Study of a Strategy for Parallax Microlensing Detection Towards the Magellanic Clouds

In this article, we have investigated the possibility to distinguish between different galactic models through the microlensing parallax studies. We show that a systematic search for parallax effects can be done using the currently running alert systems and complementary photometric telescopes, to distinguish between different lens distance distributions. We have considered two galactic dark compact objects distributions, with total optical depths corresponding to the EROS current upper limits. These models correspond to two extreme hypothesis on a three component galactic structure made of a thin disc, a thick disc, and a spherically symmetric halo. Our study shows that for sub-solar mass lenses, an exposure of $8\times 10^7$ star$\times$yr toward LMC should allow to distinguish between these two extreme models. In addition the self-lensing hypothesis (lensing by LMC objects) can efficiently be tested through the method proposed here.Comment: 10 pages, 12 eps figures. To be published in A&A (accepted version). Minor changes: - Discussion added on the differential velocity of the thick galactic disk with respect to the thin disk. - Quality and lisibility of figures improved. - Typo errors correcte

About the connection between the CℓC_{\ell} power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background and the Γm\Gamma_{m} Fourier spectrum of rings on the sky

In this article we present and study a scaling law of the $m\Gamma_m$ CMB Fourier spectrum on rings which allows us (i) to combine spectra corresponding to different colatitude angles (e.g. several detectors at the focal plane of a telescope), and (ii) to recover the $C_l$ power spectrum once the $\Gamma_m$ coefficients have been measured. This recovery is performed numerically below the 1% level for colatitudes $\Theta> 80^\circ$ degrees. In addition, taking advantage of the smoothness of the $C_l$ and of the $\Gamma_m$, we provide analytical expressions which allow to recover one of the spectrum at the 1% level, the other one being known.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

A systematic review of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevalence and genotypes in Kenya: Data to inform clinical care and health policy

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate available prevalence and viral sequencing data representing chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection in Kenya. More than 20% of the global disease burden from CHB is in Africa, however there is minimal high quality seroprevalence data from individual countries and little viral sequencing data available to represent the continent. We undertook a systematic review of the prevalence and genetic data available for hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Kenya using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) 2020 checklist. We identified 23 studies reporting HBV prevalence and 8 studies that included HBV genetic data published in English between January 2000 and December 2021. We assessed study quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist. Due to study heterogeneity, we divided the studies to represent low, moderate, high and very high-risk for HBV infection, identifying 8, 7, 5 and 3 studies in these groups, respectively. We calculated pooled HBV prevalence within each group and evaluated available sequencing data. Pooled HBV prevalence was 3.4% (95% CI 2.7–4.2%), 6.1% (95% CI 5.1–7.4%), 6.2% (95% CI 4.64–8.2) and 29.2% (95% CI 12.2–55.1), respectively. Study quality was overall low; only three studies detailed sample size calculation and 17/23 studies were cross sectional. Eight studies included genetic information on HBV, with two undertaking whole genome sequencing. Genotype A accounted for 92% of infections. Other genotypes included genotype D (6%), D/E recombinants (1%) or mixed populations (1%). Drug resistance mutations were reported by two studies. There is an urgent need for more high quality seroprevalence and genetic data to represent HBV in Kenya to underpin improved HBV screening, treatment and prevention in order to support progress towards elimination targets

A systematic review of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) prevalence and genotypes in Kenya: data to inform clinical care and health policy

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate available prevalence and viral sequencing data representing chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection in Kenya. More than 20% of the global disease burden from CHB is in Africa, however there is minimal high quality seroprevalence data from individual countries and little viral sequencing data available to represent the continent. We undertook a systematic review of the prevalence and genetic data available for hepatitis B virus (HBV) in Kenya using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) 2020 checklist. We identified 23 studies reporting HBV prevalence and 8 studies that included HBV genetic data published in English between January 2000 and December 2021. We assessed study quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist. Due to study heterogeneity, we divided the studies to represent low, moderate, high and very high-risk for HBV infection, identifying 8, 7, 5 and 3 studies in these groups, respectively. We calculated pooled HBV prevalence within each group and evaluated available sequencing data. Pooled HBV prevalence was 3.4% (95% CI 2.7-4.2%), 6.1% (95% CI 5.1-7.4%), 6.2% (95% CI 4.64-8.2) and 29.2% (95% CI 12.2-55.1), respectively. Study quality was overall low; only three studies detailed sample size calculation and 17/23 studies were cross sectional. Eight studies included genetic information on HBV, with two undertaking whole genome sequencing. Genotype A accounted for 92% of infections. Other genotypes included genotype D (6%), D/E recombinants (1%) or mixed populations (1%). Drug resistance mutations were reported by two studies. There is an urgent need for more high quality seroprevalence and genetic data to represent HBV in Kenya to underpin improved HBV screening, treatment and prevention in order to support progress towards elimination targets

