A dust-enshrouded tidal disruption event with a resolved radio jet in a galaxy merger

Tidal disruption events (TDEs) are transient flares produced when a star is ripped apart by the gravitational field of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). We have observed a transient source in the western nucleus of the merging galaxy pair Arp 299 that radiated >1.5 × 10 erg at infrared and radio wavelengths but was not luminous at optical or x-ray wavelengths. We interpret this as a TDE with much of its emission reradiated at infrared wavelengths by dust. Efficient reprocessing by dense gas and dust may explain the difference between theoretical predictions and observed luminosities of TDEs. The radio observations resolve an expanding and decelerating jet, probing the jet formation and evolution around a SMBH. Copyright © 2018, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceS.M. acknowledges financial support from the Academy of Finland (pmject 8120503). The research leading to these mats has received funding from the European.. Commission Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) under grant agreement number & 227290, 283393 (RadioNc-t) and 60725 (HELP). AA., M.P.-T., N.R.-O. and R.H.T. acknowledge support from the Spanish MINECO through grants AYA2012-38491-002-02 and AYA2015 63939 C2 1 P. P.G.J. acknowledges support from European Research Council Consolidator Grant 647208. C.R.-C. acknowledges support by the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism's Millennium Science Initiative through grant 10120009, awarded to The Millennium. Institute of Astrophysics, MAS Chile, and from CONICYT through FONDECYT grant 3150238 and China-CON1CYT fund CAS160313. P.M. and M.A.A. acknowledge support from the ERC research grant CAMAP-250276, and partial support from the Spanish MINECO grant AYA2015-66889C2-1P Lard the local Valencia government ghat PROMETE0-11-2014069. FIE. acknowledges support from a Science Foundation Ireland-Royal Society University Research Fellowship. D.L.C. acknowledges support from grants ST/0001901/4 ST/J001368/1, ST/ K001051/1, and st/N0001138/1. P.V. acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation of South Africa.. J.H. acknowledges financial support tom the Finis h ChAth ral Fouridation and the Virile), YIP and Kahle Vais8I8 Foundation. J.K. acknowledges financial support from the Academy of Finland (grant 311138)

Intravenously Administered Alphavirus Vector VA7 Eradicates Orthotopic Human Glioma Xenografts in Nude Mice

VA7 is a neurotropic alphavirus vector based on an attenuated strain of Semliki Forest virus. We have previously shown that VA7 exhibits oncolytic activity against human melanoma xenografts in immunodeficient mice. The purpose of this study was to determine if intravenously administered VA7 would be effective against human glioma.In vitro, U87, U251, and A172 human glioma cells were infected and killed by VA7-EGFP. In vivo, antiglioma activity of VA7 was tested in Balb/c nude mice using U87 cells stably expressing firefly luciferase in subcutaneous and orthotopic tumor models. Intravenously administered VA7-EGFP completely eradicated 100% of small and 50% of large subcutaneous U87Fluc tumors. A single intravenous injection of either VA7-EGFP or VA7 expressing Renilla luciferase (VA7-Rluc) into mice bearing orthotopic U87Fluc tumors caused a complete quenching of intracranial firefly bioluminescence and long-term survival in total 16 of 17 animals. In tumor-bearing mice injected with VA7-Rluc, transient intracranial and peripheral Renilla bioluminescence was observed. Virus was well tolerated and no damage to heart, liver, spleen, or brain was observed upon pathological assessment at three and ninety days post injection, despite detectable virus titers in these organs during the earlier time point.VA7 vector is apathogenic and can enter and destroy brain tumors in nude mice when administered systemically. This study warrants further elucidation of the mechanism of tumor destruction and attenuation of the VA7 virus

Harmonization of Neuroticism and Extraversion phenotypes across inventories and cohorts in the Genetics of Personality Consortium : an application of Item Response Theory

Peer reviewe

Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior.

