Sun-as-a-Star Observation of Flares in Lyman {\alpha} by the PROBA2/LYRA radiometer

There are very few reports of flare signatures in the solar irradiance at H i Lyman {\alpha} at 121.5 nm, i.e. the strongest line of the solar spectrum. The LYRA radiometer onboard PROBA2 has observed several flares for which unambiguous signatures have been found in its Lyman-{\alpha} channel. Here we present a brief overview of these observations followed by a detailed study of one of them, the M2 flare that occurred on 8 February 2010. For this flare, the flux in the LYRA Lyman-{\alpha} channel increased by 0.6%, which represents about twice the energy radiated in the GOES soft X-ray channel and is comparable with the energy radiated in the He ii line at 30.4 nm. The Lyman-{\alpha} emission represents only a minor part of the total radiated energy of this flare, for which a white-light continuum was detected. Additionally, we found that the Lyman-{\alpha} flare profile follows the gradual phase but peaks before other wavelengths. This M2 flare was very localized and has a very brief impulsive phase, but more statistics are needed to determine if these factors influence the presence of a Lyman-{\alpha} flare signal strong enough to appear in the solar irradiance.Comment: in press for Solar Physic

Topological Transitions in Metamaterials

The ideas of mathematical topology play an important role in many aspects of modern physics - from phase transitions to field theory to nonlinear dynamics (Nakahara M (2003) in Geometry, Topology and Physics, ed Brewer DF (IOP Publishing Ltd, Bristol and Philadelphia), Monastryskiy M (1987) in Riemann Topology and Physics, (Birkhauser Verlag AG)). An important example of this is the Lifshitz transition (Lifshitz IM (1960) Anomalies of electron characteristics of a metal in the high-pressure region, Sov Phys JETP 11: 1130-1135), where the transformation of the Fermi surface of a metal from a closed to an open geometry (due to e.g. external pressure) leads to a dramatic effect on the electron magneto-transport (Kosevich AM (2004) Topology and solid-state physics. Low Temp Phys 30: 97-118). Here, we present the optical equivalent of the Lifshitz transition in strongly anisotropic metamaterials. When one of the components of the dielectric permittivity tensor of such a composite changes sign, the corresponding iso-frequency surface transforms from an ellipsoid to a hyperboloid. Since the photonic density of states can be related to the volume enclosed by the iso-frequency surface, such a topological transition in a metamaterial leads to a dramatic change in the photonic density of states, with a resulting effect on every single physical parameter related to the metamaterial - from thermodynamic quantities such as its equilibrium electromagnetic energy to the nonlinear optical response to quantum-electrodynamic effects such as spontaneous emission. In the present paper, we demonstrate the modification of spontaneous light emission from quantum dots placed near the surface of the metamaterial undergoing the topological Lifshitz transition, and present the theoretical description of the effect

Significant association of a M129V independent polymorphism in the 5\prime UTR of the PRNP gene with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in a large German case-control study

Background: A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the coding region of the prion protein gene (PRNP) at codon 129 has been repeatedly shown to be an associated factor to sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), but additional major predisposing DNA variants for sCJD are still unknown. Several previous studies focused on the characterisation of polymorphisms in PRNP and the prion-like doppel gene (PRND), generating contradictory results on relatively small sample sets. Thus, extensive studies are required for validation of the polymorphisms in PRNP and PRND.Methods: We evaluated a set of nine SNPs of PRNP and one SNP of PRND in 593 German sCJD patients and 748 German healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry.Results: In addition to PRNP 129, we detected a significant association between sCJD and allele frequencies of six further PRNP SNPs. No significant association of PRND T174M with sCJD was shown. We observed strong linkage disequilibrium within eight adjacent PRNP SNPs, including PRNP 129. However, the association of sCJD with PRNP 1368 and PRNP 34296 appeared to be independent on the genotype of PRNP 129. We additionally identified the most common haplotypes of PRNP to be over-represented or under-represented in our cohort of patients with sCJD.Conclusion: Our study evaluated previous findings of the association of SNPs in the PRNP and PRND genes in the largest cohorts for association study in sCJD to date, and extends previous findings by defining for the first time the haplotypes associated with sCJD in a large population of the German CJD surveillance study

The LYRA Instrument Onboard PROBA2: Description and In-Flight Performance

The Large Yield Radiometer (LYRA) is an XUV-EUV-MUV (soft X-ray to mid-ultraviolet) solar radiometer onboard the European Space Agency PROBA2 mission that was launched in November 2009. LYRA acquires solar irradiance measurements at a high cadence (nominally 20 Hz) in four broad spectral channels, from soft X-ray to MUV, that have been chosen for their relevance to solar physics, space weather and aeronomy. In this article, we briefly review the design of the instrument, give an overview of the data products distributed through the instrument website, and describe the way that data are calibrated. We also briefly present a summary of the main fields of research currently under investigation by the LYRA consortium

