The Molecular Line Opacity of MgH in Cool Stellar Atmospheres

A new, complete, theoretical rotational and vibrational line list for the A-X electronic transition in MgH is presented. The list includes transition energies and oscillator strengths for all possible allowed transitions and was computed using the best available theoretical potential energies and dipole transition moment function with the former adjusted to account for experimental data. The A-X line list, as well as new line lists for the B'-X and the X-X (pure rovibrational) transitions, were included in comprehensive stellar atmosphere models for M, L, and T dwarfs and solar-type stars. The resulting spectra, when compared to models lacking MgH, show that MgH provides significant opacity in the visible between 4400 and 5600 Angstrom. Further, comparison of the spectra obtained with the current line list to spectra obtained using the line list constructed by Kurucz (1993) show that the Kurucz list significantly overestimates the opacity due to MgH particularly for the bands near 5150 and 4800 Angstrom with the discrepancy increasing with decreasing effective temperature.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

The Molecular Continuum Opacity of MgH in Cool Stellar Atmospheres

The opacity due to photodissociation of 24MgH is investigated in the atmospheres of cool stars. The lowest two electronic transitions A 2Pi -- X 2Sigma+ and B' 2Sigma+ -- X 2 Sigma+ are considered where the cross sections for the latter were published previously (Weck, Stancil, & Kirby 2002) while the former are presented in this work. Model atmospheres calculated with the PHOENIX code are used to investigate the effect of the photodissociation opacity on spectra of cool stars. The A -- X photodissociation cross sections are obtained using a combination of ab initio and experimentally derived potential curves and dipole transition moments. Partial cross sections have been evaluated over the accessible wavelength range 1770-4560 Angstrom for all rotational transitions from the vibrational levels v''=0-11. Assuming a Boltzmann distribution of the rovibrational levels of the X 2Sigma+ state, LTE photodissociation cross sections are presented for temperatures between 1000 and 5000 K. Shape resonances, arising from rotational predissociation of quasi-bound levels of the A 2Pi state near threshold, characterize the LTE photodissociation cross sections. A sum rule is proposed as a check on the accuracy of the photodissociation calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Varying cecal bacterial loads influences colitis and gastritis in HLA-B27 transgenic rats

AbstractBackground & Aims: Recent data support an important role of resident luminal bacteria in experimental colitis. We determined how altered cecal bacterial loads influence colitis and gastritis. Methods: A cecal self-filling blind loop (SFBL) was created or the cecum was excluded from the fecal stream in specific pathogen–free HLA-B27 transgenic (TG) rats with early colitis and in nontransgenic (nonTG) littermates; controls underwent sham operation (SHAM). Luminal bacterial concentrations were determined by culture and counting chamber. Results: TG rats with SFBL had more severe cecal inflammation and leukocytosis than TG SHAM controls. TG excluded rats with low cecal bacterial loads had no cecal inflammation and less colitis and gastritis than SHAM controls, despite having normal distal colonic and gastric bacterial concentrations. Metronidazole attenuated cecal inflammation and eliminated Bacteroides in SFBL TG rats. NonTG SFBL rats had mild cecal inflammation and no gastritis and colitis. The ratio of total anaerobic to aerobic bacteria was 1000-fold greater in SFBL than in SHAM rats, with a 10,000-fold increased ratio of Bacteroides spp. to aerobes. Conclusions: The luminal bacterial load and composition determines the activity of cecal inflammation in genetically susceptible hosts. Lowering cecal bacterial concentrations can diminish inflammation in remote organs.GASTROENTEROLOGY 1999;116:310-31

Voices of girls with disabilities in rural Iran

This paper investigates the interaction of gender, disability and education in rural Iran, which is a relatively unexplored field of research. The responses of 10 female students with disabilities from Isfahan indicated that the obstacles they faced included marginalization, difficulties in getting from home to school, difficulties within the school building itself, and discrimination by teachers, classmates and school authorities. The data collected for the study contain a wide range of conservative gendered discourses, and show how traditional gender beliefs interact with disability to aggravate the problems faced in education by young women with disabilities. It is hoped that the findings will raise awareness among policy-makers of the many formidable obstacles that make it difficult for young women with disabilities to achieve their full potential in education

Localized gut-associated lymphoid tissue hemorrhage induced by intravenous peptidoglycan-polysaccharide polymers.

A hemorrhage into gut-associated lymphoid tissue developed as early as 3 min after the intravenous injection of group A streptococcal peptidoglycan-polysaccharide polymers into rats. Extravasated erythrocytes were specifically located in the lamina propria and organized lymphoid follicles of the intestines and mesenteric lymph nodes and did not occur in the lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, adrenal glands, or submandibular and popliteal lymph nodes, as determined by gross and histologic observations and measurement of radiolabeled erythrocytes. Petechial hemorrhage was preferentially located within the intestine to the distal ileum, Peyer's patches, and lymphoid aggregates of the colon. The hemorrhage was transient and occurred in a dose-dependent fashion. It was maximal 5 min after injection and resolved completely by 3 days. A unique feature of this altered vascular permeability was the absence of polymorphonuclear leukocytic infiltration, edema, vasculitis, and tissue necrosis

Scattering length of the ground state Mg+Mg collision

We have constructed the X 1SIGMAg+ potential for the collision between two ground state Mg atoms and analyzed the effect of uncertainties in the shape of the potential on scattering properties at ultra-cold temperatures. This potential reproduces the experimental term values to 0.2 inverse cm and has a scattering length of +1.4(5) nm where the error is prodominantly due to the uncertainty in the dissociation energy and the C6 dispersion coefficient. A positive sign of the scattering length suggests that a Bose-Einstein condensate of ground state Mg atoms is stable.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, Submitted Phys. Rev.

Development and formative evaluation of the e-Health implementation toolkit

<b>Background</b> The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or e-Health is seen as essential for a modern, cost-effective health service. However, there are well documented problems with implementation of e-Health initiatives, despite the existence of a great deal of research into how best to implement e-Health (an example of the gap between research and practice). This paper reports on the development and formative evaluation of an e-Health Implementation Toolkit (e-HIT) which aims to summarise and synthesise new and existing research on implementation of e-Health initiatives, and present it to senior managers in a user-friendly format.<p></p> <b>Results</b> The content of the e-HIT was derived by combining data from a systematic review of reviews of barriers and facilitators to implementation of e-Health initiatives with qualitative data derived from interviews of "implementers", that is people who had been charged with implementing an e-Health initiative. These data were summarised, synthesised and combined with the constructs from the Normalisation Process Model. The software for the toolkit was developed by a commercial company (RocketScience). Formative evaluation was undertaken by obtaining user feedback. There are three components to the toolkit - a section on background and instructions for use aimed at novice users; the toolkit itself; and the report generated by completing the toolkit. It is available to download from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/pcph/research/ehealth/documents/e-HIT.xls<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b> The e-HIT shows potential as a tool for enhancing future e-Health implementations. Further work is needed to make it fully web-enabled, and to determine its predictive potential for future implementations

Genetic dissection of granulomatous enterocolitis and arthritis in the intramural peptidoglycan-polysaccharide-treated rat model of IBD:

Inflammatory arthropathies are common extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). As genetic susceptibility plays an important role in the etiology of IBD, we questioned how granulomatous enterocolitis and arthritis are genetically controlled in an experimental animal model displaying both conditions