Search

Live shrubs in forest understories pose a challenge for mitigating wildfire risk with prescribed fire. Factors driving shrub consumption in prescribed fires are variable and difficult to explain. This study investigated spatial patterns and drivers of Sierra Nevada mixed-conifer forest shrub consumption in prescribed fires through analysis of high-resolution imagery taken before and after prescribed fire. We applied a spatially explicit, generalized additive model to assess tree cover and coarse woody material as potential drivers of shrub consumption. Shrub cover in two experimental stands prior to burning was 38% and 59% and was 36% and 45% one-year post-burn. In both stands shrub patch density increased, while area-weighted mean patch size and largest patch index decreased. Increased local percent cover of coarse woody material was associated with increased shrub consumption. These findings provide information for prescribed fire managers to help better anticipate shrub consumption and patchiness outcomes under similar conditions.

Functionalization of diamond surfaces with TEMPO and other surface paramagnetic species represents one approach to the implementation of novel chemical detection schemes that make use of shallow quantum color defects such as silicon-vacancy (SiV) and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers. Yet, prior approaches to quantum-based chemical sensing have been hampered by the absence of high-quality surface functionalization schemes for linking radicals to diamond surfaces. Here, we demonstrate a highly controlled approach to the functionalization of diamond surfaces with carboxylic acid groups via all-carbon tethers of different lengths, followed by covalent chemistry to yield high-quality, TEMPO-modified surfaces. Our studies yield estimated surface densities of 4-amino-TEMPO of approximately 1.4 molecules nm-2 on nanodiamond (varying with molecular linker length) and 3.3 molecules nm-2 on planar diamond. These values are higher than those reported previously using other functionalization methods. The ζ-potential of nanodiamonds was used to track reaction progress and elucidate the regioselectivity of the reaction between ethenyl and carboxylate groups and surface radicals.

Eukaryotic cell processes depend on molecular motors to transport cargo along cytoskeletal filaments, and the response of these mechanoenzymes to external forces shapes their cellular function. These responses have been largely mapped out in dilute, in vitro media. The cytosol, however, is host to a high concentration of macromolecules, and this crowding can alter protein conformation, binding rates, reaction kinetics and therefore motor function. Here, we use live-cell and single-molecule imaging and optical tweezer force measurements to uncover the consequences of macromolecular crowding on cargo transport by kinesin-1 motors. Surprisingly, we find that crowding significantly slows transport by teams of motors, while having no effect on single-motor velocity. We find that this emergent property of kinesin teams results from the increased sensitivity of the individual motors to hindering load when in a crowded medium. We explain this increased sensitivity using a model where entropic forces due to crowding push the two kinesin heads together into a more compact configuration when the motor is poised to take a step. Our results highlight the importance of motor–motor interactions in cargo transport, explain the long-observed variability of cargo velocity and suggest the use of crowding as a control parameter to study kinesin’s mechanochemical cycle. The native environment of the cell is crowded by DNA, proteins and other biomolecules. Here, the authors show that crowding slows down groups of kinesin motors but has no effect on single motors.

Background Wilderness areas are important natural laboratories for scientists and managers working to understand fire ecology. In the last half-century, shifts in agency culture and policy have encouraged the management practice of letting some naturally ignited fires burn, allowing fire to fulfill its ecological role and increasing the extent of fire-related research opportunities. With the goal to identify the global scientific advances enabled by this paradigm shift in wilderness fire management, we conducted a systematic review of studies in which 1) protected areas were selected for investigation because of an active fire regime enabled by wilderness fire management, or 2) applied research was conducted to support wilderness fire management. Results Our systematic review returned a sample of 222 papers that met these criteria, with an increase in wilderness fire science over time. Studies largely occurred in the United States of America and were concentrated in a relatively small number of protected areas, particularly in the Northern Rocky Mountains. As a result, this sample of wilderness fire science is highly skewed toward areas of temperate mixed conifer forests and historical mixed severity fire regimes. Common principal subjects of papers included fire effects (44%), wilderness fire management (18%), or fire regimes (17%), and studies tended to focus on vegetation, disturbance, or wilderness management as response variables. Conclusions This work identifies major scientific contributions facilitated by active fire management, including concepts such as self-limitation of fire, forest dynamics in active fire regimes, and the effect of fire on wilderness recreation. Our work also identifies areas—both geographic and conceptual—where more research attention is needed and highlights under-represented wilderness areas that could serve to fill these knowledge gaps.

