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We design Latvian quantum finite state automata (LQFAs) recognizing unary regular languages with isolated cut point 1 2. From an architectural viewpoint, we suitably combine two LQFAs recognizing with isolated cut point, respectively, the finite part and the ultimately periodic part any given unary regular language L consists of. In particular, both these LQFAs incorporate a sub-module discriminating strings on the basis of their length.Both the number of basis states and the isolation around the cut point of the resulting LQFAs for L exponentially depend on the size of the minimal deterministic finite state automaton for L. Moreover, the recognition of L tends to becoming deterministic as the number of the basis states employed in the length-discriminating sub-module grows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fully generic treatment of electric dipole moments (EDMs) is presented in the CP-violating and flavor-conserving weak effective field theory (WET) with five flavors of quarks and three flavors of leptons. We systematically analyze leading contributions to EDMs originating from QCD and QED renormalization group running between the electroweak scale and low energy scales of about 2 GeV. We include the full one-loop anomalous dimension and a subset of two-loop corrections, as well as threshold corrections at the bottom, charm and τ masses. This allows us to derive master formulae in the space of generic WET for the neutron and proton EDMs, for EDMs of diamagnetic atoms, and for the precession frequencies constrained in molecular EDM experiments, from which bounds on the electron EDM are extracted. In particular, our master formulae capture the contributions of WET CP-violating operators with heavy quark and lepton flavors. As an application, we study EDM constraints on the Yukawa couplings of the Higgs boson, in both the linear and non-linear realizations of electroweak symmetry breaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

GRB 230307A is the second brightest gamma-ray burst detected in more than 50 years of observations and is located in the direction of the Magellanic Bridge. Despite its long duration, it is most likely the result of the merger of a compact binary ejected from a galaxy in the local universe (redshift z = 0.065). Our XMM-Newton observation of its afterglow at 4.5 days shows a power-law spectrum with photon index Γ = 1.73 ± 0.10, unabsorbed flux F 0.3−10 keV = (8.8 ± 0.5) × 10−14 erg cm−2 s−1, and no absorption in excess of that produced in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Bridge. We derive a limit of N H HOST < 5 × 10 20 cm−2 on the absorption at the GRB redshift, which is a factor ∼5 below the value measured during the prompt phase. We searched for the presence of dust scattering rings with negative results and set an upper limit of the order of A V < 0.05 on the absorption from dust in the Magellanic Bridge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of new XMM-Newton observations of the middle-aged (τ c  = 1.1 × 105 yr) radio pulsar PSR J1740+1000 carried out in 2017–2018. These long pointings (∼530 ks) show that the non-thermal emission, well described by a power-law spectrum with photon index Γ = 1.80 ± 0.17, is pulsed with a ∼30 per cent pulsed fraction above 2 keV. The thermal emission can be well-fit with the sum of two blackbodies of temperatures kT 1 = 70 ± 4 eV and kT 2 = 137 ± 7 eV, and emitting radii |$R_1=5.4_{-0.9}^{+1.3}$| km and |$R_2=0.70_{-0.13}^{+0.15}$| km (for a distance of 1.2 kpc). We found no evidence for absorption lines as those observed in the shorter XMM-Newton observations (∼67 ks) of this pulsar carried out in 2006. The X-ray thermal and non-thermal components peak in antiphase and none of them is seen to coincide in phase with the radio pulse. This, coupled with the small difference in the emission radii of the two thermal components, disfavours an interpretation in which the dipolar polar cap is heated by magnetospheric backward-accelerated particles. Comparison with the other thermally emitting isolated neutron stars with spectra well described by the sum of two components at different temperatures shows that the ratios T 2/ T 1 and R 2/ R 1 are similar for objects of different classes. The observed values cannot be reproduced with simple temperature distributions, such as those caused by a dipolar field, indicating the presence of more complicated thermal maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quark chromoelectric dipole (qCEDM) operator is a CP-violating operator describing, at hadronic energies, beyond-the-standard-model contributions to the electric dipole moment of particles with nonzero spin. In this paper we define renormalized dipole operators in a regularization-independent scheme using the gradient flow, and we perform the matching at one loop in perturbation theory to renormalized operators of the same and lower dimension in the more familiar MS scheme. We also determine the matching coefficients for the quark chromo-magnetic dipole operator (qCMDM), which contributes for example to matrix elements relevant to CP-violating and CP-conserving kaon decays. The calculation provides a basis for future lattice QCD computations of hadronic matrix elements of the qCEDM and qCMDM operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most isolated neutron stars have been discovered thanks to the detection of their pulsed non-thermal emission, at wavelengths spanning from radio to gamma-rays. However, if the beamed non-thermal radiation does not intercept our line of sight or it is too faint or absent, isolated neutron stars can also be detected through their thermal emission, which peaks in the soft X-ray band and is emitted