630 research outputs found
Effect of recombinant human nerve growth factor eye drops in patients with dry eye: a phase IIa, open label, multiple-dose study
Background: Dry eye disease (DED) affects more than 14% of the elderly population causing decrease of quality of life, high costs and vision impairment. Current treatments for DED aim at lubricating and controlling inflammation of the ocular surface. Development of novel therapies targeting different pathogenic mechanisms is sought-after. The aim of this study is to evaluate safety and efficacy of recombinant human nerve growth factor (rhNGF) eye drops in patients with DED. Methods: Forty consecutive patients with moderate to severe DED were included in a phase IIa, prospective, open label, multiple-dose, clinical trial to receive rhNGF eye drops at 20 μg/mL (Group 1: G1) or at 4 μg/mL (Group 2: G2) concentrations, two times a day in both eyes for 28 days (NCT02101281). The primary outcomes measures were treatment-emerged adverse events (AE), Symptoms Assessment in Dry Eye (SANDE) scale, ocular surface staining and Schirmer test. Results: Of 40 included patients, 39 completed the trial. Both tested rhNGF eye drop concentrations were safe and well tolerated. Twenty-nine patients experienced at least one AE (14 in G1 and 15 in G2), of which 11 had at least 1 related AE (8 in G1 and 3 in G2). Both frequency and severity of DED symptoms and ocular surface damage showed significant improvement in both groups, while tear function improved only in G1. Conclusions: The data of this study indicate that rhNGF eye drops in both doses is safe and effective in improving symptoms and signs of DED. Randomised clinical trials are ongoing to confirm the therapeutic benefit of rhNGF in DED. Trial registration number: NCT02101281
Synthese von Kohlenstoff-14-markierten Terphenylen. EUR 2527. = Synthesis of C14-labeled terphenyl. EUR 2527.
Another short-burst host galaxy with an optically obscured high star formation rate: The case of GRB 071227
We report on radio continuum observations of the host galaxy of the short
gamma-ray burst 071227 (z=0.381) with the Australia Telescope Compact Array
(ATCA). We detect the galaxy in the 5.5 GHz band with an integrated flux
density of Fnu = 43 +/- 11 microJy, corresponding to an unobscured
star-formation rate (SFR) of about 24 Msun/yr, forty times higher than what was
found from optical emission lines. Among the ~30 well-identified and studied
host galaxies of short bursts this is the third case where the host is found to
undergo an episode of intense star formation. This suggests that a fraction of
all short-burst progenitors hosted in star-forming galaxies could be physically
related to recent star formation activity, implying a relatively short merger
time scale.Comment: 6 pages, ApJ, accepted for publicatio
Multiwavelength analysis of three SNe associated with GRBs observed by GROND
After the discovery of the first connection between GRBs and SNe almost two
decades ago, tens of SN-like rebrightenings have been discovered and about
seven solid associations have been spectroscopically confirmed to date. Using
GROND optical/NIR data and Swift X-ray/UV data, we estimate the intrinsic
extinction, luminosity, and evolution of three SN rebrightenings in GRB
afterglow light curves at z~0.5. The SNe 2008hw, 2009nz, and 2010ma exhibit
0.80, 1.15, and 1.78 times the optical (r band) luminosity of SN 1998bw,
respectively. While SN 2009nz evolves similarly to SN 1998bw, SNe 2008hw and
2010ma show earlier peak times. The quasi-bolometric light curves were
corrected for the contribution of the NIR bands using data available in the
literature and blackbody fits. The large luminosity of SN 2010ma (1.4x10^43
erg/s) is confirmed, while SNe 2008hw and 2009nz reached a peak luminosity
closer to SN 1998bw. Physical parameters of the SN explosions, such as
synthesised nickel mass, ejecta mass, and kinetic energy, are estimated using
Arnett's analytic approach, which resulted in nickel masses of around 0.4-0.5
Msun. By means of the a very comprehensive data set, we found that the
luminosity and the nickel mass of SNe 2008hw, 2009nz, and 2010ma resembles
those of other known GRB-associated SNe. This findings strengthens previous
claims of GRB-SNe being brighter than type-Ic SNe unaccompanied by GRBs.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics, abstract abridge
Afterglow rebrightenings as a signature of a long-lasting central engine activity? The emblematic case of GRB 100814A
In the past few years the number of well-sampled optical to NIR light curves
of long Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) has greatly increased particularly due to
simultaneous multi-band imagers such as GROND. Combining these densely sampled
ground-based data sets with the Swift UVOT and XRT space observations unveils a
much more complex afterglow evolution than what was predicted by the most
commonly invoked theoretical models. GRB 100814A represents a remarkable
example of these interesting well-sampled events, showing a prominent late-time
rebrightening in the optical to NIR bands and a complex spectral evolution.
