The Transneptunian Automated Occultation Survey (TAOS II) is a blind occultation survey with the aim of measuring the size distribution of Trans-Neptunian Objects with diameters in the range of 0.3 D ...30 km. TAOS II will observe as many as 10,000 stars at a cadence of 20 Hz with all three telescopes simultaneously. This will produce up to ∼20 billion photometric measurements per night, and as many as ∼6 trillion measurements per year, corresponding to over 70 million individual light curves. A very fast analysis pipeline for event detection and characterization is needed to handle this massive data set. The pipeline should be capable of real-time detection of events (within 24 hours of observations) for follow-up observations of any occultations by larger TNOs. In addition, the pipeline should be fast and scalable for large simulations where simulated events are added to the observed light curves to measure detection efficiency and biases in event characterization. Finally, the pipeline should provide estimates of the size of and distance to any occulting objects, including those with non-spherical shapes. This paper describes a new data analysis pipeline for the detection and characterization of occultation events.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder causing motor and non-motor symptoms that can affect independence, social adjustment and the quality of life (QoL) of both ...patients and caregivers. Studies designed to find diagnostic and/or progression biomarkers of PD are needed. We describe here the study protocol of COPPADIS-2015 (COhort of Patients with PArkinson's DIsease in Spain, 2015), an integral PD project based on four aspects/concepts: 1) PD as a global disease (motor and non-motor symptoms); 2) QoL and caregiver issues; 3) Biomarkers; 4) Disease progression.
Observational, descriptive, non-interventional, 5-year follow-up, national (Spain), multicenter (45 centers from 15 autonomous communities), evaluation study. Specific goals: (1) detailed study (clinical evaluations, serum biomarkers, genetic studies and neuroimaging) of a population of PD patients from different areas of Spain, (2) comparison with a control group and (3) follow-up for 5 years. COPPADIS-2015 has been specifically designed to assess 17 proposed objectives.
approximately 800 non-dementia PD patients, 600 principal caregivers and 400 control subjects. Study evaluations: (1) baseline includes motor assessment (e.g., Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III), non-motor symptoms (e.g., Non-Motor Symptoms Scale), cognition (e.g., Parkinson's Disease Cognitive Rating Scale), mood and neuropsychiatric symptoms (e.g., Neuropsychiatric Inventory), disability, QoL (e.g., 39-item Parkinson's disease Quality of Life Questionnaire Summary-Index) and caregiver status (e.g., Zarit Caregiver Burden Inventory); (2) follow-up includes annual (patients) or biannual (caregivers and controls) evaluations. Serum biomarkers (S-100b protein, TNF-α, IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, vitamin B12, methylmalonic acid, homocysteine, uric acid, C-reactive protein, ferritin, iron) and brain MRI (volumetry, tractography and MTAi Medial Temporal Atrophy Index), at baseline and at the end of follow-up, and genetic studies (DNA and RNA) at baseline will be performed in a subgroup of subjects (300 PD patients and 100 control subjects). Study periods: (1) recruitment period, from November, 2015 to February, 2017 (basal assessment); (2) follow-up period, 5 years; (3) closing date of clinical follow-up, May, 2022.
Public/Private.
COPPADIS-2015 is a challenging initiative. This project will provide important information on the natural history of PD and the value of various biomarkers.
Changes in precipitation represent a major effect of climate change on tropical forests, which contain some of the earth’s largest terrestrial carbon (C) stocks. Such changes are expected to ...influence microbes, nutrients, and the fate of C in tropical forest soils. To explore this, we assessed soil microbial biomass, potential extracellular enzyme activities, and nutrient availability in a partial throughfall exclusion experiment in four seasonal lowland tropical humid forests in Panama with wide variation in precipitation and soil fertility. We hypothesized that throughfall exclusion would reduce microbial biomass and activity and accentuate dry season soil nutrient accumulation, with larger effects in wetter, less drought-resistant forests. We observed a baseline seasonal pattern of decreased microbial biomass and increased extractable dissolved organic C (DOC), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN), nitrate (NO
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), and resin-extractable phosphorus (P) in the dry season, with the strongest patterns for nitrogen (N). However, potential enzyme activities showed no consistent seasonality. In line with seasonal drying, throughfall exclusion decreased soil microbial biomass in the wet season and increased TDN and NO
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, especially in the dry season. In contrast to seasonal drying, throughfall exclusion decreased DOC and did not affect resin-extractable P, but slightly decreased potential phosphatase activities. Potential enzyme activities varied among sites and sampling times, but did not explain much variation in microbial biomass or substrate availability. We conclude that reduced rainfall in tropical forests might accentuate some dry season patterns, like reductions in microbial biomass and accumulation of extractable nutrients. However, our data also suggest new patterns, like reduced inputs of DOC to soils with drying, which could have cascading effects on soil ecological function and C storage.
TAOS II is a next-generation occultation survey with the goal of measuring the size distribution of the small end of the Kuiper Belt (objects with diameters 0.5–30 km). Such objects have magnitudes r ...> 30, and are thus undetectable by direct imaging. The project will operate three telescopes at San Pedro Mártir Observatory in Baja California, México. Each telescope will be equipped with a custom-built camera comprised of a focal-plane array of CMOS imagers. The cameras will be capable of reading out image data from 10,000 stars at a cadence of 20 Hz. The telescopes will monitor the same set of stars simultaneously to search for coincident occultation detections, thus minimising the false-positive rate. This talk described the project, and reported on the progress of the development of the survey infrastructure.
