81 research outputs found
The importance of communication in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis
The recent improvements in multiple sclerosis therapy have lead to consequent improvements in its prognosis: however, it still remains a chronic and unpredictable disease. The moment of the diagnosis is the starting point of a durable relationship between the physician and the patient, but, most of all, it is often referred to as the most traumatic experience in patients’ life. Patients’ compliance to prescribed therapies, so important in the course of every chronic condition, particularly hangs on the psychological approach used by the doctor in communicating and explaining the diagnosis for the first time, in addition to the patient’s personality. A brief overview on the main types of physicians’ and patients’ behaviours and communications styles is provided in this article
Clinical effectiveness of different natalizumab interval dosing schedules in a large Italian population of patients with multiple sclerosis
Introduction Natalizumab (NTZ) is one of the most
effective treatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS)
treatment. Our study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness
of NTZ when administered according to the extended
dosing strategy compared with standard 4-weekly
administration in a large Italian MS population.
Materials and methods This retrospective multicentre
study included patients with relapsing-remitting
MS
(RR-MS)
who received NTZ administrations between the
1 June 2012 and the 15 May 2018 and were followed
by the ’Italian MS Register’. All patients with MS were
stratified into two groups based on NTZ administration
schedule: standard interval dosing (SID) patients who
received infusions on average from 28 to 32 days
(median 30) and extended interval dosing (EID) including
patients who have been infused with interval between
33 and 49 days (median 43). Clinical data were assessed
at baseline (before starting NTZ), after 12 (T1) and 24
months (T2) of treatment.
Results Out of 5231 patients with RR-MS
screened,
2092 (mean age 43.2±12.0, 60.6% women) were
enrolled. A total of 1254 (59.9%) received NTZ
according to SID, and 838 (40.1%) according to EID. At
12 and 24 months, no differences in terms of annualised
relapse rate and disability status were found between the
two groups. Progression index and confirmed disability
worsening were similar between the two groups.
Discussion The use of NTZ with an extended interval
schedule showed similar effectiveness compared with
SID. Unchanged clinical efficacy of EID schedule may
raise the question of a possible advantage in terms of
tolerability and safety
Definitive childlessness in women with multiple sclerosis: a multicenter study
The frequency of definitive childlessness in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be higher than in the general population. MS may also affect decisions on the delivery procedure and on breast-feeding issues. Aim of the study was to assess the frequency of childlessness and its possible causes, the proportion of cesarean deliveries (CD), and the frequency of breast-feeding in patients and controls who have reached the end of their reproductive period. Female MS patients (>43 years) and controls (>45 years) filled out a questionnaire. We enrolled 303 patients and 500 controls. MS was associated with a higher frequency of childlessness (22 vs 13%) and less patients were in a stable relationship (83 vs 89%). There was no difference in the reported rates of infertility and miscarriages, while elective abortions were more frequent in patients (20 vs 12%). MS did not significantly affect the frequency of CD or of breast-feeding. MS-related reasons for childlessness, reported by 16% of childless patients, included disability/fear of future disability, fear of genetically transmitting MS, fear of not starting/discontinuing treatments, and discouragement by physician. Definitive childlessness is more frequent in women with MS compared to controls. A portion of voluntary childlessness may be avoided through correct/tailored information to patients
Inside the bubble: exploring the environments of reionisation-era Lyman-α emitting galaxies with JADES and FRESCO⋆
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/We present a study of the environments of 17 Lyman-α emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the reionisation-era (5.8 5%) observed in our sample of LAEs, suggesting the presence of ionised hydrogen along the line of sight towards at least eight out of 17 LAEs. We find minimum physical 'bubble'sizes of the order of R ion ∼ 0.1- 1pMpc are required in a patchy reionisation scenario where ionised bubbles containing the LAEs are embedded in a fully neutral IGM. Around half of the LAEs in our sample are found to coincide with large-scale galaxy overdensities seen in FRESCO at z ∼ 5.8- 5.9 and z ∼ 7.3, suggesting Lyman-α transmission is strongly enhanced in such overdense regions, and underlining the importance of LAEs as tracers of the first large-scale ionised bubbles. Considering only spectroscopically confirmed galaxies, we find our sample of UV-faint LAEs (M UV ≳ -20mag) and their direct neighbours are generally not able to produce the required ionised regions based on the Lyman-α transmission properties, suggesting lower-luminosity sources likely play an important role in carving out these bubbles. These observations demonstrate the combined power of JWST multi-object and slitless spectroscopy in acquiring a unique view of the early Universe during cosmic reionisation via the most distant LAEs.Peer reviewe
The Cosmos in its Infancy: JADES Galaxy Candidates at z > 8 in GOODS-S and GOODS-N
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, to view a copy of the license, see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/We present a catalog of 717 candidate galaxies at z > 8 selected from 125 square arcmin of NIRCam imaging as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We combine the full JADES imaging data set with data from the JWST Extragalactic Medium Survey and First Reionization Epoch Spectroscopic COmplete Survey (FRESCO) along with extremely deep existing observations from Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) for a final filter set that includes 15 JWST/NIRCam filters and five HST/ACS filters. The high-redshift galaxy candidates were selected from their estimated photometric redshifts calculated using a template-fitting approach, followed by visual inspection from seven independent reviewers. We explore these candidates in detail, highlighting interesting resolved or extended sources, sources with very red long-wavelength slopes, and our highest-redshift candidates, which extend to z phot ∼ 18. Over 93% of the sources are newly identified from our deep JADES imaging, including 31 new galaxy candidates at z phot > 12. We also investigate potential contamination by stellar objects, and do not find strong evidence from spectral energy distribution fitting that these faint high-redshift galaxy candidates are low-mass stars. Using 42 sources in our sample with measured spectroscopic redshifts from NIRSpec and FRESCO, we find excellent agreement to our photometric redshift estimates, with no catastrophic outliers and an average difference of 〈Δz = z phot − z spec〉 = 0.26. These sources comprise one of the most robust samples for probing the early buildup of galaxies within the first few hundred million years of the Universe’s history.Peer reviewe
The Cosmos in its Infancy: JADES Galaxy Candidates at z > 8 in GOODS-S and GOODS-N
We present a catalog of 717 candidate galaxies at selected from 125
square arcminutes of NIRCam imaging as part of the JWST Advanced Deep
Extragalactic Survey (JADES). We combine the full JADES imaging dataset with
data from the JEMS and FRESCO JWST surveys along with extremely deep existing
observations from HST/ACS for a final filter set that includes fifteen
JWST/NIRCam filters and five HST/ACS filters. The high-redshift galaxy
candidates were selected from their estimated photometric redshifts calculated
using a template fitting approach, followed by visual inspection from seven
independent reviewers. We explore these candidates in detail, highlighting
interesting resolved or extended sources, sources with very red long-wavelength
slopes, and our highest redshift candidates, which extend to .
