A fourth HI 21-cm absorption system in the sight-line of MG J0414+0534: a record for intervening absorbers

We report the detection of a strong HI 21-cm absorption system at z=0.5344, as well as a candidate system at z=0.3389, in the sight-line towards the z=2.64 quasar MG J0414+0534. This, in addition to the absorption at the host redshift and the other two intervening absorbers, takes the total to four (possibly five). The previous maximum number of 21-cm absorbers detected along a single sight-line is two and so we suspect that this number of gas-rich absorbers is in some way related to the very red colour of the background source. Despite this, no molecular gas (through OH absorption) has yet been detected at any of the 21-cm redshifts, although, from the population of 21-cm absorbers as a whole, there is evidence for a weak correlation between the atomic line strength and the optical--near-infrared colour. In either case, the fact that so many gas-rich galaxies (likely to be damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems) have been found along a single sight-line towards a highly obscured source may have far reaching implications for the population of faint galaxies not detected in optical surveys, a possibility which could be addressed through future wide-field absorption line surveys with the Square Kilometre Array.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter

HI and OH absorption in the lensing galaxy of MG J0414+0534

We report the detection of \HI 21-cm absorption in the $z=0.96$ early-type lensing galaxy towards MG J0414+0534 with the Green Bank Telescope. The absorption, with total $N_{\rm HI}=1.6 \times 10^{18} (T_{\rm s}/f) {\rm cm}^{-2}$, is resolved into two strong components, probably due to the two strongest lens components, which are separated by 0.4\arcsec. Unlike the other three lenses which have been detected in \HI, J0414+0534 does not exhibit strong OH absorption, giving a OH/\HI column density ratio of N_{\rm OH}/N_{\rm HI}\lapp10^{-6} (for $T_{\rm s}=100$ K, $T_{\rm x}=10$ K and $f_{\rm HI}=f_{\rm OH}=1$). This underabundance of molecular gas may indicate that the extreme optical--near-IR colour ($V-K=10.26$) along the line-of-sight is not due to the lens. We therefore suggest that despite the strong upper limits on molecular absorption at the quasar redshift, as traced by millimetre lines, the extinction occurs primarily in the quasar host galaxy.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS Letters, 5 (and a bit) pages, 5 figure

Returning to an old question: What do television actors do when they act?

This article argues for acknowledging and exploring actors’ processes in critical considerations of television drama. Theatre Studies boasts a tradition of research privileging the actor, including a century’s worth of actor-training manuals, academic works observing rehearsals and performances, and actor accounts. However, such considerations within Television Studies are relatively nascent. Drawing upon continuing drama as a fertile case study for investigating the specificities of television acting, the article concludes that the only way to understand television acting is through the analysis of insights from actors themselves, in combination with the well-established practices of analysing the textual end-products of television acting

Impaired interferon-γ responses, increased interleukin-17 expression, and a tumor necrosis factor–α transcriptional program in invasive aspergillosis

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website. Copyright @ 2009 Oxford University Press.Background - Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is the most common cause of death associated with fungal infection in the developed world. Historically, susceptibility to IA has been associated with prolonged neutropenia; however, IA has now become a major problem in patients on calcineurin inhibitors and allogenic hematopoetic stem cell transplant patients following engraftment. These observations suggest complex cellular mechanisms govern immunity to IA. Methods - To characterize the key early events that govern outcome from infection with Aspergillus fumigatus we performed a comparative immunochip microarray analysis of the pulmonary transcriptional response to IA between cyclophosphamide-treated mice and immunocompetent mice at 24 h after infection. Results - We demonstrate that death due to infection is associated with a failure to generate an incremental interferon-γ response, increased levels of interleukin-5 and interleukin-17a transcript, coordinated expression of a network of tumor necrosis factor–α-related genes, and increased levels of tumor necrosis factor–α. In contrast, clearance of infection is associated with increased expression of a number genes encoding proteins involved in innate pathogen clearance, as well as apoptosis and control of inflammation. Conclusion - This first organ-level immune response transcriptional analysis for IA has enabled us to gain new insights into the mechanisms that govern fungal immunity in the lung.The BBSRC, CGD Research Trust, and the MRC

