Impact of IVIG vs. SCIG on IgG trough level and infection incidence in primary immunodeficiency diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies.

Background: Monthly intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and weekly subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIG) have been regarded as therapeutically equivalent treatments for primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDD). Immunoglobulin G (IgG) trough level is used as a monitoring measure for infection prevention. Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to elucidate the relationship between IgG dosing, trough IgG levels with overall infection incidence in patients with PIDD receiving IVIG and SCIG therapy. Methods: Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, Central, and Scopus were searched for studies published from Jan 2010-June 2018, fulfilling the inclusion criteria. DerSimonian and Laird random-effects method were used to pool the difference of IgG trough levels. Random-effect meta-regression was used to evaluate infection incidence per 100 mg/dl IgG trough increase though IVIG and SCIG. Results: Out of 24 observational studies included, 11 compared IgG trough levels among SCIG and IVIG (mean difference: 73.4 mg/dl, 95% CI: 31.67-119.19 mg/dl, I2 = 45%, p = 0.05), favoring weekly SCIG. For every 100 mg/dl increase in the trough, a linear trend of decreased incidence rates of infection was identified in SCIG patients (p = 0.03), but no similar trend was identified in trough levels vs. infection rates for patients receiving IVIG (p = 0.67). Conclusion: In our study, weekly SCIG attained a higher trough level in comparison to monthly IVIG. Higher SCIG troughs were associated with lower infection rates, while IVIG troughs demonstrated no relationship

Compact Nuclei in Galaxies at Moderate Redshift:II. Their Nature and Implications for the AGN Luminosity Function

This study explores the space density and properties of active galaxies to z=0.8. We have investigated the frequency and nature of unresolved nuclei in galaxies at moderate redshift as indicators of nuclear activity such as Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) or starbursts. Candidates are selected by fitting imaged galaxies with multi-component models using maximum likelihood estimate techniques to determine the best model fit. We select those galaxies requiring an unresolved point-source component in the galaxy nucleus, in addition to a disk and/or bulge component, to adequately model the galaxy light. We have searched 70 WFPC2 images primarily from the Medium Deep Survey for galaxies containing compact nuclei. In our survey of 1033 galaxies, the fraction containing an unresolved nuclear component greater than 5% of the total galaxy light is 9+/-1% corrected for incompleteness. In this second of two papers in this series, we discuss the nature of the compact nuclei and their hosts. We present the upper limit luminosity function (LF) for low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN) in two redshift bins to z=0.8. Mild number density evolution is detected for nuclei at -18 -16 and this flatness, combined with the increase in number density, is inconsistent with pure luminosity evolution. Based on the amount of density evolution observed for these objects, we find that almost all present-day spiral galaxies could have hosted a LLAGN at some point in their lives. We also comment on the likely contribution of these compact nuclei to the soft X-ray background.Comment: 50 pages, 14 figures, to appear in ApJ, April 199

Sediment source and mixing and the cycle of sediment transport: an example from NE Negev Desert, Israel.

Alluvial terraces represent the end product of sedimentary cycles; each includes sediment generation, transport, accumulation, and the ultimate incision that forms abandoned alluvial surfaces. We examine the middle Pleistocene to recent drainage system evolution in Makhtesh Hazera, Negev Desert, southern Israel and compare the characteristics of erosion and sediment transport in the present system with those expressed by the alluvial terraces. The Hazera drainage basin lies at the margins of the arid to hyper-arid Dead Sea rift (DSR). Makhtesh (crater) Hazera is a deeply incised erosional structure (5X7 km) that has been excavated since the early Pliocene into the crest of the Hazera asymmetric anticline. The Makhtesh floor is surrounded by cliffs rising more than 400 meters high. The cliffs are built of Upper Cretaceous hard carbonates caprocks overlying Lower Cretaceous friable quartz sandstones. Bedrock knickpoints isolate the drainage basin in the Makhtesh and above it from a direct influence of the terminal base level of the DSR. Thus, the accumulation of sediment and abandonment of terraces are controlled by climate and bedrock barriers located at the Makhtesh outlet. We use cosmogenic isotope concentrations to determine bedrock denudation rates, ages of alluvial terraces, and basin wide erosion rates in different channels throughout the basin. The use of cosmogenic isotopes enables us to determine sediment sources and reconstruct sedimentary cycles. OSL dating was used to determine the accumulation ages of alluvial sediment in alluvial terraces. These two methods enable quantitative evaluation of fluvial processes. Bedrock erosion rates suggest a strong dependence of erosion on lithology. While the Lower Cretaceous sandstone erodes at >100 mm ky-1, the overlying hard carbonate caprock yielded cosmogenic isotope concentrations that correspond to erosion rates of 1-3 mm ky-1. This significant difference in erosion rates maintains the dramatic relief of the Hazera drainage basin. We find that the quartz sediment in the present fluvial system of Makhtesh Hazera originates from two predominant sources. One is the Lower Cretaceous sandstone that crops out along the base of the Makhtesh cliffs. The second source are un consolidated Miocene sands that fill the syncline which is located north west of the Makhtesh and is drained into it. 10Be concentrations in successive samples indicate that the Miocene sand is gradually diluted by Lower Cretaceous sand as it flows down stream and the mixing of sediment from both sources is good. Alluvial terraces and bedrock units exposed inside the Makhtesh do not contribute a significant amount of sediment to the present drainage system. Three major alluvial terrace levels were identified. The highest terrace level (MKT0) was abandoned at 279±19 ky. This level probably covered most of the Makhtesh surface. The deposition of the two lower levels, MKT1 and MKT2 (which were abandoned at 160±6 and 47±9 ky, respectively), was confined to the present drainage system. Analysis of cosmogenic depth profiles from the terraces suggests significant recycling of sediment within the Mekhtesh. This is in contrast to the present system that lacks recycled sediment. We explain this difference by the fact that the terraces are the final product of a sedimentary cycle while the present drainage system presents a “snapshot” in time which does not represent the entire cycle only the present state of the system which is expressed by rapid incision and very little lateral migration.European Geosciences Unio

