84 research outputs found
LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint
magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science
opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST)
will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field
of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over
20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with
fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a
total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic
parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book
discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a
broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and
outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies,
the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local
Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the
properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then
turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to
z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and
baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to
constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at
http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo
Expanded access study of patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma treated with the Hedgehog pathway inhibitor, vismodegib
Background: Vismodegib, a first-in-class Hedgehog pathway inhibitor, was US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for advanced basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) based on a single, nonrandomized, phase-II trial. Consequently, additional clinical data are critical to confirm the efficacy and safety of vismodegib
Multiple novel prostate cancer susceptibility signals identified by fine-mapping of known risk loci among Europeans
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified numerous common prostate cancer (PrCa) susceptibility loci. We have
fine-mapped 64 GWAS regions known at the conclusion of the iCOGS study using large-scale genotyping and imputation in
25 723 PrCa cases and 26 274 controls of European ancestry. We detected evidence for multiple independent signals at 16
regions, 12 of which contained additional newly identified significant associations. A single signal comprising a spectrum of
correlated variation was observed at 39 regions; 35 of which are now described by a novel more significantly associated lead SNP,
while the originally reported variant remained as the lead SNP only in 4 regions. We also confirmed two association signals in
Europeans that had been previously reported only in East-Asian GWAS. Based on statistical evidence and linkage disequilibrium
(LD) structure, we have curated and narrowed down the list of the most likely candidate causal variants for each region.
Functional annotation using data from ENCODE filtered for PrCa cell lines and eQTL analysis demonstrated significant
enrichment for overlap with bio-features within this set. By incorporating the novel risk variants identified here alongside the
refined data for existing association signals, we estimate that these loci now explain ∼38.9% of the familial relative risk of PrCa,
an 8.9% improvement over the previously reported GWAS tag SNPs. This suggests that a significant fraction of the heritability of
PrCa may have been hidden during the discovery phase of GWAS, in particular due to the presence of multiple independent
signals within the same regio
British Museum Gallery Study: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Select Galleries for Families
The British Museum in London wants to strengthen the effectiveness of its galleries for family visitors. Evaluation of the Egyptian Sculpture and HSBC Money galleries proceeded through the use of oral surveys, visitor tracking, and participatory sessions with visiting families, followed by the creation of a data report and recommendations for potential gallery improvements. As the first to focus on family groups, this evaluation will enable the Museum to cater to a broader range of visitors
Ascertainment of early onset eating disorders: a pilot for developing a national child psychiatric surveillance system
Pegylated interferon-alpha-2b reduces corticosteroid requirement in patients with Behcet's disease with upregulation of circulating regulatory T cells and reduction of Th17
Objective To determine whether the addition of 26 weeks of subcutaneous peginterferon-α-2b could reduce the requirement for systemic corticosteroids and conventional immunosuppressive medication in patients with Behçet's disease (BD). Methods We conducted a multicentre randomised trial in patients with BD requiring systemic therapy. Patients were randomised to 26 weeks of peginterferon-α-2b in addition to their standard care or to standard care only and followed 6-monthly for 3 years with BD activity scores and quality of life questionnaires. Patients at one centre had blood taken to measure regulatory T cells (Tregs) and Th17 cells. Results 72 patients were included. At months 10–12, while among the entire patient population there was no difference in the corticosteroid dose or immunosuppression use between the treatment groups (adjusted OR 1.04, 95% CI 0.34 to 3.19), post hoc analysis revealed that in patients who were on corticosteroids at baseline the corticosteroid requirement was significantly lower in the peginterferon-α-2b (6.5 (5–15) mg/day) compared with the non-interferon group (10 (8.25–16.5) mg/day, p=0.039). Furthermore, there was a trend towards an improved quality of life that became significant by 36 months (p=0.008). This was associated with a significant rise in Tregs and a decrease in Th17 cells which was still present at 1 year and 6 months after the interferon was stopped. The safety profile was similar with adverse events in 10% in both groups. Conclusions The addition of peginterferon-α-2b to the drug regime of BD patients did not significantly reduce their corticosteroid dose required at 1 year. However, in those on corticosteroids at baseline post hoc analysis demonstrated that the addition of peginterferon-α-2b did result in a significant reduction in corticosteroid dose with a significantly improved quality of life and trend to reduce other required immunosuppressive agents. This effect was seen at 1 year and associated with a rise in Tregs suggesting a possible mode for interferon action. Trial registration number ISRCTN 36354474; EudraCT 2004-004301-18
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