1. |
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2. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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3. |
- Levis, Brooke, et al.
(author)
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Comparison of major depression diagnostic classification probability using the SCID, CIDI, and MINI diagnostic interviews among women in pregnancy or postpartum : An individual participant data meta-analysis
- 2019
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In: International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research. - : WILEY. - 1049-8931 .- 1557-0657. ; 28:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objectives: A previous individual participant data meta-analysis (IPDMA) identified differences in major depression classification rates between different diagnostic interviews, controlling for depressive symptoms on the basis of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. We aimed to determine whether similar results would be seen in a different population, using studies that administered the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in pregnancy or postpartum.Methods: Data accrued for an EPDS diagnostic accuracy IPDMA were analysed. Binomial generalised linear mixed models were fit to compare depression classification odds for the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), and Structured Clinical Interview for DSM (SCID), controlling for EPDS scores and participant characteristics.Results Among fully structured interviews, the MINI (15 studies, 2,532 participants, 342 major depression cases) classified depression more often than the CIDI (3 studies, 2,948 participants, 194 major depression cases; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 3.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] [1.21, 11.43]). Compared with the semistructured SCID (28 studies, 7,403 participants, 1,027 major depression cases), odds with the CIDI (interaction aOR = 0.88, 95% CI [0.85, 0.92]) and MINI (interaction aOR = 0.95, 95% CI [0.92, 0.99]) increased less as EPDS scores increased.Conclusion Different interviews may not classify major depression equivalently.
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4. |
- Weinstock, Joshua S, et al.
(author)
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Aberrant activation of TCL1A promotes stem cell expansion in clonal haematopoiesis.
- 2023
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In: Nature. - 1476-4687. ; 616:7958, s. 755-763
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Mutations in a diverse set of driver genes increase the fitness of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), leading to clonal haematopoiesis1. These lesions are precursors for blood cancers2-6, but the basis of their fitness advantage remains largely unknown, partly owing to a paucity of large cohorts in which the clonal expansion rate has been assessed by longitudinal sampling. Here, to circumvent this limitation, we developed a method to infer the expansion rate from data from a single time point. We applied this method to 5,071 people with clonal haematopoiesis. A genome-wide association study revealed that a common inherited polymorphism in the TCL1A promoter was associated with a slower expansion rate in clonal haematopoiesis overall, but the effect varied by driver gene. Those carrying this protective allele exhibited markedly reduced growth rates or prevalence of clones with driver mutations in TET2, ASXL1, SF3B1 and SRSF2, butthis effect was not seen inclones withdriver mutations in DNMT3A. TCL1A was not expressed in normal or DNMT3A-mutated HSCs, but the introduction of mutations in TET2 or ASXL1 led to the expression of TCL1A protein and the expansion of HSCs in vitro. The protective allele restricted TCL1A expression and expansion of mutant HSCs, as did experimentalknockdown of TCL1A expression. Forced expression of TCL1A promoted the expansion of human HSCs in vitro and mouse HSCs in vivo. Our results indicate that the fitness advantage of several commonly mutated driver genes in clonal haematopoiesis may be mediated by TCL1A activation.
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5. |
- Ademuyiwa, Adesoji O., et al.
(author)
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Determinants of morbidity and mortality following emergency abdominal surgery in children in low-income and middle-income countries
- 2016
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In: BMJ Global Health. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2059-7908. ; 1:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Child health is a key priority on the global health agenda, yet the provision of essential and emergency surgery in children is patchy in resource-poor regions. This study was aimed to determine the mortality risk for emergency abdominal paediatric surgery in low-income countries globally.Methods: Multicentre, international, prospective, cohort study. Self-selected surgical units performing emergency abdominal surgery submitted prespecified data for consecutive children aged <16 years during a 2-week period between July and December 2014. The United Nation's Human Development Index (HDI) was used to stratify countries. The main outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality, analysed by multilevel logistic regression.Results: This study included 1409 patients from 253 centres in 43 countries; 282 children were under 2 years of age. Among them, 265 (18.8%) were from low-HDI, 450 (31.9%) from middle-HDI and 694 (49.3%) from high-HDI countries. The most common operations performed were appendectomy, small bowel resection, pyloromyotomy and correction of intussusception. After adjustment for patient and hospital risk factors, child mortality at 30 days was significantly higher in low-HDI (adjusted OR 7.14 (95% CI 2.52 to 20.23), p<0.001) and middle-HDI (4.42 (1.44 to 13.56), p=0.009) countries compared with high-HDI countries, translating to 40 excess deaths per 1000 procedures performed.Conclusions: Adjusted mortality in children following emergency abdominal surgery may be as high as 7 times greater in low-HDI and middle-HDI countries compared with high-HDI countries. Effective provision of emergency essential surgery should be a key priority for global child health agendas.
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6. |
- Baigent, Colin, et al.
(author)
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The effects of lowering LDL cholesterol with simvastatin plus ezetimibe in patients with chronic kidney disease (Study of Heart and Renal Protection) : a randomised placebo-controlled trial
- 2011
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In: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 377:9784, s. 2181-2192
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background Lowering LDL cholesterol with statin regimens reduces the risk of myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke, and the need for coronary revascularisation in people without kidney disease, but its effects in people with moderate-to-severe kidney disease are uncertain. The SHARP trial aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of the combination of simvastatin plus ezetimibe in such patients. Methods This randomised double-blind trial included 9270 patients with chronic kidney disease (3023 on dialysis and 6247 not) with no known history of myocardial infarction or coronary revascularisation. Patients were randomly assigned to simvastatin 20 mg plus ezetimibe 10 mg daily versus matching placebo. The key prespecified outcome was first major atherosclerotic event (non-fatal myocardial infarction or coronary death, non-haemorrhagic stroke, or any arterial revascularisation procedure). All analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00125593, and I SRCTN54137607. Findings 4650 patients were assigned to receive simvastatin plus ezetimibe and 4620 to placebo. Allocation to simvastatin plus ezetimibe yielded an average LDL cholesterol difference of 0.85 mmol/L (SE 0.02; with about two-thirds compliance) during a median follow-up of 4.9 years and produced a 17% proportional reduction in major atherosclerotic events (526 [11.3%] simvastatin plus ezetimibe vs 619 [13.4%] placebo; rate ratio [RR] 0.83, 95% CI 0.74-0.94; log-rank p=0.0021). Non-significantly fewer patients allocated to simvastatin plus ezetimibe had a non-fatal myocardial infarction or died from coronary heart disease (213 [4.6%] vs 230 [5.0%]; RR 0.92,95% CI 0.76-1.11; p=0.37) and there were significant reductions in non-haemorrhagic stroke (131 [2.8%] vs 174 [3.8%]; RR 0.75,95% CI 0.60-0.94; p=0.01) and arterial revascularisation procedures (284 [6.1%] vs 352 [7.6%]; RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68-0.93; p=0.0036). After weighting for subgroup-specific reductions in LDL cholesterol, there was no good evidence that the proportional effects on major atherosclerotic events differed from the summary rate ratio in any subgroup examined, and, in particular, they were similar in patients on dialysis and those who were not. The excess risk of myopathy was only two per 10 000 patients per year of treatment with this combination (9 [0.2%] vs 5 [0.1%]). There was no evidence of excess risks of hepatitis (21 [0.5%] vs 18 [0.4%]), gallstones (106 [2.3%] vs 106 [2.3%]), or cancer (438 [9.4%] vs 439 [9.5%], p=0.89) and there was no significant excess of death from any non-vascular cause (668 [14.4%] vs 612 [13.2%], p=0.13). Interpretation Reduction of LDL cholesterol with simvastatin 20 mg plus ezetimibe 10 mg daily safely reduced the incidence of major atherosclerotic events in a wide range of patients with advanced chronic kidney disease.
