The Spitzer Gould Belt Survey of Large Nearby Interstellar Clouds: Discovery of A Dense Embedded Cluster in the Serpens-Aquila Rift

We report the discovery of a nearby, embedded cluster of young stellar objects, associated filamentary infrared dark cloud, and 4.5 mu m shock emission knots from outflows detected in Spitzer IRAC mid-infrared imaging of the Serpens-Aquila Rift obtained as part of the Spitzer Gould Belt Legacy Survey. We also present radial velocity measurements of the region from molecular line observations obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) that suggest the cluster is comoving with the Serpens Main embedded cluster to the north. We therefore assign it 3 degrees the same distance, 260 pc. The core of the new cluster, which we call Serpens South, is composed of an unusually large fraction of protostars (77%) at high mean surface density (> 430 pc(-2)) and short median nearest neighbor spacing (3700 AU). We perform basic cluster structure characterization using nearest neighbor surface density mapping of the YSOs and compare our findings to other known clusters with equivalent analyses available in the literature.Astronom

Extrapolating human probability judgment

We advance a model of human probability judgment and apply it to the design of an extrapolation algorithm. Such an algorithm examines a person's judgment about the likelihood of various statements and is then able to predict the same person's judgments about new statements. The algorithm is tested against judgments produced by thirty undergraduates asked to assign probabilities to statements about mammals.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43846/1/11238_2005_Article_BF01079209.pd

Discovery of a Low Mass Bipolar Molecular Outflow from L1014-IRS with the Submillimeter Array

Using the Submillimeter Array we report the discovery of a compact low mass bipolar molecular outflow from L1014-IRS and confirm its association with the L1014 dense core at 200 pc. Consequently, L1014-IRS is the lowest luminosity (L \~0.09 Lsun) and perhaps the lowest mass source known to be driving a bipolar molecular outflow, which is one of the smallest known in size (~500 AU), mass (< 10^{-4} Msun), and energetics (e.g., force < 10^{-7} Msun km/s/yr).Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, to appear in ApJ Letter

The Spitzer c2d Survey of Weak-line T Tauri Stars II: New Constraints on the Timescale for Planet Building

One of the central goals of the Spitzer Legacy Project ``From Molecular Cores to Planet-forming Disks'' (c2d) is to determine the frequency of remnant circumstellar disks around weak-line T Tauri stars (wTTs) and to study the properties and evolutionary status of these disks. Here we present a census of disks for a sample of over 230 spectroscopically identified wTTs located in the c2d IRAC (3.6, 4.5, 4.8, and 8.0 um) and MIPS (24 um) maps of the Ophiuchus, Lupus, and Perseus Molecular Clouds. We find that ~20% of the wTTs in a magnitude limited subsample have noticeable IR-excesses at IRAC wavelengths indicating the presence of a circumstellar disk. The disk frequencies we find in these 3 regions are ~3-6 times larger than that recently found for a sample of 83 relatively isolated wTTs located, for the most part, outside the highest extinction regions covered by the c2d IRAC and MIPS maps. The disk fractions we find are more consistent with those obtained in recent Spitzer studies of wTTs in young clusters such as IC 348 and Tr 37. From their location in the H-R diagram, we find that, in our sample, the wTTs with excesses are among the younger part of the age distribution. Still, up to ~50% of the apparently youngest stars in the sample show no evidence of IR excess, suggesting that the circumstellar disks of a sizable fraction of pre-main-sequence stars dissipate in a timescale of ~1 Myr. We also find that none of the stars in our sample apparently older than ~10 Myrs have detectable circumstellar disks at wavelengths < 24 um. Also, we find that the wTTs disks in our sample exhibit a wide range of properties (SED morphology, inner radius, L_DISK/L*, etc) which bridge the gaps observed between the cTTs and the debris disk regimes.Comment: 54 pages, 13 figures, Accepted by Ap

A QTL on 12q Influencing an Inflammation Marker and Obesity in White Women: The NHLBI Family Heart Study

It has been recognized that obese individuals are intrinsically in a state of chronic inflammation, as indicated by positive correlations between serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and various anthropometric measures of obesity. To explore the hypothesis that a gene(s) may underlie this relationship, we conducted bivariate linkage analyses of BMI and CRP in white and African-American (AA) families of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study (FHS). Variance components linkage analysis as implemented in SOLAR was performed in 1,825 whites (840 men and 985 women) and 548 AAs (199 men and 351 women). CRP exhibited significant genetic correlations with BMI in women (0.54 ± 0.10 for white and 0.53 ± 0.14 for AA) and the combined samples (0.37 ± 0.09 for white and 0.56 ± 0.13 for AA), but not in men. We detected a maximum bivariate lod score of 3.86 on chromosome 12q24.2–24.3 at 139 cM and a suggestive linkage signal (lod = 2.19) on chromosome 19p13.1 (44 cM) in white women. Both bivariate peaks were substantially higher than their respective univariate lods at the same locus for each trait. No significant lod scores were detected in AAs. Our results indicate that chromosome 12q may harbor quantitative trait loci (QTLs) jointly regulating BMI and CRP in white women

