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1.
  • Adrian-Martinez, S., et al. (author)
  • A first search for coincident gravitational waves and high energy neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007
  • 2013
  • In: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1475-7516. ; :6
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.
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2.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts
  • 2012
  • In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 539
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Aims. A transient astrophysical event observed in both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) channels would yield rich scientific rewards. A first program initiating EM follow-ups to possible transient GW events has been developed and exercised by the LIGO and Virgo community in association with several partners. In this paper, we describe and evaluate the methods used to promptly identify and localize GW event candidates and to request images of targeted sky locations. Methods. During two observing periods (Dec. 17, 2009 to Jan. 8, 2010 and Sep. 2 to Oct. 20, 2010), a low-latency analysis pipeline was used to identify GW event candidates and to reconstruct maps of possible sky locations. A catalog of nearby galaxies and Milky Way globular clusters was used to select the most promising sky positions to be imaged, and this directional information was delivered to EM observatories with time lags of about thirty minutes. A Monte Carlo simulation has been used to evaluate the low-latency GW pipeline's ability to reconstruct source positions correctly. Results. For signals near the detection threshold, our low-latency algorithms often localized simulated GW burst signals to tens of square degrees, while neutron star/neutron star inspirals and neutron star/black hole inspirals were localized to a few hundred square degrees. Localization precision improves for moderately stronger signals. The correct sky location of signals well above threshold and originating from nearby galaxies may be observed with similar to 50% or better probability with a few pointings of wide-field telescopes.
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3.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the full S5 LIGO data
  • 2012
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We report on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 50-800 Hz and with the frequency time derivative in the range of 0 through -6 x 10(-9) Hz/s. Such a signal could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly nonaxisymmetric isolated neutron star in our Galaxy. After recent improvements in the search program that yielded a 10x increase in computational efficiency, we have searched in two years of data collected during LIGO's fifth science run and have obtained the most sensitive all-sky upper limits on gravitational-wave strain to date. Near 150 Hz our upper limit on worst-case linearly polarized strain amplitude h(0) is 1 x 10(-24), while at the high end of our frequency range we achieve a worst-case upper limit of 3.8 x 10(-24) for all polarizations and sky locations. These results constitute a factor of 2 improvement upon previously published data. A new detection pipeline utilizing a loosely coherent algorithm was able to follow up weaker outliers, increasing the volume of space where signals can be detected by a factor of 10, but has not revealed any gravitational-wave signals. The pipeline has been tested for robustness with respect to deviations from the model of an isolated neutron star, such as caused by a low-mass or long-period binary companion.
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4.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • Search for gravitational waves from low mass compact binary coalescence in LIGO's sixth science run and Virgo's science runs 2 and 3
  • 2012
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:8
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries using LIGO and Virgo observations between July 7, 2009, and October 20, 2010. We searched for signals from binaries with total mass between 2 and 25M(circle dot); this includes binary neutron stars, binary black holes, and binaries consisting of a black hole and neutron star. The detectors were sensitive to systems up to 40 Mpc distant for binary neutron stars, and further for higher mass systems. No gravitational-wave signals were detected. We report upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence as a function of total mass, including the results from previous LIGO and Virgo observations. The cumulative 90% confidence rate upper limits of the binary coalescence of binary neutron star, neutron star-black hole, and binary black hole systems are 1.3 x 10(-4), 3.1 x 10(-5), and 6.4 x 10(-6) Mpc(-3) yr(-1), respectively. These upper limits are up to a factor 1.4 lower than previously derived limits. We also report on results from a blind injection challenge.
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5.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts during LIGO Science Run 6 and Virgo Science Runs 2 and 3
  • 2012
  • In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X. ; 760:1
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the results of a search for gravitational waves associated with 154 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that were detected by satellite-based gamma-ray experiments in 2009-2010, during the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. We perform two distinct searches: a modeled search for coalescences of either two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, and a search for generic, unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts. We find no evidence for gravitational-wave counterparts, either with any individual GRB in this sample or with the population as a whole. For all GRBs we place lower bounds on the distance to the progenitor, under the optimistic assumption of a gravitational-wave emission energy of 10(-2) M-circle dot c(2) at 150 Hz, with a median limit of 17 Mpc. For short-hard GRBs we place exclusion distances on binary neutron star and neutron-star-black-hole progenitors, using astrophysically motivated priors on the source parameters, with median values of 16 Mpc and 28 Mpc, respectively. These distance limits, while significantly larger than for a search that is not aided by GRB satellite observations, are not large enough to expect a coincidence with a GRB. However, projecting these exclusions to the sensitivities of Advanced LIGO and Virgo, which should begin operation in 2015, we find that the detection of gravitational waves associated with GRBs will become quite possible.
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6.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run
  • 2012
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The analysis searches for transients of duration less than or similar to 1 s over the frequency band 64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization, direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3 events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate density per year and Mpc(3) for sample populations of standard-candle sources. As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range similar to 5 x 10(-22) Hz(-1/2) to similar to 1 x 10(-20) Hz(-1/2). The combination of the two joint runs entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of interferometric detectors.
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7.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • First low-latency LIGO plus Virgo search for binary inspirals and their electromagnetic counterparts
  • 2012
  • In: Astronomy & Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 541
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Aims. The detection and measurement of gravitational-waves from coalescing neutron-star binary systems is an important science goal for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. In addition to emitting gravitational-waves at frequencies that span the most sensitive bands of the LIGO and Virgo detectors, these sources are also amongst the most likely to produce an electromagnetic counterpart to the gravitational-wave emission. A joint detection of the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic signals would provide a powerful new probe for astronomy. Methods. During the period between September 19 and October 20, 2010, the first low-latency search for gravitational-waves from binary inspirals in LIGO and Virgo data was conducted. The resulting triggers were sent to electromagnetic observatories for followup. We describe the generation and processing of the low-latency gravitational-wave triggers. The results of the electromagnetic image analysis will be described elsewhere. Results. Over the course of the science run, three gravitational-wave triggers passed all of the low-latency selection cuts. Of these, one was followed up by several of our observational partners. Analysis of the gravitational-wave data leads to an estimated false alarm rate of once every 6.4 days, falling far short of the requirement for a detection based solely on gravitational-wave data.
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8.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • Upper limits on a stochastic gravitational-wave background using LIGO and Virgo interferometers at 600-1000 Hz
  • 2012
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:12
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of many incoherent sources of gravitational waves, of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. This background is a target for the current generation of ground-based detectors. In this article we present the first joint search for a stochastic background using data from the LIGO and Virgo interferometers. In a frequency band of 600-1000 Hz, we obtained a 95% upper limit on the amplitude of Omega(GW)(f) = Omega(3)(f/900 Hz)(3), of Omega(3) < 0.32, assuming a value of the Hubble parameter of h(100) = 0.71. These new limits are a factor of seven better than the previous best in this frequency band.
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9.
