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In the article the authors examine the state policy of the Republic of Moldova in the field of migration. Since the country is mainly a donor of migrants, there are a number of state bodies in the country whose purpose is to control and ensure the right to free movement both inside and outside the country, as well as facilitate the return of migrants to their homeland from abroad. Among the main reasons for migration, the authors identify such problems as poverty, high unemployment, the unstable political situation and corruption at state level, a desire to improve the quality and standard of living, moving to live with relatives or to study.The research methodology is based on the following general scientific and special cognitive methods: system-structural analysis, the comparative method and formal logical method. The article analyses the materials and data provided by the national institutes of the Republic of Moldova, as well as the data and materials of international organizations.As a result of the study, it became clear that the Republic of Moldova is actively working towards the implementation of the principles of effective public administration in the field of migrations. There are a number of laws adopted at state level that contribute to the regulation of migration in the country. The Republic of Moldova is facing many challenges. Although significant progress was recorded, much work remains to be done on migration policy at all levels of public administration. People continue to migrate and only a small percentage of them return to their homeland.

Wave energy converters are constantly being deployed in nearshore and coastal areas characterized by increased wave potential. The performance of the devices installed in the nearshore and coastal environment, where the sea bottom terrain may present significant variations, can be evaluated by formulating and solving interaction problems that involve water waves, structures and the seafloor. In this work a novel Boundary Element Method (BEM) is developed and applied to the investigation of a simplified Oscillating Water Column (OWC) system in the two-dimensional space, taking into account the interaction of the incident wave field with the bottom topography, in the context of the linear wave theory for normally incident waves. Numerical results that highlight the effect of seabed inhomogeneities on the hydrodynamic performance of OWC devices are presented, in combination with other parameters that determine the device’s performance, like the structure’s dimensions and power take off system. Finally, results related to the flow field developed during the operation of the device are presented and discussed.

The importance of alternative methods for measuring the Hubble constant, such as time-delay cosmography, is highlighted by the recent Hubble tension. It is paramount to thoroughly investigate and rule out systematic biases in all measurement methods before we can accept new physics as the source of this tension. In this study, we perform a check for systematic biases in the lens modelling procedure of time-delay cosmography by comparing independent and blind time-delay predictions of the system WGD 2038-4008 from two teams using two different software programs: GLEE and LENSTRONOMY. The predicted time delays from the two teams incorporate the stellar kinematics of the deflector and the external convergence from line-of-sight structures. The un-blinded time-delay predictions from the two teams agree within $1.2\sigma$, implying that once the time delay is measured the inferred Hubble constant will also be mutually consistent. However, there is a $\sim$4$\sigma$ discrepancy between the power-law model slope and external shear, which is a significant discrepancy at the level of lens models before the stellar kinematics and the external convergence are incorporated. We identify the difference in the reconstructed point spread function (PSF) to be the source of this discrepancy. When the same reconstructed PSF was used by both teams, we achieved excellent agreement, within $\sim$0.6$\sigma$, indicating that potential systematics stemming from source reconstruction algorithms and investigator choices are well under control. We recommend that future studies supersample the PSF as needed and marginalize over multiple algorithms or realizations for the PSF reconstruction to mitigate the systematics associated with the PSF. A future study will measure the time delays of the system WGD 2038-4008 and infer the Hubble constant based on our mass models., Comment: Accepted version by A&A. 34 pages, 26 figures, 3 tables

The unique lure of the America Cup Yachting race and the generous (read lavish) resources allocated to the research of the best ratio between design and performance in its history-loaded J-Class have defined some of the most spectacular ocean ships of the last hundred years. As a software modelling experiment, we have chosen to re-imagine an engineering journey, by redrawing with contemporary tools a graceful design of the 1930s: the Ranger F yacht that became the Lionheart vessel in 2010, after more than seven decades after the initial lines were created by Starling Burgers and Sparkman & Stephens. We have used RHINOCEROS for the 3D-CAD model and FEMAP for the 3D-FEM model, following the lines of the 43,4 m long, with a 6,55 m beam yacht that won its class becoming world champion in 2017. The objective of this project is to create a 3D model that would be usable in simulations and analysis in other software environments, thus allowing the development of a larger spectrum of data about the yacht to be retrieved for independent assessments of the performance of specific J-class hull shapes. The Hoek Lionheart is a modern rendition for the J-Class, using high tensile Alustar plating and extrusion materials in a hull originally designed for steel. It's our contention that with the rise of composite materials, we will witness future transformations in (JClass) hull engineering and as part of this journey we performed a preliminary analysis of the material involving data for steel and composite: the 3D model, built in RHINOCEROS and FEMAP was checked with VeriSTAR, the hull equilibrium in still water was calculated in HOMER, and the consequent analysis performed in FEMAP. The results are encouraging, and with the readily available 3D model, such testing is a potential tool in exploring further evolutionary steps in the hull transformation of a legacy design via composite materials.

Introduction Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked rare lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the GLA gene which lead to decrease in α Gal A enzyme activity and tissue accumulation of lysosomal globotriaosylceramide (Gb3) and globotriaosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb3). Due to X linked transmission, males are hemizygous, and females are heterozygous and were initially thought to be unaffected. However, women with FD can vary from asymptomatic, mildly symptomatic, to severely symptomatic as males. The aim of this study is to evaluate the particularities of FD presentation, cardiac imaging and management in females from the full Romanian FD cohort as compared to male patients. Methods This study included all consecutive patients diagnosed in or referred to our center with FD between 2014–2021. All patients had a complete clinical, biological and cardiac imaging workup. Results During the inclusion interval, data from 66 consecutive Romanian FD patients (37 women and 29 men) from 29 unrelated families were collected. Diagnosing mode in FD women differs compared to men (p1.2) (p Conclusions Women with FD are not merely genetic carriers as they can be as affected as men. However, they benefit later from diagnosis and less of pathogenic therapy. Further studies with more female participations are needed to better understand the Fabry burden and needs in women. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.

