scholarly journals The solar abundance problem and eMSTOs in clusters

2020 ◽  
Vol 641 ◽  
pp. A73
Author(s):  
Richard Hoppe ◽  
Maria Bergemann ◽  
Bertram Bitsch ◽  
Aldo Serenelli

In this study, we focus on the impact of accretion from protoplanetary discs on the stellar evolution of AFG-type stars. We used a simplified disc model that was computed using the Two-Pop-Py code, which contains the growth and drift of dust particles in the protoplanetary disc, to model the accretion scenarios for a range of physical conditions for protoplanetary discs. Two limiting cases were combined with the evolution of stellar convective envelopes that were computed using the Garstec stellar evolution code. We find that the accretion of metal-poor (gas) or metal-rich (dust) material has a significant impact on the chemical composition of the stellar convective envelope. As a consequence, the evolutionary track of the star diverts from the standard scenario predicted by canonical stellar evolution models, which assume a constant and homogeneous chemical composition after the assembly of the star is complete. In the case of the Sun, we find a modest impact on the solar chemical composition. Indeed, the accretion of metal-poor material reduces the overall metallicity of the solar atmosphere and it is consistent, within the uncertainty, with the solar Z reported by Caffau et al. (2011, Sol. Phys., 268, 255), but our model is not consistent with the measurement by Asplund et al. (2009, ARA&A, 47, 481). Another relevant effect is the change of the position of the star in the colour-magnitude diagram. By comparing our predictions with a set of open clusters from the Gaia DR2, we show that it is possible to produce a scatter close to the TO of young clusters that could contribute to explaining the observed scatter in CMDs. Detailed measurements of metallicities and abundances in the nearby open clusters will additionally provide a stringent observational test for our proposed scenario.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlassis A. Karydis ◽  
Alexandra P. Tsimpidi ◽  
Sara Bacer ◽  
Andrea Pozzer ◽  
Athanasios Nenes ◽  
...  

Abstract. The importance of wind-blown mineral dust for cloud droplet formation is studied by considering i) the adsorption of water on the surface of insoluble particles, ii) the particle coating by soluble material (due to atmospheric aging) which augments cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity, and iii) the effect of dust on inorganic aerosol concentrations through thermodynamic interactions with mineral cations. The ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model is used to simulate the composition of global atmospheric aerosol; the ISORROPIA-II thermodynamic equilibrium model treats the interactions of K+-Ca2+-Mg2+-NH4+-Na+-SO42−-NO3−-Cl−-H2O aerosol with gas-phase inorganic constituents. Dust is considered a mixture of inert material with reactive minerals; emissions are calculated online by taking into account the soil particle size distribution and chemical composition of different deserts worldwide. The impact of dust on droplet formation is treated through the "unified dust activation parameterization" that considers the inherent hydrophilicity from adsorption and acquired hygroscopicity from soluble salts during aging. Our simulations suggest that the presence of dust increases cloud droplet number concentrations (CDNC) over major deserts (e.g., up to 20 % over the Sahara and Taklimakan Deserts) and decreases CDNC over polluted areas (e.g., up to 10 % over southern Europe and 20 % over northeastern Asia). This leads to a global net decrease of CDNC by 11 %. The adsorption activation of insoluble aerosols and the mineral dust chemistry are shown to be equally important for the cloud droplet formation over the main desserts, e.g., by considering these effects CDNC increases by 20 % over the Sahara. Remote from deserts the application of adsorption theory is critically important since the increased water uptake by the large aged dust particles (i.e., due to the added hydrophilicity by the soluble coating) reduce the maximum supersaturation and thus the cloud droplet formation from the smaller anthropogenic particles (e.g., CDNC decreases by 10 % over southern Europe and 20 % over northeastern Asia by applying adsorption theory). The global average CDNC decreases by 10 % by considering adsorption activation, while changes are negligible when accounting for the mineral dust chemistry. Sensitivity simulations indicate that CDNC is also sensitive to the mineral dust mass and inherent hydrophilicity, and not to the chemical composition of the emitted dust.


