The Time-Course of Changes in Muscle Mass, Architecture and Power During 6 Weeks of Plyometric Training

Purpose: To investigate the time-course of changes in knee-extensors muscle mass, architecture and function in response to plyometric training (PLT) performed on a novel training device, the Tramp-Trainer. This machine consists in a trampoline connected to an inclined sledge which allows the performance of repeated jumps while the subject is sitting on a chair. Methods: Eight healthy males (173.6 \ub1 4.7 cm, 69.7 \ub1 13.5 kg, 25.3 \ub1 4.6 years) underwent 6 weeks of bilateral PLT on the tramp-trainer machine. Training was performed three times per week (between 120 and 150 bounces per session). Knee-extensor maximum voluntary torque (MVT) and power, quadriceps femoris (QF) volume (VOL), cross-sectional area from the 20% to the 60% of femur length and CSAmean, together with vastus lateralis (VL) architecture (fascicle length, Lf, and pennation angle, PA) were assessed after 2, 4, and 6 weeks of PLT. Results: All results are presented as changes versus baseline values. MVT increased by 17.8% (week 2, p < 0.001) and 22.2% (week 4, p < 0.01), respectively, and declined to 13.3% (p < 0.05) at week 6 of PLT. Power increased by 18.2% (week 4, p < 0.05) and 19.7% (week 6, p < 0.05). QF VOL increased by 4.7% (week 4, p < 0.05) and 5.8% (week 6, p < 0.01); VL VOL increased by 5.2%, (p < 0.05), 8.2%, (p < 0.01), and 9.6% (p < 0.05) at weeks 2, 4, and 6, respectively. An increase in Lf was detected already at wk 2 (2.2%, p < 0.05), with further increase at 4 and 6 weeks of PLT (4 and 4.4%, respectively, p < 0.01). PA increased by 5.8% (p < 0.05) at week 6. Significant positive correlations were found between CSAmean and Power (R2 = 0.46, p < 0.001) and between QF VOL and Power (R2 = 0.44, p < 0.024). Conclusions: PLT induced rapid increases in muscle volume, fascicle length, pennation angle, torque and power in healthy younger adults. Notably, changes in VL VOL and Lf were detectable already after 2 weeks, followed by increases in knee extensors VOL and power from week 4 of PLT. Since the increase in CSAmean and QF VOL cannot fully explain the increment in muscle power, it is likely that other factors (such as adaptations in neural drive or tendon mechanical properties) may have contributed to such fucntional changes

Quantum charges and spacetime topology: The emergence of new superselection sectors

In which is developed a new form of superselection sectors of topological origin. By that it is meant a new investigation that includes several extensions of the traditional framework of Doplicher, Haag and Roberts in local quantum theories. At first we generalize the notion of representations of nets of C*-algebras, then we provide a brand new view on selection criteria by adopting one with a strong topological flavour. We prove that it is coherent with the older point of view, hence a clue to a genuine extension. In this light, we extend Roberts' cohomological analysis to the case where 1--cocycles bear non trivial unitary representations of the fundamental group of the spacetime, equivalently of its Cauchy surface in case of global hyperbolicity. A crucial tool is a notion of group von Neumann algebras generated by the 1-cocycles evaluated on loops over fixed regions. One proves that these group von Neumann algebras are localized at the bounded region where loops start and end and to be factorial of finite type I. All that amounts to a new invariant, in a topological sense, which can be defined as the dimension of the factor. We prove that any 1-cocycle can be factorized into a part that contains only the charge content and another where only the topological information is stored. This second part resembles much what in literature are known as geometric phases. Indeed, by the very geometrical origin of the 1-cocycles that we discuss in the paper, they are essential tools in the theory of net bundles, and the topological part is related to their holonomy content. At the end we prove the existence of net representations

Unfolding of differential energy spectra in the MAGIC experiment

The paper describes the different methods, used in the MAGIC experiment, to unfold experimental energy distributions of cosmic ray particles (gamma-rays). Questions and problems related to the unfolding are discussed. Various procedures are proposed which can help to make the unfolding robust and reliable. The different methods and procedures are implemented in the MAGIC software and are used in most of the analyses.Comment: Submitted to NIM

Implementation of the Random Forest Method for the Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope MAGIC