Scripts and data to accompany our manuscript "Scientific contributions enabled by wilderness fire management".&nbsp

Scripts and data to accompany our manuscript "The scientific value of fire in wilderness".&nbsp

In many situations, the dual-purpose heater/thermometer wires used in the three-omega method, one of the most precise and sensitive techniques for measuring the thermal conductivity of thin films and interfaces, must include bends and curves to avoid obstructions on the surface of a sample. Although the three-omega analysis assumes that the heating wire is infinitely long and straight, recent experimental work has demonstrated that in some cases curved-wire geometries can be used without introducing detectable systematic error. We describe a general numerical method that can be used to calculate the temperature of three-omega heating wires with arbitrary wire geometries. This method provides experimentalists with a simple quantitative procedure for calculating how large the systematic error caused by a particular wire asymmetry will be. We show calculations of two useful cases: a straight wire with a single bend of arbitrary angle and a wire that forms a circle. We find that the amplitude of the in-phase temperature oscillations near a wire that forms a circle differs from the prediction using the analytic straight-line source solution by $, Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

Objectives Estimation of kidney function by glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is affected by age and is important for decision making regarding treatment and prognosis of patients with cardiovascular disease. We aimed to investigate the impact of eGFR on long-term cardiovascular outcomes in an elderly population undergoing coronary angiography for evaluation or treatment of coronary artery disease. Methods GFR was estimated according to Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) equation in 3,690 elderly patients (aged 70–100 years) undergoing coronary angiography. Patients receiving maintenance dialysis were excluded. The association between eGFR and long-term major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) including myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke or death, was investigated. GFR was further calculated according to Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and the Cockroft-Gault equations, and compatibility between estimations was analyzed. Results Cardiovascular comorbidities were more prevalent with the reduction in kidney function as was the proportion of patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes. The adjusted hazard ratio (95% confidence interval) for MACE during a mean follow-up of 5 years was 0.98 (0.80–1.19), 1.05 (0.85–1.30), 1.45 (1.15–1.82), 2.20 (1.64–2.95) and 3.87 (2.28–6.58) in patients with eGFR 60–89, 45–59, 30–44, 15–29 and 90 ml/min/1.73m2. Reclassification of eGFR stages by MDRD (upward 23.8%, downward 0.4%) and Cockroft-Gault (upward 4.3%, downward 28.1%) compared to CKD-EPI estimation, was noted. However, the association between eGFR stages and MACE was similar between equations. Conclusions Kidney function, as manifested by eGFR, has a graded inverse association with the burden of cardiovascular comorbidities and long-term adverse events in elderly patients undergoing coronary angiography. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond are emitters that function as sensors of electric and magnetic fields, temperature, and strain. Diamond’s high refractive index limits emitted light, reducing NV-based sensor performance. We demonstrate an easily-fabricable adjoint-optimized extractor that improves output from NV centers by 50-fold.

We designed a nanoscale light extractor (NLE) for efficient outcoupling and beaming of broadband light emitted by shallow, negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in bulk diamond. The NLE consists of a patterned silicon layer on diamond and requires no etching of the diamond surface. Our design process is based on adjoint optimization using broadband time-domain simulations and yields structures that are inherently robust to positioning and fabrication errors. Our NLE functions like a transmission antenna for the NV center, enhancing the optical power extracted from an NV center positioned 10 nm below the diamond surface by a factor of more than 35, and beaming the light into a +/-30{\deg} cone in the far field. This approach to light extraction can be readily adapted to other solid-state color centers., Comment: Main text + supplementary

The current review sought to describe the implementation and evaluation of trauma-focused school practices as represented in the published literature. Through a systematic literature search, we identified 39 articles describing trauma-focused practices implemented in school settings with elementary populations and coded data regarding these interventions’ characteristics as well as their implementation and evaluation procedures. Reviewed interventions were most often implemented by external clinicians or researchers with select populations in response to traumatic events experienced by a community (e.g., natural disaster, political violence). Additionally, interventions were most frequently evaluated solely using rating scales assessing psychopathological symptoms and without consideration of important dimensions such as treatment integrity, fidelity, and acceptability as well as outcome generalization and maintenance. We call for coordinated practice and research agendas focused on embedding trauma-focused practices within integrated multi-tiered systems of supports; designing culturally sensitive practices and training school personnel to serve as intervention agents; and increasing the rigor and broadening the methods, informants, and foci of screening and intervention evaluation procedures in the direction of leveraging multi-method, multi-informant, strengths-based assessment.

