V723 Cas (Nova Cassiopeiae 1995): MERLIN observations from 1996 to 2001

MERLIN observations of the unusually slow nova V723 Cas are presented. Nine epochs of 6-cm data between 1996 and 2001 are mapped, showing the initial expansion and brightening of the radio remnant, the development of structure and the final decline. A radio light curve is presented and fitted by the standard Hubble flow model for radio emission from novae in order to determine the values of various physical parameters for the shell. The model is consistent with the overall development of the radio emission. Assuming a distance of 2.39 (+/-0.38) kpc and a shell temperature of 17000 K, the model yields values for expansion velocity of 414 +/- 0.1 km s^-1 and shell mass of 1.13 +/- 0.04 * 10^-4 Msolar. These values are consistent with those derived from other observations although the ejected masses are rather higher than theoretical predictions. The structure of the shell is resolved by MERLIN and shows that the assumption of spherical symmetry in the standard model is unlikely to be correct.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Global Sex Disparity Of Covid-19: A Descriptive Review Of Sex Hormones And Consideration For The Potential Therapeutic Use Of Hormone Replacement Therapy In Older Adults

The 2019-2020 SARS-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to healthcare sectors around the world. As of November 2020, there have been over 64 million confirmed cases and approaching 2 million deaths globally. Despite the large number of positive cases, there are very limited established standards of care and therapeutic options available. To date, there is still no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved vaccine for COVID-19, although there are several options in various clinical trial stages. Herein, we have performed a global review evaluating the roles of age and sex on COVID-19 hospitalizations, ICU admissions, deaths in hospitals, and deaths in nursing homes. We have identified a trend in which elderly and male patients are significantly affected by adverse outcomes. There is evidence suggesting that sex hormone levels can influence immune system function against SARS-CoV-2 infection, thus reducing the adverse effects of COVID-19. Since older adults have lower levels of these sex hormones, we therefore speculate, within rational scientific context, that sex steroids, such as estrogen and progesterone, needs further consideration for use as alternative therapeutic option for treating COVID-19 elderly patients. To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive article evaluating the significance of sex hormones in COVID-19 outcomes in older adults

Body Composition changes after Testosterone Replacement Therapy following Spinal Cord Injury and Aging:A Mini Review

CONTEXT: Hypogonadism is a male clinical condition in which the body does not produce enough testosterone. Testosterone plays a key role in maintaining body composition, bone mineral density, sexual function, mood, erythropoiesis, cognition and quality of life. Hypogonadism can occur due to several underlying pathologies during aging and in men with physical disabilities, such as spinal cord injury (SCI). This condition is often under diagnosed and as a result, symptoms undertreated. METHODS: In this mini-review, we propose that testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) might be a viable strategy to improve lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM) in men with SCI. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Supplementing the limited data from SCI cohorts with consistent findings from studies in non-disabled aging men, we present evidence that, relative to placebo, transdermal TRT can increase LBM and reduce FM over 3 – 36 months. The impact of TRT on bone mineral density and metabolism is also discussed, with particular relevance for persons with SCI. Moreover, the risks of TRT remain controversial and pertinent safety considerations related to transdermal administration are outlined. CONCLUSION: Further research is necessary to help develop clinical guidelines for the specific dose and duration of TRT in persons with SCI. Therefore, we call for more high-quality randomized controlled trials to examine the efficacy and safety of TRT in this population, who experience an increased risk of cardiometabolic diseases as a result of deleterious body composition changes after injury

The Morphology of the Expanding Ejecta of V2491 Cygni (2008 N.2)

Determining the evolution of the ejecta morphology of novae provides valuable information on the shaping mechanisms in operation at early stages of the nova outburst. Understanding such mechanisms has implications for studies of shaping for example in proto-Planetary Nebulae. Here we perform morpho-kinematical studies of V2491 Cyg using spectral data to determine the likely structure of the ejecta and its relationship to the central system and shaping mechanisms. We use Shape to model different morphologies and retrieve their spectra. These synthetic spectra are compared with observed spectra to determine the most likely morphology giving rise to them, including system inclination and expansion velocity of the nova ejecta. We find the best fit remnant morphology to be that of polar blobs and an equatorial ring with an implied inclination of 80$^{+3}_{-12}$ degrees and an maximum expansion velocity of the polar blobs of 3100$^{+200}_{-100}$ km/s and for the equatorial ring 2700$^{+200}_{-100}$ km/s. This inclination would suggest that we should observe eclipses which will enable us to determine more precisely important parameters of the central binary. We also note that the amplitude of the outburst is more akin to the found in recurrent nova systems.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

"Engaging with birth stories in pregnancy: a hermeneutic phenomenological study of women's experiences across two generations"

BACKGROUND: The birth story has been widely understood as a crucial source of knowledge about childbirth. What has not been reported is the effect that birth stories may have on primigravid women's understandings of birth. Findings are presented from a qualitative study exploring how two generations of women came to understand birth in the milieu of other's stories. The prior assumption was that birth stories must surely have a positive or negative influence on listeners, steering them towards either medical or midwifery-led models of care. METHODS: A Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used. Twenty UK participants were purposively selected and interviewed. Findings from the initial sample of 10 women who were pregnant in 2012 indicated that virtual media was a primary source of birth stories. This led to recruitment of a second sample of 10 women who gave birth in the 1970s-1980s, to determine whether they were more able to translate information into knowledge via stories told through personal contact and not through virtual technologies RESULTS: Findings revealed the experience of 'being-in-the-world' of birth and of stories in that world. From a Heideggerian perspective, the birth story was constructed through 'idle talk' (the taken for granted assumptions of things, which come into being through language). Both oral stories and those told through technology were described as the 'modern birth story'. The first theme 'Stories are difficult like that', examines the birth story as problematic and considers how stories shape meaning. The second 'It's a generational thing', considers how women from two generations came to understand what their experience might be. The third 'Birth in the twilight of certainty,' examines women's experience of Being in a system of birth as constructed, portrayed and sustained in the stories being shared. CONCLUSIONS: The women pregnant in 2012 framed their expectations in the language of choice, whilst the women who birthed in the 1970s-1980s framed their experience in the language of safety. For both, however, the world of birth was the same; saturated with, and only legitimised by the birth of a healthy baby. Rather than creating meaningful understanding, the 'idle talk' of birth made both cohorts fearful of leaving the relative comfort of the 'system', and of claiming an alternative birth

