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Introduction: Psychotherapy serves as the foundation of care for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD), with pharmacotherapy being regarded as a supplementary measure to be considered when necessary. In clinical practice, however, most of BPD patients receive medication. A major problem in the treatment of BPD is the lack of compliance derived from the pathological impulsivity of BPD patients. The use of long-acting antipsychotics (LAI) may be an option. Objectives: This work aims to address the use of long-acting injectables in borderline personality disorder. Methods: Non-systematic review of literature using the PubMed ® database, based on terms "Borderline Personality Disorder" and "Long-acting antipsychotics". Only six articles were found. Results: Several studies have shown promising results in the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) with long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics. A six-month study using IM risperidone demonstrated significant improvement, while LAI Aripiprazole also exhibited positive outcomes in individuals with BPD and Substance Abuse. Additionally, Palomares et al. (2015) found that palmitate paliperidone LAI reduced impulsive-disruptive behaviors and enhanced overall functioning in BPD patients. Carmona et al. (2021) compared oral and LAI antipsychotics and concluded that LAIs may have a role to play in the management of BPD. Conclusions: Treatment with LAIs may play an important role in clinical and functional improvement in BPD patients. Disclosure of Interest: None Declared [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This series of papers aims at understanding the formation and evolution of non-barred disc galaxies. We use the new spectro-photometric decomposition code, c2d , to separate the spectral information of bulges and discs of a statistically representative sample of galaxies from the CALIFA survey. Then, we study their stellar population properties analysing the structure-independent datacubes with the Pipe3D algorithm. We find a correlation between the bulge-to-total (B / T) luminosity (and mass) ratio and galaxy stellar mass. The B / T mass ratio has only a mild evolution with redshift, but the bulge-to-disc (B / D) mass ratio shows a clear increase of the disc component since redshift z < 1 for massive galaxies. The mass–size relation for both bulges and discs describes an upturn at high galaxy stellar masses (log (M ⋆/M⊙) > 10.5). The relation holds for bulges but not for discs when using their individual stellar masses. We find a negligible evolution of the mass–size relation for both the most massive (⁠|$\log {(M_{\star \rm ,b,d}/{\rm M}_{\odot })} \gt 10$|⁠) bulges and discs. For lower masses, discs show a larger variation than bulges. We also find a correlation between the Sérsic index of bulges and both galaxy and bulge stellar mass, which does not hold for the disc mass. Our results support an inside-out formation of nearby non-barred galaxies, and they suggest that (i) bulges formed early-on and (ii) they have not evolved much through cosmic time. However, we find that the early properties of bulges drive the future evolution of the galaxy as a whole, and particularly the properties of the discs that eventually form around them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The star formation main sequence (SFMS) is a tight relation between the galaxy star formation rate (SFR) and its total stellar mass (M ⋆). Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are often considered as low-SFR outliers of this relation. We study, for the first time, the separated distribution in the SFR versus M ⋆ of bulges and discs of 49 ETGs from the CALIFA survey. This is achieved using c2d , a new code to perform spectrophotometric decompositions of integral field spectroscopy data cubes. Our results reflect that: (i) star formation always occurs in the disc component and not in bulges; (ii) star-forming discs in our ETGs are compatible with the SFMS defined by star-forming galaxies at z ∼ 0; (iii) the star formation is not confined to the outskirts of discs, but it is present at all radii (even where the bulge dominates the light); (iv) for a given mass, bulges exhibit lower sSFR than discs at all radii; and (v) we do not find a deficit of molecular gas in bulges with respect to discs for a given mass in our ETGs. We speculate our results favour a morphological quenching scenario for ETGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galaxies are complex systems made up of different structural components such as bulges, discs, and bars. Understanding galaxy evolution requires unveiling, independently, their history of stellar mass and metallicity assembly. We introduce c2d, a new algorithm to perform spectro-photometric multicomponent decompositions of integral field spectroscopy (IFS) datacubes. The galaxy surface-brightness distribution at each wavelength (quasi-monochromatic image) is fitted using GASP2D, a 2D photometric decomposition code. As a result, c2d provides both a characteristic one-dimensional spectra and a full datacube with all the spatial and spectral information for every component included in the fit. We show the basic steps of the c2d spectro-photometric fitting procedure, tests on mock datacubes demonstrating its reliability, and a first application of c2d to a sample of three early-type galaxies (ETGs) observed within the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area survey. The resulting datacubes from c2d are processed through the Pipe3D pipeline obtaining both the stellar populations and ionized gas properties of bulges and discs. This paper presents an overview of the potential of c2d  +  Pipe3D to unveil the formation and evolution of galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The median is computed by the successive improvements of a partial solution. • A subset of strings for whom the distance to the median will decrease is identified. • A goodness index for edits is computed estimating if it will reduce the distance. Abstract Different pattern recognition techniques such as clustering, k -nearest neighbors classification or instance reduction algorithms require prototypes to represent pattern classes. In many applications, strings are used to encode instances, for example, in contour representations or in biological data such as DNA, RNA and protein sequences. Median strings have been used as representatives of a set of strings in different domains. Finding the median string is an NP-Complete problem for several formulations. Alternatively, heuristic approaches that iteratively refine an initial coarse solution by applying edit operations have been proposed. We propose here a novel algorithm that outperforms state of the art heuristic approximations to the median string in terms of convergence speed by estimating the effect of a perturbation in the minimization of the expressions that define the median strings. We present comparative experiments to validate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here a thorough photometric analysis of double-barred galaxies, consisting of (i) two-dimensional photometric decompositions including a bulge, inner bar, outer bar, and (truncated) disc; and (ii) three-dimensional statistical deprojections to derive the intrinsic shape of bulges, inner bars, and outer bars. This is the first time the combination of both techniques