1,657 research outputs found
A Low-Mass Pre-Main-Sequence Eclipsing Binary in Lower Centaurus Crux Discovered with TESS
We report the discovery of 2M1222-57 as a low-mass, pre-main-sequence (PMS)
eclipsing binary (EB) in the Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC) association for which,
using Gaia parallaxes and proper motions with a neural-net age estimator, we
determine an age of 16.22.2 Myr. The broadband spectral energy
distribution (SED) shows clear excess at ~10 um indicative of a circumbinary
disk, and new speckle-imaging observations reveal a faint, tertiary companion
separated by ~100 AU. H-alpha emission is modulated on the orbital period,
consistent with theoretical models of orbitally pulsed accretion streams
reaching from the inner disk edge to the central stars. From a joint analysis
of spectroscopically determined radial velocities and TESS light curves,
together with additional tight constraints provided by the SED and the Gaia
parallax, we measure masses for the eclipsing stars of 0.74 Msun and 0.67 Msun;
radii of 0.98 Rsun and 0.94 Rsun; and effective temperatures of 3750 K and 3645
K. The masses and radii of both stars are measured to an accuracy of ~1%. The
measured radii are inflated, and the temperatures suppressed, relative to
predictions of standard PMS evolutionary models at the age of LCC; also, the Li
abundances are ~2 dex less depleted than predicted by those models. However,
models that account for the global and internal effects of surface magnetic
fields are able to simultaneously reproduce the measured radii, temperatures,
and Li abundances at an age of 17.00.5 Myr. Altogether, the 2M1222-57
system presents very strong evidence that magnetic activity in young stars
alters both their global properties and the physics of their interiors.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures, accepted by Ap
Modeling Kepler transit light curves as false positives: Rejection of blend scenarios for Kepler-9, and validation of Kepler-9d, a super-Earth-size planet in a multiple system
Light curves from the Kepler Mission contain valuable information on the
nature of the phenomena producing the transit-like signals. To assist in
exploring the possibility that they are due to an astrophysical false positive,
we describe a procedure (BLENDER) to model the photometry in terms of a "blend"
rather than a planet orbiting a star. A blend may consist of a background or
foreground eclipsing binary (or star-planet pair) whose eclipses are attenuated
by the light of the candidate and possibly other stars within the photometric
aperture. We apply BLENDER to the case of Kepler-9, a target harboring two
previously confirmed Saturn-size planets (Kepler-9b and Kepler-9c) showing
transit timing variations, and an additional shallower signal with a 1.59-day
period suggesting the presence of a super-Earth-size planet. Using BLENDER
together with constraints from other follow-up observations we are able to rule
out all blends for the two deeper signals, and provide independent validation
of their planetary nature. For the shallower signal we rule out a large
fraction of the false positives that might mimic the transits. The false alarm
rate for remaining blends depends in part (and inversely) on the unknown
frequency of small-size planets. Based on several realistic estimates of this
frequency we conclude with very high confidence that this small signal is due
to a super-Earth-size planet (Kepler-9d) in a multiple system, rather than a
false positive. The radius is determined to be 1.64 (+0.19/-0.14) R(Earth), and
current spectroscopic observations are as yet insufficient to establish its
mass.Comment: 20 pages in emulateapj format, including 8 tables and 16 figures. To
appear in ApJ, 1 January 2010. Accepted versio
Clinically relevant enhancement of human sperm motility using compounds with reported phosphodiesterase inhibitor activity
STUDY QUESTION: Can we identify compound(s) with reported phosphodiesterase inhibitor (PDEI) activity that could be added to human spermatozoa in vitro to enhance their motility without compromising other sperm functions? SUMMARY ANSWER: We have identified several compounds that produce robust and effective stimulation of sperm motility and, importantly, have a positive response on patient samples. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: For >20 years, the use of non-selective PDEIs, such as pentoxifylline, has been known to influence the motility of human spermatozoa; however, conflicting results have been obtained. It is now clear that human sperm express several different phosphodiesterases and these are compartmentalized at different regions of the cells. By using type-specific PDEIs, differential modulation of sperm motility may be achieved without adversely affecting other functions such as the acrosome reaction (AR). STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: This was a basic medical research study examining sperm samples from normozoospermic donors and subfertile patients attending the Assisted Conception Unit (ACU), Ninewells Hospital Dundee for diagnostic semen analysis, IVF and ICSI. Phase 1 screened 43 commercially available compounds with reported PDEI activity to identify lead compounds that stimulate sperm motility. Samples were exposed (20 min) to three concentrations (1, 10 and 100 µM) of compound, and selected candidates (n = 6) progressed to Phase 2, which provided a more comprehensive assessment using a battery of in vitro sperm function tests. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: All healthy donors and subfertile patients were recruited at the Medical Research Institute, University of Dundee and ACU, Ninewells Hospital Dundee (ethical approval 08/S1402/6). In Phase 1, poor motility cells recovered from the 40% interface of the discontinuous density gradient were used as surrogates for patient samples. Pooled samples from three to four different donors were utilized in order to reduce variability and increase the number of cells available for simultaneous examination of multiple compounds. During Phase 2 testing, semen samples from 23 patients attending for either routine diagnostic andrology assessment or IVF/ICSI were prepared and exposed to selected compounds. Additionally, 48 aliquots of prepared samples, surplus to clinical use, were examined from IVF (n = 32) and ICSI (n = 16) patients to further determine the effects of selected compounds under clinical conditions of treatment. Effects of compounds on sperm motility were assessed by computer-assisted sperm analysis. A modified Kremer test using methyl cellulose was used to assess sperm functional ability to penetrate into viscous media. Sperm acrosome integrity and induction of apoptosis were assessed using the acrosomal content marker PSA-FITC and annexin V kit, respectively. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE: In Phase 1, six compounds were found to have a strong effect on poor motility samples with a magnitude of response of ≥60% increase in percentage total motility. Under capacitating and non-capacitating conditions, these compounds significantly (P ≤ 0.05) increased the percentage of total and progressive motility. Furthermore, these compounds enhanced penetration into a cervical mucus substitute (P ≤ 0.05). Finally, the AR was not significantly induced and these compounds did not significantly increase the externalization of phosphatidylserine (P = 0.6, respectively). In general, the six compounds maintained the stimulation of motility over long periods of time (180 min) and their effects were still observed after their removal. In examinations of clinical samples, there was a general observation of a more significant stimulation of sperm motility in samples with lower baseline motility. In ICSI samples, compounds #26, #37 and #38 were the most effective at significantly increasing total motility (88, 81 and 79% of samples, respectively) and progressive motility (94, 93 and 81% of samples, respectively). In conclusion, using a two-phased drug discovery screening approach including the examination of clinical samples, 3/43 compounds were identified as promising candidates for further study. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION: This is an in vitro study and caution must be taken when extrapolating the results. Data for patients were from one assessment and thus the robustness of responses needs to be established. The n values for ICSI samples were relatively small. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS: We have systematically screened and identified several compounds that have robust and effective stimulation (i.e. functional significance with longevity and no toxicity) of total and progressive motility under clinical conditions of treatment. These compounds could be clinical candidates with possibilities in terms of assisted reproductive technology options for current or future patients affected by asthenozoospermia or oligoasthenozoospermia
Flexible Supervised Autonomy for Exploration in Subterranean Environments
While the capabilities of autonomous systems have been steadily improving in
recent years, these systems still struggle to rapidly explore previously
unknown environments without the aid of GPS-assisted navigation. The DARPA
Subterranean (SubT) Challenge aimed to fast track the development of autonomous
exploration systems by evaluating their performance in real-world underground
search-and-rescue scenarios. Subterranean environments present a plethora of
challenges for robotic systems, such as limited communications, complex
topology, visually-degraded sensing, and harsh terrain. The presented solution
enables long-term autonomy with minimal human supervision by combining a
powerful and independent single-agent autonomy stack, with higher level mission
management operating over a flexible mesh network. The autonomy suite deployed
on quadruped and wheeled robots was fully independent, freeing the human
supervision to loosely supervise the mission and make high-impact strategic
decisions. We also discuss lessons learned from fielding our system at the SubT
Final Event, relating to vehicle versatility, system adaptability, and
re-configurable communications.Comment: Field Robotics special issue: DARPA Subterranean Challenge,
Advancement and Lessons Learned from the Final
Two Earth-sized planets orbiting Kepler-20
Since the discovery of the first extrasolar giant planets around Sun-like
stars, evolving observational capabilities have brought us closer to the
detection of true Earth analogues. The size of an exoplanet can be determined
when it periodically passes in front of (transits) its parent star, causing a
decrease in starlight proportional to its radius. The smallest exoplanet
hitherto discovered has a radius 1.42 times that of the Earth's radius (R
Earth), and hence has 2.9 times its volume. Here we report the discovery of two
planets, one Earth-sized (1.03R Earth) and the other smaller than the Earth
(0.87R Earth), orbiting the star Kepler-20, which is already known to host
three other, larger, transiting planets. The gravitational pull of the new
planets on the parent star is too small to measure with current
instrumentation. We apply a statistical method to show that the likelihood of
the planetary interpretation of the transit signals is more than three orders
of magnitude larger than that of the alternative hypothesis that the signals
result from an eclipsing binary star. Theoretical considerations imply that
these planets are rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate. The outer
planet could have developed a thick water vapour atmosphere.Comment: Letter to Nature; Received 8 November; accepted 13 December 2011;
Published online 20 December 201
Substantial burden of non-medically attended RSV infection in healthy term infants – an international prospective birth cohort study
Background: During the first year of life, one in four infants develops a symptomatic respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, yet only half seek medical attention. The current focus on medically attended RSV, therefore, underrepresents the true societal burden of RSV. We assessed the burden of non-medically attended RSV infections and compared them with medically attended RSV.
Methods: We performed active RSV surveillance until the age of one year in a cohort (n=993) nested within RESCEU, a prospective birth cohort study enrolling healthy term-born infants in five European countries. Parent-reported daily symptoms, medication use, wheezing and impact on family life were analyzed.