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7. |
- Bland-Hawthorn, Joss, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey and Gaia DR2 : dissecting the stellar disc's phase space by age, action, chemistry, and location
- 2019
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 486:1, s. 1167-1191
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We use the second data releases of the European Space Agency Gaia astrometric survey and the high-resolution Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) spectroscopic survey to analyse the structure of our Galaxy's disc components. With GALAH, we separate the alpha-rich and alpha-poor discs (with respect to Fe), which are superposed in both position and velocity space, and examine their distributions in action space. We study the distribution of stars in the zV(z) phase plane, for both V-phi and V-R, and recover the remarkable 'phase spiral' discovered by Gaia. We identify the anticipated quadrupole signature in zV(z) of a tilted velocity ellipsoid for stars above and belowtheGalactic plane. By connecting ourwork with earlier studies, we show that the phase spiral is likely to extend well beyond the narrow solar neighbourhood cylinder in which it was found. The phase spiral is a signature of corrugated waves that propagate through the disc, and the associated non-equilibrium phase mixing. The radially asymmetric distribution of stars involved in the phase spiral reveals that the corrugation, which is mostly confined to the alpha-poor disc, grows in z-amplitude with increasing radius. We present new simulations of tidal disturbance of the Galactic disc by the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf. The effect on the zV(z) phase plane lasts greater than or similar to 2 Gyr, but a subsequent disc crossing wipes out the coherent structure. We find that the phase spiral was excited less than or similar to 0.5 Gyr ago by an object like Sgr with total mass similar to 3 x 10(10) M-circle dot (stripped down from similar to 5 x 10(10) M-circle dot when it first entered the halo) passing through the plane.
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8. |
- Buder, Sven, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH plus survey : Third data release
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:1, s. 150-201
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ensemble of chemical element abundance measurements for stars, along with precision distances and orbit properties, provides high-dimensional data to study the evolution of the Milky Way. With this third data release of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey, we publish 678 423 spectra for 588 571 mostly nearby stars (81.2 per cent of stars are within <2 kpc), observed with the HERMES spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This release (hereafter GALAH+ DR3) includes all observations from GALAH Phase 1 (bright, main, and faint survey, 70 per cent), K2-HERMES (17 per cent), TESS-HERMES (5 per cent), and a subset of ancillary observations (8 per cent) including the bulge and >75 stellar clusters. We derive stellar parameters T-eff, logg, [Fe/H], v(mic), v(broad), and v(rad) using our modified version of the spectrum synthesis code Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) and 1D MARCS model atmospheres. We break spectroscopic degeneracies in our spectrum analysis with astrometry from Gaia DR2 and photometry from 2MASS. We report abundance ratios [X/Fe] for 30 different elements (11 of which are based on non-LTE computations) covering five nucleosynthetic pathways. We describe validations for accuracy and precision, flagging of peculiar stars/measurements and recommendations for using our results. Our catalogue comprises 65 per cent dwarfs, 34 per cent giants, and 1 per cent other/unclassified stars. Based on unflagged chemical composition and age, we find 62 per cent young low-alpha, 9 per cent young high-alpha, 27 per cent old high-alpha, and 2 per cent stars with [Fe/H] <= -1. Based on kinematics, 4 per cent are halo stars. Several Value-Added-Catalogues, including stellar ages and dynamics, updated after Gaia eDR3, accompany this release and allow chrono-chemodynamic analyses, as we showcase.
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9. |
- Buder, Sven, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH Survey : second data release
- 2018
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 478:4, s. 4513-4552
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey is a large-scale stellar spectroscopic survey of the Milky Way, designed to deliver complementary chemical information to a large number of stars covered by the Gaia mission. We present the GALAH second public data release (GALAH DR2) containing 342 682 stars. For these stars, the GALAH collaboration provides stellar parameters and abundances for up to 23 elements to the community. Here we present the target selection, observation, data reduction, and detailed explanation of how the spectra were analysed to estimate stellar parameters and element abundances. For the stellar analysis, we have used a multistep approach. We use the physics-driven spectrum synthesis of Spectroscopy Made Easy (SME) to derive stellar labels (T-eff, log g, [Fe/H], [X/Fe], v(mic), vsin i, AKS) for a representative training set of stars. This information is then propagated to the whole sample with the data-driven method of The Cannon. Special care has been exercised in the spectral synthesis to only consider spectral lines that have reliable atomic input data and are little affected by blending lines. Departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) are considered for several key elements, including Li, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, and Fe, using 1D MARCS stellar atmosphere models. Validation tests including repeat observations, Gaia benchmark stars, open and globular clusters, and K2 asteroseismic targets lend confidence to our methods and results. Combining the GALAH DR2 catalogue with the kinematic information from Gaia will enable a wide range of Galactic Archaeology studies, with unprecedented detail, dimensionality, and scope.
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10. |
- Buder, Sven, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH+ survey : Third data release
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:1, s. 150-201
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ensemble of chemical element abundance measurements for stars, along with precision distances and orbit properties, provides high-dimensional data to study the evolution of the Milky Way. With this third data release of the Galactic Archaeology with HERMES (GALAH) survey, we publish 678 423 spectra for 588 571 mostly nearby stars (81.2 per cent of stars are within <2 kpc), observed with the HERMES spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. This release (hereafter GALAH+ DR3) includes all observations from GALAH Phase 1 (bright, main, and faint survey, 70 per cent), K2-HERMES (17 per cent), TESS-HERMES (5 per cent), and a subset of ancillary observations (8 per cent) including the bulge and >75 stellar clusters. We derive stellar parameters Teff, log g, [Fe/H], vmic, vbroad, and vrad using our modified version of the spectrum synthesis code Spectroscopy Made Easy (sme) and 1D marcs model atmospheres. We break spectroscopic degeneracies in our spectrum analysis with astrometry from Gaia DR2 and photometry from 2MASS. We report abundance ratios [X/Fe] for 30 different elements (11 of which are based on non-LTE computations) covering five nucleosynthetic pathways. We describe validations for accuracy and precision, flagging of peculiar stars/measurements and recommendations for using our results. Our catalogue comprises 65 per cent dwarfs, 34 per cent giants, and 1 per cent other/unclassified stars. Based on unflagged chemical composition and age, we find 62 per cent young low-α, 9 per cent young high-α, 27 per cent old high-α, and 2 per cent stars with [Fe/H] ≤ −1. Based on kinematics, 4 per cent are halo stars. Several Value-Added-Catalogues, including stellar ages and dynamics, updated after Gaia eDR3, accompany this release and allow chrono-chemodynamic analyses, as we showcase.
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11. |
- Buder, Sven, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH Survey : chemical tagging and chrono-chemodynamics of accreted halo stars with GALAH+DR3 and Gaia eDR3
- 2022
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 510:2, s. 2407-2436
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Since the advent of Gaia astrometry, it is possible to identify massive accreted systems within the Galaxy through their unique dynamical signatures. One such system, Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus (GSE), appears to be an early ‘building block’ given its virial mass >1010M⊙ at infall (z ∼ 1−3). In order to separate the progenitor population from the background stars, we investigate its chemical properties with up to 30 element abundances from the GALAH+ Survey Data Release 3 (DR3). To inform our choice of elements for purely chemically selecting accreted stars, we analyse 4164 stars with low-α abundances and halo kinematics. These are most different to the Milky Way stars for abundances of Mg, Si, Na, Al, Mn, Fe, Ni, and Cu. Based on the significance of abundance differences and detection rates, we apply Gaussian mixture models to various element abundance combinations. We find the most populated and least contaminated component, which we confirm to represent GSE, contains 1049 stars selected via [Na/Fe] versus [Mg/Mn] in GALAH+ DR3. We provide tables of our selections and report the chrono-chemodynamical properties (age, chemistry, and dynamics). Through a previously reported clean dynamical selection of GSE stars, including 30<√JR/kpckms−1<55, we can characterize an unprecedented 24 abundances of this structure with GALAH+ DR3. With our chemical selection we characterize the dynamical properties of the GSE, for example mean √JR/kpckms−1=26+9−14. We find only (29±1) per cent of the GSE stars within the clean dynamical selection region. Our methodology will improve future studies of accreted structures and their importance for the formation of the Milky Way.
