The 2006 hot phase of Romano's star (GR 290) in M33

Understanding the nature of the instabilities of LBVs is important to understand the late evolutionary stages of very massive stars. We investigate the long term, S Dor-type variability of the luminous blue variable GR290 (Romano's star) in M33, and its 2006 minimum phase. New spectroscopic and photometric data taken in November and December 2006 were employed in conjunction with already published data on GR290 to derive the physical structure of GR290 in different phases and the time scale of the variability. We find that by the end of 2006, GR 290 had reached the deepest visual minimum so far recorded. Its present spectrum resembles closely that of the Of/WN9 stars, and is the hottest so far recorded in this star (and in any LBV as well), while its visual brightness decreased by about 1.4 mag. This first spectroscopic record of GR290 during a minimum phase confirms that, similarly to AG Car and other LBVs, the star is subject to ample S Dor-type variations, being hotter at minimum, suggesting that the variations take place at constant bolometric luminosity.Comment: 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

Fostering work ability among menopausal women. Does any work-related psychosocial factor help?

Introduction: Due to the aging workforce, it will become even more common for organizations to count, among their employees, women who are dealing with menopause. To date, no knowledge is available regarding the work ability among menopausal women. With this view, the aim of the present study was to identify work-related psychosocial factors associated with work ability in a sample of menopausal working women. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was administered to 1069 menopausal women employed as administrative officers in the Italian public sector. The study design was cross-sectional. Results: Work ability was found to be negatively associated with family–work conflict (β = − 0.21, p = 0.0001) and positively associated with health-oriented organizational climate (β = 0.12, p = 0.0001), job autonomy (β = 0.08, p= 0.006), and skill discretion (β = 0.08, p= 0.048). Conversely, work ability did not show significant associations with job demands, flexible working hours, and social support. Discussion: From a practical point of view, our study identifies various areas of intervention that could foster job sustainability during menopause. In particular, our findings suggest that, to improve women’s job sustainability across their entire work-life span, it may be crucial to develop organizational policies, training, and activities specifically dedicated to sustaining menopausal women's well-being

UV and X-Ray Monitoring of AG Draconis During the 1994/1995 Outbursts

The recent 1994-1995 active phase of AG Draconis has given us for the first time the opportunity to follow the full X-ray behaviour of a symbiotic star during two successive outbursts and to compare with its quiescence X-ray emission. With \ros observations we have discovered a remarkable decrease of the X-ray flux during both optical maxima, followed by a gradual recovering to the pre-outburst flux. In the UV the events were characterized by a large increase of the emission line and continuum fluxes, comparable to the behaviour of AG Dra during the 1980-81 active phase. The anticorrelation of X-ray/UV flux and optical brightness evolution is shown to very likely be due to a temperature decrease of the hot component. Such a temperature decrease could be produced by an increased mass transfer to the burning compact object, causing it to slowly expand to about twice its original size.Comment: 12 pages postscript incl. figures, Proc. of Workshop on Supersoft X-Ray Sources, to appear in Lecture Notes in Physics vol. 472 (1996

Indel and single nucleotide variations of zeins generate unique 2D-zein patterns and molecular markers useful in maize (Zea mays) genotyping

In this study, we investigated the inter- and intra-genomic sequence variation of alpha-zein genes and their polypeptide expression in different maize genotypes, i.e. inbreds and a set of Lombardy open pollinated varieties, by analyzing their RFLP, coding nucleotides and 2-dimensional (2D) protein fractionation profiles. An extensive analysis of coding capacity of alpha-zein sequences in various genotypes and in the B73 reference inbred allowed us to assign 2D-spots to specific zein sequences. Moreover, we found that some genes reported to contain in frame stop codons are very likely expressed. Collectively these data allowed us to constitute two barcodes respectively based on nucleotide variation and on 2-D protein patterns that identify univocally each genotype

Submillimeter CO emission from shock-heated gas in the L1157 outflow

We present the CO J=6-5, 4-3, and 3-2 spectra from the blueshifted gas of the outflow driven by the low-mass class 0 protostar in the L1157 dark cloud. Strong submillimeter CO emission lines with T_mb > 30 K have been detected at 63" (~0.13 pc) south from the protostar. It is remarkable that the blue wings in the submillimeter lines are stronger by a factor of 3-4 than that of the CO J=1-0 emission line. The CO line ratios suggest that the blueshifted lobe of this outflow consists of moderately dense gas of n(H_2) = (1-3)x10^4 cm^-3 heated to T_kin = 50-170 K.It is also suggested that the kinetic temperature of the outflowing gas increases from ~80 K near the protostar to ~170 K at the shocked region in the lobe center, toward which the largest velocity dispersion of the CO emission is observed. A remarkable correlation between the kinetic temperature and velocity dispersion of the CO emission along the lobe provides us with direct evidence that the molecular gas at the head of the jet-driven bow shock is indeed heated kinematically. The lower temperature of ~80 K measured at the other shocked region near the end of the lobe is explained if this shock is in a later evolutionary stage, in which the gas has been cooled mainly through radiation of the CO rotational lines.Comment: 10 pages, 4 PDF figures, APJL in pres

A new Luminous Variable in M33

We present a new luminous star in M33 located in the nuclear region. The star shows strong FeII and [FeII] forest, hydrogen emissions in the spectrum, as well as nebular lines. TiII and SiII lines were detected in absorption, their radial velocity shifted by ~ -30km/s relative to emission lines. The star is variable over seven years with 0.5 mag variations over a year. We studied its spectral energy distribution together with five confirmed Luminous Blue Variables and Var A in M33 using homogeneous data and methods. We found the star's bolometric luminosity to be log(L/Lsun)~6.27, a surface temperature of T~16000K and black body temperatures of two dust components of T~900 and 420K. The new star has properties intermediate between the LBVs and VarA (probable cool hypergiant). In the same time it has a hot photosphere, LBV-like luminosity and an extensive circumstellar material (strong [CaII] lines). In these seven luminous variables in M33 we find the total range of the hot component luminosities is 1.0 dex, but that of the dust componets is 2.0 dex. We conclude that the dust phenomenon in the luminous variables is temporary and variable, and that dust activity may follow strong eruptions.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures; MNRAS Letter accepte

Patient Verbal Aggression and Emotion Work among Nurses: The Buffering Role of Job and Personal Resources : A Moderated Mediation Model

Background. Client aggression is considered a growing stressor in several workplaces. This study aims to analyse how and why these experiences may trigger burnout. Focusing on healthcare workers, we tested a moderated mediation model of the relationship between exposure to patient verbal aggression and burnout with the goal of assessing the mediation effects of emotion work and the moderating effects of personal resources (i.e. perceived self-efficacy in communication with patients) and job resources (job control, role clarity, social support by colleagues and by supervisors) on this relationship. Methods A purposive sample of 356 nurses was recruited from four hospitals in northern Italy. A structured, self-report questionnaire was used to collect data. Mediated and moderated mediation regression models with PROCESS were used to test the hypotheses. Results: Emotion work mediates the relationship between patient verbal aggression and nurses\u2019 burnout. Role clarity and social support were found to reduce the harmful effects of emotion work triggered by patient aggression. The perceived self-efficacy in communication with patients does not have a buffering effect in the tested model. Conclusion. These results offer a novel approach to design preventive actions aimed at cultivating resources against the impact of perceived exposure to client aggression on well-being