The observed interaction product of Cosmic Rays (CRs) and Galactic magnetic fields (GMF) is the Galactic synchrotron emission integrated over the line-of-sight (LOS). The GMF strength and morphology and the CR density can be probed by comparing this tracer to simulations using existing GMF models and CR density models. Our aim is to provide insight into these parameters by exploring and explaining the differences between simulations and observations of synchrotron intensity. At low radio frequencies HII regions become opaque due to free-free absorption. Using these HII regions we can measure the synchrotron intensity over a part of the LOS through the Galaxy. The measured intensity per unit path length, i.e. the emissitivity, for HII regions at different distances, will allow probing variation in synchrotron emission in the third dimension of distance. Using a number of existing GMF models in conjunction with the Galactic CR modeling code GALPROP we can simulate these synchrotron emissivities. We present an updated catalog of low-frequency absorption measurements of HII regions compiled from the literature. We report a simulated emissivity that shows a compatible trend for HII regions that are near to the observer. And we observe a systematically increasing synchrotron emissivity for HII regions that are far from the observer, which is not compatible with simulated values. Current GMF and CR density models cannot explain low-frequency absorption measurements. One possibility is that distances to all HII regions at the kinematic 'far' distance are wrong, though this is unlikely as it ignores all evidence in the literature. However, a detection bias due to the nature of this tracer requires us to keep in mind that certain sources may be missed in an observation. The other possibilities are an enhanced emissivity in the outer Galaxy or a diminished emissivity in the inner Galaxy., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in A&A

We present version X of the hammurabi package, the HEALPix-based numeric simulator for Galactic polarized emission. Improving on its earlier design, we have fully renewed the framework with modern C++ standards and features. Multi-threading support has been built in to meet the growing computational workload in future research. For the first time, we present precision profiles of hammurabi line-of-sight integral kernel with multi-layer HEALPix shells. In addition to fundamental improvements, this report focuses on simulating polarized synchrotron emission with Gaussian random magnetic fields. Two fast methods are proposed for realizing divergence-free random magnetic fields either on the Galactic scale where a field alignment and strength modulation are imposed, or on a local scale where more physically motivated models like a parameterized magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence can be applied. As an example application, we discuss the phenomenological implications of Gaussian random magnetic fields for high Galactic latitude synchrotron foregrounds. In this, we numerically find B/E polarization mode ratios lower than unity based on Gaussian realizations of either MHD turbulent spectra or in spatially aligned magnetic fields., Comment: 25 pages, 18 figures, Accepted by ApJS with joint JOSS publication at https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01889, the numerical package can be found at https://bitbucket.org/hammurabicode/hamx or https://github.com/hammurabi-dev/hammurabiX

The X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission (XRISM) is the successor to the 2016 Hitomi mission that ended prematurely. Like Hitomi, the primary science goals are to examine astrophysical problems with precise highresolution X-ray spectroscopy. XRISM promises to discover new horizons in X-ray astronomy. XRISM carries a 6 x 6 pixelized X-ray micro-calorimeter on the focal plane of an X-ray mirror assembly and a co-aligned X-ray CCD camera that covers the same energy band over a large field of view. XRISM utilizes Hitomi heritage, but all designs were reviewed. The attitude and orbit control system were improved in hardware and software. The number of star sensors were increased from two to three to improve coverage and robustness in onboard attitude determination and to obtain a wider field of view sun sensor. The fault detection, isolation, and reconfiguration (FDIR) system was carefully examined and reconfigured. Together with a planned increase of ground support stations, the survivability of the spacecraft is significantly improved.

