454 research outputs found
Breaking parameter degeneracy in interacting dark energy models from observations
We study the interacting dark energy model with time varying dark energy
equation of state. We examine the stability in the perturbation formalism and
the degeneracy among the coupling between dark sectors, the time-dependent dark
energy equation of state and dark matter abundance in the cosmic microwave
background radiation. Further we discuss the possible ways to break such
degeneracy by doing global fitting using the latest observational data and we
get a tight constraint on the interaction between dark sectors.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Lett.
Observational constraints on an interacting dark energy model
We use observations of cosmic microwave background anisotropies, supernova
luminosities and the baryon acoustic oscillation signal in the galaxy
distribution to constrain the cosmological parameters in a simple interacting
dark energy model with a time-varying equation of state. Using a Monte Carlo
Markov Chain technique we determine the posterior likelihoods. Constraints from
the individual data sets are weak, but the combination of the three data sets
confines the interaction constant to be less than 23% of the expansion
rate of the Universe ; at 95% CL . The CMB
acoustic peaks can be well fitted even if the interaction rate is much larger,
but this requires a larger or smaller (depending on the sign of interaction)
matter density today than in the non-interacting model. Due to this degeneracy
between the matter density and the interaction rate, the only observable effect
on the CMB is a larger or smaller integrated Sachs-Wolfe (ISW) effect. While SN
or BAO data alone do not set any direct constraints on the interaction, they
exclude the models with very large matter density, and hence indirectly
constrain the interaction rate when jointly analysed with the CMB data. To
enable the analysis described in this paper, we present in a companion paper
[arXiv:0907.4981] a new systematic analysis of the early radiation era solution
to find the adiabatic initial conditions for the Boltzmann integration.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures. V2: Improved typography (2-column format);
References and a motivation of CPL parametrization added; Accepted by MNRA
Wave dynamics of phantom scalar perturbation in the background of Schwarzschild black hole
Using Leaver's continue fraction and time domain method, we investigate the
wave dynamics of phantom scalar perturbation in the background of Schwarzschild
black hole. We find that the presence of the negative kinetic energy terms
modifies the standard results in quasinormal spectrums and late-time behaviors
of the scalar perturbations. The phantom scalar perturbation in the late-time
evolution will grow with an exponential rate.Comment: 11pages, 7 figures, references added, accepted by Phys. Lett.
Brain Injury Accelerates the Onset of a Reversible Age-Related Microglial Phenotype Associated With Inflammatory Neurodegeneration
Lipofuscin is an autofluorescent (AF) pigment formed by lipids and misfolded proteins, which accumulates in postmitotic cells with advanced age. Here, we immunophenotyped microglia in the brain of old C57BL/6 mice (\u3e18 months old) and demonstrate that in comparison to young mice, one-third of old microglia are AF, characterized by profound changes in lipid and iron content, phagocytic activity, and oxidative stress. Pharmacological depletion of microglia in old mice eliminated the AF microglia following repopulation and reversed microglial dysfunction. Age-related neurological deficits and neurodegeneration after traumatic brain injury (TBI) were attenuated in old mice lacking AF microglia. Furthermore, increased phagocytic activity, lysosomal burden, and lipid accumulation in microglia persisted for up to 1 year after TBI, were modified b
OntoFox: web-based support for ontology reuse
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ontology development is a rapidly growing area of research, especially in the life sciences domain. To promote collaboration and interoperability between different projects, the OBO Foundry principles require that these ontologies be open and non-redundant, avoiding duplication of terms through the re-use of existing resources. As current options to do so present various difficulties, a new approach, MIREOT, allows specifying import of single terms. Initial implementations allow for controlled import of selected annotations and certain classes of related terms.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>OntoFox <url>http://ontofox.hegroup.org/</url> is a web-based system that allows users to input terms, fetch selected properties, annotations, and certain classes of related terms from the source ontologies and save the results using the RDF/XML serialization of the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Compared to an initial implementation of MIREOT, OntoFox allows additional and more easily configurable options for selecting and rewriting annotation properties, and for inclusion of all or a computed subset of terms between low and top level terms. Additional methods for including related classes include a SPARQL-based ontology term retrieval algorithm that extracts terms related to a given set of signature terms and an option to extract the hierarchy rooted at a specified ontology term. OntoFox's output can be directly imported into a developer's ontology. OntoFox currently supports term retrieval from a selection of 15 ontologies accessible via SPARQL endpoints and allows users to extend this by specifying additional endpoints. An OntoFox application in the development of the Vaccine Ontology (VO) is demonstrated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>OntoFox provides a timely publicly available service, providing different options for users to collect terms from external ontologies, making them available for reuse by import into client OWL ontologies.</p
Crossing the phantom divide in brane cosmology with curvature corrections and brane-bulk energy transfer
We consider the Randall-Sundrum brane-world model with bulk-brane energy
transfer where the Einstein-Hilbert action is modified by curvature correction
terms: a four-dimensional scalar curvature from induced gravity on the brane,
and a five-dimensional Gauss-Bonnet curvature term. It is remarkable that these
curvature terms will not change the dynamics of the brane universe at low
energy. Parameterizing the energy transfer and taking the dark radiation term
into account, we find that the phantom divide of the equation of state of
effective dark energy could be crossed, without the need of any new dark energy
components. Fitting the two most reliable and robust SNIa datasets, the 182
Gold dataset and the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS), our model indeed has a
small tendency of phantom divide crossing for the Gold dataset, but not for the
SNLS dataset. Furthermore, combining the recent detection of the SDSS baryon
acoustic oscillations peak (BAO) with lower matter density parameter prior, we
find that the SNLS dataset also mildly favors phantom divide crossing.Comment: 11 pages,3 figures, revtex4, revised version, accepted for
publication in Phys. Lett.
Performance Scores in General Practice: A Comparison between the Clinical versus Medication-Based Approach to Identify Target Populations
CONTEXT: From one country to another, the pay-for-performance mechanisms differ on one significant point: the identification of target populations, that is, populations which serve as a basis for calculating the indicators. The aim of this study was to compare clinical versus medication-based identification of populations of patients with diabetes and hypertension over the age of 50 (for men) or 60 (for women), and any consequences this may have on the calculation of P4P indicators. METHODS: A comparative, retrospective, observational study was carried out with clinical and prescription data from a panel of general practitioners (GPs), the Observatory of General Medicine (OMG) for the year 2007. Two indicators regarding the prescription for statins and aspirin in these populations were calculated. RESULTS: We analyzed data from 21.690 patients collected by 61 GPs via electronic medical files. Following the clinical-based approach, 2.278 patients were diabetic, 8,271 had hypertension and 1.539 had both against respectively 1.730, 8.511 and 1.304 following the medication-based approach (% agreement = 96%, kappa = 0.69). The main reasons for these differences were: forgetting to code the morbidities in the clinical approach, not taking into account the population of patients who were given life style and diet rules only or taking into account patients for whom morbidities other than hypertension could justify the use of antihypertensive drugs in the medication-based approach. The mean (confidence interval) per doctor was 33.7% (31.5-35.9) for statin indicator and 38.4% (35.4-41.4) for aspirin indicator when the target populations were identified on the basis of clinical criteria whereas they were 37.9% (36.3-39.4) and 43.8% (41.4-46.3) on the basis of treatment criteria. CONCLUSION: The two approaches yield very "similar" scores but these scores cover different realities and offer food for thought on the possible usage of these indicators in the framework of P4P programmes
Observational constraints on the dark energy and dark matter mutual coupling
We examine different phenomenological interaction models for Dark Energy and
Dark Matter by performing statistical joint analysis with observational data
arising from the 182 Gold type Ia supernova samples, the shift parameter of the
Cosmic Microwave Background given by the three-year Wilkinson Microwave
Anisotropy Probe observations, the baryon acoustic oscillation measurement from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and age estimates of 35 galaxies. Including the
time-dependent observable, we add sensitivity of measurement and give
complementary results for the fitting. The compatibility among three different
data sets seem to imply that the coupling between dark energy and dark matter
is a small positive value, which satisfies the requirement to solve the
coincidence problem and the second law of thermodynamics, being compatible with
previous estimates.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
Fluorescence laparoscopy imaging of pancreatic tumor progression in an orthotopic mouse model
The use of fluorescent proteins to label tumors is revolutionizing cancer research, enabling imaging of both primary and metastatic lesions, which is important for diagnosis, staging, and therapy. This report describes the use of fluorescence laparoscopy to image green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing tumors in an orthotopic mouse model of human pancreatic cancer.
