Precision Masses of the low-mass binary system GJ 623

We have used Aperture Masking Interferometry and Adaptive Optics (AO) at the Palomar 200'' to obtain precise mass measurements of the binary M dwarf GJ 623. AO observations spread over 3 years combined with a decade of radial velocity measurements constrain all orbital parameters of the GJ 623 binary system accurately enough to critically challenge the models. The dynamical masses measured are m_{1}=0.371\pm0.015 M_{\sun} (4%) and m_{2}=0.115\pm0.0023 M_{\sun} (2%) for the primary and the secondary respectively. Models are not consistent with color and mass, requiring very low metallicities.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for Ap

Impact of Preoperative Psychiatric Profile in Bariatric Surgery on Long-term Weight Outcome.

Conflicting results have been reported regarding the predictive value of preoperative psychological assessment and weight outcome after bariatric surgery. This might be attributed to different factors affecting early weight loss and long-term weight loss. Herein, we investigated whether preoperative psychiatric profile was associated with preoperative BMI and with both early (1 year) and long-term (5 years) weight loss after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). Prospective observational cohort study of patients undergoing RYGB between 2013 and 2019. Symptoms related to anxiety, depression, eating disorder, and alcohol use disorders were assessed by employing validated, specific psychometric tests (STAI-S/T, BDI-II, BITE, AUDIT-C) prior to surgery. Pre-operative BMI, early weight loss (1 year), and long-term weight evolution (up to 5 years) were registered. Two hundred thirty six patients (81% women) were included in the present study. Linear longitudinal mixed model showed a significant effect of preoperative high anxiety (STAI-S) on long-term weight outcome, after controlling for gender, age and type 2 diabetes. Patient with high preoperative anxiety score regained weight faster than those experiencing low anxiety (each year percent excess BMI loss (%EBMIL) - 4.02%, ± 1.72, p = 0.021). No other pre-operative psychiatric symptoms have been shown to have an impact on long-term weight loss. In addition, no significant association was found between any of the pre-operative psychiatric variables and pre-operative BMI, or early weight loss (%EBMIL) at 1-year post-RYGB. Herein we identified high anxiety score (STAI-S) as a predictor for long-term weight regain. Thus, long-term psychiatric surveillance of these patients and the development of tailored management tools could serve as a means to prevent weight regain

The impact of partially missing communities~on the reliability of centrality measures

Network data is usually not error-free, and the absence of some nodes is a very common type of measurement error. Studies have shown that the reliability of centrality measures is severely affected by missing nodes. This paper investigates the reliability of centrality measures when missing nodes are likely to belong to the same community. We study the behavior of five commonly used centrality measures in uniform and scale-free networks in various error scenarios. We find that centrality measures are generally more reliable when missing nodes are likely to belong to the same community than in cases in which nodes are missing uniformly at random. In scale-free networks, the betweenness centrality becomes, however, less reliable when missing nodes are more likely to belong to the same community. Moreover, centrality measures in scale-free networks are more reliable in networks with stronger community structure. In contrast, we do not observe this effect for uniform networks. Our observations suggest that the impact of missing nodes on the reliability of centrality measures might not be as severe as the literature suggests

PHENIX Highlights

Recent highlights of measurements by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC are presented.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. Talk at Quark Matter 200

Innate immunity and remodelling

A wide variety of cardiac disease states can induce remodelling and lead to the functional consequence of heart failure. These complex disease states involve a plethora of parallel signal transduction events, which may be associated with tissue injury or tissue repair. Innate immunity is activated in hearts injured in different ways, evident as cytokine release from the heart, activation of toll-like receptors involved in recognizing danger, and activation of the transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B. Nuclear factor kappa B regulates gene programmes involved in inflammation as well as the resolution of inflammation. The impact of this is an enigma; while cytokines, toll-like receptors, and nuclear factor kappa B appear to elicit myocardial protection in studies of preconditioning, the literature strongly indicates a detrimental role for activation of innate immunity in studies of acute ischaemia–reperfusion injury. The impact of activation of cardiac innate immunity on the long-term outcome in in vivo models of hypertrophy and remodelling is less clear, with conflicting results as to whether it is beneficial or detrimental. More research using genetically engineered mice as tools, different models of evoking remodelling, and long-term follow-up is required for us to conclude whether activation of the innate immune system is good, bad, or unimportant in chronic injury models

Receiving the initial Down syndrome diagnosis: a comparison of prenatal and postnatal parent group experiences

This study explored the preliminary experiences of parents upon learning of their child's diagnosis of Down syndrome. Qualitative data from a web-based, national survey were analyzed based on two groups: prenatal (n  =  46) or postnatal (n  =  115) diagnosis. Three primary categories emerged from the data analysis: prenatal screening/testing decisions by parents, the adjustment process for parents, and postdiagnosis resources and support for parents. Participants' rationale behind pursuing testing ranged from wanting to be better prepared to not pursuing testing because it was not a factor in continuing the pregnancy. Participant reactions to the diagnosis involved a range of intense preliminary emotions; participants described their extreme grief and loss experience at the initial news of the diagnosis, which also was ambiguous in nature and required differing timelines of adjustment. Finally, participants described experiences with medical professionals, information/education, and faith/religion as resources and areas of support, although not all were described as positive in nature. Participants in both groups identified having negative experiences with medical professionals during the diagnosis process. The results indicated the importance of these early experiences for parents of children with Down syndrome and emphasize providing effective education, resources, and practical information from reliable sources

Coincidence between transcriptome analyses on different microarray platforms using a parametric framework

A parametric framework for the analysis of transcriptome data is demonstrated to yield coincident results when applied to data acquired using two different microarray platforms. Discrepancies among transcriptome studies are frequently reported, casting doubt on the reliability of collected data. The inconsistency among observations can be largely attributed to differences among the analytical frameworks employed for data analysis. The existing frameworks normalizes data against a standard determined from the data to be analyzed. In the present study, a parametric framework based on a strict model for normalization is applied to data acquired using an in-house printed chip and GeneChip. The framework is based on a common statistical characteristic of microarray data, and each data is normalized on the basis of a linear relationship with this model. In the proposed framework, the expressional changes observed and genes selected are coincident between platforms, achieving superior universality of data compared to other methods

Relevance of baseline hard proton-proton spectra for high-energy nucleus-nucleus physics

We discuss three different cases of hard inclusive spectra in proton-proton collisions: high $p_T$ single hadron production at $\sqrt{s}\approx$ 20 GeV and at $\sqrt{s}$ = 62.4 GeV, and direct photon production at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV; with regard to their relevance for the search of Quark Gluon Plasma signals in A+A collisions at SPS and RHIC energies.Comment: Proceeds. Hot Quarks 2004 Int. Workshop on the Physics of Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions. 26 pages. 26 figs. [minor corrs., refs. added