453 research outputs found
Cosmic Evolution of Black Holes and Spheroids. IV. The BH Mass - Spheroid Luminosity Relation
From high-resolution images of 23 Seyfert-1 galaxies at z=0.36 and z=0.57
obtained with the Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer on board
the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we determine host-galaxy morphology, nuclear
luminosity, total host-galaxy luminosity and spheroid luminosity. Keck
spectroscopy is used to estimate black hole mass (M_BH). We study the cosmic
evolution of the M_BH-spheroid luminosity (L_sph) relation. In combination with
our previous work, totaling 40 Seyfert-1 galaxies, the covered range in BH mass
is substantially increased, allowing us to determine for the first time
intrinsic scatter and correct evolutionary trends for selection effects. We
re-analyze archival HST images of 19 local reverberation-mapped active galaxies
to match the procedure adopted at intermediate redshift. Correcting spheroid
luminosity for passive luminosity evolution and taking into account selection
effects, we determine that at fixed present-day V-band spheroid luminosity,
M_BH/L_sph \propto (1+z)^(2.8+/-1.2). When including a sample of 44 quasars out
to z=4.5 taken from the literature, with luminosity and BH mass corrected to a
self-consistent calibration, we extend the BH mass range to over two orders of
magnitude, resulting in M_BH/L_sph \propto (1+z)^(1.4+/-0.2). The intrinsic
scatter of the relation, assumed constant with redshift, is 0.3+/-0.1 dex (<0.6
dex at 95% CL). The evolutionary trend suggests that BH growth precedes
spheroid assembly. Interestingly, the M_BH-total host-galaxy luminosity
relation is apparently non-evolving. It hints at either a more fundamental
relation or that the spheroid grows by a redistribution of stars. However, the
high-z sample does not follow this relation, indicating that major mergers may
play the dominant role in growing spheroids above z~1.Comment: 39 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Examining hope as a transdiagnostic mechanism of change across anxiety disorders and CBT treatment protocols.
Hope is a trait that represents the capacity to identify strategies or pathways to achieve goals and the motivation or agency to effectively pursue those pathways. Hope has been demonstrated to be a robust source of resilience to anxiety and stress and there is limited evidence that, as has been suggested for decades, hope may function as a core process or transdiagnostic mechanism of change in psychotherapy. The current study examined the role of hope in predicting recovery in a clinical trial in which 223 individuals with 1 of 4 anxiety disorders were randomized to transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), disorder-specific CBT, or a waitlist controlled condition. Effect size results indicated moderate to large intraindividual increases in hope, that changes in hope were consistent across the five CBT treatment protocols, that changes in hope were significantly greater in CBT relative to waitlist, and that changes in hope began early in treatment. Results of growth curve analyses indicated that CBT was a robust predictor of trajectories of change in hope compared to waitlist, and that changes in hope predicted changes in both self-reported and clinician-rated anxiety. Finally, a statistically significant indirect effect was found indicating that the effects of treatment on changes in anxiety were mediated by treatment effects on hope. Together, these results suggest that hope may be a promising transdiagnostic mechanism of change that is relevant across anxiety disorders and treatment protocols.R01 MH090053 - NIMH NIH HHSAccepted manuscrip
Asymmetric Reduction of Lactam-based β-Aminoacrylates. Synthesis of Heterocyclic β2-Amino Acids
Retrospective Study on the Effects of Septal Myectomy Surgery on the Mitral-aortic Valve Angle.
The unified protocol for transdiagnostic treatment of emotional disorders compared with diagnosis-specific protocols for anxiety disorders a randomized clinical trial
IMPORTANCE: Transdiagnostic interventions have been developed to address barriers to the dissemination of evidence-based psychological treatments, but only a few preliminary studies have compared these approaches with existing evidence-based psychological treatments.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) is at least as efficacious as single-disorder protocols (SDPs) in the treatment of anxiety disorders.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: From June 23, 2011, to March 5, 2015, a total of 223 patients at an outpatient treatment center with a principal diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or social anxiety disorder were randomly assigned by principal diagnosis to the UP, an SDP, or a waitlist control condition. Patients received up to 16 sessions of the UP or an SDP for 16 to 21 weeks. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, after treatment, and at 6-month follow-up. Analysis in this equivalence trial was based on intention to treat.
