62 research outputs found
Comparison of enterovirus detection in cerebrospinal fluid with Bacterial Meningitis Score in children
The miniJPAS survey: clusters and galaxy groups detection with AMICO
Samples of galaxy clusters allow us to better understand the physics at play
in galaxy formation and to constrain cosmological models once their mass,
position (for clustering studies) and redshift are known. In this context,
large optical data sets play a crucial role. We investigate the capabilities of
the Javalambre-Physics of the Accelerating Universe Astrophysical Survey
(J-PAS) in detecting and characterizing galaxy groups and clusters. We analyze
the data of the miniJPAS survey, obtained with the JPAS-Pathfinder camera and
covering deg centered on the AEGIS field to the same depths and with
the same 54 narrow band plus 2 broader band near-UV and near-IR filters
anticipated for the full J-PAS survey. We use the Adaptive Matched Identifier
of Clustered Objects (AMICO) to detect and characterize groups and clusters of
galaxies down to in the redshift range . We detect 80, 30
and 11 systems with signal-to-noise ratio larger than 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5,
respectively, down to . We derive mass-proxy scaling
relations based on Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray data for the signal amplitude
returned by AMICO, the intrinsic richness and a new proxy that incorporates the
galaxies' stellar masses. The latter proxy is made possible thanks to the J-PAS
filters and shows a smaller scatter with respect to the richness. We fully
characterize the sample and use AMICO to derive a probabilistic membership
association of galaxies to the detected groups that we test against
spectroscopy. We further show how the narrow band filters of J-PAS provide a
gain of up to 100% in signal-to-noise ratio in detection and an uncertainty on
the redshift of clusters of only placing J-PAS in
between broadband photometric and spectroscopic surveys. The performances of
AMICO and J-PAS with respect to mass sensitivity, mass-proxies qualityComment: 15 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, submitted to A&
History of Reading Struggles Linked to Enhanced Learning in Low Spatial Frequency Scenes
People with dyslexia, who face lifelong struggles with reading, exhibit numerous associated low-level sensory deficits including deficits in focal attention. Countering this, studies have shown that struggling readers outperform typical readers in some visual tasks that integrate distributed information across an expanse. Though such abilities would be expected to facilitate scene memory, prior investigations using the contextual cueing paradigm failed to find corresponding advantages in dyslexia. We suggest that these studies were confounded by task-dependent effects exaggerating known focal attention deficits in dyslexia, and that, if natural scenes were used as the context, advantages would emerge. Here, we investigate this hypothesis by comparing college students with histories of severe lifelong reading difficulties (SR) and typical readers (TR) in contexts that vary attention load. We find no differences in contextual-cueing when spatial contexts are letter-like objects, or when contexts are natural scenes. However, the SR group significantly outperforms the TR group when contexts are low-pass filtered natural scenes [F(3, 39)â=â3.15, p<.05]. These findings suggest that perception or memory for low spatial frequency components in scenes is enhanced in dyslexia. These findings are important because they suggest strengths for spatial learning in a population otherwise impaired, carrying implications for the education and support of students who face challenges in school
Physical activity and risk of Metabolic Syndrome in an urban Mexican cohort
Abstract Background In the Mexican population metabolic syndrome (MS) is highly prevalent. It is well documented that regular physical activity (PA) prevents coronary diseases, type 2 diabetes and MS. Most studies of PA have focused on moderate-vigorous leisure-time activity, because it involves higher energy expenditures, increase physical fitness, and decrease the risk of MS. However, for most people it is difficult to get a significant amount of PA from only moderately-vigorous leisure activity, so workplace activity may be an option for working populations, because, although may not be as vigorous in terms of cardio-respiratory efforts, it comprises a considerable proportion of the total daily activity with important energy expenditure. Since studies have also documented that different types and intensity of daily PA, including low-intensity, seem to confer important health benefits such as prevent MS, we sought to assess the impact of different amounts of leisure-time and workplace activities, including low-intensity level on MS prevention, in a sample of urban Mexican adults. Methods The study population consisted of 5118 employees and their relatives, aged 20 to 70 years, who were enrolled in the baseline evaluation of a cohort study. MS was assessed according to the criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program, ATP III and physical activity with a validated self-administered questionnaire. Associations between physical activity and MS risk were assessed with multivariate logistic regression models. Results The prevalence of the components of MS in the study population were: high glucose levels 14.2%, high triglycerides 40.9%, high blood pressure 20.4%, greater than healthful waist circumference 43.2% and low-high density lipoprotein 76.9%. The prevalence of MS was 24.4%; 25.3% in men and 21.8% in women. MS risk was reduced among men (OR 0.72; 95%CI 0.57â0.95) and women (OR 0.78; 95%CI 0.64â0.94) who reported an amount of â„30 minutes/day of leisure-time activity, and among women who reported an amount of â„3 hours/day of workplace activity (OR 0.75; 95%CI 0.59â0.96). Conclusion Our results indicate that both leisure-time and workplace activity at different intensity levels, including low-intensity significantly reduce the risk of MS. This finding highlights the need for more recommendations regarding the specific amount and intensity of leisure-time and workplace activity needed to prevent MS