Background High-severity fire in forested landscapes often produces a post-fire condition of high shrub cover and large loads of dead wood. Given the increasing patch size of high-severity fire and the tendency for these areas to reburn at high severity in subsequent wildfires, post-fire management often targets restoration of these areas. However, these areas are challenging to manage, in part due to limited knowledge of post-fire fuel dynamics over space and time and uncertainties in how specific fuel components such as snags and logs influence future fire severity. In this study, we used high-resolution aerial imagery collected nine years after a wildfire to measure snags, logs, and shrub cover within high-severity patches, and to assess how fuel development influenced reburn severity in a subsequent wildfire. Results The abundance of snags, logs, and shrubs following high-severity fire varied with elevation and slope steepness; however, generalized additive models explained only 6 to 21% of their variation over the post-fire landscape. High densities of both snags and logs were associated with high reburn severity in a subsequent fire, while shrub cover had a marginally insignificant (P = 0.0515) effect on subsequent fire severity. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that high levels of large dead wood, which is often not considered in fire behavior modeling, corresponded with repeated high-severity fire effects. Future research should leverage the increasing availability of high-resolution imagery to improve our understanding of fuel load patterns in space and time and how they may impact landscape resilience to facilitate management planning for post-fire forest landscapes.

Background A risk score for secondary prevention after myocardial infarction (TRS2P) was recently developed from the TRA2°P-TIMI50 trial based on 9 established clinical factors [age≥75, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, kidney dysfunction, peripheral artery disease, heart failure, prior stroke and prior coronary artery-bypass surgery (CABG)], classifying the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). We aimed to evaluate the performance of TRS2P for predicting long-term outcomes in real-world patients presenting for coronary angiography. Methods Retrospective analysis of 13,593 patients that were referred to angiography for the assessment or treatment of coronary artery disease between 2000–2015 in a single center. Risk stratification for 10-year MACE (myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke or all-cause death) was performed using the TRS2P score, divided into 6 categories (0 to ≥5 points), and in relation to the presenting coronary syndrome. Results All clinical variables, except of prior CABG, were independent risk predictors. The annualized incidence rate of MACE increased in a graded manner with increasing TRS2P score, ranging from 1.65 to 16.6 per 100 person-years (ptrend Cumulative 10-year incidence of MACE Conclusions The use of TRS2P, a simple risk score based on routinely collected variables, enables risk stratification in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Its predictive value was demonstrated in real-world setting with long-term follow-up, and irrespective of the acuity of coronary presentation. Acknowledgement/Funding None

We present the discovery of TYC9191-519-1b (TOI-150b, TIC 271893367) and HD271181b (TOI-163b, TIC 179317684), two hot Jupiters initially detected using 30-minute cadence Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite TESS photometry from Sector 1 and thoroughly characterized through follow-up photometry (CHAT, Hazelwood, LCO/CTIO, El Sauce, TRAPPIST-S), high-resolution spectroscopy (FEROS, CORALIE) and speckle imaging (Gemini/DSSI), confirming the planetary nature of the two signals. A simultaneous joint fit of photometry and radial velocity using a new fitting package juliet reveals that TOI-150b is a $1.254\pm0.016\ R_J$, massive ($2.61^{+0.19}_{-0.12}\ M_J$) hot Jupiter in a $5.857$-day orbit, while TOI-163b is an inflated ($R_P$ = $1.478^{+0.022}_{-0.029} R_J$, $M_P$ = $1.219\pm0.11 M_J$) hot Jupiter on a $P$ = $4.231$-day orbit; both planets orbit F-type stars. A particularly interesting result is that TOI-150b shows an eccentric orbit ($e=0.262^{+0.045}_{-0.037}$), which is quite uncommon among hot Jupiters. We estimate that this is consistent, however, with the circularization timescale which is slightly larger than the age of the system. These two hot Jupiters are both prime candidates for further characterization --- in particular, both are excellent candidates for determining spin-orbit alignments via the Rossiter-McLaughlin (RM) effect and for characterizing atmospheric thermal structures using secondary eclipse observations considering they are both located closely to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ)., referee report submitted to MNRAS

