| 1. |
- Blokland, G. A. M., et al.
(author)
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Sex-Dependent Shared and Nonshared Genetic Architecture Across Mood and Psychotic Disorders
- 2022
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In: Biological Psychiatry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3223 .- 1873-2402. ; 91:1, s. 102-117
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Sex differences in incidence and/or presentation of schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BIP) are pervasive. Previous evidence for shared genetic risk and sex differences in brain abnormalities across disorders suggest possible shared sex-dependent genetic risk. Methods: We conducted the largest to date genome-wide genotype-by-sex (G×S) interaction of risk for these disorders using 85,735 cases (33,403 SCZ, 19,924 BIP, and 32,408 MDD) and 109,946 controls from the PGC (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium) and iPSYCH. Results: Across disorders, genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphism–by-sex interaction was detected for a locus encompassing NKAIN2 (rs117780815, p = 3.2 × 10−8), which interacts with sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) enzymes, implicating neuronal excitability. Three additional loci showed evidence (p < 1 × 10−6) for cross-disorder G×S interaction (rs7302529, p = 1.6 × 10−7; rs73033497, p = 8.8 × 10−7; rs7914279, p = 6.4 × 10−7), implicating various functions. Gene-based analyses identified G×S interaction across disorders (p = 8.97 × 10−7) with transcriptional inhibitor SLTM. Most significant in SCZ was a MOCOS gene locus (rs11665282, p = 1.5 × 10−7), implicating vascular endothelial cells. Secondary analysis of the PGC-SCZ dataset detected an interaction (rs13265509, p = 1.1 × 10−7) in a locus containing IDO2, a kynurenine pathway enzyme with immunoregulatory functions implicated in SCZ, BIP, and MDD. Pathway enrichment analysis detected significant G×S interaction of genes regulating vascular endothelial growth factor receptor signaling in MDD (false discovery rate-corrected p < .05). Conclusions: In the largest genome-wide G×S analysis of mood and psychotic disorders to date, there was substantial genetic overlap between the sexes. However, significant sex-dependent effects were enriched for genes related to neuronal development and immune and vascular functions across and within SCZ, BIP, and MDD at the variant, gene, and pathway levels. © 2021 Society of Biological Psychiatry
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| 7. |
- Jordi, C, et al.
(author)
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The design and performance of the Gaia photometric system
- 2006
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1365-2966 .- 0035-8711. ; 367:1, s. 290-314
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The European Gaia astrometry mission is due for launch in 2011. Gaia will rely on the proven principles of the ESA Hipparcos mission to create an all-sky survey of about one billion stars throughout our Galaxy and beyond, by observing all objects down to 20 mag. Through its massive measurement of stellar distances, motions and multicolour photometry, it will provide fundamental data necessary for unravelling the structure, formation and evolution of the Galaxy. This paper presents the design and performance of the broad- and medium-band set of photometric filters adopted as the baseline for Gaia. The 19 selected passbands (extending from the UV to the far-red), the criteria and the methodology on which this choice has been based are discussed in detail. We analyse the photometric capabilities for characterizing the luminosity, temperature, gravity and chemical composition of stars. We also discuss the automatic determination of these physical parameters for the large number of observations involved, for objects located throughout the entire Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Finally, the capability of the photometric system (PS) to deal with the main Gaia science case is outlined.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Rosser, Z H, et al.
(author)
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Y-chromosomal diversity in Europe is clinal and influenced primarily by geography, rather than by language.
- 2000
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In: American Journal of Human Genetics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0002-9297 .- 1537-6605. ; 67:6, s. 1526-43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast, studies using mtDNA have traced many founding lineages to the Paleolithic and have not shown strongly clinal variation. We have used 11 human Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms, defining 10 haplogroups, to analyze a sample of 3,616 Y chromosomes belonging to 47 European and circum-European populations. Patterns of geographic differentiation are highly nonrandom, and, when they are assessed using spatial autocorrelation analysis, they show significant clines for five of six haplogroups analyzed. Clines for two haplogroups, representing 45% of the chromosomes, are continentwide and consistent with the demic diffusion hypothesis. Clines for three other haplogroups each have different foci and are more regionally restricted and are likely to reflect distinct population movements, including one from north of the Black Sea. Principal-components analysis suggests that populations are related primarily on the basis of geography, rather than on the basis of linguistic affinity. This is confirmed in Mantel tests, which show a strong and highly significant partial correlation between genetics and geography but a low, nonsignificant partial correlation between genetics and language. Genetic-barrier analysis also indicates the primacy of geography in the shaping of patterns of variation. These patterns retain a strong signal of expansion from the Near East but also suggest that the demographic history of Europe has been complex and influenced by other major population movements, as well as by linguistic and geographic heterogeneities and the effects of drift.
