Secularism and Religion in Nineteenth-Century Germany: The Rise of the Fourth Confession

Negotiating the boundaries of the secular and of the religious is a core aspect of modern experience. In mid-nineteenth-century Germany, secularism emerged to oppose church establishment, conservative orthodoxy, and national division between Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. Yet, as historian Todd H. Weir argues in this provocative book, early secularism was not the opposite of religion. It developed in the rationalist dissent of Free Religion and, even as secularism took more atheistic forms in Freethought and Monism, it was subject to the forces of the confessional system it sought to dismantle. Similar to its religious competitors, it elaborated a clear worldview, sustained social milieus, and was integrated into the political system. Secularism was, in many ways, Germany's fourth confession. While challenging assumptions about the causes and course of the Kulturkampf and modern antisemitism, this study casts new light on the history of popular science, radical politics, and social reform.

WASP-38b: a transiting exoplanet in an eccentric, 6.87d period orbit

Aims: We report the discovery of WASP-38b, a long period transiting planet in an eccentric 6.871815 day orbit. The transit epoch is 2 455 335.92050 ± 0.00074 (HJD) and the transit duration is 4.663 h. Methods: WASP-38b's discovery was enabled due to an upgrade to the SuperWASP-North cameras. We performed a spectral analysis of the host star HD 146389/BD+10 2980 that yielded Teff = 6150 ± 80 K, log g = 4.3 ± 0.1, v sin i = 8.6 ± 0.4 km s-1, M_* = 1.16 ± 0.04 M? and R_* = 1.33 ± 0.03 R?, consistent with a dwarf of spectral type F8. Assuming a main-sequence mass-radius relation for the star, we fitted simultaneously the radial velocity variations and the transit light curves to estimate the orbital and planetary parameters. Results: The planet has a mass of 2.69 ± 0.06 MJup and a radius of 1.09 ± 0.03 RJup giving a density, ?p = 2.1 ± 0.1 ?J. The high precision of the eccentricity e = 0.0314 ± 0.0044 is due to the relative transit timing from the light curves and the RV shape. The planet equilibrium temperature is estimated at 1292 ± 33 K. WASP-38b is the longest period planet found by SuperWASP-North and with a bright host star (V = 9.4 mag), is a good candidate for followup atmospheric studies. Photometry and RV data are only available in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/qcat?J/A+A/525/A54

WASP-37b: A 1.8 M J Exoplanet Transiting a Metal-poor Star

We report on the discovery of WASP-37b, a transiting hot Jupiter orbiting an m v = 12.7 G2-type dwarf, with a period of 3.577469 ± 0.000011 d, transit epoch T 0 = 2455338.6188 ± 0.0006 (HJD; dates throughout the paper are given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)), and a transit duration 0.1304+0.0018 –0.0017 d. The planetary companion has a mass M p = 1.80 ± 0.17 M J and radius R p = 1.16+0.07 –0.06 R J, yielding a mean density of 1.15+0.12 –0.15 ?J. From a spectral analysis, we find that the host star has M sstarf = 0.925 ± 0.120 M sun, R sstarf = 1.003 ± 0.053 R sun, T eff = 5800 ± 150 K, and [Fe/H] = –0.40 ± 0.12. WASP-37 is therefore one of the lowest metallicity stars to host a transiting planet.

Genetic Evidence Implicates the Immune System and Cholesterol Metabolism in the Aetiology of Alzheimer's Disease

Background: Late Onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is the leading cause of dementia. Recent large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified the first strongly supported LOAD susceptibility genes since the discovery of the involvement of APOE in the early 1990s. We have now exploited these GWAS datasets to uncover key LOAD pathophysiological processes. Methodology: We applied a recently developed tool for mining GWAS data for biologically meaningful information to a LOAD GWAS dataset. The principal findings were then tested in an independent GWAS dataset.

Blood pressure lowering in patients without prior cerebrovascular disease for prevention of cognitive impairment and dementia

Background: This is an update of a previous review (McGuinness 2006). Hypertension and cognitive impairment are prevalent in older people. Hypertension is a direct risk factor for vascular dementia (VaD) and recent studies have suggested hypertension impacts upon prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Therefore does treatment of hypertension prevent cognitive decline?
Objectives: To assess the effects of blood pressure lowering treatments for the prevention of dementia and cognitive decline in patients with hypertension but no history of cerebrovascular disease.
Search strategy: The Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group, The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LILACS as well as many trials databases and grey literature sources were searched on 13 February 2008 using the terms: hypertens$ OR anti-hypertens$. Selection criteria: Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trials in which pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions to lower blood pressure were given for at least six months.
Data collection and analysis: Two independent reviewers assessed trial quality and extracted data. The following outcomes were assessed: incidence of dementia, cognitive change from baseline, blood pressure level, incidence and severity of side effects and quality of life.
Main results: Four trials including 15,936 hypertensive subjects were identified. Average age was 75.4 years. Mean blood pressure at entry across the studies was 171/86 mmHg. The combined result of the four trials reporting incidence of dementia indicated no significant difference between treatment and placebo (236/7767 versus 259/7660, Odds Ratio (OR) = 0.89, 95% CI 0.74, 1.07) and there was considerable heterogeneity between the trials. The combined results from the three trials reporting change in Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) did not indicate a benefit from treatment (Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) = 0.42, 95%CI 0.30, 0.53). Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were reduced significantly in the three trials assessing this outcome (WMD = -10.22, 95% CI -10.78, -9.66 for systolic blood pressure, WMD = -4.28, 95% CI -4.58, -3.98 for diastolic blood pressure). Three trials reported adverse effects requiring discontinuation of treatment and the combined results indicated no significant difference (OR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.92, 1.11). When analysed separately, however, more patients on placebo in Syst Eur 1997 were likely to discontinue treatment due to side effects; the converse was true in SHEP 1991. Quality of life data could not be analysed in the four studies. Analysis of the included studies in this review was problematic as many of the control subjects received antihypertensive treatment because their blood pressures exceeded pre-set values. In most cases the study became a comparison between the study drug against a usual antihypertensive regimen.
Authors' conclusions: There is no convincing evidence fromthe trials identified that blood pressure lowering in late-life prevents the development of dementia or cognitive impairment in hypertensive patients with no apparent prior cerebrovascular disease. There were significant problems identified with analysing the data, however, due to the number of patients lost to follow-up and the number of placebo patients who received active treatment. This introduced bias. More robust results may be obtained by conducting a meta-analysis using individual patient data.

