Deep point spread function photometric catalog of the VVV survey data

Context. The Vista Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey has performed a multi-epoch near-infrared imaging of the inner Galactic plane. High-fidelity photometric catalogs are needed to utilize the data. Aims. We aim at producing a deep, point spread function (PSF) photometric catalog for the VVV survey J-,H-, and K-s-band data. Specifically, we aim to take advantage of multiple epochs of the survey to reach high limiting magnitudes. Methods. We developed an automatic PSF-fitting pipeline based on the DaoPHOT algorithm and performed photometry on the stacked VVV images in J,H, and K-s bands. Results. We present a PSF photometric catalog in the Vega system that contains about 926 million sources in the J,H, and K-s filters. About 10% of the sources are flagged as possible spurious detections. The 5 sigma limiting magnitudes of the sources with high reliability are about 20.8, 19.5, and 18.7 mag in the J,H, and K-s bands, respectively, depending on the local crowding condition. Our photometric catalog reaches on average about one magnitude deeper than the previously released PSF DoPHOT photometric catalog and includes less spurious detections. There are significant differences in the brightnesses of faint sources between our catalog and the previously released one. The likely origin of these differences is in the different photometric algorithms that are used; it is not straightforward to assess which catalog is more accurate in different situations. Our new catalog is beneficial especially for science goals that require high limiting magnitudes; our catalog reaches such high magnitudes in fields that have a relatively uniform source number density. Overall, the limiting magnitudes and completeness are different in fields with different crowding conditions

Elevated expression of type VII collagen in the skin of patients with systemic sclerosis. Regulation by transforming growth factor-beta.

A hallmark of systemic sclerosis (SSc) is the development of tissue fibrosis. Excessive production of several connective tissue components normally present in the dermis, including type I, III, V, and VI collagens as well as fibronectin and proteoglycans, is a consistent finding in the skin of SSc patients. Type VII collagen is a major constituent of anchoring fibrils, present in the skin at the dermal-epidermal basement membrane zone. TGF-beta has been shown to upregulate the expression of the type VII collagen gene. In this study, we assessed the expression of type VII collagen and TGF-beta in the skin of patients with SSc. Indirect immunofluorescence showed an abundance of type VII collagen in the patients\u27 skin, including the dermis. Ultrastructural analysis of SSc skin revealed an abundance of fibrillar material, possibly representing type VII collagen. The increased expression of type VII collagen epitopes was accompanied by the elevated expression of immunodetectable TGF-beta 1 and TGF-beta 2. Dermal fibroblasts cultured from the affected individuals showed a statistically significant (P \u3c 0.02) increase in the expression of type VII collagen at the mRNA level, as detected by reverse transcription-PCR with a mutated cDNA as an internal standard, and increased deposition of the protein as assessed by indirect immunofluorescence. Thus, type VII collagen is abundantly present in SSc patients\u27 dermis, a location not characteristic of its normal distribution, and its aberrant expression may relate to the presence of TGF-beta in the same topographic distribution. The presence of type VII collagen in the dermis may contribute to the tightly bound and indurated appearance of the affected skin in SSc patients

Double beta decay versus cosmology: Majorana CP phases and nuclear matrix elements

We discuss the relation between the absolute neutrino mass scale, the effective mass measured in neutrinoless double beta decay, and the Majorana CP phases. Emphasis is placed on estimating the upper bound on the nuclear matrix element entering calculations of the double beta decay half life. Consequently, one of the Majorana CP phases can be constrained when combining the claimed evidence for neutrinoless double beta decay with the neutrino mass bound from cosmology.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Star-forming content of the giant molecular filaments in the Milky Way

Through observations numerous giant molecular filaments (GMFs) have been discovered in the MilkyWay. Their role in the Galactic star formation and Galaxy-scale evolution of dense gas is unknown. Aims. We investigate systematically the star-forming content of all currently known GMFs. This allows us to estimate the star formation rates (SFRs) of the GMFs and to establish relationships between the SFRs and the GMF properties. Methods. We identified and classified the young stellar object (YSO) population of each GMF using multiwavelength photometry from near-to far-infrared. We estimated the total SFRs assuming a universal and fully sampled initial mass function and luminosity function. Results. We uniformly estimate the physical properties of 57 GMFs. The GMFs show correlations between the (CO)-C-13 line width, mass, and size, similar to Larson\u27s relations. We identify 36 394 infrared excess sources in 57 GMFs and obtain SFRs for 46 GMFs. The median SFR surface density (Sigma(SFR)) and star formation efficiency (SFE) of GMFs are 0.62 M-circle dot Myr(-1) pc(-2) and 1%, similar to the nearby star-forming clouds. The star formation rate per free-fall time of GMFs is between 0.002-0.05 with the median value of 0.02. We also find a strong correlation between SFR and dense gas mass that is defined as gas mass above a visual extinction of 7 mag, which suggests that the SFRs of the GMFs scale similarly with dense gas as those of nearby molecular clouds. We also find a strong correlation between the mean SFR per unit length and dense gas mass per unit length. The origin of this scaling remains unknown, calling for further studies that can link the structure of GMFs to their SF activity and explore the differences between GMFs and other molecular clouds

Validation of 3D echocardiographic volume detection of left atrium by human cadaveric casts