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12. |
- Casagrande, Luca, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : effective temperature calibration from the InfraRed Flux Method in the Gaia system
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 507:2, s. 2684-2696
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In order to accurately determine stellar properties, knowledge of the effective temperature of stars is vital. We implement Gaia and 2MASS photometry in the InfraRed Flux Method and apply it to over 360000 stars across different evolutionary stages in the GALAH DR3 survey. We derive colour-effective temperature relations that take into account the effect of metallicity and surface gravity over the range 4000K ⪅ T-eff ⪅ 8000 K, from very metal-poor stars to supersolar metallicities. The internal uncertainty of these calibrations is of order 40-80 K depending on the colour combination used. Comparison against solar-twins, Gaia benchmark stars, and the latest interferometric measurements validates the precision and accuracy of these calibrations from F to early M spectral types. We assess the impact of various sources of uncertainties, including the assumed extinction law, and provide guidelines to use our relations. Robust solar colours are also derived.
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13. |
- Clark, Jake T., et al.
(author)
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The GALAH Survey : improving our understanding of confirmed and candidate planetary systems with large stellar surveys
- 2022
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 510:2, s. 2041-2060
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Pioneering photometric, astrometric, and spectroscopic surveys is helping exoplanetary scientists better constrain the fundamental properties of stars within our galaxy and the planets these stars host. In this study, we use the third data release from the stellar spectroscopic GALAH Survey, coupled with astrometric data of eDR3 from the Gaia satellite, and other data from NASA's Exoplanet Archive, to refine our understanding of 279 confirmed and candidate exoplanet host stars and their exoplanets. This homogenously analysed data set comprises 105 confirmed exoplanets, along with 146 K2 candidates, 95 TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs), and 52 Community TOIs (CTOIs). Our analysis significantly shifts several previously (unknown) planet parameters while decreasing the uncertainties for others. Our radius estimates suggest that 35 planet candidates are more likely brown dwarfs or stellar companions due to their new radius values. We are able to refine the radii and masses of WASP-47 e, K2-106 b, and CoRoT-7 b to their most precise values yet to less than 2.3 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively. We also use stellar rotational values from GALAH to show that most planet candidates will have mass measurements that will be tough to obtain with current ground-based spectrographs. With GALAH's chemical abundances, we show through chemo-kinematics that there are five planet hosts that are associated with the galaxy's thick disc, including NGTS-4, K2-183, and K2-337. Finally, we show that there is no statistical difference between the chemical properties of hot Neptune and hot rocky exoplanet hosts, with the possibility that short-period rocky worlds might be the remnant cores of hotter, gaseous worlds.
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14. |
- Coast, Joanna, et al.
(author)
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Valuing the ICECAP capability index for older people.
- 2008
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In: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 67:5, s. 874-82
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper reports the first application of the capabilities approach to the development and valuation of an instrument for use in the economic evaluation of health and social care interventions. The ICECAP index of capability for older people focuses on quality of life rather than health or other influences on quality of life, and is intended to be used in decision making across health and social care in the UK. The measure draws on previous qualitative work in which five conceptual attributes were developed: attachment, security, role, enjoyment and control. This paper details the innovative use within health economics of further iterative qualitative work in the UK among 19 informants to refine lay terminology for each of the attributes and levels of attributes used in the eventual index. For the first time within quality of life measurement for economic evaluation, a best-worst scaling exercise has been used to estimate general population values (albeit for the population of those aged 65+ years) for the levels of attributes, with values anchored at one for full capability and zero for no capability. Death was assumed to be a state in which there is no capability. The values obtained indicate that attachment is the attribute with greatest impact but all attributes contribute to the total estimation of capability. Values that were estimated are feasible for use in practical applications of the index to measure the impact of health and social care interventions.
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15. |
- Čotar, Klemen, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : Unresolved triple Sun-like stars discovered by the Gaia mission
- 2019
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In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 487:2, s. 2474-2490
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The latest Gaia data release enables us to accurately identify stars that are more luminous than would be expected on the basis of their spectral type and distance. During an investigation of the 329 best solar twin candidates uncovered among the spectra acquired by the GALAH survey, we identified 64 such overluminous stars. In order to investigate their exact composition, we developed a data-driven methodology that can generate a synthetic photometric signature and spectrum of a single star. By combining multiple such synthetic stars into an unresolved binary or triple system and comparing the results to the actual photometric and spectroscopic observations, we uncovered 6 definitive triple stellar system candidates and an additional 14 potential candidates whose combined spectrum mimics the solar spectrum. Considering the volume correction factor for a magnitude-limited survey, the fraction of probable unresolved triple stars with long orbital periods is ~2 per cent. Possible orbital configurations of the candidates were investigated using the selection and observational limits. To validate the discovered multiplicity fraction, the same procedure was used to evaluate the multiplicity fraction of other stellar types.
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16. |
- Craddock, Nick, et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide association study of CNVs in 16,000 cases of eight common diseases and 3,000 shared controls
- 2010
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 464:7289, s. 713-720
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Copy number variants (CNVs) account for a major proportion of human genetic polymorphism and have been predicted to have an important role in genetic susceptibility to common disease. To address this we undertook a large, direct genome-wide study of association between CNVs and eight common human diseases. Using a purpose-designed array we typed,19,000 individuals into distinct copy-number classes at 3,432 polymorphic CNVs, including an estimated similar to 50% of all common CNVs larger than 500 base pairs. We identified several biological artefacts that lead to false-positive associations, including systematic CNV differences between DNAs derived from blood and cell lines. Association testing and follow-up replication analyses confirmed three loci where CNVs were associated with disease-IRGM for Crohn's disease, HLA for Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, and TSPAN8 for type 2 diabetes-although in each case the locus had previously been identified in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based studies, reflecting our observation that most common CNVs that are well-typed on our array are well tagged by SNPs and so have been indirectly explored through SNP studies. We conclude that common CNVs that can be typed on existing platforms are unlikely to contribute greatly to the genetic basis of common human diseases.
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17. |
- Dimou, Niki, et al.
(author)
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Causal effects of lifetime smoking on breast and colorectal cancer risk: Mendelian randomization study
- 2021
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In: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. - : American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). - 1055-9965 .- 1538-7755. ; 30:5, s. 953-964
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Observational evidence has shown that smoking is a risk factor for breast and colorectal cancer. We used Mendelian randomization (MR) to examine causal associations between smoking and risks of breast and colorectal cancer.Methods: Genome-Wide Association Study summary data were used to identify genetic variants associated with lifetime amount of smoking (n ¼ 126 variants) and ever having smoked regularly (n ¼ 112 variants). Using two-sample MR, we examined these variants in relation to incident breast (122,977 cases/ 105,974 controls) and colorectal cancer (52,775 cases/45,940 controls).Results: In inverse-variance weighted models, a genetic predisposition to higher lifetime amount of smoking was positively associated with breast cancer risk [OR per 1-SD increment: 1.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00–1.26; P ¼ 0.04]; although heterogeneity was observed. Similar associations were found for estrogen receptor–positive and estrogen receptor–negative tumors. Higher lifetime amount of smoking was positively associated with colorectal cancer (OR per 1-SD increment, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.04–1.40; P ¼ 0.01), colon cancer (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.11–1.55; P < 0.01), and rectal cancer (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.07–1.73; P ¼ 0.01). Ever having smoked regularly was not associated with risks of breast (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.90–1.14; P ¼ 0.85) or colorectal cancer (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.86–1.10; P ¼ 0.68).Conclusions: These findings are consistent with prior observational evidence and support a causal role of higher lifetime smoking amount in the development of breast and colorectal cancer.Impact: The results from this comprehensive MR analysis indicate that lifetime smoking is a causal risk factor for these common malignancies.
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18. |
- Elbrächter, Malte, et al.
