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We study the magnetic activity in the ultrafast rotator dMe HK Aqr using tomography techniques with high-resolution spectroscopy. We aim to characterize how this magnetic activity appears in a regime of very fast rotation without external forces, given that HK Aqr is, very likely, a single star. We find dark spots located at low latitudes. We also detect prominences below the co-rotation radius and at low latitudes, coinciding with the spot latitudes. This apparent low-latitude activity contrasts with what is typically observed in fast rotators, which tend to form large polar spots. Moreover, we detect a stellar flare that produces an enhancement of the continuum and additional emission in the core of most photospheric and chromospheric lines. We find evidence that the flare is ignited above an active region, as seen in solar flares. This means that, with high probability, the flare is initiated by magnetic reconnection in complex active regions. We also present evidence of bulk redshifted velocities of about 15 km s−1 during the rise of the flare, and velocities of 5–10 km s−1 during the decay phase. An estimation of the heating during the flare results in about 200 kK close to the peak and in 100 kK at the end of the observations.

Accordingly to its known function in corticospinal tract (CST) developmental growth, previous reports have shown an inhibitory role of Wnt5a in CST regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI). Interestingly, it has been subsequently demonstrated that Wnt5a also modulates the developmental growth of non‐CST axons and that different Wnt5a receptors are expressed in neurons, oligodendrocytes, NG2+ glial precursors and reactive microglia/macrophages and astrocytes after SCI. However, the role of Wnt5a in the response of these cell types, in the regeneration of non‐CST axons and in functional recovery after SCI is currently unknown. To evaluate this, rats were subjected to spinal cord contusion and injected with a lentiviral vector generated to overexpress Wnt5a. Histological analyses were performed in spinal cord sections processed for the visualization of myelin, oligodendrocytes, neurons, microglia/macrophages, astrocytes, NG2+ glial precursors and serotonergic axons. Motor and bladder function recovery were also assessed. Further advancing our knowledge on the role of Wnt5a in SCI, we found that, besides its previously reported functions, Wnt5a overexpression elicits a reduction on neuronal cell density, the accumulation of NG2+ glial precursors and the descending serotonergic innervation in the affected areas, along with impairment of motor and bladder function recovery after SCI.

Open clusters are central elements of our understanding of the Galactic disk evolution, as an accurate determination of their parameters leads to an unbiased picture of our Galaxy's structure. Extending the analysis towards fainter magnitudes in cluster sequences has a significant impact on the derived fundamental parameters, such as extinction and total mass. We perform a homogeneous analysis of six open stellar clusters in the Galactic disk using kinematic and photometric information from the Gaia DR2 and VVV surveys: NGC6067, NGC6259, NGC4815, Pismis18, Trumpler23, and Trumpler20. We implement two coarse-to-fine characterization methods: first, we employ Gaussian mixture models to tag fields around each open cluster in the proper motion space, and then we apply an unsupervised machine learning method to make the membership assignment to each cluster. For the studied clusters, with ages in the $\sim$120-1900 Myr range, we report an increase of $\sim$45 % new member candidates on average in our sample. The data-driven selection approach of cluster members makes our catalog a valuable resource for testing stellar evolutionary models and for assessing the cluster low-to-intermediate mass populations. This study is the first of a series intended to homogeneously reveal open cluster near-infrared sequences., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, MNRAS accepted. v2: keywords and references updated at proof stage

espanolObjetivo Desarrollar un documento de consenso para estandarizar los terminos, abreviaturas y acronimos en espanol empleados en el campo de las espondiloartritis (EspA). Metodos Se creo un grupo de trabajo internacional compuesto por todos los miembros de Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) nativos de habla espanola, miembros del comite ejecutivo del Grupo para el estudio de la Espondiloartritis de la Sociedad Espanola de Reumatologia (GRESSER), 2 metodologos, 2 linguistas de la Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de Espana (RANM) y 2 pacientes de la Coordinadora Espanola de Asociaciones de Espondilitis (CEADE). Se realizo una revision de la literatura de los ultimos 15 anos (publicaciones, el CIE y CIF, guias, consensos y recomendaciones) para identificar los terminos, abreviaturas y acronimos discrepantes. Mediante un Delphi de 3 rondas y una reunion presencial, se discutieron, seleccionaron y acordaron los terminos, abreviaturas y acronimos a utilizar. Durante todo este proceso se siguieron las recomendaciones de la RANM basadas en el Diccionario panhispanico de terminos medicos. Resultados Se consensuaron 46 terminos, abreviaturas y acronimos. Se acepto la traduccion al espanol para 6 terminos y 6 abreviaturas empleados para nombrar o clasificar la enfermedad y para 6 terminos y 4 abreviaturas relacionados con las EspA. Se acordo no traducir 15 acronimos por estar ya establecidos, pero al mencionarlos, se recomendo seguir esta estructura: tipo de acronimo en espanol y acronimo y forma extensa en ingles. Con respecto a 7 terminos o abreviaturas asociados a acronimos, se acordo traducir solo la forma extensa y se consensuo una traduccion. Conclusiones Con esta estandarizacion del lenguaje de las EspA se pretende establecer un uso comun de la nomenclatura en espanol para las EspA. Su implementacion sera muy beneficiosa, evitando malentendidos y consumo de recursos. EnglishObjective To develop a consensus to standardize the use of Spanish terms, abbreviations and acronyms in the field of spondyloarthritis (SpA). Methods An international task force comprising all native Spanish-speaking Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) members, the executive committee of Grupo para el estudio de la Espondiloartritis de la Sociedad Espanola de Reumatologia (GRESSER), two methodologists, two linguists from the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de Espana (RANM) and two patients from the Spanish Coordinator of Spondylitis Associations (CEADE) was established. A literature review was performed to identify the conflicting terms/abbreviations/acronyms in SpA. This review examined written sources in Spanish including manuscripts, ICF and ICD, guidelines, recommendations and consensuses. This was followed by a nominal group meeting and a three-round Delphi. The recommendations from the RANM based on the Panhispanic dictionary were followed throughout the process. Results Consensus was reached for 46 terms, abbreviations or acronyms related to the field of SpA. A Spanish translation was accepted for 6 terms and 6 abbreviations to name or classify the disease, and for 6 terms and 4 abbreviations related to SpA. It was agreed not to translate 15 acronyms into Spanish. However, when mentioning them, it was recommended to follow this structure: type of acronym in Spanish and acronym and expanded form in English. With regard to 7 terms or abbreviations attached to acronyms, it was agreed to translate only the expanded form and a translation was also selected for each of them. Conclusions Through this standardization, it is expected to establish a common use of the Spanish nomenclature for SpA. The implementation of this consensus across the community will be of substantial benefit, avoiding misunderstandings and time-consuming processes.

Despite the emerging role of protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) as a Wnt co-receptor and the relevant functions of the Wnt family of proteins in spinal cord injury (SCI), the potential involvement of PTK7 in SCI is currently unknown. As a first essential step to shed light on this issue, we evaluated the spatio-temporal and cellular expression patterns of PTK7 in healthy and traumatically injured rat and human spinal cords. In the uninjured rats, PTK7 expression was observed in the ependymal epithelium, endothelial cells, meningeal fibronectin-expressing cells, and specific axonal tracts, but not in microglia, astrocytes, neurons, oligodendrocytes, or NG2+ cells. After rat SCI, the mRNA expression of PTK7 was significantly increased, while its spatio-temporal and cellular protein expression patterns also suffered evident changes in the injured region. Briefly, the expression of PTK7 in the affected areas was observed in axons, reactive astrocytes, NG2+ and fibronectin-expressing cells, and in a subpopulation of reactive microglia/macrophages and blood vessels. Finally, in both healthy and traumatically injured human spinal cords, PTK7 expression pattern was similar to that observed in the rat, although some specific differences were found. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that PTK7 is constitutively expressed in the healthy adult rat and human spinal cord and that its expression pattern clearly varied after rat and human SCI which, to our knowledge, constitutes the first experimental evidence pointing to the potential involvement of this co-receptor in physiological and pathological spinal cord functioning.