nearly isotropically. In the past 30 yr, several thermally emitting isolated neutron stars have been discovered thanks to X-ray all-sky surveys, observations targeted at the centre of supernova remnants, or as serendipitous X-ray sources. Distinctive properties of these relatively rare X-ray sources are very soft spectra and high ratios of X-ray to optical flux. The recently released 4XMM-DR10 catalogue contains more than half a million X-ray sources detected with the XMM–Newton telescope in the 0.2–10 keV range in observations carried out from 2000 to 2019. Based on a study of the spectral properties of these sources and on cross-correlations with catalogues of possible counterparts, we have carried out a search of isolated neutron stars, finding four potential candidates. The spectral and long-term variability analysis of these candidates, using Chandra and Swift -XRT data, allowed us to point out the most interesting sources deserving further multiwavelength investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THESEUS is a medium size space mission of the European Space Agency, currently under evaluation for a possible launch in 2032. Its main objectives are to investigate the early Universe through the observation of gamma-ray bursts and to study the gravitational waves electromagnetic counterparts and neutrino events. On the other hand, its instruments, which include a wide field of view X-ray (0.3-5 keV) telescope based on lobster-eye focussing optics and a gamma-ray spectrometer with imaging capabilities in the 2-150 keV range, are also ideal for carrying out unprecedented studies in time domain astrophysics. In addition, the presence onboard of a 70 cm near infrared telescope will allow simultaneous multiwavelegth studies. Here we present the THESEUS capabilities for studying the time variability of different classes of sources in parallel to, and without affecting, the gamma-ray bursts hunt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant flares from magnetars can reach, for a fraction of a second, luminosities greater than 10 |$^{47}$|  erg s |$^{-1}$| in the hard X-ray/soft |$\gamma$| -ray range. This makes them visible at distances of several megaparsecs. However, at extragalactic distances (farther than the Magellanic Clouds), they are difficult to distinguish from the short |$\gamma$| -ray bursts, which occur much more frequently. Since magnetars are young neutron stars, nearby galaxies with a high rate of star formation are optimal targets to search for magnetar giant flares (MGFs). Here, we report the results of a search for MGFs in observations of the Virgo cluster and in a small sample of nearby galaxies obtained with the IBIS instrument on the INTE rnational G amma- R ay A strophysics L aboratory (INTEGRAL) satellite. From the currently known MGF sample, we find that their energy distribution is well described by a power law with slope |$\gamma$|  = 2 (with 90 per cent c.l. interval [1.7–2.2]). From the lack of detections in this extensive data set (besides 231115A in M82), we derive a 90 per cent c.l. upper limit on the rate of MGF with |$E > 3 \times 10^{45}$|  erg of |${\sim}2\times 10^{-3}\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$| per magnetar and a lower limit on |$R(>E) $| of |${\sim} 4\times 10^{-4}\,{\rm yr}^{-1}$| magnetar |$^{-1}$| for |$E < 10^{45}$|  erg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We define a regularization-independent momentum-subtraction scheme for the C P -odd three-gluon operator at dimension six. This operator appears in effective field theories for heavy physics beyond the Standard Model, describing the indirect effect of new sources of C P-violation at low energies. In a hadronic context, it induces permanent electric dipole moments. The hadronic matrix elements of the three-gluon operator are non-perturbative objects that should ideally be evaluated with lattice QCD. We define a non-perturbative renormalization scheme that can be implemented on the lattice and we compute the scheme transformation to MS ¯ at one loop. Our calculation can be used as an interface to future lattice-QCD calculations of the matrix elements of the three-gluon operator, in order to obtain theoretically robust constraints on physics beyond the Standard Model from measurements of the neutron electric dipole moment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sterile neutrinos with masses at the keV scale and mixing to the active neutrinos offer an elegant explanation of the observed dark matter (DM) density. However, the very same mixing inevitably leads to radiative photon emission and the non-observation of such peaked X-ray lines rules out this minimal sterile neutrino DM hypothesis. We show that in the context of the Standard Model effective field theory with sterile neutrinos (νSMEFT), higher dimensional operators can produce sterile neutrino DM in a broad range of parameter space. In particular, νSMEFT interactions can open the large mixing parameter space due to their destructive interference, through operator mixing or matching, in the X-ray emission. We also find that, even in the zero mixing limit, the DM density can always be explained by νSMEFT operators. The testability of the studied νSMEFT operators in searches for electric dipole moments, neutrinoless double beta decay, and pion decay measurements is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the results of an XMM-Newton observation of the slowly rotating (P = 3.4 s), highly magnetized (B ≈ 3 × 1013 G) radio pulsar PSR J0726–2612. A previous X-ray observation with the Chandra satellite showed that some of the properties of PSR J0726–2612 are similar to those of the X-ray-dim isolated neutron stars (XDINSs), a small class of nearby slow pulsars characterized by purely thermal X-ray spectra and undetected in the radio band. We confirm the thermal nature of the X-ray emission of PSR J0726–2612, which can be fitted by the sum of two blackbodies with temperatures k T 1 = 0. 