(author)
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Establishing an Agenda for Calcareous Dinoflagellate Research (Thoracosphaeraceae, Dinophyceae) including a nomenclatural synopsis of generic names
- 2008
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In: Taxon. - 0040-0262 .- 1996-8175. ; 57:4, s. 1289-1303
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Calcareous dinoflagellates are considered to be a monophyletic group of peridinoid taxa that have the potential to produce calcified exoskeletal structures during the life cycle, or that derive from such forms. Frequently, these calcareous bodies are excellently preserved in the fossil record and have received increased attention during the past three decades with regard to their use in biostratigraphy, climate and environmental reconstruction. Fossil and extant taxa have been classified in various, partly concurring, systematic concepts, using character complexes of the theca, cyst wall ultrastructure and archaeopyle/operculum morphology. The significance of such character complexes is briefly discussed in the light of molecular data that have been accumulated during the past decade. Over the years, the number of published taxonomic names has increased, partly due to nomenclatural changes. We propose that the entirety of calcareous dinoflagellates, and non-calcareous relatives derived from them, is accommodated in a single family of the order Peridiniales, the Thoracosphaeraceae, combining the former segregated taxonomic units Calciodinelloideae, a subfamily within Peridiniaceae, and Thoracosphaerales, a separate dinoflagellate order. As a result of a meeting of calcareous dinoflagellate specialists, we outline major subjects that are in need of re-investigation and -evaluation (an Agenda for Calcareous Dinoflagellate Research). In order to contribute to a consistent and stable nomenclature and taxonomy of calcareous dinoflagellates, we list 97 published generic names assigned to known calcareous dinoflagellates in a nomenclatural synopsis, with species names indicating their types and information on type locality and stratigraphy. We evaluate the status of these names—whether validly published and, if so, whether legitimate—,a crucial first step for any revisionary work in the future.
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19. |
- Estrada, Karol, et al.
(author)
-
Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies 56 bone mineral density loci and reveals 14 loci associated with risk of fracture.
- 2012
-
In: Nature genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 44:5, s. 491-501
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Bone mineral density (BMD) is the most widely used predictor of fracture risk. We performed the largest meta-analysis to date on lumbar spine and femoral neck BMD, including 17 genome-wide association studies and 32,961 individuals of European and east Asian ancestry. We tested the top BMD-associated markers for replication in 50,933 independent subjects and for association with risk of low-trauma fracture in 31,016 individuals with a history of fracture (cases) and 102,444 controls. We identified 56 loci (32 new) associated with BMD at genome-wide significance (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Several of these factors cluster within the RANK-RANKL-OPG, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, endochondral ossification and Wnt signaling pathways. However, we also discovered loci that were localized to genes not known to have a role in bone biology. Fourteen BMD-associated loci were also associated with fracture risk (P < 5 × 10(-4), Bonferroni corrected), of which six reached P < 5 × 10(-8), including at 18p11.21 (FAM210A), 7q21.3 (SLC25A13), 11q13.2 (LRP5), 4q22.1 (MEPE), 2p16.2 (SPTBN1) and 10q21.1 (DKK1). These findings shed light on the genetic architecture and pathophysiological mechanisms underlying BMD variation and fracture susceptibility.
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20. |
- Falster, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora
- 2021
-
In: Scientific Data. - : Nature Portfolio. - 2052-4463. ; 8:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
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21. |
- Gao, Xudong, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : verifying abundance trends in the open cluster M67 using non-LTE modelling
- 2018
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 481:2, s. 2666-2684
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Open cluster members are coeval and share the same initial bulk chemical composition. Consequently, differences in surface abundances between members of a cluster that are at different evolutionary stages can be used to study the effects of mixing and internal chemical processing. We carry out an abundance analysis of seven elements (Li, O, Na, Mg, Al, Si, and Fe) in 66 stars belonging to the open cluster m67, based on high resolution GALAH spectra, 1D MARCS model atmospheres, and non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer. From the non-LTE analysis, we find a typical star-to-star scatter in the abundance ratios of around O.05 dex. We find trends in the abundance ratios with effective temperature, indicating systematic differences in the surface abundances between turn-off and giant stars; these trends are more pronounced when LTE is assumed. However, trends with effective temperature remain significant for Al and Si also in non-LTE. Finally, we compare the derived abundances with prediction from stellar evolution models including effects of atomic diffusion. We find overall good agreement for the abundance patterns of dwarfs and sub-giant stars, but the abundances of cool giants are lower relative to less evolved stars than predicted by the diffusion models, in particular for Mg.
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22. |
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23. |
- Gerlag, Danielle M., et al.
(author)
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EULAR recommendations for terminology and research in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis : report from the Study Group for Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis
- 2012
-
In: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 71:5, s. 638-641
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Study Group for Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis was established by the EULAR Standing Committee on Investigative Rheumatology to facilitate research into the preclinical and earliest clinically apparent phases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This report describes the recommendation for terminology to be used to define specific subgroups during different phases of disease, and defines the priorities for research in this area. Terminology was discussed by way of a three-stage structured process: A provisional list of descriptors for each of the possible phases preceding the diagnosis of RA were circulated to members of the study group for review and feedback. Anonymised comments from the members on this list were fed back to participants before a 2-day meeting. 18 participants met to discuss these data, agree terminologies and prioritise important research questions. The study group recommended that, in prospective studies, individuals without RA are described as having: genetic risk factors for RA; environmental risk factors for RA; systemic autoimmunity associated with RA; symptoms without clinical arthritis; unclassified arthritis; which may be used in a combinatorial manner. It was recommended that the prefix 'pre-RA with:' could be used before any/any combination of the five points above but only to describe retrospectively a phase that an individual had progressed through once it was known that they have developed RA. An approach to dating disease onset was recommended. In addition, important areas for research were proposed, including research of other tissues in which an adaptive immune response may be initiated, and the identification of additional risk factors and biomarkers for the development of RA, its progression and the development of extra-articular features. These recommendations provide guidance on approaches to describe phases before the development of RA that will facilitate communication between researchers and comparisons between studies. A number of research questions have been defined, requiring new cohorts to be established and new techniques to be developed to image and collect material from different sites.
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24. |
- Grewal, Ini, et al.
(author)
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Developing attributes for a generic quality of life measure for older people : preferences or capabilities?
- 2006
-
In: Social Science and Medicine. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-9536 .- 1873-5347. ; 62:8, s. 1891-901
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current UK policy with respect to the provision of health and social care for older people suggests that greater integration is required. Economists' attempts to assist resource allocation decisions, however, are very health focused, with concentration on the use of health-related quality of life measures. This paper reports an attempt to determine attributes for a new index clearly focusing on quality of life for older people rather than health or other influences on quality of life. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 purposively selected informants aged 65 and over in private households to explore their views about what is important to them in terms of quality of life. Data were analysed using Framework qualitative analysis. Initial discussions tended to concentrate upon factors influencing quality of life including activities, relationships, health, wealth and surroundings. Further probing and analysis suggested five conceptual attributes: attachment, role, enjoyment, security and control. The data also suggested that the quality of informants' lives was limited by the loss of ability to pursue these attributes. So, for example, it is not poor health in itself, which reduces quality of life, but the influence of that poor health upon each informant's ability to, say, be independent, that is important. Amartya Sen's work on functioning and capability is particularly pertinent here. Using this work, it is possible to interpret the five conceptual attributes as a set of functionings-important for older people in the UK in the 21st century-but noting that it is the capacity to achieve these functionings that appears to be of importance. This suggests that further development of this measure should focus on an index of capability rather than preference-based utility.
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25. |
- Hamed, Samira A., et al.
(author)
-
Butyrate reduces adherent-invasive E. coli-evoked disruption of epithelial mitochondrial morphology and barrier function: involvement of free fatty acid receptor 3
- 2023
-
In: Gut microbes. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC. - 1949-0976 .- 1949-0984. ; 15:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Gut bacteria provide benefits to the host and have been implicated in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), where adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC) pathobionts (e.g., strain LF82) are associated with Crohn's disease. E. coli-LF82 causes fragmentation of the epithelial mitochondrial network, leading to increased epithelial permeability. We hypothesized that butyrate would limit the epithelial mitochondrial disruption caused by E. coli-LF82. Human colonic organoids and the T84 epithelial cell line infected with E. coli-LF82 (MOI = 100, 4 h) showed a significant increase in mitochondrial network fission that was reduced by butyrate (10 mM) co-treatment. Butyrate reduced the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential caused by E. coli-LF82 and increased expression of PGC-1$\alpha $alpha mRNA, the master regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. Metabolomics revealed that butyrate significantly altered E. coli-LF82 central carbon metabolism leading to diminished glucose uptake and increased succinate secretion. Correlating with preservation of mitochondrial network form/function, butyrate reduced E. coli-LF82 transcytosis across T84-cell monolayers. The use of the G-protein inhibitor, pertussis toxin, implicated GPCR signaling as critical to the effect of butyrate, and the free fatty acid receptor three (FFAR3, GPR41) agonist, AR420626, reproduced butyrate's effect in terms of ameliorating the loss of barrier function and reducing the mitochondrial fragmentation observed in E. coli-LF82 infected T84-cells and organoids. These data indicate that butyrate helps maintain epithelial mitochondrial form/function when challenged by E. coli-LF82 and that this occurs, at least in part, via FFAR3. Thus, loss of butyrate-producing bacteria in IBD in the context of pathobionts would contribute to loss of epithelial mitochondrial and barrier functions that could evoke disease and/or exaggerate a low-grade inflammation.