Despite the experimental evidence pointing to a significant role of the Wnt family of proteins in physiological and pathological rodent spinal cord functioning, its potential relevance in the healthy and traumatically injured human spinal cord as well as its therapeutic potential in spinal cord injury (SCI) are still poorly understood. To get further insight into these interesting issues, we first demonstrated by quantitative Real-Time PCR and simple immunohistochemistry that detectable mRNA expression of most Wnt components, as well as protein expression of all known Wnt receptors, can be found in the healthy human spinal cord, supporting its potential involvement in human spinal cord physiology. Moreover, evaluation of Frizzled (Fz) 1 expression by double immunohistochemistry showed that its spatio-temporal and cellular expression pattern in the traumatically injured human spinal cord is equivalent to that observed in a clinically relevant model of rat SCI and suggests its potential involvement in SCI progression/outcome. Accordingly, we found that long-term lentiviral-mediated overexpression of the Fz1 ligand Wnt1 after rat SCI improves motor functional recovery, increases myelin preservation and neuronal survival, and reduces early astroglial reactivity and NG2+ cell accumulation, highlighting the therapeutic potential of Wnt1 in this neuropathological situation.

The extinction law from $0.9$ to $8$ microns in the inner $3\times3$ deg$^2$ of the Milky Way is measured using data from VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea, GLIMPSE and WISE. Absolute extinction ratios are found by requiring that the observed red clump density peaks at the GRAVITY collaboration distance to the Galactic centre. When combined with selective extinction ratios measured from the bulge giant colour-colour diagrams, we find an extinction law of $A_Z:A_Y:A_J:A_H:A_{K_s}:A_{W1}:A_{[3.6]}:A_{[4.5]}:A_{W2}:A_{[5.8]}:A_{[8.0]} =7.19(0.30):5.11(0.20):3.23(0.11):1.77(0.04):1:0.54(0.02):0.46(0.03):0.34(0.03):0.32(0.03):0.24(0.04):0.28(0.03)$ valid for low extinctions where non-linearities are unimportant. These results imply an extinction law from the Rayleigh Jeans colour excess method (RJCE) of $A_{K_s}=0.677(H-[4.5]-0.188)$. We find little evidence for significant selective extinction ratio variation over the inspected region (around $5\%$). Assuming the absolute extinction ratios do not vary across the inspected region gives an independent measurement of the absolute $K_s$ magnitude of the red clump at the Galactic Centre of $(-1.61\pm0.07)\,\mathrm{mag}$. This is very similar to the value measured for solar neighbourhood red clump stars giving confidence in the use of red clump stars as standard candles across the Galaxy. As part of our analysis, we inspect the completeness of PSF photometry from the VVV survey using artificial star tests, finding $90\%$ completeness at $K_s\approx16 \,(17)$ in high (low) density regions and good agreement with the number counts with respect to the GALACTICNUCLEUS and DECAPS catalogues over small regions of the survey., Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

We report the serendipitous discovery of a late-type giant star that exhibited a smooth, eclipse-like drop in flux to a depth of 97 per cent. Minimum flux occurred in April 2012 and the total event duration was a few hundred days. Light curves in V, I and K$_s$ from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment and VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea surveys show a remarkably achromatic event. During 17 years of observational coverage of this source only one such event was detected. The physical properties of the giant star itself appear somewhat unusual, which may ultimately provide a clue towards the nature of the system. By modelling the event as an occultation by an object that is elliptical in projection with uniform transparency, we place limits on its physical size and velocity. We find that the occultation is unlikely to be due to a chance alignment with a foreground object. We consider a number of possible candidates for the occulter, which must be optically thick and possess a radius or thickness in excess of 0.25 au. None are completely satisfactory matches to all the data. The duration, depth and relative achromaticity of the dip mark this out as an exceptionally unusual event, whose secret has still not been fully revealed. We find two further candidates in the VVV survey and we suggest that these systems, and two previously known examples, may point to a broad class of long period eclipsing binaries wherein a giant star is occulted by a circumsecondary disc., 18 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in the MNRAS main journal

With the aim of producing a 3D representation of tumours, IMAXT uses a large variety of modalities in order to acquire tumour samples and produce a map of every cell in the tumour and its host environment. With the large volume and variety of data produced in the project we develop automatic data workflows and analysis pipelines and introduce a research methodology where scientists connect to a cloud environment to perform analysis close to where data are located instead of bringing data to their local computers. Here we present the data and analysis infrastructure, discuss the unique computational challenges and describe the analysis chains developed and deployed to generate molecularly annotated tumour models. Registration is achieved by use of a novel technique involving spherical fiducial marks that are visible in all imaging modalities used within IMAXT.

Boyajian's star is an apparently normal main sequence F-type star with a very unusual light curve. The dipping activity of the star, discovered during the Kepler mission, presents deep, asymmetric, and aperiodic events. Here we present high resolution spectroscopic follow-up during some dimming events recorded post-Kepler observations, from ground-based telescopes. We analise data from the HERMES, HARPS-N and FIES spectrographs to characterise the stellar atmosphere and to put some constraints on the hypotheses that have appeared in the literature concerning the occulting elements. The star's magnetism, if existing, is not extreme. The spots on the surface, if present, would occupy 0.02% of the area, at most. The chromosphere, irrespective of the epoch of observation, is hotter than the values expected from radiative equilibrium, meaning that the star has some degree of activity. We find no clear evidence of the interstellar medium nor exocoments being responsible for the dimmings of the light curve. However, we detect at 1-2 sigma level, a decrease of the radial velocity of the star during the first dip recorded after the \emph{\emph{Kepler}} observations. We claim the presence of an optically thick object with likely inclined and high impact parameter orbits that produces the observed Rossiter-McLaughlin effect., Comment: submitted to MNRAS

La creciente preocupación por la sostenibilidad ha dado paso a destinar esfuerzos en la gestión efectiva del ciclo de vida de los diferentes bienes y/o productos, incluyendo su disposición final una vez se llega al término de su vida útil; de esta forma surge la necesidad de generar alternativas que permitan un eficiente retorno y disposición de estos. La logística inversa es un conjunto de actividades que permiten entre otros determinar la mejor acción a seguir cuando un bien ha cumplido su ciclo de vida, considerando alternativas tales como su reparación, renovación, redistribución, reciclaje, o destrucción final, minimizando la afectación del medioambiente. La Armada Nacional ha dado pasos significativos en la implementación de la Logística Inversa en sus procesos de gestión del ciclo de vida de los activos en sus diferentes componentes, sin embargo se evidencian debilidades que deben ser atendidas de manera prioritaria para fortalecer estos procesos, y lograr el impacto deseado.