2017 ◽  
Vol 604 ◽  
pp. A113 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Bolmont ◽  
F. Gallet ◽  
S. Mathis ◽  
C. Charbonnel ◽  
L. Amard ◽  
...  

Observations of hot-Jupiter exoplanets suggest that their orbital period distribution depends on the metallicity of the host stars. We investigate here whether the impact of the stellar metallicity on the evolution of the tidal dissipation inside the convective envelope of rotating stars and its resulting effect on the planetary migration might be a possible explanation for this observed statistical trend. We use a frequency-averaged tidal dissipation formalism coupled to an orbital evolution code and to rotating stellar evolution models in order to estimate the effect of a change of stellar metallicity on the evolution of close-in planets. We consider here two different stellar masses: 0.4 M⊙ and 1.0 M⊙ evolving from the early pre-main sequence phase up to the red-giant branch. We show that the metallicity of a star has a strong effect on the stellar parameters, which in turn strongly influence the tidal dissipation in the convective region. While on the pre-main sequence, the dissipation of a metal-poor Sun-like star is higher than the dissipation of a metal-rich Sun-like star; on the main sequence it is the opposite. However, for the 0.4 M⊙ star, the dependence of the dissipation with metallicity is much less visible. Using an orbital evolution model, we show that changing the metallicity leads to different orbital evolutions (e.g., planets migrate farther out from an initially fast-rotating metal-rich star). Using this model, we qualitatively reproduced the observational trends of the population of hot Jupiters with the metallicity of their host stars. However, more steps are needed to improve our model to try to quantitatively fit our results to the observations. Specifically, we need to improve the treatment of the rotation evolution in the orbital evolution model, and ultimately we need to consistently couple the orbital model to the stellar evolution model.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 14371-14391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Theodosi ◽  
Maria Tsagkaraki ◽  
Pavlos Zarmpas ◽  
Georgios Grivas ◽  
Eleni Liakakou ◽  
...  

Abstract. In an attempt to take effective action towards mitigating pollution episodes in Athens, precise knowledge of PM2.5 composition and its sources is a prerequisite. Thus, a 2-year chemical composition dataset from aerosol samples collected in an urban background site in central Athens from December 2013 to March 2016 has been obtained and a positive matrix factorization (PMF) was applied in order to identify and apportion fine aerosols to their sources. A total of 850 aerosol samples were collected on a 12 to 24 h basis and analyzed for major ions, trace elements, and organic and elemental carbon, allowing us to further assess the impact of residential heating as a source of air pollution over Athens. The ionic and carbonaceous components were found to constitute the major fraction of the PM2.5 aerosol mass. The annual contribution of the ion mass (IM), particulate organic mass (POM), dust, elemental carbon (EC), and sea salt (SS) was calculated at 31 %, 38 %, 18 %, 8 %, and 3 %, respectively, and exhibited considerable seasonal variation. In winter, the share of IM was estimated down to 23 %, with POM + EC being the dominant component accounting for 52 % of the PM2.5 mass, while in summer, IM (42 %) and carbonaceous aerosols (41 %) contributed almost equally. Results from samples collected on a 12 h basis (day and night) during the three intensive winter campaigns indicated the impact of heating on the levels of a series of compounds. Indeed, PM2.5, EC, POM, NO3-, C2O42-, non sea salt (nss) K+ and selected trace metals including Cd and Pb were increased by up to a factor of 4 in the night compared to the day, highlighting the importance of heating on air quality in Athens. Furthermore, in order to better characterize wintertime aerosol sources and quantify the impact of biomass burning on PM2.5 levels, source apportionment was performed. The data can be interpreted on the basis of six sources, namely biomass burning (31 %), vehicular emissions (19 %), heavy oil combustion (7 %), regional secondary (21 %), marine aerosols (9 %), and dust particles (8 %). Regarding night-to-day patterns their contributions shifted from 19 %, 19 %, 8 %, 31 %, 12 %, and 10 % of the PM2.5 mass during day to 39 %, 19 %, 6 %, 14 %, 7 %, and 7 % during the night, underlining the significance of biomass burning as the main contributor to fine particle levels during nighttime in winter.