We present the lens mass model of the quadruply-imaged gravitationally lensed quasar WFI2033-4723, and perform a blind cosmographical analysis based on this system. Our analysis combines (1) time-delay measurements from 14 years of data obtained by the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses (COSMOGRAIL) collaboration, (2) high-resolution $\textit{Hubble Space Telescope}$ imaging, (3) a measurement of the velocity dispersion of the lens galaxy based on ESO-MUSE data, and (4) multi-band, wide-field imaging and spectroscopy characterizing the lens environment. We account for all known sources of systematics, including the influence of nearby perturbers and complex line-of-sight structure, as well as the parametrization of the light and mass profiles of the lensing galaxy. After unblinding, we determine the effective time-delay distance to be $4784_{-248}^{+399}~\mathrm{Mpc}$, an average precision of $6.6\%$. This translates to a Hubble constant $H_{0} = 71.6_{-4.9}^{+3.8}~\mathrm{km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$, assuming a flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmology with a uniform prior on $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$ in the range [0.05, 0.5]. This work is part of the $H_0$ Lenses in COSMOGRAIL's Wellspring (H0LiCOW) collaboration, and the full time-delay cosmography results from a total of six strongly lensed systems are presented in a companion paper (H0LiCOW XIII)., Comment: Version accepted by MNRAS. 29 pages including appendix, 17 figures, 6 tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1607.01403

The paper ‘Is every strong lens model unhappy in its own way? Uniform modelling of a sample of 13 quadruply+ imaged quasars’ was published in MNRAS, 483, 4, 5649–5671 (2019). The coordinate values of the image positions in table 4 were wrongly printed due to a clerical error. At a later stage of writing the manuscript, we have changed the zero-point definition of the lens coordinate systems, but the relative image positions were not accounted for this change of definition while printing out table 4. We provide the updated Table 4 below. This error does not impact any other results of the paper in any way, except for the table itself. We thank Collin Werner and Paul Schechter for helping us identify this error.

The paper aims at CFD analysis of engine cold flow when swirl flaps are used. The CFD analysis was performed using a RANS-RNG turbulence model to predict the evolution of engine cold flow at different engine speeds for two operating conditions with swirl flaps and without swirl flaps. The results show that swirl flaps can increase the average turbulent kinetic energy by up to 30% for a speed range of 1000 - 2000 rpm. However, over 3000rpm swirl flaps will worsen volumetric efficiency due to the change in the cross section of fluid flow to the cylinder.

The aim of the work is to analyse the impact of the intake valve design on the cold flow of internal combustion engines. Two shrouded intake valves and one basic intake valve were used for the analysis. Tests have been carried out for a wide range of speeds. The two models of shrouded valves use different concepts, and to increase swirl and tumble turbulence respectively. The results of the simulation show a clear increase in turbulence, sometimes at the cost of decreasing the volume efficiency.

We present a measurement of the Hubble constant (H0) and other cosmological parameters from a joint analysis of six gravitationally lensed quasars with measured time delays. All lenses except the first are analysed blindly with respect to the cosmological parameters. In a flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology, we find $H_{0} = 73.3_{-1.8}^{+1.7}~\mathrm{km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$, a $2.4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ precision measurement, in agreement with local measurements of H0 from type Ia supernovae calibrated by the distance ladder, but in 3.1σ tension with Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This method is completely independent of both the supernovae and CMB analyses. A combination of time-delay cosmography and the distance ladder results is in 5.3σ tension with Planck CMB determinations of H0 in flat ΛCDM. We compute Bayes factors to verify that all lenses give statistically consistent results, showing that we are not underestimating our uncertainties and are able to control our systematics. We explore extensions to flat ΛCDM using constraints from time-delay cosmography alone, as well as combinations with other cosmological probes, including CMB observations from Planck, baryon acoustic oscillations, and type Ia supernovae. Time-delay cosmography improves the precision of the other probes, demonstrating the strong complementarity. Allowing for spatial curvature does not resolve the tension with Planck. Using the distance constraints from time-delay cosmography to anchor the type Ia supernova distance scale, we reduce the sensitivity of our H0 inference to cosmological model assumptions. For six different cosmological models, our combined inference on H0 ranges from ∼73 to 78 km s−1 Mpc−1, which is consistent with the local distance ladder constraints.

We present a lensed quasar search based on the variability of lens systems in the HSC transient survey. Starting from 101,353 variable objects with i-band photometry in the HSC transient survey, we used a variability-based lens search method measuring the spatial extent in difference images to select potential lensed quasar candidates. We adopted conservative constraints in this variability selection and obtained 83,657 variable objects as possible lens candidates. We then ran CHITAH, a lens search algorithm based on the image configuration, on those 83,657 variable objects, and 2,130 variable objects were identified as potential lensed objects. We visually inspected the 2,130 variable objects, and seven of them are our final lensed quasar candidates. Additionally, we found one lensed galaxy candidate as a serendipitous discovery. Among the eight final lensed candidates, one is the only known quadruply lensed quasar in the survey field, HSCJ095921+020638. None of the other seven lensed candidates have been previously classified as a lens nor a lensed candidate. Three of the five final candidates with available HST images, including HSCJ095921+020638, show clues of a lensed feature in the HST images. A tightening of variability selection criteria might result in the loss of possible lensed quasar candidates, especially the lensed quasars with faint brightness or narrow separation, without efficiently eliminating the non-lensed objects; CHITAH is therefore important as an advanced examination to improve the lens search efficiency through the object configuration. The recovery of HSCJ095921+020638 proves the effectiveness of the variability-based lens search method, and this lens search method can be used in other cadenced imaging surveys, such as the upcoming Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time., 12 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&A