  • Evans, P. A., et al. (author)
  • Swift Follow-up Observations of Candidate Gravitational-wave Transient Events
  • 2012
  • In: The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 203:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their 2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network of GW detectors (within less than 10 minutes) and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift observatory (within 12 hr). Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background. Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind injection challenge." With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime, multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of sensitivity for the present and future instruments.
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10.
  • Aasi, J., et al. (author)
  • Parameter estimation for compact binary coalescence signals with the first generation gravitational-wave detector network
  • 2013
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 88:6
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events. Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters, such as component masses, spins, sky location and distance, that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources. However, accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data, uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors. Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run, including a "blind injection'' where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration. We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron-star and black-hole binary parameter space over the component mass range 1M(circle dot)-25M(circle dot) and the full range of spin parameters. The cases reported in this study provide a snapshot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors.
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11.
  • Aasi, J., et al. (author)
  • Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspiral, merger, and ringdown in LIGO-Virgo data from 2009-2010
  • 2013
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We report a search for gravitational waves from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes (BBH) with total mass between 25 and 100 solar masses, in data taken at the LIGO and Virgo observatories between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010. The maximum sensitive distance of the detectors over this period for a (20, 20)M-circle dot coalescence was 300 Mpc. No gravitational wave signals were found. We thus report upper limits on the astrophysical coalescence rates of BBH as a function of the component masses for nonspinning components, and also evaluate the dependence of the search sensitivity on component spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum. We find an upper limit at 90% confidence on the coalescence rate of BBH with nonspinning components of mass between 19 and 28M(circle dot) of 3:3 x 10(-7) mergers Mpc(-3) yr(-1).
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12.
  • Aasi, J., et al. (author)
  • The characterization of Virgo data and its impact on gravitational-wave searches
  • 2012
  • In: Classical and Quantum Gravity. - : IOP Publishing. - 1361-6382 .- 0264-9381. ; 29:15
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Between 2007 and 2010 Virgo collected data in coincidence with the LIGO and GEO gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. These data have been searched for GWs emitted by cataclysmic phenomena in the universe, by non-axisymmetric rotating neutron stars or from a stochastic background in the frequency band of the detectors. The sensitivity of GW searches is limited by noise produced by the detector or its environment. It is therefore crucial to characterize the various noise sources in a GW detector. This paper reviews the Virgo detector noise sources, noise propagation, and conversion mechanisms which were identified in the three first Virgo observing runs. In many cases, these investigations allowed us to mitigate noise sources in the detector, or to selectively flag noise events and discard them from the data. We present examples from the joint LIGO-GEO-Virgo GW searches to show how well noise transients and narrow spectral lines have been identified and excluded from the Virgo data. We also discuss how detector characterization can improve the astrophysical reach of GW searches.
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13.
  • Abadie, J., et al. (author)
  • Search for gravitational waves from intermediate mass binary black holes
  • 2012
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 85:10
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the results of a weakly modeled burst search for gravitational waves from mergers of nonspinning intermediate mass black holes in the total mass range 100-450 M-circle dot and with the component mass ratios between 1: and 4:1. The search was conducted on data collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between November of 2005 and October of 2007. No plausible signals were observed by the search which constrains the astrophysical rates of the intermediate mass black holes mergers as a function of the component masses. In the most efficiently detected bin centered on 88 + 88 M-circle dot, for nonspinning sources, the rate density upper limit is 0.13 per Mpc(3) per Myr at the 90% confidence level.
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14.
  • Aasi, J., et al. (author)
  • Einstein@Home all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S5 data
  • 2013
  • In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 87:4
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • This paper presents results of an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range [50, 1190] Hz and with frequency derivative range of similar to[-20, 1.1] x 10(-10) Hz s(-1) for the fifth LIGO science run (S5). The search uses a noncoherent Hough-transform method to combine the information from coherent searches on time scales of about one day. Because these searches are very computationally intensive, they have been carried out with the Einstein@Home volunteer distributed computing project. Postprocessing identifies eight candidate signals; deeper follow-up studies rule them out. Hence, since no gravitational wave signals have been found, we report upper limits on the intrinsic gravitational wave strain amplitude h(0). For example, in the 0.5 Hz-wide band at 152.5 Hz, we can exclude the presence of signals with h(0) greater than 7.6 x 10(-25) at a 90% confidence level. This search is about a factor 3 more sensitive than the previous Einstein@Home search of early S5 LIGO data.
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15.
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16.
  • de Jong, R. S., et al. (author)
  • 4MOST : Project overview and information for the First Call for Proposals
  • 2019
  • In: The Messenger. - : European Southern Observatory. - 0722-6691. ; 175, s. 3-11
  • Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
    • We introduce the 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), a new high-multiplex, wide-field spectroscopic survey facility under development for the four-metre-class Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) at Paranal. Its key specifications are: a large field of view (FoV) of 4.2 square degrees and a high multiplex capability, with 1624 fibres feeding two low-resolution spectrographs (R = λ/Δλ ~ 6500), and 812 fibres transferring light to the high-resolution spectrograph (R ~ 20 000). After a description of the instrument and its expected performance, a short overview is given of its operational scheme and planned 4MOST Consortium science; these aspects are covered in more detail in other articles in this edition of The Messenger. Finally, the processes, schedules, and policies concerning the selection of ESO Community Surveys are presented, commencing with a singular opportunity to submit Letters of Intent for Public Surveys during the first five years of 4MOST operations.
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17.
  • Feroci, M., et al. (author)
  • The large observatory for x-ray timing
  • 2014
  • In: Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. - : SPIE. - 9780819496126
  • Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • The Large Observatory For x-ray Timing (LOFT) was studied within ESA M3 Cosmic Vision framework and participated in the final downselection for a launch slot in 2022-2024. Thanks to the unprecedented combination of effective area and spectral resolution of its main instrument, LOFT will study the behaviour of matter under extreme conditions, such as the strong gravitational field in the innermost regions of accretion flows close to black holes and neutron stars, and the supranuclear densities in the interior of neutron stars. The science payload is based on a Large Area Detector (LAD, 10 m2 effective area, 2-30 keV, 240 eV spectral resolution, 1° collimated field of view) and a Wide Field Monitor (WFM, 2-50 keV, 4 steradian field of view, 1 arcmin source location accuracy, 300 eV spectral resolution). The WFM is equipped with an on-board system for bright events (e.g. GRB) localization. The trigger time and position of these events are broadcast to the ground within 30 s from discovery. In this paper we present the status of the mission at the end of its Phase A study.
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20.
