ABSTRACT
This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-m Blanco telescope at ...the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, >4000 images covering 21 deg2 (seven DECam pointings), with ∼40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in g, r, i, and/or z have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1) characterizing the detected sources, and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding the Solar system small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active Galactic nuclei.
The sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) presents a disjointed geographic distribution. Significant genetic divergence between sei whales from the North Atlantic (NA) and North Pacific (NP) have been ...recorded; however, limited samples from the Southern Hemisphere (SH) have precluded a global analysis.
The largest recorded mass mortality event occurred in Golfo de Penas, southern Chile, providing a primary source of SH samples. A global mitochondrial DNA phylogeographic study was undertaken including 111 SH samples (98 from Golfo de Penas), and new sequences from the NP.
A marked phylogeographic structure was observed between the three ocean basins' populations, with the highest ΦST values between NA–NP and NA–SH, and a lower but still significant value between SH–NP. This structure, and the haplotype distribution pattern, suggest a more recent separation between SH–NP and an absence of recurrent gene flow among all three populations. Only one potential migratory event was detected from SH to NA.
These results support an ongoing phylogeographic differentiation between all populations, highlighting the identity of each and the importance of independent management. Therefore, each population should represent a separate management unit, which is important in the development of conservation strategies.
Demographic analyses detected a recent reduction of population size in the SH and NA, but not in the NP. For all populations, estimated effective population sizes were higher than estimated census sizes. This suggests that most of the genetic diversity of pre‐whaling populations is still retained; however, continued reduction in population sizes could lead to future loss of genetic diversity.
This study highlights the necessity of local protection and systematic monitoring of the Golfo de Penas sei whale population. In such a remote area the use of remote sensing techniques could be a cost‐effective option for evaluating the threat, periodicity and magnitude of mortalities and their effect on the local whale population. The integration of genetic and demographic approaches improves the understanding of the dynamics of populations, which is particularly useful in endangered species.
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-m Blanco telescope at ...the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, >4000 images covering 21 deg2 (seven DECam pointings), with ∼40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in g, r, i, and/or z have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1) characterizing the detected sources, and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding the Solar system small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active Galactic nuclei.
Trends in the enrichment of elements with stellar ages are a powerful avenue to identify unexplained origins of the elements. We investigate the stellar abundance trends of low to intermediate-mass ...stars using the GALAH DR3 high-resolution spectroscopic dataset of 6234 solar-type stars. Our study explores the elemental abundance X/Fe of sodium (Na) with age. We find a pronounced enrichment in Na/Fe at super solar metallicity (i.e., Fe/H above 0) in the old sequence of Milky Way disc stars, a trend demanding a deeper understanding of the underlying source(s) responsible for the nucleosynthesis. This progressive Na/Fe enrichment at the young end of the old sequence has essential implications for Galactic archaeology. In this work, we propose a novel selection technique for separating the Milky Way's thick and thin disc stellar populations (i.e., old and young sequences) based on the observed Na/Fe rise of roughly 0.1 dex for stars around 5 - 8 Gyr old. We also compare our selection method to the conventional Mg/Fe vs Fe/H selection approach, and we find that our new Na-based selection method better disentangles the overlap between young- and old-sequence disc stars at these intermediate ages. This is especially true at super solar Fe/H, where Mg/Fe vs Fe/H or alpha/Fe vs Fe/H separation approaches exhibit a lot of overlap. This new selection method should help us better understand the Milky Way disc's formation history.
This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4 meter Blanco telescope at the ...Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, \(>\)4000 images covering 21 square degrees (7 DECam pointings), with \(\sim\)40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in \(g\), \(r\), \(i\), and/or \(z\), have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1), characterizing the detected sources and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding Solar System small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei.
e17569 Background: The use of a single and common language in the diagnosis of ovarian tumors is a multidisciplinary effort spanning several decades that has allowed the global adoption of the ...Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting & Data System (O-RADS) and the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA). The objective is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of O-RADS versus modified benign descriptors and IOTA ADNEX in the classification of adnexal masses. Methods: Ambispective diagnostic accuracy study based on ultrasound data collected at a university hospital with a gynecologic oncology unit between 2012 and 2022. Two IOTA-certified level III sonographers classified adnexal masses using modified benign descriptors (MBD). The main outcome was the classification of the masses as benign or malignant for each strategy. Histopathology was used as the diagnostic reference standard. A diagnostic test analysis was performed. Results: 876 patients with 902 adnexal masses were included in the study for both analysis strategies. For the two-step analysis, 573 (64%) met the classification criteria for their evaluation based on MBD (first step) and 329 (36%) were assessed using IOTA ADNEX. 99% (567/573) of the masses classified according to the MBD, were benign by histopathology. The diagnostic performance of IOTA ADNEX (second step) had a sensibility of 93%, specificity of 64%, positive predictive value of 48%, negative predictive value of 96%, AUC (0,880). Regarding the analysis of the O-RADS system to stratify malignancy risk, we observed a prevalence of 58% for O-RADS 2, 22% for O-RADS 3, 11% for O-RADS 4, and 9% for O-RADS 5. Sensibility was 92%, specificity 88%, positive predictive value 48%, negative predictive value del 99%, AUC (0,886). Conclusions: In our experience, the diagnostic accuracy of the two-step strategy or the O-RADS system is similar. However, the ORADS system had a lower proportion of false negatives.