074 − 0.011 + 0.006 $ kT_1 = 0.074_{-0.011}^{+0.006} $ kT1=0.074+0.006-0.011 keV and k T 2 = 0. 14 − 0.02 + 0.04 $ kT_2=0.14_{-0.02}^{+0.04} $ kT2=0.14+0.004-0.002 keV and emitting radii R 1 = 10. 4 − 2.8 + 10.8 $ R_1=10.4_{-2.8}^{+10.8} $ R1=10.4+10.8-2.8 km and R 2 = 0. 5 − 0.3 + 0.9 $ R_2=0.5_{-0.3}^{+0.9} $ R2=0.5+0.9-0.3 km, respectively (assuming a distance of 1 kpc). A broad absorption line modeled with a Gaussian profile centered at 0. 39 − 0.03 + 0.02 $ 0.39_{-0.03}^{+0.02} $ 0.39+0.02-0.03 keV is required in the fit. The pulse profile of PSR J0726–2612 is characterized by two peaks with similar intensity separated by two unequal minima, a shape and pulsed fraction that cannot be reproduced without invoking magnetic beaming of the X-ray emission. The presence of a single radio pulse suggests that in PSR J0726–2612 the angles that the dipole axis and the line of sight make with the rotation axis, ξ and χ, respectively, are similar. This geometry differs from that of the two radio-silent XDINSs with double-peaked pulse profiles similar to that of PSR J0726–2612, for which ξ ∼ 90° and χ ∼ 45° have recently been estimated. These results strengthen the similarity between PSR J0726–2612 and the XDINSs and support the possibility that the lack of radio emission from the latter might simply be due to an unfavorable viewing geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on results obtained with the XMM-Newton observation of Feige 34 carried out in April 2018. This is the first spectroscopic X-ray observation of a compact and helium-poor hot subdwarf star. The source was detected at a flux level fX = 3.4 × 10−14 erg cm−2 s−1 in the energy range 0.2–3 keV, which implies an X-ray-to-bolometric flux ratio fX/fbol ≃ 10−6.5. The source spectrum can be described with the sum of two thermal-plasma components with subsolar abundances at temperatures of ≃0.3 and 1.1 keV. These properties are similar to what is observed in early-type main-sequence stars, where the X-ray emission is attributed to turbulence and shocks in the stellar wind. Therefore, the same phenomenon could explain the X-ray properties of Feige 34. However, it is not possible to reproduce the observed spectrum with a thermal-plasma model if the elemental abundances are fixed at the values obtained from the optical and UV spectroscopy. Moreover, we show that the X-ray luminosity and spectrum are consistent with those expected from a young main-sequence star of late spectral type. Therefore, we discuss the possibility that the observed X-ray emission is due to the companion star of M0 spectral type, whose presence is suggested by the IR excess in the spectral energy distribution of Feige 34. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diversity and composition of lepidopteran microbiotas are poorly investigated, especially across the different developmental stages. To improve this knowledge, we characterize the microbiota among different developmental stages of the Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella, which is considered one of the major pest of commodities worldwide. Using culture‐independent approach based on Illumina 16S rRNA gene sequencing we characterized the microbiota of four developmental stages: eggs, first‐, and last‐instar larvae, and adult. A total of 1022 bacterial OTUs were obtained, showing a quite diversified microbiota associated to all the analyzed stages. The microbiotas associated with P. interpunctella resulted almost constant throughout the developmental stages, with approximately 77% of bacterial OTUs belonging to the phylum of Proteobacteria. The dominant bacterial genus is represented by Burkholderia (∼64%), followed by Propionibacterium, Delftia, Pseudomonas, and Stenotrophomonas. A core bacterial community, composed of 139 OTUs, was detected in all the developmental stages, among which 112 OTUs were assigned to the genus Burkholderia. A phylogenetic reconstruction, based on the 16S rRNA, revealed that our Burkholderia OTUs clustered with Burkholderia cepacia complex, in the same group of those isolated from the hemipterans Gossyparia spuria and Acanthococcus aceris. The functional profiling, predicted on the base of the bacterial 16S rRNA, indicates differences in the metabolic pathways related to metabolism of amino acids between preimaginal and adult stages. We can hypothesize that bacteria may support the insect host during preimaginal stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. In 1981, the Be/X-ray binary A0538−66 showed outbursts characterized by high peak luminosities in the X-ray (Lx ≈ 1039 erg s−1) and optical (Lopt ≈ 3 × 1038 erg s−1) bands. The bright optical outbursts were qualitatively explained as X-ray reprocessing in a gas cloud surrounding the binary system. Aims. Since then, further important information about the properties of A0538−66 have been obtained, and sophisticated photoionization codes have been developed to calculate the radiation emerging from a gas nebula illuminated by a central X-ray source. In the light of the new information and tools available, we considered it was worth studying again the enhanced optical emission displayed by A0538−66 to understand the mechanisms responsible for these unique events among the class of Be/X-ray binaries. Methods. We performed about 105 simulations of a gas envelope surrounding the binary system photoionized by an X-ray source. We assumed for the shape of the gas cloud either a sphere or a circumstellar disc observed edge-on. We studied the effects of varying the main properties of the envelope (shape, density, slope of the power law density profile, size) and the influence of different input X-ray spectra and X-ray luminosity on the optical/UV emission emerging from the photoionized cloud. We determined the properties of the cloud and the input X-ray emission by comparing the computed spectra with the IUE spectrum and photometric UBV measurements obtained during the outburst of 29 April 1981. We also explored the role played by the X-ray heating of the surface of the donor star and the accretion disc irradiated by the X-ray emission of the neutron star. Results. We found that reprocessing in a spherical cloud with a shallow radial density distribution and size of about 3 × 1012 cm can reproduce the optical/UV emission observed on 29 April 1981. To our knowledge, this configuration has never been observed either in A0538−66 during other epochs or in other Be/X-ray binaries. We found, contrary to the case of most other Be/X-ray binaries, that the optical/UV radiation produced by the X-ray heating of the surface of the donor star irradiated by the neutron star is non-negligible, due to the particular orbital parameters of this system that bring the neutron star very close to its companion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, the magnetar XTE J1810−197 started an outburst that lasted until early 2007. In the following 11 yr, the source stayed in a quiescent/low-activity phase. XTE J1810−197 is one of the closest magnetars, hence its X-ray properties can be studied in detail even in quiescence and an extended monitoring has been carried out to study its long-term timing and spectral evolution. Here, we report the results of new X-ray observations, taken between 2017 September and 2018 April, with XMM–Newton, Chandra, and NICER. We derived a phase-connected timing solution yielding a frequency derivative of −9.26(6) × 10−14 Hz s−1. This value is consistent with that measured between 2009 and 2011, indicating that the pulsar spin-down rate remained quite stable during the long quiescent period. A spectral analysis of all the X-ray observations taken between 2009 and 2018 does not reveal significant spectral and/or flux variability. The spectrum of XTE J1810−197 can be described by the sum of two thermal components with temperatures of 0.15 and 0.3 keV, plus a power-law component with photon index 0.6. We also found evidence for an absorption line at ∼1.2 keV and width of 0.1 keV. Due to the long exposure time of the summed XMM–Newton observations, we could also carry out a phase-resolved spectral analysis for this source in quiescence. This showed that the flux modulation can be mainly ascribed to the warmer of the two thermal components, whose flux varies by ∼45 per cent along the pulse phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of Beauveria bassiana in biological control of agricultural pests is mainly hampered by environmental factors, such as elevated temperatures and low humidity. These limitations, further amplified in a global warming scenario, could nullify biological control strategies based on this fungus. The identification of thermotolerant B. bassiana isolates represents a possible strategy to overcome this problem. In this study, in order to maximize the probability in the isolation of thermotolerant B. bassiana, soil samples and infected insects were collected in warm areas of Syria. The obtained fungal isolates were tested for different biological parameters (i.e., growth rate, sporulation and spore germination) at growing temperatures ranging from 20°C to 35°C. Among these isolates (eight from insects and 11 from soil samples), the five with the highest growth rate, spore production and germination at 30°C were tested for their entomopathogenicity through in vivo assays on Ephestia kuehniella larvae. Insect mortality induced by the five isolates ranged from 31% to 100%. Two isolates, one from Phyllognathus excavatus and one from soil, caused 50% of the larval mortality in less than four days, reaching values exceeding 92% in ten days. These two isolates were molecularly identified as B. bassiana sensu stricto by using three markers (i.e., ITS, Bloc and EF1-α). Considering these promising results, further studies are ongoing, testing their efficiency in field conditions as control agents for agricultural insect pests in Mediterranean and Subtropical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the X-ray properties of four rotation-powered pulsars with characteristic ages in the range 0.3–5 Myr, derived from the analysis of XMM–Newton archival observations. We found convincing evidence of thermal emission only in the phase-averaged spectrum of PSR B0114+58, which is well fitted by a blackbody with temperature kT = 0.17 ± 0.02 keV and emitting radius R = 405+110−90 m, consistent with the size of its polar cap. The three other considered pulsars, PSR B0628−28, PSR B0919+06, and PSR B1133+16, have phase-averaged spectra that can be described well by single power laws with photon index Γ ~ 3. The 3σ upper limits on the bolometric luminosity of a possible thermal component with temperatures in the range ~0.05−2 keV are Lbol ≲ 3.2 × 1028 erg s−1 and Lbol ≲ 2.4 × 1029 erg s−1, for PSR B0628−28 and PSR B0919+06, respectively. On the other hand, we found possible evidence that the pulsed emission of PSR B0628−28 is thermal. Two absorption lines at ~0.22 keV and ~0.44 keV are detected in the spectrum of PSR B1133+16. They are best interpreted as proton cyclotron features, implying the presence of multipolar components with a field of a few 1013 G at the neutron star polar caps. We discuss our results in the context of high-energy emission models of old rotation-powered pulsars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HD49798/RX J0648.0-4418 is a peculiar X-ray