Optical and HI properties of isolated galaxies in the 2MIG catalog. I. General relationships

We analyze empirical relationships between the optical, near infrared, and HI characteristics of isolated galaxies from the 2MIG Catalog covering the entire sky. Data on morphological types, K_S-, and B-magnitudes, linear diameters, HI masses, and rotational velocities are examined. The regression parameters, dispersions, and correlation coefficients are calculated for pairs of these characteristics. The resulting relationships can be used to test the hierarchical theory of galaxy formation through numerous mergers of cold dark matter.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, 5 table

Agroforestry with N2-fixing trees: sustainable development's friend or foe?

Legume tree-based farming systems sit at a crucial nexus of agroecological sustainability. Their capacity to support microbial N2 fixation can increase soil nitrogen (N) availability and therefore improve soil fertility, crop yields, and support long-term stewardship of natural resources. However, increasing N availability oftentimes catalyzes the release of N into the surrounding environment, in particular nitrous oxide (N2O)—a potent greenhouse gas. We summarize current knowledge on the agroecological footprint of legume-based agroforestry and provide a first appraisal of whether the technology represents a pathway toward sustainable development or an environmental hazard

Development and validation of multivariable machine learning algorithms to predict risk of cancer in symptomatic patients referred urgently from primary care: a diagnostic accuracy study

Objectives To develop and validate tests to assess the risk of any cancer for patients referred to the NHS Urgent Suspected Cancer (2-week wait, 2WW) clinical pathways. Setting Primary and secondary care, one participating regional centre. Participants Retrospective analysis of data from 371 799 consecutive 2WW referrals in the Leeds region from 2011 to 2019. The development cohort was composed of 224 669 consecutive patients with an urgent suspected cancer referral in Leeds between January 2011 and December 2016. The diagnostic algorithms developed were then externally validated on a similar consecutive sample of 147 130 patients (between January 2017 and December 2019). All such patients over the age of 18 with a minimum set of blood counts and biochemistry measurements available were included in the cohort. Primary and secondary outcome measures sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value, Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve Area Under Curve (AUC), calibration curves Results We present results for two clinical use-cases. In use-case 1, the algorithms identify 20% of patients who do not have cancer and may not need an urgent 2WW referral. In use-case 2, they identify 90% of cancer cases with a high probability of cancer that could be prioritised for review. Conclusions Combining a panel of widely available blood markers produces effective blood tests for cancer for NHS 2WW patients. The tests are affordable, and can be deployed rapidly to any NHS pathology laboratory with no additional hardware requirements

A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws

A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust, bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero' relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies, whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling. For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to Springer: 07-June-201

Search for Charged Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at \sqrt{s} = 189 GeV

A search for pair-produced charged Higgs bosons is performed with the L3 detector at LEP using data collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 188.6 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 176.4 pb^-1. Higgs decays into a charm and a strange quark or into a tau lepton and its associated neutrino are considered. The observed events are consistent with the expectations from Standard Model background processes. A lower limit of 65.5 GeV on the charged Higgs mass is derived at 95 % confidence level, independent of the decay branching ratio Br(H^{+/-} -> tau nu)

Regulation of Energy Stores and Feeding by Neuronal and Peripheral CREB Activity in Drosophila

The cAMP-responsive transcription factor CREB functions in adipose tissue and liver to regulate glycogen and lipid metabolism in mammals. While Drosophila has a homolog of mammalian CREB, dCREB2, its role in energy metabolism is not fully understood. Using tissue-specific expression of a dominant-negative form of CREB (DN-CREB), we have examined the effect of blocking CREB activity in neurons and in the fat body, the primary energy storage depot with functions of adipose tissue and the liver in flies, on energy balance, stress resistance and feeding behavior. We found that disruption of CREB function in neurons reduced glycogen and lipid stores and increased sensitivity to starvation. Expression of DN-CREB in the fat body also reduced glycogen levels, while it did not affect starvation sensitivity, presumably due to increased lipid levels in these flies. Interestingly, blocking CREB activity in the fat body increased food intake. These flies did not show a significant change in overall body size, suggesting that disruption of CREB activity in the fat body caused an obese-like phenotype. Using a transgenic CRE-luciferase reporter, we further demonstrated that disruption of the adipokinetic hormone receptor, which is functionally related to mammalian glucagon and β-adrenergic signaling, in the fat body reduced CRE-mediated transcription in flies. This study demonstrates that CREB activity in either neuronal or peripheral tissues regulates energy balance in Drosophila, and that the key signaling pathway regulating CREB activity in peripheral tissue is evolutionarily conserved