One of the main challenges in using high redshift active galactic nuclei to study the correlations between the mass of the supermassive Black Hole (MBH) and the properties of their active host galaxies is instrumental resolution. Strong lensing magnification effectively increases instrumental resolution and thus helps to address this challenge. In this work, we study eight strongly lensed active galactic nuclei (AGN) with deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, using the lens modelling code Lenstronomy to reconstruct the image of the source. Using the reconstructed brightness of the host galaxy, we infer the host galaxy stellar mass based on stellar population models. MBH are estimated from broad emission lines using standard methods. Our results are in good agreement with recent work based on non-lensed AGN, demonstrating the potential of using strongly lensed AGNs to extend the study of the correlations to higher redshifts. At the moment, the sample size of lensed AGN is small and thus they provide mostly a consistency check on systematic errors related to resolution for the non-lensed AGN. However, the number of known lensed AGN is expected to increase dramatically in the next few years, through dedicated searches in ground and space based wide field surveys, and they may become a key diagnostic of black hole and galaxy co-evolution., 12 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables. MNRAS in press. Comments welcome

We report the results of the STRong lensing Insights from the Dark Energy Survey (STRIDES) follow-up campaign of the late 2017/early 2018 season. We obtained spectra of 65 lensed quasar candidates either with EFOSC2 on the NTT or ESI on Keck, which confirm 10 new gravitationally lensed quasars and 10 quasar pairs with similar spectra, but which do not show a lensing galaxy in DES images. Eight lensed quasars are doubly imaged with source redshifts between 0.99 and 2.90, one is triply imaged by a group (DESJ0345-2545, $z=1.68$), and one is quadruply imaged (quad: DESJ0053-2012, $z=3.8$). Singular isothermal ellipsoid models for the doubles, based on high-resolution imaging from SAMI on SOAR or NIRC2 on Keck, give total magnifications between 3.2 and 5.6, and Einstein radii between 0.49 and 1.97 arcseconds. After spectroscopic follow-up, we extract multi-epoch $grizY$ photometry of confirmed lensed quasars and contaminant quasar+star pairs from the first 4 years of DES data using parametric multi-band modelling, and compare variability in each system's components. By measuring the reduced ${\chi}^2$ associated with fitting all epochs to the same magnitude, we find a simple cut on the less variable component that retains all confirmed lensed quasars, while removing 94 per cent of contaminant systems with stellar components. Based on our spectroscopic follow-up, this variability information can improve selection of lensed quasars and quasar pairs from 34-45 per cent to 51-70 per cent, with the majority of remaining contaminants being compact star-forming galaxies. Using mock lensed quasar lightcurves we demonstrate that selection based only on variability will over-represent the quad fraction by 10 per cent over a complete DES magnitude-limited sample (excluding microlensing differences), explained by the magnification bias and hence lower luminosity (more variable) sources in quads., Comment: 22 pages, 16 figures, submitted to MNRAS

We report the largest sample of candidate strong gravitational lenses belonging to the Survey of Gravitationally-lensed Objects in HSC Imaging for group-to-cluster scale (SuGOHI-c) systems. These candidates are compiled from the S18A data release of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) Survey. We visually inspect $\sim39,500$ galaxy clusters, selected from several catalogs, overlapping with the Wide, Deep, and UltraDeep fields, spanning the cluster redshift range $0.05, Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 19 pages, 11 figures

We report the serendipitous discovery of HSC J0904$-$0102, a quadruply-lensed Lyman break galaxy (LBG) in the Survey of Gravitationally-lensed Objects in Hyper Suprime-Cam Imaging (SuGOHI). Owing to its point-like appearance, the source was thought to be a lensed active galactic nucleus. We obtained follow-up spectroscopic data with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrographs on the Gemini South Telescope, which confirmed this to be a lens system. The deflecting foreground galaxy is a typical early-type galaxy at a high redshift of $z_{\ell} = 0.957$ with stellar velocity dispersion $\sigma_v=259\pm56$ km~s$^{-1}$. The lensed source is identified as an LBG at $z_{\rm s} = 3.403$, based on the sharp drop bluewards of Ly$\alpha$ and other absorption features. A simple lens mass model for the system, assuming a singular isothermal ellipsoid, yields an Einstein radius of $\theta_{\rm Ein} = 1. 23^{\prime\prime}$ and a total mass within the Einstein radius of $M_{\rm Ein} = (5.55\pm 0.24) \times 10^{11}M_{\odot}$ corresponding to a velocity dispersion of $\sigma_{\rm SIE}= 283\pm 3$ km~s$^{-1}$, which is in good agreement with the value derived spectroscopically. The most isolated lensed LBG image has a magnification of $\sim 6.5$. In comparison with other lensed LBGs and typical $z\sim4$ LBG populations, HSC J0904$-$0102 is unusually compact, an outlier at $>2\sigma$ confidence. Together with a previously discovered SuGOHI lens, HSC J1152$+$0047, that is similarly compact, we believe that the HSC Survey is extending LBG studies down to smaller galaxy sizes., Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS, 10 pages, 6 figures