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26. |
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27. |
- Hayden, Michael R., et al.
(author)
-
The GALAH survey : chemical clocks
- 2022
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 517:4, s. 5325-5339
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first large-scale study that demonstrates how ages can be determined for large samples of stars through Galactic chemical evolution. Previous studies found that the elemental abundances of a star correlate directly with its age and metallicity. Using this knowledge, we derive ages for 214 577 stars in GALAH DR3 using only overall metallicities and chemical abundances. Stellar ages are estimated via the machine learning algorithm XGBoost for stars belonging to the Milky Way disc with metallicities in the range -1 < [Fe/H] < 0.5, using main-sequence turn-off stars as our training set. We find that stellar ages for the bulk of GALAH DR3 are precise to 1-2 Gyr using this method. With these ages, we replicate many recent results on the age-kinematic trends of the nearby disc, including the solar neighbourhood's age-velocity dispersion relationship and the larger global velocity dispersion relations of the disc found using Gaia and GALAH. These results show that chemical abundance variations at a given birth radius are small, and that strong chemical tagging of stars directly to birth clusters may prove difficult with our current elemental abundance precision. Our results highlight the need to measure abundances for as many nucleosynthetic production sites as possible in order to estimate reliable ages from chemistry. Our methods open a new door into studies of the kinematic structure and evolution of the disc, as ages may potentially be estimated to a precision of 1-2 Gyr for a large fraction of stars in existing spectroscopic surveys.
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28. |
- Hughes, Arvind C. N., et al.
(author)
-
The GALAH Survey : A New Sample of Extremely Metal-poor Stars Using a Machine-learning Classification Algorithm
- 2022
-
In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 930:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars provide a valuable probe of early chemical enrichment in the Milky Way. Here we leverage a large sample of ∼600,000 high-resolution stellar spectra from the GALAH survey plus a machine-learning algorithm to find 54 candidates with estimated [Fe/H] ≤−3.0, six of which have [Fe/H] ≤−3.5. Our sample includes ∼20% main-sequence EMP candidates, unusually high for EMP star surveys. We find the magnitude-limited metallicity distribution function of our sample is consistent with previous work that used more complex selection criteria. The method we present has significant potential for application to the next generation of massive stellar spectroscopic surveys, which will expand the available spectroscopic data well into the millions of stars.
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29. |
- Justice, Anne E., et al.
(author)
-
Protein-coding variants implicate novel genes related to lipid homeostasis contributing to body-fat distribution
- 2019
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 51:3, s. 452-469
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Body-fat distribution is a risk factor for adverse cardiovascular health consequences. We analyzed the association of body-fat distribution, assessed by waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index, with 228,985 predicted coding and splice site variants available on exome arrays in up to 344,369 individuals from five major ancestries (discovery) and 132,177 European-ancestry individuals (validation). We identified 15 common (minor allele frequency, MAF >= 5%) and nine low-frequency or rare (MAF < 5%) coding novel variants. Pathway/gene set enrichment analyses identified lipid particle, adiponectin, abnormal white adipose tissue physiology and bone development and morphology as important contributors to fat distribution, while cross-trait associations highlight cardiometabolic traits. In functional follow-up analyses, specifically in Drosophila RNAi-knockdowns, we observed a significant increase in the total body triglyceride levels for two genes (DNAH10 and PLXND1). We implicate novel genes in fat distribution, stressing the importance of interrogating low-frequency and protein-coding variants.
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30. |
- Kong, Fabian Y. S., et al.
(author)
-
Optimisation of treatments for oral Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection : Pharmacokinetics Study (STI-PK project) - study protocol for non-randomised clinical trial
- 2022
-
In: BMJ Open. - : BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. - 2044-6055. ; 12:11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- INTRODUCTION: Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections are common and incidence increasing. Oropharyngeal infections are associated with greater treatment failure compared with other sites and drive transmission to anogenital sites through saliva. Gonococcal resistance is increasing and new treatments are scarce, therefore, clinicians must optimise currently available and emerging treatments in order to have efficacious therapeutic options. This requires pharmacokinetic data from the oral cavity/oropharynx, however, availability of such information is currently limited.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Healthy male volunteers (participants) recruited into the study will receive single doses of either ceftriaxone 1 g, cefixime 400 mg or ceftriaxone 500 mg plus 2 g azithromycin. Participants will provide samples at 6-8 time points (treatment regimen dependent) from four oral sites, two oral fluids, one anorectal swab and blood. Participants will complete online questionnaires about their medical history, sexual practices and any side effects experienced up to days 5-7. Saliva/oral mucosal pH and oral microbiome analysis will be undertaken. Bioanalysis will be conducted by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Drug concentrations over time will be used to develop mathematical models for optimisation of drug dosing regimens and to estimate pharmacodynamic targets of efficacy.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by Royal Melbourne Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee (60370/MH-2021). The study results will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and reported at conferences. Summary results will be sent to participants requesting them. All data relevant to the study will be included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12621000339853.
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31. |
- Kos, Janez, et al.
(author)
-
The GALAH survey : chemical tagging of star clusters and new members in the Pleiades
- 2018
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 473:4, s. 4612-4633
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The technique of chemical tagging uses the elemental abundances of stellar atmospheres to 'reconstruct' chemically homogeneous star clusters that have long since dispersed. The GALAH spectroscopic survey - which aims to observe one million stars using the Anglo-Australian Telescope - allows us to measure up to 30 elements or dimensions in the stellar chemical abundance space, many of which are not independent. How to find clustering reliably in a noisy high-dimensional space is a difficult problem that remains largely unsolved. Here, we explore t-distributed stochastic neighbour embedding (t-SNE) - which identifies an optimal mapping of a high-dimensional space into fewer dimensions - whilst conserving the original clustering information. Typically, the projection is made to a 2D space to aid recognition of clusters by eye. We show that this method is a reliable tool for chemical tagging because it can: (i) resolve clustering in chemical space alone, (ii) recover known open and globular clusters with high efficiency and low contamination, and (iii) relate field stars to known clusters. t-SNE also provides a useful visualization of a high-dimensional space. We demonstrate the method on a data set of 13 abundances measured in the spectra of 187 000 stars by the GALAH survey. We recover seven of the nine observed clusters (six globular and three open clusters) in chemical space with minimal contamination from field stars and low numbers of outliers. With chemical tagging, we also identify two Pleiades supercluster members (which we confirm kinematically), one as far as 6 degrees-one tidal radius away from the cluster centre.
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32. |
- Kos, Janez, et al.
(author)
-
The GALAH survey and Gaia DR2 : (non-)existence of five sparse high-latitude open clusters
- 2018
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 480:4, s. 5242-5259
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sparse open clusters can be found at high galactic latitudes where loosely populated clusters are more easily detected against the lower stellar background. Because most star formation takes place in the thin disc, the observed population of clusters far from the Galactic plane is hard to explain. We combined spectral parameters from the GALAH survey with the Gaia DR2 catalogue to study the dynamics and chemistry of five old sparse high-latitude clusters in more detail. We find that four of them (NGC 1252, NGC 6994, NGC 7772, NGC 7826) - originally classified in 1888 - are not clusters but are instead chance projections on the sky. Member stars quoted in the literature for these four clusters are unrelated in our multidimensional physical parameter space; the quoted cluster properties in the literature are therefore meaningless. We confirm the existence of visually similar NGC 1901 for which we provide a probabilistic membership analysis. An overdensity in three spatial dimensions proves to be enough to reliably detect sparse clusters, but the whole six-dimensional space must be used to identify members with high confidence, as demonstrated in the case of NGC 1901.
