A TRANSITING JUPITER ANALOG Kipping, D. M.; Torres, G.; Henze, C. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
04/2016, Letnik:
820, Številka:
2
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
ABSTRACT Decadal-long radial velocity surveys have recently started to discover analogs to the most influential planet of our solar system, Jupiter. Detecting and characterizing these worlds is ...expected to shape our understanding of our uniqueness in the cosmos. Despite the great successes of recent transit surveys, Jupiter analogs represent a terra incognita, owing to the strong intrinsic bias of this method against long orbital periods. We here report on the first validated transiting Jupiter analog, Kepler-167e (KOI-490.02), discovered using Kepler archival photometry orbiting the K4-dwarf KIC-3239945. With a radius of , a low orbital eccentricity ( ), and an equilibrium temperature of K, Kepler-167e bears many of the basic hallmarks of Jupiter. Kepler-167e is accompanied by three Super-Earths on compact orbits, which we also validate, leaving a large cavity of transiting worlds around the habitable-zone. With two transits and continuous photometric coverage, we are able to uniquely and precisely measure the orbital period of this post snow-line planet (1071.2323 0.0006d), paving the way for follow-up of this K = 11.8 mag target.
Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) leads to economic losses in poultry production and is also a threat to human health. The goal of this study was to characterize the chicken spleen ...transcriptome and to identify candidate genes for response and resistance to APEC infection using Solexa sequencing. We obtained 14422935, 14104324, and 14954692 Solexa read pairs for non-challenged (NC), challenged-mild pathology (MD), and challenged-severe pathology (SV), respectively. A total of 148197 contigs and 98461 unigenes were assembled, of which 134949 contigs and 91890 unigenes match the chicken genome. In total, 12272 annotated unigenes take part in biological processes (11664), cellular components (11927), and molecular functions (11963). Summing three specific contrasts, 13650 significantly differentially expressed unigenes were found in NC Vs. MD (6844), NC Vs. SV (7764), and MD Vs. SV (2320). Some unigenes (e.g. CD148, CD45 and LCK) were involved in crucial pathways, such as the T cell receptor (TCR) signaling pathway and microbial metabolism in diverse environments. This study facilitates understanding of the genetic architecture of the chicken spleen transcriptome, and has identified candidate genes for host response to APEC infection.
Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) is detrimental to poultry health and its zoonotic potential is a food safety concern. Regulation of antimicrobials in food-production animals has put greater ...focus on enhancing host resistance to bacterial infections through genetics. To better define effective mechanism of host resistance, global gene expression in the spleen of chickens, harvested at two times post-infection (PI) with APEC, was measured using microarray technology, in a design that will enable investigation of effects of vaccination, challenge, and pathology level.
There were 1,101 genes significantly differentially expressed between severely infected and non-infected groups on day 1 PI and 1,723 on day 5 PI. Very little difference was seen between mildly infected and non-infected groups on either time point. Between birds exhibiting mild and severe pathology, there were 2 significantly differentially expressed genes on day 1 PI and 799 on day 5 PI. Groups with greater pathology had more genes with increased expression than decreased expression levels. Several predominate immune pathways, Toll-like receptor, Jak-STAT, and cytokine signaling, were represented between challenged and non-challenged groups. Vaccination had, surprisingly, no detectible effect on gene expression, although it significantly protected the birds from observable gross lesions. Functional characterization of significantly expressed genes revealed unique gene ontology classifications during each time point, with many unique to a particular treatment or class contrast.
More severe pathology caused by APEC infection was associated with a high level of gene expression differences and increase in gene expression levels. Many of the significantly differentially expressed genes were unique to a particular treatment, pathology level or time point. The present study not only investigates the transcriptomic regulations of APEC infection, but also the degree of pathology associated with that infection. This study will allow for greater discovery into host mechanisms for disease resistance, providing targets for marker assisted selection and advanced drug development.
