New cue-conflict experiments suggest a leading role of visual cues in the migratory orientation of Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca

Migratory birds use both geomagnetic and celestial cues to select and maintain their seasonally appropriate migratory direction. The integration of the different compass cues is still poorly understood. Previous cue-conflict experiments suggested that Pied Flycatchers Ficedula hypoleuca did not recalibrate their magnetic compass against the polarization pattern at twilight, but the available evidence is problematic given the high variability of birds’ directional preferences. We performed a new set of cue-conflict experiments where (1) we modified the protocol in order to try to reduce scatter of data and (2) we integrated the results of two experimental approaches, i.e. orientation cages and releases of radio-tagged birds. Pied Flycatchers were tested in Emlen funnels without access to celestial cues before and after being exposed to conflicting visual and geomagnetic information. After the second test, birds were equipped with radio-transmitters and followed until the vanishing of the radio signal. Contrary to previous experiments, our data showed a general dominance of celestial cues: polarized light sun-related pattern in captive birds tested without access to stars and stellar dominance in free-flying birds released under a starry sky at night-time. These results underline the importance of experimental protocols when testing ways in which birds integrate their compass systems

Dataset related to article "Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Lung Metastases From Sarcoma in Oligometastatic Patients: A Phase 2 Study"

<p>This record contains raw data related to article "Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy for Lung Metastases From Sarcoma in Oligometastatic Patients: A Phase 2 Study"</p><p>Abstract</p><p><strong>Purpose: </strong>The lung is the most frequent site of metastasis in patients with sarcoma. Pulmonary metastasectomy is the most common treatment performed. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) has proven to be a potential alternative to resection. This prospective phase 2 study aimed to assess the role of SBRT for patients with lung metastases.</p><p><strong>Methods and materials: </strong>Adult patients with up to 4 lung metastases (LMs) ≤5 cm in diameter and unsuitable for surgery were included. Dose prescription was based on site and size: 30 Gy/1 fraction for peripheral lesions ≤10 mm, 60 Gy/3 fractions for peripheral lesions 11 to 20 mm, 48 Gy/4 fractions for peripheral lesions >20 mm, and 60 Gy/8 fractions for central lesions. The primary endpoint was the proportion of treated lesions free from progression at 12 months. Secondary endpoints were disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), and toxicity.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Between March 2015 and December 2020, 44 patients with a total of 71 LMs were enrolled. Twelve-month local control was 98.5% ± 1.4%, reaching the primary aim; the median DFS time was 12 months (95% CI, 8-16 months), and the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year PFS rates were 50% ± 7.5%, 19.5% ± 6.6%, 11.7% ± 5.8%, 11.7% ± 5.8%, and 11.7% ± 5.8%, respectively. The median OS time was 49 months (95% CI, 24-49 months), and the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year OS rates were 88.6% ± 4.7%, 66.7 ± 7.6%, 56.8% ± 8.4%, 53.0% ± 8.6%, and 48.2% ± 9.1%, respectively. Prognostic factors recorded as significantly affecting survival were age, grade of primary sarcoma, interval time from diagnosis to occurrence of LMs, and number of LMs. No severe pulmonary toxicity (grade 3-4) occurred.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The study found a local control of LMs in almost all patients treated, with negligible toxicity. Survival was also highly satisfactory. Well-designed randomized trials comparing surgery with SBRT for patients with metastatic lung sarcoma are needed to confirm these preliminary data</p&gt

Single-agent Bevacizumab in Recurrent Glioblastoma After Second-line Chemotherapy With Fotemustine: The Experience of the Italian Association of Neuro-Oncology

Objectives: Bevacizumab is an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody used in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma (GBM). Despite the large number of studies carried out in patients with recurrent GBM, little is known about the administration of this angiogenesis inhibitor after the failure of the second-line chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective multicenter study, on behalf of the Italian Association of Neuro-Oncology, we reported the results obtained in 51 patients with recurrent GBM treated with single-agent bevacizumab after the failure of second-line chemotherapy with fotemustine. Results: In March 2016, at the time of data analysis, 3 patients (14.4%) were still alive with stable disease, whereas 48 died due to disease progression. Kaplan-Meier estimated median survival from the diagnosis of GBM was 28 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 22.1-33.9mo). Median survival measured from the beginning of fotemustine and bevacizumab therapy were 11.3 (95% CI, 8.4-13.6mo) and 6 months (95% CI, 3.8-8.1 mo), respectively. The 6- and 12-month progression free survival rates from the beginning of bevacizumab treatment were 18% and 13%, respectively. Conclusions: On the basis of our data, in patients with recurrent GBM, the failure of a second-line chemotherapy with cytotoxic agents might not exclude the administration of bevacizumab as third-line chemotherapy