2018 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. A24 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Lagarde ◽  
C. Reylé ◽  
A. C. Robin ◽  
G. Tautvaišienė ◽  
A. Drazdauskas ◽  
...  

Context. The Gaia-ESO Public Spectroscopic Survey using FLAMES at the VLT has obtained high-resolution UVES spectra for a large number of giant stars, allowing a determination of the abundances of the key chemical elements carbon and nitrogen at their surface. The surface abundances of these chemical species are known to change in stars during their evolution on the red giant branch (RGB) after the first dredge-up episode, as a result of the extra mixing phenomena. Aims. We investigate the effects of thermohaline mixing on C and N abundances using the first comparison between the Gaia-ESO survey [C/N] determinations with simulations of the observed fields using a model of stellar population synthesis. Methods. We explore the effects of thermohaline mixing on the chemical properties of giants through stellar evolutionary models computed with the stellar evolution code STAREVOL. We include these stellar evolution models in the Besançon Galaxy model to simulate the [C/N] distributions determined from the UVES spectra of the Gaia-ESO survey and to compare them with the observations. Results. Theoretical predictions including the effect of thermohaline mixing are in good agreement with the observations. However, the field stars in the Gaia-ESO survey with C and N abundance measurements have a metallicity close to solar, where the efficiency of thermohaline mixing is not very large. The C and N abundances derived by the Gaia-ESO survey in open and globular clusters clearly show the impact of thermohaline mixing at low metallicity, which explains the [C/N] value observed in lower mass and older giant stars. Using independent observations of carbon isotopic ratio in clump field stars and open clusters, we also confirm that thermohaline mixing should be taken into account to explain the behaviour of 12C/13C as a function of stellar age. Conclusions. Overall, the current model including thermohaline mixing is able to reproduce very well the C and N abundances over the whole metallicity range investigated by the Gaia-ESO survey data.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 961-964
Author(s):  
Andrei Vasile Olteanu ◽  
Georgiana Emmanuela Gilca Blanariu ◽  
Gheorghe Gh. Balan ◽  
Dana Elena Mitrica ◽  
Elena Gologan ◽  
...  

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become of major interest worldwide, it is estimated that more than 20% of the general population suffer from liver steatosis. NAFLD is highly associated with metabolic risk factors like type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity and dyslipidemia, the patients diagnosed with NAFLD should adopt a high fiber low calorie diet, with reduced saturated fat and carbohydrates content, leading to weight loss and improvement of metabolic profile. Our study is aiming to shape the profile of the patient interested in being informed related to food quality and chemical composition and to evaluate the aspects on the food products label which are important for the customer. Between June 2017 and December 2017, 83 patients diagnosed with NASH were included in the study, representing the study group, while 33 subjects, without metabolic syndrome or digestive diseases, selected from patient list belonging to two general practitioners, constituted the control group. Related to the interest of being informed about the chemical composition and nutritional value of the products bought, the study showed a low interest for the provided information on nutritional value. lack of confidence in the provided information and complexity of the information are understandable, the high number of subject reasoning through lack of immediate clinical benefit is surprising. Among the healthy population the willingness to pay attention to this aspect is extremely low.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 268-279
Author(s):  
Mohamed E.I. Badawy ◽  
Ibrahim E.A. Kherallah ◽  
Ahmed S.O. Mohareb ◽  
Mohamed. Z.M. Salem ◽  
Hameda A. Yousef

