861 research outputs found
The Nature of the Near-IR Core Source in 3C 433
We report the analysis of near-infrared imaging, polarimetric and
spectroscopic observations of the powerful radio galaxy 3C433, obtained with
the HST and UKIRT telescopes. The high spatial resolution of HST allows us to
study the near-nuclear regions of the galaxy (<1 kpc). In line with previous
observations, we find that 3C433 has an unresolved core source that is detected
in all near-IR bands, but dominates over the host galaxy emission at 2.05 um.
Our analysis reveals: (1) the presence of a dust lane aligned close to
perpendicular (PA=70\pm5\degr) to the inner radio jet axis
(PA=-12\pm2\degr); (2) a steep slope to the near-IR SED (;
F); (3) an apparent lack of broad permitted
emission lines at near-IR wavelengths, in particular the absence of a broad
Pa emission line; and (4) high intrinsic polarization for the
unresolved core nuclear source ( per cent), with an E-vector
perpendicular (PA=83.0\pm 2.3\degr) to the inner radio jet. Using five
independent techniques we determine an extinction to the compact core source in
the range 3<A_V<67 mag. An analysis of the long wavelength SED rules out a
synchrotron origin for the high near-IR polarization of the compact core
source. Therefore, scattering and dichroic extinction are plausible polarizing
mechanisms, although in both of these cases the broad permitted lines from the
AGN are required to have a width >10^4 km/s (FWHM) to escape detection in our
near-IR spectrum. Dichroic extinction is the most likely polarization mechanism
because it is consistent with the various available extinction estimates. In
this case, a highly ordered, coherent toroidal magnetic field must be present
in the obscuring structure close to the nucleus.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Increasing the Effectiveness of Vaginal Microbicides: A Biophysical Framework to Rethink Behavioral Acceptability
Microbicide candidates delivered via gel vehicles are intended to coat the vaginal epithelium after application. The coating process depends on intrinsic biophysical properties of the gel texture, which restricts the potential choices for an effective product: the gel first must be physically synthesizable, then acceptable to the user, and finally applied in a manner promoting timely adequate coating, so that the user adherence is optimized. We present a conceptual framework anchoring microbicide behavioral acceptability within the fulfillment of the product biophysical requirements.We conducted a semi-qualitative/quantitative study targeting women aged 18-55 in Northern California to assess user preferences for microbicide gel attributes. Attributes included: (i) the wait time between application and intercourse, (ii) the gel texture and (iii) the trade-off between wait time and gel texture. Wait times were assessed using a mathematical model determining coating rates depending upon the gel's physical attributes.71 women participated. Results suggest that women would independently prefer a gel spreading rapidly, in 2 to 15 minutes (P<0.0001), as well as one that is thick or slippery (P<0.02). Clearly, thick gels do not spread rapidly; hence the motivation to study the trade-off. When asked the same question 'constrained' by the biophysical reality, women indicated no significant preference for a particular gel thickness (and therefore waiting time) (P>0.10) for use with a steady partner, a preference for a watery gel spreading rapidly rather than one having intermediate properties for use with a casual partner (P = 0.024).Biophysical constraints alter women's preferences regarding acceptable microbicide attributes. Product developers should offer a range of formulations in order to address all preferences. We designed a conceptual framework to rethink behavioral acceptability in terms of biophysical requirements that can help improve adherence in microbicide use ultimately enhancing microbicide effectiveness
Willingness to act upon beliefs about 'treatment as prevention' among Australian gay and bisexual men
HIV 'treatment as prevention' (TasP) is highly effective in reducing HIV transmission in serodiscordant couples. There has been little examination of gay and bisexual men's attitudes towards TasP, particularly regarding men's willingness to act on beliefs about TasP. We conducted an online cross-sectional survey of Australian men in late 2012 to investigate knowledge and beliefs about new developments in HIV prevention. Amongst 839 men (mean age 39.5 years), men tended to disagree that TasP was sufficiently effective to justify reduced condom use, although HIV-positive men had more favourable attitudes. Only a minority of men were aware of any evidence for TasP; and one-quarter incorrectly believed that evidence for the effectiveness of TasP already existed for the homosexual population. One-fifth (20.5%) of men reported that they would be willing to have condomless anal intercourse with an opposite-status sexual partner when the HIV-positive partner was taking HIV treatments. Factors independently associated with such willingness were: HIV-positive serostatus, reporting any serodiscordant or serononconcordant condomless anal intercourse with a regular male partner in the previous six months, reporting any condomless anal intercourse with a casual male partner in the previous six months, and having greater beliefs in the effectiveness of TasP. This indicated that the men most willing to rely on TasP to prevent transmission were already engaging in higher risk practices. Biomedical HIV prevention represents a rapidly changing environment with new research as well as community and policy responses emerging at a fast pace. For men with serodiscordant sexual partners to successfully apply TasP to reducing transmission risk, more support and education is needed to enable better utilisation of TasP in specific relational and sexual contexts
Kinase inhibitor pulldown assay identifies a chemotherapy response signature in triple-negative breast cancer based on purine-binding proteins
UNLABELLED: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes 10%-15% of all breast tumors. The current standard of care is multiagent chemotherapy, which is effective in only a subset of patients. The original objective of this study was to deploy a mass spectrometry (MS)-based kinase inhibitor pulldown assay (KIPA) to identify kinases elevated in non-pCR (pathologic complete response) cases for therapeutic targeting. Frozen optimal cutting temperature compound-embedded core needle biopsies were obtained from 43 patients with TNBC before docetaxel- and carboplatin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. KIPA was applied to the native tumor lysates that were extracted from samples with high tumor content. Seven percent of all identified proteins were kinases, and none were significantly associated with lack of pCR. However, among a large population of off-target purine-binding proteins (PBP) identified, seven were enriched in pCR-associated samples (
SIGNIFICANCE: The identification of pretreatment predictive biomarkers for pCR in response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy would advance precision treatment for TNBC. To complement standard proteogenomic discovery profiling, a KIPA was deployed and unexpectedly identified a seven-member non-kinase PBP pCR-associated signature. Individual members served diverse pathways including IFN gamma response, nuclear import of DNA repair proteins, and cell death
Is cold gas fuelling the radio galaxy NGC 315?
