bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, single and multiple ascending dose Phase 1 study to determine the safety, pharmacokinetics and food and faecal microbiome effects of ibezapolstat administered orally to healthy subjects
Authors: Garey Kevin W , Begum Khurshida , Lancaster Chris , Gonzales-Luna Anne , Bui Dinh , Mercier Julie , Seng Yue Corinne , Ducharme Murray P , Hu Ming , Vince Bradley , Silverman Michael H , Alam M Jahangir , Kankam Martin
Published: August 2020

Background

Clostridioides difficile infection is the most common cause of healthcare-associated infections in the USA, with limited treatment options. Ibezapolstat is a novel DNA polymerase IIIC inhibitor with in vitro activity against C. difficile.

Objectives and methods

Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of ibezapolstat in healthy volunteers. Microbiome changes associated with ibezapolstat were compared with vancomycin over a 10 day course using shotgun metagenomics.

Results

A total of 62 subjects aged 31 ± 7 years (45% female; average BMI: 25 ± 3 kg/m2) were randomized. Ibezapolstat was well tolerated with a safety signal similar to placebo. Ibezapolstat had minimal systemic absorption with the majority of plasma concentrations less than 1 µg/mL. In the multiday, ascending dose study, ibezapolstat concentrations of 2000 µg/g of stool were observed by Day 2 and for the remainder of the dosing time period. In the multiday, multiple-dose arm, baseline microbiota was comparable between subjects that received ibezapolstat compared with vancomycin. At Day 10 of dosing, differential abundance analysis and β-diversity demonstrated a distinct difference between the microbiome in subjects given vancomycin compared with either dose of ibezapolstat (P = 0.006). α-Diversity changes were characterized as an increase in the Actinobacteria phylum in subjects that received ibezapolstat and an increase in Proteobacteria in subjects given vancomycin.

Conclusions

Ibezapolstat was shown to be safe and well tolerated, with minimal systemic exposure, high stool concentrations and a distinct microbiome profile compared with oral vancomycin. These results support further clinical development of ibezapolstat for patients with C. difficile infection.
Comparison of a Point-of-Care Assay and a High-Complexity Assay for Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA
Authors: Stevens Bryan , Hogan Catherine A , Sahoo Malaya K , Huang ChunHong , Garamani Natasha , Zehnder James , Kurzer Jason , Pinsky Benjamin A
Published: August 2020

Background

Numerous nucleic acid amplification assays utilizing different target genes of the SARS-CoV-2 genome have received emergency use authorization (EUA) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Limited data are available comparing the test performance characteristics of these assays.

Methods

A diagnostic comparison study was performed to evaluate the performance of the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay compared to the Hologic Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 assay using clinical nasopharyngeal specimens. Agreement between the two assays was assessed by overall, positive, and negative percent agreement and Cohen’s kappa coefficient.

Results

A total of 104 (54 positive and 50 negative) clinical nasopharyngeal samples were tested by both assays. Using the Panther Fusion as a reference standard, the Xpert demonstrated an overall agreement of 99.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 94.8–100], positive percent agreement of 98.1% (95% CI: 90.1–100), and a negative percent agreement of 100% (95% CI: 94.2–100). The kappa coefficient was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.94–1.0). One sample positive by the Panther Fusion with a cycle threshold (Ct) of 38.6 was found to be reproducibly negative by the Xpert assay.

Conclusions

The Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 assay provides test performance comparable to the Hologic Panther Fusion SARS-CoV-2 assay while offering laboratories rapid, on-demand testing capacity.
An approach to predicting patient experience through machine learning and social network analysis
Authors: Bari Vitej , Hirsch Jamie S , Narvaez Joseph , Sardinia Robert , Bock Kevin R , Oppenheim Michael I , Meytlis Marsha
Published: August 2020

Objective

Improving the patient experience has become an essential component of any healthcare system’s performance metrics portfolio. In this study, we developed a machine learning model to predict a patient’s response to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey’s “Doctor Communications” domain questions while simultaneously identifying most impactful providers in a network.

Materials and Methods

This is an observational study of patients admitted to a single tertiary care hospital between 2016 and 2020. Using machine learning algorithms, electronic health record data were used to predict patient responses to Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey questions in the doctor domain, and patients who are at risk for responding negatively were identified. Model performance was assessed by area under receiver-operating characteristic curve. Social network analysis metrics were also used to identify providers most impactful to patient experience.

Results

Using a random forest algorithm, patients’ responses to the following 3 questions were predicted: “During this hospital stay how often did doctors. 1) treat you with courtesy and respect? 2) explain things in a way that you could understand? 3) listen carefully to you?” with areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.876, 0.819, and 0.819, respectively. Social network analysis found that doctors with higher centrality appear to have an outsized influence on patient experience, as measured by rank in the random forest model in the doctor domain.

Conclusions

A machine learning algorithm identified patients at risk of a negative experience. Furthermore, a doctor social network framework provides metrics for identifying those providers that are most influential on the patient experience.
Free Radical Scavenging Activity of Some Legumes Hulls Extract and Its Efficacy on Oil Oxidative Stability
Authors: El-Beltagy Alaa ElDein , Alharthi Salman
Published: August 2020

Background

Synthetic antioxidants have toxigenic effects, there is therefore growing interest in substituting them with natural antioxidants. Attention is being focused on extracting them from agricultural industry residuals to minimize costs. Legume seed hulls could be cheap sources of such natural antioxidants.