  • Ackley, K., et al. (author)
  • Observational constraints on the optical and near-infrared emission from the neutron star-black hole binary merger candidate S190814bv
  • 2020
  • In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 643
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Context. Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has rapidly reached maturity, becoming a fundamental observing window for modern astrophysics. The coalescences of a few tens of black hole (BH) binaries have been detected, while the number of events possibly including a neutron star (NS) is still limited to a few. On 2019 August 14, the LIGO and Virgo interferometers detected a high-significance event labelled S190814bv. A preliminary analysis of the GW data suggests that the event was likely due to the merger of a compact binary system formed by a BH and a NS.Aims. In this paper, we present our extensive search campaign aimed at uncovering the potential optical and near infrared electromagnetic counterpart of S190814bv. We found no convincing electromagnetic counterpart in our data. We therefore use our non-detection to place limits on the properties of the putative outflows that could have been produced by the binary during and after the merger.Methods. Thanks to the three-detector observation of S190814bv, and given the characteristics of the signal, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations delivered a relatively narrow localisation in low latency - a 50% (90%) credible area of 5 deg(2) (23 deg(2)) - despite the relatively large distance of 26752 Mpc. ElectromagNetic counterparts of GRAvitational wave sources at the VEry Large Telescope collaboration members carried out an intensive multi-epoch, multi-instrument observational campaign to identify the possible optical and near infrared counterpart of the event. In addition, the ATLAS, GOTO, GRAWITA-VST, Pan-STARRS, and VINROUGE projects also carried out a search on this event. In this paper, we describe the combined observational campaign of these groups.Results. Our observations allow us to place limits on the presence of any counterpart and discuss the implications for the kilonova (KN), which was possibly generated by this NS-BH merger, and for the strategy of future searches. The typical depth of our wide-field observations, which cover most of the projected sky localisation probability (up to 99.8%, depending on the night and filter considered), is r similar to 22 (resp. K similar to 21) in the optical (resp. near infrared). We reach deeper limits in a subset of our galaxy-targeted observations, which cover a total similar to 50% of the galaxy-mass-weighted localisation probability. Altogether, our observations allow us to exclude a KN with large ejecta mass M greater than or similar to 0.1 M-circle dot to a high (> 90%) confidence, and we can exclude much smaller masses in a sub-sample of our observations. This disfavours the tidal disruption of the neutron star during the merger.Conclusions. Despite the sensitive instruments involved in the campaign, given the distance of S190814bv, we could not reach sufficiently deep limits to constrain a KN comparable in luminosity to AT 2017gfo on a large fraction of the localisation probability. This suggests that future (likely common) events at a few hundred megaparsecs will be detected only by large facilities with both a high sensitivity and large field of view. Galaxy-targeted observations can reach the needed depth over a relevant portion of the localisation probability with a smaller investment of resources, but the number of galaxies to be targeted in order to get a fairly complete coverage is large, even in the case of a localisation as good as that of this event.
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21.
  • Agudo, I., et al. (author)
  • Panning for gold, but finding helium: Discovery of the ultra-stripped supernova SN 2019wxt from gravitational-wave follow-up observations
  • 2023
  • In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 675
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the results from multi-wavelength observations of a transient discovered during an intensive follow-up campaign of S191213g, a gravitational wave (GW) event reported by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration as a possible binary neutron star merger in a low latency search. This search yielded SN 2019wxt, a young transient in a galaxy whose sky position (in the 80% GW contour) and distance (∼150 Mpc) were plausibly compatible with the localisation uncertainty of the GW event. Initially, the transienta's tightly constrained age, its relatively faint peak magnitude (Mi ∼ -16.7 mag), and the r-band decline rate of ∼1 mag per 5 days appeared suggestive of a compact binary merger. However, SN 2019wxt spectroscopically resembled a type Ib supernova, and analysis of the optical-near-infrared evolution rapidly led to the conclusion that while it could not be associated with S191213g, it nevertheless represented an extreme outcome of stellar evolution. By modelling the light curve, we estimated an ejecta mass of only ∼0.1 M·, with 56Ni comprising ∼20% of this. We were broadly able to reproduce its spectral evolution with a composition dominated by helium and oxygen, with trace amounts of calcium. We considered various progenitor channels that could give rise to the observed properties of SN 2019wxt and concluded that an ultra-stripped origin in a binary system is the most likely explanation. Disentangling genuine electromagnetic counterparts to GW events from transients such as SN 2019wxt soon after discovery is challenging: in a bid to characterise this level of contamination, we estimated the rate of events with a volumetric rate density comparable to that of SN 2019wxt and found that around one such event per week can occur within the typical GW localisation area of O4 alerts out to a luminosity distance of 500 Mpc, beyond which it would become fainter than the typical depth of current electromagnetic follow-up campaigns.
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22.
  • Morales, J. C., et al. (author)
  • A giant exoplanet orbiting a very-low-mass star challenges planet formation models
  • 2019
  • In: Science. - : American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). - 0036-8075 .- 1095-9203. ; 365:6460, s. 1441-1445
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Surveys have shown that super-Earth and Neptune-mass exoplanets are more frequent than gas giants around low-mass stars, as predicted by the core accretion theory of planet formation. We report the discovery of a giant planet around the very-low-mass star GJ 3512, as determined by optical and near-infrared radial-velocity observations. The planet has a minimum mass of 0.46 Jupiter masses, very high for such a small host star, and an eccentric 204-day orbit. Dynamical models show that the high eccentricity is most likely due to planet-planet interactions. We use simulations to demonstrate that the GJ 3512 planetary system challenges generally accepted formation theories, and that it puts constraints on the planet accretion and migration rates. Disk instabilities may be more efficient in forming planets than previously thought.
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23.
  • Walters, R G, et al. (author)
  • A new highly penetrant form of obesity due to deletions on chromosome 16p11.2.
  • 2010
  • In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 463:7281, s. 671-5
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Obesity has become a major worldwide challenge to public health, owing to an interaction between the Western 'obesogenic' environment and a strong genetic contribution. Recent extensive genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with obesity, but these loci together account for only a small fraction of the known heritable component. Thus, the 'common disease, common variant' hypothesis is increasingly coming under challenge. Here we report a highly penetrant form of obesity, initially observed in 31 subjects who were heterozygous for deletions of at least 593 kilobases at 16p11.2 and whose ascertainment included cognitive deficits. Nineteen similar deletions were identified from GWAS data in 16,053 individuals from eight European cohorts. These deletions were absent from healthy non-obese controls and accounted for 0.7% of our morbid obesity cases (body mass index (BMI) >or= 40 kg m(-2) or BMI standard deviation score >or= 4; P = 6.4 x 10(-8), odds ratio 43.0), demonstrating the potential importance in common disease of rare variants with strong effects. This highlights a promising strategy for identifying missing heritability in obesity and other complex traits: cohorts with extreme phenotypes are likely to be enriched for rare variants, thereby improving power for their discovery. Subsequent analysis of the loci so identified may well reveal additional rare variants that further contribute to the missing heritability, as recently reported for SIM1 (ref. 3). The most productive approach may therefore be to combine the 'power of the extreme' in small, well-phenotyped cohorts, with targeted follow-up in case-control and population cohorts.
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24.