INTERVENTIONS: The UP or SDPs.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Blinded evaluations of principal diagnosis clinical severity rating were used to evaluate an a priori hypothesis of equivalence between the UP and SDPs.
RESULTS: Among the 223 patients (124 women and 99 men; mean [SD] age, 31.1 [11.0] years), 88 were randomized to receive the UP, 91 to receive an SDP, and 44 to the waitlist control condition. Patients were more likely to complete treatment with the UP than with SDPs (odds ratio, 3.11; 95% CI, 1.44-6.74). Both the UP (Cohen d, −0.93; 95% CI, −1.29 to −0.57) and SDPs (Cohen d, −1.08; 95% CI, −1.43 to −0.73) were superior to the waitlist control condition at acute outcome. Reductions in clinical severity rating from baseline to the end of treatment (β, 0.25; 95% CI, −0.26 to 0.75) and from baseline to the 6-month follow-up (β, 0.16; 95% CI, −0.39 to 0.70) indicated statistical equivalence between the UP and SDPs.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The UP produces symptom reduction equivalent to criterion standard evidence-based psychological treatments for anxiety disorders with less attrition. Thus, it may be possible to use 1 protocol instead of multiple SDPs to more efficiently treat the most commonly occurring anxiety and depressive disorders.This study was funded by grant R01 MH090053 from the National Institute of Mental Health. (R01 MH090053 - National Institute of Mental Health)First author draf
A Culturally Sensitive Social Support Intervention for Chinese American Breast Cancer Survivors (Joy Luck Academy): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial
© Qian Lu, Krystal Warmoth, Lingjun Chen, Christine S Wu, Qiao Chu, Yisheng Li, Matthew W Gallagher, Annette L Stanton, Marjorie Kagawa Singer, Lucy Young, Alice Loh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer among Asian American women. Chinese American immigrant breast cancer survivors face unique challenges because of cultural and socioecological factors. They report emotional distress and the need for social, emotional, and spiritual support. However, culturally and linguistically appropriate information for managing survivorship health care is often unavailable. OBJECTIVE: To improve the health outcomes for this underserved and understudied population, we developed, designed, and launched a randomized controlled trial to test the health benefits of a culturally sensitive social support intervention (Joy Luck Academy). In this paper, we describe the research protocol. METHODS: This randomized controlled trial will enroll Chinese-speaking, stage 0 to 3 breast cancer survivors who have completed treatment within the previous 36 months using a community-based participatory research approach. We will randomly assign 168 participants to the intervention or control group. The intervention arm will attend 7 weekly 3.5-hour peer mentor and educational sessions. The control group will receive the educational information. We will assess health outcomes at baseline, immediately after the Joy Luck Academy, and at 1- and 4-month follow-ups. The primary outcome is quality of life, as measured by the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy scale. Secondary outcomes include depressive symptoms, positive affect, fatigue, and perceived stress. We will also explore how the intervention influences cortisol levels. To identify how and to whom the program is effective, we will measure social and personal resources and theorized mechanisms and perform qualitative interviews with a subsample of participants to enhance the interpretation of quantitative data. RESULTS: Recruitment began in February 2015, and data collection was completed in February 2019. We expect to complete data management by August 2021 and publish results in 2022. CONCLUSIONS: If the Joy Luck Academy is demonstrated to be effective, it may be easily disseminated as an intervention for other groups of Asian American immigrant breast cancer survivors. Furthermore, similar programs could be integrated into other diverse communities.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio
Type Ia Supernova Properties as a Function of the Distance to the Host Galaxy in the SDSS-II SN Survey
We use type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the SDSS-II SN Survey to
search for dependencies between SN Ia properties and the projected distance to
the host galaxy center, using the distance as a proxy for local galaxy
properties (local star-formation rate, local metallicity, etc.). The sample
consists of almost 200 spectroscopically or photometrically confirmed SNe Ia at
redshifts below 0.25. The sample is split into two groups depending on the
morphology of the host galaxy. We fit light-curves using both MLCS2k2 and
SALT2, and determine color (AV, c) and light-curve shape (delta, x1) parameters
for each SN Ia, as well as its residual in the Hubble diagram. We then
correlate these parameters with both the physical and the normalized distances
to the center of the host galaxy and look for trends in the mean values and
scatters of these parameters with increasing distance. The most significant (at
the 4-sigma level) finding is that the average fitted AV from MLCS2k2 and c
from SALT2 decrease with the projected distance for SNe Ia in spiral galaxies.
