This analysis of current cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments is based on the interpretation of multifrequency sky maps in terms of different astrophysical components and it requires ...specifically tailored, component separation algorithms. In this context, internal linear combination (ILC) methods have been extensively used to extract the CMB emission from the WMAP multifrequency data. We present here a modified internal linear component algorithm (MILCA) that generalizes the ILC approach to the case of multiple astrophysical components for which the electromagnetic spectrum is known. In addition, MILCA corrects for the intrinsic noise bias in the standard ILC approach and extends it to a hybrid space-frequency representation of the data. It also allows us to use external templates to minimize the contribution of extra components but still using only a linear combination of the input data. We applied MILCA to simulations of the Planck satellite data at the frequency bands from 100 GHz to 857 GHz. We explore the possibility of reconstructing the Galactic molecular CO emission and the thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect from the Planck maps. We conclude that MILCA is able to accurately estimate those emissions, and it has been successfully used for this purpose within the Planck collaboration.
Summary
The relationship between bone quantitative ultrasound (QUS) and fracture risk was estimated in an individual level data meta-analysis of 9 prospective studies of 46,124 individuals and 3018 ...incident fractures. Low QUS is associated with an increase in fracture risk, including hip fracture. The association with osteoporotic fracture decreases with time.
Introduction
The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the association between parameters of QUS and risk of fracture.
Methods
In an individual-level analysis, we studied participants in nine prospective cohorts from Asia, Europe and North America. Heel broadband ultrasonic attenuation (BUA dB/MHz) and speed of sound (SOS m/s) were measured at baseline. Fractures during follow-up were collected by self-report and in some cohorts confirmed by radiography. An extension of Poisson regression was used to examine the gradient of risk (GR, hazard ratio per 1 SD decrease) between QUS and fracture risk adjusted for age and time since baseline in each cohort. Interactions between QUS and age and time since baseline were explored.
Results
Baseline measurements were available in 46,124 men and women, mean age 70 years (range 20–100). Three thousand and eighteen osteoporotic fractures (787 hip fractures) occurred during follow-up of 214,000 person-years. The summary GR for osteoporotic fracture was similar for both BUA (1.45, 95 % confidence intervals (CI) 1.40–1.51) and SOS (1.42, 95 % CI 1.36–1.47). For hip fracture, the respective GRs were 1.69 (95 % CI, 1.56–1.82) and 1.60 (95 % CI, 1.48–1.72). However, the GR was significantly higher for both fracture outcomes at lower baseline BUA and SOS (
p
< 0.001). The predictive value of QUS was the same for men and women and for all ages (
p
> 0.20), but the predictive value of both BUA and SOS for osteoporotic fracture decreased with time (
p
= 0.018 and
p
= 0.010, respectively). For example, the GR of BUA for osteoporotic fracture, adjusted for age, was 1.51 (95 % CI 1.42–1.61) at 1 year after baseline, but at 5 years, it was 1.36 (95 % CI 1.27–1.46).
Conclusions
Our results confirm that quantitative ultrasound is an independent predictor of fracture for men and women particularly at low QUS values.
•The existence of energy invariants for a multidimensional nonlinear wave equation with Riesz fractional derivatives is established.•An explicit dissipation-preserving technique satisfying the same ...properties of its continuous counterpart is proposed.•The method is a second-order consistent, stable and quadratically convergent technique.•The discrete energy operators also provide consistent approximations of the continuous energy functionals.•Numerical simulations illustrate the capability of the method to dissipate/conserve the energy.