binary with a hot subdwarf (sdO) mass donor. The nature of the accreting compact object is not known, but its spin period P = 13.2 s and Ṗ = -2.15 x 10-15 s s-1 proves that it can be only either a white dwarf or a neutron star. The spin-up has been very stable for more than 20 yr. We demonstrate that the continuous stable spin-up of the compact companion of HD 49798 can be best explained by contraction of a young white dwarf with an age ~2 Myr. This allows us to interpret all the basic parameters of the system in the framework of an accreting white dwarf. We present examples of binary evolution, which result in such systems. If correct, this is the first direct evidence for a white dwarf contraction in early evolutionary stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have helped to improve our understanding of the bacterial communities associated with insects, shedding light on their wide taxonomic and functional diversity. To date, little is known about the microbiota of lepidopterans, which includes some of the most damaging agricultural and forest pests worldwide. Studying their microbiota could help us better understand their ecology and offer insights into developing new pest control strategies. In this paper, we review the literature pertaining to the microbiota of lepidopterans with a focus on pests, and highlight potential recurrent patterns regarding microbiota structure and composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observations obtained in the last years challenged the widespread notion that rotation-powered neutron stars are steady X-ray emitters. Besides a few allegedly rotation-powered neutron stars that showed 'magnetar-like' variability, a particularly interesting case is that of PSR B0943+10. Recent observations have shown that this pulsar, well studied in the radio band where it alternates between a bright and a quiescent mode, displays significant X-ray variations, anticorrelated in flux with the radio emission. The study of such synchronous radio/X-ray mode switching opens a new window to investigate the processes responsible for the pulsar radio and high-energy emission. Here we review the main X-ray properties of PSR B0943+10 derived from recent coordinated X-ray and radio observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A bright burst, followed by an X-ray tail lasting ~10 ks, was detected during an XMM-Newton observation of the magnetar 1E 1547.0-5408 carried out on 2009 February 3. The burst, also observed by Swift/BAT, had a spectrum well fitted by the sum of two blackbodies with temperatures of ~4 and 10 keV and a fluence in the 0.3-150 keV energy range of ~10-5 erg cm-2. The X-ray tail had a fluence of ~4 x 10-8 erg cm-2. Thanks to the knowledge of the distances and relative optical depths of three dust clouds between us and 1E 1547.0-5408, we show that most of the X-rays in the tail can be explained by dust scattering of the burst emission, except for the first ~20-30 s. We point out that other X-ray tails observed after strong magnetar bursts may contain a non-negligible contribution due to dust scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SAX J0635.2+0533 is a binary pulsar with a very short pulsation period (P = 33:8 ms) and a high long-term spin down (P > 3:8 10-13s s-1), which suggests a rotation-powered (instead of an accretion-powered) nature for this source. While it was discovered at a flux level around 10-11 erg cm-2 s-1, between 2003 and 2004, this source was detected with XMM-Newton at an average flux of about 10-13 erg cm-2 s-1; moreover, the flux varied by over one order of magnitude on timescales of a few days, sometimes decreasing to below 3 × 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1. Since both the rotation-powered and the accretion-powered scenarios have difficulties to explain these properties, the nature of SAX J0635.2+0533 is still unclear. Here we report on our recent long-term monitoring campaign on SAX J0635.2+0533 carried out with Swift, and on a systematic reanalysis of all the RXTE observations performed between 1999 and 2001. We found that during this time interval, the source remained almost always active at a flux level above 10-12 erg cm-2 s-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of a new XMM-Newton observation of the helium-rich hot subdwarf BD+37°442 carried out in 2016 February. The possible periodicity at 19 s seen in a 2011 shorter observation is not confirmed, thus dismissing the evidence for a binary nature. This implies that the observed softX-ray emission, with a luminosity of a few 1031 erg s-1, originates in BD+37°442 itself, rather than in an accreting neutron star companion. The X-ray spectrum is well fit by thermal plasma emission with a temperature of 0.22 keV and non-solar element abundances. Besides the overabundance of He, C and N already known from optical/UV studies, the X-ray spectra indicate also a significant excess of Ne. The soft X-ray spectrum and the ratio of X-ray to bolometric luminosity, LX/LBOL ~ 2 × 10-7, are similar to those observed in massive early-type stars. This indicates that the mechanisms responsible for plasma shockheating can work also in the weak stellar winds (mass-loss rates MW ≤ 10-8 M☉ yr-1) of low-mass hot stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the results of a new XMM-Newton observation of the helium-rich hot subdwarf BD+37°442 carried out in 2016 February. The possible periodicity at 19 s seen in a 2011 shorter observation is not confirmed, thus dismissing the evidence for a binary nature. This implies that the observed softX-ray emission, with a luminosity of a few 1031 erg s-1, originates in BD+37°442 itself, rather than in an accreting neutron star companion. The X-ray spectrum is well fit by thermal plasma