Quaoar is a classical Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) with an area equivalent diameter of 1,100 km and an orbital semi-major axis of 43.3 astronomical units. Based on stellar occultations observed ...between 2018 and 2021, an inhomogeneous ring (Q1R, Quaoar's first ring) was detected around this body. Aims. A new stellar occultation by Quaoar was observed on August 9th, 2022 aiming to improve Quaoar's shape models and the physical parameters of Q1R while searching for additional material around the body. Methods. The occultation provided nine effective chords across Quaoar, pinning down its size, shape, and astrometric position. Large facilities, such as Gemini North and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), were used to obtain high acquisition rates and signal-to-noise ratios. The light curves were also used to characterize the Q1R ring (radial profiles and orbital elements). Results. Quaoar's elliptical fit to the occultation chords yields the limb with an apparent semi-major axis of \(579.5\pm4.0\) km, apparent oblateness of \(0.12\pm0.01\), and area-equivalent radius of \(543\pm2\) km. Quaoar's limb orientation is consistent with Q1R and Weywot orbiting in Quaoar's equatorial plane. The orbital radius of Q1R is refined to a value of \(4,057\pm6\) km. The radial opacity profile of the more opaque ring profile follows a Lorentzian shape that extends over 60 km, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of \(\sim5\) km and a peak normal optical depth of 0.4. Besides the secondary events related to the already reported rings, new secondary events detected during the August 2022 occultation in three different data sets are consistent with another ring around Quaoar with a radius of \(2,520\pm20\) km, assuming the ring is circular and co-planar with Q1R. This new ring has a typical width of 10 km and a normal optical depth of \(\sim\)0.004. Like Q1R, it also lies outside Quaoar's classical Roche limit.
This study analysed the frequency of anterior uveitis (AU) and its correlations in a large cohort of patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA).
A common protocol of investigation was prospectively ...applied to 2012 SpA patients in 85 centres from 10 Ibero-American countries. Clinical and demographic variables and disease indexes were investigated. Categorical variables were compared by χ2 and Fisher's exact test, and continuous variables were compared by ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis test. A value of p<0.05 was considered significant.
AU was referred by 372 SpA patients (18.5%). AU was statistically associated with inflammatory low back pain (p<0.001), radiographic sacroiliitis (p<0.001), enthesopathies (p=0.004), urethritis/acute diarrhoea (p<0.001), balanitis (p=0.002), hip involvement (p=0.002), HLA-B27 (p=0.003), and higher C-reactive protein (p=0.001), whilst it was negatively associated with the number of painful (p=0.03) and swollen (p=0.005) peripheral joints, psoriatic arthritis (p<0.001), psoriasis (p<0.001), nail involvement (p<0.001), and dactilitis (p=0.062; trend). No association with gender, race, and indices (disease activity, functionality and quality of life) was observed. Logistic regression showed that ankylosing spondylitis (p=0.001) and HLA-B27 (p=0.083; trend) was significantly associated with AU, while extra-articular manifestations (predominantly psoriasis) were negatively associated (p=0.016).
Anterior uveitis is a frequent extra-articular manifestation in SpA patients, positively associated with axial involvement and HLA-B27 and negatively associated with peripheral involvement and psoriatic arthritis.
There is relatively limited information about the feeding behaviors and ecology of mouse opossums (Marmosa), due to the difficulty of observing these elusive nocturnal species in dense tropical ...forest settings. Herein we reviewed the known diet for the Zeledon's Mouse Opossum Marmosa zeledoni and related species. Additionally, we report three previously unknown prey items documented during field observations at La Selva Biological Station and Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve, Costa Rica: a cicada, a katydid and a robber frog (Craugastor crassidigitus). This note compiles the scarce information on natural history for mouse opossums, and provides the first photographic evidence about the role of these elusive Neotropical marsupials as active predators of insects and frogs.
The Sanabria appinitic rocks and host migmatites form an unusual, non-peri-batholithic complex in which all the typical members of the appinite suite are present. It differs from most appinitic ...complexes in the deeper level of emplacement and the close temporal and spatial association with migmatites. Consequently, many in situ relationships that resulted from the invasion of mafic magma into a crustal anatectic zone are extremely well preserved. The complex shows unequivocal relations between members of the appinitic suite and between these and migmatites derived by anatexis of a gneissic formation (Ollo de Sapo gneiss). These relations point to derivation of monzodiorites and biotite diorites by hydrous basalt fractionation combined with fluid-assisted melting of the crustal rocks surrounding the appinitic intrusions. This hydrous basic magma may be derived from an enriched region of the mantle associated with subduction. Petrogenetic models have been tested using a combination of field relations and geochemical data. Despite the complexity of the processes involved, it is concluded that water played an important role in the petrogenesis of the intermediate and mafic magmas. Reaction between monzodiorite melts and the host migmatites was responsible for the generation of a range of intermediate rocks within the complex. The need for water to facilitate magma generation in both the mantle and the crust suggests that melting is linked with subduction. This interpretation has important implications because appinitic magmatism may be considered as indicative of subduction processes involved not only in the generation of the mafic end-members of the suite, but also in the generation of batholiths with which the appinitic rocks are spatially and temporally associated.
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