Neutral Gas Properties and Lyα\alpha Escape in Extreme Green Pea Galaxies

Mechanisms regulating the escape of Ly$\alpha$ photons and ionizing radiation remain poorly understood. To study these processes we analyze VLA 21cm observations of one Green Pea (GP), J160810+352809 (hereafter J1608), and HST COS spectra of 17 GP galaxies at $z<0.2$. All are highly ionized: J1608 has the highest [O III] $\lambda5007$/[O II] $\lambda3727$ for star-forming galaxies in SDSS, and the 17 GPs have [O III]/[O II] $\geq6.6$. We set an upper limit on J1608's HI mass of $\log M_{HI}/M_\odot=8.4$, near or below average compared to similar mass dwarf galaxies. In the COS sample, eight GPs show Ly$\alpha$ absorption components, six of which also have Ly$\alpha$ emission. The HI column densities derived from Ly$\alpha$ absorption are high, $\log N_{HI}/$cm$^{-2}=19-21$, well above the LyC optically thick limit. Using low-ionization absorption lines, we measure covering fractions (f_{\mbox{cov}}) of $0.1-1$, and find that f_{\mbox{cov}} strongly anti-correlates with Ly$\alpha$ escape fraction. Low covering fractions may facilitate Ly$\alpha$ and LyC escape through dense neutral regions. GPs with f_{\mbox{cov}}\sim1 all have low neutral gas velocities, while GPs with lower f_{\mbox{cov}}=0.2-0.6 have a larger range of velocities. Conventional mechanical feedback may help establish low f_{\mbox{cov}} in some cases, whereas other processes may be important for GPs with low velocities. Finally, we compare f_{\mbox{cov}} with proposed indicators of LyC escape. Ionizing photon escape likely depends on a combination of neutral gas geometry and kinematics, complicating the use of emission-line diagnostics for identifying LyC emitters.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Stepping up on savings

The UK government remains committed to the Climate Change Act 2008, which mandates an 80% reduction in CO2 from 1990 levels by 2050. As part of the strategy of achieving this reduction, all new homes from 2016 will be required to be zero carbon. The 2008 definition required all CO2 emissions to be reduced to zero through on-site means, covering both regulated emissions from heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting and unregulated emissions from household appliances. Embodied carbon from the construction of the building was excluded. In 2009 the concept of Allowable Solutions was introduced, which permits developers to pay for carbon saving achieved elsewhere. For example a developer may offset CO2 emissions against an approved ‘on, near or offsite’ scheme, such as a local energy storage solution or an investment into low carbon electricity generation. In 2011, a further major change removed unregulated emissions from the definition

Masculinity and men's health disparities: conceptual and theoretical challenges

In the field of men’s health, including the important emerging area of men’s health disparities, conceptual and theoretical assumptions and challenges are omnipresent. These assumptions and challenges come from a range of disciplinary backgrounds. Biological, sociobiological, psychological, and sociological explanations are all found as either implicit or explicit explanations for understanding men’s health practices and outcomes. At the forefront of many of these assumptions and challenges have been discussions around how masculinities—differing ways of being a man—influence men’s practices and subsequent health outcomes. Many of these discussions have also included exchanges on how masculinities interact with other identity issues—including class, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, and age—to influence men’s varied health and social practices

“Let’s duck out of the wind”: operationalising intersectionality to understand elderly men’s caregiving experiences

This paper aims is to demonstrate how Bourdieu’s conceptual tools of habitus, capital and field can facilitate the operationalisation of intersectionality. Following an appreciation of the methodological issues arising from the practical application of intersectionality, we introduce data from an Australian study of husbands caring for wives with dementia. With care often being constructed as a feminine practice, men’s caregiving experiences are frequently said to be in tension with many hegemonic masculine practices. However, men are not homogenous, rather their experiences are shaped by intersections of gender, age, class and other identity-defining categories. To help explore some of these intersections, 16 interviews, six of which were enhanced by photo-elicitation methods, were undertaken with a purposive sample of retired husbands caring for a spouse with dementia. Thematic analysis was then employed. In this paper, we present data and themes relating to the husband’s experiences around independence and self-sufficiency and coping strategies and emotional autonomy. However, the main purpose of the paper is not to focus on these empirical findings per se. Rather, we draw on these data to illustrate how Bourdieu’s work was utilised to help address some of the concerns that have been encountered when applying intersectional theory to empirical research; that is to say, this is primarily a methodological paper. The empirical findings highlight the complex and class influenced ways that husband carers look to sustain independence and autonomy. They further illustrate how the cultural capital accrued through past experiences facilitates or restrains coping mechanisms and associated emotional autonomy during their caregiving journeys. Methodologically, we use these empirical data to demonstrate how Bourdieu’s notions of habitus, capital and field can overcome three specific criti-cisms when applying intersectionality in research studies: (1) its supposed inability to adequately address agency and privilege; (2) its apparent lack of a heuristic device illustrating how time, location and context constrain and empower social actors; and (3) an alleged lack of methodological tools to illustrate the interrelated and generative nature of structure and agency