We have investigated the stellar and interstellar content of the distant star formation region IRAS 17591-2228 (WISE HII region GAL 007.47+0.06). It is associated to a water maser, whose parallax distance is d=20.4^{+2.8} {-2.2} kpc, supported by independent measurements of proper motion and radial velocity. It is projected in the same direction as an extremely red (J-Ks ~ 6 mag) group of stars, and a shell of mid-infrared emission. We qualify the group of stars as a cluster candidate, VVV CL177. Its radius spans between 0.45' and 1' and contains at least two young stellar objects with an extreme extinction near Av ~ 40 mag. Yet more analysis will be required to determine is it is a real single cluster associated with the water maser. The 13CO emissions at the radial velocity of the maser corresponds to the mid-infrared emission., 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

The interactive services of Cuban Terrestrial Digital Television (TDT) offer useful information to viewers. Currently, the processes that ensure the operation of interactive services in Cuba require a complex and expensive hardware infrastructure. In addition, the service provider has the obligation to pay licenses for the use of proprietary software that limits its modification to adapt it to the real needs. A new solution is presented in this paper, that obtains the interactivity data packages them according to the defined standard and delivers the TS following two methods: by IP/UDP and by means of a modulation device. The complete process was tested at the laboratory level and its proper functioning was verified in several available STBs and in the analysis of the formed TS following the standard. The software called PaqTVC+ is multiplatform, sovereign and requires few resources for its operation so it can be used as a practical tool in Cuban TDT and opens up new possibilities for its development.

Four observations of Starlink's LEO communication satellites, Darksat and STARLINK-1113, were conducted on two nights with two telescopes. The Chakana 0.6\,m telescope at the Ckoirama observatory (Chile) observed both satellites on 5\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) and 7\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) using a Sloan r' and Sloan i' filter, respectively. The ESO VISTA 4.1\,m telescope with the VIRCAM instrument observed both satellites on 5\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) and 7\,Mar\,2020 (UTC) in the NIR J-band and Ks-band, respectively. The calibration, image processing, and analysis of the Darksat images give r\,$\approx$\,5.6\,mag, i\,$\approx$\,5.0\,mag, J\,$\approx$\,4.2\,mag, and Ks\,$\approx$\,4.0\,mag when scaled to a range of 550\,km (airmass $=1$) and corrected for the solar incidence and observer phase angles. In comparison, the STARLINK-1113 images give r\,$\approx$\,4.9\,mag, i\,$\approx$\,4.4\,mag, J\,$\approx$\,3.8\,mag, and Ks\,$\approx$\,3.6\,mag when corrected for range, solar incidence, and observer phase angles. The data and results presented in this work show that the special darkening coating used by Starlink for Darksat has darkened the Sloan r' magnitude by 50\,\%, Sloan i' magnitude by 42\,\%, NIR J magnitude by 32\,\%, and NIR Ks magnitude by 28\,\%. The results show that both satellites increase in reflective brightness with increasing wavelength and that the effectiveness of the darkening treatment is reduced at longer wavelengths. This shows that the mitigation strategies being developed by Starlink and other LEO satellite operators need to take into account other wavelengths, not just the optical. This work highlights the continued importance of obtaining multi-wavelength observations of many different LEO satellites in order to characterise their reflective properties and to aid the community in developing impact simulations and developing mitigation tools., Accepted for publication in A&A, 10 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables

Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.--Full list of authors: Ackley, K.; Amati, L.; Barbieri, C.; Bauer, F. E.; Benetti, S.; Bernardini, M. G.; Bhirombhakdi, K.; Botticella, M. T.; Branchesi, M.; Brocato, E.; Bruun, S. H.; Bulla, M.; Campana, S.; Cappellaro, E.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Chambers, K. C.; Chaty, S.; Chen, T. -W.; Ciolfi, R.; Coleiro, A.; Copperwheat, C. M.; Covino, S.; Cutter, R.; D'Ammando, F.; D'Avanzo, P.; De Cesare, G.; D'Elia, V.; Della Valle, M.; Denneau, L.; De Pasquale, M.; Dhillon, V. S.; Dyer, M. J.; Elias-Rosa, N.; Evans, P. A.; Eyles-Ferris, R. A. J.; Fiore, A.; Fraser, M.; Fruchter, A. S.; Fynbo, J. P. U.; Galbany, L.; Gall, C.; Galloway, D. K.; Getman, F. I.; Ghirlanda, G.; Gillanders, J. H.; Gomboc, A.; Gompertz, B. P.; González-Fernández, C.; González-Gaitán, S.; Grado, A.; Greco, G.; Gromadzki, M.; Groot, P. J.; Gutiérrez, C. P.; Heikkilä, T.; Heintz, K. E.; Hjorth, J.; Hu, Y. -D.; Huber, M. E.; Inserra, C.; Izzo, L.; Japelj, J.; Jerkstrand, A.; Jin, Z. P.; Jonker, P. G.; Kankare, E.; Kann, D. A.; Kennedy, M.; Kim, S.; Klose, S.; Kool, E. C.; Kotak, R.; Kuncarayakti, H.; Lamb, G. P.; Leloudas, G.; Levan, A. J.; Longo, F.; Lowe, T. B.; Lyman, J. D.; Magnier, E.; Maguire, K.; Maiorano, E.; Mandel, I.; Mapelli, M.; Mattila, S.; McBrien, O. R.; Melandri, A.; Michałowski, M. J.; Milvang-Jensen, B.; Moran, S.; Nicastro, L.; Nicholl, M.; Nicuesa Guelbenzu, A.; Nuttal, L.; Oates, S. R.; O'Brien, P. T.; Onori, F.; Palazzi, E.; Patricelli, B.; Perego, A.; Torres, M. A. P.; Perley, D. A.; Pian, E.; Pignata, G.; Piranomonte, S.; Poshyachinda, S.; Possenti, A.; Pumo, M. L.; Quirola-Vásquez, J.; Ragosta, F.; Ramsay, G.; Rau, A.; Rest, A.; Reynolds, T. M.; Rosetti, S. S.; Rossi, A.; Rosswog, S.; Sabha, N. B.; Sagués Carracedo, A.; Salafia, O. S.; Salmon, L.; Salvaterra, R.; Savaglio, S.; Sbordone, L.; Schady, P.; Schipani, P.; Schultz, A. S. B.; Schweyer, T.; Smartt, S. J.; Smith, K. W.; Smith, M.; Sollerman, J.; Srivastav, S.; Stanway, E. R.; Starling, R. L. C.; Steeghs, D.; Stratta, G.; Stubbs, C. W.; Tanvir, N. R.; Testa, V.; Thrane, E.; Tonry, J. L.; Turatto, M.; Ulaczyk, K.; van der Horst, A. J.; Vergani, S. D.; Walton, N. A.; Watson, D.; Wiersema, K.; Wiik, K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Yang, S.; Yi, S. -X.; Young, D. R., Context. Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has rapidly reached maturity, becoming a fundamental observing window for modern astrophysics. The coalescences of a few tens of black hole (BH) binaries have been detected, while the number of events possibly including a neutron star (NS) is still limited to a few. On 2019 August 14, the LIGO and Virgo interferometers detected a high-significance event labelled S190814bv. A preliminary analysis of the GW data suggests that the event was likely due to the merger of a compact binary system formed by a BH and a NS. Aims. In this paper, we present our extensive search campaign aimed at uncovering the potential optical and near infrared electromagnetic counterpart of S190814bv. We found no convincing electromagnetic counterpart in our data. We therefore use our non-detection to place limits on the properties of the putative outflows that could have been produced by the binary during and after the merger. Methods. Thanks to the three-detector observation of S190814bv, and given the characteristics of the signal, the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations delivered a relatively narrow localisation in low latency - a 50% (90%) credible area of 5 deg2 (23 deg2) - despite the relatively large distance of 267 ± 52 Mpc. ElectromagNetic counterparts of GRAvitational wave sources at the VEry Large Telescope collaboration members carried out an intensive multi-epoch, multi-instrument observational campaign to identify the possible optical and near infrared counterpart of the event. In addition, the ATLAS, GOTO, GRAWITA-VST, Pan-STARRS, and VINROUGE projects also carried out a search on this event. In this paper, we describe the combined observational campaign of these groups. Results. Our observations allow us to place limits on the presence of any counterpart and discuss the implications for the kilonova (KN), which was possibly generated by this NS-BH merger, and for the strategy of future searches. The typical depth of our wide-field observations, which cover most of the projected sky localisation probability (up to 99.8%, depending on the night and filter considered), is r ∼ 22 (resp. K ∼ 21) in the optical (resp. near infrared). We reach deeper limits in a subset of our galaxy-targeted observations, which cover a total ∼50% of the galaxy-mass-weighted localisation probability. Altogether, our observations allow us to exclude a KN with large ejecta mass M 0.1 M- to a high (> 90%) confidence, and we can exclude much smaller masses in a sub-sample of our observations. This disfavours the tidal disruption of the neutron star during the merger. Conclusions. Despite the sensitive instruments involved in the campaign, given the distance of S190814bv, we could not reach sufficiently deep limits to constrain a KN comparable in luminosity to AT 2017gfo on a large fraction of the localisation probability. This suggests that future (likely common) events at a few hundred megaparsecs will be detected only by large facilities with both a high sensitivity and large field of view. Galaxy-targeted observations can reach the needed depth over a relevant portion of the localisation probability with a smaller investment of resources, but the number of galaxies to be targeted in order to get a fairly complete coverage is large, even in the case of a localisation as good as that of this event. © K. Ackley et al. 2020., Based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory under ESO programmes 1102.D-0353(E), 1102.D0353(F), 1102.D-0353(Q), 1102.D-0353(G), 0103.D-0070(A), 0103.D-0070(B), 0103.D-0703(A), 0103.D-0722(A), 0103.A-9099(A), 198.D-2010(D) and 60.A9285(A). ATLAS is primarily funded through NEO NASA grants NN12AR55G, 80NSSC18K0284, and 80NSSC18K1575. The ATLAS science products have been made possible through the contributions of the University of Hawaii IfA, the Queen's University Belfast, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and the South African Astronomical Observatory. PanSTARRS is primarily funded through NEO NASA grants NASA Grants NNX08AR22G, NNX14AM74G. The PanSTARRS science products for LIGO-Virgo follow-up are made possible through the contributions of the University of Hawaii IfA and the Queen's University Belfast. The Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer (GOTO) project acknowledges the support of the Monash-Warwick Alliance; Warwick University; Monash University; She ffield University; Leicester University; Armagh Observatory & Planetarium; the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT); University of Portsmouth; Turku University and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC). Part of the funding for GROND was generously granted from the Leibniz-Prize to Prof. G. Hasinger (DFG grant HA 1850/28-1). The Liverpool Telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. The WHT and its override programme are operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias; part of these data were taken under program (19A)N3. FEB thanks CONICYT Basal AFB-170002 and Chile's Ministry of Economy fund IC120009. MGB, PDA and AM acknowledge support from ASI grant I/004/11/3. MBr, EC, AP and SPi acknowledge support from MIUR (PRIN 2017 grant 20179ZF5KS). EB, EM and MT acknowledge funding from GRAWITA. SHB is indebted to the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF132) for support. SCa acknowledges support from grant MAE0065741. EC acknowledges the support of the H2020 OPTICON programme 730890. TWC acknowledges the Humboldt Foundation and Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant 842471. MDP thanks Istanbul University for support. PAE acknowledges UKSA support. RAJEF is supported by an STFC studentship. MF is supported by a Royal Society -SFI University Research Fellowship. LG was funded by the EU H2020 programme under MSCA grant no. 839090. CG, JH and LI were supported by a research grant from VILLUM FONDEN (project 16599). CG and LI were supported by a research grant from VILLUM FONDEN (25501). GGh acknowledges the PRIN MIUR "Figaro" for financial support. AGo acknowledges financial support from the Slovenian Research Agency (grants P1-0031, I0-0033, and J1-8136). BPG, AJL and JDL acknowledge support from ERC grant 725246 (TEDE, PI Levan). SGG acknowledges support by FCT Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia and by Project PTDC/FIS-AST-31546. GGr acknowledges the ESCAPE H2020 project no. 824064. MG is supported by the Polish NCN MAESTRO grant 2014/14/A/ST9/00121. PJG acknowledges support from NOVA and from the South African NRF SARChI grant 111692. CPG and MS acknowledge support from EU/FP7-ERC grant no. 615929. KEH acknowledges support by a Project Grant from The Icelandic Research Fund. YDH acknowledges support from the China Scholarships Council. JJ acknowledges support from NOVA and NWO-FAPESP grant for instrumentation. AJ acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC). ZPJ was supported by the Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of Jiangsu Province (no. BK20180050). PGJ acknowledges funding from the ERC under Consolidator Grant agreement no. 647208. DAK acknowledges Spanish research project RTI2018-098104-J-I00 (GRBPhot). SKl acknowledges support by DFG grant Kl 766/16-3. ECK acknowledges support from the GREAT research environment. GPL acknowledges support from STFC via grant ST/N000757/1. GL was supported by a research grant (19054) from VILLUM FONDEN. KM acknowledges support from the ERC (grant no. 758638). IM is partially supported by OzGrav (ARC project CE17010000). MMacknowledges support from ERC through ERC-2017-CoG no. 770017. MJM acknowledges the National Science Centre, Poland, grant 2018/30/E/ST9/00208. BMJ and DW are supported by Independent Research Fund Denmark grant DFF-7014-00017. MN is supported by a Royal Astronomical Society Research Fellowship. ANG acknowledges support by grant DFG Kl 766/16-3. PTOB acknowledges funding from STFC. SRO gratefully acknowledges the support of the Leverhulme Trust. FO acknowledges the support of the H2020 Hemera program, grant no. 730970. MAPT was supported by grants RYC-2015-17854 and AYA201783216-P. EP aknowledges financial support from INAF. GP is supported by the Millennium Science Initiative through grant IC120009. MLP is partially supported by a "Linea 2" project of the Catania University. JQV acknowledges support from CONICYT folio 21180886. TMR acknowledges the support of the Vilho, Yrjo and Kalle Vaisala Foundation. ARo acknowledges support from Premiale LBT 2013. SR is supported by VR grants 2016-03657_3 and the research environment grant GREAT, Dnr. 2016-06012, and the Swedish National Space board, Dnr. 107/16. OSS acknowledges the Italian Ministry of Research (MIUR) grant 1.05.06.13. LSa acknowledges the Irish Research Council Scholarship no. GOIPG/2017/1525. SJS acknowledges support from STFC Grant ST/P000312/1. ERS and DS acknowledge funding from UK STFC CG ST/P000495/1. RLCS acknowledges funding from STFC. DS acknowledges support from STFC via grant ST/T007184/1. SDV acknowledges the support of the CNES. LWsupported by Polish NCN DAINA 2017/27/L/ST9/03221. The Cosmic DAWN center is funded by the Danish National Research Foundation.

