We report a NanoSIMS search for presolar grains in the CM chondrites Asuka (A) 12169 and A12236. We found 90 presolar O‐rich grains and 25 SiC grains in A12169, giving matrix‐normalized abundances of ...275 (+55/−50, 1σ) ppm or, excluding an unusually large grain, 236 (+37/−34) ppm for O‐rich grains and 62 (+15/−12) ppm for SiC grains. For A12236, 18 presolar silicates and 6 SiCs indicate abundances of 58 (+18/−12) and 20 (+12/−8) ppm, respectively. The SiC abundances are in the typical range of primitive chondrites. The abundance of presolar O‐rich grains in A12169 is essentially identical to that in CO3.0 Dominion Range 08006, higher than in any other chondrites, while in A12236, it is higher than found in other CMs. These abundances provide further strong support that A12169 and A12236 are the least‐altered CMs as indicated by petrographic investigations. The similar abundances, isotopic distributions, silicate/oxide ratios, and grain sizes of the presolar O‐rich grains found here to those of presolar grains in highly primitive CO, CR, and ungrouped carbonaceous chondrites (CCs) indicate that the CM parent body(ies) accreted a similar population of presolar oxides and silicates in their matrices to those accreted by the parent bodies of the other CC groups. The lower abundances and larger grain sizes seen in some other CMs are thus most likely a result of parent‐body alteration and not heterogeneity in nebular precursors. Presolar silicates are unlikely to be present in high abundances in returned samples from asteroids Ryugu and Bennu since remote‐sensing data indicate that they have experienced substantial aqueous alteration.
The aims of this prospective study were to investigate the accuracy of B-mode transvaginal ultrasonography alone, using the typical finding of the presence of an elongated shaped mass with incomplete ...septa, in the screening of hydrosalpinx in women undergoing surgery for gynaecological diseases, and to determine the predictive value of this method combined with colour Doppler energy (CDE) imaging evaluation and CA125 concentrations in differentiating hydrosalpinx from other adnexal masses. In the first part of the study, 378 consecutive pre-menopausal non-pregnant women were submitted to transvaginal ultrasonography alone before surgery. In the second part of the study, 256 adnexal masses underwent transvaginal ultrasonography combined with CDE imaging evaluation associated with spectral Doppler analysis and plasma concentrations of CA125. Sensitivity and specificity for the ultrasonographic screening were 84.6 and 99.7% respectively, calculated for each adnexum (n = 756) and 93.3 and 99.6% respectively, calculated for each mass, for differentiating hydrosalpinx from other adnexal masses. The CDE imaging and the evaluation of CA125 plasma concentrations do not seem to increase the accuracy of B-mode transvaginal ultrasonography. Inter- and intra-observer agreement, expressed in terms of k-values, was high (0.87 and 0.93 respectively). In conclusion, transvaginal ultrasonography alone is a useful method of detection of hydrosalpinx.
Planck intermediate results Adam, R; Ade, P A R; Aghanim, N ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
02/2016, Volume:
586
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
The role of the magnetic field in the formation of the filamentary structures observed in the interstellar medium (ISM) is a debated topic owing to the paucity of relevant observations needed to test ...existing models. The Planck all-sky maps of linearly polarized emission from dust at 353 GHz provide the required combination of imaging and statistics to study the correlation between the structures of the Galactic magnetic field and of interstellar matter over the whole sky, both in the diffuse ISM and in molecular clouds. We focus our study on structures at intermediate and high Galactic latitudes, which cover two orders of magnitude in column density, from 1020 to 1022 cm-2. We use analytical models to account for projection effects. We discuss our results in the context of models and MHD simulations, which attempt to describe the respective roles of turbulence, magnetic field, and self-gravity in the formation of structures in the magnetized ISM.
Planck intermediate results Ade, P A R; Aghanim, N; Alves, M I R ...
Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin),
02/2016, Volume:
586
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
We present all-sky modelling of the high resolution Planck, IRAS, and WISE infrared (IR) observations using the physical dust model presented by Draine & Li in 2007 (DL, ApJ, 657, 810). We study the ...performance and results of this model, and discuss implications for future dust modelling. The present work extends the DL dust modelling carried out on nearby galaxies using Herschel and Spitzer data to Galactic dust emission. We employ the DL dust model to generate maps of the dust mass surface density SMd, the dust optical extinction AV, and the starlight intensity heating the bulk of the dust, parametrized by Umin. The DL model reproduces the observed spectral energy distribution (SED) satisfactorily over most of the sky, with small deviations in the inner Galactic disk and in low ecliptic latitude areas, presumably due to zodiacal light contamination. The family of SEDs and the maps generated with the DL model are made public in the Planck Legacy Archive.
The effect of melatonin on human carbohydrate metabolism is not yet clear. We investigated whether melatonin influences glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in aged women.
Twenty‐two ...postmenopausal women of whom 14 were on hormone replacement therapy.
After an overnight fast, at 0800 hours on two nonconsecutive days, placebo or melatonin (1 mg) were administered randomly and in a double blind fashion. Forty‐five minutes later, an oral glucose tolerance test (75 g; OGTT) was performed in 13 women. In another nine women insulin‐dependent (Si) and ‐independent (Sg) glucose utilization was tested by a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test (FSIGT).
Areas under the response curve to OGTT (AUC) for glucose (1420 ± 59 vs. 1250 ± 55 mmol × min/l; P < 0·01), and C‐peptide (420980 ± 45320 vs. 33528 ± 15779 pmol × min/l; P < 0·02) were higher following melatonin than placebo, while Si values were lower (2·6 ± 0·28 units vs. 3·49 ± 0·4 units; P < 0·03). Si modifications induced by melatonin were inversely related to Si values of the placebo day (r2 = 0·538; P < 0·025).
The present results indicate that in aged women administration of 1 mg of melatonin reduces glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. The present data may have both physiological and clinical implications.
Vilaprisan for treating uterine fibroids Melis, Gian Benedetto; Neri, Manuela; Piras, Bruno ...
Expert opinion on investigational drugs,
05/2018, Volume:
27, Issue:
5
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The medical strategy to antagonize myoma size and related-symptoms is to reduce estrogen and progesterone activity on myomas. This can be obtained with the GnRH agonist (GnRHa) or with compounds that ...antagonize progesterone stimulatory activity on myomas. Selective progesterone receptor modulators (SPRMs) bind progesterone receptor (PR), leading to both agonist and antagonist effects. The result of SPRMs's action is tissue-specific and it depends on the particular affinity and strength of each SPRM. Area covered: Ulipristal acetate (UPA) is the first SPRM registered for myoma treatment. UPA reduces heavy uterine bleeding within 7 days from the onset of treatment, whereas a longer time is required with GnRHa treatment. Vilaprisan is a novel powerful SPRM. Phase I and II studies give encouraging results on the efficacy of vilaprisan at different doses. Like other SPRMs, vilaprisan induces benign changes of endometrium (PR modulator-associated endometrial changes, PAECs). These disappear as treatment is discontinued. Unlike GnRHa treatment, neither UPA nor vilaprisan induce hypoestrogenism and associated symptoms. Phase III studies are ongoing to confirm efficacy and safety of vilaprisan in long-term treatment of symptomatic fibroids. Expert opinion: It is fundamental to underline the rapidity of action (only 3 days) in the control of myoma-related bleeding.
Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have been widely used for the analysis of remotely sensed imagery. In particular, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) are gaining more and more attention in this ...field. CNNs have proved to be very effective in areas such as image recognition and classification, especially for the classification of large sets composed by two-dimensional images. However, their application to multispectral and hyperspectral images faces some challenges, especially related to the processing of the high-dimensional information contained in multidimensional data cubes. This results in a significant increase in computation time. In this paper, we present a new CNN architecture for the classification of hyperspectral images. The proposed CNN is a 3-D network that uses both spectral and spatial information. It also implements a border mirroring strategy to effectively process border areas in the image, and has been efficiently implemented using graphics processing units (GPUs). Our experimental results indicate that the proposed network performs accurately and efficiently, achieving a reduction of the computation time and increasing the accuracy in the classification of hyperspectral images when compared to other traditional ANN techniques.
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