of neutron-star radii.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

FURTHER EVIDENCE THAT QUASAR X-RAY EMITTING REGIONS ARE COMPACT: X-RAY AND OPTICAL MICROLENSING IN THE LENSED QUASAR Q J0158-4325

We present four new seasons of optical monitoring data and six epochs of X-ray photometry for the doubly imaged lensed quasar Q J0158-4325. The high-amplitude, short-period microlensing variability for which this system is known has historically precluded a time delay measurement by conventional methods. We attempt to circumvent this limitation by the application of a Monte Carlo microlensing analysis technique, but we are only able to prove that the delay must have the expected sign (image A leads image B). Despite our failure to robustly measure the time delay, we successfully model the microlensing at optical and X-ray wavelengths to find a half-light radius for soft X-ray emission log (r{sub 1/2,X,soft}/cm) = 14.3{sup +0.4}{sub -0.5}, an upper limit on the half-light radius for hard X-ray emission log (r{sub 1/2,X,hard}/cm) {<=} 14.6, and a refined estimate of the inclination-corrected scale radius of the optical R-band (rest frame 3100 A) continuum emission region of log (r{sub s} /cm) = 15.6 {+-} 0.3.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

HYDRODYNAMICAL SIMULATIONS OF A COMPACT SOURCE SCENARIO FOR THE GALACTIC CENTER CLOUD G2

The origin of the dense gas cloud G2 discovered in the Galactic Center is still a debated puzzle. G2 might be a diffuse cloud or the result of an outflow from an invisible star embedded in it. We present hydrodynamical simulations of the evolution of different spherically symmetric winds of a stellar object embedded in G2. We find that the interaction with the ambient medium and the extreme gravitational field of the supermassive black hole in the Galactic Center must be taken into account in such a source scenario. The thermal pressure of the hot and dense atmosphere confines the wind, while its ram pressure shapes it via stripping along the orbit, with the details depending on the wind parameters. Tidal forces squeeze the wind near pericenter, reducing it to a thin and elongated filament. We also find that in this scenario most of the Brγ luminosity is expected to come from the densest part of the wind, which has a highly filamentary structure with a low filling factor. For our assumed atmosphere, the observations can be best matched by a mass outflow rate of M-dot{sub w}=8.8×10{sup -8} M{sub sun} yr{sup -1} and a wind velocity of v{sub w} = 50 km s{sup –1}. These values are comparable with those of a young T Tauri star wind, as already suggested by Scoville and Burkert.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

SECULAR ORBITAL EVOLUTION OF COMPACT PLANET SYSTEMS

Recent observations have shown that at least some close-in exoplanets maintain eccentric orbits despite tidal circularization timescales that are typically much shorter than stellar ages. We explore gravitational interactions with a more distant planetary companion as a possible cause of these unexpected non-zero eccentricities. For simplicity, we focus on the evolution of a planar two-planet system subject to slow eccentricity damping and provide an intuitive interpretation of the resulting long-term orbital evolution. We show that dissipation shifts the two normal eigenmode frequencies and eccentricity ratios of the standard secular theory slightly, and we confirm that each mode decays at its own rate. Tidal damping of the eccentricities drives orbits to transition relatively quickly between periods of pericenter circulation and libration, and the planetary system settles into a locked state in which the pericenters are nearly aligned or nearly anti-aligned. Once in the locked state, the eccentricities of the two orbits decrease very slowly because of tides rather than at the much more rapid single-planet rate, and thus eccentric orbits, even for close-in planets, can often survive much longer than the age of the system. Assuming that an observed close-in planet on an elliptical orbit is apsidally locked to a more distant, and perhaps unseen companion, we provide a constraint on the mass, semi-major axis, and eccentricity of the companion. We find that the observed two-planet system HAT-P-13 might be in just such an apsidally locked state, with parameters that obey our constraint reasonably well. We also survey close-in single planets, some with and some without an indication of an outer companion. None of the dozen systems that we investigate provides compelling evidence for unseen companions. Instead, we suspect that (1) orbits are in fact circular, (2) tidal damping rates are much slower than we have assumed, or (3) a recent event has excited these eccentricities. Our method should prove useful for interpreting the results of both current and future planet searches.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Failed supernovae explain the compact remnant mass function