Common variants at ABCA7, MS4A6A/MS4A4E, EPHA1, CD33 and CD2AP are associated with Alzheimer's disease

We sought to identify new susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease through a staged association study (GERAD+) and by testing suggestive loci reported by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetic Consortium (ADGC) in a companion paper. We undertook a combined analysis of four genome-wide association datasets (stage 1) and identified ten newly associated variants with P = 1 × 10(-5). We tested these variants for association in an independent sample (stage 2). Three SNPs at two loci replicated and showed evidence for association in a further sample (stage 3). Meta-analyses of all data provided compelling evidence that ABCA7 (rs3764650, meta P = 4.5 × 10(-17); including ADGC data, meta P = 5.0 × 10(-21)) and the MS4A gene cluster (rs610932, meta P = 1.8 × 10(-14); including ADGC data, meta P = 1.2 × 10(-16)) are new Alzheimer's disease susceptibility loci. We also found independent evidence for association for three loci reported by the ADGC, which, when combined, showed genome-wide significance: CD2AP (GERAD+, P = 8.0 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 8.6 × 10(-9)), CD33 (GERAD+, P = 2.2 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 1.6 × 10(-9)) and EPHA1 (GERAD+, P = 3.4 × 10(-4); including ADGC data, meta P = 6.0 × 10(-10)).

No Evidence that Extended Tracts of Homozygosity are Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.

We sought to investigate the contribution of extended runs of homozygosity in a genome-wide association dataset of 1,955 Alzheimer's disease cases and 955 elderly screened controls genotyped for 529,205 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms. Tracts of homozygosity may mark regions inherited from a common ancestor and could reflect disease loci if observed more frequently in cases than controls. We found no excess of homozygous tracts in Alzheimer's disease cases compared to controls and no individual run of homozygosity showed association to Alzheimer's disease.

WASP-30b: A 61 M Jup Brown Dwarf Transiting a V = 12, F8 Star

We report the discovery of a 61-Jupiter-mass brown dwarf (BD), which transits its F8V host star, WASP-30, every 4.16 days. From a range of age indicators we estimate the system age to be 1-2 Gyr. We derive a radius (0.89 ± 0.02 R Jup) for the companion that is consistent with that predicted (0.914 R Jup) by a model of a 1 Gyr old, non-irradiated BD with a dusty atmosphere. The location of WASP-30b in the minimum of the mass-radius relation is consistent with the quantitative prediction of Chabrier & Baraffe, thus confirming the theory.

Independent Discovery of the Transiting Exoplanet HAT-P-14b

We present SuperWASP observations of HAT-P-14b, a hot Jupiter discovered by Torres et al. The planet was found independently by the SuperWASP team and named WASP-27b after follow-up observations had secured the discovery, but prior to the publication by Torres et al. Our analysis of HAT-P-14/WASP-27 is in good agreement with the values found by Torres et al. and we provide additional evidence against astronomical false positives. Due to the brightness of the host star, V-mag = 10, HAT-P-14b is an attractive candidate for further characterization observations. The planet has a high impact parameter and the primary transit is close to grazing. This could readily reveal small deviations in the orbital parameters indicating the presence of a third body in the system, which may be causing the small but significant orbital eccentricity. Our results suggest that the planet may undergo a grazing secondary eclipse. However, even a non-detection would tightly constrain the system parameters.

WASP-40b: Independent Discovery of the 0.6 M Transiting Exoplanet HAT-P-27b

From WASP photometry and SOPHIE radial velocities we report the discovery of WASP-40b (HAT-P-27b), a 0.6 M planet that transits its 12th magnitude host star every 3.04 days. The host star is of late G-type or early K-type and likely has a metallicity greater than solar ([Fe/H]=0.14±0.11). The planet's mass and radius are typical of the known hot Jupiters, thus adding another system to the apparent pileup of transiting planets with periods near 3-4 days. Our parameters match those of the recent HATnet announcement of the same planet, thus giving confidence in the techniques used. We report a possible indication of stellar activity in the host star.