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| 2. |
- Tinetti, Giovanna, et al.
(författare)
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The EChO science case
- 2015
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Ingår i: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 40:2-3, s. 329-391
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The discovery of almost two thousand exoplanets has revealed an unexpectedly diverse planet population. We see gas giants in few-day orbits, whole multi-planet systems within the orbit of Mercury, and new populations of planets with masses between that of the Earth and Neptune-all unknown in the Solar System. Observations to date have shown that our Solar System is certainly not representative of the general population of planets in our Milky Way. The key science questions that urgently need addressing are therefore: What are exoplanets made of? Why are planets as they are? How do planetary systems work and what causes the exceptional diversity observed as compared to the Solar System? The EChO (Exoplanet Characterisation Observatory) space mission was conceived to take up the challenge to explain this diversity in terms of formation, evolution, internal structure and planet and atmospheric composition. This requires in-depth spectroscopic knowledge of the atmospheres of a large and well-defined planet sample for which precise physical, chemical and dynamical information can be obtained. In order to fulfil this ambitious scientific program, EChO was designed as a dedicated survey mission for transit and eclipse spectroscopy capable of observing a large, diverse and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. The transit and eclipse spectroscopy method, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allows us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of at least 10(-4) relative to the star. This can only be achieved in conjunction with a carefully designed stable payload and satellite platform. It is also necessary to provide broad instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect as many molecular species as possible, to probe the thermal structure of the planetary atmospheres and to correct for the contaminating effects of the stellar photosphere. This requires wavelength coverage of at least 0.55 to 11 mu m with a goal of covering from 0.4 to 16 mu m. Only modest spectral resolving power is needed, with R similar to 300 for wavelengths less than 5 mu m and R similar to 30 for wavelengths greater than this. The transit spectroscopy technique means that no spatial resolution is required. A telescope collecting area of about 1 m(2) is sufficiently large to achieve the necessary spectro-photometric precision: for the Phase A study a 1.13 m(2) telescope, diffraction limited at 3 mu m has been adopted. Placing the satellite at L2 provides a cold and stable thermal environment as well as a large field of regard to allow efficient time-critical observation of targets randomly distributed over the sky. EChO has been conceived to achieve a single goal: exoplanet spectroscopy. The spectral coverage and signal-to-noise to be achieved by EChO, thanks to its high stability and dedicated design, would be a game changer by allowing atmospheric composition to be measured with unparalleled exactness: at least a factor 10 more precise and a factor 10 to 1000 more accurate than current observations. This would enable the detection of molecular abundances three orders of magnitude lower than currently possible and a fourfold increase from the handful of molecules detected to date. Combining these data with estimates of planetary bulk compositions from accurate measurements of their radii and masses would allow degeneracies associated with planetary interior modelling to be broken, giving unique insight into the interior structure and elemental abundances of these alien worlds. EChO would allow scientists to study exoplanets both as a population and as individuals. The mission can target super-Earths, Neptune-like, and Jupiter-like planets, in the very hot to temperate zones (planet temperatures of 300-3000 K) of F to M-type host stars. The EChO core science would be delivered by a three-tier survey. The EChO Chemical Census: This is a broad survey of a few-hundred exoplanets, which allows us to explore the spectroscopic and chemical diversity of the exoplanet population as a whole. The EChO Origin: This is a deep survey of a subsample of tens of exoplanets for which significantly higher signal to noise and spectral resolution spectra can be obtained to explain the origin of the exoplanet diversity (such as formation mechanisms, chemical processes, atmospheric escape). The EChO Rosetta Stones: This is an ultra-high accuracy survey targeting a subsample of select exoplanets. These will be the bright "benchmark" cases for which a large number of measurements would be taken to explore temporal variations, and to obtain two and three dimensional spatial information on the atmospheric conditions through eclipse-mapping techniques. If EChO were launched today, the exoplanets currently observed are sufficient to provide a large and diverse sample. The Chemical Census survey would consist of > 160 exoplanets with a range of planetary sizes, temperatures, orbital parameters and stellar host properties. Additionally, over the next 10 years, several new ground- and space-based transit photometric surveys and missions will come on-line (e.g. NGTS, CHEOPS, TESS, PLATO), which will specifically focus on finding bright, nearby systems. The current rapid rate of discovery would allow the target list to be further optimised in the years prior to EChO's launch and enable the atmospheric characterisation of hundreds of planets.
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| 3. |
- Niederberger, C., et al.
(författare)
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Forty years of IVF
- 2018
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Ingår i: Fertility and Sterility. - : Elsevier BV. - 0015-0282. ; 110:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This monograph, written by the pioneers of IVF and reproductive medicine, celebrates the history, achievements, and medical advancements made over the last 40 years in this rapidly growing field.
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| 4. |
- Belmonte, J.C., et al.