We present WSRT, VLA and VLBI observations of the HI absorption in the radio
galaxy NGC 315. The main result is that two HI absorbing systems are detected
against the central region. In addition to the known highly redshifted, very
narrow component, we detect relatively broad (FWZI 150 km/s) absorption. This
broad component is redshifted by ~80 km/s compared to the systemic velocity,
while the narrow absorption is redshifted ~ 490 km/s. Both HI absorption
components are spatially resolved at the pc-scale of the VLBI observations. The
broad component shows strong gradients in density (or excitation) and velocity
along the jet. We conclude that this gas is physically close to the AGN,
although the nature of the gas resulting in the broad absorption is not
completely clear. The possibility that it is entrained by the radio jet appears
unlikely. Gas located in a thick circum-nuclear toroidal structure cannot be
completely ruled out although it appears difficult to reconcile with the
observed morphology and kinematics of the HI. A perhaps more likely scenario is
that the gas producing the broad absorption could be (directly or indirectly)
connected with the fuelling of the AGN, i.e. gas that is falling into the
nucleus. If this is the case, the accretion rate derived is similar to that
found for other X-ray luminous elliptical galaxies, although lower than that
derived from the radio core luminosity for NGC 315. The density distribution of
the narrow component is, featureless. Moreover, we detect a small amount of HI
in emission a few kpc SW of the AGN, coincident with faint optical absorption
features and at velocities very similar to the narrow absorption. This suggests
that the gas causing the narrow absorption is not close to the AGN and is more
likely caused by clouds falling into NGC 315.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A, 9 pages, 6 figure
The EBLM Project I-Physical and orbital parameters, including spin-orbit angles, of two low-mass eclipsing binaries on opposite sides of the Brown Dwarf limit
This paper introduces a series of papers aiming to study the dozens of low
mass eclipsing binaries (EBLM), with F, G, K primaries, that have been
discovered in the course of the WASP survey. Our objects are mostly single-line
binaries whose eclipses have been detected by WASP and were initially followed
up as potential planetary transit candidates. These have bright primaries,
which facilitates spectroscopic observations during transit and allows the
study of the spin-orbit distribution of F, G, K+M eclipsing binaries through
the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. Here we report on the spin-orbit angle of
WASP-30b, a transiting brown dwarf, and improve its orbital parameters. We also
present the mass, radius, spin-orbit angle and orbital parameters of a new
eclipsing binary, J1219-39b (1SWAPJ121921.03-395125.6, TYC 7760-484-1), which,
with a mass of 95 +/- 2 Mjup, is close to the limit between brown dwarfs and
stars. We find that both objects orbit in planes that appear aligned with their
primaries' equatorial planes. Neither primaries are synchronous. J1219-39b has
a modestly eccentric orbit and is in agreement with the theoretical
mass--radius relationship, whereas WASP-30b lies above it.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, data in appendices, submitted to A&A (taking in
account 1st referee report
The Echinococcus canadensis (G7) genome: A key knowledge of parasitic platyhelminth human diseases
Background: The parasite Echinococcus canadensis (G7) (phylum Platyhelminthes, class Cestoda) is one of the causative agents of echinococcosis. Echinococcosis is a worldwide chronic zoonosis affecting humans as well as domestic and wild mammals, which has been reported as a prioritized neglected disease by the World Health Organisation. No genomic data, comparative genomic analyses or efficient therapeutic and diagnostic tools are available for this severe disease. The information presented in this study will help to understand the peculiar biological characters and to design species-specific control tools. Results: We sequenced, assembled and annotated the 115-Mb genome of E. canadensis (G7). Comparative genomic analyses using whole genome data of three Echinococcus species not only confirmed the status of E. canadensis (G7) as a separate species but also demonstrated a high nucleotide sequences divergence in relation to E. granulosus (G1). The E. canadensis (G7) genome contains 11,449 genes with a core set of 881 orthologs shared among five cestode species. Comparative genomics revealed that there are more single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between E. canadensis (G7) and E. granulosus (G1) than between E. canadensis (G7) and E. multilocularis. This result was unexpected since E. canadensis (G7) and E. granulosus (G1) were considered to belong to the species complex E. granulosus sensu lato. We described SNPs in known drug targets and metabolism genes in the E. canadensis (G7) genome. Regarding gene regulation, we analysed three particular features: CpG island distribution along the three Echinococcus genomes, DNA methylation system and small RNA pathway. The results suggest the occurrence of yet