Background:Plant extracts are important products in the world and have been widely used for isolation of important biologically active products. Because of their significant environmental impact, extensive research has been explored to determine the antimicrobial activity of plant extracts.Methods:Acetone extracts of the bark and leaf of Cupressus sempervirens and Juniperus phoenicea, collected from three different altitudes (125, 391, and 851 m high of sea level) at Al- Jabel Al-Akhdar area, Libya were obtained and analyzed by GC/MS. The antimicrobial activity of the extracts was further evaluated against plant bacteria Rhizobium radiobacter, Erwinia carotovora, Rhodococcus fascians and Ralstonia solanacearum and fungus Botrytis cinerea.Results:The impact of the altitude from the sea level on the quantity and chemical constituents of the extracts was investigated. The yield was largely dependent on tree species and the highest yield (6.50%) was obtained with C. sempervirens L bark of altitude III (851 m of the sea level), while the lowest (1.17%) was obtained with the leaf extract of C. sempervirens L from altitude I (125 m). The chemical composition analyzed by GC/MS confirmed that the leaf extracts of C. sempervirens and J. phoenicea contained a complex mixture of monoterpene hydrocarbons, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, diterpenoids, terpenophenolic, steroids and phthalates. However, the bark extracts of both trees contained a mixture of sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, diterpenoids, terpenophenolics, phthalates, retinol and steroids. These constituents revealed some variability among the extracts displaying the highest interesting chemotype of totarol (terpenophenolic) in all extracts (14.63-78.19% of the total extract). The extracts displayed a noteworthy antifungal potency with varying degrees of inhibition of growth with EC50 values ranged from 78.50 to 206.90 mg/L. The extracts obtained from the leaves of C. sempervirens showed that the highest inhibitory activity was obtained with the extract of altitude II (391 m) with MIC 565, 510, 380 and 710 mg/L against E. carotovora, R. fascians, and R. radiobacter and R. solanacearum, respectively.Conclusion:Based on antimicrobial activity, raw plant extracts can be a cost-effective way to protect crops from microbial pathogens. Because plant extracts contain several antimicrobial compounds, the development of resistant pathogens can be delayed.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 125
Author(s):  
Mariola Jabłońska ◽  
Janusz Janeczek ◽  
Beata Smieja-Król

For the first time, it is shown that inhaled ambient air-dust particles settled in the human lower respiratory tract induce lung calcification. Chemical and mineral compositions of pulmonary calcium precipitates in the lung right lower-lobe (RLL) tissues of 12 individuals who lived in the Upper Silesia conurbation in Poland and who had died from causes not related to a lung disorder were determined by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. Whereas calcium salts in lungs are usually reported as phosphates, calcium salts precipitated in the studied RLL tissue were almost exclusively carbonates, specifically Mg-calcite and calcite. These constituted 37% of the 1652 mineral particles examined. Mg-calcite predominated in the submicrometer size range, with a MgCO3 content up to 50 mol %. Magnesium plays a significant role in lung mineralization, a fact so far overlooked. The calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite) content in the studied RLL tissue was negligible. The predominance of carbonates is explained by the increased CO2 fugacity in the RLL. Carbonates enveloped inhaled mineral-dust particles, including uranium-bearing oxides, quartz, aluminosilicates, and metal sulfides. Three possible pathways for the carbonates precipitation on the dust particles are postulated: (1) precipitation of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), followed by its transformation to calcite; (2) precipitation of Mg-ACC, followed by its transformation to Mg-calcite; (3) precipitation of Mg-free ACC, causing a localized relative enrichment in Mg ions and subsequent heterogeneous nucleation and crystal growth of Mg-calcite. The actual number of inhaled dust particles may be significantly greater than was observed because of the masking effect of the carbonate coatings. There is no simple correlation between smoking habit and lung calcification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 6874
Author(s):  
Miroslava Vandličkova ◽  
Iveta Markova ◽  
Katarina Holla ◽  
Stanislava Gašpercová

The paper deals with the selected characteristics, such as moisture, average bulk density, and fraction size, of tropical marblewood dust (Marmaroxylon racemosum) that influence its ignition risk. Research was focused on sieve analysis, granulometric analysis, measurement of moisture level in the dust, and determination of the minimum ignition temperatures of airborne tropical dust and dust layers. Samples were prepared using a Makita 9556CR 1400W grinder and K36 sandpaper for the purpose of selecting the percentages of the various fractions (<63, 63, 71, 100, 200, 315, 500 μm). The samples were sized on an automatic vibratory sieve machine Retsch AS 200. More than 65% of the particles were determined to be under 100 μm. The focus was on microfractions of tropical wood dust (particles with a diameter of ≤100 µm) and on the impact assessment of particle size (particle size <100 µm) on the minimum ignition temperatures of airborne tropical dust and dust layers. The minimum ignition temperature of airborne marblewood dust decreased with the particle size to the level of 400 °C (particle size 63 μm).


