Joint constraints on the Galactic dark matter halo and Galactic Centre from hypervelocity stars

Article / Letter to editorSterrewach

Joint constraints on the Galactic dark matter halo and Galactic Centre from hypervelocity stars

GalaxiesStars and planetary system

Collective Modes in Neutrino `Beam' Electron-Positron Plasma Interactions

We derive semiclassical neutrino-electron transport equations in the collisionless (Vlasov) limit from the coupled Dirac equations, incorporating the charged and neutral weak current-current as well as electromagnetic interactions. A corresponding linear response theory is derived. In particular, we calculate the response functions for a variety of beam-plasma geometries, which are of interest in a supernova scenario. We apply this to the study of plasmons and to a new class of collective {\it pharon} resonance modes, which are characterized by $\omega < q$. We find that the growth rates of the unstable modes correspond to a strongly temperature ($\propto T_\nu^2T_e^3$) and linearly momentum dependent e-folding length of about $10^{10}$ km under typical conditions for Type II supernovae. This appears to rule out such long-wavelength collective modes as an efficient means of depositing neutrino energy into the plasma sphere.Comment: 27 pages; LaTex. Replaced by published version. - Appendix about neutrino Wigner functions added and main text correspondingly revised. Conclusions unchange

Changing genetic architecture of body mass index from infancy to early adulthood : an individual based pooled analysis of 25 twin cohorts

Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).Background: Body mass index (BMI) shows strong continuity over childhood and adolescence and high childhood BMI is the strongest predictor of adult obesity. Genetic factors strongly contribute to this continuity, but it is still poorly known how their contribution changes over childhood and adolescence. Thus, we used the genetic twin design to estimate the genetic correlations of BMI from infancy to adulthood and compared them to the genetic correlations of height. Methods: We pooled individual level data from 25 longitudinal twin cohorts including 38,530 complete twin pairs and having 283,766 longitudinal height and weight measures. The data were analyzed using Cholesky decomposition offering genetic and environmental correlations of BMI and height between all age combinations from 1 to 19 years of age. Results: The genetic correlations of BMI and height were stronger than the trait correlations. For BMI, we found that genetic correlations decreased as the age between the assessments increased, a trend that was especially visible from early to middle childhood. In contrast, for height, the genetic correlations were strong between all ages. Age-to-age correlations between environmental factors shared by co-twins were found for BMI in early childhood but disappeared altogether by middle childhood. For height, shared environmental correlations persisted from infancy to adulthood. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the genes affecting BMI change over childhood and adolescence leading to decreasing age-to-age genetic correlations. This change is especially visible from early to middle childhood indicating that new genetic factors start to affect BMI in middle childhood. Identifying mediating pathways of these genetic factors can open possibilities for interventions, especially for those children with high genetic predisposition to adult obesity.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing

Noisemap: An environmental noise monitoring sensor network [SesHaritasi: Bir Çevresel Gürültü Izleme Algilayici Agi]

24th Signal Processing and Communication Application Conference, SIU 2016 -- 16 May 2016 through 19 May 2016 -- -- 122605The environmental noise levels of our working areas have a critical impact on our psychological and physical health and business efficiency. Therefore; there is a need for systems that monitor environmental noise. In this paper, the sensor nodes equipped with microphones and participating smartphones are used to form an environmental noise monitoring network. This system allows monitoring of indoor areas such as offices and factories for the entire day. The sound pressure levels, which are associated with the time and location information, obtained from the work environments through the deployed network are transferred to the cloud. The resulting data are used to create noise maps of the environments. © 2016 IEEE

ELISA and modified toxin-binding inhibition test for quality control of the clostridial vaccine processes

This study aimed to assess and standardize the ELISA and modified ToBI test in vitro methods in order to verify the potency of epsilon toxicoid in comparison with the in vivo TCP method. The following epsilon toxoids were used: NIBSC standard from batches 375/07, 532/08, 551/08, 373/07 and 378/07. These were evaluated using a TCP test, ELISA and ToBI tests. The results indicate that the correlation ratio between the dilutions of standard NIBSC toxicoid and absorbance values of 89.44% obtained with the ELISA method support the use of the curve to evaluate epsilon toxoids. However, it was observed that the absorbance values were similar for all toxoids, thus presenting no significant difference between higher and lower concentration toxoids. For the ToBI test, the correlation ratio of 96.76, obtained in the curve pattern, demonstrates the effectiveness of the curve to be used in the epsilon toxoid evaluation. The correlation ratio between the titration degrees of toxoids obtained through TCP and ToBI tests was higher than 90%. It is concluded that the type of ELISA test used does present discriminative power for toxoids with different concentrations, which does not support the use of this technique for such a purpose. The ToBI test can be used as a screening method for it is sensitive and effective to detect epsilon toxicoid produced by C. perfringens type D

Chronic nicotine alters cannabinoid‐mediated locomotor activity and receptor density in periadolescent but not adult male rats

A significant number of youths use cigarettes, and more than half of the youths who smoke daily also use illicit drugs. The focus of these studies is on how exposure to nicotine affects subsequent responses to both nicotine and cannabinoids in adolescents compared with adults. We have shown previously that chronic treatment with nicotine produces sensitization to its locomotor-activating effects in female and adult rats but not male adolescent rats. To better understand the effects of nicotine on adolescent and adult rats, rats were injected with nicotine or saline for 7 days and, on day 8, either challenged with delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) or the cannabinoid agonist CP 55,940 and tested for locomotor activity, or the brains were removed for quantitative autoradiography studies of the cannabinoid(1) receptor. A separate group of rats was treated with nicotine plus the cannabinoid antagonist AM 251 and then challenged with CP 55,940. In adolescent male rats, nicotine administration led to sensitization to the locomotor-decreasing effects of both Δ9-THC and CP 55,940, but in adult male rats, the response to either drug was unchanged compared to controls. The effect of nicotine on CP 55,940-mediated locomotor activity was blocked by co-administration of AM 251 with the nicotine. Further, cannabinoid receptor density was increased in the prelimbic prefrontal cortex, ventral tegmental area, and select regions of the hippocampus in adolescent male rats pretreated with nicotine compared to vehicle-treated controls. There were no significant changes in cannabinoid receptor binding, however, in any of the brain regions examined in adult males pretreated with nicotine. The prelimbic prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus have been shown previously to be involved in stimulant reinforcement; thus it is possible that these changes contribute to the unique behavioral effects of chronic nicotine and subsequent drug administration in adolescents compared with adults