| 1. |
- de Rojas, I., et al.
(författare)
-
Common variants in Alzheimer’s disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer’s disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene). Assessment of the polygenic risk score and stratifying by APOE reveal a 4 to 5.5 years difference in median age at onset of Alzheimer’s disease patients in APOE ɛ4 carriers. Because of this study, the underlying mechanisms of APP can be studied to refine the amyloid cascade and the polygenic risk score provides a tool to select individuals at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease. © 2021, The Author(s).
|
|
| 2. |
- Meech, K. J., et al.
(författare)
-
EPOXI: Comet 103P/Hartley 2 Observations from a Worldwide Campaign
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - London : IOP. - 2041-8213 .- 2041-8205. ; 734:L1, s. 1-9
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Earth- and space-based observations provide synergistic information for space mission encounters by providing data over longer timescales, at different wavelengths and using techniques that are impossible with an in situ flyby. We report here such observations in support of the EPOXI spacecraft flyby of comet 103P/Hartley 2. The nucleus is small and dark, and exhibited a very rapidly changing rotation period. Prior to the onset of activity, the period was ~16.4?hr. Starting in 2010 August the period changed from 16.6?hr to near 19?hr in December. With respect to dust composition, most volatiles and carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios, the comet is similar to other Jupiter-family comets. What is unusual is the dominance of CO 2 -driven activity near perihelion, which likely persists out to aphelion. Near perihelion the comet nucleus was surrounded by a large halo of water-ice grains that contributed significantly to the total water production.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Elhai, M, et al.
(författare)
-
Outcomes of patients with systemic sclerosis treated with rituximab in contemporary practice: a prospective cohort study
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Annals of the rheumatic diseases. - : BMJ. - 1468-2060 .- 0003-4967. ; 78:7, s. 979-987
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To assess the safety and efficacy of rituximab in systemic sclerosis (SSc) in clinical practice.MethodsWe performed a prospective study including patients with SSc from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) network treated with rituximab and matched with untreated patients with SSc. The main outcomes measures were adverse events, skin fibrosis improvement, lung fibrosis worsening and steroids use among propensity score-matched patients treated or not with rituximab.Results254 patients were treated with rituximab, in 58% for lung and in 32% for skin involvement. After a median follow-up of 2 years, about 70% of the patients had no side effect. Comparison of treated patients with 9575 propensity-score matched patients showed that patients treated with rituximab were more likely to have skin fibrosis improvement (22.7 vs 14.03 events per 100 person-years; OR: 2.79 [1.47–5.32]; p=0.002). Treated patients did not have significantly different rates of decrease in forced vital capacity (FVC)>10% (OR: 1.03 [0.55–1.94]; p=0.93) nor in carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLCO) decrease. Patients having received rituximab were more prone to stop or decrease steroids (OR: 2.34 [1.56–3.53], p<0.0001). Patients treated concomitantly with mycophenolate mofetil had a trend for better outcomes as compared with patients receiving rituximab alone (delta FVC: 5.22 [0.83–9.62]; p=0.019 as compared with controls vs 3 [0.66–5.35]; p=0.012).ConclusionRituximab use was associated with a good safety profile in this large SSc-cohort. Significant change was observed on skin fibrosis, but not on lung. However, the limitation is the observational design. The potential stabilisation of lung fibrosis by rituximab has to be addressed by a randomised trial.
|
|
| 5. |
- Amendola, L., et al.
(författare)
-
Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Living Reviews in Relativity. - : Springer. - 1433-8351 .- 2367-3613. ; 21:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the cosmic vision 2015–2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid’s Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.
|
|
| 6. |
- Chyz̊y, K.T., et al.