The H0LiCOW collaboration inferred via gravitational lensing time delays a Hubble constant $H_0=73.3^{+1.7}_{-1.8}$ km s$^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, describing deflector mass density profiles by either a power-law or stars plus standard dark matter halos. The mass-sheet transform (MST) that leaves the lensing observables unchanged is considered the dominant source of residual uncertainty in $H_0$. We quantify any potential effect of the MST with flexible mass models that are maximally degenerate with H0. Our calculation is based on a new hierarchical approach in which the MST is only constrained by stellar kinematics. The approach is validated on hydrodynamically simulated lenses. We apply the method to the TDCOSMO sample of 7 lenses (6 from H0LiCOW) and measure $H_0=74.5^{+5.6}_{-6.1}$ km s$^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$. In order to further constrain the deflector mass profiles, we then add imaging and spectroscopy for 33 strong gravitational lenses from the SLACS sample. For 9 of the SLAC lenses we use resolved kinematics to constrain the stellar anisotropy. From the joint analysis of the TDCOSMO+SLACS sample, we measure $H_0=67.4^{+4.1}_{-3.2}$ km s$^{-1}{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$, assuming that the TDCOSMO and SLACS galaxies are drawn from the same parent population. The blind H0LiCOW, TDCOSMO-only and TDCOSMO+SLACS analyses are in mutual statistical agreement. The TDCOSMO+SLACS analysis prefers marginally shallower mass profiles than H0LiCOW or TDCOSMO-only. While our new analysis does not statistically invalidate the mass profile assumptions by H0LiCOW, and thus their $H_0$ measurement relying on those, it demonstrates the importance of understanding the mass density profile of elliptical galaxies. The uncertainties on $H_0$ derived in this paper can be reduced by physical or observational priors on the form of the mass profile, or by additional data, chiefly spatially resolved kinematics of lens galaxies., Comment: accepted by A&A. Full analysis available at https://github.com/TDCOSMO/hierarchy_analysis_2020_public updated permanent analysis script links

Strong lenses are extremely useful probes of the distribution of matter on galaxy and cluster scales at cosmological distances, but are rare and difficult to find. The number of currently known lenses is on the order of 1,000. We wish to use crowdsourcing to carry out a lens search targeting massive galaxies selected from over 442 square degrees of photometric data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. We selected a sample of $\sim300,000$ galaxies with photometric redshifts in the range $0.2 < z_{phot} < 1.2$ and photometrically inferred stellar masses $\log{M_*} > 11.2$. We crowdsourced lens finding on this sample of galaxies on the Zooniverse platform, as part of the Space Warps project. The sample was complemented by a large set of simulated lenses and visually selected non-lenses, for training purposes. Nearly 6,000 citizen volunteers participated in the experiment. In parallel, we used YattaLens, an automated lens finding algorithm, to look for lenses in the same sample of galaxies. Based on a statistical analysis of classification data from the volunteers, we selected a sample of the most promising $\sim1,500$ candidates which we then visually inspected: half of them turned out to be possible (grade C) lenses or better. Including lenses found by YattaLens or serendipitously noticed in the discussion section of the Space Warps website, we were able to find 14 definite lenses, 129 probable lenses and 581 possible lenses. YattaLens found half the number of lenses discovered via crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is able to produce samples of lens candidates with high completeness and purity, compared to currently available automated algorithms. A hybrid approach, in which the visual inspection of samples of lens candidates pre-selected by discovery algorithms and/or coupled to machine learning is crowdsourced, will be a viable option for lens finding in the 2020s., Published version

The primary goals of the STRong lensing Insights into the Dark Energy Survey (STRIDES) collaboration are to measure the dark energy equation of state parameter and the free streaming length of dark matter. To this aim, STRIDES is discovering strongly lensed quasars in the imaging data of the Dark Energy Survey and following them up to measure time delays, high resolution imaging, and spectroscopy sufficient to construct accurate lens models. In this paper, we first present forecasts for STRIDES. Then, we describe the STRIDES classification scheme, and give an overview of the Fall 2016 follow-up campaign. We continue by detailing the results of two selection methods, the outlier selection technique and a morphological algorithm, and presenting lens models of a system that could possibly be a lensed quasar in an unusual configuration. We conclude with the summary statistics of the Fall 2016 campaign. Including searches presented in companion papers (Anguita et al.; Ostrovski et al.), STRIDES followed up 117 targets identifying 7 new strongly lensed systems, and 7 nearly identical quasars, which could be confirmed as lenses by the detection of the lens galaxy. 76 candidates were rejected and 27 remain otherwise inconclusive, for a success rate in the range of 6-35 per cent. This rate is comparable to that of previous searches like SDSS Quasar Lens Search even though the parent data set of STRIDES is purely photometric and our selection of candidates cannot rely on spectroscopic information., TT and VM acknowledge support by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation through a Packard Research Fellowship to TT. TT acknowledges support by the National Science Foundation through grants AST- 1450141 and AST-1714953. CDF and GCFC acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation through grants AST-1312329 and AST-1715611. TA and YA acknowledge support by proyecto FONDECYT 11130630 and by the Ministry for the Economy, Development, and Tourism’s Programa Inicativa Científica Milenio through grant IC 12009, awarded to The Millennium Institute of Astrophysics (MAS). FC, VB, and JC acknowledge support from the Swiss National Science Foundation. SHS thanks the Max Planck Society for support through the Max Planck Research Group

We present a weak gravitational lensing measurement of the external convergence along the line of sight to the quadruply lensed quasar HE$\,$0435$-$1223. Using deep r-band images from Subaru-Suprime-Cam we observe galaxies down to a 3$\sigma$ limiting magnitude of $\sim 26$ mags resulting in a source galaxy density of 14 galaxies / arcmin$^2$ after redshift-based cuts. Using an inpainting technique and Multi-Scale Entropy filtering algorithm, we find that the region in close proximity to the lens has an estimated external convergence of $\kappa=-0.012^{+0.020}_{-0.013}$ and is hence marginally under-dense. We also rule out the presence of any halo with a mass greater than $M_{\rm vir}=1.6\times10^{14}h^{-1}M_\odot$ (68$\%$ confidence limit). Our results, consistent with previous studies of this lens, confirm that the intervening mass along the line of sight to HE$\,$0435$-$1223 does not affect significantly the cosmological results inferred from the time delay measurements of that specific object., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