Aims
The LION‐HEART study was a multicentre, double‐blind, randomised, parallel‐group, placebo‐controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of intravenous administration of intermittent doses ...of levosimendan in outpatients with advanced chronic heart failure.
Methods and results
Sixty‐nine patients from 12 centres were randomly assigned at a 2:1 ratio to levosimendan or placebo groups, receiving treatment by a 6‐hour intravenous infusion (0.2 μg/kg/min without bolus) every 2 weeks for 12 weeks. The primary endpoint was the effect on serum concentrations of N‐terminal pro‐B‐type natriuretic peptide (NT‐proBNP) throughout the treatment period in comparison with placebo. Secondary endpoints included evaluation of safety, clinical events and health‐related quality of life (HRQoL). The area under the curve (AUC, pg.day/mL) of the levels of NT‐proBNP over time for patients who received levosimendan was significantly lower than for the placebo group (344 × 103 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 283 × 103−404 × 103 vs. 535 × 103 443 × 103−626 × 103, p = 0.003). In comparison with the placebo group, the patients on levosimendan experienced a reduction in the rate of heart failure hospitalisation (hazard ratio 0.25; 95% CI 0.11–0.56; P = 0.001). Patients on levosimendan were less likely to experience a clinically significant decline in HRQoL over time (P = 0.022). Adverse event rates were similar in the two treatment groups.
Conclusions
In this small pilot study, intermittent administration of levosimendan to ambulatory patients with advanced systolic heart failure reduced plasma concentrations of NT‐proBNP, worsening of HRQoL and hospitalisation for heart failure. The efficacy and safety of this intervention should be confirmed in larger trials.
The internal structure of all lowest-lying pseudoscalar mesons with heavy-light quark content is studied in detail using an algebraic model that has been applied recently, and successfully, to the ...same physical observables of pseudoscalar and vector mesons with hidden-flavor quark content, from light to heavy quark sectors. The algebraic model consists on constructing simple and evidence-based Ansätze of the meson’s Bethe-Salpeter amplitude (BSA) and quark’s propagator in such a way that the Bethe-Salpeter wave function (BSWF) can then be readily computed algebraically. Its subsequent projection onto the light front yields the light front wave function (LFWF) whose form allows us a simple access to the valence-quark parton distribution amplitude (PDA) by integrating over the transverse momentum squared. We exploit our current knowledge of the PDAs of lowest-lying pseudoscalar heavy-light mesons to compute their generalized parton distributions (GPDs) through the overlap representation of LFWFs. From these three dimensional knowledge, different limits/projections lead us to deduce the related parton distribution functions (PDFs), electromagnetic form factors (EFFs), and impact parameter space GPDs (IPS-GPDs). When possible, we make explicit comparisons with available experimental results and earlier theoretical predictions.
La insuficiencia cardiaca (IC) avanzada conlleva altas tasas de hospitalización y mortalidad. El estudio LION-HEART fue un ensayo clínico aleatorizado y controlado con placebo que evaluó la eficacia ...y la seguridad de la administración intravenosa de dosis intermitentes de levosimendán en pacientes ambulatorios con IC avanzada. El objetivo del presente estudio es realizar un análisis de costes para determinar si la menor tasa de hospitalizaciones por IC observada en pacientes tratados con levosimendán en el estudio LION-HEART puede generar ahorros para el Sistema Nacional de Salud, en comparación con la opción de no tratar a los pacientes con IC avanzada.
Se realizó un modelo económico que incluyó las tasas de hospitalización por IC del estudio LION-HEART y los costes de hospitalización por IC y de adquisición y administración intravenosa de levosimendán. El horizonte temporal del análisis fue de 12 meses. Se realizaron 2 análisis, uno determinístico y otro probabilístico (simulación de Monte Carlo de segundo orden).
Según el análisis determinístico, el ahorro total por cada paciente tratado con levosimendán ascendería a –698,48 euros. En el análisis probabilístico, el ahorro por paciente tratado con levosimendán sería de –849,94 (IC95%, 133,12 a –2.255,31) euros. La probabilidad de que se produzcan ahorros con levosimendán en comparación con la opción de no tratar sería del 94,8%.
El tratamiento ambulatorio intermitente con levosimendán puede generar ahorros para el Sistema Nacional de Salud, en comparación con la opción de no tratar a los pacientes con IC avanzada.
Advanced heart failure (HF) leads to high hospitalization and mortality rates. The LION-HEART study was a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial that evaluated the safety and efficacy of intravenous administration of intermittent doses of levosimendan in outpatients with advanced HF. The aim of the present study was to perform a cost analysis to determine whether the lower rate of hospitalizations for HF, observed in patients treated with levosimendan in the LION-HEART study, can generate savings for the Spanish national health system compared with the option of not treating patients with advanced HF.
An economic model was used that included IC hospitalization rates from the LION-HEART study, the costs of hospitalization due to HF and those of the acquisition and intravenous administration of levosimendan. The time horizon of the analysis was 12 months. Two analyses were carried out, one deterministic and the other probabilistic (second-order Monte Carlo simulation).
In the deterministic analysis, the total saving for each patient treated with levosimendan would amount to−€698.48. In the probabilistic analysis, the saving per patient treated with levosimendan would be−€849.94 (95%CI, €133.12 to−€2,255.31). The probability of savings with levosimendan compared with the no treatment option would be 94.8%.
Intermittent ambulatory treatment with levosimendan can generate savings for the Spanish national health system compared with the option of not treating patients with advanced HF.
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