  • Levan, A. J., et al. (author)
  • The Environment of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817
  • 2017
  • In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 848:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and Chandra imaging, combined with Very Large Telescope MUSE integral field spectroscopy of the counterpart and host galaxy of the first binary neutron star merger detected via gravitational-wave emission by LIGO and Virgo, GW170817. The host galaxy, NGC 4993, is an S0 galaxy at z - 0.009783. There is evidence for large, face-on spiral shells in continuum imaging, and edge-on spiral features visible in nebular emission lines. This suggests that NGC 4993 has undergone a relatively recent (less than or similar to 1 Gyr) dry merger. This merger may provide the fuel for a weak active nucleus seen in Chandra imaging. At the location of the counterpart, HST imaging implies there is no globular or young stellar cluster, with a limit of a few thousand solar masses for any young system. The population in the vicinity is predominantly old with less than or similar to 1% of any light arising from a population with ages <500 Myr. Both the host galaxy properties and those of the transient location are consistent with the distributions seen for short-duration gamma-ray bursts, although the source position lies well within the effective radius (r(e) similar to 3 kpc), providing an r(e)-normalized offset that is closer than similar to 90% of short GRBs. For the long delay time implied by the stellar population, this suggests that the kick velocity was significantly less than the galaxy escape velocity. We do not see any narrow host galaxy interstellar medium features within the counterpart spectrum, implying low extinction, and that the binary may lie in front of the bulk of the host galaxy.
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25.
  • Nicholl, M., et al. (author)
  • An outflow powers the optical rise of the nearby, fast-evolving tidal disruption event AT2019qiz
  • 2020
  • In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 499:1, s. 482-504
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • At 66 Mpc, AT2019qiz is the closest optical tidal disruption event (TDE) to date, with a luminosity intermediate between the bulk of the population and the faint-and-fast event iPTF16fnl. Its proximity allowed a very early detection and triggering of multiwavelength and spectroscopic follow-up well before maximum light. The velocity dispersion of the host galaxy and fits to the TDE light curve indicate a black hole mass approximate to 10(6) M-circle dot, disrupting a star of approximate to 1 M-circle dot. By analysing our comprehensive UV, optical, and X-ray data, we show that the early optical emission is dominated by an outflow, with a luminosity evolution L proportional to t(2), consistent with a photosphere expanding at constant velocity (greater than or similar to 2000 km s(-1)), and a line-forming region producing initially blueshifted H and He II profiles with v = 3000-10 000 km s(-1). The fastest optical ejecta approach the velocity inferred from radio detections (modelled in a forthcoming companion paper from K. D. Alexander et al.), thus the same outflow may be responsible for both the fast optical rise and the radio emission - the first time this connection has been observed in a TDE. The light-curve rise begins 29 +/- 2 d before maximum light, peaking when the photosphere reaches the radius where optical photons can escape. The photosphere then undergoes a sudden transition, first cooling at constant radius then contracting at constant temperature. At the same time, the blueshifts disappear from the spectrum and Bowen fluorescence lines (N III) become prominent, implying a source of far-UV photons, while the X-ray light curve peaks at approximate to 10(41) erg s(-1). Assuming that these X-rays are from prompt accretion, the size and mass of the outflow are consistent with the reprocessing layer needed to explain the large optical to X-ray ratio in this and other optical TDEs, possibly favouring accretion-powered over collision-powered outflow models.
  •  
26.
  • Tanvir, N. R., et al. (author)
  • The Emergence of a Lanthanide-rich Kilonova Following the Merger of Two Neutron Stars
  • 2017
  • In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : American Astronomical Society. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 848:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We report the discovery and monitoring of the near-infrared counterpart (AT2017gfo) of a binary neutron-star merger event detected as a gravitational wave source by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo (GW170817) and as a short gamma-ray burst by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Integral SPI-ACS (GRB 170817A). The evolution of the transient light is consistent with predictions for the behavior of a kilonova/ macronova powered by the radioactive decay of massive neutron-rich nuclides created via r-process nucleosynthesis in the neutron-star ejecta. In particular, evidence for this scenario is found from broad features seen in Hubble Space Telescope infrared spectroscopy, similar to those predicted for lanthanide-dominated ejecta, and the much slower evolution in the near-infrared K-s-band compared to the optical. This indicates that the late-time light is dominated by high-opacity lanthanide-rich ejecta, suggesting nucleosynthesis to the third r-process peak (atomic masses A approximate to 195). This discovery confirms that neutron-star mergers produce kilo-/macronovae and that they are at least a major-if not the dominant-site of rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the universe.
  •  
27.
  • Tinyanont, S., et al. (author)
  • Keck Infrared Transient Survey. I. Survey Description and Data Release 1
  • 2024
  • In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. - 0004-6280 .- 1538-3873. ; 136:1
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present the Keck Infrared Transient Survey, a NASA Key Strategic Mission Support program to obtain near-infrared (NIR) spectra of astrophysical transients of all types, and its first data release, consisting of 105 NIR spectra of 50 transients. Such a data set is essential as we enter a new era of IR astronomy with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman). NIR spectral templates will be essential to search JWST images for stellar explosions of the first stars and to plan an effective Roman SN Ia cosmology survey, both key science objectives for mission success. Between 2022 February and 2023 July, we systematically obtained 274 NIR spectra of 146 astronomical transients, representing a significant increase in the number of available NIR spectra in the literature. Here, we describe the first release of data from the 2022A semester. We systematically observed three samples: a flux-limited sample that includes all transients <17 mag in a red optical band (usually ZTF r or ATLAS o bands); a volume-limited sample including all transients within redshift z < 0.01 (D ≈ 50 Mpc); and an SN Ia sample targeting objects at phases and light-curve parameters that had scant existing NIR data in the literature. The flux-limited sample is 39% complete (60% excluding SNe Ia), while the volume-limited sample is 54% complete and is 79% complete to z = 0.005. Transient classes observed include common Type Ia and core-collapse supernovae, tidal disruption events, luminous red novae, and the newly categorized hydrogen-free/helium-poor interacting Type Icn supernovae. We describe our observing procedures and data reduction using PypeIt, which requires minimal human interaction to ensure reproducibility.
  •  
28.
  • Hlozek, R., et al. (author)
  • Results of the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC)
  • 2023
  • In: Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. - 0067-0049 .- 1538-4365. ; 267:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Next-generation surveys like the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory (Rubin) will generate orders of magnitude more discoveries of transients and variable stars than previous surveys. To prepare for this data deluge, we developed the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC), a competition that aimed to catalyze the development of robust classifiers under LSST-like conditions of a nonrepresentative training set for a large photometric test set of imbalanced classes. Over 1000 teams participated in PLAsTiCC, which was hosted in the Kaggle data science competition platform between 2018 September 28 and 2018 December 17, ultimately identifying three winners in 2019 February. Participants produced classifiers employing a diverse set of machine-learning techniques including hybrid combinations and ensemble averages of a range of approaches, among them boosted decision trees, neural networks, and multilayer perceptrons. The strong performance of the top three classifiers on Type Ia supernovae and kilonovae represent a major improvement over the current state of the art within astronomy. This paper summarizes the most promising methods and evaluates their results in detail, highlighting future directions both for classifier development and simulation needs for a next-generation PLAsTiCC data set.
  •  
29.
  • Kessler, R., et al. (author)
  • Models and Simulations for the Photometric LSST Astronomical Time Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC)
  • 2019
  • In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. - : IOP Publishing. - 0004-6280 .- 1538-3873. ; 131:1003
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We describe the simulated data sample for the Photometric Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Astronomical Time Series Classification Challenge (PLAsTiCC), a publicly available challenge to classify transient and variable events that will be observed by the LSST, a new facility expected to start in the early 2020s. The challenge was hosted by Kaggle, ran from 2018 September 28 to December 17, and included 1094 teams competing for prizes. Here we provide details of the 18 transient and variable source models, which were not revealed until after the challenge, and release the model libraries at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2612896. We describe the LSST Operations Simulator used to predict realistic observing conditions, and we describe the publicly available SNANA simulation code used to transform the models into observed fluxes and uncertainties in the LSST passbands (ugrizy). Although PLAsTiCC has finished, the publicly available models and simulation tools are being used within the astronomy community to further improve classification, and to study contamination in photometrically identified samples of SN Ia used to measure properties of dark energy. Our simulation framework will continue serving as a platform to improve the PLAsTiCC models, and to develop new models.
  •  
30.
  •  
31.
  • Dircksen, Heinrich, 1954-, et al. (author)
  • Crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone (CHH)-like peptides and CHH-precursor-related peptides from pericardial organ neurosecretory cells in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas, are putatively spliced and modified products of multiple genes.
  • 2001
  • In: Biochemical Journal. - 0264-6021 .- 1470-8728. ; 356:Pt 1, s. 159-70
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • About 24 intrinsic neurosecretory neurons within the pericardial organs (POs) of the crab Carcinus maenas produce a novel crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone (CHH)-like peptide (PO-CHH) and two CHH-precursor-related peptides (PO-CPRP I and II) as identified immunochemically and by peptide chemistry. Edman sequencing and MS revealed PO-CHH as a 73 amino acid peptide (8630 Da) with a free C-terminus. PO-CHH and sinus gland CHH (SG-CHH) share an identical N-terminal sequence, positions 1-40, but the remaining sequence, positions 41-73 or 41-72, differs considerably. PO-CHH may have different precursors, as cDNA cloning of PO-derived mRNAs has revealed several similar forms, one exactly encoding the peptide. All PO-CHH cDNAs contain a nucleotide stretch coding for the SG-CHH(41-76) sequence in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR). Cloning of crab testis genomic DNA revealed at least four CHH genes, the structure of which suggest that PO-CHH and SG-CHH arise by alternative splicing of precursors and possibly post-transcriptional modification of PO-CHH. The genes encode four exons, separated by three variable introns, encoding part of a signal peptide (exon I), the remaining signal peptide residues, a CPRP, the PO-CHH(1-40)/SG-CHH(1-40) sequences (exon II), the remaining PO-CHH residues (exon III) and the remaining SG-CHH residues and a 3'-UTR (exon IV). Precursor and gene structures are more closely related to those encoding related insect ion-transport peptides than to penaeid shrimp CHH genes. PO-CHH neither exhibits hyperglycaemic activity in vivo, nor does it inhibit Y-organ ecdysteroid synthesis in vitro. From the morphology of the neurons it seems likely that novel functions remain to be discovered.
  •  
32.
  • Lyman, J. D., et al. (author)
  • The optical afterglow of the short gamma-ray burst associated with GW170817
  • 2018
  • In: Nature Astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2397-3366. ; 2:9, s. 751-754
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • The binary neutron star merger GW170817 was the first multi-messenger event observed in both gravitational and electromagnetic waves(1,2). The electromagnetic signal began approximately two seconds post-merger with a weak, short burst of gamma rays(3), which was followed over the next hours and days by the ultraviolet, optical and near-infrared emission from a radioactively powered kilonova(4-11). Later, non-thermal rising X-ray and radio emission was observed(12,13). The low luminosity of the gamma rays and the rising non-thermal flux from the source at late times could indicate that we are outside the opening angle of the beamed relativistic jet. Alternatively, the emission could be arising from a cocoon of material formed from the interaction between a jet and the merger ejecta(13-15). Here we present late-time optical detections and deep near-infrared limits on the emission from GW170817 at 110 days post-merger. Our new observations are at odds with expectations of late-time emission from kilonova models, being too bright and blue(16,17). Instead, the emission arises from the interaction between the relativistic ejecta of GW170817 and the interstellar medium. We show that this emission matches the expectations of a Gaussian-structured relativistic jet, which would have launched a high-luminosity, short gamma-ray burst to an aligned observer. However, other jet structure or cocoon models can also match current data-the future evolution of the afterglow will directly distinguish the origin of the emission.
  •  
33.
  • Böhm, Johann, et al. (author)
  • Mutation spectrum in the large GTPase dynamin 2, and genotype-phenotype correlation in autosomal dominant centronuclear myopathy.
  • 2012
  • In: Human mutation. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1098-1004 .- 1059-7794. ; 33:6, s. 949-59
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Centronuclear myopathy (CNM) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder associated with general skeletal muscle weakness, type I fiber predominance and atrophy, and abnormally centralized nuclei. Autosomal dominant CNM is due to mutations in the large GTPase dynamin 2 (DNM2), a mechanochemical enzyme regulating cytoskeleton and membrane trafficking in cells. To date, 40 families with CNM-related DNM2 mutations have been described, and here we report 60 additional families encompassing a broad genotypic and phenotypic spectrum. In total, 18 different mutations are reported in 100 families and our cohort harbors nine known and four new mutations, including the first splice-site mutation. Genotype-phenotype correlation hypotheses are drawn from the published and new data, and allow an efficient screening strategy for molecular diagnosis. In addition to CNM, dissimilar DNM2 mutations are associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) peripheral neuropathy (CMTD1B and CMT2M), suggesting a tissue-specific impact of the mutations. In this study, we discuss the possible clinical overlap of CNM and CMT, and the biological significance of the respective mutations based on the known functions of dynamin 2 and its protein structure. Defects in membrane trafficking due to DNM2 mutations potentially represent a common pathological mechanism in CNM and CMT.
  •  
34.
  • de Jong, Roelof S., et al. (author)
  • 4MOST-4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope
  • 2014
  • In: Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy V. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. ; 9147
  • Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • 4MOST is a wide-field, high-multiplex spectroscopic survey facility under development for the VISTA telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Its main science drivers are in the fields of galactic archeology, high-energy physics, galaxy evolution and cosmology. 4MOST will in particular provide the spectroscopic complements to the large area surveys coming from space missions like Gaia, eROSITA, Euclid, and PLATO and from ground-based facilities like VISTA, VST, DES, LSST and SKA. The 4MOST baseline concept features a 2.5 degree diameter field-of-view with similar to 2400 fibres in the focal surface that are configured by a fibre positioner based on the tilting spine principle. The fibres feed two types of spectrographs; similar to 1600 fibres go to two spectrographs with resolution R> 5000 (lambda similar to 390-930 nm) and similar to 800 fibres to a spectrograph with R> 18,000 (lambda similar to 392-437 nm & 515-572 nm & 605-675 nm). Both types of spectrographs are fixed-configuration, three-channel spectrographs. 4MOST will have an unique operations concept in which 5 year public surveys from both the consortium and the ESO community will be combined and observed in parallel during each exposure, resulting in more than 25 million spectra of targets spread over a large fraction of the southern sky. The 4MOST Facility Simulator (4FS) was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of this observing concept. 4MOST has been accepted for implementation by ESO with operations expected to start by the end of 2020. This paper provides a top-level overview of the 4MOST facility, while other papers in these proceedings provide more detailed descriptions of the instrument concept[1], the instrument requirements development[2], the systems engineering implementation[3], the instrument model[4], the fibre positioner concepts[5], the fibre feed[6], and the spectrographs[7].
