Trends in potential exposure to Australian bat lyssavirus in South East Queensland, 1996 to 2003

This study examined trends in notifications of potential exposure to Australian bat lyssavirus reported to the Brisbane Southside Public Health Unit, Australia between 1 November 1996 and 31 January 2003. Notification rates declined among all population groups and potential exposures were notified more promptly. Concern exists regarding possible under-reporting of potential exposure to Australian bat lyssavirus especially among volunteer bat carers. (author abstract

Absorption Line Survey of H3+ toward the Galactic Center Sources III. Extent of the Warm and Diffuse Clouds

We present follow-up observations to those of Geballe & Oka (2010), who found high column densities of H3+ ~100 pc off of the Galactic center (GC) on the lines of sight to 2MASS J17432173-2951430 (J1743) and 2MASS J17470898-2829561 (J1747). The wavelength coverages on these sightlines have been extended in order to observe two key transitions of H3+, R(3,3)l and R(2,2)l, that constrain the temperatures and densities of the environments. The profiles of the H3+ R(3,3)l line, which is due only to gas in the GC, closely matches the differences between the H3+ R(1,1)l and CO line profiles, just as it does for previously studied sightlines in the GC. Absorption in the R(2,2)l line of H3+ is present in J1747 at velocities between -60 and +100 km/s. This is the second clear detection of this line in the interstellar medium after GCIRS 3 in the Central Cluster. The temperature of the absorbing gas in this velocity range is 350 K, significantly warmer than in the diffuse clouds in other parts of the Central Molecular Zone. This indicates that the absorbing gas is local to Sgr B molecular cloud complex. The warm and diffuse gas revealed by Oka et al. (2005) apparently extends to ~100 pc, but there is a hint that its temperature is somewhat lower in the line of sight to J1743 than elsewhere in the GC. The observation of H3+ toward J1747 is compared with the recent Herschel observation of H2O+ toward Sgr B2 and their chemical relationship and remarkably similar velocity profiles are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japa

Defective phagocytic corpse processing results in neurodegeneration and can be rescued by TORC1 activation

This work was supported by NIH Grants R01 GM094452 (K.M.) and F31 GM099425 (J.I.E.), BU Alzheimer's Disease Core Center NIH Grant P30 AG13846, Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program grants (J.A.T., V.S.), and NIH Grant R01 AG044113 to M.B.F. We thank the Bloomington Stock Center, TRiP at Harvard Medical School, the Kyoto Drosophila Genetic Resource Center, Estee Kurant, Eric Baehrecke, Marc Freeman, and Mary Logan for fly strains. We thank Todd Blute for assistance with electron microscopy and the Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank for antibodies. (R01 GM094452 - NIH; F31 GM099425 - NIH; R01 AG044113 - NIH; P30 AG13846 - BU Alzheimer's Disease Core Center NIH Grant; Boston University Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program)https://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/11/3170.longPublished versionPublished versio

The Interstellar Medium of IRAS 08572+3915 NW: H3+ and Warm High Velocity CO

We confirm the first detection of the molecular ion H3+ in an extragalactic object, the highly obscured ultraluminous galaxy IRAS 08572+3915 NW. We also have detected absorption lines of the fundamental band of CO in this galaxy. The CO absorption consists of a cold component close to the systemic velocity and warm, highly blueshifted and redshifted components. The warm blueshifted component is remarkably strong and broad and extends at least to -350 km/s. Some analogies can be drawn between the H3+ and cold CO in IRAS08572+3915 NW and the same species seen toward the Galactic center. The profiles of the warm CO components are not those expected from a dusty torus of the type thought to obscure active galactic nuclei. They are probably formed close to the dust continuum surface near the buried and active nucleus and are probably associated with an unusual and energetic event there.Comment: 21 pages, 4 postscript figures, accepted by Ap

Integrating Developmental Scholarship and Society: From Dissemination and Accountability to Evidence-Based Programming and Policies

Increasingly, practitioners and policy makers are demanding research evidence as a basis for funding programs and policies. The application of research to society has undergone several transitions, from a scholarly emphasis on the experimental method to an attempt to disseminate research and contribute to social policy. Policy makers have emphasized accountability and now evidence-based practices. Although developmental scholars should be pleased that policy makers want evidence, scholars need to examine the assumptions of evidence-based programming and continue to refine how evidence should be used to decide which services to fund. In addition, we propose a more collaborative strategy to promote evidence-based policies in general

An Outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium at a teaching hospital

An outbreak of Salmonella typhimurium infection in December 1996 affected 52 patients, relatives, and staff of a large teaching hospital in southeast Queensland. Assorted sandwiches were identified as the vehicle of transmission. This article describes the outbreak investigation and demonstrates the importance of food hygiene and timely public health interventions

Directional interacting whispering gallery modes in coupled dielectric microdisks

We study the optical interaction in a coupled dielectric microdisks by investigating the splitting of resonance positions of interacting whispering gallery modes (WGMs) and their pattern change, depending on the distance between the microdisks. It is shown that the interaction between the WGMs with odd parity about y-axis becomes appreciable at a distance less than a wavelength and causes directional emissions of the resulting interacting WGMs. The directionality of the interacting WGMs can be understood in terms of an effective boundary deformation in ray dynamical analysis. We also discuss about the oscillation of the splitting when the distance is greater than a wavelength.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

Observations of H3+ in the Diffuse Interstellar Medium

Surprisingly large column densities of H3+ have been detected using infrared absorption spectroscopy in seven diffuse cloud sightlines (Cygnus OB2 12, Cygnus OB2 5, HD 183143, HD 20041, WR 104, WR 118, and WR 121), demonstrating that H3+ is ubiquitous in the diffuse interstellar medium. Using the standard model of diffuse cloud chemistry, our H3+ column densities imply unreasonably long path lengths (~1 kpc) and low densities (~3 cm^-3). Complimentary millimeter-wave, infrared, and visible observations of related species suggest that the chemical model is incorrect and that the number density of H3+ must be increased by one to two orders of magnitude. Possible solutions include a reduced electron fraction, an enhanced rate of H2 ionization, and/or a smaller value of the H3+ dissociative recombination rate constant than implied by laboratory experiments.Comment: To be published in Astrophysical Journal, March 200