Galaxy And Mass Assembly: Galaxy Zoo spiral arms and star formation rates

Understanding the effect spiral structure has on star formation properties of galaxies is important to complete our picture of spiral structure evolution. Previous studies have investigated connections between spiral arm properties and star formation, but the effect that the number of spiral arms has on this process is unclear. Here, we use the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey paired with the citizen science visual classifications from the Galaxy Zoo project to explore galaxies’ spiral arm number and how it connects to the star formation process. We use the votes from the GAMA-Kilo Degree Survey Galaxy Zoo classification to investigate the link between spiral arm number and stellar mass, star formation rate, and specific star formation rate (sSFR). We find that galaxies with fewer spiral arms have lower stellar masses and higher sSFRs, while those with more spiral arms tend towards higher stellar masses and lower sSFRs, and conclude that galaxies are less efficient at forming stars if they have more spiral arms. We note how previous studies’ findings may indicate a cause for this connection in spiral arm strength or opacity

Estimations of isoprenoid emission capacity from enclosure studies: measurements, data processing, quality and standardized measurement protocols

The capacity for volatile isoprenoid production under standardized environmental conditions at a certain time (ES, the emission factor) is a key characteristic in constructing isoprenoid emission inventories. However, there is large variation in published ES estimates for any given species partly driven by dynamic modifications in ES due to acclimation and stress responses. Here we review additional sources of variation in ES estimates that are due to measurement and analytical techniques and calculation and averaging procedures, and demonstrate that estimations of ES critically depend on applied experimental protocols and on data processing and reporting. A great variety of experimental setups has been used in the past, contributing to study-to-study variations in ES estimates. We suggest that past experimental data should be distributed into broad quality classes depending on whether the data can or cannot be considered quantitative based on rigorous experimental standards. Apart from analytical issues, the accuracy of ES values is strongly driven by extrapolation and integration errors introduced during data processing. Additional sources of error, especially in meta-database construction, can further arise from inconsistent use of units and expression bases of ES. We propose a standardized experimental protocol for BVOC estimations and highlight basic meta-information that we strongly recommend to report with any ES measurement. We conclude that standardization of experimental and calculation protocols and critical examination of past reports is essential for development of accurate emission factor databases.JRC.H.7-Climate Risk Managemen

On predicting the outcomes of chemotherapy treatments in Breast cancer

Chemotherapy is the main treatment commonly used for treating cancer patients. However, chemotherapy usually causes side effects some of which can be severe. The effects depend on a variety of factors including the type of drugs used, dosage, length of treatment and patient characteristics. In this paper, we use a data extraction from an oncology department in Scotland with information on treatment cycles, recorded toxicity level, and various observations concerning breast cancer patients for three years. The objective of our paper is to compare several different techniques applied to the same data set to predict the toxicity outcome of the treatment. We use a Markov model, Hidden Markov model, Random Forest and Recurrent Neural Network in our comparison. Through analysis and evaluation of the performance of these techniques, we can determine which method is more suitable in different situations to assist the medical oncologist in real-time clinical practice. We discuss the context of our work more generally and further work.Postprin

Galaxy And Mass Assembly:Galaxy Zoo spiral arms and star formation rates

Understanding the effect spiral structure has on star formation properties of galaxies is important to complete our picture of spiral structure evolution. Previous studies have investigated connections between spiral arm properties and star formation, but the effect that the number of spiral arms has on this process is unclear. Here, we use the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey paired with the citizen science visual classifications from the Galaxy Zoo project to explore galaxies’ spiral arm number and how it connects to the star formation process. We use the votes from the GAMA-Kilo Degree Survey Galaxy Zoo classification to investigate the link between spiral arm number and stellar mass, star formation rate, and specific star formation rate (sSFR). We find that galaxies with fewer spiral arms have lower stellar masses and higher sSFRs, while those with more spiral arms tend towards higher stellar masses and lower sSFRs, and conclude that galaxies are less efficient at forming stars if they have more spiral arms. We note how previous studies’ findings may indicate a cause for this connection in spiral arm strength or opacity

NOTCH1 Signaling Promotes Human T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Initiating Cell Regeneration in Supportive Niches

Leukemia initiating cells (LIC) contribute to therapeutic resistance through acquisition of mutations in signaling pathways, such as NOTCH1, that promote self-renewal and survival within supportive niches. Activating mutations in NOTCH1 occur commonly in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and have been implicated in therapeutic resistance. However, the cell type and context specific consequences of NOTCH1 activation, its role in human LIC regeneration, and sensitivity to NOTCH1 inhibition in hematopoietic microenvironments had not been elucidated.We established humanized bioluminescent T-ALL LIC mouse models transplanted with pediatric T-ALL samples that were sequenced for NOTCH1 and other common T-ALL mutations. In this study, CD34(+) cells from NOTCH1(Mutated) T-ALL samples had higher leukemic engraftment and serial transplantation capacity than NOTCH1(Wild-type) CD34(+) cells in hematopoietic niches, suggesting that self-renewing LIC were enriched within the NOTCH1(Mutated) CD34(+) fraction. Humanized NOTCH1 monoclonal antibody treatment reduced LIC survival and self-renewal in NOTCH1(Mutated) T-ALL LIC-engrafted mice and resulted in depletion of CD34(+)CD2(+)CD7(+) cells that harbor serial transplantation capacity.These results reveal a functional hierarchy within the LIC population based on NOTCH1 activation, which renders LIC susceptible to targeted NOTCH1 inhibition and highlights the utility of NOTCH1 antibody targeting as a key component of malignant stem cell eradication strategies

