BE Ursae Majoris: A detached binary with a unique reprocessing spectrum

New infrared photometry, optical and UV spectrophotometry, and a photographic ephemeris are presented for the detached binary BE UMa. Results show the primary to be a DO white dwarf with an effective temperature of 80,000 + or - 15,000 K and a mass of 0.6 + or - 0.1 solar masses. No evidence is found for variability of the primary. The main sequence secondary star is shown to be of early M spectral type, with a formal range of M1 to M5 being possible. A reflection effect in reprocessed line and continuum radiation is produced by EUV radiation from the primary incident on the secondary atmosphere. It is suggested that the temperature of the reprocessed component of the secondary's atmosphere is in the 5000 to 8500 K range, and that emission lines of decreasing ionization form deeper in the irradiated envelope. Relatively narrow He II and high excitation metal lines are formed from recombination and continuum fluorescence processes

The impact of corporate philanthropy on reputation for corporate social performance

This study seeks to examine the mechanisms by which a corporation’s use of philanthropy affects its reputation for corporate social performance (CSP), which the authors conceive of as consisting of two dimensions: CSP awareness and CSP perception. Using signal detection theory (SDT), the authors model signal amplitude (the amount contributed), dispersion (number of areas supported), and consistency (presence of a corporate foundation) on CSP awareness and perception. Overall, this study finds that characteristics of firms' portfolio of philanthropic activities are a greater predictor of CSP awareness than of CSP perception. Awareness increases with signal amplitude, dispersion, and consistency. CSP perception is driven by awareness and corporate reputation. The authors’ contention that corporate philanthropy is a complex variable is upheld, as we find that CSP signal characteristics influence CSP awareness and perception independently and asymmetrically. The authors conclude by proposing avenues for future research

Association of 6-Minute Walk Performance and Physical Activity With Incident Ischemic Heart Disease Events and Stroke in Peripheral Artery Disease.

BackgroundWe determined whether poorer 6-minute walk performance and lower physical activity levels are associated with higher rates of ischemic heart disease (IHD) events in people with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD).Methods and resultsFive hundred ten PAD participants were identified from Chicago-area medical centers and followed prospectively for 19.0±9.5 months. At baseline, participants completed the 6-minute walk and reported number of blocks walked during the past week (physical activity). IHD events were systematically adjudicated and consisted of new myocardial infarction, unstable angina, and cardiac death. For 6-minute walk, IHD event rates were 25/170 (14.7%) for the third (poorest) tertile, 10/171 (5.8%%) for the second tertile, and 6/169 (3.5%) for the first (best) tertile (P=0.003). For physical activity, IHD event rates were 21/154 (13.6%) for the third (poorest) tertile, 15/174 (8.6%) for the second tertile, and 5/182 (2.7%) for the first (best) tertile (P=0.001). Adjusting for age, sex, race, smoking, body mass index, comorbidities, and physical activity, participants in the poorest 6-minute walk tertile had a 3.28-fold (95% CI 1.17 to 9.17, P=0.024) higher hazard for IHD events, compared with those in the best tertile. Adjusting for confounders including 6-minute walk, participants in the poorest physical activity tertile had a 3.72-fold (95% CI 1.24 to 11.19, P=0.019) higher hazard for IHD events, compared with the highest tertile.ConclusionsSix-minute walk and physical activity predict IHD event rates in PAD. Further study is needed to determine whether interventions that improve 6-minute walk, physical activity, or both can reduce IHD events in PAD

Pulmonary immune responses to Aspergillus fumigatus in an immunocompetent mouse model of repeated exposures

Aspergillus fumigatus is a filamentous fungus that produces abundant pigmented conidia. Several fungal components have been identified as virulence factors, including melanin; however, the impact of these factors in a repeated exposure model resembling natural environmental exposures remains unknown. This study examined the role of fungal melanin in the stimulation of pulmonary immune responses using immunocompetent BALB/c mice in a multiple exposure model. It compared conidia from wild-type A. fumigatus to two melanin mutants of the same strain, Δarp2 (tan) or Δalb1 (white). Mass spectrometry-based analysis of conidial extracts demonstrated that there was little difference in the protein fingerprint profiles between the three strains. Field emission scanning electron microscopy demonstrated that the immunologically inert Rodlet A layer remained intact in melanin-deficient conidia. Thus, the primary difference between the strains was the extent of melanization. Histopathology indicated that each A. fumigatus strain induced lung inflammation, regardless of the extent of melanization. In mice exposed to Δalb1 conidia, an increase in airway eosinophils and a decrease in neutrophils and CD8(+) IL-17(+) (Tc17) cells were observed. Additionally, it was shown that melanin mutant conidia were more rapidly cleared from the lungs than wild-type conidia. These data suggest that the presence of fungal melanin may modulate the pulmonary immune response in a mouse model of repeated exposures to A. fumigatus conidia

Measuring Circadian Advantage in Major League Baseball: A 10-Year Retrospective Study