Impact of education and training on type of care provided by community-based breastfeeding counselors: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Studies using community-based breastfeeding counselors (CBBCs) have repeatedly shown positive impact on breastfeeding initiation, exclusivity and duration, particularly among low-income mothers. To date, there has not been a comprehensive study to determine the impact of CBBC attributes such as educational background and training, on the type of care that CBBCs provide.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of CBBCs to ascertain the influence of counselor education and type of training on type of support and proficiency of CBBCs in communities across the United States. Invitations to participate in this online survey of CBBCs were e-mailed to program coordinators of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), La Leche League, and other community-based health organizations, who in turn invited and encouraged their CBBCs to participate. Descriptive analysis was used to describe participants (N = 847), while bivariate analysis using χ²test was used to examine the differences between CBBC education, training received and breastfeeding support skills used. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the independent determinants of specific breastfeeding support skills.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The major findings from the research indicate that overall, educational attainment of CBBCs is not a significant predictor for the curriculum used in their training and type of support skills used during counseling sessions, but initial training duration was positively associated with the use of many breastfeeding support skills. Another major influence of counselor support to clients is the type of continuing education they receive after their initial training, with higher likelihood of use of desirable support skills associated with counselors continuing their breastfeeding education at conferences or trainings away from their job sites.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results show that different programs use different training curricula to train their CBBCs varying in duration and content. Counselor education is not a significant predictor of the type of training they receive. Continuing breastfeeding education is a significant determinant of type of counseling techniques used with clients. Further research is therefore needed to critically examine the content of the various training curricula of CBBC programs. This may show a need for a standardized training curriculum for all CBBC programs worldwide to make CBBCs more proficient and efficient, ensuring successful and optimum breastfeeding experiences for mothers and their newborns.</p

The Effects of Dietary Polyphenols on Circulating Cardiovascular Disease Biomarkers and Iron Status:A Systematic Review

The prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is rising worldwide, remaining the major cause of death in developed countries. Polyphenols have been shown to have cardioprotective properties; however, their impact on iron bioavailability and potential impact on other aspects of health is unclear. A systematic review was undertaken to evaluate the current status of the relationship between habitual polyphenol consumption, iron status, and circulating biomarkers of CVD. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2009 guidelines, searches were performed across 5 electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINAHL) to identify randomized controlled trials which investigated the effects of polyphenol consumption on inflammatory markers, serum lipid profile, and iron absorption and bioavailability. In total, 1174 records were identified, with only 7 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. The selected studies involved 133 participants and used a variety of foods and supplements, including olive oil and cherries, rich in polyphenols including hydroxytyrosol, quercetin, and resveratrol, as well as catechin enriched drinks. The duration of the studies ranged from between 56 and 145 days, with total polyphenolic content of the food items and supplements ranging from 45 to 1015 mg (per 100 g). Polyphenols did not appear to interfere with iron status, and most studies reported improvements in inflammatory markers and lipid profile. While these results are promising, the limited number of studies and considerable heterogeneity across the interventions support the need for more extensive trials assessing the relationship between polyphenol intake, iron bioavailability, and CVD risk

A novel compartment, the 'subqpical stem' of the aerial hyphae, is the location of a sigN-dependent, developmentally distinct transcription in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Streptomyces coelicolor has nine SigB-like RNA polymerase sigma factors, several of them implicated in morphological differentiation and/or responses to different stresses. One of the nine, SigN, is the focus of this article. A constructed sigN null mutant was delayed in development and exhibited a bald phenotype when grown on minimal medium containing glucose as carbon source. One of two distinct sigN promoters, sigNP1, was active only during growth on solid medium, when its activation coincided with aerial hyphae formation. Transcription from sigNP1 was readily detected in several whi mutants (interrupted in morphogenesis of aerial mycelium into spores), but was absent from all bld mutants tested, suggesting that sigNP1 activity was restricted to the aerial hyphae. It also depended on sigN, thus sigN was autoregulated. Mutational and transcription studies revealed no functional significance to the location of sigN next to sigF, encoding another SigB-like sigma factor. We identified another potential SigN target, nepA, encoding a putative small secreted protein. Transcription of nepA originated from a single, aerial hyphae-specific and sigN-dependent promoter. While in vitro run-off transcription using purified SigN on the Bacillus subtilis ctc promoter confirmed that SigN is an RNA polymerase sigma factor, SigN failed to initiate transcription from sigNP1 and from the nepA promoter in vitro. Additional in vivo data indicated that further nepA upstream sequences, which are likely to bind a potential activator, are required for successful transcription. Using a nepA–egfp transcriptional fusion we located nepA transcription to a novel compartment, the ‘subapical stem’ of the aerial hyphae. We suggest that this newly recognized compartment defines an interface between the aerial and vegetative parts of the Streptomyces colony and might also be involved in communication between these two compartments

