Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top three causes of death worldwide, but governments and non-governmental organisations have not given its prevention and treatment the ...priority it requires. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries, where
most of the people suffering from this disease live. The United Nations (UN) has targeted a reduction of premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by a third by 2030; however, a coordinated UN/World Health Organization (WHO) strategy to address the burden of COPD (one of the most
important NCDs) is still lacking. To explore the extent of the problem and inform the development of policies to improve the situation, the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) held a 1-day Summit. The key themes that emerged were the need
to ensure accurate data on prevalence, raise awareness of the disease among the public, healthcare professionals and governments, including the fact that COPD aetiology goes beyond smoking (and other inhaled pollutants) and includes poor lung development in early life, and ensure that spirometry
and both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are available and affordable. Here, we present the actions that must be taken to address the impact of COPD. We believe that the WHO is particularly well-positioned to co-ordinate an attack on COPD, and GOLD will do all it can to help
and rally support.
The magnetic exchange between epitaxial thin films of the multiferroic (antiferromagnetic and ferroelectric) hexagonal YMnO3 oxide and a soft ferromagnetic (FM) layer is used to couple the magnetic ...response of the FM layer to the magnetic state of the antiferromagnetic one. We will show that biasing the ferroelectric YMnO3 layer by an electric field allows control of the magnetic exchange bias and subsequently the magnetotransport properties of the FM layer. This finding may contribute to paving the way towards a new generation of electric-field controlled spintronic devices.
Context. We present a new methodology for the estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters from narrow- and intermediate-band photometry of the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS), ...and propose a method for target pre-selection of low-metallicity stars for follow-up spectroscopic studies. Photometric metallicity estimates for stars in the globular cluster M15 are determined using this method. Aims. By development of a neural-network-based photometry pipeline, we aim to produce estimates of effective temperature, Teff, and metallicity, Fe/H, for a large subset of stars in the J-PLUS footprint. Methods. The Stellar Photometric Index Network Explorer, SPHINX, was developed to produce estimates of Teff and Fe/H, after training on a combination of J-PLUS photometric inputs and synthetic magnitudes computed for medium-resolution (R ~ 2000) spectra of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. This methodology was applied to J-PLUS photometry of the globular cluster M15. Results. Effective temperature estimates made with J-PLUS Early Data Release photometry exhibit low scatter, σ(Teff) = 91 K, over the temperature range 4500 < Teff (K) < 8500. For stars from the J-PLUS First Data Release with 4500 < Teff (K) < 6200, 85 ± 3% of stars known to have Fe/H < −2.0 are recovered by SPHINX. A mean metallicity of Fe/H = − 2.32 ± 0.01, with a residual spread of 0.3 dex, is determined for M15 using J-PLUS photometry of 664 likely cluster members. Conclusions. We confirm the performance of SPHINX within the ranges specified, and verify its utility as a stand-alone tool for photometric estimation of effective temperature and metallicity, and for pre-selection of metal-poor spectroscopic targets.
To evaluate the influence of curcumin supplementation on the glycemic profile, inflammatory markers, and oxidative stress in HIV‐infected individuals under antiretroviral therapy. This double‐blind, ...crossover, randomized clinical trial was composed of 20 subjects arranged initially into experimental group (n = 10) and placebo group (n = 10) groups, receiving 1,000 mg curcumin/day or microcrystalline cellulose/day, respectively, during a 30‐day period and 12‐day washout. Subsequently, the groups were switched to follow the crossover design. Fasting glucose and insulin, IL‐10, tumor necrosis factor alpha, malonialdehyde, and reduced glutathione were measured. Food consumption was evaluated as a control variable. Descriptive statistics are presented as mean and standard deviation, and inferential analyses were performed from two‐way analysis of variance and the magnitude of the effect. No significant improvements were observed in the glycemic, inflammatory, or oxidative stress profiles. Although the mean serum fasting glucose levels and the homeostatic model assessment index presented qualitative improvement in the CG, this result should be interpreted with caution since the observed variation may represent acceptable fluctuation, in addition to the small difference between the means, added to the large variation observed in the standard deviation. Supplementation with curcumin in HIV‐infected individuals undergoing antiretroviral therapy and training did not improve the glycemic, inflammatory, or oxidative stress profiles.
