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The Andromeda galaxy (M31) has been observed with the UltraViolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) instrument onboard the AstroSat Observatory. The M31 sky area was covered with 19 fields, in multiple UV filters per field, over the period of 2017 to 2019. The entire galaxy was observed in the FUV F148W filter, and more than half observed in the NUV filters. A new calibration and data processing is described which improves the astrometry and photometry of the UVIT data. The high spatial resolution of UVIT (∼ 1 arcsec) and new astrometry calibration (∼ 0.2 arcsec) allow identification of UVIT sources with stars, star clusters, X-ray sources, and other source types within M31 to a much better level than previously possible. We present new results from matching UVIT sources with stars measured as part of the Pan-chromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury project in M31. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 5 years, UVIT has completed observations of more than 500 proposals with ∼ 800 unique pointings. In addition, regular planned monitoring observations have been made and from their analysis various key parameters related to in orbit performance of UVIT have been quantified. The sensitivities of the UV channels have remained steady indicating no effect of potential molecular contamination confirming the adequacy of all the protocols implemented for avoiding contamination. The quality of the PSF through the years confirms adequacy of thermal control measures. The early calibrations obtained during the Performance Verification (PV) phase have been further revised for more subtle effects. These include flat fields and detector distortions with greater precision. The operations of UVIT have also evolved through in orbit experience, e.g. tweaking of operational sequencing, protocol for recovery from bright object detection (BOD) shutdowns, parameters for BOD thresholds, etc. Finally, some effects of charged particle hits on electronics led to opimised strategy for regular resetting. The Near-UV channel was lost in one of such operations. All the above in-orbit experiences are presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of the ultraviolet telescope (UVIT) on-board AstroSat is reported. The performance in orbit is also compared with estimates made from the calibrations done on the ground. The sensitivity is found to be within $$\sim $$ 15% of the estimates, and the spatial resolution in the NUV is found to exceed significantly the design value of $$1.8^{\prime \prime }$$ and it is marginally better in the FUV. Images obtained from UVIT are presented to illustrate the details revealed by the high spatial resolution. The potential of multi-band observations in the ultraviolet with high spatial resolution is illustrated by some results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UVIT telescopes are a payload package on the ISRO Astrosat observatory. They are co-aligned with three X-ray telescopes, and will operate simultaneously with them. The overall observatory is summarized, and details are given of the design, performance, and operation of the UVIT telescopes. These will offer close to arcsecond resolution over half-degree fields, simultaneously in FUV, NUV, and blue-visible bands. All bands have several filters and the UV bands have low-dispersion objective gratings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outbreeding between segregating populations can be important from an evolutionary, conservation and economical-agricultural perspective. Whether and how outbreeding influences maternal effects in wild populations has rarely been studied, despite both the prominent maternal influence on early offspring survival and the known presence of fitness effects resulting from outbreeding in many taxa. We studied several traits during the yolk-feeding stage in multigenerational crosses between a wild and a domesticated Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) population up to their third-generation hybrid in a common laboratory environment. Using cross-means analysis, we inferred that maternal additive outbreeding effects underlie most offspring traits but that yolk mass also underlies maternal dominant effects. As a consequence of the interplay between additive and dominant maternally controlled traits, offspring from first-generation hybrid mothers expressed an excessive proportion of residual yolk mass, relative to total mass, at the time of first feeding. Their residual yolk mass was 23-97% greater than those of other crosses and 31% more than that predicted by a purely additive model. Offspring additive, epistatic and epistatic offspring-by-maternal outbreeding effects appeared to further modify this largely maternally controlled cross-means pattern, resulting in an increase in offspring size with the percentage of domesticated alleles. Fitness implications remain elusive because of unknown phenotype-by-environment interactions. However, these results suggest how mechanistically co-adapted genetic maternal control on early offspring development can be disrupted by the effects of combining alleles from divergent populations. Complex outbreeding effects at both the maternal and offspring levels make the prediction of hybrid phenotypes difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex interventions, such as parenting programs, are rarely evaluated from a public sector, multi-agency perspective. An exception is the Incredible Years (IY) Basic Parenting Program; which has a growing clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence base for preventing or reducing children's conduct problems. The aim of this paper was to provide a micro-costing framework for use by future researchers, by micro-costing the 12-session IY Toddler Parenting Program from a public sector, multi-agency perspective. This micro-costing was undertaken as part of a community-based randomized controlled trial of the program in disadvantaged Flying Start areas in Wales, U.K. Program delivery costs were collected by group leader cost diaries. Training and supervision costs were recorded. Sensitivity analysis assessed the effects of a London cost weighting and group size. Costs were reported in 2008/2009 pounds sterling. Direct program initial set-up costs were £3305.73; recurrent delivery costs for the program based on eight parents attending a group were £752.63 per child, falling to £633.61 based on 10 parents. Under research contexts (with weekly supervision) delivery costs were £1509.28 per child based on eight parents, falling to £1238.94 per child based on 10 parents. When applying a London weighting, overall program costs increased in all contexts. Costs at a micro-level must be accurately calculated to conduct meaningful cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit analysis. A standardized framework for assessing costs is needed; this paper outlines a suggested framework. In prevention science it is important for decision makers to be aware of intervention costs in order to allocate scarce resources effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic variability in reaction norms reflects differences in the ability of individuals, populations and ultimately species to respond to environmental change. By increasing our understanding of how genotype × environment interactions influence evolution, studies of genetic variation in phenotypic plasticity serve to refine our capacity to predict how populations will respond to natural and anthropogenic environmental variability, including climate change. Given the extraordinary variability in morphology, behaviour and life history in salmonids, one might anticipate the research milieu on reaction norms in these fishes to be empirically rich and intellectually engaging. Here, I undertake a review of genetic variability in continuous and discontinuous (threshold) norms of reaction in salmonid fishes, as determined primarily (but not exclusively) by common-garden experiments. Although in its infancy from a numerical publication perspective, there is taxonomically broad evidence of genetic differentiation in continuous, threshold and bivariate reaction norms among individuals, families and populations (including inter-population hybrids and backcrosses) for traits as divergent as embryonic development, age and size at maturity, and gene expression. There is compelling inferential evidence that plasticity is heritable and that population differences in reaction norms can reflect adaptive responses, by natural selection, to local environments. As a stimulus for future work, a series of 20 research questions are identified that focus on reaction-norm variability, selection, costs and constraints, demographic and conservation consequences, and genetic markers and correlates of phenotypic plasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it has previously been considered to be a rare phenomenon, this paper provides evidence of eight occurrences of Atlantic cod in northern coastal saline lakes in Arctic Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia. Historic and current habitat features that are necessary for Atlantic cod to colonize and persist in Arctic meromictic lakes are discussed. Data analyses confirm that the persistence of Atlantic cod in Arctic lakes is a recurrent phenomenon, and these populations represent an important component of intraspecific biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: National and state data on the health, social, and economic consequences of unintended pregnancy prompted Washington policy makers to identify strategies to reduce such pregnancies. Though not well known, emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) are a safe and effective contraceptive method that can prevent pregnancy if taken within 72 hr after unprotected intercourse. A coalition conceived the idea of enabling pharmacists to prescribe ECPs directly to women through collaborative drug therapy agreements (CDTAs) with physicians. METHODS: Following a feasibility study, five agencies initiated a novel pilot project in western Washington. Key components included informing pharmacists about ECPs and CDTAs; developing tools, providing training, and developing systems to establish pharmacist/ prescriber collaborative agreements; conducting a public awareness campaign; evaluating the impact of the project; and disseminating the results. RESULTS: More than 1000 pharmacists received training in all aspects of providing ECPs and 140 pharmacies participated in the project, with more than 145 CDTA on file. In the 16 months of pharmacy service provision, 11,969 ECP prescriptions were provided, possibly preventing 700 or more unintended pregnancies. The media launch led to 200 broadcast stories and increased calls to the ECP Hotline from 116 to an average of 1160 per month. CONCLUSION: Enabling pharmacists to provide ECPs directly to women is a convenient delivery system for a time-limited therapy. It increases the chances that women will use the therapy effectively and connects women without a provider to a source of care. By increasing access to an effective contraceptive, this projects supports the Washington State goal of reducing unintended pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The review is a discussion of observationally deduced values of the masses, mass-loss rates, temperatures, luminosities and element abundances for the most massive stars. The comparison of these quantities with theoretical calculations is also discussed, in terms of our present understanding of their evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS) high signal to noise spectrograms were obtained for 15 OB stars in the Magellanic Clouds, three of which are of spectral type O3. The data cover the spectral region from 1150 A - 2300 A with a resolution of Δλ/λ≈1 A. One O8.5 supergiant, OB78#231, in M31is also included in this work. These data are a substantial improvement on previous high resolution IUE observations in the Magellanic Clouds (Walborn et al. 1985 and references therein) because of the smaller aperture and the much better signal to noise ratio, while no high resolution UV spectra of O stars in M31 have been obtained before. In this paper we discuss various morphological aspects of the spectra, concerning metallicity and the stellar winds, compared to galactic analogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mature male parr successfully fertilized eggs of anadromous female Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in competition with anadromous males under simulated natural conditions. Mating situations were created in which mature male parr and anadromous males competing for the opportunity to spawn with an anadromous female differed in allelic forms of the same enzyme. Females deposited eggs into a sequence of 3 or 4 eggs nests. The mean proportion of eggs in a redd fertilized by parr increased with increasing numbers of parr present at a redd, reaching 23% at male parr: anadromous male ratios of 20:1. Single male parr fertilized, on average, 5% of the eggs in a redd. The proportion of eggs in an egg nest fertilized by parr also depended upon the order of egg nest construction, such that parr mating success was highest at the initial nest constructed and lowest at the final nest. Parr have relatively high fertilization success for their size when compared with the smaller maturation phenotype of other salmonids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the correction to an article published in the March 2005 issue of the journal "Nature Genetics."