In this work, we investigate numerically a model governed by a multidimensional nonlinear wave equation with damping and fractional diffusion. The governing partial differential equation considers the presence of Riesz space-fractional derivatives of orders in (1, 2, and homogeneous Dirichlet boundary data are imposed on a closed and bounded spatial domain. The model under investigation possesses an energy function which is preserved in the undamped regime. In the damped case, we establish the property of energy dissipation of the model using arguments from functional analysis. Motivated by these results, we propose an explicit finite-difference discretization of our fractional model based on the use of fractional centered differences. Associated to our discrete model, we also propose discretizations of the energy quantities. We establish that the discrete energy is conserved in the undamped regime, and that it dissipates in the damped scenario. Among the most important numerical features of our scheme, we show that the method has a consistency of second order, that it is stable and that it has a quadratic order of convergence. Some one- and two-dimensional simulations are shown in this work to illustrate the fact that the technique is capable of preserving the discrete energy in the undamped regime. For the sake of convenience, we provide a Matlab implementation of our method for the one-dimensional scenario.
Modern imaging strategies are paramount to studying living systems such as cells, bacteria, and fungi and their response to pathogens, toxicants, and nanomaterials (NMs) as modulated by exposure and ...environmental factors. The need to understand the processes and mechanisms of damage, healing, and cell survivability of living systems continues to motivate the development of alternative imaging strategies. Of particular interest is the use of label-free techniques (microscopy procedures that do not require sample staining) that minimize interference of biological processes by foreign marking substances and reduce intense light exposure and potential photo-toxicity effects. This review focuses on the synergic capabilities of atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a well-developed and robust imaging strategy with demonstrated applications to unravel intimate details in biomedical applications, with the label-free, fast, and enduring Holotomographic Microscopy (HTM) strategy. HTM is a technique that combines holography and tomography using a low intensity continuous illumination laser to investigate (quantitatively and non-invasively) cells, microorganisms, and thin tissue by generating three-dimensional (3D) images and monitoring in real-time inner morphological changes. We first review the operating principles that form the basis for the complementary details provided by these techniques regarding the surface and internal information provided by HTM and AFM, which are essential and complimentary for the development of several biomedical areas studying the interaction mechanisms of NMs with living organisms. First, AFM can provide superb resolution on surface morphology and biomechanical characterization. Second, the quantitative phase capabilities of HTM enable superb modeling and quantification of the volume, surface area, protein content, and mass density of the main components of cells and microorganisms, including the morphology of cells in microbiological systems. These capabilities result from directly quantifying refractive index changes without requiring fluorescent markers or chemicals. As such, HTM is ideal for long-term monitoring of living organisms in conditions close to their natural settings. We present a case-based review of the principal uses of both techniques and their essential contributions to nanomedicine and nanotoxicology (study of the harmful effects of NMs in living organisms), emphasizing cancer and infectious disease control. The synergic impact of the sequential use of these complementary strategies provides a clear drive for adopting these techniques as interdependent fundamental tools.
Graphical abstract
Self-amplified spontaneous emission (SASE) pulses delivered by free electron lasers (FELs) are inherently fluctuating sources; each pulse varies in energy, duration, arrival time and spectral shape. ...Therefore, there is strong demand for a full characterization of the properties of SASE radiation, which will facilitate more precise interpretation of the experimental data taken at SASE FELs. In this paper, we present an investigation into the fluctuations of pulse duration, spectral distribution, arrival time and pulse energy of SASE XUV pulses at FLASH, both on a shot-to-shot basis and on average over many pulses. With the aid of simulations, we derived scaling laws for these parameters and disentangled the statistical SASE fluctuations from accelerator-based fluctuations and measurement uncertainties.
Unlike the traditional Internet, the emerging Internet of Things constitutes a mix of virtual and physical entities. A proposed Internet of Things browser enables the exploration of augmented spaces ...by identifying smart objects, discovering any services they might provide, and interacting with them.
Smad transcription factors activated by TGF-β or by BMP receptors form trimeric complexes with Smad4 to target specific genes for cell fate regulation. The CAGAC motif has been considered as the main ...binding element for Smad2/3/4, whereas Smad1/5/8 have been thought to preferentially bind GC-rich elements. However, chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis in embryonic stem cells showed extensive binding of Smad2/3/4 to GC-rich cis-regulatory elements. Here, we present the structural basis for specific binding of Smad3 and Smad4 to GC-rich motifs in the goosecoid promoter, a nodal-regulated differentiation gene. The structures revealed a 5-bp consensus sequence GGC(GC)|(CG) as the binding site for both TGF-β and BMP-activated Smads and for Smad4. These 5GC motifs are highly represented as clusters in Smad-bound regions genome-wide. Our results provide a basis for understanding the functional adaptability of Smads in different cellular contexts, and their dependence on lineage-determining transcription factors to target specific genes in TGF-β and BMP pathways.
