The Extinction Distribution in the Galaxy UGC 5041

We probe the dust extinction through the foreground disk of the overlapping galaxy pair UGC 5041 by analyzing B,I, and H band images. The inclined foreground disk of this infrared-selected pair is almost opaque in B at a projected distance of ~8kpc. From the images, we estimate directly the area-weighted distribution of differential near-IR extinction: it is nearly Gaussian with =0.6 and sigma=0.27. For a homogenous dust distribution and a Milky Way extinction curve, this corresponds to a face-on distribution p(tau) with a mean of =0.34 and sigma_V=0.15. For a clumpy dust model the optical depth estimate increases to =0.41 and sigma_V=0.19. Even though the galaxy pair is subject to different selection biases and our analysis is subject to different systematics, the result is consistent with existing case studies, indicating that ~0.3 is generic for late-type spirals near their half-light radii. We outline how to estimate from p(tau) by how much background quasars are underreresented, where projected within ~10kpc of nearby spirals, such as damped Ly-alpha absorbers or gravitational lenses; from our data we derive a factor of two deficit for flux-limited, optical surveys.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figures; To appear in the Astronomical Journa

What can we learn from antique ornithology?

Ornithology has a venerable history. Worldwide, birds are both culturally important and one of the most salient reminders of the natural world, and beyond their regular appearances in folklore, literature and art they were among the first subjects of natural history from the classical world to the Renaissance. The study of birds remained a fixture of inquiry through the scientific revolution: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, the oldest scientific journal still published, included ornithological method papers in its very first volume (Boyle 1666), and as scientific practice developed ornithological research kept pace. A growing interest in the diversity and systematics of birds ultimately led to the formation of dedicated ornithological societies and journals in the second half of the nineteenth century. First were the Society of German Ornithologists (Deutsche Ornithologen-Gesellschaft) in 1850 and the British Ornithologists’ Union in 1858; their respective journals ‘Journal für Ornithologie’ (now ‘Journal of Ornithology’) and ‘Ibis’ followed in 1853 and 1859. In America, the American Ornithologists’ Union was founded in 1883 with its journal ‘Auk’ beginning the same year, followed by the Wilson Ornithological Society (1886) and Cooper Ornithological Club (1893) and their journals shortly thereafter. The Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union (now part of BirdLife Australia) was founded in 1901, along with its journal ‘Emu’. Amazingly, all these publications are still extant, and digital versions of much of their content are now available back to their first issues. In common with other branches of science, ornithological research has exploded in recent decades, and with this plethora of new work, it is tempting to disregard the older corpus of knowledge, under the assumption that it has either been superseded or is too far removed from modern practice to be useful. However, with over 10 000 extant bird species worldwide and the avifauna of many regions still rarely studied, we would encourage the ornithological community to not overlook earlier literature. In this note, we illustrate the potential interest and value of older studies using three diverse articles published in a single journal issue 100 years ago: volume nineteen of Emu

Intra-session and inter-day reliability of the Myon 320 electromyography system during sub-maximal contractions

Electromyography systems are widely used within the field of scientific and clinical practices. The reliability of these systems are paramount when conducting research. The reliability of Myon 320 Surface Electromyography System is yet to be determined. This study aims to determine the intra-session and inter-day reliability of the Myon 320 Surface Electromyography System. Muscle activity from fifteen participants was measured at the anterior deltoid muscle during a bilateral front raise exercise, the vastus lateralis muscle during a squat exercise and the extensor carpi radialis brevis (ECRB) muscle during an isometric handgrip task. Intra-session and inter-day reliability was calculated by intraclass correlation coefficient, standard error of measurement and coefficient of variation (CV). The normalized root mean squared (RMS) surface electromyographic signals produced good intra-session and inter-day testing intraclass correlation coefficient values (range: 0.63-0.97) together with low standard error of measurement (range: 1.49-2.32) and CV (range: 95% Confidence Interval = 0.36-12.71) measures for the dynamic-and-isometric contractions. The findings indicate that the Myon 320 Surface Electromyography System produces good to fair reliability when examining intra-session and inter-day reliability. Findings of the study provide evidence of the reliability of electromyography between trials which is essential during clinical testing.</p

Therapeutic administration of Tregitope-Human Albumin Fusion with Insulin Peptides to promote Antigen-Specific Adaptive Tolerance Induction.

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that is associated with effector T cell (Teff) destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic beta-islet cells. Among the therapies being evaluated for T1D is the restoration of regulatory T cell (Treg) activity, specifically directed toward down-modulation of beta-islet antigen-specific T effector cells. This is also known as antigen-specific adaptive tolerance induction for T1D (T1D ASATI). Tregitopes (T regulatory cell epitopes) are natural T cell epitopes derived from immunoglobulin G (IgG) that were identified in 2008 and have been evaluated in several autoimmune disease models. In the T1D ASATI studies presented here, Tregitope peptides were administered to non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice at the onset of diabetes within two clinically-relevant delivery systems (liposomes and in human serum albumin [HSA]-fusion products) in combination with preproinsulin (PPI) target antigen peptides. The combination of Tregitope-albumin fusions and PPI peptides reduced the incidence of severe diabetes and reversed mild diabetes, over 49 days of treatment and observation. Combining HSA-Tregitope fusions with PPI peptides is a promising ASATI approach for therapy of T1D

Jimmy Boyle's sentiments as revealed in the manuscripts of sketches of songs and instrumental melodies

