GALEX, Optical and IR Light Curves of MQ Dra: UV Excesses at Low Accretion Rates

Ultraviolet light curves constructed from NUV and FUV detectors on GALEX reveal large amplitude variations during the orbital period of the Low Accretion Rate Polar MQ Dra (SDSSJ1553+55). This unexpected variation from a UV source is similar to that seen and discussed in the Polar EF Eri during its low state of accretion, even though the accretion rate in MQ Dra is an order of magnitude lower than even the low state of EF Eri. The similarity in phasing of the UV and optical light curves in MQ Dra imply a similar location for the source of light. We explore the possibilities of hot spots and cyclotron emission with simple models fit to the UV, optical and IR light curves of MQ Dra. To match the GALEX light curves with a single temperature circular hot spot requires different sizes of spots for the NUV and FUV, while a cyclotron model that can produce the optical harmonics with a magnetic field near 60 MG requires multipoles with fields > 200 MG to match the UV fluxes.Comment: accepted for ApJ; 15 pages, 7 tables, 8 fig

Outcomes of preimplantation genetic diagnosis in neurofibromatosis type 1

Objective To examine the effect of patient and facility level factors on the success of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in patients with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1). Design Retrospective review. Setting Large PGD reference laboratory. Patient(s) All patients with NF1 referred from June 2004 to May 2013. Intervention(s) None. Main Outcome Measure(s) Embryos' NF1 mutation status and live birth rates. Result(s) Seventy-seven couples underwent 156 PGD cycles during the study period. The average maternal age at the time of embryo biopsy was 33.2 years. The majority of embryos had a day 3 single blastomere biopsy without aneuploidy screening. A diagnosis was obtained for 80% of biopsied embryos; 20% of biopsies were nondiagnostic due to technical failures. Diagnosis was more often obtained for embryos of parents with familial disease and for embryos biopsied at centers that referred multiple NF1 cases. Among diagnosed embryos, 483/1,060 (46%) were unaffected by the parental NF1 mutation. Twenty-two (14%) of the 156 cycles had a confirmed live birth; if the observed success rate is applied to cycles with unknown outcomes, 33/156 (21%) cycles are expected to have resulted in live birth. In multivariate logistic regression, having a live birth was significantly associated with having more unaffected embryos available for transfer (odds ratio 1.33 per additional embryo, 95% confidence interval 1.02–1.72). Conclusion(s) Advances in biopsy and diagnostic techniques which increase the number of unaffected embryos identified may improve live birth rates for patients with NF1. Clinicians should counsel patients about their fertility and reproductive options early, with the use of disease-specific data, to set appropriate expectations for the PGD process

Fluorescent Risedronate Analogues Reveal Bisphosphonate Uptake by Bone Marrow Monocytes and Localization Around Osteocytes In Vivo

Bisphosphonates are effective antiresorptive agents owing to their bone-targeting property and ability to inhibit osteoclasts. It remains unclear, however, whether any non-osteoclast cells are directly affected by these drugs in vivo. Two fluorescent risedronate analogues, carboxyfluorescein-labeled risedronate (FAM-RIS) and Alexa Fluor 647–labeled risedronate (AF647-RIS), were used to address this question. Twenty-four hours after injection into 3-month-old mice, fluorescent risedronate analogues were bound to bone surfaces. More detailed analysis revealed labeling of vascular channel walls within cortical bone. Furthermore, fluorescent risedronate analogues were present in osteocytic lacunae in close proximity to vascular channels and localized to the lacunae of newly embedded osteocytes close to the bone surface. Following injection into newborn rabbits, intracellular uptake of fluorescently labeled risedronate was detected in osteoclasts, and the active analogue FAM-RIS caused accumulation of unprenylated Rap1A in these cells. In addition, CD14high bone marrow monocytes showed relatively high levels of uptake of fluorescently labeled risedronate, which correlated with selective accumulation of unprenylated Rap1A in CD14+ cells, as well as osteoclasts, following treatment with risedronate in vivo. Similar results were obtained when either rabbit or human bone marrow cells were treated with fluorescent risedronate analogues in vitro. These findings suggest that the capacity of different cell types to endocytose bisphosphonate is a major determinant for the degree of cellular drug uptake in vitro as well as in vivo. In conclusion, this study shows that in addition to bone-resorbing osteoclasts, bisphosphonates may exert direct effects on bone marrow monocytes in vivo. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc

N plus 3 Advanced Concept Studies for Supersonic Commercial Transport Aircraft Entering Service in the 2030-2035 Period

Boeing, with Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls-Royce, M4 Engineering, Wyle Laboratories and Georgia Institute of Technology, conducted a study of supersonic commercial aircraft concepts and enabling technologies for the year 2030-2035 timeframe. The work defined the market and environmental/regulatory conditions that could evolve by the 2030/35 time period, from which vehicle performance goals were derived. Relevant vehicle concepts and technologies are identified that are anticipated to meet these performance and environmental goals. A series of multidisciplinary analyses trade studies considering vehicle sizing, mission performance and environmental conformity determined the appropriate concepts. Combinations of enabling technologies and the required technology performance levels needed to meet the desired goals were identified. Several high priority technologies are described in detail, including roadmaps with risk assessments that outline objectives, key technology challenges, detailed tasks and schedules and demonstrations that need to be performed. A representative configuration is provided for reference purposes, along with associated performance estimates based on these key technologies

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Catalog V. Seventh Data Release

We present the fifth edition of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar Catalog, which is based upon the SDSS Seventh Data Release. The catalog, which contains 105,783 spectroscopically confirmed quasars, represents the conclusion of the SDSS-I and SDSS-II quasar survey. The catalog consists of the SDSS objects that have luminosities larger than M_i = -22.0 (in a cosmology with H_0 = 70 km/s/Mpc Omega_M = 0.3, and Omega_Lambda = 0.7) have at least one emission line with FWHM larger than 1000 km/s or have interesting/complex absorption features, are fainter than i > 15.0 and have highly reliable redshifts. The catalog covers an area of 9380 deg^2. The quasar redshifts range from 0.065 to 5.46, with a median value of 1.49; the catalog includes 1248 quasars at redshifts greater than four, of which 56 are at redshifts greater than five. The catalog contains 9210 quasars with i < 18; slightly over half of the entries have i< 19. For each object the catalog presents positions accurate to better than 0.1" rms per coordinate, five-band (ugriz) CCD-based photometry with typical accuracy of 0.03 mag, and information on the morphology and selection method. The catalog also contains radio, near-infrared, and X-ray emission properties of the quasars, when available, from other large-area surveys. The calibrated digital spectra cover the wavelength region 3800-9200 Ang. at a spectral resolution R = 2000 the spectra can be retrieved from the SDSS public database using the information provided in the catalog. Over 96% of the objects in the catalog were discovered by the SDSS. We also include a supplemental list of an additional 207 quasars with SDSS spectra whose archive photometric information is incomplete.Comment: Accepted, to appear in AJ, 7 figures, electronic version of Table 2 is available, see http://www.sdss.org/dr7/products/value_added/qsocat_dr7.htm

Stochastic Processes Are Key Determinants of Short-Term Evolution in Influenza A Virus

Understanding the evolutionary dynamics of influenza A virus is central to its surveillance and control. While immune-driven antigenic drift is a key determinant of viral evolution across epidemic seasons, the evolutionary processes shaping influenza virus diversity within seasons are less clear. Here we show with a phylogenetic analysis of 413 complete genomes of human H3N2 influenza A viruses collected between 1997 and 2005 from New York State, United States, that genetic diversity is both abundant and largely generated through the seasonal importation of multiple divergent clades of the same subtype. These clades cocirculated within New York State, allowing frequent reassortment and generating genome-wide diversity. However, relatively low levels of positive selection and genetic diversity were observed at amino acid sites considered important in antigenic drift. These results indicate that adaptive evolution occurs only sporadically in influenza A virus; rather, the stochastic processes of viral migration and clade reassortment play a vital role in shaping short-term evolutionary dynamics. Thus, predicting future patterns of influenza virus evolution for vaccine strain selection is inherently complex and requires intensive surveillance, whole-genome sequencing, and phenotypic analysis