One explanation for the absence of higher mass red supergiants (16.5 M {sub ☉} ≲ M ≲ 25 M {sub ☉}) as the progenitors of Type IIP supernovae (SNe) is that they die in failed SNe creating black holes. Simulations show that such failed SNe still eject their hydrogen envelopes in a weak transient, leaving a black hole with the mass of the star's helium core (5-8 M {sub ☉}). Here we show that this naturally explains the typical masses of observed black holes and the gap between neutron star and black hole masses without any fine-tuning of stellar mass loss, binary mass transfer, or the SN mechanism, beyond having it fail in a mass range where many progenitor models have density structures that make the explosions more likely to fail. There is no difficulty including this ∼20% population of failed SNe in any accounting of SN types over the progenitor mass function. And, other than patience, there is no observational barrier to either detecting these black hole formation events or limiting their rates to be well below this prediction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Understanding compact object formation and natal kicks. IV. The case of IC 10 X-1

The extragalactic X-ray binary IC 10 X-1 has attracted attention as it is possibly the host of the most massive stellar-mass black-hole (BH) known to date. Here we consider all available observational constraints and construct its evolutionary history up to the instant just before the formation of the BH. Our analysis accounts for the simplest possible history, which includes three evolutionary phases: binary orbital dynamics at core collapse, common envelope (CE) evolution, and evolution of the BH-helium star binary progenitor of the observed system. We derive the complete set of constraints on the progenitor system at various evolutionary stages. Specifically, right before the core collapse event, we find the mass of the BH immediate progenitor to be ≳ 31 M{sub ☉} (at 95% of confidence, same hereafter). The magnitude of the natal kick imparted to the BH is constrained to be ≲ 130 km s{sup –1}. Furthermore, we find that the 'enthalpy' formalism recently suggested by Ivanova and Chaichenets is able to explain the existence of IC 10 X-1 without the need to invoke unreasonably high CE efficiencies. With this physically motivated formalism, we find that the CE efficiency required to explain the system is in the range of ≅ 0.6-1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Tests of in situ formation scenarios for compact multiplanet systems

Kepler has identified over 600 multiplanet systems, many of which have several planets with orbital distances smaller than that of Mercury. Because these systems may be difficult to explain in the paradigm of core accretion and disk migration, it has been suggested that they formed in situ within protoplanetary disks with high solid surface densities. The strong connection between giant planet occurrence and stellar metallicity is thought to be linked to enhanced solid surface densities in disks around metal-rich stars, so the presence of a giant planet can be a sign of planet formation in a high solid surface density disk. I formulate quantitative predictions for the frequency of long-period giant planets in these in situ models by translating the proposed increase in disk mass into an equivalent metallicity enhancement. I rederive the scaling of giant planet occurrence with metallicity as P{sub gp}=0.05{sub −0.02}{sup +0.02}×10{sup (2.1±0.4)[M/H]}=0.08{sub −0.03}{sup +0.02}×10{sup (2.3±0.4)[Fe/H]} and show that there is significant tension between the frequency of giant planets suggested by the minimum mass extrasolar nebula scenario and the observational upper limits. Consequently, high-mass disks alone cannot explain the observed properties of the close-in Kepler multiplanet systems and therefore migration is still important. More speculatively, I combine the metallicity scaling of giant planet occurrence with small planet occurrence rates to estimate the number of solar system analogs in the Galaxy. I find that in the Milky Way there are perhaps 4 × 10{sup 6} true solar system analogs with an FGK star hosting both a terrestrial planet in the habitable zone and a long-period giant planet companion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Weak and compact radio emission in early massive star formation regions: an ionized jet toward G11.11–0.12P1