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| 10. |
- Cescutti, G., et al.
(author)
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MINCE I. Presentation of the project and of the first year sample
- 2022
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 668
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. In recent years, Galactic archaeology has become a particularly vibrant field of astronomy, with its main focus set on the oldest stars of our Galaxy. In most cases, these stars have been identified as the most metal-poor. However, the struggle to find these ancient fossils has produced an important bias in the observations - in particular, the intermediate metal-poor stars (-2.5 < [Fe/H] < -1.5) have been frequently overlooked. The missing information has consequences for the precise study of the chemical enrichment of our Galaxy, in particular for what concerns neutron capture elements and it will be only partially covered by future multi object spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE and 4MOST.Aims. Measuring at Intermediate Metallicity Neutron Capture Elements (MINCE) is gathering the first high-quality spectra (high signal-to-noise ratio, S/N, and high resolution) for several hundreds of bright and metal-poor stars, mainly located in our Galactic halo.Methods. We compiled our selection mainly on the basis of Gaia data and determined the stellar atmospheres of our sample and the chemical abundances of each star.Results. In this paper, we present the first sample of 59 spectra of 46 stars. We measured the radial velocities and computed the Galactic orbits for all stars. We found that 8 stars belong to the thin disc, 15 to disrupted satellites, and the remaining cannot be associated to the mentioned structures, and we call them halo stars. For 33 of these stars, we provide abundances for the elements up to zinc. We also show the chemical evolution results for eleven chemical elements, based on recent models.Conclusions. Our observational strategy of using multiple telescopes and spectrographs to acquire high S/N and high-resolution spectra for intermediate-metallicity stars has proven to be very efficient, since the present sample was acquired over only about one year of observations. Finally, our target selection strategy, after an initial adjustment, proved satisfactory for our purposes.
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| 11. |
- Cuttini, M., et al.
(author)
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Should euthanasia be legal? An international survey of neonatal intensive care units staff
- 2004
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In: Archives of Disease in Childhood. - 0003-9888 .- 1468-2044. ; 89:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: To present the views of a representative sample of neonatal doctors and nurses in 10 European countries on the moral acceptability of active euthanasia and its legal regulation. Design: A total of 142 neonatal intensive care units were recruited by census (in the Netherlands, Sweden, Hungary, and the Baltic countries) or random sampling (in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom), 1391 doctors and 3410 nurses completed an anonymous questionnaire (response rates 89% and 86% respectively). Main outcome measure: The staff opinion that the law in their country should be changed to allow active euthanasia "more than now". Results: Active euthanasia appeared to be both acceptable and practiced in the Netherlands, France, and to a lesser extent Lithuania, and less acceptable in Sweden, Hungary, Italy, and Spain. More then half (53%) of the doctors in the Netherlands, but only a quarter (24%) in France felt that the law should be changed to allow active euthanasia "more than now". For 40% of French doctors, end of life issues should not be regulated by law. Being male, regular involvement in research, less than six years professional experience, and having ever participated in a decision of active euthanasia were positively associated with an opinion favouring relaxation of legal constraints. Having had children, religiousness, and believing in the absolute value of human life showed a negative association. Nurses were slightly more likely to consider active euthanasia acceptable in selected circumstances, and to feel that the law should be changed to allow it more than now. Conclusions: Opinions of health professionals vary widely between countries, and, even where neonatal euthanasia is already practiced, do not uniformly support its legalisation.
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| 12. |
- Deshmukh, S. A., et al.