is applied to a sample of double-barred galaxies. It represents a step forward with respect to previous works, which are based on properties of the integrated light through ellipse fitting and unsharp masking. In this first paper of a series of two, we analyse the nature of the dominant bulges within double-barred systems by using several photometric diagnostics, namely Sérsic index, Kormendy relation, colours, and the better suited intrinsic flattening. Our results indicate that almost all bulges in our sample are classical, whereas only two out of the 17 galaxies under study appear as potential candidates to host secularly formed disc-like bulges. Such result poses the possibility that having a central hot structure may be a requirement for inner bar formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double bars are thought to be important features for secular evolution in the central regions of galaxies. However, observational evidence about their origin and evolution is still scarce. We report on the discovery of the first Box/Peanut (B/P) structure in an inner bar detected in the face-on galaxy NGC 1291. We use the integral field data obtained from the MUSE spectrograph within the TIMER project. The B/P structure is detected as bi-symmetric minima of the h 4 moment of the line-of-sight velocity distribution along the major axis of the inner bar, as expected from numerical simulations. Our observations demonstrate that inner bars can follow a similar evolutionary path as outer bars, undergoing buckling instabilities. They also suggest that inner bars are long-lived structures, thus imposing tight constraints to their possible formation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first statistical study on the intrinsic three-dimensional (3D) shape of a sample of 83 galactic bars extracted from the CALIFA survey. We use the galaXYZ code to derive the bar intrinsic shape with a statistical approach. The method uses only the geometric information (ellipticities and position angles) of bars and discs obtained from a multicomponent photometric decomposition of the galaxy surface-brightness distributions. We find that bars are predominantly prolate-triaxial ellipsoids (68 per cent), with a small fraction of oblate-triaxial ellipsoids (32 per cent). The typical flattening (intrinsic C / A semiaxis ratio) of the bars in our sample is 0.34, which matches well the typical intrinsic flattening of stellar discs at these galaxy masses. We demonstrate that, for prolate-triaxial bars, the intrinsic shape of bars depends on the galaxy Hubble type and stellar mass (bars in massive S0 galaxies are thicker and more circular than those in less massive spirals). The bar intrinsic shape correlates with bulge, disc, and bar parameters. In particular with the bulge-to-total (B / T) luminosity ratio, disc g − r colour, and central surface brightness of the bar, confirming the tight link between bars and their host galaxies. Combining the probability distributions of the intrinsic shape of bulges and bars in our sample, we show that 52 per cent (16 per cent) of bulges are thicker (flatter) than the surrounding bar at 1σ level. We suggest that these percentages might be representative of the fraction of classical and disc-like bulges in our sample, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We introduce phi, a fully Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm designed for the structural decomposition of galaxy images. phi uses a triple layer approach to effectively and efficiently explore the complex parameter space. Combining this with the use of priors to prevent non-physical models, phi offers a number of significant advantages for estimating surface brightness profile parameters over traditional optimization algorithms. We apply phi to a sample of synthetic galaxies with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)-like image properties to investigate the effect of galaxy properties on our ability to recover unbiased and well-constrained structural parameters. In two-component bulge+disc galaxies, we find that the bulge structural parameters are recovered less well than those of the disc, particularly when the bulge contributes a lower fraction to the luminosity, or is barely resolved with respect to the pixel scale or point spread function (PSF). There are few systematic biases, apart from for bulge+disc galaxies with large bulge Sérsic parameter, n. On application to SDSS images, we find good agreement with other codes, when run on the same images with the same masks, weights, and PSF. Again, we find that bulge parameters are the most difficult to constrain robustly. Finally, we explore the use of a Bayesian information criterion method for deciding whether a galaxy has one or two components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim is to understand the role of the environment in the quenching of star formation of galaxies located in the infall cluster region of Abell 85 (A85). This is achieved by studying the post-starburst galaxy population as tracer of recent quenching. By measuring the equivalent width (EW) of the [O ii] and Hδ spectral lines, we classify the galaxies into three groups: passive (PAS), emission line (EL), and post-starburst (PSB) galaxies. The PSB galaxy population represents ${\sim } 4.5\hbox{ per cent}$ of the full sample. Dwarf galaxies (Mr > −18.0) account for ${\sim } 70 {\rm -} 80\hbox{ per cent}$ of PSBs, which indicates that most of the galaxies undergoing recent quenching are low-mass objects. Independently of the environment, PSB galaxies are disc-like objects with g − r colour between the blue ELs and the red PAS ones. The PSB and EL galaxies in low-density environments show similar luminosities and local galaxy densities. The dynamics and local galaxy density of the PSB population in high-density environments are shared with PAS galaxies. However, PSB galaxies inside A85 are at shorter clustercentric radius than PAS and EL ones. The value of the EW(Hδ) is larger for those PSBs closer to the cluster centre. We propose two different physical mechanisms producing PSB galaxies depending on the environment. In low-density environments, gas-rich minor mergers or accretions could produce the PSB galaxies. For high-density environments like A85, PSBs would be produced by the removal of the gas reservoirs of EL galaxies by ram-pressure stripping when they pass near the cluster centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The intrinsic shape of galactic bulges in nearby galaxies provides crucial information to separate bulge types. Aims. We aim to derive accurate constraints to the intrinsic shape of bulges to provide new clues on their formation mechanisms and set new limitations for future simulations. Methods. We retrieved the intrinsic shape of a sample of CALIFA bulges using a statistical approach. Taking advantage of GalMer numerical simulations of binary mergers we estimated the reliability of the procedure. Analyzing the i-band mock images of resulting lenticular remnants, we studied the intrinsic shape of their bulges at different galaxy inclinations. Finally, we introduced a new (B/A, C/A) diagram to analyze possible correlations between the intrinsic shape and the properties of bulges. Results. We tested the method on simulated lenticular remnants, finding that for galaxies with inclinations of 25° ≤ θ ≤ 65° we can safely derive the intrinsic shape of their bulges. We found that our CALIFA bulges