A road map for defining Good Environmental Status in the deep-sea

The development of tools to assess the Good Environmental Status (GES) in the Deep Sea (DS) is one of the aspects that ATLAS WP3 is addressing. GES assessment in the DS is challenging due to 1) the lack of baseline data, 2) the remoteness of the DS ecosystems, and 3) the limitations of the sampling methods currently available. Throughout the duration of the project, ATLAS will develop a suitable approach to address GES in the DS. During the 2nd General Assembly, we will present a draft for a “road map” to address GES in the DS as well some of the aspects discussed during the 2017 ICES WG on Deep Sea Ecosystems. The temporal and spatial scale at which GES should be assessed in the deep-sea is an important aspect to be considered. Due to the data limited situation and challenges posed to monitoring, it may well be the case that GES will have to be assessed at large spatial and temporal scales when comparing the shallower waters of the European Seas. For similar reasons, the type of indicators to be used may have to be simplified and likely be based on high-level analyses related to traits, pressures/risks, and habitat /ecosystem resilience. Ultimately, the results of the combined analyses of GES descriptors might bring to a potential refining or redefinition of the GES concept for the deep-sea

What is a Cool-Core Cluster? A Detailed Analysis of the Cores of the X-ray Flux-Limited HIFLUGCS Cluster Sample

We use the largest complete sample of 64 galaxy clusters (HIghest X-ray FLUx Galaxy Cluster Sample) with available high-quality X-ray data from Chandra, and apply 16 cool-core diagnostics to them, some of them new. We also correlate optical properties of brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) with X-ray properties. To segregate cool core and non-cool-core clusters, we find that central cooling time, t_cool, is the best parameter for low redshift clusters with high quality data, and that cuspiness is the best parameter for high redshift clusters. 72% of clusters in our sample have a cool core (t_cool < 7.7 h_{71}^{-1/2} Gyr) and 44% have strong cool cores (t_cool <1.0 h_{71}^{-1/2} Gyr). For the first time we show quantitatively that the discrepancy in classical and spectroscopic mass deposition rates can not be explained with a recent formation of the cool cores, demonstrating the need for a heating mechanism to explain the cooling flow problem. [Abridged]Comment: 45 pages, 19 figures, 7 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A. Contact Person: Rupal Mittal ([email protected]

Three temperate Neptunes orbiting nearby stars

We present the discovery of three modestly irradiated, roughly Neptune-mass planets orbiting three nearby Solartype stars. HD 42618 b has a minimum mass of 15.4±2.4 M⊕, a semimajor axis of 0.55 au, an equilibrium temperature of 337 K, and is the first planet discovered to orbit the solar analogue host star, HD 42618. We also discover new planets orbiting the known exoplanet host stars HD 164922 and HD 143761 (p CrB). The new planet orbiting HD 164922 has a minimum mass of 12.9±1.6 M⊕ and orbits interior to the previously known Jovian mass planet orbiting at 2.1 au. HD 164922 c has a semimajor axis of 0.34 au and an equilibrium temperature of 418 K. HD 143761 c orbits with a semimajor axis of 0.44 au, has a minimum mass of 25±2 M⊕, and is the warmest of the three new planets with an equilibrium temperature of 445 K. It orbits exterior to the previously known warm Jupiter in the system. A transit search using space-based CoRoT data and ground-based photometry from the Automated Photometric Telescopes (APTs) at Fairborn Observatory failed to detect any transits, but the precise, high-cadence APT photometry helped to disentangle planetary-reflex motion from stellar activity. These planets were discovered as part of an ongoing radial velocity survey of bright, nearby, chromospherically inactive stars using the Automated Planet Finder (APF) telescope at Lick Observatory. The high-cadence APF data combined with nearly two decades of radial velocity data from Keck Observatory and gives unprecedented sensitivity to both short-period low-mass, and long-period intermediate-mass planets

The California Legacy Survey I. A Catalog of 178 Planets from Precision Radial Velocity Monitoring of 719 Nearby Stars over Three Decades