Combining dark energy survey science verification data with near-infrared data from the ESO VISTA hemisphere survey
We present the combination of optical data from the Science Verification
phase of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) with near infrared data from the ESO
VISTA Hemisphere Survey (VHS). The deep optical detections from DES are used to
extract fluxes and associated errors from the shallower VHS data. Joint 7-band
() photometric catalogues are produced in a single 3 sq-deg DECam
field centred at 02h26m04d36m where the availability of ancillary
multi-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy allows us to test the data
quality. Dual photometry increases the number of DES galaxies with measured VHS
fluxes by a factor of 4.5 relative to a simple catalogue level matching
and results in a 1.5 mag increase in the 80\% completeness limit of the
NIR data. Almost 70\% of DES sources have useful NIR flux measurements in this
initial catalogue. Photometric redshifts are estimated for a subset of galaxies
with spectroscopic redshifts and initial results, although currently limited by
small number statistics, indicate that the VHS data can help reduce the
photometric redshift scatter at both . We present example
DES+VHS colour selection criteria for high redshift Luminous Red Galaxies
(LRGs) at as well as luminous quasars. Using spectroscopic
observations in this field we show that the additional VHS fluxes enable a
cleaner selection of both populations with 10\% contamination from galactic
stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed quasars and
contamination from galactic stars in the case of spectroscopically confirmed
LRGs. The combined DES+VHS dataset, which will eventually cover almost 5000
sq-deg, will therefore enable a range of new science and be ideally suited for
target selection for future wide-field spectroscopic surveys.We thank the referee, Nicholas Cross, for a very useful report on
this manuscript. MB acknowledges a postdoctoral fellowship via
OLâs Advanced European Research Council Grant (TESTDE).
Funding for the DES Projects has been provided by the U.S.
Department of Energy, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the
Ministry of Science and Education of Spain, the Science and Technology
Facilities Council of the United Kingdom, the Higher Education
Funding Council for England, the National Center for Supercomputing
Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign, the Kavli Institute of Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos, Fundacž Ëao
Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo `a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de
Janeiro, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientŽıfico e Tecnol
ÂŽogico and the MinistÂŽerio da CiËencia e Tecnologia, the Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Collaborating Institutions in the
Dark Energy Survey.
The Collaborating Institutions are Argonne National Laboratories,
the University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of
Cambridge, Centro de Investigaciones Energeticas, Medioambientales
y Tecnologicas-Madrid, the University of Chicago, University
College London, the DES-Brazil Consortium, the Eidgenšossische
Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zšurich, Fermi National Accelerator
Laboratory, the University of Edinburgh, the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Institut de Ciencies de lâEspai
(IEEC/CSIC), the Institut de Fisica dâAltes Energies, the Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory, the Ludwig-Maximilians Universit
šat and the associated Excellence Cluster Universe, the University
of Michigan, the National Optical Astronomy Observatory,
the University of Nottingham, The Ohio State University, the University
of Pennsylvania, the University of Portsmouth, SLAC National
Laboratory, Stanford University, the University of Sussex,
and Texas A&M University.
The DES participants from Spanish institutions are partially
supported by MINECO under grants AYA2009-13936, AYA2012-
39559, AYA2012-39620, and FPA2012-39684, which include
FEDER funds from the European Union.
We are grateful for the extraordinary contributions of our
CTIO colleagues and the DES Camera, Commissioning and Science
Verification teams in achieving the excellent instrument and
telescope conditions that have made this work possible. The success
of this project also relies critically on the expertise and dedication
of the DES Data Management organisation.
The analysis presented here is based on observations obtained
as part of the VISTA Hemisphere Survey, ESO Progam, 179.A-
2010 (PI: McMahon) and data products from observations made
with ESO Telescopes at the La Silla Paranal Observatory under
programme ID 179.A-2006 (PI: Jarvis).