tend to be nearly oblate systems (66%), with a smaller fraction of prolate spheroids (19%), and triaxial ellipsoids (15%). The majority of triaxial bulges are in barred galaxies (75%). Moreover, we found that bulges with low Sérsic indices or in galaxies with low bulge-to-total luminosity ratios form a heterogeneous class of objects; additionally, bulges in late-type galaxies or in less massive galaxies have no preference for being oblate, prolate, or triaxial. On the contrary, bulges with high Sérsic index, in early-type galaxies, or in more massive galaxies are mostly oblate systems. Conclusions. We concluded that various evolutionary pathways may coexist in galaxies, with merging events and dissipative collapse being the main mechanisms driving the formation of the most massive oblate bulges and bar evolution reshaping the less massive triaxial bulges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we introduce a deterministic scheme of synchronization of nonlinear cellular automata with chaotic behavior, connected through a master-slave coupling. By using a definition of Boolean derivative, we utilize the linear approximation of the cellular automata rules to design a deterministic and simple coupling function that ensures synchronization. Our results show that it is possible to synchronize nonlinear chaotic cellular automata using a deterministic coupling function that does not introduce into the slave all the information about the state of the master. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: About 20% of low-redshift galaxies are late-type spirals with a small or no bulge component. Although they are the simplest disk galaxies in terms of structure and dynamics, the role of the different physical processes driving their formation and evolution is not yet fully understood. Aims: We investigated whether small bulges of late-type spirals follow the same scaling relations traced by ellipticals and large bulges and if small bulges are disk-like or classical bulges. Methods: We derived the photometric and kinematic properties of nine nearby late-type spirals. To this aim, we analyzed the surface-brightness distribution from the i-band images of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and obtained the structural parameters of the galaxies from a two-dimensional photometric decomposition. We found a bulge component in seven galaxies of the sample, while the remaining two resulted in pure disk galaxies. We measured the line-of-sight stellar velocity distribution within the bulge effective radius from the long-slit spectra taken with high spectral resolution at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo. We used the photometric and kinematic properties of the sample bulges to study their location in the fundamental plane, Kormendy, and Faber-Jackson relations defined for ellipticals and large bulges. Results: We found that our bulges satisfy some of the photometric and kinematic prescriptions for being considered disk-like bulges, such as small sizes and masses with nearly exponential light profiles, small bulge-to-total luminosity ratios, low stellar velocity dispersions, and ongoing star formation. However, each of these bulges follows the same scaling relations of ellipticals, massive bulges, and compact early-type galaxies so they cannot be classified as disk-like systems. Conclusions: We find a single population of galaxy spheroids that follow the same scaling relations, where the mass seems to lead to a smooth transition in the photometric and kinematic properties from less massive bulges to more massive bulges and ellipticals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Safe navigation in inland waters subjected to tide requires dedicated forecasts of meteorological and oceanographic variables, such as local tidal height, currents, wind and atmospheric pressure. Indeed, it is more difficult to navigate inland shallow waters subjected to intense morphologic dynamics, and therefore characterized by the non-linearity of the tidal height propagation throughout the channels, traduced by important changes in tidal amplitude and phase, especially when no navigation aids are installed. In this context, this work objective is a mobile application (Routinav) development that allows simulating the navigability conditions in inland shallow waters. Firstly, a monitoring system was installed on volunteer boats and validated in Ria de Aveiro, showing high accuracy in depth and position acquisition. Secondly, was designed and applied an algorithm allowing the identification of navigable and non-navigable route segments, according to the updated depth and forecasted tidal height by the hydrodynamic model. Based on this algorithm, was created an agile prototype used to build up the Routinav mobile application for iOS (iPhone OS) and Android operating systems. • Low-cost and crowd-based approach for inland shallow waters routes monitoring. • Bathymetry update based on a monitoring system installed on volunteer boats. • Local tidal forecasts by an updated state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model. • Presentation of a novel algorithm for the simulation of safe navigation conditions. • Development of a mobile application for safe navigation in inland shallow waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several maize field experiments, including deficit and full irrigation, were performed in Ribatejo region, Portugal and were used to assess water stress impacts on yields using the AquaCrop model. The model was assessed after its parameterization using field observations relative to leaf area index (LAI), crop evapotranspiration, soil water content, biomass and final yield data and also using default parameters. LAI data were used to calibrate the canopy cover (CC) curve. Results showed that when the CC curve is properly calibrated, with root mean square errors (RMSE) smaller than 7.4%, model simulations, namely relative to crop evapotranspiration and its partition, show an improved accuracy. The model performance relative to soil water balance simulation revealed a bias in estimation but low estimation errors, with RMSE<13% of the total available soil water. However the model tends to overestimate transpiration and underestimate soil evaporation. A good model performance was obtained relative to biomass and yield predictions, with RMSE lower than 11% and 9% of the average observed biomass and yield, respectively. Overall results show adequacy of AquaCrop for estimating maize biomass and yield under deficit irrigation conditions, mainly when an appropriate parameterization is adopted. The model showed less good performance when using the default parameters but errors are likely acceptable when field data are not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compile data on Tourette's syndrome (TS), tics and associated disorders. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted using the 5S levels of organization of healthcare research evidence (systems, summaries, synopses, syntheses, studies), based on the model described by Haynes. The search keywords were Tourette, tics and comorbidity, which were cross-referenced. Studies provided by publishers and articles being processed on July 31, 2013, were also included. Results: Of all studies retrieved during the search, 64 were selected because they analyzed the epidemiology, clinical features and etiopathogenesis of TS and its comorbidities. TS is classified as a hyperkinetic movement disorder, and at least 90% of the patients have neuropsychiatric comorbidities, of which attention deficit hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive disorders are the most common. The syndrome is clinically heterogeneous and has been associated with a dysfunction of cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuits involving various neurotransmitters. Although its genetic etiology has been widely studied, other factors may be important to understand this syndrome and its associated disorders. Conclusions: TS is a neurodevelopmental disorder that results from the impact of stress factors on a vulnerable biological substrate during the critical periods of neurodevelopment. The study of TS and its comorbidities may contribute, at different levels, to the understanding of several neuropsychiatric disorders of clinical and therapeutic relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The approximated mean is computed through the successive improvements of a partial solution. [•] A goodness index for edit operations is computed by multiplying their frequency by the cost. [•] Partial solution is modified by applying edit operations with high goodness index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genus Maerua has around 60 species represented on the African continent, of which three have been reported for Angola. Two new species of Maerua (Capparaceae) from Angola are here described. Both are closely similar to M. juncea subsp. juncea, being distinguished by floral traits such as the receptacle, androphore and gynophore (M. pintobastoae) or leaf traits such as venation, as well as size and shape of the ovary and disc shape (M. mendesii). A key for Maerua species occurring in Angola is provided, as well as a table summarizing and comparing the morphological characters for the new species and similar African species. With the description of these two new species, the genus Maerua comprises five species in Angola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmogenic radionuclides are more and more used in solar activity reconstructions. However, the cosmogenic radionuclide signal also contains a climate component. It is therefore crucial to eliminate the climate information to allow a better interpretation of the reconstructed solar activity indices. In this paper the method of principal components is applied to Be data from two ice cores from opposite hemispheres as well as to C data from tree rings. The analysis shows that these records are dominated by a common signal which explains about 80% of the variance on multi decadal to multi millennial time scales, reflecting their common production rate. The second and third components are significantly different for C and Be. They are interpreted as system effects introduced by the transport of Be and C from the atmosphere where they are produced to the respective natural archives where they are stored. Principal component analysis improves significantly extraction of the production signal from the cosmogenic isotope data series, which is more appropriate for astrophysical and terrestrial studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a new fast algorithm for computing an approximation to the mean of two strings of characters representing a 2D shape and its application to a new Wilson-based editing procedure. The approximate mean is built up by including some symbols from the two original strings. In addition, a Greedy approach to this algorithm is studied, which allows us to reduce the time required to compute an approximate mean. The new dataset editing scheme relaxes the criterion for deleting instances proposed by the Wilson editing procedure. In practice, not all instances misclassified by their near neighbors are pruned. Instead, an artificial instance is added to the dataset in the hope of successfully classifying the instance in the future. The new artificial instance is the approximated mean of the misclassified sample and its same-class nearest neighbor. Experiments carried out over three widely known databases of contours show that the proposed algorithm performs very well when computing the mean of two strings, and outperforms methods proposed by other authors. In particular, the low computational time required by the heuristic approach makes it very suitable when dealing with long length strings. Results also show that the proposed preprocessing scheme can reduce the classification error in about 83% of trials. There is empirical evidence that using the Greedy approximation to compute the approximated mean does not affect the performance of the editing procedure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Context. Understanding the Sun's magnetic activity is important because of its impact on the Earth's environment. Direct observations of the sunspots since 1610 reveal an irregular activity cycle with an average period of about 11 years, which is modulated on longer timescales. Proxies of solar activity such as 14C and 10Be show consistently longer cycles with well-defined periodicities and varying amplitudes. Current models of solar activity assume that the origin and modulation of solar activity lie within the Sun itself; however, correlations between direct solar activity indices and planetary configurations have been reported on many occasions. Since no successful physical mechanism was suggested to explain these correlations, the possible link between planetary motion and solar activity has been largely ignored. Aims. While energy considerations clearly show that the planets cannot be the direct cause of the solar activity, it remains an open question whether the planets can perturb the operation of the solar dynamo. Here we use a 9400 year solar activity reconstruction derived from cosmogenic radionuclides to test this hypothesis. Methods. We developed a simple physical model for describing the time-dependent torque exerted by the planets on a non-spherical tachocline and compared the corresponding power spectrum with that of the reconstructed solar activity record. Results. We find an excellent agreement between the long-term cycles in proxies of solar activity and the periodicities in the planetary torque and also that some periodicities remain phase-locked over 9400 years. Conclusions. Based on these observations we put forward the idea that the long-term solar magnetic activity is modulated by planetary effects. If correct, our hypothesis has important implications for solar physics and the solar-terrestrial connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beta cells presenting islet epitopes are recognized and destroyed by autoreactive CD8 T cells in type 1 diabetes. These islet-specific T cells are believed to react with epitopes binding with high affinity to human leucocyte antigen (HLA) expressed on beta cells. However, this assumption might be flawed in case of islet autoimmunity. We evaluated T cell recognition of the complete array of preproinsulin (PPI) peptides with regard to HLA binding affinity and T cell recognition. In a comprehensive approach, 203 overlapping 9-10mer PPI peptides were tested for HLA-A2 binding and subjected to binding algorithms. Subsequently, a high-throughput assay was employed to detect PPI-specific T cells in patient blood, in which conditional HLA ligands were destabilized by ultraviolet irradiation and HLA molecules refolded with arrays of PPI peptides, followed by quantum-dot labelling