Temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory fitness of 2,525,827 adults between 1967 and 2016

Objective To estimate international and national temporal trends in the cardiorespiratory ftness (CRF) of adults, and to examine relationships between trends in CRF and trends in health-related, socioeconomic, and environmental indicators. Methods Data were obtained from a systematic search of studies that explicitly reported temporal trends in the CRF of apparently healthy adults aged 18–59 years. Sample-weighted temporal trends were estimated using best-ftting regression models relating the year of testing to mean CRF. Post-stratifed population-weighted mean changes in percent and standardized CRF were estimated. Pearson’s correlations were used to describe associations between linear trends in CRF and linear trends in health-related, socioeconomic, and environmental indicators. Results 2,525,827 adults representing eight high- and upper-middle-income countries between 1967 and 2016 collectively showed a moderate decline of 7.7% (95% CI −8.4 to −7.0) or 1.6% per decade (95% CI −1.7 to −1.5). Internationally, CRF improved in the 1960s and 1970s, and progressively declined at an increasing rate thereafter. Declines were larger for men than for women, and for young adults (\u3c40 \u3eyears) than for middle-aged adults (≥40 years). All countries experienced declines in CRF with a very strong negative correlation between CRF trends and obesity trends. Conclusions There has been a meaningful decline in the CRF of adults since 1980, which has progressively increased in magnitude over time, suggestive of a corresponding decline in population health. Continuous national and international surveillance systems are needed in order to monitor health and ftness trends, especially among low- and middle-income countries for which data do not currently exist. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013003678

Atypical chemokine receptor 4 shapes activated B cell fate

Activated B cells can initially differentiate into three functionally distinct fates-early plasmablasts (PBs), germinal center (GC) B cells, or early memory B cells-by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Here, we identify atypical chemokine receptor 4 (ACKR4), a decoy receptor that binds and degrades CCR7 ligands CCL19/CCL21, as a regulator of early activated B cell differentiation. By restricting initial access to splenic interfollicular zones (IFZs), ACKR4 limits the early proliferation of activated B cells, reducing the numbers available for subsequent differentiation. Consequently, ACKR4 deficiency enhanced early PB and GC B cell responses in a CCL19/CCL21-dependent and B cell-intrinsic manner. Conversely, aberrant localization of ACKR4-deficient activated B cells to the IFZ was associated with their preferential commitment to the early PB linage. Our results reveal a regulatory mechanism of B cell trafficking via an atypical chemokine receptor that shapes activated B cell fate

The first WASP public data release

The WASP (wide angle search for planets) project is an exoplanet transit survey that has been automatically taking wide field images since 2004. Two instruments, one in La Palma and the other in South Africa, continually monitor the night sky, building up light curves of millions of unique objects. These light curves are used to search for the characteristics of exoplanetary transits. This first public data release (DR1) of the WASP archive makes available all the light curve data and images from 2004 up to 2008 in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. A web interface () to the data allows easy access over the Internet. The data set contains 3 631 972 raw images and 17 970 937 light curves. In total the light curves have 119 930 299 362 data points available between them

The 0.5MJ transiting exoplanet WASP-13b

We report the discovery of WASP-13b, a low-mass M_{\rm p} = 0.46 ^_~M_J transiting exoplanet with an orbital period of 4.35298 $\pm$ 0.00004 days. The transit has a depth of 9 mmag, and although our follow-up photometry does not allow us to constrain the impact parameter well (0 < b < 0.46), with radius in the range $R_{\rm p}$ ~ 1.06-1.21 RJ the location of WASP-13b in the mass-radius plane is nevertheless consistent with H/He-dominated, irradiated, low core mass and core-free theoretical models. The G1V host star is similar to the Sun in mass (M__ ~M_{\odot}) and metallicity ([M/H] = 0.0$\pm$0.2), but is possibly older ( 8.5^_{\rm -4.9} Gyr)

Atypical chemokine receptor 4 shapes activated B cell fate

Activated B cells can initially differentiate into three functionally distinct fates-early plasmablasts (PBs), germinal center (GC) B cells, or early memory B cells-by mechanisms that remain poorly understood. Here, we identify atypical chemokine receptor 4 (ACKR4), a decoy receptor that binds and degrades CCR7 ligands CCL19/CCL21, as a regulator of early activated B cell differentiation. By restricting initial access to splenic interfollicular zones (IFZs), ACKR4 limits the early proliferation of activated B cells, reducing the numbers available for subsequent differentiation. Consequently, ACKR4 deficiency enhanced early PB and GC B cell responses in a CCL19/CCL21-dependent and B cell-intrinsic manner. Conversely, aberrant localization of ACKR4-deficient activated B cells to the IFZ was associated with their preferential commitment to the early PB linage. Our results reveal a regulatory mechanism of B cell trafficking via an atypical chemokine receptor that shapes activated B cell fate.This work was supported in part by a grant from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1105312) to S.R. McColl, J.G. Cyster, and I. Comerford, J.G. Cyster is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. E.E. Kara is supported by an Australian postgraduate award, a Norman and Patricia Polglase scholarship, and a National Health and Medical Research Council C.J. Martin Overseas Biomedical fellowship

