Bayesian galaxy shape measurement for weak lensing surveys - I. Methodology and a fast-fitting algorithm

The principles of measuring the shapes of galaxies by a model-fitting approach are discussed in the context of shape-measurement for surveys of weak gravitational lensing. It is argued that such an approach should be optimal, allowing measurement with maximal signal-to-noise, coupled with estimation of measurement errors. The distinction between likelihood-based and Bayesian methods is discussed. Systematic biases in the Bayesian method may be evaluated as part of the fitting process, and overall such an approach should yield unbiased shear estimation without requiring external calibration from simulations. The principal disadvantage of model-fitting for large surveys is the computational time required, but here an algorithm is presented that enables large surveys to be analysed in feasible computation times. The method and algorithm is tested on simulated galaxies from the Shear TEsting Program (STEP)

Signatures of Star-planet interactions

Planets interact with their host stars through gravity, radiation and magnetic fields, and for those giant planets that orbit their stars within $\sim$10 stellar radii ($\sim$0.1 AU for a sun-like star), star-planet interactions (SPI) are observable with a wide variety of photometric, spectroscopic and spectropolarimetric studies. At such close distances, the planet orbits within the sub-alfv\'enic radius of the star in which the transfer of energy and angular momentum between the two bodies is particularly efficient. The magnetic interactions appear as enhanced stellar activity modulated by the planet as it orbits the star rather than only by stellar rotation. These SPI effects are informative for the study of the internal dynamics and atmospheric evolution of exoplanets. The nature of magnetic SPI is modeled to be strongly affected by both the stellar and planetary magnetic fields, possibly influencing the magnetic activity of both, as well as affecting the irradiation and even the migration of the planet and rotational evolution of the star. As phase-resolved observational techniques are applied to a large statistical sample of hot Jupiter systems, extensions to other tightly orbiting stellar systems, such as smaller planets close to M dwarfs become possible. In these systems, star-planet separations of tens of stellar radii begin to coincide with the radiative habitable zone where planetary magnetic fields are likely a necessary condition for surface habitability.Comment: Accepted for publication in the handbook of exoplanet

Phenotypic and molecular assessment of seven patients with 6p25 deletion syndrome: Relevance to ocular dysgenesis and hearing impairment

BACKGROUND: Thirty-nine patients have been described with deletions involving chromosome 6p25. However, relatively few of these deletions have had molecular characterization. Common phenotypes of 6p25 deletion syndrome patients include hydrocephalus, hearing loss, and ocular, craniofacial, skeletal, cardiac, and renal malformations. Molecular characterization of deletions can identify genes that are responsible for these phenotypes. METHODS: We report the clinical phenotype of seven patients with terminal deletions of chromosome 6p25 and compare them to previously reported patients. Molecular characterization of the deletions was performed using polymorphic marker analysis to determine the extents of the deletions in these seven 6p25 deletion syndrome patients. RESULTS: Our results, and previous data, show that ocular dysgenesis and hearing impairment are the two most highly penetrant phenotypes of the 6p25 deletion syndrome. While deletion of the forkhead box C1 gene (FOXC1) probably underlies the ocular dysgenesis, no gene in this region is known to be involved in hearing impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Ocular dysgenesis and hearing impairment are the two most common phenotypes of 6p25 deletion syndrome. We conclude that a locus for dominant hearing loss is present at 6p25 and that this locus is restricted to a region distal to D6S1617. Molecular characterization of more 6p25 deletion patients will aid in refinement of this locus and the identification of a gene involved in dominant hearing loss

Models of Star-Planet Magnetic Interaction

Magnetic interactions between a planet and its environment are known to lead to phenomena such as aurorae and shocks in the solar system. The large number of close-in exoplanets that were discovered triggered a renewed interest in magnetic interactions in star-planet systems. Multiple other magnetic effects were then unveiled, such as planet inflation or heating, planet migration, planetary material escape, and even modification of the host star properties. We review here the recent efforts in modelling and understanding magnetic interactions between stars and planets in the context of compact systems. We first provide simple estimates of the effects of magnetic interactions and then detail analytical and numerical models for different representative scenarii. We finally lay out a series of future developments that are needed today to better understand and constrain these fascinating interactions.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, accepted as a chapter in the Handbook of Exoplanet

Are lay people good at recognising the symptoms of schizophrenia?

©2013 Erritty, Wydell. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the general public’s perception of schizophrenia symptoms and the need to seekhelp for symptoms. The recognition (or ‘labelling’) of schizophrenia symptoms, help-seeking behaviours and public awareness of schizophrenia have been suggested as potentially important factors relating to untreated psychosis. Method: Participants were asked to rate to what extent they believe vignettes describing classic symptoms (positive and negative) of schizophrenia indicate mental illness. They were also asked if the individuals depicted in the vignettes required help or treatment and asked to suggest what kind of help or treatment. Results: Only three positive symptoms (i.e., Hallucinatory behaviour, Unusual thought content and Suspiciousness) of schizophrenia were reasonably well perceived (above 70%) as indicating mental illness more than the other positive or negative symptoms. Even when the participants recognised that the symptoms indicated mental illness, not everyone recommended professional help. Conclusion: There may be a need to improve public awareness of schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms, particularly regarding an awareness of the importance of early intervention for psychosis

Morphometric and immunocytochemical assessment of fungiform taste buds after interruption of the chorda-lingual nerve