Development and preliminary validation of a questionnaire to measure satisfaction with home care in Greece: an exploratory factor analysis of polychoric correlations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The primary aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically test a Greek-language instrument for measuring satisfaction with home care. The first empirical evidence about the level of satisfaction with these services in Greece is also provided.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The questionnaire resulted from literature search, on-site observation and cognitive interviews. It was applied in 2006 to a sample of 201 enrollees of five home care programs in the city of Thessaloniki and contains 31 items that measure satisfaction with individual service attributes and are expressed on a 5-point Likert scale. The latter has been usually considered in practice as an interval scale, although it is in principle ordinal. We thus treated the variable as an ordinal one, but also employed the traditional approach in order to compare the findings. Our analysis was therefore based on ordinal measures such as the polychoric correlation, Kendall's Tau b coefficient and ordinal Cronbach's alpha. Exploratory factor analysis was followed by an assessment of internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, construct validity and sensitivity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analyses with ordinal and interval scale measures produced in essence very similar results and identified four multi-item scales. Three of these were found to be reliable and valid: socioeconomic change, staff skills and attitudes and service appropriateness. A fourth dimension -service planning- had lower internal consistency reliability and yet very satisfactory test-retest reliability, construct validity and floor and ceiling effects. The global satisfaction scale created was also quite reliable. Overall, participants were satisfied -yet not very satisfied- with home care services. More room for improvement seems to exist for the socio-economic and planning aspects of care and less for staff skills and attitudes and appropriateness of provided services.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The methods developed seem to be a promising tool for the measurement of home care satisfaction in Greece.</p

Small-scale indirect plant responses to insect herbivory could have major impacts on canopy photosynthesis and isoprene emission

Insect herbivores cause substantial changes in the leaves they attack, but their effects on the ecophysiology of neighbouring, nondamaged leaves have never been quantified in natural canopies. We studied how winter moth (Operophtera brumata), a common herbivore in temperate forests, affects the photosynthetic and isoprene emission rates of its host plant, the pedunculate oak (Quercus robur). Through a manipulative experiment, we measured leaves on shoots damaged by caterpillars or mechanically by cutting, or left completely intact. To quantify the effects at the canopy scale, we surveyed the extent and patterns of leaf area loss in the canopy. Herbivory reduced photosynthesis both in damaged leaves and in their intact neighbours. Isoprene emission rates significantly increased after mechanical leaf damage. When scaled up to canopy‐level, herbivory reduced photosynthesis by 48 ± 10%. The indirect effects of herbivory on photosynthesis in undamaged leaves (40%) were much more important than the direct effects of leaf area loss (6%). If widespread across other plant–herbivore systems, these findings suggest that insect herbivory has major and previously underappreciated influences in modifying ecosystem carbon cycling, with potential effects on atmospheric chemistry

Diversity of isoprene-degrading bacteria in phyllosphere and soil communities from a high isoprene-emitting environment: a Malaysian oil palm plantation

Background: Isoprene is the most abundantly produced biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) on Earth, with annual global emissions almost equal to those of methane. Despite its importance in atmospheric chemistry and climate, little is known about the biological degradation of isoprene in the environment. The largest source of isoprene is terrestrial plants, and oil palms, the cultivation of which is expanding rapidly, are among the highest isoprene-producing trees. Results: DNA stable isotope probing (DNA-SIP) to study the microbial isoprene-degrading community associated with oil palm trees revealed novel genera of isoprene-utilising bacteria including Novosphingobium, Pelomonas, Rhodoblastus, Sphingomonas and Zoogloea in both oil palm soils and on leaves. Amplicon sequencing of isoA genes, which encode the α-subunit of the isoprene monooxygenase (IsoMO), a key enzyme in isoprene metabolism, confirmed that oil palm trees harbour a novel diversity of isoA sequences. In addition, metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) were reconstructed from oil palm soil and leaf metagenomes and putative isoprene degradation genes were identified. Analysis of unenriched metagenomes showed that isoA-containing bacteria are more abundant in soils than in the oil palm phyllosphere. Conclusion: This study greatly expands the known diversity of bacteria that can metabolise isoprene and contributes to a better understanding of the biological degradation of this important but neglected climate-active gas

Volatile organic compound speciation above and within a Douglas Fir forest

Mixing ratios and fluxes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured by PTR-MS (and GC-MS) and virtual disjunct eddy covariance during a three-week field campaign in summer 2009 within and above a Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forest in Speulderbos, the Netherlands. Measurements included the first non-terpenoid species fluxes and mixing ratios for Douglas fir canopy. Above-canopy emissions of monoterpenes were comparable to previous studies of P. menziesii, with standard emission factors for the first and second halves of the campaign of 0.8 ± 0.4 and 0.8 ± 0.3 µg gdw-1 h-1, and temperature coefficients of 0.19 ± 0.06 and 0.08 ± 0.05 °C-1, respectively. Isoprene standard emission factors for the two halves of the campaign were 0.09 ± 0.12 and 0.16 ± 0.18 µg gdw-1 h-1. Fluxes of several non-terpenoid VOCs were significant, with maximum fluxes greater than has been measured for other coniferous species. α-Pinene was the dominant monoterpene within and above the canopy. Within canopy mixing ratios of individual species were generally greatest in early evening consistent with reduced vertical mixing and continued temperature-dependent emissions. Acetaldehyde, acetone and monoterpenes had elevated mixing ratios toward the bottom of the canopy (5-10 m) with assumed contribution from the large quantities of forest-floor leaf litter. MBO (2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol) and estragole had peak mixing ratios at the top of the canopy and are known to have coniferous sources. MVK + MACR (methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein) also had highest mixing ratios at the top of the canopy consistent with formation from in-canopy oxidation of isoprene. The work highlights the importance of quantifying a wider variety of VOCs from biogenic sources than isoprene and monoterpenes