We present the results of the light curve model fitting technique applied to optical and near-infrared photometric data for a sample of 18 Classical Cepheids (11 fundamentals and 7 first overtones) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We use optical photometry from the OGLE III database and near--infrared photometry obtained by the European Southern bservatory public survey "VISTA near--infrared survey of the Magellanic Clouds system". Iso--periodic nonlinear convective model sequences have been computed for each selected Cepheid in order to reproduce the multi--filter light curve amplitudes and shape details. The inferred individual distances provide an intrinsic weighted mean value for the LMC distance modulus of $\mu_0=18.56$ mag with a standard deviation of 0.13 mag. We derive also the Period--Radius, the Period--Luminosity and the Period--Wesenheit relations that are consistent with similar relations in the literature. The intrinsic masses and luminosities of the best--fitting models show that all the investigated pulsators are brighter than the redictions of the canonical evolutionary mass--luminosity relation, suggesting a significant efficiency of non--canonical phenomena, such as overshooting, mass loss and/or rotation., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, MNRAS accepted

NGC 2345 is a young open cluster hosting seven blue and red supergiants, low metallicity and a high fraction of Be stars which makes it a privileged laboratory to study stellar evolution. We aim to improve the determination of the cluster parameters and study the Be phenomenon. Our objective is also to characterise its seven evolved stars by deriving their atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances. We performed a complete analysis combining for the first time $ubvy$ photometry with spectroscopy as well as $Gaia$ Data Release 2. We obtained spectra with classification purposes for 76 stars and high-resolution spectroscopy for an in-depth analysis of the blue and red evolved stars. We identify a new red supergiant and 145 B-type likely members within a radius of 18.7$\pm$1.2 arcmin, which implies an initial mass, $M_{\textrm{cl}}\approx$5200 M$_{\odot}$. We find a distance of 2.5$\pm$0.2 kpc for NGC 2345, placing it at $R_{\textrm{GC}}$=10.2$\pm$0.2 kpc. Isochrone fitting supports an age of 56$\pm$13 Ma, implying masses around 6.5 M$_{\odot}$ for the supergiants. A high fraction of Be stars ($\approx$10$\%$) is found. From the spectral analysis we estimate for the cluster an average $v_{\textrm{rad}}$=$+58.6\pm0.5$ kms$^{-1}$ and a low metallicity, [Fe/H]=$-$0.28$\pm$0.07. We also have determined chemical abundances for Li, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Ni, Rb, Y, and Ba for the evolved stars. The chemical composition of the cluster is consistent with that of the Galactic thin disc. One of the K supergiants, S50, is a Li-rich star, presenting an A(Li)$\approx$2.1. An overabundance of Ba is found, supporting the enhanced $s$-process. NGC 2345 has a low metallicity for its Galactocentric distance, comparable to typical LMC stars. It is massive enough to serve as a testbed for theoretical evolutionary models for massive intermediate-mass stars., Comment: 26 pages, 19 figures and 16 tables. Accepted for publication in A&A

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder with no cure, and elucidation of the mechanisms mediating neuronal death in this neuropathology is crucial to develop effective treatments. It has recently been demonstrated in animal models that the Wnt family of proteins is involved in this neuropathology, although its potential involvement in case of humans is almost unknown. We analyzed the expression of Wnt signaling components in healthy and ALS human spinal cords by quantitative RT-PCR, and we found that most Wnt ligands, modulators, receptors, and co-receptors were expressed in healthy controls. Moreover, we observed clear alterations in the mRNA expression of different components of this family of proteins in human spinal cord tissue from ALS cases. Specifically, we detected a significant increase in the mRNA levels of Wnt3, Wnt4, Fz2, and Fz8, together with several non-significant increases in the mRNA expression of other genes such as Wnt2b, Wnt5a, Fz3, Lrp5, and sFRP3. Based on these observations and on previous reports of studies performed in animal models, we evaluated with immunohistochemistry the protein expression patterns of Fz2 and Fz5 receptors and their main ligand Wnt5a in control samples and ALS cases. No substantial changes were observed in Fz5 protein expression pattern in ALS samples. However, we detected an increase in the amount of Fz2+ astrocytes in the borderline between gray and white matter at the ventral horn in ALS samples. Finally, Wnt5a expression was observed in neurons and astrocytes in both control and ALS samples, although Wnt5a immunolabeling in astroglial cells was significantly increased in ALS spinal cords in the same region where changes in Fz2 were observed. Altogether, these observations strongly suggest that the Wnt family of proteins, and more specifically Fz2 and Wnt5a, might be involved in human ALS pathology.

We report the discovery of VVV-WIT-04, a near-infrared variable source towards the Galactic disk located ~0.2 arcsec apart from the position of the radio source PMN J1515-5559. The object was found serendipitously in the near-IR data of the ESO public survey VISTA Variables in the V\'ia L\'actea (VVV). Our analysis is based on variability, multicolor, and proper motion data from VVV and VVV eXtended surveys, complemented with archive data at longer wavelengths. We suggest that VVV-WIT-04 has an extragalactic origin as the near-IR counterpart of PMN J1515-5559. The Ks-band light-curve of VVV-WIT-04 is highly variable and consistent with that of an Optically Violent Variable (OVV) quasar. The variability in the near-IR can be interpreted as the redshifted optical variability. Residuals to the proper motion varies with the magnitude suggesting contamination by a blended source. Alternative scenarios, including a transient event such as a nova or supernova, or even a binary microlensing event are not in agreement with the available data., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder characterized by upper and lower motor neuron degeneration, which leads to progressive paralysis of skeletal muscles and, ultimately, respiratory failure between 2-5 years after symptom onset. Unfortunately, currently accepted treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are extremely scarce and only provide modest benefit. As a consequence, a great effort is being done by the scientific community in order to achieve a better understanding of the different molecular and cellular processes that influence the progression and/or outcome of this neuropathological condition and, therefore, unravel new potential targets for therapeutic intervention. Interestingly, a growing number of experimental evidences have recently shown that, besides its well-known physiological roles in the developing and adult central nervous system, the Wnt family of proteins is involved in different neuropathological conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These proteins are able to modulate, at least, three different signaling pathways, usually known as canonical (β-catenin dependent) and non-canonical (β-catenin independent) signaling pathways. In the present review, we aim to provide a general overview of the current knowledge that supports the relationship between the Wnt family of proteins and its associated signaling pathways and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathology, as well as their possible mechanisms of action. Altogether, the currently available knowledge suggests that Wnt signaling modulation might be a promising therapeutic approach to ameliorate the histopathological and functional deficits associated to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , and thus improve the progression and outcome of this neuropathology.

Background In the last three decades, major advances in the spondyloarthritis (SpA) field have been achieved leading to new terminology. Whilst this terminology is well established in English, there is concern about the disparity of translated words and acronyms in Spanish, which is used by more than 437 million people in 21 countries. Objectives To develop a consensus to standardise the use of the Spanish terms, abbreviations and acronyms employed in the field of SpA. Methods An international task force was created comprising of all ASAS Spanish-speaking native members representing 5 countries, the executive committee members of GRESSER, two methodologists, two linguists from Real Academia Nacional de la Medicina Espanola (RANM) and two patients from CEADE. First, a literature review spanning the last 15 years was performed to identify the conflicting terms/abbreviations/acronyms. This review examined available written sources in Spanish including manuscripts, ICF and ICD, guidelines, recommendations and consensus. A three-round Delphi method including a face-to-face meeting, then followed. The recommendations from the RANM based on the Panhispanic dictionary in medical terms were consistently followed throughout the process. Results Consensus was reached for 44 terms, abbreviations or acronyms related to the field of SpA. A Spanish translation was accepted for 6 terms and 6 abbreviations to name the disease or its subgroups (SpA, axSpA, nr-axSpA, pSpA, AS, r-SpA, PsA) and for 6 terms and 4 abbreviations related with the disease (enthesitis, sacroiliitis, IBP, MRI-SIJ, BME, mNY). Additionally, it was agreed not to translate into Spanish 15 acronyms because they are very well established (ASDAS, BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI, mSASSS, RASS, BASRI, BAS-G, ASQoL, PsAQoL, MASES, MASEI, PASI, PARS, ASAS). However, when mentioning these acronyms, it is recommended that the following structure is used: type of variable in Spanish and acronym and expanded form in English. With regards to the terms or abbreviations attached to 7 acronyms (ASDAS-CI, ASDAS-MI, ASAS-HI, ASASpr, ASAS 5/6, ASAS20, ASAS40 improvement criteria), it was agreed to translate only the expanded form and a translation was also selected for all of them. Conclusions A consensus in Spanish nomenclature for SpA has been developed by ASAS group. The implementation of this consensus across the Spanish-speaking community will be of substantial benefit, avoiding misunderstandings and time-consuming processes. Acknowledgements GRESSER(E. Galindez, J. Gotor, M. Moreno, J. Quiros, A. Urruticoechea), CEADE(P. Plazuelo, M. Garrido), RANM(C. Gonzalez, C. Remacha) Disclosure of Interest None declared