(author)
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The solar photospheric silicon abundance according to (COBOLD)-B-5 : Investigating line broadening, magnetic fields, and model effects
- 2022
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 668
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. In this work, we present a photospheric solar silicon abundance derived using (COBOLD)-B-5 model atmospheres and the LINFOR3D spectral synthesis code. Previous works have differed in their choice of a spectral line sample and model atmosphere as well as their treatment of observational material, and the solar silicon abundance has undergone a downward revision in recent years. We additionally show the effects of the chosen line sample, broadening due to velocity fields, collisional broadening, model spatial resolution, and magnetic fields. Aims. Our main aim is to derive the photospheric solar silicon abundance using updated oscillator strengths and to mitigate model shortcomings such as over-broadening of synthetic spectra. We also aim to investigate the effects of different line samples, fitting configurations, and magnetic fields on the fitted abundance and broadening values. Methods. (COBOLD)-B-5 model atmospheres for the Sun were used in conjunction with the LINFOR3D spectral synthesis code to generate model spectra, which were then fit to observations in the Hamburg solar atlas. We took pixel-to-pixel signal correlations into account by means of a correlated noise model. The choice of line sample is crucial to determining abundances, and we present a sample of 11 carefully selected lines (from an initial choice of 39 lines) in both the optical and infrared, which has been made possible with newly determined oscillator strengths for the majority of these lines. Our final sample includes seven optical Si I lines, three infrared Si I lines, and one optical Si II line. Results. We derived a photospheric solar silicon abundance of log epsilon(Si) = 7.57 +/- 0.04, including a -0.01 dex correction from Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) effects. Combining this with meteoritic abundances and previously determined photospheric abundances results in a metal mass fraction Z/X = 0.0220 +/- 0.0020. We found a tendency of obtaining overly broad synthetic lines. We mitigated the impact of this by devising a de-broadening procedure. The over-broadening of synthetic lines does not substantially affect the abundance determined in the end. It is primarily the line selection that affects the final fitted abundance.
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| 13. |
- Grigaleviciute, R, et al.
(author)
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The Influence of Feeding with Colostrum and Colostrum Replacer on Major Blood Biomarkers and Growth Performance in Dairy Calves
- 2023
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In: Veterinary sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 2306-7381. ; 10:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bovine colostrum (BC) is the first milk produced by lactating cows after parturition. BC is rich in various amino acids, proteins, and fats essential for the nutrition of the neonate calves. Despite the evident beneficial effect of BC on calves, the effect of BC on blood biomarkers is poorly understood. Calves that received BC showed significantly higher body mass at days 7 and 30 (38.54 kg and 43.42 kg, respectively) compared to the colostrum replacer group (p = 0.0064). BC induced greater quantities of blood neutrophils (0.27 × 109/L) and monocytes (4.76 × 109/L) in comparison to the colostrum replacer (0.08 and 0.06 × 109/L, respectively) (p = 0.0001). Animals that received BC showed higher levels of total serum protein (59.16 g/L) and albumin (29.96 g/L) in comparison to the colostrum replacer group (44.34 g/L and 31.58 g/L, respectively). In addition, BC induced greater intestinal mucus production in the Wistar rat model. Collectively, these results demonstrate that BC is important for the growth of calves and that it provides a significant beneficial effect on morphological and biochemical blood parameters.
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| 17. |
- Kucinskas, Arunas, et al.
(author)
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Broad-band photometric colors and effective temperature calibrations for late-type giants - I. Z=0.02
- 2005
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In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 442:1, s. 281-308
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present new synthetic broad-band photometric colors for late-type giants based on synthetic spectra calculated with the PHOENIX model atmosphere code. The grid covers effective temperatures T-eff = 3000... 5000 K, gravities log g = - 0.5... + 3.5, and metallicities [M/H] = + 0.5... - 4.0. We show that individual broad-band photometric colors are strongly affected by model parameters such as molecular opacities, gravity, microturbulent velocity, and stellar mass. Our exploratory 3D modeling of a prototypical late-type giant shows that convection has a noticeable effect on the photometric colors too, as it alters significantly both the vertical and horizontal thermal structures in the outer atmosphere. The differences between colors calculated with full 3D hydrodynamical and 1D model atmospheres are significant (e.g.,. (V- K) similar to 0.2 mag), translating into offsets in effective temperature of up to similar to 70 K. For a sample of 74 late-type giants in the Solar neighborhood, with interferometric effective temperatures and broad-band photometry available in the literature, we compare observed colors with a new PHOENIX grid of synthetic photometric colors, as well as with photometric colors calculated with the MARCS and ATLAS model atmosphere codes. We find good agreement of the new synthetic colors with observations and published T-eff-color and color - color relations, especially in the T-eff ( V - K), T-eff-(J - K) and (J - K) -(V - K) planes. Deviations from the observed trends in the T-eff-color planes are generally within +/- 100 K for T-eff = 3500 to 4800 K. Synthetic colors calculated with different stellar atmosphere models agree to +/- 100 K, within a large range of effective temperatures and gravities. The comparison of the observed and synthetic spectra of late-type giants shows that discrepancies result from the differences both in the strengths of various spectral lines/bands ( especially those of molecular bands, such as TiO, H2O, CO) and the continuum level. Finally, we derive several new T-eff - log g - color relations for late-type giants at solar-metallicity (valid for T-eff = 3500 to 4800 K), based both on the observed effective temperatures and colors of the nearby giants, and synthetic colors produced with PHOENIX, MARCS and ATLAS model atmospheres.
