82 research outputs found
Broad emission lines in optical spectra of hot dust-obscured galaxies can contribute significantly to JWST/NIRCam photometry
Selecting the first galaxies at z>7-10 from JWST surveys is complicated by
z<6 contaminants with degenerate photometry. For example, strong optical
nebular emission lines at z7-10 Lyman
Break Galaxies (LBGs). Dust-obscured 3<z<6 galaxies in particular are
potentially important contaminants, and their faint rest-optical spectra have
been historically difficult to observe. A lack of optical emission line and
continuum measures for 3<z<6 dusty galaxies now makes it difficult to test
their expected JWST/NIRCam photometry for degenerate solutions with NIRCam
dropouts. Towards this end, we quantify the contribution by strong emission
lines to NIRCam photometry in a physically motivated manner by stacking 21 Keck
II/NIRES spectra of hot, dust-obscured, massive
() and infrared (IR) luminous galaxies at
z~1-4. We derive an average spectrum and measure strong narrow (broad)
[OIII]5007 and H features with equivalent widths of A
( A) and A ( A) respectively. These features can
increase broadband NIRCam fluxes by factors of 1.2-1.7 (0.2-0.6 mag). Due to
significant dust-attenuation (), we find H+[NII] to be
significantly brighter than [OIII]+H, and therefore find that
emission-line dominated contaminants of high-z galaxy searches can only
reproduce moderately blue perceived UV continua of
with and z>4. While there are some
redshifts (z~3.75) where our stack is more degenerate with the photometry of
z>10 LBGs between m, redder filter coverage
beyond m and far-IR/sub-mm follow-up may be useful for
breaking the degeneracy and making a crucial separation between two fairly
unconstrained populations, dust-obscured galaxies at z~3-6 and LBGs at z>10.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, submitted to ApJ
Using Metabolic Potential Within the Airway Microbiome as Predictors of Clinical State in Persons With Cystic Fibrosis
Introduction: Pulmonary exacerbations (PEx) in persons with cystic fibrosis (CF) are primarily related to acute or chronic inflammation associated with bacterial lung infections, which may be caused by several bacteria that activate similar bacterial genes and produce similar by-products. The goal of our study was to perform a stratified functional analysis of bacterial genes at three distinct time points in the treatment of a PEx in order to determine the role that specific airway microbiome community members may play within each clinical state (i.e., PEx, end of antibiotic treatment, and follow-up). Our secondary goal was to compare the change between clinical states with the metabolic activity of specific airway microbiome community members.
Methods: This was a prospective observational study of persons with CF treated with intravenous antibiotics for PEx between 2016 and 2020 at Children\u27s National Hospital. Demographic and clinical information as well as respiratory samples were collected at hospital admission for PEx, end of antibiotic treatment, and follow-up. Metagenomic sequencing was performed; MetaPhlAn3 and HUMANn3 were used to assign sequences to bacterial species and bacterial metabolic genes, respectively.
Results: Twenty-two persons with CF, with a mean age of 14.5 (range 7-23) years, experienced 45 PEx during the study period. Two-hundred twenty-one bacterial species were identified in the respiratory samples from the study cohort. Ten bacterial species had differential gene abundance across changes in the clinical state including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus salivarius, and Veillonella atypica (all padj \u3c 0.01 and log2FoldChange \u3e |2|). These corresponded to a differential abundance of bacterial genes, with S. aureus accounting for 81% of the genes more abundant in PEx and S. salivarius accounting for 83% of the genes more abundant in follow-up, all compared to the end of treatment. Lastly, 8,653 metabolic pathways were identified across samples, with again S. aureus and S. salivarius contributing to the differential abundance of pathways (106 in PEx vs. 66 in follow-up, respectively). V. atypica was associated with a single metabolic pathway (UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine biosynthesis) increased in follow-up compared to PEx.
