The BINGO project: IV. Simulations for mission performance assessment and preliminary component separation steps

Aims. The large-scale distribution of neutral hydrogen (HI) in the Universe is luminous through its 21 cm emission. The goal of the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) radio telescope is to detect baryon acoustic oscillations at radio frequencies through 21 cm intensity mapping (IM). The telescope will span the redshift range 0.127<z<0.449 with an instantaneous field-of-view of 14.75 - 6.0. Methods. In this work we investigate different constructive and operational scenarios of the instrument by generating sky maps as they would be produced by the instrument. In doing this we use a set of end-to-end IM mission simulations. The maps will additionally be used to evaluate the efficiency of a component separation method (GNILC). Results. We have simulated the kind of data that would be produced in a single-dish IM experiment such as BINGO. According to the results obtained, we have optimized the focal plane design of the telescope. In addition, the application of the GNILC method on simulated data shows that it is feasible to extract the cosmological signal across a wide range of multipoles and redshifts. The results are comparable with the standard principal component analysis method

The BINGO Project: III. Optical design and optimization of the focal plane

Context. The Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) telescope was designed to measure the fluctuations of the 21 cm radiation arising from the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen. It is also aimed at measuring the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) from such fluctuations, thereby serving as a pathfinder to future, deeper intensity mapping surveys. The requirements for the Phase 1 of the projects consider a large reflector system (two 40 m-class dishes in a crossed-Dragone configuration) illuminating a focal plane with 28 horns to measure the sky, with two circular polarizations in a drift scan mode to produce measurements of the radiation in intensity (I) as well as the circular (V) polarization. Aims. In this paper, we present the optical design for the instrument. We describe the optical arrangement of the horns in the focal plane to produce a homogeneous and well-sampled map after the end of Phase 1, as well as the intensity and polarization properties of the beams. Our analysis provides an optimal model for the location of the horns in the focal plane, producing a homogeneous and Nyquist-sampled map after the nominal survey time. Methods. We used the GRASP package to model the focal plane arrangement and performed several optimization tasks to arrive at the current configuration, including an estimation of the sidelobes corresponding to the diffraction patterns of the two mirrors. The final model for the focal plane was defined through a combination of neural network and other direct optimization methods. Results. We arrived at an optimal configuration for the optical system that includes the focal plane positioning and the beam behavior of the instrument. We present an estimate of the expected sidelobes both for intensity and polarization, as well as the effect of band averaging on the final sidelobes, as well as an estimation of the cross-polarization leakage for the final configuration. Conclusions. We conclude that the chosen optical design meets the requirements for the project in terms of polarization purity and area coverage as well as a homogeneity of coverage so that BINGO can perform a successful BAO experiment. We further conclude that the requirements on the placement and rms error on the mirrors are also achievable so that a successful experiment can be conducted

The BINGO project: II. Instrument description

Context. The measurement of diffuse 21-cm radiation from the hyperfine transition of neutral hydrogen (Hi signal) in different redshifts is an important tool for modern cosmology. However, detecting this faint signal with non-cryogenic receivers in single-dish telescopes is a challenging task. The BINGO (Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations) radio telescope is an instrument designed to detect baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAOs) in the cosmological Hi signal, in the redshift interval 0:127 ≤ z ≤ 0:449. Aims. This paper describes the BINGO radio telescope, including the current status of the optics, receiver, observational strategy, calibration, and the site. Methods. BINGO has been carefully designed to minimize systematics, being a transit instrument with no moving dishes and 28 horns operating in the frequency range 980 ≤ v ≤ 1260 MHz. Comprehensive laboratory tests were conducted for many of the BINGO subsystems and the prototypes of the receiver chain, horn, polarizer, magic tees, and transitions have been successfully tested between 2018-2020. The survey was designed to cover ∼13% of the sky, with the primary mirror pointing at declination δ = -15°. The telescope will see an instantaneous declination strip of 14:75. Results. The results of the prototype tests closely meet those obtained during the modeling process, suggesting BINGO will perform according to our expectations. After one year of observations with a 60% duty cycle and 28 horns, BINGO should achieve an expected sensitivity of 102μK per 9.33MHz frequency channel, one polarization, and be able to measure the Hi power spectrum in a competitive time frame

The Most Common Comorbidities in Dandy-Walker Syndrome Patients: A Systematic Review of Case Reports.