Jimmy Boyle (1922-1971) is known as one of the pioneers in jazz and a composer of patriotic songs in Malaysia. Despite the numerous blogs, webpages and video uploads that mention Boyle, systematic research on his music has only begun recently. Hand- written manuscripts containing 79 sketches of songs and instrumental music by Jimmy Boyle were recovered in 2013, and these manuscripts have since undergone analysis. In this paper, we intend to identify the different dimensions of Boyle’s perspectives as a composer in producing these sketches. Three themes were created to group the different sentiments of Boyle based on the styles of composition observed in the sketches, namely, Boyle as a popular songwriter, Boyle as a jazzman and Boyle as an enthusiast in ethnic music. Boyle displayed a broad capacity in the way he used his music. He had the ability to compose in different sentiments, either as a social advocate, a layperson, a jazz artist or a knowledge seeker. He manoeuvres between these sentiments skillfully, shifting his centres of focus from Malay cultural nationalism to private expressions in English, to ‘authentic’ modern jazz, and to the music cultures of ‘others’

Faint AGN and the Ionizing Background

We determine the evolution of the faint, high-redshift, optical luminosity function (LF) of AGN implied by several observationally-motivated models of the ionizing background. Our results depend crucially on whether we use the total ionizing rate measured by the proximity effect technique or the lower determination from the flux decrement distribution of Ly alpha forest lines. Assuming a faint-end LF slope of 1.58 and the SDSS estimates of the bright-end slope and normalization, we find that the LF must break at M_B*=-24.2,-22.3, -20.8 at z=3,4, 5 if we adopt the lower ionization rate and assume no stellar contribution to the background. The break must occur at M_B*=-20.6,-18.7, -18.7 for the proximity effect background estimate. These values brighten by as much as ~2 mag if high-z galaxies contribute to the background with an escape fraction of ionizing photons consistent with recent estimates: f_e=0.16. By comparing to faint AGN searches, we find that the typically-quoted proximity effect estimates of the background imply an over-abundance of faint AGN (even with f_e=1). Even adopting the lower bound on proximity effect measurements, the stellar escape fraction must be high: f_e>0.2. Conversely, the lower flux- decrement-derived background requires a limited stellar contribution: f_e<0.05. Our derived LFs together with the locally-estimated black hole density suggest that the efficiency of converting mass to light in optically-unobscured AGN is somewhat lower than expected, <0.05. Comparison with similar estimates based on X-ray counts suggests that more than half of all AGN are obscured in the UV/optical. We also derive lower limits on typical AGN lifetimes and obtain >10^7 yrs for favored cases.Comment: 19 pages, 16 figures. Accepted by Astrophysical Journa

Mental health and wellbeing in parents of excessively crying infants: prospective evaluation of a support package

Background During the first four months of age, approximately 20% of infants cry a lot without an apparent reason. Most research has targeted the crying and its causes, but there is a need for equal attention to the impact of the crying on parents and subsequent outcomes. This study reports the findings from a prospective evaluation of a package of materials designed to support the wellbeing and mental health of parents who judge their infant to be crying excessively. The resulting ‘Surviving Crying’ package comprised a website, printed materials, and a programme of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - based support sessions delivered to parents by a qualified practitioner. It was designed to be suitable for National Health Service (NHS) use. Methods Parents were referred to the study by NHS Health Visitors or Community Public Health Nurses. Fifty seven parents of excessively crying babies received the support package and provided rating scale measures of depression, anxiety, frustration because of the crying, and other measures before receiving the support package, together with outcome measures afterwards. Results Significant reductions in depression and anxiety were found with the number of parents meeting clinical criteria for depression or anxiety halving between baseline and outcome. These improvements were not explained by changes in infant crying. Reductions also occurred in the number of parents reporting the crying to be a large or severe problem (from 28 to 3 parents) or feeling very or extremely frustrated by the crying (from 31 to 1 parent). Other findings included increases in parents’ confidence, knowledge of infant crying and improvements in parents’ sleep. Conclusions The findings suggest that the Surviving Crying package may be effective in supporting the wellbeing and mental health of parents of excessively crying babies. Further, large-scale controlled trials of the package in NHS settings are warranted

Cellular expression, trafficking, and function of two isoforms of human ULBP5/RAET1G

Background: The activating immunoreceptor NKG2D is expressed on Natural Killer (NK) cells and subsets of T cells. NKG2D contributes to anti-tumour and anti-viral immune responses in vitro and in vivo. The ligands for NKG2D in humans are diverse proteins of the MIC and ULBP/RAET families that are upregulated on the surface of virally infected cells and tumours. Two splicing variants of ULBP5/RAET1G have been cloned previously, but not extensively characterised. Methodology/Principal Findings: We pursue a number of approaches to characterise the expression, trafficking, and function of the two isoforms of ULBP5/RAET1G. We show that both transcripts are frequently expressed in cell lines derived from epithelial cancers, and in primary breast cancers. The full-length transcript, RAET1G1, is predicted to encode a molecule with transmembrane and cytoplasmic domains that are unique amongst NKG2D ligands. Using specific anti-RAET1G1 antiserum to stain tissue microarrays we show that RAET1G1 expression is highly restricted in normal tissues. RAET1G1 was expressed at a low level in normal gastrointestinal epithelial cells in a similar pattern to MICA. Both RAET1G1 and MICA showed increased expression in the gut of patients with celiac disease. In contrast to healthy tissues the RAET1G1 antiserum stained a wide variety or different primary tumour sections. Both endogenously expressed and transfected RAET1G1 was mainly found inside the cell, with a minority of the protein reaching the cell surface. Conversely the truncated splicing variant of RAET1G2 was shown to encode a soluble molecule that could be secreted from cells. Secreted RAET1G2 was shown to downregulate NKG2D receptor expression on NK cells and hence may represent a novel tumour immune evasion strategy. Conclusions/Significance: We demonstrate that the expression patterns of ULBP5RAET1G are very similar to the well-characterised NKG2D ligand, MICA. However the two isoforms of ULBP5/RAET1G have very different cellular localisations that are likely to reflect unique functionality