Dark stars at the Galactic centre - the main sequence

In regions of very high dark matter density such as the Galactic centre, the capture and annihilation of WIMP dark matter by stars has the potential to significantly alter their evolution. We describe the dark stellar evolution code DarkStars, and present a series of grids of WIMP-influenced stellar models for main sequence stars. We describe changes in which occur as a function of the rate of energy injection by WIMPs, for stars of 0.3-2.0 solar masses and metallicities Z = 0.0003-0.02. We show what rates of energy injection can be obtained using realistic orbital parameters for stars at the Galactic centre, including detailed consideration of the velocity and density profiles of dark matter. Capture and annihilation rates are strongly boosted when stars follow elliptical rather than circular orbits. If there is a spike of dark matter induced by the supermassive black hole at the Galactic centre, single solar-mass stars following orbits with periods as long as 50 years and eccentricities as low as 0.9 could be significantly affected. Binary systems with similar periods about the Galactic centre could be affected on even less eccentric orbits. The most striking evidence of this scenario would be the existence of a binary consisting of a low-mass protostar and a higher-mass evolved star. The observation of low-mass stars and/or binaries on such orbits would either provide a detection of WIMP dark matter, or place stringent limits on the combination of the WIMP mass, spin-dependent nuclear-scattering cross-section, halo density and velocity distribution near the Galactic centre. In some cases, the limits on the WIMP mass and spin-dependent nuclear-scattering cross-section would be of comparable sensitivity to current direct-detection experiments.Comment: v2: Accepted version, added discussion on binaries. v3: Updated to be consistent with erratum submitted to MNRAS. Main results and all conclusions unchange

Open Ocean Deep Sea

The deep sea comprises the seafloor, water column and biota therein below aspecified depth contour. There are differences in views among experts and agencies regarding the appropriate depth to delineate the “deep sea”. This chapter uses a 200 metre depth contour as a starting point, so that the “deep sea” represents 63 per cent of the Earth’s surface area and about 98.5 per cent of Earth’s habitat volume (96.5 per cent of which is pelagic). However, much of the information presented in this chapter focuses on biodiversity of waters substantially deeper than 200 m. Many of the other regional divisions of Chapter 36 include treatments of shelf and slope biodiversity in continental-shelf and slope areas deeper than 200m. Moreover Chapters 42 and 45 on coldwater corals and vents and seeps, respectively, and 51 on canyons, seamounts and other specialized morphological habitat types address aspects of areas in greater detail. The estimates of global biodiversity of the deep sea in this chapter do include all biodiversity in waters and the seafloor below 200 m. However, in the other sections of this chapter redundancy with the other regional chapters is avoided, so that biodiversity of shelf, slope, reef, vents, and specialized habitats is assessed in the respective regional or thematic chapters. AB - The deep sea comprises the seafloor, water column and biota therein below aspecified depth contour. There are differences in views among experts and agencies regarding the appropriate depth to delineate the “deep sea”. This chapter uses a 200 metre depth contour as a starting point, so that the “deep sea” represents 63 per cent of the Earth’s surface area and about 98.5 per cent of Earth’s habitat volume (96.5 per cent of which is pelagic). However, much of the information presented in this chapter focuses on biodiversity of waters substantially deeper than 200 m. Many of the other regional divisions of Chapter 36 include treatments of shelf and slope biodiversity in continental-shelf and slope areas deeper than 200m. Moreover Chapters 42 and 45 on coldwater corals and vents and seeps, respectively, and 51 on canyons, seamounts and other specialized morphological habitat types address aspects of areas in greater detail. The estimates of global biodiversity of the deep sea in this chapter do include all biodiversity in waters and the seafloor below 200 m. However, in the other sections of this chapter redundancy with the other regional chapters is avoided, so that biodiversity of shelf, slope, reef, vents, and specialized habitats is assessed in the respective regional or thematic chapters.https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facbooks/1050/thumbnail.jp

Impact of Zostavax Vaccination on T-Cell Accumulation and Cutaneous Gene Expression in the Skin of Older Humans After Varicella Zoster Virus Antigen-Specific Challenge

