35 research outputs found
ABORAS: polarimetric, 10cm/s RV observations of the Sun as a star
We present a description of A dual-Beam pOlarimetric Robotic Aperture for the
Sun (ABORAS), to serve as a Solar input with a dedicated Stokes V polarimeter
for the HARPS3 high-resolution spectrograph. ABORAS has three main science
drivers: trying to understand the physics behind stellar variability, tracking
the long-term stability of HARPS3, and serve as a benchmark for Earth-sized
exoplanet detection with HARPS3 by injecting an Earth RV signal into the data.
By design, ABORAS will (together with the HARPS3 instrument) be able to measure
10cm/s variations in RV of the integrated Solar disk and detect integrated
magnetic field levels at sub 1 Gauss level through circularly polarized light.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, SPIE Proceedings pre-print, draft version
Search for Nanosecond Near-infrared Transients around 1280 Celestial Objects
Stars and planetary system
Gravity-darkening Analysis of the Misaligned Hot Jupiter MASCARA-4 b
MASCARA-4 b is a hot Jupiter in a highly misaligned orbit around a rapidly rotating A3V star that was observed for 54 days by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). We perform two analyses of MASCARA-4 b using a stellar gravity-darkened model. First, we measure MASCARA-4 b's misaligned orbital configuration by modeling its TESS photometric light curve. We take advantage of the asymmetry in MASCARA-4 b's transit due to its host star's gravity-darkened surface to measure MASCARA-4 b's true spinâorbit angle to be 104°+7°-13°. We also detect a ~4Ï secondary eclipse at 0.491 ± 0.007 orbital phase, proving that the orbit is slightly eccentric. Second, we model MASCARA-4 b's insolation including gravity darkening and find that the planet's received X-ray and ultraviolet flux varies by 4% throughout its orbit. MASCARA-4 b's short-period, polar orbit suggests that the planet likely underwent dramatic orbital evolution to end up in its present-day configuration and that it receives a varying stellar irradiance that perpetually forces the planet out of thermal equilibrium. These findings make MASCARA-4 b an excellent target for follow-up characterization to better understand the orbital evolution and present-day environment of planets around high-mass stars
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Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA
CITATION: Watson, R., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 11:13, doi:10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9.The original publication is available at https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.comENGLISH SUMMARY : Meeting abstracts.https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9Publisher's versio
Rationale and design of the HepZero study: a prospective, multicenter, international, open, randomized, controlled clinical study with parallel groups comparing heparin-free dialysis with heparin-coated dialysis membrane (Evodial) versus standard care: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
BACKGROUND: Anticoagulation for chronic dialysis patients with contraindications to heparin administration is challenging. Current guidelines state that in patients with increased bleeding risks, strategies that can induce systemic anticoagulation should be avoided. Heparin-free dialysis using intermittent saline flushes is widely adopted as the method of choice for patients at risk of bleeding, although on-line blood predilution may also be used. A new dialyzer, Evodial (Gambro, Lund, Sweden), is grafted with unfractionated heparin during the manufacturing process and may allow safe and efficient heparin-free hemodialysis sessions. In the present trial, Evodial was compared to standard care with either saline flushes or blood predilution. METHODS: The HepZero study is the first international (seven countries), multicenter (10 centers), randomized, controlled, open-label, non-inferiority (and if applicable subsequently, superiority) trial with two parallel groups, comprising 252 end-stage renal disease patients treated by maintenance hemodialysis for at least 3 months and requiring heparin-free dialysis treatments. Patients will be treated during a maximum of three heparin-free dialysis treatments with either saline flushes or blood predilution (control group), or Evodial. The first heparin-free dialysis treatment will be considered successful when there is: no complete occlusion of air traps or dialyzer rendering dialysis impossible; no additional saline flushes to prevent clotting; no change of dialyzer or blood lines because of clotting; and no premature termination (early rinse-back) because of clotting. The primary objectives of the study are to determine the effectiveness of the Evodial dialyzer, compared with standard care in terms of successful treatments during the first heparin-free dialysis. If the non-inferiority of Evodial is demonstrated then the superiority of Evodial over standard care will be tested. The HepZero study results may have major clinical implications for patient care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0131848