Purpose: The effect of travel on athletic performance has been investigated in previous studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate this effect on game outcome over 10 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons. Methods: Using the convention that for every time zone crossed, synchronization requires 1 d, teams were assigned a daily number indicating the number of days away from circadian resynchronization. With these values, wins and losses for all games could be analyzed based on circadian values. Results: 19,079 of the 24,121 games (79.1%) were played between teams at an equal circadian time. The remaining 5,042 games consisted of teams playing at different circadian times. The team with the circadian advantage won 2,620 games (52.0%, P = .005), a winning percentage that exceeded chance but was a smaller effect than home field advantage (53.7%, P < .0001). When teams held a 1-h circadian advantage, winning percentage was 51.7% (1,903-1,781). Winning percentage with a 2-h advantage was 51.8% (620-578) but increased to 60.6% (97-63) with a 3-h advantage (3-h advantage > 2-hadvantage = 1-h advantage, P = .036). Direction of advantage showed teams traveling from Western time zones to Eastern time zones were more likely to win (winning percentage = .530) than teams traveling from Eastern time zones to Western time zones (winning percentage = .509) with a winning odds 1.14 (P = .027). Conclusion: These results suggest that in the same way home field advantage influences likelihood of success, so too does the magnitude and direction of circadian advantage. Teams with greater circadian advantage were more likely to win

The Role of Physical, Chemical, and Microbial Heterogeneity on the Field-Scale Transport and Attachment of Bacteria

A field-scale bacterial transport experiment was conducted at the Narrow Channel Focus Area of the South Oyster field site located in Oyster, Virginia. The goal of the field experiment was to determine the relative influence of subsurface heterogeneity and microbial population parameters on flow direction, velocity, and attachment of bacteria at the field scale. The field results were compared with results from laboratory-scale column experiments to develop a method for predicting field-scale bacterial transport. The field site is a shallow, sandy, unconfined, aerobic aquifer that has been characterized by geophysical, sedimentological, and hydrogeological methods. Comamonas sp. strain DA001 and a conservative tracer, bromide (Br), were injected into an area of high permeability for 12 hours. The Br and bacterial concentrations in the groundwater were monitored for 1 week at 192 sampling ports spaced over a 2-m vertical zone located from 0.5 to 7 m down-gradient of the injection well. The bacterial and Br plume was observed to move past 95 sampling ports. The densely characterized field site enabled the comparison of variations in DA001 transport to the aquifer properties. The velocity of the injected plume was correlated with geophysical estimates of hydraulic conductivity. The bacterial and Br plume appeared to follow flow paths not coincident with the hydraulic gradient but through a zone of higher permeability located off the flow axis. The amount of breakthrough of the bacteria was similar in both the high and low permeability layers with only a weak correlation between the observed hydraulic conductivity and amount of bacterial breakthrough. The uniformity in the observed attachment rates across varying grain sizes could be explained by heterogeneity of microbial properties within the single strain of injected bacteria. Application of colloid filtration theory to the field data indicated that variations in the microbial population were described by a lognormal distribution of the collision efficiency (a). Core-scale studies were used to predict the a distribution and field-scale transport distances of DA001. In sandy aquifers, physical heterogeneity may play a secondary role in controlling field-scale bacterial transport, and future research should focus on the microbial factors affecting transport

Increase of Direct C-C Coupling Reaction Yield by Identifying Structural and Electronic Properties of High-Spin Iron Tetra-azamacrocyclic Complexes

Macrocyclic ligands have been explored extensively as scaffolds for transition metal catalysts for oxygen and hydrogen atom transfer reactions. C–C reactions facilitated using earth abundant metals bound to macrocyclic ligands have not been well-understood but could be a green alternative to replacing the current expensive and toxic precious metal systems most commonly used for these processes. Therefore, the yields from direct Suzuki–Miyaura C–C coupling of phenylboronic acid and pyrrole to produce 2-phenylpyrrole facilitated by eight high-spin iron complexes ([Fe3+L1(Cl)2]+, [Fe3+L4(Cl)2]+, [Fe2+L5(Cl)]+, [Fe2+L6(Cl)2], [Fe3+L7(Cl)2]+, [Fe3+L8(Cl)2]+, [Fe2+L9(Cl)]+, and [Fe2+L10(Cl)]+) were compared to identify the effect of structural and electronic properties on catalytic efficiency. Specifically, catalyst complexes were compared to evaluate the effect of five properties on catalyst reaction yields: (1) the coordination requirements of the catalyst, (2) redox half-potential of each complex, (3) topological constraint/rigidity, (4) N atom modification(s) increasing oxidative stability of the complex, and (5) geometric parameters. The need for two labile cis-coordination sites was confirmed based on a 42% decrease in catalytic reaction yield observed when complexes containing pentadentate ligands were used in place of complexes with tetradentate ligands. A strong correlation between iron(III/II) redox potential and catalytic reaction yields was also observed, with [Fe2+L6(Cl)2] providing the highest yield (81%, −405 mV). A Lorentzian fitting of redox potential versus yields predicts that these catalysts can undergo more fine-tuning to further increase yields. Interestingly, the remaining properties explored did not show a direct, strong relationship to catalytic reaction yields. Altogether, these results show that modifications to the ligand scaffold using fundamental concepts of inorganic coordination chemistry can be used to control the catalytic activity of macrocyclic iron complexes by controlling redox chemistry of the iron center. Furthermore, the data provide direction for the design of improved catalysts for this reaction and strategies to understand the impact of a ligand scaffold on catalytic activity of other reactions