Recent updates on the Maser Monitoring Organisation

The Maser Monitoring Organisation (M2O) is a research community of telescope operators, astronomy researchers and maser theoreticians pursuing a joint goal of reaching a deeper understanding of maser emission and exploring its variety of uses as tracers of astrophysical events. These proceedings detail the origin, motivations and current status of the M2O, as was introduced at the 2021 EVN symposium

Iron parameters analysis in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease

Abstract Background Myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD) is the most common acquired cardiovascular disease in small breed dogs. In contrast to human patients with heart failure (HF), iron deficiency (ID) prevalence in dogs with MMVD is weakly known. The study aimed to assess the usability of ID markers in serum and reticulocyte parameters from whole blood of dogs with MMVD to evaluate early ID symptoms. Results Sixty-eight dogs (43 male and 25 female) were included in the study. MMVD dogs were assigned according to the 2019 ACVIM guidelines for groups B1 (n = 9), B2 (n = 10), C (n = 27) and D (n = 10). Groups were also combined into B1 and B2 as non-symptomatic HF and C with D as symptomatic HF. Healthy controls were 12 dogs. Serum iron concentration below the reference range in dogs with MMVD was 12.5%. Other ID indices, such as %SAT, UIBC, and TIBC were similar in the MMVD groups and healthy controls (p > 0.05 for all parameters). Statistical comparison between control group and 4 groups of different stages of MMVD showed that significant differences occur only in serum transferrin. The assessment of ferritin and soluble transferrin receptors using Western Blotting did not show differences between control (n = 7) and MMVD (n = 33) dogs. Study has shown positive correlation between ID parameters and echocardiographic indices such as LA/Ao and LVIDdN, and some biochemical parameters. A significant increase in reticulocytes percentage, assessed manually, was observed in the HF group of animals (p = 0.027) compared to the control group. Conclusions Studies have shown that ID parameters in serum are not significantly different in dogs with MMVD compared to healthy dogs. However, there is a clear correlation between atrial size and normalised left ventricular size to body size and some biochemical parameters, including ID parameters and therefore the severity of MMVD

Determining the contributions of protein synthesis and breakdown to muscle atrophy requires non‐steady‐state equations

Abstract Background Ageing and cachexia cause a loss of muscle mass over time, indicating that protein breakdown exceeds protein synthesis. Deuterium oxide (D2O) is used for studies of protein turnover because of the advantages of long‐term labelling, but these methods introduce considerations that have been largely overlooked when studying conditions of protein gain or loss. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the importance of accounting for a change in protein mass, a non‐steady state, during D2O labelling studies while also exploring the contribution of protein synthesis and breakdown to denervation‐induced muscle atrophy. Methods Adult (6 months) male C57BL/6 mice (n = 14) were labelled with D2O for a total of 7 days following unilateral sciatic nerve transection to induce denervation of hindlimb muscles. The contralateral sham limb and nonsurgical mice (n = 5) were used as two different controls to account for potential crossover effects of denervation. We calculated gastrocnemius myofibrillar and collagen protein synthesis and breakdown assuming steady‐state or using non‐steady‐state modelling. We measured RNA synthesis rates to further understand ribosomal turnover during atrophy. Results Gastrocnemius mass was less in denervated muscle (137 ± 9 mg) compared with sham (174 ± 15 mg; P < 0.0001) or nonsurgical control (162 ± 5 mg; P < 0.0001). With steady‐state calculations, fractional synthesis and breakdown rates (FSR and FBR) were lower in the denervated muscle (1.49 ± 0.06%/day) compared with sham (1.81 ± 0.09%/day; P < 0.0001) or nonsurgical control (2.27 ± 0.04%/day; P < 0.0001). When adjusting for change in protein mass, FSR was 4.21 ± 0.19%/day in denervated limb, whereas FBR was 4.09 ± 0.22%/day. When considering change in protein mass (ksyn), myofibrillar synthesis was lower in denervated limb (2.44 ± 0.14 mg/day) compared with sham (3.43 ± 0.22 mg/day; P < 0.0001) and non‐surgical control (3.74 ± 0.12 mg/day; P < 0.0001), whereas rate of protein breakdown (kdeg, 1/t) was greater in denervated limb (0.050 ± 0.003) compared with sham (0.019 ± 0.001; P < 0.0001) and nonsurgical control (0.023 ± 0.000; P < 0.0001). Muscle collagen breakdown was completely inhibited during denervation. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.83, P < 0.001) between RNA and myofibrillar protein synthesis in sham but not denervated muscle. Conclusions We show conflicting results between steady‐ and non‐steady‐state calculations on myofibrillar protein synthesis and breakdown during periods of muscle loss. We also found that collagen accumulation was largely from a decrease in collagen breakdown. Comparison between sham and non‐surgical control demonstrated a crossover effect of denervation on myofibrillar protein synthesis and ribosomal biogenesis, which impacts study design for unilateral atrophy studies. These considerations are important because not accounting for them can mislead therapeutic attempts to maintain muscle mass

Millimeter methanol emission in the high-mass young stellar object G24.33+0.14

In 2019 September, a sudden flare of the 6.7 GHz methanol maser was observed toward the high-mass young stellar object (HMYSO) G24.33+0.14. This may represent the fourth detection of a transient mass accretion event in an HMYSO after S255IR NIRS3, NGC 6334I-MM1, and G358.93−0.03-MM1. G24.33+0.14 is unique among these sources as it clearly shows a repeating flare with an 8 yr interval. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we observed the millimeter continuum and molecular lines toward G24.33+0.14 in the pre-flare phase in 2016 August (ALMA Cycle 3) and the mid-flare phase in 2019 September (ALMA Cycle 6). We identified three continuum sources in G24.33+0.14, and the brightest source, C1, which is closely associated with the 6.7 GHz maser emission, shows only a marginal increase in flux density with a flux ratio (Cycle 6$/$Cycle 3) of 1.16 ± 0.01, considering an additional absolute flux calibration uncertainty of $10\%$. We identified 26 transitions from 13 molecular species other than methanol, and they exhibit similar levels of flux differences with an average flux ratio of 1.12 ± 0.15. In contrast, eight methanol lines observed in Cycle 6 are brighter than those in Cycle 3 with an average flux ratio of 1.23 ± 0.13, and the higher excitation lines tend to show a larger flux increase. If this systematic increasing trend is real, it would suggest radiative heating close to the central HMYSO due to an accretion event which could expand the size of the emission region and/or change the excitation conditions. Given the low brightness temperatures and small flux changes, most of the methanol emission is likely to be predominantly thermal, except for the 229.759 GHz (8−1–70 E) line known as a class I methanol maser. The flux change in the millimeter continuum of G24.33+0.14 is smaller than in S255IR NIRS3 and NGC 6334I-MM1 but is comparable with that in G358.93−0.03-MM1, suggesting different amounts of accreted mass in these events

Millimeter methanol emission in the high-mass young stellar object G24.33+0.14

&lt;jats:title&gt;Abstract&lt;/jats:title&gt; &lt;jats:p&gt;In 2019 September, a sudden flare of the 6.7???GHz methanol maser was observed toward the high-mass young stellar object (HMYSO) G24.33+0.14. This may represent the fourth detection of a transient mass accretion event in an HMYSO after S255IR??NIRS3, NGC??6334I-MM1, and G358.93???0.03-MM1. G24.33+0.14 is unique among these sources as it clearly shows a repeating flare with an 8???yr interval. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we observed the millimeter continuum and molecular lines toward G24.33+0.14 in the pre-flare phase in 2016 August (ALMA Cycle??3) and the mid-flare phase in 2019 September (ALMA Cycle??6). We identified three continuum sources in G24.33+0.14, and the brightest source, C1, which is closely associated with the 6.7???GHz maser emission, shows only a marginal increase in flux density with a flux ratio (Cycle??6$/$Cycle??3) of 1.16 ?? 0.01, considering an additional absolute flux calibration uncertainty of $10\%$. We identified 26 transitions from 13 molecular species other than methanol, and they exhibit similar levels of flux differences with an average flux ratio of 1.12 ?? 0.15. In contrast, eight methanol lines observed in Cycle??6 are brighter than those in Cycle??3 with an average flux ratio of 1.23 ?? 0.13, and the higher excitation lines tend to show a larger flux increase. If this systematic increasing trend is real, it would suggest radiative heating close to the central HMYSO due to an accretion event which could expand the size of the emission region and/or change the excitation conditions. Given the low brightness temperatures and small flux changes, most of the methanol emission is likely to be predominantly thermal, except for the 229.759???GHz (8???1???70??E) line known as a class??I methanol maser. The flux change in the millimeter continuum of G24.33+0.14 is smaller than in S255IR??NIRS3 and NGC??6334I-MM1 but is comparable with that in G358.93???0.03-MM1, suggesting different amounts of accreted mass in these events.&lt;/jats:p&gt