We also investigate potential contamination by stellar objects, and do not find
strong evidence from SED fitting that these faint high-redshift galaxy
candidates are low-mass stars. Over 93\% of the sources are newly identified
from our deep JADES imaging, including 31 new galaxy candidates at . Using 42 sources in our sample with measured spectroscopic redshifts from
NIRSpec and FRESCO, we find excellent agreement to our photometric redshift
estimates, with no catastrophic outliers and an average difference of . These sources comprise one of the
most robust samples for probing the early buildup of galaxies within the first
few hundred million years of the Universe's history.Comment: v2: 40 pages, 18 figures, submitted to AAS Journals, online data
catalog (JADES Deep only) found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.809252
A small and vigorous black hole in the early Universe
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Several theories have been proposed to describe the formation of black hole seeds in the early Universe and to explain the emergence of very massive black holes observed in the first thousand million years after the Big Bang1–3. Models consider different seeding and accretion scenarios4–7, which require the detection and characterization of black holes in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang to be validated. Here we present an extensive analysis of the JWST-NIRSpec spectrum of GN-z11, an exceptionally luminous galaxy at z = 10.6, revealing the detection of the [Neiv]λ2423 and CII*λ1335 transitions (typical of active galactic nuclei), as well as semi-forbidden nebular lines tracing gas densities higher than 109 cm−3, typical of the broad line region of active galactic nuclei. These spectral features indicate that GN-z11 hosts an accreting black hole. The spectrum also reveals a deep and blueshifted CIVλ1549 absorption trough, tracing an outflow with velocity 800−1,000 km s−1, probably driven by the active galactic nucleus. Assuming local virial relations, we derive a black hole mass of log(MBH/M⊙)=6.2±0.3, accreting at about five times the Eddington rate. These properties are consistent with both heavy seeds scenarios and scenarios considering intermediate and light seeds experiencing episodic super-Eddington phases. Our finding explains the high luminosity of GN-z11 and can also provide an explanation for its exceptionally high nitrogen abundance.Peer reviewe
A recently quenched galaxy 700 million years after the Big Bang
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Local and low-redshift (10^{10}~M_{\odot}=UV=\pm0.03\times 10^8~M_\odot$) falls in a range that is sensitive to various feedback mechanisms, which can result in perhaps only temporary quenching.Peer reviewe
JADES: Probing interstellar medium conditions at with ultra-deep JWST/NIRSpec spectroscopy
We present emission line ratios from a sample of 26 Lyman break galaxies from
with , measured from ultra-deep
JWST/NIRSpec MSA spectroscopy from JADES. We use 28 hour deep PRISM/CLEAR and 7
hour deep G395M/F290LP observations to measure, or place strong constraints on,
ratios of widely studied rest-frame optical emission lines including H,
H, [OII] 3726,3729, [NeIII] 3869, [OIII]
4959, [OIII] 5007, [OI] 6300, [NII] 6583,
and [SII] 6716,6731 in individual spectra. We find that
the emission line ratios exhibited by these galaxies occupy
clearly distinct regions of line-ratio space compared to typical z~0-3
galaxies, instead being more consistent with extreme populations of
lower-redshift galaxies. This is best illustrated by the [OIII]/[OII] ratio,
tracing interstellar medium (ISM) ionisation, in which we observe more than
half of our sample to have [OIII]/[OII]>10. Our high signal-to-noise spectra
reveal more than an order of magnitude of scatter in line ratios such as
[OII]/H and [OIII]/[OII], indicating significant diversity in the ISM
conditions within the sample. We find no convincing detections of [NII] in our
sample, either in individual galaxies, or a stack of all G395M/F290LP spectra.
The emission line ratios observed in our sample are generally consistent with
galaxies with extremely high ionisation parameters (log ), and a
range of metallicities spanning from to higher than
, suggesting we are probing low-metallicity systems
undergoing periods of rapid star-formation, driving strong radiation fields.
These results highlight the value of deep observations in constraining the
properties of individual galaxies, and hence probing diversity within galaxy
population.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics, updated
values in table
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