Herschel HIFI observations of O2_2 toward Orion: special conditions for shock enhanced emission

We report observations of molecular oxygen (O$_2$) rotational transitions at 487 GHz, 774 GHz, and 1121 GHz toward Orion Peak A. The O2 lines at 487 GHz and 774 GHz are detected at velocities of 10-12 km/s with line widths 3 km/s; however, the transition at 1121 GHz is not detected. The observed line characteristics, combined with the results of earlier observations, suggest that the region responsible for the O$_2$ emission is 9" (6e16 cm) in size, and is located close to the H2 Peak 1position (where vibrationally-excited H$_2$ emission peaks), and not at Peak A, 23" away. The peak O2 column density is 1.1e18/cm2. The line velocity is close to that of 621 GHz water maser emission found in this portion of the Orion Molecular Cloud, and having a shock with velocity vector lying nearly in the plane of the sky is consistent with producing maximum maser gain along the line-of-sight. The enhanced O$_2$ abundance compared to that generally found in dense interstellar clouds can be explained by passage of a low-velocity C-shock through a clump with preshock density 2e4/cm3, if a reasonable flux of UV radiation is present. The postshock O$_2$ can explain the emission from the source if its line of sight dimension is ~10 times larger than its size on the plane of the sky. The special geometry and conditions required may explain why O$_2$ emission has not been detected in the cores of other massive star-forming molecular clouds.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure

Descomposición de datos multi-espectrales: interfaz gráfica para Matlab

Avances recientes han permitido el desarrollo de dispositivos capaces de capturar información en múltiples longitudes de onda. Estos datos tienen diversas aplicaciones con el problema en común de cómo interpretarlos. Una de las técnicas utilizadas con este fin es la descomposición espectral, que separa los datos de una muestra en sus componentes básicos y concentraciones proporcionales. Nuestro trabajo previo ha estado enfocado en la descomposición espectral de datos de fluorescencia multiespectral, donde se han desarrollado métodos que proporcionan una solución cuantitativa, robusta y rápida, la cual no está limitada por el número de componentes que se pueden caracterizar. En este trabajo, presentamos una interface desarrollada en Matlab que puede estimar los perfiles característicos de los componentes constituyentes de una muestra y sus abundancias. En caso de que no se tenga información alguna sobre la muestra, nos permite obtener además el número de componentes en ella. El artículo hace una descripción del software y sus herramientas.Además, se ejemplifica su uso en la caracterización de muestras ex-vivo de arterias coronarias. El programa se encuentra disponible de manera gratuita y provee al usuario de una herramienta fácil de usar para el análisis de datos multi o hiper-espectrales.Palabra(s) Clave(s): descomposición ciega, fluorescencia endógena, interfaz gráfica, optimización cuadrática, quimiometría

Evaluation of Fattening Efficiency of Grazing Bulls through Panel Data Envelop Analysis

The purpose of this paper was to assess fattening efficiency changes in grazing bulls, using panel data envelop analysis in two periods of time. The panel data were compiled by DEAP 2.1, which included the results of a 3-year period from 38 private farms (beef farms) in cooperatives of credits and services. The farms were on prairie savannahs, located on 21.4831 latitude, and -77.3174 longitude, less than 300 meters above sea level, province of Camagüey, mideastern Cuba. The output variable was total sold kg (TSKG), and the input variables were cost of Norgold (CN), fuel kg per ha (FKGXHA), fuel kg per livestock unit (FKGXLU), and unit of human labor force (UHL), which were highly correlated to the output variable. Table 2 shows that technical efficiency (TE), pure efficiency (PEC), and scale sufficiency (SEC), underwent 0.2%, 0.4, and 0.5%, respectively, by the third year of fattening. Technological change (TC) between the second and third years rose to almost 14%, and the total productivity factor (TPF) spiked as farmers became more skilled and experienced, with a 4.9% increase in comparison to the first year, and 13.7% in the second year

"Now he walks and walks, as if he didn't have a home where he could eat": food, healing, and hunger in Quechua narratives of madness

In the Quechua-speaking peasant communities of southern Peru, mental disorder is understood less as individualized pathology and more as a disturbance in family and social relationships. For many Andeans, food and feeding are ontologically fundamental to such relationships. This paper uses data from interviews and participant observation in a rural province of Cuzco to explore the significance of food and hunger in local discussions of madness. Carers’ narratives, explanatory models, and theories of healing all draw heavily from idioms of food sharing and consumption in making sense of affliction, and these concepts structure understandings of madness that differ significantly from those assumed by formal mental health services. Greater awareness of the salience of these themes could strengthen the input of psychiatric and psychological care with this population and enhance knowledge of the alternative treatments that they use. Moreover, this case provides lessons for the global mental health movement on the importance of openness to the ways in which indigenous cultures may construct health, madness, and sociality. Such local meanings should be considered by mental health workers delivering services in order to provide care that can adjust to the alternative ontologies of sufferers and carers

