182 research outputs found
Radio imaging of the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field - III. Evolution of the radio luminosity function beyond z=1
We present spectroscopic and eleven-band photometric redshifts for galaxies
in the 100-uJy Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field radio source sample. We find good
agreement between our redshift distribution and that predicted by the SKA
Simulated Skies project. We find no correlation between K-band magnitude and
radio flux, but show that sources with 1.4-GHz flux densities below ~1mJy are
fainter in the near-infrared than brighter radio sources at the same redshift,
and we discuss the implications of this result for spectroscopically-incomplete
samples where the K-z relation has been used to estimate redshifts. We use the
infrared--radio correlation to separate our sample into radio-loud and
radio-quiet objects and show that only radio-loud hosts have spectral energy
distributions consistent with predominantly old stellar populations, although
the fraction of objects displaying such properties is a decreasing function of
radio luminosity. We calculate the 1.4-GHz radio luminosity function (RLF) in
redshift bins to z=4 and find that the space density of radio sources increases
with lookback time to z~2, with a more rapid increase for more powerful
sources. We demonstrate that radio-loud and radio-quiet sources of the same
radio luminosity evolve very differently. Radio-quiet sources display strong
evolution to z~2 while radio-loud AGNs below the break in the radio luminosity
function evolve more modestly and show hints of a decline in their space
density at z>1, with this decline occurring later for lower-luminosity objects.
If the radio luminosities of these sources are a function of their black hole
spins then slowly-rotating black holes must have a plentiful fuel supply for
longer, perhaps because they have yet to encounter the major merger that will
spin them up and use the remaining gas in a major burst of star formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS: 36 pages, including 13 pages of
figures to appear online only. In memory of Stev
Herbert Hoover Elementary / Charleston Complete Corridor Plan
Completed as a part of CRP 425 bicycle and pedestrian planning, led by Dr. William Riggs, this planning project assessed the Herbert Hoover Elementary site and Charleston corridor in the City of Palo Alto with an aim to bring a complete streets strategy to the area. The plans recommend improved accessibility for bicycles and pedestrians along Charleston Road including modal separation between bicyclists and pedestians, improved vehicular flows to mitigate vehicular traffic congestion during peak hours and increased innovation in safety features to prevent pedestrian-vehicle conflicts
Accelerated versus standard epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil or capecitabine as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer (UK TACT2; CRUK/05/19): quality of life results from a multicentre, phase 3, open-label, randomised, controlled trial
BACKGROUND: Adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with early breast cancer improves outcomes but its toxicity affects patients' quality of life (QOL). The UK TACT2 trial investigated whether accelerated epirubicin improves time to recurrence and if oral capecitabine is non-inferior to cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) for efficacy with less toxicity. Results showed no benefit for accelerated epirubicin and capecitabine was non-inferior. As part of the QOL substudy, we aimed to assess the effect of chemotherapies on psychological distress, physical symptoms, and functional domains. METHODS: TACT2 was a multicentre, phase 3, open-label, parallel-group, randomised, controlled trial done in 129 UK centres. Participants were aged 18 years or older with histologically confirmed node-positive or high-risk node-negative invasive primary breast cancer, who had undergone complete excision, and due to receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to four cycles of 100 mg/m2 epirubicin either every 3 weeks (standard epirubicin) or every 2 weeks with 6 mg pegfilgrastim on day 2 of each cycle (accelerated epirubicin), followed by four 4-week cycles of either CMF (600 mg/m2 cyclophosphamide intravenously on days 1 and 8 or 100 mg/m2 orally on days 1–14; 40 mg/m2 methotrexate intravenously on days 1 and 8; and 600 mg/m2 fluorouracil intravenously on days 1 and 8 of each cycle) or four 3-week cycles of 2500 mg/m2 capecitabine (1250 mg/m2 given twice daily on days 1–14 of each cycle). The randomisation schedule was computer generated in random permuted blocks, stratified by centre, number