Discussion: Taken together, these data suggest that the metabolic potential of bacterial species can provide more insight into changes across clinical states than the relative abundance of the bacteria alone
Red hot frogs:Identifying the Australian frogs most at risk of extinction
More than a third of the world’s amphibian species are listed as Threatened or Extinct, with a recent assessment identifying 45 Australian frogs (18.4% of the currently recognised species) as ‘Threatened’ based on IUCN criteria. We applied structured expert elicitation to 26 frogs assessed as Critically Endangered and Endangered to estimate their probability of extinction by 2040. We also investigated whether participant experience (measured as a self-assigned categorical score, i.e. ‘expert’ or ‘non-expert’) influenced the estimates. Collation and analysis of participant opinion indicated that eight species are at high risk (>50% chance) of becoming extinct by 2040, with the disease chytridiomycosis identified as the primary threat. A further five species are at moderate–high risk (30–50% chance), primarily due to climate change. Fourteen of the 26 frog species are endemic to Queensland, with many species restricted to small geographic ranges that are susceptible to stochastic events (e.g. a severe heatwave or a large bushfire). Experts were more likely to rate extinction probability higher for poorly known species (those with <10 experts), while non-experts were more likely to rate extinction probability higher for better-known species. However, scores converged following discussion, indicating that there was greater consensus in the estimates of extinction probability. Increased resourcing and management intervention are urgently needed to avert future extinctions of Australia’s frogs. Key priorities include developing and supporting captive management and establishing or extending in-situ population refuges to alleviate the impacts of disease and climate change
Measurement of the helicity asymmetry E in omega -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) photoproduction
The double-polarization observable E was studied for the reaction γp → pω using the CEBAF Large
Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility and the
longitudinally polarized frozen-spin target (FROST). The observable was measured from the charged decay
mode of the meson, ω → π+π−π0, using a circularly polarized tagged-photon beam with energies ranging
from the ω threshold at 1.1 to 2.3 GeV. A partial-wave analysis within the Bonn-Gatchina framework found
dominant contributions from the 3/2+ partial wave near threshold, which is identified with the subthreshold
N(1720) 3/2+ nucleon resonance. To describe the entire data set, which consisted of ω differential cross sections
and a large variety of polarization observables, further contributions from other nucleon resonances were found
to be necessary. With respect to nonresonant mechanisms, π exchange in the t channel was found to remain small
across the analyzed energy range, while Pomeron t-channel exchange gradually grew from the reaction threshold
to dominate all other contributions above W ≈ 2 GeV
Genomic reconstruction of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in England.
The evolution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus leads to new variants that warrant timely epidemiological characterization. Here we use the dense genomic surveillance data generated by the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium to reconstruct the dynamics of 71 different lineages in each of 315 English local authorities between September 2020 and June 2021. This analysis reveals a series of subepidemics that peaked in early autumn 2020, followed by a jump in transmissibility of the B.1.1.7/Alpha lineage. The Alpha variant grew when other lineages declined during the second national lockdown and regionally tiered restrictions between November and December 2020. A third more stringent national lockdown suppressed the Alpha variant and eliminated nearly all other lineages in early 2021. Yet a series of variants (most of which contained the spike E484K mutation) defied these trends and persisted at moderately increasing proportions. However, by accounting for sustained introductions, we found that the transmissibility of these variants is unlikely to have exceeded the transmissibility of the Alpha variant. Finally, B.1.617.2/Delta was repeatedly introduced in England and grew rapidly in early summer 2021, constituting approximately 98% of sampled SARS-CoV-2 genomes on 26 June 2021
Semi-inclusive pi(0) target and beam-target asymmetries from 6 GeV electron scattering with CLAS
We present precision measurements of the target and beam-target spin
asymmetries from neutral pion electroproduction in deep-inelastic scattering
(DIS) using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at Jefferson Lab. We
scattered 6-GeV, longitudinally polarized electrons off longitudinally
polarized protons in a cryogenic NH target, and extracted double and
single target spin asymmetries for in
multidimensional bins in four-momentum transfer ( GeV),
Bjorken- (), hadron energy fraction (), transverse
pion momentum ( GeV), and azimuthal angle between the
lepton scattering and hadron production planes. We extracted asymmetries as a
function of both and , which provide access to transverse-momentum
distributions of longitudinally polarized quarks. The double spin asymmetries
depend weakly on . The moments are zero within
uncertainties, which is consistent with the expected suppression of the Collins
fragmentation function. The observed moments suggest that quark
gluon correlations are significant at large .Comment: 18 preprint pages, 3 figure
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron is an immune escape variant with an altered cell entry pathway
Vaccines based on the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 are a cornerstone of the public health response to COVID-19. The emergence of hypermutated, increasingly transmissible variants of concern (VOCs) threaten this strategy. Omicron (B.1.1.529), the fifth VOC to be described, harbours multiple amino acid mutations in spike, half of which lie within the receptor-binding domain. Here we demonstrate substantial evasion of neutralization by Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants in vitro using sera from individuals vaccinated with ChAdOx1, BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273. These data were mirrored by a substantial reduction in real-world vaccine effectiveness that was partially restored by booster vaccination. The Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2 did not induce cell syncytia in vitro and favoured a TMPRSS2-independent endosomal entry pathway, these phenotypes mapping to distinct regions of the spike protein. Impaired cell fusion was determined by the receptor-binding domain, while endosomal entry mapped to the S2 domain. Such marked changes in antigenicity and replicative biology may underlie the rapid global spread and altered pathogenicity of the Omicron variant
Investigation of hospital discharge cases and SARS-CoV-2 introduction into Lothian care homes
Background
The first epidemic wave of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Scotland resulted in high case numbers and mortality in care homes. In Lothian, over one-third of care homes reported an outbreak, while there was limited testing of hospital patients discharged to care homes.
