Newsletter Networks in the Feminist History and Archives Movement

This article examines how networks have been critical to the construction of feminist histories. The author examines the publication Matrices: A Lesbian/Feminist Research Newsletter (1977–1996), to argue that a feminist network mode can be traced through the examination of small-scale print newsletters that draw on the language and function of networks. Publications such as Matrices emerge into wide production and circulation in the 1970s alongside feminist community archives, and newsletters and archives work together as interconnected social movement technologies. Newsletters enabled activist-researchers writing feminist histories to share difficult-to-access information, resources, and primary sources via photocopying and other modes of print reproduction.  Looking from the present, the author examines how network thinking has been a feature of feminist activism and knowledge production since before the Internet, suggesting that publications such as Matrices are part of a longer history of networked communications media in feminist contexts

On the lack of cold dust in IRAS P09104+4109 and IRAS F15307+3252 -- their spectral energy distributions and implications for finding dusty AGNs at high redshift

We present upper limits on the 850 micron and 450 micron fluxes of the warm hyperluminous (bolometric luminosity L_bol > 10^13 L_sun galaxies IRAS P09104+4109 (z=0.442) and IRAS F15307+3252 (z=0.926), derived from measurements using the SCUBA bolometer array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. Hot luminous infrared sources like these are thought to differ from more normal cold ultraluminous infrared (L_bol > 10^12 L_sun) galaxies in that they derive most of their bolometric luminosities from dusty AGNs as opposed to starbursts. Such hot, dusty AGNs at high redshift are thought to be responsible for much of the mass accretion of the Universe that is in turn responsible for the formation of the supermassive black holes seen in the centres of local galaxies. The galaxy IRAS P09104+4109 is also unusual in that it is a cD galaxy in the center of a substantial cooling-flow cluster, not an isolated interacting galaxy like most ultraluminous infrared galaxies. Previously it was known to have large amounts of hot (T > 50 K) dust from IRAS observations. We now show that the contribution of cold dust to the bolometric luminosity is less than 3 per cent. Most ultraluminous infrared galaxies possess large amounts of cold dust, and it is now known that some cooling flow cluster cD galaxies do as well. Yet this object, which is an extreme example of both, does not have enough cold gas to contribute significantly to the bolometric luminosity. We outline physical reasons why this could have happened. We then provide a discussion of stategies for finding hot dusty AGNs, given the limitations on submillimetre surveys implied by this work.Comment: MNRAS in press, accepted version, minor revision

Star Formation and Dynamics in the Galactic Centre

The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre (GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Despite the hostile environment, several tens of early-type stars populate the central parsec of our Galaxy. A fraction of them lie in a thin ring with mild eccentricity and inner radius ~0.04 pc, while the S-stars, i.e. the ~30 stars closest to the SMBH (<0.04 pc), have randomly oriented and highly eccentric orbits. The formation of such early-type stars has been a puzzle for a long time: molecular clouds should be tidally disrupted by the SMBH before they can fragment into stars. We review the main scenarios proposed to explain the formation and the dynamical evolution of the early-type stars in the GC. In particular, we discuss the most popular in situ scenarios (accretion disc fragmentation and molecular cloud disruption) and migration scenarios (star cluster inspiral and Hills mechanism). We focus on the most pressing challenges that must be faced to shed light on the process of star formation in the vicinity of a SMBH.Comment: 68 pages, 35 figures; invited review chapter, to be published in expanded form in Haardt, F., Gorini, V., Moschella, U. and Treves, A., 'Astrophysical Black Holes'. Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer 201

Demographic reconstruction from ancient DNA supports rapid extinction of the great auk

The great auk was once abundant and distributed across the North Atlantic. It is now extinct, having been heavily exploited for its eggs, meat, and feathers. We investigated the impact of human hunting on its demise by integrating genetic data, GPS-based ocean current data, and analyses of population viability. We sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes of 41 individuals from across the species’ geographic range and reconstructed population structure and population dynamics throughout the Holocene. Taken together, our data do not provide any evidence that great auks were at risk of extinction prior to the onset of intensive human hunting in the early 16th century. In addition, our population viability analyses reveal that even if the great auk had not been under threat by environmental change, human hunting alone could have been sufficient to cause its extinction. Our results emphasise the vulnerability of even abundant and widespread species to intense and localised exploitation

Independent predictors of survival in primary systemic (Al), amyloidosis, including cardiac biomarkers and left ventricular strain imaging: an observational cohort study.

BACKGROUND: The prognostic value of Doppler myocardial imaging, including myocardial velocity imaging, strain, and strain rate imaging, in patients with primary (AL) amyloidosis is uncertain. The aim of this longitudinal study was to identify independent predictors of survival, comparing clinical data, hematologic and cardiac biomarkers, and standard echocardiographic and Doppler myocardial imaging measures in a cohort of patients with AL amyloidosis. METHODS: A total of 249 consecutive patients with AL amyloidosis were prospectively enrolled. The primary end point was all-cause mortality, and during a median follow-up period of 18 months, 75 patients (30%) died. Clinical and electrocardiographic data, biomarkers (brain natriuretic peptide and cardiac troponin T) and standard echocardiographic and longitudinal systolic and diastolic Doppler myocardial imaging measurements for 16 left ventricular segments were tested as potential independent predictors of survival. RESULTS: Age (hazard ratio [HR], 1.03; P = .03), New York Heart Association class III or IV (HR, 2.47; P = .01), the presence of pleural effusion (HR, 1.79; P = .08), brain natriuretic peptide level (HR, 1.29; P = .01), ejection time (HR, 0.99; P = .13), and peak longitudinal systolic strain of the basal anteroseptal segment (HR, 1.05; P = .02) were independent predictors in the final model. CONCLUSIONS: Multivariate survival analysis identified independent predictors of clinical outcome in patients with AL amyloidosis: New York Heart Association class III or IV, presence of pleural effusion, brain natriuretic peptide level > 493 pg/mL, ejection time < 273 ms, and peak longitudinal systolic basal anteroseptal strain less negative than or equal to -7.5% defined a high-risk group of patients