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- van Cappellen, W., et al.
(författare)
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Apertif: Phased array feeds for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope: System overview and performance characteristics
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 658
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We describe the APERture Tile In Focus (Apertif) system, a phased array feed (PAF) upgrade of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope that transforms this telescope into a high-sensitivity, wide-field-of-view L-band imaging and transient survey instrument. Using novel PAF technology, up to 40 partially overlapping beams are formed on the sky simultaneously, significantly increasing the survey speed of the telescope. With this upgraded instrument, an imaging survey covering an area of 2300 deg2 is being performed that will deliver both continuum and spectral line datasets, of which the first data have been publicly released. In addition, a time domain transient and pulsar survey covering 15 000 deg2 is in progress. An overview of the Apertif science drivers, hardware, and software of the upgraded telescope is presented, along with its key performance characteristics.
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2. |
- Roger, T., et al.
(författare)
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Precise Determination of the Unperturbed B8 Neutrino Spectrum
- 2012
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Ingår i: Phys. Rev. Lett.. ; 108:16, s. Art. no. 162502-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A measurement of the final state distribution of the 8B beta decay, obtained by implanting a 8B beam in a double-sided silicon strip detector, is reported here. The present spectrum is consistent with a recent independent precise measurement performed by our collaboration at the IGISOL facility, Jyvaskyla [O. S.Kirsebom et al., Phys. Rev. C 83, 065802 (2011)]. It shows discrepancies with previously measuredspectra, leading to differences in the derived neutrino spectrum. Thanks to a low detection threshold, theneutrino spectrum is for the first time directly extracted from the measured final state distribution, thusavoiding the uncertainties related to the extrapolation of R-matrix fits. Combined with the IGISOL data,this leads to an improvement of the overall errors and the extension of the neutrino spectrum at highenergy. The new unperturbed neutrino spectrum represents a benchmark for future measurements of thesolar neutrino flux as a function of energy.
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3. |
- Kemp, John P, et al.
(författare)
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Phenotypic dissection of bone mineral density reveals skeletal site specificity and facilitates the identification of novel loci in the genetic regulation of bone mass attainment.
- 2014
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Ingår i: PLoS genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 10:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Heritability of bone mineral density (BMD) varies across skeletal sites, reflecting different relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences. To quantify the degree to which common genetic variants tag and environmental factors influence BMD, at different sites, we estimated the genetic (rg) and residual (re) correlations between BMD measured at the upper limbs (UL-BMD), lower limbs (LL-BMD) and skull (SK-BMD), using total-body DXA scans of ∼ 4,890 participants recruited by the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and their Children (ALSPAC). Point estimates of rg indicated that appendicular sites have a greater proportion of shared genetic architecture (LL-/UL-BMD rg = 0.78) between them, than with the skull (UL-/SK-BMD rg = 0.58 and LL-/SK-BMD rg = 0.43). Likewise, the residual correlation between BMD at appendicular sites (r(e) = 0.55) was higher than the residual correlation between SK-BMD and BMD at appendicular sites (r(e) = 0.20-0.24). To explore the basis for the observed differences in rg and re, genome-wide association meta-analyses were performed (n ∼ 9,395), combining data from ALSPAC and the Generation R Study identifying 15 independent signals from 13 loci associated at genome-wide significant level across different skeletal regions. Results suggested that previously identified BMD-associated variants may exert site-specific effects (i.e. differ in the strength of their association and magnitude of effect across different skeletal sites). In particular, variants at CPED1 exerted a larger influence on SK-BMD and UL-BMD when compared to LL-BMD (P = 2.01 × 10(-37)), whilst variants at WNT16 influenced UL-BMD to a greater degree when compared to SK- and LL-BMD (P = 2.31 × 10(-14)). In addition, we report a novel association between RIN3 (previously associated with Paget's disease) and LL-BMD (rs754388: β = 0.13, SE = 0.02, P = 1.4 × 10(-10)). Our results suggest that BMD at different skeletal sites is under a mixture of shared and specific genetic and environmental influences. Allowing for these differences by performing genome-wide association at different skeletal sites may help uncover new genetic influences on BMD.
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4. |
- Hawinkels, Lukas J. A. C., et al.
(författare)
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Activin Receptor-like Kinase 1 Ligand Trap Reduces Microvascular Density and Improves Chemotherapy Efficiency to Various Solid Tumors
- 2016
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Ingår i: Clinical Cancer Research. - 1078-0432 .- 1557-3265. ; 22:1, s. 96-106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Antiangiogenic therapy, mostly targeting VEGF, has been applied in cancer patients for the last decade. However, resistance to anti-VEGF therapy and/or no significant benefit as monotherapeutic agent is often observed. Therefore, new antiangiogenic strategies are needed. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of interfering with the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)9/activin receptor-like kinase (ALK)1 signaling pathway by using an ALK1-Fc ligand trap. Experimental Design: We analyzed the potential antiangiogenic and antitumor effects of ALK1-Fc protein as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy in vivo in mouse models of melanoma, head and neck cancer, and invasive lobular breast carcinomas. ALK1-Fc sequesters BMP9 and 10 and prevents binding of these ligands to endothelial ALK1, which regulates angiogenesis. Results: Treatment of mice with ALK1-Fc strongly decreased the tumors' microvascular density in the three different mouse cancer models. However, this effect was not accompanied by a reduction in tumor volume. Animmunohistochemical analysis of the tumor samples revealed that ALK1-Fc treatment increased the pericyte coverage of the remaining tumor vessels and decreased the hypoxia within the tumor. Next, we observed that combining ALK1-Fc with cisplatin inhibited tumor growth in the breast and head and neck cancer models more efficiently than chemotherapy alone. Conclusions: The addition of ALK1-Fc to the cisplatin treatment was able to enhance the cytotoxic effect of the chemotherapy. Our results provide strong rationale to explore combined targeting of ALK1 with chemotherapy in a clinical setting, especially in the ongoing phase II clinical trials with ALK1-Fc.
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