Isolated elliptical galaxies in the local Universe

We have studied a sample of 89 very isolated, elliptical galaxies at z < 0.08 and compared their properties with elliptical galaxies located in a high-density environment such as the Coma supercluster. Our aim is to probe the role of environment on the morphological transformation and quenching of elliptical galaxies as a function of mass. In addition, we elucidate the nature of a particular set of blue and star-forming isolated ellipticals identified here. We study physical properties of ellipticals such as color, specific star formation rate, galaxy size, and stellar age, as a function of stellar mass and environment based on SDSS data. We analyze the blue star-forming isolated ellipticals in more detail, through photometric characterization using GALFIT, and infer their star formation history using STARLIGHT. Among the isolated ellipticals ~ 20% are blue, 8% are star forming, and ~ 10% are recently quenched, while among the Coma ellipticals ~ 8% are blue and just <= 1% are star forming or recently quenched. There are four isolated galaxies (~ 4.5%) that are blue and star forming at the same time. These galaxies, with masses between 7 x 10^9 and 2 x 10^10 h-2 M_sun, are also the youngest galaxies with light-weighted stellar ages <= 1 Gyr and exhibit bluer colors toward the galaxy center. Around 30-60% of their present-day luminosity, but only < 5% of their present-day mass, is due to star formation in the last 1 Gyr. The processes of morphological transformation and quenching seem to be in general independent of environment since most of elliptical galaxies are 'red and dead', although the transition to the red sequence should be faster for isolated ellipticals. In some cases, the isolated environment seems to propitiate the rejuvenation of ellipticals by recent (< 1 Gyr) cold gas accretion.Comment: 23 pages, 15 figures (16 pages and 9 figures without appendices). A&A, in pres

Étude de la variabilité agromorphologique de la collection nationale de mils locaux du Sénégal

Objectif : Le mil est la première culture vivrière au Sénégal. Il joue un rôle capital dans la vie des populations rurales qui en dépendent pour leur survie (STAT/FAO/SENEGAL, 2010). Il est cultivé sur plus 60% des terres arables. Les variétés locales étaient les plus utilisées mais depuis quelques années leur survie est menacée par l'introduction des variétés améliorées.Methodology et application des résultats : Pour éviter l'érosion génétique, des missions de collecte ont été organisées en 1994 et 2006 dans les principales zones de culture du mil. Le matériel collecté est caractérisé pour faciliter leur utilisation dans les programmes de création variétale. L'objectif du présent travail est caractériser le germoplasme national mil du Sénégal pour les rendre utilisables par les sélectionneurs pour la création de nouvelles variétés hautement productives pour l'augmentation de la production céréalière et l'atteinte de la sécurité alimentaire. Pour caractériser les accessions, 12 variables sélectionnées à partir du Descripteur du mil IPGRI/ICRISAT, 1993 ont été utilisées. Un dispositif expérimental en blocs complets randomisés avec 3 répétitions a été choisi et les sites d'essais étaient Bambey, Nioro et Darou pendant les hivernages 2011 et 2012. Les analyses descriptives ou qualitatives ; statistiques simples (ANOVA) ; de la diversité (phénologique ; génétique avec la méthode de la classification ascendante (CAH), avec les composantes principales (ACP) et l'analyse factorielle discriminante (AFD)) ont été réalisées avec les logiciels Genstat Discovery4 et R. Les analyses descriptives ont montré l'existence d'une grande variabilité entre les accessions pour les caractères qualitatifs comme l'architecture de l'épi et la couleur des grains. Les analyses statistiques simples (ANOVA) ont montré qu'il existe une différence hautement significative entre les entrées et les sites. Cependant, les interactions étaient non significatives à l'exception de la floraison, de l'indice de récolte et des rendements en grains et en matière sèche. Les analyses de la diversité phénologique a permis de classer les variétés en trois groupes selon le cycle végétatif (G1 des variétés extra-précoces, G2 des cycles courts et G3 des cycles longs). La classification ascendante hiérarchique (CAH) suivant la méthode de Ward a permis d'identifier la valeur des axes et les compositions des 3 groupes y découlant (le groupe G1 compte 106 accessions, le G2 compte 129 accessions et le G3 compte 8 accessions) et de tracer le dendrogramme de filiations. L'analyse de la diversité génétique par les composantes principales (ACP) a permis de déterminer la position des accessions par rapport aux axes expliquant les variabilités inter-accessions. L'analyse de la diversité génétique par la méthode factorielle discriminante a permis de déterminer la structuration de la diversité agromorphologique et la représentation graphique des accessions suivant un plan factoriel. Les groupes ainsi formés seront convertis en des entités hétérotiques constituées de pools de gènes différents où les sélectionneurs et autres scientifiques vont puiser pour créer des variétés hautement productives et résistantes aux stress bio et abiotiques afin de nourrir les populations et de lutter contre la faim et la malnutrition

