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Observations of the interstellar medium are key to deciphering the physical processes regulating star formation in galaxies. However, observational uncertainties and detection limits can bias the interpretation unless carefully modeled. Here I re-analyze star formation rates and gas masses of a representative sample of nearby galaxies with the help of multi-dimensional Bayesian modeling. Typical star forming galaxies are found to lie in a ‘star forming plane’ largely independent of their stellar mass. Their star formation activity is tightly correlated with the molecular and total gas content, while variations of the molecular-gas-to-star conversion efficiency are shown to be significantly smaller than previously reported. These data-driven findings suggest that physical processes that modify the overall galactic gas content, such as gas accretion and outflows, regulate the star formation activity in typical nearby galaxies, while a change in efficiency triggered by, e.g., galaxy mergers or gas instabilities, may boost the activity of starbursts. How galaxies form their stars has been extensively studied but the role of the galactic gas content and the efficiency of its conversion into stars remain to be fully understood. Here the author presents a data-driven statistical analysis that reduces potential biases related to non-detections to quantify the link between star formation, molecular, and neutral gas in nearby galaxies.

The aim of the proof-of-concept study is to investigate the level of concordance between the heart rate variability (HRV), the EEG-based Narcotrend Index as a surrogate marker for the depth of hypnosis, and the minimal alveolar concentration (MAC) of the inhalation anesthetic sevoflurane across the entire course of a surgical procedure. This non-blinded cross-sectional study recorded intraoperative HRV, Narcotrend Index, and MAC in 31 male patients during radical prostatectomy using the Da-Vinci robotic-assisted surgical system at Mannheim University Medical Center. The degree of concordance was calculated using repeated measures correlation with the R package (rmcorr) and presented using the rmcorr coefficient (rrm). The Narcotrend Index correlates significantly across all measures with the time-dependent parameter of HRV, the standard deviation of the means of RR intervals (SDNN) (rrm = 0.2; p < 0.001), the frequency-dependent parameters low frequency (LF) (rrm = 0.09; p = 0.04) and the low frequency/high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) (rrm = 0.11; p = 0.002). MAC correlated significantly negatively with the time-dependent parameter of heart rate variability, SDNN (rrm = -0.28; p < 0.001), the frequency-dependent parameter LF (rrm = -0.06; p < 0.001) and the LF/HF ratio (rrm = -0.18; p < 0.001) and the Narcotrend Index (rrm = -0.49; p < 0.001) across all measures. HRV mirrors the trend of the Narcotrend Index used to monitor depth of hypnosis and the inhibitory influence of the anesthetic sevoflurane on the autonomic nervous system. Therefore, HRV can provide essential information about the homeostasis of the autonomic nervous system during general anesthesia. DRKS00024696, March 9th, 2021.

Submillimetre-bright galaxies at high redshift are the most luminous, heavily star-forming galaxies in the Universe, but cosmological simulations of such galaxies have so far been unsuccessful; now a cosmological hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulation is reported that can form a submillimetre galaxy that simultaneously satisfies the broad range of observed physical constraints. A model for submillimetre-bright galaxy formation Due in part to their extreme infrared luminosities, it has been suggested that the origin of high-redshift submillimetre-bright galaxies lies in gas-rich galaxy mergers, but cosmological simulations of such galaxies have so far proved problematic. Here Desika Narayanan et al . report a cosmological hydrodynamic galaxy formation model that can form a submillimetre galaxy that simultaneously satisfies the broad range of observed physical constraints in a simulation with a lifetime of nearly a billion years. The intense star formation rates are fueled in part by a reservoir gas supply enabled by stellar feedback at earlier times, not through major mergers. Submillimetre-bright galaxies at high redshift are the most luminous, heavily star-forming galaxies in the Universe 1 and are characterized by prodigious emission in the far-infrared, with a flux of at least five millijanskys at a wavelength of 850 micrometres. They reside in haloes with masses about 10 13 times that of the Sun 2 , have low gas fractions compared to main-sequence disks at a comparable redshift 3 , trace complex environments 4 , 5 and are not easily observable at optical wavelengths 6 . Their physical origin remains unclear. Simulations have been able to form galaxies with the requisite luminosities, but have otherwise been unable to simultaneously match the stellar masses, star formation rates, gas fractions and environments 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 . Here we report a cosmological hydrodynamic galaxy formation simulation that is able to form a submillimetre galaxy that simultaneously satisfies the broad range of observed physical constraints. We find that groups of galaxies residing in massive dark matter haloes have increasing rates of star formation that peak at collective rates of about 500–1,000 solar masses per year at redshifts of two to three, by which time the interstellar medium is sufficiently enriched with metals that the region may be observed as a submillimetre-selected system. The intense star formation rates are fuelled in part by the infall of a reservoir gas supply enabled by stellar feedback at earlier times, not through major mergers. With a lifetime of nearly a billion years, our simulations show that the submillimetre-bright phase of high-redshift galaxies is prolonged and associated with significant mass buildup in early-Universe proto-clusters, and that many submillimetre-bright galaxies are composed of numerous unresolved components (for which there is some observational evidence 11 ).