Objective

This study aims to unravel potential free radical scavenging activity, antioxidant activity, and total phenolic and flavonoid contents of some legumes’ hulls extracted by different solvents and evaluate their efficacy to enhance sunflower oil stability.

Method

Legume hulls extracted by different solvents were evaluated for their antioxidant activity coefficient (AAC), free radical scavenging activity [by 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)], and phenolic and flavonoids contents. The protection factor and induction periods (rancimat test) of the highest activity extracts were evaluated.

Results

Sunflower seed hull ethyl acetate extract, lupine seed hull ethanol extract, and mung bean hull petroleum ether extract exhibited stronger DPPH scavenging activity, AAC, and protection factor values than other solvents. Ethyl acetate extracts of sunflower seed hulls showed an antioxidant and scavenging activity close (P>0.05) to that detected for α-tocopherol.

Conclusions

Legume hulls may possess strong free radical scavenging and antioxidant activity. The analogous effect between sunflower hull extract and α-tocopherol make it a potential, cheaper substitute of α-tocopherol in food systems.

Highlights

The analogous effect between sunflower hull extract and α-tocopherol give it the potency to allow substitution at a concentration of 0.5% of sunflower hull ethyl acetate or 1% of lupine hull ethanol extract instead of 0.5% α-tocopherol to enhance induction periods and protection factors of sunflower oil.
LC–MS-MS Determination of 25 Antipsychotic Drugs and Metabolites in Urine for Medication Compliance Monitoring
Authors: Kim Seon Yeong , Kim Hee Seung , Cheong Jae Chul , Kim Jin Young
Published: August 2020

A liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS-MS) method was developed for 25 antipsychotic drugs and their metabolite in urine for monitoring medication compliance of mentally disordered criminals on probation. Target compounds were extracted with a solid-phase extraction technique using a newly developed hydrophilic-lipophilic balanced sorbent to remove interferences and minimize the matrix effect (ME). Extracted sample was injected into the LC–MS-MS with an electrospray ionization source in positive mode and multiple-reaction monitoring mode. The analytes were separated and detected within 10 minutes using a reversed-phase column with a gradient elution method using 0.1% formic acid in water and 0.1% formic acid in methanol as mobile phase. The validation parameters were evaluated as follows: selectivity, limit of detection, lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), linearity, accuracy and precision, stability, dilution integrity, recovery (RE), ME and process efficiency (PE). The LLOQs were 0.1 to 2.0 ng/mL, and determination coefficients of the calibration curve were above 0.9943 over the concentration ranges. The intra-and inter-day accuracy ranged from −10.4% to 9.9% and from −9.6% to 9.4%, while the intra-and inter-day precision were within 10.7% and 9.9%. The bench-top and long-term stability ranged from 92.1% to 109.5% and 88.7% to 111.6%, respectively. The reproducibility of auto-sampler stability was <10% for all analytes. The accuracy and precision of dilution integrity ranged from −11.7% to 10.5% and 0.4% to 9.9%, respectively. The relative standard deviation of RE and ME was from 0.6% to 6.6% and 0.5% to 3.9%, respectively, while that of PE was 1.3% to 4.5%. The developed LC–MS-MS method for medication compliance monitoring was successfully applied to urine samples from mentally disordered probationers and determined to be one of effective ways for preventing the recurrence of mentally disordered crimes.
Human Rights and British Citizenship: The Case of Shamima Begum as Citizen to Homo Sacer
Authors: Masters Mercedes , Regilme Salvador Santino F
Published: August 2020

In the post-9/11 context, citizenship in the global North has been reoriented towards the concept of public security. Much of this lay in political rhetoric definitions of who is a threat to the security of a nation state, with a particular emphasis on the ‘threatening Other’. The ‘war on terror’ motivated governments to revoke the citizenship of such persons. In February 2019, the British teenager Shamima Begum was branded as such, and swiftly had her citizenship stripped, which the UK authorities justified as a necessary precaution to protect the nation’s safety. This article asks the core question: how does Britain embed notions of hierarchical human rights, particularly in Begum’s case? The article upholds two key arguments. First, the revocation of citizenship suggests hierarchical notions of humanity, whereby the state’s obligations to its constituents differ depending on each individual’s socially constructed racial and gender identities. Second, the legitimization of exceptionalist security politics suggests the deployment of differentiated conceptions of the state’s obligations to its citizens. The case of the revocation of Begum’s citizenship illustrates how persistent colonialist and stratified conceptions of citizenship enable the demotion of a citizen to a bare human or homo sacer.
Serial Analysis of Circulating Tumor Cells in Metastatic Breast Cancer Receiving First-Line Chemotherapy
Authors: Magbanua Mark Jesus M , Hendrix Laura H , Hyslop Terry , Barry William T , Winer Eric P , Hudis Clifford , Toppmeyer Deborah , Carey Lisa Anne , Partridge Ann H , Pierga Jean-Yves , Fehm Tanja , Vidal-Martínez José , Mavroudis Dimitrios , Garcia-Saenz Jose A , Stebbing Justin , Gazzaniga Paola , Manso Luis , Zamarchi Rita , Antelo María Luisa , Mattos-Arruda Leticia De , Generali Daniele , Caldas Carlos , Munzone Elisabetta , Dirix Luc , Delson Amy L , Burstein Harold J , Qadir Misbah , Ma Cynthia , Scott Janet H , Bidard François-Clément , Park John W , Rugo Hope S
Published: August 2020

Background

We examined the prognostic significance of circulating tumor cell (CTC) dynamics during treatment in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients receiving first-line chemotherapy.

