An Over-Massive Black Hole in the Compact Lenticular Galaxy NGC1277

All massive galaxies likely have supermassive black holes at their centers, and the masses of the black holes are known to correlate with properties of the host galaxy bulge component. Several explanations have been proposed for the existence of these locally-established empirical relationships; they include the non-causal, statistical process of galaxy-galaxy merging, direct feedback between the black hole and its host galaxy, or galaxy-galaxy merging and the subsequent violent relaxation and dissipation. The empirical scaling relations are thus important for distinguishing between various theoretical models of galaxy evolution, and they further form the basis for all black hole mass measurements at large distances. In particular, observations have shown that the mass of the black hole is typically 0.1% of the stellar bulge mass of the galaxy. The small galaxy NGC4486B currently has the largest published fraction of its mass in a black hole at 11%. Here we report observations of the stellar kinematics of NGC 1277, which is a compact, disky galaxy with a mass of 1.2 x 10^11 Msun. From the data, we determine that the mass of the central black hole is 1.7 x 10^10 Msun, or 59% its bulge mass. Five other compact galaxies have properties similar to NGC 1277 and therefore may also contain over-sized black holes. It is not yet known if these galaxies represent a tail of a distribution, or if disk-dominated galaxies fail to follow the normal black hole mass scaling relations.Comment: 7 pages. 6 figures. Nature. Animation at http://www.mpia.de/~bosch/blackholes.htm

Points to consider for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases with Janus kinase inhibitors: a consensus statement

Objectives: Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) have been approved for use in various immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. With five agents licensed, it was timely to summarise the current understanding of JAKi use based on a systematic literature review (SLR) on efficacy and safety. Methods: Existing data were evaluated by a steering committee and subsequently reviewed by a 29 person expert committee leading to the formulation of a consensus statement that may assist the clinicians, patients and other stakeholders once the decision is made to commence a JAKi. The committee included patients, rheumatologists, a gastroenterologist, a haematologist, a dermatologist, an infectious disease specialist and a health professional. The SLR informed the Task Force on controlled and open clinical trials, registry data, phase 4 trials and meta-analyses. In addition, approval of new compounds by, and warnings from regulators that were issued after the end of the SLR search date were taken into consideration. Results: The Task Force agreed on and developed four general principles and a total of 26 points for consideration which were grouped into six areas addressing indications, treatment dose and comedication, contraindications, pretreatment screening and risks, laboratory and clinical follow-up examinations, and adverse events. Levels of evidence and strengths of recommendations were determined based on the SLR and levels of agreement were voted on for every point, reaching a range between 8.8 and 9.9 on a 10-point scale. Conclusion: The consensus provides an assessment of evidence for efficacy and safety of an important therapeutic class with guidance on issues of practical management

Image-guided focused ultrasound ablation of breast cancer: current status, challenges, and future directions

Image-guided focussed ultrasound (FUS) ablation is a non-invasive procedure that has been used for treatment of benign or malignant breast tumours. Image-guidance during ablation is achieved either by using real-time ultrasound (US) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The past decade phase I studies have proven MRI-guided and US-guided FUS ablation of breast cancer to be technically feasible and safe. We provide an overview of studies assessing the efficacy of FUS for breast tumour ablation as measured by percentages of complete tumour necrosis. Successful ablation ranged from 20% to 100%, depending on FUS system type, imaging technique, ablation protocol, and patient selection. Specific issues related to FUS ablation of breast cancer, such as increased treatment time for larger tumours, size of ablation margins, methods used for margin assessment and residual tumour detection after FUS ablation, and impact of FUS ablation on sentinel node procedure are presented. Finally, potential future applications of FUS for breast cancer treatment such as FUS-induced anti-tumour immune response, FUS-mediated gene transfer, and enhanced drug delivery are discussed. Currently, breast-conserving surgery remains the gold standard for breast cancer treatment

Prolonged conservative treatment or 'early' surgery in sciatica caused by a lumbar disc herniation: rationale and design of a randomized trial [ISRCT 26872154]