Impact of food and water-borne diseases on European population health

Composite health measures are increasingly applied in studies aiming at describing the burden of diseases, and food and water-borne diseases (FWDs) are no exception. The Burden of Communicable Diseases in Europe (BCoDE) is a project led and funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) with the purpose of encouraging and empowering public health experts in the estimation of the impact of communicable diseases expressed in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs). Calculation of DALYs and a critical assessment of burden of disease outputs require a thorough consideration of a number of methodological and epidemiological decisions ranging from modelling (e.g. incidence versus prevalence), disease model parameters (e.g. risks of developing complications or death) and the data feeding the number of cases.Burden of disease studies produce useful results for public health decision-making, in particular when they aim at informing preventive strategies. For this purpose, we attributed FWDs results from the BCoDE 2015 study to different exposure routes. We discuss these in the more general perspective of generating burden of disease evidence for planning and prioritisation, including the potentials and limitations of its methodology

The importance of strigolactone transport regulation for symbiotic signaling and shoot branching.

This review presents the role of strigolactone transport in regulating plant root and shoot architecture, plant-fungal symbiosis and the crosstalk with several phytohormone pathways. The authors, based on their data and recently published results, suggest that long-distance, as well local strigolactone transport might occur in a cell-to-cell manner rather than via the xylem stream. Strigolactones (SLs) are recently characterized carotenoid-derived phytohormones. They play multiple roles in plant architecture and, once exuded from roots to soil, in plant-rhizosphere interactions. Above ground SLs regulate plant developmental processes, such as lateral bud outgrowth, internode elongation and stem secondary growth. Below ground, SLs are involved in lateral root initiation, main root elongation and the establishment of the plant-fungal symbiosis known as mycorrhiza. Much has been discovered on players and patterns of SL biosynthesis and signaling and shown to be largely conserved among different plant species, however little is known about SL distribution in plants and its transport from the root to the soil. At present, the only characterized SL transporters are the ABCG protein PLEIOTROPIC DRUG RESISTANCE 1 from Petunia axillaris (PDR1) and, in less detail, its close homologue from Nicotiana tabacum PLEIOTROPIC DRUG RESISTANCE 6 (PDR6). PDR1 is a plasma membrane-localized SL cellular exporter, expressed in root cortex and shoot axils. Its expression level is regulated by its own substrate, but also by the phytohormone auxin, soil nutrient conditions (mainly phosphate availability) and mycorrhization levels. Hence, PDR1 integrates information from nutrient availability and hormonal signaling, thus synchronizing plant growth with nutrient uptake. In this review we discuss the effects of PDR1 de-regulation on plant development and mycorrhization, the possible cross-talk between SLs and other phytohormone transporters and finally the need for SL transporters in different plant species

Impact of early-stage HIV transmission on treatment as prevention

Timely HIV treatment improves health (1) and reduces transmission (2). These individual- level benefits of HIV treatment for both clinical and preventive purposes are well established, but several questions remain about the population-level impact of HIV treatment as prevention (3). In PNAS, Eaton and Hallett (4) use a mathematical model to address one such question: Does the proportion of transmission during early HIV infection affect the impact of HIV treatment on HIV incidence

Modelling the impact of tailored behavioural interventions on chlamydia transmission

Peer reviewe

Analysis of timeliness of infectious disease reporting in the Netherlands

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Timely reporting of infectious disease cases to public health authorities is essential to effective public health response. To evaluate the timeliness of reporting to the Dutch Municipal Health Services (MHS), we used as quantitative measures the intervals between onset of symptoms and MHS notification, and between laboratory diagnosis and notification with regard to six notifiable diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We retrieved reporting data from June 2003 to December 2008 from the Dutch national notification system for shigellosis, EHEC/STEC infection, typhoid fever, measles, meningococcal disease, and hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection. For each disease, median intervals between date of onset and MHS notification were calculated and compared with the median incubation period. The median interval between date of laboratory diagnosis and MHS notification was similarly analysed. For the year 2008, we also investigated whether timeliness is improved by MHS agreements with physicians and laboratories that allow direct laboratory reporting. Finally, we investigated whether reports made by post, fax, or e-mail were more timely.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The percentage of infectious diseases reported within one incubation period varied widely, between 0.4% for shigellosis and 90.3% for HAV infection. Not reported within two incubation periods were 97.1% of shigellosis cases, 76.2% of cases of EHEC/STEC infection, 13.3% of meningococcosis cases, 15.7% of measles cases, and 29.7% of typhoid fever cases. A substantial percentage of infectious disease cases was reported more than three days after laboratory diagnosis, varying between 12% for meningococcosis and 42% for shigellosis. MHS which had agreements with physicians and laboratories showed a significantly shorter notification time compared to MHS without such agreements.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Over the study period, many cases of the six notifiable diseases were not reported within two incubation periods, and many were reported more than three days after laboratory diagnosis. An increase in direct laboratory reporting of diagnoses to MHS would improve timeliness, as would the use of fax rather than post or e-mail. Automated reporting systems have to be explored in the Netherlands. Development of standardised and improved measures for timeliness is needed.</p