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

The Gamow Explorer: A Gamma-Ray Burst Observatory to study the high redshift universe and enable multi-messenger astrophysics

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXII 2021San Diego1 August 2021 through 5 August 2021Code 172616.-- Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Volume 118212021 Article number 1182109The Gamow Explorer will use Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) to: 1) probe the high redshift universe (z < 6) when the first stars were born, galaxies formed and Hydrogen was reionized; and 2) enable multi-messenger astrophysics by rapidly identifying Electro-Magnetic (IR/Optical/X-ray) counterparts to Gravitational Wave (GW) events. GRBs have been detected out to z ∼ 9 and their afterglows are a bright beacon lasting a few days that can be used to observe the spectral fingerprints of the host galaxy and intergalactic medium to map the period of reionization and early metal enrichment. Gamow Explorer is optimized to quickly identify high-z events to trigger follow-up observations with JWST and large ground-based telescopes. A wide field of view Lobster Eye X-ray Telescope (LEXT) will search for GRBs and locate them with arc-minute precision. When a GRB is detected, the rapidly slewing spacecraft will point the 5 photometric channel Photo-z Infra-Red Telescope (PIRT) to identify high redshift (z < 6) long GRBs within 100s and send an alert within 1000s of the GRB trigger. An L2 orbit provides < 95% observing efficiency with pointing optimized for follow up by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and ground observatories. The predicted Gamow Explorer high-z rate is <10 times that of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The instrument and mission capabilities also enable rapid identification of short GRBs and their afterglows associated with GW events. The Gamow Explorer will be proposed to the 2021 NASA MIDEX call and if approved, launched in 2028With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709Peer reviewe

The Gamow Explorer: A Gamma-Ray Burst Observatory to study the high redshift universe and enable multi-messenger astrophysics

UV, X-Ray, and Gamma-Ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XXII 2021San Diego1 August 2021 through 5 August 2021Code 172616.-- Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, Volume 118212021 Article number 1182109The Gamow Explorer will use Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) to: 1) probe the high redshift universe (z < 6) when the first stars were born, galaxies formed and Hydrogen was reionized; and 2) enable multi-messenger astrophysics by rapidly identifying Electro-Magnetic (IR/Optical/X-ray) counterparts to Gravitational Wave (GW) events. GRBs have been detected out to z ∼ 9 and their afterglows are a bright beacon lasting a few days that can be used to observe the spectral fingerprints of the host galaxy and intergalactic medium to map the period of reionization and early metal enrichment. Gamow Explorer is optimized to quickly identify high-z events to trigger follow-up observations with JWST and large ground-based telescopes. A wide field of view Lobster Eye X-ray Telescope (LEXT) will search for GRBs and locate them with arc-minute precision. When a GRB is detected, the rapidly slewing spacecraft will point the 5 photometric channel Photo-z Infra-Red Telescope (PIRT) to identify high redshift (z < 6) long GRBs within 100s and send an alert within 1000s of the GRB trigger. An L2 orbit provides < 95% observing efficiency with pointing optimized for follow up by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and ground observatories. The predicted Gamow Explorer high-z rate is <10 times that of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The instrument and mission capabilities also enable rapid identification of short GRBs and their afterglows associated with GW events. The Gamow Explorer will be proposed to the 2021 NASA MIDEX call and if approved, launched in 2028With funding from the Spanish government through the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence accreditation SEV-2017-0709Peer reviewe

Revealing the Warm and Hot Halo Baryons via Thomson Scattering of Quasar Light

The baryonic content and physical properties of the warm and hot (105 ≲ T ≲ 107 K) phases of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) are poorly constrained owing to the lack of observables probing the requisite range of temperature, spatial scale, halo mass, and redshift. The radiation from a luminous quasar produces a spatially extended emission halo resulting from Thomson scattering off of free electrons in the CGM, which can be used to measure the electron density profile and, therefore, the amount of warm and hot baryonic matter present. We predict the resulting surface brightness profiles and show that they are easily detectable in a three-hour integration with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), out to ̃100 physical kpc from the centers of individual hyperluminous quasars. This electron-scattering surface brightness is redshift independent, and the signal-to-noise ratio depends only very weakly on redshift, in principle allowing measurements of the warm and hot CGM into the Epoch of Reionization at z ̃ 6.5. We consider a litany of potential contaminants and find that for fainter quasars at z ≲ 1, extended stellar halos might be of comparable surface brightness. At z &gt; 2, JWST mid-IR observations start to probe rest-frame optical/UV wavelengths, implying that scattering by dust grains in the CGM becomes significant, although multi-color observations should be able to distinguish these scenarios given that Thomson scattering is achromatic