Thermal management efforts in nanoscale devices must consider both the thermal properties of the constituent materials and the interfaces connecting them. It is currently unclear whether alloy/alloy semiconductor superlattices such as InAlAs/InGaAs have lower thermal conductivities than their constituent alloys. We report measurements of the crossplane thermal resistivity of InAlAs/InGaAs superlattices at room temperature, showing that the superlattice resistivities are larger by a factor of 1.2-1.6 than that of the constituent bulk materials, depending on the strain state and composition. We show that the additional resistance present in these superlattices can be tuned by a factor of 2.5 by altering the lattice mismatch and thereby the phonon-mode mismatch at the interfaces, a principle that is commonly assumed for superlattices but has not been experimentally verified without adding new elements to the layers. We find that the additional resistance in superlattices does not increase significantly when the layer thickness is decreased from 4 to 2 nm. We also report measurements of 250-1000 nm thick films of undoped InGaAs and InAlAs lattice-matched to InP substrates, for there is no published thermal conductivity value for the latter, and we find it to be 2.24 ± 0.09 at 22 °C, which is ∼2.7 times smaller than the widely used estimates.

The three-omega method, a powerful technique to measure the thermal conductivity of nanometer-thick films and the interfaces between them, has historically employed straight conductive wires to act as both heaters and thermometers. When investigating stochastically prepared samples such as two-dimensional materials and nanomembranes, residue and excess material can make it difficult to fit the required millimeter-long straight wire on the sample surface. There are currently no available criteria for how diverting three-omega heater wires around obstacles affects the validity of the thermal measurement. In this Letter, we quantify the effect of wire curvature by performing three-omega experiments with a wide range of frequencies using both curved and straight heater geometries on SiO$_2$/Si samples. When the heating wire is curved, we find that the measured Si substrate thermal conductivity changes by only 0.2%. Similarly, we find that wire curvature has no significant effect on the determination of the thermal resistance of a $\sim$65 nm SiO$_2$ layer, even for the sharpest corners considered here, for which the largest measured ratio of the thermal penetration depth of the applied thermal wave to radius of curvature of the heating wire is 4.3. This result provides useful design criteria for three-omega experiments by setting a lower bound for the maximum ratio of thermal penetration depth to wire radius of curvature., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

This is a review of the status of efforts to model the large-scale Galactic magnetic field (GMF). Though important for a variety of astrophysical processes, the GMF remains poorly understood despite some interesting new tracers being used in the field. Though we still have too many models that might fit the data, this is not to say that the field has not developed in the last few years. In particular, surveys of polarized dust have given us a new observable that is complementary to the more traditional radio tracers, and a variety of other new tracers and related measurements are becoming available to improve current modeling. This paper reviews: the tracers available; the models that have been studied; what has been learned so far; what the caveats and outstanding issues are; and one opinion of where the most promising future avenues of exploration lie., Comment: Published in Galaxies special issue "New Perspectives on Galactic Magnetism" (with minor formatting differences). v2 fixes some references

Background Starches and hydrocolloids are commonly used in gluten-free sorghum bread formulations to mimic wheat gluten functionality. The effect of different starches and hydrocolloids on the sensory profile and quality of gluten-free sorghum bread is unknown. In this research, a lexicon for chemically leavened gluten-free sorghum bread was developed and used to evaluate the sensory profile of sorghum bread made with potato starch plus xanthan gum, rice starch plus xanthan gum and tapioca starch plus hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC). Results A lexicon containing 28 attributes and references for appearance, aroma, flavor and texture/mouthfeel was developed by a panel highly trained in descriptive sensory analysis. The results obtained using sensory analysis and objective testing techniques showed that chemically leavened gluten-free sorghum bread containing rice starch plus xanthan gum or tapioca starch plus HPMC had a significantly better appearance while bread containing potato starch plus xanthan gum or rice starch plus xanthan gum had a significantly better texture/mouthfeel. Conclusion The combination of rice starch and xanthan gum resulted in chemically leavened gluten-free sorghum bread with better crumb appearance and texture/mouthfeel properties than bread made with potato starch plus xanthan gum or tapioca starch plus HPMC. Xanthan gum significantly increased the dietary fiber content of chemically leavened gluten-free sorghum bread.