Analysis of in Vivo Plant Stem Impedance Variations in Relation with External Conditions Daily Cycle

World population growth and desertification are the most severe issue to agricultural food production. Smart agriculture is a promising solution to ensure food security. The use of sensors to monitor crop production can help farmers improve the yield and reduce water consumption. Here we propose a study where the electrical impedance of green plants' stem is analyzed in vivo, along with environmental conditions. In particular, the variations associated with the daily cycle are highlighted. These analyses lead to the possibility of understanding plant status directly from stem impedance

Boson Stars as Gravitational Lenses

We discuss boson stars as possible gravitational lenses and study the lensing effect by these objects made of scalar particles. The mass and the size of a boson star may vary from an individual Newtonian object similar to the Sun to the general relativistic size and mass of a galaxy close to its Schwarzschild radius. We assume boson stars to be transparent which allows the light to pass through them though the light is gravitationally deflected. We assume boson stars of the mass $M = 10^{10}M_\odot$ to be on non-cosmological distance from the observer. We discuss the lens equation for these stars as well as the details of magnification. We find that there are typically three images of a star but the deflection angles may vary from arcseconds to even degrees. There is one tangential critical curve (Einstein ring) and one radial critical curve for tangential and radial magnification, respectively. Moreover, the deflection angles for the light passing in the gravitational field of boson stars can be very large (even of the order of degrees) which reflects the fact they are very strong relativistic objects. We also propose a suitable formula for the lens equation for such large deflection angles, and with the reservation that large deflection angle images are highly demagnified but in the area of the tangential critical curve, their existence may help in observational detection of suitable lenses possessing characteristic features of boson stars which could also serve as a direct evidence for scalar fields in the universe.Comment: accepted by Astrophys. J., 31 pages, AASTeX, 6 figure

A forming disk at z~0.6: Collapse of a gaseous disk or major merger remnant?

[Abridged] We present and analyze observations of J033241.88-274853.9 at z=0.6679, using multi-wavelength photometry and imaging with FLAMES/GIRAFFE 3D spectroscopy. J033241.88-274853.9 is found to be a blue, young (~320Myr) stellar disk embedded in a very gas-rich (fgas=73-82% with log(Mstellar/Mo)=9.45) and turbulent phase that is found to be rotating on large spatial scales. We identified two unusual properties of J033241.88-274853.9. (1) The spatial distributions of the ionized gaseous and young stars show a strong decoupling; while almost no stars can be detected in the southern part down to the very deep detection limit of ACS/UDF images, significant emission from the [OII] ionized gas is detected. (2) We detect an excess of velocity dispersion in the southern part of J033241.88-274853.9 in comparison to expectations from a rotating disk model. We considered two disk formation scenarios, depending on the gaseous phase geometry. In the first one, we examined whether J033241.88-274853.9 could be a young rotating disk that has been recently collapsed from a pre-existing, very gas-rich rotating disk. This scenario requires two (unknown) additional assumptions to explain the decoupling between the distribution of stars and gas and the excess of velocity dispersion in the same region. In a second scenario, we examine whether J033241.88-274853.9 could be a merger remnant of two gas-rich disks. In this case, the asymmetry observed between the gas and star distributions, as well as the excess of velocity dispersion, find a common explanation. Shocks produced during the merger in this region can be ionized easily and heat the gas while preventing star formation. This makes this scenario more satisfactory than the collapse of a pre-existing, gas-rich rotating disk.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 8 pages & 5 figure