We report on discovery results from a quasar lens search in the ATLAS public footprint, extending quasar lens searches to a regime without $u-$band or fiber-spectroscopic information, using a combination of data mining techniques on multi-band catalog magnitudes and image-cutout modelling. Spectroscopic follow-up campaigns, conducted at the 2.6m Nordic Optical Telescope (La Palma) and 3.6m New Technology Telescope (La Silla) in 2016, yielded seven pairs of quasars exhibiting the same lines at the same redshift and monotonic flux-ratios with wavelength (hereafter NIQs, Nearly Identical Quasar pairs). The quasar redshifts range between $\approx1.2$ and $\approx 2.7;$ contaminants are typically pairs of bright blue stars, quasar-star alignments along the line of sight, and narrow-line galaxies at $0.3, Comment: MNRAS subm. 14/09/17. Revised version after first referee report

Galaxies located in the environment or on the line of sight towards gravitational lenses can significantly affect lensing observables, and can lead to systematic errors on the measurement of $H_0$ from the time-delay technique. We present the results of a systematic spectroscopic identification of the galaxies in the field of view of the lensed quasar HE0435-1223, using the W. M. Keck, Gemini and ESO-Very Large telescopes. Our new catalog triples the number of known galaxy redshifts in the vicinity of the lens, expanding to 102 the number of measured redshifts for galaxies separated by less than 3 arcmin from the lens. We complement our catalog with literature data to gather redshifts up to 15 arcmin from the lens, and search for galaxy groups or clusters projected towards HE0435-1223. We confirm that the lens is a member of a small group that includes at least 12 galaxies, and find 8 other group candidates near the line of sight of the lens. The flexion shift, namely the shift of lensed images produced by high order perturbation of the lens potential, is calculated for each galaxy/group and used to identify which objects produce the largest perturbation of the lens potential. This analysis demonstrates that i) at most three of the five brightest galaxies projected within 12 arcsec of the lens need to be explicitly used in the lens models, and ii) the groups can be treated in the lens model as an external tidal field (shear) contribution., Comment: Version revised to address referee's comments, submitted to MNRAS, 21 pages (incl. Appendix). Data associated to the paper available from the H0LICOW website www.h0licow.org

Based on spectroscopy and multiband wide-field observations of the gravitationally lensed quasar HE 0435-1223, we determine the probability distribution function of the external convergence $\kappa_\mathrm{ext}$ for this system. We measure the under/overdensity of the line of sight towards the lens system and compare it to the average line of sight throughout the universe, determined by using the CFHTLenS as a control field. Aiming to constrain $\kappa_\mathrm{ext}$ as tightly as possible, we determine under/overdensities using various combinations of relevant informative weighing schemes for the galaxy counts, such as projected distance to the lens, redshift, and stellar mass. We then convert the measured under/overdensities into a $\kappa_\mathrm{ext}$ distribution, using ray-tracing through the Millennium Simulation. We explore several limiting magnitudes and apertures, and account for systematic and statistical uncertainties relevant to the quality of the observational data, which we further test through simulations. Our most robust estimate of $\kappa_\mathrm{ext}$ has a median value $\kappa^\mathrm{med}_\mathrm{ext} = 0.004$ and a standard deviation of $\sigma_\kappa = 0.025$. The measured $\sigma_\kappa$ corresponds to $2.5\%$ uncertainty on the time delay distance, and hence the Hubble constant $H_0$ inference from this system. The median $\kappa^\mathrm{med}_\mathrm{ext}$ value is robust to $\sim0.005$ (i.e. $\sim0.5\%$ on $H_0$) regardless of the adopted aperture radius, limiting magnitude and weighting scheme, as long as the latter incorporates galaxy number counts, the projected distance to the main lens, and a prior on the external shear obtained from mass modeling. The availability of a well-constrained $\kappa_\mathrm{ext}$ makes \hequad\ a valuable system for measuring cosmological parameters using strong gravitational lens time delays., Comment: 24 pages, 17 figures, 6 tables. Submitted to MNRAS

Background. In recent years, pathophysiology of aortic stenosis (AS) has been considered as a possibly active inflammatory process, but its determinants remain unclear. Calcium tissue deposition observed in dilaysis patients have been linked to low level of Fetuin-A, a powerful inhibitor of ectopic calcification. It is thus suspected to play a role in development of aortic stenosis. Purpose. To assess correlation between Fetuin-A level and AS progression in a prospective cohort of AS patients, COFRASA (clinicalTrial.gov_number_NCT00338676) and GENERAC (clinicalTrial.gov_number_NCT00647088). Methods. A comprehensive clinical evaluation and Fetuin-A plasma level measurement was performed at baseline. AS severity was evaluated at baseline and yearly thereafter using echocardiography (mean pressure gradient (MPG)) and computed tomography (degree of aortic valve calcification or AVC). Annual progression was calculated as [(final measurement - baseline measurement)/follow-up duration] for both MPG and AVC measurements. Results. We enrolled 296 patients with at least 1 year of follow-up. Mean age was 74±10 years, 217 (73%) were men. Mean Fetuin-A level was 0.55±0.15 g/L. After a mean follow-up of 3.0±1.7 years, no correlation was found between AS progression and Fetuin-A level, using either MPG (r=0.015, p=0.82) or AVC (r=0.014, p=0.82). This was also true when comparing patients with lower level of Fetuin-A (≤0.53 g/L, the median in our cohort) with patients with higher level(+3±5 mmHg/year (median 2, [0-5] vs +4±4 mmHg/year (median 2, [1-6]) p=0.06, and +205±290 AUC/year (median 122, [32-269]) vs +240±310 AUC/year (median 145, [50-313], p=0.24). This was true also after adjustment for baseline severity and valve antomy. Conclusions. In our prospective cohortot of AS patients we found no impact of Fetuin-A on both hemodynamic and anatomic AS progression. Despite strong capacity to inhibit ectopic calcium deposition, Fetuin-A plasma level seems to have minor influence on AS progression.