Data for the OzDES spectroscopic survey were obtained with
the Anglo-Australian Telescope (program numbers 12B/11 and
13B/12). Parts of this research were conducted by the Australian
Research Council Centre of Excellence for All-sky Astrophysics
(CAASTRO), through project number CE110001020. TMD acknowledges
the support of the Australian Research Council through
Future Fellowship, FT100100595.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/446/3/2523.abstract
Amination of enzymes to improve biocatalyst performance: coupling genetic modification and physicochemical tools
Improvement of the features of an enzyme is in many instances a pre-requisite for the industrial implementation of these exceedingly interesting biocatalysts. To reach this goal, the researcher may utilize different tools. For example, amination of the enzyme surface produces an alteration of the isoelectric point of the protein along with its chemical reactivity (primary amino groups are the most widely used to obtain the reaction of the enzyme with surfaces, chemical modifiers, etc.) and even its âin vivoâ behavior. This review will show some examples of chemical (mainly modifying the carboxylic groups using the carbodiimide route), physical (using polycationic polymers like polyethyleneimine) and genetic amination of the enzyme surface. Special emphasis will be put on cases where the amination is performed to improve subsequent protein modifications. Thus, amination has been used to increase the intensity of the enzyme/support multipoint covalent attachment, to improve the interaction with cation exchanger supports or polymers, or to promote the formation of crosslinkings (both intra-molecular and in the production of crosslinked enzyme aggregates). In other cases, amination has been used to directly modulate the enzyme properties (both in immobilized or free form). Amination of the enzyme surface may also pursue other goals not related to biocatalysis. For example, it has been used to improve the raising of antibodies against different compounds (both increasing the number of haptamers per enzyme and the immunogenicity of the composite) or the ability to penetrate cell membranes. Thus, amination may be a very powerful tool to improve the use of enzymes and proteins in many different areas and a great expansion of its usage may be expected in the near future.This work has been supported by grant CTQ2013-41507-R from Spanish MINECO, grant no. 1102-489-25428 from COLCIENCIAS and Universidad Industrial de Santander (VIE-UIS Research Program) and CNPq and FAPERGS (Brazil). A. Berenguer-Murcia thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion for a Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RyC-2009â03813)
Kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect with ACT, DES, and BOSS: A novel hybrid estimator
The kinematic and thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ and tSZ) effects probe the abundance and thermodynamics of ionized gas in galaxies and clusters. We present a new hybrid estimator to measure the kSZ effect by combining cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropy maps with photometric and spectroscopic optical survey data. The method interpolates a velocity reconstruction from a spectroscopic catalog at the positions of objects in a photometric catalog, which makes it possible to leverage the high number density of the photometric catalog and the precision of the spectroscopic survey. Combining this hybrid kSZ estimator with a measurement of the tSZ effect simultaneously constrains the density and temperature of free electrons in the photometrically selected galaxies. Using the 1000 deg2 of overlap between the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 5, the first three years of data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), and the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 12, we detect the kSZ signal at 4.8Ï and reject the null (no-kSZ) hypothesis at 5.1Ï. This corresponds to 2.0Ï per 100,000 photometric objects with a velocity field based on a spectroscopic survey with 1/5th the density of the photometric catalog. For comparison, a recent ACT analysis using exclusively spectroscopic data from BOSS measured the kSZ signal at 2.1Ï per 100,000 objects. Our derived constraints on the thermodynamic properties of the galaxy halos are consistent with previous measurements. With future surveys, such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument and the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time, we expect that this hybrid estimator could result in measurements with significantly better signal-to-noise than those that rely on spectroscopic data alone
Cytoskeletal control of B cell responses to antigens.
The actin cytoskeleton is essential for cell mechanics and has increasingly been implicated in the regulation of cell signalling. In B cells, the actin cytoskeleton is extensively coupled to B cell receptor (BCR) signalling pathways, and defects of the actin cytoskeleton can either promote or suppress B cell activation. Recent insights from studies using single-cell imaging and biophysical techniques suggest that actin orchestrates BCR signalling at the plasma membrane through effects on protein diffusion and that it regulates antigen discrimination through the biomechanics of immune synapses. These mechanical functions also have a role in the adaptation of B cell subsets to specialized tasks during antibody responses
The management of acute venous thromboembolism in clinical practice. Results from the European PREFER in VTE Registry
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. Data from real-world registries are necessary, as clinical trials do not represent the full spectrum of VTE patients seen in clinical practice. We aimed to document the epidemiology, management and outcomes of VTE using data from a large, observational database. PREFER in VTE was an international, non-interventional disease registry conducted between January 2013 and July 2015 in primary and secondary care across seven European countries. Consecutive patients with acute VTE were documented and followed up over 12 months. PREFER in VTE included 3,455 patients with a mean age of 60.8 ± 17.0 years. Overall, 53.0 % were male. The majority of patients were assessed in the hospital setting as inpatients or outpatients (78.5 %). The diagnosis was deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) in 59.5 % and pulmonary embolism (PE) in 40.5 %. The most common comorbidities were the various types of cardiovascular disease (excluding hypertension; 45.5 %), hypertension (42.3 %) and dyslipidaemia (21.1 %). Following the index VTE, a large proportion of patients received initial therapy with heparin (73.2 %), almost half received a vitamin K antagonist (48.7 %) and nearly a quarter received a DOAC (24.5 %). Almost a quarter of all presentations were for recurrent VTE, with >80 % of previous episodes having occurred more than 12 months prior to baseline. In conclusion, PREFER in VTE has provided contemporary insights into VTE patients and their real-world management, including their baseline characteristics, risk factors, disease history, symptoms and signs, initial therapy and outcomes
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