The efficacy and safety of enzalutamide with trastuzumab in patients with HER2+ and androgen receptor-positive metastatic or locally advanced breast cancer

Purpose: Androgen receptor (AR) expression occurs in up to 86% of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) breast cancers. In vitro, AR inhibitors enhance antitumor activity of trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 antibody, in trastuzumab-resistant HER2+ cell lines. This open-label, single-arm, phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of enzalutamide, an AR-signaling inhibitor, in patients with advanced HER2+ AR+ breast cancer previously treated with trastuzumab. Methods: Eligible patients had measurable or non-measurable evaluable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group status 64 1, no history of brain metastases, and previously received 65 1 anti-HER2 regimen for advanced disease. Patients received 160\ua0mg oral enzalutamide daily and 6\ua0mg/kg intravenous trastuzumab every 21\ua0days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Primary end point was clinical benefit rate at 24\ua0weeks (CBR24); secondary end points included progression-free survival (PFS) and safety. Results: Overall, 103\ua0women were enrolled [median age 60\ua0years (range 34\u201383)]; 62% had received 65 3\ua0lines of prior anti-HER2 therapy. CBR24, comprising patients with confirmed partial responses (5%) and durable stable disease at 24\ua0weeks (19%), was 24% in the efficacy evaluable set (n = 89). CBR24 did not seem related to AR-expression levels or hormone receptor status. Median PFS was 3.4\ua0months (95% confidence interval 2.0\u20133.8). Overall, 97 (94%) patients experienced treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs), with fatigue most common (34%). Dyspnea (4%) and malignant neoplasm progression (3%) were the only TEAEs grade 65 3 reported in 65 3\ua0patients. 22 patients (21%) reported serious TEAEs. Four patients (4%) experienced fatal, non-drug-related TEAEs. Conclusions: Enzalutamide plus trastuzumab was well tolerated, and a subset of patients in this heavily pretreated population had durable disease control. Determination of biomarkers is needed to identify patients most likely to benefit from this combination. ClinicalTrials.gov number: NCT0209196

Urinary incontinence and sedentary behaviour in nursing home residents in Osona, Catalonia: protocol for the OsoNaH project, a multicentre observational study

Introduction Several studies have shown that physical activity (PA) levels and sedentary behaviour (SB) are independent risk factors for many health-related issues. However, there is scarce evidence supporting the relationship between SB and urinary incontinence (UI) in community-dwelling older adults, and no information on any possible association in institutionalised older adults. Stage I of this project has the main objective of determining the prevalence of UI and its associated factors in nursing home (NH) residents, as well as analysing the association between UI (and its types) and SB. Stage II aims to investigate the incidence and predictive factors of functional and continence decline, falls, hospitalisations, mortality and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among NH residents.Methods and analysis Stage I is an observational, multicentre, cross-sectional study with mixed methodology that aims to explore the current status of several health-related outcomes in NH residents of Osona (Barcelona, Spain). The prevalence ratio will be used as an association measure and multivariate analysis will be undertaken using Poisson regression with robust variance. Stage II is a 2-year longitudinal study that aims to analyse functional and continence decline, incidence of falls, hospitalisations, mortality and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these outcomes. A survival analysis using the actuarial method for functional decline and continence, evaluated every 6 months, and the Kaplan-Meier method for falls, hospitalisations and deaths, and Cox regression for multivariate analysis will be undertaken.Ethics and dissemination The study received the following approvals: University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia Ethics and Research Committee (92/2019 and 109/2020), Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Osona Foundation for Health Research and Education (FORES) (code 2020118/PR249). Study results will be disseminated at conferences, meetings and through peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration number NCT04297904

Promoting Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine through the online resource ‘EBVM Learning’: User feedback

‘EBVM Learning’ is a freely available resource created in 2015 by an international team with the support of RCVS Knowledge. The resource comprises a series of online modules teaching the fundamental concepts of evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM) (Ask, Acquire, Appraise, Apply & Assess) supported by case studies, exercises, worked examples and quizzes. The aim of the current study (undertaken in 2019) was to review ‘EBVM Learning’ to ensure its ongoing relevance and usefulness to the range of learners engaged in EBVM. Feedback was gathered from stakeholder groups using website statistics and feedback forms, a survey and semi-structured interviews to provide a combination of quantitative and qualitative data.Website statistics revealed an international audience and a steady increase in visitors exceeding 1,000 per month in August 2020. Feedback via the online form (n=35) and survey (n=71) indicated that the resource was well structured, with an appropriate level and amount of content, useful examples and quizzes and the majority of respondents would use it again. Semi-structured interviews of educators (n=5) and veterinarians (n=8) identified three themes: features of the ‘EBVM Learning’ resource (strengths, suggestions for improvement), embedding the resource in education (undergraduate, postgraduate) and promoting EBVM (challenges, motivation for engagement). At a project team workshop the results were used to plan updates to the existing content and to identify new ways to promote learning and engagement. An updated version of ‘EBVM Learning’ was developed.‘EBVM Learning’ is helping to produce the next generation of evidence-based practitioners and enabling to engage in the concepts of EBVM as part of their clinical practice