BACKGROUND: The design of a randomized multicenter trial is presented on the effectiveness of a prolonged conservative treatment strategy compared with surgery in patients with persisting intense sciatica (lumbosacral radicular syndrome). METHODS/DESIGN: Patients presenting themselves to their general practitioner with disabling sciatica lasting less than twelve weeks are referred to the neurology outpatient department of one of the participating hospitals. After confirmation of the diagnosis and surgical indication MRI scanning is performed. If a distinct disc herniation is discerned which in addition covers the clinically expected site the patient is eligible for randomization. Depending on the outcome of the randomization scheme the patient will either be submitted to prolonged conservative care or surgery. Surgery will be carried out according to the guidelines and between six and twelve weeks after onset of complaints. The experimental therapy consists of a prolonged conservative treatment under supervision of the general practitioner, which may be followed by surgical intervention in case of persisting or progressive disability. The main primary outcome measure is the disease specific disability of daily functioning. Other primary outcome measures are perceived recovery and intensity of legpain. Secondary outcome measures encompass severity of complaints, quality of life, medical consumption, absenteeism, costs and preference. The main research question will be answered at 12 months after randomization. The total follow-up period covers two years. DISCUSSION: Evidence is lacking concerning the optimal treatment of lumbar disc induced sciatica. This pragmatic randomized trial, focusses on the 'timing' of intervention, and will contribute to the decision of the general practictioner and neurologist, regarding referral of patients for surgery

The dependence of low redshift galaxy properties on environment

We review recent results on the dependence of various galaxy properties on environment at low redshift. As environmental indicators, we use group mass, group-centric radius, and the distinction between centrals and satellites; examined galaxy properties include star formation rate, colour, AGN fraction, age, metallicity and concentration. In general, satellite galaxies diverge more markedly from their central counterparts if they reside in more massive haloes. We show that these results are consistent with starvation being the main environmental effect, if one takes into account that satellites that reside in more massive haloes and at smaller halo-centric radii on average have been accreted a longer time ago. Nevertheless, environmental effects are not fully understood yet. In particular, it is puzzling that the impact of environment on a galaxy seems independent of its stellar mass. This may indicate that the stripping of the extended gas reservoir of satellite galaxies predominantly occurs via tidal forces rather than ram-pressure.Comment: Invited Review given at the Workshop "Environment and the Formation of Galaxies: 30 years later" held in Lisbon, 6-7 September 2010. 10 pages, 5 figure

Executive function does not predict coping with symptoms in stable patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Associations between coping with and control over psychotic symptoms were examined using the Maastricht Assessment of Coping Strategies-24, testing the hypothesis that the cognitive domain of executive functioning predicted quality and quantity of coping.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MACS-24 was administered to 32 individuals with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. For each of 24 symptoms, experience of distress, type of coping and the resulting degree of perceived control were assessed. Coping types were reduced to two contrasting coping categories: symptomatic coping (SC) and non-symptomatic coping (NSC; combining active problem solving, passive illness behaviour, active problem avoiding, and passive problem avoiding). Cognitive functioning was assessed using the GIT (Groninger Intelligence Test), the Zoo map (BADS: Behavioural Assessment of Dysexecutive function), Stroop-test and Trail making.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cognitive function was not associated with frequency of coping, nor did cognitive function differentially predict SC or NSC. Cognitive function similarly was not associated with symptom distress or level of perceived control over the symptom.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was no evidence that cognitive function predicts quantity or quality of coping with symptoms in people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. Variation in the realm of emotion regulation and social cognition may be more predictive of coping with psychotic symptoms.</p

Formation of Supermassive Black Holes

Evidence shows that massive black holes reside in most local galaxies. Studies have also established a number of relations between the MBH mass and properties of the host galaxy such as bulge mass and velocity dispersion. These results suggest that central MBHs, while much less massive than the host (~ 0.1%), are linked to the evolution of galactic structure. In hierarchical cosmologies, a single big galaxy today can be traced back to the stage when it was split up in hundreds of smaller components. Did MBH seeds form with the same efficiency in small proto-galaxies, or did their formation had to await the buildup of substantial galaxies with deeper potential wells? I briefly review here some of the physical processes that are conducive to the evolution of the massive black hole population. I will discuss black hole formation processes for `seed' black holes that are likely to place at early cosmic epochs, and possible observational tests of these scenarios.Comment: To appear in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co