K 1-6: an asymmetric planetary nebula with a binary central star

We present new imaging data and archival multiwavelength observations of the little studied emission nebula K 1-6 and its central star. Narrow-band images in H-alpha (+ [NII]) and [OIII] taken with the Faulkes Telescope North reveal a stratified, asymmetric, elliptical nebula surrounding a central star which has the colours of a late G- or early K-type subgiant or giant. GALEX ultraviolet images reveal a very hot subdwarf or white dwarf coincident in position with this star. The cooler, optically dominant star is strongly variable with a period of 21.312 +/- 0.008 days, and is possibly a high amplitude member of the RS CVn class, although an FK Com classification is also possible. Archival ROSAT data provide good evidence that the cool star has an active corona. We conclude that K 1-6 is most likely an old bona fide planetary nebula at a distance of ~1.0 kpc, interacting with the interstellar medium, and containing a binary or ternary central star. The observations and data analyses reported in this paper were conducted in conjunction with Year 11 high school students as part of an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant science education project, denoted Space To Grow, conducted jointly by professional astronomers, educational researchers, teachers, and high-school students.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia (PASA

What do you mean, I have a right to health? Participatory action research on health and human rights

What does the right to health mean to people who face inequalities and may struggle to access support? This is a pressing issue in Scotland where there is a national commitment to human rights, but where deep seated health inequalities are a major public health concern. The right to the highest attainable standard of health is recognised within the European Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and should be equally available, accessible, acceptable and of good quality to everyone

Isolated T Wave Inversion in Lead aVL: An ECG Survey and a Case Report

Background. Computerized electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis has been of tremendous help for noncardiologists, but can we rely on it? The importance of ST depression and T wave inversions in lead aVL has not been emphasized and not well recognized across all specialties. Objective. This study\u27s goal was to analyze if there is a discrepancy of interpretation by physicians from different specialties and a computer-generated ECG reading in regard to a TWI in lead aVL. Methods. In this multidisciplinary prospective study, a single ECG with isolated TWI in lead aVL that was interpreted by the computer as normal was given to all participants to interpret in writing. The readings by all physicians were compared by level of education and by specialty to one another and to the computer interpretation. Results. A total of 191 physicians participated in the study. Of the 191 physicians 48 (25.1%) identified and 143 (74.9%) did not identify the isolated TWI in lead aVL. Conclusion. Our study demonstrated that 74.9% did not recognize the abnormality. New and subtle ECG findings should be emphasized in their training so as not to miss significant findings that could cause morbidity and mortality

Effects of Anacetrapib in Patients with Atherosclerotic Vascular Disease

BACKGROUND: Patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease remain at high risk for cardiovascular events despite effective statin-based treatment of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels. The inhibition of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) by anacetrapib reduces LDL cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels. However, trials of other CETP inhibitors have shown neutral or adverse effects on cardiovascular outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 30,449 adults with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive atorvastatin therapy and who had a mean LDL cholesterol level of 61 mg per deciliter (1.58 mmol per liter), a mean non-HDL cholesterol level of 92 mg per deciliter (2.38 mmol per liter), and a mean HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg per deciliter (1.03 mmol per liter). The patients were assigned to receive either 100 mg of anacetrapib once daily (15,225 patients) or matching placebo (15,224 patients). The primary outcome was the first major coronary event, a composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction, or coronary revascularization. RESULTS: During the median follow-up period of 4.1 years, the primary outcome occurred in significantly fewer patients in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (1640 of 15,225 patients [10.8%] vs. 1803 of 15,224 patients [11.8%]; rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.85 to 0.97; P=0.004). The relative difference in risk was similar across multiple prespecified subgroups. At the trial midpoint, the mean level of HDL cholesterol was higher by 43 mg per deciliter (1.12 mmol per liter) in the anacetrapib group than in the placebo group (a relative difference of 104%), and the mean level of non-HDL cholesterol was lower by 17 mg per deciliter (0.44 mmol per liter), a relative difference of -18%. There were no significant between-group differences in the risk of death, cancer, or other serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease who were receiving intensive statin therapy, the use of anacetrapib resulted in a lower incidence of major coronary events than the use of placebo. (Funded by Merck and others; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN48678192 ; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01252953 ; and EudraCT number, 2010-023467-18 .)

Is structured allergy history sufficient when assessing patients with asthma and rhinitis in general practices?

