Discovery of a jet from the single HAe/Be star HD 100546

Young accreting stars drive outflows that collimate into jets, which can be seen hundreds of au from their driving sources. Accretion and outflow activity cease with system age, and it is believed that magneto-centrifugally launched disk winds are critical agents in regulating accretion through the protoplanetary disk. Protostellar jets are well studied in classical T Tauri stars (M⋆ ≲ 2 M⊙), while few nearby (d ≲ 150 pc) intermediate-mass stars (M⋆ = 2−10 M⊙), known as Herbig Ae/Be stars, have detected jets. We report VLT/MUSE observations of the Herbig Ae/Be star HD 100546 and the discovery of a protostellar jet. The jet is similar in appearance to jets driven by low-mass stars and compares well with the jet of HD 163296, the only other known optical jet from a nearby Herbig Ae/Be star. We derive a (one-sided) mass-loss rate in the jet of log Ṁjet ∼ −9.5 (in M⊙ yr−1) and a ratio of outflow to accretion of roughly 3 × 10−3, which is lower than that of CTTS jets. The discovery of the HD 100546 jet is particularly interesting because the protoplanetary disk around HD 100546 shows a large radial gap, spiral structure, and might host a protoplanetary system. A bar-like structure previously seen in Hα with VLT/SPHERE shares the jet position angle, likely represents the base of the jet, and suggests a jet-launching region within about 2 au. We conclude that the evolution of the disk at radii beyond a few au does not affect the ability of the system to launch jets

Problematic gaming behaviour and health-related outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the interplay between problematic gaming behaviour and health-related outcomes at different developmental stages. A total of 50 empirical studies met the specified inclusion criteria, and a meta-analysis using correlation coefficients was used for the studies that reported adverse health implications regarding the impact of problematic gaming behaviour on depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder and somatisation. Overall, the results suggested that problematic gaming behaviour is significantly associated with a wide range of detrimental health-related outcomes. Finally, the limitations of this review alongside its implications were discussed and considered for future research

Cost–utility analysis of imatinib mesilate for the treatment of advanced stage chronic myeloid leukaemia

Imatinib mesilate (Glivec®, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) is a novel therapy for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of imatinib (600 mg daily) when used for the treatment of patients in advanced stages of CML (accelerated phase and blast crisis) against conventional therapies of combination chemotherapy (DAT) and palliative care in hospital or at home. A Markov model simulated the transitions of hypothetical patient cohorts and outcomes were modelled for 5 years from the start of treatment. Costs were estimated from the perspective of the UK National Health Service. Over 5 years, a patient in accelerated phase will, on average, accrue an additional 2.09 QALYs with imatinib compared to conventional therapies, while patients in blast crisis will accrue an additional 0.58 quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) with imatinib compared to conventional therapies. The costs per additional QALY gained from treatment with imatinib compared with conventional therapies were £29 344 (accelerated phase) and £42 239 (blast crisis). The results were particularly sensitive to the price of imatinib, improvements in quality of life, and the duration of haematological responses. We conclude that treatment of CML with imatinib confers considerably greater survival and quality of life than conventional treatments but at a cost

Quick assessment of hopelessness: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Lengthy questionnaires reduce data quality and impose a burden on respondents. Previous researchers proposed that a single item ("My future seems dark to me") and a 4-item component of the Beck's Hopelessness Scale (BHS) can summarise most of the information the BHS provides. There is no clear indication of what BHS cutoff values are useful in identifying people with suicide tendency. METHODS: In a population-based study of Chinese people aged between 15 and 59 in Hong Kong, the Chinese version of the BHS and the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression scale were administered by trained interviewers and suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts were self-reported. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis and regression analysis were used to compare the performance of the BHS and its components in identifying people with suicidality and depression. Smoothed level of suicidal tendency was assessed in relation to scores on the BHS and its component to identify thresholds. RESULTS: It is found that the 4-item component and, to a lesser extent, the single item of the BHS perform in ways similar to the BHS. There are non-linear relationship between suicidality and scores on the BHS and the 4-item component; cutoff values identified accordingly have sensitivity and specificity of about 65%. CONCLUSION: The 4-item component is a useful alternative to the BHS. Shortening of psycho-social measurement scales should be considered in order to reduce burden on patients or respondents and to improve response rate

Reduced-form and complex Actm modelling for air quality policy development: a model inter-comparison