Purpose
The reported conversion rates for minimally invasive distal pancreatectomy (MIDP) range widely from 2 to 38%. The identification of risk factors for conversion may help surgeons during ...preoperative planning and patient counseling. Moreover, the impact of conversion on outcomes of MIDP is unknown.
Methods
A systematic review was conducted as part of the 2019 Miami International Evidence-Based Guidelines on Minimally Invasive Pancreas Resection (IG-MIPR). The PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases were searched for studies concerning conversion to open surgery in MIDP.
Results
Of the 828 studies screened, eight met the eligibility criteria, resulting in a combined dataset including 2592 patients after MIDP. The overall conversion rate was 17.1% (range 13.0–32.7%) with heterogeneity between studies associated with the definition of conversion adopted. Only one study divided conversion into elective and emergency conversion. The main indications for conversion were vascular involvement (23.7%), concern for oncological radicality (21.9%), and bleeding (18.9%). The reported risk factors for conversion included a malignancy as an indication for surgery, the proximity of the tumor to vascular structures in preoperative imaging, higher BMI or visceral fat, and multi-organ resection or extended resection. Contrasting results were seen in terms of blood loss and length of stay in comparing converted MIDP and completed MIDP patients.
Conclusion
The identified risk factors for conversion from this study can be used for patient selection and counseling. Surgeon experience should be considered when contemplating MIDP for a complex patient. Future studies should divide conversion into elective and emergency conversion.
Individual identification of small sized fishes such as the endangered delta smelt
Hypomesus transpacificus
remains a pressing need. We evaluated the stability of chromatophores as potential natural ...marks for subadult and adult delta smelt under low and high ambient light. We conducted three photo sessions of the dorsal head area at about three month intervals from fall 2014 to spring 2015. Image recognition was performed using visual tests (naked eye) and automated image recognition (TinEye’s Match Engine). The stability of chromatophores between sessions was independently evaluated using: 1) the percent of correct matching (matching success), 2) similarity indices between matched images (match quality), and 3) the change in their relative size (chromatophore expression). Matching success (mean ± SD) was higher for visual tests (86 ± 12%) than automated tests (44 ± 30%), and was consistently higher from winter to spring for both visual (100%) and automated tests (80 ± 16%). Unlike visual tests, automated matching success differed between light treatments from winter to spring, and automated match quality was higher under low ambient light. Chromatophore expression increased between fall and winter, and decreased between winter and spring in both genders. Ambient light was less influential on matching success than ontogenetic changes between the subadult and adult stages. These results suggest chromatophores of delta smelt are more stable and have higher potential for practical use of natural marks under a wide range of ambient light scenarios when the adult stage is reached.
Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes colibacillosis, which is responsible for morbidity and mortality in chickens. Gene expression patterns have previously been demonstrated to differ ...between chicken populations that are resistant vs. susceptible to bacterial infection, but little is currently known about gene expression response to APEC. Increased understanding of gene expression patterns associated with resistance will facilitate genetic selection to increase resistance to APEC. Male broiler chicks were vaccinated at 2 weeks of age and challenged with APEC at 4 weeks of age. Peripheral blood leukocytes were collected at 1 and 5 day post-infection. Lesions on the liver, pericardium, and air sacs were used to assign a mild or severe pathology status to non-vaccinated, challenged chicks. Ten treatment groups were therefore generated with a priori factors of vaccination, challenge, day post-infection, and the a posteriori factor of pathology status. Global transcriptomic response was evaluated using the Agilent 44K chicken microarray. APEC infection resulted in more up-regulation than down-regulation of differentially expressed genes. Immune response and metabolic processes were enriched with differentially expressed genes. Although vaccination significantly reduced lesions in challenged bird, there was no detectable effect of vaccination on gene expression. This study investigated the transcriptomic differences in host responses associated with mild vs. severe pathology, in addition to the effects of vaccination and challenge, thus revealing genes and networks associated with response to APEC and providing a foundation for future studies on, and genetic selection for, genetic resistance to APEC.
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