Aim
To investigate patients discharged from hospitals as a source of SARS-CoV-2 introduction into care homes during the first epidemic wave.
Methods
A clinical review was performed for all patients discharges from hospitals to care homes from 1st March 2020 to 31st May 2020. Episodes were ruled out based on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) test history, clinical assessment at discharge, whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data and an infectious period of 14 days. Clinical samples were processed for WGS, and consensus genomes generated were used for analysis using Cluster Investigation and Virus Epidemiological Tool software. Patient timelines were obtained using electronic hospital records.
Findings
In total, 787 patients discharged from hospitals to care homes were identified. Of these, 776 (99%) were ruled out for subsequent introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes. However, for 10 episodes, the results were inconclusive as there was low genomic diversity in consensus genomes or no sequencing data were available. Only one discharge episode had a genomic, time and location link to positive cases during hospital admission, leading to 10 positive cases in their care home.
Conclusion
The majority of patients discharged from hospitals were ruled out for introduction of SARS-CoV-2 into care homes, highlighting the importance of screening all new admissions when faced with a novel emerging virus and no available vaccine
Accessing Low-Valent Titanium CCC-NHC Complexes: Toward Nitrogen Fixation
The dramatic expansion of the earth’s population can be directly correlated with the Haber–Bosch process for nitrogen fixation becoming widely available after World War II. The ready availability of artificial fertilizer derived thereof dramatically improved food supplies world-wide. Recently, artificial nitrogen fixation surpassed the natural process. The Haber–Bosch process is extremely energy and green-house gas intensive due to its high-temperature and H2 demands. Many low valent Ti(II) complexes of N2 are known. We report herein a preliminary investigation of the low-valent chemistry of Ti with the CCC-NHC ligand architecture. These CCC-NHC pincer Ti(IV) complexes are readily reduced with KC8 or Mg powder. Preliminary results indicate very different reactivity patterns with alkynes and phosphines for this ligand architecture versus prior ligands. Successful reduction to an intact low-valent (CCC-NHC)Ti complex was confirmed by re-oxidation with PhICl2
Accessing Low-Valent Titanium CCC-NHC Complexes: Toward Nitrogen Fixation
The dramatic expansion of the earth’s population can be directly correlated with the Haber–Bosch process for nitrogen fixation becoming widely available after World War II. The ready availability of artificial fertilizer derived thereof dramatically improved food supplies world-wide. Recently, artificial nitrogen fixation surpassed the natural process. The Haber–Bosch process is extremely energy and green-house gas intensive due to its high-temperature and H2 demands. Many low valent Ti(II) complexes of N2 are known. We report herein a preliminary investigation of the low-valent chemistry of Ti with the CCC-NHC ligand architecture. These CCC-NHC pincer Ti(IV) complexes are readily reduced with KC8 or Mg powder. Preliminary results indicate very different reactivity patterns with alkynes and phosphines for this ligand architecture versus prior ligands. Successful reduction to an intact low-valent (CCC-NHC)Ti complex was confirmed by re-oxidation with PhICl2
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