The paper describes an application of the tree classification method Random Forest (RF), as used in the analysis of data from the ground-based gamma telescope MAGIC. In such telescopes, cosmic gamma-rays are observed and have to be discriminated against a dominating background of hadronic cosmic-ray particles. We describe the application of RF for this gamma/hadron separation. The RF method often shows superior performance in comparison with traditional semi-empirical techniques. Critical issues of the method and its implementation are discussed. An application of the RF method for estimation of a continuous parameter from related variables, rather than discrete classes, is also discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Probing quantum gravity using photons from a flare of the active galactic nucleus Markarian 501 observed by the MAGIC telescope

We analyze the timing of photons observed by the MAGIC telescope during a flare of the active galactic nucleus Mkn 501 for a possible correlation with energy, as suggested by some models of quantum gravity (QG), which predict a vacuum refractive index \simeq 1 + (E/M_{QGn})^n, n = 1,2. Parametrizing the delay between gamma-rays of different energies as \Delta t =\pm\tau_l E or \Delta t =\pm\tau_q E^2, we find \tau_l=(0.030\pm0.012) s/GeV at the 2.5-sigma level, and \tau_q=(3.71\pm2.57)x10^{-6} s/GeV^2, respectively. We use these results to establish lower limits M_{QG1} > 0.21x10^{18} GeV and M_{QG2} > 0.26x10^{11} GeV at the 95% C.L. Monte Carlo studies confirm the MAGIC sensitivity to propagation effects at these levels. Thermal plasma effects in the source are negligible, but we cannot exclude the importance of some other source effect.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Lett. B, reflects published versio

Cut-offs and response criteria for the Hospital Universitario la Princesa Index (HUPI) and their comparison to widely-used indices of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis

Objective To estimate cut-off points and to establish response criteria for the Hospital Universitario La Princesa Index (HUPI) in patients with chronic polyarthritis. Methods Two cohorts, one of early arthritis (Princesa Early Arthritis Register Longitudinal PEARL] study) and other of long-term rheumatoid arthritis (Estudio de la Morbilidad y Expresión Clínica de la Artritis Reumatoide EMECAR]) including altogether 1200 patients were used to determine cut-off values for remission, and for low, moderate and high activity through receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis. The areas under ROC (AUC) were compared to those of validated indexes (SDAI, CDAI, DAS28). ROC analysis was also applied to establish minimal and relevant clinical improvement for HUPI. Results The best cut-off points for HUPI are 2, 5 and 9, classifying RA activity as remission if =2, low disease activity if >2 and =5), moderate if >5 and <9 and high if =9. HUPI''s AUC to discriminate between low-moderate activity was 0.909 and between moderate-high activity 0.887. DAS28''s AUCs were 0.887 and 0.846, respectively; both indices had higher accuracy than SDAI (AUCs: 0.832 and 0.756) and CDAI (AUCs: 0.789 and 0.728). HUPI discriminates remission better than DAS28-ESR in early arthritis, but similarly to SDAI. The HUPI cut-off for minimal clinical improvement was established at 2 and for relevant clinical improvement at 4. Response criteria were established based on these cut-off values. Conclusions The cut-offs proposed for HUPI perform adequately in patients with either early or long term arthritis

GWAS for Systemic Sclerosis Identifies Multiple Risk Loci and Highlights Fibrotic and Vasculopathy Pathways

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune disease that shows one of the highest mortality rates among rheumatic diseases. We perform a large genome-wide association study (GWAS), and meta-analysis with previous GWASs, in 26,679 individuals and identify 27 independent genome-wide associated signals, including 13 new risk loci. The novel associations nearly double the number of genome-wide hits reported for SSc thus far. We define 95% credible sets of less than 5 likely causal variants in 12 loci. Additionally, we identify specific SSc subtype-associated signals. Functional analysis of high-priority variants shows the potential function of SSc signals, with the identification of 43 robust target genes through HiChIP. Our results point towards molecular pathways potentially involved in vasculopathy and fibrosis, two main hallmarks in SSc, and highlight the spectrum of critical cell types for the disease. This work supports a better understanding of the genetic basis of SSc and provides directions for future functional experiments.Funding: This work was supported by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant ref. SAF2015-66761-P), Consejeria de Innovacion, Ciencia y Tecnologia, Junta de Andalucía (P12-BIO-1395), Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte through the program FPU, Juan de la Cierva fellowship (FJCI-2015-24028), Red de Investigación en Inflamación y Enfermadades Reumaticas (RIER) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD16/0012/0013), and Scleroderma Research Foundation and NIH P50-HG007735 (to H.Y.C.). H.Y.C. is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. PopGen 2.0 is supported by a grant from the German Ministry for Education and Research (01EY1103). M.D.M and S.A. are supported by grant DoD W81XWH-18-1-0423 and DoD W81XWH-16-1-0296, respectively