Methods

Serial CTC data from 469 patients (2202 samples) were used to build a novel latent mixture model to identify groups with similar CTC trajectory (tCTC) patterns during the course of treatment. Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in groups based on baseline CTCs, combined CTC status at baseline to the end of cycle 1, and tCTC. Akaike information criterion was used to select the model that best predicted PFS and OS.

Results

Latent mixture modeling revealed 4 distinct tCTC patterns: undetectable CTCs (56.9% ), low (23.7%), intermediate (14.5%), or high (4.9%). Patients with low, intermediate, and high tCTC patterns had statistically significant inferior PFS and OS compared with those with undetectable CTCs (P < .001). Akaike Information Criterion indicated that the tCTC model best predicted PFS and OS compared with baseline CTCs and combined CTC status at baseline to the end of cycle 1 models. Validation studies in an independent cohort of 1856 MBC patients confirmed these findings. Further validation using only a single pretreatment CTC measurement confirmed prognostic performance of the tCTC model.

Conclusions

We identified 4 novel prognostic groups in MBC based on similarities in tCTC patterns during chemotherapy. Prognostic groups included patients with very poor outcome (intermediate + high CTCs, 19.4%) who could benefit from more effective treatment. Our novel prognostic classification approach may be used for fine-tuning of CTC-based risk stratification strategies to guide future prospective clinical trials in MBC.
Long-term Persuasive Effects in Narrative Communication Research: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Oschatz Corinna , Marker Caroline
Published: August 2020

This meta-analysis builds on the broad and diverse research on the persuasive effects of narrative communication. Researchers have found that narratives are a particularly effective type of message that often has greater persuasive effects than non-narratives immediately after exposure. The present study meta-analyzes whether this greater persuasive power persists over time. Results are based on k1 = 14 studies with k2 = 51 effect sizes for immediate measurement (N = 2,834) and k2 = 66 effect sizes for delayed measurement (N = 2,459). They show that a single narrative message has a stronger persuasive impact than a non-narrative message on attitudes and intentions at immediate as well as on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors at delayed measurement. Both message types did not differently affect the participants’ beliefs. Meta-analytic structural equation modeling confirms transportation as a mediator of immediate persuasive effects.
Nitrogen and phosphorus translocation of forest floor mosses as affected by a pulse of these nutrients
Authors: Liu Xin , Wang Zhe , Li Xiaoming , Bao Weikai
Published: August 2020

Aims

Mosses are dominant in many ecosystems where nutrients from deposition are one of the main nutrient sources. However, it is difficult to evaluate mosses’ role in nutrient cycling without knowledge of how mosses use deposited nutrient inputs. To fill this gap, the present study aims to investigate: (i) how nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations of new-grown segments change along a gradient of N or P amount in a pulse treatment? (ii) how do a pulse of major nutrient (N or P) affect N or P translocation rate along a moss shoot? and (iii) to what extent do N or P translocation rates link to nutrient status of the new-grown segments of mosses?

Methods

We measured N and P concentrations of segments with different ages in two dominant forest floor mosses, Actinothuidium hookeri and Hylocomium splendens, on 8 days and 1 year after N and P pulse treatment with an in situ experiment in a subalpine fir forest in eastern Tibetan Plateau.

Important Findings

Both mosses were efficient in taking up nutrients from a pulse of either N or P. Nitrogen and P concentrations of new-grown segments were affected by nutrient pulse treatments. These N and P concentration changes were attributed to the initial N and P concentration of the young segments harvested 8 days after nutrient pulse treatments, suggesting that the captured nutrients were reallocated to the new-grown segments via translocation, which was largely controlled by a source–sink relationship. While no significant relationship was found between N translocation rate and N:P ratio of the new-grown segments, P translocation rate explained 21%–23% of the variance of N:P ratio of the new-grown segments, implying importance of P transport in supporting the new-grown sections. These results suggest that nutrient (N, P) translocation is a key process for mosses to utilize intermittent nutrient supply, and thus make mosses an important nutrient pool of the ecosystem.
Seasonal dynamic variation of pollination network is associated with the number of species in flower in an oceanic island community
Authors: Wang Xiangping , Zeng Tong , Wu Mingsong , Zhang Dianxiang
Published: August 2020

Aims

Plant–pollinator interaction networks are dynamic entities, and seasonal variation in plant phenology can reshape their structure on both short and long timescales. However, such seasonal dynamics are rarely considered, especially for oceanic island pollination networks. Here, we assess changes in the temporal dynamics of plant–pollinator interactions in response to seasonal variation in floral resource richness in oceanic island communities.

