The 1979 outburst of U Scorpii

Optical and ultraviolet observations are presented of the 1979 outburst of the recurrent nova U Sco. For the first time the evolution through outburst is documented photometrically and spectroscopically. Lines of the following ions are identified: H I, He II, C IV, N III, N IV, N V, O IV, O VI and Si IV. No forbidden lines were observed. Mg I was seen in absorption at a late stage in the decline. The Balmer lines have broad and narrow components which change with time. There is evidence that nitrogen is overabundant with respect to carbon and the helium to hydrogen number ratio is about 2

A Phase 2 Randomized Controlled Trial of the Efficacy and Safety of Cannabidivarin as Add-on Therapy in Participants with Inadequately Controlled Focal Seizures

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cannabidivarin (CBDV) as add-on therapy in adults with inadequately controlled focal seizures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred and sixty-two participants (CBDV n=81; placebo n=81) were enrolled. After a 4-week baseline, participants titrated from 400 to 800 mg CBDV twice daily (b.i.d.) (or placebo) over 2 weeks, followed by 6 weeks stable dosing (at 800 mg b.i.d.) and a 12-day taper period. The primary endpoint was the change from baseline in focal seizure frequency during the 8-week treatment period. Secondary endpoints included additional efficacy measures relating to seizures, physician- and participant-reported outcomes, change in the use of rescue medication, cognitive assessments, and safety. RESULTS: Median baseline focal seizure frequencies were 17–18 per 28 days in both groups, and similar reductions in frequency were observed in the CBDV (40.5%) and placebo (37.7%) groups during the treatment period (treatment ratio [% reduction] CBDV/placebo: 0.95 [4.6]; confidence interval: 0.78–1.17 [−16.7 to 21.9]; p=0.648). There were no differences between the CBDV and placebo groups for any seizure subtype. There were no significant treatment differences between CBDV and placebo groups for any of the secondary efficacy outcome measures. Overall, 59 (72.8%) of participants in the CBDV group and 39 (48.1%) in the placebo group had ≥1 treatment-emergent adverse event (AE); the 3 most common were diarrhea, nausea, and somnolence. The incidence of serious AEs was low (3.7% in the CBDV group vs. 1.2% in the placebo group). There was little or no effect of CBDV on vital signs, physical examination, or electrocardiogram findings. Elevations in serum transaminases (alanine aminotransferase or aspartate aminotransferase) to levels >3×upper limit of normal occurred in three participants taking CBDV (two discontinued as a result) and one taking placebo; however, none met the criteria for potential Hy's Law cases. CONCLUSION: It is likely the 40.5% seizure reduction with CBDV represents an appropriate pharmacological response in this population with focal seizures. The placebo response was, however, high, which may reflect the participants' expectations of CBDV, and a treatment difference from placebo was not observed. CBDV was generally well tolerated

Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy: A PersonaliZed Prediction Tool

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a tool for individualised prediction of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) risk, we re-analysed data from one cohort and three case-control studies undertaken 1980-2005. METHODS: We entered 1273 epilepsy cases (287 SUDEP, 986 controls) and 22 clinical predictor variables into a Bayesian logistic regression model. RESULTS: Cross-validated individualized model predictions were superior to baseline models developed from only average population risk or from generalised tonic-clonic seizure frequency (pairwise difference in leave-one-subject-out expected log posterior density = 35.9, SEM +/-12.5, and 22.9, SEM +/-11.0 respectively). The mean cross-validated (95% Credibility Interval) Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve was 0.71 (0.68 to 0.74) for our model versus 0.38 (0.33 to 0.42) and 0.63 (0.59 to 0.67) for the baseline average and generalised tonic-clonic seizure frequency models respectively. Model performance was weaker when applied to non-represented populations. Prognostic factors included generalized tonic-clonic and focal-onset seizure frequency, alcohol excess, younger age of epilepsy onset and family history of epilepsy. Anti-seizure medication adherence was associated with lower risk. CONCLUSIONS: Even when generalised to unseen data, model predictions are more accurate than population-based estimates of SUDEP. Our tool can enable risk-based stratification for biomarker discovery and interventional trials. With further validation in unrepresented populations it may be suitable for routine individualized clinical decision-making. Clinicians should consider assessment of multiple risk factors, and not only focus on the frequency of convulsions

The AIMSS Project – III. The Stellar Populations of Compact Stellar Systems

In recent years, a growing zoo of compact stellar systems (CSSs) have been found whose physical properties (mass, size, velocity dispersion) place them between classical globular clusters (GCs) and true galaxies, leading to debates about their nature. Here we present results using a so far underutilized discriminant, their stellar population properties. Based on new spectroscopy from 8–10m telescopes, we derive ages, metallicities, and [α/Fe] of 29 CSSs. These range from GCs with sizes of merely a few parsec to compact ellipticals (cEs) larger than M32. Together with a literature compilation, this provides a panoramic view of the stellar population characteristics of early-type systems. We find that the CSSs are predominantly more metal rich than typical galaxies at the same stellar mass. At high mass, the cEs depart from the mass–metallicity relation of massive early-type galaxies, which forms a continuous sequence with dwarf galaxies. At lower mass, the metallicity distribution of ultracompact dwarfs (UCDs) changes at a few times 107 M⊙, which roughly coincides with the mass where luminosity function arguments previously suggested the GC population ends. The highest metallicities in CSSs are paralleled only by those of dwarf galaxy nuclei and the central parts of massive early types. These findings can be interpreted as CSSs previously being more massive and undergoing tidal interactions to obtain their current mass and compact size. Such an interpretation is supported by CSSs with direct evidence for tidal stripping, and by an examination of the CSS internal escape velocities