Objective To develop a consensus to standardise the use of Spanish terms, abbreviations and acronyms in the field of spondyloarthritis (SpA). Methods An international task force comprising all native Spanish-speaking Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society (ASAS) members, the executive committee of Grupo para el estudio de la Espondiloartritis de la Sociedad Espanola de Reumatologia (GRESSER), two methodologists, two linguists from the Real Academia Nacional de Medicina de Espana (RANM) and two patients from the Spanish Coordinator of Spondylitis Associations (CEADE) was established. A literature review was performed to identify the conflicting terms/abbreviations/acronyms in SpA. This review examined written sources in Spanish including manuscripts, ICF and ICD, guidelines, recommendations and consensuses. This was followed by a nominal group meeting and a three-round Delphi. The recommendations from the RANM based on the Panhispanic dictionary were followed throughout the process. Results Consensus was reached for 46 terms, abbreviations or acronyms related to the field of SpA. A Spanish translation was accepted for 6 terms and 6 abbreviations to name or classify the disease, and for 6 terms and 4 abbreviations related to SpA. It was agreed not to translate 15 acronyms into Spanish. However, when mentioning them, it was recommended to follow this structure: type of acronym in Spanish and acronym and expanded form in English. With regard to 7 terms or abbreviations attached to acronyms, it was agreed to translate only the expanded form and a translation was also selected for each of them. Conclusions Through this standardisation, it is expected to establish a common use of the Spanish nomenclature for SpA. The implementation of this consensus across the community will be of substantial benefit, avoiding misunderstandings and time-consuming processes.

The heavily obscured open cluster Berkeley~51 shows characteristics typical of young massive clusters, even though the few previous studies have suggested older ages. We combine optical ($UBV$) and 2MASS photometry of the cluster field with multi-object and long-slit optical spectroscopy for a large sample of stars. We apply classical photometric analysis techniques to determine the reddening to the cluster, and then derive cluster parameters via isochrone fitting. We find a large population of B-type stars, with a main sequence turn-off at B3$\,$V, as well as a large number of supergiants with spectral types ranging from F to M. We use intermediate resolution spectra of the evolved cool stars to derive their stellar parameters and find an essentially solar iron abundance. Under the plausible assumption that our photometry reaches stars still close to the ZAMS, the cluster is located at $d\approx5.5\:$kpc and has an age of $\sim60\:$Ma, though a slightly younger and more distant cluster cannot be ruled out. Despite the apparent good fit of isochrones, evolved stars seem to reside in positions of the CMD far away from the locations where stellar tracks predict Helium burning to occur. Of particular interest is the presence of four yellow supergiants, two on the ascending branch and two others close to or inside the instability strip., Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Appendix B, containing the photometry will be made available in electronic format. V2 corrects typos

We present a new catalogue of cool supergiants in a section of the Perseus arm, most of which had not been previously identified. To generate it, we have used a set of well-defined photometric criteria to select a large number of candidates (637) that were later observed at intermediate resolution in the the Infrared Calcium Triplet spectral range, using a long-slit spectrograph. To separate red supergiants from luminous red giants, we used a statistical method, developed in previous works and improved in the present paper. We present a method to assign probabilities of being a red supergiant to a given spectrum and use the properties of a population to generate clean samples, without contamination from lower-luminosity stars. We compare our identification with a classification done using classical criteria and discuss their respective efficiencies and contaminations as identification methods. We confirm that our method is as efficient at finding supergiants as the best classical methods, but with a far lower contamination by red giants than any other method. The result is a catalogue with 197 cool supergiants, 191 of which did not appear in previous lists of red supergiants. This is the largest coherent catalogue of cool supergiants in the Galaxy., Comment: Accepted on December 20th, 2017, in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

We present a self-consistent study of cool supergiants (CSGs) belonging to the Magellanic clouds. We calculated stellar atmospheric parameters using LTE KURUCZ and MARCS atmospheric models for more than 400 individual targets by fitting a careful selection of weak metallic lines. We explore the existence of a T eff scale and its implications in two different metallicity environments (each Magellanic cloud). Critical and in-depth tests have been performed to assess the reliability of our stellar parameters (i.e. internal error budget, NLTE systematics). In addition, several Montercarlo tests have been carried out to infer the significance of the Teff scale found. Our findingspoint towards a unique Teff scale that seems to be independent of the environment., Accepted for publication in MNRAS

We present an atlas composed of more than 1500 spectra of late-type stars (spectral types from G to M) observed simultaneously in the optical and calcium triplet spectral ranges. These spectra were obtained as part of a survey to search for cool supergiants in the Magellanic Clouds and were taken over four epochs. We provide the spectral and luminosity classification for each spectrum (71% are supergiants, 13% are giants or luminous giants, 4% are carbon or S stars, and the remaining 12% are foreground stars of lesser luminosities). We also provide a detailed guide for the spectral classification of luminous late-type stars, the result of the extensive classification work done for the atlas. Although this guide is based on classical criteria, we have put them together and re-elaborated them for modern CCD-spectra as these criteria were scattered among many different works and mainly conceived for use with photographic plate spectra. The result is a systematic, well-tested process for identifying and classifying luminous late-type stars, illustrated with CCD spectra of standard stars and the classifications of our own catalogue., Accepted for publication in A&A. The atlas of spectra and the complete list of targets will be available at CDS, once the paper is published