Methods

We evaluated seasonal variations of pollination networks in the Yongxing Island community. Four temporal qualitative pollination networks were analyzed using plant–pollinator interaction data of the four seasons. We collected data on plant–pollinator interactions during two consecutive months in each of the four seasons. Four network-level indices were calculated to characterize the overall structure of the networks. Statistical analyses of community dissimilarity were used to compare this community across four seasons to explore the underlying factors driving these patterns. We also evaluated the temporal variation in two species-level indices of plant and pollinator functional groups.

Important Findings

Both network-level specialization and modularity showed a significantly opposite trend compared with plant species richness across four seasons. Increased numbers of plant species might promote greater competition among pollinators, leading to increased niche overlap and causing decreased specialization and modularity and vice versa. Further analyses suggested that the season-to-season turnover of interactions was dominated by interaction rewiring. Thus, the seasonal changes in niche overlap among pollinators lead to interaction rewiring, which drives interaction turnover in this community. Hawkmoths had higher values of specialization and Apidae had higher values of species strength compared with other pollinator functional groups. These findings should be considered when exploring plant–pollinator interactions in ecosystems of isolated oceanic islands and in other ecosystems.
Intussusception in 2 Children With Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 Infection
Authors: Makrinioti Heidi , MacDonald Alexander , Lu Xiaoxia , Wallace Susan , Jobson Mathew , Zhang Furong , Shao Jianbo , Bretherton Jonathan , Mehmood Tariq , Eyre Elizabeth , Wong Adelene , Pakkiri Lorna , Saxena Amulya , Wong Gary
Published: August 2020

We note that intussusception was likely associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 infection in 2 infants in Wuhan and London. The intussusception was reduced by enemas in Wuhan; the outcome was fatal. The intussusception was not reduced by enemas in London and required surgery; the outcome was favorable.
Involvement of APOBEC3B in mutation induction by irradiation
Authors: Saito Yohei , Miura Hiromasa , Takahashi Nozomi , Kuwahara Yoshikazu , Yamamoto Yumi , Fukumoto Manabu , Yamamoto Fumihiko
Published: August 2020

To better understand the cancer risk posed by radiation and the development of radiation therapy resistant cancer cells, we investigated the involvement of the cancer risk factor, APOBEC3B, in the generation of radiation-induced mutations. Expression of APOBEC3B in response to irradiation was determined in three human cancer cell lines by real-time quantitative PCR. Using the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) mutation assay, mutations in the HPRT gene caused by irradiation were compared between APOBEC3B-deficient human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cells [APOBEC3B knocked out (KO) using CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing] and the parent cell line. Then, HPRT-mutated cells were individually cultured to perform PCR and DNA sequencing of HPRT exons. X-Irradiation induced APOBEC3B expression in HepG2, human cervical cancer epithelial carcinoma (HeLa) and human oral squamous cell carcinoma (SAS) cells. Forced expression of APOBEC3B increased spontaneous mutations. By contrast, APOBEC3B KO not only decreased the spontaneous mutation rate, but also strongly suppressed the increase in mutation frequency after irradiation in the parent cell line. Although forced expression of APOBEC3B in the nucleus caused DNA damage, higher levels of APOBEC3B tended to reduce APOBEC3B-induced γ-H2AX foci formation (a measure of DNA damage repair). Further, the number of γ-H2AX foci in cells stably expressing APOBEC3B was not much higher than that in controls before and after irradiation, suggesting that a DNA repair pathway may be activated. This study demonstrates that irradiation induces sustained expression of APOBEC3B in HepG2, HeLa and SAS cells, and that APOBEC3B enhances radiation-induced partial deletions.
Overexpression of HvAKT1 improves drought tolerance in barley by regulating root ion homeostasis and ROS and NO signaling
Authors: Feng Xue , Liu Wenxing , Cao Fangbin , Wang Yizhou , Zhang Guoping , Chen Zhong-Hua , Wu Feibo
Published: August 2020

Potassium (K+) is the major cationic inorganic nutrient utilized for osmotic regulation, cell growth, and enzyme activation in plants. Inwardly rectifying K+ channel 1 (AKT1) is the primary channel for root K+ uptake in plants, but the function of HvAKT1 in barley plants under drought stress has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we conducted evolutionary bioinformatics, biotechnological, electrophysiological, and biochemical assays to explore molecular mechanisms of HvAKT1 in response to drought in barley. The expression of HvAKT1 was significantly up-regulated by drought stress in the roots of XZ5—a drought-tolerant wild barley genotype. We isolated and functionally characterized the plasma membrane-localized HvAKT1 using Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation and Barley stripe mosaic virus-induced gene silencing of HvAKT1 in barley. Evolutionary bioinformatics indicated that the K+ selective filter in AKT1 originated from streptophyte algae and is evolutionarily conserved in land plants. Silencing of HvAKT1 resulted in significantly decreased biomass and suppressed K+ uptake in root epidermal cells under drought treatment. Disruption of HvAKT1 decreased root H+ efflux, H+-ATPase activity, and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis, but increased hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production in the roots under drought stress. Furthermore, we observed that overexpression of HvAKT1 improves K+ uptake and increases drought resistance in barley. Our results highlight the importance of HvAKT1 for root K+ uptake and its pleiotropic effects on root H+-ATPase, and H2O2 and NO in response to drought stress, providing new insights into the genetic basis of drought tolerance and K+ nutrition in barley.
Polycomb Repressive Complex 2-mediated histone modification H3K27me3 is associated with embryogenic potential in Norway spruce
Authors: Nakamura Miyuki , Batista Rita A , Köhler Claudia , Hennig Lars
Published: August 2020