Acid treatment biasing to C/N, δ13C and δ15N of organic matter: A Molecular insight

(DIPPI-C) - Development of Isotopic Proxies for Palaeoenvironmental Interpretation: a Carbon PerspectiveIt is known that acid treatment methods employed to remove inorganic carbon (IC) from sample material prior to analysis for C/N, δ13C and δ15N cause non-linear, unpredictable biasing to the organic matter (OM) fraction. Consequently, measured C/N, δ13C and δ15N have an uncertainty much greater than instrument precision: uncertainties for C/N are reported in the range of 1 – 100, for δ13C in the range of 0.2 – 6.8 ‰ and for δ15N in the range of 0.2 – 1.5 ‰, in both modern and palaeo environmental materials. Brodie et al (2011) extended this investigation to a down-core lake sedimentary archive (Lake Tianyang, South China) and noted the potential for uncertainties to preclude “common” interpretations of the data (e.g., C/N values a s a n OM p rovenance tool; δ 13C as a proxy for changes in C3 and C4 vegetation). It is evident that the size of uncertainty between sample horizons varies considerably implying a differential relative reaction to acid treatment down-core (i.e., as the type, relative amount and physical state of organic and inorganic components change). We are now investigating this biasing at the molecular level by employing 13C-NMR and GCIRMS techniques on a suite of modern and palaeo environmental materials and on a lake sedimentary archive. This will provide an important insight into the effect of acid treatment on organic compounds (i.e. removal from the sample, breakdown of compounds and partial removal) and associated isotopic fractionation. From an improved understanding of the type of compounds most susceptible to alteration/removal during the acid treatment processes it will be possible to consider refinements to the acid pre-treatment process and provide information on the relative down-core changes in those compounds susceptible to change (which we may be able to glean environmental information from).postprintThe 1st DIPPI-C Workshop, Durham, UK., 8-10 May 2012. In Abstract Bok of the 1st DIPPI-C Workshop, 2012, p. 1

Reanalysis and Simulation Suggest a Phylogenetic Microarray Does Not Accurately Profile Microbial Communities

The second generation (G2) PhyloChip is designed to detect over 8700 bacteria and archaeal and has been used over 50 publications and conference presentations. Many of those publications reveal that the PhyloChip measures of species richness greatly exceed statistical estimates of richness based on other methods. An examination of probes downloaded from Greengenes suggested that the system may have the potential to distort the observed community structure. This may be due to the sharing of probes by taxa; more than 21% of the taxa in that downloaded data have no unique probes. In-silico simulations using these data showed that a population of 64 taxa representing a typical anaerobic subterranean community returned 96 different taxa, including 15 families incorrectly called present and 19 families incorrectly called absent. A study of nasal and oropharyngeal microbial communities by Lemon et al (2010) found some 1325 taxa using the G2 PhyloChip, however, about 950 of these taxa have, in the downloaded data, no unique probes and cannot be definitively called present. Finally, data from Brodie et al (2007), when re-examined, indicate that the abundance of the majority of detected taxa, are highly correlated with one another, suggesting that many probe sets do not act independently. Based on our analyses of downloaded data, we conclude that outputs from the G2 PhyloChip should be treated with some caution, and that the presence of taxa represented solely by non-unique probes be independently verified

Characteristics associated with quality of life among people with drug-resistant epilepsy

Quality of Life (QoL) is the preferred outcome in non-pharmacological trials, but there is little UK population evidence of QoL in epilepsy. In advance of evaluating an epilepsy self-management course we aimed to describe, among UK participants, what clinical and psycho-social characteristics are associated with QoL. We recruited 404 adults attending specialist clinics, with at least two seizures in the prior year and measured their self-reported seizure frequency, co-morbidity, psychological distress, social characteristics, including self-mastery and stigma, and epilepsy-specific QoL (QOLIE-31-P). Mean age was 42 years, 54% were female, and 75% white. Median time since diagnosis was 18 years, and 69% experienced ≥10 seizures in the prior year. Nearly half (46%) reported additional medical or psychiatric conditions, 54% reported current anxiety and 28% reported current depression symptoms at borderline or case level, with 63% reporting felt stigma. While a maximum QOLIE-31-P score is 100, participants’ mean score was 66, with a wide range (25–99). In order of large to small magnitude: depression, low self-mastery, anxiety, felt stigma, a history of medical and psychiatric comorbidity, low self-reported medication adherence, and greater seizure frequency were associated with low QOLIE-31-P scores. Despite specialist care, UK people with epilepsy and persistent seizures experience low QoL. If QoL is the main outcome in epilepsy trials, developing and evaluating ways to reduce psychological and social disadvantage are likely to be of primary importance. Educational courses may not change QoL, but be one component supporting self-management for people with long-term conditions, like epilepsy