The Nearby Evolved Stars Survey I. JCMT/SCUBA-2 Submillimeter Detection of the Detached Shell of U Antliae

We present the highest resolution single-dish submillimetre observations of the detached shell source U Antliae to date. The observations were obtained at 450 and 850m with SCUBA-2 instrument on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope as part of the Nearby Evolved Stars Survey. The emission at 850m peaks at 40 arcsec with hints of a second peak seen at 20 arcsec. The emission can be traced out to a radius of 56 arcsec at a 3 level. The outer peak observed at 850m aligns well with the peak observed at Herschel/PACS wavelengths. With the help of spectral energy distribution fitting and radiative transfer calculations of multiple-shell models for the circumstellar envelope, we explore the various shell structures and the variation of grain sizes along the in the circumstellar envelope. We determine a total shell dust mass of (2.0 0.3) 105 M and established that the thermal pulse that gave rise to the detached shell occurred 3500 500 yr ago

Individual patient data meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure (BP-SMART): a protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Self-monitoring of blood pressure is effective in reducing blood pressure in hypertension. However previous meta-analyses have shown a considerable amount of heterogeneity between studies, only part of which can be accounted for by meta-regression. This may be due to differences in design, recruited populations, intervention components or results among patient subgroups. To further investigate these differences, an individual patient data (IPD) meta-analysis of self-monitoring of blood pressure will be performed. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will identify randomised trials that have compared patients with hypertension who are self-monitoring blood pressure with those who are not and invite trialists to provide IPD including clinic and/or ambulatory systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline and all follow-up points where both intervention and control groups were measured. Other data requested will include measurement methodology, length of follow-up, cointerventions, baseline demographic (age, gender) and psychosocial factors (deprivation, quality of life), setting, intensity of self-monitoring, self-monitored blood pressure, comorbidities, lifestyle factors (weight, smoking) and presence or not of antihypertensive treatment. Data on all available patients will be included in order to take an intention-to-treat approach. A two-stage procedure for IPD meta-analysis, stratified by trial and taking into account age, sex, diabetes and baseline systolic BP will be used. Exploratory subgroup analyses will further investigate non-linear relationships between the prespecified variables. Sensitivity analyses will assess the impact of trials which have and have not provided IPD. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study does not include identifiable data. Results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed publication and by international conference presentations. CONCLUSIONS: IPD analysis should help the understanding of which self-monitoring interventions for which patient groups are most effective in the control of blood pressure

Simulating rewetting events in intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams: A global analysis of leached nutrients and organic matter

Climate change and human pressures are changing the global distribution and the ex‐ tent of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams (IRES), which comprise half of the global river network area. IRES are characterized by periods of flow cessation, during which channel substrates accumulate and undergo physico‐chemical changes (precon‐ ditioning), and periods of flow resumption, when these substrates are rewetted and release pulses of dissolved nutrients and organic matter (OM). However, there are no estimates of the amounts and quality of leached substances, nor is there information on the underlying environmental constraints operating at the global scale. We experi‐ mentally simulated, under standard laboratory conditions, rewetting of leaves, river‐ bed sediments, and epilithic biofilms collected during the dry phase across 205 IRES from five major climate zones. We determined the amounts and qualitative character‐ istics of the leached nutrients and OM, and estimated their areal fluxes from riverbeds. In addition, we evaluated the variance in leachate characteristics in relation to selected environmental variables and substrate characteristics. We found that sediments, due to their large quantities within riverbeds, contribute most to the overall flux of dis‐ solved substances during rewetting events (56%–98%), and that flux rates distinctly differ among climate zones. Dissolved organic carbon, phenolics, and nitrate contrib‐ uted most to the areal fluxes. The largest amounts of leached substances were found in the continental climate zone, coinciding with the lowest potential bioavailability of the leached OM. The opposite pattern was found in the arid zone. Environmental vari‐ ables expected to be modified under climate change (i.e. potential evapotranspiration, aridity, dry period duration, land use) were correlated with the amount of leached sub‐ stances, with the strongest relationship found for sediments. These results show that the role of IRES should be accounted for in global biogeochemical cycles, especially because prevalence of IRES will increase due to increasing severity of drying event