(författare)
-
LOFAR MSSS: Flattening low-frequency radio continuum spectra of nearby galaxies
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 619
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. The shape of low-frequency radio continuum spectra of normal galaxies is not well understood, the key question being the role of physical processes such as thermal absorption in shaping them. In this work we take advantage of the LOFAR Multifrequency Snapshot Sky Survey (MSSS) to investigate such spectra for a large sample of nearby star-forming galaxies. Methods. Using the measured 150 MHz flux densities from the LOFAR MSSS survey and literature flux densities at various frequencies we have obtained integrated radio spectra for 106 galaxies characterised by different morphology and star formation rate. The spectra are explained through the use of a three-dimensional model of galaxy radio emission, and radiation transfer dependent on the galaxy viewing angle and absorption processes. Results. Our galaxies' spectra are generally flatter at lower compared to higher frequencies: the median spectral index αlow measured between ≈ 50 MHz and 1.5 GHz is -0.57 ± 0.01 while the high-frequency one αhigh, calculated between 1.3 GHz and 5 GHz, is -0.77 ± 0.03. As there is no tendency for the highly inclined galaxies to have more flattened low-frequency spectra, we argue that the observed flattening is not due to thermal absorption, contradicting the suggestion of Israel & Mahoney (1990, ApJ, 352, 30). According to our modelled radio maps for M 51-like galaxies, the free-free absorption effects can be seen only below 30 MHz and in the global spectra just below 20 MHz, while in the spectra of starburst galaxies, like M 82, the flattening due to absorption is instead visible up to higher frequencies of about 150 MHz. Starbursts are however scarce in the local Universe, in accordance with the weak spectral curvature seen in the galaxies of our sample. Locally, within galactic disks, the absorption effects are distinctly visible in M 51-like galaxies as spectral flattening around 100-200 MHz in the face-on objects, and as turnovers in the edge-on ones, while in M 82-like galaxies there are strong turnovers at frequencies above 700 MHz, regardless of viewing angle. Conclusions. Our modelling of galaxy spectra suggests that the weak spectral flattening observed in the nearby galaxies studied here results principally from synchrotron spectral curvature due to cosmic ray energy losses and propagation effects. We predict much stronger effects of thermal absorption in more distant galaxies with high star formation rates. Some influence exerted by the Milky Way's foreground on the spectra of all external galaxies is also expected at very low frequencies.
|
|
| 7. |
- Van Eck, C.L., et al.
(författare)
-
Polarized point sources in the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey: A preliminary catalog
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 613
-
Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The polarization properties of radio sources at very low frequencies (<200 MHz) have not been widely measured, but the new generation of low-frequency radio telescopes, including the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR: a Square Kilometre Array Low pathfinder), now gives us the opportunity to investigate these properties. In this paper, we report on the preliminary development of a data reduction pipeline to carry out polarization processing and Faraday tomography for data from the LOFAR Two-meter Sky Survey (LOTSS) and present the results of this pipeline from the LOTSS preliminary data release region (10h45m–15h30m right ascension, 45°–57° declination, 570 square degrees). We have produced a catalog of 92 polarized radio sources at 150 MHz at 4.′3 resolution and 1 mJy rms sensitivity, which is the largest catalog of polarized sources at such low frequencies. We estimate a lower limit to the polarized source surface density at 150 MHz, with our resolution and sensitivity, of 1 source per 6.2 square degrees. We find that our Faraday depth measurements are in agreement with previous measurements and have significantly smaller errors. Most of our sources show significant depolarization compared to 1.4 GHz, but there is a small population of sources with low depolarization indicating that their polarized emission is highly localized in Faraday depth. We predict that an extension of this work to the full LOTSS data would detect at least 3400 polarized sources using the same methods, and probably considerably more with improved data processing.
|
|
| 8. |
- Indriolo, Nick, et al.