OBJECTIVE: Dandy-Walker syndrome (DWS) is a rare neurologic multi-entity malformation. This review aimed at reporting its main nonneurologic comorbidities. METHODS: Following PRISMA guidelines, search in Medline was conducted (2000-2014, keyword: dandy-walker). Age, sex, country, DWS type, consanguinity or siblings with DWS, and recorded coexistent conditions (by ICD10 category) were extracted for 187 patients (46.5% male, 43% from Asia) from 168 case reports. RESULTS: Diagnosis was most often set in 12 years old (27.8%). One-third of cases had a chromosomal abnormality or syndrome (n = 8 PHACE), 27% had a cardiovascular condition (n = 7 Patent Ductus Arteriosus), 24% had a disease of eye and ear (n = 9 cataract); most common malignancy was nephroblastoma (n = 8, all Asian). Almost one-fifth had a mental illness diagnosis; only 6.4% had mild or severe intellectual disability. CONCLUSION: The spread of comorbidities calls for early diagnosis and multidisciplinary research and practice, especially as many cases remain clinically asymptomatic for years

The BINGO project: I. Baryon acoustic oscillations from integrated neutral gas observations

Context. Observations of the redshifted 21-cm line of neutral hydrogen (HI) are a new and powerful window of observation that offers us the possibility to map the spatial distribution of cosmic HI and learn about cosmology. Baryon Acoustic Oscillations from Integrated Neutral Gas Observations (BINGO) is a new unique radio telescope designed to be one of the first to probe baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) at radio frequencies. Aims. BINGO has two science goals: cosmology and astrophysics. Cosmology is the main science goal and the driver for BINGO's design and strategy. The key of BINGO is to detect the low redshift BAO to put strong constraints on the dark sector models and test the ICDM (cold dark matter) model. Given the versatility of the BINGO telescope, a secondary goal is astrophysics, where BINGO can help discover and study fast radio bursts (FRB) and other transients, as well as study Galactic and extragalactic science. In this paper, we introduce the latest progress of the BINGO project, its science goals, describing the scientific potential of the project for each goal and the new developments obtained by the collaboration. Methods. BINGO is a single dish transit telescope that will measure the BAO at low-z by making a 3D map of the HI distribution through the technique of intensity mapping over a large area of the sky. In order to achieve the project's goals, a science strategy and a specific pipeline for cleaning and analyzing the produced maps and mock maps was developed by the BINGO team, which we generally summarize here. Results. We introduce the BINGO project and its science goals and give a general summary of recent developments in construction, science potential, and pipeline development obtained by the BINGO Collaboration in the past few years. We show that BINGO will be able to obtain competitive constraints for the dark sector. It also has the potential to discover several FRBs in the southern hemisphere. The capacity of BINGO in obtaining information from 21-cm is also tested in the pipeline introduced here. Following these developments, the construction and observational strategies of BINGO have been defined. Conclusions. There is still no measurement of the BAO in radio, and studying cosmology in this new window of observations is one of the most promising advances in the field. The BINGO project is a radio telescope that has the goal to be one of the first to perform this measurement and it is currently being built in the northeast of Brazil. This paper is the first of a series of papers that describe in detail each part of the development of the BINGO project

Physiological and Morphological Aspects of Aedes aegypti Developing Larvae: Effects of the Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor Novaluron