of nodes involved (none vs 1–3 vs ≥4), age (≤50 years vs >50 years), and planned endocrine treatment (yes vs no). QOL was one of the secondary outcomes and is reported here. All patients from a subset of 44 centres were invited to complete QOL questionnaires (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] and European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer [EORTC] Quality of Life Questionnaire 30-item core module [QLQ-C30] and Quality of Life Questionnaire breast module [QLQ-BR23]) at baseline, end of standard or accelerated epirubicin, end of CMF or capecitabine, and at 12 and 24 months after randomisation. The QOL substudy prespecified two coprimary QOL outcomes assessed in the intention-to-treat population: overall QOL (reported elsewhere) and HADS total score. Prespecified secondary QOL outcomes were EORTC QLQ-C30 subscales of physical function, role function, and fatigue and EORTC QLQ-BR23 subscales of sexual function and systemic therapy side-effects. This trial is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN68068041, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00301925. FINDINGS: From Dec 16, 2005, to Dec 5, 2008, 4391 patients (20 [0·5%] of whom were male) were enrolled in TACT2; 1281 (85·8%) of 1493 eligible patients were included in the QOL substudy. Eight (0·6%) participants in the QOL substudy were male and 1273 (99·4%) were female. Median follow-up was 85·6 months (IQR 80·6–95·9). Analysis was performed on the complete QOL dataset (as of Sept 15, 2011) when all participants had passed the 24-month timepoint. Prerandomisation questionnaires were completed by 1172 (91·5%) patients and 1179 (92·0%) completed at least one postrandomisation questionnaire. End-of-treatment HADS depression score (p=0·0048) and HADS total change score (p=0·0093) were worse for CMF versus capecitabine. Accelerated epirubicin led to worse physical function (p=0·0065), role function (p<0·0001), fatigue (p=0·0002), and systemic side-effects (p=0·0001), but not sexual function (p=0·36), compared with standard epirubicin during treatment, but the effect did not persist. Worse physical function (p=0·0048), sexual function (p=0·0053), fatigue (p<0·0001), and systemic side-effects (p<0·0001), but not role functioning (p=0·013), were seen for CMF versus capecitabine at end of treatment; these differences persisted at 12 months and 24 months. INTERPRETATION: Accelerated epirubicin was associated with worse QOL than was standard epirubicin but only during treatment. These findings will help patients and clinicians make an informed choice about accelerated chemotherapy. CMF had worse QOL effects than did capecitabine, which were persistent for 24 months. The favourable capecitabine QOL compared with CMF supports its use as an adjuvant option after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with triple-negative breast cancer
Accelerated versus standard epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil or capecitabine as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer (UK TACT2; CRUK/05/19): quality of life results from a multicentre, phase 3, open-label, randomised, controlled trial
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Survey Design and First Data Release
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey is a survey of 240,000 emission line galaxies
in the distant universe, measured with the AAOmega spectrograph on the 3.9-m
Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT). The target galaxies are selected using
ultraviolet photometry from the GALEX satellite, with a flux limit of NUV<22.8
mag. The redshift range containing 90% of the galaxies is 0.2<z<1.0. The
primary aim of the survey is to precisely measure the scale of baryon acoustic
oscillations (BAO) imprinted on the spatial distribution of these galaxies at
look-back times of 4-8 Gyrs. Detailed forecasts indicate the survey will
measure the BAO scale to better than 2% and the tangential and radial acoustic
wave scales to approximately 3% and 5%, respectively.
This paper provides a detailed description of the survey and its design, as
well as the spectroscopic observations, data reduction, and redshift
measurement techniques employed. It also presents an analysis of the properties
of the target galaxies, including emission line diagnostics which show that
they are mostly extreme starburst galaxies, and Hubble Space Telescope images,
which show they contain a high fraction of interacting or distorted systems. In
conjunction with this paper, we make a public data release of data for the
first 100,000 galaxies measured for the project.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS; this has some figures in low resolution format.
