Abstract
We present a timing study of the short-period eclipsing cataclysmic variable (CV) HT Cas. Based on new eclipse times derived from our photometric monitoring and archival optical data, ...combined with historical timings, spanning ∼42 yr, we detect a secular decrease in the orbital period at a rate of
P
̇
=
−
1.32
×
10
−
12
ss
−
1
and a cyclic period wiggle with an amplitude of 79.3 s and a period of 30.28 yr. We find that neither gravitational radiation nor magnetic braking can explain the observed decrease rate, suggesting the presence of additional angular momentum loss (AML). The empirical consequential AML (eCAML) model developed by Schreiber et al. can well match the observed orbital decay in HT Cas, and the physical mechanism for eCAML is most likely attributable to the frictional AML following nova eruptions. As for the cyclic variation, the best explanation is the influence of an unseen companion in orbit around the binary. The derived orbital parameters reveal that the hypothetical third body could be a giant planet with mass of
M
3
≃ 14
M
Jup
that is moving on a highly eccentric orbit (
e
= 0.82). Taken together the results of the present study suggest that HT Cas is a unique triple system containing a high-eccentricity giant planet and it has the potential to become an ideal laboratory in which to test models of CV evolution.
Summary
Background
Obesity, a comorbid medical condition, is usually observed in patients with established coronary artery disease. Paradoxically, patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) usually ...have better clinical outcomes after coronary revascularization.
Methods
We searched five online databases through December 2017. We identified studies reporting the rate of all‐cause mortality or cardiovascular‐related outcomes among patients after coronary revascularization with percutaneous coronary intervention or coronary artery bypass graft based on various BMI categories. Network meta‐analysis was performed using Bayesian methods.
Results
Sixty‐five records involving 865,774 participants were included in our study. A U‐shaped association was observed across BMI categories for all‐cause mortality. Using normal weight as the reference, all‐cause mortality was increased for (relative risk RR: 2.4; 95% credibility interval CrI: 2.1–2.7) patients with underweight, whereas it was lowered in patients with overweight, obese, and severely obese. This association remained significant in many subgroups. We also observed that the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) was lowest among patients with overweight. Furthermore, patients with underweight were associated with greater risks of myocardial infarction (RR: 1.9; 95% CrI: 1.4–2.5), cardiovascular‐related mortality (RR: 2.8; 95% CrI: 1.6–4.7), stroke (RR: 2.0; 95% CrI: 1.3–3.3) and heart failure (RR: 1.7; 95% CrI: 1.1–2.7) compared with normal weight patients; no significant association was observed among individuals with higher BMI.
Conclusions
The ‘obesity paradox’ does exist in patients after coronary revascularization, especially for patients with post‐percutaneous coronary intervention. All‐cause mortality in patients with high BMI is significantly lower compared with patients with normal weight. Furthermore, patients with underweight experience higher rates of cardiovascular outcomes compared with patients with normal weight.
Summary
Background Psoriasis has been linked to cardiovascular comorbidities in cross‐sectional studies, but evidence regarding the association between psoriasis and incident cardiovascular disease ...(CVD) is limited.
Objectives To make a prospective evaluation of the association between psoriasis and risk of incident nonfatal CVD.
Methods Participants (n = 96 008) were included from the Nurses’ Health Study II, and followed for 18 years. Information on physician‐diagnosed psoriasis was obtained by self‐report and diagnosis was confirmed by supplementary questionnaires. We included 2463 individuals with self‐reported psoriasis and a subsample of 1242 with validated psoriasis. The main outcome was incident nonfatal CVD events nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) and nonfatal stroke, ascertained by biennial questionnaires and confirmed.
Results During 1 709 069 person‐years of follow‐up, 713 incident nonfatal CVD events were confirmed. Psoriasis was associated with a significantly increased multivariate‐adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of nonfatal CVD, 1·55 95% confidence interval (CI): 1·04–2·31. HRs for nonfatal MI and stroke were 1·70 (95% CI: 1·01–2·84) and 1·45 (95% CI: 0·80–2·65), respectively. The association remained consistent in a sensitivity analysis of confirmed psoriasis (HR: 2·06, 95% CI: 1·31–3·26). For individuals with concomitant psoriatic arthritis, the risk of nonfatal CVD was even higher (HR: 3·47; 95% CI: 1·85–6·51). Women diagnosed with psoriasis at < 40 years of age or with duration of psoriasis ≥ 9 years had substantial elevations in CVD risk: HR: 3·26 (95% CI: 1·21–8·75) and 3·09 (95% CI: 1·15–8·29), respectively.
Conclusions Psoriasis is an independent predictor for nonfatal CVD among women, with particularly high risk for those with longer duration of psoriasis and concomitant psoriatic arthritis.
The measurement of the energy spectrum of cosmic ray helium nuclei from 70 GeV to 80 TeV using 4.5 years of data recorded by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is reported in this work. A ...hardening of the spectrum is observed at an energy of about 1.3 TeV, similar to previous observations. In addition, a spectral softening at about 34 TeV is revealed for the first time with large statistics and well controlled systematic uncertainties, with an overall significance of 4.3σ. The DAMPE spectral measurements of both cosmic protons and helium nuclei suggest a particle charge dependent softening energy, although with current uncertainties a dependence on the number of nucleons cannot be ruled out.