Summary
Vitamin D insufficiency is very common among Spanish community-dwelling adult subjects. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml would be necessary for the prevention of secondary ...hyperparathyroidism and hip bone loss in our population, regardless of the dairy calcium ingestion.
Introduction
This study aims to assess 25-hydroxyvitamin D—25(OH)D—status in Spanish adult subjects and to analyze its relationships with serum PTH levels, calcium intake, and bone mineral density (BMD).
Methods
A total of 1811 individuals (1154 postmenopausal women and 657 men) aged 44–93 years participated in the study. Serum 25(OH)D, intact parathyroid hormone (PTH), aminoterminal propeptide of type I collagen (P1NP), and C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen (β-CTX) levels were measured by electrochemiluminescence. BMD was determined by dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) at lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip.
Results
Serum 25(OH)D levels were below 10, 20, and 30 ng/ml in 5, 40, and 83 % of participants, respectively. There was a significant seasonal difference in mean serum 25(OH)D, with higher levels in summer–autumn. In multivariate analysis, 25(OH)D levels were negatively correlated with age, serum PTH and creatinine, body mass index, smoking, alcohol intake, and a number of chronic diseases, but positively with dairy calcium intake. The magnitude of the difference in serum PTH according to 25(OH)D quartiles was not influenced by calcium intake. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml was observed for serum PTH and hip BMD.
Conclusions
Vitamin D insufficiency is very common among Spanish community-dwelling adult subjects. A threshold of serum 25(OH)D around 30 ng/ml would be necessary for the prevention of secondary hyperparathyroidism and hip bone loss in our population, regardless of the dairy calcium ingestion. Programs to improve vitamin D status may be required in our country.
We present Xspect, a method to obtain estimates of the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropies including analytical error bars developed for the ...Archeops experiment. Cross-power spectra are computed from a set of maps and each of them is in itself an unbiased estimate of the power spectrum as long as the detector noises are uncorrelated. Then, the cross-power spectra are combined into a final temperature power spectrum with error bars analytically derived from the cross-correlation matrix. This method presents three main useful properties: (1) no estimation of the noise power spectrum is needed; (2) complex weighting schemes including sky covering and map noise properties can be easily taken into account, and corrected for, for each input map; and (3) error bars are quickly computed analytically from the data themselves with no Monte Carlo simulations involved. Xspect also permits the study of common fluctuations between maps from different sky surveys such as CMB, Sunyaev–Zel'dovich effect or mass fluctuations from weak lensing observations.
When directed to the nucleus by TGF-β or BMP signals, Smad proteins undergo cyclin-dependent kinase 8/9 (CDK8/9) and glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) phosphorylations that mediate the binding of YAP ...and Pin1 for transcriptional action, and of ubiquitin ligases Smurf1 and Nedd4L for Smad destruction. Here we demonstrate that there is an order of events-Smad activation first and destruction later-and that it is controlled by a switch in the recognition of Smad phosphoserines by WW domains in their binding partners. In the BMP pathway, Smad1 phosphorylation by CDK8/9 creates binding sites for the WW domains of YAP, and subsequent phosphorylation by GSK3 switches off YAP binding and adds binding sites for Smurf1 WW domains. Similarly, in the TGF-β pathway, Smad3 phosphorylation by CDK8/9 creates binding sites for Pin1 and GSK3, then adds sites to enhance Nedd4L binding. Thus, a Smad phosphoserine code and a set of WW domain code readers provide an efficient solution to the problem of coupling TGF-β signal delivery to turnover of the Smad signal transducers.
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