emission with a temperature of 0.22 keV and non-solar element abundances. Besides the overabundance of He, C and N already known from optical/UV studies, the X-ray spectra indicate also a significant excess of Ne. The soft X-ray spectrum and the ratio of X-ray to bolometric luminosity, LX/LBOL ~ 2 × 10-7, are similar to those observed in massive early-type stars. This indicates that the mechanisms responsible for plasma shockheating can work also in the weak stellar winds (mass-loss rates ˙MW ≤ 10-8 M⊙ yr-1) of low-mass hot stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interpretation of nuclear electric dipole moment (EDM) experiments is clouded by large theoretical uncertainties associated with nonperturbative matrix elements. In various beyond-the-Standard Model scenarios nuclear and diamagnetic atomic EDMs are expected to be dominated by CP-violating pion–nucleon interactions that arise from quark chromo-electric dipole moments. The corresponding CP-violating pion–nucleon coupling strengths are, however, poorly known. In this work we propose a strategy to calculate these couplings by using spectroscopic lattice QCD techniques. Instead of directly calculating the pion–nucleon coupling constants, a challenging task, we use chiral symmetry relations that link the pion–nucleon couplings to nucleon sigma terms and mass splittings that are significantly easier to calculate. In this work, we show that these relations are reliable up to next-to-next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion in both S U ( 2 ) and S U ( 3 ) chiral perturbation theory. We conclude with a brief discussion about practical details regarding the required lattice QCD calculations and the phenomenological impact of an improved understanding of CP-violating matrix elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We first outline main steps and achievements along Bertoni's research path in quantum finite automata theory – from the very basic definitions of the models of quantum finite automata throughout the investigation of their computational and descriptional power. Next, we choose to focus on Bertoni's studies on quantum finite automata descriptional complexity. In particular, we expand on a statistical framework for the synthesis of succinct quantum finite automata, discussing its adaptation to the case of multiperiodic events and languages. We then improve such a framework to obtain even more succinct quantum finite automata for some multiperiodic languages. Finally, we introduce some promise problems for multiperiodic inputs, showing that even on this class of problems the descriptional power of quantum finite automata greatly outperforms that of equivalent classical finite automata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential influence of insects' feeding behaviour on their associated bacterial communities is currently a matter of debate. Using the major pest of commodities, Plodia interpunctella, as a model and adopting a culture-independent approach, the impact of different diets on the host-associated microbiota was evaluated. An analysis of similarity showed differences among the microbiotas of moths fed with five substrates and provided evidence that diet represents the only tested factor that explains this dissimilarity. Bacteria shared between food and insects provide evidence for a limited conveyance to the host of the bacteria derived from the diet; more likely, the content of carbohydrates and proteins in the diets promotes changes in the insect's microbiota. Moth microbiotas were characterized by two robust entomotypes, respectively, associated with a carbohydrate-rich diet and a protein-rich diet. These results were also confirmed by the predicted metagenome functional potential. A core microbiota, composed of six taxa, was shared between eggs and adults, regardless of the origin of the population. Finally, the identification of possible human and animal pathogens on chili and associated with the moths that feed on it highlights the possibility that these bacteria may be conveyed by moth frass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrophobins, produced by filamentous fungi, are small amphipathic proteins whose biological functions rely on their unique surface-activity properties. Understanding the mechanistic details of the multimerization process is of primary importance to clarify the interfacial activity of hydrophobins. We used free energy calculations to study the role of a flexible β-hairpin in the multimerization process in hydrophobin II from Trichoderma reesei (HFBI). We characterized how the displacement of this β-hairpin controls the stability of the monomers/dimers/tetramers in solution. The regulation of the oligomerization equilibrium of HFBI will necessarily affect its interfacial properties, fundamental for its biological function and for technological applications. Moreover, we propose possible routes for the multimerization process of HFBI in solution. This is the first case where a mechanism by which a flexible loop flanking a rigid patch controls the protein-protein binding equilibrium, already known for proteins with charged binding hot-spots, is described within a hydrophobic patch. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thanks to the high sensitivity of the instruments on board the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites, it has become possible to explore the properties of the X-ray emission from hot subdwarfs. The small but growing sample of hot subdwarfs detected in X-rays includes binary systems, in which the X-rays result from wind accretion onto a compact companion (white dwarf or neutron star), as well as isolated sdO stars in which X-rays are probably due to shock instabilities in the wind. X-ray observations of these low mass stars provide information which can be useful also for our understanding of the winds of more luminous and massive early-type stars and can lead to the discovery of particularly interesting binary systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing trend in the recent literature on coarse grained (CG) models testifies their impact in the study of complex systems. However, the CG model landscape is variegated: even considering a given resolution level, the force fields are very heterogeneous and optimized with very different parametrization procedures. Along the road for standardization of CG models for biopolymers, here we describe a strategy to aid building and optimization of statistics based analytical force fields and its implementation in the software package AsParaGS (Assisted Parameterization platform for coarse Grained modelS). Our method is based on the use and optimization of analytical potentials, optimized by targeting internal variables statistical distributions by means of the combination of different algorithms (i.e., relative entropy driven stochastic exploration of the parameter space and iterative Boltzmann inversion). This allows designing a custom model that endows the force field terms with a physically sound meaning. Furthermore, the level of transferability and accuracy can be tuned through the choice of statistical data set composition. The methodillustrated by means of applications to helical polypeptidesalso involves the analysis of two and three variable distributions, and allows handling issues related to the FF term correlations. AsParaGS is interfaced with general-purpose molecular dynamics codes and currently implements the "minimalist" subclass of CG models (i.e., one bead per amino acid, Cα based). Extensions to nucleic acids and different levels of coarse graining are in the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AX J1845-0258 is a transient X-ray pulsar, with spin period of 6.97 s, discovered with the ASCA satellite in 1993. Its soft spectrum and the possible association with a supernova remnant suggest that AX J1845-0258 might be a magnetar, but this has not been confirmed yet. A possible counterpart one order of magnitude fainter, AX J184453-025640, has been found in later X-ray observations, but no pulsations have been detected. In addition, some other X-ray sources are compatible with the pulsar location, which is in a crowded region of the Galactic plane. We have carried out a new investigation of all the X-ray sources in the ASCA error region of AX J1845-0258, using archival data obtained with Chandra in 2007 and 2010, and with XMM-Newton in 2010. We set an upper limit of 6 per cent on the pulsed fraction of AX J184453-025640 and confirmed its rather hard spectrum (power-law photon index of 1.2 ± 0.3). In addition to the other two fainter sources already reported in the literature, we found other X-ray sources positionally consistent with AX J1845-0258. Although many of them are possibly foreground stars likely unrelated to the pulsar, at least another new source, CXOU J184457.5-025823, could be a plausible counterpart of AX J1845-0258. It has a flux of 6 × 10-14 erg cm-2 s-1 and a spectrum well fitted by a power law with photon index ∼1.3 and NH ∼ 1022 cm-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hot subdwarf HD 49798 has an X-ray emitting compact companion with a spin-period of 13.2 s and a dynamically measured mass of 1.28 ± 0.05 M☉, consistent with either a neutron star or a white dwarf. Using all the available XMM-Newton and Swift observations of this source, we could perform a phase-connected timing analysis extending back to the ROSAT data obtained in 1992. We found that the pulsar is spinning up at a rate of (2.15 ± 0.05) ? 10-15 s s-1. This result is best interpreted in terms of a neutron star accreting from the wind of its subdwarf companion, although the remarkably steady period derivative over more than 20 yr is unusual in wind-accreting neutron stars. The possibility that the compact object is a massive white dwarf accreting through a disc cannot be excluded, but it requires a larger distance and/or properties of the stellar wind of HD 49798 different from those derived from the modelling of its optical/UV spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid and efficient DNA-based tools are recommended for the evaluation of the insect biodiversity of high-altitude streams. In the present study, focused principally on larvae of the genus Diamesa Meigen 1835 (Diptera: Chironomidae), the congruence between morphological/molecular delimitation of species as well as performances in taxonomic assignments were evaluated. A fragment of the mitochondrial cox1 gene was obtained from 112 larvae, pupae and adults (Diamesinae, Orthocladiinae and Tanypodinae) that were collected in different mountain regions of the Alps and Apennines. On the basis of morphological characters 102 specimens were attributed to 16 species, and the remaining ten specimens were identified to the genus level. Molecular species delimitation was performed using: i) distance-based Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), with no a priori assumptions on species identification; and ii) coalescent tree-based approaches as the Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent model, its Bayesian implementation and Bayesian Poisson Tree Processes. The ABGD analysis, estimating an optimal intra/interspecific nucleotide distance threshold of 0.7%-1.4%, identified 23 putative species; the tree-based approaches, identified between 25–26 entities, provided nearly identical results. All species belonging to zernyi, steinboecki, latitarsis, bertrami, dampfi and incallida groups, as well as outgroup species, are recovered as