and T cell staining. Analysis of patient blood revealed high frequencies of CD8 T cells recognizing very low HLA binding peptides. Of 28 peptides binding to HLA-A2, a majority was predicted not to bind. Unpredicted peptides bound mainly with low affinities. HLA binding affinity and immunogenicity may not correlate in autoimmunity. Algorithms used to predict high-affinity HLA peptide binders discount the majority of low-affinity HLA binding epitopes. Appreciation that peptides binding HLA with very low affinity can act as targets of autoreactive T cells may help to understand loss of tolerance and disease pathogenesis and possibly point to tissue-specific immune intervention targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The early-type spiral NGC 4698 is known to host a nuclear disc of gas and stars which is rotating perpendicularly with respect to the galaxy main disc. In addition, the bulge and main disc are characterized by a remarkable geometrical decoupling. Indeed, they appear elongated orthogonally to each other. In this work, the complex structure of the galaxy is investigated by a detailed photometric decomposition of optical and near-infrared images. The intrinsic shape of the bulge was constrained from its apparent ellipticity, its twist angle with respect to the major axis of the main disc and the inclination of the main disc. The bulge is actually elongated perpendicular to the main disc and it is equally likely to be triaxial or axisymmetric. The central surface brightness, scalelength, inclination and position angle of the nuclear disc were derived by assuming that it is infinitesimally thin and exponential. Its size, orientation and location do not depend on the observed passband. These findings support a scenario in which the nuclear disc is the end result of the acquisition of external gas by the pre-existing triaxial bulge on the principal plane perpendicular to its shortest axis and perpendicular to the galaxy main disc. The subsequent star formation either occurred homogeneously all over the extension of the nuclear disc or through an inside-out process that ended more than 5 Gyr ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 14th best practice review is the second of a pair that examines tumour marker requesting primary care situations. This review considers carbohydrate antigen 125, a-fetoprotein and human chorionic gonadotropin. It is presented in questioneanswer format, referenced for each question. The recommendations represent a précis of guidance found using a standardised literature search of national and international guidance notes, consensus statements, health policy documents and evidencebased medicine reviews, supplemented by MEDLINE EMBASE searches to identify relevant primary research documents. They will be updated periodically to take into account new information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This 13th best practice review examines tumour marker requesting primary care situations. The review is presented in questioneanswer format, referenced for each question. This review considers carcinoembryonic antigen carbohydrate antigen 15-3 (Ca15-3) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (Ca19-9). The recommendations represent a précis of guidance found using a standardised literature search of national and international guidance notes, consensus statements, health policy documents and evidence-based medicine reviews, supplemented by MEDLINE EMBASE searches to identify relevant primary research documents. They will be updated periodically to take account of new information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Fossil systems are galaxy associations dominated by a relatively isolated, bright elliptical galaxy, surrounded by a group of smaller galaxies lacking L" objects. Because of this extreme environment, fossil groups (FGs) are ideal laboratories for studying the mass assembly of brightest group galaxies (BGGs). Aims. We analyzed the near-infrared photometric and structural properties of a sample of 20 BGGs present in FGs to better understand their formation mechanisms. They represent the largest sample studied to date. Methods. Ks-band deep images were used to study the structural properties of our sample galaxies. Their surface-brightness distribution was fitted to a Sérsic profile using the GASP2D algorithm. Then, the standard scaling relations were derived for the first time for these galaxies and compared with those of normal ellipticals and brightest cluster galaxies in non-fossil systems. Results. The BGGs presented in this study represent a subset of the most massive galaxies in the Universe. We find that their ellipticity profiles are continuously increasing with the galactocentric radius. Our fossil BCGs follow closely the fundamental plane described by normal ellipticals. However, they depart from both the log σ0 vs. log LKs and log re vs. log LKs relations described by intermediate-mass ellipticals. This occurs in the sense that our BGGs have larger effective radii and smaller velocity dispersions than those predicted by these relations. We also find that more elliptical galaxies systematically deviate from the previous relations, while rounder objects do not. No similar correlation was found with the Sérsic index. Conclusions. The derived scaling relations can be interpreted in terms of the formation scenario of the BGGs. Because our BGGs follow the fundamental plane tilt but have larger effective radii than expected for intermediate-mass ellipticals, we suggest that they only went through dissipational mergers in an early stage of their evolution and then assembled the bulk of their mass through subsequent dry mergers, contrary to previous claims that BGGs in FGs were mainly formed by the merging of gas-rich galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper describes a new method for quantifying the regularity of contours and comparing them (when encoded by Freeman chain codes) in terms of a similarity criterion which relies on information gathered from Levenshtein edit distance computation. The criterion used allows subsequences to be found from the minimal cost edit sequence that specifies an alignment of contour segments which are similar. Two external parameters adjust the similarity criterion. The information about each similar part is encoded by strings that represent an average contour region. An explanation of how to construct a prototype based on the identified regularities is also reviewed. The reliability of the prototypes is evaluated by replacing contour groups (samples) by new prototypes used as the training set in a classification task. This way, the size of the data set can be reduced without sensibly affecting its representational power for classification purposes. Experimental results show that this scheme achieves a reduction in the size of the training data set of about 80% while the classification error only increases by 0.45% in one of the three data sets studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigate the role of stellar mass in shaping the intrinsic thickness of galaxy discs by determining the probability distribution of apparent axial ratios ( ) for two different samples that probe the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. We find that the distribution has a characteristic ‘U-shape’ and identify a limiting mass below which low-mass galaxies start to be systematically thicker. This tendency holds for very faint ( ) dwarfs in the local volume, which are essentially spheroidal systems. We argue that galaxy shape is the result of the complex interplay between mass, specific angular momentum and stellar feedback effects. Thus, the increasing importance of turbulent motions in lower mass galaxies leads to the formation of thicker systems, a result supported by the latest hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxy formation and other theoretical expectations. We discuss several implications of this finding, including the formation of bars in faint galaxies, the deprojection of H i line profiles and simulations of environmental effects on the dwarf galaxy population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a comprehensive mathematical modelling generated by a cooperative research programme implying Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro – PUC/Rio and Tecnored, Tecnologia de Auto-Redução Ltda, designed and utilised in the early pilot plant development of the Tecnored process. It aimed to predict the heating and reduction behaviour of descending agglomerates in the upper zone of a packed bed type shaft furnace, e.g. the Tecnored reactor. In a very effective way, based on the results of the Tecnored pilot plant development, the mathematical modelling had been calibrated and has proved to be extremely important in the understanding of the various physical chemical phenomena occurring in this zone of the furnace, as well as a powerful tool to plan and implement new improvements into the process. Two case studies are presented in this paper, where the effects of different reactivities of the reductant and solid fuel, are simulated by the model for the upper zone of the furnace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We built a composite of three reconstructions of the solar modulation function over the Holocene. The reconstructions until 1950 are based on data from cosmogenic radionuclides and the present time (1951-2004) on neutron monitor data. Interpreting our composite as an index of solar activity, we were able to compare the current solar activity with the last 9 300 years. During this time span 25 periods with similar high activity than the current period were found. That corresponds to about 15% of the time which lead to the conclusion that currently the Sun is very but not exceptionally active. Our composite has a large potential for studies dealing with solar activity like the understanding of the solar dynamo and the reconstruction of solar forcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Research has shown that wind machines are more effective under conditions of strong thermal inversions. Quantitative relationships between the level of protection and inversion strength, however, are not well known, and there are few reports on the effect of fan operation on energy balance. Whether the wind machines should be started before surface cooling causes turbulence damping and atmospheric stratification or if it is possible to delay starting until just before the critical temperature occurs remains a matter of discussion. Therefore, experiments were conducted on 11 spring frost nights during the 1999 and 2000 to assess the effectiveness of a fan operation on frost protection of an apple orchard under different microclimatic conditions. The 11 frost events were characterized by light winds (0.58–1.92ms−1) and clear skies for most of the night, resulting in an average accumulated radiative loss of 2.67±0.38MJm−2. The air temperature increased immediately after the wind machines were started and the temperature rise depended on inversion strength. For each 1°C increase in temperature inversion strength between 1.5 and 15m height, wind machine operation caused a 0.3°C increase of air temperature at a 1.5m height within the main area affected by the fan operation. Using multiple regression, the area protected was significantly related to the temperature increase and the inversion strength. Wind machine operation reduced flower damage by 60% in 1999 and 37% in 2000. Distribution of flower damage varied spatially, and it was related to wind drift. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Feed intake and milk production responses to whole-crop cereal silages and ryegrass silage (RGS) supplemented with a fixed amount of concentrate were measured in three 4×4 Latin square-designed experiment with three 17-day periods using 12 Holstein cows. Diets consisted of a fixed amount of concentrate (10 kg) and one of the following silages offered ad libitum : RGS, Mondego wheat silage (MWS), Alva wheat silage (AWS), and triticale silage (TS). Silage dry matter intake and milk yield were significantly higher for RGS. Milk composition was not affected by silage treatment. The whole-crop cereal silages tended to show higher milk concentrations of anteiso C15:0, iso C15:0, C16:1 and C18:1 and lower concentrations of C18:2 and C18:3. This study suggests better response of dairy cows to a single cut RGS than to whole-crop cereal silages harvested in an early stage of maturity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase development of the olive tree is important for many purposes (e.g. adaptability, management, crop modelling). Many studies on the prediction of flowering used only data from one location and/or use a simple thermal time approach, what impairs the model ability to be used under different conditions. In this study, three models were evaluated and compared. Model 1 is a chill–heating model, that is a generalisation and simplification of the Utah model, with a thermal time approach in the forcing phase; Model 2 has a below 7 °C chill-hours model, followed by the same approach in the forcing phase; and Model 3 has no chilling description, and relies on a thermal time approach after 1 February. All models were calibrated using a data set of dates of flowering of five olive varieties that were grown in at least three locations, and the total chilling units accumulated (TU) until bud dormancy release, in the first two models, and the thermal time (TT) from this phase until flowering occurrence were determined. Validation followed on pooled data from 10 varieties grown in Cordoba, using the parameters from the calibration process (i.e. species level parameters) and the variety-specific TUs and TTs. The modelling efficiency was 0.92, 0.90 and 0.85, and the root mean square error of the predictions was 2.2, 2.5 and 2.8 days for Models 1–3, respectively. Although all three models depicted a good performance, Model 1 is more appropriate because it is physiologically meaningful. It should be preferred in all cases that the satisfaction of the chilling requirements of the species or variety is in doubt, and under different climate conditions. Three global warming scenarios A–C (daily maximum–minimum temperature increases of 1–3 °C) were analysed, using the three models. All models and scenarios predict that there is a substantial advancement of the date of flowering. Only Models 1 and 2 show that the warmer scenarios indicate no normal flowering in some varieties/years. Models 1 and 2 further show the possibility that some compensation occurs in the warmer scenarios. Scenario A predicts that flowering is 10.0 and 9.3 days earlier than normal using Models 1 and 2, respectively. Scenario C shows that the advance of flowering for 1 °C average temperature increase, in relation to Scenario B, is 7.4 and 5.2 days for Models 1 and 2, respectively. Model 1 and the algorithm that accompanies it might be useful to model the flowering occurrence of other woody species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) macroenzyme can result in elevated AST activity in patients with no disease. This case report describes a six-year-old boy who presented to his family doctor with a history of chronic constipation and lower back pain. Routine blood tests showed normal creatine kinase activity (CK), normal alanine aminotransferase activity (ALT) but raised AST. The patient was referred to a hospital paediatrician for further investigation of the abnormal AST and back pain. The raised AST was confirmed as the only biochemical abnormality. Further investigation with polyethylene glycol, followed by measurement of AST in the supernatant, showed undetectable enzyme activity. The sample was sent to a specialist laboratory where it was analysed by Sephacryl S300 gel filtration. This procedure confirmed the presence of a high molecular mass form of AST. AST macroenzyme should be considered as a cause of isolated AST increase, which may avoid further costly investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AIMS: To determine the reliability of a panel of blood tests in screening for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. METHODS: The subjects were 153 children referred to a paediatric gastroenterology department with possible inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Of these, 103 were found to have IBD (Crohn's disease 60, ulcerative colitis 37, indeterminate colitis 6). The 50 without IBD formed the controls. Blood tests evaluated included haemoglobin, platelet count, ESR, CRP, and albumin. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used where possible to determine optimal threshold values. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the five screening tests in combination, and a stepwise method was used to find the best test combination. RESULTS: The optimal screening strategy used a combination of haemoglobin and platelet count and "1 of 2 abnormal" as the criterion for positivity. This was associated with a sensitivity of 90.8% (95% CI 83.3 to 95.7%), a specificity of 80.0% (95% CI 65.7 to 89.8%), and positive and negative predictive values of 94.4% and 75.9% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Haemoglobin and platelet count provide a useful screening test combination for patients with suspected IBD. These tests are not completely reliable however. If clinical suspicion is high further investigations are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in the stellar population studies of unresolved galaxies in the NIR domain demonstrated that it contains several line-strength indices to be potentially used as diagnostics for stellar population properties. Reduction of the extinction and possibility to disentangle different stellar populations dominating different spectral ranges are obviously beneficial. To this aim, we have investigated the connections between 19 Lick/IDS indices and 39 NIR indices measured in the central regions of 32 galaxies observed with X-shooter. We adopted a systematic approach to deriving a correlation matrix using all the optical and NIR indices measured for the galaxies and building new NIR composite indices to maximize their correlations with the best age and metallicity optical tracers. We found that the new T1 and [AlFeCr] composite indices are promising age and metallicity diagnostics in NIR, respectively. We finally tested the T1 and [AlFeCr] indices with the predictions of simple stellar populations models, and we found that the models show a general agreement with the data. Some fine tuning and further comparison between models and data, which are now largely available, is necessary to reach the prediction level of the optical line-strength indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) are a commercially important species that support a longline fishery at the subantarctic island of South Georgia (CCAMLR Subarea 48.3). Understanding the life history of Patagonian toothfish is key to the successful management and sustainability of this fishery. Using catch data from the past 25-years, 1997 to 2021, we provide an updated assessment of the spatial, temporal, and demographic variability of Patagonian toothfish spawning at South Georgia. Our findings confirm that spawning occurs in the vicinity of the shelf-break of South Georgia, with significant spawning hotspots detected at Shag Rocks, midway along both the northern and southern shelf breaks, and at the eastern end of the island. The location of these hotspots were consistent over the 25-years examined. Based on data between 1997 and 2007, when fishing occurred routinely all around the island and at Shag Rocks, 40% of detected hotspot locations overlapped with regions where Benthic Closed Areas (BCAs) were established in 2008. With this, we can estimate that approximately 40% of spawning hotspots are located within, and already protected by, the existing network of BCAs. There was evidence that the timing of toothfish spawning exhibited bimodality at South Georgia with a peak in April being observed in the first two years of the time series. This peak fell outside the seasonally restricted fishing season for many subsequent years. These findings are discussed in the context of both historic, current, and possible future regulatory changes to this longline fishery. • Reconfirmed occurrence of persistent spawning hotspots of Patagonian toothfish at South Georgia. • Evidence that toothfish spawning at South Georgia exhibits bimodality, with a minor peak in April and a major peak at the end of July. • Toothfish Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) decreases during the major spawning periods at South Georgia. • Current Benthic Closed Areas overlap with 40% of spawning hotspots suggesting that these provide significant incidental protection to this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. The physical processes driving the evolution of star formation (SF) in galaxies over cosmic time still present many open questions. Recent galaxy surveys allow now to study these processes in great detail at intermediate redshift (0 ≤ z ≤ 0.5). Aims. We build a complete sample of star-forming galaxies and analyze their properties, reaching systems with low stellar masses and low star formation rates (SFRs) at intermediate-to-low redshift. Methods. We use data from the SHARDS multiband survey in the GOODS-North field. Its depth (up to magnitude ⟨m3σ⟩~ 26.5) and its spectro-photometric resolution (R ~ 50) provides us with an ideal dataset to search for emission line galaxies (ELGs). We develop a new algorithm to identify low-redshift (z < 0.36) ELGs by detecting the [OIII]5007 and Hα emission lines simultaneously. We fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the selected sample, using a model with two single stellar populations. Results. We find 160 star-forming galaxies for which we derive equivalent widths (EWs) and absolute fluxes of both emission lines. We detect EWs as low as 12 Å, with median values for the sample of ~35 Å in [OIII]5007 and ~56 Å in Hα, respectively. Results from the SED fitting show a young stellar population with low median metallicity (36% of the solar value) and extinction (AV ~ 0.37), with median galaxy stellar mass ~108.5M⊙. Gas-phase metallicities measured from available spectra are also low. ELGs in our sample