Present and future of the OTELO project

OTELO is an emission-line object survey carried out with the red tunable filter of the instrument OSIRIS at the GTC, whose aim is to become the deepest emission-line object survey to date. With 100% of the data of the first pointing finally obtained in June 2014, we present here some aspects of the processing of the data and the very first results of the OTELO survey. We also explain the next steps to be followed in the near future.Comment: Oral contribution presented in the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society held on September 8-12, in Teruel, Spain (7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table). To appear in Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VIII, Proceedings of the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society. Eds. A. J. Cenarro, F. Figueras, C. Hern\'andez-Monteagudo, J. Trujillo, L. Valdiviels

OTELO survey: optimal emission-line flux determination with OSIRIS/GTC

Emission-line galaxies are important targets for understanding the chemical evolution of galaxies in the universe. Deep, narrow-band imaging surveys allow to detect and study the flux and the equivalent widths (EW) of the emission line studied. The present work has been developed within the context of the OTELO project, an emission line survey using the Tunable Filters (TF) of OSIRIS, the first generation instrument on the GTC 10.4m telescope located in La Palma, Spain, that will observe through selected atmospheric windows relatively free of sky emission lines. With a total survey area of 0.1 square degrees distributed in different fields, reaching a 5 \sigma depth of 10^-18 erg/cm^2/s and detecting objects of EW < 0.3 A, OTELO will be the deepest emission line survey to date. As part of the OTELO preparatory activities, the objective of this study is to determine the best combination of sampling and full width at half maximum (FWHM) for the OSIRIS tunable filters for deblending H\alpha from [NII] lines by analyzing the flux errors obtained. We simulated the OTELO data by convolving a complete set of synthetic HII galaxies in EW with different widths of the OSIRIS TFs. We estimated relative flux errors of the recovered H\alpha and [NII]6583 lines. We found that, for the red TF, a FWHM of 12 A and a sampling of 5 A is an optimal combination that allow deblending H\alpha from the [NII]6583 line with a flux error lower than 20%. This combination will allow estimating SFRs and metallicities using the H\alpha flux and the N2 method, respectively.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures. Some authors added. Accepted for publication in PAS

Effects of disease activity on lipoprotein levels in patients with early arthritis: can oxidized LDL cholesterol explain the lipid paradox theory?

Background An increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) complications has been described in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It is the result of the combined effect of classic CV risk factors and others that are specific to the disease. Methods We assessed data from 448 early arthritis (EA) patients: 79% women, age (median [p25-p75]) at onset: 55 [44?67] years and disease duration at study entry 5 [3?8] months; and 72% fulfilled the 1987 RA criteria at 2?years of follow-up. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 54% of patients and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies in 50%. The follow-up of patients ranged from 2 to 5?years with more than 1400 visits with lipoprotein measurements available (mean 2.5 visits/patient). Demographic- and disease-related variables were systematically recorded. Total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) levels were obtained from routine laboratory tests. Oxidized-LDL (oxLDL-C) levels were assessed using a commercial ELISA kit. We fitted population-averaged models nested by patient and visit to determine the effect of independent variables on serum levels of TC, its fractions, and oxLDL-C. Results After adjustment for several confounders, high-disease activity was significantly associated with decreased TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C levels and increased oxLDL-C levels. Standardized coefficients showed that the effect of disease activity was greater on oxLDL-C and HDL-C. Interestingly, we observed that those patients with lower levels of LDL-C showed higher oxLDL-C/LDL-C ratios. Conclusions High-disease activity in EA patients results in changes in the HDL-C and oxLDL-C levels, which in turn may contribute to the increased risk of CV disease observed in these patients.Our manuscript was supported by grants RD16/0011/0012, RD16/0011/0009, RD16/0011/0004, PI05/2044, and PI18/0371 from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Instituto de Salud Carlos III) and co-funded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER)

Experience with the use of Rituximab for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in a tertiary Hospital in Spain: RITAR study

There is evidence supporting that there are no relevant clinical differences between dosing rituximab 1000 mg or 2000 mg per cycle in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in clinical trials, and low-dose cycles seem to have a better safety profile. Our objective was to describe the pattern of use of rituximab in real-life practice conditions. Methods: Rituximab for RA in clinical practice (RITAR) study is a retrospective cohort study from 2005 to 2015. Eligibility criteria were RA adults treated with rituximab for active articular disease. Response duration was the main outcome defined as months elapsed from the date of rituximab first infusion to the date of flare. A multivariable analysis was performed to determine the variables associated with response duration. Results: A total of 114 patients and 409 cycles were described, 93.0% seropositive and 80.7% women. Rituximab was mainly used as second-line biological therapy. On demand retreatment was used in 94.6% of cases versus fixed 6 months retreatment in 5.4%. Median response duration to on demand rituximab cycles was 10 months (interquartile range, 7–13). Multivariable analysis showed that age older than 65 years, number of rituximab cycles, seropositivity, and first- or second-line therapy were associated with longer response duration. The dose administered at each cycle was not significantly associated with response duration. Conclusions: Our experience suggests that 1000 mg rituximab single infusion on demand is a reasonable schedule for long-term treatment of those patients with good response after the first cycles, especially in seropositive patients and when it is applied as a first- or second-line biological therap