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the first Advanced LIGO observing run with a hidden Markov model

Results are presented from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the brightest low-mass X-ray binary, Scorpius X-1, using data collected during the first Advanced LIGO observing run. The search combines a frequency domain matched filter (Bessel-weighted F-statistic) with a hidden Markov model to track wandering of the neutron star spin frequency. No evidence of gravitational waves is found in the frequency range 60–650 Hz. Frequentist 95% confidence strain upper limits, h095%=4.0×10-25, 8.3×10-25, and 3.0×10-25 for electromagnetically restricted source orientation, unknown polarization, and circular polarization, respectively, are reported at 106 Hz. They are ≤10 times higher than the theoretical torque-balance limit at 106 Hz

Model comparison from LIGO–Virgo data on GW170817’s binary components and consequences for the merger remnant

International audienceGW170817 is the very first observation of gravitational waves originating from the coalescence of two compact objects in the mass range of neutron stars, accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts, and offers an opportunity to directly probe the internal structure of neutron stars. We perform Bayesian model selection on a wide range of theoretical predictions for the neutron star equation of state. For the binary neutron star hypothesis, we find that we cannot rule out the majority of theoretical models considered. In addition, the gravitational-wave data alone does not rule out the possibility that one or both objects were low-mass black holes. We discuss the possible outcomes in the case of a binary neutron star merger, finding that all scenarios from prompt collapse to long-lived or even stable remnants are possible. For long-lived remnants, we place an upper limit of 1.9 kHz on the rotation rate. If a black hole was formed any time after merger and the coalescing stars were slowly rotating, then the maximum baryonic mass of non-rotating neutron stars is at most , and three equations of state considered here can be ruled out. We obtain a tighter limit of for the case that the merger results in a hypermassive neutron star

Open data from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo are monitoring the sky and collecting gravitational-wave strain data with sufficient sensitivity to detect signals routinely. In this paper we describe the data recorded by these instruments during their first and second observing runs. The main data products are gravitational-wave strain time series sampled at 16384 Hz. The datasets that include this strain measurement can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at http://gw-openscience.org, together with data-quality information essential for the analysis of LIGO and Virgo data, documentation, tutorials, and supporting software

Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

International audienceDuring their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that uses a bank of filters covering the GW signal parameter space, while the second is a generic search for GW transients (bursts). No GWs from IMBHBs were detected; therefore, we constrain the rate of several classes of IMBHB mergers. The most stringent limit is obtained for black holes of individual mass 100  M⊙, with spins aligned with the binary orbital angular momentum. For such systems, the merger rate is constrained to be less than 0.93  Gpc−3 yr−1 in comoving units at the 90% confidence level, an improvement of nearly 2 orders of magnitude over previous upper limits

First low-frequency Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in Advanced LIGO data

International audienceWe report results of a deep all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars in data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run. This search investigates the low frequency range of Advanced LIGO data, between 20 and 100 Hz, much of which was not explored in initial LIGO. The search was made possible by the computing power provided by the volunteers of the Einstein@Home project. We find no significant signal candidate and set the most stringent upper limits to date on the amplitude of gravitational wave signals from the target population, corresponding to a sensitivity depth of 48.7  [1/Hz]. At the frequency of best strain sensitivity, near 100 Hz, we set 90% confidence upper limits of 1.8×10-25. At the low end of our frequency range, 20 Hz, we achieve upper limits of 3.9×10-24. At 55 Hz we can exclude sources with ellipticities greater than 10-5 within 100 pc of Earth with fiducial value of the principal moment of inertia of 1038  kg m2

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

International audienceSpinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far