Background: Left atrial volume is a prognostic factor in cardiac pathologies. We aimed to validate left atrial volume detection with 3D and 2D echocardiography (3DE and 2DE) by human cadaveric casts. 3DE facilitates measurement of atrial volume without geometrical assumptions or dependence on imaging angle in contrast to 2DE methods. Methods: For method validation, six water-filled balloons were submerged in a 20-l water tank and their volumes were measured with 3DE. Seven human cadaveric left atrial casts were prepared of silicone and were transformed into ultrasound-permeable casts. Casts were imaged in the same setting, so that 3DE and 2DE of casts represented transthoracic apical view. Left ventricle analysis softwares GE 4D Auto LVQ and TomTec 4D LV-Function were used for 3DE volumetry. Results; Balloon volumes ranged 37 to 255ml (mean 126 ml). 3DE resulted in an excellent volumetric agreement with balloon volumes, absolute bias was -3.7 ml (95% CI -5.9 to -1.4). Atrial cast volumes were 38 to 94 ml (mean 56.6 ml). 3DE and 2DE volumes were excellently correlated with cast volumes (r = 0.96 to 0.99). Biases were for GE 4D LVQ - 0.7 ml (95% CI -6.1 to 4.6), TomTec 4D LV-Function 3.3 ml (-1.9 to 8.5) and 2DE 2.9 ml (-4.0 to 9.9). 3DE resulted in lower limits of agreement and showed no volume-related bias in contrast to area-length method. Conclusions: We conclude that measurement of human cadaveric left atrial cast volumes by 3DE is in excellent agreement with true cast volumes.Peer reviewe

Data on characterizing the gene expression patterns of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis genes: CLN1, CLN2, CLN3, CLN5 and their association to interneuron and neurotransmission markers: Parvalbumin and Somatostatin

Abstract The article contains raw and analyzed data related to the research article “Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis genes, CLN2, CLN3, CLN5 are spatially and temporally co-expressed in a developing mouse brain” (Fabritius et al., 2014) [1]. The processed data gives an understanding of the development of the cell types that are mostly affected by defective function of CLN proteins, timing of expression of CLN1, CLN2, CLN3 and CLN5 genes in a murine model. The data shows relationship between the expression pattern of these genes during neural development. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify known interneuronal markers for neurotransmission and cell proliferation: parvalbumin, somatostatin subpopulations of interneurons. Non-radioactive in-situ hybridization detected CLN5 mRNA in the hippocampus. Throughout the development strong expression of CLN genes were identified in the germinal epithelium and in ventricle regions, cortex, hippocampus, and cerebellum. This provides supportive evidence that CLN1, CLN2, CLN3 and CLN5 genes may be involved in synaptic pruning.Peer reviewe

Risk of post-anaesthetic colic in horses anaesthetised with two different anaesthetic protocols : single-centre retrospective study

Nukutuksen jälkeinen ähky on yleisimpiä anestesia-komplikaatioita hevosilla. Erilaisten nukutusprotokollien vaikutusta nukutuksen jälkeisen ähkyn esiintyvyyteen hevosilla on tutkittu vain vähän. Kävimme läpi Helsingin Yliopiston Yliopistollisessa eläinsairaalassa 1.1.2013 – 31.12.2016 ortopediseen leikkaukseen, kastraatioon tai penisamputaatioon isofluraanilla ja joko lidokaiini (n = 106)- tai romifidiini-infuusiolla (n = 127) nukutettujen hevosten potilastiedot. Käytimme yhden muuttujan analyysiä sekä monimuuttuja-analyysiä selvittääksemme nukutuksen jälkeisen ähkyn ja seuraavien tekijöiden välistä yhteyttä: lidokaiini- tai romifidiini-infuusio, asepromatsiiniesilääkitys, hevoselle käytetty opioidi, paikallispuudutuksen käyttö, hevoselle käytetty tulehduskipulääke ja antibiootti, ikä, paino, sukupuoli, asento leikkauksen aikana, leikkauksen vuorokaudenaika, sairaalassaolo ennen leikkausta, vuodenaika, toimenpide, anestesian kesto ja leikkauksen jälkeisen sairaalassaoloajan pituus. Nukutuksen jälkeisen ähkyn esiintyvyys oli 6,87 % (n = 16). Esiintyvyys oli 3,77 % (n = 4) lidokaiini-infuusiolla nukutetuilla hevosilla ja 9.44 % (n = 12) romifidiini-infuusiolla nukutetuilla (p = 0,09). Tutkituista tekijöistä ainoastaan hevosen suuri paino tunnistettiin nukutuksen jälkeiselle ähkylle altistavaksi riskitekijäksi (vetosuhde 1,8 jokaiselle 100 kg:n nousulle painossa). Eri opioidit, asepromatsiini-esilääkitys ja sairaalassaoloaika ennen leikkausta olivat mahdollisia sekoittavia tekijöitä. Emme todenneet merkitseviä eroja nukutuksen jälkeisen ähkyn esiintyvyydessä lidokaiini- ja romifidiini-infuusiolla ja isofluraanilla nukutettujen hevosten välillä. Tarvitaan lisää prospektiivisia tutkimuksia, jotta voidaan paremmin selvittää eri nukutusprotokollien vaikutusta nukutuksen jälkeisen ähkyn esiintyvyyteen.Peer reviewe

Improved short-range correlations and 0nbb nuclear matrix elements of 76Ge and 82Se

We calculate the nuclear matrix elements of the neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decays of $^{76}$Ge and $^{82}$Se for the light-neutrino exchange mechanism. The nuclear wave functions are obtained by using realistic two-body forces within the proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation (pnQRPA). We include the effects that come from the finite size of a nucleon, from the higher-order terms of nucleonic weak currents, and from the nucleon-nucleon short-range correlations. Most importantly, we improve on the presently available calculations by replacing the rudimentary Jastrow short-range correlations by the more advanced unitary correlation operator method (UCOM). The UCOM corrected matrix elements turn out to be notably larger in magnitude than the Jastrow corrected ones. This has drastic consequences for the detectability of $0\nu\beta\beta$ decay in the present and future double beta experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Physical Review C (Rapid Communication) 200