  •  
35.
  •  
36.
  • Grossmann, Igor, et al. (author)
  • Insights into the accuracy of social scientists' forecasts of societal change
  • 2023
  • In: Nature Human Behaviour. - : Springer Nature. - 2397-3374. ; 7, s. 484-501
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • How well can social scientists predict societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? To answer these questions, we ran two forecasting tournaments testing the accuracy of predictions of societal change in domains commonly studied in the social sciences: ideological preferences, political polarization, life satisfaction, sentiment on social media, and gender-career and racial bias. After we provided them with historical trend data on the relevant domain, social scientists submitted pre-registered monthly forecasts for a year (Tournament 1; N = 86 teams and 359 forecasts), with an opportunity to update forecasts on the basis of new data six months later (Tournament 2; N = 120 teams and 546 forecasts). Benchmarking forecasting accuracy revealed that social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models (historical means, random walks or linear regressions) or the aggregate forecasts of a sample from the general public (N = 802). However, scientists were more accurate if they had scientific expertise in a prediction domain, were interdisciplinary, used simpler models and based predictions on prior data. How accurate are social scientists in predicting societal change, and what processes underlie their predictions? Grossmann et al. report the findings of two forecasting tournaments. Social scientists' forecasts were on average no more accurate than those of simple statistical models.
  •  
37.
  •  
38.
  • Malz, A., et al. (author)
  • The Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-series Classification Challenge PLAsTiCC : Selection of a Performance Metric for Classification Probabilities Balancing Diverse Science Goals
  • 2019
  • In: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 158:5
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Classification of transient and variable light curves is an essential step in using astronomical observations to develop an understanding of the underlying physical processes from which they arise. However, upcoming deep photometric surveys, including the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will produce a deluge of low signal-to-noise data for which traditional type estimation procedures are inappropriate. Probabilistic classification is more appropriate for such data but is incompatible with the traditional metrics used on deterministic classifications. Furthermore, large survey collaborations like LSST intend to use the resulting classification probabilities for diverse science objectives, indicating a need for a metric that balances a variety of goals. We describe the process used to develop an optimal performance metric for an open classification challenge that seeks to identify probabilistic classifiers that can serve many scientific interests. The Photometric LSST Astronomical Time-series Classification Challenge (PLASTICC) aims to identify promising techniques for obtaining classification probabilities of transient and variable objects by engaging a broader community beyond astronomy. Using mock classification probability submissions emulating realistically complex archetypes of those anticipated of PLASTICC, we compare the sensitivity of two metrics of classification probabilities under various weighting schemes, finding that both yield results that are qualitatively consistent with intuitive notions of classification performance. We thus choose as a metric for PLASTICC a weighted modification of the cross-entropy because it can be meaningfully interpreted in terms of information content. Finally, we propose extensions of our methodology to ever more complex challenge goals and suggest some guiding principles for approaching the choice of a metric of probabilistic data products.
  •  
39.
  • McCredie, M., et al. (author)
  • International renal-cell cancer study. II. Analgesics
  • 1995
  • In: International Journal of Cancer. - New York, USA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 60:3, s. 345-349
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • There has been concern about the role of analgesics in the development of renal-cell cancer, although a few studies have reported moderately elevated risks with regular or long-term use. In a large international case-control study of renal-cell cancer we examined, among other hypotheses, the effect of phenacetin-containing and of other types of analgesics: paracetamol (acetaminophen), salicylates (mainly aspirin) and pyrazolones (e.g., antipyrine or phenazone). Relative risks, adjusted for the effects of age, sex, body-mass index, tobacco smoking and study centre, were not significantly increased with intake of phenacetin, either when lifetime consumption was categorized at the level of > or = 0.1 kg or when subjects were subdivided further by amount. Nor were paracetamol, salicylates or pyrazolones linked with renal-cell cancer. No consistently increasing risks with consumption level was found. The lack of association was not altered by restricting analgesic use to that which occurred 5 or 10 years before the defined "cut-off" date or when analysis was restricted to exclusive users of a particular type of analgesic. Neither was the risk influenced by the rate of consumption or whether the consumption had occurred at a young age. Our study provides clear evidence that aspirin is unrelated to renal-cell cancer risk, and our findings do not support the hypothesis that analgesics containing phenacetin or paracetamol increase the risk, although the number of "regular" users and the amount of these types of analgesic consumed were too small to confidently rule out a minor carcinogenic effect of phenacetin and paracetamol.
  •  
40.
  • McLaughlin, J. K., et al. (author)
  • International renal-cell cancer study. VIII. Role of diuretics, other anti-hypertensive medications and hypertension
  • 1995
  • In: International Journal of Cancer. - New York, USA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 63:2, s. 216-221
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Risk of renal-cell cancer in relation to use of diuretics, other anti-hypertensive medications and hypertension was assessed in a multi-center, population-based, case-control study conducted in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United States, using a shared protocol and questionnaire. A total of 1,732 histologically confirmed cases and 2,309 controls, frequency-matched to cases by age and sex, were interviewed. The association between renal-cell cancer and the drugs was estimated by relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Risks were increased among users of diuretics and other anti-hypertensive medications. After adjustment for hypertension, risk for diuretics was reduced to unity, except among long-term (15+ years) users. Risk for use of non-diuretic anti-hypertensive drugs remained significantly elevated and increased further with duration of use. Overall risk was not enhanced when both classes of medications were used. Excess risk was not restricted to any specific type of diuretic or anti-hypertensive drug and no trend was observed with estimated lifetime consumption of any particular type of product. The RR for hypertension after adjustment for diuretics and other anti-hypertensive medications was 1.4 (95% CI = 1.2-1.7), although among non-users of any anti-hypertensive medications, there was little excess risk associated with a history of hypertension. Exclusion of drug use that first occurred within 5 years of cancer diagnosis or interview did not alter the associations. Our findings suggest small effects on renal-cell cancer risk associated with hypertension and use of diuretics and other anti-hypertensive medications. However, because of potential misclassifications of these highly correlated variables, it is difficult to distinguish the effect of treatment from its indication, hypertension.
  •  
41.
  •  
42.