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| 18. |
- Kucinskas, Arunas, et al.
(author)
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Broad-band photometric colors and effective temperature calibrations for late-type giants - II. Z <0.02
- 2006
-
In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 452:3, s. 1021-1038
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We investigate the effects of metallicity on the broad-band photometric colors of late-type giants, and make a comparison of synthetic colors with observed photometric properties of late-type giants over a wide range of effective temperatures (T-eff = 3500- 4800K) and gravities (log g = 0.0-2.5), at [M/H] = -1.0 and -2.0. The influence of metallicity on the synthetic photometric colors is small at effective temperatures above similar to 3800K, but the effects grow larger at lower T-eff,T- due to the changing effciency of molecule formation which reduces molecular opacities at lower [M/H]. To make a detailed comparison of the synthetic and observed photometric colors of late type giants in the T-eff-color and color-color planes (which is done at two metallicities, [M/H] = -1.0 and -2.0), we derive a set of new T-eff-log g-color relations based on synthetic photometric colors, at [M/H] = -0.5, -1.0, -1.5, and -2.0. These relations are based on the T-eff- log g scales that we derive employing literature data for 178 late-type giants in 10 Galactic globular clusters (with metallicities of the individual stars between [M/H] = -0.7 and -2.5), and synthetic colors produced with the PHOENIX, MARCS and ATLAS stellar atmosphere codes. Combined with the T-eff- log g-color relations at [M/H] = 0.0 (Kucinskas et al. 2005), the set of new relations covers metallicities [M/H] = 0.0... -2.0 ([M/H] = 0.5), effective temperatures T-eff = 3500... 4800 K (T-eff = 100K), and gravities log g = - 0.5... 3.0. The new T-eff- log g-color relations are in good agreement with published T-eff-color relations based on observed properties of late-type giants, both at [M/H] = -1.0 and -2.0. The differences in all T-eff- color planes are typically well within similar to 100K. We find, however, that effective temperatures predicted by the scales based on synthetic colors tend to be slightly higher than those resulting from the T-eff- color relations based on observations, with the offsets up to similar to 100 K. This is clearly seen both at [M/H] = -1.0 and -2.0, especially in the T-eff-(B - V) and T-eff-(V - K) planes. The consistency between T-eff- log g-color scales based on synthetic colors calculated with different stellar atmosphere codes is very good, with typical differences being well within. Delta T-eff similar to 70 K at [M/H] = - 1.0 and. T-eff similar to 40 K at [M/H] = -2.0.
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| 19. |
- Kucinskas, A., et al.
(author)
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Magnitude And Color Transformations Between Sirius And 2Mass Photometric Systems
- 2008
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In: Baltic Astronomy. - 1392-0049. ; 17:3-4, s. 283-292
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We provide magnitude and color transformations between two near-infrared photometric systems, 2MASS and SIRIUS, the latter currently implemented with the three-Channel SIRIUS camera on 1.4 m Infrared Survey Facility telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory. The transformation equations are derived using a carefully selected sample of 32 770 stars in the. Large and Small Magellanic Clouds that have high quality observations available in both photometric systems. The derived transformations are valid in the color range -0.1 < (J - H)(SIRIUS) < 1.15, -0.05 < (H - K-s)(SIRIUS) < 0.7 and -0.1 < (J - K-s)(SIRIUS) < 1.7.
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| 21. |
- Kucinskas, Arunas, et al.
(author)
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Star Formation Histories with Gaia: the Galaxy and Beyond
- 2003
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In: Baltic Astronomy. - 1392-0049. ; 12:4, s. 526-531
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ESA's Gaia mission will provide accurate astrometric, photometric andspectroscopic data for millions of stars in the Galaxy and beyond. Wediscuss the prospects of using this vast amount of astrophysicalinformation for understanding star formation histories in the Galaxy andits immediate neighbors within the Local Group.
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