Background: Body image is a multidimensional construct with cognitive-affective, behavioral and perceptive components. Survivors of childhood sexual abuse report a disturbance of the cognitive-affective component of their body image but not of the perceptive component. It has not yet been examined whether and how the behavioral component is affected. Also, it is still unknown whether the disturbances might be due to the influence of co-occurring eating disorders. Sampling and Methods: The cognitive-affective and behavioral components of the body image of 84 female participants with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childhood sexual abuse (31 with a co-occurring eating disorder) and 53 healthy participants were assessed via the Dresden Body Image Inventory (Dresdner Körperbildfragebogen-35, DKB-35) and the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (BIAQ). Results: PTSD patients reported significantly higher negative scores on all DKB-35 subscales (p < 0.001) and the BIAQ (p = 0.002; p < 0.001). Results remained consistent after accounting for the influence of co-occurring eating disorders (p = 0.021; p = 0.001; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Results show for the first time that the behavioral component of the body image is impaired in female patients with PTSD in addition to the cognitive-affective component. This is not solely due to a comorbid eating disorder. The effect of established treatments on the body image of PTSD patients should be evaluated and new treatment modules should be developed and tested, if necessary.

The standard cold dark matter plus cosmological constant model predicts that galaxies form within dark-matter haloes, and that low-mass galaxies are more dark-matter dominated than massive ones. The unexpected discovery of two low-mass galaxies lacking dark matter immediately provoked concerns about the standard cosmology and ignited explorations of alternatives, including self-interacting dark matter and modified gravity. Apprehension grew after several cosmological simulations using the conventional model failed to form adequate numerical analogues with comparable internal characteristics (stellar masses, sizes, velocity dispersions and morphologies). Here we show that the standard paradigm naturally produces galaxies lacking dark matter with internal characteristics in agreement with observations. Using a state-of-the-art cosmological simulation and a meticulous galaxy-identification technique, we find that extreme close encounters with massive neighbours can be responsible for this. We predict that ~30% of massive central galaxies (with at least 10 11 solar masses in stars) harbour at least one dark-matter-deficient satellite (with 10 8 –10 9 solar masses in stars). This distinctive class of galaxies provides an additional layer in our understanding of the role of interactions in shaping galactic properties. Future observations surveying galaxies in the aforementioned regime will provide a crucial test of this scenario. A cosmological simulation shows that low-mass galaxies can form with far less dark matter than expected, with results matching some observed characteristics. Roughly one-third of massive central galaxies may host at least one such dark-matter-deficient satellite.

Lichen planus is a chronic, inflammatory, immune-mediated dermatosis affecting the patient’s skin, scalp, mucous membranes, and nails. Drug-induced lichen planus is described after the administration of antimalarials, ß-blockers, methyldopa, NSAIDs, penicillamines, and sodium aurothiomalate. The use of biologicals such as adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab has also been linked with the appearance of lichenoid eruptions in the recent past. In this case, we report on a patient developing oral and cutaneous lichen planus after the administration of dupilumab. The lichenoid lesions occurred after 11 months of the drug’s administration and involved the buccal walls, trunk, and extremities. Dupilumab had been administered in an effort to counter severe atopic dermatitis exacerbations. Dupilumab is associated with a downregulation of T-helper 2 cell activation by blocking the Interleukin-4/Interleukin-13 pathway, so leading to a TH1/TH2 imbalance. This imbalance may cause a shift toward a TH1-mediated immune response and be an explanation for the drug-induced lichen planus. Dupilumab was discontinued, and the patient was treated with oral corticosteroids and UVB phototherapy, leading to a significant improvement in the lichen planus lesions.