Guselkumab, a human monoclonal antibody that binds to the p19 subunit of interleukin 23, has been approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Psoriatic arthritis is a common comorbidity of psoriasis with an umet need for novel treatments. We assessed the efficacy and safety of guselkumab in patients with active psoriatic arthritis.We did a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2a trial at 34 rheumatology and dermatology practices in Canada, Germany, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the USA. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older with active psoriatic arthritis and plaque psoriasis affecting at least 3% of their body surface area, with three or more of 66 tender joints and three or more of 68 swollen joints, who had an inadequate response or intolerance to standard treatments. We randomly assigned patients (2:1) via a central interactive web-response system using computer-generated permuted blocks with a block size of six, stratified by previous anti-tumour necrosis factor-α use, to receive subcutaneous guselkumab 100 mg or placebo at week 0, week 4, and every 8 weeks thereafter for 24 weeks. Patients, investigators, and site staff were masked to treatment assignment until final database lock at week 56. At week 16, patients with less than 5% improvement in swollen and tender joint counts were eligible for early escape to ustekinumab. At week 24, the remaining placebo-treated patients crossed over to receive guselkumab 100 mg at weeks 24, 28, 36, and 44 and guselkumab-treated patients received a placebo injection at week 24, followed by guselkumab injections at weeks 28, 36, and 44. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with at least 20% improvement at week 24 in signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis according to American College of Rheumatology criteria (ACR20) in the modified intention-to-treat population (ie, all randomly assigned patients who received at least one dose of study treatment). Safety analyses included patients according to the study drug received. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02319759.Between March 27, 2015, and Jan 17, 2017, we randomly assigned 149 patients to treatment: 100 to guselkumab and 49 to placebo. 17 (35%) of 49 patients in the placebo group and ten (10%) of 100 patients in the guselkumab group were eligible for early escape to ustekinumab at week 16. 29 (59%) of 49 patients in the placebo group crossed over and received guselkumab at week 24. Three (6%) of 49 patients in the placebo group, one (3%) of 29 patients who crossed over from placebo to guselkumab, and six (6%) of 100 patients in the guselkumab group discontinued study treatment before week 44. 58 (58%) of 100 patients in the guselkumab group and nine (18%) of 49 patients in the placebo group achieved an ACR20 response at week 24 (percentage difference 39·7% [95% CI 25·3-54·1]; p0·0001). Between week 0 and week 24, 36 (36%) of 100 guselkumab-treated patients and 16 (33%) of 49 placebo-treated patients had at least one adverse event. The most frequent adverse event was infection in both groups (16 [16%] of 100 patients in the guselkumab group vs ten [20%] of 49 patients in the placebo group). The prevalence of adverse events between week 0 and week 56 in guselkumab-treated patients (51 [40%] of 129) indicated no disproportional increase with longer guselkumab exposure. No deaths occurred.Guselkumab, a novel anti-interleukin 23p19 antibody, significantly improved signs and symptoms of active psoriatic arthritis and was well tolerated during 44 weeks of treatment. The results of this study support further development of guselkumab as a novel and comprehensive treatment in psoriatic arthritis.Janssen ResearchDevelopment.

We study the structure of the inner Milky Way using the latest data release of the Vista Variables in Via Lactea (VVV) survey. The VVV is a deep near-infrared, multi-colour photometric survey with a coverage of 300 square degrees towards the Bulge/Bar. We use Red Clump (RC) stars to produce a high-resolution dust map of the VVV's field of view. From de-reddened colour-magnitude diagrams we select Red Giant Branch stars to investigate their 3D density distribution within the central 4 kpc. We demonstrate that our best-fit parametric model of the Bulge density provides a good description of the VVV data, with a median percentage residual of 5$\%$ over the fitted region. The strongest of the otherwise low-level residuals are overdensities associated with a low-latitude structure as well as the so-called X-shape previously identified using the split RC. These additional components contribute only $\sim5\%$ and $\sim7\%$ respectively to the Bulge mass budget. The best-fit Bulge is `boxy' with an axis ratio of [1:0.44:0.31] and is rotated with respect to the Sun-Galactic Centre line by at least $20^{\circ}$. We provide an estimate of the total, full sky, mass of the Bulge of $M_\mathrm{Bulge}^{\mathrm{Chabrier}} = 2.36 \times 10^{10} M_{\odot}$ for a Chabrier initial mass function. We show there exists a strong degeneracy between the viewing angle and the dispersion of the Red Clump absolute magnitude distribution. The value of the latter is strongly dependent on the assumptions made about the intrinsic luminosity function of the Bulge., 24 pages, 4 tables, 21 figures, MNRAS accepted

NGC 6067 is a young open cluster hosting the largest population of evolved stars among known Milky Way clusters in the 50-150 Ma age range. It thus represents the best laboratory in our Galaxy to constrain the evolutionary tracks of 5-7 M$_{\odot}$ stars. We have used high-resolution spectra of a large sample of bright cluster members (45), combined with archival photometry, to obtain accurate parameters for the cluster as well as stellar atmospheric parameters. We derive a distance of 1.78$\pm$0.12 kpc, an age of 90$\pm$20 Ma and a tidal radius of 14.8$^{6.8}_{3.2}$ arcmin. We estimate an initial mass above 5700 M$_{\odot}$, for a present-day evolved population of two Cepheids, two A supergiants and 12 red giants with masses $\approx$6 M$_{\odot}$. We also determine chemical abundances of Li, O, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Ni, Rb, Y and Ba for the red clump stars. We find a supersolar metallicity, [Fe/H]=+0.19$\pm$0.05, and a homogeneus chemical composition, consistent with the Galactic metallicity gradient. The presence of a Li-rich red giant, star 276 with A(Li)=2.41, is also detected. An over-abundance of Ba is found, supporting the enhanced $s$-process. The ratio of yellow to red giants is much smaller than one, in agreement with models with moderate overshooting, but the properties of the cluster Cepheids do not seem consistent with current Padova models for supersolar metallicity., Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures, 17 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRAS

Tanvir, N.R. et. al., We report the discovery and monitoring of the near-infrared counterpart (AT2017gfo) of a binary neutron-star merger event detected as a gravitational wave source by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo (GW170817) and as a short gamma-ray burst by Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Integral SPI-ACS (GRB 170817A). The evolution of the transient light is consistent with predictions for the behavior of a >kilonova/macronova> powered by the radioactive decay of massive neutron-rich nuclides created via r-process nucleosynthesis in the neutron-star ejecta. In particular, evidence for this scenario is found from broad features seen in Hubble Space Telescope infrared spectroscopy, similar to those predicted for lanthanide-dominated ejecta, and the much slower evolution in the near-infrared k-band compared to the optical. This indicates that the late-time light is dominated by high-opacity lanthanide-rich ejecta, suggesting nucleosynthesis to the third r-process peak (atomic masses A ≈ 195). This discovery confirms that neutron-star mergers produce kilo-/macronovae and that they are at least a major - if not the dominant - site of rapid neutron capture nucleosynthesis in the universe., A.J.L., D.S., and J.D.L. acknowledge support from STFC via grant ST/P000495/1. N.R.T. and A.J.L. have received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No. 725246, TEDE, Levan). Ad.U.P., C.T., Z.C., and D.A.K. acknowledge support from the Spanish project AYA 2014-58381-P. Z.C. also acknowledges support from the Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion fellowship IJCI-2014-21669, and D.A.K. from Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion fellowship IJCI-2015-26153. J.H. is supported by a VILLUM FONDEN Investigator grant (project number 16599). P.D.A., S.C., and A.M. acknowledge support from the ASI grant I/004/11/3. S.R. has been supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR) under grant No. 2016-03657_3, by the Swedish National Space Board under grant No. Dnr. 107/16, and by the research environment grant >Gravitational Radiation and Electromagnetic Astrophysical Transients (GREAT)> funded by the Swedish Research council (VR) under Dnr 2016-06012.