The genetic architecture of human reproductive behavior-age at first birth (AFB) and number of children ever born (NEB)-has a strong relationship with fitness, human development, infertility and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, very few genetic loci have been identified, and the underlying mechanisms of AFB and NEB are poorly understood. We report a large genome-wide association study of both sexes including 251,151 individuals for AFB and 343,072 individuals for NEB. We identified 12 independent loci that are significantly associated with AFB and/or NEB in a SNP-based genome-wide association study and 4 additional loci associated in a gene-based effort. These loci harbor genes that are likely to have a role, either directly or by affecting non-local gene expression, in human reproduction and infertility, thereby increasing understanding of these complex traits

Формирование эмоциональной культуры как компонента инновационной культуры студентов

Homozygosity has long been associated with rare, often devastating, Mendelian disorders1 and Darwin was one of the first to recognise that inbreeding reduces evolutionary fitness2. However, the effect of the more distant parental relatedness common in modern human populations is less well understood. Genomic data now allow us to investigate the effects of homozygosity on traits of public health importance by observing contiguous homozygous segments (runs of homozygosity, ROH), which are inferred to be homozygous along their complete length. Given the low levels of genome-wide homozygosity prevalent in most human populations, information is required on very large numbers of people to provide sufficient power3,4. Here we use ROH to study 16 health-related quantitative traits in 354,224 individuals from 102 cohorts and find statistically significant associations between summed runs of homozygosity (SROH) and four complex traits: height, forced expiratory lung volume in 1 second (FEV1), general cognitive ability (g) and educational attainment (nominal p<1 × 10−300, 2.1 × 10−6, 2.5 × 10−10, 1.8 × 10−10). In each case increased homozygosity was associated with decreased trait value, equivalent to the offspring of first cousins being 1.2 cm shorter and having 10 months less education. Similar effect sizes were found across four continental groups and populations with different degrees of genome-wide homozygosity, providing convincing evidence for the first time that homozygosity, rather than confounding, directly contributes to phenotypic variance. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples5,6, no evidence was seen of an influence of genome-wide homozygosity on blood pressure and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection7, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases may not have been

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Base station energy use in dense urban and suburban areas

Abstract Growing energy consumption is a global problem. The information and communications technology (ICT) industry is in a critical role as an enabler of energy savings in other sectors. However, the power consumption of the ICT sector also needs to be addressed, to contribute to the overall reduction of power consumption and carbon emissions. A new era has begun as the fifth generation (5G) mobile data connection rollouts are advancing globally and are expected to reach a 10% share of end-user devices and connections by 2023. The available references on energy consumption in global mobile networks are rather old and highly averaged — only estimates of energy consumption relative to data volumes are available. There is an information gap regarding the energy consumption of emerging 5G and advanced 4G technologies. Therefore, it has been difficult to understand the actual electricity consumption differences between generations and spatially aggregated electricity consumption once these generations are combined to offer capacity and coverage. This article fills this gap by providing a reference on the energy consumption of base transceiver stations for reported mobile data usage for different Radio Access Technologies; 3G, 4G and 5G respectively. To the best of our knowledge, there is no reference to scientific research on the comparison of energy intensity per square kilometer for 3G, 4G and 5G mobile radio technologies, using actual operator data. The objective of this research was to improve the understanding of the actual energy consumption of different Radio Access Technologies (RAT). The results also give insight to decision makers on when to modernize the operator radio access network. The article reports on the results of field measurements on data and visitor volumes and shares of different RATs. The research contains two statistical RAT combination cases, one representing the European average and the other Finnish mobile networks. The analyses were done for dense urban (DU) and suburban (SU) areas

Removal of Cholera Toxin from Aqueous Solution by Probiotic Bacteria

Cholera remains a serious health problem, especially in developing countries where basic hygiene standards are not met. The symptoms of cholera are caused by cholera toxin, an enterotoxin, which is produced by the bacterium &lt;em&gt;Vibrio cholerae&lt;/em&gt;. We have recently shown that human probiotic bacteria are capable of removing cyanobacterial toxins from aqueous solutions. In the present study we investigate the ability of the human probiotic bacteria, &lt;em&gt;Lactobacillus rhamnosus&lt;/em&gt; strain GG (ATCC 53103) and &lt;em&gt;Bifidobacterium&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;longum&lt;/em&gt; 46 (DSM 14583), to remove cholera toxin from solution &lt;em&gt;in vitro&lt;/em&gt;. &lt;em&gt;Lactobacillus rhamnosus&lt;/em&gt; strain GG and &lt;em&gt;Bifidobacterium&lt;/em&gt; &lt;em&gt;longum&lt;/em&gt; 46 were able to remove 68% and 59% of cholera toxin from aqueous solutions during 18 h of incubation at 37 °C, respectively. The effect was dependent on bacterial concentration and &lt;em&gt;L. rhamnosus &lt;/em&gt;GG was more effective at lower bacterial concentrations. No significant effect on cholera toxin concentration was observed when nonviable bacteria or bacterial supernatant was used