Galaxies and galaxy groups located along the line of sight towards gravitationally lensed quasars produce high-order perturbations of the gravitational potential at the lens position. When these perturbation are too large, they can induce a systematic error on $H_0$ of a few-percent if the lens system is used for cosmological inference and the perturbers are not explicitly accounted for in the lens model. In this work, we present a detailed characterization of the environment of the lens system WFI2033-4723 ($z_{\rm src} = 1.662$, $z_{\rm lens}$ = 0.6575), one of the core targets of the H0LICOW project for which we present cosmological inferences in a companion paper (Rusu et al. 2019). We use the Gemini and ESO-Very Large telescopes to measure the spectroscopic redshifts of the brightest galaxies towards the lens, and use the ESO-MUSE integral field spectrograph to measure the velocity-dispersion of the lens ($\sigma_{\rm {los}}= 250^{+15}_{-21}$ km/s) and of several nearby galaxies. In addition, we measure photometric redshifts and stellar masses of all galaxies down to $i < 23$ mag, mainly based on Dark Energy Survey imaging (DR1). Our new catalog, complemented with literature data, more than doubles the number of known galaxy spectroscopic redshifts in the direct vicinity of the lens, expanding to 116 (64) the number of spectroscopic redshifts for galaxies separated by less than 3 arcmin (2 arcmin) from the lens. Using the flexion-shift as a measure of the amplitude of the gravitational perturbation, we identify 2 galaxy groups and 3 galaxies that require specific attention in the lens models. The ESO MUSE data enable us to measure the velocity-dispersions of three of these galaxies. These results are essential for the cosmological inference analysis presented in Rusu et al. (2019)., Comment: Matches the version accepted for publication by MNRAS. Note that this paper previously appeared as H0LICOW XI

We present the measurement of the Hubble Constant, $H_0$, with three strong gravitational lens systems. We describe a blind analysis of both PG1115+080 and HE0435-1223 as well as an extension of our previous analysis of RXJ1131-1231. For each lens, we combine new adaptive optics (AO) imaging from the Keck Telescope, obtained as part of the SHARP AO effort, with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging, velocity dispersion measurements, and a description of the line-of-sight mass distribution to build an accurate and precise lens mass model. This mass model is then combined with the COSMOGRAIL measured time delays in these systems to determine $H_{0}$. We do both an AO-only and an AO+HST analysis of the systems and find that AO and HST results are consistent. After unblinding, the AO-only analysis gives $H_{0}=82.8^{+9.4}_{-8.3}~\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$ for PG1115+080, $H_{0}=70.1^{+5.3}_{-4.5}~\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$ for HE0435-1223, and $H_{0}=77.0^{+4.0}_{-4.6}~\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$ for RXJ1131-1231. The joint AO-only result for the three lenses is $H_{0}=75.6^{+3.2}_{-3.3}~\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$. The joint result of the AO+HST analysis for the three lenses is $H_{0}=76.8^{+2.6}_{-2.6}~\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$. All of the above results assume a flat $\Lambda$ cold dark matter cosmology with a uniform prior on $\Omega_{\textrm{m}}$ in [0.05, 0.5] and $H_{0}$ in [0, 150] $\rm km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$. This work is a collaboration of the SHARP and H0LiCOW teams, and shows that AO data can be used as the high-resolution imaging component in lens-based measurements of $H_0$. The full time-delay cosmography results from a total of six strongly lensed systems are presented in a companion paper., Comment: 33 pages, 23 figures

Context. The precise determination of the present-day expansion rate of the Universe, expressed through the Hubble constant $H_0$, is one of the most pressing challenges in modern cosmology. Assuming flat $\Lambda$CDM, $H_0$ inference at high redshift using cosmic-microwave-background data from Planck disagrees at the 4.4$\sigma$ level with measurements based on the local distance ladder made up of parallaxes, Cepheids and Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), often referred to as "Hubble tension". Independent, cosmological-model-insensitive ways to infer $H_0$ are of critical importance. Aims. We apply an inverse-distance-ladder approach, combining strong-lensing time-delay-distance measurements with SN Ia data. By themselves, SNe Ia are merely good relative distance indicators, but by anchoring them to strong gravitational lenses one can obtain an $H_0$ measurement that is relatively insensitive to other cosmological parameters. Methods. A cosmological parameter estimate is performed for different cosmological background models, both for strong-lensing data alone and for the combined lensing + SNe Ia data sets. Results. The cosmological-model dependence of strong-lensing $H_0$ measurements is significantly mitigated through the inverse distance ladder. In combination with SN Ia data, the inferred $H_0$ consistently lies around 73-74 km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$, regardless of the assumed cosmological background model. Our results agree nicely with those from the local distance ladder, but there is a >2$\sigma$ tension with Planck results, and a ~1.5$\sigma$ discrepancy with results from an inverse distance ladder including Planck, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and SNe Ia. Future strong-lensing distance measurements will reduce the uncertainties in $H_0$ from our inverse distance ladder., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, A&A letters accepted version