  • Mellemgaard, A., et al. (author)
  • International renal-cell cancer study. III. Role of weight, height, physical activity, and use of amphetamines
  • 1995
  • In: International Journal of Cancer. - New York, USA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 60:3, s. 350-354
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Although numerous studies have identified obesity or high relative weight as a risk factor for renal-cell cancer in women, the degree to which this effect is present in men remains unclear. A multicenter population-based case-control study concerning incident cases of histologically verified renal-cell cancer (n = 1,732) and age- and sex-matched controls (n = 2,309) was conducted in Australia, Denmark, Germany (2 centers), Sweden and the United States. Relative weight was estimated by the body mass index, and the association between this factor and other factors, such as height, physical activity and use of amphetamines, was measured by the relative risk estimated in logistic regression models. Body mass index was found to be a risk factor among women and, to a lesser extent, among men. A 3-fold increased risk (RR = 3.6, 95% CI = 2.3-5.7) was observed for women with a relative weight in the top 5% compared with those in the lowest quartile. Rate of weight change (estimated as weight change per annum in kilograms) appeared to be an independent risk factor among women but not among men. Physical activity and height were unrelated to risk of renal-cell cancer regardless of level of BMI, while use of amphetamines was associated with an increased risk among men, although no dose or duration effect was seen. Our findings verify the link between high relative weight and risk of renal-cell cancer, particularly among women. The mechanism that underlies this association is, however, still unclear, although the rate of weight change may play a role.
  •  
43.
  • Meyts, E. Rajpert-De, et al. (author)
  • Changes in the profile of simple mucin-type O-glycans and polypeptide GalNAc-transferases in human testis and testicular neoplasms are associated with germ cell maturation and tumour differentiation
  • 2007
  • In: Virchows Archiv: an international journal of pathology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-2307. ; 451:4, s. 805-814
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCT) exhibit remarkable ability to differentiate into virtually all somatic tissue types. In this study, we investigated changes in mucin-type O-glycosylation, which have been associated with somatic cell differentiation and cancer. Expression profile of simple mucin-type O-glycans (Tn, sialyl-Tn, T), histo-blood group H and A variants and six polypeptide Ga1NAc-transferases (T1-4, T6, T11) that control the site and density of O- glycosylation were analysed by immunohistochemistry during human testis development and in TGCT. Normal testis showed a restricted pattern; gonocytes expressed abundant sialyl-Tn and sialyl-T, and adult spermatogonia were devoid of any glycans, whereas spermatocytes and spermatids expressed exclusively glycans Tn and T and the Ga1NAc-T3 isoform. A subset of mature ejaculated spermatozoa expressed an additional glycan sialyl-T. The pattern found in testicular neoplasms recapitulated the developmental order: Pre-invasive carcinoma in situ (CIS) cells and seminoma expressed fetal type sialylated glycans in keeping with their gonocyte-like phenotype. Neither simple mucin-type O-glycans nor GalNAc-transferase isoforms were found in undifferentiated nonseminoma, i.e. embryonal carcinoma, whereas teratomas expressed them all to some extent but in a disorganized manner. We concluded that simple mucin-type O-glycans and their transferases are developmentally regulated in the human testis, with profound changes associated with neoplasia. The restricted O-glycosylation pattern in haploid germ cells suggests a role in their maturation or egg recognition/fertilization warranting further studies in male infertility, whereas the findings in TGCT provide new diagnostic tools and support our hypothesis that testicular cancer is a developmental disease of germ cell differentiation.
  •  
44.
  • Schlehofer, B., et al. (author)
  • International renal-cell-cancer study. VI. the role of medical and family history
  • 1996
  • In: International Journal of Cancer. - New York, USA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 66:6, s. 723-726
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • A number of medical conditions have been linked with renal-cell cancer, although the evidence is not consistent in every case. In a large international case-control study of renal-cell cancer, we examined, among other hypotheses, associations with a personal history of certain medical conditions and a family history of cancer of the kidney or thyroid. Relative risks (RR), adjusted for the effects of age, gender, body-mass index, tobacco smoking and study centre, were significantly increased by a history of kidney stones or thyroid or kidney disease. The RR were not altered by additional adjustment for hypertension, or when diagnoses were restricted to those made at least 5 or 10 years before 1987 (the usual "cut-off" date). The link with kidney injury is particularly likely to be affected by recall bias. Increased RR of borderline significance were found for kidney infection (RR, 1.2) and diabetes (RR, 1.4). Having one first-degree relative with kidney cancer was associated with a significantly increased risk of renal-cell cancer (RR, 1.6; 95% Cl, 1.1-2.4). Seven cases reported 2 first-degree relatives with kidney cancer. No controls had first-degree relatives with kidney cancer. None of our participants reported having von Hippel-Lindau disease. The data suggests that a few conditions of the kidney are strongly associated with renal-cell cancer and that heredity plays a role in a small proportion of cases.
  •  
45.
  • Short, P., et al. (author)
  • Delayed appearance and evolution of coronal lines in the TDE AT2019qiz
  • 2023
  • In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 525:1, s. 1568-1587
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Tidal disruption events (TDEs) occur when a star gets torn apart by a supermassive black hole as it crosses its tidal radius. We present late-time optical and X-ray observations of the nuclear transient AT2019qiz, which showed the typical signs of an optical-UV transient class commonly believed to be TDEs. Optical spectra were obtained 428, 481, and 828 rest-frame days after optical light-curve peak, and a UV/X-ray observation coincided with the later spectrum. The optical spectra show strong coronal emission lines, including [Fe VII], [Fe X], [Fe XI], and [Fe XIV]. The Fe lines rise and then fall, except [Fe XIV] that appears late and rises. We observe increasing flux of narrow H α and H β and a decrease in broad H α flux. The coronal lines have full width at half-maximum ranging from ∼150−300 km s−1, suggesting they originate from a region between the broad- and narrow-line emitting gas. Between the optical flare and late-time observation, the X-ray spectrum softens dramatically. The 0.3–1 keV X-ray flux increases by a factor of ∼50, while the hard X-ray flux decreases by a factor of ∼6. Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer fluxes also rose over the same period, indicating the presence of an infrared echo. With AT2017gge, AT2019qiz is one of two examples of a spectroscopically confirmed optical-UV TDE showing delayed coronal line emission, supporting speculations that Extreme Coronal Line Emitters in quiescent galaxies can be echos of unobserved past TDEs. We argue that the coronal lines, narrow lines, and infrared emission arise from the illumination of pre-existing material likely related to either a previous TDE or active galactic nucleus activity.
  •  
46.