unknown gene regulation mechanisms in Echinococcus. Conclusions: This is the first work that addresses Echinococcus comparative genomics. The resources presented here will promote the study of mechanisms of parasite development as well as new tools for drug discovery. The availability of a high-quality genome assembly is critical for fully exploring the biology of a pathogenic organism. The E. canadensis (G7) genome presented in this study provides a unique opportunity to address the genetic diversity among the genus Echinococcus and its particular developmental features. At present, there is no unequivocal taxonomic classification of Echinococcus species; however, the genome-wide SNPs analysis performed here revealed the phylogenetic distance among these three Echinococcus species. Additional cestode genomes need to be sequenced to be able to resolve their phylogeny.Fil: Maldonado, Lucas Luciano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Assis, Juliana. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Gomes Araújo, Flávio M.. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Salim, Anna C. M.. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Macchiaroli, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Cucher, Marcela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Camicia, Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Fox, Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Rosenzvit, Mara Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Oliveira, Guilherme. Instituto Tecnológico Vale; Brasil. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Kamenetzky, Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentin
Skills, strategies, sport and social responsibility : reconnecting physical education
Physical education is one of the more difficult subjects in the curriculum for generalist classroom teachers in primary schools to incorporate confidently into their teaching. In many primary schools, the generalist classroom teacher defers to a physical education specialist. This situation has both positive and negative features. In this context, this study brings together several prominent models of physical education teaching in an approach that enables the curriculum to be encountered through the interests of the children. This approach offers a generalist teacher, through appropriate professional development, a means for delivering a high-quality physical education programme, and also complements the repertoire of the specialist physical education teacher at both primary and secondary school levels.<br /
Genome-wide association and HLA fine-mapping studies identify risk loci and genetic pathways underlying allergic rhinitis
Allergic rhinitis is the most common clinical presentation of allergy, affecting 400 million people worldwide, with increasing incidence in westernized countries1,2. To elucidate the genetic architecture and understand the underlying disease mechanisms, we carried out a meta-analysis of allergic rhinitis in 59,762 cases and 152,358 controls of European ancestry and identified a total of 41 risk loci for allergic rhinitis, including 20 loci not previously associated with allergic rhinitis, which were confirmed in a replication phase of 60,720 cases and 618,527 controls. Functional annotation implicated genes involved in various immune pathways, and fine mapping of the HLA region suggested amino acid variants important for antigen binding. We further performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses of allergic sensitization against inhalant allergens and nonallergic rhinitis, which suggested shared genetic mechanisms across rhinitis-related traits. Future studies of the identified loci and genes might identify novel targets for treatment and prevention of allergic rhinitis
Multiphase Signatures of AGN Feedback in Abell 2597
We present new Chandra X-ray observations of the brightest cluster galaxy
(BCG) in the cool core cluster Abell 2597. The data reveal an extensive
kpc-scale X-ray cavity network as well as a 15 kpc filament of soft-excess gas
exhibiting strong spatial correlation with archival VLA radio data. In addition
to several possible scenarios, multiwavelength evidence may suggest that the
filament is associated with multiphase (10^3 - 10^7 K) gas that has been
entrained and dredged-up by the propagating radio source. Stemming from a full
spectral analysis, we also present profiles and 2D spectral maps of modeled
X-ray temperature, entropy, pressure, and metal abundance. The maps reveal an
arc of hot gas which in projection borders the inner edge of a large X-ray
cavity. Although limited by strong caveats, we suggest that the hot arc may be
(a) due to a compressed rim of cold gas pushed outward by the radio bubble or
(b) morphologically and energetically consistent with cavity-driven active
galactic nucleus (AGN) heating models invoked to quench cooling flows, in which
the enthalpy of a buoyant X-ray cavity is locally thermalized as ambient gas
rushes to refill its wake. If confirmed, this would be the first observational
evidence for this model.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures; Accepted for publication in MNRA
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