Reflecting back, looking forward: the challenges for location-based learning

This final section of the report has been reproduced from “D3.1 The STELLAR Rendez-Vous I report and white papers”, published in 2009 by the STELLAR Network of Excellence. It is included here for completeness; we, as co-authors, felt that it was important to look back at the main contributions to theworkshop and also where the challenges lie for the future. This chapter addresses two critical questions: - What has been learned from this workshop, especially in respect to the STELLAR Grand Challenges (“Connecting learners”, “Orchestration” and “Contextualisation”)? - What are the new research questions and issues for location-based learning, with respect to the Grand Challenges (“Connecting learners”, “Orchestration”and “Contextualisation”)

Pellino-1 Regulates the Responses of the Airway to Viral Infection

Exposure to respiratory pathogens is a leading cause of exacerbations of airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Pellino-1 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase known to regulate virally-induced inflammation. We wished to determine the role of Pellino-1 in the host response to respiratory viruses in health and disease. Pellino-1 expression was examined in bronchial sections from patients with GOLD stage two COPD and healthy controls. Primary bronchial epithelial cells (PBECs) in which Pellino-1 expression had been knocked down were extracellularly challenged with the TLR3 agonist poly(I:C). C57BL/6 Peli1-/- mice and wild type littermates were subjected to intranasal infection with clinically-relevant respiratory viruses: rhinovirus (RV1B) and influenza A. We found that Pellino-1 is expressed in the airways of normal subjects and those with COPD, and that Pellino-1 regulates TLR3 signaling and responses to airways viruses. In particular we observed that knockout of Pellino-1 in the murine lung resulted in increased production of proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNFα upon viral infection, accompanied by enhanced recruitment of immune cells to the airways, without any change in viral replication. Pellino-1 therefore regulates inflammatory airway responses without altering replication of respiratory viruses.</p

Where are the magnetar binary companions? Candidates from a comparison with binary population synthesis predictions

It is well established that magnetars are neutron stars with extreme magnetic fields and young ages, but the evolutionary pathways to their creation are still uncertain. Since most massive stars are in binaries, if magnetars are a frequent result of core-collapse supernovae, some fraction are expected to have a bound companion at the time of observation. In this paper, we utilize literature constraints, including deep Hubble Space Telescope imaging, to search for bound stellar companions to magnetars. The magnitude and colour measurements are interpreted in the context of binary population synthesis predictions. We find two candidates for stellar companions associated with CXOU J171405.7–381031 and SGR 0755–2933, based on their J-H colours and H-band absolute magnitudes. Overall, the proportion of the Galactic magnetar population with a plausibly stellar near-infrared counterpart candidate, based on their magnitudes and colours, is between 5 and 10 per cent. This is consistent with a population synthesis prediction of 5 per cent, for the fraction of core-collapse neutron stars arising from primaries which remain bound to their companion after the supernova. These results are therefore consistent with magnetars being drawn in an unbiased way from the natal core-collapse neutron star population, but some contribution from alternative progenitor channels cannot be ruled out

AT2023fhn (the Finch): a luminous fast blue optical transient at a large offset from its host galaxy

Luminous fast blue optical transients (LFBOTs) – the prototypical example being AT 2018cow – are a rare class of events whose origins are poorly understood. They are characterized by rapid evolution, featureless blue spectra at early times, and luminous X-ray and radio emission. LFBOTs thus far have been found exclusively at small projected offsets from star-forming host galaxies. We present Hubble Space Telescope, Gemini, Chandra, and Very Large Array observations of a new LFBOT, AT 2023fhn. The Hubble Space Telescope data reveal a large offset (&amp;gt;3.5 half-light radii) from the two closest galaxies, both at redshift z ∼ 0.24. The location of AT 2023fhn is in stark contrast with previous events, and demonstrates that LFBOTs can occur in a range of galactic environments

Contextualizing the impact of prenatal alcohol and tobacco exposure on neurodevelopment in a South African birth cohort: an analysis from the socioecological perspective

BackgroundAlcohol and tobacco are known teratogens. Historically, more severe prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and prenatal tobacco exposure (PTE) have been examined as the principal predictor of neurodevelopmental alterations, with little incorporation of lower doses or ecological contextual factors that can also impact neurodevelopment, such as socioeconomic resources (SER) or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Here, a novel analytical approach informed by a socio-ecological perspective was used to examine the associations between SER, PAE and/or PTE, and ACEs, and their effects on neurodevelopment.MethodsN = 313 mother-child dyads were recruited from a prospective birth cohort with maternal report of PAE and PTE, and cross-sectional structural brain neuroimaging of child acquired via 3T scanner at ages 8–11 years. In utero SER was measured by maternal education, household income, and home utility availability. The child’s ACEs were measured by self-report assisted by the researcher. PAE was grouped into early exposure (&lt;12 weeks), continued exposure (&gt;=12 weeks), and no exposure controls. PTE was grouped into exposed and non-exposed controls.ResultsGreater access to SER during pregnancy was associated with fewer ACEs (maternal education: β = −0.293,p = 0.01; phone access: β = −0.968,p = 0.05). PTE partially mediated the association between SER and ACEs, where greater SER reduced the likelihood of PTE, which was positively associated with ACEs (β = 1.110,p = 0.01). SER was associated with alterations in superior frontal (β = −1336.036, q = 0.046), lateral orbitofrontal (β = −513.865, q = 0.046), caudal anterior cingulate volumes (β = −222.982, q = 0.046), with access to phone negatively associated with all three brain volumes. Access to water was positively associated with superior frontal volume (β=1569.527, q = 0.013). PTE was associated with smaller volumes of lateral orbitofrontal (β = −331.000, q = 0.033) and nucleus accumbens regions (β = −34.800, q = 0.033).ConclusionResearch on neurodevelopment following community-levels of PAE and PTE should more regularly consider the ecological context to accelerate understanding of teratogenic outcomes. Further research is needed to replicate this novel conceptual approach with varying PAE and PTE patterns, to disentangle the interplay between dose, community-level and individual-level risk factors on neurodevelopment