A third HI 21-cm absorption system in the sight-line of MG J0414+0534: A redshift for Object X?

We report the detection of a third HI 21-cm absorber in the sight-line towards the z=2.64 quasar MG J0414+0534 (4C +05.19). In addition to the absorption at the host redshift and in the z=0.96 gravitational lens, we find, through a decimetre-wave spectral scan towards this source, strong absorption at z=0.38. We believe this may be associated with "Object X", an additional feature apparent in the field of the lensing galaxy and lensed images, on the basis of its close proximity to the quasar images and the possible detection of the [OIII] doublet in a published optical spectrum. If real, the strength of the [OIII] emission would suggest the presence of an active galactic nucleus, or a gas-rich galaxy undergoing rapid star formation, either of which is consistent with the strong outflows apparent in the 21-cm spectrum. Although this is the strongest intervening 21-cm absorber yet found, simultaneous observations failed to detect any of the 18-cm OH lines at the 21-cm redshift. This suggests that, as for the lensing galaxy, this is not the primary location of the intervening material responsible for the very red colour of MG J0414+0534.Comment: 5 pages, accepted by MNRAS Letter

A DNA target-enrichment approach to detect mutations, copy number changes and immunoglobulin translocations in multiple myeloma.

Genomic lesions are not investigated during routine diagnostic workup for multiple myeloma (MM). Cytogenetic studies are performed to assess prognosis but with limited impact on therapeutic decisions. Recently, several recurrently mutated genes have been described, but their clinical value remains to be defined. Therefore, clinical-grade strategies to investigate the genomic landscape of myeloma samples are needed to integrate new and old prognostic markers. We developed a target-enrichment strategy followed by next-generation sequencing (NGS) to streamline simultaneous analysis of gene mutations, copy number changes and immunoglobulin heavy chain (IGH) translocations in MM in a high-throughput manner, and validated it in a panel of cell lines. We identified 548 likely oncogenic mutations in 182 genes. By integrating published data sets of NGS in MM, we retrieved a list of genes with significant relevance to myeloma and found that the mutational spectrum of primary samples and MM cell lines is partially overlapping. Gains and losses of chromosomes, chromosomal segments and gene loci were identified with accuracy comparable to conventional arrays, allowing identification of lesions with known prognostic significance. Furthermore, we identified IGH translocations with high positive and negative predictive value. Our approach could allow the identification of novel biomarkers with clinical relevance in myeloma

Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer

Cancers arise owing to the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that alter normal programmes of cell proliferation, differentiation and death. As the first stage of a systematic genome-wide screen for these genes, we have prioritized for analysis signalling pathways in which at least one gene is mutated in human cancer. The RAS RAF MEK ERK MAP kinase pathway mediates cellular responses to growth signals. RAS is mutated to an oncogenic form in about 15% of human cancer. The three RAF genes code for cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinases that are regulated by binding RAS. Here we report BRAF somatic missense mutations in 66% of malignant melanomas and at lower frequency in a wide range of human cancers. All mutations are within the kinase domain, with a single substitution (V599E) accounting for 80%. Mutated BRAF proteins have elevated kinase activity and are transforming in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, RAS function is not required for the growth of cancer cell lines with the V599E mutation. As BRAF is a serine/threonine kinase that is commonly activated by somatic point mutation in human cancer, it may provide new therapeutic opportunities in malignant melanoma