The Eighth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Data from SDSS-III

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) started a new phase in August 2008, with new instrumentation and new surveys focused on Galactic structure and chemical evolution, measurements of the baryon oscillation feature in the clustering of galaxies and the quasar Ly alpha forest, and a radial velocity search for planets around ~8000 stars. This paper describes the first data release of SDSS-III (and the eighth counting from the beginning of the SDSS). The release includes five-band imaging of roughly 5200 deg^2 in the Southern Galactic Cap, bringing the total footprint of the SDSS imaging to 14,555 deg^2, or over a third of the Celestial Sphere. All the imaging data have been reprocessed with an improved sky-subtraction algorithm and a final, self-consistent photometric recalibration and flat-field determination. This release also includes all data from the second phase of the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Evolution (SEGUE-2), consisting of spectroscopy of approximately 118,000 stars at both high and low Galactic latitudes. All the more than half a million stellar spectra obtained with the SDSS spectrograph have been reprocessed through an improved stellar parameters pipeline, which has better determination of metallicity for high metallicity stars.Comment: Astrophysical Journal Supplements, in press (minor updates from submitted version

UK vaccines network:Mapping priority pathogens of epidemic potential and vaccine pipeline developments

During the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa an expert panel was established on the instructions of the UK Prime Minister to identify priority pathogens for outbreak diseases that had the potential to cause future epidemics. A total of 13 priority pathogens were identified, which led to the prioritisation of spending in emerging diseases vaccine research and development from the UK. This meeting report summarises the process used to develop the UK pathogen priority list, compares it to lists generated by other organisations (World Health Organisation, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) and summarises clinical progress towards the development of vaccines against priority diseases. There is clear technical progress towards the development of vaccines. However, the availability of these vaccines will be dependent on sustained funding for clinical trials and the preparation of clinically acceptable manufactured material during inter-epidemic periods

Galex and optical observations of GW librae during the long decline from superoutburst

The prototype of accreting, pulsating white dwarfs (GW Lib) underwent a large amplitude dwarf nova outburst in 2007. We used ultraviolet data from Galaxy Evolution Explorer and ground-based optical photometry and spectroscopy to follow GW Lib for three years following this outburst. Several variations are apparent during this interval. The optical shows a superhump modulation in the months following outburst, while a 19 minute quasi-periodic modulation lasting for several months is apparent in the year after outburst. A long timescale (about 4 hr) modulation first appears in the UV a year after outburst and increases in amplitude in the following years. This variation also appears in the optical two years after outburst but is not in phase with the UV. The pre-outburst pulsations are not yet visible after three years, likely indicating the white dwarf has not returned to its quiescent state

Disease concepts and treatment by tribal healers of an Amazonian forest culture

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The extensive medicinal plant knowledge of Amazonian tribal peoples is widely recognized in the scientific literature and celebrated in popular lore. Despite this broad interest, the ethnomedical systems and knowledge of disease which guide indigenous utilization of botanical diversity for healing remain poorly characterized and understood. No study, to our knowledge, has attempted to directly examine patterns of actual disease recognition and treatment by healers of an Amazonian indigenous culture.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The establishment of traditional medicine clinics, operated and directed by elder tribal shamans in two remote Trio villages of the Suriname rainforest, presented a unique investigational opportunity. Quantitative analysis of clinic records from both villages permitted examination of diseases treated over a continuous period of four years. Cross-cultural comparative translations were articulated of recorded disease conditions through ethnographic interviews of elder Trio shamans and a comprehensive atlas of indigenous anatomical nomenclature was developed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>20,337 patient visits within the period 2000 to 2004 were analyzed. 75 disease conditions and 127 anatomical terms are presented. Trio concepts of disease and medical practices are broadly examined within the present and historical state of their culture.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings of this investigation support the presence of a comprehensive and highly formalized ethnomedical institution within Trio culture with attendant health policy and conservation implications.</p