The QUIJOTE experiment: project overview and first results

QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a new polarimeter aimed to characterize the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background and other Galactic and extragalactic signals at medium and large angular scales in the frequency range 10-40 GHz. The multi-frequency (10-20~GHz) instrument, mounted on the first QUIJOTE telescope, saw first light on November 2012 from the Teide Observatory (2400~m a.s.l). During 2014 the second telescope has been installed at this observatory. A second instrument at 30~GHz will be ready for commissioning at this telescope during summer 2015, and a third additional instrument at 40~GHz is now being developed. These instruments will have nominal sensitivities to detect the B-mode polarization due to the primordial gravitational-wave component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r=0.05.Comment: To appear in "Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VIII", Proceedings of the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society, Teruel, Spain (2014

Alterations in PGC1[alfa] expression levels are involved in colorectal cancer risk: a qualitative systematic review

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major global public health problem and the second leading cause of cancer-related death. Mitochondrial dysfunction has long been suspected to be involved in this type of tumorigenesis, as supported by an accumulating body of research evidence. However, little is known about how mitochondrial alterations contribute to tumorigenesis. Mitochondrial biogenesis is a fundamental cellular process required to maintain functional mitochondria and as an adaptive mechanism in response to changing energy requirements. Mitochondrial biogenesis is regulated by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1-? (PPARGC1A or PGC1?). In this paper, we report a systematic review to summarize current evidence on the role of PGC1? in the initiation and progression of CRC. The aim is to provide a basis for more comprehensive research. Methods: The literature search, data extraction and quality assessment were performed according to the document Guidance on the Conduct of Narrative Synthesis in Systematic Reviews and the PRISMA declaration. Results: The studies included in this review aimed to evaluate whether increased or decreased PGC1? expression affects the development of CRC. Each article proposes a possible molecular mechanism of action and we create two concept maps. Conclusion: Our systematic review indicates that altered expression of PGC1? modifies CRC risk. Most studies showed that overexpression of this gene increases CRC risk, while some studies indicated that lower than normal expression levels could increase CRC risk. Thus, various authors propose PGC1? as a good candidate molecular target for cancer therapy. Reducing expression of this gene could help to reduce risk or progression of CRC

Cross-national differences in clinically significant cannabis problems: epidemiologic evidence from 'cannabis-only' smokers in the United States, Mexico, and Colombia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epidemiological studies show wide variability in the occurrence of cannabis smoking and related disorders across countries. This study aims to estimate cross-national variation in cannabis users' experience of clinically significant cannabis-related problems in three countries of the Americas, with a focus on cannabis users who may have tried alcohol or tobacco, but who have not used cocaine, heroin, LSD, or other internationally regulated drugs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data are from the World Mental Health Surveys Initiative and the National Latino and Asian American Study, with probability samples in Mexico (n = 4426), Colombia (n = 5,782) and the United States (USA; n = 8,228). The samples included 212 'cannabis only' users in Mexico, 260 in Colombia and 1,724 in the USA. Conditional GLM with GEE and 'exact' methods were used to estimate variation in the occurrence of clinically significant problems in cannabis only (CO) users across these surveyed populations.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The experience of cannabis-related problems was quite infrequent among CO users in these countries, with weighted frequencies ranging from 1% to 5% across survey populations, and with no appreciable cross-national variation in general. CO users in Colombia proved to be an exception. As compared to CO users in the USA, the Colombia smokers were more likely to have experienced cannabis-associated 'social problems' (odds ratio, OR = 3.0; 95% CI = 1.4, 6.3; p = 0.004) and 'legal problems' (OR = 9.7; 95% CI = 2.7, 35.2; p = 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study's most remarkable finding may be the similarity in occurrence of cannabis-related problems in this cross-national comparison within the Americas. Wide cross-national variations in estimated population-level cumulative incidence of cannabis use disorders may be traced to large differences in cannabis smoking prevalence, rather than qualitative differences in cannabis experiences. More research is needed to identify conditions that might make cannabis-related social and legal problems more frequent in Colombia than in the USA.</p

High rate of subclinical chikungunya virus infection and association of neutralizing antibody with protection in a prospective cohort in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND: Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a globally re-emerging arbovirus for which previous studies have indicated the majority of infections result in symptomatic febrile illness. We sought to characterize the proportion of subclinical and symptomatic CHIKV infections in a prospective cohort study in a country with known CHIKV circulation. METHODS/FINDINGS: A prospective longitudinal cohort of subjects ≥6 months old underwent community-based active surveillance for acute febrile illness in Cebu City, Philippines from 2012-13. Subjects with fever history were clinically evaluated at acute, 2, 5, and 8 day visits, and at a 3-week convalescent visit. Blood was collected at the acute and 3-week convalescent visits. Symptomatic CHIKV infections were identified by positive CHIKV PCR in acute blood samples and/or CHIKV IgM/IgG ELISA seroconversion in paired acute/convalescent samples. Enrollment and 12-month blood samples underwent plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) using CHIKV attenuated strain 181/clone25. Subclinical CHIKV infections were identified by ≥8-fold rise from a baseline enrollment PRNT titer 50 years old. Baseline CHIKV PRNT titer ≥10 was associated with 100% (95%CI: 46.1, 100.0) protection from symptomatic CHIKV infection. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated Asian genotype closely related to strains from Asia and the Caribbean. CONCLUSIONS: Subclinical infections accounted for a majority of total CHIKV infections. A positive baseline CHIKV PRNT titer was associated with protection from symptomatic CHIKV infection. These findings have implications for assessing disease burden, understanding virus transmission, and supporting vaccine development