Testing the robustness of controllers for self-adaptive systems

Self-Adaptive systems are software-intensive systems endowed with the ability to respond to a variety of changes that may occur in their environment, goals, or the system itself, by adapting their structure and behavior at run-time in an autonomous way. Controllers are complex components incorporated in self-adaptive systems, which are crucial to their function since they are in charge of adapting the target system by executing actions through effectors, based on information monitored by probes. However, although controllers are becoming critical in many application domains, so far very little has been done to assess their robustness. In this paper, we propose an approach for evaluating the robustness of controllers for self-adaptive software systems, aiming to identify faults in their design. Our proposal considers the stateful nature of the controller, and identifies a set of robustness tests, which includes the provision of mutated inputs to the interfaces between the controller and the target system (i.e., probes). The feasibility of the approach is evaluated on Rainbow, a framework for architecture-based self-adaptation, and in the context of the Znn.com case study

The pig X and Y Chromosomes: structure, sequence, and evolution.

We have generated an improved assembly and gene annotation of the pig X Chromosome, and a first draft assembly of the pig Y Chromosome, by sequencing BAC and fosmid clones from Duroc animals and incorporating information from optical mapping and fiber-FISH. The X Chromosome carries 1033 annotated genes, 690 of which are protein coding. Gene order closely matches that found in primates (including humans) and carnivores (including cats and dogs), which is inferred to be ancestral. Nevertheless, several protein-coding genes present on the human X Chromosome were absent from the pig, and 38 pig-specific X-chromosomal genes were annotated, 22 of which were olfactory receptors. The pig Y-specific Chromosome sequence generated here comprises 30 megabases (Mb). A 15-Mb subset of this sequence was assembled, revealing two clusters of male-specific low copy number genes, separated by an ampliconic region including the HSFY gene family, which together make up most of the short arm. Both clusters contain palindromes with high sequence identity, presumably maintained by gene conversion. Many of the ancestral X-related genes previously reported in at least one mammalian Y Chromosome are represented either as active genes or partial sequences. This sequencing project has allowed us to identify genes--both single copy and amplified--on the pig Y Chromosome, to compare the pig X and Y Chromosomes for homologous sequences, and thereby to reveal mechanisms underlying pig X and Y Chromosome evolution.This work was funded by BBSRC grant BB/F021372/1. The Flow Cytometry and Cytogenetics Core Facilities at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and Sanger investigators are funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number WT098051). K.B., D.C.-S., and J.H. acknowledge support from the Wellcome Trust (WT095908), the BBSRC (BB/I025506/1), and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 222664 (“Quantomics”).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/gr.188839.11

Tomographic galaxy clustering with the Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam first year public data release

We analyze the clustering of galaxies in the first public data release of the HSC Subaru Strategic Program. Despite the relatively small footprints of the observed fields, the data are an excellent proxy for the deep photometric datasets that will be acquired by LSST, and are therefore an ideal test bed for the analysis methods being implemented by the LSST DESC. We select a magnitude limited sample with $i<24.5$ and analyze it in four redshift bins covering $0.15\lesssim z \lesssim1.5$. We carry out a Fourier-space analysis of the two-point clustering of this sample, including all auto- and cross-correlations. We demonstrate the use of map-level deprojection methods to account for fluctuations in the galaxy number density caused by observational systematics. Through an HOD analysis, we place constraints on the characteristic halo masses of this sample, finding a good fit up to scales $k_{\rm max}=1\,{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, including both auto- and cross-correlations. Our results show monotonically decreasing average halo masses, which can be interpreted in terms of the drop-out of red galaxies at high redshifts for a flux-limited sample. In terms of photometric redshift systematics, we show that additional care is needed in order to marginalize over uncertainties in the redshift distribution in galaxy clustering, and that these uncertainties can be constrained by including cross-correlations. We are able to make a $\sim3\sigma$ detection of lensing magnification in the HSC data. Our results are stable to variations in $\sigma_8$ and $\Omega_c$ and we find constraints that agree well with measurements from Planck and low-redshift probes. Finally, we use our pipeline to study the clustering of galaxies as a function of limiting flux, and provide a simple fitting function for the linear galaxy bias for magnitude limited samples as a function of limiting magnitude and redshift. [abridged]Comment: 65 pages, 30 figures, 5 tables, to be submitted to JCA