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33. |
- Lewis, Abigail S. L., et al.
(author)
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Anoxia begets anoxia : A positive feedback to the deoxygenation of temperate lakes
- 2024
-
In: Global Change Biology. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 30:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Declining oxygen concentrations in the deep waters of lakes worldwide pose a pressing environmental and societal challenge. Existing theory suggests that low deep-water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations could trigger a positive feedback through which anoxia (i.e., very low DO) during a given summer begets increasingly severe occurrences of anoxia in following summers. Specifically, anoxic conditions can promote nutrient release from sediments, thereby stimulating phytoplankton growth, and subsequent phytoplankton decomposition can fuel heterotrophic respiration, resulting in increased spatial extent and duration of anoxia. However, while the individual relationships in this feedback are well established, to our knowledge, there has not been a systematic analysis within or across lakes that simultaneously demonstrates all of the mechanisms necessary to produce a positive feedback that reinforces anoxia. Here, we compiled data from 656 widespread temperate lakes and reservoirs to analyze the proposed anoxia begets anoxia feedback. Lakes in the dataset span a broad range of surface area (1–126,909 ha), maximum depth (6–370 m), and morphometry, with a median time-series duration of 30 years at each lake. Using linear mixed models, we found support for each of the positive feedback relationships between anoxia, phosphorus concentrations, chlorophyll a concentrations, and oxygen demand across the 656-lake dataset. Likewise, we found further support for these relationships by analyzing time-series data from individual lakes. Our results indicate that the strength of these feedback relationships may vary with lake-specific characteristics: For example, we found that surface phosphorus concentrations were more positively associated with chlorophyll a in high-phosphorus lakes, and oxygen demand had a stronger influence on the extent of anoxia in deep lakes. Taken together, these results support the existence of a positive feedback that could magnify the effects of climate change and other anthropogenic pressures driving the development of anoxia in lakes around the world.
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34. |
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35. |
- Lin, Jane, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : temporal chemical enrichment of the galactic disc
- 2020
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 491:2, s. 2043-2056
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present isochrone ages and initial bulk metallicities ([Fe/H](bulk), by accounting for diffusion) of 163 722 stars from the GALAH Data Release 2, mainly composed of main-sequence turn-off stars and subgiants (7000 K > T-eff > 4000 K and log g > 3 dex). The local age-metallicity relationship (AMR) is nearly flat but with significant scatter at all ages; the scatter is even higher when considering the observed surface abundances. After correcting for selection effects, the AMR appears to have intrinsic structures indicative of two star formation events, which we speculate are connected to the thin and thick discs in the solar neighbourhood. We also present abundance ratio trends for 16 elements as a function of age, across different [Fe/H](bulk) bins. In general, we find the trends in terms of [X/Fe] versus age from our far larger sample to be compatible with studies based on small (similar to 100 stars) samples of solar twins, but we now extend them to both sub- and supersolar metallicities. The a-elements show differing behaviour: the hydrostatic alpha-elements O and Mg show a steady decline with time for all metallicities, while the explosive alpha-elements Si, Ca, and Ti are nearly constant during the thin-disc epoch (ages less than or similar to 12 Gyr). The s-process elements Y and Ba show increasing [X/Fe] with time while the r-process element Eu has the opposite trend, thus favouring a primary production from sources with a short time delay such as core-collapse supernovae over long-delay events such as neutron star mergers.
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36. |
- Liu, Ching-Ti, et al.
(author)
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Assessment of gene-by-sex interaction effect on bone mineral density
- 2012
-
In: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. - : Wiley. - 1523-4681 .- 0884-0431. ; 27:10, s. 2051-2064
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Sexual dimorphism in various bone phenotypes, including bone mineral density (BMD), is widely observed; however, the extent to which genes explain these sex differences is unclear. To identify variants with different effects by sex, we examined gene-by-sex autosomal interactions genome-wide, and performed expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and bioinformatics network analysis. We conducted an autosomal genome-wide meta-analysis of gene-by-sex interaction on lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) BMD in 25,353 individuals from 8 cohorts. In a second stage, we followed up the 12 top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p?
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37. |
- Liu, Ke, et al.
(author)
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X Chromosome Dose and Sex Bias in Autoimmune Diseases
- 2016
-
In: Arthritis & Rheumatology. - : WILEY-BLACKWELL. - 2326-5191 .- 2326-5205. ; 68:5, s. 1290-1300
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective. More than 80% of autoimmune disease predominantly affects females, but the mechanism for this female bias is poorly understood. We suspected that an X chromosome dose effect accounts for this, and we undertook this study to test our hypothesis that trisomy X (47, XXX; occurring in similar to 1 in 1,000 live female births) would be increased in patients with female-predominant diseases (systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], primary Sjogrens syndrome [SS], primary biliary cirrhosis, and rheumatoid arthritis [RA]) compared to patients with diseases without female predominance (sarcoidosis) and compared to controls. Methods. All subjects in this study were female. We identified subjects with 47, XXX using aggregate data from single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays, and, when possible, we confirmed the presence of 47, XXX using fluorescence in situ hybridization or quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Results. We found 47, XXX in 7 of 2,826 SLE patients and in 3 of 1,033 SS patients, but in only 2 of 7,074 controls (odds ratio in the SLE and primary SS groups 8.78 [95% confidence interval 1.67-86.79], P = 0.003 and odds ratio 10.29 [95% confidence interval 1.18-123.47], P = 0.02, respectively). One in 404 women with SLE and 1 in 344 women with SS had 47, XXX. There was an excess of 47, XXX among SLE and SS patients. Conclusion. The estimated prevalence of SLE and SS in women with 47, XXX was similar to 2.5 and similar to 2.9 times higher, respectively, than that in women with 46, XX and similar to 25 and similar to 41 times higher, respectively, than that in men with 46, XY. No statistically significant increase of 47, XXX was observed in other female-biased diseases (primary biliary cirrhosis or RA), supporting the idea of multiple pathways to sex bias in autoimmunity.
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38. |
- Liu, Ke, et al.
(author)
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X Chromosome Dose and Sex Bias in Autoimmune Diseases : Increased 47,XXX in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Sjögren's Syndrome
- 2016
-
In: Arthritis & Rheumatology. - : Wiley. - 2326-5191 .- 2326-5205. ; 68:5, s. 1290-1300
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVE:More than 80% of autoimmune disease is female dominant, but the mechanism for this female bias is poorly understood. We suspected an X chromosome dose effect and hypothesized that trisomy X (47,XXX, 1 in ∼1,000 live female births) would be increased in female predominant diseases (e.g. systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], primary Sjögren's syndrome [SS], primary biliary cirrhosis [PBC] and rheumatoid arthritis [RA]) compared to diseases without female predominance (sarcoidosis) and controls.METHODS:We identified 47,XXX subjects using aggregate data from single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays and confirmed, when possible, by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) or quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR).RESULTS:We found 47,XXX in seven of 2,826 SLE and three of 1,033 SS female patients, but only in two of the 7,074 female controls (p=0.003, OR=8.78, 95% CI: 1.67-86.79 and p=0.02, OR=10.29, 95% CI: 1.18-123.47; respectively). One 47,XXX subject was present for ∼404 SLE women and ∼344 SS women. 47,XXX was present in excess among SLE and SS subjects.CONCLUSION:The estimated prevalence of SLE and SS in women with 47,XXX was respectively ∼2.5 and ∼2.9 times higher than in 46,XX women and ∼25 and ∼41 times higher than in 46,XY men. No statistically significant increase of 47,XXX was observed in other female-biased diseases (PBC or RA), supporting the idea of multiple pathways to sex bias in autoimmunity. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
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39. |
- Madrid-Gambin, Francisco, et al.
