The primary objective of this study was to assess whether the topical administration of two neuroprotective drugs (brimonidine and somatostatin) could prevent or arrest retinal neurodysfunction in ...patients with type 2 diabetes. For this purpose, adults aged between 45 and 75 years with a diabetes duration ≥5 years and an Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) level of ≤35 were randomly assigned to one of three arms: placebo, somatostatin, or brimonidine. The primary outcome was the change in implicit time (IT) assessed by multifocal electroretinography between baseline and at the end of follow-up (96 weeks). There were 449 eligible patients allocated to brimonidine (
= 152), somatostatin (
= 145), or placebo (
= 152). When the primary end point was evaluated in the whole population, we did not find any neuroprotective effect of brimonidine or somatostatin. However, in the subset of patients (34.7%) with preexisting retinal neurodysfunction, IT worsened in the placebo group (
< 0.001) but remained unchanged in the brimonidine and somatostatin groups. In conclusion, the topical administration of the selected neuroprotective agents appears useful in preventing the worsening of preexisting retinal neurodysfunction. This finding points to screening retinal neurodysfunction as a critical issue to identify a subset of patients in whom neuroprotective treatment might be of benefit.
We investigate the utility of a new, self-similar pressure profile for fitting Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect observations of galaxy clusters. Current SZ imaging instruments-such as the ...Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA)-are capable of probing clusters over a large range in a physical scale. A model is therefore required that can accurately describe a cluster's pressure profile over a broad range of radii from the core of the cluster out to a significant fraction of the virial radius. In the analysis presented here, we fit a radial pressure profile derived from simulations and detailed X-ray analysis of relaxed clusters to SZA observations of three clusters with exceptionally high-quality X-ray data: A1835, A1914, and CL J1226.9+3332. From the joint analysis of the SZ and X-ray data, we derive physical properties such as gas mass, total mass, gas fraction and the intrinsic, integrated Compton y-parameter. We find that parameters derived from the joint fit to the SZ and X-ray data agree well with a detailed, independent X-ray-only analysis of the same clusters. In particular, we find that, when combined with X-ray imaging data, this new pressure profile yields an independent electron radial temperature profile that is in good agreement with spectroscopic X-ray measurements.
DNA lesions encountered by replicative polymerases threaten genome stability and cell cycle progression. Here we report the identification of mutations in TRAIP, encoding an E3 RING ubiquitin ligase, ...in patients with microcephalic primordial dwarfism. We establish that TRAIP relocalizes to sites of DNA damage, where it is required for optimal phosphorylation of H2AX and RPA2 during S-phase in response to ultraviolet (UV) irradiation, as well as fork progression through UV-induced DNA lesions. TRAIP is necessary for efficient cell cycle progression and mutations in TRAIP therefore limit cellular proliferation, providing a potential mechanism for microcephaly and dwarfism phenotypes. Human genetics thus identifies TRAIP as a component of the DNA damage response to replication-blocking DNA lesions.
FIRST RESULTS FROM COPSS: THE CO POWER SPECTRUM SURVEY Keating, Garrett K.; Bower, Geoffrey C.; Marrone, Daniel P. ...
Astrophysical journal/The Astrophysical journal,
12/2015, Volume:
814, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
ABSTRACT We present constraints on the abundance of carbon monoxide in the early universe from the CO Power Spectrum Survey. We utilize a data set collected between 2005 and 2008 using the ...Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA), which was previously used to measure arcminute-scale fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background. This data set features observations of 44 fields, covering an effective area of 1.7 square degrees, over a frequency range of 27-35 GHz. Using the technique of intensity mapping, we are able to probe the CO(1-0) transition, with sensitivity to spatial modes between k = 0.5-2 h Mpc−1 over a range in redshift of z = 2.3-3.3, spanning a comoving volume of 3.6 × 106 h−3 Mpc3. We demonstrate our ability to mitigate foregrounds, and present estimates of the impact of continuum sources on our measurement. We constrain the CO power spectrum to PCO < 2.6 × 104 K2 (h−1 Mpc)3, or Δ2CO(k = 1 h Mpc−1) < 1.3 × 103 K2, at 95% confidence. This limit resides near optimistic predictions for the CO power spectrum. Under the assumption that CO emission is proportional to halo mass during bursts of active star formation, this corresponds to a limit on the ratio of CO(1-0) luminosity to host halo mass of ACO < 1.2 × 10−5 L M −1. Further assuming a Milky Way-like conversion factor between CO luminosity and molecular gas mass ( CO = 4.3 M (K km s−1 pc−2)−1), we constrain the global density of molecular gas to .
Abstract
High angular resolution cosmic microwave background experiments provide a unique opportunity to conduct a survey of time-variable sources at millimeter wavelengths, a population that has ...primarily been understood through follow-up measurements of detections in other bands. Here we report the first results of an astronomical transient survey with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) using the SPT-3G camera to observe 1500 deg
2
of the southern sky. The observations took place from 2020 March to November in three bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz. This survey yielded the detection of 15 transient events from sources not previously detected by the SPT. The majority are associated with variable stars of different types, expanding the number of such detected flares by more than a factor of two. The stellar flares are unpolarized and bright, in some cases exceeding 1 Jy, and have durations from a few minutes to several hours. Another population of detected events last for 2–3 weeks and appear to be extragalactic in origin. Though data availability at other wavelengths is limited, we find evidence for concurrent optical activity for two of the stellar flares. Future data from SPT-3G and forthcoming instruments will provide real-time detection of millimeter-wave transients on timescales of minutes to months.