Sufficient oxygenation is indispensable for cognitive performance in mammals. In order to assure adequate oxygenation and to prevent hypoxia in medicine or aviation, different approaches of oxygen delivery are realized. With regard to hyperoxia, it is well known that it increases the risk of tissue toxicity and inflammation by generating radical oxygen species. However, this impact of hyperoxia on the expression of specific brain proteins has not been evaluated in detail yet. The present study analyzes time-dependent changes in protein expression in rat brain after a short-term exposure to normobaric hyperoxia. Thirty-six Wistar rats were randomly assigned to six different groups, three normobaric hyperoxia (NH) groups or three normobaric normoxia (NN) groups, each consisting of n = 6 animals. NH animals were exposed to 100% oxygen, NN rats to 21% oxygen, each group for 3 h. One group of NH and one group of NN were killed immediately after the 3 h, one group each after 3 days and one group each after 7 days. Rat brains were removed for analysis and whole brain detergent protein lysates were separated via two-dimensional gel electrophoresis followed by subsequent identification of protein expression alterations by peptide mass fingerprinting using mass spectrometry. Also, a functional network mapping and molecular pathway analysis were carried out. Statistical analysis was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni correction using P < 0.01. Physiological parameters of the animals did not differ significantly between the two groups except for partial oxygen pressure (580 vs. 89 mmHg; P < 0.05). The expression of nine proteins was found to be significantly altered (five up-regulated: GOT1, CCT2, TCP1, G6PD, and ALB; four down-regulated: PEBP1, PRDX2, ENO1, and MDH1). IPA generated a network with eight focus proteins associated with pathways in “cell death, cancer, and signalling”. Although hyperoxia was normobaric and induced for only 3 h, significant changes in brain protein expression were detectable immediately after the 3 h, after 3 days, as well as after 7 days. This may indicate effects on brain protein expression take place in the rat brain following a relatively short period of hyperoxia.

Adult neural stem cells can be isolated from various regions of the rat brain and seem to have multilineage differentiation potential. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that global protein expression of adult neural stem cells isolated from rat hippocampus is changed during in vitro differentiation. After 2 days of differentiation, we separated total protein extracts by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and used mass spectrometry and gel-matching for identification. We detected a differential expression in 367 regulated protein spots, of which 128 could be identified. Regulated proteins included participants in transcription and DNA metabolism; signal transduction and Ca2+-signaling; MAP kinase pathways; cytoskeletal rearrangement; regulation of cell cycle, proliferation, and survival; protein biosynthesis, folding, and degradation; and glycine and glutamate metabolic pathways. These results suggest a massive reorganization of the stem cell proteomic profile upon differentiation and indicate potential cellular targets mediating the differentiation of neural stem cells.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common type of skin cancer after basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The overall prevalence of BCC is 3 times higher than that of SCC, but this can vary when looking at specific locations such as the hand, where SCC is much more common than BCC. Carcinoma (or epithelioma) cuniculatum is a rare variant of SCC. It was originally described as a verrucous carcinoma of the soles. Exceptionally, it can arise in other parts of the skin. We report a rare case of carcinoma cuniculatum of the right thenar region with bone and lymph node involvement.

The identification of sources driving cosmic reionization, a major phase transition from neutral hydrogen to ionized plasma around 600–800 Myr after the Big Bang 1 – 3 , has been a matter of debate 4 . Some models suggest that high ionizing emissivity and escape fractions ( f esc ) from quasars support their role in driving cosmic reionization 5 , 6 . Others propose that the high f esc values from bright galaxies generate sufficient ionizing radiation to drive this process 7 . Finally, a few studies suggest that the number density of faint galaxies, when combined with a stellar-mass-dependent model of ionizing efficiency and f esc , can effectively dominate cosmic reionization 8 , 9 . However, so far, comprehensive spectroscopic studies of low-mass galaxies have not been done because of their extreme faintness. Here we report an analysis of eight ultra-faint galaxies (in a very small field) during the epoch of reionization with absolute magnitudes between M UV  ≈ −17 mag and −15 mag (down to 0.005 L ⋆ (refs.  10 , 11 )). We find that faint galaxies during the first thousand million years of the Universe produce ionizing photons with log[ ξ ion  (Hz erg −1 )] = 25.80 ± 0.14, a factor of 4 higher than commonly assumed values 12 . If this field is representative of the large-scale distribution of faint galaxies, the rate of ionizing photons exceeds that needed for reionization, even for escape fractions of the order of 5%. An analysis of eight ultra-faint galaxies during the epoch of reionization with absolute magnitudes between −17 mag and −15  mag shows that most of the photons that reionized the Universe come from dwarf galaxies.