We also find indications that SNe in elliptical galaxies tend to have narrower
light-curves if they explode at larger distances, although this may be due to
selection effects in our sample. We do not find strong correlations between the
residuals of the distance moduli with respect to the Hubble flow and the
galactocentric distances, which indicates a limited correlation between SN
magnitudes after standardization and local host metallicity.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal (33 pages, 5
figures, 8 tables
Design and implementation of the NUV/optical widefield Star Formation Camera for the Theia Observatory
The Star Formation Camera (SFC) is a wide-field (~19'×~15', >280 arcmin^2), high-resolution (18 mas pixels) UV/optical dichroic camera designed for the Theia 4-m space-borne space telescope concept. SFC will deliver diffraction-limited images at λ > 300 nm in both a blue (190-517nm) and a red (517-1075nm) channel simultaneously. The goal is to conduct a comprehensive and systematic study of the astrophysical processes and environments relevant for the births and life cycles of stars and their planetary systems, and to investigate the range of environments, feedback mechanisms, and other factors that most affect the outcome of star and planet formation
Deep Hubble Space Telescope observations of star clusters in NGC 1275
We present an analysis of compact star clusters in deep Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 images of NGC 1275. B- and R-band photometry of roughly 3000 clusters shows a bimodality in the B-R colors, suggesting that distinct old and young cluster populations are present. The small spread in the colors of the blue clusters is consistent with the hypothesis that they are a single-age population, with an inferred age of 0.1 to 1 Gyr. The luminosity function shows increasing numbers of blue clusters to the limit of our photometry, which reaches several magnitudes past the turnover predicted if the cluster population is identical to current Galactic globular clusters seen at a younger age. The blue clusters have a spatial distribution that is more centrally peaked than that of the red clusters. The individual clusters are slightly resolved, with core radii ≾0.75 pc if they have modified Hubble profiles. We estimate the specific frequencies of the old and young populations and discuss the uncertainties in these estimates. We find that the specific frequency of the young population in NGC 1275 is currently larger than that of the old population and will remain so as the young population evolves, even if the majority of the low-mass clusters are eventually destroyed. If the young population formed during a previous merger, this suggests that mergers can increase the specific frequency of globular clusters in a galaxy. However, the presently observed young population likely contains too few clusters to have a significant impact on the overall specific frequency as it will be observed in the future
Deep Hubble Space Telescope observations of blue star clusters in NGC 3597
We have analyzed HST/WFPC2 images of NGC 3597 and find ~700 compact objects surrounding the galaxy with an average (B-R)_0~0.6. We propose that the majority of these objects are young globular clusters. They have a spread in colors that is consistent with that expected for a population of young clusters with a common age and spread induced by photometric errors and reddening within NGC 3597. If these objects were similar to the Galactic globular cluster system seen at a younger age, we would predict a turnover in the luminosity function at B~23. However, we find that the luminosity function for the clusters is increasing to the limits of our photometry (B~27)
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