Background Plasma concentrations of lipoprotein (a) (Lp(a)), a lipoprotein with atherogenic and thrombogenic properties, have a strong genetic basis, although high concentrations of Lp(a) have also been reported in the context of inflammation, as in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Few studies evaluate the impact of biologic therapies (BT) on Lp(a) in RA, taking into account that with these new therapies a better control of inflammation is achieved. Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the plasma concentrations of Lp(a) in Spanish RA patients on BT attending rheumatology outpatient clinics. Methods Baseline analysis of the CARdiovascular in rheuMAtology project, a 10-year prospective study, evaluating the risk of cardiovascular events in RA and other forms of inflammatory arthritis. RA patients were classified according to treatment: no biologic, anti-tumor necrosis factor, anti-interleukin-6 receptor tocilizumab (TCZ), and other biologic (rituximab or abatacept). A model of linear multivariate regression was built in which the dependent variable was Lp(a) concentration and the explanatory variable was BT. The model was adjusted for confounding factors. Results Seven hundred and seventy-five RA patients were analyzed. Plasma concentrations of total cholesterol and triglyceride were significantly higher in TCZ-treated patients. Nevertheless, no significant difference in the atherogenic index between TCZ-treated patients and patients without BT was found. After adjusting for confounding factors, patients with BT had lower concentrations of Lp(a) than those without BT; however, only TCZ-treated patients achieved statistically significant differences (?: ?0.303, 95% confidence interval: ?0.558 to ?0.047; P = .02). Conclusions RA patients treated with TCZ show lower plasma concentrations of Lp(a) compared with patients without BT. This project has been supported by an unrestricted grant from Abbvie, Spain. The design, analysis, interpretation of results, and preparation of the article have been done independently of Abbvie. Dr González-Gay's studies have been supported by grants from “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias” PI06/0024, PS09/00748, and PI12/00060 and RD12/0009/0013 (RIER) from “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (ISCIII) (Spain).

NGC 7067 is a young open cluster located in the direction between the first and the second Galactic quadrants and close to the Perseus spiral arm. This makes it useful for studies of the nature of the Milky Way spiral arms. Stromgren photometry taken with the Wide Field Camera at the Isaac Newton Telescope allowed us to compute individual physical parameters for the observed stars and hence to derive cluster's physical parameters. Spectra from the 1.93-m telescope at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence helped to check and improve the results. We obtained photometry for 1233 stars, individual physical parameters for 515 and spectra for 9 of them. The 139 selected cluster members lead to a cluster distance of 4.4+/-0.4 kpc, with an age below log10(t(yr))=7.3 and a present Mass of 1260+/-160Msun. The morphology of the data reveals that the centre of the cluster is at (ra,dec)=(21:24:13.69,+48:00:39.2) J2000, with a radius of 6.1arcsec. Stromgren and spectroscopic data allowed us to improve the previous parameters available for the cluster in the literature., Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables

Observational studies suggest that many OB stars are found within binary systems which may be expected to interact during their lifetimes. Significant mass transfer or merger of both components will modify evolutionary pathways, facilitating the production of exceptionally massive stars which will present as blue stragglers. Identification and characterisation of such objects is crucial if the outcomes of binary evolutionary channels are to be quantified. The massive cluster Westerlund 1 hosts a rich population of X-ray bright stars where the emission is thought to derive from the wind collision zones of massive binaries. Selected on this basis, we present the results of a multiwavelength analysis of the X-ray luminous O stars Wd1-27 and -30a. We find both to be early/mid-O hypergiants with luminosities, temperatures and masses significantly in excess of other early stars within Wd1, hence qualifying as massive blue stragglers. The nature of Wd1-27 remains uncertain but the detection of radial velocity changes and the X-ray properties of Wd1-30a suggest that it is a binary. Analysis of Gaia proper motion and parallactic data indicates that both are cluster members; we also provide a membership list for Wd1 based on this analysis. The presence of hypergiants of spectral types O to M within Wd1 cannot be understood via single-star evolution. We suppose that the early-B and mid-O hypergiants formed via binary-induced mass-stripping of the primary and mass-transfer to the secondary, respectively. This implies that for a subset of objects massive star-formation may be regarded as a two-stage process, with binary-driven mass-transfer or merger yielding stars with masses significantly in excess of their initial birth mass (Abridged)., Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We are using a sample of more than 50 standard very late-type stars, taken from Isaac Newton Telescope at R ~ 9000 in the 8100–9100 A range, in order to develop criteria for spectral and luminosity classification of very late-type stars in the Gaia region. In this article, we brief in a few pages the main challenges on this issue, as well as the literature about it, and we present some preliminary results.

The Wnt family of proteins plays key roles during central nervous system development and in several physiological processes during adulthood. Recently, experimental evidence has linked Wnt-related genes to regulation and maintenance of stem cells in the adult neurogenic niches. In the spinal cord, the ependymal cells surrounding the central canal form one of those niches, but little is known about their Wnt expression patterns. Using microdissection followed by TaqMan® low-density arrays, we show here that the ependymal regions of young, mature rats and adult humans express several Wnt-related genes, including ligands, conventional and non-conventional receptors, co-receptors, and soluble inhibitors. We found 13 genes shared between rats and humans, 4 exclusively expressed in rats and 9 expressed only in humans. Also, we observed a reduction with age on spontaneous proliferation of ependymal cells in rats paralleled by a decrease in the expression of Fzd1, Fzd8, and Fzd9. Our results suggest a role for Wnts in the regulation of the adult spinal cord neurogenic niche and provide new data on the specific differences in this region between humans and rodents.

In recent years, temperature scales in cool supergiants (CSGs) have been disputed, and the possibility that spectral types (SpTs) do not depend primarily on temperature has been raised. We explore the relations between different observed parameters and the capability of deriving accurate intrinsic stellar parameters from them through the analysis of the largest spectroscopic sample of CSGs to date from SMC and LMC. We explore possible correlations between different observational parameters, also making use of near- and mid-infrared colours and literature on photometric variability. Direct comparison between the behaviour of atomic lines (Fe I, Ti I, and Ca II) in the observed spectra and synthetic atmospheric models provides compelling evidence that effective temperature is the prime underlying variable driving the SpT sequence in CSGs. However, there is a clear correlation between SpT and luminosity, with later ones tending to correspond to more luminous stars with heavier mass loss. The population of CSGs in the SMC is characterised by a higher degree of spectral variability, early spectral types (centred on type K1) and low mass-loss rates (at least as measured by dust-sensitive mid-infrared colours). The population in the LMC displays less spectroscopic variability and later spectral types. The distribution of spectral types is not single-peaked. Instead, the brightest CSGs have a significantly different distribution from less luminous objects, presenting mostly M subtypes (centred on M2), and increasing mass-loss rates for later types. In conclusion, the observed properties of CSGs in the SMC and the LMC cannot be described correctly by standard evolutionary models. The very strong correlation between spectral type and bolometric luminosity, supported by all data from the Milky Way, cannot be reproduced at all by current evolutionary tracks., 25 pages, 24 figures

Altres ajuts: Fundació La Marato-TV3 (TV3201428-10) Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a chronic neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive paralysis due to degeneration of motor neurons by unknown causes. Recent evidence shows that Wnt signaling is involved in neurodegenerative processes, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. However, to date, little is known regarding the expression of Wnt signaling components in this fatal condition. In the present study we used transgenic SOD1G93A mice to evaluate the expression of several Wnt signaling components, with special focus on Frizzled-5 cellular expression alteration along disease progression. Findings: Based on previous studies demonstrating the expression of Wnts and their transcriptional regulation during Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis development, we have analyzed the mRNA expression of several Wnt signaling components in the spinal cord of SOD1G93A transgenic mice at different stages of the disease by using real time quantitative PCR analysis. Strikingly, one of the molecules that seemed not to be altered at mRNA level, Frizzled-5, showed a clear up-regulation at late stages in neurons, as evidenced by immunofluorescence assays. Moreover, increased Frizzled-5 appears to correlate with a decrease in NeuN signal in these cells, suggesting a correlation between neuronal affectation and the increased expression of this receptor. Conclusions: Our data suggest the involvement of Wnt signaling pathways in the pathophysiology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and, more specifically, the implication of Frizzled-5 receptor in the response of neuronal cells against neurodegeneration. Nevertheless, further experimental studies are needed to shed light on the specific role of Frizzled-5 and the emerging but increasing Wnt family of proteins research field as a potential target for this neuropathology.