A single mutation in the envelope protein modulates flavivirus antigenicity, stability, and pathogenesis

The structural flexibility or 'breathing' of the envelope (E) protein of flaviviruses allows virions to sample an ensemble of conformations at equilibrium. The molecular basis and functional consequences of virus conformational dynamics are poorly understood. Here, we identified a single mutation at residue 198 (T198F) of the West Nile virus (WNV) E protein domain I-II hinge that regulates virus breathing. The T198F mutation resulted in a ~70-fold increase in sensitivity to neutralization by a monoclonal antibody targeting a cryptic epitope in the fusion loop. Increased exposure of this otherwise poorly accessible fusion loop epitope was accompanied by reduced virus stability in solution at physiological temperatures. Introduction of a mutation at the analogous residue of dengue virus (DENV), but not Zika virus (ZIKV), E protein also increased accessibility of the cryptic fusion loop epitope and decreased virus stability in solution, suggesting that this residue modulates the structural ensembles sampled by distinct flaviviruses at equilibrium in a context dependent manner. Although the T198F mutation did not substantially impair WNV growth kinetics in vitro, studies in mice revealed attenuation of WNV T198F infection. Overall, our study provides insight into the molecular basis and the in vitro and in vivo consequences of flavivirus breathing

B Cell response and mechanisms of antibody protection to West Nile virus

West Nile virus (WNV) has become the principal cause of viral encephalitis in North America since its introduction in New York in 1999. This emerging virus is transmitted to humans via the bite of an infected mosquito. While there have been several candidates in clinical trials, there are no approved vaccines or WNV-specific therapies for the treatment of WNV disease in humans. From studies with small animal models and convalescent human patients, a great deal has been learned concerning the immune response to infection with WNV. Here, we provide an overview of a subset of that information regarding the humoral and antibody response generated during WNV infection

Collisional stability of localized Yb(3P2{}^3\mathrm{P}_2) atoms immersed in a Fermi sea of Li

We establish an experimental method for a detailed investigation of inelastic collisional properties between ytterbium (Yb) in the metastable ${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$ state and ground state lithium (Li). By combining an optical lattice and a direct excitation to the ${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$ state we achieve high selectivity on the collisional partners. Using this method we determine inelastic loss coefficients in collisions between $^{174}$Yb(${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$) with magnetic sublevels of $m_J=0$ and $-2$ and ground state $^6$Li to be $(4.4\pm0.3)\times10^{-11}~\mathrm{cm}^3/\mathrm{s}$ and $(4.7\pm0.8)\times10^{-11}~\mathrm{cm}^3/\mathrm{s}$, respectively. Absence of spin changing processes in Yb(${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$)-Li inelastic collisions at low magnetic fields is confirmed by inelastic loss measurements on the $m_J=0$ state. We also demonstrate that our method allows us to look into loss processes in few-body systems separately.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Insurance of operational risk and the New Basel Capital Accord

Risk management

Synthetic fosmidomycin analogues with altered chelating moieties do not inhibit 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase or Plasmodium falciparum growth in vitro

Fourteen new fosmidomycin analogues with altered metal chelating groups were prepared and evaluated for inhibition of E. coli Dxr, M. tuberculosis Dxr and the growth of P. falciparum K1 in human erythrocytes. None of the synthesized compounds showed activity against either enzyme or the Plasmodia. This study further underlines the importance of the hydroxamate functionality and illustrates that identifying effective alternative bidentate ligands for this target enzyme is challenging