Population control of the dengue vector mosquito, Aedes aegypti, is difficult due to many reasons, one being the development of resistance to neurotoxic insecticides employed. The biosynthesis of chitin, a major constituent of insect cuticle, is a novel target for population control. Novaluron is a benzoylphenylurea (BPU) that acts as a chitin synthesis inhibitor, already used against mosquitoes. However, information regarding BPU effects on immature mosquito stages and physiological parameters related with mosquito larval development are scarce. A set of physiological parameters were recorded in control developing larvae and novaluron was administered continuously to Ae. aegypti larvae, since early third instar. Larval instar period duration was recorded from third instar until pupation. Chitin content was measured during third and fourth instars. Fourth instars were processed histochemically at the mesothorax region, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) for assessment of internal tissues, and labeled with WGA-FITC to reveal chitinized structures. In control larvae: i) there is a chitin content increase during both third and fourth instars where late third instars contain more chitin than early fourth instars; ii) thoracic organs and a continuous cuticle, closely associated with the underlying epidermis were observed; iii) chitin was continuously present throughout integument cuticle. Novaluron treatment inhibited adult emergence, induced immature mortality, altered adult sex ratio and caused delay in larval development. Moreover, novaluron: i) significantly affected chitin content during larval development; ii) induced a discontinuous and altered cuticle in some regions while epidermis was often thinner or missing; iii) rendered chitin cuticle presence discontinuous and less evident. In both control and novaluron larvae, chitin was present in the peritrophic matrix. This study showed quantitatively and qualitatively evidences of novaluron effects on Ae. aegypti larval development. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing histological alterations produced by a BPU in immature vector mosquitoes

Pathways for horizontal gene transfer in bacteria revealed by a global map of their plasmids

Plasmids can mediate horizontal gene transfer of antibiotic resistance, virulence genes, and other adaptive factors across bacterial populations. Here, we analyze genomic composition and pairwise sequence identity for over 10,000 reference plasmids to obtain a global map of the prokaryotic plasmidome. Plasmids in this map organize into discrete clusters, which we call plasmid taxonomic units (PTUs), with high average nucleotide identity between its members. We identify 83 PTUs in the order Enterobacterales, 28 of them corresponding to previously described archetypes. Furthermore, we develop an automated algorithm for PTU identification, and validate its performance using stochastic blockmodeling. The algorithm reveals a total of 276 PTUs in the bacterial domain. Each PTU exhibits a characteristic host distribution, organized into a six-grade scale (I-VI), ranging from plasmids restricted to a single host species (grade I) to plasmids able to colonize species from different phyla (grade VI). More than 60% of the plasmids in the global map are in groups with host ranges beyond the species barrier.This work was funded by grant BFU2017-86378-P from the Spanish MINEC

Gene Expression Profiling during Early Acute Febrile Stage of Dengue Infection Can Predict the Disease Outcome

Background: We report the detailed development of biomarkers to predict the clinical outcome under dengue infection. Transcriptional signatures from purified peripheral blood mononuclear cells were derived from whole-genome gene-expression microarray data, validated by quantitative PCR and tested in independent samples. Methodology/Principal Findings: The study was performed on patients of a well-characterized dengue cohort from Recife, Brazil. The samples analyzed were collected prospectively from acute febrile dengue patients who evolved with different degrees of disease severity: classic dengue fever or dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) samples were compared with similar samples from other non-dengue febrile illnesses. The DHF samples were collected 2-3 days before the presentation of the plasma leakage symptoms. Differentially-expressed genes were selected by univariate statistical tests as well as multivariate classification techniques. The results showed that at early stages of dengue infection, the genes involved in effector mechanisms of innate immune response presented a weaker activation on patients who later developed hemorrhagic fever, whereas the genes involved in apoptosis were expressed in higher levels. Conclusions/Significance: Some of the gene expression signatures displayed estimated accuracy rates of more than 95%, indicating that expression profiling with these signatures may provide a useful means of DHF prognosis at early stages of infection. © 2009 Nascimento et al

Optimization of interneuron function by direct coupling of cell migration and axonal targeting

Neural circuit assembly relies on the precise synchronization of developmental processes, such as cell migration and axon targeting, but the cell-autonomous mechanisms coordinating these events remain largely unknown. Here we found that different classes of interneurons use distinct routes of migration to reach the embryonic cerebral cortex. Somatostatin-expressing interneurons that migrate through the marginal zone develop into Martinotti cells, one of the most distinctive classes of cortical interneurons. For these cells, migration through the marginal zone is linked to the development of their characteristic layer 1 axonal arborization. Altering the normal migratory route of Martinotti cells by conditional deletion of Mafb—a gene that is preferentially expressed by these cells—cell-autonomously disrupts axonal development and impairs the function of these cells in vivo. Our results suggest that migration and axon targeting programs are coupled to optimize the assembly of inhibitory circuits in the cerebral cortex