Episodic absorption in the outflow of V603 Aquilae

We report on the time-dependent behaviour of ultraviolet spectral lines in Hubble Space Telescope Goddard High-Resolution Spectrograph data of the classical nova V603 Aql. In particular, episodic blueshifted absorption (extending to ∼−2500 km s−1) is present, with a variability time-scale down to ∼1 min. The data provide a rare opportunity to study the rapid evolution of absorption structures that may be associated with accretion-disc winds in cataclysmic variables. At least three absorption events are recorded (at blueward velocities only) over ∼5 h, each lasting ∼10–15 min. The derived velocity, acceleration and optical depth properties provide an empirical picture of stochastically variable structures in the outflow, with no evidence for short-term (less than ∼1 h) cyclic or modulated behaviour in the overall absorption properties. In contrast, the emission components of the ultraviolet resonance lines are very stable in velocity and strength in this low-inclination system. On at least two occasions there is an intriguing short-term ‘flare’ in the ultraviolet continuum flux (of up to ∼40 per cent). Though there is no clear one-to-one relation in these data between the continuum fluctuations and the occurrence of the absorption events, the time-scales for the two variable phenomena are essentially the same. The irregular absorption episodes in the ultraviolet data of V603 Aql presently defy a clear physical interpretation. Their overall characteristics are discussed in the context of instabilities in radiation-pressure-driven disc winds

Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and phylogeny of Oligocene Ciperoella n. gen.

Ciperoella Olsson and Hemleben n. gen. is erected for Oligocene spinose species that have a neogloboquadrinid-type wall texture and 4½-5 similarly sized chambers in the final whorl. Four species are recognized as distinct, namely Ciperoella anguliofficinalis (Blow), Ciperoella angulisuturalis (Bolli), Ciperoella ciperoensis (Bolli), and Ciperoella fariasi (Bermúdez). Their taxonomy, phylogeny, and biostratigraphy is discussed

Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and phylogeny of Oligocene and lower Miocene Globoturborotalita

The taxonomy, phylogeny and biostratigraphy of Oligocene and lower Miocene Globoturborotalita is reviewed. Globoturborotalita is a long-ranging genus appearing in the basal Eocene and still present in modern oceans with one living representative G. rubescens. Species attributed to this genus are generally common and cosmopolitan. The following species are recognized as valid: Globoturborotalita barbula Pearson and Wade, Globoturborotalita bassriverensis Olsson and Hemleben, Globoturborotalita brazieri (Jenkins), Globoturborotalita cancellata (Pessagno), Globoturborotalita connecta (Jenkins), Globoturborotalita eolabiacrassata Spezzaferri and Coxall n. sp., Globoturborotalita euapertura (Jenkins), Globoturborotalita gnaucki (Blow and Banner), Globoturborotalita labiacrassata (Jenkins), Globoturborotalita martini (Blow and Banner), Globoturborotalita occlusa (Blow and Banner), Globoturborotalita ouachitaensis (Howe and Wallace), Globoturborotalita paracancellata Olsson and Hemleben n. sp., Globoturborotalita pseudopraebulloides Olsson and Hemleben n. sp., and Globoturborotalita woodi (Jenkins)

Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and phylogeny of Oligocene and lower Miocene Dentoglobigerina and Globoquadrina

The taxonomy, phylogeny, and biostratigraphy of Oligocene and lower Miocene Dentoglobigerina and Globoquadrina are reviewed. Because of the discovery of spine holes in various species assigned to these genera, the entire group is now considered to have been fully or sparsely spinose in life and hence part of Family Globigerinidae. One new species, Dentoglobigerina eotripartita Pearson, Wade, and Olsson n. sp., is named. Dentoglobigerina includes forms with and without umbilical teeth and species for which the presence or absence of a tooth is a variable feature. A significant finding has been the triple synonymy of Globigerina tripartita Koch, Globigerina rohri Bolli, and Globoquadrina dehiscens praedehiscens Blow, which greatly simplifies part of the taxonomy. The genus Globoquadrina is restricted to its type species, Globigerina dehiscens Chapman and others. The following species from the time interval of interest are regarded as valid: Dentoglobigerina altispira (Cushman and Jarvis), Dentoglobigerina baroemoenensis (LeRoy), Dentoglobigerina binaiensis (Koch), Dentoglobigerina eotripartita Pearson, Wade, and Olsson n. sp., Dentoglobigerina galavisi (Bermúdez), Dentoglobigerina globosa (Bolli), Dentoglobigerina globularis (Bermúdez), Dentoglobigerina juxtabinaiensis Fox and Wade, Dentoglobigerina larmeui (Akers), Dentoglobigerina prasaepis (Blow), Dentoglobigerina pseudovenezuelana (Blow and Banner), Dentoglobigerina sellii (Borsetti), Dentoglobigerina taci Pearson and Wade, Dentoglobigerina tapuriensis (Blow and Banner), Dentoglobigerina tripartita (Koch), Dentoglobigerina venezuelana (Hedberg), and Globoquadrina dehiscens (Chapman, Parr, and Collins). The genus Dentoglobigerina also comprises other Neogene/Quaternary species not listed, including the living species Dentoglobigerina cf. conglomerata (Schwager)

Taxonomy, biostratigraphy, and phylogeny of Oligocene and early Miocene Paragloborotalia and Parasubbotina

The taxonomy, phylogeny, and biostratigraphy of Oligocene and early Miocene Paragloborotalia and Parasubbotina are reviewed. The two genera are closely related; Paragloborotalia was derived from Parasubbotina in the early Eocene. Parasubbotina was more diverse during the middle Eocene, while Paragloborotalia experienced considerable diversification during the mid-Oligocene and in the latest Oligocene-earliest Miocene. A significant finding has been the synonymization of Globorotalia (Tuborotalia) mendacis Blow, and Turborotalia primitiva Brӧnnimann and Resig with Globorotalia birnageae Blow. The following species from the time interval of interest are regarded as valid: Paragloborotalia acrostoma (Wezel), Paragloborotalia birnageae (Blow), Paragloborotalia continuosa (Blow), Paragloborotalia incognita (Walters) Paragloborotalia kugleri (Bolli), Paragloborotalia mayeri (Cushman and Ellisor), Paragloborotalia nana (Bolli), Paragloborotalia opima (Bolli), Paragloborotalia pseudocontinuosa (Jenkins), Paragloborotalia pseudokugleri (Blow), Paragloborotalia semivera (Hornibrook), Paragloborotalia siakensis (LeRoy), Parasubbotina hagni (Gohrbandt), and Parasubbotina varianta (Subbotina). Paragloborotalia is a long-lived group of planktonic foraminifera that spanned the early Eocene to late Miocene and provided the root stock for the evolution of multiple smooth, nonspinose, and keeled globorotaliid lineages during the Neogene. The early Oligocene forms of Paragloborotalia (nana, opima, siakensis, pseudocontinuosa) have 4 or 5 globular chambers in the final whorl with radial spiral sutures and a broadly rounded periphery. A trend from radial to curved spiral sutures is observed in late Oligocene and earliest Miocene lineages. Most species of Paragloborotalia had wide distributions, but some were more common in tropical to warm subtropical waters (e.g., siakensis, kugleri) and were especially dominant in the equatorial Pacific divergence zone (e.g., nana, opima, and pseudocontinuosa) analogous to modern tropical upwelling Neogloboquadrina. Other species thrived in cool subtropical and temperate waters (e.g., acrostoma, incognita)

Ferritins: furnishing proteins with iron

Ferritins are a superfamily of iron oxidation, storage and mineralization proteins found throughout the animal, plant, and microbial kingdoms. The majority of ferritins consist of 24 subunits that individually fold into 4-α-helix bundles and assemble in a highly symmetric manner to form an approximately spherical protein coat around a central cavity into which an iron-containing mineral can be formed. Channels through the coat at inter-subunit contact points facilitate passage of iron ions to and from the central cavity, and intrasubunit catalytic sites, called ferroxidase centers, drive Fe2+ oxidation and O2 reduction. Though the different members of the superfamily share a common structure, there is often little amino acid sequence identity between them. Even where there is a high degree of sequence identity between two ferritins there can be major differences in how the proteins handle iron. In this review we describe some of the important structural features of ferritins and their mineralized iron cores and examine in detail how three selected ferritins oxidise Fe2+ in order to explore the mechanistic variations that exist amongst ferritins. We suggest that the mechanistic differences reflect differing evolutionary pressures on amino acid sequences, and that these differing pressures are a consequence of different primary functions for different ferritins

The Expanding Fireball of Nova Delphini 2013

A classical nova occurs when material accreting onto the surface of a white dwarf in a close binary system ignites in a thermonuclear runaway. Complex structures observed in the ejecta at late stages could result from interactions with the companion during the common envelope phase. Alternatively, the explosion could be intrinsically bipolar, resulting from a localized ignition on the surface of the white dwarf or as a consequence of rotational distortion. Studying the structure of novae during the earliest phases is challenging because of the high spatial resolution needed to measure their small sizes. Here we report near-infrared interferometric measurements of the angular size of Nova Delphini 2013, starting from one day after the explosion and continuing with extensive time coverage during the first 43 days. Changes in the apparent expansion rate can be explained by an explosion model consisting of an optically thick core surrounded by a diffuse envelope. The optical depth of the ejected material changes as it expands. We detect an ellipticity in the light distribution, suggesting a prolate or bipolar structure that develops as early as the second day. Combining the angular expansion rate with radial velocity measurements, we derive a geometric distance to the nova of 4.54 +/- 0.59 kpc from the Sun.Comment: Published in Nature. 32 pages. Final version available at http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v515/n7526/full/nature13834.htm

Long-term impact of community-based participatory women's groups on child and maternal mortality and child disability: follow-up of a cluster randomised trial in rural Nepal

Background: Community-based women's groups practising participatory learning and action (PLA) can reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in low-income countries. However, it is not clear whether these reductions are associated with subsequent increased or decreased rates of childhood death and disability. We assessed the impact on child deaths and disability beyond the perinatal period among participants in the earliest trial in Nepal 2001-2003. Methods: Household interviews were conducted with mothers or household heads. At cluster and individual levels, we analysed disability using pairwise log relative risks and survival using multilevel logistic models. Findings: From 6075 children and 6117 mothers alive at 4 weeks post partum, 44 419 children (73%) were available for interview a mean 11.5 years later. Rates of child deaths beyond the perinatal period were 36.6 and 52.0 per 1000 children in the intervention and control arms respectively. Rates of disability were 62.7 and 85.5 per 1000 children in the intervention and control arms respectively. Individual-level analysis, including random effects for cluster pairing and adjusted for baseline maternal literacy, socioeconomic status and maternal age, showed lower, statistically non-significant, odds of child deaths (OR 0.70 (95% CI 0.43 to 1.18) and disability (0.64 (0.39 to 1.06)) in the intervention arm. Conclusion: Community-level exposure to women's groups practising PLA did not significantly impact childhood death or disability or death beyond the perinatal period. Follow-up of other trials with larger sample sizes is warranted in order to explore the possibility of potential long-term survival and disability benefits with greater precision

X-Ray Spectroscopy of Stars

(abridged) Non-degenerate stars of essentially all spectral classes are soft X-ray sources. Low-mass stars on the cooler part of the main sequence and their pre-main sequence predecessors define the dominant stellar population in the galaxy by number. Their X-ray spectra are reminiscent, in the broadest sense, of X-ray spectra from the solar corona. X-ray emission from cool stars is indeed ascribed to magnetically trapped hot gas analogous to the solar coronal plasma. Coronal structure, its thermal stratification and geometric extent can be interpreted based on various spectral diagnostics. New features have been identified in pre-main sequence stars; some of these may be related to accretion shocks on the stellar surface, fluorescence on circumstellar disks due to X-ray irradiation, or shock heating in stellar outflows. Massive, hot stars clearly dominate the interaction with the galactic interstellar medium: they are the main sources of ionizing radiation, mechanical energy and chemical enrichment in galaxies. High-energy emission permits to probe some of the most important processes at work in these stars, and put constraints on their most peculiar feature: the stellar wind. Here, we review recent advances in our understanding of cool and hot stars through the study of X-ray spectra, in particular high-resolution spectra now available from XMM-Newton and Chandra. We address issues related to coronal structure, flares, the composition of coronal plasma, X-ray production in accretion streams and outflows, X-rays from single OB-type stars, massive binaries, magnetic hot objects and evolved WR stars.Comment: accepted for Astron. Astrophys. Rev., 98 journal pages, 30 figures (partly multiple); some corrections made after proof stag

Cardiovascular Response to Beta-Adrenergic Blockade or Activation in 23 Inbred Mouse Strains

We report the characterisation of 27 cardiovascular-related traits in 23 inbred mouse strains. Mice were phenotyped either in response to chronic administration of a single dose of the β-adrenergic receptor blocker atenolol or under a low and a high dose of the β-agonist isoproterenol and compared to baseline condition. The robustness of our data is supported by high trait heritabilities (typically H2>0.7) and significant correlations of trait values measured in baseline condition with independent multistrain datasets of the Mouse Phenome Database. We then focused on the drug-, dose-, and strain-specific responses to β-stimulation and β-blockade of a selection of traits including heart rate, systolic blood pressure, cardiac weight indices, ECG parameters and body weight. Because of the wealth of data accumulated, we applied integrative analyses such as comprehensive bi-clustering to investigate the structure of the response across the different phenotypes, strains and experimental conditions. Information extracted from these analyses is discussed in terms of novelty and biological implications. For example, we observe that traits related to ventricular weight in most strains respond only to the high dose of isoproterenol, while heart rate and atrial weight are already affected by the low dose. Finally, we observe little concordance between strain similarity based on the phenotypes and genotypic relatedness computed from genomic SNP profiles. This indicates that cardiovascular phenotypes are unlikely to segregate according to global phylogeny, but rather be governed by smaller, local differences in the genetic architecture of the various strains