Author(s):  
Guglielmo Costa ◽  
Alessandro Bressan ◽  
Michela Mapelli ◽  
Paola Marigo ◽  
Giuliano Iorio ◽  
...  

Abstract Pair-instability (PI) is expected to open a gap in the mass spectrum of black holes (BHs) between ≈40 − 65 M⊙ and ≈120 M⊙. The existence of the mass gap is currently being challenged by the detection of GW190521, with a primary component mass of $85^{+21}_{-14}$ M⊙. Here, we investigate the main uncertainties on the PI mass gap: the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction rate and the H-rich envelope collapse. With the standard 12C(α, γ)16O rate, the lower edge of the mass gap can be 70 M⊙ if we allow for the collapse of the residual H-rich envelope at metallicity Z ≤ 0.0003. Adopting the uncertainties given by the starlib database, for models computed with the 12C(α, γ)16O rate −1 σ, we find that the PI mass gap ranges between ≈80 M⊙ and ≈150 M⊙. Stars with MZAMS &gt; 110 M⊙ may experience a deep dredge-up episode during the core helium-burning phase, that extracts matter from the core enriching the envelope. As a consequence of the He-core mass reduction, a star with MZAMS = 160 M⊙ may avoid the PI and produce a BH of 150 M⊙. In the −2 σ case, the PI mass gap ranges from 92 M⊙ to 110 M⊙. Finally, in models computed with 12C(α, γ)16O −3 σ, the mass gap is completely removed by the dredge-up effect. The onset of this dredge-up is particularly sensitive to the assumed model for convection and mixing. The combined effect of H-rich envelope collapse and low 12C(α, γ)16O rate can lead to the formation of BHs with masses consistent with the primary component of GW190521.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 727
Author(s):  
José Fortes Lopes ◽  
Carina Lurdes Lopes ◽  
João Miguel Dias

Extreme weather events (EWEs) represent meteorological hazards for coastal lagoon hydrodynamics, of which intensity and frequency are increasing over the last decades as a consequence of climate changes. The imbalances they generated should affect primarily vulnerable low-lying areas while potentially disturbing the physical balances (salt and water temperature) and, therefore, the ecosystem equilibrium. This study arises from the need to assess the impact of EWEs on the Ria de Aveiro, a lagoon situated in the Portuguese coastal area. Furthermore, it was considered that those events occur under the frame of a future sea-level rise, as predicted by several climate change scenarios. Two EWEs scenarios, a dry and an extremely wet early summer reflecting past situations and likely to occur in the future, were considered to assess the departure from the system baseline functioning. It was used as a biogeochemistry model that simulates the hydrodynamics, as well as the baseline physical and biogeochemistry state variables. The dry summer scenario, corresponding to a significant reduction in the river’s inflow, evidences a shift of the system to a situation under oceanic dominance characterized by colder and saltier water (~18 °C; 34 PSU) than the baseline while lowering the concentration of the nutrients and reducing the phytoplankton population to a low-level limit. Under a wet summer scenario, the lagoon shifted to a brackish and warmer situation (~21 °C, <15 PSU) in a time scale of some tidal periods, driven by the combining effect of the tidal transport and the river’s inflow. Phytoplankton patterns respond to variability on local and short-term scales that reflect physical conditions within the lagoon, inducing nutrient-supported growth. Overall, the results indicate that EWEs generate local and transient changes in physical conditions (namely salinity and water temperature) in response to the characteristic variability of the lagoon’s hydrodynamics associated with a tidal-dominated system. Therefore, in addition to the potential impact of changing physical conditions on the ecosystem, saline intrusion along the lagoon or the transfer of brackish water to the mouth of the system are the main consequences of EWEs, while the main biogeochemistry changes tend to remain moderate.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document