(författare)
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Micromachined twin gas sensor for CO and O2 quantification based on catalytically modified nano-SnO2
- 2006
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Ingår i: Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-4005 .- 1873-3077. ; 114:2, s. 881-892
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work we present a micromachined twin sensor that can distinguish between carbon monoxide (CO) and O2 gas taking advantage of the high sensitivity of SnO2 to these gases. The SnO2 nanoparticles of both sensors are catalytically modified with different Pd loadings that act as active filters. In this way, one sensor response is turned to present a higher sensitivity to CO than to O2, whereas the other sensor is mainly turned for detecting O2 variations. The twin sensor has two membranes in the same die of micromachined silicon. Each membrane works independently from the other without any cross talk of temperature. The resistance data obtained from this twin sensor as a function of CO and O 2 concentrations is parametrized. Then, two functions are calculated for the quantification of CO/O2 gas mixtures. A comparison with commercial gas sensors is shown. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Jiang, Rays H. Y., et al.
(författare)
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Distinctive Expansion of Potential Virulence Genes in the Genome of the Oomycete Fish Pathogen Saprolegnia parasitica
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 9:6, s. e1003272-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oomycetes in the class Saprolegniomycetidae of the Eukaryotic kingdom Stramenopila have evolved as severe pathogens of amphibians, crustaceans, fish and insects, resulting in major losses in aquaculture and damage to aquatic ecosystems. We have sequenced the 63 Mb genome of the fresh water fish pathogen, Saprolegnia parasitica. Approximately 1/3 of the assembled genome exhibits loss of heterozygosity, indicating an efficient mechanism for revealing new variation. Comparison of S. parasitica with plant pathogenic oomycetes suggests that during evolution the host cellular environment has driven distinct patterns of gene expansion and loss in the genomes of plant and animal pathogens. S. parasitica possesses one of the largest repertoires of proteases (270) among eukaryotes that are deployed in waves at different points during infection as determined from RNA-Seq data. In contrast, despite being capable of living saprotrophically, parasitism has led to loss of inorganic nitrogen and sulfur assimilation pathways, strikingly similar to losses in obligate plant pathogenic oomycetes and fungi. The large gene families that are hallmarks of plant pathogenic oomycetes such as Phytophthora appear to be lacking in S. parasitica, including those encoding RXLR effectors, Crinkler's, and Necrosis Inducing-Like Proteins (NLP). S. parasitica also has a very large kinome of 543 kinases, 10% of which is induced upon infection. Moreover, S. parasitica encodes several genes typical of animals or animal-pathogens and lacking from other oomycetes, including disintegrins and galactose-binding lectins, whose expression and evolutionary origins implicate horizontal gene transfer in the evolution of animal pathogenesis in S. parasitica.
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| 6. |
- Lissek, T, et al.
(författare)
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Building Bridges through Science
- 2017
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Ingår i: Neuron. - : Elsevier BV. - 1097-4199 .- 0896-6273. ; 96:4, s. 730-735
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Belmonte, M. T., et al.
(författare)
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Fe I Oscillator Strengths for Transitions from High-lying Odd-parity Levels
- 2017
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 848:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report new experimental Fe I oscillator strengths obtained by combining measurements of branching fractions measured with a Fourier Transform spectrometer and time-resolved, laser-induced fluorescence lifetimes. This study covers the spectral region ranging from 213 to 1033 nm. A total of 120 experimental log(gf)-values coming from 15 odd-parity energy levels are provided, 22 of which have not been reported previously and 63 of which have values with lower uncertainty than the existing data. The radiative lifetimes for 60 upper energy levels are presented, 39 of which have no previous measurements.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Belmonte, Rodrigo, et al.
(författare)
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Role of Pathogen-Derived Cell Wall Carbohydrates and Prostaglandin E-2 in Immune Response and Suppression of Fish Immunity by the Oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica
- 2014
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Ingår i: Infection and Immunity. - 0019-9567 .- 1098-5522. ; 82:11, s. 4518-4529
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Saprolegnia parasitica is a freshwater oomycete that is capable of infecting several species of fin fish. Saprolegniosis, the disease caused by this microbe, has a substantial impact on Atlantic salmon aquaculture. No sustainable treatment against saprolegniosis is available, and little is known regarding the host response. In this study, we examined the immune response of Atlantic salmon to S. parasitica infection and to its cell wall carbohydrates. Saprolegnia triggers a strong inflammatory response in its host (i. e., induction of interleukin-1 beta(1) [IL-1 beta(1)], IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha), while severely suppressing the expression of genes associated with adaptive immunity in fish, through downregulation of T-helper cell cytokines, antigen presentation machinery, and immunoglobulins. Oomycete cell wall carbohydrates were recognized by fish leukocytes, triggering upregulation of genes involved in the inflammatory response, similar to what is observed during infection. Our data suggest that S. parasitica is capable of producing prostaglanding E-2 (PGE(2)) in vitro, a metabolite not previously shown to be produced by oomycetes, and two proteins with homology to vertebrate enzymes known to play a role in prostaglandin biosynthesis have been identified in the oomycete genome. Exogenous PGE(2) was shown to increase the inflammatory response in fish leukocytes incubated with cell wall carbohydrates while suppressing genes involved in cellular immunity (gamma interferon [IFN-gamma] and the IFN-gamma-inducible protein [gamma-IP]). Inhibition of S. parasitica zoospore germination and mycelial growth by two cyclooxygenase inhibitors (aspirin and indomethacin) also suggests that prostaglandins may be involved in oomycete development.
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