174 research outputs found
Separation of Oligosaccharides from Lotus Seeds via Medium-pressure Liquid Chromatography Coupled with ELSD and DAD
peer-reviewedLotus seeds were identified by the Ministry of Public Health of China as both food and medicine. One general function of lotus seeds is to improve intestinal health. However, to date, studies evaluating the relationship between bioactive compounds in lotus seeds and the physiological activity of the intestine are limited. In the present study, by using medium pressure liquid chromatography coupled with evaporative light-scattering detector and diode-array detector, five oligosaccharides were isolated and their structures were further characterized by electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In vitro testing determined that LOS3-1 and LOS4 elicited relatively good proliferative effects on Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. These results indicated a structure-function relationship between the physiological activity of oligosaccharides in lotus seeds and the number of probiotics applied, thus providing room for improvement of this particular feature. Intestinal probiotics may potentially become a new effective drug target for the regulation of immunity
On twisted Fourier analysis and convergence of Fourier series on discrete groups
We study norm convergence and summability of Fourier series in the setting of
reduced twisted group -algebras of discrete groups. For amenable groups,
F{\o}lner nets give the key to Fej\'er summation. We show that Abel-Poisson
summation holds for a large class of groups, including e.g. all Coxeter groups
and all Gromov hyperbolic groups. As a tool in our presentation, we introduce
notions of polynomial and subexponential H-growth for countable groups w.r.t.
proper scale functions, usually chosen as length functions. These coincide with
the classical notions of growth in the case of amenable groups.Comment: 35 pages; abridged, revised and update
Triggering of the 2014 M_w7.3 Papanoa earthquake by a slow slip event in Guerrero, Mexico
Since their discovery two decades ago, slow slip events have been shown to play an important role in accommodating strain in subduction zones. However, the physical mechanisms that generate slow slip and the relationships with earthquakes are unclear. Slow slip events have been recorded in the Guerrero segment of the Cocos–North America subduction zone. Here we use inversion of position time series recorded by a continuous GPS network to reconstruct the evolution of aseismic slip on the subduction interface of the Guerrero segment. We find that a slow slip event began in February 2014, two months before the magnitude (M_w) 7.3 Papanoa earthquake on 18 April. The slow slip event initiated in a region adjacent to the earthquake hypocentre and extended into the vicinity of the seismogenic zone. This spatio-temporal proximity strongly suggests that the Papanoa earthquake was triggered by the ongoing slow slip event. We demonstrate that the triggering mechanism could be either static stress increases in the hypocentral region, as revealed by Coulomb stress modelling, or enhanced weakening of the earthquake hypocentral area by the slow slip. We also show that the plate interface in the Guerrero area is highly coupled between slow slip events, and that most of the accumulated strain is released aseismically during the slow slip episodes
<i>Gaia</i> Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties
Context. At about 1000 days after the launch of Gaia we present the first Gaia data release, Gaia DR1, consisting of astrometry and photometry for over 1 billion sources brighter than magnitude 20.7.
Aims. A summary of Gaia DR1 is presented along with illustrations of the scientific quality of the data, followed by a discussion of the limitations due to the preliminary nature of this release.
Methods. The raw data collected by Gaia during the first 14 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and turned into an astrometric and photometric catalogue.
Results. Gaia DR1 consists of three components: a primary astrometric data set which contains the positions, parallaxes, and mean proper motions for about 2 million of the brightest stars in common with the HIPPARCOS and Tycho-2 catalogues – a realisation of the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) – and a secondary astrometric data set containing the positions for an additional 1.1 billion sources. The second component is the photometric data set, consisting of mean G-band magnitudes for all sources. The G-band light curves and the characteristics of ∼3000 Cepheid and RR-Lyrae stars, observed at high cadence around the south ecliptic pole, form the third component. For the primary astrometric data set the typical uncertainty is about 0.3 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and about 1 mas yr−1 for the proper motions. A systematic component of ∼0.3 mas should be added to the parallax uncertainties. For the subset of ∼94 000 HIPPARCOS stars in the primary data set, the proper motions are much more precise at about 0.06 mas yr−1. For the secondary astrometric data set, the typical uncertainty of the positions is ∼10 mas. The median uncertainties on the mean G-band magnitudes range from the mmag level to ∼0.03 mag over the magnitude range 5 to 20.7.