Origin of Metals around Galaxies. I. Catalogs of Metal-line Absorption Doublets from High-resolution Quasar Spectra

We present the first paper of the series Origin of Metals around Galaxies, which aims to explore the origin of the metals observed in the circumgalactic and intergalactic media. In this work we extract and build catalogs of metal absorbers that will be used in future analyses, and make our results publicly available to the community. We design a fully automatic algorithm to search for absorption metal-line doublets of the species C IV, N V, Si IV, and Mg II in high-resolution (R ≳ 30,000) quasar spectra without human intervention, and apply it to the high-resolution and signal-to-noise ratio spectra of 690 quasars, observed with the UVES and HIRES instruments. We obtain 5656 C IV doublets, 7919 doublets of Mg II, 2258 of Si IV, and 239 of N V, constituting the largest high-resolution metal-doublet samples to date, and estimate the dependence of their completeness and purity on various doublet parameters such as equivalent width and redshift, using real and artificial quasar spectra. The catalogs include doublets with rest-frame line-equivalent widths down to a few mÅ, all detected at a significance above 3σ, and covering the redshifts between 1 &lt; z ≲ 5, properties that make them useful for a wide range of chemical evolution studies

Structural covariance of the neostriatum with regional gray matter volumes

The caudate and putamen nuclei have been traditionally divided into dorsal and ventral territories based on their segregated patterns of functional and anatomical connectivity with distributed cortical regions. Activity-dependent structural plasticity may potentially lead to the development of regional volume correlations, or structural covariance, between the different components of each cortico-striatal circuit. Here, we studied the whole-brain structural covariance patterns of four neostriatal regions belonging to distinct cortico-striatal circuits. We also assessed the potential modulating influence of laterality, age and gender. T1-weighted three-dimensional magnetic resonance images were obtained from ninety healthy participants (50 females). Following data pre-processing, the mean signal value per hemisphere was calculated for the 'seed' regions of interest, located in the dorsal and ventral caudate and the dorsal-caudal and ventral-rostral putamen. Statistical parametric mapping was used to estimate whole-brain voxel-wise structural covariance patterns for each striatal region, controlling for the shared anatomical variance between regions in order to obtain maximally specific structural covariance patterns. As predicted, segregated covariance patterns were observed. Age was found to be a relevant modulator of the covariance patterns of the right caudate regions, while laterality effects were observed for the dorsal-caudal putamen. Gender effects were only observed via an interaction with age. The different patterns of structural covariance are discussed in detail, as well as their similarities with the functional and anatomical connectivity patterns reported for the same striatal regions in other studies. Finally, the potential mechanisms underpinning the phenomenon of volume correlations between distant cortico-striatal structures are also discussed

Breakdown in the brain network subserving moral judgment in criminal psychopathy

Fulltext embargoed for: 12 months post date of publicationNeuroimaging research has demonstrated the involvement of a well-defined brain network in the mediation of moral judgment in normal population, and has suggested the inappropriate network use in criminal psychopathy. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to prove that alterations in the brain network subserving moral judgment in criminal psychopaths are not limited to the inadequate network use during moral judgment, but that a primary network breakdown would exist with dysfunctional alterations outside moral dilemma situations. A total of 22 criminal psychopathic men and 22 control subjects were assessed and fMRI maps were generated to identify (i) brain response to moral dilemmas, (ii) task-induced deactivation of the network during a conventional cognitive task and (iii) the strength of functional connectivity within the network during resting-state. The obtained functional brain maps indeed confirmed that the network subserving moral judgment is underactive in psychopathic individuals during moral dilemma situations, but the data also provided evidence of a baseline network alteration outside moral contexts with a functional disconnection between emotional and cognitive elements that jointly construct moral judgment. The finding may have significant social implications if considering psychopathic behavior to be a result of a primary breakdown in basic brain systems