Unilateral interruption of the chorda-lingual nerve led to a loss of most epithelial axons and to the deterioration of fungiform taste buds in the anterior portion of the tongue of albino rats, mongolian gerbils, and golden hamsters. By three weeks after surgery the following percentages of fungiform taste buds had completely disappeared: 71% in gerbils, 28% in rats, and 26% in hamsters. Residual taste buds were classified into two groups: atrophic taste buds and taste bud remnants. Atrophic taste buds were smaller than normal and typically had no visible taste pore, although they retained the characteristic oval shape of a taste bud and numerous elongated cells. Taste bud remnants were non-oval fragments of taste buds with few elongated cells. Specific markers for elongated taste cells (monoclonal antibodies to keratin 19) confirmed that atrophic taste buds, as well as some taste bud remnants, had elongated taste cells. By 180 days after chorda-lingual nerve transection, 44% of rat fungiform taste buds had disappeared; morphometric analysis of the 311 residual taste buds established that 241 atrophic taste buds and 69 taste bud remnants were, respectively, 50% and 75% smaller than the average volume of 480 normal taste buds. The aggregate loss of gustatory tissue, calculated from the shrinkage of residual taste buds and the volume lost by the outright disappearance of many taste buds, was 88% for gerbils, 72% for rats, and 65% for hamsters. Evaluation in gerbils of the co-occurrence of taste buds and axons suggests residual taste buds were neurotrophically supported. Every gerbil fungiform papilla that lacked axons lacked a taste bud. Every fungiform papillae that had a residual taste bud had axons; axons were absent from 22% of empty fungiform papillae. Diminished numbers of gustatory neurotrophic axons could account for both the loss of fungiform taste buds and the reduced volume of residual taste buds. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50421/1/1070260302_ftp.pd

Association of Over-The-Counter Pharmaceutical Sales with Influenza-Like-Illnesses to Patient Volume in an Urgent Care Setting

We studied the association between OTC pharmaceutical sales and volume of patients with influenza-like-illnesses (ILI) at an urgent care center over one year. OTC pharmaceutical sales explain 36% of the variance in the patient volume, and each standard deviation increase is associated with 4.7 more patient visits to the urgent care center (p<0.0001). Cross-correlation function analysis demonstrated that OTC pharmaceutical sales are significantly associated with patient volume during non-flu season (p<0.0001), but only the sales of cough and cold (p<0.0001) and thermometer (p<0.0001) categories were significant during flu season with a lag of two and one days, respectively. Our study is the first study to demonstrate and measure the relationship between OTC pharmaceutical sales and urgent care center patient volume, and presents strong evidence that OTC sales predict urgent care center patient volume year round. © 2013 Liu et al

Airway resistance at maximum inhalation as a marker of asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Asthmatics exhibit reduced airway dilation at maximal inspiration, likely due to structural differences in airway walls and/or functional differences in airway smooth muscle, factors that may also increase airway responsiveness to bronchoconstricting stimuli. The goal of this study was to test the hypothesis that the minimal airway resistance achievable during a maximal inspiration (R_min) is abnormally elevated in subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The R_minwas measured in 34 nonasthmatic and 35 asthmatic subjects using forced oscillations at 8 Hz. R_minand spirometric indices were measured before and after bronchodilation (albuterol) and bronchoconstriction (methacholine). A preliminary study of 84 healthy subjects first established height dependence of baseline R_minvalues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Asthmatics had a higher baseline R_min% predicted than nonasthmatic subjects (134 ± 33 vs. 109 ± 19 % predicted, p = 0.0004). Sensitivity-specificity analysis using receiver operating characteristic curves indicated that baseline R_minwas able to identify subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness (PC₂₀< 16 mg/mL) better than most spirometric indices (Area under curve = 0.85, 0.78, and 0.87 for R_min% predicted, FEV₁% predicted, and FEF_25-75% predicted, respectively). Also, 80% of the subjects with baseline R_min< 100% predicted did not have airway hyperresponsiveness while 100% of subjects with R_min> 145% predicted had hyperresponsive airways, regardless of clinical classification as asthmatic or nonasthmatic.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These findings suggest that baseline R_min, a measurement that is easier to perform than spirometry, performs as well as or better than standard spirometric indices in distinguishing subjects with airway hyperresponsiveness from those without hyperresponsive airways. The relationship of baseline R_minto asthma and airway hyperresponsiveness likely reflects a causal relation between conditions that stiffen airway walls and hyperresponsiveness. In conjunction with symptom history, R_mincould provide a clinically useful tool for assessing asthma and monitoring response to treatment.</p

Intra-arterial induction high-dose chemotherapy with cisplatin for oral and oropharyngeal cancer: long-term results

Intra-arterial (IA) chemotherapy for curative treatment of head and neck cancer experienced a revival in the last decade. Mainly, it was used in concurrent combination with radiation in organ-preserving settings. The modern method of transfemoral approach for catheterisation, superselective perfusion of the tumour-feeding vessel, and high-dose (150 mg m−2) administration of cisplatin with parallel systemic neutralisation with sodium thiosulphate (9 g m−2) made preoperative usage feasible. The present paper presents the results of a pilot study on a population of 52 patients with resectable stage 1–4 carcinomas of the oral cavity and the oropharynx, who were treated with one cycle of preoperative IA chemotherapy executed as mentioned above and radical surgery. There have been no interventional complications of IA chemotherapy, and acute side effects have been low. One tracheotomy had to be carried out due to swelling. The overall clinical local response has been 69%. There was no interference with surgery, which was carried out 3–4 weeks later. Pathological complete remission was assessed in 25%. The mean observation time was 3 years. A 3-year overall and disease-free survival was 82 and 69%, respectively, and at 5 years 77 and 59%, respectively. Survival results were compared to a treatment-dependent prognosis index for the same population. As a conclusion, it can be stated that IA high-dose chemotherapy with cisplatin and systemic neutralisation in a neoadjuvant setting should be considered a feasible, safe, and effective treatment modality for resectable oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The low toxicity of this local chemotherapy recommends usage especially in stage 1–2 patients. The potential of survival benefit as indicated by the comparison to the prognosis index should be controlled in a randomised study