We report 1.3 cm and 6 cm continuum observations toward the massive proto-stellar candidate G11.11–0.12P1 using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. We detect a string of four unresolved radio continuum sources coincident with the mid-infrared source in G11P1. The continuum sources have positive spectral indices consistent with a thermal (free-free) ionized jet. The most likely origins of the ionized gas are shocks due to the interaction of a stellar wind with the surrounding high-density material. We also present NIR United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) archival data that show an extended structure detected only at K band (2.2 μm), which is oriented perpendicular to the jet, and that may be scattered light from a circumstellar disk around the massive protostar. Our observations plus the UKIRT archival data thus provide new evidence that a disk/jet system is present in the massive proto-stellar candidate located in the G11.11–0.12P1 core.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

revealing H{sub 2}D{sup +} depletion and compact structure in starless and protostellar cores with ALMA

We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the submillimeter dust continuum and H{sub 2}D{sup +} 1{sub 10}-1{sub 11} emission toward two evolved, potentially protostellar cores within the Ophiuchus molecular cloud, Oph A SM1 and SM1N. The data reveal small-scale condensations within both cores, with mass upper limits of M ≲ 0.02 M {sub ☉} (∼20 M {sub Jup}). The SM1 condensation is consistent with a nearly symmetric Gaussian source with a width of only 37 AU. The SM1N condensation is elongated and extends 500 AU along its major axis. No evidence for substructure is seen in either source. A Jeans analysis indicates that these sources are unlikely to fragment, suggesting that both will form single stars. H{sub 2}D{sup +} is only detected toward SM1N, offset from the continuum peak by ∼150-200 AU. This offset may be due to either heating from an undetected, young, low-luminosity protostellar source or first hydrostatic core, or HD (and consequently H{sub 2}D{sup +}) depletion in the cold center of the condensation. We propose that SM1 is protostellar and that the condensation detected by ALMA is a warm (T ∼ 30-50 K) accretion disk. The less concentrated emission of the SM1N condensation suggests that it is still starless, but we cannot rule out the presence of a low-luminosity source, perhaps surrounded by a pseudodisk. These data observationally reveal the earliest stages of the formation of circumstellar accretion regions and agree with theoretical predictions that disk formation can occur very early in the star formation process, coeval with or just after the formation of a first hydrostatic core or protostar.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

SECULAR EVOLUTION OF BINARIES NEAR MASSIVE BLACK HOLES: FORMATION OF COMPACT BINARIES, MERGER/COLLISION PRODUCTS AND G2-LIKE OBJECTS

Here we discuss the evolution of binaries around massive black holes (MBHs) in nuclear stellar clusters. We focus on their secular evolution due to the perturbation by the MBHs, while simplistically accounting for their collisional evolution. Binaries with highly inclined orbits with respect to their orbits around MBHs are strongly affected by secular processes, which periodically change their eccentricities and inclinations (e.g., Kozai-Lidov cycles). During periapsis approach, dissipative processes such as tidal friction may become highly efficient, and may lead to shrinkage of a binary orbit and even to its merger. Binaries in this environment can therefore significantly change their orbital evolution due to the MBH third-body perturbative effects. Such orbital evolution may impinge on their later stellar evolution. Here we follow the secular dynamics of such binaries and its coupling to tidal evolution, as well as the stellar evolution of such binaries on longer timescales. We find that stellar binaries in the central parts of nuclear stellar clusters (NSCs) are highly likely to evolve into eccentric and/or short-period binaries, and become strongly interacting binaries either on the main sequence (at which point they may even merge), or through their later binary stellar evolution. The central parts of NSCs therefore catalyze the formation and evolution of strongly interacting binaries, and lead to the enhanced formation of blue stragglers, X-ray binaries, gravitational wave sources, and possible supernova progenitors. Induced mergers/collisions may also lead to the formation of G2-like cloud-like objects such as the one recently observed in the Galactic center.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