Background Many United Kingdom patients with asthma and rhinitis are allergic, but in primary care few diagnostic and management decisions are made with formal allergy assessment. Arguably, knowing a patient's atopic status might be helpful in distinguishing the cause of disease and in selecting appropriate treatments. Objectives Our objective was to estimate the extent to which a formal allergy assessment (a structured allergy history and skin prick tests to 5 common aeroallergens) would improve the precision of allergy diagnosis compared with a patient's self-report or the structured allergy history alone. Methods One hundred twenty-seven patients with asthma, rhinitis, or both were recruited from 4 general practices in Wessex, United Kingdom. Allergy status based on the patient's opinion and on structured allergy history alone was compared with formal allergy assessment. Assessments were validated by an independent allergy specialist reviewing the files. Patients were given written advice specific to their allergies and followed up 3 months later to assess satisfaction, recall, and effect on health and behavior. Results Self-reporting misclassified allergic status in many patients. A structured allergy history alone was little better and resulted in false-positive rates for cat allergy of 32%, grass pollen of 48%, house dust mite of 75%, tree pollen of 54%, and dog of 27% compared with formal allergy assessment. Skin prick testing combined with a structured history was essential to reach a correct causative diagnosis. Three months later, 41% patients had made changes to lifestyle, medications, or both, and 18% reported clinical improvement. Conclusions Skin prick testing improves the accuracy of an assessment of allergic status based on patient opinion or a structured allergy history alone

I was growing very fond of Molly when along came Ruth, [first line of chorus]

Performers: Claire RochesterPiano and Voice (with lyrics

Hard Edges Scotland: New conversations about severe and multiple disadvantage

No abstract available

Science operations planning of the Rosetta encounter with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Rosetta is a cornerstone mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched in March 2004 and will rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (C-G) in 2014. Rosetta consists of an orbiter and a lander. Rosetta will meet Comet C-G early 2014 at a heliocentric distance of approximately 4 AU after wake up from a 2.5 year phase of deep space hibernation. The lander will be delivered to the surface in Nov. 2014 at around 3 AU from the sun, while the orbiter will continue to follow the comet on its orbit through perihelion until it reaches 2 AU outbound by end of 2015. The Science Operations and Data Handling Concept (SODH concept) deals with the 14 months between lander delivery and end of the nominal mission, the so called escort phase. That mission phase is extraordinarily complex: Approaching the sun the comet becomes increasingly active and its environment is expected to change dramatically and unpredictably. Therefore continuous monitoring of the comet (based on the science data returned) is required to mitigate risks on the spacecraft, mainly due to dust particles emitted from the nucleus. On the other hand, the evolving comet activity poses great scientific opportunities and payload operations are expected to react and adapt in response to these changing activities. In addition, the activity of the comet together with its small size (about 2 km radius) implies that the trajectory of the spacecraft relative to the nucleus may not be predictable for extended periods of time and that active orbit control will be required. The SODH concept foresees a closed loop system between operations planning and data analysis. Scientific operations planning is centralized at the Rosetta Science Operations Centre (RSOC), with an information repository at its core, containing operational inputs provided by the Principal Investigator (PI) teams that are responsible for the payload instruments. At the comet we expect to execute mostly predefined operation blocks. Changes in the comet environment and results of scientific observations feed back into the planning process. The planning process has already started with the baseline planning. It is based on the Rosetta Science Themes, representing the Science Objectives for Rosetta and the associated measurements by the various payload instruments. The instrument teams provide geometrical constraints (e.g. illumination requirements) and resource estimates (power, data volume, number of telecommands) needed for each measurement. The escort phase is divided into several phases. The proposed measurements are ordered based on their contribution to the science objectives to be covered during a given phase. The result will be the baseline plan of typical trajectories and pointing modes for each mission phase and an estimate of required resources, e.g. integration time and data volume. Expected conflicts and prioritization needs will also be identified in this stage. The baseline plan and the information repository are used to define the long term plan, a complete operations schedule for the escort phase. The actual operations planning will then be performed as a continuous adaptation and modification of the long term plan using predefined operational blocks. First the long term plan trajectory will potentially be modified according to latest information on the cometary environment and scientific results. At this point a conflict-free operations plan exists that can be executed on the spacecraft. If time permits, further iterations will be performed to further optimize the plan, fixing first the attitude profile and then the payload operations. © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The erythema Q-score, an imaging biomarker for redness in skin inflammation.

Physician rating of cutaneous erythema is central to clinical dermatological assessment as well as quantification of outcome measures in clinical trials in a number of dermatologic conditions. However, issues with inter-rater reliability and variability in the setting of higher Fitzpatrick skin types make visual erythema assessment unreliable. We developed and validated a computer-assisted image-processing algorithm (EQscore) to reliably quantify erythema (across a range of skin types) in the dermatology clinical setting. Our image processing algorithm evaluated erythema based upon green light suppression differentials between affected and unaffected skin. A group of four dermatologists used a 4-point Likert scale as a human evaluation of similar erythematous patch tests. The algorithm and dermatologist scores were compared across 164 positive patch test reactions. The intra-class correlation coefficient of groups and the correlation coefficient between groups were calculated. The EQscore was validated on and independent image set of psoriasis, minimal erythema dose testing and steroid-induced blanching images. The reliability of the erythema quantification method produced an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.84 for the algorithm and 0.67 for dermatologists. The correlation coefficient between groups was 0.85. The EQscore demonstrated high agreement with clinical scoring and superior reliability compared with clinical scoring, avoiding the pitfalls of erythema underrating in the setting of pigmentation. The EQscore is easily accessible (http://lab.rockefeller.edu/krueger/EQscore), user-friendly, and may allow dermatologists to more readily and accurately rate the severity of dermatological conditions and the response to therapeutic treatments