The association between balance and free-living physical activity in an older community-dwelling adult population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Background Poor balance is associated with an increased risk of falling, disability and death in older populations. To better inform policies and help reduce the human and economic cost of falls, this novel review explores the effects of free-living physical activity on balance in older (50 years and over) healthy community-dwelling adults. Methods Search methods: CENTRAL, Bone, Joint and Muscle Trauma Group Specialised register and CDSR in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsychINFO, and AMED were searched from inception to 7th June 2016. Selection criteria: Intervention and observational studies investigating the effects of free-living PA on balance in healthy community-dwelling adults (50 years and older). Data extraction and analysis: Thirty studies were eligible for inclusion. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were independently carried out by two review authors. Due to the variety of outcome measures used in studies, balance outcomes from observational studies were pooled as standardised mean differences or mean difference where appropriate and 95% confidence intervals, and outcomes from RCTs were synthesised using a best evidence approach. Results Limited evidence provided by a small number of RCTs, and evidence from observational studies of moderate methodological quality, suggest that free-living PA of between one and 21 years’ duration improves measures of balance in older healthy community-dwelling adults. Statistical analysis of observational studies found significant effects in favour of more active groups for neuromuscular measures such as gait speed; functionality using Timed Up and Go, Single Leg Stance, and Activities of Balance Confidence Scale; flexibility using the forward reach test; and strength using the isometric knee extension test and ultrasound. A significant effect was also observed for less active groups on a single sensory measure of balance, the knee joint repositioning test. Conclusion There is some evidence that free-living PA is effective in improving balance outcomes in older healthy adults, but future research should include higher quality studies that focus on a consensus of balance measures that are clinically relevant and explore the effects of free-living PA on balance over the longer-term

Study protocol: healthy urban living and ageing in place (HULAP): an international, mixed methods study examining the associations between physical activity, built and social environments for older adults the UK and Brazil

Abstract Background The ability to ‘age in place’ is dependent on a range of inter-personal, social and built environment attributes, with the latter being a key area for potential intervention. There is an emerging body of evidence that indicates the type of built environment features that may best support age friendly communities, but there is a need to expand and consolidate this, while generating a better understanding of how on how research findings can be most effectively be translated in to policy and practice. Methods The study is based on two case study cities, Curtiba (Brazil) and Belfast (UK), which have highly contrasting physical, social and policy environments. The study deploys a mix methods approach, mirrored in each city. This includes the recruitment of 300 participants in each city to wear GPS and accelerometers, a survey capturing physical functioning and other personal attributes, as well as their perception of their local environment using NEWS-A. The study will also measure the built environments of the cities using GIS and develop a tool for auditing the routes used by participants around their neighbourhoods. The study seeks to comparatively map the policy actors and resources involved in healthy ageing in the two cities through interviews, focus groups and discourse analysis. Finally, the study has a significant knowledge exchange component, including the development of a tool to assess the capacities of both researchers and research users to maximise the impact of the research findings. Discussion The HULAP study has been designed and implemented by a multi-disciplinary team and integrates differing methodologies to purposefully impact on policy and practice on healthy ageing in high and low-middle income countries. It has particular strengths in its combination of objective and self-reported measures using validated tools and the integration of GPS, accelerometer and GIS data to provide a robust assessment of ‘spatial energetics’. The strong knowledge exchange strand means that the study is expected to also contribute to our understanding of how to maximise research impact in this field and create effective evidence for linking older adult’s physical activity with the social, built and policy environments

The expansion field: The value of H_0

Any calibration of the present value of the Hubble constant requires recession velocities and distances of galaxies. While the conversion of observed velocities into true recession velocities has only a small effect on the result, the derivation of unbiased distances which rest on a solid zero point and cover a useful range of about 4-30 Mpc is crucial. A list of 279 such galaxy distances within v<2000 km/s is given which are derived from the tip of the red-giant branch (TRGB), from Cepheids, and from supernovae of type Ia (SNe Ia). Their random errors are not more than 0.15 mag as shown by intercomparison. They trace a linear expansion field within narrow margins from v=250 to at least 2000 km/s. Additional 62 distant SNe Ia confirm the linearity to at least 20,000 km/s. The dispersion about the Hubble line is dominated by random peculiar velocities, amounting locally to <100 km/s but increasing outwards. Due to the linearity of the expansion field the Hubble constant H_0 can be found at any distance >4.5 Mpc. RR Lyr star-calibrated TRGB distances of 78 galaxies above this limit give H_0=63.0+/-1.6 at an effective distance of 6 Mpc. They compensate the effect of peculiar motions by their large number. Support for this result comes from 28 independently calibrated Cepheids that give H_0=63.4+/-1.7 at 15 Mpc. This agrees also with the large-scale value of H_0=61.2+/-0.5 from the distant, Cepheid-calibrated SNe Ia. A mean value of H_0=62.3+/-1.3 is adopted. Because the value depends on two independent zero points of the distance scale its systematic error is estimated to be 6%. Typical errors of H_0 come from the use of a universal, yet unjustified P-L relation of Cepheids, the neglect of selection bias in magnitude-limited samples, or they are inherent to the adopted models.Comment: 44 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in the Astronony and Astrophysics Review 15