Full resolution PDF version (7MB) available at
http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/mjd/pub/wigglez1.pdf The WiggleZ home
page is at http://wigglez.swin.edu.au
European Respiratory Society Statement on Thoracic Ultrasound
Thoracic ultrasound is increasingly considered to be an essential tool for the pulmonologist. It is used in diverse clinical scenarios, including as an adjunct to clinical decision making for diagnosis, a real-time guide to procedures, and a predictor or measurement of treatment response. The aim of this European Respiratory Society task force was to produce a statement on thoracic ultrasound for pulmonologists using thoracic ultrasound within the field of respiratory medicine. The multidisciplinary panel performed a review of the literature, addressing major areas of thoracic ultrasound practice and application. The selected major areas include equipment and technique, assessment of the chest wall, parietal pleura, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, interstitial syndrome, lung consolidation, diaphragm assessment, intervention guidance, training, and the patient perspective. Despite the growing evidence supporting the use of thoracic ultrasound, the published literature still contains a paucity of data in some important fields. Key research questions for each of the major areas were identified, which serve to facilitate future multi-centre collaborations and research to further consolidate an evidence-based use of thoracic ultrasound, for the benefit of the many patients being exposed to clinicians using thoracic ultrasound
Predicting the peak growth velocity in the individual child: validation of a new growth model
Predicting the peak growth velocity in an individual patient with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is essential or determining the prognosis of the disorder and timing of the (surgical) treatment. Until the present time, no accurate method has been found to predict the timing and magnitude of the pubertal growth spurt in the individual child. A mathematical model was developed in which the partial individual growth velocity curve was linked to the generic growth velocity curve. The generic curve was shifted and stretched or shrunk, both along the age axis and the height velocity axis. The individual age and magnitude of the PGV were obtained from the new predicted complete growth velocity curve. Predictions were made using 2, 1.5, 1 and 0.5 years of the available longitudinal data of the individual child, starting at different ages. The predicted values of 210 boys and 162 girls were compared to the child’s own original values of the PGV. The individual differences were compared to differences obtained when using the generic growth velocity curve as a standard. Using 2 years of data as input for the model, all predictions of the age of the PGV in boys and girls were significantly better in comparison to using the generic values. Using only 0.5 years of data as input, the predictions with a starting age from 13 to 15.5 years in boys and from 9.5 to 14.5 years in girls were significantly better. Similar results were found for the predictions of the magnitude of the PGV. This model showed highly accurate results in predicting the individual age and magnitude of the PGV, which can be used in the treatment of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: the transition to large-scale cosmic homogeneity
We have made the largest-volume measurement to date of the transition to
large-scale homogeneity in the distribution of galaxies. We use the WiggleZ
survey, a spectroscopic survey of over 200,000 blue galaxies in a cosmic volume
of ~1 (Gpc/h)^3. A new method of defining the 'homogeneity scale' is presented,
which is more robust than methods previously used in the literature, and which
can be easily compared between different surveys. Due to the large cosmic depth
of WiggleZ (up to z=1) we are able to make the first measurement of the
transition to homogeneity over a range of cosmic epochs. The mean number of
galaxies N(<r) in spheres of comoving radius r is proportional to r^3 within
1%, or equivalently the fractal dimension of the sample is within 1% of D_2=3,
at radii larger than 71 \pm 8 Mpc/h at z~0.2, 70 \pm 5 Mpc/h at z~0.4, 81 \pm 5
Mpc/h at z~0.6, and 75 \pm 4 Mpc/h at z~0.8. We demonstrate the robustness of
our results against selection function effects, using a LCDM N-body simulation
and a suite of inhomogeneous fractal distributions. The results are in
excellent agreement with both the LCDM N-body simulation and an analytical LCDM
prediction. We can exclude a fractal distribution with fractal dimension below
D_2=2.97 on scales from ~80 Mpc/h up to the largest scales probed by our
measurement, ~300 Mpc/h, at 99.99% confidence.Comment: 21 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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