228 research outputs found
TRIPPy: Trailed Image Photometry in Python
Photometry of moving sources typically suffers from reduced signal-to-noise
(SNR) or flux measurements biased to incorrect low values through the use of
circular apertures. To address this issue we present the software package,
TRIPPy: TRailed Image Photometry in Python. TRIPPy introduces the pill
aperture, which is the natural extension of the circular aperture appropriate
for linearly trailed sources. The pill shape is a rectangle with two
semicircular end-caps, and is described by three parameters, the trail length
and angle, and the radius. The TRIPPy software package also includes a new
technique to generate accurate model point-spread functions (PSF) and trailed
point-spread functions (TSF) from stationary background sources in sidereally
tracked images. The TSF is merely the convolution of the model PSF, which
consists of a moffat profile, and super sampled lookup table. From the TSF,
accurate pill aperture corrections can be estimated as a function of pill
radius with a accuracy of 10 millimags for highly trailed sources. Analogous to
the use of small circular apertures and associated aperture corrections, small
radius pill apertures can be used to preserve signal-to-noise of low flux
sources, with appropriate aperture correction applied to provide an accurate,
unbiased flux measurement at all SNR.Comment: 8 Figures, 11 Pages, Accepted to the Astronomical Journa
How Do You Love?: Conversations About Love and Lust in Morocco, Sweden, and the United States
Unlike other curriculums, sex education is widely varied in the methods of teaching, what age an individual receives this education, and what specifically is taught. This problem is universal, as often times, too many sensitivities concerning the effect it will have on a student’s character influence the outcome of sex education. Because of this, students and adults go through life with an inadequate understanding of their own sexual health. Ignorance about sexual health leads to unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, as well us an unfortunate confusion about one’s own body and the bodies of others. The curriculum of other subjects has evolved to cater towards better learning strategies and a more engaging strategy of presenting material, but sex education has remained static because of social, religious, and other controversial factors
Transition to quantitative faecal immunochemical testing from guaiac faecal occult blood testing in a fully rolled-out population-based national bowel screening programme
Col-OSSOS: The Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey
The Colours of the Outer Solar System Origins Survey (Col-OSSOS) is acquiring
near-simultaneous , , and photometry of unprecedented precision with
the Gemini North Telescope, targeting nearly a hundred trans-Neptunian objects
(TNOs) brighter than mag discovered in the Outer Solar System
Origins Survey. Combining the optical and near-infrared photometry with the
well-characterized detection efficiency of the Col-OSSOS target sample will
provide the first flux-limited compositional dynamical map of the outer Solar
System. In this paper, we describe our observing strategy and detail the data
reduction processes we employ, including techniques to mitigate the impact of
rotational variability. We present optical and near-infrared colors for 35
TNOs. We find two taxonomic groups for the dynamically excited TNOs, the
neutral and red classes, which divide at . Based on simple
albedo and orbital distribution assumptions, we find that the neutral class
outnumbers the red class, with a ratio of 4:1 and potentially as high as 11:1.
Including in our analysis constraints from the cold classical objects, which
are known to exhibit unique albedos and colors, we find that within our
measurement uncertainty, our observations are consistent with the primordial
Solar System protoplanetesimal disk being neutral-class-dominated, with two
major compositional divisions in color space.Comment: Accepted to ApJS; on-line supplemental files will be available with
the AJS published version of the pape
Conservation and Evolution of Cis-Regulatory Systems in Ascomycete Fungi
Relatively little is known about the mechanisms through which gene expression regulation evolves. To investigate this, we systematically explored the conservation of regulatory networks in fungi by examining the cis-regulatory elements that govern the expression of coregulated genes. We first identified groups of coregulated Saccharomyces cerevisiae genes enriched for genes with known upstream or downstream cis-regulatory sequences. Reasoning that many of these gene groups are coregulated in related species as well, we performed similar analyses on orthologs of coregulated S. cerevisiae genes in 13 other ascomycete species. We find that many species-specific gene groups are enriched for the same flanking regulatory sequences as those found in the orthologous gene groups from S. cerevisiae, indicating that those regulatory systems have been conserved in multiple ascomycete species. In addition to these clear cases of regulatory conservation, we find examples of cis-element evolution that suggest multiple modes of regulatory diversification, including alterations in transcription factor-binding specificity, incorporation of new gene targets into an existing regulatory system, and cooption of regulatory systems to control a different set of genes. We investigated one example in greater detail by measuring the in vitro activity of the S. cerevisiae transcription factor Rpn4p and its orthologs from Candida albicans and Neurospora crassa. Our results suggest that the DNA binding specificity of these proteins has coevolved with the sequences found upstream of the Rpn4p target genes and suggest that Rpn4p has a different function in N. crassa
Future Supply of Medical Radioisotopes for the UK Report 2014
The UK has no research nuclear reactors and relies on the importation of 99Mo
and other medical radioisotopes (e.g. Iodine-131) from overseas (excluding PET
radioisotopes). The UK is therefore vulnerable not only to global shortages,
but to problems with shipping and importation of the products. In this context
Professor Erika Denton UK national Clinical Director for Diagnostics requested
that the British Nuclear Medicine Society lead a working group with
stakeholders including representatives from the Science & Technology Facilities
Council (STFC) to prepare a report. The group had a first meeting on 10 April
2013 followed by a working group meeting with presentations on 9th September
2013 where the scope of the work required to produce a report was agreed.
The objectives of the report are: to describe the status of the use of
medical radioisotopes in the UK; to anticipate the potential impact of
shortages for the UK; to assess potential alternative avenues of medical
radioisotope production for the UK market; and to explore ways of mitigating
the impact of medical radioisotopes on patient care pathways. The report
incorporates details of a visit to the Cyclotron Facilities at Edmonton,
Alberta and at TRIUMF, Vancouver BC in Canada by members of the report team.Comment: 121 page
Genetic and neuronal regulation of sleep by neuropeptide VF
Sleep is an essential and phylogenetically conserved behavioral state, but it remains unclear to what extent genes identified in invertebrates also regulate vertebrate sleep. RFamide-related neuropeptides have been shown to promote invertebrate sleep, and here we report that the vertebrate hypothalamic RFamide neuropeptide VF (NPVF) regulates sleep in the zebrafish, a diurnal vertebrate. We found that NPVF signaling and npvf-expressing neurons are both necessary and sufficient to promote sleep, that mature peptides derived from the NPVF preproprotein promote sleep in a synergistic manner, and that stimulation of npvf-expressing neurons induces neuronal activity levels consistent with normal sleep. These results identify NPVF signaling and npvf-expressing neurons as a novel vertebrate sleep-promoting system and suggest that RFamide neuropeptides participate in an ancient and central aspect of sleep control
Development, functional characterization and validation of methodology for GMP-compliant manufacture of phagocytic macrophages:A novel cellular therapeutic for liver cirrhosis
Safety profile of autologous macrophage therapy for liver cirrhosis
This work was supported by a Medical Research Council UK grant (Biomedical Catalyst Major Awards Committee; reference MR/M007588/1) to S.J. Forbes. We thank Z.M. Younossi (Center for Outcomes Research in Liver Diseases, Washington, DC, USA) for academic use of the CLDQ instrument and L.J. Fallowfield (Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C), University of Sussex, UK) for advice about health-related quality of life assessment.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprintPostprintPostprin
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