We present a high-precision radial velocity (RV) survey of 719 FGKM stars, which host 164 known exoplanets and 14 newly discovered or revised exoplanets and substellar companions. This catalog updated the orbital parameters of known exoplanets and long-period candidates, some of which have decades-longer observational baselines than they did upon initial detection. The newly discovered exoplanets range from warm sub-Neptunes and super-Earths to cold gas giants. We present the catalog sample selection criteria, as well as over 100,000 radial velocity measurements, which come from the Keck-HIRES, APF-Levy, and Lick-Hamilton spectrographs. We introduce the new RV search pipeline RVSearch that we used to generate our planet catalog, and we make it available to the public as an open-source Python package. This paper is the first study in a planned series that will measure exoplanet occurrence rates and compare exoplanet populations, including studies of giant planet occurrence beyond the water ice line, and eccentricity distributions to explore giant planet formation pathways. We have made public all radial velocities and associated data that we use in this catalog.Comment: Accepted to ApJ

Biodiversity and benthic megafaunal communities inhabiting the Formigas Bank (NE Azores)

The Formigas Bank is an offshore seamount located in the easternmost part of the Azores archipelago (northeast Atlantic). It rises from abyssal depths to the surface, including a small set of islets. The bank holds multiple nature conservation designations, including a Natura 2000 Special Area of Conservation, an OSPAR Marine Protected Area, a RAMSAR site and a Nature Reserve declared under the Azores network of protected areas. The protection is based on the presence of sublittoral biotopes of high conservation interest, and importance as feeding grounds, spawning and nursery areas for many marine species, including fish, cetaceans and turtles. Although some information exists on the sublittoral communities occurring on the seamount summit (e.g., infralittoral Cystoseira and Laminaria beds, circalittoral hydrarian and sponge gardens, rich pelagic fauna), virtually no information was available on the deep-sea communities inhabiting the seamount flanks. Therefore, during the MEDWAVES cruise, the flanks of the Formigas bank have been surveyed using multibeam sonar, an ROV and oceanographic profiles, with the objective to characterise deep-sea biodiversity and megafaunal communities as well as the environment where they occur. This communication will present results from the video annotations of the ten dives made on the seamount slopes between ~500m and ~1,500 m depth. Diverse communities of sedentary suspension-feeding organisms were observed, with more than 20 cold-water coral species (mainly octocorals) being recorded, as well as many different sponge morphotypes. Dense coral garden habitats and sponge grounds were identified on several occasions, confirming the presence of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) and of ecologically or biologically significant areas (EBSAs). Differences in the abundance and composition of these habitats between the northern and southern dive transects are interpreted as reflecting substrate and geomorphological differences, as well as the potential influence of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). The new knowledge on deep-sea megafaunal communities reinforces the importance of this seamount as an area of high conservation interest

Rates Of Amyloid Imaging Positivity In Patients With Primary Progressive Aphasia

IMPORTANCE The ability to predict the pathology underlying different neurodegenerative syndromes is of critical importance owing to the advent of molecule-specific therapies. OBJECTIVE To determine the rates of positron emission tomography (PET) amyloid positivity in the main clinical variants of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This prospective clinical-pathologic case series was conducted at a tertiary research clinic specialized in cognitive disorders. Patients were evaluated as part of a prospective, longitudinal research study between January 2002 and December 2015. Inclusion criteria included clinical diagnosis of PPA; availability of complete speech, language, and cognitive testing; magnetic resonance imaging performed within 6 months of the cognitive evaluation; and PET carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound-B or florbetapir F 18 brain scan results. Of 109 patients referred for evaluation of language symptoms who underwent amyloid brain imaging, 3 were excluded because of incomplete language evaluations, 5 for absence of significant aphasia, and 12 for presenting with significant initial symptoms outside of the language domain, leaving a cohort of 89 patients with PPA. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Clinical, cognitive, neuroimaging, and pathology results. RESULTS Twenty-eight cases were classified as imaging-supported semantic variant PPA (11 women [39.3%]; mean [SD] age, 64 [7] years), 31 nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA (22 women [71.0%]; mean [SD] age, 68 [7] years), 26 logopenic variant PPA (17 women [65.4%]; mean [SD] age, 63 [8] years), and 4 mixed PPA cases. Twenty-four of 28 patients with semantic variant PPA (86%) and 28 of 31 patients with nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA (90%) had negative amyloid PET scan results, while 25 of 26 patients with logopenic variant PPA (96%) and 3 of 4 mixed PPA cases (75%) had positive scan results. The amyloid positive semantic variant PPA and nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA cases with available autopsy data (2 of 4 and 2 of 3, respectively) all had a primary frontotemporal lobar degeneration and secondary Alzheimer disease pathologic diagnoses, whereas autopsy of 2 patients with amyloid PET-positive logopenic variant PPA confirmed Alzheimer disease. One mixed PPA patient with a negative amyloid PET scan had Pick disease at autopsy. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Primary progressive aphasia variant diagnosis according to the current classification scheme is associated with Alzheimer disease biomarker status, with the logopenic variant being associated with carbon 11-labeled Pittsburgh Compound-B positivity in more than 95% of cases. Furthermore, in the presence of a clinical syndrome highly predictive of frontotemporal lobar degeneration pathology, biomarker positivity for Alzheimer disease may be associated more with mixed pathology rather than primary Alzheimer disease

Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of tobacco use disorder prioritizes novel candidate risk genes and reveals associations with numerous health outcomes

Tobacco use disorder (TUD) is the most prevalent substance use disorder in the world. Genetic factors influence smoking behaviors, and although strides have been made using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to identify risk variants, the majority of variants identified have been for nicotine consumption, rather than TUD. We leveraged five biobanks to perform a multi-ancestral meta-analysis of TUD (derived via electronic health records, EHR) in 898,680 individuals (739,895 European, 114,420 African American, 44,365 Latin American). We identified 88 independent risk loci; integration with functional genomic tools uncovered 461 potential risk genes, primarily expressed in the brain. TUD was genetically correlated with smoking and psychiatric traits from traditionally ascertained cohorts, externalizing behaviors in children, and hundreds of medical outcomes, including HIV infection, heart disease, and pain. This work furthers our biological understanding of TUD and establishes EHR as a source of phenotypic information for studying the genetics of TUD

Fructose Modulates Cardiomyocyte Excitation-Contraction Coupling and Ca2+ Handling In Vitro

BACKGROUND: High dietary fructose has structural and metabolic cardiac impact, but the potential for fructose to exert direct myocardial action is uncertain. Cardiomyocyte functional responsiveness to fructose, and capacity to transport fructose has not been previously demonstrated. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to seek evidence of fructose-induced modulation of cardiomyocyte excitation-contraction coupling in an acute, in vitro setting. METHODS AND RESULTS: The functional effects of fructose on isolated adult rat cardiomyocyte contractility and Ca²⁺ handling were evaluated under physiological conditions (37°C, 2 mM Ca²⁺, HEPES buffer, 4 Hz stimulation) using video edge detection and microfluorimetry (Fura2) methods. Compared with control glucose (11 mM) superfusate, 2-deoxyglucose (2 DG, 11 mM) substitution prolonged both the contraction and relaxation phases of the twitch (by 16 and 36% respectively, p<0.05) and this effect was completely abrogated with fructose supplementation (11 mM). Similarly, fructose prevented the Ca²⁺ transient delay induced by exposure to 2 DG (time to peak Ca²⁺ transient: 2 DG: 29.0±2.1 ms vs. glucose: 23.6±1.1 ms vs. fructose +2 DG: 23.7±1.0 ms; p<0.05). The presence of the fructose transporter, GLUT5 (Slc2a5) was demonstrated in ventricular cardiomyocytes using real time RT-PCR and this was confirmed by conventional RT-PCR. CONCLUSION: This is the first demonstration of an acute influence of fructose on cardiomyocyte excitation-contraction coupling. The findings indicate cardiomyocyte capacity to transport and functionally utilize exogenously supplied fructose. This study provides the impetus for future research directed towards characterizing myocardial fructose metabolism and understanding how long term high fructose intake may contribute to modulating cardiac function