Not So Heavy Metals: Black Hole Feedback Enriches The Circumgalactic Medium

We examine the effects of SMBH feedback on the CGM using a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation \citep[{\sc Romulus25};][]{Tremmel2017} and a set of four zoom-in `genetically modified' Milky Way-mass galaxies sampling different evolutionary paths. By tracing the distribution of metals in the circumgalactic medium (CGM), we show that \ion{O}{6} is a sensitive indicator of supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedback. First, we calculate the column densities of \ion{O}{6} in simulated Milky Way-mass galaxies and compare them with observations from the COS-Halos Survey. Our simulations show column densities of \ion{O}{6} in the CGM consistent with those of COS-Halos star forming and quenched galaxies. These results contrast with those from previous simulation studies which typically underproduce CGM column densities of \ion{O}{6}. We determine that a galaxy's star formation history and assembly record have little effect on the amount of \ion{O}{6} in its CGM. Instead, column densities of \ion{O}{6} are closely tied to galaxy halo mass and BH growth history. The set of zoom-in, genetically modified Milky Way-mass galaxies indicates that the SMBH drives highly metal-enriched material out into its host galaxy's halo which in turn elevates the column densities of \ion{O}{6} in the CGM.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, Submitted to ApJ; Note: Figures have transparency that may not render in browse

One-Two Quench: A Double Minor Merger Scenario

Using the N-body+Smoothed particle hydrodynamics code, ChaNGa, we identify two merger-driven processes\textemdash disk disruption and supermassive black hole (SMBH) feedback\textemdash which work together to quench L$^*$ galaxies for over 7 Gyr. Specifically, we examine the cessation of star formation in a simulated Milky Way (MW) analog, driven by an interaction with two minor satellites. Both interactions occur within $\sim$100 Myr of each other, and the satellites both have masses 5 to 20 times smaller than that of their MW-like host galaxy. Using the genetic modification process of \cite{Roth2016}, we generate a set of four zoom-in, MW-mass galaxies all of which exhibit unique star formation histories due to small changes to their assembly histories. In two of these four cases, the galaxy is quenched by $z = 1$. Because these are controlled modifications, we are able to isolate the effects of two closely-spaced minor merger events, the relative timing of which determines whether the MW-mass main galaxy quenches. This one-two punch works to: 1. fuel the primary halo's supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its peak accretion rate; and 2. disrupt the cold, gaseous disk of the host galaxy. The end result is that feedback from the SMBH thoroughly and abruptly ends the galaxy's star formation by $z\approx1$. We search for and find a similar quenching event in {\sc Romulus25}, a hydrodynamical $(25\,\mathrm{Mpc})^3$ volume simulation, demonstrating that the mechanism is common enough to occur even in a small sample of MW-mass quenched galaxies at $z=0$.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap

Food addiction in anorexia nervosa: implications for the understanding of crossover diagnosis

Objective: Food addiction (FA) construct was introduced to reflect abnormal eating patterns that resemble behavioural ones found in substance use disorders. FA has been barely explored in anorexia nervosa (AN). This study evaluated FA occurrence and associated factors in a sample of patients with AN, distinguishing between restrictive and binge-purging subtypes and focussing on the influence of FA in the crossover diagnosis between them. Method: A sample of 116 patients with AN admitted for treatment seeking at an Bellvitge Hospital Eating Disorders Unit were included (72 restrictive [AN-R]; 44 binge-purge AN [AN-BP]), and eating-related, personality and psychopathological variables were assessed. Most participants were women (92.2%), mean age 27.1 years old (SD = 10.5). Results: FA was more prevalent in patients with AN-BP compared to the AN-R group (75.0% and 54.2%, respectively). The patients with AN-R FA+, presented more similar ED symptomatology, general psychopathology and personality traits, with the AN-BP patients, than with the AN-R FA-. Conclusions: Patients with AN-R FA+, exhibit more similarities with the AN-BP subgroup than with the AN-R FA-. Thus, it is possible to hypothesise that the presence of FA might be an indicator of the possible crossover from AN-R to AN-BP

Interactions between the Nse3 and Nse4 Components of the SMC5-6 Complex Identify Evolutionarily Conserved Interactions between MAGE and EID Families

The SMC5-6 protein complex is involved in the cellular response to DNA damage. It is composed of 6-8 polypeptides, of which Nse1, Nse3 and Nse4 form a tight sub-complex. MAGEG1, the mammalian ortholog of Nse3, is the founding member of the MAGE (melanoma-associated antigen) protein family and Nse4 is related to the EID (E1A-like inhibitor of differentiation) family of transcriptional repressors.Using site-directed mutagenesis, protein-protein interaction analyses and molecular modelling, we have identified a conserved hydrophobic surface on the C-terminal domain of Nse3 that interacts with Nse4 and identified residues in its N-terminal domain that are essential for interaction with Nse1. We show that these interactions are conserved in the human orthologs. Furthermore, interaction of MAGEG1, the mammalian ortholog of Nse3, with NSE4b, one of the mammalian orthologs of Nse4, results in transcriptional co-activation of the nuclear receptor, steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1). In an examination of the evolutionary conservation of the Nse3-Nse4 interactions, we find that several MAGE proteins can interact with at least one of the NSE4/EID proteins.We have found that, despite the evolutionary diversification of the MAGE family, the characteristic hydrophobic surface shared by all MAGE proteins from yeast to humans mediates its binding to NSE4/EID proteins. Our work provides new insights into the interactions, evolution and functions of the enigmatic MAGE proteins