Epigenetic reprogramming during germ cell formation is essential to gain pluripotency and thus embryogenic potential. The histone modification H3K27me3, which is catalysed by the Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), regulates important developmental processes in both plants and animals, and defects in PRC2 components cause pleiotropic developmental abnormalities. Nevertheless, the role of H3K27me3 in determining embryogenic potential in gymnosperms is still elusive. To address this, we generated H3K27me3 profiles of Norway spruce (Picea abies) embryonic callus and non-embryogenic callus using CUT&RUN, which is a powerful method for chromatin profiling. Here, we show that H3K27me3 mainly accumulated in genic regions in the Norway spruce genome, similarly to what is observed in other plant species. Interestingly, H3K27me3 levels in embryonic callus were much lower than those in the other examined tissues, but markedly increased upon embryo induction. These results show that H3K27me3 levels are associated with the embryogenic potential of a given tissue, and that the early phase of somatic embryogenesis is accompanied by changes in H3K27me3 levels. Thus, our study provides novel insights into the role of this epigenetic mark in spruce embryogenesis and reinforces the importance of PRC2 as a key regulator of cell fate determination across different plant species.
The 1484 Nuremberg Jewry Oath (More Judaico)*
Authors: Evers Renate
Published: August 2020

In many territories of the Holy Roman Empire, Jews had been obliged to take a special oath during certain interactions between Jews and Christians since the medieval era. The 1484 Nuremberg Jewry Oath was probably the first Jewry Oath ever to be printed, and it became the dominant model for oath formulas until the eighteenth century. This article explores the legal, historical, and social background of the Jewry Oath, and its role in the history of Nuremberg during the transitional period between manuscripts and early printing. It looks closely at the elements and the conception of the 1484 Jewry Oath, and shows that it was incorporated as rather an afterthought into Die Reformation der Stadt Nürnberg, the city’s innovative, elaborately printed legal code. While its inclusion and careful wording were an acknowledgement that interactions with Jews were vital, and needed a legal framework that was valid for both Christians and Jews, the fact that it was less integrated than other legal rules suggests that its future removal was envisioned. This question is explored in the context of the expulsion of Jews from Nuremberg in 1498–99 and the 1503 edition of Die Reformation der Stadt Nürnberg.
Primordial non-Gaussianity without tails – how to measure fNL with the bulk of the density PDF
Authors: Friedrich Oliver , Uhlemann Cora , Villaescusa-Navarro Francisco , Baldauf Tobias , Manera Marc , Nishimichi Takahiro
Published: August 2020

We investigate the possibility to detect primordial non-Gaussianity by analysing the bulk of the probability distribution function (PDF) of late-time cosmic density fluctuations. For this purpose, we devise a new method to predict the impact of general non-Gaussian initial conditions on the late-time density PDF. At redshift z = 1 and for a smoothing scale of 30 Mpc h−1 our predictions agree with the high-resolution Quijote N-body simulations to $\sim 0.2{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ precision. This is within cosmic variance of a ∼100(Gpc h−1)3 survey volume. When restricting to this 30 Mpc h−1 smoothing scale and to mildly non-linear densities (δ[30 Mpc h−1] ∈ [−0.3, 0.4]) and also marginalizing over potential ignorance of the amplitude of the non-linear power spectrum an analysis of the PDF for such a survey volume can still measure the amplitude of different primordial bispectrum shapes to an accuracy of $\Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{loc}} = \pm 7.4\ ,\ \Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{equi}} = \pm 22.0\ ,\ \Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{ortho}} = \pm 46.0$. When pushing to smaller scales and assuming a joint analysis of the PDF with smoothing radii of 30 and 15 Mpc h−1 (δ[15 Mpc h−1] ∈ [−0.4, 0.5]) this improves to $\Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{loc}} = \pm 3.3\ ,\ \Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{equi}} = \pm 11.0\ ,\ \Delta f_{\mathrm{NL}}^{\mathrm{ortho}} = \pm 17.0$ – even when marginalizing over the non-linear variances at both scales as two free parameters. Especially, such an analysis could simultaneously measure fNL and the amplitude and slope of the non-linear power spectrum. However, at 15 Mpc h−1 our predictions are only accurate to $\lesssim 0.8{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ for the considered density range. We discuss how this has to be improved in order to push to these small scales and make full use of upcoming surveys with a PDF-based analysis.
AStroLens: automatic strong-lens modelling of X-ray selected galaxy clusters
Authors: Zalesky Lukas , Ebeling Harald
Published: August 2020