Conclusions. Gaia DR1 is an important milestone ahead of the next Gaia data release, which will feature five-parameter astrometry for all sources. Extensive validation shows that Gaia DR1 represents a major advance in the mapping of the heavens and the availability of basic stellar data that underpin observational astrophysics. Nevertheless, the very preliminary nature of this first Gaia data release does lead to a number of important limitations to the data quality which should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions from the data
Shape Retrieval of Non-rigid 3D Human Models
3D models of humans are commonly used within computer graphics and vision, and so the ability to distinguish between body shapes is an important shape retrieval problem. We extend our recent paper which provided a benchmark for testing non-rigid 3D shape retrieval algorithms on 3D human models. This benchmark provided a far stricter challenge than previous shape benchmarks. We have added 145 new models for use as a separate training set, in order to standardise the training data used and provide a fairer comparison. We have also included experiments with the FAUST dataset of human scans. All participants of the previous benchmark study have taken part in the new tests reported here, many providing updated results using the new data. In addition, further participants have also taken part, and we provide extra analysis of the retrieval results. A total of 25 different shape retrieval methods are compared
Neonatal Administration of Thimerosal Causes Persistent Changes in Mu Opioid Receptors in the Rat Brain
Thimerosal added to some pediatric vaccines is suspected in pathogenesis of several neurodevelopmental disorders. Our previous study showed that thimerosal administered to suckling rats causes persistent, endogenous opioid-mediated hypoalgesia. Here we examined, using immunohistochemical staining technique, the density of μ-opioid receptors (MORs) in the brains of rats, which in the second postnatal week received four i.m. injections of thimerosal at doses 12, 240, 1,440 or 3,000 μg Hg/kg. The periaqueductal gray, caudate putamen and hippocampus were examined. Thimerosal administration caused dose-dependent statistically significant increase in MOR densities in the periaqueductal gray and caudate putamen, but decrease in the dentate gyrus, where it was accompanied by the presence of degenerating neurons and loss of synaptic vesicle marker (synaptophysin). These data document that exposure to thimerosal during early postnatal life produces lasting alterations in the densities of brain opioid receptors along with other neuropathological changes, which may disturb brain development
A PDE patch-based spectral method for progressive mesh compression and mesh denoising
The development of the patchwise partial differential equation (PDE) framework a few years ago has paved the way for the PDE method to be used in mesh signal processing. In this paper, we, for the first time, extend the use of the PDE method to progressive mesh compression and mesh denoising. We, meanwhile, upgrade the existing patchwise PDE method in patch merging, mesh partitioning, and boundary extraction to accommodate mesh signal processing. In our new method, an arbitrary mesh model is partitioned into patches, each of which can be represented by a small set of coefficients of its PDE spectral solution. Since low-frequency components contribute more to the reconstructed mesh than high-frequency ones, we can achieve progressive mesh compression and mesh denoising by manipulating the frequency terms of the PDE solution. Experimental results demonstrate the feasibility of our method in both progressive mesh compression and mesh denoising
Gaia Data Release 1: Open cluster astrometry: Performance, limitations, and future prospects
Context. The first Gaia Data Release contains the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric
Solution (TGAS). This is a subset of about 2 million stars for which, besides
the position and photometry, the proper motion and parallax are calculated
using Hipparcos and Tycho-2 positions in 1991.25 as prior information. Aims. We
investigate the scientific potential and limitations of the TGAS component by
means of the astrometric data for open clusters. Methods. Mean cluster parallax
and proper motion values are derived taking into account the error correlations
within the astrometric solutions for individual stars, an estimate of the
internal velocity dispersion in the cluster, and, where relevant, the effects
of the depth of the cluster along the line of sight. Internal consistency of
the TGAS data is assessed. Results. Values given for standard uncertainties are
still inaccurate and may lead to unrealistic unit-weight standard deviations of
least squares solutions for cluster parameters. Reconstructed mean cluster