  • Smartt, S. J., et al. (author)
  • A SEARCH FOR AN OPTICAL COUNTERPART TO THE GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW151226
  • 2016
  • In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 827:2
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present a search for an electromagnetic counterpart of the gravitational-wave source GW151226. Using the Pan-STARRS1 telescope we mapped out 290 square degrees in the optical i(P1) filter, starting 11.5 hr after the LIGO information release and lasting for an additional 28 days. The first observations started 49.5 hr after the time of the GW151226 detection. We typically reached sensitivity limits of i(P1) = 20.3-20.8 and covered 26.5% of the LIGO probability skymap. We supplemented this with ATLAS survey data, reaching 31% of the probability region to shallower depths of m similar or equal to 19. We found 49 extragalactic transients (that are not obviously active galactic nuclei), including a faint transient in a galaxy at 7 Mpc (a luminous blue variable outburst) plus a rapidly decaying M-dwarf flare. Spectral classification of 20 other transient events showed them all to be supernovae. We found an unusual transient, PS15dpn, with an explosion date temporally coincident with GW151226, that evolved into a type Ibn supernova. The redshift of the transient is secure at z = 0.1747 +/- 0.0001 and we find it unlikely to be linked, since the luminosity distance has a negligible probability of being consistent with that of GW151226. In the 290 square degrees surveyed we therefore do not find a likely counterpart. However we show that our survey strategy would be sensitive to NS-NS mergers producing kilonovae at D-L less than or similar to 100 Mpc, which is promising for future LIGO/Virgo searches.
  •  
47.
  • Vazquez, Sara E., et al. (author)
  • Autoantibody discovery across monogenic, acquired, and COVID-19-associated autoimmunity with scalable PhIP-seq
  • 2022
  • In: eLIFE. - : eLife Sciences Publications Ltd. - 2050-084X. ; 11
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Phage immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-seq) allows for unbiased, proteome-wide autoantibody discovery across a variety of disease settings, with identification of disease-specific autoantigens providing new insight into previously poorly understood forms of immune dysregulation. Despite several successful implementations of PhIP-seq for autoantigen discovery, including our previous work (Vazquez et al., 2020), current protocols are inherently difficult to scale to accommodate large cohorts of cases and importantly, healthy controls. Here, we develop and validate a high throughput extension of PhIP-seq in various etiologies of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including APS1, IPEX, RAG1/2 deficiency, Kawasaki disease (KD), multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), and finally, mild and severe forms of COVID-19. We demonstrate that these scaled datasets enable machine-learning approaches that result in robust prediction of disease status, as well as the ability to detect both known and novel autoantigens, such as prodynorphin (PDYN) in APS1 patients, and intestinally expressed proteins BEST4 and BTNL8 in IPEX patients. Remarkably, BEST4 antibodies were also found in two patients with RAG1/2 deficiency, one of whom had very early onset IBD. Scaled PhIP-seq examination of both MIS-C and KD demonstrated rare, overlapping antigens, including CGNL1, as well as several strongly enriched putative pneumonia-associated antigens in severe COVID-19, including the endosomal protein EEA1. Together, scaled PhIP-seq provides a valuable tool for broadly assessing both rare and common autoantigen overlap between autoimmune diseases of varying origins and etiologies.
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48.
  • Wolk, A., et al. (author)
  • International renal cell cancer study. VII. Role of diet
  • 1996
  • In: International Journal of Cancer. - Hoboken, USA : John Wiley & Sons. - 0020-7136 .- 1097-0215. ; 65:1, s. 67-73
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We investigated the role of diet in the etiology of renal cell cancer (RCC) in a multi-center, population-based case-control study conducted in Australia, Denmark, Sweden and the United States, using a shared protocol. A total of 1,185 incident histopathologically confirmed cases (698 men, 487 women) and 1,526 controls (915 men, 611 women) frequency-matched to cases by sex and age were included in the analyses. The association between RCC and diet was estimated by relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for age, sex, study center, body mass index and smoking. A statistically significant positive association was observed for total energy intake (RR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.4-2.2 for the highest vs. lowest quartile, p value for trend < 0.00001), while the hypothesis that protein and fat are risk factors independent of energy was not supported. Fried meats were associated with increased RCC risk, while vegetables and fruits were protective, with the strongest effect observed for the highest quartile of consumption of orange/dark green vegetables but not vitamin C or beta carotene. Increased risk was associated with low intake (lowest decile) of vitamin E and magnesium. We observed an apparent protective effect of alcohol confined to women and probably due to chance. Our findings indicate an important role of nutrition in the development of RCC. The apparent positive association of energy intake with risk of RCC needs further investigation in a prospective cohort study to exclude the possible impact of differences in recall between cases and controls.
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49.
  • Clausen, Thomas Mandel, et al. (author)
  • A simple method for detecting oncofetal chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans in bladder cancer urine
  • 2020
  • In: Cell Death Discovery. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2058-7716. ; 6:1
  • Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • Proteoglycans in bladder tumors are modified with a distinct oncofetal chondroitin sulfate (ofCS) glycosaminoglycan that is normally restricted to placental trophoblast cells. This ofCS-modification can be detected in bladder tumors by the malarial VAR2CSA protein, which in malaria pathogenesis mediates adherence of parasite-infected erythrocytes within the placenta. In bladder cancer, proteoglycans are constantly shed into the urine, and therefore have the potential to be used for detection of disease. In this study we investigated whether recombinant VAR2CSA (rVAR2) protein could be used to detect ofCS-modified proteoglycans (ofCSPGs) in the urine of bladder cancer patients as an indication of disease presence. We show that ofCSPGs in bladder cancer urine can be immobilized on cationic nitrocellulose membranes and subsequently probed for ofCS content by rVAR2 protein in a custom-made dot-blot assay. Patients with high-grade bladder tumors displayed a marked increase in urinary ofCSPGs as compared to healthy individuals. Urine ofCSPGs decreased significantly after complete tumor resection compared to matched urine collected preoperatively from patients with bladder cancer. Moreover, ofCSPGs in urine correlated with tumor size of bladder cancer patients. These findings demonstrate that rVAR2 can be utilized in a simple biochemical assay to detect cancer-specific ofCS-modifications in the urine of bladder cancer patients, which may be further developed as a noninvasive approach to detect and monitor the disease.
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50.
  • De Jong, Roelof S., et al. (author)
  • 4MOST : The 4-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope project at preliminary design review
  • 2016
  • In: Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy VI. - : SPIE. - 0277-786X .- 1996-756X. - 9781510601956 ; 9908
  • Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
    • We present an overview of the 4MOST project at the Preliminary Design Review. 4MOST is a major new wide-field, high-multiplex spectroscopic survey facility under development for the VISTA telescope of ESO. 4MOST has a broad range of science goals ranging from Galactic Archaeology and stellar physics to the high-energy physics, galaxy evolution, and cosmology. Starting in 2021, 4MOST will deploy 2436 fibres in a 4.1 square degree field-of-view using a positioner based on the tilting spine principle. The fibres will feed one high-resolution (R∼20,000) and two medium resolution (R∼5000) spectrographs with fixed 3-channel designs and identical 6k x 6k CCD detectors. 4MOST will have a unique operations concept in which 5-year public surveys from both the consortium and the ESO community will be combined and observed in parallel during each exposure. The 4MOST Facility Simulator (4FS) was developed to demonstrate the feasibility of this observing concept, showing that we can expect to observe more than 25 million objects in each 5-year survey period and will eventually be used to plan and conduct the actual survey.
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