We use AStroLens, a newly developed gravitational lens-modelling code that relies only on geometric and photometric information of cluster galaxies as input, to map the strong-lensing regions and estimate the lensing strength of 96 galaxy clusters at z = 0.5–0.9. All clusters were identified during the extended Massive Cluster Survey (eMACS) based on their X-ray flux and optical appearance. Building on the well-tested assumption that the distribution of both luminous and dark matter in galaxy clusters is approximately traced by the distribution of light, i.e. that light traces mass, AStroLens uses three global parameters to automatically model the deflection from strong-gravitational lensing for all galaxy clusters in this diverse sample. We test the robustness of our code by comparing AStroLens estimates derived solely from shallow optical images in two passbands with the results of in-depth lens-modelling efforts for two well-studied eMACS clusters and find good agreement, both with respect to the size and the shape of the strong-lensing regime delineated by the respective critical lines. Our study finds 31 eMACS clusters with effective Einstein radii (θE) in excess of 20″ and eight with θE > 30″, thereby underlining the value of X-ray selection for the discovery of powerful cluster lenses that complement giants like MACSJ0717 at ever-increasing redshift. As a first installment towards the public release of the eMACS sample, we list physical properties of the 10 calibration clusters as well as of the 10 most powerful eMACS cluster lenses, according to AStroLens.
BEER analysis of Kepler and CoRoT light curves – V. eBEER: extension of the algorithm to eccentric binaries
Authors: Engel M , Faigler S , Shahaf S , Mazeh T
Published: August 2020

We present an extension of the BEER model for eccentric binaries – eBEER, approximating the BEaming, Ellipsoidal, and Reflection effects by harmonic series of the Keplerian elements of their orbit. As such, it can be a tool for fast processing of light curves for detecting non-eclipsing eccentric binary systems. To validate the applicability of the eccentric model and its approximations, we applied eBEER to the Kepler light curves, identified a sample of bright non-eclipsing binary candidates, and followed three of them with the Wise observatory eShel spectrograph. After confirming the three systems are indeed radial velocity (RV) binaries, we fitted the light curves and the RV data with PHOEBE, a detailed numerical light curve and RV model, and showed that the PHOEBE derived parameters are similar to those obtained by the eBEER approximation.
An optimized Ly α forest inversion tool based on a quantitative comparison of existing reconstruction methods
Authors: Müller Hendrik , Behrens Christoph , Marsh David J E
Published: August 2020

We present a same-level comparison of the most prominent inversion methods for the reconstruction of the matter density field in the quasi-linear regime from the Ly α forest flux. Moreover, we present a pathway for refining the reconstruction in the framework of numerical optimization. We apply this approach to construct a novel hybrid method. The methods which are used so far for matter reconstructions are the Richardson–Lucy algorithm, an iterative Gauss–Newton method and a statistical approach assuming a one-to-one correspondence between matter and flux. We study these methods for high spectral resolutions such that thermal broadening becomes relevant. The inversion methods are compared on synthetic data (generated with the lognormal approach) with respect to their performance, accuracy, their stability against noise, and their robustness against systematic uncertainties. We conclude that the iterative Gauss–Newton method offers the most accurate reconstruction, in particular at small S/N, but has also the largest numerical complexity and requires the strongest assumptions. The other two algorithms are faster, comparably precise at small noise-levels, and, in the case of the statistical approach, more robust against inaccurate assumptions on the thermal history of the intergalactic medium (IGM). We use these results to refine the statistical approach using regularization. Our new approach has low numerical complexity and makes few assumptions about the history of the IGM, and is shown to be the most accurate reconstruction at small S/N, even if the thermal history of the IGM is not known. Our code will be made publicly available.
A study on the statistical significance of mutual information between morphology of a galaxy and its large-scale environment
Authors: Sarkar Suman , Pandey Biswajit
Published: August 2020

A non-zero mutual information between morphology of a galaxy and its large-scale environment is known to exist in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) upto a few tens of Mpc. It is important to test the statistical significance of these mutual information if any. We propose three different methods to test the statistical significance of these non-zero mutual information and apply them to SDSS and Millennium run simulation. We randomize the morphological information of SDSS galaxies without affecting their spatial distribution and compare the mutual information in the original and randomized data sets. We also divide the galaxy distribution into smaller subcubes and randomly shuffle them many times keeping the morphological information of galaxies intact. We compare the mutual information in the original SDSS data and its shuffled realizations for different shuffling lengths. Using a t-test, we find that a small but statistically significant (at $99.9{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ confidence level) mutual information between morphology and environment exists upto the entire length-scale probed. We also conduct another experiment using mock data sets from a semi-analytic galaxy catalogue where we assign morphology to galaxies in a controlled manner based on the density at their locations. The experiment clearly demonstrates that mutual information can effectively capture the physical correlations between morphology and environment. Our analysis suggests that physical association between morphology and environment may extend to much larger length-scales than currently believed, and the information theoretic framework presented here can serve as a sensitive and useful probe of the assembly bias and large-scale environmental dependence of galaxy properties.
Efficiency of tidal dissipation in slowly rotating fully convective stars or planets
Authors: Vidal Jérémie , Barker Adrian J
Published: August 2020