Simulation models can be valuable tools in supporting development of air pollution policy. However, exploration of future scenarios depends on reliable and robust modelling to provide confidence in outcomes which cannot be tested against measurements. Here we focus on the UK Integrated Assessment Model, a fast reduced-form model with a purpose to support policy development with modelling of multiple alternative future scenarios, and the EMEP4UK model which is a complex Eulerian Atmospheric Chemistry Transport Model requiring significant computing resources. The EMEP4UK model has been used to model selected core scenarios to compare with UKIAM, and to investigate sensitivity studies such as the interannual variability in response to meteorological differences between years. This model intercomparison addresses total PM2.5, primary PM2.5 and Secondary Inorganic Aerosol concentrations for a baseline of 2018 and selected scenarios for projections to 2040. This work has confirmed the robustness of the UK Integrated Assessment Model for assessing alternative futures through a direct comparison with EMEP4UK. Both models have shown good agreement with measurements, and EMEP4UK shows an ability to replicate past trends. These comparisons highlight how a combination of reduced-form modelling (UKIAM) and complex chemical transport modelling (EMEP4UK) can be effectively used in support of air pollution policy development, informing understanding of projected futures in the context of emerging evidence and uncertainties

Delivering NEET policy packages? A decade of NEET policy in England

This article explores the way in which government policy shapes the lives of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET). In particular it examines how the concept of NEETs is set within a specific infrastructure and discourse for managing and supporting young people. The article provides a brief history of the NEET concept and NEET initiatives, before moving on to scrutinise the policies of the Coalition Government. A key distinction is made between those policies and practices that seek to prevent young people becoming NEET from those that seek to re-engage those who are NEET. It is argued that the Coalition has drawn on a similar active labour market toolkit to the previous Labour administration, but that this has been implemented with fewer resources and less co-ordination. It concludes that there is little reason to believe that Coalition policy will be any more successful than that of the previous government, and some reason to be concerned that it will lead to young people becoming more entrenched within NEET

Constructing resilience through security and surveillance: The politics, practices and tensions of security-driven resilience

This article illuminates how, since 9/11, security policy has gradually become more central to a range of resilience discourses and practices. As this process draws a wider range of security infrastructures, organizations and approaches into the enactment of resilience, security practices are enabled through more palatable and legitimizing discourses of resilience. This article charts the emergence and proliferation of security-driven resilience logics, deployed at different spatial scales, which exist in tension with each other. We exemplify such tensions in practice through a detailed case study from Birmingham, UK: ‘Project Champion’ an attempt to install over 200 high-resolution surveillance cameras, often invisibly, around neighbourhoods with a predominantly Muslim population. Here, practices of security-driven resilience came into conflict with other policy priorities focused upon community-centred social cohesion, posing a series of questions about social control, surveillance and the ability of national agencies to construct community resilience in local areas amidst state attempts to label the same spaces as ‘dangerous’. It is argued that security-driven logics of resilience generate conflicts in how resilience is operationalized, and produce and reproduce new hierarchical arrangements which, in turn, may work to subvert some of the founding aspirations and principles of resilience logic itself

Phenoloxidase activity acts as a mosquito innate immune response against infection with semliki forest virus

Several components of the mosquito immune system including the RNA interference (RNAi), JAK/STAT, Toll and IMD pathways have previously been implicated in controlling arbovirus infections. In contrast, the role of the phenoloxidase (PO) cascade in mosquito antiviral immunity is unknown. Here we show that conditioned medium from the Aedes albopictus-derived U4.4 cell line contains a functional PO cascade, which is activated by the bacterium Escherichia coli and the arbovirus Semliki Forest virus (SFV) (Togaviridae; Alphavirus). Production of recombinant SFV expressing the PO cascade inhibitor Egf1.0 blocked PO activity in U4.4 cell- conditioned medium, which resulted in enhanced spread of SFV. Infection of adult female Aedes aegypti by feeding mosquitoes a bloodmeal containing Egf1.0-expressing SFV increased virus replication and mosquito mortality. Collectively, these results suggest the PO cascade of mosquitoes plays an important role in immune defence against arboviruses

Does trocar-guided tension-free vaginal mesh (Prolift™) repair provoke prolapse of the unaffected compartments?

Contains fulltext : 88857.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of the tension-free vaginal mesh (Prolift) procedure on the non-treated and initially unaffected vaginal compartments. METHODS: This prospective observational cohort study involved 150 patients who underwent a Prolift procedure. Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) quantification and evaluation of prolapse symptoms with validated questionnaires was performed pre-operatively and 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Primary outcome was the rate of POP stage > or = II in the non-treated vaginal compartments. RESULTS: Twenty-three percent of all patients developed a de novo POP stage > or = II in the untreated compartment. This occurred in 46% and 25% of patients after an isolated anterior and isolated posterior Prolift, respectively. CONCLUSION: Tension-free vaginal mesh treatment of one vaginal compartment seems to provoke the development of vaginal prolapse in initially unaffected vaginal compartments, particularly after an isolated anterior Prolift procedure.1 maart 201