Semi-quantitative analysis of cannabinoids in hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry

Background Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) is a producer of cannabinoids. These organic compounds are of increasing interest due to their potential applications in the medicinal field. Advances in analytical methods of identifying and quantifying these molecules are needed. Method This study describes a new method of cannabinoid separation from plant material using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as the analytical tool to detect low abundance cannabinoids that will likely have implications for future therapeutical treatments. A novel approach was adopted to separate trichomes from plant material to analyse cannabinoids of low abundance not observed in raw plant extract. Required plant sample used for analysis was greatly reduced compared to other methods. Derivatisation method was simplified and deconvolution software was utilised to recognise unknown cannabinoid compounds of low abundance. Results The method produces well-separated spectra and allows the detection of major and minor cannabinoids. Ten cannabinoids that had available standards could be identified and quantified and numerous unidentified cannabinoids or pathway intermediates based on GC-MS spectra similarities could be extracted and analysed simultaneously with this method. Conclusions This is a rapid novel extraction and analytical method from plant material that can identify major and minor cannabinoids using a simple technique. The method will be of use to future researchers seeking to study the multitude of cannabinoids whose values are currently not understood

Cashmere quality of Raeini goats kept by nomads in Iran

The income of the nomads in Kerman Province depends mainly on Raeini goats that produce meat, milk and cashmere. This paper assesses the cashmere quality and its variation in Raeini herds to determine the scope for improvement. In April 2010 fleece weights (FW) and midside fleece samples were taken from a total of 686 male and female cashmere goats of 1, 2 and 3 years of age belonging to 29 herds. The herds were randomly chosen in the summer grazing area of nomads within 20 km of the city of Baft, province of Kerman, South of Iran, the main cashmere producing area in Iran. Cashmere yield (CY) was determined from the weight of dehaired cashmere to weight of shorn fiber. Cashmere fibers were analyzed using an OFDA instrument. A general mixed linear model including sex, age and sex by age interaction as fixed effects and herd as random effect was used to analyze the data and measure the relationships between different cashmere characteristics and fleece attributes. The overall means ± standard deviations were for fleece weights (FW) 507 ± 183 g, cashmere yield (CY) 56.5 ± 12.2%, mean fiber diameter (MFD) 19.7 ± 1.5 μm, fiber diameter standard deviation (FDSD) 4.5 ± 0.6 μm, fiber curvature (FC) 62.9 ± 8.5°/mm and staple length (SL) 54.2 ± 7.0 mm, respectively. Herd effect was significant for all traits except for SL and sex by age effect was only significant for MFD. One year old males and females had finer cashmere than older goats. FW and FDSD were higher in males and CY and FC was higher in young animals. Pearson correlation between MFD and FC, FDSD and MFD, MFD and FW was −0.647, 0.399 and 0.211 respectively. Raeini cashmere is white, has an excellent SL and FC but is relatively coarse. Given the differences between and within herds there seems to be substantial scope to improve the commercial value of Raeini cashmere.Fil: Ansari-Renani, Hamid R. Animal Science Research Institute; IránFil: Mueller, Joaquin Pablo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Bariloche; ArgentinaFil: Rischkowsky, Barbara. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas; SiriaFil: Seyed Momend, S.M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; IránFil: Alipour, O. Livestock Office of Agriculture Department of Baft; IránFil: Ehsani, M. Agriculture and Natural Resources Research Center; IránFil: Moradi, Sepehr. University of Zanjan. Agriculture College. Animal Science Department; Irán. Animal Science Research Institute; Irán

A MASH simulation of the photoexcited dynamics of cyclobutanone

In response to a community prediction challenge, we simulate the nonadiabatic dynamics of cyclobutanone using the mapping approach to surface hopping (MASH). We consider the first 500 fs of relaxation following photo-excitation to the S2 state and predict the corresponding time-resolved electron-diffraction signal that will be measured by the planned experiment. 397 ab-initio trajectories were obtained on the fly with state-averaged complete active space self-consistent field (SA-CASSCF) using a (12,11) active space. To obtain an estimate of the potential systematic error 198 of the trajectories were calculated using an aug-cc-pVDZ basis set and 199 with a 6-31+G* basis set. MASH is a recently proposed independent trajectory method for simulating nonadiabatic dynamics, originally derived for two-state problems. As there are three relevant electronic states in this system, we used a newly developed multi-state generalisation of MASH for the simulation: the uncoupled spheres multi-state MASH method (unSMASH). This study therefore serves both as an investigation of the photo-dissociation dynamics of cyclobutanone, and also as a demonstration of the applicability of unSMASH to ab-initio simulations. In line with previous experimental studies, we observe that the simulated dynamics is dominated by three sets of dissociation products, C3H6+CO, C2H4+C2H2O and C2H4+CH2+CO, and we interpret our predicted electron-diffraction signal in terms of the key features of the associated dissociation pathways.Comment: 47 pages, 43 figure