Acidic microenvironment plays a key role in human melanoma progression through a sustained exosome mediated transfer of clinically relevant metastatic molecules

Background: Microenvironment cues involved in melanoma progression are largely unknown. Melanoma is highly influenced in its aggressive phenotype by the changes it determinates in its microenvironment, such as pH decrease, in turn influencing cancer cell invasiveness, progression and tissue remodelling through an abundant secretion of exosomes, dictating cancer strategy to the whole host. A role of exosomes in driving melanoma progression under microenvironmental acidity was never described. Methods: We studied four differently staged human melanoma lines, reflecting melanoma progression, under microenvironmental acidic pHs pressure ranging between pH 6.0-6.7. To estimate exosome secretion as a function of tumor stage and environmental pH, we applied a technique to generate native fluorescent exosomes characterized by vesicles integrity, size, density, markers expression, and quantifiable by direct FACS analysis. Functional roles of exosomes were tested in migration and invasion tests. Then we performed a comparative proteomic analysis of acid versus control exosomes to elucidate a specific signature involved in melanoma progression. Results: We found that metastatic melanoma secretes a higher exosome amount than primary melanoma, and that acidic pH increases exosome secretion when melanoma is in an intermediate stage, i.e. metastatic non-invasive. We were thus able to show that acidic pH influences the intercellular cross-talk mediated by exosomes. In fact when exposed to exosomes produced in an acidic medium, pH naïve melanoma cells acquire migratory and invasive capacities likely due to transfer of metastatic exosomal proteins, favoring cell motility and angiogenesis. A Prognoscan-based meta-analysis study of proteins enriched in acidic exosomes, identified 11 genes (HRAS, GANAB, CFL2, HSP90B1, HSP90AB1, GSN, HSPA1L, NRAS, HSPA5, TIMP3, HYOU1), significantly correlating with poor prognosis, whose high expression was in part confirmed in bioptic samples of lymph node metastases. Conclusions: A crucial step of melanoma progression does occur at melanoma intermediate -stage, when extracellular acidic pH induces an abundant release and intra-tumoral uptake of exosomes. Such exosomes are endowed with pro-invasive molecules of clinical relevance, which may provide a signature of melanoma advancement

The DESI One-Percent Survey: Evidence for Assembly Bias from Low-Redshift Counts-in-Cylinders Measurements

We explore the galaxy-halo connection information that is available in low-redshift samples from the early data release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We model the halo occupation distribution (HOD) from z=0.1-0.3 using Survey Validation 3 (SV3; a.k.a., the One-Percent Survey) data of the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS). In addition to more commonly used metrics, we incorporate counts-in-cylinders (CiC) measurements, which drastically tighten HOD constraints. Our analysis is aided by the Python package, galtab, which enables the rapid, precise prediction of CiC for any HOD model available in halotools. This methodology allows our Markov chains to converge with much fewer trial points, and enables even more drastic speedups due to its GPU portability. Our HOD fits constrain characteristic halo masses tightly and provide statistical evidence for assembly bias, especially at lower luminosity thresholds: the HOD of central galaxies in $z\sim0.15$ samples with limiting absolute magnitude $M_r < -20.0$ and $M_r < -20.5$ samples is positively correlated with halo concentration with a significance of 99.9% and 99.5%, respectively. Our models also favor positive central assembly bias for the brighter $M_r < -21.0$ sample at $z\sim0.25$ (94.8% significance), but there is no significant evidence for assembly bias with the same luminosity threshold at $z\sim0.15$. We provide our constraints for each threshold sample's characteristic halo masses, assembly bias, and other HOD parameters. These constraints are expected to be significantly tightened with future DESI data, which will span an area 100 times larger than that of SV3

The DESI One-percent Survey: Evidence for Assembly Bias from Low-redshift Counts-in-cylinders Measurements

We explore the galaxy-halo connection information that is available in low-redshift samples from the early data release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). We model the halo occupation distribution (HOD) from z = 0.1 to 0.3 using Survey Validation 3 (SV3; a.k.a., the One-Percent Survey) data of the DESI Bright Galaxy Survey. In addition to more commonly used metrics, we incorporate counts-in-cylinders (CiC) measurements, which drastically tighten HOD constraints. Our analysis is aided by the Python package, galtab, which enables the rapid, precise prediction of CiC for any HOD model available in halotools. This methodology allows our Markov chains to converge with much fewer trial points, and enables even more drastic speedups due to its GPU portability. Our HOD fits constrain characteristic halo masses tightly and provide statistical evidence for assembly bias, especially at lower luminosity thresholds: the HOD of central galaxies in z ∼ 0.15 samples with limiting absolute magnitude M r < −20.0 and M r < −20.5 samples is positively correlated with halo concentration with a significance of 99.9% and 99.5%, respectively. Our models also favor positive central assembly bias for the brighter M r < −21.0 sample at z ∼ 0.25 (94.8% significance), but there is no significant evidence for assembly bias with the same luminosity threshold at z ∼ 0.15. We provide our constraints for each threshold sample’s characteristic halo masses, assembly bias, and other HOD parameters. These constraints are expected to be significantly tightened with future DESI data, which will span an area 100 times larger than that of SV3

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London

Mucus-degrading Bacteroides link carbapenems to aggravated graft-versus-host disease

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