This represents a unique laboratory to test the different afterglow emission
models. Here we study the nature of the complex afterglow emission of GRB
100814A in the framework of different theoretical models. Moreover, we compare
the late-time chromatic rebrightening with those observed in other well-sampled
long GRBs. We analysed the optical and NIR observations obtained with the
seven-channel Gamma-Ray burst Optical and Near-infrared Detector at the 2.2 m
MPG/ESO telescope together with the X-ray and UV data detected by the
instruments onboard the Swift observatory. The broad-band afterglow evolution,
achieved by constructing multi-instrument light curves and spectral energy
distributions, will be discussed in the framework of different theoretical
models. We find that the standard models that describe the broad-band afterglow
emission within the external shock scenario fail to describe the complex
evolution of GRB 100814A, and therefore more complex scenarios must be invoked.
[abridged]Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables; Astronomy & Astrophysics, in pres
Submicron-sized MoRe-doped Si-MoRe Josephson junctions with a low specific capacitance
Abstract We start with a short look at the problem of low-capacitance Josephson junctions, its history, and actual state-of-the-art. It is argued that such devices are important for applications requiring nonhysteretic current-voltage characteristics since reduction of capacitance by several times makes it possible to increase the device resistance by the same amount while keeping the McCumber-Stewart damping parameter unaltered. Moreover, at very high frequencies the capacitance in the RCSJ circuit with a parallel connection starts to shunt the superconducting current component due to reduction of the corresponding reactance inversely proportional to C. Hence, to extend the operating frequency range of a Josephson junction its capacitance should be as small as possible. As a solution of a new type of the Josephson device, less resistive and with smaller capacitance, we propose and realize a submicron-sized trilayer with tens nm-thick Si interlayer doped by metallic ultra-small inclusions and superconducting Mo-Re alloy electrodes
The late-time afterglow of the extremely energetic short burst GRB 090510 revisited
The discovery of the short GRB 090510 has raised considerable attention
mainly because it had a bright optical afterglow and it is among the most
energetic events detected so far within the entire GRB population. The
afterglow was observed with swift/UVOT and swift/XRT and evidence of a jet
break around 1.5 ks after the burst has been reported in the literature,
implying that after this break the optical and X-ray light curve should fade
with the same decay slope. As noted by several authors, the post-break decay
slope seen in the UVOT data is much shallower than the steep decay in the X-ray
band, pointing to an excess of optical flux at late times. We reduced and
analyzed new afterglow light-curve data obtained with the multichannel imager
GROND. Based on the densely sampled data set obtained with GROND, we find that
the optical afterglow of GRB 090510 did indeed enter a steep decay phase
starting around 22 ks after the burst. During this time the GROND optical light
curve is achromatic, and its slope is identical to the slope of the X-ray data.
In combination with the UVOT data this implies that a second break must have
occurred in the optical light curve around 22 ks post burst, which, however,
has no obvious counterpart in the X-ray band, contradicting the interpretation
that this could be another jet break. The GROND data provide the missing piece
of evidence that the optical afterglow of GRB 090510 did follow a post-jet
break evolution at late times.Comment: submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics, accepted for publication on
Dec 24, 201
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