(author)
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Integrated Lipidomics and Proteomics Point to Early Blood-Based Changes in Childhood Preceding Later Development of Psychotic Experiences : Evidence From the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children
- 2019
-
In: Biological Psychiatry. - : Elsevier. - 0006-3223 .- 1873-2402. ; 86:1, s. 25-34
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The identification of early biomarkers of psychotic experiences (PEs) is of interest because early diagnosis and treatment of those at risk of future disorder is associated with improved outcomes. The current study investigated early lipidomic and coagulation pathway protein signatures of later PEs in subjects from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort.METHODS: Plasma of 115 children (12 years of age) who were first identified as experiencing PEs at 18 years of age (48 cases and 67 controls) were assessed through integrated and targeted lipidomics and semitargeted proteomics approaches. We assessed the lipids, lysophosphatidylcholines (n = 11) and phosphatidylcholines (n = 61), and the protein members of the coagulation pathway (n = 22) and integrated these data with complement pathway protein data already available on these subjects.RESULTS: Twelve phosphatidylcholines, four lysophosphatidylcholines, and the coagulation protein plasminogen were altered between the control and PEs groups after correction for multiple comparisons. Lipidomic and proteomic datasets were integrated into a multivariate network displaying a strong relationship between most lipids that were significantly associated with PEs and plasminogen. Finally, an unsupervised clustering approach identified four different clusters, with one of the clusters presenting the highest case-control ratio (p < .01) and associated with a higher concentration of smaller low-density lipoprotein cholesterol particles.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the lipidome and proteome of subjects who report PEs at 18 years of age are already altered at 12 years of age, indicating that metabolic dysregulation may contribute to an early vulnerability to PEs and suggesting crosstalk between these lysophosphatidylcholines, phosphatidylcholines, and coagulation and complement proteins.
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40. |
- McNamee, Sara E., et al.
(author)
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Distribution, occurrence and biotoxin composition of the main shellfish toxin producing microalgae within European waters : A comparison of methods of analysis
- 2016
-
In: Harmful Algae. - : Elsevier BV. - 1568-9883 .- 1878-1470. ; 55, s. 112-120
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a natural global phenomena emerging in severity and extent. Incidents have many economic, ecological and human health impacts. Monitoring and providing early warning of toxic HABs are critical for protecting public health. Current monitoring programmes include measuring the number of toxic phytoplankton cells in the water and biotoxin levels in shellfish tissue. As these efforts are demanding and labour intensive, methods which improve the efficiency are essential. This study compares the utilisation of a multitoxin surface plasmon resonance (multitoxin SPR) biosensor with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and analytical methods such as high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for toxic HAB monitoring efforts in Europe. Seawater samples (n = 256) from European waters, collected 2009-2011, were analysed for biotoxins: saxitoxin and analogues, okadaic acid and dinophysistoxins 1/2 (VDU /DTX2) and domoic acid responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), diarrheic shellfish poisoning (DSP) and amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP), respectively. Biotoxins were detected mainly in samples from Spain and Ireland. France and Norway appeared to have the lowest number of toxic samples. Both the multitoxin SPR biosensor and the RNA microarray were more sensitive at detecting toxic HABs than standard light microscopy phytoplankton monitoring. Correlations between each of the detection methods were performed with the overall agreement, based on statistical 2 x 2 comparison tables, between each testing platform ranging between 32% and 74% for all three toxin families illustrating that one individual testing method may not be an ideal solution. An efficient early warning monitoring system for the detection of toxic HABs could therefore be achieved by combining both the multitoxin SPR biosensor and RNA microarray. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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41. |
- Medlin, Linda K., et al.
(author)
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MIDTAL (Microarrays for the Detection of Toxic Algae)
- 2013
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In: Phytotaxa. - : Magnolia Press. - 1179-3155 .- 1179-3163. ; 127:1, s. 201-210
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Microalgae in marine and brackish waters of Europe regularly cause harmful effects, considered from the human perspective, in that they cause economic damage to fisheries and tourism. Cyanobacteria cause similar problems in freshwaters. These episodes encompass a broad range of phenomena collectively referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs). For adequate management of these phenomena, monitoring of microalgae is required. However, present day monitoring is time consuming and based on morphology as determined by light microscopy, which may be insufficient to give definitive species and toxin attribution. In the European Union (EU) FP7 project MIDTAL (microarrays for the detection of toxic algae), we will first target rapid species identification using rRNA genes. The variable regions of the rRNA genes can be used for probe design to recognize species or even strains. Second, a toxin based microarray will be developed that includes antibody reactions to specific toxins produced by these microalgae because even when cell numbers are low, toxins can be present and can accumulate in the shellfish. Microarrays are the state of the art technology in molecular biology for the processing of bulk samples for detection of target RNA/DNA sequence. Existing rRNA probes and antibodies for toxic algal species/strains and their toxins will be adapted and optimized for microarray use. The purpose of MIDTAL is to support the common fisheries policy and to aid the national monitoring agencies by providing new rapid tools for the identification of toxic algae and their toxins so they can comply with EU directive 91/1491/CEE to monitor for toxic algae, and reduce the need for the mouse bioassay.
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42. |
- Nandakumar, Govind, et al.
(author)
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Combined APOGEE-GALAH stellar catalogues using the Cannon
- 2022
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 513:1, s. 232-255
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- APOGEE and GALAH are two high resolution multi-object spectroscopic surveys that provide fundamental stellar parameters and multiple elemental abundance estimates for about half a million stars in the Milky Way. Both surveys observe in different wavelength regimes and use different data reduction pipelines leading to significant offsets and trends in stellar parameters and abundances for the common stars observed in both surveys. Such systematic differences/offsets in stellar parameters and abundances make it difficult to effectively utilize them to investigate Galactic abundance trends in spite of the unique advantage provided by their complementary sky coverage and different Milky Way components they observe. Hence, we use the Cannon data-driven method selecting a training set of 4418 common stars observed by both surveys. This enables the construction of two catalogues, one with the APOGEE-scaled and the other with the GALAH-scaled stellar parameters. Using repeat observations in APOGEE and GALAH, we find high precision in metallicity (∼0.02–0.4 dex) and alpha abundances (∼0.02–0.03 dex) for spectra with good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR > 80 for APOGEE and SNR > 40 for GALAH). We use open and globular clusters to validate our parameter estimates and find small scatter in metallicity (0.06 dex) and alpha abundances (0.03 dex) in APOGEE-scaled case. The final catalogues have been cross-matched with the Gaia EDR3 catalogue to enable their use to carry out detailed chemo-dynamic studies of the Milky Way from perspectives of APOGEE and GALAH.
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43. |
- Papadimitriou, Nikos, et al.
(author)
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Physical activity and risks of breast and colorectal cancer : a Mendelian randomisation analysis
- 2020
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In: Nature Communications. - : Springer Nature. - 2041-1723. ; 11:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Physical activity has been associated with lower risks of breast and colorectal cancer in epidemiological studies; however, it is unknown if these associations are causal or confounded. In two-sample Mendelian randomisation analyses, using summary genetic data from the UK Biobank and GWA consortia, we found that a one standard deviation increment in average acceleration was associated with lower risks of breast cancer (odds ratio [OR]: 0.51, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.27 to 0.98, P-value=0.04) and colorectal cancer (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.48 to 0.90, P-value=0.01). We found similar magnitude inverse associations for estrogen positive (ER+ve) breast cancer and for colon cancer. Our results support a potentially causal relationship between higher physical activity levels and lower risks of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Based on these data, the promotion of physical activity is probably an effective strategy in the primary prevention of these commonly diagnosed cancers. Physical activity has been linked to lower risks of colorectal and breast cancer. Here, the authors present a Mendelian randomisation analysis supporting a potentially causal relationship between higher physical activity levels and lower risks of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
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44. |
- Pérez Blanco, Eva, et al.