COVID-19 outbreak at a reception centre for asylum seekers in Espoo, Finland

Publisher Copyright: © 2021Background shared accommodation may increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. In April 2020, an increasing number of asylum seekers at a reception centre in Espoo, Finland presented with COVID-19 despite earlier implementation of preventive measures. We decided to screen the entire population of the centre for SARS-CoV-2. Methods we offered nasopharyngeal swab collection and SARS-CoV-2 real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis to the centre's clients. Symptoms were recorded at the time of diagnostic sample collection using electronic forms and followed up for two weeks through phone interviews and a review of medical records. Findings 260 clients were screened. Of them, 96 (37%) were found positive for SARS-CoV-2 and isolated. The high attack rate prompted the local public health authority to set the other clients in quarantine for 14 days to prevent further spread. Of the positive cases, 61 (64%) reported having had symptoms at the time of the screening or one week prior. Of the 35 initially asymptomatic individuals, 12 developed symptoms during follow-up, while 23 (or 18% of all screened SARS-CoV-2 positive clients) remained asymptomatic. No widespread transmission of COVID-19 was detected after the quarantine was lifted. Interpretation in this large COVID-19 outbreak, voluntary mass screening provided valuable information about its extent and helped guide the public health response. Comprehensive quarantine and isolation measures were likely instrumental in containing the outbreak. Funding Finnish Institution for Health and Welfare, Finnish Immigration Agency, City of EspooPeer reviewe

Flapping and Flexible Wing Aerodynamics of Low Reynolds Number Flight Vehicles

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76905/1/AIAA-2006-503-331.pd

Impact of Protracted War Crisis on Dental Students: A Comparative Multicountry Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: The impact of conflict and war crisis on dental students is poorly understood. Given the prolonged conflicts and political instability in the Arabic-speaking countries, it is crucial to investigate the effect of these conditions on dental students. This study aimed to assess the impact of protracted war on dental students by comparing the personal, university, and wider context challenges they face across war-affected and unaffected countries. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted including a convenience sample of dental students from 13 universities in 12 Arabic-speaking countries. Respondents were those at entry and exit points of their undergraduate dental training. A self-administered paper questionnaire collected anonymized data on sociodemographics, and personal, university, and wider context challenges that students were facing. Multivariable Poisson regression analyses were carried out. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 64.8%. The mean age was 21.2 (standard deviation = 2.1) years, with 68% of participants being female. After adjusting for age and sex, dental students in Arabic-speaking countries affected by protracted war crisis were significantly more likely to report wider context challenges compared to their counterparts in unaffected countries (n = 2448; beta = 1.12; 95% confidence interval: 1.10-1.13; P < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Dental students in Arabic-speaking countries affected by protracted war crisis were more likely to suffer from wider context challenges such as difficulties in attendance due to the deterioration of security and lack of flexibility of teaching time to accommodate the different circumstances induced by the war crisis. Supporting dental students in areas affected by protracted war crises is needed and may include developing online dental education programs

Response to letter on use of functional imaging by 11C-metomidate PET for primary aldosteronism subtyping

Non peer reviewe

Spectrophotometric determination of tizanidine and orphenadrine via ion pair complex formation using eosin Y

A simple, sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric method was developed and validated for the determination of two skeletal muscle relaxants namely, tizanidine hydrochloride (I) and orphenadrine citrate (II) in pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed method is based on the formation of a binary complex between the studied drugs and eosin Y in aqueous buffered medium (pH 3.5). Under the optimum conditions, the binary complex showed absorption maxima at 545 nm for tizanidine and 542 nm for orphenadrine. The calibration plots were rectilinear over concentration range of 0.5-8 μg/mL and 1-12 μg/mL with limits of detection of 0.1 μg/mL and 0.3 μg/mL for tizanidine and orphenadrine respectively. The different experimental parameters affecting the development and stability of the complex were studied and optimized. The method was successfully applied for determination of the studied drugs in their dosage forms; and to the content uniformity test of tizanidine in tablets

Photoacclimation in Dunaliella tertiolecta reveals a unique NPQ pattern upon exposure to irradiance

Highly time-resolved photoacclimation patterns of the chlorophyte microalga Dunaliella tertiolecta during exposure to an off–on–off (block) light pattern of saturating photon flux, and to a regime of consecutive increasing light intensities are presented. Non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) mechanisms unexpectedly responded with an initial decrease during dark–light transitions. NPQ values started to rise after light exposure of approximately 4 min. State-transitions, measured as a change of PSII:PSI fluorescence emission at 77 K, did not contribute to early NPQ oscillations. Addition of the uncoupler CCCP, however, caused a rapid increase in fluorescence and showed the significance of qE for NPQ. Partitioning of the quantum efficiencies showed that constitutive NPQ was (a) higher than qE-driven NPQ and (b) responded to light treatment within seconds, suggesting an active role of constitutive NPQ in variable energy dissipation, although it is thought to contribute statically to NPQ. The PSII connectivity parameter p correlated well with F′, Fm′ and NPQ during the early phase of the dark–light transients in sub-saturating light, suggesting a plastic energy distribution pattern within energetically connected PSII centres. In consecutive increasing photon flux experiments, correlations were weaker during the second light increment. Changes in connectivity can present an early photoresponse that are reflected in fluorescence signals and NPQ and might be responsive to the short-term acclimation state, and/or to the actinic photon flux