Turbulent convection is thought to act as an effective viscosity in damping equilibrium tidal flows, driving spin and orbital evolution in close convective binary systems. Compared to mixing-length predictions, this viscosity ought to be reduced when the tidal frequency |ωt| exceeds the turnover frequency ωcv of the dominant convective eddies, but the efficiency of this reduction has been disputed. We re-examine this long-standing controversy using direct numerical simulations of an idealized global model. We simulate thermal convection in a full sphere, and externally forced by the equilibrium tidal flow, to measure the effective viscosity νE acting on the tidal flow when |ωt|/ωcv ≳ 1. We demonstrate that the frequency reduction of νE is correlated with the frequency spectrum of the (unperturbed) convection. For intermediate frequencies below those in the turbulent cascade (|ωt|/ωcv ∼ 1−5), the frequency spectrum displays an anomalous 1/ωα power law that is responsible for the frequency reduction νE∝1/|ωt|α, where α < 1 depends on the model parameters. We then get |νE| ∝ 1/|ωt|δ with δ > 1 for higher frequencies, and δ = 2 is obtained for a Kolmogorov turbulent cascade. A generic |νE| ∝ 1/|ωt|2 suppression is next found for higher frequencies within the dissipation range of the convection (but with negative values). Our results indicate that a better knowledge of the frequency spectrum of convection is necessary to accurately predict the efficiency of tidal dissipation in stars and planets resulting from this mechanism.
Pixel level decorrelation in service of the Spitzer microlens parallax survey
Authors: Dang Lisa , Calchi Novati S , Carey S , Cowan N B
Published: August 2020

Microlens parallax measurements combining space-based and ground-based observatories can be used to study planetary demographics. In recent years, the Spitzer Space Telescope was used as a microlens parallax satellite. Meanwhile, Spitzer IRAC has been employed to study short-period exoplanets and their atmospheres. As these investigations require exquisite photometry, they motivated the development of numerous self-calibration techniques now widely used in the exoplanet atmosphere community. Specifically, pixel level decorrelation (PLD) was developed for starring-mode observations in uncrowded fields. We adapt and extend PLD to make it suitable for observations obtained as part of the Spitzer Microlens Parallax Campaign. We apply our method to two previously published microlensing events, OGLE-2017-BLG-1140 and OGLE-2015-BLG-0448, and compare its performance to the state-of-the-art pipeline used to analyses Spitzer microlensing observation. We find that our method yields photometry 1.5–6 times as precise as previously published. In addition to being useful for Spitzer, a similar approach could improve microlensing photometry with the forthcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Bar effect on gas-phase abundance gradients. I. Data sample and chemical abundances
Authors: Zurita A , Florido E , Bresolin F , Pérez-Montero E , Pérez I
Published: August 2020

Studies of gas-phase radial metallicity profiles in spirals published in the last decade have diminished the importance of galactic bars as agents that mix and flatten the profiles, contradicting results obtained in the 1990s. We have collected a large sample of 2831 published H ii region emission-line fluxes in 51 nearby galaxies, including objects both with and without the presence of a bar, with the aim of revisiting the issue of whether bars affect the radial metal distribution in spirals. In this first paper of a series of two, we present the galaxy and the H ii region samples. The methodology is homogeneous for the whole data sample and includes the derivation of H ii region chemical abundances, structural parameters of bars and discs, galactocentric distances, and radial abundance profiles. We have obtained O/H and N/O abundance ratios from the Te-based (direct) method for a subsample of 610 regions, and from a variety of strong-line methods for the whole H ii region sample. The strong-line methods have been evaluated in relation to the Te-based one from both a comparison of the derived O/H and N/O abundances for individual H ii regions and a comparison of the abundance gradients derived from both methodologies. The median value and the standard deviation of the gradient distributions depend on the abundance method, and those based on the O3N2 indicator tend to flatten the steepest profiles, reducing the range of observed gradients. A detailed analysis and discussion of the derived O/H and N/O radial abundance gradients and y-intercepts for barred and unbarred galaxies is presented in the companion Paper II. The whole H ii region catalogue including emission-line fluxes, positions, and derived abundances is made publicly available on the CDS VizieR facility, together with the radial abundance gradients for all galaxies.
The physical drivers of the atomic hydrogen–halo mass relation
Authors: Chauhan Garima , Lagos Claudia del P , Stevens Adam R H , Obreschkow Danail , Power Chris , Meyer Martin
Published: August 2020