PPARaplha L162V polymorphism alters the potential of N-3 fatty acids to increase lipoprotein lipase activity
Omegaâ3 fatty acids (FAs) may accelerate plasma triglyceride (TG) clearance by altering lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity. Yet, the ability of nâ3 FAs to increase LPL activity is dependent on transcription factors such as peroxisome proliferatorâactivated receptor alpha (PPARα). The objective was to examine the effects of nâ3 FAs on LPL activity considering the occurrence of PPAR α L162V polymorphism. First, 14 pairs of men either L162 homozygotes or carriers of the V162 allele were supplemented with nâ3 FAs. Second, transient transfections in HepG2 cells, for the L162â and V162âPPARα variants with the peroxisome proliferatorâresponse element from the human LPL gene, were transactivated with nâ3 FAs. In vivo results demonstrate that the LPL activity increased nonâsignificantly by 14.4% in L162 homozygotes compared with 6.6% in carriers of the PPAR αâV162 allele, after nâ3 FA supplementation. Additionally, the L162 homozygotes tended towards an inverse correlation between LPL activities and plasma TG levels. Conversely, carriers of the V162 allele showed no such relationship. In vitro data demonstrates that transcription rates of LPL tended to be higher for the L162âPPARα than V162âPPARα after nâ3 FAs activation. Overall, these results indicate that nâ3 FA supplementation increases the transcription rate of LPL to a greater extent in L162âPPARα than V162âPPARα
Effect of the PPAR-Alpha L162V polymorphism on the cardiovascular disease risk factor in response to nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Background: Dietary nâ3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet,
genetic variations of the gene encoding the peroxisome
proliferator-activated receptor- (PPAR ) can also modulate
CVD risk factors. Since fatty acids, including nâ3 PUFAs, are
natural ligands of PPAR , a gene-diet interaction effect
could be observed. Aims: To examine whether nâ3 PUFAinduced changes in CVD risk factors are influenced by the
PPAR L162V polymorphism. Methods: Fourteen men, carriers of the V162 allele and 14 L162 homozygotes, were matched
according to age and body mass index. Subjects followed,
for 8 weeks, a low-fat diet and then were supplemented daily with 5 g of fish oil for 6 weeks. Results: Baseline characteristics were similar for both genotype groups. Independently
of the genotype, the supplementation was associated with
a significant decrease in plasma triacylglycerol and fasting
glucose concentrations, diastolic blood pressure, and with
an increase in total apolipoprotein B concentrations. The extent of the decrease in plasma triacylglycerol concentrations
was comparable for both genotype groups (p ! 0.03). A significant genotype-by-diet interaction effect was observed
for plasma C-reactive protein concentrations (p = 0.01). Conclusions: The PPAR L162V polymorphism may contribute to
the interindividual variability in the CVD risk factor response
to nâ3 PUFAs
Age and factors associated with access and time to post-operative adjuvant chemotherapy in colon cancer: a French epidemiological study
International audienc
VNtyper enables accurate alignment-free genotyping of MUC1 coding VNTR using short-read sequencing data in autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney disease
Summary: The human genome comprises approximately 3% of tandem repeats with variable length (VNTR), a few of which have been linked to human rare diseases. Autosomal dominant tubulointerstitial kidney diseaseâMUC1 (ADTKD-MUC1) is caused by specific frameshift variants in the coding VNTR of the MUC1 gene. Calling variants from VNTR using short-read sequencing (SRS) is challenging due to poor read mappability. We developed a computational pipeline, VNtyper, for reliable detection of MUC1 VNTR pathogenic variants and demonstrated its clinical utility in two distinct cohorts: (1) a historical cohort including 108 families with ADTKD and (2) a replication naive cohort comprising 2,910 patients previously tested on a panel of genes involved in monogenic renal diseases. In the historical cohort all cases known to carry pathogenic MUC1 variants were re-identified, and a new 25bp-frameshift insertion in an additional mislaid family was detected. In the replication cohort, we discovered and validated 30 new patients