Cosmic rays (CRs) and magnetic fields are dynamically important components in the Galaxy, and their energy densities are comparable to that of the turbulent interstellar gas. The interaction of CRs and Galactic magnetic fields produces synchrotron radiation clearly visible in the radio regime. Detailed measurements of synchrotron radiation averaged over the line-of-sight (LOS), so-called synchrotron emissivities, can be used as a tracer of the CR density and Galactic magnetic field (GMF) strength. Our aim is to model the synchrotron emissivity in the Milky Way using a 3 dimensional dataset instead of LOS-integrated intensity maps on the sky. Using absorbed HII regions we can measure the synchrotron emissivity over a part of the LOS through the Galaxy, changing from a 2 dimensional to a 3 dimensional view. Performing these measurements on a large scale is one of the new applications of the window opened by current low frequency arrays. Using various simple axisymmetric emissivity models and a number of GMF-based emissivity models we can simulate the synchrotron emissivities and compare them to the observed values in the catalog. We present a catalog of low-frequency absorption measurements of HII regions, their distances and electron temperatures, compiled from literature. These data show that the axisymmetric emissivity models are not complex enough, but the GMF-based emissivity models deliver a reasonable fit. These models suggest that the fit can be improved by either an enhanced synchrotron emissivity in the outer reaches of the Milky Way, or an emissivity drop near the Galactic center. State-of-the-art GMF models plus a constant CR density model cannot explain low-frequency absorption measurements, but the fits improved with slight (ad-hoc) adaptations. It is clear that more detailed models are needed, but the current results are very promising., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

Chronic physical illnesses affect a significant proportion of the US child and adolescent population. Approximately 20% of children with chronic medical conditions may be removed from school for an extended amount of time or for repeated brief time periods due to medical issues (e.g., hospitalizations, medical appointments), parent concerns about school’s ability to meet medical needs (e.g., monitor symptoms, handle emergencies), or children’s concerns regarding peer reactions. Due to medical advances (e.g., treatment of pediatric cancer) that have significantly reduced mortality rates, increasingly more students are returning to school settings following diagnosis and/or periods of intense treatment. The purpose of this chapter is to provide best practices and guidelines to interdisciplinary practitioners who work with community stakeholders to assist children in re-entering school after illness- and/or treatment-related absences. We draw on the current literature in this area of research as well as interdisciplinary and related sources to recommend methods for implementing, assessing, monitoring, and evaluating reintegration programs, as well as provide recommendations for interdisciplinary collaboration. A case study is described to illustrate application of recommended implementation and evaluation methods. The chapter concludes by identifying important directions for future research in school reintegration.

In this white paper we introduce the IMAGINE Consortium and its scientific background, goals and structure. Our purpose is to coordinate and facilitate the efforts of a diverse group of researchers in the broad areas of the interstellar medium, Galactic magnetic fields and cosmic rays, and our goal is to develop more comprehensive insights into the structures and roles of interstellar magnetic fields and their interactions with cosmic rays. To achieve a higher level of self-consistency, depth and rigour can only be achieved by the coordinated efforts of experts in diverse areas of astrophysics involved in observational, theoretical and numerical work. We present our view of the present status of this topic, identify its key unsolved problems and suggest a strategy that will underpin our work. The backbone of the consortium is the Interstellar MAGnetic field INference Engine, a publicly available Bayesian platform that employs robust statistical methods to explore the multi-dimensional likelihood space using any number of modular inputs. It provides an interpretation and modelling framework that has the power and flexibility to include a variety of observational, theoretical and numerical lines of evidence into a self-consistent and comprehensive picture of the thermal and non-thermal interstellar media. An important innovation is that a consistent understanding of the phenomena that are directly or indirectly influenced by the Galactic magnetic field, such as the deflection of ultra-high energy cosmic rays or extragalactic backgrounds, is made an integral part of the modelling. The IMAGINE Consortium, which is informal by nature and open to new participants, hereby presents a methodological framework for the modelling and understanding of Galactic magnetic fields that is available to all communities whose research relies on a state-of-the-art solution to this problem. (Abridged.), Comment: 56 pages, 15 figures, minor updates to match published JCAP version