OTELO survey: Deep BVRI broad-band photometry of the Groth strip

Context. The Groth field is one of the sky regions that will be targeted by the OTELO (OSIRIS Tunable Filter Emission Line Object) survey in the optical 820 nm and 920 nm atmospheric windows. A complementary broad-band photometric catalogue of the field is essential for several purposes, in particular the inequivocal identification of sources, photometric redshift estimation, and population synthesis fitting.Aims. We aim to describe the OTELO survey and present deep BVRI imaging data of the Groth field. Galaxy number counts, colour distributions and galaxy clustering are analysed.Methods. BVRI deep images (?8 ks) were obtained with the Prime Focus Camera at the WHT (La Palma) and reduced with the IRAF package. The extraction and photometry of the sources was done with SExtractor software. We analysed the final catalogue to obtain galaxy number counts, as well as galaxy correlation functions as a function of I magnitude and V - I colour. It is also compared with estimations from mock catalogues of the Virgo-Millenium consortium.Results. We find excellent agreement between observed and mock data number counts. We also find evidence of galaxy clustering evolution and strong dependence of the angular correlation function on the V - I observed colour. Our data favour a flattening of the clustering amplitude with median apparent magnitude. The good general agreement between our clustering analysis and the estimates from the mock data is remarkableAcknowledgements. This work was supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grants AYA2005–04149 and AYA2006–2358. We thank the referee for helpful comments that improved the clarity of this paper. The Millennium Simulation databases used in this paper and the web application providing online access to them were constructed as part of the activities of the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory. IRAF is distributed by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. This publication makes use of data products from the Two Micron All Sky Survey, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Science Foundation

Análisis de la motivación del estudiante de educación superior participante en una propuesta de evaluación formativa

The main aim of this study is to analyze the influence of an educational innovation based on formative assessment, on the motivation of university students towards a subject of the Degree in Primary Education. To this end, 91 students from University of Seville participated in a teaching innovation project during the 2018-2019 academic year, where a general process of formative assessment as well as other didactic and technological resources were applied, such as use of gamification and interactive response commands, among others. At the end of the intervention students answered the Spanish version of Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (CEAM II) in order to analyze, among other variables, students' motivation. The findings show high levels of motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic. Therefore, the data obtained suggest this experience can be considered as a good educational practice and they encourage us to continue working in this line.El objetivo del presente trabajo consiste en analizar la influencia de una innovación educativa basada en la evaluación formativa, sobre la motivación del alumnado universitario hacia una asignatura del Grado de Educación Primaria. Para ello, 91 estudiantes de la Universidad de Sevilla participaron en un proyecto de innovación docente durante el curso 2018-2019, donde se aplicó un proceso general de evaluación formativa, así como otros recursos didácticos y tecnológicos, como el uso de la gamificación y mandos interactivos de respuesta, entre otros. Al finalizar la intervención el alumnado respondió el Cuestionario de Estrategias de Aprendizaje y Motivación (CEAM II) para analizar, entre otras variables, la motivación del alumnado. Los datos obtenidos dejan entrever altos niveles de motivación, tanto intrínseca como extrínseca, lo que supone una valoración positiva para considerar esta innovación como una buena práctica educativa y seguir trabajando en esta línea

Moderate-vigorous physical activity and health-related quality of life among Hispanic/Latino adults in the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL).

BackgroundPhysical activity is a modifiable healthy behavior that has been shown to positively influence health-related quality of life. However, research examining the link between physical activity and health-related quality of life among Hispanic/Latino adults is limited and inconsistent. The purpose of this study is to assess whether accelerometer-measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with self-reported (a) mental health-related quality of life, and (b) physical health-related quality of life among diverse Hispanic/Latino adults in the US.MethodsCross-sectional data from 12,379 adults ages 18-74 years in 2008-2011, who participated in HCHS/SOL and had complete data were analyzed using complex survey design methods. Accelerometer data were categorized into no MVPA, low, moderate, and high MVPA. Health-related quality of life was assessed with the Short-Form 12 and we used the mental and physical component subscales where higher scores indicate better health-related quality of life. Multivariate linear regression models were used to derive adjusted means with 95% confidence intervals and linear trends.ResultsWe observed no significant linear trend between accelerometer-measured MVPA and mental health-related quality of life (ptrend = 0.73). There was a significant positive association between MVPA and physical health-related quality of life (ptrend &lt; 0.001) where higher MVPA corresponded with higher scores in physical health-related quality of life. The adjusted means were 46.67 (44.85-48.48) for no MVPA, 49.33 (49.03-49.63) for low MVPA, 50.61 (50.09-51.13) for moderate MVPA, and 51.36 (50.86-51.86) for high MVPA.ConclusionsAmong diverse Hispanic/Latino adults in the US, accelerometer-measured MVPA was associated with physical health-related quality of life, but not mental health-related quality of life. Future interventions should evaluate if increases in MVPA lead to improvements in health-related quality of life

Pharmacological Interactions of Nintedanib and Pirfenidone in Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in Times of COVID-19 Pandemic

The discovery of antifibrotic agents have resulted in advances in the therapeutic management of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Currently, nintedanib and pirfenidone have become the basis of IPF therapy based on the results of large randomized clinical trials showing their safety and efficacy in reducing disease advancement. However, the goal of completely halting disease progress has not been reached yet. Administering nintedanib with add-on pirfenidone is supposed to enhance the therapeutic benefit by simultaneously acting on two different pathogenic pathways. All this becomes more important in the context of the ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) because of the fibrotic consequences following SARS-CoV-2 infection in some patients. However, little information is available about their drug-drug interaction, which is important mainly in polymedicated patients. The aim of this review is to describe the current management of progressive fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (PF-ILDs) in general and of IPF in particular, focusing on the pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions between these two drugs and their relationship with other medications in patients with IPF