(författare)
-
SOFIA/EXES observations of water absorption in the protostar AFGL 2591 at high spectral resolution
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8213. ; 802:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present high spectral resolution (similar to 3 km s(-1)) observations of the nu(2) ro-vibrational band of H2O in the 6.086-6.135 mu m range toward the massive protostar AFGL 2591 using the Echelon-Cross-Echelle Spectrograph (EXES) on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Ten absorption features are detected in total, with seven caused by transitions in the nu(2) band of H2O, two by transitions in the first vibrationally excited nu(2) band of H2O, and one by a transition in the nu(2) band of (H2O)-O-18. Among the detected transitions is the nu(2) 1(1,1)-0(0,0) line that probes the lowest-lying rotational level of para-H2O. The stronger transitions appear to be optically thick, but reach maximum absorption at a depth of about 25%, suggesting that the background source is only partially covered by the absorbing gas or that the absorption arises within the 6 mu m emitting photosphere. Assuming a covering fraction of 25%, the H2O column density and rotational temperature that best fit the observed absorption lines are N(H2O) = (1.3 +/- 0.3) x 10(19) cm(-2) and T = 640 +/- 80 K.
|
|
| 9. |
- Harper, G. M., et al.
(författare)
-
SOFIA-EXES Mid-IR Observations of [Fe II] Emission from the Extended Atmosphere of Betelgeuse
- 2017
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 836:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a NASA-DLR SOFIA-Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (EXES) and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility-Texas Echelon Cross Echelle Spectrograph (TEXES) mid-IR R ≃ 50,000 spectral study of forbidden Fe II transitions in the early-type M supergiants, Betelgeuse (α Ori: M2 Iab) and Antares (α Sco: M1 Iab + B3 V). With EXES, we spectrally resolve the ground term [Fe II] 25.99 μm ( a 6DJ= 7/2-9/2: Eup = 540 K) emission from Betelgeuse. We find a small centroid blueshift of 1.9 ± 0.4 km s-1 that is a significant fraction (20%) of the current epoch wind speed, with a FWHM of 14.3 ± 0.1 km s-1. The TEXES observations of [Fe II] 17.94 μm (a 4FJ= - 7/2 9/2: Eup = 3400 K) show a broader FWHM of 19.1 ± 0.2 km s-1, consistent with previous observations, and a small redshift of 1.6 ± 0.6 km s-1 with respect to the adopted stellar center-ofmass velocity of VCoM = 20.9 ± 0.3 km s-1. To produce [Fe II] 25.99 μm blueshifts of 20% wind speed requires that the emission arises closer to the star than existing thermal models for α Ori's circumstellar envelope predict. This implies a more rapid wind cooling to below 500 K within 10R∗ (q∗ = 44 mas, dist = 200 pc) of the star, where the wind has also reached a significant fraction of the maximum wind speed. The line width is consistent with the turbulence in the outflow being close to the hydrogen sound speed. EXES observations of [Fe II] 22.90 μm ( a 4DJ= 5/2-7/2: Eup = 11,700 K) reveal no emission from either star. These findings confirm the dominance of cool plasma in the mixed region where hot chromospheric plasma emits copiously in the UV, and they also constrain the wind heating produced by the poorly understood mechanisms that drive stellar outflows from these low variability and weak-dust signature stars.
|
|
| 10. |
- Ryde, N., et al.
(författare)
-
Evolved Stars with Complex Atmospheres - the High Spectral Resolution, mid-IR View
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Why galaxies care about AGB stars III. - : ASTRONOMICAL SOC PACIFIC. - 9781583818794 - 9781583818787 ; , s. 67-71
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The physical structures of the outer atmospheres of red giants are not known. They are certainly complex, and a range of recent observations are showing that we need to embrace non-classical model atmospheres to interpret these regions. This region's properties are of importance, not the least for an understanding of the mass-loss mechanism for these stars. Here we present observational constraints on the outer regions of red giants, based on mid-IR, high spectral resolution spectra. We also discuss possible non-LTE effects and highlight a new non-LTE code that will be used to analyse the spectra of these atmospheric layers. We conclude by mentioning our new SOFIA/EXES observations of red giants at 67 mu m, where the vibration-rotation lines of water vapour can be detected and spectrally resolved for the first time.
|
|