(author)
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A comparative study of Alexandrium tamarense cyst distribution in Belfast Lough
- 2014
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In: European journal of phycology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0967-0262 .- 1469-4433. ; 49:2, s. 255-263
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alexandrium tamarense is a cyst-forming dinoflagellate that can cause toxicity in shellfish. Belfast Lough, in northeast Ireland, has experienced toxicity events due to the presence of A. tamarense, which are monitored because of shellfish farms in the Lough. Since 1992 anthropogenic influences on the Lough have changed with the introduction of a 'fast cat' ferry service and an increase in mussel farming. In 2002 Belfast Lough was surveyed for A. tamarense cyst distribution in the sediments and the results are compared to a previous cyst survey carried out in the Lough in 1992. Cyst numbers were generally lower in 2002 than in 1992 (t-test, P < 0.01). The highest concentration found in 2002 was 1058 cysts g(-1) dry sediment compared with 3330 in 1992. Although sediment disturbance increased in the period between the surveys and plays a role in cyst distribution, A. tamarense cysts are still present in the seabed of the Lough. These cysts remain an important repository of inoculating cells for A. tamarense blooms that have not been removed by the recent anthropogenic activity in the Lough and therefore the requirement for monitoring remains. Comparisons between cyst counts per volume of wet sediment and per weight of dry sediment were carried out, and although the first is needed for ecological studies allowing a deeper analysis, it is also recommended that cyst counts per dry weight of sediment are always reported for wider comparative purposes.
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45. |
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46. |
- Quillen, Alice C., et al.
(author)
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The GALAH survey : stellar streams and how stellar velocity distributions vary with Galactic longitude, hemisphere, and metallicity
- 2018
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 478:1, s. 228-254
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using GALAH (GALactic Archaeology with HERMES) survey data of nearby stars, we look at how structure in the planar (u, v) velocity distribution depends on metallicity and on viewing direction within the Galaxy. In nearby stars with distance d less than or similar to 1 kpc, the Hercules stream is most strongly seen in higher metallicity stars [Fe/H] > 0.2. The Hercules stream peak v value depends on viewed galactic longitude, which we interpret as due to the gap between the stellar stream and more circular orbits being associated with a specific angular momentum value of about 16.40 km s(-1) kpc. The association of the gap with a particular angular momentum value supports a bar resonant model for the Hercules stream. Moving groups previously identified in Hipparcos (High Precision Parallax COllecting Satellite) observations are easiest to see in stars nearer than 250 pc, and their visibility and peak velocities in the velocity distributions depends on both viewing direction (galactic longitude and hemisphere) and metallicity. We infer that there is fine structure in local velocity distributions that varies over distances of a few hundred pc in the Galaxy.
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47. |
- Roy, Sushmita, et al.
(author)
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Identification of functional elements and regulatory circuits by Drosophila modENCODE.
- 2010
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In: Science (New York, N.Y.). - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 1095-9203 .- 0036-8075. ; 330:6012, s. 1787-1797
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To gain insight into how genomic information is translated into cellular and developmental programs, the Drosophila model organism Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (modENCODE) project is comprehensively mapping transcripts, histone modifications, chromosomal proteins, transcription factors, replication proteins and intermediates, and nucleosome properties across a developmental time course and in multiple cell lines. We have generated more than 700 data sets and discovered protein-coding, noncoding, RNA regulatory, replication, and chromatin elements, more than tripling the annotated portion of the Drosophila genome. Correlated activity patterns of these elements reveal a functional regulatory network, which predicts putative new functions for genes, reveals stage- and tissue-specific regulators, and enables gene-expression prediction. Our results provide a foundation for directed experimental and computational studies in Drosophila and related species and also a model for systematic data integration toward comprehensive genomic and functional annotation.
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48. |
- Sharma, Sanjib, et al.
(author)
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Fundamental relations for the velocity dispersion of stars in the Milky Way
- 2021
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 506:2, s. 1761-1776
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We explore the fundamental relations governing the radial and vertical velocity dispersions of stars in the Milky Way, from combined studies of complementary surveys including GALAH, LAMOST, APOGEE, the NASA Kepler and K2 missions, and Gaia DR2. We find that different stellar samples, even though they target different tracer populations and employ a variety of age estimation techniques, follow the same set of fundamental relations. We provide the clearest evidence to date that, in addition to the well-known dependence on stellar age, the velocity dispersions of stars depend on orbital angular momentum Lz, metallicity, and height above the plane |z|, and are well described by a multiplicatively separable functional form. The dispersions have a power-law dependence on age with exponents of 0.441 ± 0.007 and 0.251 ± 0.006 for σz and σR, respectively, and the power law is valid even for the oldest stars. For the solar neighbourhood stars, the apparent break in the power law for older stars, as seen in previous studies, is due to the anticorrelation of Lz with age. The dispersions decrease with increasing Lz until we reach the Sun’s orbital angular momentum, after which σz increases (implying flaring in the outer disc) while σR flattens. For a given age, the dispersions increase with decreasing metallicity, suggesting that the dispersions increase with birth radius. The dispersions also increase linearly with |z|. The same set of relations that work in the solar neighbourhood also work for stars between 3 < R/kpc < 20. Finally, the high-[α/Fe] stars follow the same relations as the low-[α/Fe] stars.
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49. |
- Sharma, Sanjib, et al.
(author)
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The GALAH Survey : dependence of elemental abundances on age and metallicity for stars in the Galactic disc
- 2022
-
In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 510:1, s. 734-752
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using data from the GALAH survey, we explore the dependence of elemental abundances on stellar age and metallicity among Galactic disc stars. We find that the abundance of most elements can be predicted from age and [Fe/H] with an intrinsic scatter of about 0.03 dex. We discuss the possible causes for the existence of the abundance–age–metallicity relations. Using a stochastic chemical enrichment scheme that takes the volume of supernovae remnants into account, we show the intrinsic scatter is expected to be small, about 0.05 dex or even smaller if there is additional mixing in the ISM. Elemental abundances show trends with both age and metallicity and the relationship is well described by a simple model in which the dependence of abundance ([X/Fe]) on age and [Fe/H] are additively separable. Elements can be grouped based on the direction of their abundance gradient in the (age,[Fe/H]) plane and different groups can be roughly associated with three distinct nucleosynthetic production sites, the exploding massive stars, the exploding white dwarfs, and the AGB stars. However, the abundances of some elements, like Co, La, and Li, show large scatter for a given age and metallicity, suggesting processes other than simple Galactic chemical evolution are at play. We also compare the abundance trends of main-sequence turn-off (MSTO) stars against that of giants, whose ages were estimated using asteroseismic information from the K2 mission. For most elements, the trends of MSTO stars are similar to that of giants. The existence of abundance relations implies that we can estimate the age and birth radius of disc stars, which is important for studying the dynamic and chemical evolution of the Galaxy.
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50. |
- Sharma, Sanjib, et al.
(author)
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The K2-HERMES Survey : age and metallicity of the thick disc
- 2019
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 490:4, s. 5335-5352
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Asteroseismology is a promising tool to study Galactic structure and evolution because it can probe the ages of stars. Earlier attempts comparing seismic data from the Kepler satellite with predictions from Galaxy models found that the models predicted more low-mass stars compared to the observed distribution of masses. It was unclear if the mismatch was due to inaccuracies in the Galactic models, or the unknown aspects of the selection function of the stars. Using new data from the K2 mission, which has a well-defined selection function, we find that an oldmetal-poor thick disc, as used in previous Galactic models, is incompatible with the asteroseismic information. We use an importance-sampling framework, which takes the selection function into account, to fit for the metallicities of a population synthesis model using spectroscopic data. We show that spectroscopic measurements of [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe] elemental abundances from the GALAH survey indicate a mean metallicity of log (Z/Z(circle dot)) = -0.16 for the thick disc. Here Z is the effective solar-scaled metallicity, which is a function of [Fe/H] and [alpha/Fe]. With the revised disc metallicities, for the first time, the theoretically predicted distribution of seismic masses show excellent agreement with the observed distribution of masses. This indirectly verifies that the asteroseismic mass scaling relation is good to within five per cent. Assuming the asteroseismic scaling relations are correct, we estimate the mean age of the thick disc to be about 10 Gyr, in agreement with the traditional idea of an old alpha-enhanced thick disc.
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