A simplified gravitational reference sensor (S-GRS) is an ultra-precise inertial sensor for future Earth geodesy missions. These sensors measure or compensate for all non-gravitational accelerations ...of the host spacecraft to remove them in the data analysis and recover spacecraft motion due to Earth’s gravity field. Low–low satellite-to-satellite tracking missions like GRACE-FO that use laser ranging interferometers (LRI) are limited by the acceleration noise performance of their electrostatic accelerometers and temporal aliasing associated with Earth’s gravity field. The current accelerometers, used in the GRACE missions, have a limited sensitivity of
∼
10
-
10
m/s
2
/Hz
1
/
2
around 1 mHz. The S-GRS is estimated to be at least 40 times more sensitive than the GRACE accelerometers and over 500 times more sensitive if operated on a drag-compensated platform. This improvement is enabled by increasing the mass of the sensor’s test mass, increasing the gap between the test mass and its electrode housing, removing the grounding wire used in GRACE, and replacing it with a UV LED-based charge management system. This allows future missions to take advantage of the sensitivity of the GRACE-FO LRI in the gravity recovery analysis. The S-GRS concept is a simplified version of the flight-proven LISA Pathfinder (LPF) GRS. Performance estimates are based on models vetted during the LPF flight and the expected spacecraft environment based on GRACE-FO data. The relatively low volume (
∼
10
4
cm
3
), mass (
∼
13 kg), and power (
∼
20 W) enable the use of S-GRS on microsatellites, reducing launch costs and allowing more satellite pairs to improve the temporal resolution of gravity field maps. The S-GRS design and analysis, as well as its gravity recovery performance in two candidate mission architectures, are discussed in this article.
Our purpose was to evaluate cosmetic changes after 5-fraction adjuvant stereotactic partial breast irradiation (S-PBI).
Seventy-five women with in situ or invasive breast cancer stage 0, I, or II, ...with tumor size ≤3 cm, were enrolled after lumpectomy in a phase 1 dose escalation trial of S-PBI into cohorts receiving 30, 32.5, 35, 37.5, or 40 Gy in 5 fractions. Before S-PBI, 3 to 4 gold fiducial markers were placed in the lumpectomy cavity for tracking with the Synchrony respiratory tracking system. S-PBI was delivered with a CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery system. Patients and physicians evaluated global cosmesis using the Harvard Breast Cosmesis Scale. Eight independent panelists evaluated digital photography for global cosmesis and 10 subdomains at baseline and follow-up. McNemar tests were used to evaluate change in cosmesis, graded as excellent/good or fair/poor, from baseline to year 3. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to evaluate change in subdomains. Cohen’s kappa (κ) statistic was used to estimate interobserver agreement (IOA) between raters, and Fleiss’ κ was used to estimate IOA between panelists.
Median cosmetic follow-up was 5, 5, 5, 4, and 3 years for the 30, 32.5, 35, 37.5, and 40 Gy cohorts. Most patients reported excellent/good cosmesis at both baseline (86.3%) and year 3 (89.8%). No dose cohort had significantly worsened cosmesis by year 3 on McNemar analysis. No cosmetic subdomain had significant worsening by year 3. IOA was fair for patient-physician (κ = 0.300, P < .001), patient-panel (κ = 0.295, P < .001), physician-panel (κ = 0.256, P < .001), and individual panelists (Fleiss κ = 0.327, P < .001).
Dose escalation of S-PBI from 30 to 40 Gy in 5 fractions for early stage breast cancer was not associated with a detectable change in cosmesis by year 3. S-PBI is a promising modality for treatment of early stage breast cancer.
We present 015 resolution observations of the 227 GHz continuum emission from the circumstellar disk around the FU Orionis star PP 13S*. The data were obtained with the Combined Array for Research in ...Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) Paired Antenna Calibration System (C-PACS), which measures and corrects the atmospheric delay fluctuations on the longest baselines of the array in order to improve the sensitivity and angular resolution of the observations. A description of the C-PACS technique and the data reduction procedures are presented. C-PACS was applied to CARMA observations of PP 13S*, which led to a factor of 1.6 increase in the observed peak flux of the source, a 36% reduction in the noise of the image, and a 52% decrease in the measured size of the source major axis. The calibrated complex visibilities were fitted with a theoretical disk model to constrain the disk surface density. The total disk mass from the best-fit model corresponds to 0.06 M , which is larger than the median mass of a disk around a classical T Tauri star. The disk is optically thick at a wavelength of 1.3 mm for orbital radii less than 48 AU. At larger radii, the inferred surface density of the PP 13S* disk is an order of magnitude lower than that needed to develop a gravitational instability.
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