Glucocorticoid sensitivity in Behcet's disease

WOS: 000209773300007PubMed ID: 23781311Objective: Glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity is highly variable among individuals and has been associated with susceptibility to develop (auto-) inflammatory disorders. The purpose of the study was to assess GC sensitivity in Behcet's disease (BD) by studying the distribution of four GC receptor (GR) gene polymorphisms and by measuring in vitro cellular GC sensitivity. Methods: Healthy controls and patients with BD in three independent cohorts were genotyped for four functional GR gene polymorphisms. To gain insight into functional differences in in vitro GC sensitivity, 19 patients with BD were studied using two bioassays and a whole-cell dexamethasone-binding assay. Finally, mRNA expression levels of GR splice variants (GR-alpha and GR-beta) were measured. Results: Healthy controls and BD patients in the three separate cohorts had similar distributions of the four GR polymorphisms. The Bcll and 9 beta minor alleles frequency differed significantly between Caucasians and Mideast and Turkish individuals. At the functional level, a decreased in vitro cellular GC sensitivity was observed. GR number in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was higher in BD compared with controls. The ratio of GR-alpha/GR-beta mRNA expression levels was significantly lower in BD. Conclusions: Polymorphisms in the GR gene are not associated with susceptibility to BD. However, in vitro cellular GC sensitivity is decreased in BD, possibly mediated by a relative higher expression of the dominant negative GR-b splice variant. This decreased in vitro GC sensitivity might play an as yet unidentified role in the pathophysiology of BD.The Dutch Arthritis AssociationThis work was supported by a grant from The Dutch Arthritis Association

A comparison of methods for temporal analysis of aoristic crime

Objectives: To test the accuracy of various methods previously proposed (and one new method) to estimate offence times where the actual time of the event is not known. Methods: For 303 thefts of pedal cycles from railway stations, the actual offence time was determined from closed-circuit television and the resulting temporal distribution compared against commonly-used estimated distributions using circular statistics and analysis of residuals. Results: Aoristic analysis and allocation of a random time to each offence allow accurate estimation of peak offence times. Commonly-used deterministic methods were found to be inaccurate and to produce misleading results. Conclusions: It is important that analysts use the most accurate methods for temporal distribution approximation to ensure any resource decisions made on the basis of peak times are reliable

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h095%=3.47×10-25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO’s second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h95%0=3.47×10−25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering

Oxygen reduction reaction features in neutral media on glassy carbon electrode functionalized by chemically prepared gold nanoparticles

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were prepared by chemical route using 4 different protocols by varying reducer, stabilizing agent and solvent mixture. The obtained AuNPs were characterized by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), UV-Visible and zeta potential measurements. From these latter surface charge densities were calculated to evidence the effect of the solvent mixture on AuNPs stability. The AuNPs were then deposited onto glassy carbon (GC) electrodes by drop-casting and the resulting deposits were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) in H2SO4 and field emission gun scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM). The electrochemical kinetic parameters of the 4 different modified electrodes towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in neutral NaCl-NaHCO3 media (0.15 M / 0.028 M, pH 7.4) were evaluated by rotating disk electrode voltammetry and subsequent Koutecky-Levich treatment. Contrary to what we previously obtained with electrodeposited AuNPs [Gotti et al., Electrochim. Acta 2014], the highest cathodic transfer coefficients were not obtained on the smallest particles, highlighting the influence of the stabilizing ligand together with the deposits morphology on the ORR kinetics

First Measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary-Black-hole Merger GW170814

We present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in ${H}_{0}={75}_{-32}^{+40}\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$, which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find {H}_{0 {78}_{-24}^{+96}\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1} (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0