We present a new measurement of the Hubble Constant H0 and other cosmological parameters based on the joint analysis of three multiply imaged quasar systems with measured gravitational time delays. First, we measure the time delay of HE 0435−1223 from 13-yr light curves obtained as part of the COSMOGRAIL project. Companion papers detail the modelling of the main deflectors and line-of-sight effects, and how these data are combined to determine the time-delay distance of HE 0435−1223. Crucially, the measurements are carried out blindly with respect to cosmological parameters in order to avoid confirmation bias. We then combine the time-delay distance of HE 0435−1223 with previous measurements from systems B1608+656 and RXJ1131−1231 to create a Time Delay Strong Lensing probe (TDSL). In flat Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) with free matter and energy density, we find H0 =71.9+2.4-3.0 km s−1Mpc−1 andΩΛ=0.62+0.24−0.35. This measurement is completely independent of, and in agreement with, the local distance ladder measurements of H0. We explore more general cosmological models combining TDSL with other probes, illustrating its power to break degeneracies inherent to other methods. The joint constraints from TDSL and Planck are H0 = 69.2+1.4−2.2 km s−1Mpc−1, ΩΛ=0.70+0.01−0.01 and Ωk=0.003+0.004−0.006 in open ΛCDM and H0 =79.0+4.4−4.2 km s−1Mpc−1, Ωde=0.77+0.02−0.03 and w=−1.38+0.14−0.16 in flat wCDM. In combination with Planck and baryon acoustic oscillation data, when relaxing the constraints on the numbers of relativistic species we find Neff = 3.34+0.21−0.21 in NeffΛCDM and when relaxing the total mass of neutrinos we find Σmν ≤ 0.182 eV in mνΛCDM. Finally, in an open wCDM in combination with Planck and cosmic microwave background lensing, we find H0 =77.9+5.0−4.2 km s−1Mpc−1, Ωde=0.77+0.03−0.03, Ωk=−0.003+0.004−0.004 and w=−1.37+0.18−0.23.

Two novel series of composites have synthesized in situ by simultaneous anionic ring-opening copolymerization-rotational molding fast environment-friendly process using e-caprolactam (CL) with laurolactam (LL) as starting comonomers and TiO2 as filler. The type of filler (with surface treated or not) differentiates the two series. Aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) coupling agent was used. By adjusting the TiO2 in the range 0.0–8.0 wt.% in the feed monomers mixture, various composites were obtained. The characterization of samples was performed, in the context of filler type and content variation by combined use of ATR–FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray spectroscopy, DSC, TGA/DTG, SEM and mechanical measurements. In addition, degree of conversion, intrinsic viscosity and water absorption were evaluated. Introduction of the long methylene sequences through the second monomer into the nylon 6 chains improved especially the water uptake of the composites. The melting temperature (Tm), crystallization temperature (Tc), degree of crystallinity (αDSC) and the interface interactions between filler and nylon 612 matrix prove to be improved by treatment of filler surface. The same trend was recorded for tensile strength, tensile modulus, elongation at break and impact strength. The results related to composites were compared with those obtained for neat nylon 612 copolymer synthesized in the same conditions.

We present the results of an imaging observation campaign conducted with the Subaru Telescope adaptive optics system (IRCS+AO188) on 28 gravitationally lensed quasars (23 doubles, 1 quad, and 1 possible triple, and 3 candidates) from the SDSS Quasar Lens Search. We develop a novel modelling technique that fits analytical and hybrid point spread functions (PSFs), while simultaneously measuring the relative astrometry, photometry, as well as the lens galaxy morphology. We account for systematics by simulating the observed systems using separately observed PSF stars. The measured relative astrometry is comparable with that typically achieved with the Hubble Space Telescope, even after marginalizing over the PSF uncertainty. We model for the first time the quasar host galaxies in 5 systems, without a-priory knowledge of the PSF, and show that their luminosities follow the known correlation with the mass of the supermassive black hole. For each system, we obtain mass models far more accurate than those previously published from low-resolution data, and we show that in our sample of lensing galaxies the observed light profile is more elliptical than the mass, for ellipticity > 0.25. We also identify eight doubles for which the sources of external and internal shear are more reliably separated, and should therefore be prioritized in monitoring campaigns aimed at measuring time-delays in order to infer the Hubble constant., 59 pages including 28 in the appendix. Accepted by MNRAS. The figures in this version are shrunk. Minor corrections made after the referee report