Reduced cytochrome P4501A activity and recovery from oxidative stress during subchronic benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[e]pyrene treatment of rainbow trout

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 254 (2011): 1-7, doi:10.1016/j.taap.2011.04.015.This study assessed the role of aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) affinity, and cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) protein and activity in polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-­‐induced oxidative stress. In the 1-­‐100 nM concentration range benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) but not benzo[e]pyrene (BeP) competitively displaced 2 nM [3H]2, 3, 7, 8-­‐tetrachloro-­‐dibenzo-­‐p-­‐dioxin from rainbow trout AHR2α. Based on appearance of fluorescent aromatic compounds in bile over 3, 7, 14, 28 or 50 days of feeding 3 μg of BaP or BeP/g fish/day, rainbow trout liver readily excreted these polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their metabolites at near steady state rates. CYP1A proteins catalyzed more than 98% of ethoxyresorufin-­‐O-­‐deethylase (EROD) activity in rainbow trout hepatic microsomes. EROD activity of hepatic microsomes initially increased and then decreased to control activities after 50 days of feeding both PAHs. Immunohistochemistry of liver confirmed CYP1A protein increased in fish fed both PAHs after 3 days and remained elevated for up to 28 days. Neither BaP nor BeP increased hepatic DNA adduct concentrations at any time up to 50 days of feeding these PAHs. Comet assays of blood cells demonstrated marked DNA damage after 14 days of feeding both PAHs that was not significant after 50 days. There was a strong positive correlation between hepatic EROD activity and DNA damage in blood cells over time for both PAHs. Neither CYP1A protein nor 3-­‐ nitrotyrosine (a biomarker for oxidative stress) immunostaining in trunk kidney were significantly altered by BaP or BeP after 3, 7, 14, or 28 days. There was no clear association between AHR2α affinity and BaP and BeP-­‐induced oxidative stress.The Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, and RO1ES006272 from the National Institute of Health supported this work

Optimality regions and fluctuations for Bernoulli last passage models

We study the sequence alignment problem and its independent version,the discrete Hammersley process with an exploration penalty. We obtain rigorous upper bounds for the number of optimality regions in both models near the soft edge.At zero penalty the independent model becomes an exactly solvable model and we identify cases for which the law of the last passage time converges to a Tracy-Widom law

Cell salvage and donor blood transfusion during cesarean section: A pragmatic, multicentre randomised controlled trial (SALVO)

BACKGROUND: Excessive haemorrhage at cesarean section requires donor (allogeneic) blood transfusion. Cell salvage may reduce this requirement. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a pragmatic randomised controlled trial (at 26 obstetric units; participants recruited from 4 June 2013 to 17 April 2016) of routine cell salvage use (intervention) versus current standard of care without routine salvage use (control) in cesarean section among women at risk of haemorrhage. Randomisation was stratified, using random permuted blocks of variable sizes. In an intention-to-treat analysis, we used multivariable models, adjusting for stratification variables and prognostic factors identified a priori, to compare rates of donor blood transfusion (primary outcome) and fetomaternal haemorrhage ≥2 ml in RhD-negative women with RhD-positive babies (a secondary outcome) between groups. Among 3,028 women randomised (2,990 analysed), 95.6% of 1,498 assigned to intervention had cell salvage deployed (50.8% had salvaged blood returned; mean 259.9 ml) versus 3.9% of 1,492 assigned to control. Donor blood transfusion rate was 3.5% in the control group versus 2.5% in the intervention group (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42 to 1.01, p = 0.056; adjusted risk difference -1.03, 95% CI -2.13 to 0.06). In a planned subgroup analysis, the transfusion rate was 4.6% in women assigned to control versus 3.0% in the intervention group among emergency cesareans (adjusted OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.99), whereas it was 2.2% versus 1.8% among elective cesareans (adjusted OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.38 to 1.83) (interaction p = 0.46). No case of amniotic fluid embolism was observed. The rate of fetomaternal haemorrhage was higher with the intervention (10.5% in the control group versus 25.6% in the intervention group, adjusted OR 5.63, 95% CI 1.43 to 22.14, p = 0.013). We are unable to comment on long-term antibody sensitisation effects. CONCLUSIONS: The overall reduction observed in donor blood transfusion associated with the routine use of cell salvage during cesarean section was not statistically significant. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial was prospectively registered on ISRCTN as trial number 66118656 and can be viewed on http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN66118656