Results: For 97 of 120 (80.1%) non-medically attended RSV episodes sufficient data were available for analysis. In 50.5% (49/97), symptoms lasted ≥15 days. Parents reported impairment in usual daily activities in 59.8% (58/97), worries in 75.3% (73/97), anxiety in 34.0% (33/97), and work absenteeism in 10.8% (10/93) of episodes. Compared with medically attended RSV (n=102, 9 hospital admissions), ReSViNET severity scores were lower (3.5 vs. 4.6, p<0.001), whereas durations of respiratory symptoms and impairment of usual activities were comparable.
Conclusion: Even when medical attendance is not required, RSV infection poses a substantial burden to infants, families and society at large. These findings are important for policymakers when considering the implementation of RSV immunization in national programs
Characteristics of Kepler Planetary Candidates Based on the First Data Set: The Majority are Found to be Neptune-Size and Smaller
In the spring of 2009, the Kepler Mission commenced high-precision photometry
on nearly 156,000 stars to determine the frequency and characteristics of small
exoplanets, conduct a guest observer program, and obtain asteroseismic data on
a wide variety of stars. On 15 June 2010 the Kepler Mission released data from
the first quarter of observations. At the time of this publication, 706 stars
from this first data set have exoplanet candidates with sizes from as small as
that of the Earth to larger than that of Jupiter. Here we give the identity and
characteristics of 306 released stars with planetary candidates. Data for the
remaining 400 stars with planetary candidates will be released in February
2011. Over half the candidates on the released list have radii less than half
that of Jupiter. The released stars include five possible multi-planet systems.
One of these has two Neptune-size (2.3 and 2.5 Earth-radius) candidates with
near-resonant periods.Comment: Paper to accompany Kepler's June 15, 2010 data release; submitted to
Astrophysical Journal Figures 1,2,& 3 revised. Improved labeling on all
figures. Slight changes to planet frequencies in result
Validation of the Exoplanet Kepler-21b using PAVO/CHARA Long-Baseline Interferometry
We present long-baseline interferometry of the Kepler exoplanet host star
HD179070 (Kepler-21) using the PAVO beam combiner at the CHARA Array. The
visibility data are consistent with a single star and exclude stellar
companions at separations ~1-1000 mas (~ 0.1-113 AU) and contrasts < 3.5
magnitudes. This result supports the validation of the 1.6 R_{earth} exoplanet
Kepler-21b by Howell et al. (2012) and complements the constraints set by
adaptive optics imaging, speckle interferometry, and radial velocity
observations to rule out false-positives due to stellar companions. We conclude
that long-baseline interferometry has strong potential to validate transiting
extrasolar planets, particularly for future projects aimed at brighter stars
and for host stars where radial velocity follow-up is not available.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters; v2:
minor changes added in proo
Transit Timing Observations from Kepler: III. Confirmation of 4 Multiple Planet Systems by a Fourier-Domain Study of Anti-correlated Transit Timing Variations
We present a method to confirm the planetary nature of objects in systems
with multiple transiting exoplanet candidates. This method involves a
Fourier-Domain analysis of the deviations in the transit times from a constant
period that result from dynamical interactions within the system. The
combination of observed anti-correlations in the transit times and mass
constraints from dynamical stability allow us to claim the discovery of four
planetary systems Kepler-25, Kepler-26, Kepler-27, and Kepler-28, containing
eight planets and one additional planet candidate.Comment: Accepted to MNRA
Economic burden and health-related quality-of-life among infants with respiratory syncytial virus infection: a multi-country prospective cohort study in Europe
Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes a considerable disease burden in young children globally, but reliable estimates of RSV-related costs and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) are scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the RSV-associated costs and HRQoL effects in infants and their caregivers in four European countries. Methods: Healthy term-born infants were recruited at birth and actively followed up in four European countries. Symptomatic infants were systematically tested for RSV. Caregivers recorded the daily HRQoL of their child and themselves, measured by a modified EQ-5D with Visual Analogue Scale, for 14 consecutive days or until symptoms resolved. At the end of each RSV episode, caregivers reported healthcare resource use and work absenteeism. Direct medical costs per RSV episode were estimated from a healthcare payer's perspective and indirect costs were estimated from a societal perspective. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of direct medical costs, total costs (direct costs + productivity loss) and quality-adjusted life-day (QALD) loss per RSV episode were estimated per RSV episode, as well as per subgroup (medical attendance, country). Results: Our cohort of 1041 infants experienced 265 RSV episodes with a mean symptom duration of 12.5 days. The mean (95% CI) cost per RSV episode was €399.5 (242.3, 584.2) and €494.3 (317.7, 696.1) from the healthcare payer's and societal perspective, respectively. The mean QALD loss per RSV episode of 1.9 (1.7, 2.1) was independent of medical attendance (in contrast to costs, which also differed by country). Caregiver and infant HRQoL evolved similarly. Conclusion: This study fills essential gaps for future economic evaluations by prospectively estimating direct and indirect costs and HRQoL effects on healthy term infants and caregivers separately, for both medically attended (MA) and non-MA laboratory-confirmed RSV episodes. We generally observed greater HRQoL losses than in previous studies which used non-community and/or non-prospective designs
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