present bluer colours in the UVJ plane than the median colour-selected star-forming galaxy in SHARDS. We suggest a new V-J colour criterion to separate ELGs from non-ELGs in blue galaxy samples. In addition, several galaxies present high densities of O-type stars, possibly producing galactic superwinds, which makes them interesting targets for follow-up spectroscopy. Conclusions. We have demonstrated the efficiency of SHARDS in detecting low-mass ELGs (~2 magnitudes deeper than previous spectroscopic surveys in the same field). The selected sample accounts for 20% of the global galaxy population at this redshift and luminosity, and is characterized by young SF bursts with sub-solar metallicities and low extinction. However, robust fits to the full SEDs can only be obtained including an old stellar population, suggesting the young component is built up by a recent burst of SF in an otherwise old galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a study of the bar fraction in the Coma cluster galaxies based on a sample of ~190 galaxies selected from the SDSS-DR6 and observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS). We explore the presence of bars, detected by visual classification, throughout an unprecedented luminosity range of 9 mag (-23 < Mr < -14). We find that bars are hosted by galaxies in a tight range of both luminosities (-22

Flattened bulges with disk-like properties are considered to be the end product of secular evolution processes at work in the inner regions of galaxies. On the contrary, classical bulges are characterized by rounder shapes and thought to be similar to low-luminosity elliptical galaxies. We aim at testing the variety of observational diagnostics which are commonly adopted to separate classical from disk-like bulges in nearby galaxies. We select a sample of eight unbarred lenticular galaxies to be morphologically and kinematically undisturbed with no evidence of other components than bulge and disk. We analyse archival data of broad-band imaging from SDSS and integral-field spectroscopy from the ATLAS3Dsurvey to derive the photometric and kinematic properties, line-strength indices, and intrinsic shape of the sample bulges. We argue that the bulge Sérsic index is a poor diagnostics to discriminate different bulge types. We find that the combination of line strength with either kinematic or photometric diagnostics does not provide a clear separation for half of the sample bulges. We include, for the first time, the intrinsic three-dimensional shape of bulges as a possible discriminant of their nature. All bulges turn out to be thick oblate spheroids, but only one has a flattening consistent with that expected for outer disks. We conclude that bulge classification may be difficult even adopting all observational diagnostics proposed so far and that classical and disk-like bulges could be more confidently identified by considering their intrinsic shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Evaluation of concepts and reactions on a public online forum concerning depression. Methods: Revision of 100 consecutive entries posted using an adapted Collazzi method. Results: Comments were divided according to their content and the main subjects found were symptomatology, suicide, therapeutic advice and concerns about medication, psychotherapy and alternative therapies. The effect of a support group was found to be present based on the comments to each individual post by diminishing loneliness and deconstructing desperation. Non-therapeutic opinions were expressed and there were high levels os expressed emotion. Conclusion: The absence of a ealth professional as group moderator may lead to conflict and misleading remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a spatially resolved spectroscopic study for the metal poor H  ii galaxy J084220+115000 using MEGARA Integral Field Unit observations at the Gran Telescopio Canarias. We estimated the gas metallicity using the direct method for oxygen, nitrogen, and helium and found a mean value of 12 + log (O/H) = 8.03 ± 0.06, and integrated electron density and temperature of ∼161 cm−3 and ∼15400 K, respectively. The metallicity distribution shows a large range of Δ(O/H) = 0.72 dex between the minimum and maximum (7.69 ± 0.06 and 8.42 ± 0.05) values, unusual in a dwarf star-forming galaxy. We derived an integrated log (N/O) ratio of −1.51 ± 0.05 and found that both N/O and O/H correspond to a primary production of metals. Spatially resolved maps indicate that the gas appears to be photoionized by massive stars according to the diagnostic line ratios. Between the possible mechanisms to explain the starburst activity and the large variation of oxygen abundance in this galaxy, our data support a possible scenario where we are witnessing an ongoing interaction triggering multiple star-forming regions localized in two dominant clumps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the prognostic significance of the traditional pathological indicators in prostate adenocarcinoma. Method; Results; Conclusion.

Next-generation wide-field spectroscopic surveys will observe the infall regions around large numbers of galaxy clusters with high sampling rates for the first time. Here, we assess the feasibility of extracting the large-scale cosmic web around clusters using forthcoming observations, given realistic observational constraints. We use a sample of 324 hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations of massive galaxy clusters from TheThreeHundred project to create a mock-observational catalogue spanning 5 R 200 around 160 analogue clusters. These analogues are matched in mass to the 16 clusters targetted by the forthcoming WEAVE Wide-Field Cluster Survey (WWFCS). We consider the effects of the fibre allocation algorithm on our sampling completeness and find that we successfully allocate targets to 81.7 |${\rm {per \,cent}}\, \pm$| 1.3 of the members in the cluster outskirts. We next test the robustness of the filament extraction algorithm by using a metric, D skel, which quantifies the distance to the filament spine. We find that the median positional offset between reference and recovered filament networks is D skel = 0.13 ± 0.02 Mpc, much smaller than the typical filament radius of ∼ 1 Mpc. Cluster connectivity of the recovered network is not substantially affected. Our findings give confidence that the WWFCS will be able to reliably trace cosmic web filaments in the vicinity around massive clusters, forming the basis of environmental studies into the effects of pre-processing on galaxy evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of vertical blowing fans (VBF) for frost protection in a vineyard on a steep slope near Napa Valley in Northern California, USA, and a tea plantation located on undulating terrain in Zhenjiang, China. Minimum temperature comparisons from within the grape vineyard on nights with and without VBF operation with control station minimum temperatures exhibited no temperature benefit. Profile measurements from the test in China indicated that there was an increase in temperature when the VBF was first started, but that benefit was lost over time. No clear benefit from using the VBF was observed. Observation of frost deposition and thermal imagery also showed no benefit except for within about 5 m of the VBF. Based on this work, the effectiveness of the VBF for frost protection was not validated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]