A new spin-dependent deflection mechanism is revealed by considering the spin-correlated radiation-reaction force during laser-electron collision. We found that such deflection originates from the ...non-zero work done by the radiation-reaction force along the laser polarization direction in each half-period, which is larger/smaller for spin-anti-paralleled/spin-paralleled electrons. The resulted anti-symmetric deflection is further accumulated when the spin-projection onto the laser magnetic field is reversed in adjacent half-periods. The discovered mechanism dominates over the Stern-Gerlach deflection for electrons of several hundreds of MeV and 10 PW-level laser peak power. The results provide a new perspective to study the strong-field QED physics in quantum radiation-reaction regime and an approach to leverage the study of radiation-dominated and strong-field QED physics via particle spins.
The potential of punched winglet type vortex generator (VG) arrays used to enhance air-side heat-transfer performance of finned tube heat exchanger is numerically investigated. The arrays are ...composed of two delta-winglet pairs with two layout modes of continuous and discontinuous winglets. The heat transfer performance of two array arrangements are compared to a conventional large winglet configuration for the Reynolds number ranging from 600 to 2600 based on the tube collar diameter, with the corresponding frontal air velocity ranging from 0.54 to 2.3m/s. The effects of different geometry parameters that include attack angle of delta winglets (β=10deg, β=20deg, β=30deg) and the layout locations are examined. The numerical results show that for the punched VG cases, the effectiveness of the main vortex to the heat transfer enhancement is not fully dominant while the “corner vortex” also shows significant effect on the heat transfer performance. Both heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop increase with the increase of attack angle β for the side arrangements; the arrays with discontinuous winglets show the best heat transfer enhancement, and a significant augmentation of up to 33.8–70.6% in heat transfer coefficient is achieved accompanied by a pressure drop penalty of 43.4–97.2% for the 30deg case compared to the plain fin. For the front arrangements of VGs higher heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop penalty can be obtained compared to that of the side arrangement cases; the case with front continuous winglet arrays has the maximum value of j/f, a corresponding heat transfer improvement of 36.7–81.2% and a pressure drop penalty of 60.7–135.6%.
Abstract
PSR J1953+1844 (i.e., M71E) is a millisecond pulsar in a 53 minute binary orbit discovered by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope. The mass function from pulsar timing ...is 2.3 × 10
−7
M
⊙
. The possible redback origin of this system has been discussed by Pan et al. We discuss here an alternative evolution track for this binary system, namely that PSR J1953+1844 is a descendant of an ultracompact X-ray binary (UCXB), which has a hydrogen-poor donor accreting onto a neutron star (NS) with an orbital period of ≤1 hr. We noticed that some UCXB systems hold an accreting millisecond X-ray pulsar (AMXP) and a donor with a mass of about 0.01
M
⊙
. M71E has a very similar orbit to those of AMXPs, indicating that it might be evolved from a UCXB similar to PSR J1653–0158. The companion star of M71E should be significantly bloated and it most probably has a carbon and oxygen composition, otherwise a low inclination angle of the orbit is required for a helium companion. The discovery of this M71E binary system may shed light on when and how an NS in a UCXB turns into a radio pulsar.
Summary
Background Adiposity is a known risk factor for psoriasis. Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of genes associated with risk of psoriasis while the evidence on ...gene–environment interactions in psoriasis is very sparse.
Objectives To investigate the effect modification by adiposity measures on the association between single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from published GWAS and risk of psoriasis.
Methods Our psoriasis GWAS dataset comprised 9194 participants, including 337 individuals with psoriasis and 8857 controls from six GWAS, nested within the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS), NHS II, and Health Professionals’ Follow‐up Study. Clinician‐diagnosed psoriasis was ascertained with high validity. For stratified analyses, body mass index (BMI) was dichotomized at 25, and waist circumference was dichotomized at 30 (women) and 36 inches (men), while waist–hip ratio (WHR) was dichotomized at 0·8 (women) and 1·0 (men).
Results Forty‐one out of 44 previously reported psoriasis‐related SNPs were included in our GWAS datasets. After excluding those with high linkage disequilibrium, 33 remained in the analysis. There were significant interactions between BMI and two SNPs in the IL12B (rs3212227) and IL23R (rs7530511) genes. Further analysis of these two SNPs indicated interactions between rs3212227 and waist circumference or WHR P for interaction (Pint) < 0·05, but not for rs7530511. These observations were confirmed among participants without type 2 diabetes or coronary heart disease. The interactions remained after simultaneously adjusting for BMI as a continuous variable. In addition, we did not observe a significant main effect for rs7530511.
Conclusions The association between a polymorphism in IL12B and psoriasis risk may be modified by measures of overall and central adiposity.
What’s already known about this topic?
•
Adiposity has been associated with psoriasis in a prospective study and the chronic, low‐grade inflammatory state associated with adiposity has been postulated as the key underlying mechanism.
•
Prior genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of genes associated with risk of psoriasis, with IL12B and IL23R demonstrating the most consistent associations across multiple studies.
•
Evidence on the gene–environment interactions in psoriasis has been very sparse.
What does this study add?
•
In a post‐GWAS approach, we confirmed the elevated risk of psoriasis associated with the rs3212227 single‐nucleotide polymorphism in IL12B, but only among overweight individuals.
•
The association between a polymorphism in IL12B and psoriasis risk may be modified by measures of overall and central adiposity.
•
Our study indicated that gene–environment interaction could play an important role in the development of psoriasis.
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