Detection of persistent VHE gamma-ray emission from PKS 1510-089 by the MAGIC telescopes during low states between 2012 and 2017

PKS 1510-089 is a flat spectrum radio quasar strongly variable in the optical and GeV range. To date, very high-energy (VHE, > 100 GeV) emission has been observed from this source either during long high states of optical and GeV activity or during short flares. Aims. We search for low-state VHE gamma-ray emission from PKS 1510-089. We characterize and model the source in a broadband context, which would provide a baseline over which high states and flares could be better understood. Methods. PKS 1510-089 has been monitored by the MAGIC telescopes since 2012. We use daily binned Fermi-LAT flux measurements of PKS 1510-089 to characterize the GeV emission and select the observation periods of MAGIC during low state of activity. For the selected times we compute the average radio, IR, optical, UV, X-ray, and gamma-ray emission to construct a low-state spectral energy distribution of the source. The broadband emission is modeled within an external Compton scenario with a stationary emission region through which plasma and magnetic fields are flowing. We also perform the emission-model-independent calculations of the maximum absorption in the broad line region (BLR) using two different models. Results. The MAGIC telescopes collected 75 hr of data during times when the Fermi-LAT flux measured above 1 GeV was below 3? × 10 -8 ? cm -2 ? s -1 , which is the threshold adopted for the definition of a low gamma-ray activity state. The data show a strongly significant (9.5¿) VHE gamma-ray emission at the level of (4.27 ± 0.61 stat ) × 10 -12 ? cm -2 ? s -1 above 150 GeV, a factor of 80 lower than the highest flare observed so far from this object. Despite the lower flux, the spectral shape is consistent with earlier detections in the VHE band. The broadband emission is compatible with the external Compton scenario assuming a large emission region located beyond the BLR. For the first time the gamma-ray data allow us to place a limit on the location of the emission region during a low gamma-ray state of a FSRQ. For the used model of the BLR, the 95% confidence level on the location of the emission region allows us to place it at a distance > 74% of the outer radius of the BLR. © ESO 2018.The financial support of the German BMBF and MPG, the Italian INFN and INAF, the Swiss National Fund SNF, the ERDF under the Spanish MINECO (FPA2015-69818-P, FPA2012-36668, FPA2015-68378-P, FPA2015-69210-C6-2-R, FPA2015-69210-C6-4-R, FPA2015-69210-C6-6-R, AYA2015-71042-P, AYA2016-76012-C3-1-P, ESP2015-71662-C2-2-P, CSD2009-00064), and the Japanese JSPS and MEXT is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Exce-lencia “Severo Ochoa” SEV-2012-0234 and SEV-2015-0548, and Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu” MDM-2014-0369, by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project 13.12.1.3.02, by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3, the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382, and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq and FAPERJ. IA acknowledges support from a Ramón y Cajal grant of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria, y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain. Acquisition and reduction of the POLAMI and MAPCAT data was supported in part by MINECO through grants AYA2010-14844, AYA2013-40825-P, and AYA2016-80889-P, and by the Regional Government of Andalucía through grant P09-FQM-4784.Peer Reviewe

Detection of the blazar S4 0954+65 at very-high-energy with the MAGIC telescopes during an exceptionally high optical state