As the next step toward an improved large scale Galactic magnetic field model, we present a simple comparison of polarised synchrotron and thermal dust emission on the Galactic plane. We find that the field configuration in our previous model that reproduces the polarised synchrotron is not compatible with the WMAP 94 GHz polarised emission data. In particular, the high degree of dust polarisation in the outer Galaxy (90deg < l < 270deg) implies that the fields in the dust-emitting regions are more ordered than the average of synchrotron-emitting regions. This new dust information allows us to constrain the spatial mixing of the coherent and random magnetic field components in the outer Galaxy. The inner Galaxy differs in polarisation degree and apparently requires a more complicated scenario than our current model. In the scenario that each interstellar component (including fields and now dust) follows a spiral arm modulation, as observed in external galaxies, the changing degree of ordering of the fields in dust-emitting regions may imply that the dust arms and the field component arms are shifted as a varying function of Galacto-centric radius. We discuss the implications for how the spiral arm compression affects the various components of the magnetised interstellar medium but conclude that improved data such as that expected from the Planck satellite will be required for a thorough analysis., 15 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted to MNRAS. This research was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-08-CEXC-0002-01)

Recent models for the large-scale Galactic magnetic fields in the literature have been largely constrained by synchrotron emission and Faraday rotation measures. We use three different but representative models to compare their predicted polarized synchrotron and dust emission with that measured by the Planck satellite. We first update these models to match the Planck synchrotron products using a common model for the cosmic-ray leptons. We discuss the impact on this analysis of the ongoing problems of component separation in the Planck microwave bands and of the uncertain cosmic-ray spectrum. In particular, the inferred degree of ordering in the magnetic fields is sensitive to these systematic uncertainties, and we further show the importance of considering the expected variations in the observables in addition to their mean morphology. We then compare the resulting simulated emission to the observed dust polarization and find that the dust predictions do not match the morphology in the Planck data but underpredict the dust polarization away from the plane. We modify one of the models to roughly match both observables at high latitudes by increasing the field ordering in the thin disc near the observer. Though this specific analysis is dependent on the component separation issues, we present the improved model as a proof of concept for how these studies can be advanced in future using complementary information from ongoing and planned observational projects., Comment: 31 pages, 16 figures, updated to match accepted A&A version

Anomalous microwave emission at 20-40 GHz has been detected across our Galactic sky. It is highly correlated with thermal dust emission and hence it is thought to be due to spinning dust grains. Alternatively, this emission could be due to synchrotron radiation with a flattening (hard) spectral index. We cross-correlate synchrotron, free-free and thermal dust templates with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 7-year maps using synchrotron templates at both 408 MHz and 2.3 GHz to assess the amount of flat synchrotron emission that is present, and the impact that this has on the correlations with the other components. We find that there is only a small amount of flattening visible in the synchrotron spectral indices by 2.3 GHz, of around ?�?? ?�� 0.05, and that the significant level of dust-correlated emission in the lowest WMAP bands is largely unaffected by the choice of synchrotron template, particularly at high latitudes (it decreases by only ��7 per cent when using 2.3 GHz rather than 408 MHz). This agrees with expectation if the bulk of the anomalous emission is generated by spinning dust grains.

WMAP data when combined with ancillary data on free-free, synchrotron and dust allow an improved understanding of the spectrum of emission from each of these components. Here we examine the sky variation at intermediate and high latitudes using a cross-correlation technique. In particular, we compare the observed emission in several large partitions of the sky plus 33 selected sky regions to three "standard" templates. The regions are selected using a criterion based on the morphology of these template maps. The synchrotron emission shows evidence of steepening between GHz frequencies and the \emph{WMAP} bands. There are indications of spectral index variations across the sky but the current data are not precise enough to accurately quantify this from region-to-region. The emission correlated with the $H_{\alpha}$ template shows clear evidence of deviation from a free-free spectrum. The emission can be decomposed into a contribution from both free-free and spinning dust in the warm ionised medium of the Galaxy. The derived free-free emissivity corresponds to a mean electron temperature of $\sim 6000$ K, although the value depends critically on the impact of dust absorption on the $H_{\alpha}$ intensity. The WIM spinning dust emission has a peak emission in intensity in the range 40--50 GHz. The anomalous microwave emission associated with dust is detected at high significance in most of the 33 fields studied. The anomalous emission correlates well with the Finkbeiner et al. (1999) model 8 predictions (FDS8) at 94 GHz, and is well described globally by a power-law emission model with an effective spectral index between 20 and 60 GHz of $\beta \approx -2.7$. It is clear that attempts to explain the emission by spinning dust models require multiple components, which presumably relates to a complex mix of emission regions along a given line-of-sight.