Background:Infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and lupus nephritis (LN) treated with systemic immunosuppression (IS).Objectives:We sought to describe the infection profile in patients with LN treated with aggressive immunosuppression (induction and maintenance therapy) and to identify the associated risk factors.Methods:Patients with LN followed in the Nephrology Department of Fundeni Clinical Institute, were retrospectively reviewed for any infection that occurred from initiation of induction therapy. Infections were graded (1-5) according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events. Infection site and type of microorganism were also recorded. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed in order to identify independent risk factors for infection.Results:The study cohort comprised 101 patients (86.1% females) with a mean age of 34 ± 14 years. Forty-eight patients (47.5%) had at least one infection with a total 92 episodes of infection occurring during a median follow-up of 17 months (IQR:8.5-52.5 months). The majority of patients (31 of 48) had infections during the first 12 months since IS treatment initiation. The most common site was lung infection (in 24.8% of patients), followed by urinary tract (20.8% of patients) and cutaneous/mucosal infections (11% of patients). Thirty-eight percent of patients had bacterial infections. Nineteen percent of patients had severe infections (grade 3 or higher) with 3.3% of infection-related deaths (3 patients). The most common induction regimen was cyclophosphamide in addition to corticosteroids (48.5%), with 44.6% of patients receiving pulse methylprednisolone and 45.5% of patients receiving more than 30 mg/d of prednisone as the maximum oral dose. In univariate Cox regression analysis, female gender (HR 3.34; 95% CI, 1.03-10.8, p=0.04), pulse methylprednisolone (HR 2.9; 95% CI, 1.6-5.24, p=0.001), high-dose (≥30 mg/day) oral corticosteroids (HR 4.22; 95% CI, 2.21-8.02,p=0.001) and SLEDAI score (HR 1.047; 95% CI, 1.012-1.084, p=0.008) were risk factors for infection. In multivariate Cox regression analysis, female gender (HR 6.35; 95%CI, 1.86-21.64,p=0.003), high-dose oral corticosteroids (HR 4.7; 95% CI, 2.25-9.87, p=0.003) and SLEDAI score (HR 1.046; 95% CI, 1.003-1.09, p=0.034) remained independent predictors of infection risk. Of the risk factors associated with severe infections (grade 3 or higher), in univariate analysis we identified younger age (HR 0.96, 95%CI, 0.92-0.99, p=0.035), neurological involvement (HR 2.59; 95%, 0.86-7.83, p=0.09), pulse methylprednisolone (HR 5.42; 95% CI, 1.79-16.35, p=0.003) and high-dose oral corticosteroids (HR 8.32; 95% CI, 2.4-28.77, p=0.001) as risk factors for infection. After multivariate adjustment, neurological involvement (HR 4.33; 95%, 1.29-14.51, p=0.01) and high-dose oral corticosteroids (HR 7.6; 95% CI, 1.6-35.39, p=0.01) were identified as independent predictors of infection risk.Conclusion:A high-dose oral corticosteroid regimen increased the risk for any infection and for severe infections by 4.7-fold and 7.6-fold, respectively. In addition, female gender and a higher SLEDAI score were identified as risk factors for any infection, while neurological involvement was associated with an increased risk for severe infections.References:[1]Jung JY, Yoon D, Choi Y, Kim HA, Suh CH. Associated clinical factors for serious infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Sci Rep. 2019;9(1):9704.Disclosure of Interests: :None declared

Strong gravitationally lensed quasars provide powerful means to study galaxy evolution and cosmology. We use Chitah to hunt for new lens systems in the Hyper Suprime$-$Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC SSP) S16A. We present 46 lens candidates, of which 3 are previously known. Including 2 additional lenses found by YattaLens, we obtain X-shooter spectra of 6 promising candidates for lens confirmation and redshift measurements. We report new spectroscopic redshift measurements for both the lens and source galaxies in 4 lens systems. We apply the lens modeling software Glee to model our 6 X-shooter lenses uniformly. Through our analysis of the HSC images, we find that HSCJ022622$-$042522, HSCJ115252$+$004733, and HSCJ141136$-$010216 have point-like lensed images, and that the lens light distribution is well aligned with mass distribution within 6 deg. Thanks to the X-shooter spectra, we estimate fluxes on the Baldwin- Phillips-Terlevich (BPT) diagram, and find that HSCJ022622$-$042522 has a probable quasar source, based on the upper limit of the Nii flux intensity. We also measure the FWHM of Ly$\alpha$ emission of HSCJ141136$-$010216 to be $\sim$254 km/s, showing that it is a probable Lyman-$\alpha$ emitter., Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures

We present results of a systematic search for gravitationally lensed quasars in Pan-STARRS1. Our final sample of candidates comprises of 91 systems, not including 25 rediscovered lensed quasars and quasar pairs. In the absence of spectroscopy to verify the lensing nature of the candidates, the main sources of contaminants are likely to be quasar pairs, which we consider to be a byproduct of our work, and a smaller number of quasar$+$star associations. Amongst the independently discovered quads is 2M1134$-$2103, for which we obtained spectroscopy for the first time, finding a redshift of 2.77 for the quasar. There is evidence for microlensing in at least one image. We perform detailed mass modeling of this system using archival imaging data, and find that the unusually large shear responsible for the diamond-like configuration can be attributed mainly to a faint companion $\sim 4''$ away, and to a galaxy group/cluster $\sim 30''$ away. We also set limits of $z\sim0.5-1.5$ on the redshift of the lensing galaxy, based on its brightness, the image separation of the lensed images, and an analysis of the observed photometric flux ratios., Accepted by MNRAS. Based on feedback from the referee, the final sample of candidates is significantly different from the one in the previous submission. 15 pages + 4 pages of appendix, 7 figures, 3 tables

We report the discovery, spectroscopic confirmation, and mass modelling of the gravitationally lensed quasar system PS J0630-1201. The lens was discovered by matching a photometric quasar catalogue compiled from Pan-STARRS and WISE photometry to the Gaia DR1 catalogue, exploiting the high spatial resolution of the latter (FWHM $\sim $0.1") to identify the three brightest components of the lens. Follow-up spectroscopic observations with the WHT confirm the multiple objects are quasars at redshift $z_{q}=3.34$. Further follow-up with Keck AO high-resolution imaging reveals that the system is composed of two lensing galaxies and the quasar is lensed into a $\sim$2.8" separation four-image cusp configuration with a fifth image clearly visible, and a 1.0" arc due to the lensed quasar host galaxy. The system is well-modelled with two singular isothermal ellipsoids, reproducing the position of the fifth image. We discuss future prospects for measuring time delays between the images and constraining any offset between mass and light using the faintly detected Einstein arcs associated with the quasar host galaxy., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS Letters, 6 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables