The impact of angular momentum on black hole accretion rates in simulations of galaxy formation

Feedback from energy liberated by gas accretion onto black holes (BHs) is an attractive mechanism to explain the exponential cut-off at the massive end of the galaxy stellar mass function (SMF). Semi-analytic models of galaxy formation in which this form of feedback is assumed to suppress cooling in haloes where the gas cooling time is large compared to the dynamical time do indeed achieve a good match to the observed SMF. Furthermore, hydrodynamic simulations of individual halos in which gas is assumed to accrete onto the central BH at the Bondi rate have shown that a self-regulating regime is established in which the BH grows just enough to liberate an amount of energy comparable to the thermal energy of the halo. However, this process is efficient at suppressing the growth not only of massive galaxies but also of galaxies like the Milky Way, leading to disagreement with the observed SMF. The Bondi accretion rate, however, is inappropriate when the accreting material has angular momentum. We present an improved accretion model that takes into account the circularisation and subsequent viscous transport of infalling material and include it as a "subgrid" model in hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of halos with a wide range of masses. The resulting accretion rates are generally low in low mass (\lsim 10^{11.5} \msun) halos, but show outbursts of Eddington-limited accretion during galaxy mergers. During outbursts these objects strongly resemble quasars. In higher mass haloes, gas accretion occurs continuously, typically at $~10$ % of the Eddington rate, which is conducive to the formation of radio jets. The resulting dependence of the accretion behaviour on halo mass induces a break in the relation between galaxy stellar mass and halo mass in these simulations that matches observations

Health services research in the public healthcare system in Hong Kong: An analysis of over 1 million antihypertensive prescriptions between 2004-2007 as an example of the potential and pitfalls of using routinely collected electronic patient data

<b>Objectives</b> Increasing use is being made of routinely collected electronic patient data in health services research. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of a comprehensive database used routinely in the public healthcare system in Hong Kong, using antihypertensive drug prescriptions in primary care as an example.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> Data on antihypertensive drug prescriptions were retrieved from the electronic Clinical Management System (e-CMS) of all primary care clinics run by the Health Authority (HA) in the New Territory East (NTE) cluster of Hong Kong between January 2004 and June 2007. Information was also retrieved on patients’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, visit type (new or follow-up), and relevant diseases (International Classification of Primary Care, ICPC codes). <p></p> <b>Results</b> 1,096,282 visit episodes were accessed, representing 93,450 patients. Patients’ demographic and socio-economic details were recorded in all cases. Prescription details for anti-hypertensive drugs were missing in only 18 patients (0.02%). However, ICPC-code was missing for 36,409 patients (39%). Significant independent predictors of whether disease codes were applied included patient age > 70 years (OR 2.18), female gender (OR 1.20), district of residence (range of ORs in more rural districts; 0.32-0.41), type of clinic (OR in Family Medicine Specialist Clinics; 1.45) and type of visit (OR follow-up visit; 2.39). <p></p> In the 57,041 patients with an ICPC-code, uncomplicated hypertension (ICPC K86) was recorded in 45,859 patients (82.1%). The characteristics of these patients were very similar to those of the non-coded group, suggesting that most non-coded patients on antihypertensive drugs are likely to have uncomplicated hypertension. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> The e-CMS database of the HA in Hong Kong varies in quality in terms of recorded information. Potential future health services research using demographic and prescription information is highly feasible but for disease-specific research dependant on ICPC codes some caution is warranted. In the case of uncomplicated hypertension, future research on pharmaco-epidemiology (such as prescription patterns) and clinical issues (such as side-effects of medications on metabolic parameters) seems feasible given the large size of the data set and the comparability of coded and non-coded patients

Cluster randomised trial of a tailored intervention to improve the management of overweight and obesity in primary care in England

Background: Tailoring is a frequent component of approaches for implementing clinical practice guidelines, although evidence on how to maximise the effectiveness of tailoring is limited. In England, overweight and obesity are common, and national guidelines have been produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. However, the guidelines are not routinely followed in primary care. Methods: A tailored implementation intervention was developed following an analysis of the determinants of practice influencing the implementation of the guidelines on obesity and the selection of strategies to address the determinants. General practices in the East Midlands of England were invited to take part in a cluster randomised controlled trial of the intervention. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of overweight or obese patients offered a weight loss intervention. Secondary outcomes were the proportions of patients with (1) a BMI or waist circumference recorded, (2) record of lifestyle assessment, (3) referred to weight loss services, and (4) any change in weight during the study period. We also assessed the mean weight change over the study period. Follow-up was for 9 months after the intervention. A process evaluation was undertaken, involving interviews of samples of participating health professionals. Results: There were 16 general practices in the control group, and 12 in the intervention group. At follow-up, 15. 08 % in the control group and 13.19 % in the intervention group had been offered a weight loss intervention, odds ratio (OR) 1.16, 95 % confidence interval (CI) (0.72, 1.89). BMI/waist circumference measurement 42.71 % control, 39.56 % intervention, OR 1.15 (CI 0.89, 1.48), referral to weight loss services 5.10 % control, 3.67 % intervention, OR 1.45 (CI 0.81, 2.63), weight management in the practice 9.59 % control, 8.73 % intervention, OR 1.09 (CI 0.55, 2.15), lifestyle assessment 23.05 % control, 23.86 % intervention, OR 0.98 (CI 0.76, 1.26), weight loss of at least 1 kg 42.22 % control, 41.65 % intervention, OR 0.98 (CI 0.87, 1.09). Health professionals reported the interventions as increasing their confidence in managing obesity and providing them with practical resources. Conclusions: The tailored intervention did not improve the implementation of the guidelines on obesity, despite systematic approaches to the identification of the determinants of practice. The methods of tailoring require further development to ensure that interventions target those determinants that most influence implementation

Dusty Planetary Systems

Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The presence of dust disks is confirmed by spatially resolved imaging at infrared to millimeter wavelengths (tracing the dust thermal emission), and at optical to near infrared wavelengths (tracing the dust scattered light). Because the expected lifetime of these dust particles is much shorter than the age of the stars (>10 Myr), it is inferred that this solid material not primordial, i.e. the remaining from the placental cloud of gas and dust where the star was born, but instead is replenished by dust-producing planetesimals. These planetesimals are analogous to the asteroids, comets and Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) in our Solar system that produce the interplanetary dust that gives rise to the zodiacal light (tracing the inner component of the Solar system debris disk). The presence of these "debris disks" around stars with a wide range of masses, luminosities, and metallicities, with and without binary companions, is evidence that planetesimal formation is a robust process that can take place under a wide range of conditions. This chapter is divided in two parts. Part I discusses how the study of the Solar system debris disk and the study of debris disks around other stars can help us learn about the formation, evolution and diversity of planetary systems by shedding light on the frequency and timing of planetesimal formation, the location and physical properties of the planetesimals, the presence of long-period planets, and the dynamical and collisional evolution of the system. Part II reviews the physical processes that affect dust particles in the gas-free environment of a debris disk and their effect on the dust particle size and spatial distribution.Comment: 68 pages, 25 figures. To be published in "Solar and Planetary Systems" (P. Kalas and L. French, Eds.), Volume 3 of the series "Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems" (T.D. Oswalt, Editor-in-chief), Springer 201

In vitro assembly of Ebola virus nucleocapsid-like complex expressed in E. coli

Ebola virus (EBOV) harbors an RNA genome encapsidated by nucleoprotein (NP) along with other viral proteins to form a nucleocapsid complex. Previous Cryo-eletron tomography and biochemical studies have shown the helical structure of EBOV nucleocapsid at nanometer resolution and the first 450 amino-acid of NP (NPΔ451–739) alone is capable of forming a helical nucleocapsid-like complex (NLC). However, the structural basis for NP-NP interaction and the dynamic procedure of the nucleocapsid assembly is yet poorly understood. In this work, we, by using an E. coli expression system, captured a series of images of NPΔ451–739 conformers at different stages of NLC assembly by negative-stain electron microscopy, which allowed us to picture the dynamic procedure of EBOV nucleocapsid assembly. Along with further biochemical studies, we showed the assembly of NLC is salt-sensitive, and also established an indispensible role of RNA in this process. We propose the diverse modes of NLC elongation might be the key determinants shaping the plasticity of EBOV virions. Our findings provide a new model for characterizing the self-oligomerization of viral nucleoproteins and studying the dynamic assembly process of viral nucleocapsid in vitro

Testosterone levels are negatively associated with childlessness in males, but positively related to offspring count in fathers

Variation in testosterone (T) is thought to affect the allocation of effort between reproductive and parenting strategies. Here, using a large sample of elderly American men (n = 754) and women (n = 669) we examined the relationship between T and self-reported parenthood, as well as the relationship between T and number of reported children. Results supported previous findings from the literature, showing that fathers had lower T levels than men who report no children. Furthermore, we found that among fathers T levels were positively associated with the number of children a man reports close to the end of his lifespan. Results were maintained when controlling for a number of relevant factors such as time of T sampling, participant age, educational attainment, BMI, marital status and reported number of sex partners. In contrast, T was not associated with either motherhood or the number of children women had, suggesting that, at least in this sample, T does not influence the allocation of effort between reproductive and parenting strategies among women. Findings from this study contribute to the growing body of literature suggesting that, among men, pair bonding and paternal care are associated with lower T levels, while searching and acquiring sex partners is associated with higher T levels.27 Jun 2013: Pollet TV, Cobey KD, van der Meij L (2013) Correction: Testosterone Levels Are Negatively Associated with Childlessness in Males, but Positively Related to Offspring Count in Fathers. PLoS ONE 8(6): 10.1371/annotation/bccccb7e-48a7-4594-b3e6-ce8c9d2489a2

Selective Reagent Ion Mass Spectrometric Investigations of the Nitroanilines

This paper presents an investigation of proton and charge transfer reactions to 2-, 3- and 4-nitroanilines (C6H6N2O2) involving the reagent ions H3O+·(H2O)n (n=0, 1 and 2) and O2+, respectively, as a function of reduced electric field (60-240 Td), using Selective Reagent Ion-Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry (SRI-ToF-MS). To aid in the interpretation of the H3O+·(H2O)n experimental data, the proton affinities and gas-phase basicities for the three nitroaniline isomers have been determined using density functional theory. These calculations show that proton transfer from both the H3O+ and H3O+·H2O reagent ions to the nitroanilines will be exoergic and hence efficient, with the reactions proceeding at the collisional rate. For proton transfer from H3O+ to the NO2 sites, the exoergicities are 171 kJ mol-1 (1.8 eV), 147 kJ mol-1 (1.5 eV) and 194 kJ mol-1 (2.0 eV) for 2-, 3- and 4-nitroanilines, respectively. Electron transfer from all three of the nitroanilines is also significantly exothermic by approximately 4 eV. Although a substantial transfer of energy occurs during the ion/molecule reactions, the processes are found to predominantly proceed via non-dissociative pathways over a large reduced electric field range. Only at relatively high reduced electric fields (>180 Td) is dissociative proton and charge transfer observed. Differences in fragment product ions and their intensities provide a means to distinguish the isomers, with proton transfer distinguishing 2-nitroaniline (2-NA) from 3- and 4-NA, and charge transfer distinguishing 4-NA from 2- and 3-NA, thereby providing a means to enhance selectivity using SRI-ToF-MS.(VLID)4826158Version of recor

Search for ZZ and ZW Production in ppbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We present a search for ZZ and ZW vector boson pair production in ppbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV using the leptonic decay channels ZZ --> ll nu nu, ZZ --> l l l' l' and ZW --> l l l' nu. In a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 194 pb-1 collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab, 3 candidate events are found with an expected background of 1.0 +/- 0.2 events. We set a 95% confidence level upper limit of 15.2 pb on the cross section for ZZ plus ZW production, compared to the standard model prediction of 5.0 +/- 0.4 pb.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. This version is accepted for publication by Phys. Rev. D Rapid Communication

Measurement of the Cross Section for Prompt Diphoton Production in p-pbar Collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV

We report a measurement of the rate of prompt diphoton production in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96 ~\hbox{TeV}$ using a data sample of 207 pb$^{-1}$ collected with the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II). The background from non-prompt sources is determined using a statistical method based on differences in the electromagnetic showers. The cross section is measured as a function of the diphoton mass, the transverse momentum of the diphoton system, and the azimuthal angle between the two photons and is found to be consistent with perturbative QCD predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures,revtex4. Version accepted by PRL, but with cross section tables i