The QUIJOTE experiment: project status and first scientific results

We present the current status of the QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) experiment, a new polarimeter with the aim of characterizing the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background, and other galactic or extra-galactic physical processes that emit in microwaves in the frequency range 10–42 GHz, and at large angular scales (around 1 degree resolution). The experiment has been designed to reach the required sensitivity to detect a primordial gravitational wave component in the CMB, provided its tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r ∼ 0.05. The project consists of two telescopes and three instruments which will survey a large sky area from the Teide Observatory to provide I, Q and U maps of high sensitivity. The first QUIJOTE instrument, known as Multi-Frequency Instrument (MFI), has been surveying the northern sky in four individual frequencies between 10 and 20 GHz since November 2012, providing data with an average sensitivity of 80 µK beam−1 in Q and U in a region of 20, 000 square-degrees. The second instrument, or Thirty-GHz Instrument (TGI), is currently undergoing the commissioning phase, and the third instrument, or Forty-GHz Instrument (FGI), is in the final fabrication phase. Finally, we describe the first scientific results obtained with the MFI. Some specific regions, mainly along the Galactic plane, have been surveyed to a deeper depth, reaching sensitivities of around 40 µK beam−1. We present new upper limits on the polarization of the anomalous dust emission, resulting from these data, in the Perseus molecular complex and in the W43 molecular complex

The status of the Quijote multi-frequency instrument

The QUIJOTE-CMB project has been described in previous publications. Here we present the current status of the QUIJOTE multi-frequency instrument (MFI) with five separate polarimeters (providing 5 independent sky pixels): two which operate at 10-14 GHz, two which operate at 16-20 GHz, and a central polarimeter at 30 GHz. The optical arrangement includes 5 conical corrugated feedhorns staring into a dual reflector crossed-draconian system, which provides optimal cross-polarization properties (designed to be < -35 dB) and symmetric beams. Each horn feeds a novel cryogenic on-axis rotating polar modulator which can rotate at a speed of up to 1 Hz. The science driver for this first instrument is the characterization of the galactic emission. The polarimeters use the polar modulator to derive linear polar parameters Q, U and I and switch out various systematics. The detection system provides optimum sensitivity through 2 correlated and 2 total power channels. The system is calibrated using bright polarized celestial sources and through a secondary calibration source and antenna. The acquisition system, telescope control and housekeeping are all linked through a real-time gigabit Ethernet network. All communication, power and helium gas are passed through a central rotary joint. The time stamp is synchronized to a GPS time signal. The acquisition software is based on PLCs written in Beckhoffs TwinCat and ethercat. The user interface is written in LABVIEW. The status of the QUIJOTE MFI will be presented including pre-commissioning results and laboratory testing

The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment: studying the polarisation of the galactic and cosmological microwave emissions

The QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint Tenerife) CMB Experiment will operate at the Teide Observatory with the aim of characterizing the polarisation of the CMB and other processes of Galactic and extragalactic emission in the frequency range of 10-40GHz and at large and medium angular scales. The first of the two QUIJOTE telescopes and the first multi-frequency (10-30GHz) instrument are already built and have been tested in the laboratory. QUIJOTE-CMB will be a valuable complement at low frequencies for the Planck mission, and will have the required sensitivity to detect a primordial gravitational-wave component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r = 0.05.The QUIJOTE-CMB experiment is being developed by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), the Instituto de Fisica de Cantabria (IFCA), and the Universities of Cantabria, Manchester and Cambridge. Partial financial support is provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the projects AYA2010-21766-C03 (01, 02 and 03), and also by the Consolider-Ingenio project CSD2010-00064 (EPI: Exploring the Physics of Inflation49)

Opportunistic infections in immunosuppressed patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: analysis by the Pharmachild Safety Adjudication Committee

Background To derive a list of opportunistic infections (OI) through the analysis of the juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) patients in the Pharmachild registry by an independent Safety Adjudication Committee (SAC). Methods The SAC (3 pediatric rheumatologists and 2 pediatric infectious disease specialists) elaborated and approved by consensus a provisional list of OI for use in JIA. Through a 5 step-procedure, all the severe and serious infections, classified as per MedDRA dictionary and retrieved in the Pharmachild registry, were evaluated by the SAC by answering six questions and adjudicated with the agreement of 3/5 specialists. A final evidence-based list of OI resulted by matching the adjudicated infections with the provisional list of OI. Results A total of 772 infectious events in 572 eligible patients, of which 335 serious/severe/very severe non-OI and 437 OI (any intensity/severity), according to the provisional list, were retrieved. Six hundred eighty-two of 772 (88.3%) were adjudicated as infections, of them 603/682 (88.4%) as common and 119/682 (17.4%) as OI by the SAC. Matching these 119 opportunistic events with the provisional list, 106 were confirmed by the SAC as OI, and among them infections by herpes viruses were the most frequent (68%), followed by tuberculosis (27.4%). The remaining events were divided in the groups of non-OI and possible/patient and/or pathogen-related OI. Conclusions We found a significant number of OI in JIA patients on immunosuppressive therapy. The proposed list of OI, created by consensus and validated in the Pharmachild cohort, could facilitate comparison among future pharmacovigilance studies