Background The live attenuated vaccine Zostavax was developed to prevent varicella zoster virus (VZV) reactivation that causes herpes zoster (shingles) in older humans. However, the impact of vaccination on the cutaneous response to VZV is not known. Methods We investigated the response to intradermal VZV antigen challenge before and after Zostavax vaccination in participants >70 years of age by immunohistological and transcriptomic analyses of skin biopsy specimens collected from the challenge site. Results Vaccination increased the proportion of VZV-specific CD4+ T cells in the blood and promoted the accumulation of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the skin after VZV antigen challenge. However, Zostavax did not alter the proportion of resident memory T cells (CD4+ and CD8+) or CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in unchallenged skin. After vaccination, there was increased cutaneous T-cell proliferation at the challenge site and also increased recruitment of T cells from the blood, as indicated by an elevated T-cell migratory gene signature. CD8+ T-cell–associated functional genes were also highly induced in the skin after vaccination. Conclusion Zostavax vaccination does not alter the abundance of cutaneous resident memory T cells but instead increases the recruitment of VZV-specific T cells from the blood and enhances T-cell activation, particularly cells of the CD8+ subset, in the skin after VZV antigen challenge

The twilight of the Liberal Social Contract? On the Reception of Rawlsian Political Liberalism

This chapter discusses the Rawlsian project of public reason, or public justification-based 'political' liberalism, and its reception. After a brief philosophical rather than philological reconstruction of the project, the chapter revolves around a distinction between idealist and realist responses to it. Focusing on political liberalism’s critical reception illuminates an overarching question: was Rawls’s revival of a contractualist approach to liberal legitimacy a fruitful move for liberalism and/or the social contract tradition? The last section contains a largely negative answer to that question. Nonetheless the chapter's conclusion shows that the research programme of political liberalism provided and continues to provide illuminating insights into the limitations of liberal contractualism, especially under conditions of persistent and radical diversity. The programme is, however, less receptive to challenges to do with the relative decline of the power of modern states

Constitutivism

A brief explanation and overview of constitutivism

Enhancement of cutaneous immunity during aging by blocking p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase-induced inflammation

Background Immunity decreases with age, which leads to reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). In human subjects age-associated immune changes are usually measured in blood leukocytes; however, this might not reflect alterations in tissue-specific immunity. Objectives We used a VZV antigen challenge system in the skin to investigate changes in tissue-specific mechanisms involved in the decreased response to this virus during aging. Methods We assessed cutaneous immunity based on the extent of erythema and induration after intradermal VZV antigen injection. We also performed immune histology and transcriptomic analyses on skin biopsy specimens taken from the challenge site in young (65 years) subjects. Results Old human subjects exhibited decreased erythema and induration, CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell infiltration, and attenuated global gene activation at the site of cutaneous VZV antigen challenge compared with young subjects. This was associated with increased sterile inflammation in the skin in the same subjects related to p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase–related proinflammatory cytokine production (P < .0007). We inhibited systemic inflammation in old subjects by means of pretreatment with an oral small-molecule p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor (Losmapimod; GlaxoSmithKline, Brentford, United Kingdom), which reduced both serum C-reactive protein levels and peripheral blood monocyte secretion of IL-6 and TNF-α. In contrast, cutaneous responses to VZV antigen challenge were increased significantly in the same subjects (P < .0003). Conclusion Excessive inflammation in the skin early after antigen challenge retards antigen-specific immunity. However, this can be reversed by inhibition of inflammatory cytokine production that can be used to promote vaccine efficacy and the treatment of infections and malignancy during aging