We use the state-of-the-art semi-analytic galaxy formation model, shark, to investigate the physical processes involved in dictating the shape, scatter, and evolution of the Hi–halo mass (HIHM) relation at 0 ≤ z ≤ 2. We compare shark with Hi clustering and spectral stacking of the HIHM relation derived from observations finding excellent agreement with the former and a deficiency of Hi in shark at Mvir ≈ 1012–13 M⊙ in the latter. In shark, we find that the Hi mass increases with the halo mass up to a critical mass of ≈1011.8 M⊙; between ≈1011 and 1013 M⊙, the scatter in the relation increases by 0.7 dex and the Hi mass decreases with the halo mass on average (till $M_{\rm vir}\sim 10^{12.5}\, \rm M_{\odot }$, after which it starts increasing); at $M_{\rm vir}\gtrsim 10^{13}\, \rm M_{\odot }$, the Hi content continues to increase with increasing halo mass, as a result of the increasing Hi contribution from satellite galaxies. We find that the critical halo mass of ≈1012 M⊙ is set by feedback from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) which affects both the shape and scatter of the HIHM relation, with other physical processes playing a less significant role. We also determine the main secondary parameters responsible for the scatter of the HIHM relation, namely the halo spin parameter at ${M}_{\rm vir}\, \lt $ 1011.8 M⊙, and the fractional contribution from substructure to the total halo mass ($M_{\rm h}^{\rm sat}/M_{\rm vir}$) for ${M}_{\rm vir}\, \gt $ 1013 M⊙. The scatter at 1011.8 M⊙$\lt \, {M}_{\rm vir}\, \lt $ 1013 M⊙ is best described by the black hole-to-stellar mass ratio of the central galaxy, reflecting the relevance of AGN feedback. We present a numerical model to populate dark matter-only simulations with Hi at 0 ≤ z ≤ 2 based solely on halo parameters that are measurable in such simulations.
The thermal-radiative wind in the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary GX 13 + 1
Authors: Tomaru Ryota , Done Chris , Ohsuga Ken , Odaka Hirokazu , Takahashi Tadayuki
Published: August 2020

We fit the observed high-ionization X-ray absorption lines in the neutron star binary GX13 + 1 with a full simulation of a thermal-radiative wind. This uses a radiation hydrodynamic code coupled to Monte Carlo radiation transfer to compute the observed line profiles from hydrogen and helium-like iron and nickel, including all strong K α and K β transitions. The wind is very strong as this object has a very large disc and is very luminous. The absorption lines from Fe K α are strongly saturated as the ion columns are large, so the line equivalent widths depend sensitively on the velocity structure. We additionally simulate the lines including isotropic turbulence at the level of the azimuthal and radial velocities. We fit these models to the Fe xxv and xxvi absorption lines seen in the highest resolution Chandra third-order high-energy transmission grating spectrometer data. These data already rule out the addition of turbulence at the level of the radial velocity of ∼500 km s−1. The velocity structure predicted by the thermal-radiative wind alone is a fairly good match to the observed profile, with an upper limit to additional turbulence at the level of the azimuthal velocity of ∼100 km s−1. This gives stringent constraints on any remaining contribution from magnetic acceleration.
Sensitivity forecasts for the cosmological recombination radiation in the presence of foregrounds
Authors: Hart Luke , Rotti Aditya , Chluba Jens
Published: August 2020

The cosmological recombination radiation (CRR) is one of the inevitable Lambda cold dark matter spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). While it shows a rich spectral structure across dm-mm wavelengths, it is also one of the smallest signals to target. Here, we carry out a detailed forecast for the expected sensitivity levels required to not only detect but also extract cosmological information from the CRR in the presence of foregrounds. We use CosmoSpec to compute the CRR including all important radiative transfer effects and modifications to the recombination dynamics. We confirm that detections of the overall CRR signal are possible with spectrometer concepts like SuperPIXIE. However, for a real exploitation of the cosmological information, an ≃ 50 times more sensitive spectrometer is required. While extremely futuristic, this could provide independent constraints on the primordial helium abundance, Yp, and probe the presence of extra relativistic degrees of freedom during BBN and recombination. Significantly improving the constraints on other cosmological parameters requires even higher sensitivity (another factor of ≃5) when considering a combination of a CMB spectrometer with existing CMB data. To a large part, this is due to astrophysical foregrounds which interestingly do not degrade the constraints on Yp and Neff as much. A future CMB spectrometer could thus open a novel way of probing non-standard BBN scenarios, dark radiation and sterile neutrinos. In addition, inflation physics could be indirectly probed using the CRR in combination with existing and forthcoming CMB anisotropy data.
The Megamaser Cosmology Project − XII. VLBI imaging of H2O maser emission in three active galaxies and the effect of AGN winds on disc dynamics
Authors: Kuo C Y , Braatz J A , Impellizzeri C M V , Gao F , Pesce D , Reid M J , Condon J , Kamali F , Henkel C , Greene J E
Published: August 2020

We present very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) images and kinematics of water maser emission in three active galaxies: NGC 5728, Mrk 1, and IRAS 08452–0011. IRAS 08452–0011, at a distance of ∼200 Mpc, is a triple-peaked H2O megamaser, consistent with a Keplerian rotating disc, indicating a black hole mass of (3.3$\pm 0.2)\times 10^{7}\, \mathrm{ M}_{\odot }$. NGC 5728 and Mrk 1 display double-peaked spectra, and VLBI imaging reveals complicated gas kinematics that do not allow for a robust determination of black hole mass. We show evidence that the masers in NGC 5728 are in a wind while the Mrk 1 maser system has both disc and outflow components. We also find that disturbed morphology and kinematics are a ubiquitous feature of all double-peaked maser systems, implying that these maser sources may reside in environments where active galactic nucleus (AGN) winds are prominent at ∼1 pc scale and have significant impact on the masing gas. Such AGNs tend to have black hole masses $M_{\rm BH}\, \lt$ 8 × 106 M⊙ and Eddington ratios $\lambda _{\rm Edd}\, \gtrsim$ 0.1, while the triple-peaked megamasers show an opposite trend.