separate entities, perfectly matching the identified morphospecies. In contrast, within the cinerella group, cases of discrepancy arose: i) the two morphologically separate species D. cinerella and D. tonsa are neither monophyletic nor diagnosable exhibiting low values of between-taxa nucleotide mean divergence (0.94%); ii) few cases of larvae morphological misidentification were observed. Head capsule color is confirmed to be a valid character able to discriminate larvae of D. zernyi, D. tonsa and D. cinerella, but it is here better defined as a color gradient between the setae submenti and genal setae. DNA barcodes performances were high: average accuracy was ~89% and precision of ~99%. On the basis of the present data, we can thus conclude that molecular identification represents a promising tool that could be effectively adopted in evaluating biodiversity of high-altitude streams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the possibility of explaining the properties of the Be/X-ray pulsars observed in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) within the magnetic levitation accretion scenario. This implies that their X-ray emission is powered by a wind-fed accretion on to a neutron star (NS) which captures matter from a magnetized stellar wind. The NS in this case is accreting matter from a non-Keplerian magnetically levitating disc which is surrounding its magnetosphere. This allows us to explain the observed periods of the pulsars in terms of spin equilibrium without the need of invoking dipole magnetic fields outside the usual range ~1011-1013 G inferred from cyclotron features of Galactic high-mass X-ray binaries. We find that the equilibrium period of a NS, under certain conditions, depends strongly on the magnetization of the stellar wind of its massive companion and, correspondingly, on the magnetic field of the massive companion itself. This may help to explain why similar NSs in binaries with similar properties rotate with different periods yielding a large scatter of periods of the accretion-powered pulsar observed in SMC and our galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the model of one-way automata with quantum and classical states (QCFAs) introduced in [28]. We show, by a direct approach, that QCFAs with isolated cut-point accept regular languages only, thus characterizing their computational power. Concerning descriptional power, we quickly overview a size lower bound for QCFAs accepting regular languages, and address its optimality. Then, we explicitly build QCFAs accepting the word quotients and inverse homomorphic images of languages accepted by given QCFAs with isolated cut-point, maintaining the same cut-point, isolation, and only polynomially increasing the size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study SU(3) flavor-breaking corrections to the relation between the octet baryon masses and the nucleon-meson CP-violating interactions induced by the QCD ... term. We work within the framework of SU(3) chiral perturbation theory and work through next-to-next-to-leading order in the SU(3) chiral expansion, which is O(mq²). At lowest order, the CP-odd couplings induced by the QCD ... term are determined by mass splittings of the baryon octet, the classic result of Crewther et al. We show that for each isospin-invariant CP-violating nucleon-meson interaction there exists one relation which is respected by loop corrections up to the order we work, while other leading-order relations are violated. With these relations we extract a precise value of the pion-nucleon coupling ... 0 by using recent lattice QCD evaluations of the proton-neutron mass splitting. In addition, we derive semi-precise values for CP-violating coupling constants between heavier mesons and nucleons with ~30% uncertainty and discuss their phenomenological impact on electric dipole moments of nucleons and nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial fraction of the known neutron stars resides in X-ray binaries-systems in which one compact object accretes matter from a companion star. Neutron stars in X-ray binaries have magnetic fields among the highest found in the Universe, spanning at least the range from ∼10 to several 10 G. The magnetospheres around these neutron stars have a strong influence on the accretion process, which powers most of their emission. The magnetic field intensity and geometry, are among the main factors responsible for the large variety of spectral and timing properties observed in the X-ray energy range, making these objects unique laboratories to study the matter behavior and the radiation processes in magnetic fields unaccessible on Earth. In this paper we review the main observational aspects related to the presence of magnetic fields in neutron star X-ray binaries and some methods that are used to estimate their strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetars are neutron stars in which a strong magnetic field is the main energy source. About two dozens of magnetars, plus several candidates, are currently known in our Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds. They appear as highly variable X-ray sources and, in some cases, also as radio and/or optical pulsars. Their spin periods (2-12 s) and spin-down rates (∼10-10 s s) indicate external dipole fields of ∼10 G, and there is evidence that even stronger magnetic fields are present inside the star and in non-dipolar magnetospheric components. Here we review the observed properties of the persistent emission from magnetars, discuss the main models proposed to explain the origin of their magnetic field and present recent developments in the study of their evolution and connection with other classes of neutron stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]