WASP-10b: a 3MJ, gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star

We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) Consortium and confirmed using Nordic Optical Telescope FIbre-fed Echelle Spectrograph and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09-d period, 29 mmag transit depth and 2.36 h duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high-precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of 1.28RJ, a mass of 2.96MJ and eccentricity of ≈0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than ≈2MJ and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752−00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214−0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with V= 12.7 and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star survey

WASP-14b: 7.3 MJ transiting planet in an eccentric orbit

We report the discovery of a 7.3 MJ exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the 10th-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118−0262485 with a period of 2.243 752 d and orbital eccentricity e= 0.09. A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.3 ± 0.5 MJ and a radius of 1.28 ± 0.08 RJ. This leads to a mean density of about 4.6 g cm−3 making it the densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 d. We estimate this system to be at a distance of 160 ± 20 pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of 6475 ± 100 K, log g= 4.07 cm s−2 and v sin i= 4.9 ± 1.0 km s−1, and also a high lithium abundance, log N(Li) = 2.84 ± 0.05. The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5-1.0 Gy

Study of Transcriptional Effects in Cis at the IFIH1 Locus

Background: The Thr allele at the non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism (nsSNP) Thr946Ala in the IFIH1 gene confers risk for Type 1 diabetes (T1D). The SNP is embedded in a 236 kb linkage disequilibrium (LD) block that includes four genes: IFIH1, GCA, FAP and KCNH7. The absence of common nsSNPs in the other genes makes the IFIH1 SNP the strongest functional candidate, but it could be merely a marker of association, due to LD with a variant regulating expression levels of IFIH1 or neighboring genes. Methodology/Principal Findings: We investigated the effect of the T1D-associated variation on mRNA transcript expression of these genes. Heterozygous mRNA from lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), pancreas and thymus was examined by allelic expression imbalance, to detect effects in cis on mRNA expression. Using single-nucleotide primer extension, we found no difference between mRNA transcripts in 9 LCLs, 6 pancreas and 13 thymus samples, suggesting that GCA and FAP are not involved. On the other hand, KCNH7 was not expressed at a detectable level in all tissues examined. Moreover, the association of the Thr946Ala SNP with T1D is not due to modulation of IFIH1 expression in organs involved in the disease, pointing to the IFIH1 nsSNP as the causal variant. Conclusions/Significance: The mechanism of the association of the nsSNP with T1D remains to be determined, but does not involve mRNA modulation. It becomes necessary to study differential function of the IFIH1 protein alleles at Thr946Al

Evaluating Communication in the British Parliamentary Public Sphere

This article begins with a re-evaluation of political communication research based on Habermas' original theory of the public sphere. It presents Habermas' alternative framework for assessing communication in contemporary ‘actually existing democracies’. The model is then tested with a case study of the UK parliamentary public sphere based on 95 semi-structured interviews with political actors (politicians, journalists and officials). It concludes that parliament today operates rather better, according to public sphere norms, than the public sphere described in Habermas' accounts of 18th and 19th-century England. Such a finding, on its own, is clearly at odds with public perception. The research accordingly offers two explanations for this disparity and the (perceived) crisis of political legitimacy in UK politics

WASP-38b: a transiting exoplanet in an eccentric, 6.87d period orbit

Aims: We report the discovery of WASP-38b, a long period transiting planet in an eccentric 6.871815 day orbit. The transit epoch is 2 455 335.92050 ± 0.00074 (HJD) and the transit duration is 4.663 h. Methods: WASP-38b's discovery was enabled due to an upgrade to the SuperWASP-North cameras. We performed a spectral analysis of the host star HD 146389/BD+10 2980 that yielded Teff = 6150 ± 80 K, log g = 4.3 ± 0.1, v sin i = 8.6 ± 0.4 km s-1, M* = 1.16 ± 0.04 Mʘand R* = 1.33 ± 0.03 Rʘ, consistent with a dwarf of spectral type F8. Assuming a main-sequence mass-radius relation for the star, we fitted simultaneously the radial velocity variations and the transit light curves to estimate the orbital and planetary parameters. Results: The planet has a mass of 2.69 ± 0.06 MJup and a radius of 1.09 ± 0.03 RJup giving a density, ρp = 2.1 ± 0.1 ρJ. The high precision of the eccentricity e = 0.0314 ± 0.0044 is due to the relative transit timing from the light curves and the RV shape. The planet equilibrium temperature is estimated at 1292 ± 33 K. WASP-38b is the longest period planet found by SuperWASP-North and with a bright host star (V = 9.4 mag), is a good candidate for followup atmospheric studies