The association between insulin resistance and cytokines in adolescents: the role of weight status and exercise

Increased adiposity is associated with insulin resistance (IR) and an inflammatory response in adults. We tested the hypotheses that cytokines associated with adiposity are also correlated with IR in early adolescents and that these relationships are moderated by weight status, levels of vigorous physical activity (VPA), or maximal aerobic power (pVO2max). Body mass, stature, and a fasting blood sample were obtained from 120 mid-pubertal adolescents (60 girls & 60 boys). Habitual VPA was obtained by a survey. Predicted VO2max was determined using a cycle-ergometer test. Weight status was based on body mass index percentiles (normal weight = BMI 95th %tile). Glucose, insulin, adiponectin, resistin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6 were measured, and IR index was based on the Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA). Adiponectin, resistin and TNF-α were associated with IR in all adolescents (R2=0.329, p0.050). Exercise did not moderate the association between these cytokines and IR. However, higher levels of VPA and/or pVO2max were associated with higher adiponectin, lower resistin and lower TNF- α in at least one of the genders. Our results indicate that the pathophysiology of obesity is already established in early adolescents. Increased adiposity, resulting in reduced adiponectin and increased resistin and TNF-α may link these cytokines with insulin resistance in adolescents

MITS: the Multi-Imaging Transient Spectrograph for SOXS

The Son Of X-Shooter (SOXS) is a medium resolution spectrograph R~4500 proposed for the ESO 3.6 m NTT. We present the optical design of the UV-VIS arm of SOXS which employs high efficiency ion-etched gratings used in first order (m=1) as the main dispersers. The spectral band is split into four channels which are directed to individual gratings, and imaged simultaneously by a single three-element catadioptric camera. The expected throughput of our design is >60% including contingency. The SOXS collaboration expects first light in early 2021. This paper is one of several papers presented in these proceedings describing the full SOXS instrument

Optical design of the SOXS spectrograph for ESO NTT

An overview of the optical design for the SOXS spectrograph is presented. SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) is the new wideband, medium resolution (R>4500) spectrograph for the ESO 3.58m NTT telescope expected to start observations in 2021 at La Silla. The spectroscopic capabilities of SOXS are assured by two different arms. The UV-VIS (350-850 nm) arm is based on a novel concept that adopts the use of 4 ion-etched high efficiency transmission gratings. The NIR (800- 2000 nm) arm adopts the '4C' design (Collimator Correction of Camera Chromatism) successfully applied in X-Shooter. Other optical sub-systems are the imaging Acquisition Camera, the Calibration Unit and a pre-slit Common Path. We describe the optical design of the five sub-systems and report their performance in terms of spectral format, throughput and optical quality. This work is part of a series of contributions describing the SOXS design and properties as it is about to face the Final Design Review.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, published in SPIE Proceedings 1070

The VIS detector system of SOXS

SOXS will be a unique spectroscopic facility for the ESO NTT telescope able to cover the optical and NIR bands thanks to two different arms: the UV-VIS (350-850 nm), and the NIR (800-1800 nm). In this article, we describe the design of the visible camera cryostat and the architecture of the acquisition system. The UV-VIS detector system is based on a e2v CCD 44-82, a custom detector head coupled with the ESO continuous ow cryostats (CFC) cooling system and the NGC CCD controller developed by ESO. This paper outlines the status of the system and describes the design of the different parts that made up the UV-VIS arm and is accompanied by a series of contributions describing the SOXS design solutions.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures, to be published in SPIE Proceedings 1070

The Acquisition Camera System for SOXS at NTT

SOXS (Son of X-Shooter) will be the new medium resolution (R$\sim$4500 for a 1 arcsec slit), high-efficiency, wide band spectrograph for the ESO-NTT telescope on La Silla. It will be able to cover simultaneously optical and NIR bands (350-2000nm) using two different arms and a pre-slit Common Path feeding system. SOXS will provide an unique facility to follow up any kind of transient event with the best possible response time in addition to high efficiency and availability. Furthermore, a Calibration Unit and an Acquisition Camera System with all the necessary relay optics will be connected to the Common Path sub-system. The Acquisition Camera, working in optical regime, will be primarily focused on target acquisition and secondary guiding, but will also provide an imaging mode for scientific photometry. In this work we give an overview of the Acquisition Camera System for SOXS with all the different functionalities. The optical and mechanical design of the system are also presented together with the preliminary performances in terms of optical quality, throughput, magnitude limits and photometric properties.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, SPIE conferenc

Architecture of the SOXS instrument control software

SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) is a new spectrograph for the ESO NTT telescope, currently in the final design phase. The main instrument goal is to allow the characterization of transient sources based on alerts. It will cover from near-infrared to visible bands with a spectral resolution of $R \sim 4500$ using two separate, wavelength-optimized spectrographs. A visible camera, primarily intended for target acquisition and secondary guiding, will also provide a scientific "light" imaging mode. In this paper we present the current status of the design of the SOXS instrument control software, which is in charge of controlling all instrument functions and detectors, coordinating the execution of exposures, and implementing all observation, calibration and maintenance procedures. Given the extensive experience of the SOXS consortium in the development of instruments for the VLT, we decided to base the design of the Control System on the same standards, both for hardware and software control. We illustrate the control network, the instrument functions and detectors to be controlled, the overall design of SOXS Instrument Software (INS) and its main components. Then, we provide details about the control software for the most SOXS-specific features: control of the COTS-based imaging camera, the flexures compensation system and secondary guiding.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

SOXS Control Electronics Design

SOXS (Son Of X-Shooter) is a unique spectroscopic facility that will operate at the ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT) in La Silla from 2020 onward. The spectrograph will be able to cover simultaneously the UV-VIS and NIR bands exploiting two different arms and a Common Path feeding system. We present the design of the SOXS instrument control electronics. The electronics controls all the movements, alarms, cabinet temperatures, and electric interlocks of the instrument. We describe the main design concept. We decided to follow the ESO electronic design guidelines to minimize project time and risks and to simplify system maintenance. The design envisages Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) industrial components (e.g. Beckhoff PLC and EtherCAT fieldbus modules) to obtain a modular design and to increase the overall reliability and maintainability. Preassembled industrial motorized stages are adopted allowing for high precision assembly standards and a high reliability. The electronics is kept off-board whenever possible to reduce thermal issues and instrument weight and to increase the accessibility for maintenance purpose. The instrument project went through the Preliminary Design Review in 2017 and is currently in Final Design Phase (with FDR in July 2018). This paper outlines the status of the work and is part of a series of contributions describing the SOXS design and properties after the instrument Preliminary Design Review.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, to be publised in SPIE Proceedings 10707-9

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin