Andromeda's Parachute: A Bright Quadruply Lensed Quasar at z=2.377

We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager spectroscopy of the four putative images of the lensed quasar candidate J014709+463037 recently discovered by Berghea et al. (2017). The data verify the source as a quadruply lensed, broad absorption-line quasar having z_S = 2.377 +/- 0.007. We detect intervening absorption in the FeII 2586, 2600, MgII 2796, 2803, and/or CIV 1548, 1550 transitions in eight foreground systems, three of which have redshifts consistent with the photometric-redshift estimate reported for the lensing galaxy (z_L ~ 0.57). By virtue of their positions on the sky, the source images probe these absorbers over transverse physical scales of ~0.3-21 kpc, permitting assessment of the variation in metal-line equivalent width W_r as a function of sight-line separation. We measure differences in W_r,2796 of <40% across all sight-line pairs subtending 7-21 kpc, suggestive of a high degree of spatial coherence for MgII-absorbing material. W_r,2600 is observed to vary by >50% over the same scales across the majority of sight-line pairs, while CIV absorption exhibits a wide range in W_r,1548 differences of ~5-80% within transverse distances less than ~3 kpc. J014709+463037 is one of only a handful of z > 2 quadruply lensed systems for which all four source images are very bright (r = 15.4-17.7 mag) and are easily separated in ground-based seeing conditions. As such, it is an ideal candidate for higher-resolution spectroscopy probing the spatial variation in the kinematic structure and physical state of intervening absorbers.Comment: Submitted to ApJL. 9 pages, 3 figures. Uses aastex61 forma

A Co-operative Regulation of Neuronal Excitability by UNC-7 Innexin and NCA/NALCN Leak Channel

Gap junctions mediate the electrical coupling and intercellular communication between neighboring cells. Some gap junction proteins, namely connexins and pannexins in vertebrates, and innexins in invertebrates, may also function as hemichannels. A conserved NCA/Dmα1U/NALCN family cation leak channel regulates the excitability and activity of vertebrate and invertebrate neurons. In the present study, we describe a genetic and functional interaction between the innexin UNC-7 and the cation leak channel NCA in Caenorhabditis elegans neurons. While the loss of the neuronal NCA channel function leads to a reduced evoked postsynaptic current at neuromuscular junctions, a simultaneous loss of the UNC-7 function restores the evoked response. The expression of UNC-7 in neurons reverts the effect of the unc-7 mutation; moreover, the expression of UNC-7 mutant proteins that are predicted to be unable to form gap junctions also reverts this effect, suggesting that UNC-7 innexin regulates neuronal activity, in part, through gap junction-independent functions. We propose that, in addition to gap junction-mediated functions, UNC-7 innexin may also form hemichannels to regulate C. elegans' neuronal activity cooperatively with the NCA family leak channels

Assimilation of SMAP products for improving streamflow simulations over tropical climate region — is spatial information more important than temporal information?

Streamflow is one of the key variables in the hydrological cycle. Simulation and forecasting of streamflow are challenging tasks for hydrologists, especially in sparsely gauged areas. Coarse spatial resolution remote sensing soil moisture products (equal to or larger than 9 km) are often assimilated into hydrological models to improve streamflow simulation in large catchments. This study uses the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) technique to assimilate SMAP soil moisture products at the coarse spatial resolution of 9 km (SMAP 9 km), and downscaled SMAP soil moisture product at the higher spatial resolution of 1 km (SMAP 1 km), into the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to investigate the usefulness of different spatial and temporal resolutions of remotely sensed soil moisture products in streamflow simulation and forecasting. The experiment was set up for eight catchments across the tropical climate of Vietnam, with varying catchment areas from 267 to 6430 km2 during the period 2017–2019. We comprehensively evaluated the EnKF-based SWAT model in simulating streamflow at low, average, and high flow. Our results indicated that high-spatial resolution of downscaled SMAP 1 km is more beneficial in the data assimilation framework in aiding the accuracy of streamflow simulation, as compared to that of SMAP 9 km, especially for the small catchments. Our analysis on the impact of observation resolution also indicates that the improvement in the streamflow simulation with data assimilation is more significant at catchments where downscaled SMAP 1 km has fewer missing observations. This study is helpful for adding more understanding of performances of soil moisture data assimilation based hydrological modelling over the tropical climate region, and exhibits the potential use of remote sensing data assimilation in hydrology

Analysis of lesion localisation at colonoscopy: outcomes from a multi-centre U.K. study

Background: Colonoscopy is currently the gold standard for detection of colorectal lesions, but may be limited in anatomically localising lesions. This audit aimed to determine the accuracy of colonoscopy lesion localisation, any subsequent changes in surgical management and any potentially influencing factors. Methods: Patients undergoing colonoscopy prior to elective curative surgery for colorectal lesion/s were included from 8 registered U.K. sites (2012–2014). Three sets of data were recorded: patient factors (age, sex, BMI, screener vs. symptomatic, previous abdominal surgery); colonoscopy factors (caecal intubation, scope guide used, colonoscopist accreditation) and imaging modality. Lesion localisation was standardised with intra-operative location taken as the gold standard. Changes to surgical management were recorded. Results: 364 cases were included; majority of lesions were colonic, solitary, malignant and in symptomatic referrals. 82% patients had their lesion/s correctly located at colonoscopy. Pre-operative CT visualised lesion/s in only 73% of cases with a reduction in screening patients (64 vs. 77%; p = 0.008). 5.2% incorrectly located cases at colonoscopy underwent altered surgical management, including conversion to open. Univariate analysis found colonoscopy accreditation, scope guide use, incomplete colonoscopy and previous abdominal surgery significantly influenced lesion localisation. On multi-variate analysis, caecal intubation and scope guide use remained significant (HR 0.35, 0.20–0.60 95% CI and 0.47; 0.25–0.88, respectively). Conclusion: Lesion localisation at colonoscopy is incorrect in 18% of cases leading to potentially significant surgical management alterations. As part of accreditation, colonoscopists need lesion localisation training and awareness of when inaccuracies can occur

Plant and fungal products that extend lifespan in caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a useful model to study aging due to its short lifespan, ease of manipulation, and available genetic tools. Several molecules and extracts derived from plants and fungi extend the lifespan of C. elegans by modulating aging-related pathways that are conserved in more complex organisms. Modulation of aging pathways leads to activation of autophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis and expression of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes in a manner similar to caloric restriction. Low and moderate concentrations of plant and fungal molecules usually extend lifespan, while high concentrations are detrimental, consistent with a lifespan-modulating mechanism involving hormesis. We review here molecules and extracts derived from plants and fungi that extend the lifespan of C. elegans, and explore the possibility that these natural substances may produce health benefits in humans

Plant and fungal products that extend lifespan in caenorhabditis elegans

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a useful model to study aging due to its short lifespan, ease of manipulation, and available genetic tools. Several molecules and extracts derived from plants and fungi extend the lifespan of C. elegans by modulating aging-related pathways that are conserved in more complex organisms. Modulation of aging pathways leads to activation of autophagy, mitochondrial biogenesis and expression of antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes in a manner similar to caloric restriction. Low and moderate concentrations of plant and fungal molecules usually extend lifespan, while high concentrations are detrimental, consistent with a lifespan-modulating mechanism involving hormesis. We review here molecules and extracts derived from plants and fungi that extend the lifespan of C. elegans, and explore the possibility that these natural substances may produce health benefits in humans

Insulin, Ascorbate, and Glucose Have a Much Greater Influence Than Transferrin and Selenous Acid on the In Vitro Growth of Engineered Cartilage in Chondrogenic Media

The primary goal of this study was to characterize the response of chondrocyte-seeded agarose constructs to varying concentrations of several key nutrients in a chondrogenic medium, within the overall context of optimizing the key nutrients and the placement of nutrient channels for successful growth of cartilage tissue constructs large enough to be clinically relevant in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). To this end, chondrocyte-agarose constructs (phi4x2.34 mm, 30x106 cells/mL) were subjected to varying supplementation levels of insulin (0× to 30× relative to standard supplementation), transferrin (0x to 30x), selenous acid (0x to 10x), ascorbate (0x to 30x), and glucose (0x to 3x). The quality of resulting engineered tissue constructs was evaluated by their compressive modulus (E-Y), tensile modulus (E+Y), hydraulic permeability (k), and content of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAG) and collagen (COL); DNA content was also quantified. Three control groups from two separate castings of constructs (1x concentrations of all medium constituents) were used. After 42 days of culture, values in each of these controls were, respectively, E-Y=518 plus or minus 78, 401 plus or minus 113, 236 plus or minus 67 kPa; E+Y=1420 plus or minus 430, 1140 plus or minus 490, 1240 plus or minus 280 kPa; k=2.3 plus or minus 0.8x10-3, 5.4 plus or minus 7.0x10-3, 3.3 plus or minus 1.3x10-3 mm4/N times s; sGAG=7.8 plus or minus 0.3, 6.3 plus or minus 0.4, 4.1 plus or minus 0.5%/ww; COL=1.3 plus or minus 0.2, 1.1 plus or minus 0.3, 1.4 plus or minus 0.4%/ww; and DNA=11.5 plus or minus 2.2, 12.1 plus or minus 0.6, 5.2 plus or minus 2.8 μg/disk. The presence of insulin and ascorbate was essential, but their concentrations may drop as low as 0.3x without detrimental effects on any of the measured properties; excessive supplementation of ascorbate (up to 30x) was detrimental to E-Y, and 30x insulin was detrimental to both E+Y and E-Y. The presence of glucose was similarly essential, and matrix elaboration was significantly dependent on its concentration (p less than 10-6), with loss of functional properties, composition, and cellularity observed at less than or equal to 0.3x; excessive glucose supplementation (up to 3x) showed no detrimental effects. In contrast, transferrin and selenous acid had no influence on matrix elaboration. These findings suggest that adequate distributions of insulin, ascorbate, and glucose, but not necessarily of transferrin and selenous acid, must be ensured within large engineered cartilage constructs to produce a viable substitute for joint tissue lost due to OA

Correlations between growth and wool quality traits of genetically divergent Australian lambs in response to canola or flaxseed oil supplementation

The correlations between growth and wool traits in response to canola and flaxseed oil supplementation were evaluated in Australian prime lambs. Sixty dual-purpose prime lambs including purebred Merino and crossbred lambs were allocated to one of five treatments of lucerne hay basal diet supplemented with isocaloric and isonitrogenous wheat-based pellets. Treatments were: no oil inclusion (Control); 2.5% canola oil; 5% canola oil; 2.5% flaxseed oil and 5% flaxseed oil, with lamb groups balanced by breed and gender. Each lamb was daily supplemented with 1kg of pellets and had free access to lucerne hay and water throughout the 7-week feeding trial, after a 3-week adaptation. Individual animal basal and supplementary pellet feed intakes were recorded daily, while body conformation traits, body condition scores and liveweights were measured on days 0, 21, 35 and 49. The lambs were dye-banded on the mid-side and shorn before commencing the feeding trial and mid-side wool samples were collected from the same dye-banded area of each lamb at the end of the experiment. Correlations between wool quality traits and lamb performance were non-significant (P>0.05). Oil supplementation had no detrimental effect on lamb growth and wool quality traits (P > 0.05). Gender significantly affected wither height gain and fibre diameter. There were significant interactions between oil supplementation and lamb breed on chest girth. The correlations between clean fleece yield (CFY) and other wool quality traits were moderate ranging from 0.29 to 0.55. Moderate to high correlations between fibre diameter (FD) and other wool quality traits were detected (0.46–0.99) with the strongest relationship between FD and wool spinning fineness (SF). The relationship between CFY and wool comfort factor (CF) were positive, while negative relationships between CFY and the others were observed. A combination of 5% oil supplementation and genetics is an effective and strategic management tool for enhancing feed efficiency and growth performance without negative effects on wool quality in dual-purpose lamb production. This is a good outcome for dual-purpose sheep farmers. It essentially means the absorbed nutrients in supplemented lambs yielded good growth performance without any detrimental impact on wool quality; a win-win case of nutrient partitioning into the synthesis of muscle and wool without compromising either traits

Effect of Intravenous Golimumab on Fatigue and the Relationship with Clinical Response in Adults with Active Ankylosing Spondylitis in the Phase 3 GO-ALIVE Study

INTRODUCTION: We studied the effect of intravenous (IV)-golimumab on fatigue and the association of fatigue improvement with clinical response post hoc in adults with active ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in the GO-ALIVE trial. METHODS: Patients were randomized to IV-golimumab 2 mg/kg (N = 105) at week (W) 0, W4, then every 8 W (Q8W) or placebo (N = 103) at W0, W4, W12, crossover to IV-golimumab 2 mg/kg at W16, W20, then Q8W through W52. Fatigue measures included Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) Question #1 (fatigue; 0 [none], 10 [worst]; decrease indicates improvement) and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) vitality subscale (0 [worst], 100 [best]; increase indicates improvement). Minimum clinically important difference is ≥ 1 for BASDAI-fatigue and ≥ 5 for SF-36 vitality. GO-ALIVE primary endpoint was Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society ≥ 20% improvement criteria (ASAS20). Other clinical outcomes assessed included other ASAS responses, Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index score. The distribution-based minimally important differences (MIDs) were determined for BASDAI-fatigue and SF-36 vitality. The relationship between improvement in fatigue and clinical outcomes was assessed via multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Mean changes in BASDAI-fatigue/SF-36 vitality scores were greater with IV-golimumab versus placebo at W16 (- 2.74/8.46 versus - 0.73/2.08, both nominal p ≤ 0.003); by W52 (after crossover), differences between groups narrowed (- 3.18/9.39 versus - 3.07/9.17). BASDAI-fatigue/SF-36 vitality MIDs were achieved by greater proportions of IV-golimumab-treated versus placebo-treated patients at W16 (75.2%/71.4% versus 42.7%/35.0%). A one-point/five-point improvement in BASDAI-fatigue/SF-36 vitality scores at W16 increased likelihood of achieving ASAS20 (odds ratios [95% confidence intervals]: 3.15 [2.21, 4.50] and 2.10 [1.62, 2.71], respectively) and ASAS40 (3.04 [2.15, 4.28] and 2.24 [1.68, 3.00], respectively) responses at W16; concurrent improvements and clinical response at W52 were consistent. A one-point/five-point improvement in BASDAI-fatigue/SF-36 vitality scores at W16 predicted increased likelihood of achieving ASAS20 (1.62 [1.35, 1.95] and 1.52 [1.25, 1.86], respectively) and ASAS40 (1.62 [1.37, 1.92] and 1.44 [1.20, 1.73], respectively) responses at W52. CONCLUSIONS: IV-golimumab provided important and sustained fatigue improvement in patients with AS that positively associated with achieving clinical response. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier, NCT02186873

Nondestructive Method for Mapping Metal Contact Diffusion in In2O3 Thin-Film Transistors

The channel width-to-length ratio is an important transistor parameter for integrated circuit design. Contact diffusion into the channel during fabrication or operation alters the channel width and this important parameter. A novel methodology combining atomic force microscopy and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM) with self-consistent modeling is developed for the nondestructive detection of contact diffusion on active devices. Scans of the surface potential are modeled using physically based Technology Computer Aided Design (TCAD) simulations when the transistor terminals are grounded and under biased conditions. The simulations also incorporate the tip geometry to investigate its effect on the measurements due to electrostatic tip–sample interactions. The method is particularly useful for semiconductor– and metal–semiconductor interfaces where the potential contrast resulting from dopant diffusion is below that usually detectable with scanning probe microscopy