IL1RL1 Gene Variants and Nasopharyngeal IL1RL-a Levels Are Associated with Severe RSV Bronchiolitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Targets for intervention are required for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis, a common disease during infancy for which no effective treatment exists. Clinical and genetic studies indicate that IL1RL1 plays an important role in the development and exacerbations of asthma. Human IL1RL1 encodes three isoforms, including soluble IL1RL1-a, that can influence IL33 signalling by modifying inflammatory responses to epithelial damage. We hypothesized that IL1RL1 gene variants and soluble IL1RL1-a are associated with severe RSV bronchiolitis.We studied the association between RSV and 3 selected IL1RL1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms rs1921622, rs11685480 or rs1420101 in 81 ventilated and 384 non-ventilated children under 1 year of age hospitalized with primary RSV bronchiolitis in comparison to 930 healthy controls. Severe RSV infection was defined by need for mechanical ventilation. Furthermore, we examined soluble IL1RL1-a concentration in nasopharyngeal aspirates from children hospitalized with primary RSV bronchiolitis. An association between SNP rs1921622 and disease severity was found at the allele and genotype level (p = 0.011 and p = 0.040, respectively). In hospitalized non-ventilated patients, RSV bronchiolitis was not associated with IL1RL1 genotypes. Median concentrations of soluble IL1RL1-a in nasopharyngeal aspirates were >20-fold higher in ventilated infants when compared to non-ventilated infants with RSV (median [and quartiles] 9,357 [936-15,528] pg/ml vs. 405 [112-1,193] pg/ml respectively; p<0.001).We found a genetic link between rs1921622 IL1RL1 polymorphism and disease severity in RSV bronchiolitis. The potential biological role of IL1RL1 in the pathogenesis of severe RSV bronchiolitis was further supported by high local concentrations of IL1RL1 in children with most severe disease. We speculate that IL1RL1a modifies epithelial damage mediated inflammatory responses during RSV bronchiolitis and thus may serve as a novel target for intervention to control disease severity

Looking to Score: The Dissociation of Goal Influence on Eye Movement and Meta-Attentional Allocation in a Complex Dynamic Natural Scene

Several studies have reported that task instructions influence eye-movement behavior during static image observation. In contrast, during dynamic scene observation we show that while the specificity of the goal of a task influences observers’ beliefs about where they look, the goal does not in turn influence eye-movement patterns. In our study observers watched short video clips of a single tennis match and were asked to make subjective judgments about the allocation of visual attention to the items presented in the clip (e.g., ball, players, court lines, and umpire). However, before attending to the clips, observers were either told to simply watch clips (non-specific goal), or they were told to watch the clips with a view to judging which of the two tennis players was awarded the point (specific goal). The results of subjective reports suggest that observers believed that they allocated their attention more to goal-related items (e.g. court lines) if they performed the goal-specific task. However, we did not find the effect of goal specificity on major eye-movement parameters (i.e., saccadic amplitudes, inter-saccadic intervals, and gaze coherence). We conclude that the specificity of a task goal can alter observer’s beliefs about their attention allocation strategy, but such task-driven meta-attentional modulation does not necessarily correlate with eye-movement behavior

Generic health literacy measurement instruments for children and adolescents:a systematic review of the literature

Background Health literacy is an important health promotion concern and recently children and adolescents have been the focus of increased academic attention. To assess the health literacy of this population, researchers have been focussing on developing instruments to measure their health literacy. Compared to the wider availability of instruments for adults, only a few tools are known for younger age groups. The objective of this study is to systematically review the field of generic child and adolescent health literacy measurement instruments that are currently available. Method A systematic literature search was undertaken in five databases (PubMed, CINAHL, PsycNET, ERIC, and FIS) on articles published between January 1990 and July 2015, addressing children and adolescents ?18 years old. Eligible articles were analysed, data was extracted, and synthesised according to review objectives. Results Fifteen generic health literacy measurement instruments for children and adolescents were identified. All, except two, are self-administered instruments. Seven are objective measures (performance-based tests), seven are subjective measures (self-reporting), and one uses a mixed-method measurement. Most instruments applied a broad and multidimensional understanding of health literacy. The instruments were developed in eight different countries, with most tools originating in the United States (n =?6). Among the instruments, 31 different components related to health literacy were identified. Accordingly, the studies exhibit a variety of implicit or explicit conceptual and operational definitions, and most instruments have been used in schools and other educational contexts. While the youngest age group studied was 7-year-old children within a parent-child study, there is only one instrument specifically designed for primary school children and none for early years. Conclusions Despite the reported paucity of health literacy research involving children and adolescents, an unexpected number of health literacy measurement studies in children?s populations was found. Most instruments tend to measure their own specific understanding of health literacy and not all provide sufficient conceptual information. To advance health literacy instruments, a much more standardised approach is necessary including improved reporting on the development and validation processes. Further research is required to improve health literacy instruments for children and adolescents and to provide knowledge to inform effective interventionspublishersversionPeer reviewe