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disease characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and has been considered a risk factor for periodontal disease. The aim of this systematic review and ...meta-analysis was to verify the scientific evidence for the association of periodontal attachment loss with low BMD in postmenopausal women. A systematic search of the literature was performed in databases until August 2016, in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. Eligibility criteria included studies that compared clinical attachment loss (CAL) between postmenopausal women with low and normal BMD. Studies using similar methodology, with lower and higher risk of bias, were pooled into 3 different meta-analyses to compare CAL among women with normal BMD, osteoporosis, and osteopenia. In the first meta-analysis, mean CAL was compared among groups. In the other 2 meta-analyses, the mean percentages of sites with CAL ≥4 mm and ≥6 mm were respectively compared among groups. From 792 unique citations, 26 articles were selected for the qualitative synthesis. Eleven of the studies were appraised as presenting low risk of bias, and the association between low BMD and CAL was observed in 10 of these studies. Thirteen cross-sectional articles were included in the meta-analysis for osteoporosis and 9 in the osteopenia analysis. Women with low BMD presented greater mean CAL than those with normal BMD (osteoporosis = 0.34 mm 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.20–0.49, P < 0.001; osteopenia = 0.07 mm 95% CI, 0.01–0.13, P = 0.02). Only studies with lower risk of bias were available for the analysis of CAL severity. Women with low BMD presented more severe attachment loss, represented as mean percentage of sites with CAL ≥4 mm (osteoporosis = 3.04 95% CI, 1.23–4.85, P = 0.001; osteopenia = 1.74 95% CI, 0.36–3.12, P = 0.01) and CAL ≥6 mm (osteoporosis = 5.07 95% CI, 2.74–7.40, P < 0.001). This systematic review and meta-analysis indicates that postmenopausal women with osteoporosis or osteopenia may exhibit greater CAL compared with women with normal BMD.
This work describes the behaviour of water molecules in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ionic liquid under nanoconfinement, between graphene sheets. By means of molecular dynamics ...simulations, the adsorption of water molecules at the graphene surface is studied. A depletion of water molecules in the vicinity of the neutral and negatively charged graphene surfaces, and their adsorption at the positively charged surface are observed in line with the preferential hydration of the ionic liquid anions. The findings are appropriately described using a two-level statistical model. The confinement effect on the structure and dynamics of the mixtures is thoroughly analyzed using the density and the potential of mean force profiles, as well as by the vibrational densities of the states of water molecules near the graphene surface. The orientation of water molecules and the water-induced structural transitions in the layer closest to the graphene surface are also discussed.
Ultrafine ordered and disordered SrZrO3 powders were prepared by the polymeric precursor method. The structural evolution from structural disorder to order was monitored by X-ray diffraction and ...X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy. Complex cluster vacancies (where , ) were proposed for disordered powders. The intense violet-blue light photoluminescence emission measured at room temperature in the disordered powders was attributed to complex cluster vacancies. High-level quantum mechanical calculations within the density functional theory framework were used to interpret the experimental results.
Context.
Future astrophysical surveys such as J-PAS will produce very large datasets, the so-called “big data”, which will require the deployment of accurate and efficient machine-learning (ML) ...methods. In this work, we analyze the miniJPAS survey, which observed about ∼1 deg
2
of the AEGIS field with 56 narrow-band filters and 4
u
g
r
i
broad-band filters. The miniJPAS primary catalog contains approximately 64 000 objects in the
r
detection band (mag
A
B
≲ 24), with forced-photometry in all other filters.
Aims.
We discuss the classification of miniJPAS sources into extended (galaxies) and point-like (e.g., stars) objects, which is a step required for the subsequent scientific analyses. We aim at developing an ML classifier that is complementary to traditional tools that are based on explicit modeling. In particular, our goal is to release a value-added catalog with our best classification.
