The Orbital Period of the Pre-Cataclysmic Binary RE 2013+400 and a Study of the Atmosphere of the DAO White Dwarf Primary

Several pre-cataclysmic binaries, comprising a hot white dwarf with a red dwarf companion, have been discovered as a result of the optical identification of EUV sources from the ROSAT all-sky survey. The optical spectra have the steep blue continuum and Balmer absorption typical of a hot white dwarf, but there are bright, narrow emission lines of H I (and sometimes He I and Ca II) superimposed. An intense campaign of follow-up observations has been devoted to these binary systems. So far, only RE 2013+400 has exhibited any measurable changes in the radial velocities of the emission components, from which it is possible to estimate that the binary period is 0.71 d. A clear He II 4886-Å absorption feature is detected, which indicates that, like most PCBs with white dwarfs hotter than 40 000 K, the white dwarf is a hydrogen-helium hybrid star (DAO). A combined analysis of the optical, UV and EUV/X-ray data suggests that the atmospheric He abundance is higher in the optical line-forming region of the white dwarf photosphere than in the region where the EUV/X-ray flux is formed. This is an interesting result, in the light of the recent optical study of a sample of DAO white dwarfs by Bergeron et al., if representative of DAO white dwarfs in general

Adherence Barriers to Antimicrobial Treatment Guidelines in Teaching Hospital, the Netherlands

To optimize appropriate antimicrobial use in a university hospital and identify barriers hampering implementation strategies, physicians were interviewed regarding their opinions on antimicrobial policies. Results indicated that effective strategies should include regular updates of guidelines that incorporate the views of relevant departments and focus on addressing senior staff and residents because residents do not make independent decisions in a teaching-hospital setting

Effectiveness of the Assessment of Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (ABC) tool: Study protocol of a cluster randomised trial in primary and secondary care

Abstract Background Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a growing worldwide problem that imposes a great burden on the daily life of patients. Since there is no cure, the goal of treating COPD is to maintain or improve quality of life. We have developed a new tool, the Assessment of Burden of COPD (ABC) tool, to assess and visualize the integrated health status of patients with COPD, and to provide patients and healthcare providers with a treatment algorithm. This tool may be used during consultations to monitor the burden of COPD and to adjust treatment if necessary. The aim of the current study is to analyse the effectiveness of the ABC tool compared with usual care on health related quality of life among COPD patients over a period of 18 months. Methods/Design A cluster randomised controlled trial will be conducted in COPD patients in both primary and secondary care throughout the Netherlands. An intervention group, receiving care based on the ABC tool, will be compared with a control group receiving usual care. The primary outcome will be the change in score on a disease-specific-quality-of-life questionnaire, the Saint George Respiratory Questionnaire. Secondary outcomes will be a different questionnaire (the COPD Assessment Test), lung function and number of exacerbations. During the 18 months follow-up, seven measurements will be conducted, including a baseline and final measurement. Patients will receive questionnaires to be completed at home. Additional data, such as number of exacerbations, will be recorded by the patients’ healthcare providers. A total of 360 patients will be recruited by 40 general practitioners and 20 pulmonologists. Additionally, a process evaluation will be performed among patients and healthcare providers. Discussion The new ABC tool complies with the 2014 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, which describe the necessity to classify patients on both their airway obstruction and a comprehensive symptom assessment. It has been developed to classify patients, but also to provide visual insight into the burden of COPD and to provide treatment advice. Trial registration Netherlands Trial Register, NTR3788

Atmospheric Heating and Wind Acceleration: Results for Cool Evolved Stars based on Proposed Processes

A chromosphere is a universal attribute of stars of spectral type later than ~F5. Evolved (K and M) giants and supergiants (including the zeta Aurigae binaries) show extended and highly turbulent chromospheres, which develop into slow massive winds. The associated continuous mass loss has a significant impact on stellar evolution, and thence on the chemical evolution of galaxies. Yet despite the fundamental importance of those winds in astrophysics, the question of their origin(s) remains unsolved. What sources heat a chromosphere? What is the role of the chromosphere in the formation of stellar winds? This chapter provides a review of the observational requirements and theoretical approaches for modeling chromospheric heating and the acceleration of winds in single cool, evolved stars and in eclipsing binary stars, including physical models that have recently been proposed. It describes the successes that have been achieved so far by invoking acoustic and MHD waves to provide a physical description of plasma heating and wind acceleration, and discusses the challenges that still remain.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figures, 1 table; modified and unedited manuscript; accepted version to appear in: Giants of Eclipse, eds. E. Griffin and T. Ake (Berlin: Springer

Multiwavelength studies of MHD waves in the solar chromosphere: An overview of recent results

The chromosphere is a thin layer of the solar atmosphere that bridges the relatively cool photosphere and the intensely heated transition region and corona. Compressible and incompressible waves propagating through the chromosphere can supply significant amounts of energy to the interface region and corona. In recent years an abundance of high-resolution observations from state-of-the-art facilities have provided new and exciting ways of disentangling the characteristics of oscillatory phenomena propagating through the dynamic chromosphere. Coupled with rapid advancements in magnetohydrodynamic wave theory, we are now in an ideal position to thoroughly investigate the role waves play in supplying energy to sustain chromospheric and coronal heating. Here, we review the recent progress made in characterising, categorising and interpreting oscillations manifesting in the solar chromosphere, with an impetus placed on their intrinsic energetics.Comment: 48 pages, 25 figures, accepted into Space Science Review

Limb Spicules from the Ground and from Space

We amassed statistics for quiet-sun chromosphere spicules at the limb using ground-based observations from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope on La Palma and simultaneously from NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) spacecraft. The observations were obtained in July 2006. With the 0.2 arcsecond resolution obtained after maximizing the ground-based resolution with the Multi-Object Multi-Frame Blind Deconvolution (MOMFBD) program, we obtained specific statistics for sizes and motions of over two dozen individual spicules, based on movies compiled at 50-second cadence for the series of five wavelengths observed in a very narrow band at H-alpha, on-band and in the red and blue wings at 0.035 nm and 0.070 nm (10 s at each wavelength) using the SOUP filter, and had simultaneous observations in the 160 nm EUV continuum from TRACE. The MOMFBD restoration also automatically aligned the images, facilitating the making of Dopplergrams at each off-band pair. We studied 40 H-alpha spicules, and 14 EUV spicules that overlapped H-alpha spicules; we found that their dynamical and morphological properties fit into the framework of several previous studies. From a preliminary comparison with spicule theories, our observations are consistent with a reconnection mechanism for spicule generation, and with UV spicules being a sheath region surrounding the H-alpha spicules

On Spatially Distributed Hydrological Ecosystem Services: Bridging the Quantitative Information Gap using Remote Sensing and Hydrological Models

One of the ways in which the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) addresses the challenge of achieving sustainable growth is by improving our understanding of tradeoffs and synergies related to water, food, environment and energy. Essential to the success of these efforts is the availability of quantitative data on these tradeoffs and synergies, and how they vary across space and time. Specifically for the countries sharing the Mekong River, WLE Greater Mekong seeks to drive and inform research and dialogue around the rivers of the region. Hydrological EcoSystem Services (HESS) are heavily affected by intensive development across the region, such as the construction of hydropower dams and land use changes - in particular deforestation, urbanization and agricultural intensification. The full extent of such changes in the agro-ecological system is often unknown, and it is a challenge to account for tradeoffs in HESS in policy processes. As in many other areas of the world, improving governance and management of water resources and associated land and ecosystems in the Greater Mekong region is not only a matter of generating more data. Sharing of knowledge and practices is a key focus of WLE Greater Mekong, which we strive to promote by enhancing the accessibility of valuable information to a wide diversity of regional stakeholders, and promoting dialogue by facilitating the creation of communities of practice. This white paper demonstrates state-of-the-art methods for assessing different HESS and their tradeoffs under different development scenarios. It explores opportunities for spatial monitoring of HESS and predicting changes under different future scenarios, information that is essential for achieving a balanced and healthy agro-ecological system. By relying on tools in the public domain and leveraging the resulting HESS data through online information platforms, this white paper is an excellent example of current efforts supported by WLE Greater Mekong to stimulate uptake of ecosystem services assessments in decision-making processes

The genetic basis of composite spike form in barley and "Miracle-Wheat"

Inflorescences of the tribe Triticeae, which includes wheat (Triticum sp. L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) are characterized by sessile spikelets directly borne on the main axis, thus forming a branchless spike. "Compositum-Barley" and tetraploid "Miracle-Wheat" (T. turgidum convar. compositum (L.f.) Filat.) display non-canonical spike-branching in which spikelets are replaced by lateral branch-like structures resembling small-sized secondary spikes. As a result of this branch formation "Miracle-Wheat" produces significantly more grains per spike, leading to higher spike yield. In this study, we first isolated the gene underlying spike-branching in "Compositum-Barley", i.e. compositum 2 (com2). Moreover, we found that COM2 is orthologous to the branched head(t) (bh(t)) locus regulating spike-branching in tetraploid "Miracle-Wheat". Both genes possess orthologs with similar functions in maize BRANCHED SILKLESS 1 (BD1) and rice FRIZZY PANICLE/BRANCHED FLORETLESS 1 (FZP/BFL1) encoding AP2/ERF transcription factors. Sequence analysis of the bh(t) locus in a collection of mutant and wild type tetraploid wheat accessions revealed that a single amino acid substitution in the DNA-binding domain gave rise to the domestication of "Miracle-Wheat". mRNA in situ hybridization, microarray experiments, and independent qRT-PCR validation analyses revealed that the branch repression pathway in barley is governed through the spike architecture gene Six-rowed spike 4 regulating COM2 expression, while HvIDS1 (barley ortholog of maize INDETERMINATE SPIKELET 1) is a putative down-stream target of COM2. These findings presented here provide new insights into the genetic basis of spike architecture in Triticeae, and have disclosed new targets for genetic manipulations aiming at boosting wheat's yield potential