The orthotopic mouse model of human pancreatic cancer was established by injecting GFP-expressing MiaPaCa-2 human pancreatic cancer cells into the pancreas of 6-week-old female athymic mice. On postoperative day 14, diagnostic laparoscopy using both white and fluorescent light was performed. A standard laparoscopic system was modified by placing a 480-nm short-pass excitation filter between the light cable and the laparoscope in addition to using a 2-mm-thick emission filter. A camera was used that allowed variable exposure time and gain setting. For mouse laparoscopy, a 3-mm 0° laparoscope was used. The mouse’s abdomen was gently insufflated to 2 mm Hg via a 22-gauge angiocatheter. After laparoscopy, the animals were sacrificed, and the tumors were collected and processed for histologic review. The experiments were performed in triplicate.
Fluorescence laparoscopy enabled rapid imaging of the brightly fluorescent tumor in the pancreatic body. Use of the proper filters enabled simultaneous visualization of the tumor and the surrounding structures with minimal autofluorescence. Fluorescence laparoscopy thus allowed exact localization of the tumor, eliminating the need to switch back and forth between white and fluorescence lighting, under which the background usually is so darkened that it is difficult to maintain spatial orientation.
The use of fluorescence laparoscopy permits the facile, real-time imaging and localization of tumors labeled with fluorescent proteins. The results described in this report should have important clinical potential
Framework and indicator testing protocol for developing and piloting quality indicators for the UK quality and outcomes framework
Contains fulltext :
96936.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Quality measures should be subjected to a testing protocol before being used in practice using key attributes such as acceptability, feasibility and reliability, as well as identifying issues derived from actual implementation and unintended consequences. We describe the methodologies and results of an indicator testing protocol (ITP) using data from proposed quality indicators for the United Kingdom Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). METHODS: The indicator testing protocol involved a multi-step and methodological process: 1) The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method, to test clarity and necessity, 2) data extraction from patients' medical records, to test technical feasibility and reliability, 3) diaries, to test workload, 4) cost-effectiveness modelling, and 5) semi-structured interviews, to test acceptability, implementation issues and unintended consequences. Testing was conducted in a sample of representative family practices in England. These methods were combined into an overall recommendation for each tested indicator. RESULTS: Using an indicator testing protocol as part of piloting was seen as a valuable way of testing potential indicators in 'real world' settings. Pilot 1 (October 2009-March 2010) involved thirteen indicators across six clinical domains and twelve indicators passed the indicator testing protocol. However, the indicator testing protocol identified a number of implementation issues and unintended consequences that can be rectified or removed prior to national roll out. A palliative care indicator is used as an exemplar of the value of piloting using a multiple attribute indicator testing protocol - while technically feasible and reliable, it was unacceptable to practice staff and raised concerns about potentially causing actual patient harm. CONCLUSIONS: This indicator testing protocol is one example of a protocol that may be useful in assessing potential quality indicators when adapted to specific country health care settings and may be of use to policy-makers and researchers worldwide to test the likely effect of implementing indicators prior to roll out. It builds on and codifies existing literature and other testing protocols to create a field testing methodology that can be used to produce country specific quality indicators for pay-for-performance or quality improvement schemes
- …