Methods.
In order to train and test our classifiers, we cross-matched the miniJPAS dataset with SDSS and HSC-SSP data, whose classification is trustworthy within the intervals 15 ≤
r
≤ 20 and 18.5 ≤
r
≤ 23.5, respectively. We trained and tested six different ML algorithms on the two cross-matched catalogs: K-nearest neighbors, decision trees, random forest (RF), artificial neural networks, extremely randomized trees (ERT), and an ensemble classifier. This last is a hybrid algorithm that combines artificial neural networks and RF with the J-PAS stellar and galactic loci classifier. As input for the ML algorithms we used the magnitudes from the 60 filters together with their errors, with and without the morphological parameters. We also used the mean point spread function in the
r
detection band for each pointing.
Results.
We find that the RF and ERT algorithms perform best in all scenarios. When the full magnitude range of 15 ≤
r
≤ 23.5 is analyzed, we find an area under the curve AUC = 0.957 with RF when photometric information alone is used, and AUC = 0.986 with ERT when photometric and morphological information is used together. When morphological parameters are used, the full width at half maximum is the most important feature. When photometric information is used alone, we observe that broad bands are not necessarily more important than narrow bands, and errors (the width of the distribution) are as important as the measurements (central value of the distribution). In other words, it is apparently important to fully characterize the measurement.
Conclusions.
ML algorithms can compete with traditional star and galaxy classifiers; they outperform the latter at fainter magnitudes (
r
≳ 21). We use our best classifiers, with and without morphology, in order to produce a value-added catalog.
The mullet Mugil liza occurs along the Atlantic coast of South America from Venezuela to Argentina, but 95% of the commercial catch is collected from south Brazil between São Paulo and Argentina. ...Mugil liza is a single spawner with oocyte development occurring synchronously in two groups. Spawning happens in marine areas and occurs after migration. The reproductive migration occurs from Argentina (38° S) to the southern Brazilian states (24–26° S) from April to July, with peak spawning in June between northern Santa Catarina and Paraná. The presence of hyaline oocytes was associated with high salinity and sea surface temperatures of 19–21° C, and followed the seasonal northward displacement of these oceanographic conditions. The average size at first maturity (Lm) for both sexes was 408·3 mm total length, LT. Males (Lm = 400·1) matured earlier than females (Lm = 421·9 mm). Fecundity ranged from 818 992 to 2 869 767 oocytes (mean = 1 624 551) in fish that were between 426 and 660 mm LT.
Aims. Our goal is to morphologically classify the sources identified in the images of the J-PLUS early data release (EDR) as compact (stars) or extended (galaxies) using a dedicated Bayesian ...classifier. Methods. J-PLUS sources exhibit two distinct populations in the r-band magnitude versus concentration plane, corresponding to compact and extended sources. We modelled the two-population distribution with a skewed Gaussian for compact objects and a log-normal function for the extended objects. The derived model and the number density prior based on J-PLUS EDR data were used to estimate the Bayesian probability that a source is a star or a galaxy. This procedure was applied pointing-by-pointing to account for varying observing conditions and sky positions. Finally, we combined the morphological information from the g, r, and i broad bands in order to improve the classification of low signal-to-noise sources. Results. The derived probabilities are used to compute the pointing-by-pointing number counts of stars and galaxies. The former increases as we approach the Milky Way disk, and the latter are similar across the probed area. The comparison with SDSS in the common regions is satisfactory up to r ~ 21, with consistent numbers of stars and galaxies, and consistent distributions in concentration and (g−i) colour spaces. Conclusions. We implement a morphological star/galaxy classifier based on probability distribution function analysis, providing meaningful probabilities for J-PLUS sources to one magnitude deeper (r ~ 21) than a classical Boolean classification. These probabilities are suited for the statistical study of 150 thousand stars and 101 thousand galaxies with 15 < r ≤ 21 present in the 31.7 deg2 of the J-PLUS EDR. In a future version of the classifier, we will include J-PLUS colour information from 12 photometric bands.
PDF