The very high energy (VHE ¿ 100 GeV) -ray MAGIC observations of the blazar S4 0954+65, were triggered by an exceptionally high flux state of emission in the optical. This blazar has a disputed redshift of z = 0.368 or z ¿ 0.45 and an uncertain classification among blazar subclasses. The exceptional source state described here makes for an excellent opportunity to understand physical processes in the jet of S4 0954+65 and thus contribute to its classification. Methods. We investigated the multiwavelength (MWL) light curve and spectral energy distribution (SED) of the S4 0954+65 blazar during an enhanced state in February 2015 and have put it in context with possible emission scenarios. We collected photometric data in radio, optical, X-ray, and ¿-ray. We studied both the optical polarization and the inner parsec-scale jet behavior with 43 GHz data. Results. Observations with the MAGIC telescopes led to the first detection of S4 0954+65 at VHE. Simultaneous data with Fermi-LAT at high energy ¿-ray(HE, 100 MeV < E < 100 GeV) also show a period of increased activity. Imaging at 43 GHz reveals the emergence of a new feature in the radio jet in coincidence with the VHE flare. Simultaneous monitoring of the optical polarization angle reveals a rotation of approximately 100. Conclusions. The high emission state during the flare allows us to compile the simultaneous broadband SED and to characterize it in the scope of blazar jet emission models. The broadband spectrum can be modeled with an emission mechanism commonly invoked for flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), that is, inverse Compton scattering on an external soft photon field from the dust torus, also known as external Compton. The light curve and SED phenomenology is consistent with an interpretation of a blob propagating through a helical structured magnetic field and eventually crossing a standing shock in the jet, a scenario typically applied to FSRQs and low-frequency peaked BL Lac objects (LBL). © ESO 2018.The financial support of the German BMBF and MPG, the Italian INFN and INAF, the Swiss National Fund SNF, the ERDF under the Spanish MINECO (FPA2015-69818-P, FPA2012-36668, FPA2015-68378-P, FPA2015-69210-C6-2-R, FPA2015-69210-C6-4-R, FPA2015-69210-C6-6-R, AYA2015-71042-P, AYA2016-76012-C3-1-P, ESP2015-71662-C2-2-P, CSD2009-00064), and the Japanese JSPS and MEXT is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by the Spanish Centro de Excelencia “Severo Ochoa” SEV-2012-0234 and SEV-2015-0548, and Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu” MDM-2014-0369, by the Croatian Science Foundation (HrZZ) Project IP-2016-06-9782 and the University of Rijeka Project 13.12.1.3.02, by the DFG Collaborative Research Centers SFB823/C4 and SFB876/C3, the Polish National Research Centre grant UMO-2016/22/M/ST9/00382 and by the Brazilian MCTIC, CNPq, and FAPERJ. IA acknowledges support by a Ramón y Cajal grant of the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO) of Spain. The research at the IAA–CSIC was supported in part by the MINECO through grants AYA2016–80889–P, AYA2013–40825–P, and AYA2010–14844, and by the regional government of Andalucía through grant P09–FQM–4784.Peer Reviewe

The comparative responsiveness of Hospital Universitario Princesa Index and other composite indices for assessing rheumatoid arthritis activity

Objective To evaluate the responsiveness in terms of correlation of the Hospital Universitario La Princesa Index (HUPI) comparatively to the traditional composite indices used to assess disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and to compare the performance of HUPI-based response criteria with that of the EULAR response criteria. Methods Secondary data analysis from the following studies: ACT-RAY (clinical trial), PROAR (early RA cohort) and EMECAR (pre-biologic era long term RA cohort). Responsiveness was evaluated by: 1) comparing change from baseline (Delta) of HUPI with Delta in other scores by calculating correlation coefficients; 2) calculating standardised effect sizes. The accuracy of response by HUPI and by EULAR criteria was analyzed using linear regressions in which the dependent variable was change in global assessment by physician (Delta GDA-Phy). Results Delta HUPI correlation with change in all other indices ranged from 0.387 to 0.791); HUPI's standardized effect size was larger than those from the other indices in each database used. In ACT-RAY, depending on visit, between 65 and 80% of patients were equally classified by HUPI and EULAR response criteria. However, HUPI criteria were slightly more stringent, with higher percentage of patients classified as non-responder, especially at early visits. HUPI response criteria showed a slightly higher accuracy than EULAR response criteria when using Delta GDA-Phy as gold standard. Conclusion HUPI shows good responsiveness in terms of correlation in each studied scenario (clinical trial, early RA cohort, and established RA cohort). Response criteria by HUPI seem more stringent than EULAR''s