LNCS

In resource allocation games, selfish players share resources that are needed in order to fulfill their objectives. The cost of using a resource depends on the load on it. In the traditional setting, the players make their choices concurrently and in one-shot. That is, a strategy for a player is a subset of the resources. We introduce and study dynamic resource allocation games. In this setting, the game proceeds in phases. In each phase each player chooses one resource. A scheduler dictates the order in which the players proceed in a phase, possibly scheduling several players to proceed concurrently. The game ends when each player has collected a set of resources that fulfills his objective. The cost for each player then depends on this set as well as on the load on the resources in it – we consider both congestion and cost-sharing games. We argue that the dynamic setting is the suitable setting for many applications in practice. We study the stability of dynamic resource allocation games, where the appropriate notion of stability is that of subgame perfect equilibrium, study the inefficiency incurred due to selfish behavior, and also study problems that are particular to the dynamic setting, like constraints on the order in which resources can be chosen or the problem of finding a scheduler that achieves stability

Bidding Games on Markov Decision Processes

In two-player games on graphs, the players move a token through a graph to produce an infinite path, which determines the qualitative winner or quantitative payoff of the game. In bidding games, in each turn, we hold an auction between the two players to determine which player moves the token. Bidding games have largely been studied with concrete bidding mechanisms that are variants of a first-price auction: in each turn both players simultaneously submit bids, the higher bidder moves the token, and pays his bid to the lower bidder in Richman bidding, to the bank in poorman bidding, and in taxman bidding, the bid is split between the other player and the bank according to a predefined constant factor. Bidding games are deterministic games. They have an intriguing connection with a fragment of stochastic games called randomturn games. We study, for the first time, a combination of bidding games with probabilistic behavior; namely, we study bidding games that are played on Markov decision processes, where the players bid for the right to choose the next action, which determines the probability distribution according to which the next vertex is chosen. We study parity and meanpayoff bidding games on MDPs and extend results from the deterministic bidding setting to the probabilistic one

Probing the atmosphere of a solar-like star by galactic microlensing at high magnification

We report a measurement of limb darkening of a solar-like star in the very high magnification microlensing event MOA 2002-BLG-33. A 15 hour deviation from the light curve profile expected for a single lens was monitored intensively in V and I passbands by five telescopes spanning the globe. Our modelling of the light curve showed the lens to be a close binary system whose centre-of-mass passed almost directly in front of the source star. The source star was identified as an F8-G2 main sequence turn-off star. The measured stellar profiles agree with current stellar atmosphere theory to within ~4% in two passbands. The effective angular resolution of the measurements is <1 micro-arcsec. These are the first limb darkening measurements obtained by microlensing for a Solar-like star.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters. 5 pages, 2 embedded colour ps figures plus 1 jpg figure. Version with all figures embedded available from: http://www.roe.ac.uk/~iab/moa33paper

Statistics: Handle with Care, Detecting Multiple Model Components with the Likelihood Ratio Test

The likelihood ratio test (LRT) and the related $F$ test, do not (even asymptotically) adhere to their nominal $\chi^2$ and $F$ distributions in many statistical tests common in astrophysics, thereby casting many marginal line or source detections and non-detections into doubt. Although there are many legitimate uses of these statistics, in some important cases it can be impossible to compute the correct false positive rate. For example, it has become common practice to use the LRT or the $F$ test for detecting a line in a spectral model or a source above background despite the lack of certain required regularity conditions. In these and other settings that involve testing a hypothesis that is on the boundary of the parameter space, {\it contrary to common practice, the nominal $\chi^2$ distribution for the LRT or the $F$ distribution for the $F$ test should not be used}. In this paper, we characterize an important class of problems where the LRT and the $F$ test fail and illustrate this non-standard behavior. We briefly sketch several possible acceptable alternatives, focusing on Bayesian posterior predictive probability-values. We present this method in some detail, as it is a simple, robust, and intuitive approach. This alternative method is illustrated using the gamma-ray burst of May 8, 1997 (GRB 970508) to investigate the presence of an Fe K emission line during the initial phase of the observation.Comment: Twenty four pages, seven figures. The Astrophysical Journal, May 2002, to appea