parallax and proper motion values are generally in very good agreement with
earlier Hipparcos-based determination, although the Gaia mean parallax for the
Pleiades is a significant exception. We have no current explanation for that
discrepancy. Most clusters are observed to extend to nearly 15 pc from the
cluster centre, and it will be up to future Gaia releases to establish whether
those potential cluster-member stars are still dynamically bound to the
clusters. Conclusions. The Gaia DR1 provides the means to examine open clusters
far beyond their more easily visible cores, and can provide membership
assessments based on proper motions and parallaxes. A combined HR diagram shows
the same features as observed before using the Hipparcos data, with clearly
increased luminosities for older A and F dwarfs
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Gaia Data Release 1: Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties
At about 1000 days after the launch of Gaia we present the first Gaia data
release, Gaia DR1, consisting of astrometry and photometry for over 1 billion
sources brighter than magnitude 20.7. We summarize Gaia DR1 and provide
illustrations of the scientific quality of the data, followed by a discussion
of the limitations due to the preliminary nature of this release. Gaia DR1
consists of: a primary astrometric data set which contains the positions,
parallaxes, and mean proper motions for about 2 million of the brightest stars
in common with the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues and a secondary astrometric
data set containing the positions for an additional 1.1 billion sources. The
second component is the photometric data set,consisting of mean G-band
magnitudes for all sources. The G-band light curves and the characteristics of
~3000 Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars, observed at high cadence around the south
ecliptic pole, form the third component. For the primary astrometric data set
the typical uncertainty is about 0.3 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and
about 1 mas/yr for the proper motions. A systematic component of ~0.3 mas
should be added to the parallax uncertainties. For the subset of ~94000
Hipparcos stars in the primary data set, the proper motions are much more
precise at about 0.06 mas/yr. For the secondary astrometric data set, the
typical uncertainty of the positions is ~10 mas. The median uncertainties on
the mean G-band magnitudes range from the mmag level to ~0.03 mag over the
magnitude range 5 to 20.7. Gaia DR1 represents a major advance in the mapping
of the heavens and the availability of basic stellar data that underpin
observational astrophysics. Nevertheless, the very preliminary nature of this
first Gaia data release does lead to a number of important limitations to the
data quality which should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions
from the data
Increased 30-Day Mortality in Very Old ICU Patients with COVID-19 Compared to Patients with Respiratory Failure without COVID-19
Purpose: The number of patients ≥ 80 years admitted into critical care is increasing. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) added another challenge for clinical decisions for both admission and limitation of life-sustaining treatments (LLST). We aimed to compare the characteristics and mortality of very old critically ill patients with or without COVID-19 with a focus on LLST.
Methods: Patients 80 years or older with acute respiratory failure were recruited from the VIP2 and COVIP studies. Baseline patient characteristics, interventions in intensive care unit (ICU) and outcomes (30-day survival) were recorded. COVID patients were matched to non-COVID patients based on the following factors: age (± 2 years), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score (± 2 points), clinical frailty scale (± 1 point), gender and region on a 1:2 ratio. Specific ICU procedures and LLST were compared between the cohorts by means of cumulative incidence curves taking into account the competing risk of discharge and death.
Results: 693 COVID patients were compared to 1393 non-COVID patients. COVID patients were younger, less frail, less severely ill with lower SOFA score, but were treated more often with invasive mechanical ventilation (MV) and had a lower 30-day survival. 404 COVID patients could be matched to 666 non-COVID patients. For COVID patients, withholding and withdrawing of LST were more frequent than for non-COVID and the 30-day survival was almost half compared to non-COVID patients.
Conclusion: Very old COVID patients have a different trajectory than non-COVID patients. Whether this finding is due to a decision policy with more active treatment limitation or to an inherent higher risk of death due to COVID-19 is unclear.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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