Morpho-kinematical modelling of Nova Eridani 2009 (KT Eri)

Modelling the morphology of a nova outburst provides valuable information on the shaping mechanism in operation at early stages following the outburst. We performed morphokinematical studies, using shape, of the evolution of the Hα line profile following the outburst of the nova KT Eridani. We applied a series of geometries in order to determine the morphology of the system. The best fit morphology was that of a dumbbell structure with a ratio between the major to minor axis of 4:1, with an inclination angle of 58+6−7 degrees and a maximum expansion velocity of 2800±200 km s−1. Although, we found that it is possible to define the overall structure of the system, the radial density profile of the ejecta is much more difficult to disentangle. Furthermore, morphology implied here may also be consistent with the presence of an evolved secondary as suggested by various authors

“A very orderly retreat”: Democratic transition in East Germany, 1989-90

East Germany's 1989-90 democratisation is among the best known of East European transitions, but does not lend itself to comparative analysis, due to the singular way in which political reform and democratic consolidation were subsumed by Germany's unification process. Yet aspects of East Germany's democratisation have proved amenable to comparative approaches. This article reviews the comparative literature that refers to East Germany, and finds a schism between those who designate East Germany's transition “regime collapse” and others who contend that it exemplifies “transition through extrication”. It inquires into the merits of each position and finds in favour of the latter. Drawing on primary and secondary literature, as well as archival and interview sources, it portrays a communist elite that was, to a large extent, prepared to adapt to changing circumstances and capable of learning from “reference states” such as Poland. Although East Germany was the Soviet state in which the positions of existing elites were most threatened by democratic transition, here too a surprising number succeeded in maintaining their position while filing across the bridge to market society. A concluding section outlines the alchemy through which their bureaucratic power was transmuted into property and influence in the “new Germany”

A cluster randomized trial of standard quality improvement versus patient-centered interventions to enhance depression care for African Americans in the primary care setting: study protocol NCT00243425

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several studies document disparities in access to care and quality of care for depression for African Americans. Research suggests that patient attitudes and clinician communication behaviors may contribute to these disparities. Evidence links patient-centered care to improvements in mental health outcomes; therefore, quality improvement interventions that enhance this dimension of care are promising strategies to improve treatment and outcomes of depression among African Americans. This paper describes the design of the BRIDGE (Blacks Receiving Interventions for Depression and Gaining Empowerment) Study. The goal of the study is to compare the effectiveness of two interventions for African-American patients with depression--a standard quality improvement program and a patient-centered quality improvement program. The main hypothesis is that patients in the patient-centered group will have a greater reduction in their depression symptoms, higher rates of depression remission, and greater improvements in mental health functioning at six, twelve, and eighteen months than patients in the standard group. The study also examines patient ratings of care and receipt of guideline-concordant treatment for depression.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A total of 36 primary care clinicians and 132 of their African-American patients with major depressive disorder were recruited into a cluster randomized trial. The study uses intent-to-treat analyses to compare the effectiveness of standard quality improvement interventions (academic detailing about depression guidelines for clinicians and disease-oriented care management for their patients) and patient-centered quality improvement interventions (communication skills training to enhance participatory decision-making for clinicians and care management focused on explanatory models, socio-cultural barriers, and treatment preferences for their patients) for improving outcomes over 12 months of follow-up.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The BRIDGE Study includes clinicians and African-American patients in under-resourced community-based practices who have not been well-represented in clinical trials to improve depression care. The patient-centered and culturally targeted approach to depression care is a relatively new one that has not been tested in most previous studies. The study will provide evidence about whether patient-centered accommodations improve quality of care and outcomes to a greater extent than standard quality improvement strategies for African Americans with depression.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00243425</p

C. elegans VANG-1 Modulates Life Span via Insulin/IGF-1-Like Signaling

The planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway is highly conserved from Drosophila to humans and a PCP-like pathway has recently been described in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The developmental function of this pathway is to coordinate the orientation of cells or structures within the plane of an epithelium or to organize cell-cell intercalation required for correct morphogenesis. Here, we describe a novel role of VANG-1, the only C. elegans ortholog of the conserved PCP component Strabismus/Van Gogh. We show that two alleles of vang-1 and depletion of the protein by RNAi cause an increase of mean life span up to 40%. Consistent with the longevity phenotype vang-1 animals also show enhanced resistance to thermal- and oxidative stress and decreased lipofuscin accumulation. In addition, vang-1 mutants show defects like reduced brood size, decreased ovulation rate and prolonged reproductive span, which are also related to gerontogenes. The germline, but not the intestine or neurons, seems to be the primary site of vang-1 function. Life span extension in vang-1 mutants depends on the insulin/IGF-1-like receptor DAF-2 and DAF-16/FoxO transcription factor. RNAi against the phase II detoxification transcription factor SKN-1/Nrf2 also reduced vang-1 life span that might be explained by gradual inhibition of insulin/IGF-1-like signaling in vang-1. This is the first time that a key player of the PCP pathway is shown to be involved in the insulin/IGF-1-like signaling dependent modulation of life span in C. elegans